A Ghostly Affair: A cozy mystery series (Death by Chocolate Book 3)

by Pat Amsden

  “Now we’re going to pretend I’m the attacker,” he said. “You’ve tried everything but he’s got you on the ground, you’re scared and angry.”

  “OK,” she said. But Patrick didn’t scare her in the least when he moved in over her. No, he had her heart beating double time. Not good. Focus she told herself. This was a teaching moment.

  But she could see his eyes darkening with desire as he leaned over her. She tried to ignore the sexual undertones and concentrate even as she found herself breathing more quickly. Friends, just friends.

  “Remember, you’re probably already going to be kicking at him and hitting him with your hands, scratching him. But now he’s over top of you and he’s not going to stop.” His voice sounded gruff, deeper than ever and sexy as hell.

  “If he’s stopped at your hips, or stopped trying to get his pants down, kick the shit out of him. But if the guy comes over-top of you put your hands out not allowing him to come down. Then you’re going to bring your arms down in a crossed position over his arms with thumb and fingers hooking on to his arms. Try and break his hold by bringing your arms down. That’s going to force his elbows down when you snap down really hard. Let’s practice that now.”

  “OK,” she said but the atmosphere had gone from sexy to serious in about sixty seconds. Even after they’d practiced several times she still looked at him in despair. “But how will I ever do it fast enough when it’s an actual attacker coming at me?” she asked.

  “Practice,” he said gruffly. “Besides if I have my way you won’t put yourself in a situation where you need these skills.

  She sat up looking at him defiantly. “I’m not going to live my life wrapped in saran wrap.”

  He sighed. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”

  “OK, then,” she said with fresh purpose. “Time to practice. Come and get me!”

  But although they practiced numerous times she still didn’t feel as if she had a lock on the self-defense. She told him as much.

  Then he reached out, gently touching her chin with his hand, his eyes looking into her soul. “We’ve only just begun,” he said softly. “And you could still do some serious damage to any scumbag stupid enough to come after you.” His eyes darkened. “Not to mention they’re going to have to get through me first to get to you.”

  Chapter Six

  She circulated around her shop with a tray of her newest creations, chocolate pumpkin tarts. Not surprisingly they were going well and she sensed she had another hit on her hands.

  In addition Heath had spent the morning doing a huge batch of caramel corn drizzled through with chocolate and trays of chocolate pumpkin lollipops and white chocolate ghosts provided a seasonal touch to her shop.

  Heather Atkins entered her shop, approaching Maxine diffidently. “I need some Halloween treats for the kids and I thought if you were serious about-“

  “Oh, of course,” Maxine said, their earlier conversation coming to mind. Have a seat and I’ll be right with you. She gave her one of the sample chocolates and quickly got her a cup of coffee to go with it.

  As she put the tray, now empty of samples, away, she thought desperately of things needing organizing.

  “We do have a way of getting things organized for events. We’d have to,” she said with a self-deprecating smile. “I’m wondering if you can give us some better ways. And marketing. I do have a list but I never seem to get time to actually do blogs or articles for the newsletter. I advertise with the local newspapers but if I had a more coordinated plan…

  Heather Atkins eyes came to life. “Say no more. If you show me your kitchens and how you have things set up now I can see if there are some easy and practical ways I can improve things for you.

  As for the marketing, I took marketing courses in college and of course we had to do that for our business as well. I’d love to see what I can come up with for you.”

  It was hard to believe the mousy women in a poorly-fitted skirt and sweater, from the Fall Fair was the same women in front of her today. Her brown hair had been tied back in a bun and the orange top and black yoga pants gave her a stream-lined look. More importantly there was a sparkle in her eyes making Maxine think this had been one of her better ideas.

  She led Heather upstairs to where Heath and Ally were working on a cake while Sara was unmolding trays filled with ghosts and goblins, witches and warlocks. Some would be wrapped in plastic with bows on and sold downstairs. Some would be used for numerous cakes and other goodies being assembled for numerous Halloween parties. It didn’t surprise Maxine in the least to learn Halloween was now more popular than Christmas with many people.

  Victoria was going all out with events starting in October and lasting into November barely giving way for Christmas. Ghost walks and tours were being presented along with Zombie dances and grave-yard crawls. Cosplayers were out in full force with several events held for them alone.

  For a gratifying number of them Maxine was the caterer of choice. That meant they were doing a theme cake of a haunted castle this week which could have easily appeared on Ace of Cakes of the Food Network. That alone would be enough to keep them busy but they also had one for the Paranormal Society featuring a ghost and crystal ball among other things.

  “I’m trusting you to give us a cake that’s in good taste and doesn’t offend anyone,” Lenora had said while talking to her about it. Tall, with long flowing blonde hair and eyes that seemed to see right through you, Lenora had never given Maxine any reason to feel anything but comfortable with her. And yet, somehow, with her flowing tops or dresses in shimmering colors, and her somehow ethereal quality, Maxine had no trouble believing that she was in touch with people and powers from another universe. Or if not, would be if she so chose.

  Mind you Maxine didn’t have a lot of experience dealing with the paranormal so she could only hope Lenora’s trust in her wasn’t misplaced. That and get approval of the design before doing the actual cake.

  Add in a graveyard cake for one party, a ghost for another along with a chocolate torte for someone’s birthday party and it was all hands on deck, plus. She wasn’t sure what Heather could do with all this but even another pair of hands would be a big help.

  “Wendy’s on the phone,” Jane said coming up the stairs from the shop below. “She sounds panicked.”

  “Thanks Jane. I’ll take it up here.” She looked at Heather, “this should just take a minute but if you want to look around for a bit...”

  Unfortunately Wendy was frantic. “I’ve got a ransom note for Toto! They’re demanding $5000.00 if I ever want to see him alive. By tonight! I don’t have that kind of money lying around the house. It’s already nearly two o’clock. What am I going to do?”

  “Calm down,” Maxine said, knowing, even as she said so, she was asking the impossible. “You could call the police you know. With a ransom note they’ll do something.”

  “No, no I can’t take that chance,” Wendy said sounding as if she were ready to collapse. “They warned me no police. And what if they hurt Toto?”

  “Since Toto’s their meal ticket I really don’t see,” she said her voice tapering off to a fresh round of crying. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she said desperately. “Just stop crying. Please it won’t solve anything and I’m sure they’re not going to hurt Toto. Really.”

  She hung up the phone. “Heath, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to go. Heather if you want to stay and help out…”

  “No problem. I’ve got until five. Besides I may be able to make some recommendations-“

  Maxine didn’t hear what else she had to say as she grabbed her purse and coat and ran out. She made it across town and to Wendy’s Upland estate in under forty-five minutes although not without some dirty looks by other drivers.

  Pulling into Wendy’s driveway, she couldn’t help noting the neighborhood seemed almost deserted, although tasteful ghosts and goblins, pumpkins and other signs of Halloween were present. With so little traffic it was easy to see where a
dognappper would be in heaven. But why Wendy’s for heaven’s sake?

  Research had shown her many dogs stolen were purebreds and could easily be re-sold throughout North America while still others were sold as bait dogs. A fate Maxine had been afraid, could well be Toto’s. Such a small dog was the type dog fighters looked for and the end for the dogs involved, was grisly to say the least.

  Wendy greeted her at the door. “I’ve already called my bank but the earliest appointment they had was tomorrow morning first thing.”

  “OK, OK, calm down. I really don’t see how they can expect someone to come up with money that fast. And have they offered you any proof Toto is OK?”

  “They sent a video,” Wendy moaned. “Poor Toto looked frantic. His coat was dirty and he seemed so scared. I can’t believe anyone would do such a thing.”

  She pressed a replay button on her computer and video of Toto came up. The poor little guy’s coat was a dirty, mottled grey far from the pristine white it usually was. It looked as if he’d been forced to run through mud puddles and considering the rain storm they’d had the other night, that was entirely possible. At times he seemed to throw himself against the video screen, as he continued barking, as if his life depended on it. It was as if he knew Wendy was on the other side of the screen, listening to his cries of distress.

  Maxine’s heart went out to him and to Wendy too. Who would do such a thing?

  “You see,” Wendy said, her words a wail as she looked at Maxine with terror in her eyes. “I can’t take any chances.”

  “Where did the video come from?” Maxine asked stalling for time. “And where are you supposed to meet up?”

  “An email. I can’t help thinking that if I’d checked my email earlier I’d have been able to get the money together.”

  “We can check that now,” Maxine said. She bent over looking at the post. “Nope. You must’ve called me as soon as you’d watched it.”

  “And phoned the bank. I can’t believe they wouldn’t help me!” She bowed her head in frustration.

  Maxine looked over the email. “I bet there’s a way to find out where this is coming from.”

  “Maxine no,” Wendy moaned. “I promised them no cops, nothing. As long as I get Toto back. That’s all I care about.”

  “Look I can lend you the money. But let me see if Heath can figure this out. He’s good at computers and that kind of stuff.”

  “You shouldn’t have to lend me the money.”

  “Shh. Don’t worry about it. What are friends are for? So how do you get Toto back?”

  “They said to leave the money in my mailbox and as long as I don’t do anything stupid I’ll have Toto back.”

  Maxine frowned. It was cutting it close. In fact there was no way she could make it back across town to her shop, take some of the money from today’s business before it was deposited and be back in time. It was as if they were planning on Wendy not being able to do what they asked.

  “Or we could put in monopoly money to make up the difference,” she said slowly.

  “No! I’d rather just give them what they want.”

  “And I’m going to phone Heath and get him working on it now. But I honestly don’t know whether he’ll be able to make it across town with the money by that time. If he shows up in time we’ll swap it out. If not we’ll put it in with a note saying we didn’t have anymore. It won’t matter if we get Toto back and if we don’t it gives us some more time to bargain.”

  Heath didn’t even bat an eye. “Sure. I’ll get Ally and Marc to finish the cake. Heather can help. She’s got some good ideas.”

  “I can’t even think about Heather right now,” she said. “Even if you leave right now, you’ll never make it, unless every light is green.”

  “Have faith,” he said lightly but she had to admit hearing him say that made her breathe a little easier. Heath had been with her almost from the beginning of her catering business. He’d proved himself a trusted and loyal ally more times than once.

  But although she was hoping he would be able to make it she didn’t want to depend on that. She looked at Wendy. “Have you got monopoly money?”

  “No. But I’ve got Canadian tire money.”

  “That’s as close to real money as you can get.”

  “Except for real money,” Wendy said, but her laugh was grim.

  “You collect Canadian Tire Money?”

  “My ex did. You can’t throw it away you know? It’s like throwing away real money. But I don’t shop Canadian Tire. And even if I did, I don’t think I’d take my Canadian Tire Money in. It just seems-“ she shivered slightly. “Tacky.”

  “Let’s hope the dognapper doesn’t think so,” Maxine said grimly.

  “I’m surprised they want money like this anyway. With all the high-tech you’d think they’d let me send it via web. I mean, I have PayPal,” Wendy said. “I could do five thousand easy with that.”

  “And there’d be a trail.” Maxine said.

  “I guess. All I care about is making sure Toto is all right.”

  “Oh honey, I know how scary this is for you. We have to hope whoever is doing this has a conscious.” Maxine hugged Wendy close.

  They had the money ready with ten minutes to spare when Heath walked in.

  Wendy let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God! I really don’t want to take any chances with Toto’s life.”

  “We barely had enough in the till,” Heath grumbled.

  “I’ll repay you tomorrow,” Wendy said tremulously. “And I can’t thank you enough, really.”

  “Never mind that, we’ve got to switch the money out fast or we won’t make the deadline,” Maxine said, hurriedly replacing the Canadian Tire money with money from the shop. “Normally I’d count it again to be sure but there’s no time.”

  Her hands shook as she hastily removed the last of the paper money. When it was done she handed the money to Wendy to put in the mailbox. Just in case anyone was watching. Although she doubted the dognappers would be worried about her. And how could they expect Wendy to get the money unless she talked to a few people? They had to mean no police.

  Wendy dashed out, putting it in the mailbox and closing it carefully. She looked around as if expecting the kidnappers or Toto to appear out of thin air. But the street still seemed almost deserted although a neighbor’s car was pulling into the driveway next to them. The parent’s got out first and then the two children, a boy and a girl looking to be about four and six.

  Maxine watched anxiously from the window, peeking out through a partially closed curtain. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself or Heath but she’d be a lot happier when this was all over.

  As Wendy reached the door a teenager swooped down on a bike, stopping at the last moment in front of the mailbox and reaching inside. He pulled out the package of money they’d made up so carefully and rode away.

  Wendy seemed to hover in mid-air, her body tensed. She looked ready to sprint down the road after him. So far there was no sign of Toto. Maxine watched, tears in her eyes as Wendy scanned the street in both directions, looking. Looking for some sign of Toto, looking for something. And there was nothing. Her shoulders slumped in defeat.

  From the garage next door came an excited squeal. And then another followed by some yipping.

  “Look Mommy – a dog!

  “Can we keep him!”

  “We’ll call him Boo. For Halloween.”

  “He must belong to someone,” Maxine heard the neighbor saying.

  Wendy was looking towards the garage as if it held the secret to eternal life.

  “He’s so cute!” the little girl said. “Come on Boo!” But there was a yip in protest.

  “Don’t touch him. You don’t know where he’s been,” the mother said. “He looks familiar though.”

  “Isn’t that the neighbor’s dog?” the man said hesitantly.

  There was silence broken by the giggling of the little girl. “He’s licking me. Look Mommy!”

  “
Get away from him,” the mother said sharply.

  “I’m sure that’s our neighbors’ dog, what’s her name, Wend-“

  But Wendy had already broken through the small hedge. Toto’s excited yips were matched by Wendy going “there you are, there’s my baby.”

  “How did he get here?” the man was asking.

  “And why is he so dirty?”

  “It’s a long story,” Wendy said. “And I don’t have time to tell you tonight. I need to get Toto home and washed.”

  She appeared through the hedge a couple of minutes later. Toto was clearly ecstatic at their re-union as was Wendy. Happy tears ran down her face.

  “Thank you so much. I don’t know what I’d have done if anything had happened to him.” Her hair had a piece of the hedge in it and she’d broken a heel in her haste to find Toto while happy tears had her eyes puffed up with mascara mixing with tears creating black lines down her face. But in some strange way she looked better than when Maxine had seen her dressed to the nines, not a hair out of place at any one of the charity and social functions she attended on a regular basis.

  Maxine shook her head. Who knew?

  Chapter Seven

  Toto was back in need of a wash, but otherwise none the worse for wear.

  “Heather says more dogs in the area have gone missing,” Heath said, frowning.

  “How come no one’s said anything?” Maxine countered skeptically while taking a sip of her coffee.

  “Maybe they’re getting the same kind of ransom from other pet owners,” Wendy said sharply, re-entering the room. Toto was wrapped up in fluffy white towels and it didn’t look like Wendy planned to let him go anytime soon.

  “But didn’t you go around the neighborhood and ask?”

  “Three times,” Wendy said with feeling. “There was nothing.”

  “Heather says she knows of four pets in the last couple of weeks,” Heath said with certainty.

  “I wonder how big she considers the neighborhood,” Maxine said speculatively. “How far did you go?”

  Wendy named off half a dozen adjoining streets. To be fair Maxine couldn’t see Toto making it any further on his own either.