“Thank you for your help, ma’am,” Ernie said, backing toward the doorway.
“Yes, thanks.” Colin rushed out the door and Ernie followed.
Once back inside their vehicle, they drove to the address on the note.
“This can’t be right. The number doesn’t exist.” Colin pulled his Jeep over to the curb and they both got out. They were at the end of the street and the only thing beyond it was an open field.
“Shoot!” Colin kicked a rock across the weeds. “The numbers don’t go that high.”
“He didn’t want anyone to come looking for him.”
“At any rate, we know he’s still in town.” Colin ran a hand over his jaw and headed back to the Jeep.
“Or at least he was.”
~*~
It was nearing six p.m. and the sun was almost set when Emily got home. There was a big pot of red cyclamen sitting on her front porch.
A chill danced down Emily’s spine and she pulled her phone out of her purse to call Colin, but decided it was a smarter idea to get into the house first. She stuck the phone in her jacket pocket and bent down to pick up the pot and lug it into the house. But as she stood up, she felt the point of something sharp press against her back.
“Hello, Emily,” a deep, calm voice said from behind her, one that sounded vaguely familiar. “Don’t make a scene. Smile and take the flowers into the house.”
Her mind raced. Where’s my gun? It was in the purse dangling from her arm. Her gaze flew to the right and then to the left, glancing up and down the street as she unlocked the door, holding the pot of flowers in her left arm. She saw no one who could help her.
“What do you want?” she asked as the deadbolt flipped open.
“You’ll see.”
Emily quickly stepped inside and whirled around, working to force the door shut before the man could get in, but his strength was too much for her. He kicked the door open, throwing her back against the hardwood floor, sending the ceramic pot crashing down, and the soil and flowers flying everywhere.
She scrambled for her purse, but the man yanked her up off the floor by one arm before she could reach it. She stuck her boot out and hooked the heel through the handle.
The house was almost dark. She hadn’t yet seen his face. He cupped his hand over her mouth and hauled her to the kitchen, holding onto a knife in the hand slung across her chest. She dragged the purse through the living room, but she wasn’t able to keep a hold of it. Her gaze focused on it until she was pulled around the corner, into the kitchen.
The man tugged a chair away from the table and pushed her down onto it.
“Who are you?” She turned her head and glared up at him. He was wearing a black ski mask. She hoped that meant if she couldn’t identify him, he wasn’t planning to kill her—but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t.
Her phone began to ring.
The man looked around to see where the noise was coming from. “Where’s your phone?”
“In my pocket.”
He picked it out of her pocket and held it out to her. She saw it was Colin. She knew the masked man did too.
“I’m not here to hurt you, it’s Colin I’m after. Get him to come to the house, or I will cut you.”
He held the phone out in front of her and hit the answer button, putting it on speaker.
As he clasped the cell phone, Emily noticed the small tattoo on his hand—a little number six and a tiny red cyclamen beside it. Fear gripped her and she could hardly breathe. He was Allison Laraway’s killer.
Think, Emily.
Her head was spinning. How could she tip Colin off to what was happening?
She struggled to draw in a deep breath. “Hello,” she answered tentatively.
“Hey, Babe. Everything okay? You sound a little funny.”
“Oh, I’m just puttering around the kitchen, as usual.”
“I thought we could get a pizza or something.”
“Yes, pizza sounds great. A movie, too. You know, that new one Mr. X and the Hot Blonde.” Would Colin catch the clue?
“I don’t think I know that one.”
“Just look for it at the video store. I’m sure they’ve got it.” She fought to keep her voice even.
“Sounds sexy.”
The man nudged her with his knee.
“Uh, well, I’ve got to go. See you soon, Colin.” She stressed his name with more emphasis than usual, hoping Colin would realize she was trying to send him a message.
The man hung up the phone and set it on the table. “What was all that BS about the movie?”
“We always get a movie when we have pizza. Don’t you?” She hoped he believed her.
He huffed. “When will he be here?”
“I don’t really know. About half an hour, I guess.” Her heart was thumping so hard against her chest it was making her head ache. If she could only get to her gun.
“Then we’ll just have to wait for him.” The man pulled out a chair and sat next to her, holding the knife close to her neck.
“What is this all about?” Emily hoped she could get him talking, distract him enough that if Colin had caught on to her clues he could sneak in and rescue her.
“I’m not in the mood to talk about it.”
“What are you in the mood for?”
“Killing Colin Andrews.”
“Surely there’s some other way to work this out.”
“Not for me.”
“Emily, are you here?” a man’s voice called out from the front entry.
It didn’t sound like Colin, though. Was it Ernie? What was he doing there?
“Who’s that?” The man yanked Emily to her feet and kept the knife at her throat. He slowly moved her toward the kitchen doorway that led to the dining room, pressing his back to the wall.
“Sounds like Colin. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Emily?” the voice called out again from the entry.
“That’s not Colin,” the man insisted.
“I guess she’s not home, Marlene,” the man could be heard to say. The sound of footsteps leaving and the door shutting carried through the house.
“That wasn’t Colin,” the man repeated. “Where is he?”
The click of a gun engaging drew their attention and the man spun Emily around to face the sound.
“I’m right here.” Colin had snuck in the back door and now stood in the kitchen, his gun aimed directly at the masked man’s head. “Let her go. It’s over.”
The man kept his grasp on Emily, holding her firmly in front of him and keeping his blade pressed against her neck. “Not yet, it isn’t.”
She struggled to get free from him, but he tightened his hold. The blade pinched against her skin. Was this how it was all going to end?
“Put your gun down, on the floor, then kick it over this way,” the man ordered. “I came here for you, not for her.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Colin replied.
“Colin?” Emily begged for help with her voice and her eyes—for any hint at their next move.
“Emily, stop struggling.” Colin kept his gun focused on his target as he met Emily’s gaze with his own. “Just calm down and relax.”
“Relax?” she asked.
How can I relax?
“Yes, don’t stiffen up, relax,” he repeated in a calm, even tone, drawing out the word relax. Colin dipped his chin and glared at her, standing across the kitchen. “The man is twice your size.”
She gave him a slight nod, realizing what he was trying to convey to her. She let her body go limp in Bates’ grasp and the man leaned over to hold onto the dead weight.
A squeak from the old hardwood floors cut through the tense air. The man’s head snapped in the direction of the noise. In that brief moment of opportunity, Emily grabbed the man’s arm, twisted it, and flipped him over her hip and onto the floor.
She jumped back, but then she was pinned against the wall. The man had scrambled to his feet, and he lunged at her with
his knife. Emily flew to the side, the knife narrowly missing her.
Colin put two bullets in him.
He fell to the floor—face first.
Ernie burst into the doorway, his gun drawn, and surveyed the scene. “Whoa. You guys all right?”
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Colin replied, meeting Emily’s stunned gaze as he lowered his weapon.
“I think we’d better call this in,” he said, staring at the masked man lying on the floor. “Maybe one of you should start CPR.”
“Colin glanced over at his friend, then he leaned down and felt the man’s neck for a pulse. “Too late. He’s dead.”
Ernie pulled his phone off the belt holster. He punched in the numbers as he strode back to the living room.
Emily skirted by the body and ran to Colin as he stood, throwing her arms around him. He winced as he took a small step back to catch his balance before enveloping her in his arms.
“Babe, you’re shaking.” Colin tightened his embrace.
“I’ll be fine. Just hold me. I didn’t know if you’d pick up on my clues when you called.”
“Not at first.” Colin pressed his lips against her temple and rubbed her back lightly.
Emily laid her head against his firm chest. She felt safe in his arms. “How did you figure it out?”
“Ernie and I were talking about the tattoo on the killer’s hand and I remembered where I’d seen it—the guy at the coffee shop that waited on us.”
“Wait, you’re saying that’s Andy there on the floor?” Emily asked.
“I believe so.” Colin crouched down beside the mystery man and rolled him over on his back. “Let’s see if this is Kevin Bates.” He pulled the ski mask off. The man’s eyes were open.
Emily’s jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide. “Oh, my God, that is Andy.”
“Yeah, Ernie and I went to Moxie Java to find him, but he’d given a phony address to his employer.”
“You still didn’t say how you figured out my clue.”
Colin rose to his feet. “After the wild goose chase, we decided to call it a night. We weren’t far from here, so I phoned you to see if you wanted me to bring pizza by. You sounded kind of off.”
“What do you mean off?” Emily asked.
“You didn’t sound like yourself, and when you said you were puttering around the kitchen as usual, I suspected something was up. Since when do you putter around the kitchen?”
“Hey, I can do a few things in the kitchen.”
“That’s what made me think you might be trying to send some sort of message, but I didn’t understand it at first. So, I repeated it to Ernie, word for word. That’s when we both remembered you referring to the killer as Mr. X, and of course the hot blonde had to be you.”
“Of course,” she quipped.
“We figured the reference about the kitchen might be a clue that he was holding you in that part of the house.”
“I came up with that,” Ernie added proudly, as he walked back into the kitchen. “Police are on their way.”
“That’s when Ernie and I hatched our plan to distract the killer, drawing his attention to the front door so I could sneak in the back.”
Emily lifted her gaze to him. “I’m glad you guys figured it out or it could have ended very differently.”
“But it didn’t.”
“Sorry for making the squeaky noise,” Ernie muttered. “Those darn old wood floors. I tried to tiptoe.”
Emily twirled around within Colin’s embrace, her back now pressed against his chest. “Thank God for those old wood floors, Ernie. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The noise was just the distraction I needed.”
Ernie grinned at her, apparently pleased his misstep was a blessing after all.
Sirens blared in the distance, growing louder.
“The police will be here soon,” Ernie said. “I wonder what Detective Roberts will say when he finds out we’ve found the real murderer.”
“Between this and the video tapes, we have all we need to prove Colin didn’t do it.” Emily breathed a sigh of relief—she was finally a hundred percent certain of Colin’s innocence.
She would go to the grave with the secret of her tiny niggling doubt. She wished she had possessed the unwavering trust that Ernie had, but then he’d never been married to a world-class liar, like she had, and he had nothing to lose but a friendship if he was wrong.
Colin squatted down again and balanced on his haunches, studying the man’s face. “Looks like he dyed his hair to match mine, and he must be wearing colored contacts because he normally has blue eyes. But what’s with the beard?”
“As far as I know, he’s always had a beard,” Emily said, “ever since he began working at Moxie Java a few months ago. Well, except for that one day.” She stood over the body and her gaze fell on the man’s face before shifting to Colin’s.
“What do you mean?” Ernie asked, crossing his arms over his barrel chest.
“I remember he had shaved it off one day—for his girlfriend, he said. But then he began growing it back.”
Colin looked up at her as he stood to his feet. “Allison. It makes sense now. That night he wanted to be clean-shaven and camera ready.”
Chapter 26
“Are you almost ready, Babe?” Colin called out as he sat in Emily’s living room, waiting as she finished getting ready for a do-over of their engagement party. She had turned the table lamps on, filling the room with a warm glow, and their song played softly in the background.
When he had arrived, Emily was wrapped in her red satin robe, a little embarrassed at still needing to dress. She rushed him into the living room and asked him to wait patiently for her there while she finished up.
Camille, Maggie, and Isabel had insisted on throwing another bash to replace the one that had been so horribly disrupted. Emily had protested that another party wasn’t necessary, but her friends cajoled her into agreeing—for her own good, they had said.
“Just about done!” She zipped up the back of her fitted aubergine dress and slipped into her black stilettos. A fresh layer of lipstick was applied and a quick spritz of perfume. Now, she was ready.
The click of her heels on the hardwood floor announced her appearance in the doorway of her living room. Colin rose from the sofa as she sashayed into the room. The sight of him took her breath away. He looked as attractive and sexy as she’d ever seen him.
It wasn’t the sleek black suit and crisp white shirt that lay seductively open at the collar. It wasn’t his smoky hazel eyes and engaging smile. Certainly those things added to the pulsing attraction she experienced standing before him. But no, it was her all-consuming love for him that overtook her—and a new appreciation for having this wonderful man in her life.
Colin stepped to Emily and swept her into his arms.
“You look awfully handsome tonight.” She smiled up at him, feeling heat swirl inside her.
“When you have a gorgeous woman beside you, a man’s got to keep up.”
As their song continued to play, their bodies moved to the beat in a slow and fluid motion. Without another word, she gazed up into his adoring eyes and a passionate energy vibrated between them as they danced. Their friends were waiting, but she didn’t care.
He put a finger under her chin, raising it ever so slightly, and leaned down to kiss her. His lips were moist and warm as they claimed hers.
A shiver of excitement feathered up her spine, as his lips pressed into hers and the arm he slid around her waist pulled her in closer. Her hand glided up to the back of his neck. He kissed her deeply and thoroughly.
Emily sensed an intimate message in his kisses. Colin had already spoken of his undying love for her—his total and unreserved commitment—but what she felt in this kiss was something else. She felt urgency—an urgency to get on with their lives, an urgency to marry.
“I hate to say this, darling, but we’d better be going,” Emily said when they came up for air. “Our friends are waiting for u
s.”
“Let’s hope this engagement party goes better than the last one.” Colin smiled down at her and traced her jaw line with his finger. “If the first party was any indication of what our future holds, I know one thing—our life together won’t be boring.”
Emily nuzzled her face against the curve of his neck, the place that always made her feel safe and loved, and she felt the beat of his heart. She had almost lost him to death row—they had almost lost each other. But tonight, and every night thereafter, he was hers to have and to hold.
THE END
Afterword
I hope you were as excited and entertained as I was when writing The Pursuit of Lies. If you did enjoy the romance and suspense of The Pursuit of Lies, I would like to ask you a favor to go back to Amazon and leave a review. We indie authors live and die by our reviews.
Want more romance/suspense? Just check out the next section!
~*~
Other Works by Debra Burroughs
The Scent of Lies, A Paradise Valley Mystery: Book One
An engaging, fast-paced mystery with a sensual, but sweet romance.
Praise for The Scent of Lies…
“The Scent of Lies caught my attention on the first page and kept me engaged until the last. Main character, Emily Parker, is a likable, vulnerable, sassy, hotheaded, smart woman surrounded by loving friends. This cleverly crafted story takes the reader on an engaging romp through hidden clues, romance, crime and murder.”
~ Janis McNutt
Amazon Reviewer
“Debra Burroughs has once again had me addicted to my kindle. I love the characters in this book. They are so real and so likable you want them for your own. Each time I thought I knew who the killer was, there would be some kind of twist to make me question myself. I was rooting for Emily from the beginning. Can she solve this murder and really become the private investigator that she truly wants to be? She proves herself to all of those who doubt her.”
~ Yvonne Havens
Amazon Reviewer
To purchase or sample The Scent of Lies, simply click here.
The Pursuit of Lies, A Romantic Suspense Novel (Book #4, Paradise Valley Mysteries) Page 19