Murder in Cottonwood Springs: A Cottonwood Springs Cozy Mystery (Cottonwood Springs Cozy Mystery Series Book 1)

by Dianne Harman

  Brigid’s eyes became wide as she realized what Linc had just said. “You don’t think she murdered Lucy, do you?” She felt like ice water was running down the middle of her back and she shivered involuntarily. When she heard him say it out loud, she felt her insides quiver. As they looked at each other, digesting the enormity of what he’d just said, Brigid’s cell phone began to ring.

  CHAPTER 19

  Brigid kept her eyes on Linc’s as she took her phone out of her purse and answered it.

  “Brigid, I’m sorry to bother you. This is Deputy Davis. I jes’ had a disturbin’ phone call, and I really feel ya’ should know about it,” Corey said.

  “No problem, Corey. What’s wrong?” Linc began to drain the pasta into a colander as he listened to Brigid’s side of the conversation.

  “Well, I think I mighta’ tol’ ya’ this, but I’ll tell you again. I ‘membered several months ago Rich mentionin’ somethin’ ‘bout some guests Lucy had. Said she really liked ‘em. The couple stayed at the B &B fer a week and durin’ that time they became fast friends with Lucy. The husband worked fer the Colorado State Prison Authority.

  “One time durin’ breakfast Lucy told him about a woman who’d been convicted fer embezzlin’ money from the local ski resort based on testimony Lucy gave against her during her trial. The guard actually knew the woman. When she was paroled from prison, he called Lucy to give her a head’s up. Rich said it really scared her, knowin’ the woman was free. Up ‘til now, that was all I’d heard.”

  “And now what have you heard?” Brigid asked anxiously.

  “I jes’ got off the phone with that prison guard. He saw an article ‘bout Lucy’s murder and was really shaken up by it. Said he and his wife really liked Lucy, so he wanted to know if it was the woman who was paroled that had done it. Tol’ him I had no information on her yet and that we hadn’t had any strangers in town, leastways not to my knowledge, so I doubted it.”

  “Corey, wait,” Brigid interrupted. “That’s not true. For work I edit books. One of my authors came to stay with me because she was having problems with what we call writer’s block. I told her if she got out of Los Angeles she might find herself a bit more inspired. She came here to Cottonwood Springs the day before yesterday.” Brigid’s heart felt like it might burst out of her chest. She felt goosebumps on the back of her neck.

  “Yer’ tellin’ me she showed up the day before Lucy was murdered?” Corey asked incredulously. “Little too coincidental fer my taste, Brigid.”

  Brigid’s eyes met Linc’s. She knew he was thinking the same thing. “Mine too,” she answered softly.

  “Bob, that’s the guard’s name, told me what he could ‘bout the woman. She started writin’ when she was in prison and seemed to be purty good at it. She tol’ him she wrote fiction. She even had an editor in Los Angeles and was making good money. Said there was all kinds of books and writing material in her cell.”

  Brigid’s blood had run cold. She was an editor from Los Angeles. “Corey, by any chance did he tell you her name?”

  Linc was fully concentrating on the conversation. He’d moved closer to Brigid, so he could hear both sides. He feared the same thing Brigid did.

  “Yeah, I wrote it down. Let me see, ah, here it is. Name’s Rachele Peters.”

  Linc got Brigid’s attention and slid his finger across his throat. “Hang up,” he mouthed.

  CHAPTER 20

  “Now what?” Brigid asked Linc with a worried look on her face. “That’s the woman who’s staying in my home.” She felt panicked at the thought she may have been housing a murderer but at the same time, she was angry. How dare this woman take advantage of her hospitality. What kind of a person would do something like that?

  Another part of her felt somewhat responsible for Lucy’s death, and it was not a good feeling. If she hadn’t invited Rachele to come to Cottonwood Springs to get rid of her writer’s block, Lucy might still be alive. She felt sick to her stomach. She’d had a feeling when she’d agreed to let Rachele stay with her that she’d regret her decision. She knew now she’d regret it the rest of her life.

  “Now we know why you saw the article about Lucy on her computer screen,” Linc said as he paced back and forth across the tile kitchen floor, the pasta forgotten. He stopped and looked at Brigid. “She was keeping an eye on the story, trying to see if the sheriff had any leads. Your hunch was absolutely right about something being off about the whole thing. Give me the gun I gave you this morning. We need to get over to your house right now and make sure she doesn’t get away.”

  He turned and looked at Jett. “I want you to keep Jett right by your side. If there’s a problem just tell him ‘attack’. Most dogs that are well trained are taught that command. Let’s just hope whoever trained him did the same. We don’t have time to wait for Deputy Davis to get here. Let’s get going.”

  He took the gun Brigid handed him and said, “We can’t take the car because she’d hear us. We’ll walk towards your house and stay hidden in the trees behind our houses. That way, we can sneak over to your house without being seen. Come on.” He gestured for her to follow him as he headed toward the back door. Brigid whistled for Jett, and he followed close behind her.

  The sun was starting to fade behind the distant clouds as they hurried to the treeline behind the houses. The cedars were particularly fragrant as they crunched through the underbrush. Jett stayed close to Brigid, sensing the tension in the air. Linc was in the lead, the gun in his hand, ready to fire if needed.

  This is insane, Brigid thought. I can’t believe I’m sneaking over to my own house in hopes of catching a killer. And not only that, I’m the one who invited her to come and stay with me. She took a deep breath as she navigated through the brush, staying as close to Linc as possible. So much for trying to be nice. How was I supposed to know she was from here and held some kind of a grudge against Lucy? She never mentioned anything about it. This whole writer’s block thing was probably just a way to get here, and I took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.

  A few minutes later, they were directly behind Brigid’s house. They paused for a minute or two while they watched the house. Linc and Brigid ducked down behind a large bush, silently hoping it was dark enough and they were far enough away that Rachele wouldn’t see them if she happened to look out the window. The lights in a couple of rooms were on, one of which was Rachele’s room. They watched as she moved back and forth across the room.

  “Looks like she’s packing,” Brigid whispered. “I bet she’s planning to leave early. She probably thought my having dinner at your house was the perfect time to leave. She’d leave the door closed to her room, so when I got home I’d think she was asleep, which would give her plenty of time to get away from Cottonwood Springs. I even let her put her car in my garage. Clever woman.”

  “Definitely possible,” Linc said as they continued to watch. When Rachele had finished walking back and forth from the closet to the bed, Linc turned to Brigid. “I want to go around to the front of the house. If we go in the back and she slips out the front door, she’ll be able to get in her car. We’d have no way to chase her, because both of our cars are at my house. She’d be out of here in a matter of seconds.

  “Here’s my plan. Follow me around the side of the house and stay right behind me. We’ll sneak around and come in through the front. All we need to do is corner her. She won’t be able to leave the house.” He waited for Brigid to nod before they jogged softly up to the house. They slipped along the side of the house, concealed by the chest-high bushes growing along that side of the house. Jett stayed right on Brigid’s heels, never more than half a step away from her. She was pretty impressed at what Jett was instinctively doing. She’d never trained him to act as a guard dog. It was as if he knew exactly what was required of him.

  As she crept along the side of her home, Brigid felt her hands begin to shake. She wasn’t sure if it was caused by nerves or the rage that was building inside her. It had started out small, but t
he closer they got to the front of the house, the stronger the sensation became. She felt she’d been used and her trust violated. It was not a good feeling.

  Linc knelt down at the corner of the house that led to the front. He turned and held up one finger to his lips signaling to Brigid that she should remain quiet, before carefully peeking around the corner. Jett nudged Brigid affectionately. She smiled and scratched behind his ears. Once Linc was sure Rachele wasn’t in the front yard, he signaled for Brigid and Jett to follow him.

  They’d just crossed the short distance to the front steps when Brigid’s foot caught on the edge of a step. As she lifted her leg to get free, the car keys pushed the car alarm remote button in her pocket, setting it off. Brigid froze, panic setting in. Although her car was in Linc’s driveway, it was still close enough that Rachele probably had heard it go off. Linc grabbed her hand and pulled her back around the corner of the house. Jett followed and they all hid, out of sight from the front door.

  Moments later, the front door quietly opened and Rachele stepped out, a gun in her hand. She looked back and forth nervously. She took another step out into the darkness, hoping to see better. The backlighting coming from the house made it difficult for her to see.

  “Drop the gun, Rachele,” Linc’s deep voice said as he stepped out from behind the corner of the house. “We know who you are, and we know you murdered Lucy. You can’t pretend, anymore.”

  Rachele turned towards him and smirked. “You got that right. She had it coming to her for what she did to me. All those years stolen from me. And for what? It wasn’t her money. It wasn’t even her business. She should have just kept her nose out of it and let me do my thing. No harm, no foul. But she didn’t. Instead, she ran to her brother and told him. Next thing I knew, my life was ruined. She got what she deserved.

  “You can’t stop me. I’ll be long gone before you can even get in your car.” Rachele couldn’t see as well as Brigid and Linc could, even though her eyes had partially adjusted to the darkness. She faintly made out the partial outline of Linc’s tall frame, but he blended into the bushes behind him. She aimed her gun and fired at Linc, her shot going wide. He dove for cover, heart racing.

  Brigid knelt down by Jett and said, “Attack”. Jett flew around the corner of the house as Rachele was stepping down from the porch, her suitcase in one hand and the gun in the other. Brigid heard Jett’s four massive paws colliding with the ground as his large frame ran at full force towards the woman he hadn’t liked from the time she’d arrived.

  He launched himself at her, putting all of his one hundred thirty pounds into a flying leap. His body collided with hers in a violent crash, causing her to fall back onto the porch. Her gun and her suitcase were sent flying off the porch. Jett placed his front paws on her chest and held her down as Linc raced over, pointing his gun at her. Brigid joined him.

  “Get this filthy mutt off of me!” Rachele screamed. She was wiggling and pushing against Jett with all the strength she had, but the dog never budged.

  “I wouldn’t test Jett, if I were you Rachele,” Linc said as he continued to hold Rachele at gun point. “He’s a trained attack dog, but that doesn’t mean he won’t decide he’s tired of putting up with you and bite you. Brigid, call Deputy Davis. Tell him…” his voice was drowned out by the sound of approaching cars. A sheriff’s car skidded to a stop in front of the house followed by two more squad cars. Deputy Davis rushed over to where Jett had Rachele pinned to the ground.

  “Corey, how did you know?” Brigid asked.

  “First, I need you to get yer’ dog off her,” Deputy Davis said, his gun drawn and trained on Rachele. This had to be a first for me, getting’ beat to an arrest by a dog, he thought. Don’t matter, though. I’ll take all the help I can get, four-legged or not.

  “Stand down,” Linc said. Jett calmly left Rachele lying on the front porch and returned to Brigid’s side where he flopped down on the ground. He almost seemed to smile proudly as he laid at her feet.

  “I put everythin’ together fairly quick after ya’ hung up on me. Figured ya’ was gonna’ try to get her yerself’. It was jes’ a hunch, but I was fairly certain y’ was up to somethin’. I called two other deputies who were jes’ leavin’ the station to help me out. Figgered it was better to bring along some backup and not need it than to git out here by myself and find out I needed it.”

  He turned towards the two deputies who had joined him and pointed to Rachele. “Cuff her and read her rights to her, then get her to the station. I’m gonna’ stick ‘round here and search her room. Wanna’ see if I can find any traces of chloroform. Need to make sure it’s done by the book. Gonna’ need a search warrant.” He pulled out his cell phone. “Gimme’ jes’ a moment. Need to call Judge Landau, and we’ll have one within the hour.”

  The deputies handcuffed Rachele and read her rights to her. “You can’t prove I did anything wrong. I’m just here on vacation. Brigid’s dog attacked me.” Her voice began to rise and become shriller the closer she got to the squad car. “Oh no, no, no. I don’t want to go back, please.” She braced her legs, but the deputies continued to pull her toward the rear door of the squad car.

  Corey stepped away to talk on the phone with the judge, leaving Brigid and Linc alone. “You okay?” Linc asked with a concerned look on his face.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said as she smiled, feeling an imaginary weight beginning to lift off her shoulders. Knowing that her good friend’s killer was in handcuffs was a relief. She only hoped it brought some peace to Rich when he finally heard the news. It wouldn’t bring Lucy back, but at least her murderer had been caught. When Deputy Davis returned, she asked, “What’s the warrant for? Why do you need it?”

  “I want it ‘cuz the coroner called me late today and said the preliminary tests showed that chloroform poisoning was the cause of Lucy’s death, but she’d also been pepper sprayed. I wanna’ search Rachele’s room and see if I can find any evidence of one or the other.” He shook his head. “Poor Lucy. Her last few minutes on Earth couldna’ been too pleasant.” The three of them were quiet as they watched Rachele being put in the back of a sheriff's car. “Judge don’t live far from here. Said one of my deputies could pick up the search warrant in jes’ a little bit.”

  “I can’t believe I invited her here,” murmured Brigid. “If I hadn’t...” No matter how she rationalized it, the thought about her invitation kept bubbling up to the surface. How that one, innocent decision had ended up causing her friend her life.

  “Brigid, you can’t live the rest of your life thinking like that,” Linc said, putting his arm around her. Even as he spoke he could only imagine how difficult it must be for her. He had a feeling it would be something she’d struggle with for a long time.

  “Linc’s right, Brigid. None of this is yer’ fault. She woulda’ found a way sooner or later,” Deputy Davis said. They watched as the squad car pulled away, Lucy’s murderer shackled in the back seat, the first part of her long journey to justice.

  “You did it,” grinned Linc. “You caught Lucy’s killer.”

  Brigid smiled for the first time, “Well, I may have had a little help.” She bumped his hip with hers and he laughed.

  “Yeah, Jett’s the real hero. Aren’t you Jett?” he asked as he reached down and scratched the dog’s head.

  An hour later, one of Corey’s deputies arrived at the house with the search warrant signed by Judge Landau and handed it to Corey. “This will make it legal for me to search the house,” Corey said. “Mind showin’ me her room?”

  “Not at all.” Brigid led the men into the house and down the hall to the guest bedroom.

  The bed was made and everything looked as neat as when Rachele had arrived, except for the laptop on the bed.

  “Looks like she forgot her laptop. We must have distracted her,” Linc said with a trace of irony.

  Deputy Davis carefully walked around the room, looking in every corner before opening the closet. On the top shelf he spotted a bott
le and a rag. “What’s this?” Corey said, sniffing it carefully. “Looks and smells like chloroform.” He took a plastic evidence bag from his pocket and carefully placed the bottle and rag in it. “Something else’s up here,” he said, reaching farther back on the shelf. He pulled down a little spray bottle, unscrewed the lid, and sniffed it. “Smells like pepper spray, and it sure looks homemade.” He put it in a separate plastic bag as evidence. “That her computer?” he asked.

  “Yes, that’s her laptop,” Brigid said with a sigh. “She’s such a good writer. I wonder if her book is on there?”

  “Dunno, but I gotta’ take it as evidence. If her book’s on there, I assume her lawyer’s gonna’ ask that it be returned to her.” He shrugged, “But who knows? She may not be of sound enough mind to even request it.” Corey exhaled deeply. “Anyway, that’s down the road. No need to worry about that right now.”

  An hour or so later, Linc and Brigid walked outside with Deputy Davis as he prepared to get into his squad car and leave. He turned to Linc and Brigid. “Can’t thank ya’ both enough for all yer’ help. Rich’ll be glad to know that at least one part of this nightmare is over. If ya’ don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if ya’ both could come down to the station tomorrow and gimme’ a statement. Don’t worry about it tonight. Ya’ both look just as tired as I feel. Let’s meet up after we’ve had a bit of shut-eye, okay?”

  Brigid and Linc both agreed as he turned around, got in his car, and left.

  “Linc, thank you so much,” Brigid said after Corey was gone. “If it wasn’t for you, Jett and I could be dead. I shudder to think what that woman may have been capable of doing in order to cover her tracks.”

  “I don’t think so, Brigid,” Linc said. “You have much better instincts than you give yourself credit for. You knew something was wrong, and you were right.” He pulled her close to him and hugged her. Brigid allowed herself to sink into his arms, feeling his warmth through his shirt. “By the way, I’ve decided I should spend the night. I don’t think you should be alone after something like this.”