Sweet Revenge (Cocoa Narel Chocolate Shop Mysteries Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

Populars.”
    Carl had the exact reaction I expected. His jaw fell open and the color drained from his face. “No. No! Not Guy! No, you didn’t. You went on a date with Guy? Why? How did you even get in touch with him?” He was genuinely shocked.
    “I ran into him in town, and I didn’t agree to the date because I was interested in him. Honestly, I just wanted to see what it would be like. It was almost a mental exercise,” I admitted, sadly. I realized now that even though Guy had been a jerk, I’d been tagging him along for my own benefit shortly before he’d died.
    “And then what? Did he hurt you? Did he do something cruel again?” Carl asked me desperately.
    I appreciated the concern. “No, Carl, nothing like that. Guy...” I trailed off, but took a deep breath and tried again. “Guy was killed. Possibly murdered.”
    Carl’s mouth fell open so far that I thought he might suffer jaw damage. “Oh my goodness. Narel, what happened? Did anybody try to hurt you?”
    “No, I was still in the restaurant and he stormed off. His car exploded when he got in it. I don’t know how or why.”
    Carl sat down next to me, grabbing the edge of the chair to steady himself.
    “Worse, I’m their main suspect,” I admitted, feeling tears well at the back of my eyes.
    “Oh, Narel,” Carl said sympathetically. “We’ll figure it out.”
     
     

Chapter 5
     
    The coffee machine finished with a whirr, signaling that the coffee was ready. Sweet, warm, unjudging coffee. It was my third this morning, and I was starting to suspect that maybe it wasn’t doing much to calm my nerves.
    It had been a few days since Guy had been murdered, or at least killed. I still didn’t know for sure that it was a murder, but it was hard to believe his car had exploded of its own volition. Then again, I probably would have done the same if I’d had to spend so much time with him.
    I was still the primary suspect in the case. The police weren’t publicly referring to the incident as a murder, but had also advised me not to leave the state. I was also quite sure that I was being followed, or that they’d at least stepped up their police presence recently. It seemed that every time I left my house I’d see a police car or five.
    I took a long drink of the coffee and sat down. I had to try to move on from the whole affair. Guy had defined enough of my life while he was alive, and I certainly wasn’t going to let him do it now that he was dead.
    Today was the day that I was going to make serious progress on my store. I’d always loved the idea of being able to sell specialty chocolates, but until the accident I’d never thought it would be a reality. Shops weren’t exactly cheap to lease, much less buy and run.
    Carl was coming by to collect me at around ten, and I’d been constantly drinking coffee since I’d gotten ready at nine. I was feeling strangely nervous about going to see the realtor, and these coffees probably weren’t helping. They were delicious, though, and I’d wanted to be alert when I was deciding on a shop. Today was potentially life-defining, so I didn’t want anything to go wrong.
    Eventually I heard a knock on the door. I got up and opened it to see Carl smiling broadly. “Thanks again for coming, Carl,” I said, smiling back. At this point he was practically my chauffeur, though he didn’t seem to mind. I’d had the worst imaginable luck with cars lately. There was the accident that resulted in my surgeries, and then the explosion that had killed Guy. Besides, I didn’t own a car. Mine had been wrecked, and I had no desire to buy another one quite yet. To say that I didn’t feel safe in or near cars was a vast understatement.
    The exception, of course, was with Carl. It’s not that I thought Carl would be able to do something miraculous and life-saving if something went wrong, but for some reason, he was the only driver with whom I felt safe. Apart from Carl, I’d only been in a taxi and a police car