by Molly Dox
“Poppy, don’t you get it? This is real life. These are criminals, bad people to get mixed up with. It’s not a game. You’ve got to let the authorities handle this stuff,” Reggie explained.
She sighed. “I’m sorry for putting you in danger. I shouldn’t have come alone.”
“You shouldn’t have gone there at all,” Panda replied.
“What did you think, that the guy would confess his list of sins to you?” Reggie spouted, annoyed. The idea of losing her pained him.
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet,” she answered.
“You didn’t think, plain and simple,” Reggie scolded.
It stung hearing those words, even if they were mostly true.
On arriving home, Poppy apologized to Panda and Reggie again, and called it a night. She could at least go talk to Pat and confront her about her bogus alibi. She’d do that the following morning. Pat was hardly a threat.
Chapter 8
When morning rolled around, her father didn’t make things any easier. “You lied to me last night. You can’t go doing stuff like that. Stop trying to solve the world’s crimes by putting yourself in danger. I need you.”
Poppy looked at her father, touched by the last sentence. “I need you, too. How are you doing this morning? Are your sugars in check?”
“Eh, they’re better than yesterday. I’ll take it as a win.”
“I have to run a quick errand today. Do you need anything while I’m out?” Poppy asked.
“What kind of errand?” He looked at her suspiciously.
“Nothing dangerous; I just want to talk to Pat, Caroline’s receptionist and see if she remembers anything.”
“You should leave it alone, kid.”
Poppy looked away. “Right; I will after this last thing.”
They both knew it meant she was going anyway.
When Poppy found a slice of time, she headed over to Caroline’s house. She dreaded talking to Peter, but she wasn’t certain on Pat’s address. She wanted to verify it. She was hoping she could find it in the office. Otherwise, she’d be guessing and it would take twice as long. She had a vague idea, but Pat wasn’t listed in the phone book.
Parking in the drive, she drew a deep breath before heading to the door. Knocking, she waited for Peter to answer. Instead, Pat did.
“Pat?” Poppy was confused.
Pat looked worn. “Poppy? What can I do for you?”
“That’s weird. I was actually looking for you.” What was she doing there?
Peter showed up at the door, behind Pat. He sighed. “What are you doing here?”
“I was hoping to talk to Pat, and needed her address. But here she is, imagine that.”
Peter wrapped his arm around Pat. “Are you okay?” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and headed to the kitchen.
Everything inside of Poppy went on alert. Pat and Peter…together? Were they a couple? What was going on? Pete didn’t even live around here before all of this. Or did he? Her head was swimming with questions.
“Well, you found me. What did you want?” She said nothing about Peter, her ex-boss’s ex-husband kissing her.
“I had a question, but to be honest, now I have many questions.” She shook her head, not sure how to approach the new topic.
“It’s not what it looks like,” she finally said.
“What does it look like?” Poppy quizzed.
“It was only one time. My boyfriend got arrested last night and when I didn’t bail him out, he threatened me. I wasn’t sure where to go. I called a cab and came here, not even sure what I was doing. Peter gave me a safe place to stay. Things happened, but it’s not like we’re a couple, so don’t go judging me.” She couldn’t stop talking. The details poured out of her like a glass of spilled milk.
“Your boyfriend was arrested?” Her ears perked up. “And you weren’t at the dentist either, were you?”
She looked away. “Listen, he said he’d kill me if I said anything. What did you want me to do? He already killed once. I couldn’t…I just, when I introduced her to it all….anyway, she blackmailed him when she got in for big money and couldn’t pay. I was caught in the middle. It got ugly.”
“So, let me get this straight, Thom Bryant is your boyfriend? Your boyfriend killed your boss? You said nothing, because you feared for your life, so you made up a false alibi. Is that what you’re telling me?” Poppy tried to take it all in.
“I don’t know anything, and you can’t prove it. Just leave me out of it, okay? I’m about to disappear to save my own life. I’d suggest you be careful where you tread. He’s a dangerous man. I love him, but it’s just too much. He’s in too deep. I was horrified and didn’t know what to do. He would have killed me, too.” She paused, trying to stop the trembling that started in her body. “I’ve said more than I should. You should go.” She closed the door.
Poppy called Reggie when she got into her truck to tell him what happened. Only by the time the police showed up to question Pat, she’d already left. Peter played dumb and said he had no idea what was going on. Nobody by that name had been there.
So all Poppy had was a confession, on here say from a girlfriend of the bad guy. Only, she never made a statement and was listed as having an alibi. It didn’t matter that she knew the truth. She had no way to prove it, unless she could get his confession.
As soon as she finished check-outs, she was headed to the prison to pay a visit to one Thom Bryant. She dreaded showing him her face again. He’d remember it even better, but if she could do this for Dr. Corbin…she had to do this for Caroline. There was no other answer. She had no idea if he’d agree to see her, but she had to try.
**
When she arrived, they signed her in, checked her things, and then sent someone to get Thom. He had the right to refuse the visit, but she figured she’d give it a shot. His curiosity might get to him. Only, on signing in, she had to use her real identity. She was less than thrilled. He’d know exactly who she was. She wished she could use a pseudonym, but they wouldn’t allow it.
He was in an orange jumpsuit and led to the visitation room. His eyes scanned the windows and then locked on Poppy, recognizing her face. A wide grin slid across his face. It was eerie. “Grandma, how nice of you to visit me in here, after all, I’m guessing you’re the one who tipped off the police.” The words slithered out of his mouth.
“I saw Pat this morning,” she started.
“Who’s Pat?” He played dumb.
“Really? Are we going to play games? Why don’t we trade information? You have something that I want, and I have something that you want.”
“What do you have?” His curiosity had him asking.
“Bail money.” She held his stare. That caught his attention. It was a lie, but the only one she could come up with.
“Why would you bail me out?” He was suspicious.
“It’s a trade-off. I need some information.” Everything inside of her was shaking, but she refused to show it. She wasn’t a great liar, but wore her poker face to the best of her ability.
He laughed. “And you think I’m just going to give it to you?”
“Do you want your freedom? Not sure how long you’ll have it otherwise. Your girlfriend left town.”
“What? No.” He was suddenly serious. “My girl wouldn’t bolt on me.”
“Really? You don’t think so? She didn’t pay your bail, did she? I saw her this morning. She took off right after I talked to her. She told me a couple of things. I wanted to see if you agreed to her version of the story. She wrote and signed a confession statement. I gave her the money to get out of town. It was a trade-off; see how that works?” She hid the fact that her nerves were going hog wild and jumping about. It took everything inside of her to remain cool and collected. “I heard that somebody owed you a lot of money.” She refused to look anywhere but directly at him.
“A lot of people owe me money,” he snapped.
“Do they all blackmail you?” She held her br
eath, waiting for his answer.
He stared at her. “This visit is over.”
“It’s too late. I know everything.” She stood.
“You think I care? You don’t have proof.” He was feeling cocky. He’d been careful.
“Oh? You didn’t realize. I was the one who found her body. You left a little souvenir behind. Now that I can put the pieces together, you might want to get comfortable. I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere soon.” She bit the inside of her cheeks, trying not to shake.
“You don’t have anything on me. I didn’t leave behind a trace of evidence. I was careful, and my girl cleaned up any prints I might have left. Nice try.” He laughed and then stopped, realizing what he’d just say.
“Thank you. Our visit is finished here.” She got up and turned to leave.
“You’re next lady, you hear me?” A guard yanked him up and pulled him away.
She heard him screaming as he left the room. Thankfully there was a bench just outside of the visiting area. She collapsed onto it for a moment and tried to get a grip on what just happened. Not only did he confess, but he threatened her life. That should add to his time, and help solidify the case. Her body shuddered as the adrenaline pulsed through her veins. The tears came fast and hard, running down her face. She’d done right by Caroline, but this was the scariest thing she’d been through. Reggie was right. It was time to leave this stuff to the professionals. Poppy stood and headed to her truck. Turning it on, she headed straight to the police department to offer up the information she’d learned that day.
Chapter 9
“You’re a hero,” he started. “I just wish you’d be more careful.”
“I’m not a hero. What I did was stupid. At least I had good news to share with Lola. Her mother’s killer will remain behind bars with no chance of parole. He took a plea bargain to stay off of death row. They have an arrest warrant out for Pat, for her part in the crime and for lying about her alibi and details. I hope they find her.” Poppy was still trying to absorb the fact that it was all behind her. She felt foolish for some of the choices she’d made, and wished she’d used more common sense, but at least she could sleep at night knowing that Caroline’s killer didn’t get away.
She’d have to avoid the sandwich shop for a while. She knew Bruno would be angry, but there was a killer on the loose, and that took priority. She was ready for a nice quiet stretch of time. With the crazy things that had happened lately, quiet and boring sounded delightful.
And now that Chopper had gotten over his need to drop mice at the door, another problem was solved. She was pretty sure his earlier tummy ache taught him a lesson.
Reggie cleared his throat. “What do you think? Do you want to be my girl?” He wrapped his arm over her shoulder, standing beside her.
“I thought I already was,” she said with a wink. “Well, in my head, I pictured it that way. Thanks for coming to my rescue. You’re my hero.”
“Girl, you’re going to make me grayer with your crazy ways.”
“Good thing I like older men,” she teased.
“Come here,” he said, pulling her into an embrace.
**
Lola sent a giant bouquet of flowers with a thank-you note. She was grateful that Poppy had gotten involved. If it weren’t for her, there still might not be enough leads. She promised to visit when the house was sold, and oh, by the way her dad would be there doing repairs. He was moving in for a while.
Heading outside the following morning, Chopper had left her a present. Poppy sighed, “Not again!”
THE END
Thank you for choosing “Mice in Paradise,” the third book in the Poppy Pepper’s Paradise Cove and Mini Golf series. If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review so others can decide if this is a book they would like. Thank you for your time.
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Be sure to keep an eye out for book four, coming soon.