From Killer Cravings
Chapter One
My stomach rumbled and my mouth watered.
Thoughts of jelly filled donuts danced in my head,
only to be pushed aside by a chocolate-covered old-fashioned. No. A
sprinkle-laden maple donut.
Ugh!
Stop.
I couldn’t get these sugar-encrusted thoughts out of my head.
Cravings when I was pregnant with Laurie weren’t particularly
strong, but every once in a while, I’d go nuts for something; usually
something salty. One night, I’d eaten two jumbo bags of pretzels for
dinner, but that was about as far as it went when pregnant with her.
Pregnancy number two, however, was a totally different story.
Currently, I was sitting outside a small suburban home, my car
parked with the lights out. I was supposed to be working a case, but
all I could think about was getting something sweet. And, what made
it worse, was that I couldn’t quite figure out what sort of sweet I
wanted. But, it was bad. Like, really bad. I couldn’t concentrate to save
my life.
My phone buzzed, so I put the light on dim to check it.
I am undercover, after all.
It was a text from Kenny, our next-door neighbor teenager turned
nanny. I laughed out loud to see a picture of Laurie fast asleep in her
crib with her finger up her nose. She was six months old now.
Six months old, and I’m pregnant all over again.
This pregnancy wasn’t exactly planned, and the mind-boggling
fact that we were having another baby before Laurie was even old
enough to walk put me into full panic-mode. Even so, Jim and I were
ecstatic. Nervous, but glad.
“Thanks for getting her to bed! Jim should be home soon,” I said
into the voice dictation on the phone as I texted him back.
Kenny is on the night shift because Jim had an out-of-town
meeting he’d had to attend. He’d been gone for a couple of days, and I
couldn’t wait to see him. His flight was delayed into the dead hours, so
he was just getting in. He’d texted me a few minutes ago from the
airport, said he was stuck there dealing with a lost luggage issue.
Poor Jim.
Stakeouts look way more interesting in the movies. Something
exciting always happened, but real life hardly ever behaves the way it
does in the movies. I’ve been sitting in that car for four hours. Not
moving. Just sitting here with my fancy new camera in the passenger
seat waiting.
And waiting… and waiting… and waiting.
I was about to go insane. And, how dumb of me not to pack
snacks? I knew I was pregnant. Why didn’t I bring food? All I could
think about was getting something sweet – a brownie, maybe? Ice
cream? No, definitely a brownie.
I tapped on the steering wheel. When was this guy planning on
leaving this woman’s house? This was a new case given to me by Gali‐
gani, my boss and mom’s current fling. A cheating husband case, and
frankly, it made me sick. But, this is the sort of thing you deal with
when you become a PI. Galigani got a lot of cases like this, so he felt it
was time to turn one over to me. The woman was gearing up already,
hiring a lawyer for the divorce, but she needed to bust him cheating.
She hadn’t been able to do it herself, so she had called in the A-team
with Galigani, but with me it was more like the B-team, I guess.
GRAB YOUR COPY OF KILLER CRAVINGS HERE
There is a twenty-four hour doughnut shop about twenty minutes from
here, I thought to myself, but I shook the thought away. You have one
job, Kate, I told myself. Get the picture, and then you can go home.
Seriously – how late does this guy think he can stay over at
another woman’s house without his wife noticing? It’s three in the
morning. Surely he doesn’t believe he can keep getting away with
this? I think about Jim. I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about this
sort of thing with him. He’s been loyal and dedicated to our marriage
since day one. He’s never given me even the slightest reason to worry,
and for that I am really thankful. He’s been amazing during this preg‐
nancy just as he’d been when I was pregnant with Laurie. If anything,
I feel like he does too much for me. Letting me quit my job to pursue
training as a PI is just one of the many ways Jim recently showed me
how much he cares.
Plus, he’s an amazing father.
Food.
No matter how far my brain drifts off to something else, I always
come back to food. I swear, it was never this bad with Laurie.
I pressed my hands to my belly. “Why are you always so hungry,
baby?” I asked. Of course, I didn’t get an answer with the exception of
my craving increasing exponentially.
That’s it. I’m doing it.
I started the engine and pulled the car out of the parking spot. The
doughnut shop seemed too big a risk, but I knew there was a service
station a few blocks away. I couldn’t help myself. I needed something
bad.
Like really, really bad.
I parked at the gas station and ran inside. The man behind the
counter barely glanced up from his phone screen to nod at me. I
dashed into the restroom.
Heck, may as well kill two birds with one stone.
Then, I grabbed a ridiculous amount of candies and sweets,
checked out, and headed back. On the way there, I stuffed my face full
of Reese’s Pieces, but that was definitely not what I was wanting.
Ugh!
I turned onto the street, and watched in horror as a man darted
across the road.
Oh no…
It was him! He had a lumberjack build, a heavy black beard and
even wore a red flannel overcoat.
There was no mistaking him.
I’d missed him leaving the woman’s house! I pulled over, turned off
my lights, and snapped several pictures, but I had a horrible weight in
my stomach.
And not just from the candy!
I’d missed it! The moment I’d waited five hours for, gone faster
than a sugar crash.
This creep hid out in her house all night, and I took a five-minute
break to run to a gas station, and that’s when he decided to leave!
Anger burned through my chest. Honestly, I wanted to confront
him right there, slap him in the face, like in the movies. But that
wasn’t my job. My job was to bust him leaving the woman’s house,
and now all I had was a picture of him sitting in his car.
Real incriminating, Kate.
I’d wasted my entire evening all because of a pregnancy craving.
Now, I was going to have to do it all over again. If I even had the
chance!
Unbelievable!
I drove home, munching on a Snickers bar that made me nauseous
to the point I had to pull over. Okay, it wasn’t candy I wanted.
A warm feeling overcame me as I saw Jim’s car parked outside our
house. It was good knowing that he was home.
No doubt he was probably asleep by now if Laurie was in her crib
still. I headed inside, depositing the candy and powdered doughnuts
I’d bought at the gas station and began rummaging through the
pantry. It was like a curse – some secret craving I couldn’t quite figure
out, and everything else was making me sick.
What is it that I want?
I think I tried four different treats before I noticed the sun peeking
up outside.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
GRAB YOUR COPY OF KILLER CRAVINGS HERE
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐”I couldn’t stop reading!”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐”Fast-paced and fun. I love these mysteires!”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐”Diana Orgain is my new favorite author!”
Stay up to date and Join the fun!
GRAB YOUR COPY OF KILLER CRAVINGS HERE
Share the love!
