by Lyndsey Cole
“Annie? Are you there, too, or is Roxy visiting by herself?” Thelma asked from the living room.
“I’m here too, Thelma. Roxy always manages to get ahead of me.” Annie walked into Thelma’s cozy living room and held her bag of sweets out. “I brought you some cookies.”
“You spoil me rotten; but that’s not a complaint, dear.” She laughed and accepted the bag, setting it on the small table next to her chair. “You know Rachel, don’t you?” Thelma looked from Annie to her visitor.
“Yes. We spent the afternoon together at the spa.” Annie’s mind raced in circles trying to figure out what the heck Rachel was doing in Thelma’s house. Nothing made sense. Annie sat in the wooden rocker. “What brings you here, Rachel?”
Rachel pointed to her ankle that rested on a footstool. “I managed to twist my ankle while I was running on the trail and, lucky for me, I was right outside Thelma’s window and she heard me cry out. She very kindly motioned for me to come up to give it a rest.”
“Let me take a look. I’ve done that plenty of times and I know it can hurt like the dickens. I can get an ace bandage if you need one.”
Rachel waved her hands in front of Annie. “You don’t have to do that. I think I can manage to limp back to my friend’s house.”
“Don’t be silly, Rachel. Let Annie take a look,” Thelma insisted.
Annie ignored Rachel’s protests and crouched next to the footstool. As she lifted the afghan, she wondered if Rachel really twisted her ankle or did she fake it for some devious reason?
The ankle was swollen and already beginning to discolor. “This looks pretty bad, Rachel. Should I get some ice for you?”
“That’s what I told her, too,” Thelma said. “I hope you can talk some sense into this stubborn woman.”
Rachel laughed. “You two are worse than a couple of mother hens. Fine. I’ll ice it for fifteen minutes, then I need to get back to the house for a phone call I’m expecting.”
“You can’t walk on this. I’ll give you a ride,” Annie said.
“I could call my friend . . . but she’d have to leave work to pick me up.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re staying only five minutes from here.” Annie went to Thelma’s kitchen and rummaged around in her freezer. “Thelma? Do you mind if I use your frozen peas for Rachel’s ankle?”
Thelma laughed. “That sounds like a good use for that bag. It’s probably been in there for a year or more. Please turn the tea kettle on, too, while you’re in there.”
With the bag of peas molded around Rachel’s ankle, Annie returned to the kitchen to get out the cups, spoons, tea bags, and sugar. It only took another minute for the water to boil and then she carried the tea to the living room.
The Black Cat Café bag crinkled as Thelma opened it and reached inside. “Oh, my goodness, chocolate cookies. No sense letting these goodies sit around any longer. Would anyone else like one?” She held the bag toward Rachel but she couldn’t quite stretch her fingers far enough to reach the bag.
Annie delivered a cookie and a cup of tea to Rachel.
“Rachel, you should tell Annie all about your plans to move to Catfish Cove.”
Annie faced Thelma and her eyebrows shot up. Thelma winked at Annie as she flopped onto the wooden rocker. Leave it to Thelma to find out important information from Rachel.
“Oh, it’s just a thought. After Kitty mentioned that Brian was thinking about moving here, I have to admit, I’ve been giving the idea some consideration. It’s a great town. I love the lake and the trail for running.” She shrugged. “I have to admit that I am shocked that I enjoy the slower pace here a lot more than I expected to. I’m considering asking Cody if I can buy some of the land from him. Some of Brian’s land. It would be a connection to Brian for me.”
“You can just get up and move? What about your job?” Annie asked, thinking the whole idea sounded farfetched.
“I write for a running magazine. I can do that anywhere and travel to the main office a few times a month to consult about my new assignments. I think my next article will be all about twisted ankles,” she joked.
“How to avoid one, I hope.” Thelma sipped her tea. “Did you already ask Cody about the farm?”
Rachel frowned at Thelma. “Well, we talked about the farm in general terms, not about him selling land to me. At that point Brian was still alive.”
“Was Brian thinking about doing something with his part of the farm?”
Rachel let out a long sigh. “Brian swore me to secrecy, but he was thinking about moving back here. I’m surprised he mentioned it to Kitty.” She shrugged. “I guess he had to talk to someone about his plans. Anyway, like I already told you, we had a disagreement and moving here was the issue. I wasn’t crazy about the idea.” She laughed. “Actually, I hated the idea and I let him know. That’s what we fought about and why I followed him. I realized I had to at least give the town and the farm a visit to see what all the attraction was for Brian.”
“And what’s your opinion of the town?”
“It’s growing on me, but when I first arrived I planned to tell Brian he was making a huge mistake and I wanted to convince him to leave, sell his land to his brother, and hightail it back to the exciting life we knew.”
“That’s what you were planning to do when you saw him at the Halloween party?” Annie asked.
“I guess so. And I wanted to see for myself who this Greta person was. He seemed to have a sweet spot for her and, yes, I was jealous. I’ve never been great at sharing.”
Brian had a sweet spot for Greta for twenty years? Or was it just guilt? At any rate, could Rachel have been jealous enough to kill him when he was blinded by the frosting?
26
Thelma offered the cookies again but only Rachel helped herself to a second one. Annie’s stomach couldn’t handle anything besides the tea after hearing Rachel’s admission of jealousy.
“These frozen peas were a great idea. My ankle feels good enough to hobble on. Can you give me a ride to my friend’s house now?” Rachel looked at Annie. “You’ll have to help me inside, too.”
“I’ll get my car.” Annie couldn’t figure out any way to wiggle out of the offer she had made. She would help Rachel to the door, but she didn’t plan on going inside. Sprained ankle or not, she didn’t want to be trapped anywhere with Rachel until Brian’s murder was solved.
By the time Annie returned, Rachel was waiting outside with Roxy. “Thelma said I can use her walker as long as you promise to bring it right back.”
“Sure.” That sounded like a good plan since Thelma could call for help if Annie didn’t return shortly. Plus, she had Roxy with her. She helped Rachel to the car, folded the walker, and put it in the back. Roxy took up her spot in the middle of the back seat.
“I get the feeling you’re not thrilled about my idea of moving to Catfish Cove,” Rachel said as Annie backed out of Thelma’s driveway.
Annie stopped. “What I’m not thrilled about is the fact that Brian was murdered and the killer hasn’t been identified yet.” What she left unsaid was, jealousy is a huge motive for killing someone.
“Right. And I’m the outsider so it’s easy for everyone to look at me and think murderer. Right?”
Annie turned into the driveway where Rachel was staying. “Are you?”
Rachel’s jaw dropped. “I think you’ve been listening to your friend, Kitty. She accused me the other day at the spa. What was she doing when Brian was murdered?” Rachel held Annie’s arm. “You all want someone to blame. I get that. But do you even care if the real murderer is locked up? Or do you only want to see someone behind bars?”
Annie jerked her arm away from Rachel’s surprisingly strong grip. “You followed Brian here without him knowing. You followed him to the Halloween party and spied on him. You admitted that the two of you were having a big disagreement. And just a few minutes ago you said you are thinking about moving to Catfish Cove. It all adds up to a confusing story at the least. What do y
ou expect people to think?”
Rachel shrugged and jerked her door open. “It sounds to me like you’ve made up your mind about what to think.” She managed to pull herself to a standing position next to the car. Annie got the walker out but didn’t walk with Rachel to the front door.
“If you want to bring the walker back to Thelma, you’ll have to come inside and get it.” Rachel left the door open and disappeared inside.
Annie didn’t know what to do. Thelma relied on that walker but the open door loomed like an open mouth waiting to swallow her up. She put the leash on Roxy and stepped toward that opening.
Her hands sweated; her heart raced.
Where did Rachel disappear to? Was she inside with a heavy object, waiting to smash it over Annie’s head?
She took another step. Roxy whined but she didn’t pull toward the house.
Annie heard a crash.
Curiosity and panic beat out caution in a heartbeat as her feet pounded on the path toward the door and what waited inside.
Rachel lay sprawled on the floor.
The walker lay on its side.
Rachel groaned. Annie crouched by her side. “Rachel! What happened?”
“I don’t know,” she managed to get out. “Someone shoved me from behind.”
Annie ran to the window facing the road. The thick growth of pine trees blocked everything, but the screech of car tires made her look toward the driveway where a gap between the trees created a small open sliver to the road. A black Jeep hurled past.
“Can you see anything?” Rachel asked.
“No,” she lied. She had to find out where Cody was before she jumped to the conclusion that it was his black Jeep. She hoped it wasn’t but she feared it was.
Rachel rolled onto her back. “I must have surprised whoever was inside when I got here.”
Annie helped Rachel stand and with her arm around Annie’s shoulder, she hopped to the couch. “Thanks for coming inside and helping me. It would have been hard to get off the floor by myself. Annie?”
Annie folded the walker to bring back to Thelma.
“I didn’t kill Brian. I came here to have a heart-to-heart talk with him. I know he was upset with me but I don’t think he had given up on our relationship yet. Maybe I should have let him have space on his own but if I had to do it over?” Rachel’s eyes filled. “I’d do it exactly the same. I didn’t want to risk losing him. But now, all I have is his memory.”
Annie didn’t know what to think but she wanted to find Cody. Did he shove Rachel? And if he did, why? What was he even doing here?
She dropped the walker off at Thelma’s house and quickly explained what happened, including her fear that the intruder was Cody. Thelma pulled a thick wool sweater on. “I’m coming with you. You can’t do all this running around and asking questions by yourself.”
This was not what Annie had in mind. Thelma would only slow her down but she was determined. She stood at the door with her walker effectively blocking the way out. “We’ll start at Greta’s house.”
“Why Greta?” Annie fidgeted. Having Thelma along wasted precious time. And what did Greta have to do with anything?
Thelma clucked like a concerned mother hen and shook her head. “Oh, honey, slow down for a minute. If Greta calls Cody, there’s a good chance he’ll answer his phone. If you call or show up at his door, what do you think that scared boy will do?”
Annie had to admit that Thelma had a good point and a smart strategy. “Okay.” She got Thelma and her walker in the car and waited for Roxy to take up her post in the middle of the back seat. What were a few more minutes anyway? If Cody was on the run, she didn’t have a chance of finding him.
“Here’s what I wonder,” Thelma began as they drove toward town. “If the intruder was Cody, he could have killed Rachel if he wanted to. So what was he after?”
“Good question. Maybe he was looking for paperwork to find out what was going on with Brian’s land. He’s been up to something today because, according to Leona, Danny said he didn’t show up for work this morning.”
“Then we’re on the right path. Cody needs to explain what’s going on.”
27
Annie parked on the street. It took several minutes, which felt like hours ticking by, to finally get Thelma up the steps to Greta’s front door. Thelma knocked but Annie noticed Kitty’s cat, Moby, pawing at something in the yard. “I’m going to see what that cat is doing. If he’s got an injured bird or something, it might not be too late to rescue it.” Annie told Roxy to stay with Thelma and she walked toward Moby.
The big Maine Coon cat’s tail flicked with annoyance as his paw worked at something tangled in the grass. “What trouble are you getting into, Moby?” Annie asked as she crouched next to the cat.
He ignored her. A bright reflection caught Annie’s eye. She reached under Moby’s paw. He growled at her and she pulled her hand away. “What are you after? At least it’s not any kind of animal.”
Looking around for a stick or something to push Moby away from the object, Annie saw Kitty hurrying toward her.
“What are you doing to my cat?” Kitty demanded.
Annie looked up at Kitty. “If you pick him up, I can see what he’s trying to get out of the grass.”
“Probably some piece of trash that Greta dropped in the yard. Moby’s always dragging home her garbage.” Kitty picked Moby up but didn’t bother to wait to see what his prey was. She turned in the direction of her house. Annie watched her stomp her feet but the heels of her shoes dug into the grass, which caused her gait to be lopsided.
“Serves her right if she falls,” Annie muttered to herself. She pushed the blades of grass away and saw a silver charm half-buried in the dirt. A cat charm. “Well, not Greta’s trash at all. Kitty seems to lose her own treasures on a regular basis.” Annie slipped the charm into her pocket and walked to Greta’s door.
Thelma sat at the kitchen table and motioned for Annie to come in. “Greta’s on the phone with Cody. She’s trying to convince him to meet us here.”
“Perfect. I’ll be right back. Moby found one of Kitty’s charms from her bracelet so I’ll pop over and give it back before I lose it. She’s obsessed with her cats and has a charm for each one.” Annie rolled her eyes.
“Okay. I’ll wait here with Roxy.” Thelma’s hand rested on Roxy’s head while the terrier leaned against Thelma’s leg.
She needs a companion, Annie thought as she let herself out the kitchen door.
As Annie waited for Kitty to open her door, she pulled the charm out of her pocket. She had one for each cat but Annie couldn’t remember which charm went with which cat.
When the door opened, Kitty looked at what Annie was studying. “Where’d you find that?”
“This is what Moby was trying to dig out of the grass. It’s one of your charms.”
Kitty looked at her bracelet. “Come on in. Maybe you can help me reattach it.”
“Um . . . can’t you do it yourself?” Annie glanced back toward Greta’s house to see if Cody’s Jeep was there yet.
Kitty pulled Annie inside. “It will only take a minute.”
Annie followed her to the kitchen and sat at the table.
Kitty got out some needle nose pliers and sat next to Annie. “The problem is that the stupid clasp on this bracelet is just about impossible to open so I never take it off. Without both hands, I can’t hold the charm and squeeze the doohickey that holds the charm on the bracelet.” She held her arm and pointed to the spot where the charm needed to be attached.
Four charms jingled against each other. “Which one did you lose?” Annie moved her finger over the charms. “You still have four charms on here like you showed me earlier.”
The charm Annie found in the grass lay on the table. It was a cat with its paw raised. Her whole body tensed as the meaning of her words hit her brain. “You lost Moby’s charm but you told me you hadn’t attached it yet.”
“Oh, Annie. That brain of yours never stop
s working, does it?” She shoved the sharp end of the pliers into Annie’s neck, even pinching a bit of her skin. “Unfortunate for you since I can tell you’ve finally put two and two together. As much as I tried to steer you toward Greta, then Rachel, or even poor Cody, you just refused to take the bait.”
Kitty stood which pulled on Annie’s skin that was in the pliers’ grip. “Ow. What are you talking about?” Her hand reached for Kitty’s arm holding the pliers.
“Don’t even think about it or you’ll have a big hole in your neck when I yank your skin out. Stand up,” Kitty ordered. “You and I are taking a little ride.”
Annie’s mind raced but with the pliers firmly attached to her neck, she didn’t have any choice but to follow Kitty’s order. “You won’t get away with anything, Kitty. Cody is on his way right now to explain what he was doing at Rachel’s house.”
“We’d better hurry then. I don’t want him to see his Jeep leaving my garage.” She laughed.
“Cody’s Jeep? It was you at Rachel’s house just now?”
Kitty shoved Annie into her attached garage. “Clever, right? I didn’t expect you to show up at my doorstep though. I figured you’d be on a wild goose chase looking for Cody while I finished up my last project.” She found a bag of zip ties. “Okay, hands out.” She tightened a zip tie around Annie’s wrists.
Kitty pushed Annie into the passenger seat, locked the door, and scooted around to the driver side. She dropped the pliers in her lap. “I don’t think I’ll need these, but just in case I’m keeping them good and close.”
Annie craned her neck as far around as possible to see what else was in the Jeep. A garbage bag was shoved behind the driver seat with a small bit of ivory fabric visible through the top of the garbage bag. The gown Kitty wore on Halloween night? A small tool box and shovel lay next to the bag. What was Kitty’s plan?