Jeopardy in January

by Camilla Chafer

  Tom didn't look any different from our date and I decided he must have left the bar soon after I did, perhaps coming straight here to lie in wait for me. Only his express had changed. Despite my best efforts at acting, he obviously didn't believe my excuse. "Do you think I bought that ruse about your mom?" he asked, confirming my suspicions and wagging a finger at me. "You nearly got me. You looked worried but it was too much of a coincidence that your friend's parents were involved too. Her date might have bought it, but I didn't. All it took was one phone call to confirm that your mom hadn't moved from her living room all night. Apparently, she's having a lot of fun this evening with her friends."

  "You're watching my mom?" I felt sick at the thought.

  "I'm not but my associate is. I think you met her already."

  "Bree's fake sister?" I guessed.

  Tom nodded. "She's sitting right outside your mom's house. One word from me, and your mom is going to have the worst night of her life."

  Fear struck me like a slap. "You wouldn't dare!"

  "You know I would. See? I have it all figured out, Sara. We both know it'll be a lot easier if you just tell me where the jewels are. I know now Brittany hid them in the library somewhere but she was stupid enough not to tell me where; and look what happened to her."

  "You killed her."

  Tom shrugged. "It was her own fault. All she had to do was hand them over. Even better, she shouldn't have double-crossed me in the first place; so really, she had it coming." A shard of moonlight lit up his face. For the first time, I noticed the hard, angular lines and the unpleasant set of his jaw. Had he always looked like this? Or was I only now truly seeing him for the first time? "You are not going to be that idiotic," he told me.

  "What makes you think I know where the jewels are? If I knew, wouldn't I have found them already?"

  "I don't think so. I think you were as clueless as everyone else at the start. It's been kind of funny actually, watching that detective bumbling around, trying to work everything out. Then, all the town crazies came out with their spades and shovels and started digging the place up!" Tom laughed.

  Much as I didn't want to, I couldn't disagree with the last part. The promise of a treasure trove was as contagious as a scarlet fever to the Calendar residents, making them all a little crazy. It also attracted a much worse kind of crazy but I didn't plan to tell Tom that. Not while he had a gun pointed at me.

  "I've done a little digging around about you. Everyone says nice things about you, you know? Sara Cutler is so nice. Sara is such a good friend. Sara is so honest. Sara is so perfect," he sneered. "I figured if you knew where the jewels were, you would have turned them over to Detective Logan by now."

  "That's right, I would have," I agreed. "But since I haven't..." I stopped, hoping he came to the conclusion that I still didn't know.

  "You want to know what I think? I think you didn't know," said Tom, not waiting for an answer. "I followed you into the city with that guy and I wondered if you managed to track down someone from Brittany's past. I couldn't be sure, but you didn't seem to know anything on our date. I even asked you about hiding places at the party and you were oblivious. I think somehow, you managed to figure it out tonight. I've run our conversation through my head, and I can't figure out how but somehow, you realized who I was and where the jewels were. It's time to confess." He raised the gun, leveling it with my forehead.

  "You're right. I did figure out you were Bree's ex," I told him, raising my hands a little higher, terrified that he would shoot me. "I saw the tattoo on your wrist, the one under your watch, when you pushed your sleeves up. I recognized it from a photo Bree had and that's why I made up the story about my mom being in an accident. But I swear, I don't know where the jewels are! Please! You have to believe me!"

  Disappointment flashed across his face. "Then why are you here? There's no reason for you to be in the library at night."

  I glanced around, looking for a reason and quickly spied my desk. "I needed to pick up the petitions to take to my boss first thing tomorrow morning," I lied.

  "And you decided to come now? I don't buy it." Tom squeezed the trigger. As I ducked, a squeal erupting from my throat, the wall splintered behind my head. I dropped to the floor, covering my head, waiting for the inevitable bright light that told me I was crossing over. Except it didn't come. Instead, Tom shouted at me. "Get up!" he yelled. "That was a warning shot! Tell me where the jewels are or the next one hits you in the stomach. I can assure you, that's a long, slow, agonizing death. If that doesn't persuade you, then one call from me and your mother is next in line." He held up his phone, the screen blinking to life.

  "I swear I don't know," I said, my voice wobbling. I edged to my feet, my whole body tensing as I waited any moment for the gun to fire.

  "I really don't want to do this," said Tom. "But you leave me no other choice. Let's go upstairs. That's where Brittany went to get them."

  "She told you she hid them in here?" I asked as he waved his gun, indicating I should go first. I sidestepped to my left, keeping my back to the wall, reluctantly turning away from him as we crossed the floor to the staircase. I took the steps slowly, wishing I could turn in a flash and high kick him across the room before racing to freedom. Unfortunately, I only read those stories about plucky heroines; I didn't star in them!

  The library seemed ominous at night. The shelving cast shadows across the floor and even the stained-glass window barely allowed any light. I passed the slim beam it created, stumbling, and grabbed hold of the banister. I pulled myself up as Tom gave me a little push forwards. At the top of the steps, I paused, not wanting to go near the area of the room where Bree died. Unfortunately, Tom had other ideas. He planted a hand between my shoulder blades and propelled me forwards, his heavy footsteps behind me, almost masking the creak that came from below.

  "It was tough tracking Bree down. She slipped away right after our last heist. I had to bribe a cop to trace her last cellphone usage, then I searched every town nearby until I got here. I found her almost by accident—" Tom laughed again, the sound chilling as he explained "—I literally saw her on the street. She looked so different. She changed her hair and how she dressed. I followed her around for a few days to make sure it was her; then I approached her when she left work. I don't know who was more shocked, she or I. I told her she needed to return what she stole and gave her an hour or I'd come back looking for her. By then, I knew where she lived and where she worked. I knew she'd try to double-cross me again, of course. That's just Bree's nature. She thought I left but I was still watching her. All I had to do was follow her back here. She waited for you to leave, then she let herself in. I slipped in behind her, following her as she went upstairs. She tried to insist she'd hidden them elsewhere. I got frustrated. I had to shoot her! Then you came back and I didn't have enough time to search. I actually thought I might have gotten it wrong, and that she really did stash them elsewhere. I knew I had to cozy up to you to find out more information about where that might be. You really took the bait when I suggested you look for them yourself. If you'd been a little faster, I wouldn't have had to plant a fake sister to gain your trust, but I was running out of time."

  "That was you at the housing development? You hit me?" I asked, knowing it must be true.

  "Yeah. You surprised me."

  "And you tried to break into the library?"

  "No, that was Angie. She thought she'd try her luck here while I was occupied. If she'd succeeded, we wouldn't be here now. I think Brittany came to get something from up here," he said. "You must’ve figured that out."

  "She might have hidden something in one of the books," I lied, still stalling. Where was Detective Logan? "Some people hollow out the insides of books and hide things inside them. She might have done that."

  Tom glanced at the racks spreading across the room. They contained thousands of books. There was no way of knowing which one could be a secret hiding place and I had to rely on that. "Start opening them," he said.
"Don't bother to be neat. Just open them and toss them on the floor."

  "It could take hours."

  "I've waited this long."

  "And what happens when I find them?" I asked, keeping my voice even.

  "You've seen me," said Tom, a sad note in his tone. He took a deep breath, probably reminding himself of what was important. "I can't let you live."

  A gun cocked. A flash of anger passed across Tom's face. "What did you do?" he yelled.

  "It's not what she did, but what I'm going to do," said Detective Logan, his voice impossibly calm as he stepped off the staircase. His footsteps were lighter than I ever would have suspected. "Set your weapon on the floor, drop to your knees, and place your hands on top of your head. Sara, are you okay?"

  "I'm fine," I told him, relief flooding me as soon as I saw Detective Logan stepping to the side of Tom. Behind him was Jason, his face stricken.

  "Tom Nicholson, you're under arrest," started Detective Logan. He didn't get any further. Tom whirled around, firing a shot. Logan dropped to the floor, and fired back a single bullet. Tom wavered for a moment, then dropped to his knees, crying out. The gun fell to the floor as Tom clamped a hand over his shoulder, groaning.

  Detective Logan rushed forwards, kicking Tom's gun to the side before restraining him.

  "He has someone watching my mom," I told the detective.

  With one knee in Tom's back, holding him down, Logan reached for his radio, dispatching officers to my mother's home, warning them of the waiting threat.

  When the lights came on, flooding the library, I had to blink. I realized Jason was missing only when he hurried back, his footsteps louder as he took the stairs two at a time. He rushed past Detective Logan and a bleeding Tom, before wrapping his arms around me. "I heard everything," he said. "We both did."

  I clung to him. "How did you know where I was?"

  "I was in a meeting with Gwendolyn — the realtor at Bayview Drive — when Detective Logan came in. I overheard him getting your message and followed him here."

  "Why? I mean, how? Actually, I mean why? You never told me why you were at Bayview last night. What were you doing with the realtor?" I asked, my words tumbling out in a mess.

  "Last night, I was there because I was thinking about purchasing a house. I love the city but I've always wanted to be out in the country. I like Calendar. It's a great town. I could work in the city during the week and come out here on weekends. Maybe even get a dog like I always wanted. Plus," he said, taking my hands in his, "there's another reason for spending more time out here."

  My heart sank. "So you can keep an eye on your new development?" I said.

  Jason laughed. "No! Well, not this development, not anymore. I've been out to Bayview Drive a few times this week, looking at the plans, after I heard the developers ran into financial difficulties and were struggling to finish the homes there. I struck a deal with them. My firm is buying them out and finishing the construction. We don't need the library anymore. That's why I was talking to Gwendolyn. I came to deliver new plans and a new contract so she could work with us."

  I was sure I had never looked more confused. "I don't understand. The library will just be bought be someone else."

  Jason grinned. "I thought of that too. I went to the city to pitch a new section of the business to my firm. We're calling it town regeneration. The library will be our flagship project. To encourage towns to work with us, we'll offer to regenerate part of their town. Landscape a new park, build a new play area, make over the town library, that kind of thing." He paused, letting the information sink in.

  "You saved my library?" I gasped.

  Jason shook his head. "No. You did that. Your passion simply inspired me."

  "Oh, shut up!" snarled Tom. "You two are making me sick!"

  "You know what will really make you sick?" I told him, smiling now that I was safe and my mother was protected. "It’s knowing that you were right. I did work out where Bree hid the jewels. They are here. But not up here."

  "What are you talking about?" asked Detective Logan. Both he and Jason flashed me puzzled glances as Tom's face darkened.

  "Wait just a moment," I said. I rushed downstairs, hurrying to my office where I pulled out a small container. I cranked open the lid, smiling when I saw what was inside. I hurried back to the waiting men. "Bree did stash the stolen jewels in Calendar but she didn't waste any time burying them or hiding them somewhere difficult that she might have had trouble accessing again. Instead, she hid them in plain sight. She was a master at creating beautiful dioramas in the display cases around the library and I had no problem leaving her to the task. Her last creation was a pirate theme. Pirate fiction, a treasure chest... only the jewels weren't paste or rhinestones." I held the plastic container out for them to see the sparkling jewels inside. Before the party, I scooped them up and stashed them away, forgetting about them almost instantly. I couldn't fathom how much they were worth. "She used real jewels for her displays of pirate treasure and starry skies."

  "Unbelievable," muttered Detective Logan, shaking his head. "Tom Nicholson, did I mention you were under arrest not just for murder, but also for grand larceny?"

  I smiled as Tom hung his head.

  Outside, a police siren wailed.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  "I was in terrible danger," said my mother, her hand flying to her throat as her enraptured audience gasped. Around her, the library books were abandoned in open boxes as my mother recounted her "ordeal" again. "The officer found the fiend waiting outside my home. There was a gun in her car! She was probably going to shoot me!"

  "I don't think she was going to shoot you, Mom," I said. "She was just there to ensure my compliance with them."

  "A gun, Sara. A gun! Imagine if you hadn't complied!"

  I stepped away as my mother’s friends leaned in, eager for more details. Not that she had anymore to give but I figured their conversation would run in a circular fashion for the next six weeks at least. Plus, I had to step away before I pointed out I hadn't complied with Tom's demands. I didn't think that nugget of information would have been very pleasing to my mother. Plus, I didn't want to hear that I'd risked her life for, oh, the rest of my life! Despite the good outcome, I still felt guilty that Tom and his associates had tried to drag my mother into their criminal business, using my fear for her safety and well-being to manipulate me.

  "I can't believe we've done this much work," said Jaclyn, waving me over as she set up the cups on a large tray, ready to give to our thirsty helpers. Her leg was out of plaster but she was still moving quite slowly.

  "I can't either," I agreed, looking around the library. We'd been hard at work all morning, packing the rarer books and storing them away, then packing the popular fiction and children's sections, stacking the boxes neatly to one side, and getting them ready to be moved into storage. Fortunately, a large amount of people volunteered to help so the packing had become less of a challenge and more of an enthusiastic party. Now all that remained were our core group: my mom, Jaclyn, Candice, Meredith, and the Rileys.

  "It looks so much bigger now that it's empty," Jaclyn continued. "At least it's only for a couple of weeks."

  With a pang, I realized that the library would have looked just like this if we were closing for good. Thankfully, that wasn't the case now. Jason had come through on his promise to regenerate the library as part of his firm's commitment to the towns where they planned to seek permits for new construction. Thanks to his rescue plan, we were only closing it for two weeks, long enough for the floors to be sanded and re-varnished, the walls and staircase to be given new coats of paint, and a new computer system to be installed, along with facilities for e-books and audiobooks. The funding also included windows to be replaced with energy-efficient ones and the roof would finally get repaired. In the springtime, the gardeners would be hired to give the garden a much-needed overhaul and install new seating areas. It was so exciting, I could hardly contain my enthusiasm.

 
"It's going to look so beautiful when we reopen," I told her. "I've already planned a grand celebration and a program of events that are designed to appeal to as many people as we can." I was even able to hire a new assistant to replace Bree after carefully making sure her work history was fully vetted. There would be no more horrible surprises at the library in the future, only good ones.

  I poured coffees and teas and added a large plate of cookies, thanks to Jaclyn's donation, before taking them over to the desk — the last large piece of furniture that had yet to be moved — and waved everyone over. "I can't thank you enough for all your help," I told them as the volunteers gathered into a horseshoe shape. "It's amazing what we can all do when we join together..."

  "Enough of that." Mrs. Riley waved a hand. "We want to know what's going on with the jewels. Did you really find them?"

  "Yes, I did," I confirmed, "and I'm so pleased to see so many of you..."

  "Did Bree really hide them in the library where everyone could see them?" asked Mr. Riley.

  "She camouflaged them in one of the display cases," I replied. "Back to the library..."

  "How much were they worth? Did you keep any?" asked my mother.

  I gaped at my mother. "No, Mom! I didn't. Anyway, I..." I stopped, knowing it was futile. I should have guessed the turnout had something to do with the arrests that were made, and the recovery of the jewels. The headline of the Calendar Times had made darn sure it remained the hot topic.

  "Fine, I'll tell you everything," I replied, figuring I might as well. "Bree walked into the library late last fall and asked about the job. I didn't have any other candidates and she seemed very nice and eager and her reference was good so I hired her. I know now that she made up her reference. Perhaps she had a friend helping her, or maybe she disguised her voice. I don't think I'll ever know for certain. Anyway, hiring her seemed like a really good decision. Bree was great. Super helpful, really creative and everyone liked her. I never had a single suspicion about her until the day I came back to the library and found her dead."