A Plain Malice: An Appleseed Creek Mystery (Appleseed Creek Mystery Series Book 4)

by Amanda Flower

  “Gertie gave me some fish jerky she brought from Mississippi.”

  The chief touched her pen to the paper. “And you ate it. You do have a death wish.”

  “Gertie wouldn’t have poisoned me,” I said. At least I don’t think she would.

  “I’ll have to check it out.”

  “There’s a piece in my purse.”

  Timothy plucked my purse off a chair in the corner of the room and removed the sandwich bag. He gave it to the chief. She held it in front her like she was examining a bug. “You ate that.”

  “Just a tiny bite to be polite.”

  “Polite could have gotten you killed.” She placed the bag on the corner of the bed. “What else did you eat?”

  I pulled the sheet up closer to my chin. “An Italian sausage.”

  She just shook her head and recorded what I said. A few minutes later, she snapped her notebook closed. “That will do for now. There is someone else here to see you.”

  “Who?” I heard myself ask even though I knew.

  “Curt.”

  I hated it when I was right.

  “He’s waiting out in the hall and as much as I try to chase him away, he won’t leave until he sees you. He won’t take my word that you’re all right.” Her eyes slid to Timothy, who had been silent throughout the chief’s interrogation. “And we both know he won’t believe anything Troyer says.”

  I could use that cup of water again wherever it was. “I’ll talk to him.”

  The chief nodded, and when I thought she was about to leave the room, she hesitated. “I’m glad you are okay, Humphrey. I like having you around.”

  Were Chief Rose and I friends? I couldn’t really see us braiding each other’s hair or having sleepovers, but there are other types of friendship among women. A mutual respect.

  The door’s latch clicked shut after her.

  Timothy’s blue eyes were wide. There was fear there. Fear over the possibility of losing me. “I can stay with you while you talk to Fanning.”

  “No,” I whispered. If Timothy heard what Curt had to say to me, it would only make the situation worse. Then again, Timothy wasn’t a fool, and he may have known about Curt’s feelings for me a lot longer than I had. “I’ll be fine. Please send him in.”

  He took my hand and kissed it. “All right.” Timothy opened my room door and poked his head out. “You can come in now,” he said in a gruff voice.

  Timothy stepped to the side as Curt shuffled into the room.

  “I’ll be just on the other side of the door.” Timothy’s voice was heavy with a threat.

  The latch to the door clicked shut after him.

  Curt stood at the foot of the bed and clenched his hands in front of him. “You threw up on my shoe.”

  “Sorry about that. I’m sorry you had to witness that whole episode. I’m mortified.”

  “Don’t be.” He folded his hands in front of himself. “I’m glad I was there for you. I want to always be the one there to help you, Red.”

  I squinted as if in pain. “Curt—”

  “I shouldn’t have approached you like that. When you said you didn’t feel well, I should have paid attention and helped you to the hospital before I told you how I felt.”

  “Curt—”

  “Pastor Chris said I need to work on thinking before I act. I need to put others before myself. I’m still learning. Slowly. And after the life I led, it’s a struggle every day, but I’m getting better at it. Today is not the best example,” he pressed on. I suspected he knew exactly what I was going to say.

  “Curt—”

  “But even if that was the wrong time to say it,” he said in rush. “Everything I said was true. I do love you. You are the only woman for me. I know that in my heart.”

  “Curt—”

  He opened his mouth as if he was going to speak again. This time, I was faster. “No, you said your piece. Now, it’s my turn. I’m flattered,” I said, realizing I was. After all Curt and I had been through, most of which was turbulent at best, it amazed me he could care for me. “But I’m in love with Timothy. Nothing will change that. We’re going to get married.”

  “You are? I don’t see a ring.” I stared at my left hand.

  The fingers of my left hand involuntarily curled inward. “Even without a ring, I know we are.”

  His face flushed. “How do you know? Have you talked about it?”

  “That’s none of your business,” I said more harshly than I intended.

  “If you are not engaged, you are single, which means I still have chance.”

  “You don’t.” I swallowed and felt like I was going in for the kill, but it had to be said. “Even if Timothy and I weren’t together, I wouldn’t be with you. I don’t love you, not like that.”

  He dropped his head as if a great weight, like a barbell had been dropped on the base of his neck.

  “I,” my voice cracked. “I don’t want this to have an impact on how far you’ve come. I do care about you. I’m so proud, and I still think Faith Beyond Bars is a wonderful idea. I’ll help you any way I can.” I took a breath. “I must tell you a secret.”

  He looked up, but the anguish I saw there was almost more than I could bear. It was the face of rejection. The same look I saw on Aaron’s face when Becky turned him away, the same look I saw in the mirror when my father turned me away.

  I took a shuddered breath. “You’re brave. You walked away from a life you were used to and started a new one. You’ve changed, Curt. I see it, Chief Rose sees it, and everyone sees it. That kind of change takes bravery. I don’t know if I could have done it. I doubt I could have done it.”

  “You would have,” he whispered.

  I shook my head.

  “I did it because of you.”

  I closed my eyes, and the weight of his words settled onto my chest. “Don’t say that.”

  “Why not? It’s the truth.”

  I gripped the edge of my blanket in my hand. “Honesty is good. Do you accept my honesty back?”

  “Yes, but I don’t have to like it. Would you like some more water?”

  I nodded and accepted the cup from his hand.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Dizziness swirled in my head as Timothy pushed my wheelchair through the hospital. As he turned the chair around to back out of the hospital sliding glass doors, I was grateful for the chair. Another wave of nausea swept over me. Timothy helped me into his blue Ford pickup truck waiting at the curb.

  Mabel whimpered as I settled into the seat and sniffed the back of my head.

  I held up my hand so she could smell it. “I’m fine, Mabel. Don’t worry.”

  She whimpered again.

  Through the windshield, I watched as Timothy returned the wheelchair. He moved stiffly, and I sensed the stirring of pent up emotion bubbled just below his skin. I bit my lip.

  Quickly, I scanned the parking lot for Curt’s green truck. It wasn’t there. At least one complication was out of the picture.

  Timothy climbed into the truck and slammed the door.

  Okay, he was upset. Timothy was not the door slamming sort.

  “Timothy, I—”

  “I almost lost you. Again.” His voice was filled with anguish.

  “Dr. Bryant said daffodil poisoning isn’t fatal.”

  Timothy slapped the steering wheel so hard it should have split in two. “I don’t care what the doctor said.”

  I shrank back into the passenger side door. I‘d never seen Timothy so angry, so angry at me, before. Through the windshield, I saw a hospital worker sitting on stone bench outside of the hospital doors. He watched us intently as if considering some type of action to save the damsel in distress. It’s not what you think.

  Timothy stared straight ahead. “You can’t keep doing this to me. It’s going to kill me. I want you to stop.”

  “I can’t.” I swallowed. “You need to take me back to the inn.”

  His neck snapped in my direction.

  �
�Pearl is there by herself. She could be in danger. I need to take care of her.”

  “We can go collect her and she can stay at your house until she leaves, but you are not staying at the inn. I forbid it.” He started the truck and pulled away from the curb. I felt the hospital workers eyes on my back as the pickup joined the traffic on Coshocton Avenue.

  I bristled. Now I was mad. “You forbid it.”

  “And I don’t want you around Curt any more either.”

  I straightened. “Curt had nothing to do with this. He happened to be there when I was sick. He’s not responsible for what happened.”

  “He’s responsible for enough. You know that as well as I do.”

  “He deserves a second chance.”

  “Not with you he doesn’t. Stay away from him.”

  I sat up straighter in my seat. “Timothy, I’m not an Amish woman nor I will never be one. You can’t order me around. I want a partner, not a boss for a husband. You’d better figure that out now, or this relationship is going nowhere.”

  He clenched the steering wheel. The muscles on his arms tightened. The side of his jaw clenched and unclenched. Just as quickly as the anger overcame him, it was gone. His shoulders sagged and the veins on his forearms deflated like the air out of a tire. “I don’t want to be your boss, and I love you because you’re strong, brilliant, and independent. I don’t want to change you or make you to be any other way than what you are. But I do want to protect you, and I’m failing at that. I’m never there when you need me.” The smallest of tears gathered in the corner of his eye and slid to his cheekbone.

  I reached over and wiped the tear from his cheek. The tear hung from my finger until it fell to the upholstery-covered seat. “I love you for wanting to be the one to protect me, but you can’t be there every second. I’ll admit I seem to find more trouble than most girlfriends—”

  The corner of his mouth tilted up in a wry smile. “You can say that again.”

  “But you will have to trust me to take care of myself. You know I will come to you when I need help, don’t you?”

  “I do. The problem is you don’t always recognize that you do until it is too late.”

  We drove in silence the rest of the way to the inn. Timothy thought Pearl would be willing to leave the inn, but I wasn’t so sure. Pearl was afraid and for good reason. If she felt she was safest in her own room in the Dutch Inn, there was no way we would be able to convince her to go anywhere else.

  The pickup rolled into the circular drive of the Dutch Inn. Timothy parked in the empty spot by my Beetle. Ephraim stood in the middle of Jane’s garden, hosing down the flowers. Gross.

  Timothy unbuckled my seatbelt and pulled me toward him as if I were a small child. He murmured into my hair, “I’m sorry. I want to kiss you, but I’m afraid you are too sick for it.”

  I chuckled into his chest. “You can kiss me if you would like. I brushed my teeth at the hospital.”

  He barked a laugh and then kissed me.

  As he kissed me, I couldn’t help but be reminded of that last kiss I had received from Curt and wondered how I would tell Timothy about it without upsetting him again. I placed a hand to his smooth cheek and decided that was a conversation for another day.

  An hour later, Timothy continued to try to convince Pearl to leave the inn. Pearl wasn’t going anywhere. Timothy and I sat with her at a tiny table in one corner of the lounge. Duke and Jimbo played a game of chess on the other side of the room, and in the middle of the room, Bitty, Bobbi Jo, and Raellen compared quilting kits they purchased at a quilt shop in Charm.

  Pearl wrung her hands. “I can’t leave here. The room Jane gave me is very nice. It’s only for two more nights. My cousin’s body will be released Wednesday. I’ve made arrangements to fly home with it.” She choked on her words.

  I reached across the tiny round table and squeezed her hand. “Then, I will stay here too.”

  Pearl smiled. “Thank you, Chloe. You’ve been too kind to me, and it’s so nice of you to offer your home to me. I’ll be much more comfortable here at the inn.”

  “I think this is a bad idea, but I’ll stay too if this is what you want to do,” Timothy said. After my “you’re not the boss of me” speech, he treaded lightly.

  Pearl beamed at him. “Thank you. You two are the perfect couple.”

  She wouldn’t think that if she had been in Timothy’s pickup an hour ago.

  Pearl struggled to her feet. “I think I will go to bed.”

  Timothy jumped up to help her.

  My cell phone on the table read eight ten in the evening. Outside the light was dimming over the garden with the setting sun.

  “Did you eat anything?” Timothy asked Pearl. “I’m sure there’s something in the kitchen we could find for you to have.”

  “I have some crackers in my room,” Pearl said. “Those will be fine. I haven’t felt much like eating lately.”

  That I could understand. Food. Ugh. I wondered if I would ever be able to think about food again without wanting to toss my cookies.

  “Thank you again,” she said and shuffled from the lounge.

  Timothy sat back down. “I think you should go to bed now too. It’s been a long day, and you’re still not feeling well.”

  I opened my mouth to protest.

  “Don’t deny it. You’re as green as a frog.”

  I’m sure that looks very holiday festive with my red hair.

  I picked my phone up from the table. “Okay, but I’m going to bed because I want to, not because you told me to.”

  He smiled. “I’m okay with that.”

  In my room, I’d just changed into my pajamas when the room door burst open, and I literally fell off the bed. “Surprise!” Becky bounced into the room and leaned over me. “Chloe, are you okay?”

  “I’ll be fine after I shove my heart back behind my sternum.”

  She tucked her blonde hair behind her ear. “Maybe I should have knocked?”

  “That would have been nice,” I muttered.

  She helped me off of the floor. “You aren’t hurt, are you?”

  I rubbed my elbow. “Not really.”

  “Good.” She dropped her extra-large overnight bag on the floor.

  “What are you doing here?” I sat crossed legged on the bed and set my iPad to the side. “And how did you get inside my room?”

  “Jane gave me an extra key for the room.” She dangled the key in the air. “And Timothy called me. You don’t think he’d let you sleep alone when you had been poisoned. You need to tell me all about that, by the way. I want all the details.”

  “Trust me, you don’t. Most of them are beyond disgusting.”

  She hopped onto the other twin bed. “Hmmm, never mind. Maybe I don’t want to know.”

  I moved m iPad to the nightstand. “Timothy really didn’t have to call you. I’m fine, and he’s sleeping on the first floor in this inn too.”

  “You know my brother. He’s protective.”

  Like a mama tiger.

  It was dark outside. “How did you get over here so late?”

  “Danny gave me a lift.” She beamed. “We’ll have a sleepover.”

  I laughed. “Becky, we live in the same house. I’m not sure that qualifies us for the sleepover material.”

  She hopped off the bed. “I’m putting on my PJs. I just bought some new ones at the Polaris mall last week. They are pink silk with tiny little pies and cookies on them. They’re so cute.”

  I bit my lip to stop myself from telling her she should be saving her money for school—whatever school that might be—not spend it on silk pajamas with baked goods printed them on them. She needed to make her own decisions and choose her own path. Becky didn’t like me telling her what to do, as much as I didn’t like Timothy telling me what to do. I tried to remember that. She left the Amish so that she could make her own decisions. I had to let her do that.

  Becky scooped up her bag and went into the bathroom. “And maybe you can tell me
more about the Alex Tate guy.”

  Oh boy.

  “I don’t know much about him,” I admitted when Becky came out of the bathroom.

  She bounced onto her bed. “You don’t think he has anything to do with those people, who died, do you?”

  I shook my head.

  “Then who do you think did?”

  I leaned back against the headboard. “I don’t know.”

  “What about the deacon?”

  “He does have a motive. He doesn’t want more bus tours in the district, and the bishop said there wouldn’t be any more after what happened. If that was the end the deacon was trying to achieve, he got it.”

  “Who else?”

  “There’s the bus driver, Hudson.”

  Becky wrinkled her nose.

  I laughed. “He’s not the nicest guy, but Dudley was giving him money to keep quiet about Dudley’s gambling business. He won’t get that money anymore now that Dudley is dead. And dislikable as he is, I don’t see any reason for him to want to hurt Ruby. Along with the gambling, Earl Kepler is a suspect. He’s a recovering gambling addict. Dudley may have pushed him too far to try to get the other man to relapse.”

  She hugged a pillow to her chest. “So you think Dudley was the intended victim? Not Ruby?”

  “I think that’s much more likely, but I can’t be certain, at least not yet.” I placed a hand to my forehead. The headache I had in the hospital returned with a vengeance.

  “Chloe, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I think I just need some rest.”

  “Of course, you do,” Becky said, jumping off of the bed to turn over the overhead light. “Good night.”

  I heard her even breathing in a matter of seconds. I stared at the ceiling. How I envied her ability to fall asleep so easily.

  I woke up in the middle of the night with a start. What time was it? Where was I? I hadn’t pulled the curtain closed over the French door leading to the balcony, and moonlight filled the small room and slashed across my pillow. Maybe that’s what had woken me up. Moonlight hit Becky directly in the face too, but she didn’t stir. I climbed out of the bed, and the pine wood floor felt like an iced over pond under my bare feet. I closed the curtain just enough so that the moonlight would not disturb Becky.