by K. J. Emrick
“Right,” Grace said, writing notes on a yellow pad of paper. “I’ll take care of that with the desk Sergeant. What do we do about it in the meantime?”
“We need someplace for Izzy and Lilly to stay where they’ll be safe. I can’t exactly call the State Police yet, unless the Chief orders me to. Now that we know a little bit more about everything it’s clear that Izzy is a victim. She needs to be protected.”
Darcy smiled brightly at Jon. She was so proud of him for making that decision. She knew it hadn’t been easy. He saw her looking at him and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “I’m sorry if I was a jerk.”
“I’m sorry if I was, too.”
“Very cute, you two,” Grace said to them. “It doesn’t solve our problem, though. How about they come stay with me and Aaron for now?”
“With you?” Darcy asked. “Are you sure?”
Grace spread her hands. “It makes sense. We live in an apartment off the ground floor. No easy access. If anyone comes looking for them all we have to do is keep the door closed and locked and call someone.”
Darcy had to admit that it did make sense. She just hated how, once again, a mystery had swept into town and put all of her family and friends in danger. She had to wonder if she was some kind of magnet for trouble. Maybe her connection to the other side attracted people in danger to her for her to help.
If that was the case, then she and the universe needed to have a long conversation when this was over.
“Darcy, there’s one other thing,” Grace said. She took her sister by the hand and led her over to the other side of the empty officer’s room. “I, uh, was going to have you and Jon over for dinner some night soon and ask you this, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to have a day without tons of excitement in it for the next little while. So. I wanted to ask you…”
Darcy didn’t know what her sister was getting at. “Grace, what is it? Is something wrong?”
“No, no nothing like that,” she said quickly. “Everything’s fine. You know that Aaron and I are excited for our first child and we want everything to be just right and we were talking, and, um, we want to know if you’ll be the baby’s godparent?”
“Me?” Darcy thought her voice squeaked, she was so excited to hear Grace ask that. “Of course I would! I can’t think of anything that would make me happier.”
They hugged again, and Darcy practically bounced on her heels as they did.
Chapter Eight
Darcy woke with a crick in her neck and Jon’s arm across her waist. Grace’s pull-out couch wasn’t exactly a comfortable way to spend a night. She could feel every spring under her back. When she shifted to a more comfortable position, Jon’s eyes popped open. With a yawn and a stretch he ended up folding his body across hers. “Good morning,” he said to her with a smile.
“Mmph,” she said back. “Next time we find a four star hotel to hide in.”
“Deal. Settle for making breakfast with me?”
He looked so cute with his hair mussed up and his eyelids all droopy. They had both slept in their clothes for lack of pajamas, and his shirt hung all wrinkled down his front. She kissed him on the forehead. “Breakfast. Then maybe a shower?”
“Together?” he teased.
She laughed. “You make the pancakes. I’ll see if there’s any bacon in the freezer.”
While they were starting everything, getting pans and bowls out as quietly as possible so they wouldn’t wake any of the others especially Izzy and Lilly, Jon became very quiet.
“What are you thinking about?” Darcy asked him.
He looked sheepish. “Is it that obvious?”
“I just know you that well,” she said with a smile.
“Actually, I was thinking about this whole situation. I think I have a way to catch our visiting bad guy, this Adolphos character. The only drawback is it’s going to mean putting Izzy in harm’s way again.”
Darcy thought she might know what he was getting at. “We’d better wait for her to wake up and ask her what she thinks.”
“I agree.” He put another pancake on the stack he had already cooked and then turned to her. “There’s something else.”
“Oh?” She wasn’t sure she liked the way he had said that.
He wiped his hands on a dish towel before encircling her waist and pulling her to him. “You need to know I’m still a little angry about the spot you put me in with Izzy and Lilly. That whole mess could have cost me my job. Or worse, got me charged as an accessory.”
“But, Jon, you talked to the Chief and explained the whole thing to him, right? He said to do whatever you had to?”
Jon nodded, his eyes studying the lines of her face. “Yes, but he wasn’t happy about it. Luckily by that point we had all of the proof we needed to show reasonable doubt about Izzy killing her husband. Otherwise…well, let’s not dwell on the otherwise. So, here’s what I need to say to you.”
Bracing herself, Darcy tensed up in his arms. She bit at her lower lip to keep it from trembling.
“Darcy Sweet, you were right,” he said at last, his lips curling into a weak smile. “What we’re doing is exactly the right thing. Thank you for making me do it, because on my own I would have just arrested her and let the State Police figure it out. You make me a better person.”
She didn’t know what to think. It was probably the sweetest thing Jon had ever said to her. Warmth spread through her body and turned her cheeks pink. “I love you, Jon Tinker.”
“I love you, Darcy Sweet.”
“Aw,” they heard Grace say from the hallway leading down to the bedrooms. “You guys are so sweet you make me just want to brush my teeth. You made breakfast?”
Later when they were all eating breakfast, with Izzy and Lilly sitting at the kitchen table with Aaron and Grace and Jon and Darcy eating from their plates over the countertop, Jon laid out his plan to them.
Grace mopped up maple syrup with a forkful of pancake. “Are you sure that’s a smart idea? We don’t know what this Adolphos is capable of. Or more correctly, we know exactly what he’s capable of. He’s dangerous.”
Jon nodded, placing his empty plate in the sink. “I know. And there’s a lot of risk to this. Izzy, if you don’t want to try this, we can do something else. I just can’t think of what that would be, other than turning you over to the State Police. We’ve all agreed we don’t want to do that if we can avoid it.”
Izzy had hardly touched her breakfast. She looked down at her daughter, who was making her way through her second pancake after munching a pile of crunchy bacon. Finally she nodded. “I’ll do it. My daughter deserves to be able to live without being afraid all the time. I’ll do it. For her.”
Darcy found Jon’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Now they had a plan.
***
Later that day, Jon sat with Darcy in the second floor hallway of Izzy’s house. They had been there for hours now, waiting for something to happen. Izzy was downstairs, sitting at the kitchen table with the curtains wide open so anyone could easily see her from outside.
“Are you sure he’s going to come?” Darcy asked Jon.
“I’m sure,” he answered. “It’s just going to take time. Grace tailed Izzy while she walked all around town for nearly an hour. There’s no way that Adolphos didn’t see her. Then she came right here. It won’t be long.”
Darcy tugged at the neck of the bulletproof vest she was wearing. Jon had made both her and Izzy wear them, just like he was. Adolphos was a killer, and he’d come at Izzy with a gun twice already. They weren’t worried about him shooting Izzy through the window, or even bursting through the door shooting. He thought Izzy had information that he wanted.
Izzy’s husband had been involved in money laundering and worse. It wasn’t a big leap from that fact to know what Adolphos had been asking about yesterday. “Where is it?” he’d asked. What he meant, was that Chip McIntosh had been skimming money from the criminal organization The Hand. Adolphos wanted that money.
Th
e problem, as Izzy had pointed out to Jon, was that Izzy had no idea where the money was.
So now Jon and Darcy waited for Adolphos to take the bait and make an appearance. He’d told her several times that he wanted her to stay at the station or with Grace, but Darcy had insisted on coming. She thought maybe her sixth sense might be of some help. Plus, she had started this whole thing, and she wanted to see it through to the end. Grace and two uniformed officers had taken up positions in a car parked behind Jon and Darcy’s house, ready to swoop in when needed.
Which apparently wasn’t going to be anytime soon.
“You know,” Darcy said, talking just to pass the time, “Sue’s leaving for college. She won’t be able to work at the shop anymore.”
“Really? Hmm. That’s too bad. When’s she have to go?”
“Next week, I think.” The reality of it rushed in for Darcy. “I got to thinking about running the bookstore by myself. It’s too much.”
“You could always hire someone else.” His eyes were on the stairs as he spoke to her, and she could tell his ears were pricked for any sound. “Or maybe cut back on the hours?”
“Well, I know the shop hasn’t been doing as much business as it used to, but Sue and I are working on a plan to change that.”
“Oh, yeah? You should tell me about… Shh,” he raised a hand up, motioning for her to be silent.
Darcy felt a chill go up her spine at the same time that Jon went very still. Someone was coming. Someone with bad intentions.
They heard the door slam open downstairs and Izzy cried out. Then the voice of the dark man, shouting. “It’s just you and me now. You tell me where he hid the money or you’ll never see your daughter again!”
Jon was already halfway down the stairs. Darcy followed him to the wall separating the living room from the kitchen. He motioned for her to stay back, then crouched down to give himself leverage, and jumped out at Adolphos.
Darcy heard the scuffle start and when she came around after Jon, he was on the floor with the intruder, struggling to get the gun away from him. Izzy had backed away into the corner by the sink. Adolphos’ face was scrunched up and the cords in his neck stood out as he wrestled with Jon. Both men were tall and strong but Darcy could see that Adolphos had the size advantage. She had to help.
Picking up the teakettle from the stove she carefully circled the two men until she had an opening, fully aware of where the gun was being pointed the whole time. When she saw her chance she smashed the kettle down as hard as she could on Adolphos’ head. It was a heavy green metal thing, and it made a hollow thunk against the man’s skull.
The strike dazed Adolphos long enough for Jon to wrestle the gun away from him and toss it aside.
“You’re coming down to the station,” Jon said, panting as he pinned Adolphos down on his stomach, handcuffing him behind his back. “We all need to have a long talk.”
Darcy went to Izzy and held her, feeling the way she trembled. “It’s all right, we got him.”
“Thanks to your assist,” Jon said to Darcy. “Maybe they should issue us teakettles instead of pistols.”
***
Grace and the uniformed officers drove Adolphos into town to the police station. It had been a long couple of days, and Darcy was glad to see they were close to finding an end to it all. She and Izzy watched through the two-way glass of the interview room as Jon sat down across from Adolphos, hit man for The Hand.
Dressed in black pants and a nice black silk shirt, Adolphos was every bit as scary as his photograph. The crescent scar under his left eye was puckered in a ruddy face that glared daggers at Jon. His hands were still cuffed, and the cuffs were chained to a ring on his side of the metal interview table.
Jon tapped a pen against the yellow pages of his notebook. He was recording the entire interview, but Darcy knew that he liked to make his own notes as well. Through the speakers, she and Izzy could hear every word that was said. “You’ve been advised of your right to remain silent, remember,” Jon told Adolphos.
“I know my rights better than you do,” the man sneered. “No doubt you’ve seen my rap sheet. I’ve been arrested on any number of crimes. Each time, I walked. I’ll walk this time, too.”
Jon raised an eyebrow. “What makes you so sure of that? You’ve attacked Isabelle McIntosh twice now in my jurisdiction. We know you’re working for a group that calls themselves The Hand. We know you’re after money that was stolen from the group by Isabelle’s husband, Charles McIntosh, also known as Chip.”
“You know a lot for a dumb cop.” Adolphos shifted in his chair, somehow managing to look comfortable in spite of his circumstances. “So you must know how this is going to work. I’m going to offer to give you information on certain…activities that are related to organized crime that your little rinky dink agency here will be much more interested in. As will the State Police, and I should think the FBI as well. Call Agent Dominie at the capitol office. I’ll give you the number.”
“Where’s Chip McIntosh?” Jon asked, seeing the conversation wasn’t going anywhere.
Adolphos shrugged. “Don’t know. We know he’s still alive, of course, but we haven’t been able to find him. You’re the smart guy. You figure it out.”
Jon kept at it for a half hour longer or more before finally giving up. He closed his notepad and walked out, coming around to where Darcy and Izzy were. “We’re not going to get anything more out of him. We’ll charge him, of course, but unfortunately he’s right. With what he knows he’ll buy himself a reduced sentence.”
“You think he’ll really walk away free?” Izzy asked, her face horrified.
“No,” Jon said. “Not completely. He’ll serve a sentence in a nice cushy Federal Prison, most likely. What we need to worry about right now is finding your husband. You thought he was dead all this time. Now, you know he’s not. So, think now. Where would he go to hide?”
Izzy bent her head in thought. When she looked up again her eyes were wide. “His brother has a summer home a few hours away from here. He hasn’t used it in three years. Chip took it over. No one goes up there anymore.”
She gave them the address and Jon went to grab his coat. Darcy followed tight on his heels. Jon stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Not this time. Not that I wouldn’t mind you backing me up with a teakettle again but let me and the uniformed guys handle this one.” He kissed her on her cheek. “I’ll be back.”
***
Darcy spun the antique ring on her finger fitfully as she sat with Izzy in the Bean There Bakery and Café. Lilly was still being watched by Aaron. They had agreed it was best to leave her there until they found out if Jon would find Chip. There was no sense in confusing the poor girl any more than she already was. In spite of her concern for Jon, Darcy’s stomach had reminded her she hadn’t eaten all day, so they had decided to go for sandwiches and coffee.
Helen came over to their table after waiting on some of the other customers, and sat down with a smile. “Well, Darcy, it’s good to see you’ve gotten our new neighbor to come out of her shell. Hello there, I’m Helen Nelson, mayor of Misty Hollow.”
Izzy smiled uncertainly and made small talk for a few moments. Darcy reminded herself that most of the town had no idea of the drama unfolding around them. In a lot of ways it was a nice change of pace. Usually the troubles that came to Misty Hollow caught everyone up in their webs.
“Oh, Helen,” Darcy said, suddenly remembering. “I wanted to ask you something. You know that Sue is leaving, right? I wanted to do a going away party for her. Two days from now, maybe? Could you possibly bake a few dozen cookies for it? I’m going to invite the book club and Linda from the library and some others.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Helen agreed. “I’ll do some other appetizers, too. We sure will miss Sue.”
After they finished their sandwiches they made their way back over to the police station. “Izzy, that’s Jon’s police car,” Darcy said, seeing the dark sedan parked out front.
They went inside, buzzed through by the desk sergeant on duty, to find the inside of the police station humming with activity. Grace sat at her desk, directing several uniformed officers to tasks that had them all scurrying. At Jon’s desk, a man sat with his hands cuffed in his lap, miserably hunched over. His shirt was torn along the left sleeve and his pants were filthy. A healed over scar along his left forearm showed Darcy where he must have cut himself to leave his blood behind and frame his wife for his murder.
As if he knew she was there, Chip turned and locked eyes with Izzy. His blonde hair was cut short and choppy, and his face was covered with stubble. Izzy put a hand to her mouth to muffle a gasp. “Chip…”
Jon nodded to Darcy, and she understood. “Izzy, let’s go into the waiting room.”
“No!” Izzy suddenly ran up to where Chip was sitting and slapped him across the face. “How could you do this? How could you do this to me? To our daughter? How dare you!”
He shrugged. “I had to go into hiding.”
It was the only explanation they would ever get from him.
Chapter Nine
Two days later, Jon and Darcy were putting the last touches around the bookstore for Sue’s going away party. Streamers were strung along the bookshelves. Balloons were tied and floating from the chairs. Next to the front counter, the big surprise was covered with a large blue tablecloth.
Grace, Aaron, and Izzy were all helping. Lilly ran among the bookstacks, taking children’s books down off the shelves, flipping through their pages and putting them back, over and over. Darcy smiled to see it. She’d been so worried when Izzy had told her daughter about her daddy still being alive and going to jail. Lilly had thought about it, then looking straight at her mom she’d asked, “I guess we’ll have to send him Christmas cards at the jail, huh?”
Darcy looked over at Jon, smiling and laughing at something that Aaron had said. Someday, they’d have their own little daughter or son. She couldn’t wait to talk about it with him.