Killer Chocolate--A Valentine's Mystery part 8

by Terri Reed

The tunnel reeked of brine, decay and some unfamiliar foul odor that choked the breath from Lovey’s lungs. She wished she were back inside her shop where the decadent scents of rich chocolates were a constant. She couldn’t believe she’d led them all here. What had she been thinking?
She’d been thinking she didn’t want the cat, Athena, Rouen or herself to be shot by Mr. Creamer and his nasty looking gun. She’d done the only thing she could.
A decision she hoped wouldn’t prove to be fatal.

Up ahead in the inky blackness, twin red dots, like unblinking eyes, glowed bright.
Sharp talons of terror clawed through Lovey. She stumbled
to a halt, sent up a silent plea for protection and clung tighter to Rouen’s hand.
Athena let out a small gasp.
“What is that?” Lovey whispered, her voice shaking as thoughts of wild beasts rampaged through her mind.
“I don’t know,” came Rouen’s soft reply.
Creamer bumped into them. “What’s the big idea? Keep moving.”
Rouen tugged Lovey behind him so that her back was against the cold, damp side of the tunnel. His big, broad shoulders blocked out the glowing lights. “Do you have a flashlight, Creamer?”
“No. Don’t you?” he snapped.
Rouen snorted under his breath. He released Lovey’s hand. A second later light from a small pin size flashlight illuminated the tunnel. He shined the bean on toward the red dots revealing a keypad fastened to the wall. Lovey could barely make out the visible lines of a door. What was on the other side?
Waving his gun in Rouen’s face, Mr. Creamer, said, “Open it.”
“And how do you suppose I do that? Do you have the combination?” Rouen asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Figure it out,” Creamer demanded.
Lovey thought about the watch attached to her wrist and the matching one on Rouen. Was the combination somehow hidden on the watches?
Just then the light winked out.
“Hey!” Creamer shouted.
Lovey groped for Athena in the dark. She found her and held on tight as the sound of feet shuffling on the earthen floor filled the air. Grunts came from the direction of the two men. Lovey could only assume Rouen had made a grab for the gun. The sound of a fist slamming into bone made Lovey wince. Please, Lord, protect Rouen.
In such a short space of time she’d found herself drawn to the tall mysterious man who looked like her lost Ryan, yet there was something different, something dangerous and exciting all at once, about Rouen that fascinated Lovey. She thought of a truffle with a hard dark chocolate exterior protecting an inner core of creamy, delicious goodness. Would Rouen prove to be good inside? Or would her judgment prove to be off, as it apparently had been about Ryan, who’d kept so many secrets from her?
Suddenly, the simultaneous loud retort of the gun firing and the flash from the muzzle filled the dark tunnel. The brief second of light revealed the two men still locked in battle over the weapon.
Lovey’s ears rang. Beside her Athena went down, taking Lovey with her.
Then darkness once again descended.