by Cindy Bell
“No, of course not, I don’t want us to do that. I just think we need to consider the consequences.”
“I just won’t get caught.” Ally smiled a little.
“Ah, there’s the boldness I remember.” Charlotte laughed. “All right, I guess we don’t have much choice. But if you’re going to do this, I’m going to go with you, to be your getaway driver.”
“Hmm, and you wonder where I got that boldness from?”
“Oh, it wasn’t my fault! You got that from your mother!”
“And who did she get it from?”
Charlotte sighed. “I suppose I might have my moments.”
Ally grinned. “All right, we’ll wait until about midnight, then everyone should be asleep. No one will notice if I slip in for a quick peek.”
“And what if someone does? What if Luke shows up?”
Ally raised an eyebrow. “Well, he did tell me that he wouldn’t arrest me.”
“I guess that’s reassuring, but I don’t think he expects you to break into Myrtle’s room.”
“We can’t think about what might go wrong we just have to be as prepared as we can and go for it. In the meantime we need to get a list of suspects going. I remember that altercation between Ruth and Myrtle. The ladies at the table where I sat were quite eager to talk about their ongoing feud. They said that Ruth was even taking bets about when Myrtle would die.”
“Atrocious. But that doesn’t mean it’s true or that she did it.”
“No, it doesn’t, but it does give us a place to start,” Ally said. “Was she married?”
“Divorced.”
“What about kids, did Myrtle have any?”
“Two I think. A boy and a girl. But they moved away a long time ago.”
“I’ll have to check into that, too.” Ally nodded.
“Let’s just hope that we can figure out something fast enough to be able to get the shop back open before people forget we’re even there.”
“Oh, I don’t think they will forget, but it would be nice if they forgot about this little mess we’ve gotten ourselves into,” Ally said.
“Who knew that making delicious chocolates could lead to homicide?”
“I don’t know, Mee-Maw, but until we figure all of this out you should be cautious of everyone at Freely Lakes. Anyone there could have been involved in this. As far as I am concerned everyone at Freely Lakes is a suspect.”
“And as far as the police force and the community are concerned, so are we.” Charlotte met her eyes. “We can’t give them any more reason to suspect us.”
“I’ll be careful.”
***
Peaches waited for Ally outside the bathroom door. Ally could hear her plaintive meowing. But for once she did not respond to it. She soaked in a warm bath and closed her eyes. Her nerves were on edge with the thought of breaking into Myrtle’s room that night. She didn’t exactly have the expertise to pull it off well. She would probably stuff it up and not even be able to get in. When she thought about it, her next thought was always Luke putting her in handcuffs. What was it about him that made her think he would stand by his word? After all she didn’t know much about him, and in turn he didn’t know that much about her. So what drove that connection that she felt for him every time she thought of him? It was hard to stay focused on the task at hand if her mind wandered incessantly to his hazel eyes and the subtle curve of his smile.
“Okay, out of the tub with you.” Ally flicked the switch to drain the water and stepped out of the tub. She wrapped herself in a towel and walked out of the bathroom to look in her closet. Peaches swished her way around her ankles.
How did one dress for breaking and entering? She settled on a pair of black jeans and a black turtleneck. She wasn’t sure why, but it seemed appropriate for the activity. She sat down on the edge of her bed to pull on her sneakers. The moment she did, Peaches jumped up into her lap. Ally smiled and pet her.
“Don’t worry, darling, I’ll be very careful.” When she stood up Peaches jumped down. But she left behind a large amount of orange fur.
“Great. I look like a tiger.” Ally laughed at how ridiculous the moment was. She brushed off the orange fur as best she could and then pulled her long, brown hair into a tight ponytail. Her stomach flipped. What if she got caught?
There was a soft knock on her door. “Ally?”
“Yes, Mee-Maw, it’s open.”
Charlotte opened the door and took in the sight of her granddaughter. “Well, don’t you look beautiful.”
“Beautiful?” Ally laughed.
“Black suits you.”
“Okay,” Ally said. “But the goal is for no one to see me.”
“Ally, I want you to know that you don’t have to do this. You are taking a big risk. What happens if you get caught? I don’t think I should let you do this.”
“Mee-Maw, I’m all grown up. I don’t have to have your permission.”
“Ha! That will never be true.” Charlotte’s eyes glimmered. “You will always be my little Ally.”
“Oh, Mee-Maw.”
“I mean it, Ally, if you’re caught this could cause you trouble for the rest of your life.”
“It will be fine, I promise.” Ally hugged her. “Everyone will be sleeping. It will be just fine.”
“If you say so.” She cleared her throat. “I filled the gas tank and your car is ready to go. I also took Arnold out for his walk.”
“Oh good.” Ally smoothed her hair. “Then we should get going.”
Charlotte nodded without a word. The two continued in silence as Charlotte drove Ally’s car to Freely Lakes. Ally could see that most of the apartments in the building were dark. She was able to decipher which one was Myrtle’s with her grandmother’s directions. It was on the second floor, which would require Ally to do some climbing as she couldn’t go through the front door to get in. Luckily, there was a fire escape that led right up to the window.
“Looks like I’ll be in and out in no time.” Ally smiled at her grandmother as she put on gloves.
“I hope so. I’ll be waiting.” Charlotte gripped the steering wheel tightly. “Be careful.”
Ally stepped out of the car. She brushed a bit more of Peaches’ orange fur off her pants. Then she moved towards the building. There was not a hint of movement anywhere on the property. It was clear that the residents of Freely Lakes were not night owls. When she reached the building she counted the windows to make sure that she hadn’t lost track of the right room. She still had no idea what she was looking for exactly, but she hoped that she would be able to find something fast.
As quietly as Ally could she climbed the fire escape towards the window. Ally held her breath each time her shoe struck the metal rung of the steps. Once she was at the top she tried the window. A good part of her had expected that the window would be locked, she would never actually get into the room to conduct her search, and all would be right with the world. But that wasn’t the case. The window slid open easily. Ally’s heart began to race. She knew that the moment she swung her leg over that windowsill she would be committing a crime. She eased the screen out of the frame and set it down on the landing beside her. Then she peered into the dark room. There was no sign of anyone inside.
The door of the bedroom was closed. Ally took a deep breath and swung one leg over the windowsill, then the other. It occurred to her that Freely Lakes was not a very safe place at all, certainly not safe enough for her grandmother, if she could break in so easily. She pushed the thought out of her mind and made her way through the room in search of anything that would reveal where the chocolates had come from. She used a flashlight application on her phone to cast light throughout the room.
The first place she checked was the bedside table. As she had hoped the items she saw in the picture were still there, aside from the box of chocolates. She saw that the business card was for a lawyer. She snapped a picture of it. The greeting card was colorful, with a ‘Just Because’ message on the front. She opened
it up and saw that it was addressed to Myrtle, but it just said ‘Enjoy!’ It wasn’t signed by anyone. Ally set the greeting card back down and began to survey the room again.
In the trash can beside the bed she noticed that there was a red and white ribbon. She recognized it as a ribbon that they used on the boxes of chocolates they delivered, unless a different color was requested. So, the ribbon had come from the box of chocolates? Her mind spun as she recalled that she had tied the boxes of chocolates for the open house with green and gold ribbons. She suddenly recalled that the box of chocolates in the photo Luke had showed her had red not gold writing. The chocolates on the bedside table weren’t the chocolates from the open house! So where were they?
Ally’s mind focused in on finding the other box of chocolates. She looked under the bed, in the closet, and even in the dresser drawers. She wasn’t paying much attention to the fact that she had been in the room for quite some time. Then she noticed the air vent. When she pointed her light in that direction, she saw a glimmer of gold. Ally crouched down and popped open the air vent. She reached in and to her surprise there was the unopened box of chocolates. It had gold writing on it with green and gold ribbon just like the box of chocolates that Myrtle had taken on the day of the open house. Ally reached in and pulled it out. Just as she did, a bright light blinded her.
“Don’t you move a muscle!”
Chapter Six
The thick voice was enough to make Ally’s skin crawl with fear. She didn’t dare to look in the man’s direction. Her entire body ached with the desire to run and hide, but she knew better. There was no way that she could escape, the man was already towering over her. He slowly lowered his flashlight. As he did Ally could see that he wore a dark blue uniform. It looked similar to a police officer’s, but it wasn’t exactly the same.
“Who are you?” She stared up at him. His thick, black hair was a mass of curls and his dark blue eyes matched his uniform.
“I think you’re the one that needs to answer the questions. The police are on their way. If you try to run, I will restrain you.”
Ally could see from the way that his muscular frame strained against his uniform that he would have no problem with doing just that. “Please, this is all a mix up.”
“Sure. You just fell into a crime scene? Did you trip on the way up the fire escape that you had no reason to be on?”
Ally bit into her bottom lip. The man’s attitude made it quite clear that he was not interested in any explanations.
“I made a mistake, maybe you could just find a way to let this go?”
The sound of sirens tore through the quiet of Freely Lakes.
“That’s not really for me to decide, sweetheart. I’m sure the cops will listen to your every word while you’re being locked up.” He shook his head. Then he pointed his light directly at her face again. “Ally Sweet?”
Ally’s eyes widened. Not only had he caught her, but he now also knew her name, probably knew her. “Do I know you?”
“Wow. Ally Sweet.” He shook his head. “I never would have predicted this. You’re a long way from your pompoms.”
Ally’s cheeks heated up fast. She had one miserable year as a cheerleader in high school. It was something she very rarely divulged to anyone. The man before her must have known her from high school. But she didn’t recognize him.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You didn’t then, and you have no reason to now.” He lowered his flashlight again. “Up here, Detective!”
Ally groaned under her breath. Not only was she about to be arrested, but Luke would be the one who did it. It made sense that he would be the one who came to the invaded crime scene, since he was the lead detective on the case. She watched his dress shoe cross the windowsill, followed by the rest of him. When he saw her still crouched on the floor his face grew pale.
“Ally?”
Ally stood up slowly.
“Don’t move.” The man beside Luke warned.
“I’ll take it from here, Jensen.” Luke looked over at the security guard. “Thanks for the alert.”
“Sure. It’s my job to keep the residents here safe. Mind if I use the door?”
“Go ahead, the room has already been contaminated.” Luke locked his eyes on Ally’s. Ally’s stomach twisted. As the security guard walked out of the room, Luke called down to the police officers below. “I’ve got this. Go on home.”
The officers didn’t argue. The lights and sirens were soon gone. Luke however, continued to stare right at Ally.
“What were you thinking?”
“Luke.”
“Wait, don’t. I don’t even know if I want you to speak to me. I don’t even know how I’m going to write this up. This is unbelievable. I told you I wouldn’t arrest you for the murder, did you think I wouldn’t arrest you for breaking and entering? For contaminating a crime scene?”
“You have to do what you have to do, Luke.”
“I didn’t tell you to talk, yet.” He ran his hands back through his hair which Ally noticed had gotten a little longer. “What am I supposed to do about this, Ally? Jensen saw you here. I can’t just sweep this under the rug. You’re the prime suspect in a murder, and then I find you breaking into the victim’s apartment?”
Ally swallowed hard. She couldn’t think of a single way to defend herself. “The chocolates weren’t from our shop. I showed my grandmother the picture of them and…”
“Wait, what? Did you take the picture out of the folder?”
“No, I took a picture with my phone.”
“Ally! Wow.” He shook his head and turned his back to her. He didn’t seem concerned about her fleeing. “You told me that I could trust you.”
“I only showed her. And she could tell that they were not our chocolates. Someone is trying to frame us, Luke!”
Luke spun around to look at her. “Why would they have to do that?” He glowered. “You’re doing a fine job of it yourself.” Ally lowered her eyes feeling remorseful.
“I just thought maybe I could find something to make all of this go away. And I did.” Ally held up the box of chocolates. “I found these in the air vent. These were the chocolates I brought to the open house. They’re not even opened.”
“And that means absolutely nothing, Ally. Because you could have been planting them here when I caught you. There’s no way to prove where those chocolates came from, because you compromised the crime scene. Your reckless choice has now forced my hand. There is no way to get out of this. I will have to reveal what happened here tonight to the prosecutor’s office, and they will decide whether there is enough evidence to go ahead with an arrest warrant.”
“You’re going to arrest me?”
“It’s the last thing I want to do, Ally, but I have no choice. You did this, not me. Now let’s go.”
“Are you going to handcuff me?”
“Not tonight. You’ll have maybe a day before the prosecutor’s office reviews the information. I suggest you use it to get a good lawyer.”
***
When they reached the base of the stairs, Ally turned to look at Luke.
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You should go. Did someone drive you here?” He sighed. “Let me guess. Mrs. Sweet?”
“I don’t want her to get into any trouble.”
“You shouldn’t be getting into trouble either, Ally. I find it hard to believe that she thought this was okay for you to do.”
“She didn’t want me to.”
“So, you just decided to risk everything?”
“I don’t want her to lose the shop.”
“If you had been patient, I could have figured all of this out. Don’t you know that if you are innocent, which I believe you are, I am willing to fight for you?” Ally looked up at his words. She met his eyes. He held her gaze without the slightest attempt to look away from her. “I’ll do whatever it takes, Ally. But there
are rules that can’t be bent or broken. Now, I’m in an awful position.”
Ally was still stunned by his words. She sighed and held out the box of chocolates. “Can you do anything with these?”
“No, but I need to keep them,” he said as he took them from her. “Like I said, they can’t be considered evidence. But if you’re right, and the chocolates were switched, then yes, someone really is trying to frame you, or your grandmother. I’ll look into competitors or anyone that might have had something against the shop. In the meantime, promise me that you will not dig yourself any deeper into a jail cell, okay?”
Ally shivered at the thought. “I’ll try.”
“Ally?” She looked up at him. “Get a lawyer.” He turned and walked away from her. As she watched him go a mixture of emotions plagued her. Part of her was intrigued by how determined he was to try and help her, another part was infuriated that he couldn’t use his influence to protect her. As she walked back to the car the weight of the impending arrest warrant was almost too much for her.
“Ally? What’s wrong? I heard the sirens.”
Ally sunk down in the passenger seat. “It did not go well.”
“What happened?”
“I was caught. Freely Lakes apparently has a great security guard.” Her thoughts returned briefly to the man who had clearly recognized her. Jensen. The name didn’t summon up any faces from her memory.
“But you weren’t arrested?” Charlotte sighed with relief.
“No. Luke was there. Otherwise I probably would have been.”
“Oh, good thing he was there! Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on him.”
Ally tightened her lips. “Yes, good thing.” She stared out the window for the duration of the short drive back to the cottage.