“I found a photo,” I told him. “One where you’re wearing gloves—gloves to protect you from the nicotine.”
He smirked. “It was a cold night. I had to run back and forth to the freezer. That’ll never hold up in court.”
“Johnny,” Mara said again, with more hurt in her tone, “did you really?” All she had to do was look at him to tell exactly what all three of us knew. He did murder George.
“You two have a lot to discuss.” I inched up from my position in the chair.
“Sit back down,” Johnny barked. He filled the space leading to the doorway with his body, blocking our only way out of the room.
A single tear rolled its way down Mara’s cheek, leaving a black streak of mascara.
“Perk up,” he told her. “Our secret can be a secret again.”
What? Johnny pulled a gun from the small of his back behind his coat. My head ping-ponged between the two of them. I was shocked, but was Mara? Surprised, maybe, but she wasn’t shocked.
“If I help you,” Mara said. “It’s over. My husband can’t hear a word of this. You understand?”
Johnny’s eyes narrowed as he thought this over. Then he nodded. “I understand.”
“Well, do you have a plan?” she asked him.
“Yeah. One’s forming.”
Now I was trapped in the office with two people who wanted to kill me. Things weren’t looking good.
Mara’s expression was blank. She was really willing to kill over her husband finding out about an affair?
I reached for my phone on her desk before Johnny stopped me. “Nuh-uh.” He shook the gun in the air. “Let’s take a walk.”
He poked his head out the office door and checked that the coast was clear. I could hear applause from the ballroom. A groomsman was giving a speech. Even if I yelled, it would be drowned out, I was sure.
Johnny grabbed my arm, hard and tight. His fingernails dug into my skin. Then he shoved me in the direction of a back door with an Exit sign over it.
I glanced over my shoulder. “Mara,” I pleaded. “Please help me. Don’t let him do this. You didn’t know about George. I can vouch for that.”
“She's not going to help you now,” he said.
“I’ve got to get back to the wedding,” Mara told him. “I’ll make sure no one goes down that way.”
“Sure thing.” Johnny squeezed my wrists tighter, then led me through the door. Once we were outside, the air was absolutely freezing. The sun was low. It was dusk and the light had quickly faded in the sky.
Johnny reached in his pocket and pulled out a zip tie. Who keeps a zip tie and a gun on their person? He zipped my wrists together behind my back.
I attempted to separate my hands ever so slightly. As I did so, the plastic began to cut into my wrists. I shimmied one wrist, then the other before Johnny poked the gun into my back. “Don’t do that.”
My right wrist had gone too far, and I had a warm, wet sensation trickling down over my pinkie. From that point on, I decided to keep my hands still.
Where’s Javier? He’ll be here any second. I had to comfort myself the best way I knew how—with probable lies. Maybe what I’d sent him wasn’t really enough for him to get a warrant. Maybe he really wasn’t on his way.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked.
“Back to the barn.” Johnny pointed down the slope.
I trudged along towards the barn with him pressuring me with the point of the gun anytime I tried to slow down too much.
“My buddy Adam told me that a lady from the news was poking around asking question. That was you, wasn’t it?”
“Not just me. My friend Kate knows where I am,” I lied. “And the police are on their way.”
“Sure they are.” Johnny laughed. “You know, I’m pretty good at cleaning up my messes. You ever seen a cleaner bar than mine?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to give him any satisfaction.
My right wrist stung like fire. I couldn't tell if I was still bleeding or if I’d broken or sprained it somehow.
The barn was still set up for the wedding. The heaters were still on. The lights were dim, still set low for a sunset wedding. The doors at the other end, where the ceremony had taken place, were closed. The windows were high enough there was no way I could reach them, even with a stack of chairs.
Johnny forced me to sit down in a chair along the aisle. Then he took out yet more zip ties and zipped my ankles to the legs of the chair.
“That won’t hold you for long, but it’ll hold ya long enough.” He did the same thing to one of my arms, tying it to the back of the chair.
Then Johnny went over to a heater and knocked it down on a mound of straw. He took his lighter to the bale of hay beside it. A fire grew steadily from the spot.
I heard as he slammed the door behind me.
“And, now, you’re locked in.” His voice was so cold. I wondered if Mara had any clue that this is what his plan entailed.
I was able to get my legs free first. Standing the chair up, the zip ties fell away. Then I was able to stand, the white folding chair still attached to my back.
I made my way down the aisle, across the barn to the other door. I tried to kick it open, but it didn’t budge.
My foot stung, but that pain was nothing compared to my wrists. And the chair was heavy against my back as the smoke found its way to me. I didn’t want to look back and see how much larger the fire had grown.
Then I thrust my shoulder into the door. Again, and again, I tried to escape. With each thrust, the zip tie dug a little deeper into my wrists.
I was wearing myself out quickly. I paused and took three deep breaths. But this time, the smoke was overwhelming. The barn was full of deep black smoke. And I was no longer cold. No longer cold at all.
Something caught my attention. A new sound was in the air. It wasn't the sound of burning—which I pretended I couldn’t hear. It was something else. The faint sound of sirens in the distance.
Hope began to stir in my belly. But as my lungs filled with smoke, I began to crumple to the ground.
The sirens grew louder and louder. A chorus of blessed music. If only they could find me here. Was the barn too far out of sight? Was it too dark to see smoke? Were the flames enough to draw attention my way?
An engine revved nearby. Tires squealed as a vehicle failed to gain the desired amount of traction. I could only assume it was Johnny, attempting to make his getaway.
I eased myself all the way to the ground. The chair was heavy on top of me. The siren outside was as loud as the crackling fire in my ears.
All of a sudden, everything went black.
22
The next thing I knew, I was coming to on a stretcher. There was an oxygen mask over my mouth and nose, and like every other person in the world, my first inclination was to rip it off.
A paramedic placed his hands on my good wrist to stop me. I realized my other wrist was still in some pain.
“That was a close one,” Marcus said. He adjusted the mask to the correct position and smiled. I allowed myself to breath in deeply.
Slowly, I sat up with the help of my elbows. Marcus didn’t protest. I was in the back of an ambulance. Its backdoor was open to Bentley’s Estate. There were at least ten law enforcement vehicles and a fire truck. Their sirens were off, but I had to shield my eyes because a few still had spinning red and blue lights.
“How are you feeling?” Marcus asked.
I gave him a thumbs up. My other arm was in a brace and bandaged at the wrist.
“Good.” He removed the mask. “Continue breathing through it. Kate would kill me if I let something happen to you. You inhaled a lot of smoke.”
“I know,” I said.
The porch of the main house shone like a beacon. I could just make out Mara sitting on one of the rocking chairs. She looked as shaken up as Suzi had the night George passed away. Detective Hank Burley, Javier’s partner, stood with a notepad, talking to her.
&nb
sp; A dark and handsome man caught my eye from close to them. Then Javier stared back, just as he’d done the night prior, but this time, he jogged over in my direction. He climbed inside and gave me a weak grin.
“How are you holding up?”
“Okay, I guess.”
He looked me up and down on the stretcher inside the ambulance and let out chuckle. “Yeah, sure you are. Allie, this isn’t going to become a thing, is it? Cause I don’t think I—”
“It’s not going to become a thing,” I said defensively.
“So, how is she?” Javier asked Marcus—like he was the true keeper of information in the vehicle.
“Sprained wrist. Some cuts there too. Inhaled a bit of smoke. I think she’ll pull through.” He winked. “She would’ve been a lot worse off had you not put your cruiser through that wall and found her.”
Javier shook his head. “I wasn’t sure where she was. I was just hoping she wasn’t near the fire. I made a gamble.”
“Well, it paid off,” Marcus told him.
“Where’s Johnny?” I asked. “And how the heck did you get here so fast?” The next question was for Marcus.
“I can answer both of those,” Javier said. “Johnny smashed his car into the iron gate at the front in an attempt to swerve around my car when we got here. He’s banged up but sitting in the back of a patrol car right now. And, believe it or not, Mara Murdock called it in. She said there might be a fire at the barn with a woman inside. So, the fire crew and ambulance got here just after us.”
Well, I'll be.
“Mara explained what happened. She said she had to play along just enough to get away from Johnny herself.”
I gave Javier a dumb-founded look, complete with my jaw dropping. I’d thought she left me for dead. I had no words.
“So, I've got a lot of work to do on the scene. You know the drill. We’ll need to get an official statement from you. I’ll be in touch.”
“Thanks,” I told him earnestly. “Thanks for everything. I don't know what I would’ve done if you didn’t get here when you did.”
“Lucky for both of us, we don't have to think about that right now.” He tucked my hair behind my ear and flashed me his smile. If I was standing, my weak knees would’ve easily buckled. Javier gave me one last wave and smile, then he ducked out the back of the ambulance.
“All right,” Marcus said. “Let’s get you all checked out, cleaned up, and good to go.”
He closed the back door of the ambulance, then told his partner we were ready to leave.
23
Sunday morning, I was eager to go to church. I was as thankful as one can get after coming away from that burnt hull of a barn with only cuts, bruises, a sprained wrist, and a rattily cough.
Fittingly, it was Aunt Denise’s turn to host. But the setting wasn’t much like our typical Sunday. It was more of a party atmosphere, almost like a Christmas Eve when I was younger—complete with my grandmother’s punch. It consisted of Sprite and vanilla ice cream and wasn’t so much a punch as it was a bomb of sugary goodness.
In an effort not to clog my aunt’s driveway, I had Luke pick me up. Mom, Grandmother, and Jack’s parents had all beat us there. Kate and Marcus pulled in right behind us.
“Hi, Carole. It’s good to see you.” Kate wrapped my mom in a hug, acting as if the two of them were old friends.
“This must be Marcus,” Mom said, putting her arm out for him to join the embrace. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, nice to meet you too.” Marcus shot me a look—like I was to blame for their weird behavior? Think again.
I just shrugged, watching as Mom went in to give Marcus an even bigger squeeze than the one Kate had received. “Thank you so much for what you did for my Allie. I just don’t even know what I would’ve done.”
“Just doing my job,” Marcus assured her.
Per usual, Melanie and Jack showed up a few minutes late. But they were the guests of honor—I had to cut them some slack.
Melanie strolled in first, raising her hand so all of us could see the ring on her finger. “I said yes,” she said, smiling.
“She did,” said Jack. He glowed pink from embarrassment all the way to his ears.
It was my turn for a hug. Then I spent a few seconds ogling the round cushion diamond adorning Melanie’s left ring finger. “Jack did good,” I told her.
As happy as I was for Melanie, there was a definite sting in seeing her ring for myself. My younger cousin was engaged. I was nowhere near that monumental moment in life.
At least I had a boy that was a friend that was an almost, maybe quasi, boyfriend. Had this happened a year before, when I was in the middle of the biggest dating drought of my life, well, things wouldn’t have been good on the inside of Allie’s brain. Pints of Chunky Monkey would be sacrificed. They still probably will be, I thought to myself.
“So,” Mom poked her head between us, “how did he propose?”
“Before we dive into all the nitty gritty details, let's say grace,” Uncle Billy commanded. “I’m starving. And those deviled eggs are calling my name.”
“Pretty sure the good Lord doesn’t bless deviled eggs,” Dustin told his father.
“Pretty sure you can do the honors, son,” Billy said.
Mom called for everyone to take their seats.
Everyone joined hands and listened as Dustin prayed for the meal, but before we could say amen, Uncle Billy added his own version. He gave praises and asked for many blessings, mentioning Jack and Melanie’s upcoming wedding several times. Then he gave thanks for God’s good graces saving me from the fire.
“So, Jack, how did you propose?” I inquired with Uncle Billy satisfied as the food began to pass around the table.
“Yeah, how did you? I’m Luke, by the way.” In all the commotion, I’d forgotten to introduce him.
Jack looked like a dear caught in headlights. “Well, I…”
“Do you want me to tell it?” Melanie asked.
“No,” he said confidently. “I've got this, babe.”
“Well, if I'm going to be honest, it was supposed to happen last weekend. Ya know, at the dinner party thing. But with everything that happened, well, you understand. I just knew that Melanie has wanted a wedding at Bentley’s for who knows how long. I thought it’d be cool to propose there too. Kind of a full circle thing.”
“Very cool,” Luke put in.
“Yeah,” Jack agreed, “it would’ve been.” Jack continued to regale all the women of the family, and Luke, with the sweetest tale of how he set up a romantic afternoon picnic with rose petals beneath the giant oak tree in the park downtown. Everyone knew the oak tree he meant. The tree was the largest in town with large tufts of Spanish moss hanging down like the exquisite natural garland that it is. The location alone was swoon worthy.
“Yeah, it was a nice gesture,” Melanie interrupted. “But about fifteen minutes into our January picnic, I admitted that this girl couldn't take the cold any longer.”
Mom laughed. Grandmother, Aunt Denise, and I all shook our heads in sad solidarity—we Treadwell ladies are cold-natured.
“I sent her off to the truck with the keys to warm up while I cleaned the picnic up, and brought the remnants of the meal back to her.”
Melanie butted in again, “The food was never touched again.” Melanie and Jack gazed deep into each other's eyes.
“I couldn't wait any longer. As soon as I got in the truck, I had to ask her to be my wife.”
“And you know the rest,” Melanie said. “I said I’d think about it. Just kidding.”
“Get a room,” Dustin said, lightly shoving his sister on her shoulder.
Melanie shoved him back. “With all that’s happened,” she said, “I just can’t see having the wedding at Bentley’s. Allie, I’m sure you understand what I mean.”
“I understand,” I told her. “But I think things are turning around there. Blake should be released by now, and once he and Mara work through some things, I t
hink Bentley’s will be the perfect venue. You should think about giving them a chance at least.”
“I’ll think about it,” Melanie agreed.
Luke squeezed my fingers under the table. “You should trust Allie. She’s got excellent taste in everything. She wouldn’t steer you wrong.”
“Even guys?” Dustin asked him. “I’m not so sure I like her taste in guys.”
Always the joker. “Dustin!” I scolded him.
“No, Allie, it’s all right,” Luke said. Then he turned to Dustin. “Trust me. Allie has impeccable taste in men.”
The End
For new book releases, promotions, and news sign up to my infrequent newsletter or join the Facebook group where we dish on food and cozy up with our favorite books.
Carole’s Mississippi Pot Roast
One of my favorite things to make in the Crockpot is Mississippi Pot Roast. Recently, my husband had success making it with his new go-to gadget, the Instant Pot.
Here’s what you need:
A chuck roast - you may want to trim the fat (we’re adding more).
Up to a jar of peperoncino peppers or 6 seeded jalapeño peppers (more on this later)
A packet of buttermilk ranch dressing mix
A one ounce packet of au jus gravy mix
One stick of salted butter (told you)
1 cup water
Combine the ingredients in the Crockpot. First, sprinkle the ranch dressing and au jus mix as if they too were seasoning, and finally dressing up the roast with the peppers - as much or little as desired.
For cooking, you could add one cup of water OR use the juice from the peppers, depending on your heat tolerance.
Cook on low for six to eight hours. Alternatively, you can speed the process up in the InstantPot for between 60 to 70 minutes on High Pressure, depending on size of the roast. Then let it naturally release.
I usually remove the peppers after cooking is complete.
Foodie Files Cozy Mysteries Box Set Page 20