She got out of the car and strode confidently to the front door.
A light went on and a man came to the door.
She went inside.
How many men was this woman sleeping with?
I drove slowly past the house and made note of the number. I’d have Fred find out who lived there and then I’d tell Trent. Yes, I was going to tattle on her. Somebody needed to.
I drove back home.
Fred was still awake. Light glowed through the blinds in his computer room. I could call him about the address.
I went inside, locked my front door, and started upstairs but hesitated on the first step.
I hadn’t exactly got Kathleen to confess, but I’d upset her. People make mistakes when they’re upset. They make bad decisions.
Like killing somebody who knows too much.
Maybe the man in the house was her partner instead of or in addition to Corey. Maybe she was even now telling him they had to get rid of me.
I got my iron skillet from the kitchen and went upstairs.
Henry curled at the foot of my bed, snoring softly.
I called Fred.
“I can’t believe you went for a drive in your pajamas. I hope it was worth it.”
Fred had been watching. I felt comforted. Or spied on. Whatever.
“She didn’t go to Trent’s place.”
“Then she didn’t spot you. If she’d known you were following her, she’d have gone there just to upset you.”
I sank onto the edge of the bed and gave myself a mental slap upside the head. “You’re right. She would have and I would have let her do it.” Bright red anger flamed through my gut, anger at Kathleen and anger at myself that I would have allowed her to dupe me. “I have the address where she went. Can you get me a name?”
“Of course.”
I recited the house and street number. “I’m going to take that woman down. She’s going to jail and I’m going to visit her there and tell her how awful she looks in orange.”
“That’s beginning to look like a possibility. I have some new information. Carl Smith, a man who bears a striking resemblance to Corey Paggett, spent the last two nights at the Sleep-E-Z Motel a few miles from here.”
“I was right! He came to town early to kill Ransom.”
“Circumstantial evidence, but he had the opportunity. And checking into a motel under an alias is suspicious.”
“How do you know Carl Smith is Corey Paggett?”
“Security camera. Go to bed and get some sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow with a name for that address.” He hung up before I could ask what made him look at the security camera footage in the first place. He’d just give me another oblique answer.
Hoyt Axton burst into my dreams singing Wild Bull Rider.
I sat bolt upright in bed.
Fred’s ring tone.
1:45 a.m.
I grabbed the phone. “Do you have another woman stuck in your closet?”
“No, but you have an ex-husband breaking into your restaurant.”
Chapter Nine
Fred insisted on driving. This time he used the power I knew he had under the hood of that car.
“Way to go, Fred,” I complimented as he turned a corner on two wheels.
A few minutes after we left his driveway, we pulled into the alley behind Death by Chocolate.
Rick and a tall stranger looked up at our arrival. Both men had boxes in their arms and had been moving toward my open back door until they saw us.
Boxes with the logos of well-known chocolate manufacturers.
Rick’s chocolate scam. The one I’d almost been sucked into.
I leapt out of the car before Fred came to a complete stop. “What are you doing?” I demanded.
Rick smiled. “Hi, Lindsay!” He turned to the other guy. “It’s okay, Clayton. Lindsay, this is Clayton Underwood, Robin’s brother.”
“Robin’s brother? You involved Robin’s brother in your scheme?” I tried to slam the car door. The Mercedes was too well built. It closed quietly. That added to my frustration. I strode over to Rick. “This is all so wrong I don’t even know where to start!”
Rick nodded to Clayton. “Go on inside. I’ll be right there.”
Fred joined me. “I would be very interested to hear why you’ve broken into Lindsay’s place to move boxes of chocolate inside. That’s not the way a burglary usually works.”
I balled my fists. “I don’t care why! Just shoot him!” I didn’t know if Fred had a gun with him, but Rick didn’t know either.
Rick’s smile wavered. Moisture glistened in his hair and on his face. I knew it was rain, not sweat, but it added to his guilty look. “Why don’t we get the rest of these boxes inside before the rain damages the contents? Then we can talk.”
In my anger, I hadn’t noticed the seven other boxes sitting in the alley, all with stickers of various premium brands of chocolate, all getting wet.
My one moment of weakness, of agreeing to talk to him about the chocolate scheme, of not saying No over and over and over…it was enough for him to go ahead with his plans. In fairness to me, he’d probably have gone ahead with his plans even if I had said No over and over and over.
Clayton looked guilty as he came out, picked up another box, and went inside.
Rick followed.
“I’m calling the cops!” I yanked my cell phone out of my pocket.
Fred laid a hand over mine. “You may not want to do that.”
I tried to free my hand. “I’m pretty sure I do.”
“Clayton’s been in trouble before.”
I stopped trying to get control of my cell phone and looked at Fred’s not-quite-serene profile. “What kind of trouble?”
“Drugs. A year ago when he was eighteen he was caught dealing meth. Robin hired a lawyer and got him off with two years’ probation. If you report him to the police for breaking and entering, they’ll revoke his probation.”
Rick came out to get another box.
“I’m going to kill you,” I promised him. “Not just for what you’re doing to me but for what you’re doing to Robin’s brother.”
He ignored me and carried the box inside.
I stalked into my kitchen. It was full of boxes, probably forty or fifty.
Clayton avoided my eyes as he went out to retrieve another one.
Rick started after him.
I grabbed his shoulder. “Get these boxes out of here! This is insane! There’s no room for Paula and me to cook.”
He shrugged off my hand. “No problem. Somebody will be here any minute to pick them up. When you didn’t call me, I called you several times and left messages. You should check your voicemail more often.” He tossed the last words over his shoulder as he went outside.
Of course this whole thing was my fault.
Fred came in. “Lindsay, it might be a good idea if you go home and let me handle this.” He extended his car keys to me.
I gaped at him. “Go home? Drive your car? Are you having some kind of mental breakdown?”
“I’ll call you to return for me when this is over.”
I shivered and not because of the cold damp that trickled through the open door. If he wanted me to go home so badly he’d let me drive his car, something awful was coming down. “No.” I wasn’t about to miss that something awful.
Rick and Clayton moved the last of the boxes inside. Clayton went out and Rick closed the door behind him.
“Get him back in here,” I ordered. “I want to yell at both of you.”
“He’s waiting for our partners to arrive.”
Fred moved between Rick and the door. “Rick, you no longer have ownership in this piece of property. Breaking in was illegal.”
Rick shrugged. “I had no choice. Lindsay wouldn’t return my phone calls, and she changed the lock.”
I clasped my head with both hands. “You had a choice! You could have stayed outside!”
“Not with the rain, b
abe. Cardboard boxes. No harm done. I didn’t break down the door. I just used my little gadget to open the lock.”
Great. He had a little gadget. Now I couldn’t even lock him out. “After I told you I didn’t want to get involved, why did you do it anyway? Why didn’t you have this stuff delivered to your house or your office?”
“It’s chocolate. We had to have a verified end user to get it into the country.”
“A verified end user?” I looked around at all the boxes. “I use a lot of chocolate. I would not use this much chocolate in a year!”
“They don’t know that.”
A truck rumbled up outside.
Clayton opened the door. “They’re here!”
Rick gave his brightest salesman’s smile. “We’ll have these boxes out of your restaurant in five minutes flat.”
He and Clayton each grabbed one.
“Who are they?” I called after him. “Fred, who are they?”
He stared after Rick and shook his head.
I reached for a box. “Let’s help them get these gone.”
Fred restrained me. “Don’t touch them.”
I drew back my hand. I wasn’t sure if Fred thought the boxes were toxic or that I shouldn’t get my fingerprints on them. In either event, I decided to take his advice.
Rick and Clayton returned with two large hairy men. I would not have wanted to meet either of them in a dark alley.
The new guys carried two boxes at a time. The four men emptied my kitchen in a short time. Probably longer than Rick’s promised five minutes, but not by a lot.
Clayton and the new guys left. Rick stopped just inside the door. “I’ll see that you get free samples for your trouble, Lindsay.” He smiled and winked.
“I don’t want free samples!”
He closed the door, and I breathed a sigh of relief that the mess was over. “I’ve got just enough time to go home and shower before I have to come back for work. I’m going to be dragging tomorrow. Well, today, technically speaking.”
“You’ll be fine. Have an extra Coke or two.” Fred strode toward the door then stopped and cursed. I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard him curse before.
He flung the door open and charged outside. “Guys, you forgot one!”
He was right. They’d somehow missed a box sitting in the corner under the sink.
I cursed too, but that was no big deal. I’ve heard me curse a lot.
Rick came back in.
Fred pointed to the box.
Rick reached down and lifted it. The bottom fell out, dropping plastic bags of chocolate everywhere. He cursed too. Whole lot of cursing going on. “It got wet.”
I grabbed a trash bag and handed it to him. “Use this. Just get your stuff out of here.”
He held up a bag of dark cocoa. “Sure I can’t tempt you?”
Of course it tempted me. That cocoa looked like the good stuff. “No. You have thirty seconds to clear out.”
Fred stood threateningly beside the door. Well, he stood there casually, but somehow he looked threatening.
Rick cleared out with his trash bag of chocolate and the remnants of the soggy cardboard box.
Fred draped an arm around my shoulders. “I’ll get you home as fast as I can so perhaps you can get a few minutes of sleep.”
“Thanks.” I had too much adrenalin pumping to be able to sleep, but I liked going fast in Fred’s car so I didn’t argue.
I had a couple of extra Cokes the next morning and was my normal hyper self.
While Paula made biscuits, I put together my Chocolate Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Filling. “We’re going to have to get some kind of lock Rick can’t pick and let himself inside any time he takes a notion to.” I poured chocolate cake batter into half a dozen Bundt pans.
“Maybe a combination lock of some sort.” Paula filled a large pan with biscuits. “That’s pretty creepy that he just waltzed in here last night and brought in those boxes. If Fred hadn’t called you, they’d have been in and out, and we’d never have even known it happened. How did Fred know he was breaking in?”
“After that crazy woman set fire to Death by Chocolate, he installed a security camera and an alarm. When the alarm went off in the middle of the night, he checked the camera and saw Rick.” I added a portion of cream cheese filling to each pan then topped it with the rest of the chocolate cake mixture. “I wonder if Robin knows. If she does, surely she’d be worried about her brother and she’d shoot Rick. Maybe I should tell her.”
Paula took two pans of cinnamon rolls out of the oven and put in the biscuits. “I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to get involved in your ex-husband’s relationship with his new girlfriend.”
“But he’s dragging her brother into something illegal!”
“Other than breaking in here, you don’t know that what they’re doing is illegal. You really need to stay out of it.”
I slid my cakes into the other oven. I tried to slam the door. It closed with a thunk but not a very loud one. All of a sudden I couldn’t seem to slam anything.
“Fine. Whatever. I won’t call Robin and tattle on Rick. Sometimes you’re not much fun.”
She looked up and smiled. Of course she did. She won the argument.
“If new evidence comes to light, I reserve the right to change my mind,” I said. “If Rick has sucked her brother into something that could get him thrown into jail and mess up his probation, she needs to know.”
Paula and I had scrubbed the last pot, put the last plate in the dishwasher, and cleaned the last tile on the floor.
Time to go home.
Finally.
I heaved a sigh of relief and went to double check that the front door was locked.
A man walked up to the door, lifted his hand in a wave, and smiled.
“Sorry, we’re closed.”
“You must be Lindsay.”
My heart sank. The last time I heard that sentence was from Kathleen a couple of days ago and things hadn’t worked out so well that time.
My phone burst into a piercing, annoying ringtone. Rick.
I considered not answering, but it gave me an excuse to turn away from the man at the door who insisted I must be Lindsay.
“Are you still at the shop?” Rick asked.
“We’re just leaving.”
“Can you stay a few minutes? I need to come over.”
“No, we can’t, and no, you don’t.” I hung up.
The man waited outside the door. He looked vaguely familiar though there was nothing outstanding about his appearance. Tall, brown hair, white shirt, gray slacks. Probably been in the place any number of times. I bit back the urge to tell him to go away. Maybe he wanted cookies for his elderly aunt who’d come to town unexpectedly. I couldn’t afford to insult my customers. Being a minor celebrity carries a heavy burden.
I forced my tired lips to smile. “Can I help you?” I shouted to make sure he could hear me through the closed door.
“I’m Gary Durant. I went to school with Adam and Jeff.”
“Oh!”
“I wanted to come by and meet you. Adam and I had dinner last night, and he told me all about you. I’m sorry I’m here so late. I got held up in court.”
Rick called again.
I answered. “Go away!”
Gary looked startled.
I hit the end button on my phone. “Not you.” I held up the phone. “Annoying salesman.”
I unlocked the door and opened it enough we didn’t have to shout. “Pleased to meet you, Gary.” Yes, it was inane, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say except Go away.
“Lindsay?” I turned at the sound of Paula’s voice. She stood by the kitchen doors, handbag in hand, ready to leave.
“You can go on and pick up Zach. This is Gary Durant, a friend of Trent’s.”
Rick called again.
Paula didn’t move.
I put the phone to my ear. “I’m on my way home
already, Rick!” I hung up.
“I’ll wait.” Paula went back into the kitchen. She wouldn’t go far. She has a very suspicious nature. She’d be listening.
Gary handed me a business card. “Again, I apologize for delaying you. When you have a minute, I’d like to visit since Adam said you talked to Jeff before he died. We lost touch, and I never got to say good-bye. I’d really like to hear about his last day.”
My phone rang again. “I’m already home!” I shouted even as my sleepy brain registered that it had not been Rick’s ringtone.
“No, you’re not,” Fred said.
“No, I’m not.” I mouthed Thank you at Gary, locked the door, and turned away.
“I have a name for that address Kathleen went to last night.”
A call from Rick beeped in. I ignored him.
“What’s the name?”
“Gary Durant. He’s—”
I spun around to face the door. Gary was gone. “No wonder he looked familiar. He was just here.”
“What? Why?”
“Trent and Ransom’s friend. Kathleen’s sleeping with him too.”
“You didn’t watch the house all night to see when she left so you don’t know that for sure. Why did he come to see you?”
I looked at the card in my hand. Gary Durant, Attorney at Law, Hoskins, Morris and Gabler. “Trent told him I talked to Ransom. Gary never got to say good-bye so he wanted to hear about his friend’s last day. I can’t wait to tell Trent that his ex is completing her round of sleeping with his friends. I wonder if she’ll go after Lawson next. I’d like to see that.” My nickname for Trent’s partner, Gerald Lawson, is Granite Man. Not that I ever call him that to his face. But if I did, I doubt he’d register any emotion.
The thought of Kathleen going after him made me smile.
“Quite convenient that you have an invitation to talk to Gary. I’d like to go with you.”
“Cool. He’s already seen me, but you can be somebody fun. How about an undercover CIA agent? Or a famous racecar driver hiding from his fans?” I thought of Kathleen’s comment about him having a British accent. “How about my uncle on my mother’s side who’s just arrived from England?”
He didn’t bite on any of my suspicions about him. “How about I’m your neighbor who’s concerned about your welfare when meeting with a strange man while a murder investigation’s going on around you?”
Deadly Chocolate Addiction (Death by Chocolate Book 6) Page 8