After all this time, Cletus Fowler finally stood before him. The thought of what this heartless baker had done to his wife and son still tormented Chris Larabee's filling: to have placed Sarah and Adam in that oven and then to have left them there to burn....

Chris wanted revenge for the murder of his family. He wanted this chef to suffer; he wanted the man's tips withheld and his wages garnished!

But more than that, Chris wanted to know why. Why had he done it?

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," he heard Fowler say. "At least, the ingredients were right."

So, Fowler was merely a sous-chef; someone had hired this sorry excuse for a pastry cook, but who? Who had done it? Who was behind it? Who wanted Chris's eggs beaten this way? His custard shook with rage.

Fowler pulled his half-chewed cheroot from his pocket and began to gnaw on the stub, but he did not answer Chris's question.

NO! But then Chris heard it, and the words sent cracks through his flaky crust.

"Fowler, you're fired!"

And so it ended as the cruel, ironic words of dismissal burned the killer as the broiler flames had done to Chris Larabee's wife and child so many hours before.

Yet, was it the end? Or would Chris Larabee be on the dessert menu again with the magnificently delicious pastries he'd come to know? Chocolate cream pies, like Buck Wilmington; and Vin Tanner, the wild berry pie with the scoop of ice cream on his plate; the key lime pie, Ezra, or the cherry tart, JD; Nathan, an apple pie both nutritious and delicious; and Josiah, deriving his flavor only from mincemeat and his double crust.

THE END

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March 2003

Please do NOT repost this recipe anywhere outside of the Blackraptor website and cookbook.

Characters from "The Magnificent Seven," were used without permission and this recipe in no way signifies support of, or affiliation with, The Mirisch Group, MGM, Trilogy Entertainment, CBS Worldwide, Inc., or Betty Crocker. This recipe belongs to the cook and will not be sold for any reason.