Read Death by Lime: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 5 for Free Online Page B

drained than tired, but hoped that sleep would claim her quickly and silence the torrent of thoughts running torturously through her mind. Rather than bringing a welcome reprieve from reality, her sleep brought with it nightmares of every different stripe, the last one being the worst of them all. In the dream, she was upstairs asleep, and she heard a sound like someone had opened her front door, followed by the slight squeaking of them coming slowly up the stairs. Closer and closer came the intruder, until at last, he was standing by the bed, then kneeling beside it, so close that she could feel his breath on her neck.
    “Wake up, beautiful lady,” the stranger’s voice purred in her ear.
    Kelcie awoke with a start to find that it hadn’t been a dream at all, as a hand was clamped tightly over her mouth to stifle the sound of her screams.
    “Hey, girl. Chill out, I just wanted to surprise you,” she recognized Thomas’s voice in the dark, and was nauseated by the strong smell of alcohol on his breath. He removed his hand from her mouth and she wrenched away from him, cowering against the wall at the far side of the bed, covers clenched to her chest.
    “What are you doing here, Thomas? You get out right now…I mean it,” her voice quavered as she shrunk against the wall, trying to get as far away from him as possible.
    “Whassamatter with you?” he slurred. “I came over here to make up,” he reached for her, groping at the covers.
    “Don’t you touch me Thomas!” she yelled. “Get out!”
    “Don’t be so hateful. You used to like it when I touched you,” he leered.
    “I mean it, Thomas, you need to leave right now, or I’m calling the police,” she lowered her  voice, trying to sound more reasonable.
    “How you gonna do that?” he said menacingly, holding up her cell phone and waggling it in front of her. He must have grabbed it from the bedside table while she was sleeping.
    “Give me my phone, Thomas,” she ordered, terrified.
    “No,” was the sinister reply.
    Kelcie gritted her teeth and hissed between them. “I swear to you, if you don’t give me that phone right now, I’m going to scream,” she threatened.
    “What makes you think I’m going to let you?” he shot back.
    Both of them jumped when, just then, the doorbell rang. Taking advantage of Thomas being distracted for a moment, Kelcie screamed, “Help, somebody help meeee…” She could only hope that whoever rung the bell had heard her cry before the smashing blow rang out against her temple, causing her to briefly see stars before succumbing to darkness.
     

Chapter 11
    Kelcie winced, running her fingers over the goose egg that Thomas had left on her temple before running downstairs and slipping out the back door. She had been brought around with smelling salts to find two EMT’s a police officer, and Detective Bernard Cortland in her room. She had been relieved that apparently whoever had rung the doorbell, at the crucial moment when Thomas had decided to get violent, had heard her cry for help and alerted the police.
    “I’m so glad you’re here, she said weakly to the detective as an EMT shone his flashlight into her eyes, checking for neurological damage.
    “It’s fortunate that a good Samaritan happened to be around to hear you when you were being attacked,” Bernard observed.
    “Yes, it is,” Kelcie started to nod, but stopped when pain gripped her. “Who was at the door?” she asked weakly, after the pain had subsided a bit.
    “It was the young man who had delivered your food earlier. Apparently, he discovered that something was missing in your order and he came out to bring it to you. He said that when he rang the bell, he heard you scream, and called 911.”
    “Sam saved me?” she murmured.
    “Quite possibly,” the detective nodded. “Do you have any idea who did this to you?”
    “Yes,” Kelcie admitted, unreasonably embarrassed. “It was my ex-boyfriend, Thomas. He smelled like a brewery and he