Top of the Hour

by Anina Collins

  “What did you say?” he asked in a way that told me he thought I’d intentionally chased yet another man off.

  “Nothing bad, Dad. You act like I meant to make him leave,” I said as my defensiveness inched higher with each moment.

  He began unpacking the boxes he’d brought out from the stockroom, ignoring my comment entirely. “Well, I wanted to talk to him about maybe buying some of his photos for the bar. He showed me a few and I think with some nice frames they could look really good hanging on the walls in this place. Bring a little worldliness right here to Sunset Ridge.”

  “Jack’s a photojournalist, Dad. What were you going to buy? Pictures of war torn countries with bombed out buildings? I’m not sure that would really work for the look you have going on here.”

  My father grimaced, huffing his disgust at my teasing. “I don’t know about those things, but the pictures he showed me were of a forest in Germany, I think he told me. I really liked them because they looked so much like the woods we have around here.”

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll get a chance to speak to him again. I don’t think he’s leaving today.”

  My father continued to stock the bar as I thought about Cherise and what she’d said. Something didn’t fit there, but what? Needing to make sure she was okay, I called Alex for her number but Craig answered instead.

  “Hey Craig, where’s Alex?”

  Whispering into the phone, he said, “The Chief just called him into his office and it doesn’t sound good. I think your victim’s brother is in there complaining about how long it’s taking to solve your case.”

  “What? Why would he do that?” I wondered aloud. “What’s he saying?”

  “I don’t know since I can’t hear everything, but that woman you two brought in today to question keeps coming up. I think he thinks she did it.”

  None of this made any sense. Why would Jack go to the station to complain to Derek? Was it what I said about her claiming he knew she’d be out of town?

  “Craig, I need the number for that woman. Her name is Cherise Reynolds. It should be in Alex’s little notebook he carries around.”

  He said nothing for a minute before coming back to the phone. “I can’t find it, Poppy. Do you think he has it on him?”

  I had a sinking feeling he did, but on the chance he’d taken it out of his pocket, I knew where he’d have put it. “Check his top right drawer, Craig. It might be there.”

  The sound of the drawer opening came through the phone and then Craig said, “It’s not here. Sorry, Poppy. I don’t think he’ll be that long with Derek, though. The yelling has already stopped, so he should be out soon.”

  I didn’t have time to wait for Alex. If Jack was trying to convince the police that Cherise killed Lee and failed, I had a feeling I knew where he’d go next. I ended the call and stuffed my phone back into my bag before kissing my father on the cheek.

  “Now you’re going? What was that call about?”

  “I think I figured out who murdered Lee Reynolds. Do me a favor, okay? If Alex asks, tell him I went out to Cherise Reynolds’ house. I just want to check something and then I’ll be back.”

  Before he could ask me to explain who the killer was, I ran out of the bar and the few blocks to my house to get my car. I needed to get out to Cherise’s before Jack did or I might not be able to prove my theory.

  Putting the gas to the floor, I sped away from Barn Street on my way to her house as all the pieces of this case rambled through my brain. The eye drop poisoning. The gun. The two ex-wives. All this time and we’d been looking at Lee Reynolds’ murder all wrong.

  It had been love at the heart of this case all along.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cherise’s house stood dark against the dusk sky, a white splotch in a sea of orange and yellow streaks flooding the horizon. My heart slamming into my chest, I ran from the car to her front door and hoped to God I’d gotten there in time. I knocked three times on the door but got no answer. Looking around, I saw no workmen’s trucks or any cars at all.

  Had she not returned here after being questioned at the station?

  I knocked again and waited, and then a sound from inside the house hit my ears. A moaning sound. Was she in there?

  “Cherise, it’s Poppy McGuire,” I yelled, suddenly worried I wasn’t helping her but instead interrupting something. “I just came out to see if you’re okay.”

  I listened for a reply but only heard the same moaning sound once again. Jiggling the door knob, I found it open and praying I wasn’t about to walk in on her with someone, I pushed open the door and walked into the dark living room.

  “Cherise, can you hear me? Is everything okay? I wanted to see if you were all right after the interrogation,” I called out as I gingerly made my way through the darkness to the kitchen to turn on a light.

  A faint voice from her bedroom answered quietly, “Poppy, help.” Hands out in front of my body to prevent me from running headlong into some piece of furniture, I hurried to where the sound came from and fumbled in the darkness to turn on the nightstand lamp next to her bed. What I saw when the room was lit up made my heart leap into my throat.

  There on the floor in between her bedroom and bathroom lay Cherise in a puddle of blood. Shot in the back just like Lee, she clung to life. I raced over to her and saw she had little time left, so I quickly called 911 and hoped I wasn’t too late.

  Then as I waited for the ambulance to come to her rescue, I sat down on the floor next to her and quietly promised her everything would be okay, even though I wasn’t sure of that at all as I watched her eyes close.

  “Open your eyes, Cherise!” I ordered each time her eyelids fluttered closed, terrified every time would be the last. “Open your eyes and look at me! I’m right here, Cherise. I called the ambulance and they’re coming, so I need you to hold on.”

  She obeyed my command to open her eyes and tried to speak, but she couldn’t. Taking her trembling hand in mine, I held it and quietly told her how much I loved her new house and how when she got out of the hospital she’d move on to the next room she planned to remodel. She never answered, but I hoped she knew I was there with her.

  When the ambulance arrived, the EMTs hurriedly got her out of there, leaving me alone in that house that would someday be beautiful again. I called Alex to tell him what had happened and that I thought I knew who killed Lee Reynolds.

  He answered on the first ring and I quietly said, “Cherise was shot this afternoon after she got home from the police station. The ambulance just took her to the hospital, but I don’t know if she’s going to make it.”

  Just saying those words as I stood not five feet away from the pool of her blood on the bathroom floor made it so real, and whatever haze I’d been in since finding her lifted and I began to cry.

  “Poppy, are you okay? Where are you? Are you still out at her house?” Alex asked in rapid-fire succession.

  I couldn’t stop the tears to answer his questions, so he continued to talk, his voice soothing me like always. “It’s okay, Poppy. The hospital will take care of her and fix her up. You probably saved her life.”

  The thought that my coming out to check on her may have saved her made my crying ease up. Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself as much as I could and said, “I wanted to make sure she was okay, so I drove out to the house. I know who did this, Alex.”

  “Yeah, I do too, but we’ll talk about that later. For right now, I need you to get back here. I want you to stay on the phone with me and get out of that house, Poppy.”

  I looked down at the white tile floor in the bathroom to see the dark red blood. “I should clean up here, Alex. She doesn’t have anyone else to help her and it’s going to stain the floor.”

  “Poppy, listen to me. I want you to leave there and come home now. Don’t worry about what’s on the floor. Just get out of there and into your car.”

  With one last look at the blood, I started to cry again. “I should have seen it earlier, Al
ex. If I had, she might not be on her way to the hospital and clinging to life.”

  “I’m coming out there, so just get to your car and lock the doors. Do you understand me, Poppy? Get to your car right now.”

  Alex’s words reverberated in my head, and I realized what he’d just said. Wiping my tears from under my eyes, I took a deep breath once again. “No, I can get home on my own. I’m okay. I’ll be fine.”

  He didn’t sound like he believed me, but I knew he didn’t want to fight now. “I want you to talk to me the whole way back so I know you’re okay.”

  Slowly, I made my way to the front door of Cherise’s house, noticing in the light bloody marks on the doorframes and walls. “Alex, there are fingerprints all over this place. Those beautiful front rooms of hers have bloody fingerprints but they don’t have any ridges like normal ones.”

  “They’re probably from the ambulance crew as they were taking her out. Are you almost to your car?”

  I heard the concern in his voice and suddenly felt like I should ease his mind. “Yeah, but I’ll be okay, Alex.”

  My words sounded faraway, like someone else was speaking them. In comparison, his seemed loud and demanding, his voice verging on panic as each moment passed.

  “Poppy, I want you to drive back directly to the police station. I’ll meet you here and you can tell me everything, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  But then I remembered my father possibly all alone with Jack and everything in my brain snapped into place. “No, I have to go see my father. I have to make sure he’s okay.”

  I started the car and began driving back to Sunset Ridge as Alex explained how he’d check on my father and make sure he wasn’t in any danger, but I still needed to see him for myself.

  “Poppy, why don’t you call him on your way back just to put your mind at ease?” he suggested, clearly understanding he wasn’t going to convince me on this issue.

  “While I’m driving? Aren’t cops against driving and talking on cell phones?” I asked as I pushed the gas and sped down the highway.

  “Damnit, Poppy, just do as I say and get back here,” he answered, his voice exasperated.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll call him. At the rate I’m driving, I should be back to Sunset Ridge in way less than an hour. I’ll see you when I get to the station.”

  Alex was silent for a moment and then in a far less worried voice, he said, “Just be careful, Poppy. I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”

  “I’ll be fine, Alex. I’ll see you in a few.”

  I ended the call with him and immediately called my father. His phone rang and I thought it would go to voicemail, but just before it did, he answered in his usual way.

  “Hi, honey.”

  “Hi, Dad. I just wanted to call and see if you’re okay. Are you at the bar?”

  He didn’t answer, and after a long pause, he finally said, “Actually, I’m over at your place. There was a problem at the bar with the pipes, and I had to close for the night. The plumber said the house might have water problems until he gets there tomorrow to fix everything, so I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I spent a night or two with you.”

  “Of course! I’d love that,” I said as relief washed over me. “You sound pretty shaken up about it. That house is old, though, so you shouldn’t be surprised that the plumbing would go eventually.”

  “Yeah, I guess. When will you be home?”

  “You sound pretty eager to see your only daughter, Dad. I should be there in about a half hour. When I get there, after I take a shower I’ll make us some dinner. Sound good?”

  “Sounds good, Elizabeth. I’ll see you soon,” he said in a somber voice, using my given name, something he usually saved for when he was serious about something.

  “You okay, Dad? I know it’ll be a big expense, but you’re going to be fine.”

  He began to tell me everything was good, but the reception on my phone failed and all I heard was a crackling noise in my ear before the call dropped. I tried to call him back, but it went directly to voicemail. No worries. I’d be home in a few minutes, and then I’d make him a good dinner so he could forget his plumbing troubles for at least a little while.

  I pulled into my driveway to see Alex waiting for me in his car with a look of relief on his face. Quickly jumping out, he rushed toward me as the evidence of blood on my arms and hands came into focus.

  “Damnit, Poppy! Why didn’t you come to the station like I told you to? And why didn’t you wait for me before going out to Cherise’s? You might have been hurt. As it is, you’re covered in blood. Not exactly a good thing to see first thing.”

  Looking down, I saw just how bad I looked with all that blood on me. “I’m sorry. I had a hunch and worried that if I didn’t get out there she might get hurt. I guess I was too late.”

  Alex brushed my hair off my forehead and smiled. “I talked to the hospital there. She’s going to be okay. She lost a lot of blood, but you got there in the nick of time. A few minutes more and she might have bled out. Luckily, the bullet only grazed an artery.”

  A sense of relief like I’d never felt came over me. I hadn’t been able to prevent Cherise from getting hurt, but at least I’d been there to make sure she didn’t die. I didn’t know why, but I began to cry. Maybe it was because of all I’d been through that day, or maybe they were tears of happiness. Whatever the reason, I stood there in my driveway sobbing like a baby.

  “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay,” Alex said as he pulled me into his arms. “You did good, Poppy. I just wish you would have waited for me.”

  I let my head lean against his chest and loved how safe I felt with him holding me. Like I could tell him anything and it would be okay.

  In between sobs, I said, “I guess I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”

  He tilted my head back and smiled down at me. “Remember how partners have each other’s backs? That’s not just something I say just to hear myself talk. You could have gotten hurt or worse out there. I don’t know what I would have done if that had happened.”

  The concern in his deep brown eyes touched me. I hadn’t meant to worry him or anyone else, but it felt good to know it had worried him.

  “I just figured you had your hands full with the case, especially since Craig told me Jack came by the station to complain about how you were handling the case.”

  The mention of Jack Reynolds made me shudder with embarrassment, and I hung my head. Once again, I’d picked the wrong man.

  “I’m never too busy to follow my partner’s gut. You know that.” He tilted my head up to face him again. “But what’s this about? You can’t even look me in the eye.”

  I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to face him when I admitted the truth. “I thought he really liked me. I just wanted to be someone different than the person everyone in this town thinks I am.”

  For a long moment, Alex remained silent as I waited to hear him tell me I was worrying about nothing or everyone made mistakes. He was good for those kinds of supportive statements when I needed them.

  But he didn’t say anything like that. Instead, when he finally spoke, I realized he was saying exactly what I’d wanted to hear from someone for so long.

  “You’re perfect just as you are, Poppy McGuire. From the first day, I knew you were someone unlike anyone else I’d ever met. You were too good for him, so don’t beat yourself up for giving him a chance. It’s just who you are.”

  I opened my eyes to see Alex smiling at me as he cradled my face like I was the most important thing in the world to him at that moment. As I stared up at him, I realized no one had ever looked at me like that before in my life.

  “He was just what you thought he was. I should have listened to you from the beginning. You never liked him. All this time your gut knew what he was when mine didn’t.”

  A slow smile lit up Alex’s face, and he softly kissed me on the forehead. “That’s because I was jealous.”

  “You were?”<
br />
  A sheepish expression came over his face. Looking away, he nodded. “Yeah, I was. I didn’t have any right to be jealous, though. You’re a grown woman who can choose to go with any man she likes. I guess I just got used to you always being around and I felt jealous that he was taking up so much of your time.”

  I thought about how we’d been together since Jack came into the picture. He had been jealous. I hadn’t believed it, but in some way, I’d known all along. Just like I’d been jealous when Bethany came into his life and threatened to take up all his time.

  “Jealous, huh? Well, I guess it’s time for me to come clean too then.”

  He narrowed his eyes to slits and knitted his brows. “Come clean about what?”

  As much as I wanted to look away so I didn’t have to see how he felt when I told the truth about him and Bethany, I didn’t and forced myself to face him. “I was jealous when you and Bethany started to date. Crazy jealous, like ridiculous teenage girl jealous.”

  With a big smile, he said, “Oh, I thought you were going to tell me something I didn’t know.”

  “What? You knew? How? It’s not like I was running around town telling anyone. Did my father say something to you? When I get inside, I’m going to give him a piece of my—”

  Alex stopped my mouth with a kiss that made my legs go weak. His lips tenderly caressed mine like they were meant only for me. Every cell in my body rejoiced in the feel of his hands gently holding my face and his body pressed against mine. After all those months working by his side and secretly wishing he cared for me like I cared for him, there we stood kissing for the first time. I didn’t know how long we stood in the dark kissing in my driveway, but I would have been happier than I’d ever been before in my life if we never had to move from that spot and I never had to feel the loss of his lips on mine.

  When he pulled away, I didn’t want to open my eyes and show him how much that one kiss had meant to me, but I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to see if it had meant the same to him. So I silently promised myself no matter what he looked like I could handle it and looked up into those beautiful chocolate brown eyes of his to see them telegraphing exactly what I was feeling.