The officer came up to the bed. “What he says is true, ma'am, but Lieutenant Steinberg is planning on taking him in custody on your say-so. Then we'll go from there.”
“And I'm going back to the motel to tell Fonnie,” Jeremiah said. “That woman is going to be one surprised cookie.”
“I'm going too,” Brian said. “Tyrone, you better stay with Keisha, We'll let you know as soon as there are more developments.”
“Remember and tell me everything,” Keisha called after them, her voice becoming hoarse again. “I want to know everything the police do to catch that son-of-a-B.”
“I promise,” Brian called back. The two men exited the hospital together and each raced in his own car back to the motel. They joined up again on the elevator heading for Fonnie's room.
Brian stopped short when he saw the note he'd written still taped to her door. “She can't still be out walking. Where in the world do you think she is?”
“Probably enjoying the blueberry waffle special for breakfast,” Jeremiah said. “Let's check the dining room.”
They didn't find Fonnie in the dining room and the waitress said she hadn't been in. “I'd remembered if she had. She's not the type of person one forgets. I've waited on her several times this past week, but not this morning.”
They didn't find Fonnie in the lobby or on the verandah. Brian scratched at his head. “I'm getting worried. Let's go check the pier.”
Steinberg's first step was to have his men swarm over the motel and its environs. Then he and an officer knocked on the door of Edgar's suite. After a delay, Lula came to the door. She answered his questions as well as she could. “No. I don't know where he is. I just got up. Edgar's an early riser. He may be with Hank, or he may have taken his boat out.” She yawned, brushed hair out of her eyes. “What's this all about, anyway?”
“We need to ask him some questions. Where is his boat docked?”
“Pier one, slip three.” She stifled a yawn, then asked, “He's not in some kind of trouble, is he?”
Steinberg countered with a question of his own. “What makes you think he may be in trouble?”
“Nothing,” Lula said. “I just want to know what's going on.”
“I'll be back later and explain. Let me know if you hear from him.”
As Steinberg and the officer with him moved down the hall, the officer asked, “Sir, shouldn't we have searched their apartment?”
“There's no reason for her to lie to us. She doesn't know we're on to him.”
He radioed for some men to check the marina. The answer came back as Steinberg left the motel and headed down the beach. “His boat's gone, sir. And someone down here said they saw him leave. And get this, he had a woman with him—an old woman. What do you make of that?”
Steinberg looked up, saw Brian and Jeremiah coming toward him. “I hope it's not what I'm thinking.” He closed the distance between himself and the two men in a few long strides. He got into Brian's face and bellowed, “Where's your grandmother?”
“That's what I'm trying to find out. No one seems to know.”
“I think I know.” He got on his radio again and requested a Coast Guard patrol boat and helicopter.
Fonnie heard the whirl of a helicopter's rotor blades in the distance. The sound seemed to be getting closer. If the copter came close enough, was there any way to send them a distress signal? And if she did, she wondered what Edgar would do. She tried to avoid looking up. Edgar was sitting idly at his end of the boat, his hands draped over the wheel. His glance would slide from her to the horizon and back again. What was he thinking?
The noise of the helicopter became louder. Edgar jerked his head up. “Damn!” He whipped his body around, started the engine.
The boat leapt forward. Fonnie flew backward. She grabbed the railing of the boat with one hand and waved frantically to the helicopter with the other. With each wave she sent a prayer heavenward: please let them see me, please let them help me, please let me get back home.
Edgar didn't seem to have any planned route. He swerved the boat back and forth, he turned around in circles, at one point he steered back toward shore only to make a U-turn and aim again out to sea. Fonnie was glad to see that the helicopter was staying right above them. Was it possible they had been searching for her?
Then her gaze fixed on another sight that brought her hope. A boat, running even faster than they were, was approaching from behind them. She didn't think Edgar was aware of it. He kept his eyes on the helicopter ahead and seemed intent on out-maneuvering it. He was smiling as if he were engaged in a game of cat and mouse, but in this case the mouse was teasing the cat.
All the time, though, Fonnie could tell that the boat coming from shore was gaining on them. She nearly broke out in a grin when she made out the letters C. G. followed by a number. The Coast Guard was coming to her rescue. She wondered how they had been alerted, but it didn't matter, someone was coming to help her. She forced herself to look away so she wouldn't alert Edgar. If Brian was on board, he’d explain it all to her later.
Aboard the Coast Guard vessel, Brian, Jeremiah, Lieutenant Steinberg, and several officers and crewmen strained their eyes to see what was happening on the boat ahead of them. The man piloting the boat was clear enough, but the woman in the stern seemed to be crouched down. From time to time Brian would get a glimpse of gray hair flying in the wind.
The distance between the two boats was diminishing. “Hang in there, Gram,” Brian whispered under his breath. “Help is on the way.”
Brian noticed Jeremiah's hands were clenched onto the side of the patrol boat, his face ashen. Lieutenant Steinberg and the two officers with him had their guns drawn. Brian kept his eyes glued to his grandmother. He wondered why she never looked back.
As the Coast Guard boat came nearer, Fonnie tried to calm herself with deep, even breaths. Her rescuers were closing in, and she wanted to be ready for whatever action she needed to take.
She could tell the moment Edgar heard the extra motor in the background. He whirled around, saw the oncoming craft, pivoted back, and spun his boat at a quick right angle. The tactic took Fonnie by complete surprise. She lost her grip and her head fell forward over the side of the boat.
In that moment Edgar sprang from his seat, reached Fonnie's side, and with one abrupt movement toppled her over into the swirling water.
Brain saw exactly what had happened. One second his grandmother was in the stern of the boat, and the next second she had disappeared beneath the waves. Before he or anyone else could react, Jeremiah kicked off his shoes and climbed up onto the side of the boat. One of the crewmen tried to pull him back. Jeremiah kicked loose and dove into the frigid ocean. The Lula Baby was hightailing it out of there, but the wake of the boat left a very visible path. Jeremiah swam toward where the boat had been.
Brian wanted more than anything else in the world to jump in beside him, but his common sense prevailed. He was a mediocre swimmer at best. If he jumped in, the crew would have an extra person to rescue.
The Coast Guard boat slowed and turned around. The chase would have to wait. The crew immediately started lowering life rafts. Steinberg and his men dropped their weapons and ran to help. Brian remained at the rail. He kept Jeremiah in sight while at the same time, trying desperately to see a bobbing head, a speck of gray hair, anything to show him that his grandmother was still alive. He saw nothing except the churning waves.
Jeremiah kept swimming toward where the boat had last been seen. Brian tried to tell himself that if only Jeremiah could find Fonnie, he could keep her afloat until the life saving crew picked them up. But what if she hadn't survived the fall? Maybe that maniac Edgar had hit her with the boat when he took off. Or even now, she could be beginning to suffer from hypothermia.
Jeremiah swam with strong, sure strokes. Brian was astonished that the cold water didn't seem to bother him at all. The waves were becoming higher, perhaps because the rescue vessel was getting closer.
Jeremiah stop
ped swimming for a few moments and treaded water while his eyes scanned the area. Then he raised one hand in the air and motioned to his left. Brian's gaze followed the movement. To his amazement, he saw a head of gray hair coming toward Jeremiah. Gram was swimming! Her strokes were short and choppy, but she was making progress. Jeremiah hurried to meet her.
Fonnie lay on some kind of a bunk and shivered under layers of thermal blankets while Jeremiah sat on a stool wrapped in a blanket and held her hand. Brian gripped a mug of hot coffee and tried his best to get her to drink some. Fonnie was too tired and too cold to respond to them or to Lieutenant Steinberg's questions. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine a roaring fire on her hearth at home.
After what seemed like eons, warmth started to seep back into her bones. She leaned up on one elbow and smiled at Jeremiah. “I told you I used to be a good swimmer.”
“You still are—an amazing swimmer.” Jeremiah motioned for Brian to hand him the mug. “Now are you ready for some good hot coffee?”
She nodded. Jeremiah held her head up while she took several sips. “I just remembered,” she said as her head dropped back down, “I haven't had breakfast yet.”
Brian slipped down beside her. “When we get you warm and dry, I'm going to serve you breakfast in bed.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “You had us pretty worried.”
“You know, I was pretty worried myself. I didn't know I was taking a boat ride with a killer.” She abruptly raised up on her elbows, looked frantically around the deck. “Where's Steinberg? Edgar's getting away. He has to go after Edgar.”
Lieutenant Steinberg came up to her. “Not to worry, Mrs. Beachum. He won't get away. After we picked you up, I radioed the helicopter to keep him in view, and called for another Coast Guard vessel to pursue him. They'll have him in custody before long.”
Fonnie stared at the detective. She liked Lieutenant Steinberg. She wanted to tell him everything she knew to help bring Edgar to justice. “He confessed to me. That is, he admitted killing Melanie, but he said Melanie killed Buzz—on his orders.”
“That's about what we figured out. Melanie's ring held the same drug that had killed Buzz. Being a nurse, she had easy access to it.”
“Oh my God.” Brian dropped his head onto Fonnie's blanket. “Oh, God, no.”
Fonnie felt Brian shiver as he had done when he'd been a boy of nine and his dog, Toby, had gotten killed in the road. Melanie was not only dead, but everything he had felt for her was shattered. “I'm sorry, Brian. I shouldn't have blurted it out like that.” She patted him awkwardly on the back.
Brian jerked up, his face contorted in grief. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath. “Give me a little time. I'll be all right.” He rose, walked over to a bench, sank down and sobbed.
Steinberg reached over and pulled up a blanket that had slid off from Fonnie's shoulder. “Some of life's lessons come pretty hard. But he'll make it. I can tell he's got some of your grit.”
“That's right. We'll all make it.”
“You rest now,” the detective said. “You've done your part to help solve the case.”
Fonnie was glad to comply. She closed her eyes and slept the rest of the way back to shore.
Chapter Twenty Six
An ambulance was waiting at the pier. Lieutenant Steinberg and Jeremiah both insisted Fonnie be checked out at the hospital. She knew it would be useless to argue. Jeremiah said he was going to take a hot shower and would see her later. “Brian and I will bring you some clean clothes to the hospital.”
Fonnie searched Brian's haggard face. After he'd heard of Melanie's involvement in the crime, he hadn't said another word, and hadn't seemed to hear what others said to him. Grief etched his features, shadowed his eyes. As the boat neared shore, he came over, knelt down, kissed her on the cheek. He rose and stared over the side of the boat as if the waves could give him solace. Fonnie's heart broke for him, but she knew this was something he would have to weather in his own time, in his own way.
At the hospital, Fonnie was examined while Jeremiah updated Keisha and Tyrone about the morning's happenings. Brian joined the conversation when he told them of Jeremiah's heroic rescue. They assured Keisha that if Edgar had not yet been caught, he soon would be.
It was after two o'clock before Fonnie was resting comfortably in her motel room. She had foregone her promised breakfast in bed for ham and cheese biscuits at the local drive-in. They would do until she could get a decent dinner.
Amy and Paul's expected arrival had been pushed to the background during all the excitement. Now she was thrilled to think her daughter and new son-in-law would soon be here. Jeremiah was to pick them up at the airport at six fifteen. She was anxious for them to know all that had happened. She wanted to hear their take on Edgar's possible misdeeds that led to murder. But most of all she wanted Amy's reassuring and loving arms around her, to be reminded of how much family meant to her.
Fonnie put on a lovely lavender sweater, her dressy gray slacks, her strand of real pearls, and a little extra makeup. She knew Jeremiah would spend the time from the airport to the motel telling his passengers about murder and attempted murder. She intended to dispel any notion that she was an invalid recovering from a near-death experience.
The reunion, the conversation, the questions lasted late into the night. They went to a steakhouse for dinner, then to the hospital. Amy and Keisha greeted each other like long-lost sisters.
Paul was introduced to Tyrone and the boy responded with, “I'm delighted to meet you, sir. Your reputation as an advocate for the underprivileged has come to my attention and I applaud your social conscience.”
To which Paul replied, “Huh?”
Fonnie jumped in with an explanation. “I told him about you taking pro bono cases at the Women's Shelter.”
“Oh, well, it's nothing.” He smiled at Tyrone. “Fonnie has told me some pretty nifty things about you, too. She says you're a cinch to get a college scholarship.”
“I'm working on it.”
“Which means he has to get back to school,” Keisha said. “Thank goodness the doctor has made all the arrangements for me to be transferred to Groverton tomorrow. Tyrone is going to drive my car home and then it's school for him while I work on my eating skills. I'm so wanting to get this IV out of my arm.”
While they were at the hospital, Brian received a call from Lieutenant Steinberg. He managed a small smile as he hung up. “They've got Edgar. Since he wouldn't stop for the Coast Guard, they just waited until his boat ran out of gas.”
Fonnie had mixed emotions. She was glad a murderer was in custody, but she was concerned about Lula. “Wonder what will happen to Lula.”
Jeremiah shook his head. “I guess that depends on how much she knew—or suspected. She was a very unhappy lady. Maybe now we'll find out why she was unhappy.”
Brian pivoted around to his mother. “And Mom, Steinberg wants to know if you and Paul can meet with him tonight. He's at the motel. Even before Edgar was apprehended, Steinberg had gotten a search warrant for the Myers' apartment and the motel offices. His men are going through everything now.”
“Sure,” Amy said, “but I don't know what I can tell him. And Paul didn't have any suspicions of Edgar.”
“Maybe I should have,” Paul said. “Maybe I should have made myself more available to Buzz. If Buzz had confided in me, this nightmare might have been avoided. I guess I was too wrapped up in my own happiness and didn't care about anything else.”
Amy took his hand in hers. “You can't blame yourself for any of this. When you get back to your office, you can see if there were any clues to what Edgar was doing. In the meantime, we'll talk to the detective and answer all his questions.”
They all said goodnight and good-bye to Keisha and made their way back to the now infamous Beachside Motel.
Brian called Lieutenant Steinberg and told him they would wait for him in the lobby. Fonnie was concerned about the detective when she saw his wearied face, his bloodshot
eyes. “You need a good night's sleep,” she said. “Now that the culprit is behind bars, can't you get some rest?”
He brushed back his tangled hair, scratched his head. “Soon. I just want to check one thing with Mr. and Mrs. Trent.” He reached into an inside pocket and pulled out the piece of paper that Keisha had written for him. “We're looking for the original of this. Apparently, Mr. Garrison scribbled down some things that were going on at his office that bothered him. Miss Riggs found it, and later it was taken from her. Does it mean anything to either of you?”
Amy and Paul studied the paper. Finally Amy said, “The only notation I recognize is Trentstone Estates. I've sold some of those properties. It's an upscale development. But I don't know of any problem with it. Do you, Paul?”
“None of it makes sense to me. Could I have a copy of that? We're going home tomorrow and I can check in Buzz's and Edgar's offices. I might come up with something.”
“That's your copy to keep. But I don't want you in your office until your local police have finished searching. I obtained a search warrant today, and they'll be going over everything. I'm sure you understand.”
“Of course, I understand. You have to do your job. I hope you find what you're looking for.”
“Me too. The police there will let you know if they remove any files.”
Before Steinberg left, Fonnie asked about Lula. “Is she all right?”
“She's cooperating. Says she doesn't know a thing about Edgar's business. She's spending the night in another room.”
“But,” Fonnie persisted, “is she all right? Is she horribly upset?” Fonnie paused. “Is she sober?”
“Yes, she's horribly upset. I think she loves her husband. But she's holding up well. And yes, she's sober.”
“I won't have a chance to see her before we leave, but will you tell her I believe in her, and that I'll pray for her.”
Murder and Misdeeds Page 18