Death Vetoes The Chairman (Lizzie Crenshaw Mysteries Book 7) (6 page)

“I’m not just going to sit here and let them say that about us.”

“No, you’re not,” he agreed. “We’re going to get our pies to go, gather our things, and go to your house. We are going to walk out of here with our heads held high because we know the truth, and if they knew, they’d be ashamed of themselves for talking that way.”

Maddie must have realized we wanted to leave, because she brought two small Styrofoam containers for the pies, and large cups with fresh sweet tea. Jake paid the check, we packed up our things and headed for the door.

“There she goes,” Gladys said. “She can’t come up with a decent lie to cover up what she did, so she’s running away.”

I stopped at Gladys’ table. “You know, most of the town wanted to send you to the electric chair when Harold died. They just knew you had killed him. But I stood by you; I defended you. It was you that asked me to help you find out who killed him, and I did. Not for one minute did I believe you did it, because I knew how much you loved him. I helped you, despite the fact that you are a royal pain in the butt to me every single chance you get.”

“Well, I…”

I bent over until I was face to face with her. “Know this, Gladys. There is more to this story than any of you gossip mongers know. And when the truth comes out, and it will come out, you are going to stand in the middle of this café, and you are going to apologize to the two of us. But you are going to apologize twice to me, because the second time will be for accusing me of sexually harassing a man to get an exclusive interview. I would never,
ever,
stoop to that level for any story.”

“I know what people saw, Lizzie,” Charlene replied, “and they saw you and Jake go after Mr. Winthrop.”

“Lizzie, let’s go,” Jake said, taking my left hand and trying to pull me away.

I jerked my hand away and dropped my bag on the floor. “Really, Charlene? Did they also mention that my dress had been ripped? Oh wait, let me guess, I ripped it myself to make it look like your precious Mr. Winthrop attacked me, right?” I took off my jacket and pushed up the sleeves of my polo shirt. “Does this look like I attacked myself, Charlene? Gladys? Does it?” I showed her my wrist. “How about this? Let me guess; it’s makeup, right?” I grabbed Gladys’ hand and put it on my sore wrist. “Go ahead, Gladys, wipe off the makeup. Try it.”

She glared at me, but did as I told her to. Her eyes widened when she realized the bruises were real. “I…I…”

I dropped her hand on the table and put my jacket back on. “Next time, try getting all the facts before you start spreading rumors about someone, ladies. I’m the one who was assaulted here, and I’m the one who defended myself, not once, but twice. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.”

“Really, Elizabeth, there’s no need to be so crude,” Gladys said huffily.

Maddie was walking by at that moment with a full pitcher of tea. Grabbing it with my left hand, I poured the whole thing, ice and all, on her head, and thumped the empty pitcher on the table. “Shut up, Gladys, and for once, stay out of my business.” I picked up my bag and walked out the door ahead of Jake.

He waited until we got into the car before saying anything. “Feel better now?”

“No, I wish I had poured two pitchers of tea on her head.”

Chapter 8

Mother’s mini-Cooper was sitting in the driveway when Jake pulled in. “How did that get here?” I said, knowing I had left it at the office.

Jake shrugged. “I guess T.J. had someone drive it over. Does he have a spare key?”

“Not that I know of,” I replied. I dug my keys out of my bag, and noticed the car key was missing from the key ring. “Guess that answers that, doesn’t it?”

We got out and went inside. Mittens jumped up and down, acting like I hadn’t been home in three days, when it had only been since breakfast. I dropped my stuff near the door, and let her and Babe out into the backyard. “You want something to drink?” I called out.

“Just water, thanks.”

I grabbed two bottles of water out of the fridge, and went back in the living room. Jake was setting up the laptop. “What are you working on?” I asked, handing him a bottle.

“Can’t tell you.”

“Are you doing something illegal?”

“Can’t tell you that, either.”

“Deniability?”

“Ding ding,” he said.

“Thanks for saving me from going to jail,” I said, shaking my head.

“Anytime.”

I plopped down in the recliner and turned on the TV. It had been an extremely long day, and I was physically and emotionally exhausted. For a few minutes, the only sounds in the house came from a documentary about WWII, and the keyboard on the laptop.

“Where did you get the money?” Jake said out of the blue.

“Huh?”

“Where did you get the money to buy the newspaper? Did you take out a loan?”

“No, I didn’t take out a loan.”

“Rob a bank?”

I cringed at that, considering what had happened yesterday. He wasn’t going to stop until he got his answer, so I got up and pulled Debra’s will out of my bag. “This doesn’t go any further than this house, is that clear?”

“Absolutely,” he replied, holding out his hand.

“I mean it, Jake. I don’t want anyone else to know about this. One word, and I will buy out your shares of the paper and kick you out the door.”

“Okay, okay! I get it,” he said, snatching the papers out of my hand. He read over them, and looked at me. “Gives new meaning to the term ‘blood money’, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, very funny, Jake, very funny.”

“Buying the newspaper didn’t even make a dent in what she left you.” He leaned back on the couch. “You’re rich, Lizzie, almost as rich as my family is. What are you going to do with all that money? You can certainly afford a new car now. I’ll be glad to go car shopping with you. SUV? A sports car? Luxury sedan?”

“Something simple.”

“Oh, come on, you can’t buy something simple when you can afford the best! You should get a luxury SUV, customize it with everything you’ve ever wanted in a car. GPS, satellite radio, heated leather seats…you know, there’s a new 2016 SUV coming out that has all-wheel drive, navigation system, cooled driver seat, driver lumbar, a ten-speaker sound system…” he kept rattling off all the features he could think of.

“Jake.”

“On the other hand, you’re the owner of a business now, so maybe you should go with a luxury sedan.”

“Jake…”

“But you should also buy a truck, so you can drive Babe and Mittens…”

“JAKE!”

“Huh? What?”

“Stop.”

“Stop what? Why?”

“I am not going to buy a luxury sedan, a luxury SUV or a sports car.”

“Why not?”

“Can you see me driving something like that?”

“Well, honestly, no, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. You can afford nice things now. You should treat yourself.”

I put the papers back in my bag and sat down in the recliner. “No.”

He threw his hands up in the air. “Why not, for crying out loud? Give me one legitimate excuse for not living it up now that you can afford to?”

“Because I am not you. Need I remind you how she got the money?”

“Hm, you do have a point. However, that’s her sins, and she’s paid for them. Her sins have nothing to do with you.”

I just stared at him, because I had no comment. The materialistic Jake was back. Thankfully, the doorbell rang at that moment, and I jumped up to open the door. “I sure hope this is T.J.,” I muttered.

It wasn’t. It was Nicole from Blooming Elegance, a new flower shop located in the town square, holding an enormous bouquet of flowers. “Hey, Lizzie, how’s it going?” she said. “Could you sign line seventeen, please?”

“Not bad.” I took the clipboard from her while Jake took the flowers. “How’s it going at the shop?”

“Pretty good,” she replied, taking the clipboard from me. “I was already closing up when I got the call for this order. He was pretty insistent that it be taken care of today. Even paid me extra for it.”

I felt a chill go down my spine. “Did he give his name?”

“Yeah, someone named Winthrop. I gotta go. Kelly is waiting for me at home. Night! Hi, T.J., bye T.J.,” she said as they passed each other on the sidewalk.

“Take care, Nicole,” he said. “What was she doing here?” His hands were full with bags from our local Mexican restaurant.

“Making a delivery,” I said, closing the door behind him. Jake had put the flowers on the coffee table, and I looked around for a card. I found it attached to a ribbon on the front. Pulling the little card from the envelope, I quickly read it. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Jake took the card from me. “What does it say? ‘I’m sorry about this afternoon. I look forward to seeing you soon, Ethan.’”

“Save the card,” T.J. said as he came in from the kitchen. “We’ll add it to the file.”

“Flowers aren’t exactly harassment, T.J.,” I pointed out, “although in this case, it’s just flat out creepy.”

“Are you going to stay here for a while?” Jake asked T.J. “I need to run an errand.”

“I’m planning on sleeping on the couch tonight,” he said.

“Probably a good idea,” Jake nodded. “I’ll be back in a little while. I’m going to call Henderson and talk to him about the restraining order.”

“You don’t have to come back, Jake,” I said.

“I won’t stay long.”

“Would you do something for me before you go?”

“Sure, what?”

“Pick up those flowers and follow me.”

Jake looked at T.J., who shrugged. Jake picked up the flowers while I opened the front door, and led him out to the driveway behind his car. T.J. watched us from the front porch. I started taking the flowers out of the vase with my left hand, placing them on the ground behind his left back tire. Five handfuls later, the vase was empty. Jake dumped the water out and handed me the vase. “Now what?”

“Didn’t you say you had somewhere to go?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“See ya, Jake,” I said. “My supper’s getting cold.” I gave him a very pointed look. He raised an eyebrow at me, and I nodded. He whistled, shook his head, and got into his car. Putting it in reverse, he ran over the flowers, stopped, and pulled forward again. “Just wondering if you want me to bring back some dessert.”

“Whatever floats your boat, dude,” I told him.

Grinning, he saluted, put the car in reverse and ran over the flowers again. I waved as he drove away, and looked down at the decimated pile of mulch. T.J. came over, took the vase from me and looked down. “Nice,” he laughed. “Glad I didn’t send you flowers after we broke up.”

“I would have shredded them on your front porch.”

“Yikes,” he said. We headed back inside. “What did the doctor say?”

“Nothing broken. The bruising is just really deep. He gave me some anti-inflammatories to help with the swelling.”

“It’s certainly not the worst you’ve ever been hurt, but I still don’t like it one bit,” he said, putting the vase down on the coffee table.

“I’m not worried,” I told him, going into the kitchen and digging through the take out bags.

He started getting silverware and napkins out. “What is Jake up to?”

“I have no idea. He’s been working on something since we were at the café.”

“You went to the café?” he said, sounding surprised. “How did that go?”

“Fine.”

“Uh huh. Was Gladys there?”

“You brought queso and guacamole, great!” I said, pointedly ignoring his question.

“So that’s a yes. Do I even want to know?”

“Hm, chicken fajita nachos! You’re spoiling me here.”

“That bad, huh? Well, since you’re still wearing the clothes you had on when I left the office, I’m guessing she was the one that had to go home and change.” I mumbled an answer with my mouth full of nachos. “You want to try that again after you finish chewing?”

Swallowing, I said, “There might have been a glass of tea involved.”

“Just a glass?”

“The glass might have been a pitcher.” He laughed. “What did you find out this afternoon?”

“Well, several women have filed charges against Winthrop, but a couple of days later, they’ve withdrawn them.”

“Is he paying them off?” I said, spooning some guacamole onto a nacho.

“Beats me,” he replied. There was a scratching sound at the back door. “Do you want me to let them in?”

“Not until we’re done eating. Mittens doesn’t need any Mexican food. She had a stomachache for two days after she ate that cheesecake during the county fair.”

We moved the bags over to the counters and sat down at the table. “So, what else is new?” he asked as he started eating.

“I bought the newspaper from Dale,” I said, quickly eating another nacho.

T.J. started choking on his enchiladas. I realized we forgot to get something to drink, so I jumped up and grabbed some water from the fridge. After taking a drink, he cleared his throat and said, “You what?”

I took a Dr Pepper out of the fridge for myself and sat back down. “I bought the newspaper from Dale.”

“You used the reward money for it? Wow, I didn’t think you were ever…”

“No, I didn’t use it. It’s still sitting in my savings account in the bank.”

“I’m confused.”

I went into the other room to get Debra’s will. “Here, read this,” I said when I returned.

He didn’t say anything as he took the papers. I continued eating while he read. By the time he was through reading, I had finished my nachos, and was dipping chips in the queso. “This is a joke, right?” he said. I shook my head. “And Dale knew about this the whole time?”

“Well, he’s known for a while apparently.”

“So you used some of the money to buy the paper?”

“And an ambulance.”

“Excuse me? An ambulance?!”

Whoops, this was one of those “I shouldn’t have said that, now how do I get out of it” moments. “I decided to do something good with some of the money. I heard about a small town that needed a new ambulance, so I made a donation.”

“You’re joking.”

“No, I’m not. Why would I joke about donating $140,000?”

His mouth fell open. “$140,000? Have you lost your mind?”

I glared at him. “No, I don’t think so. Considering
where
the money came from, and
how
she got it, I think using it for something good is a great idea. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Well, no…”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t it
you
who encouraged me to take the reward money from the FBI after I shot her to death to save you and Hopkins?”

“Well, yes…”

“Then you don’t have
any
right to tell me how to spend what I’ve inherited. I don’t like it any more than you do, but I’m going to make the best of the situation. And if I decide to give it all away, there’s not a
damn
thing you can do about it!” I stood up from the table, grabbed two helpings of dog food and treats, and went out the back door, slamming it shut behind me.

Babe was in her usual spot by the shade tree, but when Mittens saw me come out, she came running over to me. I gave her a treat, poured the food into their outdoor dishes, got them some fresh water, then went and sat next to Babe under the tree. Mittens brought her tennis ball to me, and I threw it for her until she got tired. She ate some food, drank a bunch of water, then wandered over and plopped down next to me, putting her head on my leg. Taking a deep breath, I leaned back against the tree. I shouldn’t have yelled at T.J. like I did. It wasn’t his fault. Well, maybe a little, but this was a whole new situation for me, and it was a lot to take in all at once.

And then there was Ethan Winthrop. Just thinking about what happened this morning made me physically sick. Had it really just been a few hours ago? It all seems like a blur. What made men like him think that money and power gave them the right to do whatever they wanted? I thought about what Dr. Adams said, about fighting back. It just seemed like a natural instinct. I was lucky. What about the women who weren’t so lucky? How did they cope? What kind of safeguards were in place to protect them when they needed help? Who stood up for them when they were too tired to fight anymore?