Blood, Wine and Chocolate

by Julie Thomas

  She nodded. ‘Only one so far. It’s a very small quantity and is combined with ginger and cardamom, in a white chocolate infused with coconut oil. The effect is warmth and a flavour vaguely reminiscent of curry.’

  ‘How clever!’

  Vinnie beamed. ‘All her combinations are clever, exotic and delicious.’

  ‘Spoken like a true salesman,’ Mitchell said, as he got up and refilled all their glasses.

  Anna laughed. ‘He is very good at it: we have more orders than we can keep up with at times, and he still keeps selling. Why did you ask me if I use chilli?’

  ‘It’s such a fascinating food. People know about the Scotch Bonnet, and they think that’s the hottest chilli. The Scotch Bonnet is around three hundred thousand on the Scoville heat unit scale, whereas the Carolina Reaper is over a million and a half, and there’s one grown in Trinidad, called the Moruga Scorpion of all things, and it measures two million!’

  ‘My goodness,’ exclaimed Mary. ‘Can you eat them?’

  Mitchell shook his head. ‘No, ma’am. Just a little ittie bit would kill you. Or so I understand.’

  As they walked home down the beach, Anna took Vinnie’s hand in hers. ‘Well, did you like him?’

  ‘He’s nice enough. He certainly seems very “American”, if you know what I mean.’

  She frowned. ‘He’s a Yank. So, no, I don’t really know what you mean.’

  Vinnie looked out at the moonlit water. ‘No, neither do I. He just seems like something … so old-fashioned. Almost a caricature, like an extra from Gone With the Wind.’

  She squeezed his hand. ‘Herman Granger was like that.’

  Vinnie nodded. ‘Yes, he was.’

  Mitchell waited for a week until he knew that Vinnie was away, then he called on Anna again. She was working in the commercial kitchen in the shed.

  ‘Hello there!’

  ‘Forgive the intrusion.’

  ‘Not at all. Just let me finish this batch and we’ll go into the house and have a coffee.’

  He stood beside her and watched her rolling truffles in chopped nuts. ‘Actually, I was wondering if I could ask a favour.’

  She stopped and looked at him. ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘It would help my research if I could learn about your processes. Could you show me how you create these wonderfully tasty little morsels, from beginning to end?’

  She grinned with obvious delight. ‘It would be my pleasure.’

  ‘I’ll give you a credit and rave about how delicious they are.’

  ‘Even better! Is this something you want to do now?’

  He nodded. ‘If you have time.’

  ‘We need to get you kitted out. You need a cap, and these extremely attractive latex gloves and this special apron.’

  He stood there while she dressed him appropriately, and shot her a smile full of humour as she reached up to put the hat on his head.

  ‘Do I look fetching?’ he asked.

  ‘Stop fishing for compliments. Now, come over here.’

  She showed him the raw Belgian chocolate that arrived in bulk, took him through the tempering process, explained how the ganache was made, how all the different oils and flavourings were added, and how the chocolates were filled and the truffles were rolled. He paid close attention and asked a series of relevant questions.

  ‘It’s just amazing! They take so much labour, so much love and care!’

  She smiled at him. ‘That’s why they’re expensive. Each one is a masterpiece.’

  He raised one eyebrow. ‘Now who’s fishing for compliments?’

  At the end she laid out the seven chocolates and truffles on a tray, and he cut them in half, examined and tasted them.

  ‘The tequila, lime and sea salt is sheer brilliance,’ he said as he let it roll around in his mouth.

  ‘Thank you! That’s Michael’s favourite, too, and it’s very popular with restaurants. Mind you, so is the cognac one and the salted caramel with whisky. Great with a post-dinner coffee.’

  ‘Do you sample each batch?’ he asked.

  She nodded. ‘Yes, before they’re boxed. Once they’re packaged they don’t get opened again.’

  Mitchell pointed to the storage room. ‘Is that where you store the finished product?’

  She nodded again. ‘Storage is very important. Michael has a special portable storage box in the car. It has to be between fifteen and seventeen degrees Celsius, between sixty and sixty-four degrees Fahrenheit, and with a relative humidity of less than fifty per cent. If you don’t look after chocolate, it gets bloom, which is perfectly safe to eat, but customers won’t buy chocolate with bloom on it. And it has to be kept away from other foods because it absorbs odours.’

  ‘Sounds very high-tech. Can I take a look?’

  Anna went to the large, heavy door, and pulled it open. ‘It’s kept dark but there’s a light that comes on when the door is opened – only for three minutes, though. If you leave the door open, the light stays on.’

  He followed her in. The boxes were stacked against the wall, different piles for each type of chocolate, clearly labelled. The room felt pleasantly cool and dry.

  ‘I could spend the summer in here,’ he said.

  ‘Don’t you like the heat?’ she asked.

  ‘I prefer to be cool, and just think of all the chocolate I could eat!’

  She laughed and ushered him out. ‘I’m afraid Michael would scold me if he knew I’d shown you in here. He’s very protective of the product.’

  Mitchell gave her a polite bow. ‘And he has a real good reason to be so. Thank you so much for the guided tour. I shall go home and make notes.’

  When Vinnie rang, Anna didn’t tell him about Mitchell’s visit, and that made her feel vaguely guilty. Was she keeping secrets or being efficient? She couldn’t tell him every little thing that happened while he was away. But they had agreed that there would never be anything important held back between them ever again. It had taken her time to forgive Vinnie for the things he had omitted to tell her, and trust was vital to their survival. Was she now guilty of a sin of omission? What was it about Mitchell that made her keep him to herself? Mary made no comment, but Anna could see the tiny seeds of concern in her expression.

  ‘Charlotte?’ His voice was rich and buttery, like toffee, and he sounded like he was smiling.

  She gripped the phone slightly tighter. ‘Mitchell, how are you?’

  ‘Just fine. I need to take a break from making notes, and I thought I’d go for a picnic. Can I seduce you away from the kitchen?’

  She hesitated. All the batches were packed and she wasn’t planning on starting another run until tomorrow.

  ‘You might be able to. Where were you thinking of going?’

  ‘I’m told there’s another bay around the point, where there are dolphins.’

  ‘There is, and the slope is gentler so it’s a great swimming beach.’

  ‘You bring the chocolates and flowers and I’ll bring the food and the wine.’

  Mary came into the kitchen as Anna was packing a box of chocolates into an insulated bag.

  ‘Where are you off to?’ she asked.

  Anna hesitated. ‘Mitchell rang and invited me on a picnic. We’re going just around the point, to Te Kura Bay. Want to come?’

  Mary shook her head. ‘Do you think you need a chaperone?’

  Anna laughed out loud. ‘Hardly! But you’re welcome to join us if you think I need chaperoning.’

  Mary smiled. ‘It’s not me you have to think about.’

  Anna picked up the bag and kissed Mary on the cheek before walking towards the door out to the beach. ‘Very sweet. I promise I’ll think about Vinnie all day.’

  Mitchell poured Anna a glass of wine. ‘I found some more of that wine you brought. Apparently it’s in short supply because the winery has changed hands and they’ve renamed it.’

  She took a sip. ‘Really? This is nice.’

  ‘It’s a lighter blend than the one we had the other ni
ght.’

  He showed her the bottle. It was Decoro. Their baby.

  ‘How’s the research going?’ she asked.

  He pointed towards the sea. ‘I find I’m easily distracted, as you can see today.’

  Oh yes, she thought, aren’t we all? ‘This place does that to you. Before we started the chocolate business we spent months doing nothing, just relaxing.’

  ‘Where did you come from?’ he asked.

  She smiled. ‘I guess you could call us citizens of the world, too, but we’ve found our home here. Sometimes I think I could die here.’

  ‘That’s a morbid thought!’

  ‘Well, maybe stay here until I die.’

  He nodded. ‘Do you ever think about death?’ he asked.

  For a moment she didn’t answer, then she looked away, up the empty beach. So much she could tell him, and somehow she felt strangely inclined to, but that was a dangerous path.

  ‘I didn’t used to. My parents are both dead and I’m not frightened of it. One way or another it becomes part of life as you reach middle age, but you can have too much of it.’

  ‘True. There are worse things than dying.’

  She looked back at him. He was watching sand trickle through his fingers.

  ‘Are there?’ she asked.

  ‘Oh, yes.’

  Something in his voice sounded empty, as though life had sucked the goodness out of him. It unnerved her.

  ‘Let’s go for a paddle’ she suggested.

  She put the wine glass down and got to her feet. He didn’t move, so she turned her back and started walking towards the sea. The water was cool after the hot sand, and she kicked a spray in front of her. Then he was beside her and she could smell his aftershave.

  Mary stood in the kitchen and stared at the phone. She wanted to ring Vinnie. And tell him what? That the American is flirting with your wife and she’s letting him? You’re away too much. Come home and talk to Anna. This behaviour is more dangerous than she seems to realise. Make it clear to Mitchell Dawson that Anna – Charlotte – is not available.

  When she tried to put her fears into words they sounded ridiculous and like shadows of nothing. And yet something deep inside told her that all was not right. The American was not what, or who, he pretended to be. He was more, or less, and his motives were suspect. She just had no idea what they were.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  SABOTAGE

  The shed was silent, dark and vacant. A figure, dressed head to toe in black and wearing a balaclava, stood in the shadow cast by Vinnie and Anna’s house and breathed deeply while he studied the closed door. There was no moon and his only light was a tiny white pinprick from a miniature torch hidden in the palm of his gloved hand.

  He walked noiselessly to the shed door and pulled the small pack from his back. Within minutes he had gained access and disabled the very basic alarm system, surveyed the main room, and then turned his attention to the storage area. The door was heavy and impossible to open silently. There was nothing for it but to pull it open and close it quickly to shut out the bright light. He had chosen a night when the surf was pounding onto the beach, and hopefully that would mask any other sound.

  He stood inside the room and waited. There were no sudden lights; no one came crashing into the shed to investigate. Finally, he checked each stack of black boxes in turn to find what he wanted. With precision and care he knelt down on the hard cool-room floor, opened the backpack and withdrew a large glass syringe, a glass vial and a pair of heavy gloves.

  Mitchell was sitting on his deck reading a book about the history of chilli when a big, wet chocolate Labrador came charging up the sand and almost bowled him out of his chair.

  ‘Merlot!’

  The dog licked his face and shook seawater all over him.

  ‘Do you want something to eat? Do you, boy?’ He stood up and went inside. ‘Come on, come and see what I’ve got in here.’

  Merlot trotted obediently after him into the kitchen and stopped at the closed fridge.

  ‘Oh, yes, you know where the meat is, don’t you?’ Mitchell put a plate of steak on the bench, cut a hunk off and dropped it on the floor beside the dog. As Merlot wolfed down the meat, his tail wagged furiously.

  Mitchell watched him, then picked up the plate and walked towards a closed door. ‘Come with me, boy, and I’ll give you some more.’

  ‘Hello, you two very fine people.’

  Mitchell was strolling along the beach when he saw the Wilsons coming towards them. He waved to them.

  Anna hurried over to him. ‘Have you see Merlot, Mitchell? He’s gone walkabouts and we can’t find him. Our chocolate Lab.’

  Mitchell frowned. ‘No, I can’t say that I have, but I’ll keep a lookout. Could he have gone visiting?’

  ‘We’ve checked with all the people he knows and no one’s seen him,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘It’s just not like him. He never strays from home,’ Anna added, and Mitchell could see the worry on her face.

  ‘Don’t worry, my dear. I’m sure he’ll be home when it comes time for dinner and a cuddle.’

  Mitchell spent the minutes before he went to bed watching the dog stretched out in his spare bedroom. He had always wanted a cat, but he’d known his father couldn’t be trusted around small defenceless animals, so it had stayed a secret desire. Then, when he grew up, he became a man who couldn’t be trusted around small defenceless animals.

  He considered his options. He could poison it and dump the body in the Wilsons’ driveway or he could take it fifty miles down the road and let it find its own way home. But neither of those things was convenient. He knew that Vinnie was going away in the morning and Anna would be by herself, alone, grieving, vulnerable.

  ‘You’re just a little bonus, aren’t you, Merlot?’ he murmured as he smiled at the dog.

  Vinnie hugged Anna and brushed the hair out of her eyes. ‘If you want me to stay until he comes back, I will,’ he said gently.

  She shook her head. ‘Don’t be silly. He’ll come racing in for his food anytime now. He never misses a meal, and he’ll be starving.’

  ‘If he doesn’t, will you organise a search party?’

  ‘If I have to.’

  ‘And will you ask Mitchell to help?’ he asked.

  She pulled back. ‘Do you mind?’

  He hesitated. ‘No, not really. But I do think he fancies you something rotten. I might have to teach him a lesson.’

  She smiled at him. ‘Should I hide the wine bottles?’

  He laughed. Their humour was a barometer of the relationship. ‘Pétrus is definitely too good for him!’

  Anna poked him in the chest with her finger. ‘Do you remember Louisa Logan, mister?’

  He grinned sheepishly. ‘Yes, and I get the point. She fancied me and we used to laugh about it.’

  ‘Exactly. Mitchell can fancy me all he likes but the best approach is for us to laugh about it. He won’t get anywhere.’

  Vinnie kissed her on the cheek. ‘Call me as soon as that scoundrel dog comes home.’

  After breakfast, Mitchell put Merlot in his sports car and drove down the road to the Wilsons’ home. Vinnie’s car was gone and the back door was closed. Anna answered the bell and, when the door opened, Merlot shot past her and into the house.

  ‘Merlot!’

  Without looking at Mitchell, she turned and followed the dog inside. When Mitchell joined her in the lounge, she was on her knees hugging Merlot and having her face licked.

  ‘Where did you get to? Naughty boy.’

  ‘I went for a walk in the trees on the other side of the road. I called him and – wouldn’t you just know it – he came to me. I was going to give him some steak but I wasn’t sure what you fed him,’ Mitchell said.

  Anna got up and held out her hand. ‘Thank you so much. I was afraid we had lost him.’ She kissed him on the cheek and he returned the kiss.

  ‘You’re so welcome, glad I could be of service.’

  Anna laughed.
‘Oh, you’re so delightfully American – a real southern gentleman.’

  He gave a little bow.

  ‘Would you like to have dinner with me this evening? To celebrate the dog’s happy return?’

  She gave a little frown. ‘I’d love to but we have a problem with one of the batches, due to go out Friday, and it needs my attention.’

  ‘Oh no. What kinda problem? If you don’t mind me asking.’

  She was obviously reluctant to share.

  ‘If it’s a chocolate issue, I’d be mighty interested to have a look. It could help with my research,’ he added.

  She seemed to make a decision to trust him. ‘Oh, it’s not a massive disaster or anything. When the girls were packing the white chocolates, they noticed that some of the boxes were stained. They opened them and the chocolates are leaking, possibly something to do with the coconut oil. But it’s not every box in the batch, which is strange.’

  He leaned towards her and put his hand on her arm. ‘My goodness, Charlotte, how fascinating! What will you do with them?’

  She couldn’t help it, she wanted to show him how in control she was – it was written all over her face and that amused him.

  ‘We can’t sell them and we can’t put them back into the next batch, it’ll upset the balance. So we’ll check every box and see how many are affected, then use those as give-aways, maybe donate them to a charity to use for fundraising.’

  He grinned broadly. ‘Well, I suppose as long as someone gets to enjoy them. It would be a right shame if they got thrown out.’

  She gave a small laugh. ‘That won’t happen. There’s too much investment in the ingredients, and there’s nothing wrong with them.’

  ‘Has anyone tried one?’

  She shook her head. ‘Not yet, but we will, before we give them away.’

  ‘Surely you deserve a little break, just one night. They’ll keep. I’ll show you my chocolate research,’ he added.

  She smiled at him and sighed. ‘How can I say no to that?’

  ‘Splendid! Around seven-thirty and I’ll barbecue you something special.’

  Vinnie strode into the Chocolate Box in Parnell, his supplies in a carry-all box in his hand. ‘Good morning, my lovely. How are you?’