by Amy M. Reade
After what seemed like hours, but was probably only about fifteen minutes, both Beau and Taffy were finished eating. Taffy pushed her chair back and gathered the plates from the table.
“I’ll help you,” Beau offered, pushing his chair back and standing.
“Sit still,” Taffy commanded. “I’ll do it.” Beau did as Taffy directed, wrinkling his brow. When Taffy left the room he looked at Lilly and shrugged, though she pretended not to see him.
Taffy had been gone for a couple minutes when Lilly decided to enlist Beau’s help to leave.
“Beau, can you go get my purse?” she asked in an urgent whisper.
“I’d rather not. She’s not acting like herself tonight and I don’t want to make her angrier.”
“Something’s wrong, Beau. I know her, or at least I thought I did, and something is wrong.”
“All the more reason not to piss her off,” he whispered loudly.
Chapter 57
“What was that?” Taffy asked, coming into the room carrying a tray. “Secrets, secrets are no fun unless they’re shared with everyone!” She let out a cackle that sent shivers up Lilly’s spine.
“Taf, are you all right?” Beau asked.
“Of course! Now it’s time for dessert. Lilly, I shouldn’t let you have any because you didn’t eat your dinner, but I’m going to let you because I’m nice like that.” She set the tray down on the table. A small pot sat on the tray, surrounded by small plates of fruit and cubes of cake.
“This chocolate fondue is my specialty!” Taffy cried. “You’re going to love it, Lilly. It’s BJ’s favorite, but you probably knew that. Now, let me pass the forks around and we’ll dig in!”
She handed a fork to Beau and placed a fork on her own placemat. She tried handing Lilly one, too, but Lilly refused to take it.
“Lilly, I must say you’re not being a very gracious guest,” Taffy said, her eyes glittering.
“I’m not hungry.”
“That may be true, but it’s rude to refuse to eat when you’ve been invited to someone’s house for dinner. Didn’t your parents ever teach you that?”
“Leave my parents out of this.”
“Your mom is pretty cool,” Beau said. If looks could kill, Beau would have been stiff and cold after the glance Lilly bestowed on him.
“Be quiet, BJ,” Taffy said in an imperious voice. “I’m trying to talk to Lilly.”
Beau held up both hands and stared at Taffy, bewildered. Taffy stood up and walked over to Lilly’s chair.
“You’d better take this fork right now, Lilly.”
Something in the tone of Taffy’s voice warned Lilly that she should take the fork. She reached for it, but Taffy pulled it out of her reach.
“On second thought, maybe I’ll use this fork,” Taffy said, leaning down close to Lilly’s ear, running the tines of the fork lightly across Lilly’s neck as she spoke. A current of fear raced up Lilly’s spine and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Her gaze darted around the dining room, looking for anything she could use as a weapon or anything that would help her escape. Her mind was racing so frantically that she couldn’t think clearly. There were the other fondue forks, of course, but she knew the moment she reached for one Taffy wouldn’t hesitate to attack her.
“Taffy, take it easy,” Lilly said. She was out of breath even though she had been sitting motionless. “You don’t have to do anything violent. We can work this out.”
“There’s nothing to work out,” Taffy replied. She shifted the fork in her hand so she was holding it like a spear, then proceeded to poke the tines into Lilly’s arm ever so lightly. “It’s a shame you won’t be able to leave here tonight.”
“That’s insane. Of course I’m leaving,” Lilly scoffed. Too late, she regretted those words.
Taffy stuck Lilly’s arm with the fork. Hard. Lilly could feel blood seeping from the puncture holes, though it was a second or two before she felt the pain.
“Insane? Insane?” Taffy screeched.
“I’m sorry, Taffy, I didn’t mean that. What I meant was, why are you doing this? I haven’t done anything to you.”
“Wrong. You just fired me.”
“You deceived me.”
“And you were just waiting for a chance to accuse me of Eden’s murder!” Taffy was yelling. Lilly could only hope the neighbors in the attached unit would hear the shouting and call the police.
“Taf, what are you talking about?” Beau asked.
“Would you shut up?” she screeched. “This is between me and Lilly!”
“What are you talking about?” Lilly asked. Her mind was reeling—why would she accuse Taffy of killing Eden? All her senses were on high alert, focused on the fondue-fork-wielding woman standing over her. She knew the minute she tried to get up from the table Taffy would stab her again, and perhaps not in the arm.
“I’m talking about killing Eden! I had to! I had to stop her from telling you she had fired me because I never would have found another job!”
Lilly’s breath froze in her throat. Just as Bill had promised, she suddenly remembered the conversation she had had with Eden and Herb the week before Thanksgiving. Eden had mentioned that she suspected an employee of hers was stealing from her. She was going to watch the employee carefully and planned to fire the person if she saw any suspicious behavior. She had told Herb about it and he had suggested mentioning it to Lilly. She could get the word out to other Juniper Junction merchants not to hire that employee. That employee must have been Taffy.
Chapter 58
“Taffy, I had no idea you were the one she had fired,” Lilly said, trying to keep her voice even.
“Of course it was me! I was the only employee—Eden didn’t have enough money to hire anyone else.”
“What makes you think you’re going to get away with keeping me here?”
“I’m only going to keep you here long enough to kill you.”
“That’s ridiculous. Beau will know what you did.”
“If Beau doesn’t want me to kill him, too, he won’t tell anyone.” Her logic was frightening. She snapped her fingers. “I just had a thought. Maybe I can buy your store when you’re dead! You know, the grieving employee who misses her boss and buys the store to carry on the boss’s legacy. It’ll be great.”
“You went bankrupt trying to run a store in Missouri,” Beau said, finally finding his voice.
“I didn’t ask you! Would you just keep your big mouth shut?” Taffy seethed through clenched teeth.
“Taffy, running a business is hard work,” Lilly said. She wanted to keep Taffy talking until she could figure out how to get out of the condo. It was becoming clear that Beau wasn’t going to be much help.
“A-ha, but I have the money from selling your sketchbooks, so that will give me a little cushion,” Taffy said matter-of-factly. Lilly couldn’t believe her ears.
“You stole the sketchbooks?” she asked.
Taffy laughed. “How lucky was it that Hassan came in with a folder that day? I still can’t believe you thought that lovesick sap would steal anything from you. But it worked for to my advantage, so I’m not complaining.”
I can’t believe I told the police Hassan stole the sketchbooks, Lilly thought. She lost her focus for a moment in her dismay. Taffy noticed and yanked Lilly’s injured arm. Lilly stumbled to her feet. Taffy raised the fork again.
“Don’t do this, Taffy. Beau, do something! What’s the matter with you?”
“Taffy, let Lilly go. We can get you some help.” Beau was still seated at the table. It was as if he had lost the power of movement.
“Ha! The only help you’re going to give me is to hide the body. Now stand up!”
Beau did as he was told; Lilly stared at him, incredulous. The fear in his eyes told the story—he couldn’t help because he was afraid of Taffy. Afraid of what she was going to do to him once she was finished with Lilly.
“When did you steal my sketches?” Lilly asked, frantic to keep the conve
rsation moving.
“The day Hassan came into the store, when you two ate in your office, I ate in there by myself afterward. It only took a second to take the books.” She shook her head and barked out a harsh laugh. “Hassan is probably in custody right now, being tortured by your brother into giving up the hiding place of the books. And he has no idea where they are!” She kept laughing.
“How much did you get for them?” Lilly asked.
“Fifteen thousand dollars.”
Lilly was shocked. “That’s not enough of a cushion at all, Taffy.” No wonder she bankrupted her store back in Missouri. But the statement must have unnerved Taffy for just a moment. Perhaps she was thinking that she should have sold the sketches for more, perhaps she was furious that Lilly had insulted her business sense. Whatever the reason, her eyes lost focus for a split second.
Lilly seized her chance. Bolting out of her seat, she ran toward the front door. Taffy let out a shriek as soon as she realized what had happened. Lilly didn’t turn around to see where her pursuer was, but she heard a thump and assumed Taffy had tripped. She was only a few steps from the front door when Taffy grabbed her by the arm and yanked her around to face her.
“Taffy, please. I won’t tell the police anything. Just let me go and I’ll give you the sketches, I promise.”
Taffy’s face was flushed and red. “I told you I already sold the sketches! Don’t you even listen? What good is your promise?” she seethed. She raised her arm; the fondue fork glinted in the light of the foyer.
As she brought the fork down, Taffy let out a yelp. Lilly hadn’t seen Beau sneaking up behind her; he had grabbed her arm and wrenched it backward. Taffy, rage glinting in her eyes, spun around to face Beau and plunged the fork into his shoulder. His eyes registered the pain from the stabbing before he could say anything; he dropped her arm to stem the blood flowing from his own.
Lilly felt a buzz of urgency. Taffy would be after her next.
As Taffy was turning back toward Lilly and raising the fork again, Lilly yanked the front door open and tumbled out onto the stoop, slipping in the snow and falling headlong down the front steps.
Two people, bundled up and walking briskly, were out front. They looked up in amazement when Lilly crashed through the door and down the steps.
Chapter 59
“Mom?” came a questioning voice. Laurel?
“Laurel? Run! Get out of here!”
“Nick, do something!” Laurel yelled. Nick disengaged himself from Laurel’s mittened hand and ran up the steps. Taffy, who had started down the steps after Lilly when she realized there were other people outdoors, turned around to head back inside, but Nick grabbed her by the arm and yanked her around. Beau came running from the direction of the dining room and pulled both Taffy and Nick to the ground underneath him. Blood from his injury seeped into the pristine white snow around them.
“Dude! What’s wrong with you?” Nick sputtered, trying to get up. “I can’t breathe!”
Beau was speechless with confusion. He knelt in the snow and let Nick get up. He kept his elbow in Taffy’s back, making it impossible for her to move.
“Call Bill,” Lilly directed Laurel breathlessly. Laurel pulled her cell phone from her pocket, whipped off her mittens, and punched a few numbers.
“Uncle Bill, I’m with Mom. I don’t know what’s going on, but she’s here at Deer Run Condos and Nick just saved her from being attacked by a crazy woman. Hurry and get here and call an ambulance. The woman is on the ground and…” She looked up. The expression on her face changed from grim and confused to shock. “And my father is making sure she doesn’t get up. Yeah, my father. He’s bleeding. A lot. I have no idea what’s going on. Please, just get over here.” She put the phone back in her pocket. “He’ll be here in just a few minutes.”
The adrenaline finally hit Lilly and she started to cry. She stood up and bent over with her hands on her knees, sobbing. Laurel put her arm around her mother’s shoulders and whispered again and again that Lilly was safe, that Beau and Nick weren’t going to let anything happen to her. She led Lilly around Taffy’s still-struggling form in the snow and they sat down on the steps of Taffy’s condo. Lilly continued to cry, but as the sobs began to subside, she was able to explain to her daughter what had happened.
“What are you doing here?” Lilly finally asked Laurel.
“Nick’s parents went out for dessert after dinner. Nick and I were watching television in his condo, which is the one attached to this one. The noise got so bad coming from next door that we decided to go out for a walk until the fight was over.”
Lilly couldn’t help but smile over the happy serendipity. She had a feeling she wouldn’t mind Nick so much in the future.
Bill and another officer were on the scene in a matter of minutes. His partner quickly handcuffed Taffy and put her into the cruiser while Bill listened to the story from Lilly. All he could do was shake his head.
The ambulance driver walked over to Bill. “I’m taking Mr. Carlsen over to the hospital now,” he said.
“Wait. Can I talk to him for a second?” Lilly asked.
The driver shrugged and nodded his head toward the ambulance. Lilly walked to the back doors, which were still open.
“Beau, I wanted to thank you for helping me tonight.”
“I’m sorry for everything that happened. I’m just glad you didn’t get hurt,” he replied in a quiet voice. She looked at him sadly and turned away.
She went to stand beside Bill, who was giving an order to secure the scene. “Has anyone talked to Hassan about the sketchbooks?” she asked. She was sick thinking of how she had wrongly accused him.
“Yeah. Two guys went over there today. They didn’t find anything and naturally Hassan and his family claim to know nothing about where the sketchbooks are.”
“Taffy stole them, Bill. Then she sold them. I’m so sorry I was wrong about Hassan.”
“Don’t worry about it right now. Go home, get warm, and we’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
“Will you stop at Mom’s to check on her when you get off work? I just can’t do it tonight,” she said.
“Sure.”
After retrieving Lilly’s purse, cell phone, and car keys from inside the condo, Bill and his partner left with Taffy in the back of the police car. Lilly turned to Nick before getting in her own car and opened her arms. He stepped into them and she hugged him as if he were one of her own children.
“I can’t thank you enough for helping me tonight, Nick.”
“Does this mean you don’t hate me anymore?”
She held him away from her. “I never hated you, Nick. I just didn’t know what to make of you.”
“Did I pass the test?”
Lilly laughed for the first time in many hours. “With flying colors.” She got into the car and Laurel kissed Nick goodbye before joining her mother. They drove home in silence, each lost in her own harried thoughts, but thankful to be together and safe.
Chapter 60
Tighe couldn’t believe what had transpired while he was at the Main Street Diner. “I wish I’d been there,” he said. “I would have let her have it!”
“Well, I’m just glad it’s over,” Lilly said. “Laurel and I have to go down to the police station in the morning, then I owe Hassan an apology.”
When mother and daughter arrived at the police station the next morning, they found Beau and Nick already there. Beau, his arm and shoulder bandaged heavily and in a sling, pulled Lilly aside before she was called to give her statement. “I hate to tell you this, but I found two envelopes stuffed with money in the credenza last night after you left. Fifteen thousand dollars, to be exact. It looks like Taffy really did sell your designs. I was hoping she was bluffing last night, but obviously she wasn’t. I’m sorry about that. I guess I didn’t know her as well as I thought I did.”
“Thanks for telling me.” Lilly’s shoulders slumped as she walked to the back of the station when she was called to give her statement.
The one time Taffy told the truth, and it had to be this time. She had worked so hard on those designs.
Once she and Laurel had given their statements and Laurel had gone to school, Lilly got in her car and drove straight to the house Hassan and his family were renting. She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.
Hassan answered after a long moment. He didn’t say anything at first, but gestured with his hand for her to come inside.
Once she was standing in the foyer her words tumbled out in a torrent. “Hassan, I owe you an apology. And your family. I’m so sorry. I saw you leaving my shop from the back door the other day. You had a notebook or folder or something in your hand. I didn’t call to you because I had decided that we shouldn’t see each other anymore because you’re leaving and I’m going to miss you too much. Then when I found the sketchbooks missing, I assumed you had taken them and I hope you can forgive me.” She finally inhaled, then let out her breath in a noisy exhale. Hassan continued staring at her.
“Say something, will you? Yell or something,” Lilly said.
When he still didn’t say anything, she turned to leave. She was stepping out onto the stone porch when he finally spoke.
“What do you suppose was in the folder I was holding?” he asked.
Lilly shook her head and turned to look at him. “I have no idea.”
“The folder contained some pages that I printed from the computer. A real estate listing for this house. It’s for sale and I was thinking about buying it. I had stopped by to ask your opinion and when you weren’t there I left because I had parked behind your store.”
Lilly stood still, the freezing air creeping up her pantlegs. “I’m so sorry,” she said in a whisper. “I should have known you’d never steal anything from me.” Except my heart, that is.
“It sounds like you and I were not on the same page as far as our relationship,” Hassan said.
“How could we be on the same page?” Lilly asked. “You’ve mentioned several times that you’ll be going back to Minnesota after the holidays. How was I supposed to know that you were thinking of buying a home here?” She swallowed hard, blinking back tears that burned the backs of her eyes.