Death is Semisweet (23 page)

Heaven cut the tape on her daughter’s mouth and pulled on it. “Honey, I know this is going to hurt.” She jerked it just far enough for Iris to gasp for breath. “Are you okay?” she said, tears in her eyes.

“Oh, my God, Mom. She was going to kill us.”

“Hang on, sweetie. The paramedics will be here soon. Just try to relax. I’m going to take off Stephanie’s tape,” Heaven said, wiping chocolate off her daughter’s face.

As Heaven went over to work on Stephanie, she heard the sound of sirens coming their way.

“Well, well, if this isn’t a pretty picture,” a voice boomed. It was Bonnie Weber, walking into the factory. “A bunch of drowned rats covered with chocolate,” she said. “Mr. Foster, can you turn off the sprinklers? It looks like they did their work.” The fires were smoking but seemed to be out.

Heaven smiled weakly at her friend. “Happy New Year’s.”

A
s Heaven drove down 39th Street, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Dozens of Café Heaven chairs were out on the sidewalk and most of the chairs were filled. It looked
like some of the guests and most of the staff had put on their coats and moved outside. Everyone had a coffee cup but Heaven was pretty sure they weren’t drinking coffee. She pulled up in front and got out of the van.

Murray came rushing out. “I was staying by the phone. Is Iris okay?”

“She’s down at the ER with Hank right now. I just came from there. Both she and Stephanie have third-or fourth-degree burns in some places. Hank’s going to keep them all night.”

She turned around to see Stuart standing in the doorway of the café. “Where is she?” he asked, looked as old as Heaven felt.

“Right down the street at the hospital. Hank’s with her. She’s going to be fine. It’s just like a bad sunburn, Hank said.”

She walked to the door and looked inside. It was a mess. The fire department had sprayed some chemicals and one table was turned over and it looked like the top had been hacked in two. She turned away and went back outside.

Murray tried to put a good spin on it. “I’ve already called the glass people and the insurance company. What with both the kitchen and the dining room affected, I think it’ll take about a week, maybe two, to get everything back together. It could be worse,” he said.

Heaven leaned up against the facade. “Yeah, it could.” She turned to Stuart, who was standing on the sidewalk, looking helpless. “Stuart, I need to apologize to you. Here I’ve been afraid you would put my daughter in harm’s way, and I did that myself. Now go down the street and be with her. Jack,” she called out, “will you please drive Stuart down to the hospital? I’ll be back down there in a bit.”

Stuart gave Heaven a hug. “I do love her,” he said. Jumpin’ Jack stepped up, gave a little wave and motioned for Stuart to follow him.

“Murray, please get rid of all these people. I can’t talk or be nice or even make a sentence. I’ve really done it this time.”

Murray, not usually comfortable with physical contact, gave Heaven a clumsy embrace. “I’m proud of you. You caught the killer.”

“No, she caught me. If Junior hadn’t come down there, it would have been …” Heaven stopped in the middle of the sentence and walked into the smoky dining room. “I’ll wait for the glass people. You can go on home,” she said over her shoulder.

Murray followed her into the café. “We’ll just bring the chairs back in,” he said, trying to sound positive.

Heaven turned to him. “Look what I’ve done to us all. My restaurant is a shambles, we’ll all be out of work for a month, my daughter was almost murdered. This is it. I’ve got to change my life. I’ve got to learn to mind my own business before I ruin everything.” She sat down heavily in a dirty chair, looking around the restaurant, shaking her head. Tears trickled down her cheeks.

“It’s all going to be all right, H. You’ll feel better tomorrow,” Murray said as he turned and went out into the cold air of the first day of a new year.