Dark Chocolate Demise by Jenn McKinlay Read Free Book Online Page A

know,” he said.
    They grinned at each other.
    â€œWhere is Angie?” she asked.
    â€œBathroom,” he said.
    Mel nodded. She turned back to the next customer, and she and Tate double-teamed the window, getting the cupcakes out as fast as the zombies could order them.
    When there was finally a lull, Tate nudged her towards the back door. “Take a break,” he said. “I can handle the horde.”
    â€œThanks,” Mel said. She didn’t admit it to Tate, but she was eager to find Angie and hear her side of the Roach encounter. It had to be a little weird to have your ex sing a song about you to a crowd of, well, monsters.
    Mel circled the van and found Oz taking pictures of people as they climbed into the casket. Some went for the grisly fresh-from-the-grave look while others pretended to be dead, and the last two girls had fits of the giggles and could barely stay in the coffin long enough to have their picture snapped.
    â€œWhere’s Angie?” she asked.
    Oz handed the cell phone back to the girls, who were still giggling. One of them cast Oz a look of longing, which Mel noted he was oblivious to, no doubt because he was utterly smitten with his girlfriend Lupe.
    Oz glanced around the area, looking for Angie as if he’d misplaced her. Then he frowned.
    â€œI haven’t seen her,” he said.
    Mel assumed Angie must still be in the restroom. She didn’t envy her the problem of trying to maneuver into a public stall in her big poufy dress. Then again the bakery was only a five-minute walk at best; maybe she’d gone there.
    â€œWhy don’t you take a break?” Mel asked. “I can manage the coffin for a spell.”
    â€œAre you sure?” he asked. “Some of these people are sort of scary.”
    â€œNothing can be scarier than a real dead body,” Mel said. “Sadly, I’ve had enough experience with those to tell the difference. This is nothing.”
    Oz nodded and said, “Point made. I’ll be back in five.”
    â€œTake your time,” Mel called after him as he stepped into the crowd.
    Oz hadn’t been gone more than a few seconds when Mel heard a shout coming from the direction he’d taken. She stood up on her tiptoes and tried to see over the crowd. A man, a very large man, with a scraggly beard that ended in a braid in the middle of his chest had grabbed Oz by the shirtfront and was shaking him. This was no small feat given that Oz was a big boy, having several inches and many pounds over Mel.
    â€œTate!” Mel stuck her head in the open window of the truck. “Tate, come quick! Oz is in trouble.”
    Tate shoved a cupcake at the ghoul in front of him and hunkered down to look out the window. Immediately, he slammed the window shut and jumped out of the back of the van.
    â€œLock it up!” he yelled at Mel as he threw himself into the melee.
    Mel grabbed her keys and hurriedly closed the windows on the van before locking it up. Then she stuffed her keys in her pocket and raced after Tate.
    â€œI saw you touch her, man,” the thug growled into Oz’s face while still holding him by the shirtfront.
    â€œHey, now,” Tate said as he moved in between them. “I’m sure it was just an accident. Right, Oz?”
    Oz was glaring at the man who held him. “Like I already said, I got shoved into your girl. I said I was sorry. What more do you want?”
    â€œYour blood,” the man sneered. Then he pulled out a very large switchblade and snapped it open.
    â€œWhoa!” Tate shouted. “Are you nuts? Put that away before someone gets hurt.”
    Mel cringed. That was the voice of the old buttoned-down power-suit-wearing Tate. While that voice might make administrative assistants scurry and junior execs cower, it wasn’t going to do jack on a guy who looked like he snacked on bats and spiders for milk and cookie time.
    â€œNot helping, Tate,” Oz choked out as the