Toni Donovan Mysteries- Books 1-3

by Helen Gray

  She pulled to the edge of the street and turned onto Battlefield. When she glanced in the rear view mirror to check behind her before changing lanes, she noticed a pair of headlights in the distance make the same lane change. Another pair of lights did the same behind that one.

  A ripple of unease threaded through her, making her muscles tense and her mouth go dry. She pushed the accelerator a little and watched behind her in the mirror. The lights sped up as well, keeping pace, but staying well behind her. She switched to the center lane. The lights switched too. That was when she called herself stupid for leaving the apartment alone.

  Fully alarmed now, Toni sped up and veered back onto the right lane, seeing street lights in a blur. Suddenly the headlights bore down on her, moving up on her tail. Then she was rear ended with a jolt that hurled her head forward into the steering wheel. She jerked back and shook her head against the pain. It took her a moment to realize that the ringing she was hearing was not her head, but her cell phone.

  Heart thudding, Toni wrested the van back under control, blinking repeatedly in an effort to clear her vision. She reached over and grabbed the phone, but before she could answer it there was another sickening sound of metal against metal. Her forehead hit the steering wheel again. In desperation she jerked her head back and held onto the wheel. She jammed her foot down on the accelerator, the phone still ringing in her hand.

  She flipped it open, peering alongside her on each side of the street and charging forward. “Lo,” she yelped.

  “Toni! This is Quint. I’m behind you, and I see what’s happening. There’s a private school up the road two or three blocks. When you get there, pull into the parking lot. You hear me?” he demanded when she didn’t respond.

  “Yes!” She was struggling to hang onto the phone, keep the van in the road, and look for the school. Seconds later she spotted the parking lot. Steeling herself, she dropped the phone and yanked the wheel hard, making a sharp turn that had her tires squealing and the van tilting. As the wheels left the highway, the dark car behind her swerved and caught the edge of her bumper as it flew past.

  Fighting the wheel and riding the brakes, Toni tried to regain control, but the van spun in a half circle and slid across the asphalt. Dimly she saw her purse fly in the air and land in the floorboard. There was a sudden explosion of air bags around her, and then the van came to a jolting stop.

  Stunned, she sat gasping for air and trying to comprehend what was happening. Looking up, she realized that the van had reversed direction and was sitting facing the highway. Up ahead, the car that had hit her had stopped, reversed, and was now coming back toward her. In a daze, she ran a hand over her eyes, trying to clear her vision, and fumbled beside her on the seat for the phone. Miraculously she found it and wrapped her hand around it. Clutching tightly, she stumbled from the van.

  The black car backed up past the entrance, stopped, and shot forward. It came to a screeching halt just a few feet from her. Moments later her attacker emerged and came toward her with a tire iron raised in one hand. A baseball cap and the near darkness obscured an identity.

  Backing away, Toni started to run. Just as she did, Quint’s pickup squealed into the lot and screeched to a halt next to the black car. Looking back over her shoulder, Toni saw her brother leap from the truck before the sound of the motor had died away, and break into a run. He made a flying leap at her pursuer, taking him down in a bone jarring crash. The tire iron went clattering across the parking lot.

  Her hands trembling, Toni dialed nine-one-one. She was giving the operator their location when a police car came flying down the street, lights flashing and siren screaming. It veered into the lot.

  “Never mind. Help is here,” she said, dimly comprehending that Quint had already summoned assistance.

  Sprawled on the parking lot, her assailant was now face-down with his arms pulled behind him. The tire iron and baseball hat lay on the asphalt beyond him. Toni stepped forward and gazed down, recognizing the highlighted tips of hair that was no longer covered. As she suspected, it was Corey Franklin.

  Quint looked up at Toni while snapping cuffs into place on Corey’s wrists. “I’ve been following you all week. I’m glad I did.”

  Standing, Quint let the officer who had just arrived help him yank Corey to his feet.

  Corey gave Toni a wild glare. “She forced me to do it,” he yelled. “She blackmailed me.”

  “Do what?” Toni asked. “Are we talking about Sonya Finch?”

  “Of course,” he sneered derisively. “She’s running things now. She made sure Barry couldn’t shoot off his mouth or take over.”

  “The knife is yours, but she got her hands on it and used it to make you kill Barry. Is that what you’re saying?”

  “That’s it,” he yelled. “She was with Coach the night he came to meet me at the park. After our fight, she came looking for him and grabbed the knife. She threatened me with it when she wanted Barry shut up. Told me I had to do it. Said I could work off my debt and she wouldn’t give the knife to the police.”

  Toni looked at Quint. “When your detectives take his prints, they’ll find they match the unknowns on their murder weapon.”

  He grunted. “Yeah, yeah.”

  “I’ll take him in,” the officer, whose name badge read D. W. Rogers, said to Quint. “Soon as Chilton gets here to take care of that car, you can bring your sister down to make a statement.”

  Quint released Corey to officer Rogers, who marched the boy to his cruiser.

  Toni’s attention traveled from that scene back to the young man’s car, noting its black color. Garrett’s words, ‘watch the black car,’ came back to her. But something didn’t feel right. The phrasing nagged at her. Her youngest son didn’t predict things. He just found things.

  Then it came to her. Maybe he had not said, ‘watch the black car.’ Maybe he had said ‘watch in the black car.’

  “Wait!”

  The officer and Quint both jerked their heads around. “What’s wrong?” Quint asked.

  Toni stepped next to him so she could speak without being heard. “I think you should search that car right now.” She repeated what had just occurred to her.

  Quint gave her a long hard look. “That kid’s spooky,” he said at last. “And his track record is even spookier.”

  He knew details about the two previous murders Toni had helped solve had been kept confidential, so he understood why she didn’t want to explain to another officer.

  When he turned abruptly and headed to the car, Toni was right behind him.

  He peeked inside. “The keys are in it.”

  Toni watched him lean inside the open door, look under the seats, and run a hand under them. Then he opened the glove compartment, being careful to touch as little as possible. He pulled a pen from his pocket and used it to probe the contents.

  Finding nothing, he pulled the keys from the ignition and backed out of the car. “Nothing,” he muttered.

  Toni followed him to the rear of the vehicle and watched him pop the trunk and raise the lid. He peered inside. “It stinks back here,” he said, waving a hand in front of his nose. “Smells like something dead.”

  “The knife was a hunting knife,” she reminded him. “He probably hunts and puts dead game back here.”

  They surveyed the contents. A spare tire. A jack. A pile of camouflage hunting clothes and a pair of boots. A small gas can and some camping gear. “Nothing out of the ordinary that I can see,” Quint said.

  Moving to one side a bit, he peered down at the spare tire. Then he reached down and ran his hand between the tire and the cavity in which it was mounted. When he pulled it out, he held a small plastic bag.

  Toni moved closer as he opened it and looked inside. When he looked up, he was grinning. “Why do you think Corey has a watch stashed back here?”

  “Let’s ask him,” she suggested.

  Together they walked over to the cruiser where Officer Rogers stood waiting by the driver’s door. Cor
ey glared at them through the glass of the back window.

  “We need to ask your passenger something,” Quint told the officer.

  Rogers opened the door and pressed a button to lower the rear window.

  “Care to tell us why you had this hidden in your trunk?” Quint asked Corey.

  Corey glared and clenched his jaw. “I took it because I didn’t want him to have it. It was an expensive gift Mom couldn’t afford. It was bad enough when she got involved with him the first time because she thought he would get me a scholarship. Well, he didn’t do it. Then he left the school. I thought their affair was over, but it wasn’t.” He was red faced and rigid, his fists clenched in his lap.

  “What happened?” Toni asked.

  “It was so stupid,” Corey said, his mouth starting to tremble. “She started up with him again and let him keep stringing her along, even while he was hitting on his buddy’s wife. She loved the jerk and robbed her savings to give him that special gift for his birthday.” His emphasis on the last phrase was harsh and sarcastic.

  “But was that enough reason to kill him?” Toni asked, stunned.

  He shook his head sharply. “He didn’t get me the scholarship. He was treating my mother like dirt. And he wouldn’t cut me an inch of slack.”

  She got it. “You mean he was pressing you for payment of your gambling debts.”

  “Yeah. Now leave me alone.”

  Another cruiser with flashing lights veered into the lot. “Let’s go,” officer Rogers said, sending the rear window glass up and getting into the vehicle.

  Epilogue

  “Hey, Mom.”

  Toni looked up. Gabe stood in front of the caves on the far side of the bridge, aiming a pair of binoculars at her. She waved.

  Satisfied, Gabe turned and trotted over to join Garrett at the entrance to the biggest cave.

  The plan had been to barbecue at the Donovan home, but the boys had wanted to come back to Sequiota Park. It was so hot that they had the place practically to themselves. Only a handful of people were out in the sweltering hundred degree weather.

  Following the meal, Kyle’s parents and Toni and Kyle sat in lawn chairs near the picnic table to visit. The food had been cleared away except for a cooler of drinks and a covered cake pan still sitting on the table.

  Quint, who had eaten with them, strode across the lawn, returning from a trip to his pickup on the parking lot. “I picked up a paper this morning,” he said, tossing it to Toni.

  She caught it.

  “I thought you might like to see it.” He dug a soda from the cooler.

  Toni unfolded the newspaper and saw the front page headline, TEENAGE GAMBLING RING BROKEN UP BY POLICE.

  She began to read.

  While investigating the death of Jesse Campbell, the coach from Ozark who was murdered at Sequiota Park, the Springfield Police Department uncovered a local gambling operation. Headed by Mr. Campbell, the setup was sophisticated and dealt in huge amounts of money. Students from several junior high schools, high schools, and colleges in the area were involved. Police have arrested eighteen people and issued warrants for twenty others. An unspecified number of students have been released under restraining orders. A significant blow has been dealt to local sports gambling operations.

  Law enforcement officials say they believe Barry Kuzman, the young man who was murdered last Sunday, was a bookie for the organization. The motive appears to have been to prevent him from giving details of the gambling operation to police.

  Corey Franklin, a student at Ozark Technical Community College, has confessed to murdering both Mr. Campbell and Mr. Kuzman. He has implicated Sonya Finch as the person behind the attempt to take over the operation after the death of Mr. Campbell. According to Corey, she knew he was the person who killed Mr. Campbell and blackmailed him into killing Mr. Kuzman to silence him.

  Police are still identifying students involved in the running of the operation, as well as those placing bets. Names of juveniles are not being released. The students placing bets are not expected to face charges, although they may be subject to disciplinary measures by their schools. Further details are being withheld due to the continuation of the investigation.

  When Toni finished reading, she looked up at Quint.

  “Satisfied?” he asked. “They kept your name out of it like you wanted.”

  “Relieved,” she said. “I don’t want any publicity.”

  “Or Garrett’s name involved. I understand.”

  “May I see that?” Barb Donovan dragged her lawn chair over next to Toni. “What’s wrong with giving Garrett credit for finding that body?”

  Toni and Quint exchanged a quick glance of regret at having said anything in her hearing.

  “He found things in the other two cases I was involved in,” Toni explained to her mother-in-law. She gave her a brief overview of those cases.

  “That’s amazing,” Barb said when Toni finished. “I had no idea he did such things.”

  “We prefer to keep it private,” Kyle told his mother.

  “We respect that,” Dan Donovan said, having been a silent listener. “And I agree with you.”

  Barb didn’t say anything, but it was easy to see that she was not convinced. She dropped her eyes to the newspaper and began to read.

  “I need to go get ready for work,” Quint said, finishing his soda and rising from his chair. “I guess the next time I’ll see you guys will probably be Thanksgiving.”

  Lost in thought, Toni watched him walk away. Kyle’s touch on her hand startled her.

  “Let’s go for a walk,” he said, his tone and look conveying that he wanted to talk privately. Her inner muscles tensed. He hadn’t said anything about his job decision yet, so she guessed that was what was coming.

  She stood, her hand still in his.

  “We’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said to his parents.

  As they strolled alongside the lagoon, Kyle was quiet. Toni wasn’t sure what to expect. Her stomach clenched at the thought of hearing that they must start packing to move. She shoved her free hand in the pocket of her shorts to steady it.

  When they reached the end of the lagoon near the woods, Kyle steered her onto a small nature trail. They progressed a few yards to a small clearing next to the stream fed by the water from the spillway.

  “Let’s stop here,” he said quietly. He turned her to face him, his expression so grave it scared her. She braced to hear that she needed to put the house on the market.

  Kyle swallowed and cleared his throat. “I’ve decided what I want to do about my job. But I need to know your feelings about it.”

  Toni pulled her hand from her pocket and gripped both his hands with hers, but she didn’t speak. She just waited.

  “The transfer is still available,” he began. “But I don’t really want to uproot us. It’s not that I think we can’t adjust. It’s that we’re happy in Clearmount.”

  Toni’s heart lurched with hope, but her throat was so tight she could hardly speak. “But what kind of job would you find in Clearmount? I don’t want you to give up the work you love.”

  “I wouldn’t,” he said. “I would work for myself. I’ve been contacting people this week. There’s some acreage I could buy, and I’ve located a plane that’s for sale in a doable price range. I’ve talked to Gary at the bank, and he says I can get the financing.”

  Toni’s heartbeat quickened as his words began to slowly penetrate. “You want to start your own business,” she breathed, hardly able to believe it.

  “Only if you agree with the idea,” he cautioned. “It would take everything we can scrape together, plus financing, to get started. It would be an unbelievable amount of work, and it could take years to become profitable.”

  “What are you doing, trying to get me to talk you out of it?” Toni fought to keep her voice steady.

  “No, I just want you to understand that there are risks involved.”

  Toni gave him a steady look, and then she smiled. �
��You’re a hard worker and dependable. You have a strong sense of commitment and a fair amount of business sense. I know you wouldn’t have made such a decision without having prayed about it. I believe in you.”

  As for her, she knew that struggles and trials would not disappear, but she could trust God to give her peace in the midst of them.

  The somber look on his face was replaced by a wide grin, and he pulled her to him. “Thank you for the support.”

  “I can’t wait to tell the boys. They’re getting old enough to help out some, and I’m sure they will love having you around more. We’ll make it a family challenge,” she said with fervor. Then she buried her face in his chest to hide the dampness in her eyes.

  His arms tightened around her, and his head bent to hers. Just as he kissed her, they heard a shout nearby.

  “Mom! Dad!” It was Gabe, searching for them.

  Within seconds there was the sound of rustling in the woods near them, and then Garrett shouting, “Here they are. I found ’em.”

  The End

  BOOK 4

  Rivaled

  in

  Murder

  High school science teacher Toni Donovan cares about her students, so she sympathizes when two girls in her sixth hour class are devastated over the shooting of their close friend at the neighboring school they used to attend.

  Once again drawn into solving a murder case, this time in a rival school where two teens

  have been murdered, Toni must learn about rivalries and happenings behind the scenes. Can she help the police uncover the truth and bring a killer to justice?

  Available HERE

  HELEN GRAY grew up in a small Missouri town and married her pastor. While working alongside her husband in his ministry, she had three children, taught school, became an amateur ventriloquist, and directed/accompanied church music programs. Now that she is retired and the children are grown, she has resumed the writing she began when they were small.

  Her stories are meant to honor God and depict Christian lives and problems as she knows and observes them. If her writing in even a small way touches others, she considers it a blessing and thanks God for the opportunity.