Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 05 - Life Between the Lines

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  Aaron laughed as he sat back down. “That was fun.”

  “You are awesome,” Polly said. “I just hope he remembers to breathe again. My job is done.”

  Lydia leaned in, “This is fun! Those two are perfect together. Polly, what a great idea. I can’t believe I didn’t think about it.”

  “Let’s just say I learned everything I know from you and leave it at that. So, where are Beryl and Andy?”

  “Len is bringing the two of them. Beryl will make a grand entrance at some point.”

  Sure enough, Aaron poked Polly and pointed to the front door. She’d recognize Beryl anywhere. Tonight she was dressed like a peacock in a multi-hued gown. It had immense feathers attached to the back that towered over her head. Her mask was blue and green with more feathers attached to it and she held it to her face by its long, golden stem. Andy’s white suit with a bustle and Len’s long black coat made them look as if they were her chaperone and chauffeur rather than her friends. They followed in her wake as she strode across the room toward Polly, Lydia and Aaron.

  Len held a chair for Andy while Aaron scurried around to pull Beryl’s chair out. “You’re quite a sight,” he said.

  “I am, aren’t I!” she said. “Is the party rockin’ without me yet?”

  Polly turned toward her, “I don’t think it knew what to do without you. It should kick off any time now.” The dance floor still had people moving around and she realized that Sal had cornered someone to dance with her.

  “Do you have a moment to dance with a poor carpenter?” She stood up and hugged Henry. Like most of the men in the room, he had taken off his hat and set it on the table.

  “I didn’t know if I’d be able to find you,” she said.

  “I knew where my pretty girl was. You are beautiful this evening. Let’s dance.”

  Just as he swung her onto the dance floor, Polly heard a commotion. The orchestra stopped playing and the room fell silent. Polly turned to see what was happening and realized that a woman with a gun was standing in front of Genie Campbell. Aaron was slowly walking toward the table, and Kevin was looking at the woman in shock.

  She waved the gun wildly around the room, ending up looking at Aaron. “Sit down,” she demanded, “or I will shoot you.”

  She was wearing a mask and a hooded cape that covered most of her face. Aaron sat on the edge of a chair and quietly asked the woman to stay calm. She ignored him and began screaming at Genie and Kevin Campbell. “You can’t have any of it. It’s all mine. Who in the hell do you think you are coming in at the last minute and taking everything! You can’t have it!”

  Polly moved quietly and quickly while the woman screamed. Suddenly she realized that it was Natalie Dormand.

  Aaron saw what Polly was doing and he set his jaw, moving forward in his chair again.

  “I told you to sit down! I’m in no mood. All I want is for these two to leave with me and the rest of you can go back to your damned party.”

  “Natalie,” Polly said quietly. “What are you doing?”

  The woman spun around, aiming the gun at Polly. Henry stepped in front of her with his arms out as a shield, but Polly pushed his right arm down and stepped around him, putting her hands out in submission.

  “Natalie, this is wrong. You can’t hurt them and you can’t get away with hurting all of us.”

  Aaron stood up again and was moving across the room when Natalie saw him. She aimed at Polly and said, “If you do not sit down, I will kill someone. Polly is close enough that I don’t even have to aim. Sit the hell down!”

  He sat back down, his eyes pleading with Polly.

  “Natalie. I thought we were friends,” Polly said. “You came out here to take care of Thomas’s things. What has happened? Why didn’t you come talk to me?”

  “We were never friends. You didn’t like me and you didn’t tell me the truth about any of this. I had to find it out on my own. Did you think I was stupid? I knew you sent for that old man to steal the manuscript from me. I knew that Thomas was in Iowa looking for his long lost love and I knew he found her because he finished the damned book. I knew he was going to give it away and I’d never see a penny of it. But if they die, that new will he wrote won’t mean a thing.”

  “How did you know about the will?” Polly asked. “We just found out about it this week.”

  “People talk. The old man called someone on Friday and he didn’t have his door shut. I heard it all. Your silly friend from the Sheriff’s office called her boss on her cell phone to tell him what you found. They all ignored me, but I heard everything and I’m not going to lose out on those years with Thomas Zeller just because he re-found his youth. Now stand up,” she waved the gun at Kevin and Genie, gesturing for them to stand.

  All of a sudden another woman, dressed in leather pants, practically flew across a table beside Polly. She pushed Natalie Dormand’s gun hand into the air and then twisted it behind the woman, put a knee into her back and dropped Natalie to the floor. She kneeled on her and looked up at Polly. “Is that the Sheriff over there?” she asked.

  Aaron was already moving toward them and with a handkerchief he drew out of his pocket, picked up the gun, checked the safety and emptied it. The woman stood up and yanking Natalie Dormand’s arms behind her, brought her to a standing position. The two walked Natalie out into the hall and Polly followed close behind.

  When they got out of the room, the woman drew off her mask and hat and revealed herself to be Lila Fletcher, the guest in the front room.

  “Who are you?” Polly asked. “I know you’re an author, but what in the world?”

  “I am an author,” she smiled. “But I was supposed to be guarding Thomas. He’d had some threats and asked me if I would join him. We both thought that this would be a nice quiet place for him to finish the manuscript and didn’t expect anything to happen here. I had my suspicions about Miss Dormand, but since she wasn’t here, and he kept in touch with her while she was out east, I set it aside.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us who you were when he was killed?” Polly asked.

  “I didn’t want to tip my hand. I hoped that the killer would show him or herself and I was certain when Natalie Dormand showed up that it was her. But then she stayed and I didn’t know what to think. There was no sign that she’d been here when he died, so I thought I’d been completely wrong.”

  Aaron hung up his phone and turned back to them. “There is a sign that she was here for the murder. We found the knife that killed Thomas in Stratford. She’d bagged up her bloody clothing and tossed it into a dumpster behind the gas station. But the bag split open and the owner spotted it. It won’t take long for us to match her fingerprints to it.”

  “Why did you do it?” Polly asked Natalie. “Why? As long as he was alive, you had a wonderful job.”

  “He was leaving us and going back to Seafold Publishing. He wanted to write more of those inane Eddie Powers books,” Natalie said. “Since I had turned over all of my other clients to work with him, I’d have nothing. I came out here to beg him to stay. I cornered him when he was out for a walk and he took me up to his room to talk.” She turned to Lila. “He knocked on your door, but you were gone. It’s your fault I killed him, you know.”

  “How is it my fault?” Lila asked.

  “He told me there was a woman he wanted me to meet. I was furious! He wasn’t supposed to have another woman. We went to his room and I knew then that I was had to just be done with him. Hell, I knew I was going to kill him before I got here because I made sure that knife was sharp. When I confronted him about another woman in his life, he told me that I didn’t know what I was talking about. Oh, I knew. I knew. He was leaving me and I’d have nothing. I just started stabbing him. Then I took my shoes off and ran out the front door. No one even knew I was here.”

  “Grey Linder knew you were here,” Polly said quietly. “But he didn’t realize it because he was so drunk.”

  A crowd had gathered around them, listening to the tale a
nd the orchestra had started playing again in the auditorium. Genie and Kevin Campbell were in the doorway, in shock. Kevin’s wife had her arm around Genie’s waist and was holding his hand with her other hand.

  Polly heard sirens approach and soon, two deputies came in. After handcuffing Natalie Dormand, they took her out the door to their car.

  Aaron said Lydia. “I’m sorry. I need to leave. Can you get a ride home?”

  “Of course you need to go. But I got one dance from you tonight and that’s all that counts. Len will take me home. You go do your job.” She reached up and kissed him, then patted his arm as he turned to leave.

  Before he got too far, he glared at Polly. “What did you think you were doing in there?” he asked.

  “I was trying to get her to talk to me so that maybe she would calm down and realize how crazy her actions were.”

  “She murdered Thomas Zeller and then threatened people, including myself, and you thought you could calm her down? Polly Giller you are going to be the death of me!” He stalked out the front door, leaving her standing there with her mouth open.

  Lydia came up and said, “Don’t worry. He was scared tonight. He’s not really that angry with you.”

  “But she wasn’t going to let him get near her and I thought maybe I could talk her into giving me the gun. I had no idea that Lila was his bodyguard,” Polly protested. “If I’d known that I probably would have …”

  “You wouldn’t have done anything differently,” Henry sighed. He had taken his mask off and his face was bleak. “You terrified me again, Polly. I thought you were going to die.”

  “She wasn’t going to kill me,” Polly said, then she repeated it, “She wasn’t going to kill me.” She felt her knees buckle and Henry caught her. “Oh crap, Henry. She could have killed me. She could have killed you. What were you doing stepping in front of me?”

  Lydia grinned. “Darling, that was the most chivalrous thing this town has seen in years. People will be talking about Henry’s heroic behavior tonight for days to come. Now you get back inside and sit down.”

  Lila Fletcher took one of Polly’s arms, while Henry practically carried her with his arm around her waist. They sat her down at the nearest table and within moments Sylvie was there with a glass of water. “Are you okay? You scared me. What were you thinking?”

  Polly looked up and discovered that everyone was staring at her. Sal had removed her mask and was standing beside Mark. All of her friends were there, some looking at her with concern, others in amazement.

  She stood up. “I’m fine, everyone. Please. You came here to have a good time. We’ve had a little bit of extra entertainment this evening, but I believe it is all over now. Sylvie cooked a wonderful dinner for you, the music is beautiful, the room is decorated and you all look fabulous.”

  As some of them turned away, she said, “Oh, and in this story I’m the heroine and Henry is my hero. That’s the way it will be told, okay?” She laughed and pulled Henry to her for a kiss and the room applauded.

  “You are my hero, Henry Sturtz,” she said out loud and then whispered into his ear, “and don’t you ever do something that stupid again!”

  He kissed her lips and refused to release her until he felt her melt, then he pulled her close. “I will always step in front of a bullet for you, so if you never want that to happen again, you have to be smarter than you were this evening.”

  “No guarantees,” Polly grinned.

  “Then you will always have to worry about how I’m going to protect you.”

  He tugged her in to him, squeezing her as tightly as he could.

  “I can’t breathe,” she gasped.

  “I don’t care. I don’t want to let you go.”

  “Just a little bit so I can breathe, please.”

  He released her and she saw Genie and Kevin Campbell standing there with Ben Seafold.

  “I’m sorry I missed all of the excitement, Polly.” Ben said. “I hear you two are heroes.”

  “Where did you go?” she asked.

  “I’d gotten a call from Miss Dormand asking me to meet her in my room. She told me she wanted to discuss coming to work for me since she had experience with Thomas and his books. I had no idea that she was just getting me away from the Campbells.”

  Genie Campbell stepped forward, “Meeting you has certainly given my heart a workout, Polly, but I wouldn’t change any of it.”

  Kevin interrupted. “I might change the whole having-a-gun-waved-in-my-face thing.”

  “Now that it’s all over, you’ll come up with a wonderful story to tell about the evening,” his wife laughed, swatting him in the arm. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so frightened. Thank you for stepping in, Miss Giller. Even if all you did was distract her, you were wonderful. And Miss Fletcher, you have some amazing moves! It was like something out of a movie!”

  “I wasn’t nearly as frightened as the rest of you. The Sheriff was too far away to see that the safety was on. The poor girl had no idea. We were safe, but rather than give her a chance to do anything stupid, while Polly was attempting to talk her down, I decided I could make a bit of a scene and bring the whole thing to an end. I’m glad it worked out for all of you. Thomas told me that he had found you and it made him very happy to see that your family had grown. He was planning to contact you soon, but was still trying to figure out how to tell you that everything was okay.”

  Lydia interrupted, “Miss Fletcher? My husband would like to speak with you.” She handed the woman her telephone and Lila walked away.

  She returned and handed the phone back to Lydia. “I need to go down to Boone. I will only be here for a few more days, Polly. Thank you for your hospitality.”

  Ben grinned as he watched her leave. “That’s how I know her! She’s been around before as a body guard. I’ve seen her at Literary Conventions. Whaddya know. She’s kind of hot stuff!”

  He escorted the Campbells back to their table and Polly sat down again.

  Sal dropped into a chair beside her. “How ya doin’ Giller?”

  “I’m exhausted. Adrenaline wiped me out,” Polly said. “I see you found your dashing veterinarian.”

  Sal grinned and lowered her fangs, then retracted them. “I surprised him. He didn’t know it was me until you were in the hallway. Everyone was taking off their masks and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. It was perfect. I’m going home with him tonight. I think I’m going to test these babies out.” She snapped the fangs down and back up again.

  “You’re twisted,” Polly said. “Have fun!”

  Henry took Sal’s seat when she left to go back to Mark. “Can I get you something to eat or drink?”

  “I should be taking care of you! You’re the one who got up on his white charger for me tonight.”

  “What if we just sit here for a while and let the party happen around us.” He scooted his chair closer to hers and pulled her into his arms. “I think I want to hold onto you a little more.”

  “I like that. We can eat tomorrow.” She looked around the room. People were talking to each other and eating at their tables. Some were dancing and every once in a while someone would sneak a quick peek at her.

  “Does it seem odd to you that my friends take an evening like this in stride?” she asked. “One minute they’re dancing and having a good time, and in the next minute a lunatic is waving a gun around the room. Once the craziness dies down, they all go back to eating and dancing, just like it never happened.”

  “I’m afraid they might be getting used to you living in Bellingwood. If they’re going to be friends with you, anything could happen.”

  “Are you used to it? Because I’m sure not.”

  “I don’t know if that’s what I’d call it, but I’m doing my best not to be surprised at what happens when you’re in the room.”

  Polly kissed him again. “I love you, Henry Sturtz. Thank you for being my hero.”

  THANK YOU FOR READING!

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