Read Strawberry Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 13 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) for Free Online Page A

quickly sidestepped him and ran to the
door, hoping that he was bluffing, but finding, unfortunately that he was not.
The locks were fully engaged and couldn’t be opened manually. Leaning her
forehead against the cold metal door, she felt him draw near.
    Coming
up behind her, Frank spoke, his voice low and deep, in her ear, “I may be many
things, but a liar isn’t one of them.” He grabbed her by the upper arms, his
fingers digging into her flesh and spun her around to face him.
    “Oh
really?” Echo was so furious that she ignored the pain of his grasp. “How about
the lie that you’re just a laid back text book writer? How about telling me
that you really care about me? How about dragging me out to the middle of
nowhere and calling it a vacation? Did you tell the truth about all of those
things?” she challenged him, throwing caution to the winds. “Just why exactly
are we here, Frank? If that’s even your real name.”
    “Why
are we here?” he gave a sinister chuckle, then thrust his face into hers, so
close that she could feel the heat of his breath. “Because sometimes, I just
need to disappear,” he growled, causing Echo’s pulse to race as she realized
just how much danger she might actually be in.
    Frank
raised his hand as though about to strike and fate smiled upon Echo in the form
of a doorbell chime.
    “Echo,
honey?” A sweet, feminine voice called out. “It’s Marilyn from SubLime Sweets –
you left your address book at the shop when you were filling out your post
cards.”
    Echo
screamed, “Help meeeee! Call the po…” before Frank could clamp his hand over
her mouth, and when he did, she banged her fists and kicked her feet against
the door, hoping that Marilyn, the owner of a Key Lime Pie shop that she had
visited, could hear her.
    “That
was not a smart thing to do,” he hissed in her ear, his hand still covering her
mouth, making it difficult for her to breathe. He had her hands pulled up
behind her shoulder blades and propelled her into the kitchen, where he opened
a drawer. Echo trembled and cried, hoping that he wasn’t reaching for a knife.
He pulled a roll of duct tape out, tore off several strips with his teeth, and
quickly bound her hands behind her, slapping a large piece over her mouth just
so he wouldn’t have to listen to her pleas for mercy. Shoving her into a dining
room chair, he taped her legs to the legs of the chair and left her there.
    “You’re
actually lucky you know. I don’t have time to beat the attitude out of you
because you opened your loud, stupid mouth and the cops will be here any
second,” the man who had just the week before held her tenderly and spoken soft
words of affection, sneered at her with utter hatred.
    Echo
regarded him with big, tear-filled eyes that were wide with fear. He raised his
hand to slap her and she winced, trying to shy away. He dropped his hand and
laughed at her reaction.
    “Don’t
think that this is over yet, little Miss Granola, because it’s not. Not by a
long shot,” he threatened. Hearing sirens in the distance, he grabbed his pre-packed
suitcase and ran, leaving the front door wide open. Nausea rose up within Echo,
and she was terrified that she’d get sick behind the duct tape and drown.
Fortunately, in a matter of minutes, four patrol cars pulled up and officers
burst into the home, guns drawn.
    One
apologized to Echo, instructing her to brace herself against the pain, and
quickly ripped the duct tape from her mouth so that she could speak. “Are you
all right, ma’am?” he asked, peering down at her as he worked to free her arms
and legs. Echo nodded.
    “Just
shaky,” she replied.
    “Is
your attacker in the house, ma’am?”
    “No,
he ran out the front door just before you guys got here. He’s driving a blue
rental car.”
    The
officer turned aside and spoke into a microphone attached to his shoulder, then
resumed working on the duct tape. “Do you need an ambulance or medical care?”
    Echo
shook