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

find the missing deli employee. At first, he was optimistic, but as the hours passed and he didn’t see any sign of the vehicle, he began to lose hope. There was no proof that Dante was even still around. For all David knew, the young man could be halfway to Oklahoma. Even if Candice had seen his car the day before, the kid could still be long gone. The search was beginning to feel more and more like a wild goose chase.
    He was on the verge of giving up when he hit pay dirt. A car that perfectly matched the one in the picture had just crossed through an intersection in front of him—complete with the spot of rust on the door. Feeling adrenaline flood his veins, he forced himself not to accelerate and instead took the turn at a normal speed. Keeping far enough back that the driver of the car in front of him wouldn’t realize that he was being followed, David tailed him.
    The car led him on a slow tour through town, and eventually ended up on one of the long, curving highways that would eventually come to the coast of Lake Michigan. The lake was a good half hour away, and it looked like the car was going to putter along the whole way there. Trying to force himself to stay back, remain calm, and focus on not spooking Dante, David settled in for the ride.
    Just a few miles before the rolling hills and sandy woods gave way to the beach, the car turned off at an unmarked intersection that David had probably driven past a hundred times before without noticing. He slowed his car and paused for a moment before turning; on such a small road, it would be obvious that he was following the other car. He was reluctant to give up his advantage of surprise, but didn’t want to risk losing the vehicle. He would just have to hope that he had indeed been following the right car, and that Dante wasn’t too jumpy.
    The dirt road was bumpy and rough, with dry dirt giving way to sudden pits of sand that threatened to bog down his vehicle. The half-melted ice just served to make everything even more slippery, and David had to concentrate just to keep his car on the track. Dante’s car had disappeared around a curve, and he was worried for a second that he had lost it. When he rounded the corner, however, he saw that it had pulled off to the side, and the driver’s side door was open. This could get interesting, he thought as he pulled up behind the car. He glanced in the windows as he walked up to make sure no one was in it, and then turned towards the trees.
    “Dante,” he called out. “It’s David Morris, Moira Darling’s friend. I want to help.” He waited, tense, knowing that so much could go wrong. Relief flowed through his when a slim form appeared from behind an old tree.
    “You shouldn’t have followed me,” Dante said. “You don’t know what’s going on—you could get hurt.”
    “I think you need to start at the beginning,” the private detective told him. “And tell me everything. I can help… and if I can’t, I can get you to someone who can.”
    He listened to the young man’s story with growing concern. It sounded like the person they were dealing with had a lot of blood on his hands already, and wouldn’t hesitate to shed some more. Wondering once again how Moira managed to find such trouble seemingly out of nowhere, David ushered Dante into his car.
    “Come with me,” he said. “We’ll stop by the deli and tell Moira what’s going on, and then get you to the police station. Tell them what you just told me, and don’t hold anything back.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
    Thanks to the helpful man from the local hardware shop, Moira got to the deli in the morning to discover that a bundle of plastic sheeting had been donated to temporarily cover the gaping hole where the window had been while she waited for the repair company to come out and fix it. It was a simple matter for her and Candice to tape it up. The plastic served better as windbreak than insulation, but at least she no longer had to worry about snow