“I messed up, Sunshine. I realize that. But, believe me, I’ll never do it again.”
“I never thought you’d do it the first time,” she muttered.
He squeezed his eyes shut, tears leaking from beneath his lashes. “Marry me,” he whispered huskily.
Right on cue.
“Let’s start a family. I’ll do anything you want to make this right.”
Stepping forward, Katie took his hands. “You made choices that I just can’t forgive.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Andy asked.
“Won’t,” Katie declared. “I’m sorry, but nothing you do will ever make it right again.”
“How can you be so hard-hearted?” Andy implored.
Because I never want to go through this again. If you’d cheat on me once, you’ll do it again with someone else.
Katie swallowed. “I’d like to think we could still be friends. And we still have Erikka’s murder hanging over both of us.” But mostly me. “Our businesses are right next door to each other—and I intend to patronize Angelo’s for pizza and cinnamon buns.”
“But I won’t be a part of your life?”
Katie squeezed his hands before letting go. “No. I wish you all the best. I really do. But we have no future together.”
Andy’s head dipped and he swallowed.
“You’ll find somebody else.” After all, Laurel Westin was available.
Katie mentally winced. Meow.
“It’s time for both of us to move on.”
Andy shook his head, still staring at the ground.
“Will you drive me back to the Alley?”
Long moments passed before Andy nodded. He picked up the picnic basket and led the way back to his truck.
Chapter 35
Even though she hadn’t cried, Katie’s face still looked blotchy. Upon returning to Artisans Alley, she took out her compact to powder her nose and then reapplied her mascara and lipstick.
Someone knocked on the door. “Come on in!” Katie called.
Rose stepped inside and closed the door behind her. “Are you all right? I saw you leaving with Andy.”
Smiling slightly, Katie said, “I’m fine. Our relationship is now officially over.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“I am.” She truly was.
Rose handed Katie a note.
“What’s this?”
“I don’t know,” Rose said. “Detective Schuler was nosing around the main showroom while you were out.”
Katie had assumed as much, but since he’d searched the place before, she knew it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he’d returned to scour over her office again. She had no idea if that was legal under the search warrant, but at this point, she wouldn’t put anything past Schuler.
“What did he want?” she asked.
“He didn’t say. But when he was around the cash desks, he picked that up—” She nodded toward the note. “—and said, ‘Looks like you dropped something.’ I told him, no I didn’t, but I took it since it has your name on it.”
Opening the desk drawer, Katie took out her letter opener and sliced open the envelope. She removed the note inside and immediately glanced at the signature at the bottom. “It’s from Erryn, Erikka Wiley’s sister.”
“Really? What does it say?” Rose asked.
She scanned the words. “It says she has new information about Erikka’s death, and she wants to talk with me this evening. She’s coming by here.”
“Do you trust her?”
Katie shrugged. “I’m not sure. But I’ll listen to whatever she has to say.”
“I’ll stay with you, just in case—”
“You will not.” She smiled. “I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but I’ll be fine, Rose.” “But it’s weird that Detective Schuler is the one who found the note. Don’t you agree?”
“I do. And he could be using Erryn to see if I know more than I’m telling him. But since I don’t, it’s an exercise in futility.” She stood and gave Rose a quick hug. “After the day I’ve had, a chat with Erikka’s sister will be anticlimactic.”
Rose nodded. “You’re probably right.”
After the older woman left, Katie scanned the note again. Was it legitimate? Did Erryn have new information about her sister’s murder? If so, why wouldn’t she take it directly to Detective Schuler? Unless, of course, she’d come to distrust Schuler as much as Katie did.
She tried to call Erryn at work, but was told she had the day off. She left a message for Nick, asking for Erryn’s home number, but he didn’t get back to her until late in the afternoon. When she finally did get to call Erryn, she only got voice mail.
The day dragged on.
Evening was upon her when Katie checked her watch again. Artisans Alley had closed nearly half an hour before. She’d give Erryn five more minutes, and then she was leaving. Thinking maybe Erryn didn’t know where Katie’s office was, she wandered out into the arcade’s main showroom.
While there, she decided to go upstairs to see for herself how bad the floor situation was. Vance had placed CAUTION signs in the middle of the floor and had told her he believed he could shore it up, but since he hadn’t already done it, Katie thought she might rather have John Healy do the job. She wondered how to do that without hurting Vance’s feelings—or his pride.
She gingerly stepped over to Chad’s Pad and unlocked the door. Getting closure with Andy had brought up feelings about Chad, his death and how things had been left unresolved between the two of them. She walked into the room where his paintings were displayed. It was Katie’s way of honoring her late husband. She ran a hand over one of the intricate frames holding a beautiful landscape. He’d been a talented artist—that was certain.
Hearing a noise from downstairs, she came to the top of the stairs and called, “I’ll be right down!” When she didn’t receive a response, she crouched down to get a better look into the lobby. She didn’t see anyone.
A door opened and closed again.
“Darn it!” Katie raced down the steps. Had that been Erryn? Hadn’t she heard Katie call to her? But why would she leave so quickly after driving all the way here? After arranging the meeting in the first place? Maybe she’d only forgotten something.
When Katie got to the lobby, Schuler stood up from behind one of the cash desks. He greeted her with a malevolent smile. “Rushing off somewhere?”
“Just locking up,” she said, trying to act as if everything was fine. She didn’t truly believe he’d be fooled, but she could try. “We should have closed before now, but I was waiting for someone.”
“And where is this someone?” he asked.
“She didn’t show.”
“Oh, but she did.” He took a snub nose revolver from his jacket pocket. “She was enraged that you killed her sister, and she came here to make you pay.”
“No one will ever believe that.”
“Sure, they will. I know of at least one member of your staff who is aware you were meeting Erikka’s sister here after work,” he said. “I know because I gave her the note.”
“Rose doesn’t know what was in the note,” Katie lied. “The envelope was sealed.”
He shrugged. “So what? It’s in your office. I’ll make sure it isn’t hard to find.”
Katie felt that stalling Schuler was her best defense. Maybe someone would come by and see that she was in trouble. “Did you fall for Erikka’s ruse about being pregnant?”
“I’m not engaging in your idle chatter.” He pulled her toward the hall. “Let’s walk on back to your office, shall we?”
“You did, didn’t you?” Katie persisted. “You thought she was going to have your baby and that—worse—she was going to tell your wife. Oh, ho, ho, you’d have been out on your ear had that happened, wouldn’t you? No socialite wife, no political future, no inherited fortune.”
Schuler backhanded her across the face with the hand that held the gun. She’d have fallen if he hadn’t still been
holding her by the arm. Her face stung, and she tasted blood.
Schuler half-dragged Katie down the aisle and through the vendors’ lounge to her office. “Have a seat at your desk. Do it, and I’ll kill you quickly. Don’t, and I’ll make you suffer.” He pushed her toward the desk.
“Did you make Erikka suffer?”
“No. I made it quick and painless,” he said. “After all, I thought she was carrying our baby.”
Katie shuddered.
That made him laugh. “Are you frightened of me? You should be.”
“I feel sorry for you,” Katie said.
“Don’t you worry about me,” he said. “I’m going to be fine.”
Katie grabbed her jar of peppermints, turned, and smashed him in the face with it. As he shrieked in pain, she shoved him to the side and ran for the side door, but Schuler was already scrambling after her.
Schuler grabbed a handful of Katie’s hair and yanked her head back. “I’m gonna love killing you.”
“Stop!”
At the sound of the commanding voice from the doorway, both Katie and Schuler stilled.
“Drop your weapon and raise your hands up over your head!”
Katie sagged in relief when she saw Captain Spence standing outside the vendors’ lounge with a team of officers behind him.
“Thank goodness you got here in time!” a bloodied, wild-eyed Schuler shouted. “This woman is insane! She just confessed to killing Erikka Wiley and—”
“Save it,” Spence said. “And put that gun on the floor. Now!”
Schuler turned a murderous glare in Katie’s direction but did as he was told.
She moved aside and rubbed the back of her still-tingling scalp where Schuler had yanked her hair, watching and listening as Captain Spence read Schuler his rights and slipped the cuffs around his wrists.
Movement through the back door’s window caught her attention, and she saw Rose standing in the back parking lot, wringing her hands. Katie opened the door and hurried outside to join her.
“Rose! What are you doing here?” Katie asked, leading her friend into the building.
“It was that note,” she said, the agitation in her voice conveying her concern. “You know it didn’t set well with me, and I was afraid it might be a trap. I tried to call you, and when I didn’t get through, I called nine-one-one.”
“We had a patrol car on its way here, and when we heard what you told Ms. Bonner in her office, we moved,” Captain Spence said. He turned back to Schuler. “You were right—it was smart to bug the place.”
Chapter 36
Rose insisted on staying with Katie until late Thursday night. And though she’d never raised a child, her maternal instincts took over and she mothered Katie all evening—cooking dinner, making Katie hold a bag of frozen peas against her bruised cheek, and ensuring Katie had tea or wine whenever she wanted it.
She arrived back at Katie’s apartment early the next morning with a basket full of warm, home-made apple-nut muffins and they shared breakfast before they crossed the parking lot to go to work at Artisans Alley.
“If Nona sees me, she’ll be thrilled,” Katie muttered, indicating the blue and purple splotches that marred her face. “I look like I’ve gone a couple of rounds with a boxer, just like Andy and Ray.”
“Maybe more so, but I’ll bet Detective Schuler looks worse. Surely he had to have quite a few stitches to repair the damage you inflicted. You were very brave to use your peppermint jar as a weapon!” Rose laughed. “I don’t think our former detective knew just who he was dealing with.”
When they walked into Artisans Alley’s lobby, they found an older man standing there with a bouquet of white tea roses and baby’s breath. Katie assumed the man was a delivery person and that the roses were a possible peace offering from Andy. But she was wrong.
“Are you Rose Nash?” the man asked, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Yes.”
“I’m Sergeant Walter Tillman of the Greece Police Department—retired,” he amended. “I was listening to my police scanner last evening when I heard about the commotion here at Artisans Alley.” He handed Rose the flowers. “I was impressed with your bravery and your loyalty.”
“Why, how very thoughtful of you.” Rose beamed, accepting the flowers and inhaling their scent.
“I know it’s forward of me, but I wondered if you might want to discuss your part in solving Erikka Wiley’s murder.”
Rose positively giggled. “Oh, no—I had no part in that. I was just worried about my friend here.” However, she didn’t introduce Katie to the man.
“Perhaps the two of you should go back to the vendors’ lounge. There’re a couple of vases under the sink. You ought to put those flowers in water—and maybe sit down and have a cup of coffee,” Katie suggested. “I can hold down the fort up here.”
“Well…if you’re sure,” Rose said, her cheeks blushing a becoming shade of pink.
“Go,” Katie said and shooed them off.
Rose nodded and the couple started down the showroom’s main aisle. Behind Sergeant Tillman’s back, Rose gave Katie a jubilant thumbs-up.
It was kind of the sergeant to present Rose with the gorgeous flowers, but it also brought to mind the fact that despite the plethora of cop cars that had littered the tarmac outside Artisans Alley the previous evening, Andy hadn’t come to check to see if she was okay. All the local news channels had reported an arrest in Erikka’s murder case, with updated stories airing that morning. She knew Andy’s viewing habits—he had to have seen at least one or more of them. For a man who’d asked her to spend the rest of her life with him less than twenty-four hours before, he hadn’t shown a bit of concern for her welfare.
Katie sighed. C’est la vie.
She was still feeling a bit disappointed when Ray emerged from the side vendor entrance and strolled over to the cash desks, carrying a glass jar filled with starlight peppermints.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey, yourself.”
He set the jar down and lifted her chin with his index finger to inspect the damage to her face and winced. “I’ll bet that hurt.”
“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t.” She indicated the jar. “Is that for me?”
He nodded. “I heard your candy jar was a fatality of yesterday’s attack.”
“It was.” She shook her head. “In fact, I dread cleaning up the mess.”
“Already taken care of—Vance was on it first thing this morning.”
Frowning, she said, “I’m glad he’s on top of something. Have you seen the springy floor in front of Chad’s Pad?”
Again, he nodded.
“I should probably have John Healy repair it, but I don’t want to hurt Vance’s feelings….” Her sentence trailed off.
“Vance and I can handle the floor. In fact, tomorrow morning, we’ll assess what it needs to be fixed .” Ray reached into his pocket and took out the butterfly ring he told her he’d tossed into the lake. “Would you like this back?”
Katie glowered at him. “No, thank you. I don’t even think it belonged to Erikka, given the fact that Schuler’s wife gave them out by the dozens at a gala not long ago and still has a half a box full of them at her agency.”
“I don’t know about that, but when I turned it over to Captain Spence, he said there was no way of knowing whether or not the ring had belonged to Erikka and that since Schuler had already confessed to the murder, it was irrelevant anyway.”
Katie gave him a lopsided grin. “I knew you wouldn’t throw away evidence.”
“Not even for you.”
So, there were limits to his adoration.
“What will happen to Schuler?”
“Knowing him, he’ll say his confession was coerced and plead innocent. If his wife stands by him and pays for the best criminal attorney money can buy, there’s a slight chance he may get off.”
“Oh, Ray, no!”
“I said slight. But my guess is old Bethany will abandon the jer
k in a heartbeat. I’m pretty sure Schuler was only given the promotion to detective because his wife’s parents pulled some strings. Just about everybody in the Sheriff’s Office knew he was never qualified for the job.”
“The Sheriff’s Office is better off without him.”
Ray nodded and gave her a sad smile. “Despite looking like you went a couple of rounds with a boxing champ, you seem happy.”
“Pretty much,” she said. “Erikka’s killer will be brought to justice, and it looks like Rose found the mystery man Moonbeam promised would come into her life.”
Ray’s gaze dipped to the desk. “And you’ve made up with your man.”
She barked out a laugh. “Where’d you get that idea?”
“I just happened to be looking out my shop window yesterday morning and saw the two of you with your picnic basket heading off somewhere.”
“It was a nice lunch,” Katie said. “The conversation, however….”
He gave her a quizzical look.
She sighed. “I didn’t get closure with Chad, but I now have it with Andy. That’s a good thing. We shared our lives for a while, and even though it didn’t work out, I don’t hate him. I wish him the very best life has to offer.”
“Says the martyred saint,” Ray muttered sarcastically, his gaze dipping once more, but she could see he was trying to suppress a smile. “He had the best life has to offer, and he blew it.”
Katie shrugged and managed a wry smile. “I doubt he thinks so. But even if he does, he’ll get over it.”
Tealicious Recipes
Key-Lime Cookies
Ingredients
½ cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup fresh lime juice
1½ teaspoons grated lime zest
½ cup confectioners' sugar for decoration
* * *
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC, Gas Mark 4). Grease or place parchment paper or a silica mat on a baking sheet. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg, and egg yolk until smooth. Stir in lime juice and lime zest. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Blend into the creamed mixture. Form the dough into ½-inch balls and arrange on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Sift confectioners' sugar over cookies while still warm.
A Murderous Misconception Page 24