Peppermint Creek Inn

by Jan Springer

  Something had changed about him.

  He seemed different. In the way he held himself. In the cold, no-nonsense authority of his voice. Then realization slammed into her stomach as if she’d just been sucker punched.

  That endearing little lost boy look she’d fallen in love with had vanished from his face, the sadness veiling his eyes drawn away to reveal a searing masculine confidence.

  She found herself drawn to this new emotional transformation.

  “Maybe you don’t hear so good, Whitey.” Tom leveled the antique musket at Whitey’s head. “Consider this a hearing aid.”

  Whitey’s smooth smile slid into a frown. He hesitated a moment. His fierce gaze studied Tom. Sara could hear the wheels turning in the man’s head. Was Tom bluffing? Did the musket work?

  “As you wish, as you wish. I’m putting down my gun.” Slowly, with a great deal of care, Whitey moved toward the kitchen table. Toward her.

  “Lady! Get away from him!” It took her a moment before Sara realized Tom was talking to her. A cold shiver of unease slid down her back as she did as he asked. Why had he called her “lady”?

  “Keep your hands where I can see them,” Tom warned Whitey. And then he swung his cold gaze on her.

  “You too, lady.” Sara blinked in surprise as he shouted at her. “I said stay clear away from him, lady. I don’t want any trouble from either of you. Just follow my instructions and neither of you will get hurt, comprendez?”

  Why was he acting so strangely? So cold toward her? As if he didn’t trust her. Sara’s mind immediately supplied the answer. Smokey had said it might happen.

  Tom had reassured her only hours ago it wouldn’t. But it had. The cold realization made her head swim. Tom had forgotten her.

  “You won’t get away with this, Matt.” Whitey spat as he placed the gun gently upon the table and glared angrily at Tom.

  “Au contrar, Whitey. I’ve got the evidence you want. Your fate is sealed. As are the fates of so many of your crooked cops.”

  “Better think twice what you’re saying, Matt. I can merely snap my fingers from prison and everyone you love will be dead including her.” Whitey pointed at Sara.

  “Her?” Tom’s eyes narrowed as he threw a quick glance at Sara. She jolted at the cold hardness in his green eyes and Sara felt the prick of tears blur her eyes as his next words cut a deep gash, straight into her very soul.

  “She means nothing to me. What the hell are you talking about? I’ve never seen this woman in my life.”

  Sara was too stunned at the cold harshness of his words to fully comprehend the movement she saw in the dark hallway behind Tom until it was too late. Before she could issue a warning, the blonde woman had stepped up behind Tom and jabbed the gun into his back.

  “Hi, Loverboy,” she drawled.

  Tom’s face washed to a ghastly white and he winced. If it was due to the gun in his back or the word she’d called him, Sara couldn’t be sure. But the icy curve lifting his lips assured Sara he wasn’t happy to see the blonde.

  “Pauline,” Tom sneered. “Should have known you’d crash the party.”

  “You know the drill, Matt,” Whitey said as he grabbed the musket from Tom’s hands and threw it onto the kitchen table. With lightning speed, he retrieved his own gun and Sara’s.

  She watched helplessly as Tom placed his hands against the wall and spread his legs.

  “Pauline,” Whitey said. “I’ll cover them. I’m sure you’d like to do the honors.”

  “You bet,” Pauline drawled seductively as she placed her gun on a nearby chair.

  Sara noticed Tom move uncomfortably as Pauline’s hands roved slower than necessary over Tom’s hips, across his back and belly and then down his legs.

  “The only thing he’s packing is a nice cock and juicy set of balls,” Pauline chuckled as she finished frisking Tom and with the quick swiftness of a scorpion, pulled his arms behind his back and snapped a pair of handcuffs around his wrists.

  Pauline swept her gun off the nearby chair and Sara jumped as the blonde swung the weapon on her.

  “And you! I should kill you. No one gets away with sleeping with my husband.”

  “Don’t do it, Pauline,” Tom warned. “It’ll be too messy. I know how you hate to clean up after yourself.”

  Pauline lunged at Tom. But Whitey’s sharp shout stopped her dead.

  “He’s baiting you. Cuff the girl. Then go outside. Cool off. And keep an eye out for any unwelcome guests.”

  Sara winced as the blonde cruelly forced her hands forward and snapped the ice-cold cuffs around her wrists. She noticed the satisfied smile on Pauline’s face and wished she could punch the woman in the nose.

  “I’ll deal with you later!” the blonde hissed as she pointed her menacing gun at Sara.

  “Looking forward to it,” Sara replied coolly as the woman stepped outside.

  “Now that I have your full attention,” Whitey said to Matt, “you can tell me what I want to know.”

  “Go to hell!” Sara spat. “He’s not telling you a damn thing.”

  “I guess I can see whose side you’re on, lady,” Tom drawled coldly. “But I don’t need your help. Just shut your pretty little mouth. This conversation is between the big cheese and me.”

  Sara blinked in surprise as Tom casually returned his attention to Whitey. There had been something in his eyes.

  A glint of mischievousness?

  “So, let’s deal, Whitey. What are you willing to trade to get your hands on the tape I shot?”

  “I’ll kill both of you quick. How’s that?”

  Tom lifted his handcuffed hands and scratched his nose thoughtfully before saying, “Someone once told me something. Only the good die young. So, I figure my time isn’t up for awhile.”

  Sara blinked in surprise and tried to clamp down on her soaring hopes. She’d used the same line on him when he was recuperating from the gunshot wound in her bed. He was sending her a message. To let her know he was all right. That he still remembered her.

  But why was he pretending not to know her? Was it so Whitey wouldn’t use her as leverage against him? Did he want Whitey to believe she meant nothing to him, so he’d let her go? But she wouldn’t leave. Not without Tom.

  Whitey muttered a foul oath then said angrily, “What makes you think I can even deal with you, Matt? What you did sickens me. Worming your way into my trust, into my business. I allowed you to marry my daughter.”

  “Your daughter drugged me. It was the only way she could get herself a man. Besides the marriage isn’t legal. I haven’t used my real name.”

  “You bastard,” the blonde hissed from the other side of the screen door.

  “Shut up, Pauline,” Tom snarled at the blonde. His cold gaze flew back to Whitey. “I’ll hand over the tape, on one condition.”

  Whitey inhaled slowly. Then let out a deep breath. “All right. Name it.”

  “You let the lady go.”

  Sara’s wrists tightened against her restraints. Tom was offering his life for hers. She wouldn’t allow it.

  It was up to her now. She had to figure out how to get out of these handcuffs. She’d done it once with Tom’s cuffs on the first night he’d arrived. It should be easier the second time around. When she got free then she’d be able to help him.

  Whitey was regarding Tom with genuine interest when she said, “I need to go to the bathroom.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Just down the hall. I can leave the door open if you’re so afraid I might escape,” Sara taunted. “And I need the cuffs off.”

  Whitey shook his head. “No. You keep them on. Figure out a way. I’ll give you three minutes. You’re not back by then I’ll shoot Matt in the leg. And I’ll enjoy it.”

  An icy shiver rippled across her shoulders at Whitey’s evil grin. Shakily, she headed down the hallway. Leaving the door open, she darted through the adjoining doorway into her bedroom. Breathing a silent thanks, she picked up the item she needed then he
aded back into the bathroom, flushing the toilet to make it look official.

  —

  “C’mon, Matthew. How do you propose I let a witness go?” Whitey smirked.

  “She looks to be a smart lady. I’m sure she’d know how to keep her mouth shut. You set her free and I’ll hand over everything Robin accumulated over the years.”

  Whitey looked doubtful. Matt was losing the man and fast. He had to keep him interested.

  “How’d you know I was at Robin’s house that night?”

  “You give me too much credit.” Whitey sat down on a nearby chair, the gun trained on Sara as she walked back into the room.

  “We didn’t know you were a rat. You had us all snowed y’know. Never would have figured you for Internal Affairs.”

  The chief shook his head slightly. “After the meeting was finished that night and we left you, we came back almost right away. Pauline wanted to tell you to pick her up in two hours instead of one hour. Imagine our surprise when we saw you back in the alley with something in your hand. A camcorder, no doubt. We followed you down the alley, Matt. Saw you hop on your bike with that smug smile on your face. I called my driver on the cell phone. Told him which street you were heading down. He’s an expert tracker. Maneuvers like a chameleon in heavy traffic. That’s why I hired him. The driver followed you into Robin’s neighborhood. Right to Robin’s back door.” The chief smiled and an icy shiver went up Matt’s naked back. “That’s the beauty of being a police chief, Matt. I know lots of people. I have something on everyone. I had Robin in my hip pocket, or so I thought.”

  “So you had something on Robin, did you?” Tom smiled ruefully. “You talking about those bribes he took from you years back?”

  Whitey visibly stiffened.

  Matt tried hard to contain the raw hurt that still burned inside him from Robin’s confession that he was working with a bunch of government people, using him, stringing him along all these years instead of just the two of them working together as he’d been told by his partner.

  Now that he looked back on everything that had happened over the past few years, he’d been naïve.

  Stupid in blindly trusting Robin just because he’d kept dangling Chief Jeffries over his head as having something to do with his brother Steve’s death.

  Robin had probably lied to him about that, too.

  “Are you talking about Robin accepting a weekly fee of one thousand dollars in return for keeping the heat off Scout McMaster and all his arms dealings? Oh, don’t worry, I know all about it. Robin told me everything he did for you. He was your right-hand man. Right up until he got cancer and had to bring in someone new to replace him. Or he would have had you earlier. I worked on you for a long time before you trusted me. You were a tough nut to crack.”

  Whitey cursed.

  “You’re a low-life, Whitey,” Matt continued. “You’ve caused too much pain and suffering to people with your crooked dealings. Not to mention the officers you corrupted by waving big bills and flashy cars under their noses. If I had been another type of man, I’d have killed you a long time ago.”

  “Just like you killed Robin?” Whitey chuckled softly. Matt heard Sara’s sharp intake of breath.

  “You know the truth, Whitey.”

  “You were stupid to try and save him, Matt. He was a talking dead man. He stiffed me and you stiffed me. No one crosses me. You see what happens when they do, don’t you?”

  “So how about it. Let the woman go, and I’ll give you the evidence.”

  “Tom!” Sara pleaded.

  “Dammit! Don’t call me that!” Matthew snapped back. He hated yelling at her like this, but he needed to make Whitey believe he couldn’t use her as leverage against him.

  “All right,” Whitey soothed. “Take it easy, Matt. I’ll let her go after you give me the evidence.”

  Matt knew he didn’t have a choice. Reluctantly he gave in.

  “Jackfish. The evidence is in Jackfish. I’ll take you there. But you leave the woman here unharmed.”

  “We’ll take Sara with us. Then we’ll let her go.”

  Suddenly Sara interrupted. “I don’t know about you guys but I’m awfully thirsty. Do you mind?” She gestured toward her refrigerator, a tight smile on her lips.

  Matt frowned. If he didn’t know any better he could swear she was up to something.

  “Hurry up,” Whitey growled impatiently.

  Matt caught her quick glance at him as she headed for the refrigerator. It took a long time for her to drain the cup as she stood with the fridge door open, but finally she was finished. And when she rejoined them, Matt had the distinct feeling Sara’s demeanor had changed. And changed for the better.

  —

  They took two vehicles. Sara drove her truck with Pauline sitting in the passenger seat, a gun trained on her all the time. Tom sat in the passenger seat of the sedan with his hands still cuffed behind him. Whitey drove.

  If he didn’t have to think about Sara’s safety, he would have easily been able to get away by lifting his feet and crushing Whitey against the driver side door. But Whitey had probably anticipated such a move and conveniently taken two vehicles to compensate.

  Whitey remained quiet as he drove, allowing Tom to concentrate on a way of getting Sara and himself out of this mess. A moment later, he found himself leaning forward, when up ahead on the highway, off in the not-so-far distance, through the early morning light, he made out a red car zipping along the highway toward them.

  His heart began a quick beat.

  Could it be Jo returning?

  It was at that moment, the two vehicles swung off the main highway onto a gravel road that led them down a steep hill. He glanced out the back window just in time to see the red Mustang whiz past.

  His heart sank. Jo sat in the car. And she hadn’t seen them. He slumped dejectedly against his seat. They were on their own now.

  Chapter Nineteen

  After a few minutes, the road narrowed. Branches scraped eerily against the sedan. Towering jack pines shot upward into the heavens blocking their view from the increasingly brightening stormy sky. The road grew bumpy then abruptly grew smooth as they drove over a long carpet of moss. A few minutes later, the two vehicles came to a halt.

  Tom’s jaw dropped open in shock. Up ahead, a police cruiser blocked the road. And leaning against the car, smoking a cigarette was Justin Jeffries.

  “Uh-oh, now we’re in trouble,” Tom said coolly.

  “Shut up, Matt,” Whitey growled as he swooped out of the car and came around to the passenger side to let him out.

  The air felt heavy with the promise of rain and cool wind played with Tom’s face as he got out of the car. His wrists pulled in frustration against his restraints as he watched Justin’s lip turn into an evil sneer.

  “I thought you looked familiar when I saw you in town,” Justin Jeffries drawled. “You were just born to be a chalk outline, Matt. I only wish I could be there to do the honors.”

  “Hmm. Is that necklace you’re wearing a souvenir from one of your other chalk outlines? If I remember correctly it has a bullet hanging from it.”

  “Shut up you son of a bitch,” Justin yelled.

  Whitey shook a stern finger at his son. “You keep that temper of yours under control, son.”

  “What about the necklace?” Sara asked breathlessly. She’d taken the bait and his stomach soured.

  “Don’t, Sara,” Justin pleaded.

  “No, I want to know.”

  He was really beginning to feel sick now. Using the woman he loved to bait these two was unforgivable. But he needed to get Jeffries antsy. Needed to get his old man pissed off at him. He knew Whitey didn’t like it when his son and daughter got angry.

  Anger in his kids was the one visible weakness he had. It irritated him. He didn’t want them around when they were pissed off about something.

  He needed to get them apart. Divide them. Divide and conquer.

  “Dad, get the dammed evidence from him and
let’s get this over with,” Justin whined.

  “Is it… You have the bullet that killed my husband hanging around your neck?”

  The disbelief in Sara’s voice almost brought Matt to his knees.

  Sara grabbed at Justin’s shirt, ripping it open. The two top buttons flew into the air.

  Gleaming happily against his hairy chest hung the bullet on a chain.

  “Good God. You’re insane,” Sara cried and pushed Justin away from her.

  She whirled around to face Matt. He could have died from the hurt look in her eyes. Her lower lip quivered uncontrollably. He wished he could take her into his arms to comfort her, but he couldn’t let them know how much he loved her.

  “I have a witness who heard them talking,” he told Sara softly.

  “Who?” Justin interjected. “The only ones down there was Sam, you and me.”

  “I’m the witness.”

  “That’s not possible. You were unconscious.”

  “I let you think I was. I heard the whole thing. Sam telling you how much he was interested in Sara. How he should tell her you were Jack’s killer. How he’d seen you kill Jack with the final bullet, then took his journal, where he’d written down the whereabouts of the amethyst mine on her property.”

  “Please stop, Tom,” Sara whispered. She was pale and shaky. He ached to take her into his arms. But he couldn’t. He had to keep his emotions under control.

  “Sounds like you’ve been real busy, baby brother,” Pauline chuckled as she shook her head in disbelief. “You told me you had your eye on some married woman but I never expected you to go this far. Killing her husband in cold blood? And wearing a necklace with the bullet that did him in? That’s crude. Even for you.”

  “If you don’t shut up, I’ll blow your head off,” Justin yelled at his sister. His hand flew to his holster. “Then I’ll blow his off. He’s lying. That’s not the way it happened.”

  “I’ve had enough of this bickering,” Whitey snapped. “You head back to town, Justin. See if you can’t make some inquiries and see what evidence Garry and that Brady woman have on us. Kill them if you have to. Matt will show Pauline and me where he stashed the goods.”