Chicken Pesto Murder: Book 5 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning

much distance between them as she could.
    “I’m not following you, I promise.”
    “I think you are.” His gaze narrowed. “Are you working with the police?”
    “No, I’m not.” She hoped that he would hear the ring of truth in her voice. She most definitely was not working with the police at the moment. In fact, they would probably be pretty unhappy if they knew he was there.
    To her relief he didn’t say anything else, just stood there frowning at her. She was beginning to think that she would be able to get away, when her cell phone rang. Mikey’s gaze snapped to her pocket.
    “Who is it?” he asked. She hesitated. He lunged forward, quickly closing the distance between them. Grabbing her arm and holding it away, he dug into her pocket, removing her keys and dropping them carelessly to the ground, finally reaching her phone. He looked at the screen. Moira glanced at it too, and was surprised to see David’s name on the caller ID. Had he been released from police custody?
    Mikey mouthed the name, his face furrowed in concentration. She could tell that he recognized David’s name, and she saw the exact moment that he made the connection. His face paled, and he tossed her phone to the ground.
    “You’re coming with me,” he growled. “I get the feeling that I’m going to need a bargaining chip.” He reached for her arm again, but Moira twisted out of the way and ran blindly for the car. She was expecting to feel him tackle her at any moment, but instead hear a splash followed by a stream of curses, and then a yelp. She couldn’t risk a look over her shoulder to see what was happening, but hoped that the dog was all right.
    The second she reached her car, she yanked the driver’s side door open and got in, then jabbed her finger at the lock button. She heard the click of all four doors locking just as Mikey reached the vehicle. He pounded on the window, his pale face twisted in anger. All Moira could do was sit there and stare at him as the rain began to fall harder, and the wind picked up.
     

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
    When Mikey walked away, Moira breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that he was giving up, that he had realized that there was no way to reach her. As soon as he disappeared from sight, she would leap out of the car and make a dash for the fallen keys. Then she would get out of there and head straight for the nearest pay phone.
    But the dog thief didn’t go in the building. Instead, he walked up to a station wagon, opened the trunk and rummaged around in the darkness. When his upper half reappeared, he was holding a long crowbar. Moira let out a squeak of fear and looked around the car for anything she could use to defend herself. There was nothing. She was a tidy person, and didn’t even have a spare coffee mug in her car, let alone anything that could be used as a real weapon.
    She watched with terror as the man approached. He twirled the crowbar with an ease that gave her shivers, and from the expression on his face she could tell that he was enjoying this immensely.
    Realizing that her only hope of escape would be if she could outrun him, Moira struggled into the back seat of her car, giving herself easier access to the rear doors. As soon as he broke a window, she would escape out the opposite side and run as far and as fast as she could.
    Her plan was good in theory, but she wasn’t prepared for how casually and quickly the man acted. He approached her car and, as soon as he was in range, swung the crow bar at her front windshield. It didn’t shatter quite like she had expected, thanks to the safety glass, but with his second hit, most of the glass caved in.
    Moira screamed as he walked around to the driver’s side and did the same thing to the front window. Run , she told herself, but her body didn’t seem to be listening to her brain at the moment.
    It wasn’t until he was approaching the back window that her survival instinct kicked into gear and she slid to the other side of