Clock and Dagger

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Clock and Dagger Page 22

by Julianne Holmes


  I walked over to Rina, who stepped back, keeping the gun trained on me.

  “What about Beckett?” I said, walking down the hall toward the workshop. “Where does he fit in?”

  “He’s the biggest idiot of them all. Talk about spoiling a good thing. We were all set up to be a perfect distribution center in a quiet, unassuming little bookshop, then he decides to get smart and start shaking things up and working with Kim Gray, making grand plans and drawing attention to himself and to me. Yeesh.”

  “So he’s in business with you?”

  “No, he’s a front. I’ve been using him for years—whatever business he happens to be running at the time. He seems to think that he just pulls money out of thin air—that his businesses do well because of his skill. Can you imagine? Do you think he came up with the idea to open up this bookstore on his own? Of course he didn’t. I suggested it. Even drove him past the old bank a few times. He took credit for the idea, of course. I could play him like a fiddle. He thinks a great deal of himself and has never once questioned why someone like me would be with a toad like him. Now, keep moving.”

  She almost made me feel bad for Beckett. Almost. “Where do you want me to go?”

  “I need you to find the documents Caroline kept on the clocks.”

  “Documents? Clocks?”

  “Don’t play dumb, Ruth,” she said, growing impatient. “It doesn’t suit you, and it aggravates me. One thing I’ve always liked about you is your intellect. Now, where are the documents? Caroline told Wallace about them, thinking it would buy her time. Which it did. But time is at a premium, and the payment is due. Where are they?”

  “Caroline took them to my apartment earlier today. We can go get them.”

  “And run into Jeff Paisley or that puppy dog, Ben Clover?”

  “I wouldn’t call Ben a puppy dog,” I said.

  “Ugh,” she said, disgusted. “Please, just stop talking. We don’t really need them, I suppose. It’s just such a shame. All of that record keeping for years going to waste. Repair methods and points of contact that could be studied and used as we build our enterprise . . .” She trailed off as we entered the workshop. All the lights were on. Crates were open, but from what I could see, no clocks were damaged in the search. I suspected Wallace had something to do with that. I doubted Rina held horologist’s aspirations. “Plans are shifting, but what else is new? First that moron Mark refuses to continue to help me, even though we’d set him up to do exactly that. I’d like to know what kind of spell you’re casting over at that shop of yours. Perfectly good criminals going straight for minimum wage. I tried to make him see reason, but in the end I took care of that employee-liability problem with a shiny watch that he just couldn’t help but obsess over and one of Beckett’s favorite ties. I couldn’t exactly have him working right across the street from our enterprise.”

  “Took care of—you killed Mark? But I thought you were having dinner in Marytown?” I felt sick, remembering Mark’s empty eyes staring up at me.

  “Sit down on that stool over there and shut up.” Rina kept the gun trained on me and walked over to one of the crates that was open. She rummaged around a bit and then pulled out a clock. She turned it over and looked at the base, which was marked with a small black x in the center. “Gotcha.” She put the clock on the workbench, next to a couple of others.

  “So I guess you and Beckett weren’t having dinner?”

  “What did I tell you?”

  “Come on, Rina. I’ve got questions; you’ve got answers. I want to know how you pulled this off.”

  “Surprised you, huh? Well, I guess since I’m going to kill you anyway. Beckett wanted to hang around, go undercover, and check out the open house. We both agreed to use the Marytown dinner in case anyone asked.”

  “Beckett didn’t catch on?”

  “No. I even had him convinced he was the prime suspect, and I was doing him a favor. And now he actually is the prime suspect. I made sure of that this afternoon.”

  “When you attacked Tuck?” To my horror, rather than flinching she smiled a bit.

  “Losing him was such a shame,” she said, systematically sorting through the rest of the crate. “I’m going to have to figure out what to tell Fred.”

  “Fred? Tuck’s uncle? Is he one of your partners?” I realized that she thought that she’d succeeded in killing Tuck. At least I had that over her.

  “Fred and I have been friends for a long time.” Rina came up with another clock with an x on the bottom. It went to the workbench, and she dove into the crate one more time, never taking her eyes off me. “Such a shame about Tuck. He was an integral part of the operation, but far too young to understand the nuances. He was too easily influenced. Imagine wanting to give up the family business in order to stay in Orchard and make coffee? What’s wrong with people?

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Jeff won’t be coming to your rescue,” she said, lifting another clock out of the box and placing it on the workbench. “I texted him back with your phone and told him you’d made a mistake, the picture was inverted. That you and Caroline and Zane were all having a good laugh about it. Handy thing, texting. No voices to recognize.” Oh, Jeff, please don’t believe her, I thought. Please be on your way. “Calling 911 was riskier, but I did that too. I let them know that Caroline was safe and sound. I apologized for the false alarm. Apparently there’s a lot happening in the Berkshires tonight. The dispatcher was glad she could redeploy the trooper to another location. Of course they have to send someone eventually, but I’m planning on being long gone by then.”

  “What are you doing with the clocks?”

  Rina regarded me with a mixture of contempt and pity. “It’s not the clocks I want, it’s the cases. Mark packed them for us. Part of the merchandise we were going to try and move.”

  “What’s in them? Stolen jewels?”

  “Nothing so exotic. Just plain old drugs.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t look so shocked, Ruth.”

  “I hate it when people use clocks for nefarious purposes,” I said.

  “Did you just say ‘nefarious’? You are hopeless, you know that? Time to join the real world, Ruth. Oh, wait. You’ll be leaving it soon enough. You may as well hold on to your ideals.”

  I looked around the workshop. I’d spent a lot of time out here these past few weeks. Maybe if I could distract Rina for a moment . . . maybe I’d have a chance.

  “What are you looking for?” she asked, tensing and training the gun on me again.

  “Pat was going to leave one of my models out here,” I lied. “We need it for the Town Hall meeting tomorrow.”

  “It is a shame you’ll miss it. If that fool Kim Gray can pull it off with her partner in crime behind bars . . .”

  “Pull what off?”

  “Taking over the Town Hall. Destroying your business. Now that I have wasted months of work on this town I am happy that Beckett’s silly little side plan will drag Orchard down too. As much as I would have preferred him to keep a low profile, at least there is a sort of satisfaction in knowing that your precious, quirky downtown will be replaced by a bunch of shiny chain stores.”

  “So, what’s next? You just kill me and drive away?” I asked.

  “Well, since I am actually back in Boston having dinner right now, I couldn’t kill you, could I? That would have to be someone else,” she said, smirking. “A few friends willing to provide an alibi.”

  “Business partners?” I said, rolling my eyes. I needed to keep her talking. I looked around, trying to see what I could use as a weapon. There wasn’t much, not out. There were a couple of grandfather clocks in the middle of the space. Maybe if I could navigate Rina near one and knock it onto her? If nothing else it could block me from bullets.

  “Business partners, yes. Handy people to know, though this particular partner hooked me up with Wallace. Not the best connection he’s made for me. I suppose, being fair, how would he have known that Wallace wanted to reconnect with his family so desperately?


  “How did Wallace know that Caroline was in Orchard?”

  Rina shook her head. “I hate coincidence, don’t you? Apparently there was a remembrance service or something for your grandfather at some clock event or another. Right after he died?”

  “At the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Horological Society. Caroline and I didn’t go.”

  “There was some sort of slide show, with a picture of Caroline and your grandfather. Wallace was there. He’s the one who brought Orchard up as a possible business site. Suggested using clocks. He had his own ‘master plan.’ The fool.” She snorted and began to count the clocks she’d lined up on the bench.

  We both heard the noise at the same time. A slamming car door. Her spine stiffened and I sensed my moment was coming. When she turned toward the door, I darted to the right. She regrouped and shot at me, but her shot was wild. I dove at her midsection, and we both tumbled. I heard the gun clatter away. Rina was strong, stronger than I was. But I had fear on my side, and we kept wrestling. Finally I heard someone calling my name, and I stopped fighting and looked up. Ben Clover was standing there, holding Rina’s gun, looking like he wasn’t quite sure how he got there.

  I rolled off her toward Ben.

  “You okay?” he asked, not taking his eyes off of Rina, who appeared to have lost consciousness at some point during our struggle. Thankfully. It seemed like she would never stop talking.

  “Been better,” I said. “Is Jeff here?”

  “He’s on his way.”

  I rolled over to my knees and sat back on my heels. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see anyone,” I said to Ben. He offered me his solid, warm hand, and pulled me up to standing. “What are you doing here?”

  “You were right, earlier. I’ve been such a jerk. I came out to see if that dinner invitation still stood. Saw this place all lit up. The instant I shut my door I looked up and I saw Rina standing there holding a gun. And then I saw you—” He paused and I stared right into those gorgeous eyes of his. “Hey, are you all right?”

  All of a sudden I felt like I was going to faint. Ben put his arm around me, keeping the gun trained on our dazed adversary with his free hand.

  “I will be. It’s been a rough night,” I said.

  chapter 36

  I woke up sitting in a chair in Caroline’s hospital room. Jeff let me ride with Caroline to the hospital when I promised him we’d talk in the morning and agreed to talk to Ro Troisi when she came by the hospital.

  It took me a minute to realize what had woken me up. Caroline was saying my name.

  “Ruth?”

  “I’m here. Right here.”

  “Where’s Levi?”

  “Turns out his car broke down again. Pat drove to get him and will bring him here.”

  “Where’s Wallace?”

  “He’s in another room, with police guarding the door. Rina clocked him pretty good.”

  “Rina?”

  “It’s a long story. She’s telling it to the police right now. Or rather, she’s probably lawyered up by now. But I’ll bet Beckett is singing.”

  “He’s confessing? To what?” she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

  “To being an idiot, I think. By the way?” I said, stretching my legs out in front of me.

  “Yes?”

  “You’re going to be all right. Nothing is broken, miraculously. But you are really banged up and have a slight concussion. Your shoulder’s a mess.”

  “I was sure everything was going to be all right the minute I saw you in the basement,” she said, neatly arranging her blanket around herself, smoothing the wrinkles out.

  “Well, I wasn’t. I was pretty much terrified.”

  “I thought Wallace was going to kill me,” she said softly. I reached over and took her hand.

  “He’s going back to jail. This time, here in the States. He’ll be gone for a long time. He’s not ever going to hurt you, I promise.”

  “Unless he cuts another deal. He told me that’s how—”

  “He won’t cut a deal,” I said, stopping her. “You’re safe.” I squeezed her hand and did my best to smile.

  “How did he find me?” Caroline asked.

  “He saw your picture in a slide show at G.T.’s memorial service at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Horological Society. He found Zane—”

  “Is Zane all right?”

  “He is, or he will be. Ro came by earlier to get my statement, and let me know they’d found Zane.”

  “Thank heaven. I owe so much to Zane. When I came back here, with a different name, a new identity, I tried to make a different life. But I was a watchmaker. I couldn’t give that up. I knew it was a mistake to reconnect with Zane, but I couldn’t stay away. He was my only link to my old life and Wallace exploited that. He knew I would go back to Zane. I trusted him with my secret, and he kept it.”

  “He almost died keeping it. Zane didn’t tell him where you were. Ro said your phone number wasn’t even in his phone. Wallace only knew that you lived in or near Orchard because of that stupid slide show. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this,” I said. “Now I understand why you didn’t want to be on videos for the shop. I can’t imagine how hard it has been to look over your shoulder for so many years.”

  “When your grandfather was alive, I wasn’t afraid. Or as afraid,” she said, playing with her wedding band.

  “I’m so sorry . . .”

  “Ruth, let me finish. Do you know what Wallace said to me earlier? That he’d been trying to get me alone for days, but I was always with someone when he saw me around the shop. He knew his disguise wouldn’t work on me—you only fell for it because you didn’t know any better. He tried to follow me home, but someone was always with me. Wallace was able to control me when I was young because I was alone. I’m not alone now.”

  “No, you’re not. Neither am I.” I brushed the tears from my eyes.

  “Does Levi know what happened?” she asked, sighing.

  “He thinks that there was a robbery gone bad,” I said.

  “I’d like to keep it that way.” She bit her lip.

  “Caroline,” I said gently. “You have to tell him the truth. You don’t have to tell everyone, but you need to stop living a lie. It isn’t good for you. You said G.T. knew about what happened in Europe.”

  “He knew everything.”

  “That probably meant that you could relax around him and be yourself. I can’t imagine how hard it has been to be living a lie for all these years.” I leaned over and took her hand in mine. She squeezed it back.

  “Not really a lie. Another life.”

  “Levi needs to know the truth. Together you can make a decision about how to handle it.”

  “What happens if he wants to see his father?”

  “Then he sees his father. Caroline, if I’ve learned anything these past few weeks it’s that you can’t control life, or what happens. You also can’t control other people.”

  Caroline was quiet for a minute. “How can I tell him?”

  “How about if I tell him what I know and then you can tell us both the rest?” I would try and run interference for Caroline, but I could also be a sounding board for Levi.

  “He is going to be angry,” she said, her voice breaking a bit.

  “I don’t think so. If he is, we’ll work it through.”

  “We will?”

  “Caroline, we’re family. That’s what family does. For better or for worse, we stick together.”

  • • •

  I was bone-tired and sore all over from sleeping in a chair at the hospital, but I didn’t want to leave Caroline alone. Around three in the morning, there was a knock on the door. I turned around and saw a tall, handsome young man fill the doorway. He had his mother’s coloring, but looked an awful lot like his father.

  “Levi?” I whispered. I stood up.

  “Ruth?” he asked. He walked over and gave me a big hug, which I returned. He looked over at his mother
.

  “Is she all right?”

  “She will be, now that she knows you’re here safe and sound.”

  “What happened? I heard something about a robbery?”

  “I’ll let her tell you. She really is going to be fine,” I said. “You may as well go home and get some sleep.”

  “Nothing doing. I’m sitting with her. You need the rest more than I do. Pat tells me you have a meeting in the morning.”

  “Yeesh, I’d almost forgotten. All right, you win. Once you’ve spoken to your mother, give me a call. We have a lot to catch up on.”

  • • •

  I went out to the hall and saw Ben sitting on one of the chairs in the hallway.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “I came down with Nadia after Jeff was done talking to her. She’s with Tuck.”

  “How is he?”

  “He’ll be alright, but they’re going to keep him here for a few days. How’s Caroline?”

  “She’ll be all right.”

  “What happened out there?” Ben asked. He hadn’t gotten up.

  “It’s Caroline’s story to tell. Complicated family stuff.”

  “Complicated family stuff. Sounds familiar.” Ben looked down at his hands.

  “Always happy to swap stories.” Ben was silent, so I kept talking. “Well, I’m going to head home and get some sleep before the Town Hall meeting.”

  “You don’t think they’ll postpone it?” Ben finally looked up.

  I shook my head. “Saturday is New Year’s Eve. The lease will be up. They have to come to a decision. Kim Gray has doubled down, and some sort of new agreement has to be in place by midnight, which means we have Friday to hammer out the business details. First we have to have the town meeting in the morning.”

  “I’m sure it will all work out.” Ben sounded distracted and uninterested. Maybe I’d been reading him wrong these past few weeks. I waited for Ben to ask for more details or to offer me a ride home, but he didn’t. Granted, it was three o’clock in the morning, but he really hadn’t talked to me since the scene out at the barn.

 

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