Cranberry Orange Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 29 (A Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries)

by Summer Prescott

  When Burrows met up with Arnold out on the water, Arnold took the money and killed the doctor, planning to leave the country with his bounty, but knowing that he had to cover his tracks first. He paid the receptionist, Charice, a few thousand dollars to ensure that she’d provide the police with the appointment book, knowing that they’d see that Kel was the last patient that Burrows had seen. Then, after the funeral, he came up with the idea of planting evidence from the doctor’s office in Kel’s house, to seal the deal.

  Charice didn’t know why he wanted her to give the police the appointment book, but since it seemed like the right thing to do, she did it. Taking items from the doctor’s office would have been a whole other kettle of fish entirely, however, so he’d made an appointment with one of the other doctors in the office and slipped back to collect the items under the ruse of going to the bathroom.

  He hadn’t anticipated Kel hitting his head quite so hard and injuring himself when he clubbed him on the neck, so he’d cut the artist’s wrist and staged it to look like a suicide, scattering the items from Burrows’ office on the foyer table before he left. There was still a smear of blood on the side of his patent leather shoe as he sat bound, confessing to the stone-faced Marine, who was exhibiting a herculean amount of self-control by refraining from using his more persuasive techniques.

  When he was finished with his story, he deflated like a sad and useless balloon, his chin resting on his chest in shame. Near his front door was a suitcase, the blue duffel which now held snorkeling gear instead of money, his passport, and a ticket for a cruise to Central America, where he planned to retire comfortably on his ill-gotten gains.

  “Here’s what happens next, Arnold,” Spencer growled low in the shaking man’s ear. “I’ve already alerted the police, they’re on their way. When they get here, you’re going to tell them everything that you just told me. If you don’t tell them everything…and I mean every last detail, you and I are going to have another little chat, and this one won’t be quite as friendly. Am I making myself fairly clear?”

  “Yes,” Arnold replied hoarsely.

  “What are you going to tell the police?”

  “Everything. Every detail.”

  “That’s right. I’m going to undo your hands and feet now, Arnold, and you know what you’re going to do?”

  “Wwwwhat?” he asked fearfully.

  “Absolutely nothing, Arnold. You’re going to sit there like a lump and not move, until you hear the back door shut, got it?”

  “Yes.”

  “When I’m gone, after you hear that door shut, you can take off the blindfold, but not before. Do you want to know what happens if you take off the blindfold before you hear the door shut, Arnold?”

  “No…please. No.”

  “That’s good. Now you’ve got the idea. Do you ever want me to visit you again Arnold?”

  “No,” he whined plaintively.

  “Then do what you need to do.”

  “I will.”

  Chapter 16

  Echo was at the hospital with Missy the next morning, and Kel was in the intensive care unit. When Chas came in the doors of the ICU waiting room, both women rushed over to him.

  “Do you know anything?” Missy asked.

  “How is he?” Echo demanded.

  Chas held up his hands. “I don’t know any more than you do, ladies,” he protested.

  “Can you find out? Please?” Echo’s wide green eyes were filled with tears.

  “I’ll see what I can find out,” he said, heading for the nurse’s station.

  “Detective Chas Beckett,” he introduced himself to the nurse working the desk, flashing his badge and a hundred-watt smile. “I need to check on the patient status of Phillip Kellerman. His condition and well-being have direct bearing upon how we are going to charge a suspect that we currently have in custody,” he explained gravely.

  “Just a moment, Detective,” the nurse said sweetly, picking up a phone. Missy could swear the woman batted her eyes, but she completely understood. Chas was irresistible when he wanted to be. “Right this way,” she said, leading him through a door that was marked “Authorized Personnel Only.”

  When he came back out a few minutes later, Echo ran to him.

  “Well?” she asked, breathless.

  “Let’s go get a cup of coffee,” he replied, shooting a glance in the direction of the nurse’s station.

  Echo’s heart sunk. “Okay,” she whispered, and she and Missy trailed him to the elevator.

  Once they were seated in the coffeeshop with cups of acrid brew in front of them, Chas looked at Missy.

  “Are we allowed to tell her now?” he asked.

  “Tell me what?” Echo was alarmed.

  “I think it’s time,” Missy nodded, her eyes sad.

  She reached for Echo’s hand. “Sweetie, when Kel went to Boston a few weeks ago, it wasn’t because he was interviewing a new apprentice, it was because one of the best cancer centers in the country is there,” she said gently.

  “I don’t understand,” Echo shook her head back and forth rapidly, not wanting to believe what she was hearing.

  “Honey, Kel has brain cancer. The reason that he had a conflict with Doctor Burrows is because the doctor insisted that he take medication to shrink the tumor before the surgeon went after it. Kel didn’t want to take the meds, he wanted the surgery right away, that’s where the conflict came from.”

  “Brain…but…oh no…I can’t…” she buried her face in her hands and began to sob and Missy slipped into the booth beside her, wrapping her friend in a hug.

  “Whyyyyy? Why didn’t he tell meee…?” she keened, rocking bath and forth in Missy’s arms.

  “He was trying to find the right time, sweetie. I think he was trying to wait until it was time for his surgery, so that you wouldn’t have to suffer through the waiting,” she guessed.

  “So instead he waited alone?” she wailed.

  “He wasn’t alone, darlin,” Missy patted her back as she continued to sob.

  “It’s not fair. I love him…he should have told me.”

  “Did you tell him that?”

  Echo sat up, her breath hitching, her fair skin ablaze. “No,” she hiccupped. “I didn’t tell him…I was horrible to him. I thought that he was seeing someone, so I avoided him, and then when he was hurt, I thought he had stood me up. I’ve been terrible to that poor man and now I might never have the chance to make it right,” her tears started anew.

  “Chas,” she gripped the detective’s arm fiercely, and he put a reassuring hand over hers. “What did the doctor say about Kel…is he…?” she couldn’t finish.

  “He hadn’t taken the full course of his therapy to shrink the tumor, which means that the surgeon didn’t want to operate on it yet, but with the head injury that Kel sustained at the hands of Arnold Kasner, he had no choice. The good news is that the surgery went well, and he thinks that he got it all,” he paused.

  “What’s the bad news?” Echo whispered, her breath still coming in grunts and gasps.

  Chas took a breath and squeezed the hand that was still gripping his arm like she was holding onto him for dear life, for sanity, for hope.

  “The bad news…is that we won’t know until he wakes up whether there’s been any collateral damage. He could end up having lost the ability to walk, or speak, or any number of things. We just won’t know for a while. I’m so sorry, Echo,” he said, as Missy held her.

  “What if…what if he doesn’t wake up?” her eyes implored the detective to give her at least a glimmer of hope.

  “That’s a possibility too. I’m so sorry,” he said again as she dissolved into tears.

  Chapter 17

  Spencer headed over to Echo’s early, at Missy’s urging. She knew that her best friend had a tendency to wallow, and that if anyone could snap her out of it while Missy was busy baking cupcakes for a school party, it would be Spencer. The Marine was charming and kind and an absolute expert at drawing out shy, s
ad or lonely folks who desperately needed a smile.

  The Marine let himself in with his key and saw a Key Lime pie sitting on the coffee table. Apparently, Tim, the neighbor had been by at some point. Thinking that the pie would come in handy later, Spencer took it to the kitchen and put it in the fridge, next to the six pack of craft beer that Echo had bought for him.

  The house was quiet, and when he saw that the studio was dark and unoccupied, he snapped on the lights and started warming up the burners, figuring that he could keep himself busy until Echo came out of her room. It was nearly nine o’clock, but he understood how grief could be exhausting, so he let her sleep. He had just sat down to start dipping when she appeared in the doorway like a ghost, dressed in yoga pants and an old college sweatshirt.

  “Don’t bother,” she said dully, her eyes dead, flat.

  “Come again?” Spencer replied, pausing momentarily.

  “I said don’t bother. I don’t want to open a shop anymore. I don’t want to do anything. I’ll just sit at Missy’s cupcake shop and eat cupcakes and get old and die,” she whimpered, crossing her arms over her middle as though she ached to her core.

  He put down his wick. “Do you really think that that’s what he’d want?” the Marine asked quietly, his eyes holding hers.

  “It’s what I deserve for being such a horrible person,” she mumbled, dropping her gaze.

  “You’re not a horrible person, you’re human. Everybody makes mistakes, Echo. You can’t throw away the rest of your life because something happened that you have no control over. Kel wouldn’t want that for you. He loved you.”

  “Did he? I guess now I might never know, and it’s all my fault for pushing him away.”

  “You can’t think like that. He’s going to make it. He’s going to wake up, and when he does, he’ll need you.”

  “What if he doesn’t?” she whispered. “I can’t imagine a world without Kel in it.”

  “Then you’ll have to do everything you can to make it a world that he would’ve wanted you to live in. He would want you to go on and he would want you to be happy. That’s all he wanted before this happened, nothing has changed that.”

  “But what if…” her question was cut off when Spencer’s text tone went off.

  “It’s Chas…he said that I should bring you to the hospital.”

  Echo sagged against the doorjamb. “Oh gosh, Spencer…what if…?”

  “We don’t know anything yet. Don’t assume anything, we’ll find out more when we get there,” he said, jumping up and rapidly turning off burners. He looked over at Echo.

  “Do you wanna, like…comb your hair or anything?” he tried to be tactful.

  His gaze seemed to snap her out of her fear-driven paralysis, and she hurried toward her room. I can do it in the car. Let me change really fast and I’ll be right out.

  “I’ll be here,” he said, heading to the refrigerator for a couple of bites of pie. He’d barely gotten a few forkfuls down and she appeared, toothbrush in her mouth and hairbrush in her hand.

  “I’m ready,” she said, around the toothbrush. “Good or bad, I have to know.”

  She fidgeted all the way to the hospital, her stomach in knots. Spencer led her through the lobby and to the elevators, pushing the button for the fourth floor. Echo’s heart stopped as Missy ran toward them, her face stained with tears and flung her arms around her best friend. Spencer glanced at Chas and saw that the detective…was smiling.

  “Echo, he’s awake! Kel is awake and asking for you!”

  Echo’s knees gave out, and fortunately, Spencer was there to scoop her up and deposit her into a chrome and vinyl waiting room chair, as tears, of joy this time, flowed freely.

  “Where is he?” she stood up, looking from Chas to Missy and back again.

  “They’re in the process of transferring him to a private room, where you’ll be able to see him, but we wanted to tell you as soon as we found out,” Missy practically glowed with happiness.

  “And he actually wants to see me?”

  “Silly girl,” Missy laughed. “You were the first thing on his mind. The second was identifying his attacker.”

  “That’s our Kel,” Spencer chuckled, relieved.

  “I was so worried,” Echo sighed, collapsing back into the chair.

  “We all were,” Missy replied.

  The four friends made the nervous small talk of a group of people who were clearly passing time waiting for something big to happen, and finally a nurse came out to speak to them.

  “Mr. Kellerman is in room 501, and has been very insistent about a “flame-haired beauty named Echo” coming up to see him.

  “Sounds like Kel’s practically back to normal already,” Spencer joked as Echo hurried off, following the nurse to the elevator.

  The other three decided to wait for a bit before going to see their friend, there was unfinished business that needed to be addressed.

  Chapter 18

  Echo entered room 501 slowly, almost as if she was afraid of breaking a spell. Kel’s eyes were closed when she came in, and the sight of him surrounded by tubes, wires and machinery was almost more than she could take. What if he needed to sleep after being alert this morning, or what if something dire had happened on the trip down from the ICU, what if…???

  “Are you going to hover in the doorway all day, or are you going to come hug me?” the artist drawled in a hoarse voice, interrupting her grim thoughts.

  Tears spilling down her cheeks, she went to him, twined her hand with his and bent down to kiss his cheek, lingering there, drawing in the faint scent of him that managed to seep up through the antiseptic smells of alcohol pads, iodine and sterile tape.

  “I missed you, my lovely one,” his eyes were tender as he looked at her.

  “Oh Kel, I’m so sorry. I had no idea you were sick. I thought you just didn’t want to be around me anymore, and I felt so horrible that I…” His finger on her lips shushed the flood of words and she searched his eyes hoping for forgiveness.

  “Don’t be sorry, goddess. It is I who should beg your forgiveness. I was hoping to get past this whole unpleasant “illness thing” and have you be none the wiser, but my plans were foiled and I only managed to upset you. For that I apologize. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?” he asked, slowly bringing her hand to his lips.

  “There’s nothing to forgive, Kel. I have something to tell you, and I don’t want you to feel obligated to respond in any way, it’s just something that I want you to know, and…” He shushed her again.

  “Goodness gracious woman, enough with the build-up, spit it out,” he teased.

  “I love you, Kel. I have for a long time and I just didn’t know how to say it and then I didn’t know if you would want to hear it and then I thought you stood me up but I…” For the last time, at least for a while, he put his finger over her lips.

  “I love you too, my beauty. Since the day that I saw you, I’ve loved you. I had planned on telling you that when I told you about the nasty tumor, on the night that Arnold attacked me. I even ordered dinner from your favorite Thai restaurant.”

  “I knew I smelled that!” she exclaimed, gazing at Kel in an entirely unguarded and beautiful way.

  “Only the best for you,” he grinned.

  “I wanted to ask you something after I told you that I loved you,” he confessed, his eyes warm on hers.

  “Okay. Well, we’re both here, ask away,” she beamed, ready to say yes to whatever his question might be.

  “Indeed, I shall…Echo, will you marry me?”

  Copyright 2016 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved.

  A letter from the Author

  To each and every one of my Amazing readers: I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know what you think by leaving a review!

  I’ll be releasing another installment in two weeks so to stay in the loop (and to get free books and other fancy stuff) Join my Book club.

&nb
sp; Stay Curious,

  Summer Prescott