One Hit Wonder

by Kristi Rose

  “Now comes the hard part,” she panted.

  “Wait, roll your shoulders in first. Try that.” The rope had shifted down slightly, and I was hoping to avoid the shimmy.

  When her shoulders rolled, the ropes around me tightened across my middle, then slid down a tad.

  Precious made a quiet gasp. “Here’s the plan. I’ll stand up quickly. I think when I do, the straps will fall. They’re right at the…er…tips.”

  “I’m ready,” I said.

  Seconds later, I was moving through the air, propelled forward. Instinct had me wanting to put out my hands, but I couldn’t. The rope slipped more, and as my nose went over my toes, the ropes slipped down to the ground.

  My next problem was my forward trajectory as momentum pushed me blindly ahead into parts unknown.

  Apparently, the rope had pooled, and my foot got caught up in the coils, tripping me up. Afraid I would head dive into the floor, I twisted at the last second and landed on my left side.

  SNAP!

  The sound echoed across the room.

  I yelped in pain.

  Crenshaw asked. “What was that?”

  I groaned. “Me falling. And I think I broke my collar bone.” The awkward angle of the bone, a portion poking up toward my face, assured me my assessment was bang on.

  “Sam, what should I do now?” Precious asked.

  We were free from each other, but our hands were still tied and our blindfolds on. I gritted my teeth through a wave a pain, then said, “Can you find me? Maybe if you come up behind me, I can get your blindfold off.” Standing wasn’t an option. Pain shot through my side and killed any desire to move.

  “Okay,” she said. “Marco?”

  “Polo,” I said, my voice trembling.

  Precious shuffled toward me as we played the game. When she found me by accidentally kicking my leg, I cried out in pain. My whole body was humming in agony.

  “Be careful,” I said. “The pain is off the hook.”

  She rustled around me like a dog trying to find a hidden treat. My fingers got tangled in her hair as I searched for the blindfold material, but every time I clenched my fingers, a burst of pain would shoot up my arm. Eventually, I was able to work it off.

  “Oh, thank heavens,” Precious said.

  “Is it off?” Crenshaw asked.

  “Yes,” Precious said.

  Moments later, her hands tickled my face, and then the blindfold came off. She came around and smiled at me, her teeth gleaming in the spinning disco light.

  “The ticker,” I said.

  Like a baby giraffe, she stood and searched for the timer. “It’s not connected to anything. It’s a regular egg timer.”

  A collective sigh came from all of us. Next Precious turned off the disco ball and on the lights. Life was beginning to feel…hopeful. First, I wanted all of us to be safe. I’d worry about Junior and his accusations later. It was hard to believe Ms. Trina might be involved. What makes a person take a sideways turn and go bad?

  With her hands still tied, Precious went about removing everyone’s blindfolds.

  Crenshaw said, “Call the police, Precious. On the cordless under the counter, all you need to do is press the ON button and one. That’s speed dial for nine-one-one.”

  Precious made the call and requested an ambulance. There were tears in her voice. We all were probably teared up with relief. Fat, wet blobs coursed down my face.

  Precious came to me, her face stained with tears, her black mascara smudged. “Are you okay? Should I move you?”

  “No,” I said. “Can you open the door? It’s stuffy in here.” Pain was making me lightheaded.

  Precious opened the door to the outside then gasped. “Junior is out here chained to a pole. He has a sign hanging from his neck that says, ‘This coward left a man behind’ and he’s naked.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The bed in the ambulance was beyond comfortable, or perhaps it was the painkiller being intravenously infused into me that was making me chillaxed.

  Outside the rig, Chief Louney was telling his staff what to do. Boyd Bartell, the usual crime scene photographer, was methodically taking pictures between wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. Several large Paladin lights were set up around the perimeter, making the scene bright as daylight.

  Junior hadn’t been unchained as of yet, but he’d stopped proclaiming his innocence when Crenshaw bent low and whispered something in his ear. Dad was milling about interviewing people.

  Precious climbed into the rig and sat on the bench beside my bed.

  She said, “I’m sorry.”

  I was staring at my fingers, marveling at how they blurred when I moved them. “For what?”

  “For your collar bone breaking. It was my idea that led to this.” She waved her hand over my arm in the sling.

  “We’re free because of your idea.” I showed her the hand on my non-injured arm. “Watch. When I move them really fast, they blur.” I opened and closed my fingers. “Cool, right?”

  She giggled. “Um, I think they only blur for you.”

  My eyes widened. “You think? That’s cool.”

  “I think it’s the medicine they gave you.”

  “Oh,” I said, pointing outside the ambulance. “They’re moving Junior.” Leo was helping Junior to stand. He draped a blanket around him.

  I said, “That’s a relief. I did not want to see his butt.”

  Precious snorted. “Or anything from the front.”

  “That, too.” It was then I noticed Junior was still wearing his boots. “I’m sorry your Bigfoot turned out to be that dumb-dumb.” I pointed in Junior’s direction.

  Precious sighed. “Me, too.”

  “Maybe you should think about connecting with a group of like-minded, er…fans.” The idea had come from nowhere but sounded good to me. Based on the expression on Precious’s face, she liked it, too.

  “I might just do that.” She gently touched the sling. “You aren’t mad at me, right?”

  I slouched back against the propped-up bed and smiled. “Nope.”

  “Hey, Sammy,” Dad said, standing outside the ambulance. “How’s my girl?”

  “Feeling good, Daddy-o.”

  Dad chuckled. “The meds kick in, did they? Not feeling any pain?”

  “Oh, my shoulder is killing me, but these meds make me not care. It’s glorious.”

  Dad said, “Your mother is worried. She’ll meet us at the hospital as soon as you give the driver the okay to leave.”

  I shook my head. “Can’t leave until I know the truth.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “Junior said awful things about Ms. Trina. I don’t think any of it’s true.”

  Dad stepped into the back and sat on the bench next to Precious. “I’m sorry to say it’s likely true.” Dad briefly ducked his head and sighed. When he looked up, he looked sad. Or maybe disappointed.

  “At poker tonight… Jeez, I guess last night since it’s now three in the morning. Louney confided Bart Holland’s employer, AllCover Insurance, had contacted him about identity theft and possible money laundering. He sent Rawlings to question Trina. She’s not singing like a canary yet, but with what she did say and what we’ve found out here, this is what we think happened.” He wiped a hand down his face before he continued.

  “According to Trina, Bart Holland died without life insurance. With Becca in college and the other soon to follow, she was desperate for money, and the extra jobs she took weren’t covering it. Shortly after Bart’s funeral, Junior approached Trina with a proposition. To use Bart’s signature and approval to run these auto part scams. Apparently, Junior had been doing it on a small scale, but if he could bring in an agent to carte blanche approve repairs for OEMs, then he’d make even more. He offered to split that with Trina.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. Thankfully, the drugs in my system dulled the ache of my disappointment with Ms. Trina’s involvement.

  Precious said, “But how did they get around his employer not f
inding out about his death?”

  “Trina hadn’t told them. His death was unexpected, and everything following happened fast. Because his company’s headquarters is in a different state, she impersonated him in emails to continue to collect his checks and the kickbacks from Junior’s scam.”

  I opened my eyes and brought my dad into focus. “And Graycloud’s diner?”

  “Apparently, Bart’s company wasn’t happy with all the approvals Trina was doing on behalf of his name. They called to speak with him, and Becca told them he was dead.”

  “Ah-ha,” I said and went to snap. I had three thumbs and three middle fingers, and trying to figure out which lined up with the other one was hard. “When she told her mom about the call, Ms. Trina flipped out.”

  Dad nodded.

  Precious squinted in confusion. “But I don’t get what that has to do with robbing Junkie’s or Graycloud’s.”

  “Me either,” I said then laughed.

  Dad shrugged. “Couple of motivators, I suppose. Trina said something about paying back Bart’s company for the wages they paid out since his death. But also, Junior was in trouble with a few customers down at the shop. One guy was bringing in an inspector for confirmation that the parts were OEMs. With the fire at the manufacturer, Junior couldn’t get the parts he needed and had told him was on the car. He needed to break into the junkyard and take parts from here.”

  “What are the odds Crenshaw would have the part?” Precious asked.

  Dad nodded. “Exactly. Junior was one lucky son of a gun. But I’m sure if he couldn’t get what he needed from Crenshaw, he’d have found another place to rob. Desperation does that to people. This inspector could blow everything wide open.”

  Leo came around the corner and surveyed us before asking Dad, “You giving them the run down?”

  Dad nodded.

  I said, “He admitted hitting the deer was a coincidence.”

  Leo said, “But getting his car stolen wasn’t. He planned that.” Leo climbed into the rig and lowered to his haunches at the foot of my bed. “That picture you took of Trina’s car showed red paint from hers and from another. We had that analyzed, and it matched the same color on his Saleen. My guess is he didn’t want to take any chances and made the car disappear.”

  “And Jeff Smith?” I remember the officer crying in the interrogation room.

  Leo answered. “Had nothing to do with it. Was sleeping in a field out on Cougar Valley Road. Had his radio turned low.”

  I clasped the hand from my uninjured side over my eyes as the truth sunk in. People I knew. People I’d trusted on face value had been lying and conning me and others for a while now. Whatever their reason didn’t matter. “I think I’m ready to go to the hospital, Dad.”

  “Okay, princess,” he said. His lips brushed across my forehead.

  I peeked from under my palm, both Dad and Precious were getting out of the ambulance. Leo was staring at me.

  “What?” I let my hand fall to my side.

  “It’s one thing to discover people you like are crooks. But in the span of one week, you’ve broken a collar bone, been tied up, robbed, and emptied your stomach contents on what we know now is part of a second crime scene. That’s a full week for you.” He arched one brow. “I spread a lot of what you’ve experienced over time. Not you, though, you come in and rip the Band-Aid right off.”

  “I’m courageous like that,” I said, my words slurring slightly. The pain in my shoulder had moved into a dull ache, and my high was making me sleepy.

  “Are you drunk?” A hint of laughter edged his voice.

  I was horrified by his question. “What? I was given a pain killer.”

  His look was skeptical. “First the flu, now a pain killer. Sounds like excuses.” He fake-coughed into his hand.

  “I think you should go away. Shoo.” I waved my hand like I was swatting at an annoying insect.

  He moved to the bench and put his hand over mine. “Think long and hard about this career path, Samantha. Is this what you want your days to be like? I think you should take pictures of babies dressed as peapods, instead. Stick to the bright side.”

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to see this dark side of people on a regular basis, either, but I didn’t want to talk about it right now. “Ew,” I said. “Your hand is sweaty. Gross.” I slid my hand away.

  “I’m serious, Samantha” he said.

  “Me, too. You should see a doctor about your excessive sweatiness.” When I listed in his direction, he pushed me back upright.

  I continued, “It would seem this line of work bothers you as well, Leo. Maybe you should check your gut, too.” I attempted a snide snarl, but my lips were numb and not working. The effort alone cracked me up. I pinched my lips between my fingers twice before letting go. “I can’t feel them.”

  “I figured that out,” he said. “I’m trying to be serious here. Maybe this isn’t the best time.”

  I pinched my lips once again, let go, then said, “Puh-shaw.” I waved a dismissive hand in his direction. “There would never be a better time to be honest. Here’s the thing, Leo. All my life I’ve been poor little Samantha True, the girl who couldn’t learn to read. And if you want to know what that might be like, ask your brother.” I closed my eyes and blew out a deep sigh. “Maybe Hue was right to leave town and start over someplace where a stigma wasn’t attached to him. Taking these pictures was important to me. I was going to be good at something, at this. What does it say if I walk away? Everyone will wonder if I’ll ever amount to anything.”

  His brow furrowed. “People will know you helped solve this case. They’ll know you did a good job.”

  “Perfect, I did a great job and still walked away, but what does that say? Do I become a one hit wonder? Like that song from your past you really love but you can’t think of anything else by that band? I’ll be like that. And never mind the report you and Rawlings submitted to my professor was less than stellar.”

  He wiped a hand down his face. “There’s that.”

  I didn’t dare look at him for fear I’d see pity in his eyes. Instead, I pointed to the door. “Time for you to get lost. I want to enjoy the last bits of this high before I fall asleep, and your presence is ruining that.”

  Always the single-minded guy, he said, “You’ll think about what I said? I’d hate to see this job change you for the worse. Who cares what people say about you if you aren’t happy with the choices you’ve made? That’s what really counts.”

  “Blah, blah, blah. That’s what I hear when you talk.” I let my lids close to block out the sight of him.

  Trouble was, he was right. In my dreams, the bad guys looked like people I knew. I didn’t want to always see the bad side of people. I wanted light and happiness. More than I wanted this achievement, to make my parents proud with my college degree, I wanted to be happy. Life had been hard enough already.

  And that’s why I decided Leo was right. I would be better off taking pictures that didn’t leave dark, lasting impressions. But I’d never admit that to him in this lifetime.

  Samantha’s story continues in the next book in this series called ALL BETS ARE OFF. Fast forward 10 years and Samantha’s life is upside down and she’s once again forced to deal with the seedier side of life. Turn the page to read the first few chapters of ALL BETS ARE OFF.

  Looking for more Samantha True?

  Coming July 2019: ALL BETS ARE OFF

  FOR FANS OF VERONICA MARS!

  Some days, no matter how awful, are not worth a do-over

  During a wild weekend in Vegas Samantha True and her boyfriend impulsively marry. Six months later she learns three things about her new husband.

  1.He’s been killed in a freak accident.

  2.She’s inherited his secret PI business.

  3.He had another wife.

  Broke and devastated, she dives into learning the PI business—how hard can it be? Following a binge-watching How To session on Youtube, Samantha’s ready to take her first case.r />
  When mysterious strangers show up at her doorstep demanding information about her dead husband, she realizes she's in over her head.

  Samantha must discover who her husband really was. Yet, what if the truth puts her in danger, too?

  Chapter 1

  Friday

  “Miss True, I have some very troubling news.” The lawyer, Tyson Lockett, pushed a tri-folded piece of paper across the desk toward me.

  The corner hung off the side of the desk.

  Wishing I could avoid the paper all together, I flicked it back toward him using the nail of my index finger. After which, I rubbed the finger down the length of my skirt, wiping it clean.

  His expression solemn, he said, “I have more troubling information.”

  “More troubling news than my husband’s been killed?” I swallowed hard; those had been difficult words to say.

  What could trump learning of your loved one’s unexpected death? My mind couldn’t conceive of one thing.

  Lockett wiped a hand down his face and mumbled something that sounded like he was cursing the dead man in question.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and said without looking at me, “I’m not sure how to tell you this, Miss. True. If you look at the death certificate, you'll see that the name and date of birth align with the man you knew as Carson Holmes. But if you look closer, you'll notice the cause of death, nature of death, and date of death are wrong.” Then he fixed his gaze on me. His stare unwavering.

  I shook my head. “I don't think I understand.” My mouth was insanely dry and rough, like sunbaked earth. Nothing about this moment added up. I locked onto the easiest of oddities coming at me. Lockett knew to call me and tell me about Carson, though I’d never heard the lawyer’s name before today. Lockett also knew I had kept my maiden name. “How did you know I hadn't taken Carson's last name?”

  He blew out a heavy sigh then nodded to the paper. “Please take a look at this.” Lockett leaned across his steel and glass desk and nudged the folded piece of paper, perfect for a letter-sized envelope, back to me.