Fatal Chocolate Obsession (Death by Chocolate Book 5)

by Sally Berneathy

  “If we assume Grady tried to kill Rick then rushed to your house to leave a gift, we can assume he was trying to help you by killing someone who caused you problems.”

  “We can?”

  “It fits the pattern.”

  “It does? What pattern?”

  “The pattern of being obsessed with someone, bringing gifts, doing what the stalker considers good deeds to win the love of the object of his obsession.”

  “How would he know about Rickhead? Yeah, I complain about him a lot, but I’m sure I never complained to Grady.” I wrapped my arms around myself and shuddered. “I have never shared anything personal with that creep.”

  “From the content of his poems, we know he’s been watching you. He may have been monitoring your activities for some time. He could have seen Ginger when she came to your house in the middle of the night. He could have witnessed Rick’s rampage in your restaurant. With all the electronic devices available, he could have listened to your conversations at home and at work. He could have watched you through your windows at night.”

  Thinking of that awful, creepy, disgusting man watching from the street was bad enough, but the thought of him watching me eating, sleeping, and talking on the phone slid over my skin like spiders and put a bad taste in my mouth. I tried to wash it out with Coke, but it even made the Coke taste bitter.

  Sophie returned to the kitchen and set my bag of goodies on the table then sank gracefully into a chair beside Fred.

  I opened the bag and drew out a brownie but stopped before shoving it into my mouth. “It’s full. All the cookies and brownies are still here.”

  Sophie nodded. “Tina told the boys they couldn’t have any until after dinner. They’re such good kids.”

  “You can’t kill me!” Connor shouted. “I’m a zombie!”

  “I’m a werewolf and I’m gonna eat you all up!” Drake threatened.

  I bit into the brownie, hoping the taste of rich chocolate would overpower the sour taste of Grady watching me as well as the noise of those good kids in the other room.

  But not even chocolate could cover the bile from the thought of that man. I choked down the bite in my mouth and set the rest on the table.

  “Are you okay?” Sophie asked.

  “No. Not even close.” I swallowed then licked my dry lips. I did not want to voice my fears, hear them spoken aloud and let them escape into the universe with the great and terrible power of words.

  Sophie laid a hand over mine. “None of this is your fault. You can’t blame yourself for what a mad man did.”

  Apparently I was the last to know murder had been committed in my name. I tried another drink of Coke. It was flat, all the happy bubbles gone.

  “I believe we’re dealing with a very dangerous man, a psychopath who’s lost all touch with reality,” Fred said.

  “And I fed that psychopath chocolate in my restaurant.” I shivered as those spiders made another trip across my skin. “I’m glad he’s going to be behind bars soon. I wouldn’t sleep a wink tonight if I thought he was still out there.”

  Fred drew in a deep breath. He was getting ready to say something I wasn’t going to like. “I think it would be a good idea if I spent the night over here.”

  Everybody thinking I needed a bodyguard was getting a little old. “Sure,” I said. “Sounds like a great idea. Would you like to share the sofa with Tina or the guest bed with the boys?”

  “Actually, I thought I could bring over an air mattress and sleep in front of the door.”

  “I was planning to borrow that air mattress for one of the boys.”

  “I have more than one air mattress. I’ll bring two.”

  “You’re being silly. By now Trent has arrested Grady and hauled him off to jail. Anyway, Tina’s going to be sleeping on the sofa, and your snoring would keep her awake.”

  “I don’t snore.”

  I looked at Sophie to see how she’d react, if she’d affirm or deny his assertion. She was nibbling on a cookie without getting crumbs on the table.

  “Trent volunteered to spend the night here, and I’m going to tell him he can.” Sure, it was a lie, but it was such an absurd lie, nobody would believe it. That kind of lie doesn’t count in the negative column in the karmic realm governing truths and lies.

  “And he’ll be happy to take you up on that.” A familiar voice came from the kitchen doorway.

  Busted.

  Trent took the remaining chair at the table between Sophie and me.

  “You were eavesdropping,” I accused.

  “It’s still admissible in court. I even have two witnesses who also heard you say you’re going to let me spend the night here.”

  I shrugged. “As long as you sleep in my bed, that’s fine.”

  “We’ll borrow both of Fred’s air mattresses. The third boy in your guest room can use one, and Tina can sleep on the other in the upstairs bedroom where you keep your computer. I’ll sleep on the sofa near the door.”

  I stood. “That’s ridiculous. There’s no way Ken can find my house, and with Grady in jail and Rick in the hospital, I’m safe. Speaking of dirt bags, Fred has something to tell you about Grady. I believe we’ve solved a couple of crimes for you.” Perhaps we was stretching it a bit, but I deserved a little credit since I was the psycho’s focus. “In the meantime, I’m going to order pizzas. Feed the zombies and werewolves.”

  I took my cell phone from my pocket, moved to one side of the kitchen and placed the order while Fred and Trent talked. The din from the living room had become so loud, I could barely hear the pizza people. Fortunately I ordered pizza so often, I knew what the questions were and could respond even when I couldn’t make out the words. I couldn’t make out what Fred and Trent were saying either.

  I grabbed four cans of Coke and a stack of paper plates then ventured into the living room. Surely they’d be quiet while they were guzzling Coke and anticipating pizza.

  Tina sat on the sofa with her cell phone in her hand and a dazed expression on her face. The boys were taking full advantage of her virtual absence to wreak havoc. Fortunately I didn’t have anything breakable in the room, but they’d used all the books from my bookcase to make a fort that didn’t survive an assault from enemy forces. Or maybe it was friendly fire. Hard to tell in the melee.

  Drake crouched under the coffee table and growled while Wade and Connor charged around the room, shouting, jumping over the table, onto the sofa and off the back of the sofa. It was a very durable sofa.

  Henry pressed against my leg and I realized he’d followed me from the kitchen. I looked down at him. He looked up at me, flattened his ears and skirted around the room, hugging the wall, pausing only long enough to hiss when somebody darted close. He reached the stairs and flowed upward in a streak of white and gold.

  I looked for the remote control to turn off the TV and stop some of the noise, but I didn’t see it. Probably another casualty of the war. I walked over to the set and pressed a button, effectively silencing a lizard with an ambiguous accent who was trying to sell us insurance. The boys continued their shouting and mayhem and Tina continued to stare at her phone.

  I crossed to the sofa, skirting the coffee table and the werewolf holding siege under it while two soldiers/vampires/zombies attacked. Connor wielded the remote like a sword.

  I set the unopened Cokes on top of the werewolf’s cave and sank down next to Tina. She must have turned off her ring tone because her phone was silent though a call was coming in from Ken.

  “He’s calling nonstop now.” She spoke softly without lifting her head. “He’s filled up my voice mail.”

  “That doesn’t sound good. Have you listened to any of the messages?”

  She nodded. “His first message was sweet. I almost caved. He said he was getting worried because the kids and I weren’t home. He wanted to know if I needed help. Then he must have checked the bedrooms and found the missing clothes and suitcases because he started leaving mean, horrible messages, calling me names a
nd saying things like how I’m his wife and I have no right to do this and he’s going to make me pay when he finds me.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ve got a cop and a…” I paused, unsure how to describe Fred. A spy? A hired assassin? Black ops? “A cop and a man who does Karate and owns a machine gun.”

  She turned the phone over and laid it on the cushion beside her, hiding Ken’s face from view. “Thank you for everything. I know that the boys and I are safe here, but I’m still terrified he’ll find us.”

  “He’ll be sorry if he does.”

  She placed a hand over the phone, hiding it from view. “Even if I don’t talk to him or listen to his messages, he’s still in my head. The physical abuse is only part of it. I keep hearing all the terrible things he constantly says to me, how I’m worthless and not a good mother and could never make it without him and any other man would leave me and…” She paused and forced a smile. “I know I have to get away from him, but I don’t know if I can.”

  “Yes, you can. I’ll call Paula. She’ll come over and talk to you. She’s been through this.” I took my cell phone from my pocket.

  Tina lifted hers from the sofa. “I’m going to erase all those horrible voice mails he left.”

  “No! We need those as evidence.”

  “Evidence?”

  “Monday we’re going to call the lawyer who handled my divorce. He’ll file divorce papers for you.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “Okay, maybe we’ll start with a legal separation and an order of protection.” As the daughter of a lawyer I knew how much good those restraining orders did. Usually it was like waving a red flag in front of an enraged bull. But maybe the process would give Tina more courage.

  She swallowed, blinked and finally nodded. “Okay.”

  I had to wonder if she was so accustomed to taking orders from Ken, she’d agree to anything I told her to do. That was not necessarily a bad thing as long as I was telling her what to do, not Ken.

  I called Paula and she came over immediately.

  I expected Zach to be intimidated by the loud, boisterous boys the way he’d been intimidated by sly, sneaky Rickie. To my shock and horror, when the boys invited him to play with them, he dashed over and began jumping and shouting along with them.

  Paula gave me an OMG, what have you done to my son? look.

  I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had already sustained as much permanent hearing damage as if I’d sat next to a speaker at twenty rock concerts with no ear protection. “Stop!” I screamed and was answered with a moment of beautiful silence.

  But only a moment.

  “Boys!” Tina shouted. “Settle down.”

  “Yes, Mama,” Wade mumbled.

  “Okay,” Drake said quietly.

  Then they all started giggling and I could foresee that the sound level would soon rise again.

  The doorbell rang.

  Tina froze. So did I.

  Paula walked over and looked through the peephole then opened the door. The pizza delivery boy stood on my front porch. I dared to breathe again. The kids began shouting again.

  “Yay, pizza!” Connor jumped up and down.

  “I love pizza!” Drake jumped higher.

  “Pizza, pizza, pizza!” The last came from Zach. Surely this was a temporary break with reality and he would return to being a quiet only child when he got home. I certainly hoped so, or I’d be in a world of trouble with Paula.

  I set two pizzas on the coffee table and took the other one into the kitchen. Trent, Fred and Sophie looked up as I entered. The guilty expressions on all three faces told me they’d been talking about me. Usually I consider it better to be talked about than forgotten, but I had a feeling they hadn’t been saying anything I wanted to hear.

  I put the pizza in the middle of the table and was about to demand to know what they’d been talking about, but Paula came in.

  “Can I get some juice for Zach?”

  “Sure.” I filled a sippy cup with cranberry juice and handed it to her then reached back into the refrigerator and got a bottle of wine. “You and Tina are going to need this.” I opened the wine and took two glasses from the cabinet.

  “Thank you.” She accepted the bottle without hesitation. “It would be great if you could corral the kids in here after they eat. Tina and I have a lot to talk about.”

  I looked around the small room. No freaking way. “Okay, sure.” I took another bottle of wine out of the refrigerator and opened it. “One adult to one child. We can do that. I get Zach.”

  She smiled and left the room, juggling the wine, glasses and juice with the expertise I’d often seen her display at Death by Chocolate.

  I got more glasses and paper plates then sat down at the table.

  Everyone was very quiet. I could understand that. My nerves were shattered like a plate glass window when someone throws a brass candle stick through it. Never mind how I know that.

  “Enjoy,” I said. “We’re going to need sustenance if we have to babysit the kids. Notice I said we, so don’t think any of you are going to escape.”

  I opened the box and took out a slice of pepperoni pizza.

  Fred poured wine into a glass and handed it to me. He and everyone else looked grim. I decided I didn’t want to know what they’d been talking about when I was out of the room.

  I wiped the string of cheese off my chin and stared at the three solemn faces. “Hey, I was kidding. If you don’t want to babysit the kids while Paula talks to Tina, go home. I can handle it. I’ll just give them some ice cream with Benadryl syrup.”

  Nobody smiled. My fabled humor was not working as a diversion.

  “Kidding again. I don’t even have any Benadryl syrup. I’ll have to crush some tablets.”

  Trent took my hand and looked into my eyes. This was getting scary.

  I returned his gaze. “If you’re getting ready to tell me you had the mumps as a boy and you’ll never father any children, I’m okay with that.”

  “Fred and I are both spending the night with you,” he said.

  “Well, all right, but you’re sleeping in the middle. I have to get up to go to the bathroom sometimes.”

  “This isn’t a joke. Fred told me about Rick’s blood on the wrapping paper and his suspicions about Ginger’s death.”

  “But you arrested Grady.” I gulped and slowly lowered my pizza to my paper plate. “Didn’t you?”

  “We went to his business and his home. We couldn’t find him at either place. Lindsay, Grady Mathis is free and probably very angry at you right now.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  My house is old. It was built at a time when an indoor bathroom was considered a luxury. Only the very rich had more than one. That’s how I started Saturday morning in the same bathroom as Wade, Connor and Drake.

  They didn’t all come in at the same time. It took them a while to congregate. I was in the shower washing my hair when Drake opened the door and yelled, “I gotta pee!”

  “I’ll be out in a few minutes!”

  Silly me. I thought he’d leave when he knew the bathroom was occupied. I realized my mistake when the toilet flushed and my warm shower turned to scalding acid. I screamed and turned off the water.

  “Drake!” Wade shouted. “You’re not supposed to go in the bathroom while the lady’s in there! Get out of there!”

  Thank goodness one of them had some knowledge of bathroom etiquette!

  “I gotta wash my hands. Mama says I always gotta wash my hands.”

  “Is it time to get up?” Connor joined the crowd.

  “We’re sorry, Mrs. Powell,” Wade said.

  “It’s Miss,” I corrected automatically.

  “Yeah,” Connor shouted, “he missed! Drake, you dumb butt, you peed on the floor!”

  “Did not! I’m gonna tell Mama you said butt!”

  “Get some toilet paper and clean it up, Drake,” Wade ordered.

  “It’s okay.” I huddled behind my shower curtain with conditioner
in my hair, beginning to shiver as the sensation of being boiled alive wore off. “I’ll do it.”

  “Mama says if we make a mess, we gotta clean it up,” Wade said.

  “I understand that would usually apply, but this is my bathroom.” At least, it was yesterday morning. “I’ll do it.”

  “That’s too much paper, you dummy.” Connor again. “Hurry up. I gotta pee really bad.”

  “You can’t do it while Drake’s cleaning the floor.”

  “How about, you can’t do it while I’m taking a shower?”

  “He’s almost done.”

  I had no idea if Wade was talking about Drake or Connor.

  “Wash your hands again,” Wade ordered.

  Must be Drake. Connor hadn’t washed his hands yet this morning. That I knew of. But I’d lost track of all the events going on in my own bathroom some time ago.

  “What are you boys doing up so early?” Tina. Thank goodness.

  “Drake peed on the floor,” Wade said.

  “Did not! It was just a dribble.”

  I heard the sound of running water. “This is how you do it. See? I’m not peeing on the floor,” Connor bragged.

  “Be quiet and get back to bed,” Tina ordered. “You’re going to wake up Lindsay!”

  “Lindsay’s very much awake,” I called from the shower.

  “Omigawd! You went in the bathroom while Lindsay’s in the shower? Get back to bed right now, all of you! I am so sorry, Lindsay.”

  “Oh, no problem.” My hair should be really smooth and shiny after leaving the conditioner on so long. I turned the water back on and shivered while it warmed up.

  “You know better than that.” Tina sounded angry. “If your daddy was here—” She stopped in mid-sentence as if she’d suddenly realized what she was saying and didn’t want to remind them of the man she was running from.

  “But Daddy’s not here,” Wade reminded her quietly. He sounded relieved.

  I hoped his statement would remain true.

  “The boys are going back to their room,” Tina said. “I’m going to close the bathroom door so you can shower in peace. Again, I’m so sorry.”