Death to the Highest Bidder: A Jill Andrews Cozy Mystery #2

by Nicole Ellis

  “I don’t know. It’s not like we can ask Sandy about it. She’d probably bite off our heads.”

  “Maybe I can get some information out of Dorinda when I bring the airplane to her.” I checked the clock on the wall. It was after four. I was supposed to meet my parents for dinner at five thirty, and I still needed to deliver the airplane and pry more details out of Dorinda.

  I slung my bag over my shoulder and grabbed Ella’s carrier. “I’d better go. Thanks for the coffee and words of wisdom.”

  “No problem.” Desi regarded me. “I’ll talk to Tomàs, but I’m not sure I’ll get anything else out of him.”

  “Thanks.” I walked to the door and pushed it open, angling Ella’s carrier through the opening.

  Outside, the sun shone brightly. I set Ella down and put my sunglasses on before proceeding to my car.

  I’d left my car windows open to keep the temperature from building up inside. There wasn’t much of value in there other than Dorinda’s toy plane, and I figured someone would notice if a thief tried to steal it. Actually, seeing someone attempt to steal it would be rather entertaining. I wasn’t sure I would be able to free it from my car when I got to Dorinda’s house.

  I pushed the button to slide the van door open and snapped Ella’s carrier into the base in the captain’s chair. The entire rest of the van was taken up by the giant red plane. Good thing my parents had Mikey, or I wouldn’t have been able to fit it in my vehicle with two car seats in the back. There was no way Dorinda could have fit it into her sedan.

  A big red bow encircled the nose of the plane, reminding me of Brenda’s gift baskets. Her baskets were heat sealed and whoever had opened the plastic to tamper with the chocolates had tied a bow on top to hide their misdoings. But who? I knew Terri, Dorinda, Sandy, and Brenda had all had access to the basket. I couldn’t get the bow out of my mind. A niggling feeling told me it could be the key to this whole puzzle.

  19

  I pulled up at Dorinda’s house and managed to parallel park between two other vehicles along the neat cement curb. She lived in an older part of town, up on the hill, where an alley ran behind the houses. Her house was a charming Victorian that I knew Brenda would love. A small plastic bulldozer sat forlornly in the middle of the front lawn, so I was pretty sure I had the right house.

  I needed to move Ella’s seat to get the airplane out, so I opened the sliding door of my minivan and released her car seat from the base. I brought her up the front steps, setting her carrier in a far corner of the enclosed porch to allow myself plenty of room to get the airplane up the stairs. I removed my sunglasses to see better on the darker porch and eyed the door. How was it going to get through that door? Maybe if we turned it sideways it would fit. One thing was for sure—I’d need Dorinda’s assistance to get the airplane inside. I’d had help from some of the Boathouse staff to load it into my car, and I wasn’t sure I could lift it by myself.

  I glanced at Ella and smiled. She looked so angelic, sleeping in her carrier next to a long white planter filled with purple and gold pansies. It was weird to think that next summer she’d be toddling around. With much effort, I pulled my attention away from the adorable baby, back to Dorinda’s airplane.

  I rang the doorbell, but there was no response. She’d told me she would be there, so I tried knocking instead. Muffled voices filtered through the door, which I now noticed wasn’t closed all the way. Dorinda had the same problem with her door not latching completely as I did with our deck door. It swung open under the gentle force of my knock.

  I paused on the sensible black doormat. The door was ajar, but I felt weird entering Dorinda’s house by myself as I didn’t know her very well.

  “Hello?” I shouted into the dark room.

  A hand reached out and hooked my arm, yanking me out of the bright sunlight into an unusually dark room. Dorinda must have had the best light-blocking drapes that money could buy.

  Blinded by the lack of light, I stumbled on a carpet inside the door, but the person kept pulling on my arm, their sharp fingernails digging into my skin. They led me through the room. My thigh banged against an end table and something large on the table, like a lamp, wobbled then settled in place. I rubbed my leg. That was going to leave a bruise.

  “Ouch! What are you doing?” I said. What was going on? Why was Dorinda acting like this? The fingernails pressed harder into my skin, and I was thrust onto a soft object near the back wall that I assumed was a couch.

  Someone next to me breathed in short puffs of air. The person who’d shoved me down paced in front of me. I willed my eyes to adjust to the dark, but my pupils were still small after being in the bright sun. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Who was sitting next to me, and who had grabbed me? I heard footsteps on the carpet as my attacker paced the living room.

  He or she was still invisible, but I could finally make out the person sitting next to me. “Dorinda?” I whispered.

  She nodded. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her feet were bound as well.

  “Stop talking,” a woman ordered. She came closer.

  “Sandy?”

  What was Sandy Mahoney doing in Dorinda’s house? With the animosity between them, I couldn’t imagine they’d been having a friendly afternoon coffee chat.

  “Quiet.” She continued pacing.

  Next to me, Dorinda shook. I placed my hand on her arm, and she calmed a little. My eyes darted across the room. I still didn’t understand why she was tied up or why Sandy had essentially kidnapped me, but I assumed it had something to do with Louis’s murder.

  I tried being nice. “Sandy,” I said tentatively. “What’s going on? Is there something I can help you with?”

  “No, you’ve helped enough.” Her words came out a sharp as knives. “I had a police officer stop by my house today. Apparently someone told them I had hired a private investigator to follow my husband and his floozies. I know it was you and that friend of yours from the Boathouse.”

  Shoot. How had she found out Desi and I knew about the photos?

  As if she’d heard my internal thoughts, she laughed. “Did you really think I wouldn’t be suspicious when you were just standing there outside my house? And your friend—looking for a bunny? Really?”

  She came closer to me, and I made out the shape of a gun in her right hand. I pushed myself further into the couch cushions, as if that could protect me from her.

  “The papers on my desk were out of order, so I knew someone had been in there. It had to have been you two.”

  “I didn’t say anything to the police,” I said, not admitting to breaking in. I knew Desi must have told Tomàs about the photos.

  “Right,” she said sarcastically. “They just showed up on my doorstep for no reason.” She waved the gun at us.

  I patted my front jeans pocket for my cell phone. It wasn’t there. I must have left it in the minivan while I was carrying Ella up to the front porch.

  Ella. My heart dropped to my knees, and icy dread took its place in my chest. I’d left Ella outside. Whatever Sandy had planned for Dorinda and I, it wasn’t good. I didn’t want Ella to be hurt. I’m not very religious, but I sent up a prayer that my baby girl wouldn’t wake up and alert Sandy to her presence by crying. I wondered where Daniel was. I hadn’t heard anyone else in the home, and I hoped Sandy hadn’t hurt him.

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked.

  “Well, Dorinda wouldn’t take my offer to buy out the other shares of Ericksville Espresso.”

  I shot a glance at Dorinda. My eyes had grown accustomed to the dark and, in the thin stream of light from the window above the front door, I saw the terror on her face. I needed to keep Sandy talking while I thought of some way to get us out of there.

  “Why did you want to buy her shares? Why not sell and take the money?”

  “Because the business was Louis’s dream. I’d already taken some money out of it, but I intended to drain all the money from it and run it into th
e ground, just like he did with our marriage. Of course, I’d be sure to move that money into a nice safe investment account. After all, I have to look out for my future now that I’m a widow.”

  I couldn’t clearly see her face, but her voice held a self-satisfied tone.

  “So you killed him.” I now realized why the pretty silk ribbon bows had stuck in my mind. Brenda had said she wasn’t crafty, and her baskets had been simple but elegant. Sandy’s house had been the one filled with bows, just like the one on the basket from Brenda on Louis’s desk.

  She shrugged, as if killing her husband was no big deal. “He deserved it. I was fed up with his cheating, but I knew if I divorced him, I’d get nothing. I’m in my mid-forties and my floral business is only for fun. What would I do for money?” She laughed again, a horrible grating noise. I scooted closer to Dorinda and reached behind my back to try to untie her bonds—bonds which I now realized were tied with the same silk ribbon. Sandy really loved that stuff.

  “Enough with all this though—I need to get going.”

  “How did you know I’d be here today?”

  “I didn’t. I hadn’t decided what to do with you yet. But when the doorbell rang and Dorinda told me it was you, I congratulated myself on my good fortune. Two birds with one stone and all.” She chuckled, an evil sound that caused another icy finger of fear to poke at my spine.

  “What are you going to do to us?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

  “Oh, you and Dorinda will die in a tragic gas explosion. Two friends visiting when the oven malfunctions and blows up the house.” She came over to me and set the gun down on the arm of the couch while she tied up my hands and feet. I contemplated kicking her in the face, then eyed the gun and decided it would be too dangerous to go for it. Next to me, Dorinda trembled.

  Sandy stood and picked the gun back up, assessing the two of us. Seemingly satisfied with her efforts to restrain us, she retreated to the kitchen.

  When she was out of the room, I immediately turned to Dorinda.

  “Where’s Daniel?” I asked urgently.

  “He’s with his grandparents, thank goodness. What are you doing here?” she whispered.

  “I was delivering the airplane like we discussed.” My pulse settled a little with the realization that Daniel was safe. I’d forgotten she’d told me at Mikey’s birthday party that his grandparents were taking him camping. If he’d been in a different room, I didn’t know how I’d fit him into whatever escape plan I could concoct.

  “Oh yeah. It slipped my mind after I got home from work and Sandy surprised me.” She leaned against the arm of the couch.

  “Ella’s on the porch.” My voice wobbled. If Sandy blew up the house, the porch would go up in flames. I had to figure out a way out of there. I twisted my wrists, trying to wriggle out of the bonds.

  Dorinda closed her eyes for a moment. When she spoke, her words were tearful. “I’m so sorry I got you into this mess. I had no idea she was so crazy. She showed up on my doorstep this afternoon, claiming she wanted to talk about the business, so I let her in. As soon as I did, she pulled a gun on me.”

  The odor of natural gas trickled into the room. We didn’t have much time. Sandy’s footsteps echoed in the kitchen, and she came back into the living room, approaching us.

  “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m really not. With you two out of the picture, I can plant evidence that Dorinda killed my husband. I’ll be the grieving widow, and she’ll be the evil co-owner. It works out perfectly.”

  She looked at me. “You’ll be the innocent victim who was caught up in all of this.” She sounded strangely happy about the prospect of my death. “I’ve set a toaster on a timer. When it ignites the gas, I’ll already be home.”

  I shivered. Sandy was truly insane. The ribbon around my wrists stretched a little, and I freed one hand behind my back, then the other. I leaned closer to Dorinda and picked at the ribbon encircling her wrists. They’d been tied too tight to loosen.

  Sandy took a final look around the room, then exited out the back door. Something briefly covered the daylight coming from the window above the front door. Was Sandy eliminating our last bit of light to leave us in blinding darkness before the house exploded? The gas smell was getting stronger. Hopefully it wasn’t leaking through the front windows to the spot on the porch where I’d left Ella. Spurred by that concern, I bent down to frantically claw at the ribbons around my ankles.

  The door opened, allowing a sliver of light into the room.

  “Jill!” someone whispered loudly. Desi. Why was she here?

  “Desi, Ella’s on the front porch. Be careful, the whole place is filling with gas.”

  “Ella’s safe.” She flung open the door and rushed in, opening the back door and other windows as quickly as possible to allow fresh air to circulate and gas to escape.

  “It was Sandy,” I said. “She’s crazy.” I glanced at Dorinda. Tears were streaming down her face.

  Desi nodded grimly. “I saw her leave. I’ve called the police. They’ll be here soon, but we’ve got to get you both out of here.” She eyed our bound appendages. “Jill, do you think you can walk?”

  I stared at my feet. Sandy had tied them crossed, so I couldn’t even hop out of the house. “I don’t think so. I might be able to inchworm across the floor, but that’s it.”

  “There’s scissors in the knife block on the kitchen counter. You can use those to cut the ribbon,” Dorinda said.

  Desi ran into the kitchen. Drawers opened and shut with a bang, reminding me of the ignition device.

  “Sandy set something up in there to light the gas,” I shouted toward the kitchen.

  The noises stopped. “Ok.”

  A minute later, Desi came running out with an extension cord and timer and threw it into the yard. She disappeared back into the kitchen and rushed out to us carrying scissors. Bizarrely, I couldn’t help but want to advise her not to run with scissors, like she was a preschooler in danger.

  “She broke the gas line to the stove. I can’t turn it off. We’ve got to get out of here.” She sliced through the ties on my feet and then freed Dorinda. The three of us ran for the door. From down the street came the telltale blare of sirens and approaching fire trucks.

  We burst out of the house, running down the front walk and not stopping until we’d reached the sidewalk.

  20

  I turned to Desi, breathing heavily from the sudden exertion. “Where’s Ella?”

  She took my hand and led me across the street to a cute white house with blooming gardens out front. “One of Dorinda’s neighbors was outside gardening, and I left Ella with her.”

  Sure enough, my daughter sat in an elderly woman’s arms, cooing away. My heart surged with love. I’d come close to losing both my life and Ella’s, and I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around my baby.

  I held out my arms to the woman. “Thank you so much for watching my daughter.”

  She handed her to me, her lips spreading into a small smile. “No problem. I watch my great-granddaughter a few days a week, and I love babies. She and I have been doing fine.”

  I thanked her again, and Desi and I re-crossed the street to stand by the police cars, which were now blocking access to the area. Dorinda rushed over to us.

  “They shut off the gas to the house, and the fire crew said the situation is safe now.”

  “Did they find Sandy?” Desi asked.

  “I don’t know,” Dorinda replied.

  A young, male police officer I’d never seen before approached us. “Excuse me, which of you were in the house with Ms. Lang?”

  “I was.” I stepped forward.

  “I need to ask you a few questions.” He got out his notebook and proceeded to quiz me on why I’d been at the residence and what had happened. When I finished, he thanked me for my time and walked over to an older man who I assumed was his superior at the police department.

  Desi, Dorinda, Ella, and I huddled together near the st
reet corner as the police and fire department activity buzzed around us. I shivered despite the warm June sun. “That was horrible.” I’d been in danger before, but having the life of my daughter threatened was ten times worse. The police called Dorinda over to them. After she left, I turned to my sister-in-law.

  “Desi, why were you here in the first place?” If she hadn’t arrived when she had, we may not all have been standing there, safely watching the house from a distance.

  “Uh, you’re welcome?” she joked, and then seemed to catch the seriousness in my expression. “You left the aviator helmet behind at the café.”

  “I did? It must have fallen out of my hobo bag.” With the bulky child carrier, I probably could have dropped a bowling ball from my bag and not noticed.

  She shrugged. “Good thing you did. I found it when I was clearing the table and, after I closed up the café for the day, I decided to take it over to Dorinda’s house before I forgot.”

  “How did you know where she lived?” I didn’t think Desi had ever been to her house before.

  With a chortle, Desi said, “Thank goodness for Nancy’s organizational skills. She’d sent out an updated parent directory soon after Daniel started at the preschool. Dorinda’s address was on it.”

  “Wow.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “So you’re saying Nancy basically saved us.”

  “Kind of.” We exchanged glances.

  “Let’s not tell her, ok?” Nancy had a big enough head as it was, and I didn’t want her to think I owed her.

  “Deal. Besides, she’ll be mad enough about someone in her perfect family being involved with such a public incident.”

  “Oh yeah. That’s not going to go over well with her.” I eyed the police officers, who were still interviewing Dorinda. “I’m going to check and see if it’s ok if we leave. It’s past the time I was supposed to meet my parents for dinner, and they’ll be worried that I didn’t show up.”