Bingo. I cut the recording and swiftly removed the SD card from its slot. I gave Gamma a thumbs-up.
She came forward, and Gerry shrieked, maniacally. Gamma grabbed a blindfold from our duffel bag then placed it over Gerry’s eyes.
The next steps were taken in rapid succession. Gamma stripped off the dress, revealing her black clothing underneath. The wig came off. Supplies were stowed in the duffel bag. I placed it on my back and the SD card was tossed onto Gerry’s lap.
We slipped out of the room, down the hall, and out onto the balcony then grappled up to the roof.
Gamma put in a call to the police to report a disturbance at the Gossip Hotel in room 45.
It took the police fifteen minutes to arrive and a further thirty to sort everything out. Gamma and I watched as Detective Crowley arrived in the parking lot far below and entered the building.
Two hours later, Gerry Gould was escorted from the Gossip Hotel in handcuffs, screaming over and over again that he’d killed Callie and Darling and he would do it again.
Our ploy had worked.
The murder case was solved. Darling and Callie could rest in peace.
But my problems were far from over.
33
Two agonizing days had passed since Gerry had been arrested. The inn wasn’t yet open for business—the cops had only just finished their work on the second floor—but Lauren was back baking muffins for us and chatting up a storm.
Apparently, Lauren and Jason had started attending marriage counseling. A positive outcome, though I couldn’t fathom how she’d even fully trust him again. Maybe that was my paranoia and cynicism talking.
The inn, the kittens, my grandmother, and the food was all the same. A perfect juxtaposition for Smulder’s absence.
Every passing minute upped the tension. I expected to turn the corner and find him standing there, arms folded, expression cloudy with disdain for my actions.
He’s going to drag you back to “the underground.”
That or I’d be in huge trouble with Special Agent in Charge Grant and the NSIB.
I sat on the floor in the kitten foster center, Sunlight curled up in my lap and purring.
“You know,” I whispered to the little ginger kitty, “it’s in moments like this that I know I made the right choice coming back.”
And it helped that we’d solved the murder case.
The cops hadn’t released much information, but Gamma and I had pieced things together.
Gerry had been in the library while Sherise and Darling had argued, and after she’d left, Gerry had taken his chance to attack. Then, he’d hidden again. Gamma and I had scoured the library in search of where the hiding spot might’ve been and figured it was behind one of the bookcases closest to the fireplace.
After I’d discovered the body, he’d taken his chance to slip out then pretended to find the body and be distraught over her death.
The motive had been his hatred of living in her shadow. That part added up, from him feasting on cupcakes and whispering about them being all his to the images of him trying to outshine her on the red carpet to the tantrum he threw at her memorial service.
That puzzle was complete.
“Charlotte?” Gamma spoke behind me.
I looked up. “Yeah?”
“Brian’s in the library.”
“I’m not leaving,” I said.
“Telling me won’t change anything.”
She had a point, as always. I lifted Sunlight off my lap, carefully, then got up and walked out of the center. Gamma kept by my side right until the library door. She squeezed my arm once and gave me a nod of encouragement.
I entered, and my stomach morphed into a mass of butterflies.
As nervous as I was about what Smulder would say, it was good to see him again.
He stood in the center of the library, wearing jeans and his plaid shirt, his hands tucked into his pockets. There were dark circles under his eyes and stubble on his chin—very unlike him. He usually kept himself neatly shaved.
“Charlotte,” he said.
I rushed over and threw my arms around him.
Brian kissed my cheek but drew back from the hug, swiftly. “You shouldn’t have run,” he said.
“I had to.” I lifted a palm. “And I’m not going to argue about whether it was right or wrong. I’ve made my decision. I’m staying here.”
“Yes, you are.”
I did a double-take.
“I heard from Grandpa,” Smulder said. “You’re going to stay here because they’re onto you.”
Kyle was coming?
“Grandpa couldn’t talk because someone was messing with his phone.” Meaning that there was a mole in the NSIB. “Most likely, a lot of people know where you are. So Grandpa and all his friends are coming to visit.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Smulder said. “I didn’t tell Grandpa about you leaving me at the hotel, though.”
I hugged Brian again, tightening my grip. This was good news. The NSIB would come to Gossip, and when Kyle turned up, because he would now, I would be ready. Gamma would be too. And all of this hiding would come to an end.
“How long do we have?” I asked.
“A few weeks,” Smulder said and kissed my forehead. “And then this will be over, one way or another.”
I squeezed Brian’s middle and shut my eyes for a second. No matter what, I would always have Gossip, Gamma, my friends, the cats, and the memories I had made during my time here. I was eternally grateful for that.
I’d finally found a life I wanted to live. A place I wanted to be.
And I would stop at nothing to protect it.
Join Charlie and Gamma in the final installment of The Mission Inn-possible Cozy Mystery Series, Chocolate Chills, coming out on May 16th, 2021.
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Also by Rosie A. Point
The Burger Bar Mystery Series:
The Fiesta Burger Murder
The Double Cheese Burger Murder
The Chicken Burger Murder
The Breakfast Burger Murder
The Salmon Burger Murder
The Cheesy Steak Burger Murder
The Burger Bar Mysteries Box Set
The Bite-sized Bakery Cozy Mystery Series:
Murder By Chocolate
Marzipan and Murder
Creepy Cake Murder
Murder and Meringue Cake
Murder Under the Mistletoe
The Bite-sized Bakery Cozy Mystery Box Set: Books 1-5
Murder Glazed Donuts
Choc Chip Murder
The Mission Inn-possible Cozy Mystery Series:
Vanilla Vendetta
Strawberry Sin
The Sleepy Creek Cozy Mystery Series:
The Bacon Burger Murder
Mint Murder (A Mission Inn-possible Cozy Mystery Book 5) Page 13
