28
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate running?
Tessa easily pulled away from me while wearing a dress and flats. I was wearing my work tennis shoes and still couldn’t make up any ground. She didn’t appear much more athletic than I was, but she was definitely a lot faster.
I could only hope Vicki complied and called the police the moment I was out the door. Maybe they could pick me up and we could ride after her together. Of course, if Tessa got into a car while I waited for them, she could keep on driving until she was so far away from Pine Hills, we’d never find her again.
Pedestrians leapt out of our way as we ran down the sidewalk. Tessa glanced back at me a few times, sneering, which thankfully slowed her down or else I definitely would have lost her. I already had a stitch in my side and was just over a block down the road. I felt like I’d run a marathon.
I really do think she would have gotten away if she hadn’t stopped. She pulled up short in front of Tessa’s Dresses, a good ways ahead of me, and fumbled for something in her purse. She kept shooting glances my way, but unless she was actually trying to pick the lock with a toothpick, there was no way I was going to catch up with her before she was inside.
Fate, however, must have been on my side. Tessa pulled her keys from her purse, moved to shove the store key into the lock, and then dropped them. It was a move I’d seen in movies a million times, but I never thought it actually happened in real life.
I heard her curse from down the block as she scooped the keys up, sorted through them, and shoved one into the lock. She turned the key and pushed through the door just as I reached her. She tried to slam the door in my face, but I managed to get my arm through the doorway. The pain was nearly unbearable as she tried to squeeze my arm off with the door. After a moment of futile pushing, she cursed again, shoved one last time, and then ran for the counter.
Sucking air, I pushed the door open and entered Tessa’s Dresses. My arm wasn’t broken, but someone had forgotten to tell my nerves that. They were screaming for help, causing pain to shoot up and down my arm from elbow to shoulder. The door closed behind me, cutting off the gawking pedestrians who had watched the chase with no idea what was happening.
“It’s over,” I gasped, bending over to catch my breath. Boy, I really needed to work on my cardio if I was going to live here. All of this running was getting old, fast.
“I don’t think so.”
I looked up to find myself staring into the barrel of a gun. It was a tiny thing, something Tessa’s small hands could handle without fumbling. Her hands were shaking, her hair was a mess, but I was the one who was in some serious trouble.
I raised my hands, palms outward, just like the movies showed me to do. The stitch in my side wailed and I winced, very nearly doubling over from it. However, I had a feeling if I did something like that, she’d shoot. I sucked in a pained breath and took a tentative step forward. Tessa’s aim firmed and I stopped short.
“Tessa,” I said. “You can’t run forever.”
She snorted, clearly laughing at my overused cliché. I was going on pure instinct now, and instinct told me to do what I knew. I’d never been in a situation like this before, but years of sitting on the couch, reading a book or staring at the television, gave me some indication of how to do this and survive.
“How did you know?” She brushed a strand of hair out of her face with her free hand. She was aiming at me one-handed, which I knew from my dad’s books wasn’t easy. It wouldn’t be long before her arm would fatigue and she’d have to switch hands or go with a two-handed grip.
See what you can learn if you pay attention?
I licked my lips and slid a little to the side. Her gun followed me, but at least she didn’t shoot or make any overly agitated movements that would cause the gun to go off accidently.
“I put the pieces together,” I said, speaking slowly so as not to cause her alarm. “They were sitting right there in front of me. Eventually the police will figure it out as well, with or without me.”
She wiped at her forehead with her arm. She was sweating heavily and her chest was rising and falling in a way that told me she was close to panic. What we both needed were a couple of comfy chairs and some iced tea. That would ease both of our minds. No one would get shot and I wouldn’t keel over from exhaustion. I’d call that a win-win.
“I didn’t mean to do it, you know?” she said. Her arm drooped and then rose again. Fatigue was definitely setting in.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “He’s dead.”
That was probably the wrong thing to say. She sneered and the muscles in her arm bunched. I winced, anticipating the bullet, but she didn’t fire.
“I know that!” she shouted. Tears began pouring down her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to kill him. It was an accident.”
I wasn’t sure how slipping peanut dust into a vent and stealing the man’s EpiPen could be called an accident. However, since she was the woman holding the gun, I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“Okay,” I said. “It was an accident. I believe you.”
She sniffed and once more wiped at her forehead, this time with her gun hand. “I didn’t mean it. I admit I went in with the dust, but I was just going to throw it in his face after confronting him, I swear.”
My mind was racing, trying to put the last pieces together. I was also hoping I could keep her talking until someone arrived—the police, preferably. The door was unlocked, so it wasn’t like they’d have to break in. All someone had to do was go over and tell Paul what happened and he’d come and save me.
“I went to see him during my lunch break, but when I saw him go into Raymond’s office with Beth right beside him, I just sort of wigged out. I went into Brendon’s office and thought about sprinkling the dust in his drink and then leaving, but I saw the vent and thought, ‘What the hell?’ I used a piece of paper to funnel it in, and on the way out, I grabbed his EpiPen because it was lying right there.”
“And he died because of it.”
She nodded. Her arm was seriously drooping now. The gun was still aimed in my general direction, but at least if it went off, the bullet would hit the floor rather than me.
Or so I hoped.
“I thought he’d choke for a little while and then call for help. I didn’t know he’d die from it.” The tears were really running down her face now. “No one told me how bad his allergy was. I thought he’d just break out, have some trouble breathing, and that would be it.”
“I believe you.” And the funny thing was, I did. When people think of allergies, they often think of normal, everyday allergies where your eyes water and you sneeze a lot. They don’t think about the bad ones, the ones that kill. Unless you actually saw someone suffering an attack, it wasn’t something you thought about.
“But he deserved it,” Tessa snarled, wiping away the last of her tears. “He was going to ruin me. Heidi and I . . . we were in love!”
The gun rose and I could see her resolve firming. She actually thought she was still going to get away with this. I had no idea how she would explain away the encounter in the coffee shop or explain my body, outside of maybe claiming I’d broken in and attacked her. There were so many witnesses, no one would believe her, though.
But then again, I wouldn’t be around to see it. That wasn’t exactly reassuring.
“Tessa,” I said, borrowing more from the books I’ve read. “Think about what you’re doing.”
“I can’t go to jail,” she said. “Brendon has ruined my life in more than one way, but I won’t let him ruin this.” She took a deep breath. “You’re going to have to die. I’ll tell everyone how you accused me of things that weren’t true, how I tried to get away from you, and then how you came in here and threatened me. I’ll tell them you were the one who killed Brendon, that the whole reason you came to Pine Hills was to sleep with him. They’ll believe me.” A look of doubt passed across her face and the next was spoken at a whisper. “They’ll believe me.”
“Tessa . . .” I had no idea what I could say that would calm her down. She truly believed she was the victim here. She might have killed Brendon accidently, but what she was doing now was no accident.
“You should have stayed out of it.” Her second hand came up to steady the gun and I knew she was going to shoot.
And that’s when an angel appeared.
There was a crash as the door to Tessa’s Dresses flew open. Sun bathed Officer Paul Dalton where he stood, his own gun raised and aimed at Tessa. I swear I could hear the sound of angels singing as he shouted, “Drop it!”
Tessa stared at him, her gun hovering somewhere between Paul and me. She was watching him so closely, she didn’t notice me as I started to move.
“I can’t,” she said. “I can’t go to jail. It would be the end of my life.”
“Just lower the weapon,” Paul said. He kept his aim on her, but his eyes flickered my way. He shook his head almost imperceptibly, but when was the last time I ever listened to reason?
I moved slowly around the room, hopefully putting myself out of Tessa’s line of sight. My heart was hammering so loud, I was afraid she might hear me coming. A half-dozen more steps and I’d be there.
“You don’t understand.” Her voice had gone pleading, as if she thought she might convince him that none of this was her fault. “Brendon made me do it when he cheated on me and then tried to steal Heidi from me. He’d made his decision. He wanted someone else and he should have stayed with her. Why did he have to try to take everything from me?”
My foot kicked a hanger that had been lying on the floor. Tessa’s head spun around to face me. Her mouth was open in an
O
of surprise as I leapt at her.
A gun went off as I crashed into her. Pain seared through my elbow, causing me to cry out. There was a clatter as Tessa’s gun fell to the floor. We collapsed atop each other—me trying to keep from whimpering about my arm, Tessa scrambling to get away.
And then firm hands grabbed me from behind and pulled me from her. As soon as I was on my feet, I sank right back down to the floor, dizzy and sick. Paul was on Tessa and had her zip stripped before either of us knew what had happened.
The world did a few loop de loops and I leaned back against the counter, cradling my injured arm against my chest. I vaguely wondered if I was going to bleed to death.
“You all right?” Paul asked from somewhere a million miles away.
“Yeah,” I said dreamily. My angel had saved me. “Peachy keen.”
And then, just to prove that my life was indeed something out of a movie, the lights in my head flashed a few times before fading entirely. Then, with barely a whimper, I passed out.
29
Sweat poured down my face as I rushed from table to table, trying to get it clean before the next customer was seated. There was a line at the counter and Vicki was doing her best to keep up with it while not neglecting her duties upstairs.
Death by Coffee was buzzing. After my not-so-heroic chase and apprehension of Tessa Belkenni—I’d learned her last name earlier in the week—the store had suddenly picked up. Not surprisingly, people were interested in dining in a place where a hero worked. Even Judith Banyon had made an appearance, though she didn’t look too happy about it and had left within two minutes. Baby steps, right?
I finished wiping down my tables and hurried back to Vicki.
“I told you it would pick up,” she said with a grin.
“Now I just hope it slows down.”
She laughed and scurried up the stairs to the bookstore, where Trouble was watching the flood of people from atop a bookshelf, his fluffy tail firmly wrapped around his body so no one could step on it.
Eventually the rush died down enough to where I could breathe. I leaned against the counter, pooped beyond belief, and closed my eyes.
“Time for a break?”
I just about jumped clear out of my shoes. Paul Dalton stood there, smiling at me, dazzling me with his dimples.
“Go,” Vicki said, coming down to take my place. “I’ve got this.”
Who was I to argue?
Paul led me to one of the few empty tables. I practically fell into my chair. My feet hurt so badly, I wanted to rub them, but I didn’t think it would be seemly to pull off my shoes in the middle of the store. Maybe if Paul was interested in doing the job for me, I’d be willing. A good foot rub never hurt anyone.
“Getting busy, I see,” he said with a smile.
“It is.”
“How’s your arm?” Did I detect real concern in his voice?
I flexed my arm a few times and smiled. “Good as new.”
“Good.”
Tessa’s shot hadn’t hit anything but the ceiling, much to my amazement. When we’d fallen, I’d managed to catch my elbow on the corner of the counter and jammed it pretty good. The bruise was immense, but I wasn’t going to bleed to death from that. I’d take a bruise over a hole in the arm any day.
“It was pretty stupid what you did, you know?” He said it with a smile, though I could tell he meant it.
“What do you mean?” I asked, all innocence. “I stopped her, didn’t I?”
“You did.” He laughed, showing me his dimples again. “But I had everything under control. You didn’t need to put yourself in harm’s way like that. It was dangerous. You could have been hurt.”
“I was,” I said, lifting my arm to show him, as if he’d forgotten.
He sighed. “Well, it could have been worse.”
“What’s happening with Tessa?” I asked, trying to change the subject from my near-death experience.
Paul leaned back in his chair and stretched. He was in his uniform, which I noted was just a tad bit snug. He should buy all of his clothes that size.
“She’s being charged with Brendon Lawyer’s murder, among other things. She’s given in and pleaded guilty, though she still insists it was an accident.”
I nodded. So far, no one had asked me to give much more than a statement. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go to court to testify against her or anything. In a way I did feel bad for the girl; she’d had her heart broken pretty badly.
“I still don’t get it,” I said. “She timed everything so well. I keep thinking Raymond knew something and asked Beth and Brendon into his office so Tessa could sneak in unseen. He had to have been involved.”
“No, he wasn’t,” Paul said. “When I got your message that he might have killed his son, I headed in to talk with him to see if I missed anything the first time I was there.”
My face reddened. Boy, had I been wrong about that or what?
“He was understandably upset about being implicated in Brendon’s death.” Paul chuckled. “But he did tell me a few things he’d left out before.”
“Such as?”
“Turns out Raymond didn’t know Brendon was sleeping with Beth until earlier that day. He wasn’t happy about it, so he called both of them into his office to yell at them. He wanted them to break it off. Little did he know, Brendon had already broken up with Beth, but the secretary hadn’t let on. She was still telling her friends they were seeing each other, which, by the way, was how Raymond found out.”
“So it was just a coincidence that Tessa showed up at the exact moment Brendon wasn’t there?”
“Well, she knew when he took his lunch and had gone in to see him then. When they’d been together, she’d often visit him and they’d do more than just eat behind closed doors.”
I reddened slightly, my mind going places it probably shouldn’t.
“She figured she’d stop by like she used to, attack him, and then leave,” Paul went on, oblivious to my embarrassment. “When no one was there, she did just what she said she did.” He sighed. “Really, it all could have been avoided if Brendon didn’t treat women like they were there simply to be used and discarded. I would never do something like that.”
Was that a glimmer I saw in his eye? I couldn’t stop the smile.
“Raymond blames himself,” Paul said, glancing toward the building across the street. “It’s why he wasn’t willing to help before. He thought we’d find some way to blame him for his son’s death, or shut down his business. The man is pretty self-centered, which didn’t help matters one bit.”
“At least it’s over,” I said.
Paul only nodded.
We sat in silence a moment, each mulling over the last few days. It’s hard to believe everything had happened in such a short amount of time.
Suddenly I remembered something that had been bothering me.
“Hey, Paul,” I asked, drawing his attention back to me. “Do you use Facebook?”
“Sure, why?”
“Well, I sort of sent you a request and . . .” My face flushed. Now that I was asking, it sounded stupid.
“Sorry.” He grinned. “I’ve been so busy, I haven’t checked it in a few days.”
“So you aren’t mad at me or anything?”
For an answer he pulled out his cell phone, brought up the Facebook app, and clicked a button. A moment later I received the notification that I had a new friend.
“Not at all.”
The bell above the door jangled and a familiar sound met my ears.
“Oh, my Lordy-Lou!” Rita cried. She saw where I was sitting and rushed over, Andi and Georgina right behind her. “You’re a celebrity!” she said. “You’re just like your father.”
I groaned, which only caused Paul to laugh.
“I’ll let you get back to work,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure you were still doing okay.” He rose, tipped an imaginary hat, and then headed out the door. Rita immediately took his place.
“I heard all about it,” she said. “I mean, to catch a killer in your very own store.” She hugged herself in delight. “This is my favorite place in all of the world. I’m going to come here every day, spend all my time writing in this very spot.” She tapped the table and looked around the room like she’d never seen the place before. “This is perfect.”
Kill me now,
I thought, but instead smiled. “Great,” I said. “I can always reserve a place for you.” I didn’t tell her I planned on making it in the back of the room, as far away from the counter as possible.
“That would be lovely!” she said. “Won’t it, ladies?”
Both Andi and Georgina readily agreed.
I got to my feet, which protested at being used so soon after such a short rest. “I best get back to work,” I said with a smile. “Busy, you know? I might actually have to hire someone if it keeps up.”
“You do that,” Rita said. I started to walk away, but she stopped me. “By the way,” she said, “do you think you’ll be coming to another meeting soon? You missed the last.”
I almost told her “no,” just so I could get back to work, but I stopped myself.
“You know,” I said thoughtfully, “I think I might.” I looked around Death by Coffee, at all of the patrons who were now crowding the place. They’d been drawn here by what I’d done, even if I shouldn’t have risked my life in such a way. They appreciated it and were showing me how much by coming here.
Either that, or they were waiting for the next disaster. I really didn’t care which, as long as they were coming.
And what about those who didn’t live in Pine Hills? Wouldn’t they be interested in hearing about how I solved a crime in my very first week in town? It wasn’t every day a simple working girl solved a murder mystery on her own.
I gave Rita a big smile, eyes twinkling. “Turns out, I might actually have a story in me, after all.”