by Jessica Beck
“I think so, too,” Cindy said from behind us.
Were we about to die investigating one murder too many? As I turned to face her, I prepared myself for the worst.
Chapter 23
“What exactly are we leaving, anyway?” Cindy asked curiously as she tried to peek inside her own car. Much to my relief, there was no weapon of any sort in her hands, which was a nice change of pace.
“Nothing, nothing at all,” Grace said as she tried to shield me as best she could. It was a gallant thought, but I wasn’t exactly sure how effective it was going to be.
“Let me see,” she demanded as she stepped around us and looked at what we’d just spotted. “What’s that?”
“You tell us,” I said. “Listen, it was an accident, I’m sure of it. You panicked and took the money after you killed Tom. We’ll go to the police with you when you turn yourself in. Everything is going to be okay.”
“What are you babbling on about?” Cindy asked as she made a grab for the money. “I’ve never seen this before in my life. I came back here to get my books for my reading, and I spotted you two sniffing around my open car! I’m going to call the police!”
“There’s no need. I’m right here,” the chief said as he approached. “I’ll take that, if you don’t mind,” he said as he grabbed the bag of money in her hands.
“I don’t know what’s going on here, but these two women must have set me up,” Cindy protested.
“I sincerely doubt that,” the chief said. “Why don’t you come along with me and we can talk about it. My office is just over there,” he added as he pointed to the police station not twenty feet away from us.
“I didn’t kill Tom,” she protested as he put a firm hand on her shoulder and started leading her away. “Why would I do that? I loved him.”
“I’m sure that you did. You can tell me all about it inside,” he said.
“How’d you know we’d be out here?” I asked the police chief as he started to lead her away.
“Grace’s request got me curious, so I thought I’d walk out here and stretch my legs a bit to see what was going on. I heard enough to step in. Nice work, ladies, but I can take it from here.”
After they were gone, Grace turned to me and smiled. “It appears that we cracked another case, Watson.”
“Why do you get to be Sherlock?” I asked her.
“Okay, you can be the star of the show. I don’t mind being your sidekick. The point is, we did it.”
“I’m not so sure that we did,” I said as I stood there, staring at the unlocked Subaru. “Doesn’t it seem to be a little too neat and tidy to you, Grace?”
“Suzanne, Cindy Faber isn’t exactly a master criminal. In real life, people make boneheaded mistakes all of the time, especially if they are unaccustomed to a life of crime.”
“Still, that car was unlocked when we found it. Why couldn’t that evidence have been planted, just like she accused us of doing?”
“I suppose it could, but who would want to do it? You’re not thinking it was Hank, are you?”
I nodded. “As a matter of fact, I am. The more I consider the possibility, the more sense it makes to me. Remember his analogy about robbing a bank being like writing a book? Clearly he’s thought about committing a crime before. Even if that weren’t true, what if he stole the money as an afterthought after he killed Tom, and decided to plant some of it on Cindy to make her look guilty? That fight on stage with Hannah seemed a bit too rehearsed to me. It didn’t ring true at the time, and it’s been bothering me ever since. He openly baited her, and she rose to the occasion, giving him a reason to storm off and plant that money in Cindy’s car before we could get here. I’m willing to bet that what we found is only a portion of what was stolen from us. He was even smart enough to leave Paige’s deposit slip with the cash he left so there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Cindy was the one who killed Tom Johnson.”
“If it was all staged, then why did he go after Tom in the first place?” Grace asked me.
“I’m not saying that he didn’t have feelings for Hannah initially. Who knows? Maybe he still does. What if he was looking for Tom to speak with him about the way he was treating Hannah and he spotted him breaking into my shop? He could have stayed back to see what was going on. Once Tom had his back turned with all our money, Hank must have snuck up behind him and clobbered him with my donut dropper. I’m sure if I’d had any cast iron around he would have used that instead, or maybe not, if he was being crafty about it, but the dropper was clearly heavy enough to do the trick. I don’t think he had any intention of robbing us, but that money was too good a chance to pass up, so he took it with him after the murder.”
“Why frame Cindy and not one of the others, though?” Grace asked me.
I thought about it for a few seconds before I spoke again. “He obviously waited until the last second to do it. When Amanda said that she saw something, he had to have noticed that she looked at him and Cindy. I think Amanda’s sudden departure was a smart move on her part. Otherwise, I have a hunch she would have had an ‘accident’ before she could reveal what she supposedly saw. The irony of it is that even though she was lying when she said she saw something, she’s the one who made all of this happen. As far as Hank was concerned, if she were dead, then there would be nobody to dispute Cindy’s guilt but Cindy, and given her ardent, almost cult-like devotion to Tom Johnson, it’s not a great leap to think that she turned on her idol and killed him when he spurned her one last time. It all comes together when you look at it from that angle. We need to tell Chief Grant what we suspect and get him to hunt Hank down before he can get away.”
At that moment, I knew that it was too late as I saw the killer raise himself up from the bed of a nearby pickup truck, and unlike Cindy, he was fully armed with a large pistol as he got out and approached us with malice in his eyes.
Chapter 24
“You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you?” Hank asked, the disappointment heavy in his voice as he shifted the jacket in his free hand to cover his weapon. From any normal bystander’s point of view, it would look as though three people were merely standing in the temporary parking area having a conversation, and not the hostage situation that was developing and the potential future crime scene that was about to be created. “At least I don’t have to track Amanda down now. She owes you a debt of thanks for her life, even though she’ll never know it.”
“Hank, you don’t have to kill us,” I said. “I’m sure you kept some of that money, the lion’s share of it, unless I’m mistaken. We won’t say a word. You can just drive off and nobody will be the wiser.”
“If only I could believe you,” he said sadly. “Suzanne, I’m truly sorry, but I don’t see any way out of this.”
“You can’t just shoot us right here,” I protested. I figured if I could buy us some time, I might be able to attract someone’s attention and we might get out of this jam after all.
“Do you know something? You’re right. Get in the cab,” he ordered as he gestured toward us both with his hidden gun.
I had a hunch if we did as he said, we’d be dead. Then again, he could just as easily shoot us now, but his chances of getting away with it being less than twenty feet away from the police station would be a lot less. I briefly considered making a run for it, but that would leave Grace exposed, and if I lived and she didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
“Come on. I’m not waiting much longer.” He was clearly getting exasperated with us, and I wouldn’t put it past him to shoot us on the spot and take his chances. Maybe I could do something to thwart his plans once we were in motion.
“Come on, Suzanne. We need to do what he says,” Grace told me.
“Okay, you’re right,” I said loudly, and then added so softly I prayed he couldn’t hear, “Follow my lead.”
We walked around to the passenger side of the truck, and I noticed there was no back seat in the vehicle. We were going to be sitting side
by side by side, which was even better. Maybe I’d grab the wheel from him and make him wreck before we could go very far. Any distraction would be better than following his orders meekly and dying on some deserted back road where our bodies wouldn’t be found for days.
I was about to climb in first so I’d be closer to him—and the steering wheel—when he said, “Hang on a second.” He reached behind the seat on the floor and pulled out four large industrial-looking plastic zip ties. I didn’t have to ask what they were for. Grace and I were going to be effectively handcuffed soon enough, restricting our movements so much that my plan might not work after all. Maybe he’d leave our legs free and I could stomp on the accelerator or the brake at just the wrong time, but evidently he thought of that possibility, too.
Grace and I were soon bundled onto our seats, our legs and hands bound together, a pair of hostages with little hope of getting out alive.
I knew that if we left that lawn, our chances of surviving were slim. Plus, I wasn’t sure how long my nerve was going to hold out. On the face of it, fighting back given the circumstances didn’t seem to offer us very good odds, but at least he’d have to drive slowly before he could get out onto the open road.
As Hank started to pull away, I looked to my right and shouted, “Look out! They’re going to hit us!”
He automatically glanced toward me, and I did the only thing I could think of to do, given my state of immobility.
I hit him as squarely as I could with my forehead, head-butting him hard enough to make me see stars and hopefully incapacitate him long enough for us to get away.
Chapter 25
It didn’t work, at least not as I’d hoped it would. Hank was bleeding profusely from his nose, but that was about it, and as he wiped the blood away with the back of his hand, he reared back to hit me.
While he was still exposed, I butted him again with my forehead, despite the pain I was still reeling from after the first impact.
This one must have hit close to the same spot as the last blow, because the gun left his hand as he put both hands instantly to his battered nose.
I hope I’d broken it.
As I was gathering my wits about me and trying to shake off the intense pain I was experiencing, Grace took her bound hands and leaned across me. I wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but I wasn’t in any shape to help her. She couldn’t strangle him with her wrists so tightly bound together, but that wasn’t her aim at all.
Instead, she hit the horn with her bound hands, long and hard.
“You two are insane!” Hank shouted at us as he scrambled for his gun, which was now at his feet.
He didn’t even notice the police chief until Stephen Grant pulled the driver’s-side door open and stuck his own handgun in the cast iron cookbook author’s face as he yanked him out onto the ground.
“Are you okay?” Grace asked me as we both fought to catch our breaths.
“I’ve got a headache you wouldn’t believe,” I admitted, “and I think I’m probably going to have a pair of black eyes when this is all said and done, but we’re still alive, so yeah, I guess I’m okay.”
“Thanks for taking one for the team,” she said with a smile as one of the chief’s police officers opened the passenger door and freed us from our bonds.
“It was two, actually, but if you hadn’t blown that horn so long and so loudly when you did, we might not have survived it after all.”
“That’s why we’re so good together,” Grace said as we were helped out of the truck.
The chief came around and said, “Good work, ladies.”
“Were you out here looking for us?” Grace asked him. “Where’s Cindy?”
“She’s still in my office, but I was starting to have some serious doubts about how neat the setup was against her, so I wanted to check on Hank. He was next on my list of suspects when Cindy was dropped so conveniently in my lap.”
“Then we were on the same page all along,” I said, rubbing my head where I’d used it as a battering ram. In the movies, it never seemed to bother the good guy to butt heads with the villain, but I could state for the record that I felt as though my skull was about to explode. “I think I might be concussed,” I said.
“We’ll get you seen right away,” the chief said.
“That’s a good idea, but I need a minute before I do that,” I said as I fought the urge to throw up.
“Suzanne, what could be so important that you can afford to delay needed medical attention?”
“I’m putting on a festival, remember? I need to talk to Paige and tell her what happened,” I said as I gingerly rubbed my forehead. Big mistake. As soon as I did that, another burst of pain swept through me.
Chief Grant shook his head. “You can tell her at the hospital, because that’s where you’re going right now, and I won’t take no for an answer.”
My head was starting to throb even more, so I really wasn’t in the mood to fight him on it. I insisted on no ambulance though, so he gave us both a ride in his cruiser. I got to sit in front while Grace climbed in back, but I didn’t take any joy from it.
My head was hurting so badly I could barely move it without causing myself more pain and anguish.
Such was the glamorous joy of being an amateur sleuth.
Chapter 26
“Suzanne, between the money they found in Hank’s truck and the rest of it he used to try to frame Cindy, it was all accounted for,” Paige told me after I was treated for a mild concussion at the emergency room. The meds they gave me were already helping, and I was beginning to feel like my old self again, if a bit woozy, from the double impact.
“We probably can’t get it back until after the trial,” I said. “At least we made enough today to cover our expenses, so that’s something.”
“We made more than that,” she said. “Even if we have to wait a year for our profits, we earned enough to make the event worth our while.”
I looked at her and saw a twinkle in her eyes. “Paige, tell me you aren’t thinking about doing this again.”
“Come on, you have to admit that even given everything that happened, it was still mostly fun,” she said.
“You’re right. Besides the robbery, the murder, the kidnapping, and then the attempted murder, it was a blast,” I said.
“Suzanne, it won’t always be like it was this time.”
“Promise?” I asked her as Grace came in. I told her, “Guess what Paige wants to repeat?”
“She’s already spoken to me about it, and I think it’s a great idea,” my best friend replied with a grin. “After all, how many murderers and their victims could you invite again? The next batch of writers is bound to be more civilized than this group.”
“You know something? You’re as crazy as she is,” I said. “Anyway, I’m glad it’s all over, at least for now.”
“So am I,” Paige said as she leaned forward. “Suzanne, I’m so glad you and Grace escaped that lunatic. Who would have figured that the only author we had who wasn’t a mystery writer, or wanted to be one, would end up being the bad guy in all of this?”
“Nothing surprises me anymore,” I said. “When am I going to get out of here, anyway?”
“They’re keeping you overnight for observation,” Grace said. “I was just talking to your doctor about it. It’s some new guy from Charlotte.”
“And he just told you my status like that?” I asked, knowing how careful the medical community had become about disclosing any information at all to anyone without express permission.
“Why wouldn’t he? After all, I’m your next of kin. We’re sisters, don’t you remember, or were those blows to the head enough to knock that knowledge out of your mind?”
“No, that’s something I’d never forget,” I told her as I squeezed her hand.
“I even got him to approve outside food for you tonight, so the three of us are having a pizza party right here in your room to celebrate. How does that sound?” she asked us.
“I’m
in,” Paige said promptly.
“I might be able to eat a bite or two,” I agreed, marveling at my friends and how much they’d meant to me. I’d have to tell Jake and Momma about what had happened when they returned, but for now, I was surrounded by all of the family that I needed.
I was a firm believer that our friends are just the family we get to choose, and enjoying my time with Grace and Paige confirmed that belief all over again.
In the end, Hank had been alone, and I wondered if that had contributed to his downfall.
One thing was certain.
I knew that no matter what, I’d never be lonely, and that gave me more comfort than a million dollars in the bank ever would.
RECIPES
Light Snacking Donut Whisps
I tried making these one autumn after attending our local county fair. After standing in front of the funnel cake stand for nearly twenty minutes—long after my treat had been devoured—I was drawing some suspicious looks from the vendor, but I couldn’t help myself. I was mesmerized by how the batter seemed to float above the oil instead of in it, and once I got home, I couldn’t wait to try to come up with my own recipe. As I do sometimes, I watched some videos online, read three dozen recipes, and then started creating my own concoction. I wasn’t successful initially, but after three or four attempts, I came up with something I was just as happy with as the treat I’d eaten at the fair! While these delicious concoctions are delightful with just powdered sugar dusted on top, they are equally good with chocolate, caramel, or even reduced strawberry jam drizzled across them. Experiment, and remember, always have fun!
Ingredients
2 eggs, beaten
1 1⁄4 cups whole milk (2% will do in a pinch)
1⁄3 cup granulated sugar
2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar, chocolate drizzle, or any other topping you prefer
Enough canola oil to fry your treats
Directions
Heat your oil to 375 degrees in a wide-based pot.