Sarah listened to the storm. “Well...at least half the town is sick, which means people will be indoors,” she said in a hopeless voice.
“At least some people in Snow Falls will have enough sense to stay indoors,” Dr. Milton agreed. “Ice Creek Falls was located close to a ski resort. People thought the storm was fun...they were wrong.”
Amanda felt a cold chill run down her spine. “Dr. Milton, maybe you should go and lay back down in one of those empty cells?” she asked. “I’m afraid it’s not much, but it’s better than sitting upright in a chair all night.”
“As long as we stay inside, we'll be safe,” Dr. Milton said. “You ladies were blessed to make it back inside as it is.” And with those words, he walked away.
“Isn't this lovely,” Amanda complained and marched back to Conrad's office, dropped down in her chair, grabbed a bag from the diner, dug out a cheeseburger and took a bite. “We're trapped...again.”
Sarah took off her gloves and tossed them down onto the desk. “The station has a backup generator that should kick on if the power goes out. So far, we're okay.”
“So far, we're trapped with a killer on the loose...again,” Amanda continued to fuss.
Sarah pulled out the top desk drawer, retrieved her purse, and tried her cell phone. “Nothing,” she said.
“We won't have service in this storm, love.”
“A girl can hope,” Sarah sighed and tossed her phone down. “Well, June Bug, we may be trapped, but at least we made progress.” Sarah studied the food bags. “May I have a cheeseburger? Believe it or not, I'm still hungry.”
Amanda dug Sarah out a cheeseburger box and placed it on the desk. “You're worried about Caleb O'Healey, aren't you?” she asked. “When you’re worried, you get hungry and eat, just like me.”
“I'm sure he's vanished into the wind by now,” Sarah confessed. “I had the man right where I wanted him, June Bug. He was giving me all the answers I needed...and then...” Sarah hit the desk with her fist. “I'm going to catch Jenson O'Healey if it's the last thing I do.”
“Not in this storm, love,” Amanda responded in a cautious voice. “You heard Dr. Milton.”
“I heard every word Dr. Milton spoke, June Bug,” Sarah sighed and grabbed her cheeseburger plate and opened it. “If we're trapped inside, that means Jenson O'Healey has to be trapped inside somewhere, too. This storm has put us at a stalemate for tonight.” Sarah picked up a handful of french fries. “I'm sure he went to hunker down someplace safe after he cut the phone line.”
“Let's hope,” Amanda told Sarah. She took a bite of her cheeseburger and listened to the storm. As she did, the lights began to flicker and then went out. “Oh my.”
Sarah, out of instinct, went for her gun. Before she unholstered it, the generator kicked on and the lights returned. “Oh, thank God,” Sarah said in a relieved voice, “the generator is working.”
“Good thing Andrew had the generator checked and rewired last month,” Amanda said. “The entire connector...cord...thingy...was severed.”
“Yeah, good thing,” Sarah sighed as her thoughts turned to Mittens. “I hope my baby is okay. She hates the dark.”
“So do I,” Amanda pointed out.
Sarah leaned back in her chair and munched on a couple fries. “June Bug, I don't mind snowstorms,” she confessed. “As a matter of fact, I enjoy them. Being trapped in a snowstorm forces the world to stand back for a while...and you become part of an entirely new world...a world of white wonder.”
“Is that the writer talking?” Amanda asked.
“I suppose it is,” Sarah replied and polished off her fries. “Snow is very enchanting to me,” she explained. “Snow transforms an ordinary town like Snow Falls into a mysterious delight. Everything looks new and different. Inside the snow you can...be free from the world.” Sarah looked at Amanda. “After my first husband divorced me, that's all I wanted...to be free from the world.”
Amanda saw hurt in Sarah's eyes. “I know, love.”
Sarah felt her heart break. “When my first husband showed up with the Back Alley Killer, I felt betrayed...horribly betrayed. I honestly believed he loved me...and deep down, I believed our broken marriage still had a chance. I wanted to kiss hope again. I was very, very wrong...and it hurt.” Sarah looked at the darkness beyond the office window. “Now there's Conrad,” she continued. “Conrad is a brave, honest, caring man who is risking his life as we speak to help an old friend. He's faithful to his family and friends.”
“Conrad is an okay bloke,” Amanda told Sarah and offered her a gentle smile.
Sarah slowly folded her arms for warmth. “Conrad gives me everything that my first marriage was missing,” she told Amanda. “He's what I needed but never had.”
“Love, what are you trying to tell me?” Amanda asked.
“Sitting behind this desk is why my first husband stopped loving me,” Sarah told Amanda as a painful tear dropped from her eye. “I needed my first husband to love me for who I was...for being a cop, but he never did.” Sarah wiped at her tear. “Sitting behind this desk is what Conrad expects of me because he loves me for who I am and respects me as a cop.” Sarah pointed to the office window. “I'm far away from Los Angeles, but the old me, the me I thought was gone forever, has found her way back into my heart.” Sarah narrowed her eyes. “A man is dead, and I'm going to capture his killer and prevent three harmless old ladies from going to prison.”
Amanda studied Sarah's eyes and saw an old fire suddenly blaze up. The old Sarah Garland, who was now Mrs. Spencer, was back. “And I don't have to lose you,” Amanda smiled. “You don’t have to leave Snow Falls to do any of that.”
“Snow Falls is my home, June Bug. A part of me will always live in Los Angeles, but my heart is with you, and with Conrad...here in Snow Falls.” Sarah gave Amanda a loving smile. “You've always stood by me and I will always stand by you.”
“You're going to make me cry,” Amanda promised and wiped a tear away.
“Don't cry, June Bug, because we have a killer to catch.” Sarah picked up her cheeseburger and took a small bite. “I'm not sure how. This storm is going to be a real problem for us...and our killer.”
“Maybe our killer is hiding out at grandma's house, pretending to pay a visit?” Amanda joked. “There's no better way for a wolf to spend a storm than eating grandma's fresh baked cookies.”
Sarah froze. “What did you say, June Bug?” she asked.
“Oh, I was simply joking about our killer hiding out at grandma's house,” Amanda explained. “Don't take me seriously, Los Angeles. I'm very exhausted.”
“And very brilliant,” Sarah exclaimed and jumped to her feet. “Dr. Milton woke up in the bed of his truck. When he looked around, he noticed he was right in town. And the killer...I noticed he ran in a way that seemed to imply he knew his way around. And...why would he return and cut the phone lines in this storm if he didn't have a place nearby to return to safely?”
“The O'Healey sisters live close to town,” Amanda gasped. “Los Angeles, I am brilliant. Oh, my hubby would be so proud...if he can ever drag himself home from London.”
Sarah ran to Amanda and hugged her. “I'm going to buy you ten dresses,” she promised.
“Well...okay,” Amanda blushed. “If you insist.”
Sarah let go of Amanda and began pacing around the office. “Okay, so we have an idea where our killer might be hiding. The only problem is this storm. I wouldn't dare walk ten feet outside.”
“We wouldn't make it ten seconds,” Amanda agreed. “It was nearly impossible walking to the phone box.”
Sarah felt frustration mocking her. “We're so close,” she exclaimed and looked out the window. “There has to be a way.”
“If you go out into this storm, you will die.”
Sarah spun around and saw Dr. Milton standing in the office doorway. “Dr. Milton, you should be resting.”
Dr. Milton stumbled wearily into the office and sat down behind Conrad's desk. “Mrs.
Spencer, I can't let you go outside. Please, be reasonable and don't force me to take drastic action. I can't allow you to kill yourself. Conrad would never forgive me…”
“Don't worry,” Sarah promised, “Amanda and I have no intention of going outside.”
“Good,” Dr. Milton said in a relieved voice and pointed at the bags from the diner scattered about. “May I have something to eat, please? I haven't eaten all day and my blood sugar is dropping.”
“Oh, of course,” Amanda said and fished out a cheeseburger meal for Dr. Milton. She passed the meal to the hungry man and opened the to-go box for him. “It may be a little on the cold side.”
“I'm very grateful for any food,” Dr. Milton promised. “May I have a cup of coffee, too? I need my strength.”
“Aren't you going to rest?” Amanda asked, worried.
Dr. Milton nodded. “Later,” he assured Amanda. “I've tried to rest but my mind is far too worried. Not to mention my stomach won’t let me sleep when it’s empty and rumbling. I'm just grateful my wife is visiting her sister in Nebraska. If my wife were home, she would be out in the storm searching for me as we speak.”
“True love,” Amanda sighed.
“True love is years of marriage between two people committed to the same purpose,” Dr. Milton agreed. “People believe true love is like it is in songs, poems, movies and other nonsense. True love is found in the hearts of those who create an everlasting life together and stick together through the good and the bad. True love is not warm, fuzzy butterflies and...” Dr. Milton stopped talking for a second. “I've talked more today than I have all month.”
“We enjoy hearing you talk,” Sarah smiled at Dr. Milton. “It seems to me that you keep a great deal bottled up inside of your heart.”
“A man's problems are meant to be handled privately,” Dr. Milton replied.
Sarah walked over to Dr. Milton and touched his shoulder. “True friends have strong enough shoulders to help bear each other’s burdens.”
“That's right,” Amanda beamed and carefully checked the back of Dr. Milton's head. Dr. Milton flinched away from her touch and then allowed her to check him. “Doesn't look too bad,” she said, exploring the lump of bruising around the wound, “but you're going to be hurting for a while, I'm afraid.”
“Yes...Doctor Amanda,” Dr. Milton struggled to smile. He looked up into Sarah and Amanda's caring faces and realized that he had been acting like a jerk toward two women who were very special. “I guess Snow Falls is better because of the two of you,” he said and looked down at his hands. “Please forgive me for acting so awful toward you. Sarah and Amanda, I’m truly sorry.”
“Oh, he called us by our first names...he does love us,” Amanda shouted and hugged Dr. Milton's neck. “I knew you loved us all along, you old grouch.”
Sarah joined Amanda and hugged Dr. Milton. “You do care,” she laughed and kissed Dr. Milton's check.
Dr. Milton felt his cheeks burn red. “Uh...ladies...mind your manners. I am your doctor after all.”
Sarah let go of Dr. Milton and smiled. “Yes, you—” she began to say and then stopped.
“What?” Amanda asked.
“Of course!” Sarah yelled and ran out of the office. “Of course, that's it!”
Amanda shrugged her shoulders at Dr. Milton. “My friend might be going insane,” she said and chased after Sarah, wondering what in the world the woman was yelling about. Dr. Milton simply shrugged and enjoyed his lukewarm cheeseburger and coffee, feeling pleasantly comfortable in his chair in the quiet office while the two ladies bustled around somewhere in the station building.
Not too far away, Jenson O'Healey also sat feeling pleasantly comfortable, but in a warm kitchen sipping hot coffee with three sweet old ladies who cooed and doted over his every word. Their darling grandson, of course, could do no wrong. “More cookies, dear?” said his aunt, passing him a freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookie. He only gave a half-smile and devoured it in one bite, glancing out at the storm howling ever fiercer around the little cabin.
7
Sarah rushed into Andrew's office and ran to a map hanging on the wall. “This is it,” she said in an urgent voice.
Amanda made her way to Sarah's side and locked her eyes on the map. “Love, this is a map of the county. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we already know almost every road by heart.”
“It's not the roads that I'm interested in,” Sarah explained and tapped the map with her finger. “I'm interested in the sewer system that runs through town.”
“Sewer system?” Amanda gulped.
“Years back there was a group of bank robbers that used the sewer system to rob banks.”
“How?” Amanda asked.
“Certain tunnels ran under the banks,” Sarah explained. “The bank robbers would follow the tunnel under the bank and dig into the bank vault from there. They were never caught.”
“My goodness,” Amanda gasped.
“They got away with millions,” Sarah nodded and focused back on the map. “The O'Healey sisters live within city limits, which means they are on city water and sewage.”
“Oh love, please tell me you're not suggesting what I'm thinking,” Amanda begged. “Oh please...oh please...oh please.”
“June Bug, we can't go out into the storm...not far, anyway. The storm has rendered above-ground travel impossible. But we can travel underground.” Sarah looked at her weary friend with a brave smile. “Pete and I chased a killer...a useless drug dealer who killed a buyer...through a sewer system once. We caught them right as they were trying to scurry topside through a manhole cover.”
“Love, this is Snow Falls, not Los Angeles,” Amanda pointed out. “The tunnels running under the town probably aren't big enough to allow a mouse to crawl through, let alone a human.”
“Only one way to find out,” Sarah responded. She locked her eyes on the map and pointed to a set of red lines paralleling certain city streets. “According to this map, these represent the sewer tunnels...so let's see...one of the tunnels...runs right behind the station...” Sarah rubbed her chin. “Right behind the station...not bad,” she said and focused back on the map. “Now...the O'Healey sisters live...right about here.” Sarah pointed to a street on the map.
Amanda leaned forward and then gulped. “A sewer tunnel runs right under the street those old ladies live on.”
Sarah nodded. “If we follow this map, we'll be able to travel right to their street.”
“If,” Amanda moaned and dropped her head. “Love, I like open skies and fresh air. I'm not a mole person.”
“Neither am I,” Sarah replied. “But, June Bug, I'm a cop and I have a job to do. Jenson O'Healey very well could be at that house. I can't risk waiting until morning to find out.” Sarah pointed out the office window. “Jenson probably thinks this storm has us trapped. Right now, he's probably feeling secure...at least until morning. What if morning comes and he turns on his grandmother and his aunts? We have to act.”
Amanda moaned again. “I hate it when you make sense,” she told Sarah and then simply nodded. “Okay, love, let's go see if we can fit into a sewer tunnel and get all smelly.”
Sarah hesitated. “June Bug, you don't have to—”
“If you say I don't have to come I'll make you buy me twenty dresses,” Amanda threatened Sarah. “We're a team, love, for better or worse.”
“You're something,” Sarah smiled and grabbed Amanda’s hand, then they ran back to Conrad's office. “Dr. Milton,” she said, “Amanda and I have found a way to travel in the storm.”
“Underground,” Amanda explained in a reluctant voice.
“Using the sewer tunnels, to be exact,” Sarah finished. “We believe the killer is at the O'Healeys’ and we need to act.”
Dr. Milton put down his cheeseburger. “The sewer systems?” he asked, surprised.
“Yes,” Sarah confirmed.
“If the tunnels are big enough to let us crawl through,” Amanda pointed out.
“Walk through is more like it,” Dr. Milton said in an incredulous voice. “Why, a number of years ago I had to go down into the tunnels to tend to a man who fell during pipe work and knocked himself unconscious.” Dr. Milton carefully touched the back of his head. “If the wrong size pipes hadn't been ordered, the poor man might not have harmed himself.”
“Wrong pipes?”
Dr. Milton nodded and actually chuckled. “The state ordered the town to replace the old sewer pipes. The old pipes...weren't that old but were cheaply made...and all in horrible condition. So our mayor, always the penny pincher, ordered new pipes. Thought he got himself a good deal.” He shook his head in amusement. “He got a good deal because there was a mistake...no one really knows why, but the manufacturer was unloading pipes that were about ten times bigger than we planned to install. The pipes that arrived were large enough for a truck to drive through! The mayor, never one to lose money on a good deal, demanded the new pipes be used. After all, we already had the backhoe. What’s another ten feet of digging? At the time most of our roads were still gravel. So, the roads were dug up, one by one, and the pipes were placed down, one by one. Our city pipes have itty-bitty streams running through them, even when the snowmelt comes.”
“Thank goodness for mistakes,” Sarah smiled. Amanda nodded.
Dr. Milton rubbed his chin. “I suppose the pipes would allow you safe travel,” he agreed.
“Very smelly travel,” Amanda complained.
“Safety is better than danger,” Dr. Milton pointed out.
“I know,” Amanda sighed and grabbed her coat. “Okay, love, let's go.”
Sarah donned her coat, hat and gloves. “Dr. Milton, I don't know when we'll be back. You're going to have to be in charge, though I doubt anyone will call. Is that okay?”
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