by K. J. Emrick
Or it would have been, if money hadn’t been the death of two men.
“The way I see it,” Terry continued, still talking about the will, “what little bit of money anyone was going to get from old Merlon was just enough to catch the attention of the IRS, and nowhere near enough to commit murder.”
In Darcy’s opinion, truer words had never been spoken.
Chapter 9
“I don’t understand why you kept me here. You knew I didn’t do it.”
Jess O’Conner sat in the interview room, on one side of the table. Jon had moved in an extra chair, so he and Darcy could sit on the other side and explain to Jess what had happened. Steve was dead. His mother and aunt had killed him. Maybe not surprisingly, Jess had taken the news very well. She didn’t shed a single tear.
Her own time in prison hadn’t changed Jess much. She’d been sentenced to much less time than Steve, since she’d only helped cover up Steve’s murders, and hadn’t killed anyone herself. Tall and graceful as ever, she glared at them with wide set green eyes. Prison hadn’t improved the redhead’s personality any, Darcy noticed.
“We didn’t know you weren’t involved,” Jon explained again. “Not at first. We have a confession and the evidence we need to charge Jozelle and Althea. The case is over, but I wanted to talk to you for a few minutes, first.”
Jess tugged at the sleeves of her blouse. “If I’m not being charged with anything, I want to go. Um. I do have a question I want to ask first, though.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“Um. The money from Merlon’s will. Where does that go?”
Darcy and Jon exchanged a look. Reluctantly, he took out his wallet, and plucked out a five-dollar bill. He handed it over to Darcy.
Jess watched the money change hands. “What’s that all about?”
“I lost a bet,” Jon told her. “See, I bet Darcy that there was no way you’d be crass enough to ask about the money Steve’s grandfather was going to leave him. She said you would. She wins.”
“You two…” Jess grumbled the rest of that under her breath. “Look, it’s a fair question. I was Steve’s mistress after all. I’m the closest thing to family that’s left alive or out of prison. So? What about it?”
Darcy loathed this woman. She obviously would never learn. “You don’t get the money, Jess. There’s absolutely nothing left for you here in Misty Hollow.”
“Which brings me,” Jon said, “to what I wanted to talk to you about. You’re about to walk out the front door of this police station. When you do, I don’t want you to come back. Ever.”
“Excuse me?” Jess actually laughed at that. “Oh, Jon, you’re just priceless. You don’t have the authority to order me out of your town.”
“No, I don’t. But I have the authority to arrest you for jaywalking, or loitering, or harassing the people who live here, or any other statute of law that I feel you’ve violated. Any statute,” he said again, emphasizing each word. “Step foot in this town after today, and you won’t have a moment’s peace. You’ll regret every minute you stay here. I’ll make sure of that.”
Under the table, Darcy put her hand on Jon’s hip. She was so very proud of him in moments like this.
Jess tried to say something, anything, but the words strangled in her throat. Shaking, her face flushing red, she stood up from the table. “You can’t… you can’t do that to me!”
Jon stood up too, hands flat on the table, his eyes two chips of blue ice. “Try me.”
Apparently, Jess didn’t want to press her luck. She turned on her heel and made a beeline for the door, pausing just long enough to bark at them, over her shoulder. “You won’t be the chief of police of this flyspeck of a town forever, Jon Tinker! You wait and see! Someday, you won’t be a cop, and then maybe I’ll just come and look you up and… eep!”
She squeaked as Jon took a single step in her direction. Then she fled just as fast as her feet could carry her, her hollow threat left unfinished.
Jon tapped his knuckles on the table and turned to Darcy with a boyish grin. “Well. That’s taken care of. Guess I’ll go see how my people are doing with the paperwork for Jozelle and Althea.”
Darcy caught his hand and pulled him into her, pushing up on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. “I love you.”
His kiss was just as passionate as hers. “I love you too, Darcy Sweet.”
Fourth of July was a big deal in Misty Hollow.
The music from the Town Hall’s loudspeakers had finally stopped, replaced by the sound of high school marching bands in the parade making its way up Main Street. The kids from Meadowood High School—home of the Fighting Mudpuppies—were doing a version of Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land which sounded great played on brass instruments and flutes and clarinets, and they followed it up with a version of John Mellencamp’s R-O-C-K in the USA which unfortunately did not sound great. Too much snare drum. Colby didn’t care. She danced to both, even though Darcy was fairly certain that she didn’t know either song.
There were floats that were mostly cardboard and plywood attached with lines of rope to trailers being towed by cars, but Darcy could tell they had been made with a lot of care and pride. One of them was a lawnmower decked out to look like a firetruck, and the teenager driving it was dressed up like a Dalmatian.
Real firetrucks went by as well, with ambulances too. There were rigs from several surrounding towns, including Meadowood and Oak Hollow, and even Victoria Pines and Rose Lake which were a few hours away. People waved to the firefighters on the trucks, and they waved back, and almost every truck blew its horn or gave a quick blast from the siren. The men and women on one of the engines from Meadowood had baskets of candy and they would toss wrapped pieces to the kids. Colby ended up with more pieces of bubble gum and taffy than she could carry. Her father helped her out by stuffing them in his pockets. Their daughter was experimenting with dresses again today, which meant no pockets, and she had declared that she looked beautiful before they left the house. Darcy agreed whole-heartedly.
In Darcy’s arms, Zane squealed with delight with each new thing to see. The marching band from Oak Hollow was next, and her little boy bopped his arms along to a tune by Walk the Moon that Darcy could hardly recognize. Zane didn’t care. It was music, and he was having fun.
Toward the end of the parade was a convertible rolling along with the top down. The magnetic signs on both sides of the car read “Helen Turner for Mayor.” Darcy had totally forgotten the mayor’s race had started, with the election in November this year. Not that she thought Helen would face any serious competition. Especially after the details of the recent arrests hit the papers. Her ex-husband’s murder would only serve to bolster her popularity. That was the way bad news worked sometimes.
Right next to Helen, driving the car in fact, was her current husband Bruce. Darcy couldn’t believe that she had ever suspected him. He was the first good man to enter Helen’s life, and he had proven over and over that he deserved their trust. Whatever she might have thought, Darcy knew that Bruce would never bring Helen a single moment’s grief. There were decent men left in the world. Bruce was one of them.
Jon Tinker was another.
He reached over to put his arm around her waist now as a couple of horses pranced past where they were standing, reins and saddles decked out with red, white, and blue streamers. “I love you,” she heard him whisper over the crowd.
“I love you, too,” she said back to him.
“Aw,” a voice said from behind them. “That is absolutely adorable.”
“Uh-oh,” Colby said from her place between her father and mother. “She’s ba-ack.”
The fact that she had said it just like that little girl had in Poltergeist nearly made Darcy laugh out loud, especially when Zane backed her up with his standard, “Yup, yup, yup!”
Brianna Watson wasn’t Darcy’s favorite person, but she wasn’t some evil entity coming to drag them to Hell.
At least, Darcy hoped not.
/> “Hi,” Brianna beamed, leaning in close at Jon’s side, and pushing her way through the crowd to do it. The warm breeze blew at her hair and the collared shirt of another sharp pantsuit. “I just love the way you guys are with each other. I mean, it really gives the rest of us hope that we might actually find our soulmate someday.”
“Hi again, Lady,” Colby said to her. “Are you going to put my mom and dad on the news again?”
That was the same question as Darcy herself had been wondering. She was just too grown up to ask it. Colby had referred to Brianna as “not a nice lady” when she showed up on their doorstop a few days ago. Maybe she was just doing her job as a reporter, but Darcy had to agree with her daughter’s assessment. Looking at Brianna was like watching a snake coiled up and ready to strike. You knew that it could try to bite you at any moment, if you weren’t careful.
“Well,” Brianna said after a long moment. “I might put them in the news, if they want to give me a quote?”
It was asked as a question. Darcy smiled, but made sure to keep her lips closed. Jon went back to watching the parade.
“You two used to be more fun,” Brianna muttered. Then she sighed. “Oh well. Worth a try. I’ve got everything I need, anyway. Even got my hands on a report that said Merlon’s body is going to be exhumed and tested for signs of poisoning. Wow. Really shows that you can’t trust anyone. Even little old ladies. Care to comment on that one, Chief Tinker?”
“Bad people come in every shape and size,” he told her, “and age.”
“Oh, nice!” Brianna was actually beaming at him like he’d just handed her a polished diamond. “Now, why can’t you ever say things like that when I’ve got a camera around so that I can put that pretty face of yours all over TV?”
“Because I’m not vain, that’s why.”
“Whatever. All men like to see their face on TV. It’s just a fact. Well, no matter. That’s going into my broadcast tonight on the seven o’clock news. That’s gold, right there. You guys be sure to watch, okay? See you next time.” She chuckled and waved over her shoulder as she turned away. “Because we both know there will be a next time.”
Colby leaned against her father’s side. “I do not like that woman.”
Zane turned his face in the direction Brianna had gone, and phbttted with his tongue between his lips.
Jon and Darcy did laugh this time. It was the perfect thing to say from both of their children. Darcy knew they hadn’t seen the last of Brianna Watson. There would always be weird, mysterious, and dangerous things happening here. This was Misty Hollow, after all. But for now, at least, they could say goodbye to her and enjoy the day.
After the parade there were going to be vendors and a barbershop quartet in the gazebo in the park. At nightfall there would be fireworks. The bookstore wasn’t going to be open today. She knew a number of other places were, from the La Di Da Deli to the Shop and Go, and even that holistic food restaurant. That was fine. They would reap the windfall of people wanting a quick bite to eat or a few bottles of water to beat the heat with. Even Misty Hollow’s one and only taxi service was in full swing today, and she’d seen Donnie Akers smiling from ear to ear as he drove by with fare after fare, in that heap of a car of his. Maybe he would make enough today so that he could fix the muffler. And the bumper. And the oil leak.
“We should go home for lunch,” she suggested to Jon, snuggling into his side, with that arm still around her waist. “We could always come back later.”
“Closer to nightfall,” Jon added. “Right before the fireworks start. I was just thinking the same thing.”
“The kids could relax for a while.”
“Zane could take a nap.”
“Colby could Snapchat with some of her friends.”
“We could all… relax.”
He held her tight when he said it, and she knew that both of them were on the same wavelength. Going home would let the kids unwind, sure, but it would also give the grownups some time together. She loved her husband so much. She loved her entire family, but there were times when a woman just wanted the attention of her husband.
Besides. They still needed to talk about the Big R.
“The Big R?” he asked her. “That’s what we’re calling it now?”
His body felt nice next to hers, under their covers up in their room. Colby was downstairs with a lunch of grilled cheese and potato chips. Zane had already eaten a cup of applesauce and several small pieces of precooked chicken that Darcy had prepared for him yesterday. He didn’t like it as much as he did the diced ham, but he ate his fill and then sat on the living room floor with his blocks. His sister was going to watch over him while Darcy and Jon came upstairs. To talk.
Their talk had started with Jon taking off her shirt, and Darcy tracing her fingers over his bare back, and in no time at all they were speaking volumes to each other without saying a single word.
When they fell into each other’s arms for a final time, they started talking about how the mystery had been solved, and how they hoped the town could go back to normal. Or what passed for normal in Misty Hollow.
Which led them to the discussion of Jon retiring.
“Yup,” Darcy said, realizing where Zane had gotten it from. “Er, yes. The Big R. Your retirement. Talk to me. Tell me what you’re thinking about that.”
Her fingers traced the line of his collarbone, distracting him for a glorious moment. They were going to have to get dressed again and back to the kids soon. She trusted Colby to watch her brother for short periods, because she was more grown up than some adults Darcy knew, but wasn’t going to leave them alone for too long.
But they still had a little time, she decided.
“Heh,” Jon said, clearing his throat as her fingers moved over his skin. “That’s nice. Um, what I’m thinking is retirement will give me a lot more time with you and our kids. I’m thinking my pension would be more than enough for us and the kids to live on if we’re careful. I’m thinking that I’ve put my life in danger too many times to count now.”
“Mm-hmm. I said the same thing to Sean Fitzwallis. You’ve put your time in, Jon. No one’s denying that.”
“I know,” he murmured, kissing the side of her neck.
“I mean…” She had to stop for a moment to focus on anything but the feel of his lips. “I mean, even Nash Fullerton said you were a man of honor. Everyone respects you for what you do. Even the bad guys we deal with.”
He stirred, and pushed himself up in bed, onto an elbow. “That’s good to hear, but you know I don’t do this for anybody’s praise.”
She stroked a hand along his cheek. “I know. It’s one of the reasons why I love you.”
“I love you, too, Darcy Sweet.” He swung his feet out of bed and reached for his discarded clothes. “So, that’s what I’m thinking. I’m also thinking that I can’t stay at this job forever. I’m keeping other good officers like your sister Grace, or Wilson Barton, from taking their shot at the chief’s chair.”
Darcy got out of bed, too, feeling Jon’s eyes on her while she bent over and picked up her own clothes. “Is that a real thing? The chief’s chair?”
“Sort of. The top spot, is what I mean. Either one of those two could take over for me if I left tomorrow. They’ve both taken over for me before, actually. I know they can do it.”
They were nearly dressed again now, and Darcy wasn’t sure they were any closer to the end of the conversation than when they’d started. “So what else are you thinking, Mister Tinker?”
His arms slid around her from behind, to hold her close. “I’m thinking that I’m not done yet. Like I have more work to do. This mystery with Jozelle and Althea… it brought us full circle, you know? The time when Steve Nelson killed your neighbor, that’s when you and I met. That’s when I started to fall in love with you. This job did that for me. Without it, I never would have met you. I count that as a good thing. Is that crazy?”
She smiled, and turned in his embrace, kissing him full on t
he lips. “That doesn’t sound crazy at all. It sounds exactly right. There’s always going to be a need for a man like you in towns like this. You’re the moral compass of Misty Hollow, Jon. They need you right where you are. If you want to retire, we’ll make it work, and we’ll find things to do. Both of us. But…”
“But?” he asked her.
“But good men don’t stop running until the race is done.” She kissed him again. “Someone really smart told me that recently. You, Jon Tinker, are a good man.”
His whole body relaxed. She hadn’t realized how stressed he had been over this decision. She’d avoided talking to him about it and he’d humored her. In the end, it might not be the easiest choice to make, splitting his life between family and his job, but they would make it work. It was what they always did.
“Darcy Sweet,” he said to her, “if I’m some kind of moral compass for this place, then you’re its heart.”
“Aw, that’s a nice thing to say, Jon.”
“It’s the truth, and you know it. All right, then it’s decided. No retiring, for either of us, until we’re no longer needed.”
“Hmm. Any idea when that will be?”
“Ha. In Misty Hollow? Better settle in for a long ride.”
Darcy put her head down on his shoulder. For now, their life wasn’t going to change. Jon would still be Jon. She would still—and always—be Darcy Sweet.
That was fine with her. She liked her life just the way it was. She wouldn’t want it to change. At least, not yet.
A Vote For Death
A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery Book 24
First published in Australia by South Coast Publishing, November 2018. Copyright K.J. Emrick (2012-19)
Chapter 1
In the blink of an eye, the world changes.
As the sun set, Darcy Sweet watched the sky turn dark and the stars come out. It was a beautiful, clear night. The kind that made you happy to be alive.