The Tempting Taste of Danger: An Angel Lake Mystery (Walking Calamity Cozy Mystery Book 5)

by CeeCee James

  Ah! I can do something with this. And maybe even make it look impressive. She carried the box to the counter and scoured the back for recipes. Make it look like I’ve been cooking all day.

  “What’s up, chicken butt?” Lucy spun around the corner. She climbed on a bar stool and tapped the counter with her palms in a rat-a-tat-tat.

  “Chicken is exactly it. Chicken and dumplings. Here, you get these,” Elise shoved the box toward her and pointed to the first few ingredients, “While I get going on making the dumplings.”

  Lucy pulled the box over. “You excited for your birthday?”

  “Yes!” Elise said. “I’m taking Brad horseback riding. But don’t tell him. He doesn’t know yet.”

  “And why don’t you want him to know?” Lucy gave her a knowing smile.

  “Some things are better as a surprise.”

  “Oh, right. I know that one. Like it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission sometimes.”

  “Yeah,” Elise cast Lucy a doubtful look. She wasn’t too happy that Lucy subscribed to that motto. She’d used it many times herself in high school.

  The teen focused on the back of the Bisquick box. She read the list silently, her lips slowly moving, and slid off the stool. Elise felt a flicker of amusement as she walked to the freezer repeating the ingredients to remember everything on the list. That kid was so darn sweet.

  “Lard is a weird name.”

  “What makes you say that?” Elise asked.

  “It was on another recipe on the back. If you say the word enough, it doesn’t make sense anymore.”

  “You want to hear a weird name? I just learned a new one, today. Hamish!”

  Lucy laughed. “Oh, Hamish. He’s a bad guy.”

  Elise stopped what she was doing to stare. “How on earth do you know that?”

  “He’s in the Alice and Wonderland movie. I used to watch it all the time when I was waiting for Ma to come home. He’s supposed to marry Alice.”

  “Weird! Well, this one is the name of one of the construction guys. Why was Hamish a bad guy in the movie, anyway?” Elsie measured what she needed into a mixing bowl and stirred it together.

  “He’s hoity-toity and snooty and is being forced to marry Alice. He thinks he’s a gift to women but she doesn’t like him.”

  “Hmm. Well, good for her. Now, how was school today? Learn anything interesting?”

  Lucy wrinkled her freckled nose. “It was all fine except for history. I hate learning all those different political systems. And Mr. Harris keeps giving us these stupid pop tests.”

  “That was my least favorite subject, too,” Elise began scooping balls of dough. “But it’s good to understand them.”

  “Yeah, but how do you know which one really is the best way? Each government thinks it’s the one that’s right.”

  Elise was interrupted from having to explain—much to her relief—by the ring of her cell phone. “Hold that thought,” she said, raising her index finger. She ran for the living room and scrambled in her purse for the phone. Just as she got it out—as well as a pile of tissues, keys, wallet, lipgloss, and sunglasses—the call ended.

  “Hm,” her brows knitted together as she read the restricted number. “Wonder who that was?”

  The phone rang again. Startled, she nearly dropped it, but instead, fumbled to finally turn it on.

  “Hello?” She’d briefly glanced at the screen again before answering. It was from the same restricted number.

  “Are you talking to yourself again?” An unfamiliar male voice asked. It was muffled just enough to remind Elise of covering the phone with a handkerchief during slumber party prank calls.

  “Excuse me?” she asked.

  “You little scamp. No treats for you. I told you Dr. Wendt would put you on a diet the next time you saw him, and see what happened? You’re on diet cat food.” The voice dropped the words in a cold monotone.

  Goosebumps traveled down Elise’s neck. What in the world? She walked over to the window and peeled the closed blinds apart to peek through. There was no one in sight. Someone’s stalking me….

  “Who are you?” she asked again. Wasn’t there a way she could track this call? She tried to remember a # sequence hack that would show the number.

  “Making dumplings. Learn anything interesting?”

  Elise slowly turned in the living room, her eyes searching. Where was the mic? How had he heard her? Her eyes skipped across the lamp, the china cabinet, and the bookshelf, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

  “You want to talk? Talk,” she said in a clipped tone, not about to be intimidated. At least, not about to show it. Her legs felt like gelatin.

  A slow laugh erupted through the receiver. As hard as she tried to remain strong, the sound unnerved her even more than him repeating her conversation.

  It was the sound of a madman.

  She couldn’t take it any longer and clicked the phone off. Her hands were shaking as she stared at the cell like it was a snake that threatened to strike.

  “What’s the matter?” Lucy said, before mumbling, “Oh shoot, Max! Watch out!” The cat ducked from under her foot.

  Elise swallowed. “Nothing. Everything is fine.”

  “If everything is fine then why do you like as white as a ghost?” Lucy picked up the orange cat and leaned against the back of the couch.

  Thoughts spun in Elise’s head like towels in a dryer. She walked over to the front door to check it was secure. “If anyone knocks, you be sure you know who they are before you let them in.”

  She glanced at the teen. Lucy was looking a little scared herself.

  “Tell me who was on the phone?” the girl asked, hugging the cat tighter.

  “It was a prank call,” Elise answered, and then held a finger up to her lips in a “shh” manner. The gesture caused the teen’s mouth to drop open in surprise. Lucy immediately studied the room.

  “What?” Lucy mouthed, not finding anything.

  Beckoning her to follow her, Elise walked into the kitchen. “Come on. We need to get this dinner finished.” She fished a pad of paper out of the drawer and scrawled out—Someone’s listening to us. I don’t know who yet. I don’t know how.

  Lucy read it and covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes were large and dark. Elise made another shushing gesture and then gave her a quick hug. She turned back to the mixture of Bisquick and tried to make her hands stop shaking.

  Lucy buried her face into the cat. Shivering, she walked closer to Elise and leaned her head against her shoulder.

  Elise leaned and kissed the top of the girl’s head. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered. “I’ll keep you safe.”

  Chapter 13

  Brad was hardly able to get through the door before both of the girls were on him.

  “Whoa! What’s the matter? What’s going on?” He set his bags down and wrapped his arm around them, his eyes wide with confusion. “Who’s hurt? Who do I have to kill?”

  “It was a prank call…” Lucy began.

  Elise babbled over the top of her. “Hi, baby. No, nothing’s wrong.” She held her finger to her lips. Lucy noticed and her mouth went round with a silent “Oh.”

  A sharp indent grew between Brad’s eyebrows. “What are you playing at here, Elise? I can tell something’s….” He was cut off by Lucy’s waving hand furiously shushing him.

  “So! For dinner! Are you hungry?” Elise talked a mile a minute, hoping to keep Brad at bay. She hurried over to the pad of paper and snatched it up. Back at Brad’s side, she held it in front of his face.

  He grabbed it from her hand and read it. When he looked back at her, his eyebrows had risen. Looking confused, he shook his head. Elise scanned what she’d given him—a grocery list? Gah!—and turned the pad over.

  On the other side was the note she’d written to Lucy earlier. —Someone’s listening.

  Brad’s jaw tightened as he read. He looked around the room as the pad of paper trembled from his clenched fist. Dragging h
is gaze away, he gave Elise a stiff smile. “So what’s for dinner?”

  “I’m thinking chicken?” she asked, uncertain.

  “Tonight, I think I’m going to treat you ladies.” He draped his arms around their shoulders and gathered them close. “Pho? Tacos?”

  “Tacos!” Lucy chimed. “I’ll get my coat.”

  “I don’t care,” Elise rested her forehead against his chest, suddenly feeling drained. He drew her in closer and she smiled at the sound of his heartbeat. The feeling of safety grew and she slid her arms around him. They swayed a bit from side to side. Brad tipped her chin so that she looked at him. He winked, before dropping a kiss on her lips.

  “I’ve got this,” he breathed into her ear. He raised his head to yell at Lucy, “You ready, kiddo?”

  She came careening around the corner with eyeliner on. “Do I look okay? Is my makeup even?”

  “Gorgeous,” Elise answered with a smile. She grabbed her purse and gathered everything back inside while Brad waited by the front door. She locked the door, and they all climbed into Brad’s jeep.

  “Now what’s going on?” he asked, looking over his shoulder as he backed out of the driveway.

  “I got a phone call,” Elise began, holding up a finger to stop Lucy as the teen tried to butt in. “And the voice on the other end repeated everything Lucy and I had just said. Word for word.”

  “Male or female?” Brad’s eyes narrowed in anger.

  “Male.”

  “Did you recognize it?”

  Elise started to shake her head no, when she stopped, startled. She had heard that voice before. But where?

  “Actually, maybe,” she answered hesitantly. She bit her lip, still trying to sort it out. Different men flashed through her memory as she tried to match the voice. Finally, she shook her head. “I just can’t think of who. But it did sound familiar.”

  Brad’s face took on a grimmer look. His grip on the gear shift tightened until his knuckles appeared white under the skin. “I don’t like this. That house isn’t safe. We need to find someplace for you two to stay.”

  “Leave my house? I can’t do that. There’s Max for one, and you can’t have pets in your apartment. Lucy has her dog walking…why don’t you stay with us?” Elise asked, stroking Brad’s arm. “Maybe just you being there will discourage whoever it is. Or maybe, you’ll figure out who’s doing this.”

  “I’ve got to find the bug,” he grumbled.

  “Cool!” Lucy yelled from the back seat. She bounced forward until her head was between them. “Like real spy stuff.”

  “Sit back, Lucy,” Elise murmured. Then, turning to Brad. “That means someone would have been in my house.”

  “Yeah. That’s right. You lose any keys? Give any out to anyone?”

  “Just you and Lavina,” Elise answered, biting her lip.

  She thought about it. “There was a weird thing that happened.”

  “What?” Brad immediately grabbed on to her words.

  “The day that Steve died…I remember that my hands had been covered in oil when I started my car. It might have come from my keys.”

  “Why would you keep something like that from me?” Brad rolled his eyes.

  “I didn’t know I was keeping something. I was so shocked that I’d just done CPR, and he still died….” Elise closed her eyes at the memory. “I just put it together now.” She took a deep breath to ground herself, then fished her keys out to examine them. Whatever residue that had been on them was now long gone.

  Brad pulled into a hardware store and parked. “First things first, new doorknobs.”

  Elise climbed out after him.

  He strode into the store with his brow low in a determined look. “Whoever stole the book wanted to set you up, Elise. He made a cast of your house key somehow while you were all upstairs. Clay, wax, I’m not sure. But that answers the question of how he got in.”

  Elise followed him, feeling slimy. Someone had been in her house. That wasn’t conjecture, it was a sure thing. She shivered.

  Ten minutes later, they’d paid and were back outside with two new deadbolt locks. They picked up some tacos—couldn’t disappoint Lucy—and scarfed them down. Then, they stopped at Brad’s apartment to pick up his drill and another object, a black box that he described as an RF signal detector. After a bit more wheedling and convincing that Elise didn’t want to leave her home, he also packed a change of clothes, agreeing to stay over.

  “When we get back to the house, everyone keep the conversation light until I find the bugs. All small talk. Or just watch TV,” he shot the last comment at Lucy.

  “What? Do you think I’m going to say something?” The teen scowled back.

  “No, he’s just warning us to be on our best acting behavior,” Elise said soothingly. “We don’t want to tip this guy off.”

  “Yeah, I want the moment where I find the guy and snap those cuffs on him to be a surprise,” Brad growled.

  Elise’s eyebrows flickered in surprise. It sounds more like he’s thinking about snapping the stalker’s neck rather than cuffs on his wrists. I’ve never seen Brad be anything but Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected, even in the most hair-raising investigation.

  Back at the house, Brad made quick work moving through the house with the RF signal detector. After hitting a few buttons, he slowly walked through the house with the scanner ahead of him like a dousing rod.

  He ran his hands behind the picture frames and lifted one off the wall with a disgusted look. Turning it over revealed a small metal button which he pried off with his thumbnail.

  He rifled through the books on the shelf and opened the china cabinet. In the kitchen, he looked under the fruit bowl and under the table. He found another bug attached to the bottom of a chair.

  “Is that all?” Elise asked.

  Brad put his finger to his lips and took the RF detector through both of the bedrooms. He discovered one more bug in Elise’s bathroom behind the trash can.

  His face was harshly lined by frown lines as he gathered all three transmitters into his hand and brought them out to his jeep. Then he set to work changing out the locks. Twenty minutes later, everything was replaced. He handed Elise the new key to replace the old one.

  “Is everything secure now?” she asked.

  “All clear.” He grabbed her in his arms. “Don’t worry. We’re getting this psycho. I’m not going to let him hurt you.”

  Chapter 14

  Eight Forty-five. Elise jumped into her Pinto. She had to get a move on or she’d be late for her shift at the bookstore. Fifteen minutes. Not a problem.

  She backed out of the driveway and gave a hesitant wave to Linda who was checking her mailbox. Dang it. They’d probably be back with their invites once they noticed Brad’s car in the driveway every night.

  That couple was just weird.

  Driving up the road, Elise found another reason to groan. There was a scruffy black German Shepherd standing in the middle of the road. He watched her approach and stood his ground as if challenging her.

  “Go on, shoo. Shoo, pup.” Elise encouraged through the windshield.

  The dog didn’t move.

  That’s just great. Where’s the owner? She glanced through the windshield for someone. More groaning. There was no one on the sidewalks or in any of the nearby yards that she could see. There’s nothing for it. Elise stopped the car and set the emergency flashers.

  “All right, buddy. Who do you belong to?” she asked as she got out of the car. Luckily, this street had little traffic so she didn’t worry about other cars running her over. But she didn’t want this dog to be wandering around, lost. “I haven’t seen you before. Are you new?”

  “Elise! Oh, Elise, grab her!” A warbling voice called from up the street. Mrs. McGregor, a woman in her eighties, hobbled down the sidewalk as though her legs hurt. Her little feet, shod in white shoes, took tiny, careful steps. “She just ran out the door!” The old woman panted.

  Elise walked over to the dog
. “Hi, sweetheart.” Casually, she slipped a finger under the dog’s collar, before feeling a jolt of alarm as the dog began to growl.

  “Oh, you don’t like that.” Elise released her. The dog’s top lip quivered, giving a white flash of a canine. “Nice puppy.” She tried to keep the fear out of her voice as she took a small step back. This dog is going to attack me. And who’s going to help?

  Finally, the elderly woman reached her side. Mrs. McGregor’s hands seemed especially fragile as she patted Elsie’s arm in gratefulness. “Thank you, dear!”

  “Of course.” Elise smiled. She wondered how the elderly woman would ever be able to return the big dog to her house. The dog looked like it outweighed the poor woman by twenty pounds.

  “Did you get a new dog, Mrs. McGregor?”

  “Oh, no. It’s my grandson’s dog. He just got home from…” the older woman’s eyes puddled up, “from a treatment facility. But, he’s doing so good now.”

  “Oh, I’m glad! That’s lovely to hear!”

  “He’s been staying with us recently.” She was pink and still out of breath from her trek down the sidewalk. She shook an arthritic finger at the dog. “Oh, Dinah. Naughty girl. How could you?”

  The dog tipped her head at her name and gave a doggy smile.

  “You need help getting her back to the house?” Elise asked. Mrs. McGregor lived on the corner about five houses down.

  “No, dear. I brought her leash.” Mrs. McGregor snapped it on and tried to lead her to the sidewalk. Dinah sat as though an immovable statue.

  “Oh, poo. Come on!” Mrs. McGregor coaxed.

  Elise didn’t know how to help, seeing how the animal reacted when she touched her.

  “Dinah! Come!” Finally, the muscular dog stood and followed the old woman.

  “Thank you again, Elise!” Mrs. McGregor waggled her fingers in goodbye.

  “You’re welcome. Have a great rest of your morning,” Elise called back.

  Well, one good deed done for the day. Let’s hope the rest of this day will reap the reward.