I had no proof Dr. Appleton would hurt my father to get to the code inside the trophy, but he killed Lionel for a shot at it. There was no reason for me to think he would do any less to Dad.
My breaths came short and shallow as I blinked tears out of my eyes. I didn’t know where the murderer had taken my father. There were a million places he could have gone in this small town, a thousand places around a corner or down a back road. If he wanted to take him outside of town to do the deed, he could have been lost to me forever.
To make matters worse, I had no idea what kind of head start Dr. Appleton had on me. He could have been gone for fifteen, maybe even twenty minutes.
My jaw set, I pulled out my cell phone, still driving.
Now, I’m not one to use my phone while behind the wheel. It’s dangerous and more than a little selfish. Still, there weren’t any cars on our small town roads today. Most people were still at the dog show, soaking in the surprise victory for the town.
And besides, my father was on the line, and I needed to do everything I could to make sure he was okay.
I tapped the app on my phone, silently apologizing to my father for something he didn’t know.
I had always been a worrier, ever since I was a little kid. Having a dad on the police force did that to you. As a result, I added a little app on his phone, one that would allow me to track his movements and make sure he was okay.
He knew about it then, when I was Rita Clarke. Now that I was Rita Redoux though, he probably thought he didn’t have anyone peering over his shoulder anymore.
Little did he know I remembered all his passwords. Heck, I even set them up.
Putting his information into the app, I enabled the overdrive setting. It overpowered every other setting in the phone. So, even if Dr. Appleton somehow forced him to turn his phone off, the app would ping me anyway.
I said a little prayer, hoping I wouldn’t lose my father today. Even though he didn't know it, he was all the family I had left.
Breathing heavy, I watched the glorious blue dot appear.
“Yes!” I shouted, but then I looked at things. He wasn’t on a road. He was in the center of the big blue mass of Lake Mulligan, three miles outside of town.
My stomach turned, instantly souring as tears strained to release from my eyes..
Was it too late? Had he killed my father and thrown him into the lake?
I was no longer able to hold back the tears as I made a quick U-turn and headed toward the lake.
Lake Mulligan was through a wooded path and, as I pulled into the dirt lot that acted as public parking, I saw a car that I saw back at the fruit stand, the one that belonged to Dr. Appleton, took a deep breath and rushed toward what I was sure was my father’s body.
It was all I could think about. He would be dead. I would have to watch him buried right beside mom, right beside me.
I would feel what he felt when I died, and the thing was, I wasn’t sure I could handle it. My father was stronger than me. Always had been. If I had to live this second life without him, I would undoubtedly wish I never came back in the first place.
I ran through the words, readying myself to scream as I neared the lake, and leaving the siren blaring.
As I got there though, I saw I wasn’t too late after all.
A boat sat in the center of the lake. My father stood inside of it, trophy in hand. Across from him, his face twisted downward, stood Dr. Appleton.
He had a gun pointed at my father.
“Stop!” I screamed, garnering their attention. I could do nothing. They were too far away, stuck out in the center of the lake. If I tried to get to them, Dr. Appleton would shoot my father. He would kill him right in front of me,
“Rita?” Dad asked, his eyes narrowing. “Get out of here, sweetheart! Run away now!”
“I called the cops!” I said, not relenting to move. “I called. Don’t you hear the siren? They’re on their way! Don’t do this, Dr. Appleton! It’s all over!”
Dr. Appleton didn’t bother looking at me, his eyes trained on my father and the trophy in his hands.
“It’s not over, pie girl!” he snarled. “Not until I’ve reaped my reputable reward and ran to richer reaches.”
“Would you stop it with the stylistic wordage?!” I screamed.
“I sunk every dollar I had in that!” he yelled, his teeth bared. “I had never done it before, you know. I was always too frugal, always too worried about losing what I’d made. But it seemed like a sure thing. Lionel couldn’t lose, and then I caught him. I walked in on him placing a bet against himself.” He shook his head. ‘Why would he do that? Why would he do it unless he was going to lose on purpose.” There were almost tears in his voice as he continued. “I tried to talk sense into him. I told him my entire life’s saving was in there, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t even supposed to be involved in the first place. I told him that. I threatened to out him to the others, but he said they wouldn’t care. He said, even if they did, they would disqualify him, and I’d still lose. I had no choice! I did what I had to! I had to!”
“You killed a man, sir,” my father said. “There’s always another choice.”
Please, dad. Keep your mouth shut.
“You have two choices,” Dr. Appleton said. “You hand me the trophy, and maybe I let you swim back to the girl on the shore, or you don’t, and I shoot you and leave your body in this lake.”
My heart broke, not only because I knew there was nothing I could do to save him, but because I knew my father. I knew what he would say.
“We all have to pay for the things we do in this life, sir,” he said, holding true to what he believed. “You don’t reward bad behavior, and I’m not about to start.”
I had one chance. Dad was a sheriff, and a great one. If I could steal Dr. Appleton’s attention ever for an instant, then he might have a chance.
“There’s another one!” I said loudly. “Lionel put the code onto a flash drive. Now that the show’s over and the winner’s been announced, it’ll be active too. And I’m already on the shore!”
“Shut up, girl!” he screamed.
“I’ll use it, Dr. Appleton!” I warned. “I’ve got the copy. I’ll take every dime before you even get a chance to. You won’t get a cent. You won’t-”
Finally, he turned to me. “You’re a liar. You’re-”
“Now Dad!” I screamed, my eyes wide.
Instantly, my father’s hands went to work. In a flash, he grabbed the gun, flipping it in his hands and hitting Dr. Appleton with the butt.
The announcer melted to the floor of the boat, and relieved tears replaced the worried ones on my face.
My father looked over at me, nodding. “Good job, Rita,” he said as he began rowing to the shore.
“Good job,” I answered breathlessly. “Very good job.”
28
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” I said, smiling at Peggy as she looked me up and down. The party at Pie Ladies’ Paradise was in full swing and, just as Peggy thought, it was extra full tonight.
She liked to think it was because of the delectable array of sweets we had out for the guests. Personally, I thought the timing had something to do with it. It was Halloween but, more than that, the town had just been through a dark time. They needed to heal and what better way to do that than with pie, costumes, and good times.
Still, some costumes were better than others.
“I’m a pioneer woman,” I said, looking at my faux dusty pants and slightly feminine cowboy hat.
“You’re Annie Oakley,” she answered, smiling. “And I happen to think you make it look good, especially considering your date.”
She looked over at Mayor McConnell, who was paired with a traditional and very colorful Native American headdress.
I grinned, mostly because I knew how much the Irish mayor would hate it. Still, I nodded at the dog. He'd been good recently, even took home the trophy for Second Springs. While it didn’t net us thirty mi
llion dollars, it did score Mayor Hester a sit down with Candy Devine, and that in turn got me something even more valuable; a genuine compliment from the woman who ran the town.
She’d called me a ‘pretty good cookie after all,' which was as good as I could hope for.
I walked into the main area, spying my father hand in hand with Cindy. I smiled at the man, who whispered something to his date and walked toward me.
“You’re not wearing a costume,” I said, grinning at him.
“They’re not my thing,” he admitted, which I already knew.
“Yeah. I know someone else like that,” I said, shrugging. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I said, thinking back to the close call we had.
“That goes double for me,” he answered. “Listen, I heard what you said on the lake.”
“I wouldn’t have actually done that,” I said, heat rising in my cheeks. “I just told Dr. Appleton I would. I would never take ill-gotten money like that.”
“Oh, I know you wouldn’t,” he answered. “That’s not what I mean.” He looked me straight in the eyes. “I meant when you called me dad.”
My heart skipped a beat. Here it was. If I was ever going to tell my father the truth about who I really was, now would be it. I opened my mouth, my head spinning and my heart pounding.
“You see, it’s-”
“I know,” he answered, holding my hand. “I get it.”
“You do?” I asked, looking up at him and wondering how long he’d known.
“You’re in a new town. You’re surrounded by new people. It can get pretty lonely sometimes, I imagine.”
“Oh,” I answered, sighing and forcing the tears to remain behind my eyes. “You’re right. That must be it.” I looked at the floor. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be,” he answered, patting my shoulder. “To be honest with you, it was nice hearing someone call me that again. Look at me, Rita.”
I did as he asked, quirking my mouth to the side and breathing heavy.
“You might not be my daughter, but if you ever need someone to talk to, maybe even some fatherly advice, just know I’m here.”
“I appreciate that, D- Mr. Clarke. Really I do.” I steadied myself. “But I think I need to learn to stand on my own two feet.” I shrugged. “Anyway, you’ll have a kid of your own to take care of soon anyway.”
“That I will,” he answered, staring at me. “Happy Halloween, Rita.”
I smiled a half, almost mournful smile. “Happy Halloween, Mr. Clarke.”
I turned, brushing the hair out of my face and pushing down a thousand conflicting emotions.
“That’s not fair,” a familiar voice sounded at me from across the room. I looked up to find Darrin standing there, dressed as a cowboy, complete with hat, boots, and a big shiny star on his chest. “I thought you said I was supposed to be the cowboy. You stole my costume.”
I grinned, making my way over to him. “I said you’d look good as a cowboy,” I corrected, before scrunching my nose playfully. “Guess I was wrong.”
“Ouch,” he answered, pretending to be hurt and clutching at his heart.
“Besides, I’m Annie Oakley,” I answered, doing a little spin.
“I’m sure you are,” he said. “Let me ask you. Did Annie Oakley ever steal the sheriff’s stagecoach?”
“She has now,” I laughed. “Sorry about that.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” he answered.
“Me too. What about Angie. Where is she?” I asked.
“She left this morning. Once she brought Dr. Appleton in, he folded like a poker player with a losing hand. Last I heard, she was very close to taking down the gambling ring. She’s thrilled, but she said she might be back. Something about unfinished business.”
My eyes moved over to McConnell.
“Imagine that,” I said.
“You did good out there, Ms. Redoux,” Darrin said, smiling at me.
“You too, Sheriff Dash,” I answered.
“Your boyfriend will be very proud of you,” he said, and I was sure I saw a tint of red on his face.
“My boyfriend?” I asked. “Oh, Sammie. Yeah. Turns out that’s not going to work out.”
“That’s a shame,” he said, but he was grinning.
“Is it?” I asked, nudging him.
“That depends,” he answered.
“On what?” I asked, biting my lower lip.
“On how much you like this song,” he said as the beat behind us sped up. “Because I, for one, am in the mood to dance.”
He reached his hand out to me.
“And, maybe after that, we could go out for coffee or something.”
His eyes lit up, and I realized that coffee wasn’t just coffee. This was Darrin’s way of asking me out.
My heart beat a little faster now, and a smile spread across my face that was months in the making.
“Why Sheriff Dash, I thought you’d never ask.”
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Twice Dipped Murder: A Rita Reincarnated Cozy Page 15