Tastes Like Murder (Cookies & Chance Mysteries Book 1) (23 page)

"Life?" Ellen grabbed the gun from Charlotte and pointed it at my head in a rage. I held my breath, afraid to make any sudden sound or movement. "What life? I've never had any life because of that man. He's always been overbearing and a control freak. He molested me and my sister, Emma, when we were children. Did you know that? No, because my mother wanted it hushed up. Thanks to him, my sister killed herself, or don't you remember?"

Josie's eyes filled with terror and she nodded slowly. I remained perfectly still as I recalled the incident. Emma, three years Ellen's senior, had committed suicide as we were starting junior high. The exact reason she had taken her life had never come to light. Her parents only said at the time that she had issues.

"I'm sorry. You've been through a lot," I whispered, hoping to win her trust and perhaps get her to move the gun away from my head a wee bit.

Charlotte put her arm around Ellen. "It's all right now. You never have to go through that again."

"Yeah, I know." Ellen sighed and smiled at Charlotte. "Come on. Let's get you out of this loser town."

Charlotte walked over to the stove in the corner of the room. We watched while she poured a pitcher of water on the stones. She jumped back in a hurry as the pile hissed and steam erupted.

Ellen moved the gun away from my head, and I was free to breathe again.

"I don't like the idea of shooting anyone. It's not my style. Nurses clean up messes, we don't like to leave them." She giggled. "Poisoning is more my thing. Or—baking people to death." Her eyes glittered like a maniac's.

Charlotte's smile was evil as she glanced at Josie. "I'm sure your hubby will be wondering where you are eventually. It will all be over soon though. You'll both be nice and toasty shortly. Oh, pardon the pun."

My blood ran cold as Josie and I stared at each other in horror. They weren't going to shoot us after all. We would be left in the sauna to roast to death.

"Please don't do this. Come on, Ellen, I thought you were my friend," Josie pleaded with her.

Ellen laughed. "I don't have any friends, except for Charlotte. You can't trust anyone in this world."

Charlotte pursed her lips. "Hmm, so true. By the way, how long have you two been best buds?"

"Since we were eight." I struggled to breathe normally. "When Josie moved here from Maine."

"Right. So you're true friends. It's fitting you should die together then." Charlotte nudged Ellen. "This is so appropriate. They're both bakers. And that's how they'll die—being baked to death." They both nearly collapsed with mirth.

Josie frowned in disgust. "Wow, way too funny."

"Josie's family needs her. Please let her go, she won't say anything," I implored.

Ellen's irritated eyes found mine. "We've been over this. How stupid do you think I am?" She glanced at Josie with mock sympathy. "Don't worry. Rob's a good-looking guy. I'm sure the kids will have a new mother soon." She gave us a little finger wave. "Bye, ladies. Enjoy your spa night."

The door slammed shut with a finality that echoed in my ears. Through the small window, I saw Charlotte pause for a moment. Then the click of a lock sounded. All was quiet with the exception of hissing noises emanating from the stove.

Josie got to her feet with my assistance and started yelling at the top of her lungs. "Help us, someone!"

"We've got to get out of here." My forehead was already starting to perspire. I scanned the room for something to break the window with. The benches were built into the floor, and there was nothing else in the room, save the stove with its two hundred degree rocks. I glanced at the plastic pitcher on the floor. Holding my breath, I flung it at the small pane of glass over the door. It bounced off the window and fell to the floor. I exhaled sharply. "Plexiglass."

Josie's breathing was labored. "I can't stand the heat. I'd rather freeze to death." There was a flicker of hope in her eyes. "They took my cell phone away after I called you. You don't happen to—"

Crestfallen, I shook my head. "I left it in the car. They'd have taken it anyway when they knocked me out, I'm sure."

The thermometer on the wall read 120 degrees. I beat on the door with my hands until they were bruised, then alternated with kicks, yet it refused to budge an inch. Sweat fell off my face in great droplets. I thought of my parents, grandmother, Gianna. Mike and Brian
.
What about all the things I dreamed of doing one day? Expanding the shop, entering baking contests, going to Italy, having children. My sweat mixed with my tears.
No.
I wouldn't give up. I was determined to fight till the bitter end.

"Somebody help us, please!" I screamed at the top of my lungs until my voice was hoarse. I pushed my entire weight against the sauna door.

At that instant, the door was yanked open. A rush of cool air engulfed me, and I fell into a pair of strong, masculine arms. Someone scooped me up and carried me into the waiting room, where I was placed in an armchair. Josie was laid down next to me on the couch.

Brian wiped my face with a handkerchief, his face a mask of worry. His eyes didn't leave mine as he reached down to his belt for his radio and barked into it. "Officer Jenkins here. I need emergency medical service at nine Hollow Road right away. Name of the establishment is Amanda's Retreat. We have two women with injuries here. Hurry."

He clicked off and knelt before me, cradling my face between his hands, eyes full of concern. "Are you all right?" His fingertips gently touched my swollen eye.

I nodded and tried to force back tears.

Brian gathered me in his arms. "It's okay. You're safe now."

A woman's voice blared through his radio. "We've apprehended the two female suspects on Hollow Road."

"Got it." Brian rushed over to the coffee bar and returned with two cups of water. He handed one to his partner and placed the other in front of my lips. "Drink slowly."

I looked over to see if Josie was okay. Brian's partner was holding her head up so that she could drink. She met my gaze and gave me a thumbs-up. "We made it, kid."

The water tasted wonderful on my parched tongue. Brian grabbed the cup from me and then reached for my hand. "I'm so sorry I missed your call. There was an armed robbery outside of town. I didn't even know you'd left me a message until Mike Donovan managed to get hold of me."

I blinked, not sure I'd heard him right. "Mike called you?" That was the last thing I'd expected.

Brian nodded. "He told me you were in a panic looking for Josie and heading over to the spa to pick her up. He was worried you might be in trouble and asked me to check on you."

I was relieved Mike had called him, but why didn't he come himself? The old Mike I remembered would have driven through the spa's front window on his Harley to rescue me. Maybe he didn't care as much as I'd thought.

"He mentioned that he asked you to wait for him, but there was no holding you back. Said you were a raving lunatic." Brian raised his eyebrows at me.

"I wonder why he didn't come himself." I didn't realize I'd spoke the words aloud until I caught Brian's puzzled expression. "I mean, he's always been one to take charge and do things on his own."

Brian's mouth tipped upward in a slight smile. "He couldn't come. He's at the OnCall Clinic."

Panic gripped me. I tried to stand, but my legs were shaky, and I stumbled against Brian.

"You're not going anywhere." His strong arms placed me back down in the chair, and he grinned.

Why does he think this is funny?
"Is Mike all right?"
What the heck happened to him?

"He's going to be fine." Brian held back a laugh. "He said you ran over his foot."

"Come on, Jos, can we please get out of here?" I tapped on the bathroom door.

"Out in a minute," she called back.

As I glanced around the hospital room, where Josie and I had spent the last couple of hours, my desire to go home was overwhelming. Everything about hospitals bothered me—the smells, sterility, needles, and of course, blood. I could go on and on. If I ever had children someday, I didn't know what I'd do. Perhaps a home birth would be in order.

Gianna and Rob were in the waiting room, ready to take us home. In addition to my black eye, the doctor said I had a mild concussion and recommended I stay the night, but they weren't going to force me. Since I had no intention of remaining there any longer than necessary, this was a very good thing. For their sake.

Josie's nose was broken and her shoulder dislocated. The doctor urged her to remain, but she had refused as well.

"I need to go home and see my babies." She had explained this to the doctor as she wept on my shoulder.

There was a knock, and Brian peered around the door at me. He grinned as he strode over to where I was standing and put his arms around me. "I wanted to stop by and see how you were doing."

"A little sore. But I'll be fine, thanks to you."
And Mike.

He caressed my cheek with his fingers, and then his smile faded. "Charlotte and Ellen are in a holding cell for the night. They'll be transported to a prison downstate tomorrow."

"What's going to happen to them?"

Brian sat on the edge of the bed and pulled me down beside him. "Don't worry. They'll be going away for a long time, maybe even life. Ellen cracked like a walnut and told us everything. It was Charlotte's idea to kill Amanda after she found out about their relationship. Ellen carried out the deed because who would think to suspect her? And of course, Charlotte had an alibi."

"Clever on their part, I guess." I trembled as the image of those two came to mind. One thing was for sure. I was never going to set foot in a sauna again.

"In turn, Charlotte did in Vido. She had Nurse Ellen buy the cookies from you and taint them with enough morphine to kill him. Charlotte delivered them on the pretense she was going to give Vido a little action in return for his silence."

"Gross." I wrinkled my nose.

Brian smiled. "When Vido went to slip into, shall we say, something more comfortable, Charlotte switched the cookies he got from you with the lethal ones."

"And Ellen wrecked the shop while we were at the funeral with Charlotte."

"Yes. They thought they had it all planned out. Well, until they ran into your super sleuthing skills, that is." He turned me to face him and caressed my back with his hands until I all but went limp from his touch. "Maybe we should hire you on the force. At least you'd be more pleasant to look at than my current partner."

"Do you have good benefits?" I teased.

"The best." He brushed the hair back from my face, gazed into my eyes, and kissed me. I put my arms around his neck while his hands splayed down my back and then moved to my waist, pulling me closer. He devoured my mouth, and I was a willing participant. "Mm. Better tasting than a chocolate chip cookie."

Someone cleared their throat behind us. Josie stood there, an embarrassed look on her face. "Um, excuse me. I don't want to interrupt anything, but I'd like to go home."

Brian grinned in embarrassment. "How are you feeling?"

She wiggled her right hand back and forth. The left one was in a sling. "They gave me pain meds. Luckily my arm's not broken, but the shoulder's dislocated. Thank God I'm right-handed." She smiled at me. "With Sal's help, I can start making some more doughs tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Brian's voice was shocked.

"We don't let any grass grow under our feet." I slipped my hand into Brian's, and he squeezed it. "Gianna will be at the shop when the new case gets delivered tomorrow morning. Josie and I hope to get down there before noon, and Gianna's promised to help us with some baking. If all goes well after the rest of the cleanup, we can reopen the next day for business."

Brian shook his head. "You ladies should really take it easy for a couple of days. You've been through quite an ordeal." He gave me a quick kiss. "I've got to get back. Call me in the morning after you've gotten some sleep?"

"Okay." I released my hand, reluctant to see him leave.

He started to stand then looked at me. "Don't forget about dinner tomorrow night. Unless you have other plans now."

My stomach lurched.
Does he know about Mike asking me to dinner?
"What are you talking about?"

"I'll be back in a minute." Josie walked out into the hallway.

Brian reached for my hand again and massaged it between his. "Mike called me about a dozen times in the last hour. He's worried sick about you."

"Is he still at OnCall?" I asked.

"No, he's home. He wanted to come, but I told him you were fine."

I winced. I wouldn't blame Mike if he was furious. Who the heck runs over a person's foot—not once, but twice in the same lifetime?

"You still have feelings for him." It was a simple statement.

"I don't know." I lowered my head, refusing to look at Brian.

He lifted my chin until our eyes met. "It's written all over your face, especially when you heard he'd been hurt. Deny it if you want, but I can tell. And it's pretty obvious how he feels about you."

"I didn't mean to lead you or Mike on in any way. Please believe me."

"Sal, it's okay. You're still vulnerable from the divorce."

I blew out a breath. "God, I hate that word. I think this might be too soon for me."

He nodded in understanding. "I know. And if so, I'm willing to wait. I'd still like to take you to dinner tomorrow night. We can take things slow, as slow as you want. But if you aren't over Mike, we shouldn't be starting anything."

"Brian—" I began.

He shook his head. "I won't compete with ghosts, Sal. I'm not going to date a girl who's still in love with someone else. I just don't work that way."

My heart sank at the words, and I didn't know what else to say.

He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "I hope you'll give me a chance. I think we could be really good together."

My face grew hot as I stared into his brilliant green eyes, mesmerized. There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but the words refused to come out.

Brian stood and adjusted his hat. "Call me in the morning, and let me know what you've decided. Night, beautiful."

With that, he was gone.

I put my aching head into my hands.
What am I going to do now?
Yes, he was right. I did still have feelings for Mike and probably always would. I was drawn to him like a magnet. Now that I knew the truth about what had happened ten years ago, things had grown more complicated. I was being forced to choose between these two men, whether I wanted to or not. And considering past experience, I was very bad when it came to making decisions about the opposite sex.

Josie opened the door and walked over to me. "Are you going home or planning to camp out here tonight? I know your love of hospitals, so I'm guessing not." She glanced at me with concern. "What's wrong now? Did you and Officer Hottie have a fight? He was kind of short with us out in the waiting room."

I sighed. "What am I going to do? Brian and Mike both asked me to dinner tomorrow night."

"Oh, yeah, I'd almost forgotten." Her face broke out in a wide grin. "So who are you going with?"

"Help me, Jos. I don't know what to do."

She stared at me for a long moment. "You're still in love with Mike."

I didn't answer.

"It's okay to admit it, Sal."

I clasped my hands together as if in prayer. "I don't know. Maybe I'm being nostalgic, remembering all the old times. He's still as jealous as ever."

"He doesn't want to lose you again." Josie sat down next to me. "Now Brian is an absolute doll. Sweet, calm, and heaven knows, I love a man in uniform." Her eyes twinkled. "No woman would kick him out of bed for eating cookies."

I chuckled. "You mean crackers."

"Not in your case." Josie winked, and we laughed together.

She leaned her head on my shoulder. "Did you ever stop and think why Mike's so jealous?"

"Because he's possessive."

Josie made a face. "No, dummy. I think he was always afraid he'd lose you. Then, bingo, it happened. Try to look at it from his point of view. Who else in this world has he ever been able to love and be loved by, besides you?"

Mike's words from the other day echoed in my head. I blew out a breath. "Gee, thanks for makings things easier for me."

She put her arm around my shoulders. "I can't make these decisions for you. No one can. Hopefully this time you'll do what's right. For you. That's what really matters."

Gianna peered around the door. "Ready to go, love?"

"I'll see you at the shop around noon. And thank you," Josie whispered in my ear.

"For what?" I asked, puzzled.

"I'll never forget what you said to those two whack-a-doodles tonight. Asking them to let me go and keep you instead." Her eyes filled with unshed tears.

As I stared at my best friend, a sob escaped from my throat. "Go on, get out of here. Your family's waiting."

"See you tomorrow. Oops, I mean later today. Night." She stopped to give Gianna a hug and left the room.

Gianna threw her arms around me. "You're going to take my bed tonight. It's more comfortable than the one in your old room."

I shook my head. "I'm not putting you out of your room. I'm fine."

"No arguments." Gianna put her hands on her hips. "And I'm taking the day off from studying tomorrow. After I help you guys get the shop in order, Frank and I are going to the beach and then dinner. It's all because of you. You showed me tonight that life is too precious to waste."

My heart was full as I stared at my baby sister. "You're what's precious to me. Did Mom and Dad leave?"

"A little while ago. It's way past the loving hour for them." She made a face. "Grandma's waiting up at the house for us. She said she was going to fix you something special."

My mouth watered. "Special means fattening. Gosh, I hope she made cheesecake."

"I think you may be correct."

We walked outside to the parking lot while I checked my phone for messages. There was a lone voice mail from Mike.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay." He paused for several seconds. "Jenkins said you were fine. Call me back. It doesn't matter how late it is, I want to hear your voice."

My heart was in my throat.

Gianna watched me with a worried expression. "How's your head?"

"It's okay." I hesitated. "Would you mind if I made a quick phone call before we go home?"

She glanced around the well-lit parking lot and grinned at me in a teasing manner. "Go ahead. I'll wait in the car. Tell Mike I said hi."

I pressed the callback number on his message. Although it was nearly one o'clock in the morning, he answered on the first ring. "Hi, beautiful."

"I'm so sorry about your foot." I leaned against the building. "Are you okay?"

He laughed. "Just like old times. You and that lead foot of yours. Some things never change. Are
you
okay? Jenkins said you had a concussion and black eye. I've half a mind to go down to the jail and pay those two psychos a visit."

"I'm fine. It's over with now. With any luck, I won't ever have to lay eyes on either one of them again." I paused. "You saved our lives."

"No. Jenkins did that, not me."

"If you hadn't called him—" My voice started to shake, and I steadied it. "Thank you," I whispered hoarsely.

There was silence on the other end. "Are we still on for dinner tomorrow night? I'd love to cook for you."

"How can you manage with a broken foot?" I asked in disbelief.

"My foot's not broken. Only two toes this time. Your aim must be getting better." We laughed together, but then his tone grew serious. "I wouldn't care if I'd broken both arms. I'd still want you here with me."

I shut my eyes tightly, desperately searching my brain for words. "I can't give you an answer right now."

"I know there's something going on between you and Jenkins."

"Mike, can we talk about this later? I'm about to fall over with exhaustion, and Gianna's waiting for me in the car. We're just about to leave the hospital."

"Tell Gianna to bring you here. Come stay the night. Let me take care of you." His voice was sensual and tempting. A rush of heat swept through my body.

"I can't. My parents are expecting me at their house." Silence ensued between us, and I gazed at the bright stars above my head.

"Call me when you get up then?" Mike asked. "Let me know what you've decided."

My knees trembled as I stood by the emergency room entrance, the warm wind rushing by me. "Decided about what?"