A Caffeine Conundrum

by Angela Ruth Strong

  Marissa’s feet froze in place and she gripped the railing tighter. Randon had been both downtown and at the retirement center? Was he arrogant enough to have committed murder and attempted murder without even trying to hide his whereabouts?

  “My grandma is the reason I moved here in the first place. Nine out of ten grandchildren don’t take care of their grandparents, but I’m sweet like that.” He paused at the step above her. “What?” He looked the direction she’d been staring blindly and shook his head. “Did you date the firefighter too?”

  One thing at a time. She’d answer then she’d move again. And maybe after that she could think of a way to get even more information out of him. What had he asked again? Oh, the fireman…

  “Troy?” Had she dated him? It would have been years. He was married now. “I think we went to a high school dance once.”

  Randon clapped his hands together. “This is great. You should come up with us in the bucket to help put the star on the tree.”

  “Wh-what?” No. Not if he was a murderer. Not with her clumsiness. He could throw her over the side of the bucket and everybody would assume it had been her own fault.

  “Yeah. Come up. It’ll be our official introduction to the town as a couple.” His teeth flashed in the darkness, giving his smile a creepy feel. “I have to confess, I’ve been dying to take you out.”

  That wasn’t the confession she wanted to hear. Especially if by taking her out, he meant killing her.

  She held a hand to her racing heart and twisted to look out at the crowd, but without the tree lit, it was too dim to see faces. Where was Connor? She wanted Connor.

  “Don’t be nervous.”

  Did he really think she was nervous about standing in front of a crowd, or did he know she had other things to fear?

  A speaker crackled, and a spotlight lit up the mayor at the podium in the gazebo. “Merry Christmas, Grace Springs.”

  Wild applause. And a whistle. That would be Connor. Sounded like he was at the back of the crowd.

  “I’d like to thank you all for coming. Here with me tonight is our guest of honor Randon Evans.” He held his arm wide to welcome Randon to the stage.

  The spotlight shifted to blind Marissa. She squinted and shaded her eyes with a hand and hoped it hid her from view. She could let Randon hog the limelight while she removed herself gracefully. She slid a foot behind her off the step and bent her front knee to descend backwards.

  Mayor Kensington continued. “He may be new to Grace Springs, but he’s known around the world for his game designs. And it looks like he’s brought a familiar face with him.”

  Her face? No…

  “Miss Grace Springs, are you going to assist with placing the star on the tree?”

  Her attempt at a playful laugh came out sounding more like the donkey’s reaction to having baby Jesus take over his manger. She added a wave of refusal.

  Randon caught her waving hand and tugged. “Of course she is.”

  The crowd cheered.

  She stumbled up the stairs to keep from getting pulled off her feet. Though it would have been better to fall from this distance than from fifty feet in the air. She found her balance and peered up toward the tip of the tree. Her toes tingled at the height. The sensation of falling made her grab tighter to Randon’s hand.

  He squeezed. “I’ll take care of you.”

  Her pulse throbbed harder against her joints. What did he mean by taking care of her? Was he trying to comfort her or talking like a mobster?

  She sidestepped. “I’m just going to—”

  The fireman’s basket lowered to the edge of the gazebo. Troy swung the little door open, blocking her path.

  Randon motioned for her to enter ahead of him. “Your sleigh awaits.”

  Her slay? “I don’t want to…”

  Troy laughed. “Yeah, you didn’t want to go on a helicopter ride with me before prom either, but you loved it, remember?”

  That’s right. But that had been about wind from the helicopter propellers messing up her hairdo. This was about her date wanting her dead. “This is different.” She pivoted to head the other direction.

  Randon blocked her path. “Afraid of heights, huh?” He stepped forward.

  She stepped backward. Into the basket. Oh no. She’d have to wait for him to follow then scoot around him and escape off the contraption.

  Randon stepped onto the rectangle platform. He moved to one side.

  Hope surged through her veins, propelling her forward. Straight into Troy.

  “Watch out, Marissa.”

  That was good advice. Except he meant watch out as he closed the door, not watch out for homicidal hipsters.

  She leaned forward toward Troy. “I think Randon is trying to kill me,” she whispered so as not to be overheard by the other man, but she couldn’t even hear herself over the church choir bursting into song.

  They had apparently changed from their ugly sweaters into golden robes to fill the night with a chorus loud enough to be mistaken for angels in Israel.

  “What?” Troy asked as he snapped the door shut.

  Should she try to explain or simply swing a leg over the side and…

  The bucket shifted, knocking her sideways. She grabbed the edge and watched the ground sink away. Was it too late to jump? It would be if she wanted to land safely in her heels. Was it too late to kick off her boots and jump?

  “Marissa,” a deep voice called from below. “What are you doing?”

  Connor. He’d found his way to the front of the crowd, arms wide as if presenting the vulnerability of her situation.

  She pointed to the tree and leaned forward to yell down that she was supposed to help hang the star. “Help—” was all she got out before the basket bounced.

  She jerked upright and spun to find Randon hopping in place.

  He chuckled at her expression. “You’re too easy to scare.”

  He wanted to scare her, did he? Well, she was probably right to be scared. Didn’t Troy see that?

  Troy grinned, but shook his head. “Knock it off, man.”

  Marissa glared then peeked over the side again to find Connor. If he’d thought someone had tried to kill her earlier with the rockslide, then he was definitely going to worry about her here. Even if there wasn’t a suspected murderer next to her, Connor would probably still worry. Was there anything he could do to help?

  Tandy stood next to Connor, her mouth hanging open like she was about to join in with the lyrics to “Oh Christmas Tree.”

  They both grew smaller as the bucket continued to rise. If Marissa jumped from the bucket, could Connor catch her?

  Troy peered down at her ex from where he worked the controls. “I still can’t believe you two broke up. I thought you might be trying to make Connor jealous by getting on stage with this guy—”

  “This guy has a name,” Randon interrupted.

  Marissa shot This Guy a sharp look.

  Troy ignored him. “But it appears that Connor is dating someone else too. And I don’t think he would ask out another woman unless he was truly interested.”

  Marissa’s spine stiffened, which was ridiculous. She knew Connor and Tandy weren’t on a real date. And even if they were, Marissa had other things to worry about. She peered down at them anyway just to see what Troy saw.

  Connor and Tandy faced each other, intense expressions on their faces. They were talking about her. They had to be. Why else would they be leaning in so close?

  Marissa’s stomach clenched. She hated that it clenched. She really shouldn’t care if Connor wanted to date someone else. She should care more about Tandy. She should warn her new friend away from the man who would destroy other people’s dreams to build his own.

  Nobody else seemed to see this about him. Not even Troy who’d assumed Marissa was more likely to date for selfish gain.

  The pair separated below, and she sighed in relief. Connor wove through the crowd to follow underneath the bucket as it swung toward the tre
e while Tandy jogged the direction of the fire truck.

  At this height, an icy breeze lifted Marissa’s hair off her shoulders and made the bucket rock, bringing her back to the present danger. She should focus on staying as close to Troy and as far away from Randon as possible.

  She turned to scoot toward the real hometown hero.

  Randon stood in her way. His eyes narrowed.

  Her throat clamped shut. She gripped the side of the bucket behind her. Internal warning sirens almost blocked out his next words.

  “Did you only want to come with me to make your ex jealous?” Randon challenged.

  No. No. Absolutely not. She didn’t have enough spit to form the words, so she shook her head violently.

  His eyes stayed squinty as he took another step forward. He reached out a hand.

  Marissa whimpered and jerked toward the corner.

  The bucket stopped. But she didn’t. She’d lurched hard enough to tip forward over the side.

  A scream escaped her lips, and her gloved fingers slid along the fiberglass, feeling for something to grab to hoist herself up.

  The crowd below gasped. The choir stopped singing like a scratched record.

  Something hard snagged her fingers. The door handle. She gripped it, her shoulder lit on fire, and her feet toppled past her face to swing freely above fifty feet of nothing.

  Tandy charged towards the fire truck, looking over her shoulder when the crowd around her gasped. Marissa’s form hung from the outside of the bucket, and Tandy’s heartbeat sputtered like she was the one about to plummet to her death. Randon must have pushed Marissa in the way Tandy had feared. At least Marissa had caught onto something. And the fireman in the basket was reaching toward her to pull her back to safety.

  But how could they be sure Randon wouldn’t push him over as well? And how would the firefighter lower them all back down if he was holding onto Marissa.

  Tandy continued her race. If Marissa fell, would Connor get there in time to catch her? At that height, they’d still both likely be severely injured.

  Two men in bulky yellow jackets leaned lazily against the fire truck, apparently joking with each other and unaware of the peril overhead.

  “Lower the bucket,” Tandy yelled.

  Their faces swiveled her way. One cupped a hand behind his ear to signal he couldn’t hear her though the other’s jaw tilted up then dropped open. He jerked to attention, pointing to the problem.

  “Lower the bucket,” she repeated breathlessly, hoping she wasn’t too late.

  The men scrambled for the controls, so she spun around, her heart in her throat.

  Marissa shrieked, her free arm waving overhead, reaching for the firefighter. He clasped her firmly around the wrist.

  A collective sigh puffed up from the crowd, and as if the sound was the release of air from an inflatable lawn decoration, Tandy’s shoulders sagged. It was going to be okay.

  The bucket began its descent, thanks to the firefighters in the truck.

  Tandy narrowed her eyes at Randon. He wouldn’t try anything else up there would he?

  The man stood frozen, and not only from the arctic temperatures. With the kind of horror that chiseled his expression taut, he appeared to be neither hometown hero nor a murderer. Was he nothing but talk?

  She shook her head at the absurdity of the idea. Could Marissa have tipped herself out of the bucket in clumsiness and fear? If so, Tandy didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed. Now what?

  She took a deep breath, braced a hand against her left ribs where the deep breath stung, and made her way to meet Marissa when she landed. Once firefighters got her to solid ground, would they take Randon back up to put the star on the tree, or would she be able to confront him then? Whether he was a killer or not, he had some explaining to do.

  The firefighter in the bucket hung over the side, reaching for Marissa’s other hand as the firemen in the truck used their controls to continue to lower them past the midpoint of the tree. Marissa let go of the handle she’d been holding and swung her arm to grab onto the firefighter with both hands. She missed the connection, causing her body to spin around like an ornament.

  The firefighter growled and made a jerking grab to catch her free hand but came up empty.

  Marissa continued to swing by one arm again. She slipped lower. And lower. Until gravity completely tugged her out of the glove gripped by the man above.

  She screamed and disappeared into the bushy tree branches.

  Tandy ran.

  Chapter Eleven

  Marissa’s body careened toward the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut as pine branches scraped her jacket. Good thing she had on extra padding. Maybe she should always wear heavy clothing to keep her safe when she fell. Though she wasn’t safe yet. Below the tree limbs and strands of lights that juggled her body, waited a landing pad of cement and ice.

  Blindly, she groped for some kind of hold amongst the branches racing by. It had miraculously worked when she’d tipped over the side of the bucket. This time her hands fisted around nothing, and she tumbled out of the tree. Where was her guardian angel now?

  The open air soothed like when driving her Jeep with the sunroof open, but it also stepped on the gas of her descent. She braced for impact against the unforgiving ground.

  Something as strong as tree limbs caught her again. Then, “Oof.” She landed on what felt like a pile of leaves. Had the firefighters brought out a safety net? Because shouldn’t her body be hurting more?

  She pried an eye open to find herself face to face with Connor. He was the pile of leaves. Catching her must have knocked him to the ground since they lay there in front of the whole community. Of course, she couldn’t really be embarrassed about her current position after what she probably looked like when pinballing her way down the Christmas tree. Her dive off the stage at the Miss Ohio pageant had only been a warm up act. Though it was much nicer to be caught than pushed.

  Warmth released through her body as if she were eating lunch in the Soup Cellar, and a laugh bubbled out.

  “Are you okay, Marissa?” Connor practically grunted the words. “It sounds like your fall knocked a screw loose.”

  She’d be worried about how he was feeling if he weren’t making jokes. He was the same old Connor. There to catch her when she fell. If only he’d caught her when she’d fallen for him.

  “Yes.” She planted her gloved and ungloved hands against the cold, rough ground on each side of his face to push herself up. She was okay only because her situation could have been a lot worse. She met his gaze. Her breath hitched. “Thank you for stopping my fall.”

  He didn’t move. Only returned her gaze. It said he also left words unspoken. Did her expression hold the same longing as his? If so…

  Hands lifted Marissa from behind. Then she was surrounded by emergency workers and separated from Connor. A couple of paramedics tried to keep him on the ground to check him out, but he shook them off and pushed to his feet.

  “Where’s it hurt?” a deep voice tugged at her attention.

  Where did she hurt? Besides her heart? She blinked then looked down at herself in case there was a bone sticking out of her body or something. She knew from experience you couldn’t always feel pain right away if your body was in shock.

  Her shoulder burned, but she rolled it out and reached for her face. Blood smeared her one glove and wet the fingertips on her other hand. What must she look like? Randon wouldn’t want to date her anymore, though that probably had more to do with the way she’d ruined his shining moment than with her damaged appearance. Since he hadn’t pushed her, he might not be worthy of investigation after all.

  Though was she really worthy of being an investigator? Police investigated things all the time without getting in car accidents and falling out of fire truck buckets. She wanted to clear her family name, but what good would that do if it got her killed?

  Tandy wanted her to go to the police. Might as well. After she got her diary back of cours
e.

  “I think I only suffered a few scratches,” she said.

  A medic dabbed her face with damp gauze. “You’re really lucky.”

  “Nah.” Tandy joined them. “She’s just a pro at falling. She has a lot of experience.”

  Marissa shook her head at Tandy’s silly perspective. “Maybe next time I’m in a beauty pageant, I’ll save my fall for the talent competition.”

  The EMT pulled the gauze away to get a better look at her face. “You’re that Marissa?”

  She smiled her beauty queen smile.

  A man in a bright yellow jacket joined them, motioning toward Tandy. “This woman saved your life. She got me to lower the basket when Troy was busy hanging onto you.”

  Marissa’s heart dropped the way she should have. While she’d been annoyed by Tandy’s offer on Virginia’s shop and jealous of her instant kinship with Connor, the other woman had saved her life more than once now.

  Tandy shrugged and looked away, but Marissa wouldn’t let her shrug off such a huge act. She reached out to offer a hug. The real kind.

  “You.” Connor’s voice boomed above the surrounding chatter, stopping her in her tracks.

  Marissa looked up to find him storming toward the fireman’s bucket now at ground level.

  Randon stood frozen with one foot in the bucket and one foot on the ground, wide eyes focused on the man confronting him. Though Connor had been the one to land on his back, Randon looked to be the one who’d had the breath knocked out of him. And with the way Connor was glowering, that might not be all that got knocked out of him.

  Marissa broke away from the medic to separate the men the way she’d done before. Only this time because she believed Randon to be innocent.

  Connor pointed. “You pushed her.”

  The crowd gasped.

  Randon retreated into the bucket and closed the door to separate them. “N-no,” he stammered.

  “Police. Arrest this man.”

  Marissa continued her pursuit in hopes of reaching Connor before Lukey did. The deputy might very well arrest Connor for disturbing the peace if he didn’t calm down. “Randon didn’t push me.” She grabbed Connor’s arm.