by Sharon Pape
“We can sit in my office,” Quinn said, leading the way into a small, cluttered room just off the kitchen. Once they were seated, he offered the women a cold drink, which they declined. The last thing Jaye wanted was to prolong her discomfort. In anticipation of the coming confrontation, her insides were busy dancing the shimmy.
Quinn shuffled through the blizzard of papers that covered his desk until he found a pad of paper and a pen. “I’ve got to clean up this mess,” he grumbled. “It takes me forever to find anything.”
“Too few hours in the day,” Sierra commiserated.
“Ain’t that the truth? So, why don’t you give me an idea about how many people you’ll be having?”
“Fourteen,” she said. “I thought we could have a build your own taco or burrito bar with all the fixings.” She sounded so earnest that Jaye almost forgot there wasn’t actually going to be a party.
Quinn suggested other menu items that would also lend themselves to guest participation. “Mexican food is perfect for that kind of thing,” he said. “I’ll work up a menu today and give you a total. If it doesn’t suit you, we can always make changes to modify the price. Don’t worry, we’ll do it up in style.”
Sierra thanked him, and almost as an afterthought said, “Oh, I wanted to ask you about the place you take your dog to be groomed. K9 Kutz, right?”
Quinn, who’d been starting to rise from his seat, sat back down again. “Yeah, that’s where I take Duncan. Why?”
“I’ve been looking for somewhere cheaper to take Frosty, and when I called there and asked for a customer referral they gave me a couple of names, including yours.”
A frown had lowered over Quinn’s pale blue eyes. “I didn’t know they did that,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Gave out customer names, I mean.”
“I figured they had your permission,” Sierra said.
“I’ll talk to them about it,” he said, clearly disgruntled. “To be honest, though, they always do a decent job on the dog. It’s a bit farther to drive, but much more reasonable than the places around here.”
“Then you’ll still go back there in spite of the accident?” Jaye asked, joining the conversation now that they were done discussing the imaginary party.
“Accident? Oh, you mean when I slipped and fell there?” He gave a little snort of laughter. “That was just me being clumsy.”
“And resourceful,” Jaye added.
His smile faded. “What do you mean?”
“The police are looking for the person who planted the white fur on Peggy’s body,” Sierra replied in a helpful, heads-up tone of voice.
“Wait a minute—are you saying I planted it?” His jaw tightened and a ropy vein in his temple stood out. Jaye swore she could see it throbbing.
“Of course not,” Sierra replied mildly. “All she’s saying is that you had access to fur like that.”
“Sounded more like an accusation to me,” he muttered, looking from Sierra to Jaye and back again as if trying to decide whom to trust.
“I’m sure Brock and Anastos have cleared you as a suspect by now,” Jaye said, feeling like she was engaged in a weird sort of slow-motion battle.
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Well, they called the other day to let us know we were in the clear.” Oh, how she wished that were true. “Haven’t you heard from them yet?”
“Did you go to the police with this fur theory of yours?” Quinn demanded, ignoring her question.
“It’s actually their theory,” Sierra said. “I guess we might have inadvertently mentioned your fall at K9 Kutz when Brock called us. I don’t remember for sure.” She turned to Jaye. “Do you?”
Jaye shook her head, watching Quinn’s face turn an interesting shade of reddish purple as if he were about to pop an aneurysm.
“You told them about my fall in order to save your own necks, didn’t you?” he thundered.
“We like you Quinn,” Sierra replied calmly, “but not enough to take the rap for you.”
Quinn launched himself out of his chair, effectively throwing the switch to real-time action. He came around his desk in a couple of long strides to stand over them.
Sierra and Jaye shrank back in their chairs as if they’d been blown back by the force of the big man’s anger. Jaye had a sudden memory flash of the Big Bad Wolf trying to blow down the homes of the Three Little Pigs. Terrific—couldn’t she draw on something more helpful?
“You come into my restaurant on the pretext of business and accuse me of murder?” Quinn raged at them.
Every neuron in Jaye’s brain was screaming at her to get up so she could escape before Quinn’s anger drove him to kill again, but he was barely two feet away and blocking the only route to the door. She should have thought of that when they’d followed him into the office. Then she could have at least angled her chair back and away from the desk to give herself more room to maneuver. What had made her think she could investigate a murder case without even the most rudimentary training in self-defense? Without even reading Amateur Sleuthing for Morons, if such a book existed. No matter. There was simply no way she was going to let Quinn harm her or Sierra today.
Gripping the arms of her chair, she leapt to her feet, intending to swing the chair around and shove it at Quinn like a lion tamer under the big top. But the chair was heavier than she’d anticipated, and for a frantic moment she wasn’t sure she could even get it off the ground. Then a burst of adrenalin kicked in, and the chair sailed through the air, the legs finding their mark in Quinn’s lower abdomen. He grunted and stumbled backward. Following her lead, Sierra used her chair to deliver a powerful shot to his shins, knocking him off his feet. As he went down, Jaye turned for the door with Sierra on her heels only to run full tilt into Luisa, who was standing in the doorway. She was no longer singing. In fact, she was brandishing a large, shiny knife with bits of corn and carrots still stuck to the blade.
Chapter 34
Jaye had been so focused on trying to escape from Quinn that she’d forgotten Luisa was still in the kitchen. Given the angry tenor of her husband’s voice, it was hardly surprising that she’d come to see what was happening. But Jaye didn’t know if she’d brought the knife for protection or because she’d been chopping vegetables and happened to have it in her hand. “He was about to attack us,” Jaye said, breathless from exertion and fear.
“From what I saw, you two were attacking him,” Luisa said sharply. “I know my husband has a big bark, but he doesn’t bite.”
“Then I guess you’re not aware he killed Peggy,” Sierra told her.
Quinn grabbed onto the edge of the desk for support and dragged himself to his feet. “They don’t know what they’re talking about. They have this cockamamie theory that I swiped dog fur at K9 Kutz to plant on Peggy’s clothes after I supposedly killed her.”
“No, Luisa, there’s way more to it than that,” Sierra said.
“There may be, but I’m not interested in hearing it.”
“Look,” Jaye said reasonably, “why don’t we just leave? You have my word we won’t file charges against him.”
Luisa smiled as if she found the suggestion humorous. “File charges against him for yelling at you after you accused him of murder?” Jaye realized she was right. Quinn hadn’t actually threatened them or even touched them. Their fear was based solely on the belief that he’d already killed someone.
“Let them go,” Quinn said with a disgusted wave of his hand. “I don’t want any more to do with them.”
“It’s not that easy,” his wife replied.
“Of course it is,” Jaye said brightly. “All you have to do is step aside, and we’ll be on our way.”
“Never to darken your doorstep again,” Sierra threw in for good measure.
“Luisa,” Quinn said sternly, “it’s over. I�
��m telling you to let them go.”
“You’re done ordering me around, big shot!” she snarled at him. “No more. You hear me? No more! You’re the one who brought this down on us.”
Quinn looked stunned. “What are you talking about?”
“You think I don’t know about your gambling? About how much money you’ve lost? I know about it all. I know you’ve gone through our retirement savings. I know you were trying to get Peggy to sell so you could expand the restaurant to make up for the losses.” Her voice was growing increasingly wild and shrill, as if something inside her that had been held together by a fine thread had finally broken free. “You’re all noise and no action. That’s how you’ve always been. So I went to speak to Peggy, woman to woman.”
Quinn’s face had turned ashen. “Shut up before you make things worse.”
“Before I make things worse?” she said with a sardonic laugh. “Everything I’ve done was to fix your mess!”
Her words made Jaye recoil as if she’d been punched in the gut. After all their diligence, had they skipped right over the real killer? She could see the same bewilderment and dismay written on Sierra’s face. If they had been in a courtroom, Jaye would have asked the judge for a brief recess while they came to terms with this new information, but since this office was under the purview of a very different authority, she did her best to process the unexpected twist on her own.
“You were on your way to Mexico the day she was killed,” Quinn mumbled, as if he too were having trouble making sense of what he’d heard.
Luisa shook her head. “You’re more of a fool than I thought,” she said, contempt making her lip curl. “Did you ever think to ask me what time I got down to my mother’s place?”
Quinn was clearly too busy riding his own train of thought to respond. “But what about the fur they found on the body? I’m the one who takes the dog to the groomer and— Oh, I get it,” he interrupted himself, “that’s why you rushed me to change my pants the day I fell. You wanted to take the fur off them before I brought them to the cleaners.”
“I’d give you a round of applause if I wasn’t holding this knife,” she said, waving the weapon as she advanced on him. When Jaye and Sierra saw her move in his direction, they started edging toward the doorway. But Luisa turned and was on them in a flash, the knife poised for attack. They changed direction, backpedaling until they were up against the wall. For a moment Jaye considered trying to make an end run around her. There was a good chance she’d make it without sustaining a life-threatening injury, but then Sierra would be left to bear the brunt of Luisa’s rage. No, if they were going down, they were going down together.
Maybe it was time to use those safe words Daniel had insisted on when they were planning this confrontation. But the idea of giving up now rankled. They still didn’t have an actual confession, which was what they’d come for, albeit from a different suspect. She decided it was time to go for broke.
“Then you killed Peggy?” she asked as pleasantly as one can ask such a question. Just curious—no vested interest here. Luisa didn’t respond. Her gaze swept from them to her husband and back again as if she were debating which of them to kill first.
Quinn hadn’t moved from the side of his desk. He was wearing the blank stare of someone in shock, someone who’d just seen his whole life go up in flames. Which of course he had. His wife had committed murder because of him and was now clearly thinking of adding a few more notches to her belt.
“What happened when you went to see Peggy?” Sierra asked, since Jaye’s effort to engage her had failed. At first it seemed Luisa was going to ignore her too, but then she broke her silence.
“She wouldn’t listen to reason. She just kept arguing with me.”
“Peggy was a very difficult person,” Jaye said, jumping at the chance to appear like an ally. “Everyone knows that.”
“She had no manners,” Luisa went on, anger boiling in her voice. “She turned her back on me like I was beneath her, not worth another second of her time.” Luisa’s lips curved up in an icy, self-righteous smile. “But the angels were watching over me, because she fell over the hoe she’d left on the ground and cracked her head on a rock. There was so much blood I was sure she was dead and our problems were over.”
“But she wasn’t?” Jaye hoped Daniel was getting all of this.
“No more questions, not another word,” Luisa said abruptly. “Quinn, bring me something to tie them up with. Quinn!” she yelled when he didn’t immediately respond.
“Okay, okay—I’m going. Take it easy.” He sounded like someone trying to grope his way out of a dark room without stubbing a toe. “I’ll go look for rope or twine or something.”
Luisa shook her head. “Stop babbling and just do it. We have to get rid of them before anyone else pops in here.”
Quinn opened his mouth as if to object, then closed it again and scuttled out of the room, dashing Jaye’s slim hope that he might try to overpower his wife or at least talk some sense into her.
There was only a single card left to play. “One for all and all for one,” Jaye sang out, Sierra chiming in as though it were a two-part harmony.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Luisa demanded. “What’s going on?” She pressed the point of the knife against Jaye’s throat. “One more sound out of either of you and I’m going to bury this knife in you.”
“I thought you were planning to do that anyway,” Jaye murmured, regretting the words the moment she spoke them. She really had to learn when to keep her mouth shut. Luisa pressed the knife harder until Jaye felt it bite into her skin. Beside her, Sierra sucked in her breath, then promptly chomped down on her lower lip to keep other sounds from escaping.
Jaye felt the blood trickle down her neck, but she made no move to staunch it. She refused to give Luisa the satisfaction of seeing her fear or pain.
“Quinn, what’s taking so long?” Luisa shouted, without taking her eyes off the two women.
“I’m afraid he’s going to be a while,” came the wry response. Like a synchronized drill team, the three women swung their heads toward the voice. Theo Brock was standing in the doorway. His gun was drawn and aimed at Luisa, who at least had the good sense to drop the knife and raise her hands in surrender. Although her display of bravado was gone, she looked more frustrated and angry than repentant.
Jaye’s legs went weak with relief. If she hadn’t been leaning against the wall, she would have collapsed into a heap on the floor. Given their relationship with Brock up to that point, she never would have imagined she’d be so utterly delighted to see the detective again. Sierra let go of her breath and emitted a little screech of joy.
Cal Anastos entered the room holding a pair of plastic handcuffs. He gave Jaye and Sierra a thumbs-up and a smile, which faded when he noticed the blood on Jaye’s neck. “Do you want me to get an EMT over here to take a look at that?” he asked.
Jaye assured him it was only a scratch. She had no intention of wasting the rest of the day in the hospital’s emergency room.
If Brock shared his partner’s relief that the women were virtually unscathed, he was keeping it a secret. “Why don’t you gals wait for us in the kitchen?” he said. “We’ll be along in a minute.”
When they rounded the corner into the kitchen, they found Quinn sitting forlornly on a stool, sporting a matching set of plastic cuffs. A uniformed officer was standing several feet away, his gun trained on the restaurateur. Not that Quinn was likely to make a run for it with all of his earthly possessions right here in Sedona, along with his only means of support. But the detectives were clearly not taking any chances, given that they’d already been outsleuthed by a group of amateurs who’d accidentally solved the case.
Anastos marched into the kitchen with the handcuffed Luisa in tow and Brock bringing up the rear. As Quinn watched his wife pass by, his face read
like an open book: loss, resignation and guilt all in bold print. Luisa didn’t even turn to look at him as Cal hustled her past them and out the back door. Brock stopped to collect Quinn. Then the detective asked the two women to leave so he could secure the restaurant and take Quinn back to headquarters.
Daniel’s eyes lit up when he saw Jaye and Sierra. “Man, you two had me worried,” he said, his mouth still set in a grim line. “Jaye, your neck’s bleeding.”
“Luisa was not in a good mood,” she replied, reaching up to assess the wound, “and I might have pushed a little too hard trying to get a confession out of her.” The skin around the spot was sore to the touch, but her investigating finger came away dry. She hadn’t bled much at all. In spite of her tumultuous childhood, this was her first battle scar, and she was oddly proud of it. But with everyone emotionally frayed at the moment, she decided to keep that thought to herself.
“You should have it checked out at the hospital,” Sierra said, and Daniel seconded the motion.
“It’s just a nick,” Jaye insisted. “I’m fine.”
“What we have to do now is celebrate!” Sierra said.. She grabbed Jaye and then Daniel in fierce bear hugs. “We’re free. It’s over. It’s finally over! We should have a party, a huge party. With a spectacular new dessert to mark the occasion. I’ll take care of everything. In fact, I’ll get right on it today.” She looked like she might start doing cartwheels down the street.