If You See Kay Jig
Page 13
“So you stopped him.”
“It was war,” she said. “He was planning a mass murder. Torture. Fear. I had to stop him. I argued. I begged. I went to court. Monday, all the living, breathing beings of the land would be decimated. He needed to be sacrificed for the greater good.”
“Like the trees in the storms. I see how you line that up in your mind.” I had slowed my pace, but she jammed the gun into my back, forcing me to walk faster. “But you framed Guido Stromboli. You wanted him to be held responsible.”
“Of course, I did,” she said. “He needs to go to prison for murder. He’s a murderer. A mass murderer, making his money on the fear and death of the animals that go through his processing plant.”
“Why were you willing to let me take the fall?”
“I wasn’t,” she said. “Your hatchet happened to be near at hand when an opportunity presented itself. I’d already decided that I was going to make Guido look like he done the deed. I came as soon as I heard they’d found Sal dead.”
The trees were thick here. We were pretty far from the festival grounds. If a shot rang out, it would echo around the woods, and it would be hard to figure out where it came from. People wouldn’t think to look for me, anyway. Probably no one noticed when I was walking away. Justice would eventually tell everyone what she knew. Eventually, someone would talk to her about Sal’s death − but would they find my body if she were to kill me out here? I stopped and turned.
She had determination in her eye. I knew Meadow equated what she was doing right now with a greater good. Protecting herself meant protecting her land − the trees, the bugs, the animals that ate them. A food chain was in peril!
She held out a pair of cuffs.
“Where did you get those?” I asked.
“I had a date with the good Officer Polar Bear. He keeps them in his carry-on.”
“And you stole them?”
“I thought I might need them for Sal. But Sal made things easy for me. He has digestive issues.”
I nodded. If she just meant to cuff me and leave me out here, everything was going to be fine. Delight would come back to the tent, she’d wonder where I’d gone off to. She’d ask Twinkles to find me. Twinkles would snuffle his way out here. Delight would call Connor. Connor would bring a key. Yes. This was going to go just fine.
“We’re going to handcuff you to the tree,” she said.
“Okay,” I agreed.
There I squatted, my arms around the tree. Cuffed in front with the trunk in a hug, I wasn’t going anywhere. Now it was just a matter of waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
There was a rustle as someone came through the leaves.
“Here I am,” I called out.
“I know where you are.” It was Meadow. She was carrying a gallon jug in her hands. She opened the top and started pouring it on me.
“What the heck are you doing, Meadow?” I sputtered as the cold maple syrup slid off my hair to my face and dripped from my nose.
“You can’t be allowed to tell,” she said. “I can’t kill you, you’re not a mass murderer, but I don’t mind you being a part of the food chain.”
“It’s pretty cold out here for the bugs to come and eat me. I mean, they might be attracted to the syrup, but they’ll eat the syrup not me. Maybe you would consider a truce? Maybe we could make a pact that I don’t say anything to anyone.”
“No,” she said.
“Your dowsing me with syrup isn’t going to save you. I have a friend who knows all about your real name, Isabella, your connections to Sal and Guido, all of it. So the syrup won’t stop anything.”
“I know. I heard. I have your phone. I have Justice Brown’s contact information. I’ll deal with her next. One or two, even three people versus thousands of lives? It’s a price that will have to be paid.”
Wait. I couldn’t let her go after Justice.
“Let’s think about this Meadow. There really was no reason for you to have brought me out here and put me in danger. Guido was at the restaurant last night, he has an alibi. I will be arrested.”
“And you know every cop and detective on the force. They’d go the extra mile to get you out of trouble.”
Yeah, probably. “There was never anything that tied you to Sal’s murder. You might have had a motive. But they’d have to prove you had a means and opportunity. Your finger prints would be on the axe, but you had seen it in my tent and had picked it up and held it.”
“I wiped the fingerprints off,” she said.
“So why would you think they’d hold you culpable? You need all three, means, opportunity, and motive.”
“Justice, will tell them about my motive.”
“Justice will tell them about the court cases. That’s all circumstantial.”
“I was here at the time of his death.”
“So were a lot of people, I would guess. Sal certainly was, and he wasn’t even involved with the festival.”
“You’re right. I don’t need to go after Justice.” She smiled. “Thank you.”
Syrup was dripping from my head.
“Could you let me loose now, so I can go get cleaned up?”
“No. I confessed to you. You need to die.”
“Death by syrup−” I still thought I’d have plenty of time for Twinkles to snuffle me out− “seems like a long way to die.” Maybe I should have kept that piece of information to myself.
“You’re part of the food chain. Your sacrifice will be for the greater good. Not only will you be food for the animals, but your death will protect nature. You can feel good about dying this way.”
“By being licked to death by squirrels?”
“Oh no. There are bears in the woods. Actually, right over there.” She pointed. “It’s dusk, now. They should be coming out of their den, hungry. Oh, and I saw Delight with Twinkles, and I told her that you said there was another fire at Hooch’s, and you took off with a friend. I gave her your keys and passed along the message that you wanted her to take Twinkles home to your apartment.”
Poo.
Just then I heard snorting and snuffling.
Bears!
Meadow looked up then took off into the woods running.
I heard growling, and I squished my eyes tight. I didn’t want to see the fangs coming my way.
Wait! That wasn’t a bear, that was a dog. “Twinkles!”
Twinkles was there at my tree, licking maple syrup off my hoody.
Connor, Kay, and Delight were jogging up the trail. The Polly’s Cove Beavers were at their heels.
“Bobbi Jax, what the heck?” Kay stopped at my side.
“Meadow is the killer,” I yelled.
Polar bear had his nose in the air and kept on in the direction that Meadow had run. The Beavers ran as a pack…a den? Well, in whatever formation beavers run.
Connor unclasped my cuffs, and we fell in line behind the Beavers. I needed to make sure that they caught Meadow and arrested her for murder and the attempted murder of me.
I watched as Polar Bear made the tackle.
The Beavers piled on in a rugby pile.
“Got her,” Polar Bear yelled.
They peeled off the pile, and Polar Bear threw a screaming and kicking Meadow over his shoulder and started out of the woods.
“I’d hug you, Bobbi Jax but you’re sticky,” Kay said.
I glanced around the shadows of the twilight woods. “We need to get out of here before the hungry bears get wind of me.”
We started out after the Beavers.
“Am I ever glad you showed up when you did. How did you know to show up when you did?”
“I just got off the phone with Justice.” Kay reached for my hand. “Justice said she was telling you about her research when the call was suddenly cut off, and she got suspicious. I went to your tent to check on you.”
“Well I knew right off something was fishy, ‘cause Meadow came and gave me your keys and said take Twinkles home. You don’
t need keys for your apartment. You got them fancy button set up and all. So the keys told me you hadn’t passed me a message at all. And that I should go get Connor to come see what all was happening. I’d seen Meadow walk away with a gallon of maple syrup in her hand. I thought she was just goin’ on a date with Polar Bear. But then, I saw Polar Bear coming my way, and that didn’t make no sense. That’s when Kay said, ‘Find her Twinkles.’ And Twinkles took off in the direction Meadow had gone like a bolt of lightning. Twinkles’s nose was to the ground, and Polar Bear’s nose was up in the air, like a hunting dog. He said he was following the maple syrup.”
“Sweet,” I said with a grin.
“Yup,” said Kay. “Looks like, for Meadow, the jig is up.”
This is not THE END
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Also by the Authors
If You See Kay Run
If You See Kay Hide
If You See Kay Freeze
If You See Kay Lie
If You See Kay Bang
If You See Kay Jig
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to our amazing editor Kathleen Payne and our talented cover designer Chandell Aikman Sites.
So much of this story was inspired by our personal experiences gained from a Celtic festival visit. It was an amazing weekend, from the fantastic aromas and foods, to the handsome brawny men in kilts. And of course all of that wood and hammer action from the Highland games!
Thank you to Michele Carlon for coming with us to figure out how to break into a port-a-potty, and throw a hatchet.
We’d also like to thank and congratulate Elaine Alberta Thomas for winning our online contest and being such a great sport! We are so happy that Elaine won a guest spot at Hooch’s.
Fiona Quinn in Beaverdam, Virginia
Big hugs to our amazing readers’ group, the Badge Bunny Boozters. Thank you for your continued support and laughter. Note: If you want to be one of these amazing ladies, find us on Facebook, and we’ll add you in!
Finally, thank you to our hubbies who don’t mind our research adventures! They didn’t have problems with us visiting Bumpass or digging up information on Polly’s Cove. They didn’t even blink as we discussed all those Beavers! LOL!
Tina Glasneck in Bumpass, Virginia
About the Authors
QUINN & GLASNECK is the USA Today bestselling author writing team comprised of Fiona Quinn and Tina Glasneck. They host a popular group on line for fans of BJ and Kay called the Badge Bunny Boozters!
Find us online at www.QuinnGlasneck.com