Toni Donovan Mysteries- Books 1-3

by Helen Gray

  “Shut your mouth,” Lisa rasped.

  “I use up all my gripes in February, so when summer comes and it gets hot, I don’t have any gripes left,” Toni prattled on loudly, praying that her panic affected brain would get her through this. Knowing the stored numbers were alphabetical, she moved her finger back to the bottom of the screen, traced to the right of the center, and pressed what she hoped was the keyboard icon. Then she traced to where she thought the Z should be, thankful that John’s cell number was the first and only ‘Z’ number stored in her list, and pressed again as she stumbled across the parking lot. She couldn’t be certain, but she thought her call had connected.

  “I said shut up!” The bat struck her in the shoulder again. “Get going.”

  Toni released the phone and pulled her hands from her pockets while praying that John’s phone was ringing. She hugged her arms around her and glanced back at her tormentor’s distorted face.

  “Lisa, I’m freezing,” she yelled over her shoulder. “You’re wearing a coat, but I’m not.” She hoped John could hear and interpret from her words that they were outside the building—and who was with her.

  Seeing the bat raise again, Toni changed her tactics and did the only thing she could think to do. She broke into a run.

  God, please don’t let her kill me. She’s already killed twice. She couldn’t finish the thought.

  Then, with a flash of insight, Toni knew exactly where Lisa meant to take her. And it was exactly where she wanted to go.

  She visualized the box of tools at the body farm. If she could get there first, maybe she could grab something and defend herself. She was amazed at how much clearer her thinking was getting.

  Toni ran across the road and darted into the trees, the sound of Lisa’s running footsteps right behind her.

  “John, I hope you can hear me,” she gasped, nearly tripping as she kicked a loose rock. “Lisa’s trying to kill me, and we’re headed for the body farm. Get Buck.”

  She couldn’t say any more, needing all her breath for running. Her wedge-heeled shoes were awkward, but shedding them would be treacherous and freezing. The terrain was rough, but more familiar to her than to Lisa. The sleet made visibility poor.

  “Dear God,” she prayed under her breath, zigzagging around a big tree. “Please give me strength. Don’t let her kill me. My babies need me.” A sob burbled from her.

  With a final burst of energy, Toni reached the body farm gate and grabbed the latch. Fumbling in the cold, she shoved it up and pushed the gate open just as Lisa scrambled up behind her. She plunged inside the little cemetery and resumed running, slipping and sliding over the sleet covered leaves and woody debris. It was slicker here in the clearing than back under the trees. Behind her she could hear Lisa having the same problem and faced one horrifying, deadly fact. Lisa had every intention of killing her. This race was for her life.

  Taking a deep breath of air that was so frigid it hurt her lungs, Toni propelled her body toward the toolbox and landed on her knees beside it. She shoved the lid up, reached inside, and grabbed a shovel. She turned just as Lisa ran up behind her. Seeing the raised bat coming at her, Toni ducked sideways, still on her knees, at the same time swinging the shovel with every bit of strength she had. It connected with Lisa’s left leg.

  Lisa grunted in pain and fell to her knees. She raised her head and glared straight at Toni, her eyes wild and venomous.

  Toni scrambled to her feet, her instinct for survival kicking in with renewed strength.

  God, please don’t let her kill me. I don’t want to die this way. You’re the only one who can help me now.

  Lisa got to her feet at the same time and edged nearer, the bat gripped firmly in her hands. Intent on destruction, she was closing in for the kill.

  Toni faced her, the shovel drawn back, and watched every movement. When Lisa’s arm drew back in a pre-swing motion, Toni did the same. When the bat started its deadly forward motion, Toni swung to block it.

  Hard wood connected with the thin metal of the shovel, and the jarring impact forced the shovel from Toni’s hands. It went flying through the air and tumbled across the ground.

  Lisa’s foot slipped from the force of the blow, and she fell to her knees. In the seconds it took her to right herself, Toni took off for the gate. She shoved it hard as she went out, and had the satisfaction of hearing Lisa slam into it and grunt in rage.

  Thinking desperately, Toni had a burst of inspiration. Just over the ridge was a big shelf of rock that Lisa probably didn’t know about. If she could just get there, it might give her an advantage. She dug in and ran for all she was worth. Back under the trees, the ground was not as sleet covered, but loose rocks and debris made her fight for traction and balance as she scrambled up the incline.

  Muscles straining, her face dripping from the sleet, and gasping for breath, it was only the adrenalin of desperation that propelled Toni to the top of the ridge. At that moment she heard two things. One was Lisa’s feet right behind her. The other was a siren.

  With a heave of her chest, Toni crested the hilltop and flung her body into a sideways dive. She landed ungracefully on her belly, the breath knocked out of her. Winded but still thinking, she rolled to one side just as Lisa came running over the top of the ridge after her.

  Toni looked around, still not breathing, as Lisa spotted her and tried to stop. Taken by surprise, she couldn’t stop quickly enough and ran onto the edge of the icy shelf of rock. Her feet flew out from under her, and her body flailed backward. She emitted a husky yelp and landed with a thud. Her head bounced off a boulder.

  Toni lay where she was, unable to move and fighting for breath.

  “Toni, where are you?” John's yell came from down the hill. “Toni, answer me.”

  “Up here,” she croaked, pulling in a huge gulp of air. She hurt, having landed on the shoulder already battered by Lisa. She made a hysterical little giggle as the term bat-tered flitted through her mind.

  “Toni, tell us where you are.” John’s shout sounded a little closer.

  “I’m up here,” she called, a little stronger this time.

  Suddenly he and Buck Freeman topped the ridge and took in the scene before them. Buck went to Lisa while John rushed to Toni and dropped to his knees beside her, gasping for breath. “Toni, are you okay?”

  “I’m so c-c-c-cold,” she whimpered, shivering and hugging her arms around her.

  Buck joined them, speaking into the radio on his shoulder. “Get an ambulance out here. She’s unconscious, and I’m afraid to move her.”

  Finished with the radio, he assessed Toni and how she was shivering. Shrugging out of his coat, Buck squatted on the ground beside her. He reached over and carefully pulled her upright, and then wrapped the coat around her.

  “Keep her warm while I look after that one,” Buck ordered with a jerk of his head toward where Lisa lay. His eyes took in the fact that John, like Toni, was not wearing a coat.

  Sitting there huddled in the chief’s coat and unable to move her right arm, Toni looked up anxiously at John. “Where are the boys?”

  A sheepish look came over his face. “Uh, I locked them up,” he said, and paused briefly. “In my room.”

  “You locked them up,” she choked, hysterical laughter mixing with sobs.

  Awkwardly John placed a hand on her arms. “When my cell phone rang and I realized you were in trouble, it was the only thing I could think to do. I locked my door and took off. I met Buck in the hallway near the gym and told him where I was going.”

  Phil Norton came over the hill in a run. Right behind him was Russell Nash.

  “Gabe called and said you were in trouble,” her dad said, dropping to the ground and claiming her from John.

  Suddenly a pair of cops arrived. “Are you all right?” Dale Brown asked, glancing from Toni to Lisa.

  “I’m alive,” Toni told him. “That’s enough for now.” Thank You, God.

  “Sounds like Gabe did all right in captivity,” John
said, regaining his equilibrium. “I wonder who else he called.”

  “His dad,” Toni said with certainty, glad she had given in and gotten him a phone.

  Buck approached them again. “Do we need an ambulance for you?” he asked Toni. “Or should we just call Faye and have her meet us at the clinic?”

  “Mom,” Toni said without hesitation.

  “Good choice,” her dad said, scooping her into his arms. “You go get the boys, and your coat,” he instructed John as he started down the hill with Toni. Obviously freezing, John loped on ahead of them.

  Minutes later they met John, now wearing his coat, and the boys at the parking lot. Russell put Toni into the back seat of her van and drove her to the clinic, with John and the boys following them in John’s car.

  Faye Nash met them at the rear entrance, wearing her nurse practitioner persona until she knew that Toni, although battered, was okay. Once she had her checked out and her arm strapped into place to protect the injured shoulder, she segued over into mother mode.

  “I’m going to give you something to help you sleep and take you home with me,” she informed Toni when she was done cuddling her.

  Epilogue

  The distant sound of a ringing phone pulled Toni from a sedative-induced sleep. She instinctively reached for the alarm, but the pain in her shoulder and ribs made her fall back onto the pillow. She must have moaned, because there was a sudden movement beside her. She opened her eyes to find Kyle sitting on the side of the bed, staring at her in concern. His hair was rumpled, and dark smudges rimmed his eyes.

  “How do you feel?” he asked gently.

  “Like I’ve been trampled by a bull,” she muttered grumpily. “What time is it?”

  He grinned. “Nine-thirty.”

  Toni looked around her parents’ sky-blue carpeted guest room and dimly remembered Faye helping her put on a nightgown and crawl into bed. “I assume school was cancelled. It is Friday, isn’t it?”

  “It was, and it is,” Kyle answered with a grin. Then his smile faded. “How are you really?”

  She winced. “My shoulder hurts like the blazes, and my ribs throb when I move. I guess I jolted them pretty hard when I made that dive.”

  He reached over and tapped her lightly on the nose. “As much as I want to grab you and hold you, I’m afraid to touch you. So I guess I’ll just sit here and look at you.”

  Toni swatted him on the arm, and then winced from pain caused by the movement. “Gabe called you, huh?”

  “Of course. He takes his responsibilities seriously. In fact, he called twice. The first time was about three-thirty when John went to find you. The second was after your parents brought you home.”

  “What time did you get here?”

  “About three a.m. I guess you know you’re scaring years off my life.”

  “That was never my intent.” She shifted so she could see his face more clearly, her sore body protesting. “Believe me, I have a new appreciation for all I have—you, the rest of my family, everything.”

  “We love you, and we’re proud of you.” Kyle leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her mouth, being careful not to touch anywhere near her shoulder or ribs.

  A tap sounded on the bedroom door.

  “Come in,” Kyle called.

  The door opened, and Russell Nash stuck his head through the opening. “I don’t want to disturb you, but I heard voices and knew you were awake. I thought you’d want to know that Buck Freeman just called. He said Lisa Baker died about an hour ago.”

  Grief washed over Toni, but it was mixed with relief that the nightmare was over. She breathed a prayer of thanks for God’s protection through all of it. And His forgiveness. Never again would she let hate disrupt her life.

  “Faye says if you want to get up, we’ll have brunch.” Russell’s head disappeared.

  “Tell her we’ll be right there,” Toni called after him.

  When Kyle escorted her into the living room, they found Gabe and Garrett sitting on the sofa, their eyes round and troubled. “Are you okay, Mom?” Gabe asked, his serious gaze raking over her battered appearance.

  “I’m fine.” She attempted to sound perkier than she felt. “Come here.” She held out her left arm.

  Both boys got up and walked over to where she could hug them.

  “We were scared,” Garrett said quietly, snuggling his face against her good arm.

  “So was I,” Toni told them. “But it’s over now, and I want both of you to try to forget it.”

  “Can’t you remember where you put it?” Faye’s voice carried from the kitchen.

  “No, I can’t,” Russell snapped.

  “Okay, we’ll look for it after we eat.” Faye emerged from the kitchen carrying a large baking dish. “We have egg casserole and pancakes. Everyone be seated.”

  Toni eased onto the chair Kyle pulled out for her.

  “I want you to take a couple of pain pills with your juice.” Faye placed them next to Toni’s plate and ran a critical eye over her. “I’ve seen you looking better.” She placed a kiss on one cheek and took her seat.

  “John Zachary called last night to check on you,” Russell said. “He also said he had just gotten his school cancellation call.”

  “Your dad has already lost one of his new hearing aids,” Faye said as she poured herself a glass of juice. “He finally broke down and bought some good quality ones.”

  “Paid five thousand dollars for’em,” Russell muttered.

  “And he’s lost one of them,” Faye repeated in vexation.

  Toni understood her mother’s frustration, but she also sympathized with her dad’s increasing difficulties. She refrained from comment.

  As they were leaving the table after the meal, the doorbell rang. Russell went to answer it and admitted John and Jenny Zachary. John carried a bundle of roses.

  “We came to call on the sick and maimed,” he said, handing the flowers to Toni. He and Jenny sat on the sofa. “We’re glad to see you up and about.”

  Toni and Kyle took chairs facing them. “Believe me, I’m glad to be up and about,” Toni declared with fervor. “I know it’s trite, but I never expected anything like this to happen around here.”

  John nodded. “I hear you.”

  “It’s all so sad,” Jenny said. “I can’t sleep for thinking about it.”

  “The only good thing I can think of right now,” Toni said, “is that Marsha’s family and the Guthries won’t have to endure the ordeal of a trial.”

  John grinned. “I think you showed real guts. I’m pleased to be working with you.”

  “Now don’t get sentimental on me,” Toni scolded.

  “Actually, I have an agenda,” he admitted. “When Ken called last night to tell me school was cancelled for today, he asked if you and I will be coming back next year to help him hold things together. I told him that I never really wanted to leave in the first place, so I probably will, but that I couldn’t speak for you.”

  “I never wanted to leave either,” Toni said with a sigh. “Now that Marsha’s gone, it changes things. I guess I’ll stick around.”

  “That’s what I told him I expected you to say. He says he plans to give it another year, but he wanted to know if we would be there to support him.”

  “I guess the first thing the administration will have to deal with is the financial mess Marsha created.”

  “I talked to Ryan Prewitt yesterday,” Jenny spoke up. “He told me that the board has already met with some people in the state education office, and they want to work with us. It may take awhile to determine just how much money was received fraudulently, but they said they’ll work out a payment plan for reimbursement if it’s needed.”

  “Good.” Toni nodded in satisfaction.

  “I hope you guys never experience anything like this again,” Kyle said.

  Toni nodded. “Me, too.” But if they did, she would be less trusting, and a little smarter. Life was going to change. She couldn’t control all the circum
stances of her life, but she could curtail some commitments. She would no longer say yes to everything asked of her—committees, social functions, any distractions that kept her from the people who meant the most to her. With God’s help she would make her family her top priority.

  “There are so many heavy hearts,” Jenny said sadly. “One death affects a lot of people, and we’ve had three.”

  “I can kind of understand a crime of passion,” Toni said thoughtfully. “In that respect I understand what happened to Lisa when she killed Marsha, how it got out of control. But she was in total control and fully responsible for Dustin’s death, and then her attempts to harm Garrett and me.”

  After the Zachary’s left, a motion across the room registered in Toni’s peripheral vision. She turned to see Garrett beckoning to her from the hallway. When she struggled to her feet and walked stiffly across the room to him, he opened his clenched hand and revealed the hearing aid her dad had lost.

  “You know, Son, I’m not sure I’m up to having you find things right now,” she said softly, steering him into the kitchen where they wouldn’t be heard. “Where did you find it?”

  Garrett led her to the little telephone table in the dining room. “It was in the phone book.” He pointed at the large directory.

  Toni visualized what must have happened. The hearing aid had been bothering Russell, probably touching the phone and causing interference while he used it. He would have taken it out and laid it on the open phone book. After hanging up the phone, he must have forgotten about it and closed the phone book over it. She gave Garrett a conspiratorial look. “Why don’t we put it back like you found it?”

  He stared at her as if she had lost her mind.

  “I think it might be better this way. Why don’t you stand in the next room and listen.”

  His eyes slowly lit with comprehension. “Gotcha.”