Fifteen minutes later, Roger wiped his greasy hands on a greasier rag. “The brake lines were cut. Smooth and clean.”
A muscle ticked in Matt’s jaw. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. Can I go home now?”
Matt nodded, gripped my elbow a bit too tightly, and dragged me to his car. Once inside, he exhaled heavily, then pounded the steering wheel. My heart lurched into my throat. Was he angry at me? Did he blame me for his sister’s injuries?
He wouldn’t be the only one. If I hadn’t let her go with me snooping, or hired her as my assistant, she might be at home right now cooking him an overcooked supper with too sweet iced tea or too tart lemonade. I ducked my head. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
“No, it isn’t.” He turned me to face him. “Mary Ann does what she wants, and she’s been excited from the moment you moved down the street and she discovered who you are. I never could have stopped her from getting involved, short of locking her up.”
“I never should have moved here.” I gulped back sobs.
He turned the key in the ignition. “I’m glad you did. But right now, instead of consoling you, I have an attempted murderer to find.”
His words froze me. For the first time since meeting, I feared my nosiness might cause him to walk him away. While I couldn’t blame him, especially because of the danger toward Mary Ann, I prayed he’d stay. I understood how he felt. I felt the same way in regards to my family. I’d also tried to get Mom to stop trying to help, to no avail. Unfortunately, people were going to do what they wanted despite the danger.
Regardless of the pain ripping through me, maybe it was time Matt and I took a break from each other. At least until my stalker was caught. Mary Ann wouldn’t be in any shape to help me investigate, research, or any of the other things that seemed to make up my writing life. Not for a few weeks at least. That gave me some time to catch the person responsible. I straightened and took a deep breath. “Take me home.”
“Stormi—” He reached out for me.
“No, you’re right. I want to go home now. I’ve things to figure out.” I angled my body away from him and stared out the window. I swore I could hear my heart shattering.
We pulled into my driveway. I reached for the door handle, prepared to bolt. Matt grabbed the hem of my shirt. “Don’t do this.”
Without turning, I blinked away tears and pulled free. “It’s for the best. Find my stalker. You should all be safe not hanging around me.” I slammed the door and dashed into the house, leaving one of my shoes behind. No matter. Mom would bring it in when she got home.
After turning off the alarm, locking the door behind me, then resetting the alarm, I climbed the stairs two at a time. I threw myself across my bed, covered my face with my pillow, and had a good long cry.
When I’d finished, my head pounded and the clock downstairs was striking the supper hour. Maybe we could order pizza. I wasn’t in the mood for much of anything, even heating up the oven. Oh, what had I done? I laid my arm across my eyes.
I’d have to relive the day when the family got home. Mom would lecture me for being a fool in sending Matt away. Most likely I was, but if I could find a way to send my family somewhere safe, I would. I’d rather be alone when evil struck.
My cell phone beeped, signaling a text. I glanced at the screen and winced. Matt informed me I couldn’t get rid of him that easily as he was still the detective assigned to the case. Tossing the phone on the bed, I got up and went to the restroom to wash my face. My red-rimmed eyes came nowhere close to how Mary Ann looked. I should leave them puffy as some sort of penance.
The doorbell rang, sending Sadie rocketing from the room and down the stairs. She barked at the door, increasing the ache in my head. “Stop it.” I motioned for her to sit.
I opened the door to a young man with an elaborate bouquet of lilies in his hand. “Stormi Nelson?” He asked.
“Yes.”
“Sign here, please.”
I took the flowers, hoping they weren’t, yet wishing they were, from Matt. While my head told me sending him away was the best thing, my head had forgotten to tell my heart. I quickly signed and closed the front door before the wailing of the alarm split my skull.
Setting the vase on the kitchen table, I pulled the little card from its holder and read, “There used to be six lilies, but now one has fallen. Who will be next?”
The card fluttered to the floor. Counting my immediate family, Mary Ann, and Matt, that made six. Mary Ann had to be the one who had fallen. My stomach lurched. I headed back upstairs and pulled a suitcase from my closet. In a panic, I tossed in clothes and underwear. If I left, they’d be okay. They had to be.
No. I plopped on the bed. The only way to get this lunatic to leave me alone was to write the book. Fine. I headed to my office. I’d write all day, every day, until I passed out from exhaustion. Whatever it took. And then … I’d self-publish it to get it released as soon as possible. Once everything was said and done, I’d write a novel worthy of my publisher. Right now, my family’s safety was more important. I’d write a novella. Something short and fast.
I grinned, the gesture wicked in the reflection of my laptop screen. My stalker wouldn’t know what hit them when they got a look at how I planned on portraying them. They’d be the most incompetent criminal ever known to man.
“I’m home!” Mom called up the stairs. “What’s for supper?”
“Order a pizza. I’m busy.”
“No need to get snippy. Why is Matt sitting in his car in front of the house? I’m going to let him in.”
I leaped from my chair. “No!”
“Why not?” She glared at me from the first floor.
“I broke up with him.”
“For Pete’s sake.” She stooped and picked up the card from the florist. She stared at it for a moment, then headed for the door. “I have no idea what this means, but I don’t like it. I’m getting Matt.”
I’d forgotten she didn’t know about Mary Ann yet. I plopped on the top step and waited for Matt’s wrath.
Within seconds he had marched into the house and climbed the stairs, taking my hands in his and pulling me to my feet. He led me into my office and closed the door. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“I’m handling this on my own now.”
“No, you aren’t. You’re having a temper tantrum out of some misplaced guilt.” He shoved the card in his pocket.
I started to point out the need for fingerprints, but the hard glint in his eye told me he didn’t care. “So, what do we do?” I asked. “Keep going on as we are, watching over our shoulders? Remaining as prisoners?”
“Yes, for now.” He put his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t send me away again, Stormi. I’m not going anywhere.”
I thought about telling him about the novella I planned to write, but decided against it. The story was strictly for the purpose of sending my stalker into an angry frenzy and drawing him out into the open. Matt would only try to stop me. I’d force myself to write five thousand words a day. I’d be finished in a week and this would all be behind us.
“Why aren’t you talking to me?” Pain flickered across his eyes.
“I don’t know what to say. You want me to make promises we both know I won’t keep.”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Then I won’t ask you to make them.” He turned to stare out the window. “We’ll beef up security. Keeping you safe is my top priority.”
Keeping him and my family safe was mine. “If you’re making things safer around here, then Mary Ann should probably stay with me until this is all settled.” That left me to figure out some way of keeping Matt out of harm’s way. “I’ll worry the entire time she’s in my presence, but the police department doesn’t have enough officers to watch two separate houses, do they?”
“No, they don’t. It’s a good idea.” He flashed a sad smile. “Maybe you shouldn’t be such a good writer. You tend to prompt your fans into acting … criminal.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” I returned his smile. “Let’s go tell Mom what’s going on and that she’ll have an officer sitting inside her new store every day.” She wasn’t going to like it one bit, either.
“I should have stayed up north,” Mom said when we told her of the day’s events. “I might not have had a place to live anymore, but at least my life was peaceful. I’ve ordered pizza and your sister and her kids on their way here.”
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
She waved away my apology. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just spouting off my own frustrations. I’ve put an ad in the paper and have two interviews lined up for tomorrow.”
“Interviews?” Matt asked.
“For a baker.” She grinned. “With my luck, I’ll probably hire the stalker without knowing it.”
That wasn’t funny.
14
Mom asked me to sit in on the baking interviews, not that I baked, cooking was more my style, but there I sat, eyes gritty from staying up until the wee hours of the night writing. We were on our fourth candidate, and I despaired of finding anyone who could bake a cookie, much less a cake.
“We’re getting nowhere fast.” I glanced out the window to where Koontz sat across the street at the coffee shop, his favorite place to be when Mom and I were at Heavenly Bakes. I wished I was there with him.
“Mary Ann will be released from the hospital today, correct?” Mom flipped through the pages on her desk.
“Yes.” I’d have her get started right away on making a book cover for my novella which I worked on in-between interviews. A sense of wickedness came over me as I had the antagonist trip and fall, scraping his face against the rocks.
“There’s our last appointment.” Mom stood to greet the older woman who bustled into the shop. The woman was a cliché. Round and portly, snow-white hair, and rosy cheeks, she looked exactly how any child would view Mrs. Santa.
“Gracious, the wind has a bite to it today.” She grinned, revealing perfectly straight teeth. “I’m Greta Folsom. You’re new baker.”
I liked her already.
“Let’s see your credentials.” Mom waggled her fingers. “I’m Ann Nelson, the one you need to impress.”
“Oh, honey, I can do better than pictures on paper.” Greta pulled a tin from a large bag over her shoulder. “I brought samples.”
Mom’s eyes widened and I salivated. Until we saw the samples, of course. Too thin icing and soggy frosted flowers adorned cupcakes in different flavors. “Never mind the decorating,” Greta said. “That isn’t what you’ll hire me for. You decorate and I’ll bake. I guarantee it.” She set the tin on the desk and handed each of us a fork.
My first bite of a moist red velvet cake convinced me Mom had her helper. From the look on Mom’s face, she knew it, too. “You’re hired, right after we do a background check.” Mom handed Greta a form to fill out. “Can you start as soon as the information comes back?”
“Are you busy now?”
Mom nodded.
“Then I can start now. If you find something on me, you can tell me to get lost.” Greta hung her bag on a hook on the wall. “Now, show me how to check for orders.”
Mom looked as if she’d won the lottery. “Tell Matthew to rush her background check through. I’ve hit the gold mine.”
Once Greta handed me her form, I hurried across the street to Koontz. “Mom’s hired help. Rush it through, okay? I don’t want to leave her until I know this woman is legit.”
“I’ll do it now.” He headed for his squad car as I sprinted back across the street, eyes darting everywhere in case my trench coat-wearing friend was around. I doubted Greta was the culprit. The person following me was thin and of average height.
When I re-entered the shop, Mom and Greta were crowded around the computer discussing the week’s work and what they could make to display in the cases. “We should also make a few things each day to sell right from the counter,” Greta said. “And serve exotic teas. We might have to hire a teenager to work part time.”
“I already have more work than I can handle.” Mom glanced up with a glare.
“Only make one specialty item for each day. List the menu on the outside window.”
Greta seemed undisturbed by Mom’s dirty looks. But I knew what they meant. She was feeling as if someone was stepping on her toes.
“There’s also a website where you can buy cardboard cakes, cookies, and such. All you have to do is decorate them. Then, along with professional photographs, you have a stylish display.”
Mom nodded, obviously having decided to not take offense. “You’ve some good ideas. Just remember who the boss is.”
“I won’t forget.” Greta went to move my laptop. “What’s this?”
“A book I’m writing.” The people in this town were too nosey to mention. I took my laptop from her and stepped back.
“I thought you looked familiar.” She studied my face. “I’d hate to be the person you’re writing about. That wasn’t a very flattering description.”
“It’s not meant to be.” I turned and slid the computer into the laptop bag hanging beside Greta’s bag. I bumped hers, sending it swaying. “Sorry.” I grabbed it to hold it still. Under my hand was the distinct outline of a handgun.
“Mom, get out of the store. Now!” I grabbed her arm.
“What are you doing?” She yanked free and planted her hands on her hips.
“Greta has a gun.”
“Well, of course I do. It’s 2014.” Greta mashed her lips together and shook her head. “No smart woman walks the streets without protection. Don’t worry, sweetie.” She went to pat my shoulder, but I stepped back. “If I had wanted to shoot you, I would have done it the moment I walked in the door, and I wouldn’t have missed. I’ve never been one to wait long when there is something I want to do.”
My cell phone rang. A glance at the screen told me it was Koontz. “You’re mom’s hired help is squeaky clean. Plays the organ at a church in Riverview and teaches Sunday School. She also has a permit to carry a weapon. And, Stormi … she’s an ex-cop from way back.”
My heart stopped racing. I could leave Mom in good hands. “Thanks.” I hung up and turned to Greta. “Looks like you’re hired. Since you’re here to protect my mother, I’ll leave. I have things to do.” Like a quick novella to finish.
At her questioning look, Mom said, “I’ll fill you in, dear. Don’t worry. It’s never boring around here. Life with my daughter is as volatile as her name. My other daughter, now, she’s an angel.”
I rolled my eyes and texted Matt that I was heading home. As I stepped out the door of the shop, Koontz met me and drove me home. “I’ll wait out here until Matt arrives,” he said.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll set the alarm and hole up in my office. The police can’t keep putting work aside to babysit me.”
“Good thing this town is mostly crime free.” He winked. “Except around you.”
“Very funny.” I unlocked the front door. “You might as well come in for coffee.”
“I’ve had enough to fuel a plane.” He headed in the house before me, took a cursory glance around, and waved me in. “But, I would enjoy a glass of ice water.”
I nodded and headed for the kitchen where Sadie leaned against the counter. Her gray muzzle was deep in a plate of cake. “Get down from there.” Who in the world left cake on the counter where the tallest breed of dog could easily reach? I grabbed the plate of almost eaten cake and dumped what was left of the dessert in the garbage, making sure the lid was secure when I’d finished.
Sadie promptly turned her big dark eyes on me and barfed at my feet.
“Serves you right.” I swallowed back a gag and reached for the roll of paper towels.
“Let me.” Koontz took the towels and knelt beside the offending mess on the floor. “You look a bit green.”
“Yeah, I don’t do … that very well.” I took slow deep breaths to steady my stomach.
Koontz was a gent
leman. Angela should really set her sights on someone like him and leave the ones with stupid reasons for not dating her alone.
Mess cleaned and hands washed, Koontz sat at the table and fixed his coffee-colored eyes on me. “The back door is unlocked.”
“What?” I whirled.
Sure enough, the deadbolt was not locked and the door hung open a fraction of an inch. Thank the Good Lord, Sadie threw up. Someone was trying to poison my dog. I should have known right away that the crumbling cake wasn’t my mother’s handiwork. I needed to get to writing.
“I’ve got work to do.” I sighed. “Matt has a key, so you’re free to go.” I locked the back door. “Wait. If the back door was unlocked, then someone forgot to set the alarm. Again.”
Who had been the last to leave? I chewed the inside of my cheek. It had to be Angela or one of her children. I couldn’t get too angry, since I was guilty of forgetting myself, but my dog could have died.
“I’m taking some of this cake to the lab to be analyzed.” Koontz lifted the plate from the sink and scraped the last of the crumbs into a baggie. “Hopefully, the perpetrator is playing around again, but you might want to have your dog checked by a vet.”
Goodness, he was right. I snatched the phone off the wall and immediately called my vet and made an appointment. They had an opening in fifteen minutes. If they would have been busy, I would have laid my suspicions aside and given the Salazars a call. I hooked Sadie’s leash to her collar. “I’m ready.”
I texted Matt as to what had happened. Most likely, he and Mary Ann would beat me home. I also planned on calling a family meeting that evening. The stakes were too high. Maybe a note posted to the front door would help us all remember to set the alarm and make sure all doors and windows were locked. It was worth a try.
Koontz was a dear, maybe I should start calling him Ryan, and got me to the vet in record time. The veterinarian rushed us through, then left me in a small room while they took away my baby. I sat and read every poster on the wall until I felt I’d memorized every detail.
Nosy Neighbor: All 7 complete Nosy Neighbor cozy mysteries PLUS: 2 short Christmas stories (A Nosy Neighbor mystery) Page 24