Devil's Food Cake Read Online Free Page B

rule until then. But this was an exception to the rule if ever there was one. Thom, though he’d been gone for a couple years by then, was still one of their own. In fact, any lingering negativity directed toward him after what Damon had done seemed to disappear amid the celebrity status Thom had achieved by becoming a published author.
    However, despite being a little bit starstruck herself—Thom had been her accountant at one time after all—Sadie had quickly concluded the book wasn’t quite her style. The basic plotline involved demonic possession of inanimate objects, like the gargoyle, which then caused havoc for the poor humans in the book. Sadie remembered much wailing and gnashing of teeth and finally closed the cover when she determined the Old Testament had enough of that to suit her just fine. The fact that it wasn’t quite her genre, however, did not dispel how proud she was of Thom. Sadie had survived heartache and managed to go on to enjoy her life, and she always wished that same thing for people who, like her, had faced tragedy. Not that losing her husband, Neil, to a heart attack was much of a comparison to what Thom had gone through, but still.
    She brought her thoughts back to the present and looked at the book in her hands. Did the book belong to Thom? What about notes for his talk? He was presenting to two hundred people and didn’t bring anything but a book with him?
    She looked around the area but didn’t see anything other than the discarded wireless equipment in a plastic crate by the door. She turned the book over to look at Thom’s picture on the back. He was sitting in a leather wingback chair, dressed in a suit, but not wearing a tie, and the top few buttons of his shirt were undone. His hair was grown out but fashionable, and he wore one of those serious, somewhat intellectual expressions. Just once she’d like to see a dust jacket showing an author on a Harley Davidson or fishing or something.
    Thom had looked older in person tonight—and tired. Of course, this photo was several years old now, and Thom had been distraught when she’d seen him on stage. Still, the man she’d seen tonight—the man who had slipped out the back door of the ballroom—didn’t seem to have much in common with the man on the back of the book.
    She turned the book over again in her hands. Why did Thom have a copy of his own book backstage? Was he going to do a reading? Or maybe his notes were tucked inside? Sadie flipped open the book to have a look and lifted her eyebrows in surprise at the words written in black marker across the inside front cover.
    I’m sorry.

Chapter 4
     

    Sadie stared at the words, furrowing her eyebrows. “I’m sorry?” she repeated in a whisper. Sorry for what? And why was it written inside the book?
    “Mrs. Hoffmiller?”
    Sadie whipped around, acutely aware of the book in her hands as she faced a police officer—one she’d met before. “Officer Malloy,” she said, trying to smile through her guilt before realizing a smile didn’t quite fit the circumstances. Sadie had first met Officer Malloy after Anne’s murder. They didn’t have the best history; in fact, Sadie had the impression that Malloy viewed her as a bit of a busybody. Sadie wasn’t used to being disliked, so it made her uncomfortable every time she encountered him.
    His eyes traveled to the book in her hands, and Sadie realized she needed to offer an explanation. “Um, I, uh, found this.” She held the book out to him quickly. “I was about to take it to Pete, uh, Detective Cunningham. There’s something written in the front cover,” Sadie said, unable to hold back the information even though she was pretty sure it would be better for everyone if Malloy discovered it for himself.
    Malloy turned the book over in his hands, flipping it open. His eyebrows pulled together.
    “I know,” Sadie said knowingly. “Weird, right? What do you think it means? Who do you think wrote it?”
    “Where did you