by Sam Cheever
Hal would keep her for me. I knew he would.
Hal… So many opportunities lost. Love just beyond reach. It was tragic. But we’d experienced so much in the short time we’d been together. We’d become a couple.
I knew he and my dog would mourn me. Just as I’d mourned my parents…
Mother!
I wanted to rail and scream and pound my fists into the hateful creature ripping me from the world of the living.
I’d just found my mother again, and I was going to lose her.
It was so unfair.
Finally, I lost my awareness of everything beyond that clogging terror, my entire world wrapped around a single, terrifying sensation.
The agony of suffocation.
Then, miraculously, the pillow lifted. Not much. But enough for me to get a whisper of air.
I played dead, hoping she’d leave. But she wasn’t paying attention to me.
She was half-turned toward the door as something thumped against it. There was another bang and it crashed open, slamming up against the wall behind it.
A banshee yell accompanied the lean, shrieking form of a woman, who propelled herself across the room so quickly my attacker barely had time to react.
The banshee threw herself at the woman with the pillow and they both crashed to the ground, shoving my bed sideways as one of them banged into it with a grunt.
I was so busy pulling wonderful, life-giving air into my lungs I didn’t even notice Hal striding into the room at first.
But I couldn’t have ignored my dog if I tried. Caphy leaped onto the bed and covered my face with kisses. So many kisses, in fact, that she was in danger of suffocating me all over again.
A big hand reached out and tugged her off my face, but left her on the bed with me, snuggled up against my side and whining pitifully.
“Are you all right?” Hal asked. He bent over me, pushing hair away from my face.
I managed a weak nod but my eyes kept trying to close.
“We need a doctor, stat!” Hal yelled.
A big woman who had carrot-colored hair and wore a pair of cotton scrubs flew into the room. “You can’t bring that animal in here!”
“Hush, girl! The dog’s staying. Go get the doctor as Mr. Amity said. And make it fast.”
At the sound of my mother’s voice, my eyes came open again. I watched her unfold herself from the floor as the nurse skedaddled back out into the hallway. She shoved golden hair off her face and looked my way, a beatific smile breaking out on her face. “Joey.” Tears slid down my mother’s face as she saw me. “I was terrified we wouldn’t get here in time.”
So was I!
My mom wrapped her arms around me and I finally relaxed, crying tears of pure happiness.
Doctor Lee came into the room. I was vaguely aware of him and Hal having a conversation, before I let my mind wander back to the woman crooning soothing nonsense words into my ear as she cried silently along with me.
My dog climbed onto my belly and closed her eyes, sighing happily now that she had me trapped beneath her.
Hal yanked my attacker off the floor and dragged her, none too gently, out of the room.
Doctor Lee yelled for a nurse and, a moment later, a male nurse was injecting something into my IV. Strength started to return to my limbs a few minutes later, and I was finally able to wrap my arms around my dog and my mom.
I was speechless with happiness. I’d gotten my life back. And I’d gained a mother. Life was nearly perfect.
I only wished so many other people hadn’t had to die or suffer for my happiness.
Hal hovered over me, pestering me with questions about how I felt and if I needed anything. It became overwhelming, but I knew he was hovering for more than one reason.
Edward Johnston was in the wind. Belle must have warned him that we were getting too close. Or maybe it was Pru’s investigation into his background and Handy Loan.
Pru had called that morning, the day after I returned home from the hospital, to report to Hal that Edward Johnston’s little visits into Indianapolis had been all too suspiciously timed to the deaths of Garland Medford’s enemies. Ten in all. And the payouts from Handy Loans happened just two days after each murder.
Handy Loans’ ownership was buried under so many layers that Pru had almost given up before finally uncovering the name of the original owner, Larice Medford, Garland’s long-dead mother.
Also, a search of the Johnston’s home verified it was Edward’s DNA that Pam had isolated on Caphy’s leash.
The connection was clear. Edward Johnston killed people for pay. The sixty-five-year-old man was a contract killer. Pru had informed us he was over a decade younger than he’d led everyone to believe, probably to further the idea he was just a harmless old man. It was genius really. Even I hadn’t seriously believed Edward and Belle were responsible for all the attacks because of their age.
Once Belle Johnston was in custody, Arno and two techs from the Indianapolis electronics division found an offshore account in the Cayman Islands that held a few million more dollars.
From all the signs, the Johnstons had been whacking people for a very long time.
I was still amazed at that. I’d known the Johnstons all my life. And, like Devon Little, they’d carried around secrets that seemed too incredible to be real.
I was a terrible judge of character. I said as much to Hal as he handed me a steaming cup of tea. He shook his head, lifting my legs and sliding under them before tucking the blanket firmly around my calves again.
“They fooled everybody, Joey. Not just you.”
I knew he was right. But still… “Has my mom called?”
“Not yet. But she promised she’d check in as soon as she and Devon reached their destination. Wherever that was.”
After finally getting my mom back, I’d had to say goodbye to her again. Garland Medford had lawyered up and disavowed any connection to the Johnstons’ beyond paying them for legitimate financial counseling.
Pru and the FBI were working feverishly to find a connection they could use to bring Garland down, but to that point, they hadn’t found so much as an email to use against him. Since the girlfriend who’d allegedly stolen from him had been misidentified in the plane crash, nobody even considered he might have been responsible for her death. And whoever my father’s friend was who asked him to spirit the woman away, he or she wasn’t coming forward with any information.
So, my mother had to stay in hiding for a while longer. I hated it. But at least I knew she was alive. And I knew I would see her again in the future.
“How are you feeling?” Hal asked me for the hundredth time since bringing me home.
I sighed. “Why don’t you go home for a while? I’m sure you have things to do, and I need…” I bit off my words before I told him I needed to be alone. “…to rest. I’m just going to take a nap with Caphy.”
Hearing me use her name, Caphy’s head popped up from the rug where she was sprawled not too far from the couch. She jumped up and bounced over, leaping onto the couch and stretching out alongside me as I scooted over.
Hal shook his head. “I could go get something to make for dinner tonight.”
“Good idea.” I thought of Junior. “Is the store open?”
“Yeah. Junior’s back. And his memory’s returning too. He remembers talking to Edward Johnston back by the pharmacy. About suppositories…”
Hal winced. And I laughed. “Seriously? That guy was really good at acting old and feeble.”
Hal nodded. “Junior says he turned away to pull a box off the shelf and something slammed into his head. He doesn’t remember anything after that.”
“Edward hit him over the head like he did Penney Sellers.”
“Yeah. And Madge too, it turns out. Which reminds me, I forgot to tell you, your friend Sally called this morning while you were in the shower. Madge came out of her coma. It looks like she’s going to be okay. They found her in time and got the poison out of her system b
efore it did any real damage.”
“Oh good. That’s a relief. Has Arno figured out how they were involved? And Penney too?”
“We think Penney saw Edward at the hangar that day when she was snooping around. He was probably looking for Devon.”
My eyes went wide. “He was going to kill him?”
“Or threaten to in an attempt to find out where your mother was.”
I frowned. “You see, that’s the part I don’t get. Why does this Garland guy want my mother? His girlfriend’s dead. My parents didn’t have anything to do with her stealing his money.”
“I don’t think it was Garland who wanted her dead. I think it was the Johnstons. My guess is Edward Johnston reported to Garland that he’d killed your parents, but the girl escaped. He might have even accused Devon of helping her. Which would explain why Johnston was stalking him that day. He’d want to make sure Devon didn’t talk either. If Garland knew the girlfriend was dead, he’d start wondering where the money ended up.”
I shuddered violently at the thought of how close we’d been to coming face to face with a killer.
Hal patted my leg, giving me an understanding smile. “If I had to guess, Johnston got to the crash site that night before anybody else did, and took the money from the wreckage. If Garland finds out he has that money, he’s dead.”
“And he’s worried my mother knows about the money and would talk if she was asked about it.”
Hal nodded. “Exactly. Not to mention, if he believes she saw him at the site, he also thinks she can point a finger for their murder at him.”
“But she didn’t see him. I’m sure she would have told us. Or gone to the police.”
“Probably, but it doesn’t matter if she did or not. What matters is that Johnston believes she did.”
“Okay, that all makes a twisted kind of sense. But why go after Madge and Junior? And why did Belle come after me?”
“Belle went after you because she was afraid you’d figure out that Edward had killed your father. But if you ask me, after listening to Arno’s interview with her, I just think she hated your mother so much she wanted to cause her pain. There would be no better way than killing you.”
“Plus, it would have drawn my mom out.”
“It did draw her out. When Sally told us Belle Johnston was in the room with you, we panicked, and your mother took off. I could barely keep up with her.”
“I can’t believe she came out of hiding.”
“When she heard what happened, I couldn’t stop her.”
“By the way, how’d you get to her place without being seen?”
“Through the woods on the 4-wheeler. Caphy enjoyed the run.” He smiled.
“I’ll bet. What about the others? Why did the Johnstons attack them?”
“Arno’s talking to Madge now. She’s got some short-term amnesia, but she remembers Penney calling her that day, telling her she ran into Edward Johnston at your place and that she tried again to get him to sell. Penney apparently had a soft spot for high-end homes, which was why she was particularly aggressive with you and the Johnstons. When Edward figured out that she’d told Madge, he was worried he’d be implicated in her murder.”
“And I’m guessing he was right. Madge told Junior about Penney seeing him there because she wondered if Edward could have had anything to do with Penney’s death.”
“Yep. And since she and Junior were having a fling…”
I’d already put that part of it together. I nodded. “The day I walked into the realtor’s office to speak to Madge, she’d obviously been busy with somebody. I heard whoever it was sneak out the back. And after seeing them arguing that day at Junior’s Market…”
Hal nodded. “Junior believed Penny, and by association Madge, had been playing him for a fool to steal his store.”
“But why would he think that?”
“Because Penney had been going around checking out all the homes and businesses in town, asking a lot of questions about them as if she were trying to assess their worth. It does no good for a thief to steal a title for a property that can’t be borrowed against.”
“And, as realtors, they’d be in a perfect position to determine the value of properties,” I added. “Makes sense.”
“There’s no indication Madge was involved in the theft. The journal you found seems to suggest Penney Sellers was involved in title fraud. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she’d been working with someone else though.”
“My money’s on George Shulz,” I said.
Hal looked surprised. “Why?”
“Because I don’t like him. And because I’m pretty sure he took money from Edward to tell him where my Uncle Devon was staying.”
“You could be right. It would explain how Johnston knew to look at that outbuilding on your property.”
I nodded.
A rusty yowl sounded from the floor, and I looked down. LaLee jumped up by Hal and rubbed herself along his thigh before climbing onto my belly and walking up to smear her face over my cheek. The happy rumble of her purring filled the room.
I didn’t move for fear I’d scare her off.
Hal sneezed several times. “I forgot to take my allergy drugs this morning.”
The cat jumped up onto the back of the couch and draped herself there, her eyes closing as she amped up the purring a few decibels.
“I keep expecting her affectionate rubs to turn into an attack,” I whispered to Hal.
“Why are you whispering?” he asked me, grinning.
“I’m kind of afraid of what would happen if I startled her.”
He shook his head. “Well, now that things have settled down, you can concentrate on rehoming her.”
The cat’s eyes shot open. She glared at him as if she understood.
I chewed my bottom lip.
Hal noticed. “You’re thinking of keeping her, aren’t you?”
I shrugged. “I’m really not…”
“Not what? Thinking about it, or keeping her?”
I stared at the purring cat, remembering Pam telling me that she’d like to get a new cat. Deep down, I knew Pam would give her a good home.
Still…
“Joey?”
My gaze slid to his and I saw humor lighting the dark green depths. A weight that had been sitting on my chest eased away. I gave him a slow smile. “I’m really not thinking about rehoming her because I guess I’ve already decided that Caphy needs a sister to keep her in line.”
Hal barked out a laugh. Both animals glared at him for waking them up.
I laughed too. “You don’t mind?”
“Of course not. It’s your home and your decision.”
“I know, but you’re allergic, and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“If I take my meds I’m fine. In fact, she hasn’t bothered me as much as I expected. And, strangely, she has kind of grown on me.”
“I know, right?” I carefully reached up and scratched LaLee between her pert, black ears. She stretched out her long legs and then hissed and smacked my hand.
Caphy’s head came up and she barked.
LaLee hissed again and stood, stretching languidly before jumping off the back of the couch.
Moving slowly, cautiously, Caphy walked around the couch to see what LaLee was up to. A moment later the chase was on.
I wanted to bet on Caphy as they rounded the steps and headed for the kitchen. But the cat was hot on her heels, and I was pretty sure there was a nose scratch in my poor pitty’s near future. Although, having seen them that morning, snuggling together in a warm ray of sun near the couch, I was just as certain my two fur babies would eventually become best friends. And my world would be all the richer for it.
* * *
The End
Read More Country Cousins Mysteries
Did you enjoy Mucky Bumpkin? As my gift to you, enjoy Chapter One of Spunky Bumpkin, Book 3: Country Cousin Mysteries.
In a small country town, justice might be swif
t…but rumor is swifter!
* * *
My name is Joey and I’m just a simple country girl. Nothing special at all. Well, except for the fact that I tend to find bodies all over the place. But aside from that I’m just like everybody else.
Oh, then there’s that really big secret in my past. The one that involves my parents dying in a fiery crash and me finding out that the person who caused their deaths might be after me too.
But none of that matters right now. What matters is that I have a problem. My friend, Deputy Arno Willager just arrested his mom for murder.
He’s devastated. And to make his problems worse, his mom’s beloved elderly dog is in bad shape. Yeah, long story, we’ll get into that later.
Arno’s mom…well…unfortunately she can’t remember a thing. So Hal and I─oh, Hal’s my boyfriend and he’s a PI─are trying to help Arno figure out who killed the troublemaker his mom was standing over with a bloody knife. Yeah, it’s quite a mess.
But with the help of my best friend Caphy (my Pitbull) and Hal, I’m pretty sure we can suss out a killer.
After all, we’ve done it a few times already!
Get Spunky Bumpkin at www.samcheever.com/books
Spunky Bumpkin
CHAPTER ONE
* * *
I was a soggy, sobbing mess. I’d known I shouldn’t let Hal talk me into watching a movie about a boy and his dog. That never ended well for the dog.
Hollyweird just loved making pet lovers miserable.
On the screen, the eighteen-year-old gave his sad-eyed dog, which had been at his side since he was a small boy, a negligent wave and walked out the door, heading off to college and new excitement…without his faithful canine companion.
The dog sank dejectedly to the boy’s bed, nose on paws and liquid brown eyes sad enough to make a serial killer sob, and I broke down into loud, inconsolable sobbing of my own.
Hal looked alarmed. He tried to move closer to wrap an arm around my shoulders, but Caphy was having none of it. If there was consoling to do, she’d be the dog to do it.
