I held the plaque to my chest as I hurried through the crowd and across Main Street. Without stopping, I ran to the corner where Charlotte had seen Deputy Little. My shoulders sagged when I got there and found he was gone.
I shook my head at how stupid I was being. I just needed to tell Aiden, whether Kayla was there or not. This wasn’t about me or my feelings. This was about Leeza and finding the person responsible for her death.
Before I returned to the square and faced Aiden and Kayla, I stopped by the shop with the intention of leaving my plaque there. I unlocked the front door and went in.
I walked across the room and set the plaque on the counter. Under the kitchen door, I could see a light in the kitchen. I frowned. I guessed Charlotte had left the light on when she’d run over to the shop to pick up something for the booth. I shook my head and pushed in the door.
I was just about to reach in toward the switch and flick off the light, when someone on the other side of the door grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the brightly lit kitchen.
I stumbled into the room, and my hip connected painfully with the large island before I could right myself or realize what was happening.
I gripped the counter to stop myself from falling over and looked up to find Becca Hershberger Stout in front of me, holding a rifle pointed at my chest. “Becca, what are you doing?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I know what Mary told you. I heard her!”
My blood ran cold. “Where’s Mary? Is she all right?”
“She’s fine, or she will be after I get rid of you. Two murders will be enough to shut her up for gut. She likes to pretend, but she’s not that brave. After I take care of you, she will never try to be a hero again.”
“She’s right, then. You killed Leeza. You killed her because you blame her for your brother’s death.”
“Yes, I blame her, but I didn’t plan to kill her. I was just getting rid of the still and she happened to be lying nearby. She was drunk, of course. I think she must have gone there to get more ’shine. I didn’t see her until the still exploded and lit up the woods.” Her hands shook.
I didn’t like the shaking hands because I was afraid she would slip and fire the rifle by accident.
She glared at me. “The still was an abomination and it had to be removed. Do you know how many times I have asked the church elders to take care of it? How many times I told them that it was leading our young men astray with the devil’s drink?” She continued to shake. “But they did nothing. I had to take the matter into my own hands. I decided to do it months ago.”
“You wanted to make the moonshiners pay. You wanted to kill them?”
“I never wanted to kill anyone.” Her face was pale. “You don’t know how hard it is for me to have to kill you. I didn’t want to kill anyone, but I decided to destroy the still. I knew where it was from my brother. He loved moonshine. That’s what he was drinking the night he died. He told me once where the still was. I knew I could find it, and I knew I could destroy it. My brother taught me how to shoot. But I had to wait for the right conditions. I needed a storm to cover the noise of the blast and put out the fire. If only I’d been able to destroy it before my brother’s accident, maybe he would still be alive today. After his death, I was more determined than ever to do away with it, but Saturday night was the first time conditions were perfect.”
She took a breath. “I didn’t know Leeza was there that night, but when I saw she had died in the blast, I found it fitting. She was the reason my brother was dead. He never would have taken a drop of alcohol if it had not been for her influence. He was wooed by a devious woman. It’s not my fault she is dead, but it is just.”
“It is your fault. You took the shot at the still. You could have reported it to the sheriff’s department. They would have arrested the men running it.”
“The Amish cannot trust the Englisch police.”
“So instead of doing that, you killed a woman.”
“I told you, I didn’t know she was there!” she shouted again.
Outside, the fireworks continued. I didn’t know if anyone on the square would hear me if I screamed. The crack and boom of the fireworks was so loud, drowning out any other sound. It was just like the night Leeza died. Other noises were going to cover the sound of the gunshot.
I inched away from Becca toward the wall.
She held up her gun. “Stop moving!”
I froze. “Becca, you killed Leeza by accident. I’m sure if you tell Deputy Brody, he will have sympathy for you. The sheriff’s department was looking for that illegal still, too.”
She leveled the gun. “Do you think the Englisch police care at all about the Amish? If you do, you’re a fool.”
My eyes fell on the fire extinguisher I had installed on the wall just days before.
“Now, I have to do this quickly before the fireworks end. I need the noise.” She leveled the gun, and I dove for cover, grabbing the fire extinguisher from the wall as I went.
A shot rang out, but the bullet hit the front of one of the mixers across the room.
I pointed the fire extinguisher at her and fired flame retardant on her face. Becca screamed and dropped the rifle on the tile floor. She covered her eyes. It gave me just enough time to blast her again.
She bent down to search for the gun. I swung the extinguisher at her.
She fell into the island just as I had and gasped for breath. I grabbed the gun, choking on the white cloud from the fire extinguisher. I stumbled out into the main room. The cloud gushed out after me. I ran for the front door and fell onto the sidewalk, holding the rifle.
“Get the gun away from her!” someone shouted.
The gun was ripped from my hands. I continued to cough and gag.
“Bailey!” Aiden knelt next to me on the sidewalk. “Bailey!”
“Becca is the killer.” I coughed. “She’s still in there. Fire extinguisher. You have to get her out. She could suffocate.”
Behind me, I was conscious of officers running into my beloved candy shop. Despite everything, I hoped Becca would be all right.
Overhead, the fireworks continued to color the sky.
EPILOGUE
“And this is our star!” Linc Baggins announced as I stepped onto the carpet outside the small New York theater where they would be premiering the first two episodes of Bailey’s Amish Sweets. Linc had claimed that the premiere wouldn’t be a big red-carpet event, but this seemed pretty red carpet to me. I walked on the gold carpet runner along the sidewalk, leading Jethro by a blue leash that matched my dress. Because, of course, Jethro had to be there. He had made several appearances on Bailey’s Amish Sweets, so Linc called me the day after the Fourth and asked me to bring him along. Juliet was sad to miss Jethro’s big television debut because she was still on her honeymoon with Reverend Brook on Prince Edward Island, but he accompanied me with her blessing.
Cass, Jean Pierre, and Charlotte were a few feet behind me. My grandmother wasn’t there, much to Linc’s dismay. At least he didn’t hold her absence against me. I thought that Jethro, who the photographers absolutely loved, made up for that.
Someone shoved a microphone in my face. “Your show is going to be a hit,” the reporter said. “Can you tell us what gave you this idea?”
I blinked at him. The truth was, Bailey’s Amish Sweets hadn’t been my idea. It was Linc’s, who’d been inspired after he visited my candy shop in Holmes County. I forced a smile. “The producer, Linc Baggins, and I came up with it together.” I thought that was a fair answer.
“You are being too modest,” Linc shouted. “Now, everyone, we need to get inside for the premiere. The show will air in five minutes.”
It felt strange to be ushered into a theater in New York City to watch the premiere of my television show when just days ago I had been held at gunpoint in the middle of my kitchen at Swissmen Sweets. Thankfully, no one had been hurt in that incident. Maybe that wasn’t completely true. Becca had a nasty bruise on her side from wher
e I’d hit her with the fire extinguisher.
At least I knew she was out of the hospital now. Aiden had texted me that she was in jail, but he wasn’t sure what charges would be brought against her other than attempted murder for what she tried to do to me.
Aiden and I hadn’t spoken much since the Fourth. Somehow, I had been able to make myself scarce. First, it was because Cass was leaving, and then it was because I needed to have the shop cleaned after the incident. I also had to get ready for this trip to New York. I hadn’t made the time to talk to him about Kayla. I trusted him, but I wished he would be open with me about what was happening. I decided I would deal with it after the premiere.
Jean Pierre slipped his arm through mine. “I’m so very proud of you. I always knew you were destined to be a great candy maker, but you have surpassed my wildest dreams.”
Jethro trotted along in front of us and into the building as if he owned the place. From the reaction of the New Yorkers fawning over the pig, you would have thought he did.
I kissed my old mentor’s wrinkled cheek. “Wait until you see it, Jean Pierre, before you say how great it is.”
He sniffed. “I don’t need to see it to know it is magnificent, just as you are.”
I laughed.
I was about to go into the theater when I spied a tall blond man across the room. He watched me intently and my heart skipped a beat. I waited for Linc to go into the theater before I left the line of people and went over to Aiden.
I stared up at him. “What on earth are you doing here?”
Aiden kissed me on the cheek. “I saw you on the red carpet. You were amazing, radiant. The camera loved you. I think even the reporters were charmed.”
“Are you talking to me or Jethro?”
The little pig looked up at him.
Aiden laughed. “He wowed the crowd, too.”
I smiled. “Aiden, what are you doing here? You said you couldn’t come because of the murder case.”
He smiled down at me. “I made an exception. Besides, the culprit has been found. The paperwork I have left to do for the DA can wait one more day.”
“When did you get here?” I asked.
“Just as you were in the middle of your interviews,” he said with a smile.
“But how did you get here?”
He smiled. “I called Cass, who put me in touch with Jean Pierre. He was more than happy to send over his plane for my last-minute trip.”
I shook my head. I should have known Cass and Jean Pierre were in on it. I would owe them one. I was so thrilled to see Aiden. I hugged him. “I’m so glad you came!”
“You sure?”
I knew what he was asking. “I’m sorry if I’ve been . . . distant.”
“I know you’re upset about Kayla,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about her. I’ve told her I’m not interested in anyone but you. I’ll keep telling her until she leaves me alone.”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry I didn’t just ask you outright.”
He tucked his finger under my chin and lifted my face. “Don’t be. I should have told you about her long ago. Honestly, I thought I would never see her again. Now let’s get inside. I don’t want to miss the premiere.”
“Me either,” I said with a grin and pulled on his hand. Jethro seemed ready to go, too.
“I am so proud of you. You are an exceptional person, Bailey King. You are an entrepreneur who has big plans to succeed, but at the same time you care about others. You don’t know how rare that is in the world.”
I swallowed hard.
He stepped back. “Before we go in, I have one more surprise for you.” He stepped aside, and my grandmother in her Amish dress and prayer cap came from around the corner. She held her plain black bonnet in her hands. Her eyes were wide as she took in everything around her.
“Maami?” My mouth fell open. “You came?”
“Ya,” she said, as if she could hardly believe it herself.
“But the shop? It’s a Saturday in the summer and Charlotte and I are both here.”
“Emily is back watching the shop. Her husband is pitching in as well. Aiden said we could come and go home the same day, so I talked to my bishop and got special permission to be here. I will be back by Sunday service. Won’t I, Aiden?”
Aiden nodded with a giant smile on his face.
“I’m so glad you’re here.” My voice caught.
“I am, too. The more I thought about it, the more I knew your daadi would want me to be here. I told the bishop that, and he understood.” She smiled, and her blue eyes filled with tears.
There were tears in my own eyes, too.
She wrapped her arms around me. “You live a little bit in two worlds, respecting the Amish for me. I can live a little bit in two worlds for you, too.”
I hugged her back. “Danki, Maami.”
Charlotte’s Easy Marshmallow Sticks
Ingredients:
three marshmallows per skewer
wooden skewers
chocolate chips
decorations of your choice such as sprinkles,
M&Ms, Reece’s Pieces, nuts, etc.
Directions:
1. Put three marshmallows on a wooden skewer.
2. Melt chocolate in a double boiler.
3. Dip marshmallows on the skewer into the melted chocolate and spoon chocolate over them to make sure they are fully coated.
4. Put the different decorations on plates, one for each type.
5. If you choose, decorate with sprinkles, M&Ms, or any of the other decorations: roll the marshmallow sticks through the decorations while the chocolate is still warm.
6. Let cool.
7. Enjoy!
If you enjoy Amanda Flower’s Amish Candy Shop
series, be sure to check out her Amish Matchmaker
Mystery series too! Please read on for an excerpt
from COURTING CAN BE KILLER, available soon.
CHAPTER ONE
“This is the very best day of my life,” my dear friend Lois Henry proclaimed as she wove up and down the aisle of the Harvest Village Flea Market. “Look at all this stuff! I should have brought more cash. Do you think some of these booths take plastic?”
It wasn’t a question that I could answer because I was Amish and had never owned a credit card. If I bought anything on credit, it was store credit from an Amish merchant I knew well.
“I knew I should have gone to the ATM,” she grumbled as she rooted through a patchwork purse that was big enough to carry a toddler. “I might have a few more bills at the bottom of this thing, but sorting through it is like digging to the center of the earth.” Her cheeks flushed red under her makeup from the exertion.
If the purse and makeup weren’t clues enough, the spiky purple-red hair and chunky, brightly colored costume jewelry would tell any passerby that Lois Henry was not Amish, nor had she ever been tempted to convert. In fact, the very thought that Lois would have considered the Plain life was downright ludicrous.
My friend certainly stood out in the crowd of mostly Amish shoppers. I caught more than one Amish merchant giving us the once-over as we walked by. I guessed that she and I made an odd pair. We’d been that way since we were girls. Lois was the flamboyant
Englischer, and I was the sedate Amish woman. To be honest, it might not look like it, but I get into my fair share of trouble, too. I’m blessed enough to have Lois, who is willing to join me down those troublesome paths.
Lois, bless her, was oblivious to the suspicious glances from a few of the Amish men we passed in the market, or maybe she just plain didn’t care. I suspected it was the latter. Lois had never cared what anyone thought of her. When we were children growing up on neighboring farms, I had been jealous of her exuberant determination to go after whatever it was she wanted. When I was young, I associated her behavior with being Englisch because Lois and her parents were the only Englischers I knew. I have since learned that her Englisch upbringing had very little to do with it. Her dev
il-may-care attitude came from her and her alone.
She yanked on my arm. “Holy smokes, Millie, do you see that? That chair is just like one my mother had when I was growing up.” She pointed at an orange molded plastic chair. “I have to see if I can snap it up.”
I glanced around the market. “I think you have a gut chance. It doesn’t appear that anyone else is looking at it.”
“They may just be playing it close to the vest. I can’t be the only one here who knows to act cool when negotiating a deal.” Lois came up with a fistful of bills from the bottom of her purse. “I knew there was more in here. My granddaughter Darcy is always telling me to get more organized, but then I wouldn’t find surprises like this twenty-dollar bill at the bottom of my bag.”
“Act cool?” I asked.
She tried to smooth the crumpled bill the best she could. “Yes, when we talk to the vendor about the chair, we must act like we don’t want it.”
“But you do want it.” I adjusted my grip on the shopping basket I had brought with me. As of yet, I hadn’t added anything to it. Truth be told, I hadn’t come to the flea market that day to shop. I was looking for someone.
She clicked her tongue. “Millie Fisher, you would be the world’s worst gambler.”
“Considering I am a sixty-seven-year-old Amish woman, I choose to take that as a compliment.”
She shook her head. “Just know I won’t be taking you on my next trip to the Rocksino in Cleveland. You would completely ruin my luck.”
I patted the prayer cap on the top of my snow-white hair. “I thought you gave up on gambling after you pushed your fourth husband into that hotel swimming pool.”
“I took a break, yes, after that little incident.” She finished smoothing the bills and tucked them into the pocket of her teal jacket. “However, in this life one should always be willing to take a chance and roll the dice.” She grinned. “That sounds like one of the Amish proverbs you recite all the time, doesn’t it?”
Marshmallow Malice Page 24