A Cupcake Criminal, page 8
part #1 of Chalkin' It Up Cozy Mystery Series
"Ralph, stop," I said and put a hand up, but he took a big step toward me.
"I'm done with you, Mother. I don't need your love."
I knew if I didn't get away from him, I was going to die. I turned and ran into the kitchen. I went straight for my knife block and pulled out my biggest butcher knife. I'd never been so glad that I kept that things as sharp as a scalpel.
When I turned around to face him, Ralph was right on top of me. A look of shock flashed in his eyes when he saw the knife. He took an instinctive step back.
Fueled by adrenaline, my instincts took over. "You've been a bad boy, Ralph. You're going into a very long time-out. Get in there right now, young man." I pointed toward the walk-in cooler with my knife.
I had no idea if I actually sounded like his mother, but I hoped I did.
"I don't want to get in the closet, Mommy."
I tried to sound as much like an evil mother as I could. "Get in there right now, young man. I'll make things much worse if you don't."
That seemed to do the trick. He reluctantly went into the cooler. I kept the knife in front of me as I followed. I'd never hurt anyone before, but I knew I could stab him if I had to. I knew I could do it.
Ralph went into the cooler, and I grabbed the keys as fast as I could. I locked him in and tugged on the handle three times to make sure it was really locked.
As soon as I was sure he wasn't going to be able to pop out and attack me, I called 911. "Hello, this is Cathy at Cathy's Cupcakes. I've just locked an attacker in my walk-in cooler. Please send the police."
The dispatcher told me to go wait outside. She said to stay there until the police arrived. I had no problem with that. I stood there and watched the door thinking that at any moment, he was going to come crashing through. I wished I hadn't left the butcher knife on the counter.
But the police were there within minutes. I gave them the keys to the walk-in cooler and waited outside while they went in and got Ralph. Mack showed up as they were putting Ralph in a cruiser. He asked me to come to the station and give my statement.
I called Camille first and told her everything that happened. "Can you come open the store today? Or we can just stay closed."
"No, Cathy. Don't worry about it. I'll come open. We've got all that backup stock in the freezer, I'll just bake all of that. I can handle it."
"What about your Mom?"
"She's fine. Don't worry about it, Cath. I'm on my way in to the store now."
With that taken care of, I went with Mack to the police station. I'd just started to give my statement when Tom showed up. He came rushing into Mack's office and pulled me into a hug.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm okay. He didn't hurt me," I said.
"He didn't get the chance," Mack said. "Your girl here backed him into the walk-in cooler using a butcher knife."
"You did that?" Tom asked.
"It was either that or let him kill me," I said. "He was calling me mom and ranting about killing Jenna because he thought I would love him."
Tom hugged me again, and it finally hit me how close I'd come to death. When the adrenaline wore off, I just sobbed. Mack was patient and let me calm down before I finished giving my statement.
When it was all done, I decided to go back into work and check on Camille. I didn't want to leave her alone all day, and I didn't want to go stew at my apartment either. I did stay in the back prepping orders and baking, though. Camille had to handle the customers. She was more than happy to do that for me, though, given what I'd been through that day.
Chapter Fifteen
Life quickly went back to normal for me. I felt so much better knowing that the break-ins and feeling like I was being followed was over.
A few days later, I was heading out for a walk around the lake with Gracie, so I texted Tom to let him know in case he wanted to meet us. He did, and Gracie did her little dance even though he didn't have a burger for her that time.
"What's going to happen to Ralph?" I asked as we walked holding hands.
"He is going to a maximum-security mental hospital. The prosecutor isn't going to challenge that he's not fit to stand trial. It's obvious that he's not," Tom said.
"I guess it's good that he's going to get help. I feel bad that Jenna's family isn't going to get any justice."
"But at least people will be safe from him now. We don't have to worry about Ralph killing another woman. I doubt he'll ever get out of that place."
I felt like turning the discussion to a positive note. "The television studio has decided to put a park bench along the path to honor Jenna's memory."
"That's a beautiful tribute," Tom said.
"Ugh, this is all so gloomy. Tell me something happy. Anything," I said.
I longed to feel cheerful, and I knew Tom would come up with something. He was good about that.
"Well, I guess Carl asked Camille to officially be his girlfriend, and she said yes," Tom said. "He's the happiest I've ever seen him. Like a kid on Christmas morning. He really likes that woman."
"I can't believe she didn't tell me," I said.
"Carl said she wants to, but she was worried about everything you were dealing with."
"Well, when I see her, I will tell her she doesn't need to worry about that. We should all go out and celebrate," I said.
"Ribs?" Tom asked.
"You read my mind."
Things were definitely going to start looking up even more. But I knew that every time I walked Gracie at the lake, I'd stop at that memorial bench and think of Jenna. She was gone, but she would never be forgotten.
Thank you so much for reading!
Don’t forget to check out the next book in the series:
The Cupcake Conspiracy
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© Sara Bourgeois 2019
This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons alive or dead is a coincidence.
Sara Bourgeois, A Cupcake Criminal
