Chocolate Dipped Death Read Online Free PDF

talked with her, she’d realize that you’re not the girl you used to be and the two of you could move on.”
    Savannah cut me off with a sharp laugh. “Oh, Abby, it’s a nice thought, but you know it’s not ever going to happen. Karen would sooner kill me than look at me.” As if she realized she’d crossed a line, she waved a hand in the air between us and glanced up the hill. “Ignore me, okay? I’m just in a mood.”
    A mood I’d never seen before, and I’ll confess I didn’t know what to do with it. I heard myself ask, “Do you want to go somewhere? Maybe have a drink, or dinner?”
    She studied me for a long moment, then shook her head. “Thanks, but I need to get back to the hotel and get some sleep. I’ll be all right by tomorrow, I’m sure. Setup starts at four, right?”
    I nodded. “And judging begins at seven.”
    “Okay then.” She smiled and turned away, but she only went a couple of steps before she looked back again. “Abby?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Thanks.”
    I tried not to let her see my surprise. “For what?”
    “For talking to me as if I wasn’t Savannah Vance.”
    I didn’t know what to say to that, so I muttered something inane and turned Max toward home. But I had trouble putting Savannah out of my mind. The strange thing was, I actually liked her in that oddly vulnerable mood. I wished more people could see her like that, but I was realistic enough to know that probably wouldn’t happen.
    I just wish I’d known how right I was. Maybe I could have made a difference.

Chapter 3

    I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow and slept hard until Max’s cold, wet nose planted firmly in the crook of my arm brought me back to the land of the living. I try to be sensitive to my dog’s needs, but I was still so tired I hurt and far from ready for another walk outside.
    Groaning softly, I pulled my arm away and snuggled deeper into the covers. “Ten more minutes,” I mumbled. “That’s a good boy.”
    Max whined softly and planted one hefty paw on my bed just as someone set up a ruckus outside my front door. The pounding came first, followed by a frantic female voice shouting, “Abby? Abby! Where are you? Open up. It’s freezing out here.”
    Karen?
    I bolted upright, panicked to think that I’d overslept. Shivering in the sudden chill, I stumbled into the living room, whacked my shoulder into a wall, and bruised my shin on the coffee table before I woke up enough to realize that it was still dark outside.
    I ground to a halt and tried to focus on the glowing red numbers on my VCR clock. What time was it, anyway? Was somebody actually outside, or was I just having a bad dream?
    “If you don’t open the door,” Karen shouted, “I’ll just let myself in through the shop.”
    I guess that answered my question. Max plopped down in front of the door and wagged his little stump tail as if a visit from Karen at two thirty in the morning was a good thing. Obviously, he and I needed to have a talk.
    I made a mental note to install a dead bolt on the back door, maneuvered carefully around the coffee table, and opened the door a crack. “Karen? Is that you?”
    She shoved the door open the rest of the way and strode inside, dragging a suitcase with her. “I’m going to kill her, Abby. I swear on all that’s holy, I’m going to kill her.”
    I was still too sleepy to think straight, so I made myself ask, “Who are you talking about?”
    “Savannah Vance, who else?”
    I groaned aloud, sank onto the couch, and turned on one dim lamp. “Why? What happened now?”
    The lamp was a bad idea. Karen’s hair looked as if she’d been caught in a whirlwind, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She sniffed loudly and plopped onto the other end of the couch. “Exactly what I told you would happen. She went after Sergio. I told you she would.”
    I shook my head in confusion. “Hold on. Say that again? She did what ?”
    “Went after Sergio.”
    I was almost fully awake now,