Murder of a Barbie and Ken

by Denise Swanson

  “Camping.”

  “Huh?”

  “A client of mine has a hunting cabin down here, which, due to an unfortunate incarceration, he won’t be using for the next ten to twenty years.” Ginardi smiled as his own wit. “By the time he’s free to go camping again, I’m afraid you and Reid will be just a pile of bones.”

  “Oh.” This wasn’t looking good. She glanced at Simon again in the mirror. He was still trying to get his hands loose.

  “Stop.” Ginardi pointed to a spot by the side of the road. “Park here. We have to hike the rest of the way in.”

  The path was overgrown and hard to follow. Ginardi made Skye and Simon walk ahead of him, keeping his gun pointed at Skye’s head and carrying the rifle under his left arm.

  Skye’s mind was working furiously. Should she pretend to trip? If Simon had freed his hands, this might be a good time to try to escape. Ginardi hadn’t seemed to notice when she’d casually tucked the keys to the Navigator in her pants pocket.

  Before she could decide what to do, they emerged from the trees into a small clearing occupied by a rustic cabin. Ginardi urged them up the steps and onto the small porch. He unlocked the door with a key he took from above the doorframe, and pushed them inside.

  A thick layer of dust coated the meager furnishings, and the air was rancid with the smell of decay. Ginardi sniffed. “Rufus must not have cleaned up very well after his last kill.”

  Skye wondered if Ginardi was talking about deer hunting or something worse. It was time for a tactical reconsideration. She still couldn’t tell if Simon’s hands were free, but she’d have to take a chance, and soon. “You know, Bob, I still don’t understand why you killed the Addisons.”

  “I did it for Lu, of course.” He forced Simon to sit. “Tape his arms and legs to the chair.”

  “Because of the Instant Gourmet contract?” Skye asked as she followed Ginardi’s orders.

  “Barbie was bleeding us dry with that damn contract. I went over that day to get her to tear it up. She refused.”

  “That must have made you furious.” Skye tried to keep him talking as she edged closer to the rifle he had set on the table near the door.

  “Barbie was supposed to be Lu’s best friend. She made Lu feel like an idiot for even wanting to read the contract before signing it. Lu can’t stand feeling stupid, so she signed. Then when she realized what she had done, she got depressed, lost weight, couldn’t sleep. If Barbie wouldn’t tear up that contract, then I had to end it another way. She left me no choice. I had to terminate her before she killed my wife.”

  “Is that why you tore up the house? Were you looking for the contract?” Skye asked.

  “Yeah, but I didn’t find much. She must have kept everything on her laptop, and I destroyed that.”

  Skye didn’t mention the disks they had found. Bob was the city attorney; if he knew about them he could easily make the disks “disappear” from the evidence locker. “But why did you kill Ken?”

  “That was bad luck on his part. He came home unexpectedly, right after I put Barbie’s body in the freezer. I had to kill him, too. I snuck up behind him, slipped the loop of ribbon around his neck, and pulled it tight.” Ginardi paused, then smiled coldly. “Since you won’t be telling anyone, I might as well confess. I was glad to see him dead. He had slept with my wife, while his wife was screwing her with that Instant Gourmet crap. They both deserved to die.”

  Skye felt the back of her leg brush against the table. She almost had the rifle.

  Suddenly, Ginardi noticed what Skye was doing, and snatched the gun before she could nab it. Enraged, he swung the rifle stock at Simon’s head.

  Skye rushed toward him, but Ginardi grabbed her and threw her against the wall. Dazed, she watched in horror as blood spurted from Simon’s temple and he sagged in the chair. He moaned, and then was silent.

  Ginardi turned on her, still furious. “Go sit on the couch and shut up.” When she was slow to obey, he jerked her to her feet and threw her on the sofa, then swiftly taped her hands, ankles, and mouth.

  She had hit the wall hard. Her back hurt, and her ankle throbbed. Ginardi was really strong. He had picked her up as if she weighed less than a sack of potatoes. He had two guns, more muscles than Mr. America, and she was tied up tighter than a bale of hay. How could she possibly escape and carry an unconscious Simon with her?

  “I’ll be right back, and you’d better not have moved an inch.” Ginardi grabbed a shovel from beside the door and stormed out of die cabin.

  Oh, my God! He was going to dig their graves! Up until now she had been able to fool herself into thinking they would be able to escape, but suddenly the realization hit her. They would die in this awful little shack and no one would ever know what had happened to them.

  Where was the cavalry when you needed them?

  The thought had barely crossed her mind when she heard a splash, a scream, a couple of whooshes, and then thwacking sounds. Before she could figure out what was happening she heard voices, but couldn’t make out any words. A few long minutes later the door swung open, and the Three Musketeers charged inside, pushing and shoving one another out of the way to be first.

  Bunny won. She took one look at Simon and wailed, “Sonny Boy, what has that awful man done to you?” She rushed to his side and started tearing away the duct tape.

  Justin and Frannie hurried over to Skye. Frannie pulled the tape off her mouth, while Justin used a pocketknife to slit the strips binding her hands and feet. Skye flinched as the tape tore her skin when it was removed. “Where’s Ginardi?” she asked.

  “He’s secured,” Justin declared.

  Skye was about to demand a more detailed answer when she noticed Bunny had managed to free Simon and get him to his feet. Skye ran over to him. “Are you alright?”

  He started to nod, but winced. “I think I’m okay, but I have a terrific headache. What happened while I was out?”

  Bunny and the teenagers all tried to explain at once, but Skye interrupted. “This can wait. We need to get Simon to a hospital and Ginardi to the police.” She put her arm around Simon and started toward the door. “By the way, where are we?”

  “Near Pontiac,” Frannie answered, then added, “Be careful when you go outside. The porch steps are real icy.”

  “Okay.” Why were the steps icy? Had it started to snow? Skye couldn’t think of that now. She had to focus. “There’s a cell phone in Ginardi’s SUV. We’ll use it to call the police while we’re driving.” Skye tossed Frannie the keys. “Phone and get directions to the nearest hospital.”

  “Tell me again why you took it upon yourself to get a suspected killer to confess,” demanded the deputy sheriff who had met them at the hospital.

  “No.” Skye crossed her arms and leaned back in the molded plastic seat of the hospital waiting room. “I’ll explain when Chief Boyd gets here. I’ve told you three times already, and you obviously don’t believe me, so I’m not saying it all a fourth time.”

  “You’ll talk to me here or down at the sheriff’s office.” A stubborn look descended on the man’s face.

  “Fine.” Skye stood up. “Let’s go. I can’t wait to see the newspaper headline. Woman Captures Murderer. Police Drag Her Away While Fiancé Lays Dying.”

  “Sit down.” The deputy swallowed. “The doctor said Mr. Reid is going to be fine. At most, he has a minor concussion.”

  Skye sent up a silent prayer thanking God for Simon’s hard head, then raised an eyebrow at the officer. “I sure hope the doctor is right, but do you want to bet your career on it?”

  Before he could answer, Wally strolled into the room and stuck his hand out to the deputy. “Chief Walter Boyd.”

  “Chief Boyd, nice to meet you. I’m Deputy Knox.” He gestured to Skye. “Miss Denison has been trying to explain to me what happened.”

  “Simon okay?” When she nodded, Wally patted Skye’s shoulder. “Caught yourself another one, huh?” He shook his head. “Is this what you call being careful?�
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  “Well…” Skye looked into Wally’s eyes and saw resignation rather than anger. She reached up and squeezed his hand. “Let’s just say it’s a good thing I had a little help from my friends.”

  Deputy Knox asked, “‘Another one’?”

  Wally sat down next to her. “Skye has helped the Scumble River Police Department with several cases.”

  Skye appreciated Wally’s support, knowing he was subtly vouching for her to the other law enforcement official. “Shall I tell it from the beginning?” She smiled sweetly at Deputy Knox, who nodded tersely. “Well, it all started this afternoon when Bunny phoned to tell me about her gentleman caller.” Skye finished her story with “Then the Scooby gang burst in and saved the day.”

  Wally’s brow furrowed. “Scooby gang?”

  “Bunny, Frannie, and Justin—you know, like on the cartoon Scooby-Doo.”

  He nodded, but didn’t look enlightened. “How did they find you?”

  “Deputy Knox hasn’t let me talk to them since we brought Simon in, so I don’t know. I was concentrating too hard on driving and finding the hospital to question them before we got here. I don’t even know how they got past Ginardi.”

  “Where is Ginardi?” Wally looked at the other man.

  The deputy answered. “They had him all trussed up in some kind of net thingy. He looked like a Thanksgiving turkey ready for the oven, and he was swearing like one of those rap singers. He’s at the sheriff’s office.”

  “I know this is your jurisdiction, but I sure would like to talk to the people who came in with Skye,” Wally said.

  “Let me call the sheriff. I’ll be right back.”

  When Deputy Knox returned, he said, “Sheriff says this looks like your mess, and he’s glad to hand them all over to you.”

  “Thanks. Tell Buck I owe him a beer.” Wally turned to’ Skye. “I’ll call Quirk to come get Ginardi. You sit still.”

  Several minutes ticked by, and Skye was wondering what would happen if she just got up and found Simon. Everyone kept telling her he was fine, but she’d like to see for herself. Wally’s return, with Frannie and Justin in tow, foiled her escape plan. Both teenagers seemed excited as they sat on either side of Skye.

  Wally asked, “How did you find Ms. Denison and Mr. Reid?”

  “We followed them,” Frannie said. “Miss Bunny used to date a police detective in Las Vegas, and she showed us how to shadow someone without them knowing it.”

  “But why did you follow us?” Skye asked. “And how did you get hooked up with Bunny?”

  Justin leaned forward. “We couldn’t decide what to do after we saw someone trying to break into Ms. D’s cottage. Ms. D and Mr. Reid weren’t around, Frannie didn’t want to tell her dad, and I didn’t think telling you would do any good, so we decided to tell Mr. Patukas. We know he kind of looks after Ms. D. He wasn’t at the motor court, but Miss Bunny was. So we told her to tell him when he got back.”

  “Miss Bunny called us today after Mr. Ginardi visited her,” Frannie explained, “and asked her to spy on Ms. D. So we decided the three of us would keep an eye on him. We staked out his office.”

  “All three of you?” Wally asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Why didn’t you come talk to me?” Wally demanded.

  “Miss Bunny said she didn’t have a real good relationship with the police, and that you wouldn’t believe her. And I knew you’d never take a couple of teenagers seriously.” Justin shook his head. “Anyway, when we saw Mr. Ginardi force Ms. D and Mr. Reid into his car, we followed them.”

  “Ginardi never noticed?” Wally asked.

  “I thought I saw a pickup once,” Skye said, “but then it disappeared.”

  “Frannie had her dad’s truck,” Justin offered.

  Wally asked, “Why didn’t you call the police station?”

  “We didn’t have time to stop and find a phone,” Frannie answered.

  “How did you capture Bob Ginardi?” Wally appeared as confused as Skye felt.

  Justin smiled proudly. “I had a three-part plan. First, I found a couple of gallon containers of water in the emergency kit behind the seat of Frannie’s dad’s truck. I took one and poured it over the cabin steps. It’s so cold outside it started to freeze right away, which was great because wet ice is the most slippery—”

  Frannie broke in, “I took the other container of water and hid next to the stairs. We were going to make some noise in order to get him to come outside, but he came out on his own.” Frannie beamed. “My job was to douse Mr. Ginardi when he ran out the door.”

  “But how did Ginardi get all tied up, and what’s this about a net thing?” Wally asked.

  “That was the third part of my plan,” Justin answered. “Last week I got this neat self-defense device from a guy who used to work as an animal control officer. It’s called a Webshot and looks sort of like a bazooka, but it shoots out this sticky Kevlar net. The manual says the criminal won’t be able to move a finger. I hid behind a tree, and when Mr. Ginardi came out of the cabin, Frannie threw the water in his face. When he slipped on the ice on the steps and fell flat on his back, I blasted the Webshot at him. I used two cartridges just to make sure.”

  “What about his gun?” Skye asked.

  “I made a tiny slit in the web with my pocketknife and grabbed it out of his hand,” Frannie answered. “We weren’t sure how long the netting would hold. As my dad always says, better safe than sorry.”

  “What was that thwacking sound I heard before you guys rushed into the cabin to rescue us?” Skye asked.

  “Miss Bunny beating Mr. Ginardi with a stick.” Justin looked sheepish. “Look, I know that beating him with a stick is pretty lame, and actually wouldn’t do any good, but she really wanted to do something, and I figured she could handle stick duty.”

  Wally looked at Skye. “This could almost make you believe in miracles.”

  “I don’t just believe in miracles,” Skye answered, putting an arm around each teen, “I rely on them.”

  EPILOGUE

  Things do not change; we change.

  —Henry Thoreau

  “Where is everyone?” Skye asked as Simon turned his Lexus into the bowling alley’s nearly empty parking lot. “Did they call off the league again this Friday?” They hadn’t bowled the last two Fridays—first due to the Thanks-giving holiday weekend, then because of Bob Ginardi’s arrest and Simon’s head injury.

  “I don’t know.” Simon’s expression was innocent. “Maybe I missed something. Did you hear anything?” It had been a week and a half since Ginardi had assaulted Simon. The doctor had allowed Simon to resume his normal activities only as of yesterday.

  “No. As far as I know, our Friday night bowling league should be starting in about ten minutes.” Skye paused. “Unless the bowling alley was finally sold.”

  “Let’s go in.” Simon got out of the car. “The owner probably knows what’s going on.”

  Inside, it was obvious that there was no league tonight. The lanes were dark, the grill unoccupied, and the only illumination was over by the bar.

  “We should leave,” Skye said, tugging on Simon’s sleeve. “Something’s not right here.”

  “I can’t believe you don’t want to investigate.” He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and walked toward the light. “Let’s see what’s going on.”

  Skye looked at Simon. He sure was acting strangely. Had that blow to his head changed his personality?

  No one was there, but the jukebox was playing, and there were plates of snacks on the cocktail tables, which had been pushed together in the center of the room. Simon went behind the bar. “What would you like?”

  “You can’t go back there.” Skye was startled. This was not at all like him. “You’ll get into trouble.”

  “I didn’t realize rules meant that much to you.” Simon grinned. “Don’t worry. I’m a personal friend of the owner.”

  Skye frowned. Was he trying to use reverse psychology on her
—show her how it felt to be the one pulled into a situation against her will? While she contemplated the idea, she heard the outside door open and then voices coming toward them. Uh-oh. Now they would be in deep dodo.

  Charlie and Bunny were the first to appear, followed closely by Frannie and Justin, then Jed and May. Everyone had questions, but Simon ignored them and said, “Thank you all for coming to my party. What can I get you. to drink?”

  Once they were all seated and had a beverage, Simon stood, raised his glass, and said, “To family and friends.”

  After a brief hesitation, everyone followed suit, though they looked puzzled.

  Simon took a swallow of wine and then a deep breath. “Living in Scumble River these past few years, and knowing Skye and her wonderful family, I’ve learned that sometimes you have to forget about the past in order for the future to be better.” He paused and took another gulp of wine. This was clearly very difficult for him.

  Skye watched as Bunny clung to Simon’s words. Her expression was full of hope and fear, and mirrored her son’s. Skye felt her chest tighten and knew these next few minutes could change everything, either for good or for bad.

  Simon continued. “Last week, Justin, Frannie, and Bun…” —he hesitated, then corrected himself—”my mother saved Skye’s and my life.”

  Bunny chimed in, “That’s right. I beat up Ginardi and made sure he couldn’t hurt Son … I mean, Simon.”

  “Thank you, Mother.” Simon acknowledged Bunny, then continued, “My mother spent a lot of time with me while I was in the hospital recovering from my injury, and she and I had quite a few long talks, which made me realize that everyone makes mistakes, even me.”

  Skye took his hand and squeezed. “Although usually you let me make the mistakes for both of us,” she said.

  They all laughed.

  He kissed the top of her head. “That’s another conclusion I’ve come to. Skye, you add the adventure that had been missing from my life for a long time.”

  She blushed and ducked her head, not used to public compliments.

  Frannie stared at the two adults and said, “Wow. Way cool.” Then she shot a speculative glance at Justin, who had been looking at her, but turned away when she caught him.