The Feed Store Floozy (The Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mystery Series)
Page 16
“Now what are you thinking?”
“Did you know that the feed store—when it was a grocery store, back during Prohibition, was a sort of way station for illegal alcohol?”
“In the middle of town? Across from the police station?”
“People, even the police, turned a blind eye to that sort of thing sometimes. To prostitution, too. I mean, when the Depression hit, everybody had to make a living somehow.”
“I see what you mean.”
Penelope stood up and strolled toward the French doors with what she hoped was a casual air. “And history repeated itself—didn’t it, Darby?”
Darby’s eyes darkened. She tapped the candlestick against her palm again.
“Back then it was bootleg hooch. Now it’s pot. That’s what Harvey was growing out there, and he was going to move it through the antique mall, wasn’t he?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Darby was a coiled snake, ready to strike.
“Sure you do. I don’t know how Brice found out the history of the place—maybe the same way I did, by researching it, but he figured it was a good way to make some money. Money that wasn’t yours. But you found out.”
Penelope eyed the distance between herself and the front door.
“Brice wasn’t smart enough to pull off all that. He tried all right, but my money financed our business and educated our daughters…and I wasn’t going to let him give any of it to a stupid backwoods clod for a marijuana crop!”
“Wasn’t that smart? So he’s dead, too.”
“He got what he deserved.”
“From you?”
“I wish it had been me.”
“Harvey then.”
Darby laughed. “He was a fool.”
“Did he kill Brice for you, so you had to kill him to keep him quiet?”
Darby set down the candlestick and reached into her purse.
The gun…I’m going to be the fourth person it kills.
“I underestimated you, Mrs. Pembroke. I thought bringing you the daybook would tie up all the loose ends and satisfy your curiosity, but I was wrong. When you drew that timeline, and your son showed such an interest in it, I knew you wouldn’t let go of this.”
“So now you’re going to get rid of me.”
“The gun belongs to Brice.”
“But Brice is dead.”
“No one will ever find him. Harvey Hadden swore to that. So it will look like Brice struck yet again and disappeared.”
Penelope licked her dry lips and tried again to gauge the distance to the front door. I’ll never make it. She’ll shoot me and get away before anyone knows what happened…and Daddy and Sam will find me…Hail Mary, full of grace, blessed art thou among women and…
The voice from the small, unused office opening off the parlor belonged to Bradley. “Drop the gun, Mrs. Dolan.”
Darby spun around and fired a single shot which went wild and lodged in the mantel. She brought her hand up to fire again when a familiar arm came out of nowhere and sent the gun spinning across the floor.
Penelope stood frozen to the floor as she watched Bradley spring out of the office and handcuff Darby Dolan. Then she saw Sam, his face contorted with something beyond anger, stalk out of the parlor toward the front door.
****
“Sam, you’ve got to quit sneaking up on me this way!” Penelope pivoted on the third stair and twisted in his arms until she could see his face.
“Why?”
She gave herself up to the warmth of his body. “I don’t know. It’s been three weeks and three days this time. Not even an email after I laid out that ghastly amount of money for the laptop.” She touched his face. “You saved my life—and Bradley’s.”
“Nothing so dramatic. Parnell Garrett and Rosabel were positioned as backup.”
“You didn’t go downtown with Daddy after all.”
“I got him out of the way, then made an excuse to leave. Brad knew Darby was ready to tip her hand when he saw her in town last night. Ostensibly, she was getting things ready to be moved out of the shop, but he had a feeling she wasn’t quite finished here. Also, he took a dealer from Little Rock to look at the upstairs, and when he found out everything was a reproduction, he added up the evidence again.”
Penelope stared at him.
“Brad’s a good cop, Nell.” He grinned and nuzzled her neck. “Sorry I snuck up on you again.”
“Are you really?”
“I’ll show you just how sorry I am if you’ll let me.”
She shook her head. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“So fill me in on three weeks and three days.”
“I’ll bet you know it all.”
“I might.”
“Being the world-traveler again, I suppose.”
He shrugged. “Your room or mine?”
“The kitchen.”
“Curses, foiled again.”
“You betcha.”
She served him warmed over lasagna and sat down across the table. “I don’t know why I’m telling you anything. You probably already know it all.”
“I like the way you tell stories.” He grinned at her.
“Okay, this isn’t official, but Hal Greene usually gets things straight. Brice bought the building with Darby’s money, but his real purpose was to make enough in partnership with Harvey so he wouldn’t be dependent on his wife anymore. He planned to file for divorce and take off, but not with Jill Jerome. But he made the mistake of shooting off his mouth and getting Wally Powers involved, and Wally brought in Jill Jerome. It was a tangled web. Are you sure you don’t know all this?”
Sam helped himself to a garlic breadstick. “Keep talking.”
“Well, anyway, when he first went upstairs, it was empty. He’d heard about the brothel back during his great-grandfather’s time, so he was pretty disappointed. Then he stumbled on a loose floorboard and found Madeline’s daybook, and somehow he got the idea to use it to embarrass Harry. He knew how proud Harry is of his family and their place in Amaryllis.”
“Sounds like bad fiction to me.”
“He told Darby that much, trying to throw her off what he really meant to do. Beyond that, everything is just a guess, except that it was Darby’s idea to furnish the second floor to look like the girls had just left yesterday. He was going to give tours and really play it up. When the time came, Darby would play Miss Madeline and keep an eye on things at the same time. She’d find out what Brice was really up to. And she did.”
Penelope sat back and observed Sam for a few minutes. “I’ll bet you knew every bit of this.”
“Some of it.”
“You’ve talked to Bradley?”
“A good rule of thumb is never to reveal your source. But you were right, Nell—there was something missing from the timeline, the connection between all the actors in the drama. Brad had started putting two and two together, and then you did it, too. Darby Dolan should’ve let well enough alone with that daybook.”
“I couldn’t imagine why she’d bring it to me.”
“It’s what helped Brad piece all this together.”
“I’m glad for that.” She watched him scrape the remaining sauce onto his fork. “You’re always hungry.”
“I’m a growing boy.”
“Sure you are.” She got up and went to the refrigerator for a carton of ice cream.
****
Sam helped her clean up the kitchen before they went upstairs. “Which way do I go?”
“You know where your room is.”
“Better than I want to.” He pulled her against him. “How about a little hanky-panky before bedtime?”
“I suppose that would be okay. More hanky and less panky, though.”
He chuckled. “You’re something else, Nell.”
“I just wish I knew what you are.”
He traced her lips with the tip of his finger. “Someday maybe.”
“I guess I don’t have any choice.”
; He sat down on the top step and gathered her in his arms. “Just go with the flow, Nell.”
She lifted her face for the anticipated kiss and hoped it would last a long time.
Look for more Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mysteries coming soon from Amazon.
Book 4: The Possum Hollow Hullabaloo
Penelope keeps the B&B slick as a whistle, but when the secrets of a forgotten community set back in the woods begin to leak out, she finds herself in the middle of a mess she can’t clean up.
Book 5: The Larcenous Legacy
The new priest of St. Hyacinth’s brings a breath of fresh air to the parish, but something about an ordination gift from his immigrant grandfather is rattling the bones of evil past and present.
Book 6: Sam’s Last Stand
Tiny the biker, aka Sam, is back again, and Penelope is head over heels in love—but if Sam can’t let go of his dark past, they have no future.
If you’ve enjoyed this book and the two before it, please consider leaving a short review at Amazon.com Penelope will appreciate it—and I will, too. Thanks!