Ashley stood there in shock. She had to talk to someone—now!
***
Ashley darted back into the bakery and grabbed Sean.
“Look, I need you to take some donuts to that cop sitting right out in front. And some coffee. Chat with him a minute to distract him,” Ashley said.
“Is that the cop assigned to follow you?” Sean asked.
“Yes, but I need to go somewhere, and I can’t have a cop car pulling up or it will scare everyone.”
“Ashley, I don’t like the sound of this. The detective has told you not to tail people. Remember what happened on the last case?”
“Sean, it’s just for about half an hour. I will call the detective now and let him know where I’m going in case there’s any trouble. But I just can’t have the car right behind me or it will blow my cover.”
“Ashley, no. I’m not stalling the cop out there, even for five minutes.”
“Look, I’m calling Thompson now.” She dialed him. Voicemail. She left a message.
“Nate, I know who the killer is. Back me up. Come on out to 2018 Hollyhock Lane in an unmarked car, please. I’m going, Nate. Follow me!”
Sean stared at her. “I’m coming too.”
“No, please. Trust me. I’ll have the detective there. I can’t take you, Sean. Give the policeman some donuts please. I just need to borrow a little time.”
Sean stood there as she walked out. He grabbed some buttermilk donuts and coffee. Then he immediately got on his cell phone.
Ashley drove out to the expensive suburb at the edge of town. She turned onto Elder Lane going up the hill and climbed through the trees. When she was nearly at the top, she took a right on Hollyhock Lane.
Ashley parked her car just up from the Hartman house and walked down. It was already getting dark. The clouds were roiling in the sky again.
Ashley knocked on the door but received no answer. She knocked again and stood quietly with her ear pressed to the door. She couldn’t hear a sound, but that didn’t mean anything. Last time Donna Hartman had been drunk, and it took her awhile to get to the door. She knocked again, then rang the bell. It echoed through the foyer.
After a minute, Ashley thought she heard a sound in the back. She crept around the side path to the backyard and peeked over the gate. The entire back complex was surrounded by tall trees and vines for privacy. A beautiful swimming pool and deck were positioned near the back. Soft landscape bulbs positioned around the pool gave her just enough light to see.
Brad Hartman was sitting at a table by the pool on his cell phone.
Ashley reached up and unlatched the gate and tiptoed in. She stood by the side wall and listened in.
“Listen man, you don’t need to do anything else. Just go find a beach and hang out and drink. Stay there for a while man. You’ll get everything you need. Look, what are you so worried about? The kid’s in jail. He did it. I told you; we just can’t have anyone finding out you saw it. Now, I’ll get some more money to you next week. I’ll let you know where it’s going to be dropped. I told you I’d take care of you right? Don’t sweat it man. On to a good life.”
Brad hung up the phone and let out a big sigh.
Ashley stepped out of the side and walked over to the pool. “And what about you Brad? Do you think you’ve set up everything now to have a good life, too?”
Brad shot out of his chair and glared at her. “What are you doing here? Get out. You’re trespassing. I’ll call security.”
“Go ahead. They can’t do anything, but the police can. Want to call them?” she asked.
“Why are you here? What do you want? Is it money? You wouldn’t be the first,” he sneered.
Ashley stood there rock solid. “No, it’s not money. I want Will Longley out of jail for the murder of your father. And you to take his place.”
“Are you kidding me? What a joke. That stupid kid confessed to the murder. That’s why they booked him! You’re making wrong accusations that you can’t back up, lady. You’re going to regret everything you’re saying when my lawyers are finished with you.”
“I don’t think so. Not after what I just heard you tell Laughlin. That was him on the phone, wasn’t it? Where is he? How much did you pay him off to implicate Will? It must’ve been a bundle. And you think you’ve pulled off the perfect crime after you killed your father.”
“Kill my father? Why would I do that? I loved my father; I was going to take over the dealership. I had everything. Why would I kill him?”
“Because he cut you out of the will. He didn’t leave you anything. Except the house you live in and your personal possessions. Your father was dealing in offshore accounts and investments, and he had unimaginable riches. And he wasn’t going to give you a penny,” Ashley said.
Brad was defiant. “That’s not true! He cut Janice out, not me! She humiliated him by going out with his rival, and he couldn’t take it. He left everything to me, and I was appointed to handle his estate and all his affairs.”
“He didn’t cut Janice out. He only threatened that he would because of her dating Jason Steppe. You wiped your father’s files clean and deleted his letters to the family. He must have left you a particularly harsh letter about why he was cutting you out. And it was very clear in the original files that your mother was in charge of his estate. Except, she didn’t know about his offshore accounts and all his extra money, but you did. You wanted control, so you deleted his files on a memory stick and rewrote the will cutting Janice out and putting you in charge and standing to inherit everything.”
Brad laughed. A strange, guttural laugh. Ashely pressed on.
“Your sister had snooped on your dad’s computer and seen the original will before your dad died and thought she was still in it. But after the party and their blow up, you changed it, and she freaked out thinking her father went through with disinheriting her. That’s why she said everything to the police that you told her to. You promised to give her money.”
“You’re a good snoop; you know that? But you’re going to have a hell of a time proving all of this since that dumb kid already confessed.”
“He confessed because he thought he killed your dad. Your father was upset at Will, and they got into a fight over the drug dealing at the party. Will pushed your father down but your dad must’ve still been alive. You finished the job. It was the perfect set up.
Brad hissed at her. “No one’s going to believe this!”
“And you followed me because I defended him. At first you had someone hit my friend’s car on our way back from the police station to scare us. But when I didn’t stop with the questions, you snuck around my apartment complex, then into my apartment. You dropped your dealerships key rings each time. But then the detective put some cop cars on me, so you hired some low life’s to run me off the road. All you had to do was pay off a crooked cop to stop following me that day. Then one guy hit me from behind, and another one followed to check that I was dead. That guy who came to help me after the accident was really there to make sure I was finished off, wasn’t he?”
“Pretty good. Really good actually. How did you go from cooking to figuring all this out?
He slowly clapped his hands and smirked at her.
“Bravo. Gotta hand it to you. But it’s over now. Can’t have you talking to anyone else.”
She stood up straight and looked him in the eye.
“You dropped the memory stick with the original computer files on it when you were in my apartment before you jumped out the window. And you’ve been looking for it ever since.”
He narrowed his eyes at her.
“Where is it?” he growled.
“I don’t have it,” Ashley said.
“You know about it, you must have it,” he said. “Give it to me.”
“Sorry. Now, you’re making accusations you can’t back up.”
“Well, then let’s neither of us make accusations at all anymore, shall we? Let’s just get right down to business.”
He reached for a
gun under the poolside table and pointed it at her.
“After all that’s gone on, I don’t go anywhere without my helper, here. Even outside in my backyard. You never know who will barge in,” he said.
Ashley could see the silencer on it. Of course he would have thought of that too. She opened her mouth to scream.
It turned out she didn’t need to.
“Freeze!” yelled the police.
Four officers came pouring into the backyard with Detective Thompson. She could hear cops in the house too.
Brad Hartman dropped the gun. He stood there staring at Ashley as they cuffed him.
Realizing he was done for, Brad blurted out the truth.
“Remember I told you that I loved my father? Well, I did. But I was a big disappointment to him. He never let me forget it. The night of the party after the guests were gone, Laughlin saw that kid fight with my dad about giving out drugs at the party. The kid pushed him to the ground, and my father hit his head on the cement. The kid ran off screaming. Laughlin came back in the dealership and told me about the fight and that my father was still moving. I told him to call an ambulance and the police. Then I ran out there and hit him on the head with a rock to make sure he was dead. I instantly regretted it. Even after altering the will and getting control of all my father’s money, I knew I’d never be at peace.”
He started to cry. His head hung down as he sobbed. Then he looked up with a twisted smile on his face.
“But I was sure I would never rot in jail. I thought I had pulled it off. And I almost did. Everyone called me dumb my whole life. I was never good enough for my dad. His friends made fun of me. Everyone made fun of me. I was the stupid son who could never even run the business, they said. But I almost pulled it off.”
He turned and looked at Detective Thompson.
“Not bad Detective, huh? Had you all running around for a while, didn’t I? You were so proud thinking you had the killer in jail weren’t you? Well, now you got me. Congrats,” Brad added.
“Correction, she got you,” Thompson said.
Ashley looked at Brad. His shoulders were slumped, and his eyes were flat. Her heart felt broken for him and his family. What a sad tale.
Then, Brad smiled wide at her. “By the way, I really liked your food at the party.”
Ashley looked at him in shock. She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t.
“Take him away,” Thompson said. They led him to the waiting cop cars.
Ashley whispered to herself. “Oh villain, villain, smiling, damned villain.”
“What was that? Thompson stared at her.
“Just something from Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet,” she said.
Thompson chuckled. “Is there any quote about a woman who constantly puts herself in the path of danger? Let me know so I can use it against you.”
Ashley looked at him with pity. She had driven him around the bend.
“Sorry again. I just had to find out the truth. I thought about everything I had seen and heard, and my mind went all over the place trying to put things together. I know it was a risk.”
“Well, I got your voicemail, and then your boyfriend called me right after you left him trying to bribe the policeman with donuts and coffee. Nice try. He’s outside with the cops.”
She breathed a big sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness for the good men in my life. But speaking of donuts, there’s a hole in this story that I can’t figure out. Why would Bad be so anxious to pay Laughlin off and send him away when he had the perfect fall guy in Will?”
“We picked up Laughlin. He seemed relieved actually. Told us the whole story and how Brad had wanted to give him hush money afterward just to make sure he didn’t say he had witnessed the fight between Hartman and Will. Brad didn’t want anything to go wrong. He wanted to get Will in jail and make sure he stayed there.”
“So Laughlin thought Hartman had died in the alley before the ambulance got there?”
“Yep.”
“And poor Will thought all this time that he killed Hartman after he hit his head when he pushed him.”
“Sorry Ashley. You were right. We’re going to release him from the murder charge. But he still has to serve some time for the drugs. Hopefully, it won’t be too long. Seems Noel White was the big drug dealer.”
“Good to hear. I’m sure Will has learned his lesson. He’s a good kid. I have a feeling when he gets out; you’ll have a model citizen in town.”
“Hey, that would be nice. I hope this is the end of sleepless nights in Comfortville. I’d like a desk job for a while.”
“And I’d like just to think about cooking again for a change.”
Sean walked up behind her and gave her a hug.
“Copy that,” he said.
Ashley nearly cried when she saw him. “Let’s go see my parents.”
***
Ashley sat at the dinner table with her parents and Sean. She put Lara on speaker phone while they were all together.
“Hey everyone, sorry we couldn’t be there tonight, but we need some recovery time from all this excitement.”
“The kind of excitement we can do without,” Burt yelled into the phone.
Lara laughed. “You got that right, Mr. C. Anyway, I wanted to thank all of you, especially you Ashley, for believing in Will and helping us out. Will is incredibly relieved that he wasn’t responsible for Hartman’s murder. Now he just has to get through his drug sentence and get out and start all over. We’re all hoping it’s a tough lesson finally learned. Thanks for giving him that chance.”
“Of course, “Ashley said. “We’re all relieved. Time to move forward.”
“Lara dear, give your parents our love,” April said.
“I will. Looking forward to getting together soon,” Lara replied.
Ashley cut in. “Are you still up for helping me with the wedding reception in a few weeks?”
“Oh yeah, right. Of course. I’d love that. Maybe I can get some ideas for my own wedding reception.”
“Which we will have to start planning soon,” Ashley said.
“Have your mom call me dear. We can plan some things together for that,” April said.
Burt shouted into the phone again. “Just make sure you have enough food and a good bar. That’s all you need.”
Lara laughed. “Got it Mr. C. Well, bye everyone. See you.”
Everyone said goodbye and Ashley hung up. They dug into dinner with abandon.
“Mom, dad, are you going to go on that cruise now? Please say yes.”
“Well, yes, we are,” April said brightly. “We will have to re-book it soon.”
“Going to have to pay another fee. Right after we paid the cancelation fee,” Burt grumbled.
“Dad, it’s nothing compared to the time away to relax with Mom. And after all that’s happened, you deserve it more than ever.”
“Yeah, Mr. C. Time for you two to have some fun,” Sean said.
“I guess I’ll have to re-pack my swim trunks,” Burt smiled.
They continued to chat over dinner and then Ashley and Sean gave her parents a hug goodnight and headed for Ashley’s apartment. The night was quieter than she had remembered in a long time. Finally. She didn’t even turn around and glance out the window once. She felt at peace.
They walked up to her unit and before they could even open the door, she heard Charlie yowling at the top of his lungs. He gave them an accusatory look that seemed to say ‘if I knew that you wouldn’t be on time to feed me, I would’ve hired a personal assistant,’ then walked into the kitchen and sat by his food dish. Susie Q followed promptly behind him, meowing in unison.
Ashley laughed and gave them their wet food. Sean collapsed on the couch with a groan.
“So nice to sit and just relax,” he sighed.
“And it doesn’t hurt that we have nice full stomachs either,” she laughed.
“Come here. Let’s just sit a moment,” he said.
They snuggled toget
her without talking much. Ashley lay on his chest, and his head lolled against the back of the couch. She was thankful that everything had been resolved and that they could return to their normal lives. She could feel Sean’s soft breath above her head and relaxed in the warmth of their embrace.
She thought about Lara’s engagement and how much fun it would be to help her friend plan the wedding. And maybe that one day soon she would be planning her own too.
Charlie jumped up on her lap and curled up. He stretched his paw over to her arm. She smiled at him.
“You’re my partner in crime; you know that?”
He gave her a look as if to say ‘let’s not talk about any more crime mom,’ and started to purr.
“You deserve some filet mignon for all you’ve done,” she said.
He kept purring and had a satisfied look on his face. She laughed. She knew he expected it already.
The End.
Pick up the other books in the Ashley Crane series right here: http://www.amazon.com/Laurie-Anne-Marie/e/B00XX0L080/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1446509519&sr=8-1
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Books In The Ashley Crane Series:
Book 1 – Long Paw Of The Law
Book 2 – Long Paw Of The Law 2
Ashley Crane Cozy Mystery Collection Page 34