Firebrand
Eliza Carlisle Mystery, Book 2
1: Sinking Feeling
I glared at the plates as they disappeared from the order window. Or, more accurately, I glared at the person who had removed them. Danielle flashed me a venom-laden smile before turning away. The temptation to throw something at the back of her head was so hard to resist.
“Let it go, Eliza,” Saul muttered.
That was the only advice he ever offered up for dealing with Danielle. He called her a queen bee. Everyone else called her much worse. “She dumped those plates back through the window on purpose.”
Saul declined to comment.
“That’s the third time tonight I’ve had to remake an order because she accidentally knocked the plate back through the window. Not to mention the food that was on the grill which she also ruined,” I pointed out. “Don’t you care that she’s wasting food?”
He turned away shaking his head and muttering under his breath.
Clearly, Saul wasn’t going to do anything about Danielle. It was up to me, as usual.
“What’d you do that’s got her so pissed off anyway?” Saul asked.
“Who says I did anything?”
Giving me a knowing look, he waited for a response.
Grunting in annoyance, I turn my attention back to the burgers on the grill. “She found out Sean invited me to his uncle’s cabin along with a bunch of other people. She’s acting like the two of us are going away for some romantic weekend. Which is stupid. Sean’s made it perfectly clear that I’m way too much trouble for him. We are strictly friends.”
Saul shook his head. “Danielle used to be the one he invited to the cabin, and it was a romantic getaway for them.”
I scoffed. Romantic? First off, I couldn’t imagine Sean actually being romantic. Second, Puck was coming. That thought inspired all kinds of mixed up emotions. Puck was handsome and fun and into me. If anything remotely romantic was going to happen for me out in the woods, it wouldn’t be with Sean. That was almost certainly not going to be the case, regardless. Puck was a player. Sort of. A nice guy, sure, but a risk…and not the kind of distraction I needed while trying to survive one of the country’s toughest culinary schools while avoiding my dangerous past catching up with me.
“Danielle will cool off. Ignore her.” Saul said that last part a bit more firmly than usual. He knew I came up with creative ways to ruin the meal she took home after work each night, and had never objected before. I wondered why this time he was bothering to dip his toe into our ongoing battle.
Before I could puzzle it out, a crash sounded from the dining room. It was followed up by several gasps and one startled shriek of fear. Saul groaned. I held my breath, expecting the worst. Since coming to Manhattan, I had been accused of stealing evidence in a murder investigation by a corrupt cop and been dragged into a human trafficking case by one of my culinary school classmates. Life in the big city had been anything but calm or safe. I’d had more guns pointed at me in the last month and a half than most people would see in an entire lifetime. Even the smallest hint of danger or unwelcomed excitement put me on edge.
I held my spatula out in front of me, as though it had some shielding potential. Saul grumbled his way toward the dining room to investigate. I didn’t move a muscle until he shouted, “Someone call 911!”
Damn it! What now?
I snatched my phone out of my pocket and dialed the three numbers as I forced myself to leave the kitchen and enter the dining area. It probably said something about as me as a person that I was more annoyed than concerned by the man slumped halfway out of the booth with his food spilled all over the floor. I’d hit my max of drama in this city about a week after I got here. Why was it so hard to just get through school without craziness dogpiling on you every five seconds?
Instantly, I felt terrible for putting my own sanity and peace of mind over this poor guy’s health. I realized then that the guy’s health was irrelevant. He wasn’t choking or having a heart attack. His frozen face and stiff posture sent a chill through me. He was dead.
It had damn well better be of natural causes, I thought uncharitably as I tapped send and completed the call. Looking away from the man, I tried to pass off the weird feeling I had that said this wasn’t going to be a simple case, but something didn’t seem right about the way he’d fallen.
I waited through the standard “what’s your emergency” message from the 911 operator and tried to push aside any thoughts of foul play I responded.
“My name is Eliza Carlisle. I work at Saul’s Diner, and we just had a man collapse in the dining room. I think he’s…dead.”
“I’m sending paramedics to your location right now. Have you checked for a pulse?” the woman asked.
“My boss just did,” I said. Judging by the shake of Saul’s head, my initial guess was spot on. I crossed my fingers my second guess wouldn’t be. “He can’t find a pulse,” I told the operator. “He’s not breathing, and he’s very…still.”
The operator hesitated a moment before continuing. “Is there anyone on the premises who is trained in CPR?”
I really wasn’t sure, but when I turned to ask Saul, I realized he’d already begun compressions. “My boss already started,” I said.
I knelt down, thinking the operator might want to talk to Saul since he was the one trying to save the guy, but something caught my eye before I could offer to give him the phone. My eyes narrowed as I stared at the dead man. There was something on his mouth. Saul stopped compressions and moved to give the man a rescue breath, but I grabbed the back of his shirt on instinct and held him back.
Glancing back at me in confusion, Saul started to say something, but I pointed at the man’s mouth. “What is that?”
“What is what?” the operator asked.
I’d forgotten she was still on the line. Even after realizing she was still listening, I spoke to Saul instead of her. “There’s this weird white powder at the corners of his mouth. It almost looks like artificial sugar, but…”
“The consistency isn’t right for artificial sweetener,” Saul said.
He stood and stepped over to the table, scanning the mess for some clue. His gaze fixed on something I couldn’t see. Curious, but hoping with everything I had that it wasn’t anything worthy of police involvement, I stood and stepped over to the table as well. Nothing stood out at first. It wasn’t until Saul pointed at an open sugar packet lying on the table next to a blueberry muffin that I even noticed the bit of trash. Even then, I wasn’t sure why it had caught his attention.
“We don’t carry that brand,” Saul said, “and that doesn’t look like sweetener.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
He nodded, his mouth turning down in a deep, worried drown.
“Do not touch the powder,” the 911 operator said in a way that made me think she’d already repeated herself several times.
“Yeah,” I replied dumbly.
“Emergency services are on their way. Do not touch the victim or any of the powder. Back away from the victim, please.”
Laying my hand on Saul’s arm, I gently urged him back from the dead man. I couldn’t help hoping we were wrong and it was just sugar, but deep down I knew it wasn’t. I knew because I had the same feeling in the pit of my stomach that I’d had the first moment I saw them carting Ms. Sinclair off in a body bag, and the moment Rapha said his sister hadn’t arrived at the airport as planned. Something was very, very wrong. Wrong enough that the police were going to ask questions and take statements and start pointing fingers at suspects. I had the distinct, sinking feeling I was going to be one of those people.
Also by DelSheree Gladden
The Handbook Series
The Crazy Girl’s Handbook
The Oblivious Girl’s Handbook
Eliza Carlisle Mystery Series
Trouble Magnet
The Catalyst
Firebrand
Instigator (coming soon)
The Arcane Wielder Series
Life & Being
The Ghost Host Series
The Ghost Host: Episode 1
The Ghost Host: Episode 2
Escaping Fate Series
Escaping Fate
Soul Stone
Oracle Lost
(Coming Soon)
Twin Souls Saga
Twin Souls
Shaxoa’s Gift
Qaletaqa
The Destroyer Trilogy
Inquest
Secret of Betrayal
Darkening Chaos
Someone Wicked This Way Comes Series
Wicked Hunger
Wicked Power
Wicked Glory
Wicked Revenge
The Aerling Series
Invisible
Intangible
Invincible
The Date Shark Series
Date Shark
Shark Out Of Water
The Only Shark In The Sea
Shark In Troubled Waters
About the Author
DelSheree Gladden was one of those shy, quiet kids who spent more time reading than talking. Literally. She didn't speak a single word for the first three months of preschool, but she had already taught herself to read. Her fascination with reading led to many hours spent in the library and bookstores, and eventually to writing. She wrote her first novel when she was sixteen years old, but spent ten years rewriting and perfecting it before having it published.
Native to New Mexico, DelSheree and her husband spent several years in Colorado for college and work before moving back home to be near family again. Their two children love having their cousins close by. When not writing, you can find DelSheree reading, painting, sewing and trying not to get bitten by small children in her work as a dental hygienist. DelSheree has several bestselling young adult series, including "Invisible" which was part of the USA Today Bestselling box set, "Pandora." The “Date Shark Series” is her first contemporary romance series, now joined by her first romantic comedy, “The Crazy Girl’s Handbook,” and the comedic “Eliza Carlisle Mystery Series.”
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Trouble Magnet Page 28