“Chloe!”
Chloe finally looked back at Autumn, confusion written across her face. Then she followed her friend’s gaze to Sadie's hand, and the gun it held. Chloe stumbled back, and Autumn caught a glimpse of the shocked look on her face.
“Go,” Autumn said to her. “Go get someone. Hurry.”
“Neither of you are going anywhere,” Sadie said. “You're not going to tell the police. You're not going to take this from me.”
“You… you killed her?” Chloe gasped.
Sadie stared at them coldly, then barked out a harsh peal of laughter. “You think I killed her? You’re as bad as the police. She was my best friend. She was practically my sister. The two of you have no right to be accusing people left and right like this. Like I said, you have no idea what you're talking about. I know who killed her, and I'm going to make him pay for it.”
“Him?” Chloe asked, blinking as she tried to take it all in. Autumn felt frozen in place. Her eyes were on the gun, Sadie's words only just beginning to sink in.
“Sammy.” Sadie's voice was soft and cold, filled with a hatred that made goosebumps rise on Autumn’s skin. “He murdered her.”
Autumn glanced to the side and her eyes met with Chloe's. She could see the same surprise there that she was sure must be in her own. “How do you know?” Autumn asked.
“He practically told me,” the other woman snarled. “I ran into him at that stupid little restaurant that he works at and I started talking about Erica with him because I thought he would want someone to talk with, you know? But then he told me he didn't know why I was so upset about it. I guess he thought that Erica and I didn't get along. A lot of people thought that Erica and I hated each other, but really, they just didn't understand us. We were always competing against each other, but in the end, she was like the sister I never had. She was my best friend. We grew up together. Even when I was annoyed at her for getting the scholarship I wanted or the job I applied for, she was still always there for me. When I asked him why he wasn't more broken up, since everyone knew that he'd been in love with her since high school, he just said that she had finally gotten what was coming to her, and then muttered something about her saying no to him one too many times.”
Autumn and Chloe were speechless for a long moment. At last, Chloe’s voice came back to her. “And… you're going to kill him?”
“Yes,” Sadie said darkly. “But first, I'm going to make him confess to everyone what he did.”
Autumn didn't know where she found the courage to speak, but somehow, she managed to unstick her tongue and say, “We can't let you do that.”
“How are you going to stop me?”
Autumn hesitated. Sadie had a point; she had the gun. “Would you really shoot us?” she asked quietly after a moment. “You don't know me, I guess, but would you really shoot Chloe? Would you leave Cate without a mother?”
She saw something flutter across the other woman's face. “I don't want to shoot either one of you,” she admitted.
“What if you're wrong about Sammy?” she asked. “He didn't actually outright admit to killing her, did he?”
“He did everything but say it right to my face,” Sadie said. “I saw them arguing during the picnic, and he wasn’t there when the police arrived.”
“You still don't know for sure,” Autumn said. “What if it isn't him, Sadie?”
“I know it's him. Who else could it be?”
Struck by inspiration, Autumn pulled out her phone and found the same picture that she had shown Chloe just moments before. “We think she might have found out about an affair,” she said, carefully handing the phone over to Sadie, who took it cautiously. “This affair, to be exact. I saw her speaking to them at the picnic, and shortly before she was killed, I heard the two of them talking. They were worried that someone might have seen something. It all makes sense.”
Sadie looked at the picture, then to Autumn’s surprise, burst out laughing. “Erica and I have known about this for years. It's the worst kept secret in the family.” She pocketed the phone. “The two of you aren't going to stop me. You're right, I don't want to kill either of you. All I want is to get revenge on the person who killed Erica. But I won’t let anyone stand in my way, either.”
With that, she pointed the gun at them, backing away down the hallway. Chloe took a half step toward her, but Autumn grabbed her shirtsleeve. She didn't know if Sadie would really pull the trigger, but the last thing that she wanted to happen was for Chloe to get hurt, or even worse – killed. Nick didn't need to lose a sister, and Cate didn't need to lose a mother.
“Sadie, you're going to regret this,” Autumn said.
“I doubt I'll ever regret anything more than leaving Erica alone at the picnic that day,” Sadie said quietly. She shot one last glance at them, then turned and ran the rest of the way down the hall, until she turned the corner and was out of sight.
Chloe looked at her, her eyes frantic. “What do we do, Autumn? She has a gun, and she’s ready to shoot someone. Oh my goodness, what if Cate gets in the way?”
“We have to stop her,” Autumn said. “I don't know how, but we're going to stop her. Even if he did it, it's wrong for her to kill him like this. And if she hurts someone else, she’s no better than he is.”
“We need to find a phone and call the police as soon as possible. I didn't bother bringing mine in from the car. And she took yours.”
“We’ll find someone,” Autumn said. “I'm sure someone has a –”
She broke off mid-sentence as she heard the loud bang of a gunshot going off in the other room. There was a moment of stunned silence, then she heard the screaming start. A stricken look crossed Chloe's face, and the two of them took off running down the hall.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
* * *
Sadie hadn't gotten far. The first thing Autumn saw when she rounded the corner was the young woman, standing in the middle of the room with her arms raised in front of her, her hands shaking slightly as she pointed the firearm at a terrified looking young man. Sammy was pale and looked about ready to faint, but he seemed uninjured. Autumn looked around, fully expecting to see a body on the floor, but no one seemed to be hurt. She wondered, for a moment, what Sadie had been shooting at. Hopefully, it had only been a warning shot.
“You did it. You took her from me.”
“I – I don't know what –”
“Don't lie,” Sadie snapped. “I know what you did.”
“You're insane.” The man hesitated for a moment, then seemed to straighten up. “Someone, call the police. She's insane. She must be the killer. Hurry, before she kills me too!”
“Shut up,” she said. “Shut up, shut up.” Autumn saw her fingers tighten on the trigger and flinched, bracing herself for the gunshot that she was sure was about to sound off, but then Sadie's hands relaxed slightly. “I just want to hear you say it. Admit what you did. Right here, in front of everyone.”
“Sadie, put the gun down,” someone called from the crowd.
“I'm calling the police,” someone else called out.
Sadie was ignoring them all. “Tell them how you lured her away to kill her because she kept turning you down,” Sadie said. “Tell them, so everyone knows I'm killing the right person.”
“I didn't lure her anywhere,” the young man snapped. “I never planned on killing her, I just snapped. I loved her. If she hadn't laughed in my face when I asked her to go to Europe with me, I never would have –”
He broke off, realizing what he was saying. Sadie's grip on the gun tightened again. Autumn’s breath caught, and she felt Chloe grab her arm. Sadie was still shaking, and her aim was all over the place. She was more likely to hit one of the people in the crowd that was gathered behind Sammy than Sammy himself.
“Finish your sentence. I want to hear it.”
“I didn't do anything that she didn't push me to do,” Sammy said. “You know how she was, Sadie. You of all people. She was always just taking, and taking, and
taking, and didn't care about anyone other than herself. I spent all of the best years of my life chasing after her, only to have her laugh in my face time after time. I'm happy I killed her, and I’d gladly do it again just to see the look of surprise when she finally realized that I was important and that she should have paid attention to me all those years.”
His declaration was met by a stunned silence as the gathered crowd took in his confession. There was a look in his eyes that frightened Autumn. It was a look of hatred and anger, and with a chill, she imagined that was how he must have looked when attacking Erica. Even Sadie seemed to be shocked at his words and took half a step back before raising the gun slightly to point directly at his chest. This time, her aim didn't waver as much.
“You really are an idiot, Sammy,” she said. “Goodbye.”
Time seemed to slow down as Sadie's finger curled around the trigger. Autumn was terrified, feeling helpless and frightened, and worried for everyone standing behind Sammy. She reached out helplessly, wanting desperately to do something, but knowing that she was too far away, too slow, she would never get there in time.
It turned out that she didn’t need to. The moment that Sadie began to squeeze the trigger, Sammy lunged forward, diving at her legs in a tackle. He made contact just as the gun went off, and Autumn heard another scream. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw splinters fly from the ceiling. The bullet had gone high.
The struggle that followed was a short one. Sadie might have had an advantage with the gun, but up close, Sammy managed to overpower her easily. She only managed to get off that one shot before he twisted the gun away from her. Other people were beginning to move, hurrying away from the fight, still terrified of the firearm that now dangled limply in Sammy’s hand. Autumn saw him shoot a terrified look around, and he seemed to realize that he was greatly outnumbered. His eyes locked on the door, and his muscles tensed as he prepared to make a run for it. Sadie, on the floor with a bleeding nose, could do nothing more than grab at his pant leg as he took the first step away.
Then there was a gasp from the crowd and Autumn felt her stomach clench as she saw Nick running at Sammy. Sammy was already halfway to the door and didn't see him, but Autumn’s stomach still clenched as Nick tackled him from behind, knocking them both to the floor and sending the gun sliding across the room.
Nick managed to pin Sammy’s hands just as Autumn heard the sirens wailing on the street outside. The sound jolted her into action, and she hurried over to Nick, who was panting as he tried to keep a struggling Sammy down.
“Next time you and Chloe decide to launch your own murder investigation, please let me into the loop,” he panted.
“If it makes you feel any better, we were completely wrong about who it was,” she told him as she rummaged through her purse for the small, pen-sized bottle of pepper spray. She drew it out and aimed it at Sammy’s face. “I'll spray it if you keep struggling, don't think I won't,” she warned.
That seemed to do the trick, because Sammy finally laid still. Nick shot her a grateful glance. “I don't know whether I should find that reassuring or frightening,” he said. “Still, next time, keep me in the loop.”
“I didn't want to wreck Erica's funeral.”
To her surprise, a small smile flickered on his lips. “Trust me,” he said. “If I knew anything about Erica, it's that she would've absolutely loved all of this. If she was here to see it, she would have been thrilled to learn that her killer was dramatically revealed in the middle of her funeral. I like to think that she’s smiling down on all of this right now.”
Autumn couldn't help but smile a little bit as the doors to the funeral home banged open and the police rushed in. “Well, then,” she said. “I hope she rests easy from here on out. Sadie may not have gotten the justice that she wanted, but Erica got the justice that she deserved.”
EPILOGUE
* * *
Autumn hugged Chloe tightly, knowing that she would miss the other woman. It was amazing how quickly a friendship could form when the two of them had not only discovered a killer together but had also tried to stop a second murder from happening.
Autumn was still upset and embarrassed about just how ineffectual they had been. She didn't like to think of herself as the kind of person who would freeze up when something important was happening, but there was no doubt that that was exactly what she had done. In fact, Nick was the only one out of the whole group that had been quick-thinking enough to do something to prevent Sammy from escaping.
“Have a safe trip home,” she said. “I really enjoyed meeting you, Chloe.”
“I really enjoyed meeting you, too,” Chloe said. “I've got to say, Nick, you finally found yourself a good one.”
Nick, who was standing next to Autumn, smiled and draped an arm around her shoulders. “Thanks, but I already knew that. I'm glad you approve, little sister.”
Chloe wrinkled her nose at him, but was prevented from saying anything by Cate, who walked up and grabbed her hand. “Hurry up, Mama,” she said. “We’re gonna get ice cream.”
Chloe sighed and looked down at her daughter. “Why do you think you're getting ice cream?”
“Daddy said so.”
Chloe turned to look at Max, who was waiting in the driver’s seat. He smiled and waved. “She was sad about leaving Uncle Nick,” he called out. “So I promised her ice cream if she'd hurry up and get in the car. I'm buying. You’d better hurry up too.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “I know I’m your little sister,” she said to Nick. “But somehow I always end up being the one to take care of everything. I swear, between you and Max, it's almost like I have three children instead of just one.”
“Have a nice trip home,” Nick said. “And don't be a stranger. I expect to see you again before too long.”
“We’ll visit soon,” Chloe answered, waving as she walked back to the car with her daughter. “I'll see you soon, too, Autumn. Keep Nick in line.”
“I'll try,” Autumn said, grinning as she waved goodbye. Nick kept the arm around her shoulders, and she slipped one around his waist, leaning in to him. It had been a crazy week, but she wasn't complaining. Now that all was said and done, she knew that things would be all right, eventually. Sammy had been caught, no one else had gotten hurt, and Nick was smiling again. She felt a sudden surge of affection toward his sister. Chloe really was a wonderful woman. Autumn hoped that she would be back soon. She was going to miss her friend.
“Well, I finally have the house to myself again,” Nick said. He stared back at the house in question, looking a little bit forlorn. “You know, I think I'm actually going to miss having my family here.”
“You won’t be lonely,” she reminded him gently. “You’ve still got me to keep you company. And, of course, everyone at the nursing home.”
“That's true,” he said, smiling at her. “Thanks for keeping everything under control this week, Autumn. I know it hasn't been easy for you.”
“I'm just glad that things are starting to get back to normal,” she said.
“Me too,” he said. He was silent for a moment as they turned and started back toward his house. “And listen, about what I said before… you don't have to say it back, but I do mean it. You’ve become one of the most important people in my life and I just thought you should know that –”
“Nick,” she said, cutting him off with her voice and a sharp look. “It's okay. I love you too.”
He smiled and tightened the arm around her shoulders. Despite everything that had happened, Autumn felt a bright bloom of happiness in her chest. Her future was looking brighter than ever, and she couldn’t wait to see where things with Nick led.
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Food, Family, and Murder Page 6