Ellen gave a little nod, but didn’t say a word, simply wiped at her eyes.
“Is that why you called Derek?” Burt asked. “You called to warn him not to hurt Lucy?”
Ellen looked up, glancing from Burt to Kelly. “I didn’t call Derek. What are you talking about?”
“The police have your message on Derek’s phone. The message where you said he wouldn’t ‘get away with it this time,’” Burt explained. “You were warning him about Lucy, weren’t you?”
“I told you, I didn’t call Derek.”
Kelly pulled her cell phone from her pocket and held it up. “I’ve saved your phone message from last night, Ellen. The police will be able to match the voices.”
Ellen’s face paled, and Kelly glimpsed fear dart through her eyes again. She sensed Ellen was on the edge, so she pushed and asked the question they’d come for.
“You went up to Derek’s that night, didn’t you? You followed Lucy in your car. Did you go there to protect her in case Derek got violent?”
Panic raced across Ellen’s face for a moment, and then the anger returned, flaring. “I know what you’re doing. You two are trying to pin Derek’s murder on me, so that drunken slut, Diane, can get off. Well, it won’t work. You have no proof I was there at Derek’s. I left him a message, so what? You’re crazy if you think I’m going to sit here and listen to this garbage.” She grabbed for her briefcase, clearly planning to leave.
Burt reached over and placed his hand on Ellen’s arm, gently holding her in place. “Ellen, your car was spotted parked at the bottom of Derek’s driveway that night. A neighbor called in the license number because the car was blocking his driveway.”
Once again, panic flashed across Ellen’s face, but this time it stayed as all color drained away. She stared at Burt, then at Kelly, then she slumped in her chair.
“Why don’t you tell us what happened that night? It’ll be easier if you tell us first.”
Ellen’s lower lip trembled. “I…I didn’t mean for it to happen. I just went up there to make sure Derek didn’t try to hurt Lucy when she told him she was having a baby.”
“Did you follow them to the barn?” Kelly asked.
“Yes, I slipped in the back and hid in one of the stalls. Derek started yelling at Lucy, and she was crying and…and it brought back all those old memories.”
Kelly noticed a tear slide down Ellen’s cheek. Release at last. “That must have been hard for you to listen to.”
She nodded. “It was. Especially when he was shoving money at Lucy and yelling at her and pushing her out the door. I was about to come out of the stall when Lucy ran off to her car.”
“What did you do then?” Burt prodded.
“I was going to confront him. Warn Derek that I wasn’t going to let anything happen to Lucy. And he’d better stay away from her.” Ellen stared off into the café again. “Then he took out his cell phone and called someone. Another girl, of course. And he starts sweet-talking her like he does at first. Lying to you, making promises, saying how much he loves you.”
She paused. “Then he begged the girl to come up and spend the night with him. I couldn’t believe it. I stood there and listened, and I…I couldn’t believe it. He was doing the same thing all over again. Lying to some girl, sweet-talking her into his bed, just so he could walk all over her…the same old lies, over and over and over again. He’d never change. Never. I kept staring at him, listening to his lies, and…I don’t know…I don’t even remember coming out of the stall, but suddenly I was walking up behind him. I saw the shovel, and I grabbed it. All I could see was Derek, lying and lying and lying….”
Ellen shook her head slowly. “I can’t explain what happened next. I just wanted to hurt him, stop his lying, stop him…so I hit him. Hit him with the shovel. I only meant to hurt him, honest. I didn’t mean to kill Derek, I swear. I only meant to hurt him….”
Ellen’s voice trailed off as she kept staring into the café. Burt reached over and touched her arm. “What happened when you saw Derek fall down?”
Ellen turned back to them with a sad gaze. “I woke up, I guess…I saw Derek lying on the barn floor, bleeding, and I panicked. I…I ran back down to my car and drove out of the canyon. I figured he’d come to, eventually. Believe me, I had no idea I’d killed him. Honest. And when I found out he’d died, well, that’s when I really panicked.”
Kelly watched Ellen Hunter and heard remorse creep into her voice as Burt asked her more questions. Clearly, Ellen had been obsessed with Derek Cooper. An obsession that swept away all reason and judgment. Obsession brought on, no doubt, by her heartbreak over losing her child. That pain must have spawned a rage that turned vengeful. How else to explain Ellen’s behavior—stalking Derek, following and meeting his girlfriends, as she did with Lucy. Cultivating Lucy’s friendship so she could keep track of Derek. All of it stoking a fire that was bound to blaze out of control as it did that night in Derek’s barn. Obsession turned deadly.
Burt glanced across at Kelly. “Kelly, will you call Mimi and tell her I won’t be coming over tonight, please?” Turning back to Ellen, Burt rose and held out his hand. “I’ll go with you to the department, Ellen, and I’ll stay with you while you give your statement, if you want me to.”
Ellen stared up at Burt for several seconds, then nodded, before she gathered her things.
Twenty-one
“Mimi, this punch is delicious,” Kelly said as she ladled more of the fruit juice mixture into her cup.
“Thank Connie. It’s her recipe,” Mimi said brightly, straightening the plates of holiday cookies, candies, and other tempting treats clustered on the library table.
“Did you spike the punch, Burt?” Kelly teased, watching Burt move a spinning wheel into an adjoining alcove. Lambspun family and friends were already drifting in for the afternoon party.
“Are you kidding? I don’t want anything competing with my wassail,” Burt said with a grin as he continued making space.
“Where is that wassail, anyway?” Jennifer asked as she pulled some chairs into the corner, away from the table. “You’ve been bragging about it all week, Burt.”
“It’s keeping warm at Pete’s. I’ll bring it over in a few minutes. I’m building suspense.”
“I hope it’s not too strong,” Kelly said, gesturing toward the main yarn room where Lizzie and Hilda were chatting with Rosa and Connie. “Lizzie gets into enough trouble when she’s sober. I don’t want to think what would happen if she were tipsy.”
“Don’t worry about Lizzie,” Mimi said with a laugh, carrying a plate filled with meringues. “Hilda will keep her in line.”
Jennifer retrieved red and white wool from her bag and continued knitting what looked like another scarf. “I get the feeling that Hilda has spent her entire life keeping Lizzie in line.”
Kelly snatched two tempting sweets and offered one to Jennifer before settling into a chair beside her friend. “These look like toffee bars,” she said, sinking her teeth into the rich cookie. “Mmmm, yessss.”
“I’ll be five pounds heavier by the time this party’s over, I know it.” Jennifer gave a sardonic smile.
“You’re not the only one, Jennifer. I’ve gained ten pounds this month already,” Burt said with a laugh as he rearranged furniture. “By the way, Kelly, congratulations again. I know how much you wanted that ranch. Now you and Jayleen will be neighbors.”
“Thanks, Burt,” Kelly said as she nibbled another toffee bar, still surprised at her good fortune. Geri Norbert’s beautiful canyon ranch would be hers at last. “I don’t think it’s settled in yet.”
“She almost didn’t believe me when I told her the buyer accepted her offer,” Jennifer added.
“Burt, I hope I didn’t wake you when I called last night,” Kelly said sheepishly. “I knew it was late, but I couldn’t stop myself. I called everybody.”
Burt laughed. “Everyone likes to hear good news, Kelly. Believe me, you didn’t bother any of us.”
; “Jayleen was pretty happy when I called. But she was even happier when I told her about Ellen Hunter’s confession.”
“I’ll bet she was,” Burt said as he moved more chairs away from the table.
“Diane said she nearly fainted with relief when Jayleen told her last night,” Jennifer said as she worked the red and white yarns. Kelly spied a pretty cable design running down the length of the scarf.
“Have you seen Diane yet?”
Jennifer shook her head. “No, she’s wiped out. She didn’t even want to come to the party. Said she just wanted to sit by herself and watch snow falling on the mountains.”
“Well, I can understand that,” Kelly said, picturing the beautiful mountain views from Geri Norbert’s canyon ranch. Soon to be Kelly’s canyon ranch. The pride of possession warmed her inside.
“Looks like I came at the right time,” Steve said as he walked into the room and scanned the library table, which was entirely covered by now with holiday sweets. He grinned and slipped off his winter jacket. “Wow, I see all my favorites here. We should cancel dinner plans, Kelly. I’ll be stuffed.”
“Better get a head start, because Marty will be coming later,” Jennifer teased.
“Who invited him?” Steve asked, affecting a look of horror as he snagged a chocolate-layered brownie.
“Mimi did. So blame her,” Kelly said with a grin.
“Well, I’d better get started, then, before old Marty shows up and wipes the table clean.” He snatched a frosted cookie, a brownie, a toffee bar, and several other desserts, loading them onto his plate.
“Excuse me a minute, Jen,” Kelly said as she rose. “Steve, if you can tear yourself away from the table for a second, I want to ask you something.” Taking Steve’s warning about Marty to heart, she snatched a brown sugar brownie and headed for the corner alcove, away from the crowded table.
“Where’s that wassail Burt promised?” Steve asked, balancing desserts and punch as he smiled and greeted his way through the friendly group surrounding the table.
“I’m going to fetch it now,” Burt announced, heading toward the café.
“Wow, have you tried this one?” Steve asked Kelly when he’d devoured the toffee bar.
“Those are deadly,” Kelly said, leading Steve toward the doorway of the adjacent spinning alcove.
Steve closed his eyes, clearly savoring a lemony dessert. “What’s up?” he asked, licking powdered sugar from his lips.
“I wanted to ask you something about the canyon property.”
Steve grinned, his eyes twinkling. “You mean your canyon property?”
“Yeah, my canyon property.” She returned his grin. “It’s finally settled in that the place is going to be mine, so I figured I’d better start making some plans. And I’ve been thinking—”
“That’s always dangerous.”
“And I wanted your advice,” Kelly continued, amused with the speed with which Steve had dispatched the desserts.
“Smart move,” he managed after swallowing the last chocolate morsel and tossing the plate into the trash.
“Have you been taking lessons from Marty? Those desserts were gone in sixty seconds.”
“Those were just the appetizers,” he joked. “I dropped by the Old Town site, and forgot about lunch. Now I’m starving.”
Kelly suddenly remembered Steve’s new project, the one he’d dreamed of building in the turn-of-the-century section of Fort Connor’s Old Town. She’d been so involved lately, she’d completely forgotten to ask him about it. “How’s that going, anyway?” she asked. “Sorry, I’ve been so busy, I lost track of where you are in the process.”
“That’s okay, I figured you’d slow down to take a breath eventually,” Steve said with a good-natured smile. “I’m actually drawing up plans now. Preliminary ones, of course. Just sketching out ideas and seeing what they look like on paper.”
“It really helps being an architect, doesn’t it?” Kelly said, allowing admiration to fill her voice. “You don’t have to wait for someone to create your vision. You can do it yourself.”
“Oh, yeah. I’m getting pretty excited, too. Lots of ideas are pouring out.” They both stepped out of Connie and Rosa’s way as they carried more dessert-filled plates to the table, eliciting oohs and aahs.
“We really do need to catch up over dinner, Steve,” Kelly said, watching him eye the new culinary arrivals. “Providing you have any appetite left after the party.”
He nodded toward the table. “Ready to go back for seconds?”
Kelly laughed. “Before you do, let me run a couple of things by you, okay? About the canyon ranch. I’ve been thinking that we’ll probably have to tear down the house and the barns. They’re both pretty dilapidated, and Curt doesn’t think much can be salvaged. Neither does Jayleen.”
“That means you’ll be leaving the alpacas in Wyoming, then?”
“Until we can build a new barn. But I’d like you to come up to the ranch and help me decide where everything should be built. The house, the barn, the stables. I mean, the views are so gorgeous up there, I want to take advantage of it all. I want to be able to look out the windows and see the mountains.”
Steve smiled into her eyes. “I’ll be glad to, Kelly. I know what you mean about those views. Do you have any idea what style house you want? That makes a difference when you’re trying to picture a setting.”
“Well, that’s the other thing I needed to ask you. I want you to help me design the house, Steve. I was hoping to take you up on that promise. I want you to build my house.”
Steve’s gaze deepened and Kelly felt the warmth. “You bet I’ll build your house, Kelly,” he said, taking her arms as he drew her closer. Then, he leaned over and placed his lips on hers.
Steve’s kiss lingered, and Kelly felt its warmth all the way down to her toes this time. She placed her hand on his chest, feeling the cabled wool of his sweater beneath her fingertips.
“Merry Christmas,” Steve murmured as their lips parted.
Oh, yes, indeed, Kelly thought as the warmth spread to her cheeks.
“Way to go, Steve!” Greg cried from across the table. “And they don’t even have mistletoe.”
“Would you be quiet!” Lisa scolded her boyfriend, jabbing him in the ribs at the same time. Greg simply cackled in reply and gobbled a brownie.
Kelly felt her cheeks flame now as she and Steve stepped away from each other. She glanced around at her friends’ grinning faces. And who was that peeking around the corner of the yarn room and smiling devilishly at her? None other than Eugene Tolliver, Kelly’s alpaca scarf tossed rakishly around his neck. Oh, brother, she’d be in for nonstop teasing now.
“We’ve gotta talk about your timing, Greg,” Steve said as he returned to the table—and the desserts.
“Wassail, wassail, all over the town!” Burt’s voice rang out as he marched to the table, glass punch bowl held high.
“Make room, make room,” Connie said, directing the rearranging.
“Cups and napkins,” Mimi announced, waving handfuls before she tucked them beside the punch bowl.
“Looks great, Burt,” Kelly said, accepting the cup of spiced wine he offered her. Sniffing the heady aroma of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and orange, she sipped and savored as she carefully made her way around the table to greet her friend from Denver. Eugene looked elegant but casual in his jacket and turtleneck sweater. “I’m so glad you could come, Eugene. Is Ronnie here?”
“Oh, yes, we’ve been here for nearly an hour. Mimi was kind enough to give Ronnie a private lesson and then let him loose. He’s back there now, practicing with the spinning wheel. Mimi, brave soul that she is, told him to spin away.”
“How did I miss seeing you?”
“Oh, I’ve been reveling in the yarns, that’s why,” Eugene said with a big smile. “Luxuriating would be more like it. I must say, Kelly, you did not exaggerate when you described this shop. The fibers here are, well, I cannot describe them all, they are so dive
rse. My head is spinning right now with ideas for some of our fiber artists at the studio.”
Kelly grinned. “I told you this place was fabulous. Kimberly Gorman has come here several times. Bring some of your younger artists next time.”
“I intend to.” He stroked a fluffy yarn. “Kimberly told me she orders regularly. And I’ve heard from her that Sophia Emeraud, the designer, has placed an order for some yarns for her next collection. Now, that’s exciting.”
“Well, come in and enjoy yourself while Ronnie is spinning,” Kelly said, beckoning Eugene toward the table. “Now that we’ve tempted you with yarns, we’ll tempt you with desserts.”
Eugene gave a nonchalant wave. “I don’t want to intrude. This looks like a private party.”
“Nonsense,” Kelly said, taking Eugene by the arm. “It’s for friends and family, and you’re a friend. And here’s someone you know.”
“Hey, Eugene.” Jennifer patted the chair beside her. “Keep me company and away from all that chocolate, why don’t you? I’m gaining weight even as we speak.”
“Jennifer, how delightful to see you again,” Eugene said as he sat beside her. “Now you can introduce me to all your friends. I don’t know a soul here except for you and Kelly and Mimi, whom I met an hour ago.”
“Don’t worry, Eugene.” Jennifer patted him on the arm. “I’ll fill you in on who’s who. Believe me, Lambspun has a diverse group, and you can’t tell the players without a program. Hopefully, that will keep me away from the toffee bars. And the lemon squares. And the chocolate everything.”
“I’ll do my best to distract you,” Eugene said with a sly grin. “You can start by telling me who that handsome young man was, sharing a kiss with Kelly a moment ago. I sincerely hope he’s the ‘winner’ you mentioned at lunch last fall.”
“One and the same,” Jennifer replied. “And you witnessed the first kiss that lasted more than ten nanoseconds. A truly historic event. I must congratulate Steve. He usually has to sneak up on Kelly. Kind of a kiss-and-run technique, I call it.” Jennifer had returned to her knitting, adding red and white rows, the interesting cable design curving throughout the length of the scarf.
A Killer Stitch Page 21