Devil's Food Cake (18 page)

Almost
against her better judgment—the justification that she was helping Pete by staying on the case was still fresh in her mind—she turned away from the front door and toward the hallway she’d exited not long ago. She moved carefully, pausing to listen to Thom’s movements between each step until she realized he was in Josh’s bedroom. The door was partially open and Sadie didn’t dare move any closer in order to look inside. However, through the gap between the hinged side of the door and the door frame, Sadie could see Thom’s hands fumbling through what looked like a bunch of boxer shorts. She grimaced at the idea of rummaging through someone’s underwear, even if it was clean underwear, and wondered what Thom was after.

He slammed another drawer shut and headed for the bookshelf, passing the gap and causing Sadie to freeze in hopes he wouldn’t notice her watching him. She could hear the sound of books being moved on the shelf and then the sound of crumpling paper. What she really needed was a mirror that would allow her to see beyond the door frame—or a periscope! That would be perfect! Where was Shawn’s junior detective spy kit when she needed it?

The crinkly paper sound had disappeared by the time Sadie focused her attention again, but Thom was still looking for whatever it was he was looking for. He crossed the door again, initiating another “freeze tag” response from Sadie. She moved to the left, trying to get a clearer angle and hit her head on the frame of the door. Apparently the swelling from the previous attack had thrown off her usually exact perceptions of how much space she took up in the world.

Whether it was the thump or the soft gasp of surprised pain that Sadie couldn’t stop in time, the movements in Josh’s room stopped.

If you are quiet enough,
she told herself,
and still enough, he’ll blow it off as the heater kicking on or something.
At least, that was her hope. But she’d no sooner thought up the possible excuse for the sound she’d made when she heard Thom’s shoes pivot on the carpet.

“Donna?” Thom said, his voice closer than it should have been.

Chapter 21

Sadie blindly stumbled backward, looking for somewhere to go.

Thom came around the door before she managed to escape, and his eyes went wide as he stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared directly at her.

Sadie made an attempt to stand straight. “Thom,” she said in an authoritative voice, lifting her chin and putting her hands on her hips for emphasis while her mind reeled forward in search of something intelligent to say. Unfortunately, she came up with nothing and had to settle on what she really wanted to know. “What are you looking for in there?” she asked, removing one hand from her hip in order to point at Josh’s bedroom.

The two seconds they stood staring at each other were among the most uncomfortable two seconds of Sadie’s life.

Thom’s expression turned from surprise to confusion. “M-Mrs. Hoffmiller?”

“Call me Sadie,” she said automatically. He looked terrible. His nose and cheeks were red, but his face was otherwise quite pale, almost like wax. His hair hung limp and wet across his forehead. He’d obviously been outside for quite some time and, while that could explain a lot about his current appearance, Sadie couldn’t discount what Jane had said about Thom having an alcohol problem. Looking at him now it was a pretty easy assessment to make. He was not a well man. Though she’d known Thom several years ago, it had been a business relationship. She didn’t really know
this
Thom. Back then, Thom had never been a man someone would call confident or outgoing, but he’d had depth to him—a latent strength Sadie had a hard time seeing right now.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Well, I—” Thom looked quickly to the side and then back at Sadie. He was incredibly nervous. “I-I was looking for—um, what are
you
doing here?”

Sadie ignored his question. “You’re supposed to be talking to the police.”

“I, uh . . .” He ran a hand through his hair, and Sadie noticed that his hand shook slightly as he did so. He continued to look around, seemingly uncomfortable meeting her eyes for more than a moment at a time. “Are you with the police?” he asked, and his voice was tinged with fear.

“Sort of,” Sadie said, secure with her honesty since she was doing their job for them. “Everyone is looking for you.”

“I know,” Thom said, running the same shaky hand through his hair again. After a moment, he glanced at her with a hopeful look in his eyes that triggered the sympathy Sadie had been attempting to hold back. There was something so . . . vulnerable about him. “Do you know Josh? Do you know where he is?”

“He’s, uh, gone,” Sadie said, surprised Thom had so quickly stopped questioning what she was doing there.

Thom’s shoulders slumped. “Do you know when he’ll be back?”

Sadie didn’t like the idea of giving Thom too much information, and yet sharing information was what developed trust—and she’d like him to trust her. “I don’t think it will be any time soon. He took his bag with him and left in a bit of a hurry.”

“Oh,” Thom said, his shoulders slumping even more. “And Donna? Did she go with him?”

“I have no idea where Donna is,” Sadie said truthfully. Where did pan-wielding bludgeoners go after incapacitating their prey? Sadie couldn’t begin to guess, but she was awfully glad the woman had left. Trying to come up with something to say—preferably something that would break this weird small-talky stuff they were doing at the moment—Sadie noticed the front of Thom’s jacket bulging slightly. A tiny sliver of white stuck up from the small front pocket.

He ran his hand through his hair again, and the movement made the object in his pocket shift and crinkle—a sound very similar to the one Sadie had overheard when Thom had been in Josh’s room. Whatever paper Thom had found had been shoved in the front pocket of his suit coat. What was important enough that he’d walk two miles in the snow and then rummage through Josh’s room? Was it a reasonable expectation to think Sadie could find out?

Maybe if she kept the frying pan close—in case Donna Hender came back—she could stay here for a couple minutes and see what she could learn.

Sadie softened her expression and smiled. “Donna will be back soon,” she said, though she hoped that wouldn’t really be the case. “You look a little chilled. Can I get you something to drink while we wait? Coffee, hot cocoa, tea?” Assuming Mrs. Hender had those things in her kitchen, Sadie felt she could justify taking over another woman’s kitchen—it was for a good cause, after all.

“Oh, uh,” Thom said, looking at his watch.

“Hot cocoa ought to do the trick,” she said, wishing she’d thought to bring a thermos of French chocolate with her. “Come into the kitchen with me and we’ll get you taken care of. It will only take a few minutes. Are you hungry?”

Thom hesitated as though unsure that going into the kitchen was a good idea. “I don’t—”

“Nonsense,” Sadie said. She stepped forward and took Thom’s elbow. The arms of his jacket were wet and cold. “I’m sure Donna will be back any minute, then you can ask her all about Josh.” She pulled on his arm and he didn’t fight her. That was always a good sign. She gave him another tug and he fell into step behind her as she made her way back to the kitchen, swallowing her discomfort with acting so much at home. Once there she ushered Thom into a chair at the table. Thom sat down like an obedient child who didn’t know how to protest. Which was pretty much exactly what Sadie was looking for. However, it was a little worrisome how easy it was to convince Thom to do things her way.

Once she was certain he wouldn’t bolt, Sadie began opening cupboards in search of hot cocoa mix.
Come on, Donna,
she grumbled in her mind.
You owe me one!
But the woman didn’t keep her cupboards well-stocked. However, Sadie did find a partial can of baking cocoa way in the back of one of the cupboards. Sadie grabbed it, mixed it with some sugar she found in a sugar jar, a pinch of salt, and then added it to half a mug of water. While it heated in the microwave—which was easy to operate, thank goodness—Sadie opened the fridge and found some coffee creamer. Perfect! Breanna had learned to make a homemade cocoa mix in Girl Scouts several years ago and it had become a Hoffmiller staple ever since. Of course, Sadie had to improvise in Donna’s kitchen, but at least the basics were there. Within two minutes of depositing Thom on a kitchen chair, Sadie was able to push a steaming—but not too hot—mug of hot cocoa in front of him. It wasn’t French chocolate, but circumstances, and the sparse pantry of the Hender home, didn’t lend themselves to such a decadent drink anyway.

“Thank you,” he said quietly as he wrapped his hands around the mug.

“Oh, you’re very welcome,” Sadie answered. “You didn’t arrive at the fund-raiser in time for dinner, so you must be hungry.” She scanned the counter before her eyes rested on a half-full bag of corn chips. She’d seen cheese in the refrigerator and, even if she didn’t find anything else, that was a meal right there.

“Killer nachos,” she said, smiling at Thom as he lifted the mug to his lips.

“What?” Thom put the mug down, startled.

Sadie had already grabbed the bag of corn chips. “Killer nachos,” she repeated. “You’ll love ’em, and it should only take a couple of minutes to throw them together.” There were plates in the cupboard by the fridge and olives hiding behind the enchilada sauce. A can of green chilies was also hiding in a corner, and upon closer inspection, Sadie realized that Donna Hender wasn’t all bad—she had three kinds of cheese.

“Do you like onions?” Sadie asked, popping her head up over the refrigerator door. “Not everyone does. And then there are people like my mother, who smelled like onions for forty-eight hours whenever she ate them.”

“Um, I like onions,” he said flatly.

Sadie gave him another wide smile and went back to the fridge. There was half a tub of sour cream on the second shelf. Perfect! As she worked, she paid careful attention to what Thom was doing when he thought she wasn’t looking. He removed the paper from his pocket and smoothed it out on the table while Sadie assembled her ingredients. She wished she could see his facial expression, but he was too far away and had his head down, studying the words. She tried to close the door to the refrigerator quietly so as not to remind him she was even there, but once he heard the click, he quickly folded the paper and put it back in his pocket.

Classic Cocoa Mix

* Bre’s recipe

2 cups non-fat dry milk powder

1 cup white sugar

3⁄4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer

Dash of salt

Dash of cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. To make cocoa, add 3 tablespoons of mix with 1 cup hot water. Stir until combined.

* Bre loves a scoop of vanilla ice cream added to her cocoa, though Cool Whip works in a pinch.

Chapter 22

After putting the paper away, Thom patted down his suit, removing four mini bottles from the interior pockets of his suit coat and lining them up one by one on the table.

Sadie bit her lip, unsure of what to do. He really shouldn’t be drinking, but if his alcohol problem was as bad as Jane had said it was, withdrawal symptoms could be horrible, and Sadie suspected Thom hadn’t had a drink for at least a few hours.

Thom twisted the top off the first bottle and tipped it to his mouth. It was gone in one swallow and Sadie cringed. She’d never understood how people could slam hard liquor like that. He replaced the cap and put the bottle back in line with the others.