Flames, Frames, & Murder

by Jenna St James

  “I’m going to take Tillie home and unload real quick,” Gramps said. “Then we’ll be over to help Jax bake.”

  I snorted. “More like you’re going over to Mom’s to drink bourbon and watch John Wayne movies while we all bust our butts and bake.”

  Gramps shrugged. “That’s what I just said.”

  My phone rang, and Sophia Brockman’s name popped up.

  “It's Sophia!” I clicked on the speaker. “Hey Sophia! I got you on speakerphone. Gramps and Tillie just walked in. Wish you were here.”

  “I thought about driving into town, but I decided to stay out here.”

  Even though she didn't come out and say it, I could tell there was something wrong. Something in her tone worried me.

  “What's going on, Sophia?” I asked.

  “I feel stupid for even saying this, but did you tell the Colonel about what’s going on? I’m kinda scared right now. I fell asleep on the couch and just woke up. I heard something. I couldn’t tell if it was outside or inside the house.”

  I looked at Gramps, and he grabbed the phone out of my hand.

  “Sophia, this is John Flynn. Did you call 911?”

  “Hey, Colonel,” Sophia said. “I hope your honeymoon was a good one, even though it was cut short.”

  I threw my hands in the air. “For pity's sake, Sophia! Did you or did you not call 911?”

  “I didn't,” she admitted. “There's just so much going on today, that I didn't want to burden…”

  Silence.

  “Sophia!” I cried. “What's going on?”

  Jax and Trevor moved closer to me.

  “Hang up this phone right now and call the police,” Gramps demanded. “We'll be right there.”

  Silence.

  “Sophia?” I said. “Can you hear us?”

  “Hey!” Sophia voice rang out over the speakerphone, “what are you doing here? You aren't supposed to be—”

  Boom! Boom!

  Everyone in the room jumped.

  “Sophia!” The scream tore from my throat, and I could feel my heart pounding triple time in my chest.

  “Gun!” Gramps and Trevor both said.

  Chapter 4

  “Let's go, son.” Gramps and Trevor headed for the door. “Jaycee, call 911.”

  I ran behind them. “You're not going without me. I'll call 911, but you aren't leaving me here.”

  Gramps turned and glared at me, but he didn't say anything as Jax sidled up next to me, slipping her hand in mine.

  “Let us know what's going on,” Mom said. “We'll lock up here.”

  The four of us sprinted to Gramps’ Hummer and jumped inside. Gramps and Trevor in the front, Jax and me in the back.

  I turned to Jax. “Call 911. I'm gonna keep trying to get through to Sophia. It's going straight to her voicemail.”

  I tried two more times, but Sophia didn’t answer.

  Over the last four months, I’d been in enough scrapes to recognize the symptoms of shock…and I was exhibiting some behaviors. My body temperature felt cold, and I couldn't stop my teeth from chattering.

  “How long do you think it'll be?” Jax cried into her phone.

  I focused in on what she was saying.

  “I can’t believe this,” Jax said.

  My phone rang, and I didn’t bother looking at the caller. “Sophia! Sophia! Is this you?”

  “Jaycee?”

  I frowned. I hadn’t expected a male voice.

  “Jaycee Sullivan? This is Branson Ryles. We’ve met a few times through Mike. I’m a paramedic here in Traveler’s Bay. I just received word from dispatch about a 911 call your sister, Jax, just made. Possible shooting on Prairie Lane at the Brockman residence. I’m on my way. I’ll let Jax fill you in on what’s going on from my end. If you get to the scene before me, do not move the victim. My partner and I should arrive in seven minutes.”

  He hung up without saying goodbye. I turned to Jax. “That was a paramedic. What’s going on?”

  “There are only two ambulances in Traveler’s Bay, and one is in Santa Rosa. The other ambulance is already en route to the hospital. Seems there was a serious accident outside town and the ambulance was needed.”

  Gramps cursed.

  “So what does Sophia get?” I asked. “Anything?”

  “Police are on their way,” Jax said. “The 911 lady told me help would arrive shortly.”

  I grunted as my shoulder hit the window.

  “Hold on!” Gramps called. “I’m going to take this shortcut.”

  I looked out the windshield. The Hummer’s headlights beamed brightly across an open field. Unfortunately, we had to go down a small ravine before we could get to the open field. I grabbed onto the “oh poop” handle and gritted my teeth. The Hummer could get through anything, but it wasn’t always a pretty ride.

  “Did the paramedic give you an ETA?” Trevor asked.

  “Yeah. He said he and his partner were about seven minutes out.”

  Trevor glanced questioningly at Gramps.

  “I’ll have us there in three,” Gramps said.

  Jax clasped my hand in hers, and I squeezed back.

  “It’ll be okay,” she whispered.

  I pulled up Mike’s number and hit the phone icon. Three rings later it went to voicemail. I left a message telling him to call me immediately. I then sent a text telling him it was an emergency and for him to call me.

  “Her house should be over the next hill,” I said.

  “Jax, get in the lockbox and get out three guns,” Gramps said.

  “Yes, sir.” Jax scrambled over the backseat and proceeded to unlock a medium-sized trunk where Gramps kept his guns. Jax had learned to shoot when she was still a teenager and Gramps still owned his firing range. I wasn’t averse to guns, I just wasn’t eager to use them.

  I’d been to the Brockman place a handful of times. The sprawling two-story Tudor home was four thousand square feet. Victor bought the place six years ago with the dream of getting into the wine business. Now he had a nice-sized vineyard full of grapes, with last year being his first producing year. Their place reeked of money, but you’d never know that looking at the two of them. They were down-to-earth people.

  “Up there!” I pointed to the house at the top of the hill.

  Trevor whistled. “That’s a nice place.”

  “I think last year was their first wine-producing year, wasn’t it Jaycee?” Gramps asked.

  “Yep. They had a party out here to celebrate,” I said. “Sophia thinks in another year or two they should be actively producing. Right now they are still working out the kinks.”

  Gramps didn’t bother parking in the side drive, instead he ran the Hummer up onto the brand-new manicured lawn and over the Lamb’s Ear and Hostas lining the stone pavers.

  “I know,” he grumbled. “But I’m not worried about some plants. I’m worried about getting to her in time.”

  Even before he threw the Hummer in park, I had the door opened and ready to jump down. Not that I was some kind of super athlete who could actually do that and not break a leg, but I was so distraught I wasn’t thinking straight.

  Trevor leaped down and ran to the back of the Hummer to let the gun-gathering Jax out. He, Gramps, and Jax rushed the front door, guns at their side.

  “Door’s open,” Gramps said. “Proceed with caution.”

  Gramps entered first, then silently pointed to where he wanted Jax and Trevor to go. I stood there, silently cursing under my breath, begging them to hurry and clear the house.

  “Clear!” Gramps yelled out.

  “Clear!” Trevor called.

  “In here!” Jax screamed.

  I took off running for the living room…then came to a screeching halt. Lying crumpled on the floor, blood everywhere, was Sophia.

  “Stand back!” Gramps yelled. “Let me see if she’s breathing.”

  I bent over at the waist and inhaled deeply—bad idea. The coppery smell of blood permeated my nose and my vision swam.r />
  “I have a pulse,” Gramps said. “It’s faint but it’s there!”

  “Thank God!” Jax and I exclaimed.

  “Jaycee, call 911 and see how far out they are,” Gramps demanded. “Trevor, give me your belt. I’m not sittin’ here and doin’ nothing while she bleeds out.”

  I let out a sob when I heard the 911 dispatcher. “This is Jaycee Sullivan. My sister called earlier about shots fired at the Brockman house on Prairie Lane.” I sucked in a quick, ragged breath. “We’re here now, and Sophia has been shot. There’s blood everywhere. How much longer until the paramedics get here?”

  “I’ve got a gunshot wound in the leg,” Gramps said.

  “Looks like one in the upper chest or shoulder area,” Trevor said. “Can’t really tell with her shirt on.”

  Jax pulled a knife out of her pocket. “Use my knife to cut off her shirt.”

  I relayed the gunshot wounds back to the 911 dispatcher.

  “She said we need to try and stop the bleeding,” I said.

  “Already on it,” Gramps said. “I’ve applied a tourniquet to her leg.”

  “Use my shirt for the chest wound,” Trevor said, stripping off his shirt.

  If the situation hadn’t been so dire, I’d have laughed. Sophia had once giggled with Jax and me about what hunks she thought Mike and Trevor were. I knew she’d appreciate the fact that Trevor was getting naked for her benefit. She was going to be sorry she missed seeing the USMC bulldog tattoo flanking Trevor’s upper shoulder.

  “We don’t want any air getting into the lungs,” Gramps said. “So I’m going to have you hold that over the wound. Hold it tight now, Trevor.”

  “Understood.”

  I glanced over at Trevor. I knew this situation had to be difficult for him. He’d been a gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps until recently. On his last tour oversees he’d been injured—both physically and emotionally. He still favored his right side some days, and I knew from Jax that he had difficulty adjusting to certain social situations.

  Gramps must have heard something in Trevor’s voice, too. “You doing okay?”

  Stiff nod. “I’m fine, Colonel.”

  “Good. You just keep that pressed down hard.” He turned to look at me. “Jaycee, what’s the ETA now?”

  I asked the dispatcher.

  “One to two minutes,” I relayed.

  Gramps nodded. “Jax, you and Jaycee go stand outside and direct the paramedics our way.”

  Jax wrapped her arms around me and guided me toward the front door. I knew he was getting us out of the room more for our sake than to show the paramedics where to go.

  We were almost to the front door when I noticed a blue cloth by the entryway table. Dropping the phone to my side, I bent down to pick it up and gasped. It was a blue bandana. Like the one Carl Baxton had worn when I saw him earlier in the afternoon

  “I think this is Carl Baxton’s bandana,” I hissed.

  “Don’t touch it,” Jax said. “Let the police get it for DNA purposes.”

  I snorted. “I hope he really was that stupid and careless to drop it and it’s an open and shut case.”

  Jax smiled. “Never thought I’d hear you say that.”

  “Me, either. But it’s true.”

  We left the bandana where it was and made our way outside. A red minivan sped up the driveway, a blinking light on the roof of the car.

  I lifted the phone back to my ear. “I think our ambulance is here.”

  The dispatcher confirmed and then hung up.

  “How are they going to transport her?” I asked.

  “I’m sure they took out the back seats,” Jax said.

  The minivan came to an abrupt stop next to the Hummer. Three men jumped out, two carrying a stretcher while the driver grabbed a medical bag.

  “In here,” Jax said. “Follow me.”

  I watched numbly as they scrambled up the steps and followed after Jax. I knew I should turn and follow them, but I just couldn’t do it. Too many emotions flooded me, and I was afraid I’d lose it.

  My phone rang, jarring me out of my stupor.

  “Mike!” I cried. “Thank God! Are you still in Santa Rosa?”

  “Yes. I don’t have much time to talk. It’s still chaos here. The fire is still raging out of control.”

  “I have to tell you something,” I said. “Sophia Brockman has been shot. Like on purpose. Someone tried to murder her!”

  Chapter 5

  There was a brief pause. “Sophia Brockman? Is she alive?”

  “Yes. Thanks to Gramps and Trevor. We’re here at her house right now. She called and said she thought someone was in her house. But, Mike, there’s more to the story. A lot has happened to her this week, and I’m not surprised—”

  “Jaycee, honey, I don’t mean to cut you off, but I need to call the Chief and see what he wants me to do.”

  I heard the exhaustion in his voice.

  “Have you eaten or rested at all today?” I asked.

  He sighed. “Not really. Let me call the Chief and then get back with you, okay? I’m really sorry about Sophia.”

  We hung up, and I sat down on one of the rocking chairs lining the front porch. Groaning, I realized I hadn’t called Mom yet to let her know what we’d found. I quickly placed a call to Mom and told her about Sophia. I ended the call with a promise to tell her everything when we got home.

  A patrol car flew up the driveway, its lights and siren blaring. Officer Landry stepped out of the car and made his way over to me. I knew Landry well, and liked him a lot.

  I quickly stood and pointed inside the house. “They’re in there.”

  “I got here as soon as I could.” He rushed past me and hurried inside. “We’re spread thin at the station. With a lot of the guys in Santa Rosa, and then we had an accident on Hwy 116. It’s been hectic.”

  Even though I followed him, I stayed back…still not wanting to see what was going on. I could hear them working on Sophia. Pulling on my big-girl panties, I decided the time to snoop was now. If Mike did get called back to work this case, there was no way he was going to let me openly investigate, so I needed to pull it together and figure out what I could. For Sophia’s sake. Or so I told myself.

  I knew there was a formal parlor, Victor’s office, and a library downstairs away from the living room, so I figured that was the best place to start. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for. I knew we may have a significant clue with the bandana in the foyer, but I wanted to see if anything else seemed out of place. Just in case it wasn’t so open and shut.

  I crossed the threshold into the parlor, and immediately my eye was drawn to a picture above the fireplace that Sophia had painted. Or at least there should have been a picture above the fireplace. One of her originals. Now the space was empty.

  I walked back to the front of the house and realized there were more empty hooks on the walls. Artwork that was probably Sophia’s…gone. I was about to head into the living room when I saw Sophia’s purse sitting on the entryway table. Checking to make sure her wallet and keys were still there, I quickly dug around. Both were still inside.

  Before I could talk myself out of it, I slipped the keys casually into my pocket. I told myself I was doing it for safekeeping, but really, something told me I might need them later to get back into the house to snoop around.

  “There you are,” Jax said. “They just took Sophia out and are heading to the hospital. Landry wants to talk with us.”

  I followed her outside where Landry was talking with Gramps and Trevor. I was about to tell her about the robbery when Landry turned to me.

  “The Colonel here is telling me you’d be the best person to ask about what happened this week with Sophia,” he said. “Can you elaborate?”

  So I spent the next few minutes filling him in on the threats by Carl Baxton—including the one I personally witnessed—and the affair claims of Carmen Hollins.

  “Sounds like Sophia was lucky both you and this Wyatt Davidson
were around when Carl came visiting,” Landry said.

  “Which reminds me.” I pointed inside the house. “There’s a blue bandana on the floor in there.”

  “I saw it,” Landry said. “I have the forensics team on their way.”

  “It looks an awful lot like the one I saw Carl wearing this afternoon,” I added.

  “Let’s hope it is,” Landry said. “There should be hair or some other sort of DNA on it.”

  “That’s what I was thinking,” I said. “But then I got to looking around, and…”

  Everyone groaned, and I immediately scowled.

  “What?” I demanded. “Of course I’m going to look for more clues.”

  Landry sighed. “I’m not even going to waste my breath telling you it’s my job to do that.”

  I grinned. “Good. Then don’t. Anyway, once you look around it won’t be hard to notice there are empty spaces on the walls. I’m pretty sure Sophia’s artwork hung there. And I’m also pretty sure I don’t have to tell you what her artwork goes for nowadays.”

  “Jeez, Jaycee,” Landry whined, “please tell me you didn’t touch anything.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? This isn’t my first rodeo. Of course I didn’t touch anything.”

  Landry held up his hands in surrender. “I had to ask.”

  “You should be thanking me,” I said. “I’ve given you three good leads…Carl Baxton, Carmen Hollins, and the possible robbery angle.”

  “Thanks,” he said. “Now you guys go home. I’m sure I’ll have some questions for you tomorrow. Real quick, did you say her husband was at a dental convention until Sunday?”

  I nodded. “That’s what she told me. It’s somewhere in Bakersfield.”

  “Do you know the hotel or anything?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “Sorry, no.”

  “Did you hear from Mike yet?” Gramps asked.

  “He said he would call the Chief and see if he wants him to stay in Santa Rosa or come back here. He’s supposed to call me back soon.”

  “Go on home,” Landry said. “And thanks for all you did tonight. I’ll keep you guys posted.”