A Deathly Rattle

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  Killer Cravings

  A Maternal Instincts Mystery

  by

  Diana Orgain

  Copyright © 2018 by Diana Orgain

  Other Titles by Diana Orgain

  In the Maternal Instincts Mystery Series

  Bundle of Trouble

  Motherhood is Murder

  Formula for Murder

  Nursing a Grudge

  Pampered to Death

  Killer Cravings

  In the iWitch Mystery Series

  A Witch Called Wanda

  I Wanda put a spell on you

  Brewing up Murder

  In the Gluten-Free Mystery Series

  Murder as Sticky as Jam

  Murder as Sweet as Honey (Coming Soon)

  In the Roundup Crew Mystery Series

  Yappy Hour

  Trigger Yappy

  Copyright

  Other Titles by Diana Orgain

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  New Series Alert!

  Bonus Preview – Murder as Sticky as Jam

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

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  About the Author

  Other Titles by Diana Orgain

  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 laded 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 of 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 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 teenaged kid 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 Laure 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’s 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 Galigani, 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.

  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 pregnancy 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’s 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, grabbed a ridiculous amount of candies and sweets, checked out, and headed back. On the way there, I ate by stuffing my face full of Reese Pieces, but that was definitely not what it was 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, complete with and even wore a red flannel overcoat. And 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 is of him sitting in his car.

  Real incriminating, Kate.

  I’d wasted my entir
e 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!

  It wasn’t fair! How did I manage to ruin waste so much time on this stuid craving, along with ruining my stake-out. And, now I was being rewarded with no sleep.

  “Kate?” a gruffly voice behind me said.

  I spun around to see Jim wandering into the kitchen.

  My heart lurched to see him. “I’m sorry, babe, did I wake you up?” I asked, hurrying over to give him a big hug. “I missed you so much. Almost three days,” I exclaimed, showering his face with kisses.

  “Yeah, what are you doing? Did you ever get to bed last night?” he asked me, yawning.

  “No,” I said, my shoulders slumping from tiredness. “And, I screwed up the stakeout last night too!”

  Tears welled up in my eyes and I covered them with my hands.

  “I feel like crying – call it the hormones,” I said.

  Jim put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed. “Awe, honey. Don’t cry. What can I do? Did something happen?”

  I spun around, pulling my hair to one side, to let Jim massage my shoulders. “You promise not to laugh?”

  “I promise,” he said, moving his hands from my shoulders to the back of my neck.

  “I got this really bad craving, and I didn’t bring any food. I left, and when I came back the guy was already in his car!” I said.

  Jim laughed, so I whirled around and buried my head into his chest. “You promised not to laugh at me!”

  He stroked my hair. “I’m sorry, Kate, but… it is kind of funny,” he said.

  “I know,” I admitted. “But, this means I’m going to have to do the stake out all over again.”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll get him,” Jim said. “How about the food craving? Did you get anything yummy? Did you at least bring me back something?” He rubbed his infuriating flat stomach. No matter how much food the put away, it seemed like he had a hollow leg!

  “No! And, that’s the problem. I know I want something sweet, but I can’t figure out what it is,” I explained. “And, it’s driving me nuts! Look at all that junk food I bought at a gas station last night, and it all made me sick!”

  “Okay, calm down,” Jim told me, and he went for his jacket that was thrown over the backs of one of our kitchen chairs. “I know what you want. You don’t have to beat around the bush. You want a brownie from that bakery – the one with the purple icing, right?”

  Yes! Oh my goodness, I’d completely forgotten about that brownie. When I’d first found out I was pregnant, I think I ate twenty of those things.

  My face lit up, and Jim laughed at me. “Yeah, that was probably it. I knew I was thinking about a brownie. Wait, where are you going?”

  “The bakery opens early on Thursdays,” he said. “I’ll go nab you one and be back in time to get ready for work.”

  “Jim! Don’t do that,” I said, feeling guilty. “You were up late last night too! And, you had to deal with all that nonsense at the airport.”

  “Do you want the brownie?” he asked.

  I nod. “Well, yeah, but I can—”

  “Go lay down, and when I get back I’ll wake you up, and I promise to have you your special purple icing brownie, okay?” He pointed towards the nursery. “Plus, Laurie has been asleep since three this morning. Knowing her, she’ll be up really soon. Go rest.”

  I gave him a big kiss before going and plopping down in bed. I really was exhausted, so sleep came to me easy. Painfully easy. The next thing I knew, I woke up to the sound of Laurie fussing on the baby monitor. I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes because the sun was shining brightly through the blinds.

  What time is it?

  I hurried to go get Laurie. She’d pulled herself up and was standing, holding onto the side of the crib.

  “Good morning, gorgeous!” I said, picking her up. “You’re becoming quite a climber.”

  Ordinarily, she couldn’t stand, but with the aid of a support like the crib rails, she was a dynamo.

  I changed her diaper and then sat and breastfed her in the corner, but she didn’t seem interested.

  “I know, I bet you want some bananas!” I said, and she cooed.

  She definitely knew what that meant. I’d started mashing up bananas for her recently, and now it was her favorite snack.

  I headed into the kitchen where I spied a clock. Noon! Laurie had been asleep since three… nine hours!

  My baby slept nine hours!

  I could hardly believe it. I sat her in her high chair.

  Why hadn’t Jim woken me up?

  As I opened my refrigerator, I found my answer. I found a plate full of chocolate brownies with purple icing sitting in the fridge with a note. It read, “You looked too peaceful. I hope Laurie let you sleep for a bit! There’s plenty of brownies, and I went ahead and made Laurie some mashed bananas for you! Love you, see you later tonight! - Jim”

  My hero.

  I located the mashed bananas, and brought them over to Laurie. Deciding I was probably going to give her a bath shortly afterwards, I let her mash her fingers into the banana mush and feed herself. She had a good old time with that, and it allowed me a moment to pour myself a giant glass of milk. I then grabbed one of the very large ooey-gooey brownies and placed on a plate for myself and sat down next to Laurie as she continued making a mess in her highchair.

  I took one bite of that rich brownie with the light, fluffy purple icing, and I was in heaven. That was exactly what I’d been craving. I’d been craving that stupid brownie for probably three days. It’d been about a week since Jim had brought home some of those brownies when he had stopped by that new bakery, and I’d just loved them.

  I’d completely forgotten about them, though. But, I guess the baby hadn’t. The baby wanted that brownie so bad, and Jim had delivered an entire tray full in the fridge. The brownie was just so perfectly rich and moist even after sitting in the fridge for what had to be several hours. It was just wonderful, and I took my time eating it – enjoying every bite as it went down like it would be my last.

  “Your daddy is so sweet, you know that?” I said to Laurie, and she giggled. Oh my goodness, just thinking about that brownie makes my toes curl a little. “Your daddy is just awesome!” I said just to make sure she knew.

  I suppose after tracking down a sleazy cheater for a week could make anyone look good, but Jim was already exceptional. He was the perfect husband. He always looked out for me in ways I could hardly reciprocate. I felt truly lucky.

  As I was daydreaming about my darling husband, I received a face full of banana goo.

  Laurie was going through a throwing phase.

  “No, ma’am!” I said to her, but I couldn’t help but to laugh as I wiped my face off. I downed my glass of milk and then got Laurie out of her highchair. I brushed her honey-colored locks out of her face and tickled her chin. She had a full head of hair now; she had been balding a little bit recently, but it had all grown back just perfectly.

  I carried her back to the bathroom, and with my free hand I ran some water in the tub. She still had to sit in her little baby tub, but I usually just sat the baby tub down in the bath to make
it easier on myself. I took her out of her clothes, and after checking the temperature of the water, I sat her in it.

  She giggled and squealed, practically screaming. She had this eardrum-piercing squeal that sounded almost like a dinosaur from Jurassic Park, but it was adorable in its own little way.

  Jim would call it her Pterodactyl yelp. She always did it when she got really excited, and that was pretty much ever single time I put her in the bath tub. We’d just gotten out a phase where she couldn’t stand the bath, but now it was one of her favorite things. That and bananas.

  Eventually the water got cold, and my little girl was clean. That didn’t mean she was ready to get out of the bath tub, of course. Finally, though, I was able to coax her out, get her dried off, and dressed and ready to go for the day. I sat her down in her playpen while I myself got ready, and I could hear her quietly playing by herself in the living room while I ran back to the bedroom to get dressed. I was really starting to get the hang of this whole mom thing. Whenever things were going well with Laurie, I would get a new boost of confidence about being a mom all over again.

  When I had first found out I was pregnant, it had been pretty scary. Another baby so soon? It seemed like utter madness. Plus, I had just changed career fields, making the news all the more insane. But, I was happy and eager to meet the latest member of my family now.

  Once I was dressed, I decided to treat myself to one more rich, purple icing brownie before really getting going on my day.

  And, boy, was it good.

  Chapter Two

  Now that I was refreshed and ready to get going on my day, I decided I needed to write up a to-do list, and it was a mile long.

  Call Galigani fess up about missing the photo op

  Get a photo of the creepy cheater leaving his gf’s place

  Clean the kitchen because, ewe

  Pre-make tomorrows baby food

  Call mom

  Ask Kenny to watch Laurie tonight

  Get snacks together for stakeout 2.0