Killer Crullers Read Online Free PDF Page A

down.”
    I had to laugh. “I’m sure that’s what the pie maker had in mind when she created that pie.”
    “Hey, it is what it is.”
    Trish came back with three pieces of pie, not the promised two.
    “I thought I’d join you,” she said as she slid onto the bench seat in the booth beside me. “If you two don’t mind, that is.”
    “You don’t even have to ask; you’re always welcome,” I said.
    She took a bite of apple pie, and then smiled broadly. “That is good, if I say so myself.”
    “Did you make it?” Grace asked as she tasted a bit herself.
    “No, I leave the pie making to the experts. I can appreciate a work of art as much as the next gal, though. Now, what were you talking about? I want in.”
    I wasn’t about to say anything when Grace volunteered, “Desmond threatened Suzanne and Gabby after some really nasty pastry fighting.”
    Trish asked with a frown, “Are we talking about Desmond Ray?”
    “Yes, but the most intimidating thing he did today was pelt Gabby’s shop with my crullers.” That wasn’t true by any stretch of the imagination, but I didn’t want to admit everything that had happened to my friends. They would just worry about me, and I already had a mother who was constantly concerned with my well-being.
    Trish played with her fork a second before saying, “He’s got a temper, Suzanne. I wouldn’t take him too lightly. Tell me exactly what he said to you, and don’t sugarcoat it.”
    I didn’t have much choice. I might avoid telling my friends something alarming, but I wouldn’t lie to them outright. “He said he’d be coming back for me, and that he’d settle with me next.”
    “That sounds like a real threat to me,” Trish said as she pushed her pie away.
    “I’m not going to change anything about my behavior to avoid him,” I said. “If I do that, he wins.”
    Grace and I were finished with our slices of pie, so we paid our tab, and walked back out into the warming sunshine. It was in the low fifties outside, but with the sun, I almost didn’t need the light jacket I was wearing.
    “What should we do next?” I asked Grace.
    She glanced at her watch, and then said, “Honestly, I’d better go check on Erica. It’s hard to tell what trouble that girl’s gotten herself into by now.”
    “What happened to letting her deal with it herself?”
    Grace smiled. “What can I say? My heart’s just a little too big sometimes. See you later,” she said. After she got in her car and left, I decided to head home. It might be nice to take a shower, and then grab a quick nap on the couch before dinner. Momma had told me that she was making something special tonight, and that I shouldn’t miss it.
    For once, there was no possible reason that I should.
    At least as far as I knew at that point.

CHAPTER 3
    My cell phone woke me, and I nearly fell off the couch as I reached for it. It was barely three in the afternoon, so I’d only slept for ninety minutes, but that was a longer nap than I usually got.
    “Hello?” I said as I sat up and brushed my hair out from my eyes.
    “You were sleeping, weren’t you?” I heard Momma ask. “Suzanne, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. We can talk later. Go back to sleep.”
    “No, that’s fine,” I said as I sat up. “I needed to get up anyway. What’s going on?”
    “I may be a little late coming home tonight, so you’re on your own for dinner.”
    As I stretched, I asked, “Do you have another big date with the chief? You two are getting to be real regulars, aren’t you?”
    “We’re going out quite a bit, I admit, but it’s rarely more than three times a week.”
    I suddenly remembered her earlier promise of a special meal. “What happened to the feast you were making tonight?”
    “I’m sorry about that, but you know better than most. Plans change,” she said simply.
    “No way you’re getting away with that explanation,” I said. “You’re not the most flexible person I’ve ever met. Once you