by Lucy Quinn
Sunshine let out a bark, and in the next moment, Evie heard a loud grunt, followed by a moan and the sound of someone crumpling to the floor. Before Evie could worry it was Dora, she heard her let out a scream before she cried, “Evie! Run!”
Evie had no intention of leaving. Not when there was clearly an altercation involving her best friend inside of Gertie’s apartment. No way would she let Dora deal with whoever had attacked Luke on her own. Sunshine shot forward, already unleashed now that they were in the apartment building, and Evie followed, finding two men didn’t she expect to ever see again: Charles Reynolds and Raúl Crawford.
Evie rushed inside when she saw Charles had Dora in a headlock. But when she noticed he also had a gun jammed in her side, Evie froze in her tracks. Dora had been in this position before with Steve Franklin, and both she and Evie knew the real danger of a gun. Sunshine must have understood the severity of the situation, too, because she was sitting perfectly still as if she were the most patient dog in the world waiting for a treat. Or one holding her breath hoping it could keep Dora safe.
“Hands behind your back,” Raúl said as he moved toward Evie.
When Evie saw a zip tie in his fingers, she began to panic. But even though her instincts told her to fight she wasn’t taking any chances with her best friend’s life, and she quickly did as he asked. “Please, don’t hurt Dora,” she pleaded, gazing into Charles’s stony face. She glanced at Dora, whose eyes were wide and full of fearful tears. As Raúl tightened the plastic restraint on Evie, she clenched her fists in an effort to take up more room than when her hands were relaxed. The fact he hadn’t used duct tape meant she might have a plan. She’d gained a few skills from a brief stint in Cirque du Soleil that she hoped she could use.
Once Evie was restrained, Charles put his gun away, and Evie let out the breath she was holding. He glared at Evie as he zip-tied Dora’s wrists. “You two think you’re so smart.” He chuckled but then side-eyed Sunshine, who was doing her best to pretend she was now asleep with no interest in what was going on. But Evie could see through the pup’s bangs that she was watching every move the men made. “That mutt ought to be punted out the window. Raúl, get it out of my sight.”
Raúl scooped up a very cooperative Sunshine and tossed her into Gertie’s bedroom before slamming the door shut. Evie wasn’t sure what the dog was up to. She was strangely calm for a puppy who liked to make her feelings known. Maybe she’d learned a thing or two from the last time they were restrained and wanted to be able to move freely to help once the men were gone.
Once Charles was done with Dora, he said, “It’s time you two meddlesome women left town.”
Dora asked, “So you can get your hands on anything valuable Gertie and Myrtle left behind?”
“Better us than you,” Raúl said.
Evie had put her plan into motion and was working on dislocating her thumb, something she’d done so many times that her tendons were loose and it wasn’t as painful as it could be. But it still hurt enough when she tried to snap it out of socket that she took the opportunity to express it with her words. “We’re family!” Evie cried when a few profane words were what she’d rather say. “Son of a gun!” she threw out after she’d managed to dislocate the joint, hoping it sounded like she was adding emphasis and not screaming in pain.
Charles chuckled. “All the way from Pensacola. Came for a friendly visit and not to hide out from the mob?”
Evie’s heart jumped in her throat, and sweat broke out on her brow that had nothing to do with the pain in her thumb. It occurred to her that maybe she should have let Dora turn herself in.
“I think you are here for the money,” Raúl said gruffly. He pushed Dora toward a kitchen chair. “Sit,” he barked out before glancing at Charles as if he wanted approval. “Being on the run can get expensive.”
Evie sat voluntarily before Raúl could shove her, and Dora asked, “What do you want from us?”
Charles said, “You’re in our way, and since there’s a warrant out for your arrest, we think you’re just as motivated to keep your mouths shut as we might be.”
“Your basic win-win situation,” Raúl said. “Not many of those these days.”
Charles let out a noise of disgust and said to him, “You ought to know.”
Raúl bowed his head slightly, and it made Evie think that Raúl worked for Charles and not with him. She twisted her right hand back and forth now that the pain had subsided, trying to work it out of the plastic restraint.
Dora said, “No problem.” She tilted her head toward the living room. “See those two bags? Packed and ready to go. We’re all set to bug out of town right now. Cut us loose and we’re gone.”
Evie needed a bit more time to get loose and asked, “How do we know you’ll stay quiet about us?”
“You don’t. But we know you will.” Charles gave her sly grin and nodded toward Luke, who was still out cold on the floor. “Loverboy stays with us until we get what we need and clear out of town.”
Dora gasped.
“Unacceptable,” Evie said for her. “He comes with us.”
Charles looked at Raúl. “She doesn’t understand how I work, Raúl. Am I the type to negotiate?”
Raúl shook his head.
There was no way Dora or Evie would leave Luke behind. Evie was close to getting her hands free, but it was a slow, methodical process that couldn’t be rushed. She needed to buy a little more time. She said, “We know you killed Gertie and Myrtle, and you’re not going to get away with it. There are too many clues out there. Dora, doesn’t Louisiana have the death penalty?”
“They sure do, and I’m willing to bet Gertie and Myrtle weren’t the only two these guys killed.”
“Hold on, there,” Raúl said. “This was my first time. I swear it. And it’s only because I had no choice. I needed money to repay a debt. That’s why I talked Myrtle into that loan. She had that cash stashed in her apartment. Mad money she called it. I told her she’d be investing in my business, but she wouldn’t give it to me without a contract and a lawyer. She didn’t understand that I couldn’t wait that long. If you two witches hadn’t stolen it, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” He gulped. “Death penalty? Are you sure?”
“Yup,” Evie answered, suspecting Charles might be a loan shark. The subservient way Raúl had been acting toward him made sense now. Raúl had likely been desperate for money to pay him back, and that’s probably what led him to committing murder for the first time. She had a flicker of compassion for the man before she remembered Myrtle’s green Croc sticking out from under the sheet when her dead body had been wheeled out of the apartment building. “They give you a lethal injection. Do you know what happens to your body when—”
“God, that one never shuts up,” Charles said to Raúl. “We’re wasting time with all this chatter. Gag her. Gag them both.”
Raúl glanced around, presumably searching for a bandana or rag, but even though there were many options from Gertie’s eBay sales items, he grabbed the container that held the donuts Evie had saved for the road trip to California.
“Wait!” Evie cried. “We haven’t reached an agreement!”
Apparently, they weren’t going to because a donut was shoved so hard into Evie’s mouth that she struggled not to choke on the powdered sugar that filled her throat. Raúl cackled like an evil witch as he thrust a donut into Dora’s mouth then tossed the rest of them onto the floor.
Charles scoffed in disgust but seemed to be satisfied that the pastries were enough to shut them up when he said, “Jewelry and silver and that cash. Clothing is useless to us.”
“It was Dolly Part—” Raúl’s words froze in his mouth when Charles lifted his gun up to point at the ceiling in a warning. Evie supposed he wasn’t a fan of vintage memorabilia, but man, that rhinestone bra big enough to cover Dolly’s tatas was definitely a statement piece she’d love to have. Raúl snapped his mouth shut as he nodded. He grabbed a partially-filled suitcase and moved over to one of Gerti
e’s piles.
The sound of metal clattering as items were tossed in the bag filled the room, but out of the corner of her eye, Evie noticed the bedroom door eek open just as she managed to get her hands free of her restraints. She grinned when she realized Sunshine had been practicing the art of opening doors without opposable thumbs, a video that had popped up after her lock picking tutorial. She winked at the dog in a sign to be at the ready because now she had a plan.
25
Luke groaned from his position on Gertie’s kitchen floor, and Dora’s heart clenched at the sound of the man coming back to consciousness. But at least he was still alive. Charles and Raúl were distracted by filling their bags with valuables, and Dora’s mind was racing with trying to sort out how she and Evie could overpower two men with their hands behind their backs.
Then she noticed Evie looking toward the master bedroom. Dora saw the door was ajar and Sunshine was peeking out of it. With a pair of scissors in her mouth! Just the tool Evie and she needed to release their zip-tie restraints. If the situation wasn’t so dire, Dora would have smiled. That dog continued to amaze her, and once they were out of this mess, she was going to have to see just how Sunshine could open a door.
The pup crept slowly toward Dora, who looked at Evie, and her friend cracked a smile. Dora had just managed to wrap her fingers around the cold metal of the sheers when Raúl glanced over at the women. His jaw dropped when he saw Sunshine. Dora gasped as silently as she could, wondering what he was going to do.
Fortunately, Raúl was afraid enough of Charles that he didn’t want to alert the man to the dog being free since it reflected his own incompetence. As he rushed over to deal with the situation, Dora clutched the scissors, hoping he wouldn’t notice them. And that’s when Raúl stepped in the donuts, squirting jelly and making his next step a doozy. His foot slipped like he’d stepped on a banana peel, and it kicked up into the air as he windmilled his arms in an attempt to regain his balance. It was touch and go there for a moment, but vanilla cream finally did him in. He landed on his back, cracking his head so hard he was knocked out cold.
Evie took the commotion as her cue, and she lunged forward toward Charles, who had turned to see what had happened. Sunshine got to Charles first and latched onto his ankle with her teeth. The man shouted and kicked trying to shake the dog loose. Evie jumped on his back and began to pummel him with her fists as she cried, “Don’t you dare hurt my dog!”
Dora had managed to get the scissors in the right position to begin to gnaw away at the plastic restraint, and she frantically tried to free herself faster so she could help Evie. But she soon learned her assistance wasn’t needed.
When Charles managed to throw Evie from his back, he was still struggling with Sunshine. That dog had teeth like a vice grip. And it was the perfect distraction for Evie. In a moment that seemed to stand still, Dora watched Evie pull her inner warrior forward. She lifted up her arms and poised for attack. A blood-curdling scream came from her mouth as she leapt into the air to kick out a foot Karate Kid style. She hit Charles in the forehead with such force he had to have been out cold before he dropped to the ground like a cut tree.
“Yes!” Evie cried as she pumped an arm in the air.
Somewhere along the line, Luke had gained consciousness and was sitting up and shaking his head as he said, “Whoa, classic movie dream.”
“Nope,” Dora said, beaming with pride over Evie taking down the bad guy. “I think that was the result of a raffle prize win.”
“Six free months of Krav Maga lessons,” Evie said with just as much pride. “The class was called ‘Your Money or Your Life.’”
Raúl began to stir from his position on the floor and whimpered. “Mommy? Mom—” His eyes opened, and he inhaled sharply before jumping to his feet.
But Dora’s hands were finally free, and she jumped up with the scissors gripped tightly in her fist like a knife. “Not so fast, Chef Boyardee. I believe it’s your turn to have a seat.” She waved the shears indicating he should sit in a kitchen chair.
Raúl glanced over at an unconscious Charles on the floor and then at the growling version of Sunshine before his shoulders slumped in defeat and he did as he was told. He dropped his head in his hands and let out a moan before lifting his face to Dora and Evie.
“This isn’t how things were supposed to go,” Raúl said through his tears. “Myrtle was like a mother to me. I came here over a year ago with nothing. She fed me, helped me start a career as a personal chef. The woman was a mastermind when it came to marketing.”
“We saw the cardboard cutout in your apartment,” Evie said as she grabbed a roll of duct tape from a pile near Gertie’s desk. She motioned for him to put his hands behind his back so she could tape them together. “Nice Photoshopping.”
“I know, right?” He waggled his eyebrows as he leaned forward in his chair to give Evie access to his wrists. “It was a hit with the ladies.”
Dora snorted as she stood at the ready with her scissors in case Raúl had plans to make a fast move. She was tempted to help Luke as he managed to drag himself to sit in another chair at the table, but she knew he’d want her to remain vigilant until Raúl was restrained.
Raúl continued speaking, “I wasn’t only a charity case to Myrtle and Gertie. We were friends. I really did clean for them, and run errands, too. We were so close.” He hiccupped. “Myrtle put me in her will. And Gertie”—he paused to sniff—“was such a sweet old woman. She—”
Dora had heard enough of his sob story. “Sweet old ladies? Raúl, you killed them.”
“Charles made me do it,” he pleaded. “He was going to kill me if I didn’t get the money. I had it, you see? I mean Myrtle had that heart scare a couple months ago, and we all thought she was at death’s door. I just needed time. But he wouldn’t let me wait, and Myrtle was talking about lawyers and paperwork. So, I did some research and found an herb concoction that would interfere with her heart medication.”
The murder-by-poisoning theory was confirmed, but Dora still wondered something. From what Evie and she had discovered, Myrtle had plenty of money. He didn’t need to off Gertie as well. She asked, “Why did you kill Gertie if Myrtle had put you in her will?”
“I needed to test how much of the herbs were needed. From cleaning her place, I knew Gertie was taking heart pills on the sly and that she had the same condition Myrtle had. Since the herbs had a funny flavor and Myrtle was picky about her food, I needed to make sure one or two bites would work.”
Luke croaked out. “Raúl Crawford, you’re a disgrace to chefs everywhere.”
“I gave those women a peaceful death in their own home, where they both wanted to die,” Raúl said with conviction Dora suspected he didn’t feel. “Their time was coming after all.”
“And so is yours,” Luke said. He held up his phone. “A quick email to the local police with the voice recording of your confession, and I believe this case is wrapped up.”
Raúl hopped up to his feet, but Sunshine was on him like white on rice, and he quickly sat back down.
Dora’s heart surged with the warmth of her feelings for Luke. He practically tied up the murders of Myrtle and Gertie with a big red bow. “Oh my god!” she said as she bent down and threw her arms around her man. “You’re brilliant.”
Evie let out a little huff as she stood up after taping up the still-unconscious Charles. But Dora knew her friend wasn’t really mad at her for thanking Luke instead of the bestie who’d knocked out the bad guy and had a thumb that was now swollen to twice its size from being yanked out of its socket. When Evie was in Cirque du Soleil, Dora had been down the dislocation road with her a few times. She let go of Luke and asked her friend, “Want me to snap your thumb back into place for you?”
“Got a bottle of tequila for me to down first?”
Dora suspected Evie was only half joking, but she knew alcohol was the last thing she needed. Dora took a deep breath, grabbed Evie’s thumb, and quickly shoved it back in its socke
t.
“Mother of …” Evie let out a long string of profanity that didn’t make any sense but definitely helped her state of mind and made Sunshine shake her head in disapproval.
Dora glanced over at the bags Evie and she had packed in preparation to leave for California. While she was definitely ready to leave New Orleans, she had a moment of nostalgia. She looked around the apartment where they had lived for a few days, learning about a woman who had died. They’d come to get a piggy bank containing evidence that could clear her name, but instead they’d ended up solving two murders and doing what they could to find justice for Gertie and Myrtle.
Then Dora gazed at Luke and let out a sigh. “It’s goodbye again.”
He nodded as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. “Not forever, Dora. I’ll wait however long it takes.”
She smiled up at him as her emotions threatened to overflow. Dora believed Luke, and she refused to let any self-doubt niggle its way into her thoughts. “I know. Thank you.”
Luke leaned in and brushed his lips against hers before he said, “Let me make a call about your new ride.” He grinned. “I think you’re going to love it.”
Dora chuckled, wondering what he had up his sleeve, but she could wait to find out. She trusted she’d be pleased with whatever he had in mind. Their relationship had a slow-burn quality to it that made her believe it would stand the test of time. The way her and Evie’s friendship had. “Do me a favor?”
“Anything,” he said.
“Myrtle’s cash is stashed in the legwarmers. Can you sneak it back into her apartment so her heirs will find it?”
“Of course.” He laughed. “Legwarmers. Of course.”
She turned to her friend and frowned with compassion, imagining the pain her hand must be causing. “Are you okay?”