Gluten for Punishment

by Nancy J. Parra

  He had to be kidding me. “It was not a date.” I threw the napkins away. “I wanted to get to know the guy better.”

  “Sounds like a date.” His gaze was intense. “Because you wouldn’t be stupid enough to keep investigating George’s murder by yourself after yesterday.”

  Pictures of my bed torn to shreds went through my head. Fine, the guy did have a point. “I’m not alone.” I sipped my coffee and tried to act nonchalant. “You’re here.”

  He tilted his head as one would when talking to a small child. “I kind of figured you would try something like that. It’s why I’m here.” He shook his head. “I hoped you wouldn’t. I hoped you weren’t really as stubborn as you come off.”

  “Who, me, stubborn?” I was not offended. “It’s one of my finer qualities.”

  “Good to know.” He lifted his coffee cup.

  “Do you think Ralph Kennedy is capable of murder?”

  It was his turn to do a spit take. I handed him a napkin. “Little quiet Ralph? Are you kidding me?”

  “No, I’m not kidding. You should have seen the heavy bank bag he had in his hand this morning. And, hey, he’s not smaller than I am. I mean, I’m tall and all but I’m not as strong as a guy . . . even a guy my height.”

  “Why would Ralph want to kill George?”

  “That’s the $64,000 question, isn’t it?”

  CHAPTER 35

  Tasha and I walked into her carriage house apartment, shopping bags in hands, happy but exhausted. I had spent the last four hours purchasing everything from new underwear to two sets of work clothes. I had read somewhere that ten good pieces were the makings of a great wardrobe. I had eight. That would have to do for now.

  “Thanks for going with me.” I dropped the bags on the floor next to her kitchen island and climbed up on a bar stool. Tasha pulled wineglasses out of her cupboard and opened a bottle of red.

  “It was my pleasure. How does it feel to start your wardrobe from scratch?”

  I rested my elbows on the granite top and put my cheeks in my hands. “On one hand, it’s kind of freeing. On the other, I’m grieving a little. I had a bunch of clothes from Chicago that I’ll never be able to replace here.”

  “That’s it then, we’ll have to plan a weekend shopping trip.” She poured wine into our glasses. “One of the weekends Kip is with his grandma.”

  “Here’s to a shopping weekend in Chicago.” I touched my wineglass to hers and took a nice long swallow. The wine was a burst of grape and berry on my tongue. It warmed me as it went down my throat, and I could feel my muscles relaxing. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful you loaned me some clothes, but I’m glad to be back into my own size.” I waved my hand at the new pair of jeans and long-sleeved V-neck tee shirt I wore.

  “I thought you looked cute in my stuff.” Tasha pouted, her wineglass in hand. “It really didn’t fit you though, did it?” Her smile was contagious.

  “You should have seen Bob Meyer staring at my tight tee shirt in the shop. I had to go and dig out a full chef’s coat to cover up.”

  “That’s funny.” Tasha giggled. “How old is he, ninety?”

  “He’s seventy-two. He told me so himself when I mentioned I catered birthday parties. For a moment, I thought he was going to order a cake just so I could jump out of it.” I slipped off my shoes and enjoyed the wine. “What a long couple of days.”

  “I know.” Tasha pulled her hair out of its professional low ponytail and shook it out. “What are you going to do about your house?”

  “I called my insurance company. Tim said they sent over an adjuster this afternoon. I’ve also hired a company to go in and clean up.” I frowned. “I asked them to toss all the clothing. I don’t want to ever wear anything that monster might have touched.”

  Tasha shuddered. “Ugh. I don’t blame you one bit. You know, he could have not ripped up certain clothes so you would wear them after he touched them.”

  “Eww, creepy.”

  “What about your bed?”

  “I have a new one on order. They’re supposed to deliver it on Tuesday.”

  “Yay! A week of girl time.”

  I sat up straight. “Oh, I’m not going to stay here the whole time. There are five other bedrooms at the house that are empty. I’ll take one of them as soon as Chief Blaylock thinks it’s safe.”

  “Oh.” She slumped her shoulders and pushed out her bottom lip. “I’d hoped you’d stay with me and help me figure out the mortgage thing.”

  “I don’t have to stay here to help. Listen, the bakery is closed Sunday. I can spend the whole morning working on the mortgages with you.”

  The back door was yanked open, startling us both. I might have screamed a tiny bit. A man stood in the doorway, his face shadowed. He was breathing heavily as if he had run three miles. It was only six steps, a landing, and six more steps to the carriage house.

  “Hello, ladies.” He stepped into the light. It was Craig Kennedy.

  Tasha stood. “Craig, what are you doing here? Why didn’t you knock? Have you no common courtesy?”

  “You’re the one who should be thinking about courtesy.” Craig’s voice was low and a bit terrifying. “Where the hell have you been? What is she doing here?”

  “I don’t have to answer that.” Tasha raised her chin. “Have you been drinking?”

  “You need to leave.” I stood and said it firmly as if talking to a stray growling dog. “Go!”

  “Like hell I’ll go.” Craig took a step toward us. “Where’s Kip? Have you pawned the poor boy off on someone else again? A good mother would be home taking care of her son, especially a son like Kip.”

  I stepped between Craig and Tasha. “I said, Go!” I pointed toward the door.

  He narrowed his eyes and dropped his forehead like a bull getting ready to charge. “You can’t tell me what to do, bitch. This is not your house.”

  “It’s not your house either, Craig.” Tasha grabbed the cell phone off the countertop. “You’d better go. I’m calling the police.”

  My heartbeat pounded in my ears. My hand trembled. I straightened to my full height. “You heard her, now go!”

  “You are a meddling bitch. I should have let Ed kill you.”

  My eyes grew wide and my mouth went dry. I grabbed a heavy frying pan off the hanging rack and took a step toward him. “Get out!”

  “What are you going to do, hit me with that?” Craig snorted. “Not likely.” He turned his attention on Tasha. “If you dial that number, you’re going to regret it.”

  “Don’t threaten me in my own home,” Tasha said, and with shaking hands started pushing numbers. “I was right to break up with you. You’re insane.”

  “Don’t!” Craig pushed me hard against the counter, knocking the wind out of my lungs. He grabbed Tasha’s hand and wrenched the cell phone out of it. Then he knocked her to the ground with a backhand across her face.

  Tears sprung into Tasha’s eyes. I recovered my balance and rushed him with the pan still in my hand. I might have growled or cursed. I was pretty scared, but I did manage to catch the side of his head with the pan. Too bad all it did was deflect his head about an inch or two. Now he was really mad.

  He pivoted on his heel and cuffed me good. My head rung as I slammed into the wall. The worst part was that I couldn’t see anything but gray and stars. He grabbed me by the front of my tee shirt and hauled me up. His fist hit my cheek and I bit my tongue. The warm and metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

  A sane person would have run. Clearly, being smacked around had unhinged me because I turned to fight. I wasn’t going to let him beat on me. I had enough brothers to know how to defend myself. I ducked his fist, kneed him in the groin, stomped on his instep, and brought my fist up into his chin. He let go of me and staggered backward. I blinked as my vision returned. I couldn’t tell if I’d hit my marks right. Shouldn’t he have completely crumpled?

  He was bent over but looked up at me with death in his eyes. He rushed me, throwing
his shoulder into my stomach. The air whooshed out of my lungs and he threw me into the wall. The world went black.

  I don’t know how long I was out. It didn’t feel long. I woke up to Craig kicking me. Pain radiated through me like fire.

  Tasha jumped on his back. “Stop it! Stop hurting her.”

  Craig was a man crazed. I could barely see straight. Breathing out through my nose was less painful but barely. I heard him knock her off him. I say heard because the only thing I saw was the floor. I realized my cell phone was in my pocket. We needed help if we were going to get out of this alive.

  Slowly, carefully, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. Turns out the murders and the vandalism had been a good thing because now I had the police on speed dial. I blinked through whatever was getting in my eyes and hit the speed dial. Craig was shouting. Tasha was screaming. I tried not to moan too loudly. I saw the phone light up. I left it on and pushed it out of the way. Maybe, just maybe, someone at dispatch would hear and send help. Or, at the very least be annoyed enough to investigate.

  “I can’t believe you chose her over me.” Craig slapped Tasha. She fell back against the wall. “After all I did for you. After I killed Ed Bruner for you.”

  Holy shit. Craig had killed Ed. I didn’t dare look at the phone. All I could do was hope the dispatcher had heard his confession. I wished I had taped the incident. I mean, what if Sarah didn’t catch on? What if they sent Officer Emry? I should have hit Record.

  “Stop it, Craig Kennedy,” I shouted. It sort of came out as a high-pitched squeal. “Stop hitting Tasha Wilkes, now!”

  I tried to stand. He had grabbed her by the throat and was choking her. “Stop!” I threw myself at him. It wasn’t much, but it was all I had. He tossed Tasha aside like a bag of feed and turned on me.

  “This is all your fault, goddamn it. If you hadn’t interfered, Tasha and Kip would have become my family. My family to watch over and care for.” He slammed his fist into the side of my head. My chin came down on the countertop and I discovered how hard granite could be.

  Craig grabbed me by the back of my shirt and hauled me out of the kitchen and into the living room. I saw the panic in Tasha’s eyes. “Run!” I shouted. “Tasha, run!”

  “No!” Tasha was never one to listen. I saw her struggle to get up and then I was pulled out of view of her and thrown to the floor. Pain blinded me.

  “Now you’re gonna get the beating you deserve for being a home wrecker.” I heard him whip his belt out.

  “Like hell,” I muttered. My face throbbed and my tongue was swollen, but I couldn’t think about that right now. I rolled toward him and tried to knock him down. He stepped over me. I grabbed his leg and bit down hard. Screw it. If I was going to die, then I was going down knowing I had left a mark on the killer.

  He screamed like a girl and tried to kick me off. I clung to him as if my life depended on it and clamped my teeth down even harder. If I had to, I’d take a piece out of him. He grabbed me by the hair and yanked me off. Tears sprung to my eyes, but my hands were free and I reached up and clawed the hand that held me by the hair.

  He growled and I felt the swing in his body before I felt the electric lick of the belt across my shoulders. I had to get up or get him down. He still had my hair. I scissored my legs and got them behind him and up high enough to knock the back of his knees. He fell forward. The motion pulled my hair harder. Tears blinded me. I heard a mighty crash and suddenly I was free.

  I scrambled away and back. My heart pounded in my ears and I wiped my eyes trying to see, to figure out what happened. Someone grabbed me by the shoulder. I reached up and felt a female hand. It was Tasha.

  “Come on.”

  I saw Craig sprawled out on the floor. I put my arm around Tasha, whose face looked like raw meat, and together we staggered to the kitchen. The back door burst open. There was yelling as men rushed inside, guns drawn.

  “Freeze!”

  The words, the noise was too much. We crumpled to the floor. Someone big and warm squatted down beside us. “Are you all right?”

  I started laughing. I couldn’t see. My mouth was full of warm, metallic stuff and there was ringing in my ears. “All right” didn’t quite cut it.

  “Call an ambulance,” the man, whoever he was shouted. “It’s okay,” he said softer and stroked my hair. I winced. “You’re safe now.”

  I realized I hadn’t let go of Tasha’s hand. I turned to try to see her through the stinging wetness and tears. She sat up straight, her back against the kitchen island. Her face swollen and her eyes . . . her eyes glittered.

  “I hope I killed that son of a bitch.”

  That statement made me laugh like a lunatic. She looked at me and started laughing, too.

  Another man—this time I saw it was Officer Bright—squatted down. “How did you know?” Tasha asked. “How did you get here?”

  “Ms. Holmes called dispatch. We have the whole thing on tape.”

  Tasha looked at me. “How did you do that? I tried to dial but Craig . . .” A small sob broke out of her. I squeezed her hand.

  “I hab da police on speed dial,” I explained as best I could with my swollen tongue. “I hid one buddon and hid my phone, hoping id worked.”

  “And it did.” Officer Bright picked up my phone and handed it to me. “Brilliant move.”

  “Did you hear it all then?” Tasha asked. “Did you hear when he said he killed Ed Bruner for me?”

  Officer Bright nodded and patted her shoulder. “We’ve got it all on tape.”

  Then the paramedics were there pushing everyone away, asking questions, shining lights in my eyes, and generally making the pain worse. Somehow I didn’t seem to mind.

  CHAPTER 36

  Luckily, neither of us had any broken bones or internal damage, but they kept us both overnight in the hospital for observation. Just in case. At least they let us stay in the same room. It turns out we only had badly bruised ribs, horrendously bruised bodies, and needed stitches for our faces. We would both be on liquid diets for a short while.

  “I think we need a spa day.” I struggled to sit up in the bed.

  “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts too much,” Tasha responded.

  “That’s what the pain pills are for,” I pointed out.

  “They didn’t give me enough then.”

  There was a knock at the door, which was odd because in a hospital room people came and went whether you liked it or not. We both turned to find Chief Blaylock at the door. “You ladies mind if I come in?”

  “Why not, we’re having a party.”

  He had his hat in his hand. “I wanted to thank you for calling in and giving us Craig’s confession on tape. I’m not sure how admissible it will be in court, but now that we know who did it and why, we can put the other pieces of evidence together.”

  I tried to smile, but it hurt and my cheek was too swollen to move. “Do you think Craig killed George?”

  “Well, now, that’s the twist, little lady.” He ran his hat through his fingers. “Craig says he didn’t kill George and there’s no evidence he did.”

  “Shoot.” Tasha tried to pout, but it didn’t work since her bottom lip was already pretty fat. “There’s still a killer out there?”

  “I’m afraid that’s how we have to look at it. Although, we do have a fingerprint match on Craig and the prints from your house, Ms. Holmes. We’re pretty sure he’s the one who ransacked it.”

  “He was probably the one leaving the threats at my store, too.”

  “More than likely.” The chief nodded. “Don’t you worry none. We’ll see he’s put away for a very long time after what he did to you two. We’ve got him on murder, attempted murder, battery, assault, breaking and entering, and criminal vandalism.”

  “Great.” A weight lifted from my shoulders. “That means I can finally live my life without everyone watching my every move.”

  “I still need you two to come down and give clear statements about what happened
at the carriage house. Now, don’t think you have to come down today. But soon, before the memories fade.”

  “I thought your officers got our statements last night?” Tasha pointed out. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and winced. She had four stitches on her forehead.

  “We have solid preliminary statements,” he agreed. “But it’s always good to come down and see what details you can remember once the shock’s worn off.”

  “Fine.” She leaned her head back against her pillow. “I’ll have to wait until Kip is in school.”

  “That will work for us.”

  “You can borrow Brad if you need a lawyer,” I said. I would have patted her hand but the beds were too far apart.

  “Now, nobody needs a lawyer, ladies. Everyone in town can see how brave you were.”

  “It’s too bad Craig lived.” Tasha shook her head. “He deserved to die.”

  “You really didn’t want to kill him,” I said and flashed my eyes toward the chief. “You hit him in self-defense.”

  “Duh, of course it was self-defense. He tried to kill me. He was in the process of killing you when I hit him. I’m saying it wouldn’t have hurt my feelings if it stuck.”

  “That’s the pain meds talking,” I assured the chief. “Tasha’s a real sweetheart. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

  “Lots of things happen in the heat of a moment like the one you two gals went through.” Chief Blaylock grinned. “You two take care and come down to the station, all right?”

  “We will.” I tried to be perky.

  “And Ms. Holmes, I’m pretty sure you no longer have to worry about threats and such. I’ve got the lab going over those bank deposit bags looking for blood evidence and fingerprints. I’m sure we’ll have Craig nailed for George’s murder as well.”

  I tried to smile but I think I only managed to drool. “Thanks.”

  He nodded and headed out. I grabbed a tissue and blotted at my mouth. “Why did you tell the chief you wanted to kill Craig? Are you nuts? He might have to tell the prosecutor and you could be charged with, I don’t know, manslaughter or something.”