Sally Berneathy - Death by Chocolate 03 - The Great Chocolate Scam (21 page)

He strode onto the landing and down the hall toward his bedroom, his long strides longer than usual and his steps hurried. That was as stressed as I’d ever seen Fred. Things were getting a little freaky.

I got another shock when I entered his bedroom. The covers on one side of the bed were thrown back. Sure, the average person wouldn’t make his bed when he got up in the middle of the night to try to lure a strange woman out of his closet, but Fred wasn’t the average person. Anyway, he had those elves.

He strode to the open closet door and I followed.

The closet was large for an old house. On one side shirts were grouped by color, fabric and long sleeves versus short sleeves. On the other, slacks and jackets were arranged the same way. He had a shoe rack which held polished shoes and a tie rack with ties, sorted by color, of course. Sophie huddled in one corner at the very back, face between her knees, dark curtain of hair flowing over her arms where they wrapped protectively around her head, white lacy gown spreading about her.

A beautiful woman in a night gown hiding in the bedroom closet of a man in pajamas. If it had been anybody but Fred—

“Sophie?” I spoke softly.

She flinched and tightened her arms around her head.

I turned to Fred. “How did she get in your house? I feel certain you have the door locked.”

He straightened his glasses. “At 1:33 a.m. my security system told me someone was on my front porch. I went down to investigate and saw her trying to get in. I opened the door and asked if I could be of assistance. She walked past me, straight up the stairs and into my bedroom closet. I believe she’s sleep-walking, but I can’t seem to wake her or persuade her to come out.” He removed a cookie from the container and bit into it. His hand shook slightly. I was glad I had brought the cookies. He needed a fix.

I took the container from him. Maybe Sophie would respond to a cookie. Chocolate has restorative powers.

I handed Fred my Coke and moved into the closet where I knelt  next to her, pushing Fred’s pants aside. “Sophie, it’s Lindsay. I’m your neighbor. Remember me? Chocolatier?”

She shivered but didn’t look up.

“Would you like a chocolate chip cookie? I made them myself.”

Nothing.

There’s something very wrong with anyone who turns down one of my cookies.

I touched her arm.

Her head flew up and she shoved my hand away. Her eyes were wide and filled with terror. “Carolyn! No!”

I had a bad feeling it was going to take more than a few cookies to help that woman.