Bun for Your Life (26 page)

“What the hell did you twist your ankle on?” demanded Chase. “There's nothing there.”

“I think I hit a hole.”

“Lean on Molly. We're almost to the boathouse.”

That was supposed to reassure us? Yes, by all means, let us pick up speed! I thought I heard footsteps behind me, but when I turned I saw no one. Although it was hard to see around Chase's bulk. He guided us down a small incline, and in the
light of his flashlight I saw the inky black water of Destiny Lake. I saw the aforementioned boathouse. I didn't want to die. I didn't want Jane to die, either.

I stopped again. “Please, Chase. We don't want to die. Let us go. I promise we won't say anything. Tell your mother you killed us and we'll be on our way.”

I thought of what Dottie had said about love: “Never be afraid to throw away preconceived notions about people. You might miss the love of your life.” Sean's face floated in front of me. Now I'd never have the chance to find out who the love of my life was.

“Are you kidding me?” Chase barked. “Move it. I'll make it painless. A shot to each of your heads, then to the bottom of the lake you go.”

“I can't,” I cried. “I'm not going another foot.”

“Me, neither,” said Jane. “Besides, I think my ankle is swelling. I really cannot hobble another inch.”

Chase considered us. I held my breath, figuring his conscience was pleading with him to do the right thing. “Fine. I guess it doesn't matter that much. I'll kill you now. Won't be much more effort to get you to the bottom of the lake from here.” He raised his gun.

“Freeze! Rigby Police. Drop your weapon! DROP IT NOW!”

The command startled us all, at least Chase and me. Jane stood there smiling. I took that to mean she was once again in her own little world, unaware aware of how much danger she was in. That saddened me—I had been enjoying the Jane she'd become. But maybe it was a blessing at the moment.

Chase's gun hit the dirt. I couldn't believe it. No, it was not possible. It was a pre-death hallucination, combined with some kind of auditory hallucination. There was absolutely, positively, no way that Sergeant Jacoby was standing there bathed in the light of another officer's flashlight, legs spread, weapon trained on Chase.

“It's about time you got here!” Jane exclaimed.

I gaped at Jane. “You were
expecting
them?”

She smiled at me. “Of course, doll. What do you think I was doing in the bathroom? Using my cell phone to call 911. I have them on speed dial. Just in case of times like this.”

I burst out laughing as relief poured through me. “You have a cell phone?”

She frowned, clearly not finding humor in my question. “Doesn't everyone in these times? I thought I had better use it before you and I ended up like Calista. I gave the boy a chance to change his mind. It soon became evident he had no intention of doing so.”

“How did you know where we were to tell the police?” I was beside myself.

“I managed to lean forward and push aside my blindfold with my knee as Chase was driving. We passed the Panico Racetrack on the way here, and this used to be the Billings mansion when I was growing up.”

I hugged her. “I love you.” I considered hugging Jacoby, too, but it probably wasn't proper protocol.

She hugged me back. “I'm rather fond of you, too, doll face. Stop with the tears. We're safe.”

“Let's get you women inside the car. You probably need to warm up,” said Sergeant Jacoby as the officers who had come with him led a handcuffed Chase back toward the house.

“We don't have to share it with that criminal, do we?” asked Jane, frowning at him.

The sergeant smiled. “No, ma'am. You don't. We've got two cars. Molly, I want to bring you both to the station. Mind if one of my guys drives your car back?”

“Not at all. I'm not sure I can even drive right now. Oh my God! Enid! She killed Calista. She's inside! You can't let her escape!”

“We know. She'll be on her way to the station as soon as the officers get Chase in the car. Ready to go?”

“We certainly are,” I replied. “Jane, you can lean on me. She sprained her ankle, Sergeant.”

Jane waved a hand. “Nonsense. I'm fine. It was a diversionary tactic to stall for time until the police got here.”

I'm sure my mouth fell open. “Diversionary tactic? What about the glove?”

She giggled. “Bought it at the Woolworth's Five and Dime about fifty years ago. Couldn't care less if I lost it. But I knew where it was all along.”

I was speechless. The drug Jane was taking was indeed a miracle drug.

*  *  *

I was still sitting in the Rigby Police Department (who knew they had such a nice visitors' lounge?) three hours after our rescue. Jacoby had taken us for a quick stop at Destiny Memorial Hospital to be checked out, then we'd gone on to the police department, after I'd convinced him to swing by my apartment to let Beau out for a few minutes.

Jane had called Kate and Ian from the patrol car, who in turn had called everyone else. Now, I was surrounded by my parents, Olivia, and Emily. Kate and Ian had been allowed to take Jane home shortly after they'd arrived here. I assured Sergeant Jacoby I could recount anything we hadn't already discussed in the patrol car.

*  *  *

I did a double take as Detective Sean Corsino rounded the corner of the lounge. He tried not to, but he smiled. He actually looked even more handsome with a smile on his face. “I'm thinking you ignored my instructions to stop investigating Calista's murder?”

“It's a good thing I did. Thanks to Jane Addair, the murderer is behind bars.”

He came over and surprised me with a long hug that left me breathless. “I'm so glad you are okay,” he whispered.

I pulled away—reluctantly, but we were in a room full of people, after all. “Wait, how did you know about this? How did you get here so fast?”

Olivia grinned. “I called him from the library parking lot. Found his number in your cell. I told him you seemed to be missing and were probably in mortal danger.”

“Let me take a picture of all of you, for the front page,” said Bobby Crandall, who had heard the news on his police scanner and had joined us. He grinned. “I can see the headlines now:
Undercover Agent Rescued by Rigby Police Sergeant
.”

Sean looked at me and cleared his throat. “So you actually are an undercover agent?”

“No,” I jumped in. “I am not. Bobby, don't you dare use that headline!”

“Who is it?” I called out. Despite Calista's murder being solved, and Enid and Chase in prison until their hearing, I still couldn't bring myself to throw open the door to anyone who knocked.

“It's me. Brian.”

I unlocked the door and let him in. “Hi.”

“Hi. Sorry, I should have called first. This is kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“It's okay. What's up? Where's Lola?”

“She's at work. Can we talk?” He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets.

“Sure. You want to sit?”

“Okay. Sorry to bother you. It won't take long.” He made his way to the couch.

I followed him, wondering why he was here and looking so forlorn. “Don't worry about it. Is something wrong? Don't you want to take your jacket off? It's warm in here.”

He stood up, removed it, then sat back down. “Can we sit?”

“Sure.” I sat. With one leg tucked under the other, I faced him. “Okay. Why are you acting so strange? You aren't sick, are you? Is Lola okay? So, how are the wedding plans coming along?”

“Everything's fine. The wedding plans are good. It's you.”

“Me?” I stared at him. “What about me?” Other than being kidnapped because Jane solved Calista's murder, I hadn't been in the spotlight.

“The picture of you and Sean on the front page of
The Destiny Trumpet.
After he rescued you.”

“What about it?” I asked, wishing he would just spit out whatever it was he'd come here to say.

“You guys look are looking at each other with that look. Are you involved with Sean?”

I frowned. “What look?” Where was this coming from?

“The look like all you see is each other.”

I rolled my eyes. Only because it was him asking was I remotely considering answering. “Brian, come on. Why do you even care? You're engaged to be married. You should be home with Lola, not questioning me about Sean. It's not really any of your business, but if you're asking if I like him, I do. Do I want to be more than friends? I think so. As far as the ‘look,' the only look I'm sure I was wearing was one of intense relief that Jane and I had been rescued.”

Brian studied my face intently. “How does he feel?”

“I think he feels the same, but we've never talked about it. We've gotten closer, that much I know.” I sighed in annoyance. “For heaven's sake. We aren't in high school, and that's what this conversation reminds me of. This is totally not like you. I don't exactly appreciate this inquisition. What is your problem?”

He stood and looked down at me. “Here's the thing. When you got kidnapped, I couldn't think of anything, or anyone, but you. All I wanted was to see you again. I couldn't imagine life without you in it. Molly, if anything ever happened to you . . .”

Now he was making me nervous. I definitely had feelings for Sean. Did I still have romantic feelings for Brian? No, I was pretty sure him meeting Lola, kicking me out, then getting engaged to Lola had made me face reality. That and meeting Sean.

I stood, but didn't go to Brian. He was engaged to another woman; I didn't want any hugging or anything. “That's normal, Bri. We've known each other forever. If something happened to you, I'd feel the same. But not like the feelings I had when we were married. We're friends. You're engaged to Lola, and I want to see what happens between Sean and me. I hope you and I will always be friends, but that's it. We've moved on, and that's a good thing.”

“I don't know if I can marry her now.”

My mouth fell open. “What?” Was he serious? I could not believe this. I made an effort to stay calm. “Of course you can. If something happened to her, you'd feel just like you do now. About her, I mean. Not me.”

“That's the problem, Molly. I don't know if I would. I think I'm still in love with you. I'm going to tell Lola I want to put off our wedding.”

“No!” I yelped in total panic. “Don't do that! Don't mess things up. For yourself with Lola, or for me with Sean. You're not in love with me. It's just because of the kidnapping. Nothing happened to me. You not marrying Lola isn't going to guarantee nothing ever will. Your wedding is next autumn, not tomorrow. In a few days you'll realize you don't love me. You love Lola.”

I calmed down a little when he seemed to be mulling my words over. “I guess you're right. I won't say anything to her.”

I was very relieved to hear that. “Great. Why don't you go see her? I appreciate your concern, but what we had is gone.”

He came over to me and his eyes searched mine. “Is it?”

I blinked and looked past his shoulder. “The romantic part? Yes, it is.”

He gave me a lopsided grin then laughed. “I'm sorry. You're right. I feel like an ass. I was a mess when Mom called us to say you and my grandmother got kidnapped. Lola was worried about you guys, too.”

I suspected he was exaggerating about Lola being worried, but I let it go.

“She assured me they'd find you and you'd both be okay. I'm glad she was right. Thanks for listening to me and making me see things clearly. If you and Sean do become a couple, I wish you both the best. I think he's a really good guy.”

“Thank you. Now go home to Lola, where you belong.”

After Brian left I curled up on my couch and stared out the window, not really seeing anything. Was I over him? Could I honestly say that I didn't love him? Yes, I could.

Why did love and relationships have to be so complicated? Were Brian and I destined to have this thing between us forever? How could we have healthy relationships with other people if we couldn't break free from each other? But we had
broken free. Hadn't we? Yes, we had. I was tired of contemplating all of that. He had Lola, and I had something with Sean that may or may not evolve into a relationship. I leaned toward may, despite our differences.

Trey's proof that the Calista Sugar Pink should really be the Trey Sugar Pink (doesn't have the same ring to it, though, does it?) was an old survey map, apparently the original one, of Hamilton land, buried in a trunk in his attic way back in the eighteen hundreds.

With a little more digging, Trey also discovered old records that detailed the Danforths' not only paying off the town surveyor to misrepresent Hamilton land, but paying off their ancestor, Jedidiah Hamilton, enough money to make sure neither he nor any of the generations of Hamiltons to come would turn the Danforths in, thereby preserving the Danforth orchard reputation. Trey speculated Jedidiah kept the original survey in case he decided to blackmail the surveyor, or his own kin.

The money had been long gone by the time Trey and his brothers came along; they had no idea of the deal made back then. Now that Trey had found evidence, he was determined to get what was rightfully his.

The old survey shows one of the boundaries of Hamilton land as an old creek that cuts across the corner of the Hamiltons' property. That creek isolates two or so acres of orchard, which is bounded on the other two sides by a stone wall and tree line, the same as what is around the rest of the Hamilton orchard, but not the Danforth orchard. Trey claimed those two acres are where the Calista Sugar Pink was discovered.

Supporting his claim was an old farm diary written by one of Trey's female ancestors, telling how the Hamilton ancestors had to, once again, get a cow across the stream from the detached part of their orchard after it had crossed just before a rainstorm caused the creek to swell and become impassible for the cow.

Trey was initially afraid to fight the Danforth clan. The Hamiltons had a history of coming in second best when they came up against the Danforths. He came up with the alternate idea of trying to talk Calista into merging her land with his and creating some sort of apple conglomerate, or superpower.

When he failed to convince her to do that, he began dating her, with the intention of marrying her. That way he'd get his hands on all her land, not just the two acres with the apple on it.

The first unbelievable turn of events was that she agreed to date him. The second was that, apparently, they did genuinely fall in love, until he messed it up for all time with his rant at the Jandellas, after Calista laughed at his marriage proposal. Maybe she didn't intend to laugh in a mean way; she was hard to figure out at times. Lots of times.

I don't know how the universe explains Calista falling for Trey; we'll chalk it up to Mark Twain's saying “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”

Trey's case against the Danforths is going to court, but with all their power, I'm not sure how his proof will stand up. I just hope he has a good lawyer. It could drag on and on. The Jandella Nursery has been forced by the court order to stop selling and propagating the Calista Sugar Pink until this all gets resolved. On the plus side, Trey's not looking at a murder
rap, and I wish him and his family the best. Maybe deep down, he really is a nice guy.

As for Blake Ellsworth, his story is much simpler. He was only after Calista's money after all. He refuses to talk about it and grumbles about police brutality, even though no member of the police force, or Sean, ever laid a hand on him. He isn't a nice guy, but he isn't the killer, so that's important; most of all, to him. The mystery on why Calista was dating him, however, will never be solved, and I'd just as soon not think about it.

In other news, Kendra, one of the psychic teens who wanted to contact Calista's ghost in front of the bakery, is now helping out at Bread and Batter part-time. She's doing an awesome job. Our customers love her. And Jimmy, her friend with the braces, is building Bread and Batter a fancy-schmancy website. Olivia and I can't wait to see it. He won't let us peek until it's all done.

I'll always be grateful to Jane for saving our lives. Sean's very grateful, too.

Dottie is still in the hospital, but coming along nicely, if not quickly. I told her about Ed McCray, which put a sparkle in her eye. She's asked me to take her to a makeup counter at one of the high-end department stores in the mall for a makeover when she gets out. So she can “meet Ed McCray proper,” as she put it.