Hot Chocolate and Homicide

by Cindy Bell

  “Sh.” He whispered in her ear. “No need to upset Mee-Maw, right?”

  In her panic, she didn’t quite recognize the voice. She knew that it was familiar, but not who it belonged to. As the person pulled her towards the door, she realized she needed to do something, anything to draw attention to the fact that she was being taken. She kicked out her leg in an attempt to knock over some boxes, but he pulled her back before she could reach them. She screamed against his hand, but his grasp muffled her voice. The moment he pushed her through the back door, she knew exactly who had her. The milk truck was parked right by the door, with the back doors wide open and waiting for her. The person who held her was too tall to be Marlo. He shoved her into the back of the truck, and grabbed a large roll of tape. As she stared at him, with wide eyes, too stunned to move, Isaac slapped a thick piece of tape over her mouth. An instant later she flung her fist towards his face. He caught her wrist and pinned it behind her back. Within seconds her hands were bound, as were her legs. He gazed hard into her eyes.

  “Behave.” He latched her to the inside of the truck with a strong rope wound around her bent arms. She kicked her bound feet against the metal floor of the bottom of the truck. Despite the fact that she tried, the kicks did not create much of a commotion. Her heart sank as she wondered what he planned to do with her. Why would he take her in the first place? He slammed the doors shut.

  Charlotte finished wiping down the counters, then headed to the kitchen to grab the sample trays. When she stepped in, she noticed a burning smell. Her heart jolted as she swept the kitchen in search of Ally.

  “Ally? Did you leave the burner on?” She frowned as she turned the switch to off. The kitchen was quiet. After a moment, she checked the bathroom, but there was no sign of Ally. Her stomach twisted as she turned away from the bathroom. Her shoulder struck something solid and soft at the same time. She gasped as she recognized the sensation. She’d bumped into someone, but it wasn’t Ally. “Isaac?” She stared into his eyes as he stood over her. “How did you get in here?”

  “Sh.” He slapped some tape over her mouth, then spun her around and bound her by the wrists.

  Charlotte tried to squirm out of his grasp, but he was quite skilled at what he was doing. As he pushed her towards the door she looked for anything that she could use to send out a signal that she was not safe. However, there was nothing. Her cell phone was in her purse out front, and she guessed that Ally had left hers behind as well. When she saw the delivery truck outside, her heart sank. No one would see them in the back of that. Isaac opened the double doors, then pushed her inside. She saw Ally curled up, not far from her, but she couldn’t call out to her. As soon as the doors slammed shut, Charlotte struggled against the tape around her wrists. She didn’t want to draw Isaac’s attention to the slightly loose tape and have him wrap her wrists again. Despite the tape being a little loose, she couldn’t get her wrists free. She knew if she could get close enough to Ally they could work together to set each other free.

  Ally heard the doors open, then slam closed again. Her heart dropped as her worst fears came true. She had hoped that Isaac would leave her grandmother alone. Maybe he’d only wanted her, though she still didn’t know why he wanted her. But there was her grandmother, just as bound as she was, and crawling towards her. She strained against the tape over her mouth, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t force any words past.

  Charlotte wriggled up beside her, just as the engine roared to life. She managed to get her fingers to the rope that had Ally bound to the side of the truck. As she tugged the rope free, she gazed at her granddaughter with fear. What were Isaac’s intentions?

  Once Ally’s hands were free of the rope, Charlotte tugged at the tape that bound them. Ally winced as the heavy tape tugged at her skin. It took a few minutes, as the truck rolled along the road, but soon her wrists were completely free. She immediately tugged at the tape on Charlotte’s wrists. She tried to be careful, but she could see the pain etched in her grandmother’s face as she pulled it free. Once their hands were free they both reached for the tape on their mouth. Ally put her finger to her mouth, signaling that they needed to be quiet, just before she ripped the tape off her skin. She had to clench her teeth hard to keep from screaming in reaction to the tearing sensation.

  Charlotte did the same, though a small moan did escape her lips. She braced herself for the truck to suddenly stop, but it didn’t. If he’d heard the sound, Isaac wasn’t concerned by it. Charlotte reached for Ally and pulled her close into a tight embrace. Then they went to work on the tape on their legs.

  Isaac didn’t speak, or turn the radio on. He just drove. Ally and Charlotte whispered to each other, afraid that he would figure out they were free if he overheard them

  “Where do you think he’s taking us?” Charlotte clutched Ally’s hand.

  “I don’t know. I don’t even know why he took us. Gladys must have rejected his advances, that must have been why he killed her.” Ally grimaced as she thought of the horror that Gladys experienced. “Maybe he found out that we figured out who he gave that extra box of chocolates to.”

  “I never thought it was Isaac.” Charlotte closed her eyes. “Not for a second.”

  “I didn’t either.” Ally bit into her bottom lip. “He seemed like such a nice man. Now, what do you think he’s going to do with us?”

  “If he’s already killed once, then he’s more likely to kill again.” Her grim expression was an unusual one. Ally was used to her cheerful smiles, and always pleasant nature. She was usually the strong one. “So, we need to get out of this.”

  “We have to try to figure out where we are.” Ally listened to the sound of the tires against the pavement. “We’re definitely on a main road, not many bumps, and there are other cars, I can hear them.”

  “Yes.” Charlotte crawled towards the back of the truck. She searched for a handle to open the back doors, but there was no latch that could be released. “We’re going fast, too. Probably the highway.”

  “The highway.” Ally sighed. “Which means he could be taking us anywhere.” Just then the truck made a sharp turn, and both women slid across the truck. Ally gasped at the sudden movement. As the truck straightened back out again, she had to close her eyes to fight off dizziness. “He turned,” she mumbled. “We were only on the highway for a few minutes. The first turn off is the one to the park.”

  “He’s going to the park?” Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “Why would he be doing that?”

  “I don’t know.” Ally’s stomach twisted. “But I’m sure it’s not good.”

  “Maybe he’s taking us to someone else?” Charlotte sighed. “Maybe someone paid him to do this?”

  “Maybe. But I think that it’s possible he took us for another reason, I just can’t figure out what it is.”

  The truck slowed. Suddenly, the road was bumpy, and Ally could hear the sound of gravel crunching under the wheels.

  “Mee-Maw,” she whispered, and met her eyes. “We’re on the gravel path that winds around the lake. We’re definitely at the park. Maybe there will be people nearby.” Her heart lurched. “We should try to make as much noise as we can.”

  “But if we do, he’ll know we’re free.” Charlotte frowned. “What if we’re wrong, and we’re not at the park?”

  “The longer he has to drive, the less chance there is that we’ll be found. I don’t know, it might be our only chance, Mee-Maw. I know it’s a risk, but if we just wait, who knows what out of the way place he’ll take us to.”

  “You’re right, Ally, but let’s just wait a minute or two more. Let’s listen, and see if we can hear any voices or any other cars.”

  Both women pressed their ears close to the back doors of the truck. It was hard to hear anything over the engine, and the gravel.

  The crunch of the tires rolling across gravel gave way to a smooth sound. Ally’s eyes widened as she tried to figure out exactly where they were. She knew the park well. She’d walked there many tim
es with Arnold. What was around the gravel path that was smooth? It wasn’t bumpy enough to be grass. A cold horror crept through her veins as she realized what it was. The boat ramp. It was the only smooth thing near the gravel. They had to be going down the boat ramp!

  “Mee-Maw, he’s going to drive the truck into the lake!” Sheer panic flooded through Ally as she realized they had no way out of the truck. Once it went into the water it would be impossible to escape. She knew that the lake was deep enough to swallow the truck, and there wouldn’t be much chance of them surviving. If he was daring enough to drive straight into the lake, she guessed that there weren’t many other people around to stop him. But there was only one thing they could do.

  “No, he wouldn’t, he couldn’t!” Charlotte grasped at her chest for a moment. She took a deep breath, then nodded to Ally. “Let’s make some noise!”

  The two women began to scream. Ally kicked her feet against the back doors of the truck over, and over again, while Charlotte shrieked for help and banged on the wall of the truck. Despite how much they struggled, Ally felt as if it wasn’t loud enough. The refrigerated truck was well-built, its walls were thick.

  The truck continued to roll forward. Ally knew it was only a matter of seconds before they would be under water.

  “Quiet down back there!” Isaac shouted from the front of the truck. “This is the way things have to be! I never planned it this way, but this is it! We’re all going to come to an end together!”

  Ally thought about how icy the water would be. It was February and the lake had just begun to thaw from the cold winter. There were still some ice patches in places. But mostly it was frigid water, from shore to shore. Even if the truck didn’t fill completely with water right away the cold water would do just as much damage. She closed her eyes and grabbed her grandmother’s hands. As she held them tight, she tried to figure out any way out of the truck. But without a crowbar, they could not get the back doors open, and that was the only exit.

  “Please, Isaac!” She shouted towards the front of the truck. “Let us out! Please!”

  She heard a screech of tires. The truck stopped moving forward. She breathed such a deep sigh of relief that her entire body shook from it.

  Charlotte laughed, and moaned at the same time.

  Ally understood the mixture of emotions. Would the truck begin to move again?

  Chapter 18

  Ally heard shouts coming from outside the truck. They weren’t clear enough for her to recognize any voices in particular, but she knew that there were other people outside the truck. That alone was enough to give her a second wind of energy. She screamed at the top of her lungs and kicked hard at the doors. Charlotte soon joined in.

  “Let go, let go of me!” Isaac shouted from the front of the truck. “It’s over! I have to do this! I have to!”

  Ally grabbed her grandmother’s hand and squeezed her eyes shut. She knew that things could go either way. If Isaac panicked he might plunge the truck into the lake. If he was pulled out of the truck, they might be set free within moments.

  “It’s going to be okay, Ally.” Charlotte rubbed her hand. “Listen, there are people out there. They are here to help us. Everything is going to be okay.”

  “You’re right, Mee-Maw, I know you are.” Ally still held her breath. When the doors to the truck opened, Ally was blinded by the sudden sunlight.

  “Ally!”

  The familiar voice brought tears to her eyes. “Luke, please get us out of here.” She reached for him as she squinted against the sun. Errol climbed onto the truck and helped Charlotte off, as Luke wrapped his arms around Ally and held her close.

  “You’re safe now, sweetheart, I’ve got you. You’re safe.” He kissed her cheek, then her lips. Ally was a little surprised, as he didn’t usually show affection in front of his colleagues.

  “I love you, Luke.”

  “I love you, too. Are you okay?” He brushed her hair away from her face. “Did he hurt you?”

  “No.” She shook her head as she blinked back tears. “I’m okay. We’re both okay. It was Isaac. I just can’t believe it. Why would he do this?”

  “That’s what I’m going to find out.” Luke helped her down off the truck, then headed straight for a small gathering of officers. Isaac was in the middle of them, cuffed, with tears rolling down his cheeks. Luke pushed past the other officers and glared straight at Isaac. “You made a terrible mistake, didn’t you, Isaac?”

  “Yes.”

  “You killed Gladys?”

  “There’s no way to fix it.” Isaac shook his head. “I didn’t want anyone to know the truth. I knew that Ally and Charlotte figured it out, because they sent you looking for me and my wife. I knew if they told the truth, then everyone would know what I’d done, and I just couldn’t live with that.”

  “What did you do?” Luke took a step closer to him.

  Charlotte and Ally huddled close together not far from the gathering of police officers. Neither had a coat on, and the cool air around them caused them to shiver, but their focus remained on Isaac.

  “I loved her, I loved her more than I have ever loved anyone. We were going to be together. Then Marlo found out about our affair. I was scared he was going to squeal.”

  “So, you tried to kill him so he wouldn’t tell your wife?” Luke asked.

  “Well, yes.” He grimaced. “But I was more worried that if he told everyone, or even if Gladys found out he knew about our relationship, she would call off our relationship. She was always so scared about someone finding out, she wanted to maintain her reputation. She often threatened to call it off because she was worried that if the community found out she was having an affair they would look down on her. I even offered to leave my wife, but she refused because then people would know. Gladys was the love of my life, I couldn’t risk losing her.” His eyes filled with tears as he looked down at his hands. He looked up as a few of the officers muttered. “I decided I would do something.”

  “What did you do?” Luke pressed.

  “That day, I waited until Marlo went out into the fields. I didn’t know why he was there. I waited until he left his quad bike. I cut the brake lines, so that he would crash. I figured, all of our troubles would be over. I never expected it to be Gladys that got on the quad bike! I never meant to kill her!” Fresh tears flowed down his cheeks as he took sharp anguished breaths. “I didn’t mean to do it!”

  “Enough.” Luke nodded to Errol. “Take him into the station, we need to get a recorded statement.”

  As he turned back towards Ally and Charlotte he again offered a smile of relief.

  “I’m so glad that you’re both safe. I’m going to need statements from you, too. Do you want to ride with me?”

  Ally slid her hand into his. She nodded, wordlessly. There was nowhere she felt safer than at Luke’s side, and right then, she wanted more than anything to get as far away from the delivery truck, and the lake as she could.

  “I almost feel sorry for him,” Charlotte murmured as she joined them in the heated car. She rubbed her hands together and sighed as the heat flooded through her. “Almost.”

  “He meant to kill someone, he just didn’t mean to kill her.” Ally set her jaw. “I don’t feel sorry for him at all. He meant to kill us, too, don’t forget.”

  “How can I?” Charlotte shivered despite the warmth. “To think he was at our shop each morning and never once did I sense that he could be the murderer.”

  “What about Harriet?” Ally’s eyes widened. “Did he hurt her? Did you find her, Luke?”

  “I found her. Not long before I found you. She was never missing. She was visiting her sister while she made plans to file for divorce.” He looked over at her. “You had good reason to be worried, just about the wrong spouse.”

  “How did you find us?” Charlotte sat forward in the backseat. “Not that I’m complaining.”

  “No, I hope not.” Luke flashed her a smile. “Actually, you have Mrs. Bing to thank for that.”r />
  “Mrs. Bing?” Ally stared at him.

  “She was waiting for you to open and noticed the truck squeal out from behind the shop. When she couldn’t get hold of either of you she got worried and called me. We were able to trace the truck with local traffic cameras, unfortunately we couldn’t catch up with it until it reached the park. I’m sorry we didn’t get to it sooner.” He frowned as he looked between both of them. “You two gave me a real scare.”

  “You?” Charlotte laughed. “You should have seen the two of us flopping around like fish in the back of that truck!”

  By the time all of the statements had been taken, and the paperwork filed, it was already late in the evening. Ally was relieved to get ready to head back to the cottage, but Luke caught her on the way towards the door.

  “Wait a minute.” He pulled her back to him. “Can you tell me something?”

  “That I love you?” She smiled as she looked into his eyes.

  “Well yes, that, but something else, too. Why was there evidence of a break-in at the cottage? I sent some officers to check it while we tracked the truck. Did you know about that?” He searched her eyes.

  “Yes, I did.” She frowned. “But I didn’t want to bother you with it.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” He cupped her face with his hands. “You never bother me, understand? Of course I want to know if someone broke into your home. Isaac admitted that he broke in to see if he could find anything to use against you, to keep you quiet about the affair. But he didn’t find anything.”

  “I’m sorry, Luke, I should have told you.”

  “Yes.” He kissed her lightly on the lips. “I may be a detective, Ally, but I’m your partner first. We’ll always be a team, got that?”