by Laura Childs
“But . . . why? How?” Suzanne asked. She was stunned that Sam was on his way to their crash site.
“It was so quiet at the hospital that when Doogie called for an ambulance, I decided to jump in and ride along. See what I could do to help. Good thing, too. I had no idea that you were the one who was injured!”
“It’s mostly Toni and Reverend Jakes,” Suzanne said. “But please come quick, Sam. Please hurry.”
“Dick Sparrow is driving this rig, pushing it up to sixty miles an hour on slippery roads. We’re coming as fast as we can.”
Tears ran down Suzanne’s cheeks as she crossed her legs and sat down in the snow. “Can I just stay on the line for a little bit longer?” she asked. “Until you get here?”
“Of course. I’m right here for you.” Then Sam switched from concerned boyfriend to ER doctor. “But tell me what’s going on. You sound clearheaded and conscious, but is your respiration okay?”
“I think so.” Suzanne hiccuped loudly.
“What about Toni?”
“She’s not doing so well,” Suzanne said. “She’s rocking back and forth and cradling her arm.”
“My arm’s broken,” Toni moaned.
“She thinks her arm is broken,” Suzanne said. “I think it is, too.”
“Try to keep Toni as warm as possible,” Sam said. “You said Reverend Jakes is injured as well? If you can scrounge any coats or blankets, wrap them tightly around both of them. And make sure they stay awake. Try to keep them talking.”
“Reverend Jakes was driving by and tried to help us, but Don Shinder hit him on the head and knocked him out.”
“Concussion,” Sam said. “Again, be sure to keep Reverend Jakes as warm as possible, but don’t move him. We don’t want to trigger any sort of brain issues until I get a chance to check him out.”
“And I . . . and I . . .” Suzanne had tried to remain relatively calm up until this point, but now the tears really started to come.
“Hang in there, sweetheart,” Sam said. “Stay strong.”
“No, I have to tell you what happened.”
“You just did.”
“There’s more. I . . . I shot someone.” Suzanne sniffled hard. “Well, not just someone, it was Don Shinder. But only because he tried to bash us with a tire iron.”
“Dear Lord.” Sam’s voice grew hushed, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “You literally shot him?”
“Shinder was coming after us. He was, like, ten seconds away from bludgeoning us to death . . . killing us.”
“Suzanne, I . . .” Sam’s voice caught in his throat. He didn’t know what to say.
“Okay,” Suzanne said at hearing the shock and disbelief in his voice. “I better hang up now and check on Toni and Reverend Jakes.”
Suzanne sat in the stillness of the dark night, listening to the sigh of the wind through the trees. Sam had sounded utterly gobsmacked by her words. Had her confession about shooting Don Shinder upset him? She hoped not. But deep in her heart, she feared that it had.
CHAPTER 29
“ARE they coming?” Reverend Jakes called out to Suzanne. “The sheriff? An ambulance?”
“On their way,” Suzanne said.
Jakes groaned and struggled to sit up.
“You’re not supposed to do that,” Suzanne said. “I talked to Sam and he’s worried that you might have sustained a concussion.”
“Got my bell rung good; that’s for sure,” Jakes said.
“You’re not in danger of blacking out, are you?” Suzanne asked. She worried because he did sound awfully wonky.
“No, I’m a little shaky, but . . .” Jakes slowly got his legs under himself and tried to stand up. He didn’t make it on the first try. “Whoa,” he said as he collapsed back down in the snow.
Suzanne was instantly at his side. “Are you sure you’re feeling well enough to stand up?”
“I’ll be all right, just got the stuffin’ knocked out of me.” Jakes fought to stand again and this time made it to his feet. “But your friend over there . . .” Jakes nodded at Toni, who was sitting on the ground, rocking back and forth. “She’s in a bad way.”
Toni heard him and lifted her head. “I think I broke my arm,” she said.
Jakes unzipped his parka and took it off.
“Don’t do that,” Suzanne said. “You’re supposed to stay warm.”
“Your friend needs it more than I do,” Jakes said. He draped his parka around Toni’s shoulders.
“Thank you,” Toni said as she snuggled into it.
“Now we have to get out of here,” Jakes said.
“Shouldn’t we stay put?” Suzanne asked.
“If we can climb back up to the road, we can put Toni in my car and get her warmed up,” Jakes said. “Us, too.” He leaned down and wrapped his arms around Toni. “Does this hurt?”
“Not too bad,” she said.
Jakes scooped her up easily and balanced her in his arms. “How about now, Toni?”
She leaned against his chest gratefully. “I’m okay.”
“Just hang in there.” Jakes adjusted Toni against the right side of his chest then extended his left hand to Suzanne. “Come on, Suzanne, let’s climb this hill together.”
And they did. With Reverend Jakes carrying Toni and leading the way, they climbed steadily up the steep incline they’d just rolled down. And every time Suzanne’s foot slipped, Jakes was there to pull her back up.
“I’m sorry,” Suzanne said when they were halfway up the embankment.
Jakes looked back at her. “For what?”
“For thinking you might have been involved in the murders. For being so harsh with you. You must think I’m a terrible person.”
“I think nothing of the sort,” Jakes said. He gripped Suzanne’s hand tighter and pulled her up another few inches. “In fact, all things considered, I think you’re amazingly brave. If I were ever in trouble, I’d want you by my side.”
Ten minutes later, they were in Reverend Jakes’s car, with the heater running full blast.
“This is a lot better,” Toni said. Jakes had laid her out in the backseat with his parka still covering her. She’d stopped shivering and had actually smiled once.
* * *
• • •
SHERIFF Doogie arrived first. He skidded to a stop and jumped out of his cruiser, a blanket in one hand, his pistol in the other.
Suzanne climbed out of Jakes’s car to meet him.
“Dear Lord, Suzanne,” Doogie cried when he saw her rushing toward him. “Are you injured?”
“No, but Don Shinder is lying at the bottom of this ravine.”
“Because you shot him?” Doogie didn’t look happy.
“He confessed to killing Allan Sharp and Teddy Hardwick; then he tried to bludgeon us with a tire iron.”
Doogie looked stunned. “Suzanne! For real?”
“Yes, for real. And Reverend Jakes was driving along when he saw our car plunge into the ditch. When he tried to help us, Shinder smacked him over the head.”
“Hold everything. You have to start from the beginning,” Doogie said. He holstered his gun and handed her the blanket. “I want you to explain everything that happened . . . and try to do it in a logical sequence.”
“I will,” Suzanne promised. “As soon as the ambulance . . .” She tilted her head to one side. A faint, shrill sound carried toward them on the wind. “Wait, I think I hear the siren now.”
* * *
• • •
THE ambulance slewed to a stop a minute later. Dick Sparrow, the paramedic, jumped out and raced over to Reverend Jakes’s car. Sam jumped out and ran toward Suzanne.
“Are you okay?” Sam asked Suzanne. He basically ignored Doogie.
Suzanne laid her head against Sam’s chest and let him
put his arms around her for all of two seconds. Then she pulled back and said, “I’m fine. But you need to take care of Toni. And check on Reverend Jakes.”
“Are you . . . ?” Sam began.
But Suzanne waved him off. “I’m fine. Go.”
Dick Sparrow and Sam got Toni into the ambulance, where Sparrow put an inflatable splint on Toni’s arm. Sam ran through a quick concussion protocol with Reverend Jakes, then said, “I think you’re okay, but I’d feel better if you rode back in the ambulance with us. Maybe spent the night in the hospital.”
“I don’t think—” Jakes began.
“That wasn’t a suggestion,” Sam said. “It’s doctor’s orders.”
So Jakes climbed into the ambulance, leaving Sam with Suzanne and Doogie.
“What about Don Shinder?” Doogie asked.
“What about him?” Sam asked.
Doogie paused as another siren whoop-whooped from down the road. There was the screech of tires on pavement and a second cruiser slid to a stop. “Driscoll,” Doogie said. He turned his attention to Sam. “Shinder is lying at the bottom of the ditch with a bullet in his head.” Doogie looked both furious and scared. “Your fiancée here shot him to death.”
“I believe she shot him in self-defense,” Sam declared.
“Shinder’s not dead,” Suzanne said.
Doogie rocked back on his heels, his eyes practically popping out of his head. “He’s not?”
“I only shot him with a nail gun,” Suzanne said.
“What!” Doogie put both hands up to the sides of his head, as if his brains were about to blow out his ears.
“I shot Shinder twice, once in each shoulder,” Suzanne said. “Because I had to somehow stop him. I mean, he hit Reverend Jakes over the head and then came after me and Toni.” She choked back a sob. “He was going to kill us.”
“So he’s not dead?” Sam asked.
“We don’t need an undertaker?” Doogie said.
“No, of course not. Shinder was crying and cussing a blue streak when we left him a few minutes ago. I don’t think he’s frozen to death quite yet,” Suzanne said.
“With those nails, it sounds like he’s going to have some rotator cuff issues,” Sam said.
Suzanne shrugged. “Tough luck.”
Doogie gestured to Deputy Driscoll. “Driscoll, grab a backboard from the ambulance and we’ll go down and get him.” Doogie paused and gazed at Suzanne again. “Nail gun?”
“You know, like roofers use to nail down shingles,” Suzanne said. She put her hands together and pantomimed a shooting. “It was Junior’s nail gun, from when he stuck all his tools from the explosion into the backseat of my car.”
Doogie shook his head again, muttering to himself, as he and Driscoll walked over to the edge of the road and started down the snowy embankment.
A faint smile flickered on Sam’s face. “So it wasn’t a real gun?” Sam puffed out his cheeks and released a glut of air. “Here I had this terrible mental picture of you holding a Ruger or a Sig Sauer. Your lip curling as you blew away a puff of smoke.”
Suzanne snuggled up against Sam, feeling his warmth and the fuzz of his chin stubble rubbing companionably against her forehead. “I don’t think I’m really a gun person,” she said.
“Good,” Sam said. “Let’s keep it that way.” Then: “So it was Don Shinder all along. Not Mobley or Jakes or that girl Amber.”
“You know what? Shinder actually admitted to killing Allan Sharp and Teddy Hardwick,” Suzanne said. “He was gloating about it, right before he tried to kill me and Toni.”
“Awful,” Sam said.
“It really is.” Suzanne tilted her head back and gave Sam a shy smile. “But the whole miserable thing is over, thank goodness. And I’m sorry to have caused you so much worry and pain. I just hope you’re not terribly upset with me . . .” Her words practically caught in the back of her throat. “And that you still want to marry me.”
Sam gazed down at her. “Suzanne, you scare me more than anyone I’ve ever known.”
“But . . . ?”
Sam hugged her tighter. “But I still want to spend every terrifying moment with you.”
Suzanne smiled as Sam smooshed her in his arms. For now, the world felt right. Perfectly, perfectly right.
Recipes from the Cackleberry Club
Jalapeño Grilled Chicken Sandwiches
¼ cup jalapeño jelly
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. Tabasco sauce
4 boneless chicken breasts
4 hamburger buns
Lettuce and tomato for garnish
Over medium heat, melt jelly in pan, then stir in apple cider vinegar, salt, and Tabasco. Grill or fry chicken breasts, about 5 minutes per side. As you are doing this, baste generously with jelly and vinegar mixture. When chicken is cooked, serve on buns with lettuce and tomato garnish. Yields 4 servings.
Suzanne’s Crabby Crab Cakes
1 lb. crabmeat
2 eggs
3 tbsp. mayonnaise
3 tbsp. mustard
4 slices bread, cubed
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. baking powder
Butter or oil for frying
Gently mix all ingredients together and then form into 4 crab cakes. Fry in butter or oil until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Serve as an appetizer or with a side dish for a main meal. Yields 4 servings.
Slow-Cooker Sweet-and-Sour Pork
3 tbsp. soy sauce
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
¼ cup brown sugar
2 lb. cubed pork
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup apple juice
1 (½" square) cube ginger, grated
1 green pepper, cored and sliced
1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks, drained
Combine soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, cornstarch, and brown sugar in slow cooker. Add cubed pork and stir. Add onion, garlic, apple juice, and grated ginger. Cook on low for 8 hours. Add green pepper and pineapple and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Serve over rice. Yields 4 servings.
Peach Cobbler Pancake Topper
4 cups sliced fresh or canned peaches
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. cornstarch
Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. While sauce is in the last stages of cooking, start making approximately 16 of your favorite pancakes—either from scratch or from a mix.
Remove sauce from burner and let stand for 5 minutes to thicken. Place 4 pancakes on each of 4 plates. Top with peach cobbler sauce. Yields 4 servings.
Church Basement Funeral Bars
⅓ cup melted butter
1½ cups crushed graham crackers
1 cup coconut flakes
1 cup dates, chopped
1 cup candied cherries, chopped
1 cup candied pineapple, chopped
1 cup pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a bowl, combine melted butter with graham cracker crumbs. Pat crumb mixture into a 9" x 13" pan. Then press each ingredient, in a single layer, on top of the crumbs, starting with the coconut flakes, then adding the dates, cherries, pineapple, and pecans. Cover the entire dessert with the sweetened condensed milk. Bake for 20 minutes. Yields 15 to 18 bars.
Winter Salad
1 large head red leaf lettuce, chopped or torn into bite-sized pieces
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. sea salt
½ cup olive oil
1 large apple, chopped
½ cup walnuts
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup feta or goat cheese, crumbled
Place the lettuce in a serving bowl. Put balsamic vinegar, mustard, and sea salt in a blender and blend on low for 10 seconds to combine. With the motor running on low, slowly pour in olive oil until the dressing is well combined. Pour the dressing over the greens and toss well. Add apple, walnuts, cranberries, and cheese. Toss again and divide among 4 salad plates. Yields 4 servings. (Note: For an entree serving, top the salad with a grilled chicken breast.)
Elvis French Toast
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups peanut butter
4 tbsp. honey
½ tsp. nutmeg
8 slices bread
2 eggs
½ cup half-and-half
⅓ cup butter
Syrup
Powdered sugar
Mix together bananas, peanut butter, honey, and nutmeg. Spread mixture on 4 slices of bread, then top with the other 4 slices to create 4 sandwiches. Slice each sandwich into 4 triangles. Mix together eggs and half-and-half. Place butter in skillet and heat. Dip each triangle into egg mixture and cook in skillet, turning when one side is golden brown (about 1 minute per side). Place 4 triangles on each of 4 plates. Serve with syrup and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Yields 4 servings.
Breakfast Burritos
1 (16 oz.) can any kind baked beans or refried beans
6 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. butter
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
⅓ cup chopped green onions
6 (7" to 8") flour tortillas, warmed
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa
