by Cindy Bell
“It’s possible. Depending on when the ropes were tampered with the tent might not have been busy. Shortly before he fell, all of the attention was on the aerial practice. I think an elephant could have run through that area of the tent and no one would have noticed due to the argument between Sal and Rocco.” Detective Crackle frowned. “I’m not saying that there aren’t flaws in the evidence that need further investigation. But I do think it’s time that I speak face to face with Joey, and I can’t do that at the fairground. Or at least, I don’t think that I should.”
“How long until you get the arrest warrant?” Brenda met his eyes.
“Probably about thirty minutes or so.” The detective shrugged.
“We have to go.” Joyce grabbed Brenda’s hand. Before Detective Crackle could call out to them, they were back out the door.
“Joyce, what’s the plan?” Brenda buckled her seat belt as Joyce started the car.
“I don’t know just yet, but I know we only have thirty minutes to figure it out. Once Joey is arrested, I doubt that he will behave himself, and no matter whether he’s innocent or not, he will face even more charges for trying to escape or for attacking a police officer, that police officer being Detective Crackle.”
Chapter 18
As Joyce drove back towards the fairground, Brenda’s phone rang. She was about to turn it off, when she saw that it was Charlie. She hadn’t spoken to him at all that day. If she didn’t answer, he would think it was strange.
“Hi sweetie.” She tried to push down her nerves as Joyce swerved around a slow-moving car.
“You slipped out this morning before I got up, and I had something to tell you. Sophie, don’t you dare!” Charlie pulled the phone away from his mouth, and the rest of his words were muffled.
“What’s going on? Is Sophie okay?” Brenda frowned.
“Yes, she’s fine. She’s just decided that she wants to be a toothpaste artist.” Charlie sighed.
“Toothpaste washes off, you know?” Brenda pursed her lips.
“Not off my briefcase.” Charlie groaned. “Get your paints out, Sophie, we’ll make a big picture.” He cleared his throat. “Listen Brenda, I found something last night.”
“While you were working on your article?” Brenda grabbed the dashboard as Joyce swerved again.
“I finished that, then I started working on the case. I was trying to find some more information about the people that worked at the circus. Any old articles about the circus itself. I came across one that was interesting, and I did a little more research to confirm. About five years ago there was an accident at the same circus. It was when Cecilia’s father was in charge of it. It was during a practice, so it wasn’t publicized very much. But it caused enough of a stir to get a blurb in a paper.”
“An accident?” Brenda looked over at Joyce, then switched the phone on to speaker phone. “The phone is on speaker. Did the accident involve Cecilia?”
“Yes, how did you know?” Charlie’s voice echoed through the car.
“Joey mentioned that Cecilia was in an accident.” Joyce turned the car onto the road that led to the fairground. “What did you find out?”
“Apparently, Cecilia was training to take over the lead role in the aerial show. Rocco was training her. But during one of their practices, she slipped out of his hands. They weren’t on the highest platforms, so she only broke her leg. I dug into her medical records and found out that she was in therapy with a group that specializes in extreme breaks. My guess is that her leg was shattered. Which would be a career-ender. She wouldn’t have been able to continue on as a trapeze artist.”
“Remember how she stumbled?” Joyce pulled into the parking lot of the fairground. “The way she grabbed her hip. I knew something was wrong.” She put the car into park. “Did you find out anything else, Charlie?”
“Only that there is a ton of financial strain on the circus. It started not long after her accident and has continued since then. Cecilia’s father died with almost nothing to his name. I’m surprised that the circus is still afloat. Where are you two? I heard the circus is moving on.”
“We’re just going to move the truck.” Brenda bit into her bottom lip as she held back the truth. What was the point of worrying him?
“Do you want me to come over and help? I can leave Sophie with Dawn next door.” A hint of urgency entered Charlie’s voice.
“We’ll be fine, don’t worry. I’m going to share this information with Detective Crackle, okay?” Brenda took the phone off speaker and put it to her ear. “Tell Sophie I’ll be home soon.”
“Okay, I will. Love you, Brenda.”
“Love you, too.” Brenda ended the call then turned towards Joyce. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That Cecilia is the one who killed Rocco?” Joyce met her eyes. “All this time she’s been acting as if Rocco was one of her favorite people, but if he did drop her, if he did shatter her leg and prevent her from being the star she wanted to be, then that is plenty of motive. She also had the knowledge and the opportunity to tamper with the bar.”
“And now she’s trying to pin it on Joey?” Brenda opened her car door. “We have to get to Joey before Detective Crackle does. We have to make sure he knows what is happening.”
“But we have to make sure Cecilia doesn’t find out our suspicions either. I’m going to call Detective Crackle so we can at least tell him what we know.” Joyce hurried after Brenda. As the phone dialed, she raised it towards her ear, however before the phone reached her ear, she heard a bellow in the distance. She dropped her phone back into her purse as she jumped. “What was that?”
“It had to be Joey.” Brenda broke into a run towards Joey’s tent.
Joyce did her best to keep up and managed to remain only a few steps behind Brenda. When they reached the tent, they heard the loud groan again.
“Joey?” Joyce shook the flap of the tent. “Are you okay?”
“Go away!” Joey demanded.
Brenda pulled open the flap and stepped inside. The moment she did, she realized her mistake. Joey wasn’t alone. Cecilia stood beside him. Brenda turned back in time to see Joyce step inside the tent as well.
“Do it, Joey. They’re here. Just like I warned you they would be. They’re here to hurt both of us, just like they hurt Rocco.”
“No!” Joey shouted. “I won’t let them hurt us!”
“We’re not here to hurt you, Joey.” Brenda’s chest tightened as she realized what a dangerous spot she had walked into. “We’re here to help you. We didn’t do anything to Rocco.”
“Yes, we are.” Joyce gazed up at him.
“Joey, they are lying! They’re here to hurt us.” Cecilia stared up at him. “They want to break apart our family. We can’t let them do that.”
“Cecilia, I can’t hurt them.” Joey frowned as he rested his hand on her shoulder. “It wouldn’t be right. If they killed Rocco, we must tell the police. If they think I did something bad, then I need to tell them the truth.”
“No, Joey.” Brenda stepped boldly forward. “We don’t think you did anything wrong. Cecilia is the one who did something wrong.”
“What?” Joey stared at her. “Don’t talk that way about her. Cecilia is beautiful, she is a wonderful person.”
“Joey, I know you must care for her deeply. But she’s lying to you. She’s the one who killed Rocco, and she tried to set it up so that the police would think it was you. She stole your shoes. She planted the red wig in your tent. She wanted you to take the fall for Rocco’s murder.” Joyce’s voice trembled as she inched closer to him. With her short stature, Joey’s size seemed even more overwhelming.
“No!” Joey’s loud voice made Joyce jump. “I said, don’t talk like that about her.”
“Joey, think about this. Rocco was your friend.” Joyce held her hands up in the air. “He cared about you. He made sure that you got everything you needed, everything you couldn’t afford. He wanted to help you even when there wasn’t enou
gh money for you to buy what you needed. Why wasn’t there enough money? Why did all of you struggle so much when the circus was doing so well? Why weren’t you being paid properly for helping behind the scenes?”
“Keep quiet.” Cecilia growled and shifted closer to Joey. “She’s lying to you, Joey.”
“There was never enough.” Joey sniffled. “That’s why Rocco had to deal with those criminals. So we could all eat, and have clothes to wear. We did lots of shows, but there was never enough money.”
“Why is that, Cecilia?” Brenda locked her eyes to Cecilia’s. “What happened to all of the money from the shows? Did Rocco find out what happened to it? Was it funding your shopping binges?”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Cecilia gulped her words out. “You’re going to have to do something to stop them, Joey, or they’re going to take us both to jail.” Cecilia glared at them both.
“No!” Joey suddenly shouted. “No one is taking Cecilia to jail!”
Brenda stepped in front of Joyce as Joey took a step towards them.
“Why would you send Cecilia to jail, she would never hurt Rocco?” Joey frowned.
“She wants you to go to jail, Joey, for something that she did. She’s trying to frame you.” Joyce stepped around Brenda and stared up at Joey. “She stole your shoes to leave shoeprints to make it look like you were the one who tampered with the rope that Rocco swung from. She left hair from a clown wig on the rope, so if it was found that Rocco was murdered it would look like a clown tampered with the ropes. She didn’t do anything to protect you, Joey. She wanted one of the clowns to go to jail, she was prepared to send you to jail, so that she wouldn’t have to go.”
“No, no, no.” Joey placed his head in his hands as his shoulders began to shake. “It’s not true. Cecilia is a good person!”
“Maybe she used to be, Joey.” Brenda glanced over at Joyce, then looked back at Joey. “Before she lost her dream of becoming a star. That was Rocco’s fault, wasn’t it?”
“He dropped me on purpose!” Cecilia suddenly shrieked. “He did it on purpose because he didn’t want me to become a star! He knew that my father would put me as the lead in every show, and he didn’t want that to happen. I felt him let go of my hands!”
“Rocco would never do that.” Joey lowered his hands and stared at Cecilia.
“He would, and he did.” Cecilia glared at Joyce and Brenda. “He ruined my life! Then he wanted to do the same thing to Paisley. When Slappy told me they had been sneaking around, I followed them. I saw him teaching her. I knew that he would ruin her life, too! I tried to warn her away from him, but she wouldn’t listen. She was so determined.” She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. “She reminded me of me. I knew exactly what I wanted, and I would do anything to get it.”
“That’s when the binge shopping started. When Rocco dropped you.” Joyce’s voice softened as she gazed at the woman that she’d once considered sweet and intelligent. “Because you were trying to fill the void, you were trying to get what you wanted, but nothing was ever enough. What you wanted was to be a star.”
“Maybe.” Cecilia shrugged and rolled her eyes. “I never really thought about why when I shopped. I just enjoyed it.” She looked over at Joey. “It doesn’t matter. Joey knows that it’s his job to protect me. If anyone tries to hurt me, he will make sure I’m safe. Won’t you, Joey?”
“Yes, I’ll always keep you safe, Cecilia.” Joey spoke in a quiet voice. He rubbed his large hands together as his shoulders slumped. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, though.”
“You don’t have to, Joey.” Brenda reached out and gently touched the curve of his elbow. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. You don’t have to protect Cecilia, and you don’t have to hurt us.”
“I miss Rocco.” A tear slipped down Joey’s cheek. “He was such a good friend.”
“He just pretended to be your friend, Joey. It was all a lie.” Cecilia huffed and grabbed his other arm. “I’m your friend. I’m the one that has always looked out for you. Remember how Rocco said you could do his special anniversary clown show with him? You were training so hard for it, but he was never going to let you do it.”
“You wouldn’t let him.” Joey sneered. “He told me you told him I couldn’t be in it. He wanted to include me, but you said he couldn’t. You told him he couldn’t, Cecilia!”
“That’s not true.” Cecilia’s eyes widened. “You know it was Rocco. He put a stop to it.”
Joyce looked over at Brenda who had slid her hand into her purse. Joyce watched as she tried to pull out her phone.
“Don’t you do it.” Cecilia lunged towards Brenda and tackled her to the ground. “Don’t you make a single call.” She wrestled the phone out of Brenda’s hand.
Joyce lunged towards the two of them, but before she could interfere, Joey wrapped an arm around her.
“No, don’t do that.” Joey sighed.
“Brenda,” Joyce gasped as Brenda struggled to get to her feet.
Cecilia tucked Brenda’s phone into her pocket, then turned towards Joyce.
“Get her phone, Joey. Or they’re going to call the police to lock us up.” Cecilia started towards Joyce.
Joey suddenly turned and stepped in front of Joyce. He placed his hands on his hips and glared down at Cecilia.
“No. You don’t touch her, Cecilia. Leave her alone.”
“Joey, think about this.” Cecilia stared up into his eyes. “Where are you going to go if this circus gets destroyed? Who is going to be your family? Without me, there is no circus!”
“The publicity from the fall could ruin the reputation of the circus.” Joyce shook her head. “Why would you risk the circus?”
“People forget.” Cecilia sighed. “I didn’t risk anything.”
“You shouldn’t have hurt Rocco.” Joey scowled. “He was a good person. He was my friend. He helped me.”
“Oh please, Joey, I’ll help you, all right? I’ll pay you as much as you want. Now, just get rid of them!” Cecilia pointed at Joyce and Brenda, who had moved closer to Joyce.
Joey turned slowly to face the two of them.
“You don’t have to do this, Joey.” Brenda grabbed Joyce’s hand.
“Do it now, Joey!” Cecilia gave him a light shove from behind. “Let’s go! We have to get out of here before anyone else finds out. I will protect you. I promise.”
Joey lifted his hands into the air. They trembled as he reached towards Brenda.
“I’m so sorry.” He sniffled.
“Joey, don’t!” Joyce gasped. Before she could step in front of Brenda, Joey reached past her, and grabbed the flap of the tent. He ripped it so hard, that the entire flap came off.
“Joey, what are you doing?” Cecilia huffed. “Stop that!”
“There!” Charlie’s voice echoed from a short distance away. “In the tent!”
“Charlie?” Brenda’s heart skipped a beat. “Charlie! Help!”
“I won’t hurt them.” Joey let the flap of the tent fall to the ground. “You shouldn’t have ever hurt Rocco. He didn’t mean to hurt you that day. His hands slipped. It was an accident. He used to tell me about it all the time. He felt so badly about it.”
“He was lying.” Cecilia’s voice trembled. “He did it on purpose, so that he could be the star!”
“Rocco was your family.” Joey placed his hand on Cecilia’s shoulder and looked into her eyes. “You shouldn’t have hurt him.”
“It’s okay, Joey, help is on its way.” Joyce stepped closer to him. “You can let Cecilia go.”
“No, I can’t.” Joey sniffled. “She killed Rocco. She wanted to hurt you. I can’t let her go.”
“It’s okay now.” Brenda caught sight of a group of police officers as they headed in their direction, along with Detective Crackle, and Charlie. “The police are coming.”
“The police,” Joey gasped and spun around to face them. “No. No.” He shook his head.
“Joey,
it’s okay. They aren’t coming for you.” Brenda looked into his eyes.
“You’ll be fine.” Joyce smiled at him.
“They’re lying, Joey! You have to stop all of them now! We’re going to lose everything!” Cecilia tore at the material of the tent in an attempt to find a way to escape. But Joey, Joyce, and Brenda, blocked the only exit from the tent.
“Joyce! Brenda! Come out of the tent!” Detective Crackle pointed his gun in Joey’s direction.
“Don’t!” Joyce held up her hands. “Put it down! Put it down now! It isn’t Joey. He isn’t going to hurt anyone.”
Detective Crackle hesitated as he locked his eyes to Joyce’s. Then a second later he lowered his weapon.
“It’s Cecilia you want.” Brenda took a deep breath as Detective Crackle gestured to the other officers to lower their weapons. “She’s the one who killed Rocco.”
“Brenda!” Charlie called out to her as an officer held him back from running to her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Brenda smiled at him to prove it, though her entire body trembled.
“I kept them safe,” Joey whispered. “I didn’t hurt them.”
“Yes, you kept us safe, Joey.” Joyce smiled at him. “Thank you for helping us.”
As Cecilia was handcuffed, Charlie finally broke free of the officer that held him back.
“Brenda!” He threw his arms around her.
“I’m okay, I promise.” Brenda laughed as he held her tighter. “What are you doing here?”
“After I spoke to you, I knew that you wouldn’t just go back and get the truck. I knew that you would try to speak to Cecilia. I got worried, so I came out here to make sure that you didn’t do anything risky.” Charlie raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. “Turns out I was right to be worried.”
