Free Sally Berneathy - Death by Chocolate 01 - Death by Chocolate by Sally Berneathy Page A

soundly when I called. I went cold all over at the thought of some pervert kidnapping Zach. I couldn’t begin to imagine the torment those same thoughts must be causing Paula.
    “What about boy friends?” Trent asked her. “Somebody you’re dating who really likes Zach?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t date.”
    He lifted a quizzical eyebrow at me, and I nodded, confirming her statement. Trent made a notation in his little book.
    “You told Officer Creighton you hadn’t intended to fall asleep, that one minute you were watching your son and the next thing you remembered was the phone ringing when Ms. Powell called you.”
    She drew a shaky hand across her forehead. “That’s right. We went to the park after work, then when we got home, I put Zach in his playpen and turned on cartoons. I had a headache, so I took a couple of aspirin and sat down for a few minutes before I started dinner. The next thing I knew was when Lindsay called me.”
    “Did you have a drink to help get rid of the headache, a glass of wine, maybe? Could that be why you fell asleep so easily?”
    “She goes to work at four in the morning!” I protested, not liking the way the questioning was headed. “Of course she was sleepy by that time! I took a nap myself.”
    He scowled at me. “Do you do this ventriloquist routine professionally or just to annoy people?”
    Paula sprang to her feet. “Stop it! You’re wasting time and it’s going to get dark soon! If you’re not going to look for my son, I will!”
    Creighton rose beside her. “We’ve got half the Pleasant Grove Police Department looking,” he assured her. “We’ll find your son.”
    She gave no indication that she’d heard him, but she did sit down again and pressed her fingertips against her temples. “I had two aspirins and a glass of water. That’s all. I guess I was more tired than I realized.”
    “Are you always such a heavy sleeper?”
    “No! I’m a very light sleeper. I don’t know how I could have slept through Zach’s leaving. Usually I hear him from my room if he coughs in the middle of the night.”
    “Could I see the bottle of aspirin?”
    “Why?” I asked.
    Trent’s jaw clenched. “Because you’re giving me a headache.”
    “I’ll get it.” Paula hurried from the room as if the faster she brought aspirin to Trent, the faster Zach would be found.
    “What are you trying to do to her?” I demanded of Trent.
    “I’m trying to find a missing kid. What are you trying to do?”
    “I’m trying to take care of my friend.”
    “Why does she need taking care of?”
    I glared at him. Why had I been glad to see him? Why had I asked the dispatcher to call him? “I need to talk to you about something that probably doesn’t have anything to do with Zach, but it might.”
    “What?”
    “Not now.”
    Paula walked back into the room and handed Trent a small white bottle.
    “This is a vitamin bottle,” he said, turning it in his fingers.
    “We buy aspirin in bulk at the shop and then we bring a few home with us when we need them,” I explained and earned myself another glare.
    “Do you mind if I take a couple of them with me?”
    Her hands fluttered helplessly. “Take the whole bottle. I don’t care.”
    “A couple’ll do.”
    “You want some water to take those with?” I asked as he slid the pills into his shirt pocket. “Or did you plan to absorb them through your shirt? I don’t think aspirins work that way.”
    “Do you have any coffee made?” he asked Paula, ignoring me.
    “What? Coffee? No. No, I don’t.”
    “Then why don’t you go in the kitchen and make a pot.”
    “I don’t want to make coffee! I want to find Zach! There’s a convenience store over on Main Street. If you want something to drink, go down there.”
    “I know you don’t want to make coffee, but I want you to. You need to make it and then you need to drink some as well as offer it to the others here.”
    Busy work, I thought, something for Paula to do to