already?
She glanced at her watch again. She still had time to get out of here without being caught by Mitzy. Without upsetting Oliver. If she left right now.
She crept soundlessly over the thick, plush carpet, peering in doorways as she went, trying to convince herself she really was alone in the apartment. She could smell Mitzy’s perfume. And Oliver’s cologne. The mingling of the two made her sick to her stomach.
The presents were where she’d left them on the table, the lovebirds cuddling and cooing. Everything looked just as she’d left it, except....
The bow on the candy box had fallen to the floor.
She stepped closer, counting off the gifts, almost afraid she’d find one missing. Birds, flowers, perfume, champagne, jewelry, candy— That was odd. The lid on the heart-shaped box of chocolates!
Someone had opened the box and left the lid half off, probably in a hurry to get out of the penthouse.
Her heart lurched at a sudden thought. Surely the bellhop wouldn’t have taken a piece of the chocolate. No! Panic filled her, making her grab the edge of the table for support. Oliver had been very specific about how everything had to be. It had to be perfect.
He’d think she took the candy! That she hadn’t overcome her ‘‘problem’’ with food. That it was just a matter of time before she became Piggy Kane again. He would never believe the bellhop had taken the candy even if Peggy got the chance to explain. Not that she could admit she’d been in the bedroom snooping around and heard the bellhop come in.
She felt sicker. How much had he taken? Maybe none. Maybe he’d just looked into the box. Her fingers trembled as she slowly lifted the lid all the way off, praying all of the chocolate would be nestled in their little red foil cups.
One was missing!
Peggy had watched the woman at the candy shop place the chocolate in an intricate heart pattern. The air thick with the smell of chocolate, she’d watched each specially made morsel go in, right up until the last piece—a perfect heart of milk chocolate drizzled with semi-sweet chocolate.
And now it was gone, leaving only an empty bright red foil hole gaping at the center of the design and all of the pieces askew and no longer resembling a heart at all as if the box had been dropped!
In horror, Peggy realized Mitzy would notice immediately and call it to her husband’s attention. Oliver would have to confess that Peggy had picked up the presents. Had to have been Peggy who’d taken the piece of candy.
Mitzy would make a big deal out of it. Peggy could just hear her, ‘‘Poor Piggy Kane, had to steal Valentine’s Day chocolate because it wasn’t like anyone was going to give her chocolate. That would be like giving tequila to an alcoholic.’’
But that wasn’t the worst part. Mitzy wouldn’t want the chocolates, not after Piggy Kane had been in them. Oliver would be furious. Didn’t Peggy know how important it was for tonight to be perfect?
She stared down at the box of candy. Smooth pale milk chocolates. Dark rich bittersweet chocolates. All filled with heavenly cremes, mouth-melting caramels and buttery nuts.
She watched her hand as if seeing it from a great distance away. Watched her finger and thumb gently lift one of the milk chocolate cremes from its foil nest as if lifting out a priceless jewel. Watched the chocolate approach her mouth, the sight of it making her dizzy, the intoxicating scent of it making her weak with anticipation.
The forbidden chocolate brushed her lips as lightly as a kiss and then it was on her tongue. She closed her warm mouth around it, sucking it in, lips parting slightly as she released a cocoa-scented sigh. Her breath caught in her throat as the chocolate slowly, achingly began to melt.
She had never tasted anything so smooth, so rich. She deserved this. She deserved so...much...more. Then the warm chocolate seemed to burst and the sweet, incredible creme oozed out, filling her mouth. She groaned from the pleasure of it, licking her lips as she closed her eyes, willing herself to fight the urge and hold it in her mouth as long as she could, knowing how quickly the sensation would be gone once she swallowed.
This was heaven. Unfortunately, she knew from experience, it never lasted long enough.
Her hand was already reaching for another chocolate, her mind already crumpling the empty incriminating red foil into her coat pocket and rearranging the chocolates, already convincing herself that no one would ever have to know, especially Oliver. That was when the poison hit.
She had only enough time to pull the Valentine from her pocket before she hit the floor.
‘‘WHO FOUND THE BODY?’’ Sheriff Jack McAllister asked the deputy as he rode up the elevator to The Riverside penthouse. He couldn’t believe it. He’d been sheriff for less than twenty-four hours and he already had a dead body on his hands. Just his luck, since he’d come home to River’s Edge to get away from this very thing.
‘‘Mrs. Sanders found her.’’
He shot a look at the deputy and realized the only Mrs. Sanders he knew would be hugging eighty by now—if she was still alive. He hadn’t thought about which Sanders lived in the hotel penthouse. ‘‘Ellie Sanders, old man Sanders’s wife?’’
Deputy Reed, whom Jack had just met that morning, shook his head, his expression suspiciously closed. ‘‘Mrs. Oliver Sanders. Old man—Mr. Otto Sanders is deceased. His wife, Ellie, resides in Hawaii now.’’
Good for Ellie. Jack hoped she was having a great time, spending the old man’s money.
‘‘Who’d Oliver marry?’’ he had to ask. Keeping track of the comings and goings in River’s Edge had been the last thing on his mind. He’d left pretty soon after high school, taking the best of River’s Edge with him, and had never looked back, never planned to come back. As he rode up the elevator, he was starting to remember why.
‘‘Oliver married Mitzy Baxter,’’ Reed said and had to clear his throat.
Jack let out a low whistle. Mitzy Baxter Sanders. Mitzy. Oh, boy.
The elevator door opened onto a slab of white marble floor complete with a dead body and a hysterical woman. He recognized the loud high-pitched complaining voice in the background as Mitzy’s. Some things did not change.
A second deputy stood next to the elevator door, protecting the possible crime scene just as Jack had asked. But the poor man looked as if he’d rather be anywhere than here. Jack understood perfectly.
‘‘Mrs. Sanders is a little upset,’’ Deputy Dodson said. ‘‘As would be expected,’’ he added quickly.
Jack had to smile. ‘‘Yes, as would be expected.’’ He looked from the deputy to the foyer table covered in gifts and the body of a woman lying on the floor beside it. A box of spilled chocolates dotted the marble floor around the body like thrown dirt clods.
Under the table was a woman’s large black leather purse with a shopping bag next to it. Against the opposite foyer wall were two more shopping bags and another purse, this one pink and dainty.
