Deadly Chocolate Addiction (Death by Chocolate Book 6)

by Sally Berneathy

  I climbed back up and pressed my glass to the wall.

  “I followed you here,” a man shouted loudly enough I could have heard him if I’d been standing outside in the alley. “The big question is, what are you doing here?”

  The man’s voice was familiar. If he’d speak in normal tones, I was sure I’d recognize him.

  “I’m having a business meeting with this gentleman.” Kathleen’s voice was indignant with a hint of fear.

  “Rick Kramer. I’m with Rheims Commercial Real Estate.”

  “I know who you are.”

  And suddenly I knew who the new participant was.

  Corey. Ransom’s protégé and Kathleen’s lover.

  “Mrs. Gabler and I were discussing some options for real estate investments,” Rick said.

  “Oh yeah? Well, I’ve been watching you, and I’d say the only thing going on here is you seducing my fiancé.”

  His fiancé?

  “I can assure you, no such thing is happening. Kathleen…Mrs. Gabler…maybe we’d better reschedule.”

  That’s my Rick. Run at the first sign of trouble.

  “I’ll call you,” Kathleen said.

  The bell jingled again. Either another player had come in or one had left. I assumed Rick had left the building.

  “I thought you were going back to St. Louis,” Kathleen said.

  “And I thought you were going to get your hair done,” Corey accused.

  “I have an appointment in an hour.”

  “You didn’t say anything about meeting with some sleazy real estate salesman.”

  Corey was amazingly perceptive about Rick.

  “I don’t have to tell you everything I do. I can’t believe you followed me!”

  “I can’t believe I have to follow you to find out what you’re doing. I knew something was going on. You’ve been avoiding me.”

  “We agreed we shouldn’t be seen together for a while. I took a big chance, spending the night with you.”

  “I’m tired of hiding. We’ve been doing that for almost a year. Jeff’s dead. We can be together in public now.”

  “You don’t think that might seem a little suspicious?” She lowered her voice so I could barely hear. “My husband’s been murdered, I’m the beneficiary of his life insurance, and you’re my lover. You don’t think that’s going to put us both on the suspect list? That detective, Lawson, has been harassing me, asking me all kinds of questions about my relationship with Jeff.”

  “Don’t answer any questions without your lawyer.”

  “I know that, but the man is really annoying. He’s not as easy to put off as Adam.”

  Not as easy to put off as Adam? She was going to pay for that remark. Or Trent was. Depending on whether it was the truth or a brag.

  “He came by to see me too. I told him about Jeff’s drinking problem and the spousal abuse. We’re fine. You need to stop worrying.”

  “And you need to leave, now. Get back to St. Louis and let me take care of things here.”

  “Things like that salesman? I saw your text messages to him. I know you told him you’re moving back here. Where does that leave us? I work in St. Louis. You’re supposed to be marrying me!”

  “You looked at my phone? You had no right to do that!”

  “I killed a man for you. I think that gives me a few rights.”

  I nearly dropped my glass, fumbled for it, and almost fell from my precarious perch.

  Had I heard right? Had Corey just confessed to murder? And he’d done it for her?

  My theory was right.

  I couldn’t wait to tell Trent.

  I pressed the glass back to the wall. I’d hoped for comments I could follow up on. I hadn’t expected a confession. This was like expecting vanilla ice cream and getting a hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and chopped nuts.

  “What kind of rights do you think you’ll have if we both get sent to prison? Get out of here. I’ll deal with Rick, though now I may have to sleep with him to make him forget he saw you. If I do, it’s your fault. If you’d gone back home when I told you to, everything would be fine.”

  “Lindsay, come down from there.”

  I gasped at the soft voice behind me, fumbled and grabbed futilely at a cabinet. My hand slid across the smooth surface.

  Fred clutched my shoulders and stopped my fall.

  I scrambled to get back up, but he halted my progress. “There’s a better way to do that, one that doesn’t involve killing yourself or throwing your back out,” he whispered.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Paula and Zach came by to tell me you needed help. It appears they were right.” He reached inside his pocket, withdrew two ear buds, handed one to me, and put the other in his own ear. Next he produced a small metal rectangle which he held against the wall.

  Silence then the sound of the bell over the front door jingling.

  My heart sank. One or both of them had left.

  I eased back the pocket door and peered into the room.

  The place was empty.

  I ran to the door and looked out. “They escaped!”

  “I think they’ll be relatively easy to find.”

  I spun around to face Fred. “Corey confessed! They’re murderers! They could be halfway to Mexico by now!”

  “Corey confessed?”

  It was worth every pain of standing over that sink to see a surprised look on Fred’s face. That doesn’t happen often.

  “Yes, he did. He said he killed a man for her.”

  “Interesting. Why don’t you lock the front door and let’s have some chocolate and talk.”

  This was definitely one of my proudest moments. I’d surprised Fred.

  I locked the front door. “Let me get my bag of goodies from the kitchen,” I said. “Go ahead and pour us some Cokes.”

  Too cool. We were having a discussion about my findings.

  When I returned with my chocolate leftovers, Fred had drinks, plates, and forks waiting. I served us each a piece of Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Cake.

  He took a bite. “Delicious, as always.”

  “So now all I have to do is tell Trent, he’ll arrest both of them, and everything will return to normal.”

  “It will give the police something to go on, but it’s not a done deal. Your testimony would be hearsay.”

  “But I heard him say it!” I listened to my own words. Heard…say. Hearsay. I chugged the remainder of my Coke, trying to drown my sorrows. “I have to do something to get enough evidence to send Kathleen to prison.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “I’m not sure. You have any ideas?”

  “We could capture her, tie her to a chair in my basement, and use cattle prods on her until she confesses.”

  “You have cattle prods?”

  “It was a joke.”

  “Damn. I was looking forward to going all Jack Bauer on her.” He cleverly avoided my question as to whether he had cattle prods. If I ever needed to prod any cattle, I’d check back with him. “If we must, we’ll come up with something that doesn’t involve torture.”

  “Like what?”

  “This is off the top of my head so it may need some refining. What if I tell Kathleen that Ransom left me a key and told me if anything happens to him, I should reveal the secret it guards at his memorial service? That gives her a short deadline.”

  Fred frowned. “And then?”

  “She comes after me to get the key, and that proves her guilt.”

  “Actually, it wouldn’t prove anything except that she wanted the key. What if she sends Corey after you to get the key and dispose of you because you know too much?”

  I slid off my stool and gathered up our dishes. “I’m not worried. You’ll be right around the corner with one of your gadgets recording the entire conversation. You’ve never let me get killed yet.”

  “I don’t like that idea. Let’s go back to the cattle prods.”

  “Okay.” I l
iked my idea and I wasn’t about to give up.

  He narrowed his eyes. “I know what okay means. Don’t do it. Don’t put yourself in danger. We’ll find another way.”

  “Okay.” I tried to look innocent. “Anyway, how do you think I’d get her to meet with me in the first place? It’s not like we’re best buds and I can just text her and ask her to do lunch.”

  He rose from his stool and looked at me for several seconds, his lips slowly curving upward. “Let me know when you get that meeting scheduled.”

  I smiled. He was in. “I need her cell phone number.”

  “If I give you her number, you have to promise to let me know every detail of what you’re doing, what she says, where and when you’re meeting her.”

  “Of course. Don’t I always?”

  He said nothing.

  “Well, this afternoon was spontaneous. Not planned.”

  He still said nothing.

  “It’s not like I was in any danger!”

  He continued to say nothing very loudly.

  “All right, all right! I promise!”

  “I’ll text you her number when we get home.”

  “What can I say to her to make sure she comes?”

  He said some more of that nothing, turned and headed toward the kitchen and the exit.

  Never hurts to ask.

  Sometimes it doesn’t help either.

  Chapter Fourteen

  As I drove home, I formulated a plan. Tonight I would be with two of the men in Kathleen’s life…Trent and Gary. I should be able to lure her to Capelli’s where I could taunt her about the key in complete safety, maybe even freak her out enough she’d confess in front of Trent.

  When I got home and opened my front door, Henry glared at me and stalked toward the kitchen. I was late. He was upset. A little food, a few mice, and he’d be happy again. He may be a cat, but he’s still a guy.

  While he ate, I dashed upstairs and showered then dressed in my best jeans, the ones with rhinestones and metal studs. Since purple is a royal color, I chose a purple blouse. Yes, a real blouse, not a T-shirt. I even put on makeup. With my coloring, there’s a fine line between looking like a ghost or a clown. I did my best to straddle that line.

  When I checked my cell phone, I found Fred’s text with Kathleen’s number.

  I sat on the bed and started a message to that number. I got as far as Kathleen then stared at the phone.

  Fred could have come up with something creative, something that would make her drop everything and dash down to the restaurant. I’m creative with chocolate but that’s about it.

  I rubbed my nose. I read somewhere that increases the flow of blood to the brain.

  It did not increase the flow of ideas for getting Kathleen to Capelli’s.

  I tried to think like Fred but that made my brain feel twisted and weird.

  I finally gave up and decided to think like Lindsay.

  Capelli’s at 7:30. Come alone.

  If I got a message like that, I’d have to follow up. I could only hope she was the curious type.

  I kept my word and texted Fred to tell him what I’d done.

  I needed a prop, something I could pretend held the key Ransom gave me.

  A tin of mints rested on my nightstand between my lamp and my iron skillet. Perfect.

  I dumped the mints onto a tissue.

  The box would work.

  It would work even better if I put a real key in it to rattle around.

  I had lots of unidentified keys. I opened my nightstand drawer, rummaged through the contents, and came up with one. It was small and not too different than the real key Ransom had left for me. Not that I intended to show Kathleen, but it should make the appropriate rattling sound.

  I transferred the contents of my regular black leather purse into my fancy black leather purse with metal studs. I felt empowered with all the bling. I tossed in my cell phone and put the tin in a side pocket for easy access.

  Thus prepared, I went downstairs to let Henry out for his evening of fun and frivolity.

  As I stood on the porch watching him stroll leisurely into the night, Trent pulled into the driveway and parked behind my car.

  “Hey, good-looking,” I called. “Come inside and I’ll show you a good time.” Though telling him I’d heard his ex-wife’s boyfriend confess to murdering on her behalf might not be his idea of a good time.

  “Hey, beautiful, I’m up for that.” He came over and gave me a quick kiss. “You look great. How was your day?”

  “Long and eventful.”

  He held the door for me. “Tell me.”

  “Let’s sit down with a Coke. Maybe two.”

  We went inside and I fetched a couple of Cokes then sat beside him on the sofa.

  I popped the top on my can and decided to start with the first event. Sort of like the warm-up band at a concert. “You’ll never guess who came to visit me today. Maggie and Warren Gabler.”

  “Oh?”

  Maybe I shouldn’t have told him. They had, after all, come to me because they didn’t think Trent believed Kathleen killed their son.

  “Nice people.” I took a drink to give me time to decide how much of the conversation I should tell him. Not telling him everything wasn’t the same as lying. Yeah, I’ve heard that lying by omission theory, but I don’t subscribe to it. Who tells everything they know? How boring would that be? I got up this morning and I took a shower and I put on my clothes and I fed Henry and I got in my car…

  ZZZZZZZZZZZ…

  “Yes, they are. What did you talk about?”

  I shrugged. “You, Gary, their son, Kathleen. I gave them some of my chocolate chip cookies and they liked them.” I didn’t feel comfortable admitting that the Gablers wanted me to convince him Kathleen had murdered their son, and I didn’t have to. All I had to do was tell him about Corey’s confession and her response.

  I set my can on the coffee table and perched on the edge of the sofa with my hands wrapped around my knees. “But the real news happened later after Rick and Kathleen came to my restaurant.” I got his attention with that statement. “While they were there, Corey Paggett burst in and accused her of cheating on him. Rick left, and Corey said he committed murder for her.”

  I might have been telling him about getting up in the morning, taking a shower, getting dressed, and feeding Henry for all the emotion Trent revealed.

  “Go on.” No emotion in his voice either.

  He was doing that cop thing again.

  I licked my lips. “Then she…” I hesitated. Kathleen hadn’t actually admitted to being a part of the murder. “Then she said, um, that she’d deal with Rick and she might have to sleep with him to make him forget he saw Corey and that Corey should have gone back to St. Louis.”

  Trent waited.

  My tongue had suddenly grown to fill my entire mouth. “And that’s all,” I mumbled.

  He waited.

  Of all the possible reactions I’d considered he might have…shock, sadness, horror, happiness, denial…I hadn’t expected no reaction.

  “I know it’s hearsay, but we can use it to get a confession. Right?”

  He took my hand. “I promise you, the police department is investigating this crime. We’ve got everything under control.”

  I had come to him with serious evidence, and he was brushing me off, assuring the little lady that the big cops were taking care of it and didn’t need her help.

  I bit back a snarky retort.

  I also bit back the urge to tell him of my clever plan to get Kathleen to join us for dinner. He might not think it was all that clever considering his reaction to my news. He might be a little irritated with me.

  There was no point in telling him about it when she might not even show up.

  If she did, I’d deal with it then.

  Tonight could be very interesting.

  Or a total disaster.

  If she didn’t show up, I couldn’t give her my message about the key.

 
If she did show up, Trent would probably not be happy.

  I wasn’t sure which scenario I was hoping for.

  “Ready to go?” he asked.

  “Sure. Let me grab a jacket.” I opened the coat closet and took out my favorite denim jacket, the one with rhinestones and metal studs. More bling. More empowerment. I was ready to face Kathleen.

  We drove to the small restaurant in downtown Pleasant Grove. Since it was only a few blocks from the Pleasant Grove Manor, Kathleen shouldn’t have any trouble getting there, should she feel so inclined.

  Trent pulled into the parking lot behind the restaurant. The building was about the same age as the hotel and had originally been a bank. The words First National Bank of Pleasant Grove were still engraved in the marble over the ornate door.

  Legend has it that a member of the Kansas City mafia converted the bank to a family-owned restaurant back in the fifties, and the wife of the current owner is a direct descendant of the mafia owner. Fred told me the woman’s birth name was Jones, so I doubt the mafia story is true. But it lends a certain ambiance to the place.

  We walked from the chill of the evening into warmth and delicious smells. Soft lighting muted the red and white checks of the tablecloths and the red vinyl of the booths. The place was crowded, but the conversations were murmurs thanks to the addition of modern acoustical tiles.

  Gary was already there. He and Trent did the man half-hug thing. Then he turned to me and wrapped me in a real embrace. He didn’t hold too tightly or press himself against me or anything gross. He smelled of some kind of woodsy cologne that reminded me more of one of those green trees hanging from a rear view mirror than the great outdoors though it wasn’t horrible. There was no reason for me to feel repulsed, but I did.

  I’d seen him open the door to let Kathleen inside. That image was stuck in my brain. I put one arm around him and patted him on the back then pulled away.

  The hostess led us to a booth halfway across the room. What if Kathleen didn’t see us?

  Gary started to sit on the side facing the door.

  “Wait!” I said. “We need to sit on that side.”

  “We do?” Trent asked.

  “Ever since the incident with that guy, I just can’t stand to sit with my back to the door.” There’d been more than one incident with more than one guy, so that should work.