Salami Murder: Book 8 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning Page A

or whatever his name was, I killed him.” He took a step backwards and darted his eyes towards the door as if trying to gauge how quickly he could make a run for it. “I didn’t mean to, though. Do you think that will count for anything?” He looked almost hopefully at her.
    “Of course,” she said, trying to sound reassuring. “If it was an accident, I’m sure they’ll be understanding.” She risked a glance back at her daughter, whose wrists were still zip-tied to the chair.
    “I didn’t hurt her,” Adrian said suddenly. “Go ahead, ask her. I was a perfect gentleman.”
    Candice nodded. “That’s true. You didn’t hurt me, Adrian. Thank you for that.” She forced a smile onto her face. Moira felt a surge of pride for her daughter. Even though she had been kidnapped, gagged, and tied to a chair, she could still think quickly enough to realize how important it was to keep Adrian from getting upset.
    “That’s good,” Moira said, turning her attention back to Adrian. He still clutched the knife, but he no longer raised it as if he would attack. “Why did you kidnap her in the first place? She’s your friend, isn’t she?”
    “I needed the money,” he said simply.
    “He’s the one that’s been stealing stuff, Mom,” Candice said from behind her. “ He hid that bag of jewelry in the freezer, thinking that no one would look there for it.”
    “I thought you had plenty of money,” Moira said to the red-haired young man. “I don’t understand.”
    “I… lost it. All of it.” he blushed. “I made some bad choices gambling. Then when Candice said she didn’t want me to help at the candy store… I freaked. I mean, I couldn’t even afford to pay rent.”
    “So you stole? And kidnapped my daughter for ransom? I don’t understand what poor Matt had to do with any of this.” She took another step forward, keeping her eyes on the knife. Adrian didn’t notice. His gaze was fixed on Candice.
    “Like I said, that was an accident. He saw me stashing the stuff in the freezer. He started saying he was going to call the cops, that there was some sort of reward out for the stolen jewelry. We grappled and I… I shoved him. He hit his head against the sink pretty hard. He was still stumbling around when I left though, I swear. I didn’t know I had killed him until I saw the news the next day.”
    Moira believed him. eventually, she would feel sorry for him, but kidnapping Candice was deliberate, premeditated. He had made bad decisions, then had complicated the situation by making even worse ones.
    “Wait,” Candice said. Her voice had a dangerous tone of anger in it. “Are you the one that cut my brake lines? And flooded the candy shop?”
    “I was hoping you would take me back,” he said, his eyes earnest. “I thought if things got too hard, you’d see that you needed me.”
    “I could have died!” she exclaimed. “My car hit a tree . If I had been going any faster, I might have been killed.”
    To Moira’s surprise, Adrian actually looked ashamed.
    “I never wanted you to get hurt, Candice, I promise. I was desperate though. I hope you understand, one day. I really do like you.”
    He raised the knife and glanced at Moira. She tensed.
    “I’m so sorry,” he told her. “I really wouldn’t have hurt her, even if you didn’t give me the money. I was just so scared that I was going to lose everything. I didn’t see that I already had lost it all, but I see that now.”
    He twisted his grip and instead of lunging at her he aimed the knife at his own midsection. Just as his arm tensed, Moira rushed forward, tackling him. She’d caught him off guard and the knife flew from his hand. She kicked it towards Candice, who managed to pick it up and start sawing at her plastic bonds. Moira stood by Adrian, worried that he might try to hurt himself again, but he seemed to have given up totally, lying curled up on the floor, tears streaming.
    It wasn’t until Candice had gotten her zip ties off