by Nic Saint
She scooted forward in her seat. “Think about it, chief. Domino handed us Shaw on a silver platter. He knew that his work was done and he needed to produce the killer. I think Domino knew that Shaw could be induced to kill the Rafter brothers, but he would never kill his own sister and her husband, so two professionals were brought in, to be taken out when their usefulness expired. Then Shaw only had to do away with Rob and his wife and sister and the road to twenty million dollars lay wide open.”
Chief Whitehouse fished another muffin from the bag. “Quite a theory, Fe, but I have my doubts.”
“Just do some more investigating. I’m sure there must be something to connect Domino to the hired killers. He hired them, not Shaw. And that voice Alan Shaw said he kept hearing? I’m pretty sure that wasn’t his wife speaking from beyond the grave but Domino.”
“Well, he didn’t mean it literally, I’m sure.”
“But what if he did? What if Domino called him?”
“Pretending to be the late Mrs. Shaw?”
“All I’m asking is to check my story, chief. See if it holds water. If it doesn’t—”
“No more cream muffins for me. I get it.” He pondered for a moment. “I spoke to Jack Hudson. He asked me to cut you some slack. And in honor of my old friend I’m prepared to do so. I’ll do some poking around. See if what you’re saying makes sense. Fair enough?”
She felt a weight lift from her shoulders. “Fair enough.”
“Mind you, I’m not saying you’re right. Just that I’ll look into it.”
“Thanks, chief.”
“And in the meantime I want you to stay away from Neil Domino.” He held up a hand when she started to speak. “I know how your mind works, Fe. And I’m telling you right now, stay away. For your own good.”
“I will, chief,” she said gratefully. She had no intention of coming anywhere near the banker. If her suspicions were correct, the man was the real killer, and not Alan Shaw.
Chapter 71
That night Felicity was reading a book while Alice was rattling around in the kitchen. She’d promised Reece that she would prepare him a soufflé when he came back from LA before realizing that she didn’t know the first thing about making a soufflé. So now she was busying herself with preparations, after refusing all help from Felicity. She’d vowed to do this all by herself.
At five minutes to nine the doorbell rang and Alice shouted, “Can you get that? I’m covered in flour!”
“Flour? For a soufflé?”
“Don’t ask!”
With a chuckle, Felicity walked over to the door and was surprised to find Neil Domino looming before her. The gray-haired banker was dressed in a heavy overcoat, his pale eyes flickering dangerously.
“Hello, Miss Bell,” he said with a deferential smile. “Is this an inopportune time?”
“Um, well…”
“I could come back later,” he said, still smiling.
“Who is it?” yelled Alice from the kitchen.
Domino gave her a look of surprise. “Oh, you have company.”
“No, that’s just my roommate.” Before she finished the sentence she knew she’d made a mistake. Suddenly the banker spirited a small gun from the pocket of his overcoat and pointed it at her heart.
“Let’s step inside,” he suggested, still speaking lightly, as if he were here to discuss the opening of a new checking account.
She swallowed away a lump of discomfort as she obeyed the order.
“Who is—oh!” Alice stared from the gun to the man’s face. “Mr. Domino? What’s going on?”
“I see you haven’t told your little friend about your suspicions,” said the banker, then pointed to the couch. “Please be seated. Both of you.”
“I’m not her little friend,” Alice muttered. She hated being called little, even though she was a full head smaller than Felicity. “What’s going on, Fe?”
“Mr. Domino is the real Happy Bays Inn killer,” Felicity explained. “He set the whole thing up.”
The banker’s lined face creased into a smile, his bushy eyebrows wiggling gaily. “And how right you are, young lady. You are very bright, aren’t you?”
“You did all this?” asked Alice.
“You sound surprised. Don’t you think I’m capable?”
Alice eyed the man up and down. “Not really,” she finally concluded.
“How disappointing. However, that’s neither here nor there.”
Alice and Felicity had both taken a seat on the couch while the banker took the easy chair, loosely pointing the gun in their direction.
“I already know why you did it,” said Felicity, “but how?”
“Very simple,” said the banker. “I knew Alan, of course. As a friend of the family I knew he was quite unstable and possessed a homicidal tendency, especially where his wife was concerned. You see, when he killed that man in Vermont it was because he had insulted Alan’s wife, which made him go quite berserk. So I acquired an app that effectively distorts the voice, picked the one that resembled the late Sophia Shaw’s and started giving Alan phone calls, informing him that his dear sister was about to sell his cherished inn without his knowledge and reminding him of the vow he took never to allow it to go out of the family. After that, it was quite easy. The man would have done anything to please his beloved Sophia.”
“Quite an act,” muttered Alice.
“How did you know I was onto you?” asked Felicity, unnerved by the sight of that gun.
“You may or may not know this, Miss Bell, but bank managers do keep tabs on their personnel. When you conversed with your friend Gemma Weston at the bank the conversation was relayed to my manager, who informed me that you were snooping around and asking questions about me. It didn’t take long to figure out where this was headed.”
“It’s too late,” she said. “I already talked to Chief Whitehouse about my suspicions.”
“I know. And trust me, he won’t find a thing. You, on the other hand, are one of those nosy parkers, aren’t you? The kind that never stops? So I just figure that with you out of the way this story will end.”
“My dad will never let you get away with this,” bit Alice.
“He will when your deaths are so obviously accidental. A gas explosion is such a common occurrence these days it won’t raise too many questions.”
“This is wrong,” said Felicity. “Give me one good reason why you would do this.”
The banker chuckled. “Oh, my dear Miss Bell. I’ll give you twenty million. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to focus for a moment. Make sure I don’t gas myself.” And with these words he took out a can and sprayed a noxious substance in Alice’s face. Instantly, she dropped down on the couch, knocked out.
Startled, Felicity reeled back and her hand found the remote control, wedged between the couch cushions.
“Mh. Seems to work just fine. Bye bye, Miss Bell. I’d say it was a pleasure, but I’d be lying.”
And with a devious grin, he held up the can.
Quick as a flash, Felicity flung the remote in the man’s face. It hit him between the bushy brows and he screamed in pain, dropping the canister. She dove for the device, depressed the button, and hit the banker in the face with a generous dose. He slumped, the pistol falling from his nerveless grasp.
Panting, Felicity stood over him, the can still in hand, watching her attacker, and fully expecting him to rear up again, like the bad guys in the movies.
When he didn’t stir, she relaxed.
Then, suddenly, the front door burst open and a male figure sprang into the room. “Surprise!” Rick yelled, holding out his hands.
In a reflex action, Felicity whipped up the can and sprayed him full in the face.
Rick Dawson went down like a ton of bricks.
Epilogue
The party was in full swing when Felicity and Rick burst onto the dance floor. The mayor’s ball was always a fun affair and this year even more so, for the menace that had hung over Happy Bays like a pa
ll had been lifted and Felicity felt she could finally breathe again.
Her article had appeared and had been quite a success. Even Stephen said he couldn’t have asked for a better story, though he still found it necessary to rewrite half of it and change the title from ‘Happy Bays Inn Murderer Caught’ to ‘The Happy Bays Horror: Heroic Baker Foils Homicidal Banker.’
Well, she had to admit it did have a nicer ring to it.
Rick had regained consciousness around the same time the police had arrived to arrest Domino and had suffered no permanent damage apart from a slight diminution of the exuberance he’d felt when surprising Felicity that he’d finally returned from Paris.
And Alice had awakened just in time to find Reece fawning over her. At first she thought she was dreaming, but when she realized this was actually happening, she’d flung her arms around his neck and hadn’t stopped kissing him until her father arrived and coughed so loudly she thought a bomb had exploded in her rear.
Life had returned to normal, and Rick had even suggested they move in together, as had Reece.
The two women had told the men in their lives they would think about it. They weren’t ready to stop being roommates just yet.
“You look wonderful tonight,” murmured Rick into her ear as they were dancing cheek to cheek to Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On.
“Thanks,” she murmured back and reveled in the warmth of his embrace.
“Have you decided yet?” he asked.
“Well, Alice and I have talked it over.”
“And?”
She spun away for a moment, holding onto his hands, and smiled. “Yes.”
His eyes widened. “Oh, Fe. That’s wonderful!”
He pulled her in and kissed her tenderly. She swooned, her spine tingling. She could get used to this, and now that they were moving in together, she realized that she would. “There’s just one catch.”
“Oh?”
“You know how Reece asked to move in together too?”
“Sure.”
“And how Alice and I love rooming so very much?”
“Of course. Fe, that won’t change. You and Alice are best friends. I don’t want to come between you.”
“I know. And you won’t. We’re moving in together.”
“Great.”
“All of us.”
“Mh?”
“You and I and Alice and Reece. We’ll all move in together.”
There was silence as Rick digested this piece of information, then he took her by the shoulders. “Wait. What?”
She gave him her most radiant smile, then, from the corner of her eye, saw that Alice and Reece were dancing just nearby. “Oh, look, there’re Alice and Reece now.”
Rick was unfazed. “I know. What?”
“You and I and Alice and Reece. We’ll all live together.”
Rick’s lips moved but no sound was produced. Felicity looked over and saw that Reece had the exact same expression on his face. She smiled at Alice. ‘I think this is going really well,’ that smile said.
Alice returned her smile and added some wattage of her own. ‘I’m not so sure,’ her smile said.
Then Reece and Rick caught each other’s eye, but instead of smiling, they simply stared. In horror.
Both Felicity and Alice stood on their tippy toes and kissed their respective boyfriends, drawing their attention back to themselves.
“I love you, honey,” murmured Felicity.
Rick blinked, then grinned. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Oh, honey,” he said, picking her up and swinging her around until she was whooping with joy.
“I love you too,” he said when he finally set her down again. “So about this moving in together…”
She hugged him close. “I knew you would like it.”
“Right.”
Rick looked over at Reece and they grinned. ‘I think we can make this work,’ Rick’s grin said.
‘Damn sure we can,’ Reece’s grin said.
Felicity watched as her parents joined them on the dance floor, then Aunt Bettina and Uncle Achilles and even Chief Whitehouse and Alice’s mother. As she let her gaze wander, she noticed the Stokelys, too, and even Virgil treading the measure with his mother Marjorie. All her friends were gathered here, and she heaved a deep, contented sigh.
Life simply didn’t get any better than this.
About the Author
Nic Saint is the pen name of husband and wife writing team Nicole and Nick Saint. The Saints have been writing together since 2007, initially focusing on books about cat sleuths and bumbling spies, later funny/scary books for kids, then romance, before finally settling on what they like best: cozy mystery.
When they’re not writing, they enjoy their daily dose of yoga, a great movie, healthy food and a good book.
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Also by Nic Saint
Happy Bays
Humorous Romantic Mystery
One Spoonful of Trouble
Two Scoops of Murder
Russian Enforcers
Romantic Suspense
Russian Enforcer’s Reluctant Bride
Russian Enforcer’s Virgin Captive
Russian Enforcer’s Feisty Lover
Box Set (books 1-3)
Russian Enforcer’s Resistant Rescue
To Defy a Russian Billionaire
Russian Enforcer’s Burning Obsession
Russian Enforcer’s Dangerous Game
Box Set (books 4-6)
Russian Enforcer’s Royal Engagement
Standalone Novels
Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense
The Billionaire’s Valiant Rescue
Navy SEAL’s Virgin Lover
The Pastor’s Jezebel Lover
Billionaire Novelist’s Fiery Debutante
The Russian’s Tenacious Lover
Cozy Mystery
When in Bruges
Once Upon a Spy
Novellas
Romance
Blast From The Past
The Thorntons
Dark Romance
Scott
Roland
Jackson
William
Box Set (all four books)
Excerpt from When in Bruges
Chapter One
When Kate gazed out of the plane window and for the first time set eyes upon Belgium, that small country in the heart of Europe, her heart rejoiced. It was clear she’d picked a wonderful day for her trip. The transatlantic flight had just arrived in Brussels and was now taxiing up to the terminal, a glorious sun setting the azure sky ablaze with a brightness that had her squinting.
According to the captain’s announcement just now, temperature was a balmy eighty degrees with not a hint of rain on the horizon, a rarity for the notoriously wet country.
“Hey, dry land!” said Lauren, taking a peek out the plane window. “So I guess your mother was wrong about Belgium being located well below sea level.”
“Mom is wrong about a lot of things,” muttered Kate.
Contrary to her friend, Kate was on the petite side, with hair the color of copper, highlighted with streaks of gold, falling in a jumble of curls around an almond-shaped face, dozens of freckles liberally sprinkled across a small, tilt-tipped nose.
Warning her about the lousy weather was but one of many tactics Kate’s mom had resorted to when trying to prevent her daughter from traveling to Europe. The main reason was that she hated the idea of Kate being reunited with her biological father, a man she’d divorced shortly after Kate was born. Oddly enough, it was the only reason she hadn’t mentioned.
The marriage to the political science major Kate’s mom had met while backpacking through Europe had only lasted one year, jus
t long enough to bring Kate into this world, only to be instantly yanked away from her dad and back to the States. Among other things, Kate’s mom hated her husband’s essential Belgiumness, though if pressed about the matter, she found it hard to put her finger on what it was exactly that irked her about him. Too placid, perhaps. Not enough fire. Not enough passion. Not enough oomph for the drama queen that was Kate’s mother.
So when Kate had announced her wedding plans and more specifically her desire to invite her biological father as one of the guests, her mother had suffered heart palpitations. Her little girl getting married was one thing, but to travel all the way to that infernal Belgium so she could invite that infernal man was quite another.
“Really, darling,” her mother had exclaimed. “Do you realize that this man is a perfect stranger? He probably doesn’t even know you exist!”
“He does, mom,” Kate had said. “I wrote him and he was so gracious to invite me over for a visit so that we can get to know each other a little better after all these years.”
“This is sheer madness!” mom had said, with her customary flair for the melodramatic. “You do whatever you want, Kate, darling, but I really don’t want to see that man again. Ever!”
“That’s going to be kinda hard,” said Kate. “He’s promised to come to the wedding. So unless you want to miss out on the happy feast…”
“Nothing in the world would induce me to skip your wedding!” exclaimed mom. “Just tell him to… stay away from me!”
And so it was arranged. Kate’s dad—Piet Peeters was his name—would travel to the States for the wedding, but first Kate would spend some quality time with him in Bruges. For even though mom had remarried, and remarried, and then remarried again, none of these men could lay claim to the moniker ‘dad’ as much as Piet did, and she couldn’t wait to meet him.
Ten minutes later, they were off the plane, and another ten minutes later, a taxi whisked them away from the airport terminal, and they were on their way to the small town of Bruges.