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

blowing in.
    She got started on the soup of the day as soon as the plastic was up, and sent her daughter to town to pick up some necessities from the grocery store. With slices of pork sizzling away in a pan with onions and carrots, and the potatoes slowly coming to a boil, she was feeling much better. It was good to be back in the usual rhythm of things. She just had to keep telling herself that Dante would be okay, and that all of this would get solved before she knew it.
    She didn’t know what to expect at the deli that day. By now, surely the whole town had either heard about the break-in, or seen the shattered window as they drove past. There would likely be a lot of sightseers, so she decided to make extra soup. The creamy Pork and Potato soup was rich and filling, with just a hint of clove. It was a new recipe, and the best she could do with her limited ingredients. She hoped that the delicious smell would entice the curious townsfolk who stopped by to buy a bowl before they left. With all of the goods that she had to replace, she could certainly use the money.
    Once the deli had officially opened for the day, she found herself busy enough not to dwell on any of her concerns. The townspeople—her regulars—were all concerned and supportive. A couple of people suggested that she set up some sort of donation jar to help with the money that she would need to replace the destroyed food and pay off the insurance deductible for the window, but she declined, not liking the thought of taking donated money for business expenses.
    During a rare break in the rush of people, she sent Candice to the back to start on some of the dishes while she took the opportunity to call the local window shop and see how long it would take them to do a custom double pane of glass for her. A customer walked in while she was on hold, and she glanced up to mouth a quick I’m sorry to him. Then she did a double take, something about the tall man standing in front of her nudging her memory.
    He was thin, with blonde hair, and looked familiar. Where had she seen him before? She wasn’t sure, but she thought that he had come in the day before Dante had disappeared. She remembered her employee’s odd reaction when he saw him, and her decision not to question him about it. Now she really wished that she had.
    With her pulse pounding in her ears, she hung up on the window repair company and slowly turned away from him. All she could think of was to get Candice and get out. If this was the man that Dante had been afraid of, and the same one who had ransacked the deli, then she and her daughter were in danger.
    She hadn’t gone more than a few steps before she heard movement behind her. She didn’t even have time to spin around before a hand pressed a sweet, almost rotten-smelling cloth against her mouth and nose. Struggling, she tried not to breathe it in, but to no avail. After only a few seconds, she was getting dizzy. It felt like someone had stuffed cotton into her ears, and her vision was going blurry. She hardly even noticed it as he dragged her out the front door and shoved her into a car. Her head hit the roof, and everything went black.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
    “Are you finally waking up?”
    Still feeling disoriented, Moira did her best to sit up. Her head was aching, both from where she had hit it on the car, and a duller, more insidious ache that was probably from whatever sickeningly sweet chemical had been on the cloth. The last few minutes—or had it been longer?—were just a disoriented jumble of memories to her. As if to add insult to injury, her stomach suddenly clenched with nausea. Biting the inside of her cheek in hopes that the pain would help her get back to normal quickly, she tried not to vomit as she looked around.
    She was in a car parked in what looked like a campground. The lot was empty except for an ancient mobile home and a charcoal grill. The car smelled bad, like old shoes and stale cigar smoke. There were fast food