by Terry Shames
During the questioning, she swore that she never meant it, but in Holly’s session, she said she kidnapped the women because she thought it would please her mother. When her mother told her the salon had two clients, Elaine Farquart and Loretta Singletary, who had signed up to meet men on a dating website, Holly took it from there, thinking they were the perfect victims for revenge.
“I didn’t know what Holly had done until she called me out to the farm to surprise me,” Lucy said under questioning. “And there they were.”
“She had already kidnapped both women?”
“That’s right.” She hangs her head. “It was horrible when poor Elaine had a heart attack and died. But that wasn’t my daughter’s fault.”
“Why did your daughter run over the body?” I asked.
“She wanted to make it look like a hit and run. We thought that would be the end of it.”
One of the questions I wanted answered was how they had lured Elaine and Loretta in.
It was pretty much what we had speculated, except instead of a man luring them, it was Holly. She called Loretta, claiming to be the sister of the “man” she was supposed to meet. She said he had had a fall and needed to go to the emergency room, and that she was in San Antonio and couldn’t get there right away. She asked if Loretta would go over and take him to the hospital, and she’d get there as soon as she could. Loretta, being a Good Samaritan, said of course she would, but when Loretta got out to the farmhouse, it was Holly who met her, not the man she expected. Holly might not be the brightest person in the world, but she had a certain animal cunning, and she knew enough to make the call from the pizza place and then make up some marketing promotion as cover.
“And she came back to your place to pack your suitcase?” I asked Loretta.
“She was crazy, but she wasn’t mean. I told her I had to have my medicine and some clothes, and she went to my house, packed a suitcase, and brought them to me.”
“Let me ask you this. I caught an intruder in your house. Could it have been Holly?”
“It most certainly was. I convinced her that I had made notes that might lead you to her, so she went to my house to look for them.”
“Why did you tell her that?”
“Samuel, I was desperate to think of something. I thought maybe she’d make a mistake, maybe leave fingerprints so you could identify her. Or maybe somebody would catch her in the act.”
“I almost did.” I tell her that Holly knocked me down when she ran out when I caught her in Loretta’s house.
“See? It almost worked!”
“I wish it had. You must have been scared the whole time. Why do you suppose they spared you?”
“Lucy saved my life. Her daughter had it in mind to kill me.”
“She told you that?”
“No, but I know she did. The first couple of days were terrible. She kept whispering to her mamma, and Lucy would say, “No, you can’t do that.”
“If she wanted to save your life, then why didn’t she just let you go?”
“I don’t know why. Maybe she didn’t want to upset her daughter. You know, that girl has problems. What Lucy did was set me up to teach Holly to cook. I’m pretty sure she was stalling to buy time to figure out how to get me out of there.”
I remembered Lucy’s friend saying that she had offered to teach Holly to cook because Lucy wasn’t very good at it. “And Holly was all right with that cooking scheme?”
“At first she was, but I didn’t know how long her interest would last. She was a terrible student. Had no sense of timing or taste.”
During the debriefing at headquarters in Bryan, Laguna had asked whether Holly ever hit her.
Loretta got a haunted look. “She slapped me once when I got impatient with her.” She shook herself. “But really, she was just an unhappy girl. I guess she was her daddy’s pet, and when he left she went to pieces.”
Laguna wasn’t having any of it. “You’re awful generous, Ms. Singletary, but the fact is that she kidnapped you and put your life in danger. She’s going to prison for a good long while.”
“Oh, my goodness. I wish she hadn’t done that. I have to blame her parents. Her daddy for leaving and her mamma for putting ideas in her head.”
Now, sitting on the porch, I say, “I’m glad we got you back.”
“Oh, you just like my cinnamon rolls.”
“That too. But there was that business with the preacher and all the ladies marching in front of the Catholic Church. We needed you then. If you’d been around, you would have talked some sense into them.”
She takes a sip of coffee. “I don’t know what got into them. They let that silly Jolene Ramsey talk them into it. I think she was a little bit smitten with Reverend Becker.” She chuckles. “Speaking of which, there’s a little more to say on that subject.”
“What’s that?”
“We’re going to be looking for a new preacher.”
“Well, that’s good. I didn’t care for him all that much.” I’ve kept Becker’s story to myself, figuring I’d give him time to get out of town gracefully.
“He told us his wife couldn’t put up with small-town life, and he wanted to move on.”
“Move on where?” I ask cautiously.
“He has been hired at a new church out in west Texas. Amarillo.”
“What?”
The vehemence of my question startles her. “What’s wrong with Amarillo?”
I don’t know what to say to her. “Amarillo isn’t the problem; it’s that the Baptist Church decided to foist him off on yet another congregation. I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
“What aren’t you telling me? What do you mean foist him off?” So, I tell her. About my venture into the world of Internet dating to try to find her and about tricking the good reverend into sending me a photo. And I mention tracking down his old workplaces and finding out that he had left under a cloud.
“Why did you go to all that trouble?”
“Loretta, I thought maybe Becker had kidnapped you. You don’t have any idea how worried we all were.”
“I do understand that, but why would you think the handsome and distinguished Baptist preacher would be interested in an old turkey like me?”
I could say it’s because I was out of my mind with worry and not thinking straight, or I could tell her that I thought he was after money, not companionship. But Wendy’s face comes to mind, and I think I know what she would like to hear if she were in that situation. “Because you look good all fixed up, that’s why.”
She plumps herself up a little. “Well, I’d better be getting along. We’re having a meeting about putting out the call for a new preacher.”
“Let me ask you something,” I say. “Don’t you think it’s hypocritical for the church directors to keep sending Becker out to new places, knowing what they do about his fooling around?”
“You know, Samuel, Reverend Becker won’t be middle-aged and handsome forever, and one of these days he’ll get his comeuppance. That’s not for me to decide.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My editor, Dan Mayer, and the team at Seventh Street Books that works hard to put out lovely books deserve the highest praise. I also appreciate my fellow Seventh Street Books authors, even those who have wandered away. You are always there with words of wisdom, encouragement, and humor. You are awesome.
Many writing instructors and authors have helped me become a better writer over the years. There are too many to name, but many of you pop up in my writing life weekly. When I face the blank page, you are right there with me, helping me make the leap.
Acknowledgments would not be complete without a tip of the hat to my agent, Janet Reid. Having a good agent is like standing on bedrock. In a hurricane. Or an earthquake. Feeling that solid ground means that I’ll survive.
And always, to David.
Note to Readers: If you enjoyed this book, please consider writing a review on Goodreads or Amazon. Thank you, and happy reading!
> ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Terry Shames is the author of A Killing at Cotton Hill, The Last Death of Jack Harbin, Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek, A Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge, The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake, An Unsettling Crime for Samuel Craddock, and A Reckoning in the Back Country, the first seven Samuel Craddock mysteries. She is the coeditor of Fire in the Hills, a book of stories, poems, and photographs about the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire. She grew up in Texas and is fascinated by the convoluted loyalties and betrayals of small-town residents. Terry is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.
