Ax to Grind

by Tonya Kappes

  “Hiding places,” Kiwi squawked. “Freeze! You’re it!”

  “Kenni.” Darby’s voice held a warning.

  “Would you like to go see those hiding places?” I asked.

  Hattie nodded her head and stood up. She walked over to Kiwi and opened his door. He jumped on her outstretched arm.

  “Can she take Kiwi?” I asked. “He won’t fly off or anything, will he?”

  Darby walked over and stood at the door between Hattie and me.

  “I think you need to call Dr. Shively to make sure this is okay.” Darby gave a good suggestion.

  “I’ve been meaning to call her. Good time now.” I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and scrolled through my contacts, hitting Camille’s name when I found it. I made a mental note to ask her about Paige being released from the hospital.

  Darby and Hattie, with Kiwi perched on her shoulder, stood next to the door, both watching me. Mama continued to work on plating the food for the guests, and she’d even gotten the reserve officer to start taking the plates out to the dining room where the guests had already seated themselves.

  “No answer.” I was a little disappointed, but I was also on a mission to solve this crime. “So, I’ll keep trying.” I put my hand on Hattie’s back. “You ready?”

  “I don’t know, Kenni.” Darby was on my heels.

  “I know that I need to know where this manuscript is, if there is one, because that is why someone broke into Hattie’s room. If it was a break-in and not just a let-me-look-around.” I leaned into Darby’s ear. “Just how well do you know Jenny? Think about it. She shows up here on the day of the murder. Just a little convenient that Paige worked here too.” I pulled back and gave her a long stern look before I cocked a brow. “I’ve got Betty looking into her past just in case somewhere along the way she knew Beryle.”

  Darby’s chest lifted when she took a deep inhale as she contemplated my words.

  “I do take people at their word, and I didn’t check her references,” Darby’s words faded. “Oh, dear. Maybe I need to call those references.”

  “Let me know what they say. Do you have a raincoat?” I asked Hattie.

  She pointed to the coat tree next to the front door and walked over to retrieve it. She used an umbrella to keep her and Kiwi dry. We headed out to the Jeep and got in.

  “I sure wish I was sitting with Sister in her car.” Hattie stared out the passenger window. Kiwi made a perch on the back of the seat.

  The rain beat down around us. The sky had turned to night. The old curvy road between the Inn and the Stone estate was slick as cat’s guts. My tires skidded off the road just as I swerved to miss a deer.

  Hattie grabbed the door handle as the Jeep jerked to the right and then to the left. Kiwi flapped his wings, sending feathers all over.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Hattie once I’d gotten the Jeep safely stopped on the side of the road. I noticed Kiwi’s nails had made a few holes in the seat, but that was okay as long as he was safe too.

  Her eyes were big and round. She nodded quickly. She gulped.

  “Good.” I looked in my rearview to see if I saw the deer. I knew I didn’t hit it.

  I turned over my right shoulder to look out the back window at the white billowy figure coming toward the Wagoneer.

  “Poppa?” I asked, wondering if he had ghosted outside. The figure got closer and came into view. “Paige?” Disbelief swept over me. I shuddered.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I grabbed a blanket off my backseat and jumped out of the car.

  “Paige!” I screamed when I saw that she had blood all over the front of her hospital gown. “You’re safe,” I said and wrapped the blanket around her cold and shivering body.

  “Sterling, Sterling,” she whispered over and over, her eyes blank. She looked to be in shock.

  “You’re safe,” I assured her and put a steady arm around her shoulders.

  As I walked her back to the Jeep, the rain continuing to bat at us, I glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone was following her.

  I opened the backseat passenger door and helped her into the seat. With the blanket still around her, I hooked the seatbelt around her.

  “You’re going to be fine.” I looked her straight in the eyes after I’d given her a onceover. Her previous wound looked like it’d opened up, and the blood on her gown looked like it’d come from the blood dripping down her face.

  It took me a minute to compose myself once I got in the driver’s seat. Hattie had turned completely around in the seat. The seatbelt pulled taut.

  “You okay, Paige?” she asked.

  Slowly Paige dragged her chin up. Her hair was matted to her head. She didn’t acknowledge Hattie. She just stared at her.

  I hit the button on the walkie-talkie.

  “Finn! Finn, where are you?” I asked.

  Paige shivered from the backseat. I wasn’t sure if she shivered from the cold rain that saturated her or the fact she was running out of the woods in a dead sprint and scared to death. I turned the heat up in the Jeep. Hattie and Kiwi continued to stare at Paige.

  “Finn, come in,” I said again, giving him another minute.

  When he didn’t answer, I took my phone out and called him. It immediately went to voicemail.

  “Paige,” I turned around, “I’m going to call Lonnie.”

  She didn’t move.

  I scrolled through my contacts and found Lonnie’s name and hit send. It went to voicemail too.

  “Paige.” I tried to get her attention. “Can you tell me where Lonnie is?” A sick feeling covered me. She didn’t answer. “Can you tell me who took you out of the hospital?”

  There was a crack of thunder, followed up by tendrils of lightning spreading in different directions across the sky.

  I called Camille Shively again.

  “Hello?” she answered.

  For some reason, it made me feel a little better. For a moment, I’d been feeling as if I was all alone in a scary movie.

  “Camille, it’s Kenni Lowry.” I didn’t wait for her to answer. “Did you discharge Paige Lemar from the hospital?”

  “I was in the process when I found out that she’d left with Lonnie. I’ve been trying to call them all night, because it’s imperative she takes her infection medications.” Camille made it sound so much better than it was.

  “Listen,” I took my voice down a notch because Paige Lemar was in shock and she needed something, “long story short, I’ve found Paige wandering around in the rain between the Stone estate and the Inn. I’ve got her in my Jeep. She’s in shock.”

  “Get her out of the rain and into some dry clothes. Cover her up and I’ll be right over. Where are you taking her?” Camille asked.

  “I was heading over to the Stone estate and it’s closest, so I’ll just take her there. See you soon.” We said our goodbyes, and I jerked the gear into drive.

  “Glad she’s dead,” Kiwi squawked on his way back over to Hattie’s shoulder. “Dead!”

  “What did you say?” Paige found her voice. Her eyes blinked a few times. “Kenni?”

  “It’s okay, Paige.” I turned the car into the estate driveway. “Dr. Shively is on her way. You’ll be okay. You’re in a bit of a shock.”

  “Shock. Shock.” Kiwi’s feathers stood up on end.

  I pulled up to the house as close as I could.

  “Hattie, you stay right here while I get Paige into the house,” I said and she nodded.

  I grabbed the umbrella and jumped out of the Jeep.

  Paige had already opened the door and had the quilt tucked up and around her. She was still shivering.

  “Lonnie. Where is Lonnie?” she asked in a quiet voice. Her eyes dragged up to the front of the Stone estate. “Beryle? Are you bringing me to work?”

  “We’re going to
go in and get some dry clothes on.” I nodded. I held the umbrella with one hand and curled an arm around her shoulder to guide her toward the house.

  Once I got us inside, I figured Beryle wasn’t going to be using her bedroom anymore, and Finn and I had already combed it for any evidence. Paige needed a bed and dry clothes.

  “Kenni. Am I going nuts?” Paige asked. She stood in the doorway of Beryle’s en suite bathroom with the blanket tight around her.

  “No, honey.” I took a pair of Beryle’s flannel pajamas out of her dresser and walked them over to Paige. “You’ve been through a lot, but it’s all over now,” I assured her.

  She was fragile and in shock. This wasn’t the time to question her about Lonnie or how she’d gotten out of the hospital. I’d wait until Dr. Shively gave me the okay.

  “You need help changing into these dry clothes?” I asked.

  “I’m okay. Can you call Lonnie and tell him I’m here? He worries so much about me.” Her face was stone, but her mouth softened. “Especially when Beryle needs me to read for her. She takes so long.”

  “Sure, Paige.” It was apparent she was not in her right mind. “I’ll be right back.”

  I was in bit of a pickle. On the one hand, I had Paige here in shock, and on the other, Hattie, who was outside with Kiwi. There was no way I could leave her out there much longer.

  “Betty?” I called over the dispatch. “Are you there?” I walked back out into the rain to get Hattie and bring her in.

  It would be nice if I could get Paige to sleep in the bed while I followed Hattie around and looked for some secret compartments.

  “Alrighty, you two,” I said as I swung the passenger door of the Jeep open with the umbrella positioned slightly over the roof and the open door. “Hattie?” I stared into an empty car. “Shit,” I muttered and looked around. “Hattie!” I screamed into the rolling thunder.

  “Here, Kenni!” Poppa stood by the barn, where the door was open, the broomstick on the ground.

  “What on Earth is she doing in there?” I shook my head, throwing the umbrella on the ground and running over. “Hattie?” I called into the dark barn.

  “Where is it?” Kiwi squawked.

  I flipped my flashlight off my belt and shined it over to the car, where a drenched Kiwi was perched on the convertible top, Hattie standing next to it.

  “Hattie? What are you doing?” I asked. “We need to go into the house. I’ll play hide and seek with you. Remember you were going to show me your hiding places with your sister?”

  “Yes. We loved sitting in the rain.” She turned back to me. “She’d paint. I’d talk.”

  “You said that.” I put my hand on her damp shoulder. “Let’s go on, and maybe we can take a ride later.”

  “Imposter.” She repeated the word that Beryle had painted on the canvas I’d found earlier. “Sister imposter.”

  “Your sister was a good person.” Poppa stood next to her.

  “Good person.” Kiwi lifted a claw into the air toward Poppa.

  “Why is it that animals and children can see me?” He bent down and looked at Kiwi. “Who killed Beryle?”

  “Glad Beryle is dead!” Kiwi put down the claw and lifted the other one up. “Dead.”

  Hattie jerked on the handle of the door. “Open the door. Sister painted.”

  “I know she did, but she’s not in there.” I took the key out of my pocket so I could show her. “Good grief.” I looked at Poppa, who was still trying to talk to Kiwi. “I’ve got Hattie out here and Paige in there. I can’t get a hold of anyone at the office. “

  I opened the door of the car and Hattie jumped in. I decided to let her get in to be satisfied that Beryle wasn’t in there. I took my phone out of my pocket and dialed the Inn. If I couldn’t get in touch with Finn, I’d use the reserve officer, since he was over there doing nothing while I had Hattie.

  I didn’t have any bars. Cell service was already spotty in Cottonwood, but the trees and down in the gully near the river really didn’t allow for cell towers to be built.

  “Okay, I’ll wait for Camille. Once she’s here, I’ll let her stay with them while I go back to the Inn and grab the reserve officer. When I get him here, I’m going back to town to find Finn and Lonnie,” I said, my head down, continuing to hit the dial button in hopes I’d catch a random signal. “Hattie.” I gave up and put my phone in my pocket. “See, your sister isn’t here. Come on. We need to go see Paige in the house.”

  “I came from Beryle’s and couldn’t find the book. Couldn’t find the book. Glad she’s dead.” Kiwi walked around and around on the convertible top. “Sister’s dead.”

  “No, she’s not,” Hattie said from inside the car. She grabbed the draped canvas and got out of the car. “No, she’s not,” she leaned over the roof and said to Kiwi.

  “Where is the book?” Kiwi asked.

  “I told you I don’t know what you are talking about,” Hattie said to Kiwi like they were actually having a conversation.

  “Hattie.” I put my hand on her shoulder.

  “Wait,” Poppa said. “I think we have something here.”

  “And I told you she’s dead, so give me my manuscript.” Kiwi danced back and forth on his feet. His head bobbed up and down.

  Hattie put the draped canvas on the barn floor and leaned it up against the car. She bent down and took the canvas out of the drape.

  “Hattie, why don’t we leave the canvas in the package for safety?” I reached for the canvas and she smacked my hand away.

  “Imposter,” Hattie said through gritted teeth. “Imposter!” She flipped the canvas around and ripped off the brown paper that was stapled to the back.

  “Shut up!” Kiwi screeched just as the thunder shook the barn and lightning lit up the inside, giving the person standing at the door a long and lean shadow.

  A pack of papers held together by a binder clip fell on the ground from the back of the canvas.

  “I’ll take that.” The shadow’s voice was angry like the nighttime sky. The sky cracked again, lightning flashed, and the eyes of Paige Lemar glowed with an inner savagery. The shotgun from my Jeep pointed at Hattie.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Paige,” I took a step forward, “what are you doing?” I asked, knowing she’d completely lost her mind.

  Her eyes were dark with emotion.

  “I’ve come for the manuscript.” She walked forward, my shotgun still pointed directly at Hattie. She took one hand off the gun and curled her fingers in and out. “Gimme.”

  “Nuh-uh.” Hattie shook her head and pulled the paper-clipped papers to her chest.

  “Everything is fine.” I took another step forward. “Paige, honey, you’ve been in an accident, and Dr. Shively is on her way now. And so is Lonnie,” I assured her.

  “Kenni-bug, I don’t think she’s doing this because she’s in shock.” Poppa wasn’t making sense.

  “They aren’t coming.” Paige laughed in a deep jovial way. “None of them are coming to help you. That’s mine. All of this is mine.”

  “Paige, are you telling me that you’re behind the murder of Cecily Hoover?” I asked, trying to sort out what was going on.

  “Murder. That is just such a yucky word. I made the world a better place.” Her wide-eyed innocence from earlier was merely a smoke screen. Now those eyes looked at me, dark and insolent.

  “Wait.” The word popped out of my mouth, trying to stall. “How did you make the world a better place by killing someone?”

  “Maybe I’ve given you too much credit.” She now pointed my shotgun at me. “I thought for sure that you’d figured all of this out.”

  My head was spinning around so fast that I couldn’t remember if I’d put shells in the gun or not. The darn thing had been in my backseat for so long. I rarely used it. When I did, it was just for a shot or two in the
air when I’d gotten a coyote call from dispatch.

  “But you were hurt at Ruby’s.” I stepped in front of Hattie who’d eased down into a squatting position with the papers tucked in her body. “Your head.”

  “Yeah. Who knew that Cecily would be able to fight back and take a swing at me before I could finish her off.” She held her hand out. “Give it to me, Hattie.”

  “Why?” I asked, buying time to figure out what I could do to turn the gun on her.

  “Are you kidding me?” she asked with vehemence. The sky lit up behind her, and the thunder rumbled off into the distance. “She left behind a tell-all manuscript that would not only expose her for who she really was, but expose me.”

  “Are you the one who fed her all the gossip in Cottonwood to make the plots?” I asked. “It would make sense because you were her friend.”

  “Friend? You mean her ghostwriter?” She looked at me. Apparently, I had a look of shock and awe on my face. She said, “You don’t know, do you?”

  “I don’t.” It wasn’t time to sugarcoat anything. I had no idea what she was talking about. All I knew was that she was the killer, and I had to get Hattie out of here as quickly as possible. Alive. “The only thing I know is that Beryle had been using Cottonwood secrets as her plots and changing the names. Like with my Poppa.”

  “This ought to be fun.” She smiled. “I really enjoyed catching him and Viola White in the sheriff’s department when Lonnie was his deputy.”

  “Don’t listen to this crap, Kenni-bug.” Poppa danced on his toes with his fists in the air. “I’m a southern gentleman and I’d never hit a lady. But she’s no lady.”

  “Beryle Stone didn’t write a single word. Not a word. But she did start somewhere.” She dragged the barrel of the shotgun in a motion that told me to sit down next to Hattie.

  I did what she asked, just like we’d learned in the academy. Hattie looked up at me from her crouched position on the floor.

  “My mother worked for her family as their housekeeper. I had to come to work to help my mom. Really, I was Beryle’s playmate. Beryle was always making up stories, but they were boring. I would tell her to add this and add that, which made her stories better. I was a senior in high school when my mother died. I still came and worked for them, picking up more cleaning duties. Do you remember those grocery magazines where you could send in short stories for publication?” she asked, as if we were just enjoying a cup of coffee, not her holding me at gunpoint.