by Kaye George
“No, you’re not!” Rogers barked. “You stay right here.”
In less than a minute, his car was out of sight, leaving the sound of his siren and the aftermath of his strobing lights in its wake.
Yolanda tried the reception desk woman one more time. “What else did she say on the phone?”
“I can’t give you that information.”
The woman was maddening. Yolanda wasn’t going to sit here staring at her. “Call me if you decide you can tell me anything about my best friend, who is in a lot of trouble right now. Here’s my number.” She scribbled her number on the sign-in sheet, threw the pen down with more force than necessary, and left.
Chapter 29
A bullet whined off a rock above Tally. She shuddered, then stumbled on, running on adrenaline and fear. Another shot rang out, also uphill from her. Andrea didn’t know exactly where Tally was. That was good. She wanted it to stay that way.
Could she head downhill? Straight downhill? If Andrea thought she was still going across the rock, could she get away? Could she get to her car?
She stopped for a moment to collect her thoughts. She mustn’t give in to panic. She had to keep her wits about her. Andrea was running toward her, but slightly uphill from Tally’s position. Tally squatted next to a boulder that had fallen there long, long ago. Grasses had grown up around it. She worked her way into the tall, dry grass. It rustled, but faintly.
Andrea passed by, still pursuing the same route. She shot two more times, once hitting another rock.
Tally waited for a count of twenty, then stole out of her hiding place and hurried downhill as carefully as she could. A faint, high, thin sound came through the night. Tally stopped to listen for more sounds of a possible ghost. This sound grew louder and more distinct. It was a police siren!
She wanted to run pell-mell downhill as fast as she could, but Andrea might shoot her before she made it to the bottom if she gave away her position. She continued with caution.
Her shin ran into a prickly pear, and she yelped. Tally froze, her blood running cold, every sense on alert.
Andrea’s maddeningly calm voice came through the dark. She was very close.
“There you are. Now I have you.”
Andrea’s shape was above her, about fifteen feet away. Tally could make out the glint of a pistol in the starlight. Andrea held it steady, not trembling, pointing it directly at Tally.
“Ah, revenge is so sweet. Just like they say it is. I’m getting back at everyone. Everyone. Getting my revenge for everything. I took care of the others. And now I have you.”
Tally faced Andrea and slowly took few steps backward, still moving down the hill, putting the prickly pear between them. “Yes, you have me. I’m not armed, Andrea. You can’t shoot me when I’m not armed.”
Andrea’s laugh sounded crazy. “But that’s the best way to shoot someone. When they’re not armed. Was Gene Schwartz armed? No. Or Mart? No again. Do you think my sister was armed when Gene killed her?”
“Gene killed your sister?” Tally knew she was talking about the car wreck years ago, but had to keep Andrea talking. The siren was closer. Andrea didn’t seem to hear it.
“Didn’t you know that? Maybe you weren’t living here then. He was drunk. He crashed his car. She died. He didn’t. He went on to live a full life. She was dead. He killed her, and he didn’t even pay for it. There wasn’t even a trial. The mayor rescued him. Poor little juvenile delinquent.”
“That wasn’t right. Gene should have gone to jail.”
“He should have died, too! And he did. I took care of that. I got revenge for Patsy. But…but he killed me, too. He killed our whole family. My mom turned into a different person. A horrible one. We’d always gotten along so well before that. Since the wreck, she’s been mad that I lived and Patsy didn’t. She would never get off my case. I couldn’t take it anymore. I finally had to take care of her.” Andrea was silent for a moment as they slowly continued downhill, Tally still walking backward. “Now you know everything. You’re a loose end.”
“Andrea, other people know. They know you killed your mom.”
“No, they don’t. They can’t prove it. When you’re gone, I’ll be free.”
Tally hadn’t heard the siren for a few minutes. Was the police car not coming here? She hadn’t heard it go past. Maybe it was Detective Rogers and he had turned off the siren and was on his way to rescue her right now. And maybe he wasn’t.
Tally kept moving. Not too quickly, since she couldn’t see where she was going. Andrea came after her slowly, still pointing the gun at her.
Andrea started talking again, still sounding dangerously demented. “I’ll be totally free. All of this will be over. It will be behind me. I can go on with my life. No more problems. No more—”
Andrea yelped as she finally stepped into the patch of prickly pear.
In a fraction of a second, Tally was on her, grabbing the gun away and shoving her deeper into the cruel thorns.
A warm hand clasped her shoulder.
“Good work. I’ll take it now.” Detective Rogers was behind her.
Tally collapsed onto the ground, grateful that there were no prickly pears where she landed.
Chapter 30
Nigel jumped into Tally’s lap, purring at the top of his…purring apparatus. She wondered if that sound came from his throat or his lungs. She leaned her head on the back of her worn navy-blue couch and closed her eyes.
“Are you all right?” Yolanda sat next to her, balancing a plate of fruit, crackers, and cheese.
Tally smiled and nodded without opening her eyes. “I’m still bone-tired today, but I’ll be okay. I’m alive and whole.”
The night before, Andrea had been arrested and shoved into the back seat of the police car by Detective Rogers. Other officers and technicians set up lights and swarmed across the rock surface collecting evidence. Tally had ridden into town in the front seat of his car, and they had both listened to Andrea screaming at them during the whole ride. She insisted she hadn’t meant to harm Tally, that she hadn’t shot her mother, that Rogers was making a big mistake.
Yolanda, who had followed the detective to Enchanted Rock, and then followed them down the highway to the station, had taken Tally home and made her a cup of cocoa. It was crowned with half a package of marshmallows, it seemed to Tally. Yolanda knew how much Tally loved marshmallows. Tally had eaten them off the top, sipped half of the lovely chocolatey liquid, stumbled to her bed, fallen on it fully clothed, and slept until morning.
When she woke up, Cole was in the kitchen feeding Nigel.
“Want breakfast, Sis? I can do up an omelet. I bought croissants and bacon to celebrate.”
“What are we celebrating?” Tally asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and smoothing her rumpled clothing, the same outfit she’d worn yesterday and slept in all night.
“You, silly. You’re alive and you caught the killer.”
“That’s not exactly what happened, but, okay. We’ll say that.” She didn’t consider that she had “caught the killer.” She had gotten lucky and hadn’t gotten killed herself.
“Yes, you did. No one else did.”
“Andrea kept talking about getting her revenge. ‘Revenge is sweet,’ she said.”
“Not as sweet as locking up a killer.”
“No, I guess not.” She gobbled down Cole’s culinary masterpiece, then changed into her pajamas and went back to bed. A momentary thought flitted through her mind. What about my shop? Then she pushed it aside and fell fast asleep.
When she woke up again, Cole was waiting for her. “Need to tell you this,” he said.
He grew serious, and Tally wondered what had gone wrong. “Why? What happened?”
“It hasn’t happened yet.”
“It’s bad, though, right?” She was almost dressed, but sat on her bed to put
on sandals.
Then he smiled, putting his dimples into action. “No, not exactly bad. But I don’t know how this is going to work out. I need to leave to get started on my next job.”
“Now?” She stood up and started brushing her hair.
Nigel wandered into her bedroom and jumped onto the bed for a bath.
“I was planning on leaving tomorrow or the next day. But now…”
“Now what? You’re driving me crazy. Tell me.”
“It’s Mom and Dad.”
Tally plopped onto her bed. Nigel stopped for a moment, moved a few inches away from Tally, and resumed his ablutions. “They heard, right?”
“I don’t know how. But they left a message that they’re on their way here. I mean, it’s not bad news. It’ll be good to see them. But I do need to leave for my job. It’s in Albuquerque. It takes a while to get there.”
“It doesn’t take that long.”
“I guess. Anyway, Dad says they’ll get here tomorrow.”
“Can’t you see them for a day, then leave? That should be okay.”
Cole walked to the kitchen, and Tally finished getting ready for the gathering that Yolanda had warned her was coming.
“The cat, Cole,” she called. “Are you taking Nigel with you?”
He didn’t answer.
In the late afternoon, Yolanda showed up, accompanied by her sister, Violetta.
“It’s good to see you, Vi,” Tally said, surprised they were hanging out together.
The two sisters both started setting things out on the dining table. Paper plates, hors d’oeuvres, wine bottles, and plastic cups.
“Everyone’s coming,” Yolanda said to Tally. “We all want to congratulate you.”
“We’re still celebrating?”
“We haven’t started yet.” Yolanda had outdone herself, dressed in a gauzy chiffon creation of all the colors a sunrise could be. Tally had never seen it before.
Yolanda pulled Tally into the kitchen for a private chat. “I need to tell you something,” she said in a mysterious tone.
Tally asked if something was the matter.
“Yes and no. We’ll need reinforcements. Vi has a special friend who is going to visit here next weekend.”
“Vi? A boyfriend?” Tally was delighted for Violetta.
“Not exactly. She’s dating another woman.”
“Oh! That’s a surprise.” Tally thought for a moment. “Good for her then, for finding out that’s what she wants.”
“I know, but my parents!”
“Oh yeah, your parents.”
“So, I’m going to either invite you or ask you to drop over while they’re there, okay?”
“Sure. Tell Vi she can count on me. I know what parents are like.”
Dorella was the next to arrive, and she helped set out the food. Her neighbors and several of the shopkeepers from near Olde Tyme Sweets came. Yolanda’s mother and father soon arrived. Allen Wendt showed up, even Detective Rogers.
Tally asked him if he thought Andrea had done all the killings—Gene, Mart, and her mother.
“Come over here.” He led Tally off into the corner. “I can’t reveal any details, but you can rest easy. Within a few days the chief will announce that we are confident we have the person responsible in custody. We’re still piecing together movements and phone calls, and we have to determine exactly when she planted the shoes and the murder weapon, but she’s not denying anything.”
“Does she have a lawyer?”
“A public defender. If she admits to everything, then it’s all but over. But I can’t tell you anything more. I shouldn’t have told you this much, but I don’t want you to worry that someone else will be killed in your place of business. This is over.”
“Two questions.”
He nodded.
“Did Andrea phone in the anonymous tip about the shoe in my office?”
The detective gave a slight grin. “That’s a good guess.”
He probably couldn’t tell her outright. “Then I suppose she put it there, too?”
The grin stayed, but he didn’t give an answer.
“And I suppose she came across the scissors on the shelf where Yolanda stuck them and moved them to her shop. Come to think of it, she ran over there when she knew Yo was out doing a delivery. Am I right?”
He gave her another enigmatic smile and a squeeze on her shoulder.
At his smile and his touch, a weight of at least a half ton floated off Tally’s shoulders, went right through the ceiling, and disappeared into space. Well, she felt fifteen pounds lighter at least.
Mrs. Gerg put in a short appearance, arriving with her hands full, as usual. “Tally, I got this for you. I knew you’d like it. I can’t stay. There’s a huge sale three blocks away, and they’re closing up pretty soon.”
“Thank you for coming,” Tally said. “What’s this?” It was wrapped in newspaper and wasn’t the right shape for another box.
“Open it and see.” Mrs. Gerg handed the package to Tally with a proud smile pushing up her round cheeks.
Tally tore off the newspaper, which was taped together. It wasn’t the shape of a box, but it was a box. A long, thin one.
“You could keep nice long candles in that one,” she suggested.
“Yes…I guess I could.”
“It was the least I could do after you captured that awful killer,” she said with an exaggerated wink.
“Thanks so much, Mrs. Gerg.” Tally managed to squeeze the new arrival onto the edge of the cabinet without knocking any other boxes off.
“I’ll be going now. Wish me luck!” She trudged out the front door, down the two steps, and off to the next yard sale.
Tally crossed her fingers that there wouldn’t be any boxes for sale at this one.
“Is Yolanda here?” Tally turned to see that Kevin Miller had come in, bearing a box of wine bottles from his shop.
Tally didn’t see her. “She’s in the kitchen, I guess. Do you want to take those in there?”
“Sure.” He gave a big smile and made his way through the crowd to Tally’s kitchen.
She realized that he always asked about Yolanda when she saw him. What was that all about? She’d have to give that some thought. He was very nice, seemed successful, and was pretty good-looking. Yolanda could do a lot worse. They would have to talk.
“Oh my God.” Yolanda poked Tally when a middle-aged woman with thick spectacles, wearing a mid-calf skirt, came in the door a little later.
“Who is she?” Tally whispered.
“She’s the woman from the police station. I thought she hated me.”
“Maybe she likes me.”
Tally went forward to greet her. “Hi, I’m Tally Holt. Welcome to my home.”
“I know who you are. I’m very glad to see you well.” The woman shook Tally’s hand without cracking a smile, not telling her what her name was.
Tally met Yolanda at the punch bowl a minute later. “She’s odd, isn’t she?”
“I’ll say.”
They watched her meet the other people in the room. Tally and Yolanda were astounded and amused when she broke into a huge smile upon meeting Cole.
As soon as the nameless Police Station Woman left, the mayor and his wife walked in.
“Did you invite everyone in town?” Tally asked Yolanda. She didn’t know how she felt about having those two here.
“I guess word got out,” Yolanda said, scooping a generous dollop of crab dip onto a sturdy cracker.
Nigel hovered near the table, catching the occasional spill. He looked smug and satisfied, cleaning his whiskers in between forays.
Mayor Faust glanced around the room, then headed straight for Tally. “Here’s the little lady who caught my son’s killer,” he boomed, orating to the whole room. He stuck his
hand out to shake.
Tally cringed at being called a “little lady.” She reluctantly, but politely, shook his hand, wearing a strained smile. He didn’t seem to notice. His own toothy grin never wavered.
Mrs. Faust simpered behind him. “Yes, we’re so grateful that justice was done for our poor son.”
The poor son you wish you’d never taken in. Tally couldn’t help the thought, but shook her hand, too. “Help yourself to whatever you want.” She gestured toward the spread on her dining room table that had reached impressive proportions.
Mrs. Faust turned toward the table and picked up a paper plate.
“I’m afraid we have to run,” the mayor said. “I wanted to stop in and officially congratulate you. I’ll see if the city can give you a commendation.”
“Oh, please, no,” Tally said quickly. “I’d rather not. That’s not necessary.”
Detective Rogers stepped close to the mayor and spoke quietly. “Let’s not do anything to jeopardize the trial of Andrea Booker. Publicity needs to be kept to a minimum right now.”
The mayor nodded, putting on a sage expression, and the Fausts swept out.
The air loosened up after they left, and the party began in earnest.
Sneak Peek
Don’t miss the next Vintage Sweets Mystery
DEADLY SWEET TOOTH
by
Kaye George,
coming your way in
September 2020!
Twinkies Recipe
Make the cake portion first.
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 box of instant vanilla pudding mix
1 boxed yellow cake mix
Beat the eggs, add butter and mix well.
Add next three ingredients and stir well.
Batter will be thick.
Bake the cake portion.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour two 10x15 jelly roll pans.
Pour half the batter into each prepared pan and spread.
Bake 15–20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.