Chocolate Dipped Death by Carter Sammi

Author:Carter, Sammi [Carter, Sammi]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery & Detective, General, Women Sleuths, Fiction
ISBN: 042520894X
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2006-03-07T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Tired, cranky, and determined to get some answers, I pulled into Karen’s driveway a few minutes before seven the next morning. Only a few wispy clouds dotted the horizon, and the sun, a pale lemon yellow, gave off enough heat to thaw some of the frozen landscape. It wouldn’t last. By nightfall, all the running water would turn to ice again, but the warmth was a welcome respite.

Karen’s split-level house was still dark when I arrived, but I didn’t let that discourage me. It was a school day. She couldn’t sleep forever.

I parked, blocking her side of the garage, then trudged up the walk to the front door. Little pebbles of snowmelt glowed pale blue in the snow and crunched underfoot—an odd touch of normalcy in a world that no longer made sense.

Karen finally stumbled down the stairs after the third ring and wrenched the door open. With her fiery hair tousled by sleep, a pair of Sergio’s sweats bagging on her bony butt and chicken legs, and a wrinkled nightshirt hanging unevenly from her thin shoulders, she looked only marginally better than when she showed up at my door drunk.

A sort of general irritation at being woken up turned to a very personal irritation with me when she realized who I was. Glaring hotly, she folded her arms tightly across her chest and blocked the doorway. “What are you doing here?”

Good to see you, too. “We need to talk.”

“Go home. I’m sleeping.”

“After we talk.”

“Later,” she snarled. “I’ll call you.” Moving faster than I would have expected considering the state she was in, she tried to slam the door in my face.

I caught it with one hand and held it open. “I’m not leaving, Karen. Get used to it.”

She raked her fingers through her matted hair. “Why? What do you want?”

I decided to start with the easy questions. “I need to know if you’re planning on coming to work this morning.”

“I haven’t decided yet. Frankly, I’m not sure I want to keep working with you.”

The feeling was growing more mutual by the second. “Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?” I said. “Why are you so mad at me?”

Karen gripped the door with both hands and tried again to shut me out. “If you were paying the slightest bit of attention,” she growled as she struggled against me, “you’d already know the answer to that.”

I fought her using my shoulders and hips. “I am paying attention. I just can’t figure out what’s going on. Are you really angry with me, or are you just making up an excuse to take some time off?”

Karen stopped pushing abruptly. “What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”

I staggered inside, almost losing my balance in the process. “You don’t have to make yourself angry with me. If you want time off, just say so.”

Her eyes sparked. “What makes you think I have to make myself angry with you?”

“Well, it’s just that—” I sensed movement at the top of the stairs and glimpsed Karen’s daughter, Paige, watching us with wide doe eyes.

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