Read Online Grilled Cheese Murder: Book 4 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning - Free Book Online Page A

have been horrible there. Is revenge really worth the risk of going back?”
    “I got a one-way ticket to Mexico, sweets,” he told her with a dry laugh. “Just gotta finish up my business here first. Once he’s taken care of, I’m not gonna be sticking around to see what happens next, if you get my drift.” He frowned down at her, as if just suddenly realizing that she had fallen.
    “Get up and go inside unless you want me to shoot you right here. I’m cold, I need a good warm coffee.” He reached for her and she shrank back, certain that if he got her inside the mobile home, she wouldn’t be coming back. Fear gave her strength, and she struggled to her feet, ignoring the way that the world seemed to spin around her head. Some part of her realized faintly that she could have a concussion. He had slammed her head against the car pretty hard. It looked like she was going to have to make a break for it. At least even if he did catch her, she would have tried to escape. Taking a deep breath, she did her best to push her throbbing head and the insistent nausea out of her mind. It was time to make her move.

CHAPTER NINETEEN
    It seemed like once she made her decision, everything happened at once. The man lunged at her, and she took off, stumbling and weaving her way across the snow-covered grass. She stumbled twice, but managed to keep her feet under her and keep going. Her kidnapper was hot on her heels, and already she could feel a stitch in her side. She wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long.
    Suddenly, just as he was closing in on her, a familiar black car burst out of the trees. It skidded along the path, coming to a stop just behind the kidnapper’s vehicle. She changed course, heading back towards the cars, and heard her kidnapper swear behind her. Moments later, he bowled into her, sending her crashing down to the ground. She kicked out at him, but missed. Her second kick connected with his shoulder, but couldn’t put enough force behind it to hurt him. He seemed determined to finish what he had started, even though her rescuers were only moments away and were running to save her.
    Luckily he either didn’t have a weapon, or hadn’t thought to get it out. He clawed at her, struggling to try to reach her throat, but she was able to get her feet up and kick him away. If he’d had a knife or a gun, she would be dead by now, and she was very aware of that fact.
    After what seemed like an eternity but was really only a few seconds, David and Dante reached them. The private detective grabbed the blond man by his shoulders and yanked him off of her. All of the fight seemed to go out of him for a moment until he saw Dante, and then his face twisted into a vicious expression of hatred and anger. David seemed to expect it, and instead of trying to hold him back, he shoved him forward so that the man did a face plant in the snow. In a flash, he handcuffed him and pocketed the key. Then he turned to Moira and helped her up, wrapping her in a warm hug as soon as he saw that she wasn’t seriously hurt.
    “You found Dante,” she said once he had released her. “How did you know I was here?”
    “My cousin told me Stephan was staying at a campsite near town,” Dante said. “That’s what I’ve been doing these last few days. Looking for him. This was the only campsite I hadn’t checked yet.”
    “We took a chance,” David told her. “While the police were doing things the slow way, we came here.”
    “I’m glad you did,” Moira said. “Tell me everything. Why was this guy after him? Why did he kill his cousin? What’s going on?”
    “Later,” David said. “First, we’ve got to take Stephan to the police station and get your employee’s name cleared. Everything else can wait.”
    * * *
    It took them hours to explain everything to the police. The three of them had a separate portion of the story to tell and they were questioned separately. At first it seemed like Dante would have to stay behind bars