Murder and Chocolate Cake Read online

  “Hey, it’s one thing to rent a bounce house for a birthday. It’s another thing to buy one. I mean, can you imagine what a tough time I’d have getting him to do his homework with that inflatable toy in the back yard tempting him constantly?” Shannon said.

  I nodded. “That homework would never get done.”

  “Exactly. As it is, that rental bounce house has been such a distraction at this party that none of our kids have even asked for a second helping of cake yet,” Kelly said.

  “I’m fine with that. It just means more for me,” Shannon said.

  “So much for that diet of yours, huh?” I joked.

  “Diets have no place at a children’s birthday party,” Shannon cracked.

  “Especially not this one,” I said. “After all, today is about having fun, not counting calories.”

  “Speaking of calories, I should give that bounce house a go after all I’ve eaten,” Shannon said.

  “You’re not giving up, are you?” I said.

  “Not to do a back flip. Just to bounce around,” Shannon said.

  “So much for acting your age,” I said.

  “Being an adult is overrated.” Shannon stared at her son. “I mean, let’s be honest. Who wouldn’t go back to that age if they could?”

  I nodded. “They are having a blast.”

  “Why wouldn’t they be? They don’t have jobs to go to, bills to pay, or diets to feel guilty about cheating on,” Shannon said.

  “Childhood is pretty wonderful. If I had known it would slip away so quickly, I would have relished my time as a kid a little more,” I said.

  “Hey, you don’t have to be a kid to feel some youthful exuberance,” Shannon said.

  “Shannon. I know what you’re thinking and I’m not kicking our kids out of the bounce house so you can try to recapture your youth,” I deadpanned.

  “I’m not asking that. They’ve had a lot of sugar. It’s only a matter of time before they crash. Then I can jump in that bounce house to my heart’s content,” Shannon said.

  I laughed. “You are a rascal.”

  Shannon smiled. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  Chapter Four

  As I went to grab a second piece of cake for myself, I noticed my grandmother, Betsy Daley, sitting at the patio table, smiling away. As she liked to say, she was ninety-seven-years-young. While she wasn’t as mobile as she used to be, she was still as mentally sharp as ever. I took a seat next to her at the table.

  “Grandma, I haven’t seen you smile that wide in a long time,” I said.

  My grandmother took a bite of her dessert. “It’s hard not to smile when you’re eating cake this good.”

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  “I don’t just like it. I love it. As a matter of fact, I could eat a piece of this every day.”

  My eyes widened. “Really?”

  “I’m ninety-seven. If I want to eat nothing but cake and cookies for the rest of my life, I think I’ve earned that right,” Betsy said.

  “I’m not going to argue with you.”

  “Good. It would be a waste of time, and I only have so much of that left.”

  “I guess I know which cake to get you for your birthday this year.”

  “That would be to die for.”

  I grimaced. “Are you sure you want to go with that phrasing?”

  “Sabrina, who are you kidding? I know I’m no spring chicken here. Besides, I never thought I’d ever live this long.”

  “How long did you think you’d live?”

  “I had no clue, but ninety-seven wasn’t on my radar,” Betsy said. “I’m so old that radar’s themselves were practically brand-new when I was growing up.”

  “Well, you’re the best looking ninety-seven-year-old I’ve ever seen.”

  “Ah, flattery. There’s something I can never get enough of. Especially when it’s unwarranted.”

  “I’m not just being nice. You’ve always blazed your own trail. Defied the odds. Operated by your own set of rules.”

  She gazed at me. “That seems to run in the family.”

  “I wonder where I got it from,” I joked.

  My grandma grinned again. “There are much worse footsteps you could have followed in.”

  “That’s so true,” I said.

  She looked at Jessica. “From what I can see, your daughter is carrying on our family’s headstrong legacy as well.”

  I nodded. “She sure is. Jessica is already a force to be reckoned with. And she’s only eleven,” I said.

  Betsy laughed.

  I squinted. “What’s so funny?”

  “Your mother once made the very same comment about you.”

  “Are you saying I have a lot of worry-filled nights ahead of me?”

  My grandma shrugged. “Only the future knows that.” She took a bite of her cake. “And I’m too old to do anything but focus on the present.”

  “You really do love that cake, don’t you?”

  “It’s not just the cake. There’s something about a children’s birthday party. It’s impossible not to have fun,” Betsy said. “This represents all that’s good about life. If the world was more like this, it would be a better place.”

  Chapter Five

  Like all kids that age, Jessica played hard, and then crashed hard. Of course, the sugar consumption had a lot to do with that. For the better part of two hours, she was completely wired.

  Then all of a sudden, after her friends left, she ran out of steam. She hit a figurative wall and ended up falling asleep on the couch reading the new Daisy Clue teen sleuth novel that we’d given to her as a present.

  David carefully picked Jessica up from the couch, carried her to bed, and tucked her in.

  From there, he walked down the hall and joined me in our bedroom.

  “I can’t believe Jessica turned eleven today,” I said.

  “I know. She’s growing up so fast. Before we know it, we’ll be driving her off to college,” David said.

  My eyebrows rose. “That’s a little too fast for me.”

  “You think I’m just exaggerating, but look how quickly these last eleven years have gone by. It all seemed to happen in a flash. Now here I am, just a couple of years away from turning fifty.”

  “Are you okay? That’s the second time you’ve brought up the big five-zero today.”

  “I’ve just been doing some thinking,” he said. “How many years of investigating do I have left in me?”

  I shrugged. “You tell me.”

  He became pensive. “I’m not ready to hang things up quite yet, but that day isn’t as far away as it used to be.”

  “How much longer do you think you’ll last?”

  “Let’s just say that by the time Jessica graduates from the police academy, I’ll be ready to turn my badge in.”

  I laughed. “David, she’s eleven, not twenty-one.”

  “I know that. But as I mentioned earlier, time has been flying lately,” he said. “These next ten years might just go by quicker than ever.”

  “We’ll see about that. And about Jessica’s future career. A lot can happen between now and then.”

  “Oh, a lot will happen. But one thing that isn’t going to change is her wanting to be a detective.”

  “You’re really certain about that?”

  “I’d stake my whole investigative career on it.”

  “That’s bold.”

  “What can I say? I’ve never had a bigger hunch in my life. We don’t have to speculate if Jessica is going to become a detective. Just when.”

  I became pensive.

  “Don’t you agree?” he asked. “Because to me, it’s pretty clear that this whole ‘I want to be a detective when I grow up’ thing isn’t just a phase.”

  “I’m still not sold,” I said.

  “Are you really not sold, or do you just wish she had different career aspirations?”

  “Come on, David. When Jessica first told us she wanted to be a detective, s
he was five. At that age, she still believed in the Boogie Man.”

  He laughed. “True.”

  “Plus all of her friends have changed their minds four or five times since then. Look at Eric Marlowe, for example. He has wanted to be a fireman, a police officer, a professional baseball player, and an astronaut.”

  He nodded. “He has changed his mind quite a bit.”

  “Which is perfectly normal, for a little kid,” I said.

  “The difference is that Jessica isn’t a normal little kid. I’m realizing that more than ever the older she gets.”

  “She does have a laser focus.”

  “Does that really surprise you?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No. Although, there was always a chance that she would change her mind.”

  David laughed. “Not when you take into account the fact that she’s just as stubborn as you are.”

  “What you call stubborn, I call determined.”

  “Of course you do. But however you want to phrase it, I have no doubt that our daughter will become a detective.”

  “I wouldn’t bet against that,” I said.

  He saw me looking nervous.

  David continued. “That isn’t a bad thing.”

  “True. There are worse professions,” I said.

  “Why do you look so troubled?” he asked.

  “Some of these recent cases we’ve worked on have gotten really hairy,” I said. “There have been some close calls. What if Jessica becomes a detective and something awful ends up happening to her?”

  “Honey, you’re projecting really far ahead in the future here.”

  “Tell my mind that. My anxiety is really ramping up.”

  “Look. Jessica is eleven. Her future isn’t set in stone,” David said.

  “True,” I said.

  Chapter Six

  It was amazing how quickly situations could change. I went to bed that evening thinking about my daughter’s future. But the following afternoon, a new set of worries took hold of me. It all started when David returned home in the middle of his work shift with a grim look on his face.

  Something truly awful must have occurred. Typically, when David had news to share with me, he just called me. So for him to show up in person was a huge deal.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  David didn’t appear ready to tell me quite yet. “Honey, I need you to sit down.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Just take a seat and I’ll explain.”

  “I’m going to hate this, aren’t I?”

  “Please sit,” he said.

  I complied with his request.

  “All right. Now let’s hear it,” I said.

  David sat down across from me and opened his mouth, but no words came out.

  I gave him a moment to try and compose himself. But my patience wore thin. I was just getting ready to urge him along when he managed to untie his tongue.

  “Kyle Lipinski broke out of jail,” David said.

  My heart sank. I really wanted to believe that I hadn’t heard that right, but deep down, I knew I had. This was awful news. The kind of thing that could send me into a complete panic.

  Come to think of it, perhaps my anxiety from the day before didn’t have to do with my daughter’s career aspirations. Maybe my gut was trying to tell me that trouble was on the horizon.

  “Kyle?” I said. “As in, the man who killed my sister?”

  David nodded.

  My dear sister had gone missing when I was just a teenager. For eleven years, I fruitlessly searched for the truth about what had happened to her. Finally, seventeen years ago, I found out the answer. Kyle had killed her and buried her body, hoping that no one would ever find it.

  But my sister’s remains were found. After a thorough investigation, David and I got a confession out of Kyle. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison for killing my sister. I thought that would be the end of the story. Clearly, I was mistaken.

  In a state of shock, I found myself blurting out a question that I already knew the answer to. “The same Kyle that we helped put behind bars?”

  David nodded.

  “He’s out there, somewhere, on the loose?” I said.

  “Unfortunately.”

  I had trouble forming a complete thought. “How did this…?” I took a deep breath to compose myself. “I can’t believe it.”

  “Why do you think I wanted you to sit down?”

  “What if he comes here? To our house. What if…he goes after our daughter?”

  “It’s terrifying to think about.”

  “What a nightmare.”

  “Unfortunately, that’s not the only bad news I have to share with you.”

  “Oh no. What else happened?”

  “It turns out that Kyle wasn’t alone,” David said. “Someone else escaped last night.”

  “Who?”

  “His cellmate, Wade Becker.”

  My chest tightened. “The man who killed Clarissa Anderson?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  This was a complete nightmare. The thought of two convicted killers being on the loose was disturbing enough. But the fact that they were working together, and that David and I had been the ones to put them behind bars, made this situation infinitely worse.

  I had stared down all sorts of crazy scenarios during my time investigating cases, but this was a dubious first for me. I didn’t believe that something like this would ever happen. Jail breaks only seemed to occur in the movies. So for one to take place in real life was hard to wrap my mind around.

  Of course, with this latest news, my mind was busy trying to fight off horrifying thoughts. How could I not be consumed with fear? After all, two killers were on the loose. They both hated David and me with a fiery passion. I couldn’t help but wonder where they were. And what their plans were. Until I knew the answers to those questions, there was no way I could breathe easily.

  David stared deep into my eyes. “Sabrina. Are you still with me?”

  I went from silent contemplation to blurting out my thoughts. “What are the odds that they’d get placed together? Or that they’d find a way to break out?”

  “I do find it absolutely astonishing that they were able to break out of jail, but it’s not quite so surprising that they ended up in the same cell. After all, the state penitentiary is pretty crowded.”

  “I guess you’re right.” I groaned. “I can only imagine how much they hate us after all those years locked in prison.”

  “I don’t really have time to think about that right now. I’m more concerned with the fact that they are on the loose,” he said.

  “Of course. Speaking of, do you have any clue where they might be? Or how they managed to break out?”

  “I have no idea where they are,” David said. “But I do know how they escaped.”

  “How?”

  “By stowing away in a food vendor’s delivery truck,” David said.

  I winced. “I can’t believe this.”

  “I’m having trouble processing the news myself. It’s like something out of a movie.”

  “I’ll say. This is a nightmare.” I took a deep breath. “Have you talked to the food vendor?”

  David shook his head. “We’re still trying to track down the truck.”

  My eyebrows knitted. “If that’s the case then how do you know that’s how they broke out?”

  “The warden at Treasure Cove Penitentiary went through their security tapes from last night,” David said. “One of the security cameras captured footage of Wade and Kyle sneaking on to the back of the truck.”

  I gritted my teeth. “Why didn’t the security guard on duty catch that when the jail break was actually taking place?”

  David gritted his teeth. “You’re not going to like the answer to that question.”

  “How come? Did the guard help Kyle and Wade escape or something?” I asked.

  David nodded.

  “Are you serious?” I asked.<
br />
  “Dead serious,” David said. “The warden finished speaking with the guard a few minutes ago.”

  “And he admitted to helping those scumbags escape?”

  David corrected me. “The guard is a she. And yes, after some pressure from the warden, the guard came clean that she assisted with the escape because she’s in love with Wade.”

  My eyebrows rose. “This story just keeps getting crazier.”

  “That isn’t even the nuttiest part.”

  “There’s more?”

  “Uh-huh. According to the guard, Kyle and Wade were supposed to meet up with her at the rest stop on Route 21 this morning. But she waited two hours for them and they never showed up.”

  “I wonder why.”

  “I doubt that Wade ever really had feelings for this guard. He probably just conned her into helping him escape.”

  “It’s hard to argue with that theory. He is a convict, after all.”

  “Whatever the reason, my focus right now is on finding Kyle and Wade.”

  “As it should be.”

  “Besides, if Kyle and Wade ever do show up at Route 21, they’ll be in for a rude awakening. There are a number of deputies keeping their eyes on that rest stop.”

  “Do you really think they’ll show up there?” I asked.

  David shook his head. “No. But the police chief wanted to cover all the bases.”

  “That’s smart,” I said. “How about you? What’s your next move?”

  “I’m going to do everything in my power to put Kyle and Wade back behind bars,” David said.

  Chapter Seven

  David’s focus was on the case, but my mind zeroed in on another matter entirely—the safety of my family. More specifically, Jessica. I loaded our corgi, Sebastian, into the car and frantically drove over to Jessica’s school where I had the principal pull my daughter out of her math class.

  It was not the first time I’d taken her out of school in the middle of the day. In all honesty, it was starting to happen with surprising regularity. But while I hated to see my daughter missing class, it would be even more dangerous to let her continue her day as normal. What if Wade or Kyle showed up at Jessica’s elementary school, looking to abduct her? Jessica’s life wouldn’t be the only one in danger then. The entire school would be drawn into the middle of this case. I wasn’t about to let my child—or anyone else’s kid—become a pawn in a killer’s deadly game.