“The governor will use me to wipe the smudge off his record, is that it?”
“Yes,” Chief Daily answered honestly. He turned to face Nikki to see her upset face. “This man will be arriving in two days. Let’s solve this case by then. It's your only chance, Ms. Bates. If you find the killer, I'll handle the rest and make sure the governor leaves you alone for good. I know a man, okay? He owes me a favor. We walked the streets of New York together back in the day.”
“I need the phone and internet records,” Nikki pleaded with Chief Daily. “I have my son to think about. He's away at college. If something happens to me, it will destroy him. And there's Tori to think about, too. The killer—I'm afraid Tori is his next target.”
“I’ll get them for you,” Chief Daily said, softening his tone. “In my opinion, the killer is a local. Someone upset with you because you got the mayor canned.”
Before Nikki could reply, Hawk walked into the office. When he saw how upset Nikki was, he looked at Chief Daily. “What's going on, Pop?”
“Helen Brendale was suffocated to death,” Chief Daily told Hawk, “and unless you find the killer in two days, Ms. Bates life will be suffocated, too.” Without saying anything else, he walked out of the office.
“Well,” Nikki said in a shaky voice, “I guess we better find the killer.”
Hawk watched a tear fall from her eye. He walked over to her and took the scared woman into his arms. “Hey, it's all right. We're going to find out who is behind this, okay?”
Nikki wrapped her arms around Hawk as tears spilled from her eyes. “Okay...” she managed to say and then closed her eyes. In her mind, she saw her son. And then she saw the cruel face of Nelson Millin. Good and evil, evil and good…
Chapter Nine
Cruising past the police station in a black sedan, Larry Reelington narrowed his murderous brown eyes. “I found you, Nikki. Oh yes, I found you,” he hissed. “Now it's time to pay the piper.”
Driving away from the police station, he drove into town and parked right in front of Nikki's store. He turned off the sedan, opened the car door and got out. Dressed in an expensive gray suit with his short black hair glistening in the late afternoon sun, he appeared authoritative and dignified, handsome and brilliant. “Time for some chocolate,” he said, spotting a plain-clothes cop pretending to bend down and check the front tire on a backcountry truck. “Hello, cop.”
Grinning, Larry walked into Nikki's store. “We're closing up,” Lidia called from behind the front counter when she heard the bells over the front door clatter.
Tori, who was sweeping the store, paused and looked at Larry. “Can I help you?” she asked.
Larry offered a pleasant smile and spoke in a voice so soothing that Tori immediately melted into the man's deadly hands. “My wife visited this store yesterday. She said the chocolate here was so delicious that she had to have more for our drive back to Buffalo.”
Lidia hurried out onto the floor. When she saw Larry she eased her body in front of Tori. “I'm sorry, we're closed for the day.”
Larry smiled at Lidia. “I like that shirt,” he said and pointed at the pink blouse Lidia was wearing over a long white skirt. “The color matches your features quite well.”
Lidia didn't accept the compliment. Something in her gut told her the strange man standing before her was dangerous. “We're closed. Please leave.”
Larry looked past Lidia to Tori. “Oh, what a shame. My wife was really wanting some more of Nikki Bates’ delicious chocolate.”
Tori grabbed Lidia's hand, now feeling fear grip her chest. “How do you know Ms. Bates?” she demanded in a shaky voice.
“Oh, we're old friends,” Larry explained, maintaining his smile and then, with hands that struck as quick and deadly as a viper, he snatched a gun from a shoulder holster hidden under his jacket. Pointing the gun straight at Tori, he grinned. “My, this day is turning out to be nice.”
“Don't...” Lidia pleaded as she moved her body completely in front of Tori’s. “Mister, please put the gun down, please.”
“I'm not interested in you, old woman,” Larry answered Lidia and stopped grinning. “Move away from the girl and walk into the back office. I've been in this store before. I know the layout. Now move.”
Zach eased his head up over the counter just far enough to see Larry pointing a gun at Tori. With only moments to think, he made a plan. As soon as Larry got close enough, he would attack the man and try to take away his gun. Lowering his head, he duck-walked to the end of the counter and waited. “Time to be a hero,” he whispered. “No more being a coward.”
Lidia took Tori's hand and walked her back toward the back office. As soon as she walked past the front counter, she saw Zach in position to launch an attack. Opening the office door, she led Tori in. As soon as Larry passed the front counter, Zach pounced. Like a lion, he shot forward and threw a hard punch into Larry's jaw. Startled, Larry stumbled backward. As he did, Zach used his left hand and slapped the gun in Larry's hand down onto the floor. Unfortunately for Zach, that was all he was able to do. Larry quickly stabilized, charged at Zach, and using his mixed martial arts skills, had Zach on the floor in a choke-hold within seconds. Intent on killing Zach, he didn't see Lidia charge out of the back office with a glass coffee pot in her hand. Lidia smacked Larry in the back of the head as hard as she could and then yelled for Tori to run from the store.
Tori ran out of the office on shaky legs and managed to get outside. “Help!” she yelled.
Officer James ran up to Tori. As he did, Larry exploded out of the store. When he saw Tori standing with the plain-clothes cop, he jumped into his sedan and sped away. Officer James pulled his gun, ran out into the street, and fired off four shots. One shot struck the sedan's back right taillight, while the other three missed their target. “Lidia!” Tori yelled, seeing Lidia wobble out onto the front sidewalk.
“I'm okay,” Lidia promised Tori, “he pushed me down. My head hit the floor.”
Tori wrapped her arms around Lidia and held her tight. “What about me?” Zach asked, stepping outside and rubbing his throat. In his right hand, he held up a gun. “He forgot his gun.”
Officer James ran up to Zach and took the gun from him. “I need to call this in,” he said, reaching for his cell phone in his pocket.
“My hero,” Lidia said, grabbing Zach. “You saved our lives, son.”
“Yes, you did,” Tori said, hugging him. Scared and shaking violently, she closed her eyes and began to cry. “That man was going to kill me.”
“Not on my watch,” Zach promised, knowing that he had come close to dying, as well. Acting tough, he wrapped his arms around Lidia and Tori and walked them back inside the store. Once back inside he locked the front door. “We're safe now. It's okay.”
Speeding out of town, Larry struck the steering wheel of the sedan with violent fist. Exploding with rage, he raced to Millin’s Gas Station and drove down a narrow trail leading into the woods. Like a dark shadow vanishing back into its pit, Larry drove into the woods and parked his sedan under a camouflage canopy. Breathing hard, he knew that the rules of the game had just changed, and not in his favor, either. “Stupid boy...you'll pay,” he promised Zach. “You'll all pay. Wait and see. The game has changed. Sorry Nikki, it looks like I'm going to have to kill you after all instead of making you suffer the way you made me suffer.”
Two hours later Nelson Millin returned to his gas station. He found Larry sitting inside behind the front counter. “I lost my gun,” he grumbled, sitting in the shadows.
“You idiot,” Millin snapped, slamming the front door closed. “Your description is all over town. Those cops down at the station were buzzing around like hornets when I left. I told you to wait until nightfall.”
“Listen, old man,” Larry warned Nelson, “I do as I decide, got it?”
“Sure,” Nelson Millin said walking up to the counter and staring down at Larry, “and look what your way got you.”
“I needed the deat
h of that girl to be in Bates’ store, old man,” Larry growled. “What I need from you is a gun.”
“I don't have no more,” Nelson Millin fussed. “The one you lost better not turn up anything, let me tell you that much.”
“It won't.”
“And where is my money? You told me that if I helped you, you would pay me ten grand. Where is my money? I want out of this pit. I want to take my last breath back in the town I grew up in,” Nelson Millin told Larry.
“You'll get your money,” Larry lied. Standing up he stared at Nelson. “I need a gun. Find me one. I know you have guns so don't make me take one by force.”
With an angry hand filled with brittle bones, Nelson Millin reached across the counter and grabbed Larry by his jacket. “Get rid of the woman, and then get out of town and don't ever cross my path again, do you hear me? Forget the money. Forget our deal. Just do your business and get. As a matter of fact, get off my property altogether.”
Larry looked at Nelson with shadowy eyes. “Why of course I will,” he said and then grinned.
Chapter Ten
Nikki rushed into her store. When she saw Tori and Lidia, she embraced them both. “I'm so thankful you're both all right,” she said through warm tears.
“We're fine,” Lidia told Nikki, feeling her own tears begin to fall. “I have to admit that I'm pretty shook up, Nikki. That man intended to kill us.”
“Zach saved us,” Tori told Nikki.
Nikki looked at Zach. She saw the young man standing against the front counter, wearing a black t-shirt tucked into a pair of jeans. But instead of seeing a street thug, she saw a young man changing for the better. Letting go of Tori and Lidia, she walked up to Zach and hugged him. “Our hero and—” Nikki stopped speaking. Leaning closer, she began to sniff Zach's shirt. “Hawk, get over here.”
“What?” Zach asked alarmed.
“Smell,” Nikki ordered Hawk pointing at Zach's t-shirt.
Hawk leaned forward and smelled the t-shirt. “The cologne,” he said.
“I tangled with that guy,” Zach explained. “Heck, he tangled with me. I got in a lucky shot and managed to knock the gun out of his hands, but after that, he tore me up. I was in a choke-hold before I could blink. If Lidia hadn't hit him with the coffee pot...shoot, I'd be on the other side right now.”
“You were very courageous,” Lidia complimented Zach.
“Not like at the Inn, huh?”
“Sounds to me like you redeemed yourself.” Hawk winked at Zach. “Well, at least we got a lead on the killer.”
“He wasn't a local,” Lidia informed Hawk. “This man had a southern accent, like Nikki.”
“He did?” Nikki asked.
“He also knew your name,” Tori told Nikki. “And he said he's been in the store before, too.”
“Staking the place out,” Hawk told Nikki. “Sounds like this guy has been in town a while. Which might explain how he knew Helen Brendale.”
“He seemed charming at first, but then he turned really creepy,” Tori told Hawk, standing next to a shelf full of delicious chocolates. Even the cozy atmosphere of the store didn't help calm her down. The smell of chocolates that filled the air now seemed suffocating. “Can we go home?”
Hawk patted his back pocket and pulled out a roll of papers. Unrolling the papers, he looked at Tori. “These papers contain the phone and internet records of your aunt for the past year. Tori, the phone records are all local. The internet records are mostly to online stores, except for the e-mails. For the past three weeks, your Aunt has been corresponding with a man she met on a dating site.”
“A dating site? My aunt?” Tori asked, amazed. “No, not Aunt Helen.”
“We all get lonely,” Nikki told Tori and quickly glanced at Hawk. “From what Hawk learned, this man contacted your aunt.”
“I managed to get a quick look at his profile before rushing here,” Hawk explained. “Tori, this man made his profile photo look a lot like your uncle.”
“We assume that's how he managed to lure Helen out of her home,” Nikki continued. “Chief Daily is searching your aunt's house for fingerprints right now.”
“Forgive me for sounding thick-headed,” Lidia cut in, “but honey, that man knew your name. He had a southern accent. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's pretty important, right?”
Hawk focused on Nikki. “Anyone you might know?” he asked.
“Hawk, I made a lot of enemies in Atlanta,” she explained and slowly began to walk around her store. She loved every square inch of it; she adored the shelves of chocolates, the cozy atmosphere, the smells, the warm feeling of a small town, and even more, her new friends. But her store had been violated by a deadly killer, and like Tori, she now felt that the store seemed dangerous, unfriendly and cold. “A lot of enemies,” she said again, walking up to Hawk. “I need to make a call.”
“Do it,” Hawk said.
Nikki nodded and made her way into the back office.
She sat down at the desk and called her detective friend in Atlanta. “Detective Dalton, please. Tell him Nikki Bates is calling.”
Grateful to be in a closed office, Nikki slowly let out a deep breath and tried to steady her nerves. The last thing she wanted was for an old friend to find out that she was scared. “Bates, is that you?” a familiar voice said.
“Hey, Dalton,” Nikki said, almost melting into tears at the sound of her friend's voice. “How are you?”
“The question is, how are you?” Detective Dalton asked, sitting in a smoky office with his gray tie loose around his neck. Speaking through the cigar in his mouth, he reached for a cup of hot coffee.
“I'm...well, to tell the truth, Dalton, I'm not doing so great.” Nikki drew in a deep breath and carefully explained to Detective Dalton about the killer loose in her new town. She finished with the killer attempting to murder Tori and Lidia. “Zach said this guy had him on the floor in a choke-hold in a matter of seconds, but bless that boy's heart, he saved Lidia and Tori from being killed.”
Detective Dalton grew silent. At the age of sixty-eight and slightly overweight, he felt tired, but with age came the process of slowing down. “Bates, does the name Larry Reelington ring a bell?” he finally asked.
Nikki froze. Terror gripped her heart. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead. “I know...I mean, are you talking about ‘Stealth’ Reelington, the hitman we brought down last year?”
“Bingo,” Detective Dalton said, taking a drink of his coffee. “It was your brain that led us to him, Bates. You remember what that lunatic said in court?”
“I remember,” Nikki whispered. “He said he was going to destroy my life and make me suffer.”
“Bates, you better sit down if you haven't already and brace yourself. Reelington broke out of prison two months ago. Now this is just between us, because the governor doesn't want to cause panic. There is a statewide manhunt out for him, but I've been telling everyone that lunatic ain't in the Peach State no more.”
“Dalton...Reelington...he's here, in Vermont,” Nikki said. “His description seems different, but it has to be him.”
“He's not alone.” Detective Dalton threw more miserable news at Nikki. “He has some girl with him. This girl helped him escape from prison.”
“Dalton, Reelington killed over seven people in Atlanta,” Nikki replied, feeling a cold chill slither down her spine. “He was a hired hit man sent to kill ten judges. He got close to the judges by manipulating their family members.” Nikki thought about Tori and how Larry had immediately charmed her. “It's not shocking that he manipulated some poor girl into helping him escape.”
“Poor girl or not, when we catch her, it's off to the big house,” Detective Dalton promised Nikki. “Listen, kiddo, sit tight. I'm on my way up to you. We'll catch this slime ball and—”
“No,” Nikki almost yelled at Detective Dalton. Standing up she pressed her back against the office door. “Dalton, listen, I'm in a lot of hot water right now. If the governor of this state finds
out a deadly hitman invaded this town to seek revenge on me, my goose is cooked. I have to bring down Reelington my way, okay?”
“Are you insane? Listen, Bates, this lunatic is a killer. And from what you just told me, he's on a warpath.”
“I know,” Nikki said, “but I think I have a lead. Listen, there is this old man named Nelson Millin...” Nikki told Detective Dalton about her encounter with Nelson. “He told me he didn't like people who rocked the boat. At first, I thought he was talking about what happened with the mayor, but now I'm wondering if he was hinting at the judges Reelington was sent to kill. I remember the names of every one of those judges, Dalton. They were the type of judges that would have gripped Millin’s mind.”
“You sit tight. I'm on my way. I'll—”
“I have two days before a state investigator gets here to ruin my life,” Nikki exclaimed angrily. “Dalton, if you come charging up here, I might as well jump into a pot of boiling water. I have to catch Reelington without anyone finding out who he is. I have my son to think about.”
“Then let me come up to you,” Detective Dalton insisted. “Bates, we can catch this lunatic, and I can haul him back to Georgia just as quietly as a mouse sneaking a breadcrumb at midnight.”
Nikki considered her friend's request. In all truth, she knew she needed his help. “I... yes, okay, Dalton, get up here. But please, we have to catch Reelington my way. The governor is sending someone to destroy my life in order to make his office look squeaky clean.”
“Look,” Detective Dalton told Nikki taking the cigar from his mouth, “we've always worked well as a team, haven't we?”
“Yes.”
“I know your ways and you know mine, right?” Detective Dalton asked.
“Yes.”
“So stop running through red lights on me like a stupid teenage girl,” Detective Dalton finished. “If you're in hot water, then we play it cool until the stove is turned off. But don't expect me to play nice with a killer, Bates. I'm going to bring him back to Georgia and make sure he rots in prison. Are we clear?”
Blueberry Truffle Murder (A Maple Hills Cozy Mystery Book 3) Page 4