We’d almost reached the second floor and I knew the only one who could do anything was me. I tried to keep calm by taking deep breaths, while I frantically searched my mental arsenal. And then I had an idea. I wasn’t sure it would work, but it was my only hope. I wished there was a way to signal Ben. I had to hope that he would understand and react fast enough. I took another deep breath and stepped on to the second-floor landing. I grabbed at my throat while opening my mouth and made a loud gagging sound.
Ben’s reaction was instantaneous. ‘She’s choking,’ he yelled. And it seemed like time stood still.
Just like the man with the choking woman at the fondue restaurant had, Rex froze for a split second, but long enough for Ben to knock the knife away and kick Rex’s foot from under him. I was flung against the banister as Rex fell down the stairs, hitting his head on the newel post and knocking himself out.
And just like that it was over. Ben called it in. Rex was just coming to as a flood of uniforms poured into the vestibule.
‘Still no elevator, huh,’ Detective Jankowski said in a tired voice, before we climbed the stairs to my apartment. His wrinkle-proof suit still looked crisp, but his eyes looked worn out. We had already gone over the basics in the downstairs lobby. He had taken the recipe out of Rex’s pocket before the paramedics had taken him to the hospital to be checked out. Rex’s next stop was being booked and then jail. The flurry of uniformed officers that had shown up had taken care of gathering the knife for evidence. They’d also dealt with all the neighbors who’d opened their doors at all the racket. Basically, in their usual brusque manner, the officers had told them the show was over and there was nothing more to see. I was going to have to give them a better explanation than that, particularly to Sara who looked aghast as I passed by her place on the way back upstairs. I assumed she saw her brother accompanied by a detective as well.
Detective Jankowski already knew that his cop instinct about the circumstances around Ted’s death had been wrong and that I, the amateur sleuth, had gotten to the truth. I hadn’t said anything about it and neither had he.
He took a heavy breath as we walked into my place. The detective with Ben came in just behind us and we all stood in the entrance hall for a moment. Knowing police procedure would require that the cops speak to us separately, Ben suggested he and his escort go into the dining room.
‘We could start there,’ I said to my detective, pointing into my office. The metal box was open on my desk and all the drawers were still pulled out.
‘Ms Blackstone, you should have given me this a long time ago,’ he said poking through the box with a pencil so as not to disturb it as evidence.
‘I didn’t know about it until a day ago,’ I said. He cocked an eyebrow and then let it relax. He’d probably realized it was best to let it go, for fear I might bring up his mistake thinking Ted had been killed in a drug burglary. I wasn’t even going to mention what I knew about the non-existent cough syrup with codeine since it didn’t matter anymore. I was truly glad not to have to mention what I’d heard Lewis say since I had clearly misinterpreted it. I felt better about accepting the earrings Laurel had given me. I loved the tiny blue disk with a crescent moon and a rhinestone star. I would have felt too uncomfortable wearing them if it had turned out her brother killed Ted.
Eventually the detective and I sat down in my office. I let him have the burgundy wing chair and I sat at my desk. More than once he looked around as if hoping a cup of his overly sweetened, milk-laden coffee would appear.
The adrenalin rush had mostly disappeared as a sense of relief set in. I was alive and had time to change the list of attributes. I could make more memories, loosen up and have some fun. There were a lot of questions and it seemed to go on forever. The detective wasn’t happy when I started discussing whether Rex had really been looking out for his sister when he followed Ted, or was it worry about losing his control of the business. ‘How about you stick to the facts,’ he said, stifling a yawn.
The detective wanted to know my relationship to Ben and how he had walked in on Rex holding the knife on me. It was pretty straightforward. I told him that Ben was in my writing group. His sister lived downstairs and sent up some of their leftovers after the group. Ben left the door on the latch while he went to get the food.
‘Then he’s not your boyfriend?’ the detective asked. When I said no, the detective looked a little judgy, like maybe he was seeing me as a single woman with a cat, etc., who got mixed up in trouble because she was love-starved. I let it go. When I asked him what would happen to Rex, he gave me a tired look and said it was for a judge to decide.
The night sky had grown pale by the time I walked the detective to the door. Ben and his detective came from the back at the same time. The two men walked out together and Ben and I went into my living room and flopped on the couch side by side.
‘That was something,’ I said.
‘Are you all right? No nicks from the blade that need first aid?’
‘I’m all good,’ I said, leaning back in the couch.
‘Good move to do the fake choking,’ he said.
‘Good move to figure out what I was doing,’ I said. ‘Thank you. You pretty much saved my life.’
‘But only because you set it up,’ he said.
I looked over at him. ‘You look pretty chipper considering being up all night.’
‘It’s cop training,’ he said. ‘I should probably go home.’ He stretched and seemed about to get up.
‘Before you go, I need to say something,’ I began. He sat back on the couch and turned toward me. I reminded him of what he’d said when he’d arrived at the writing group. ‘You said things had gotten out of hand last week.’ I took a breath and continued. ‘I just want to tell you that I’m sorry. The slow dance, the offer of the room.’ I stopped, trying to think of how to continue. ‘I know you said you were still getting over your divorce and you didn’t want any kind of romantic entanglements. I know the dance and the room offer made you feel uncomfortable and maybe that I was pushing you across a line or something. Anyway, I’m sorry.’
He just stared at me for a moment and then his lips curved into a smile. ‘That’s what you thought?’ He shook his head with disbelief. ‘I wasn’t uncomfortable at all. If anything I was way too comfortable in the half a slow dance we did. You said you were gun shy after your divorce and you didn’t want to get involved in anything. I was afraid that if I had you in my arms any longer, I was going to cross the line from friendship into something more. I like you and I was honoring what you said. And staying overnight?’ His eyes went skyward. ‘I didn’t want to take a chance of losing what we have.’
‘Then you didn’t run out the door because you were freaked out at being so close to me.’
‘Nope, not freaked out in the least.’ He put his arm around my shoulder. ‘See. I’m not running to the door.’ He looked over at me, seeming to be evaluating something. ‘And you don’t seem to be pulling away either.’
‘So where does that leave us?’ I said.
‘I think we’ll have to figure it out. But for now, how about we grab some breakfast at the place on the corner. They should be just opening. Then I have to go to work.’
As we passed Sara’s door, he leaned in and whispered with a chuckle, ‘Sara finally got her wish. We spent the night together.’
TWENTY-SIX
I figured if Ben could go to work and be a cop all day after the night we’d both had, I could function, too. There were texts and phone calls galore as the story hit the news. Sara sent a text with a big question mark. I couldn’t possibly explain it all typing with one finger and promised to give her the whole story in person … well, almost the whole story. I was going to leave her thinking my relationship to Ben hadn’t changed.
But in the meantime I still had work to do. Tired as I was, I sat down at the computer feeling inspired by all I’d been through to work on the Derek Streeter manuscript. I didn’t need to look at the hard copy to know where I was. I was c
arrying the story in my mind now. All I had to do was open the Derek Streeter Bk 2 file and start to type. I’d left him in a locked room with no way out and suddenly the answer came to me as I remembered something I’d read about a man who built armoires that opened on to secret rooms. I changed it a little bit and when Derek found the false back of the armoire and slid it away, he found a secret passage that led outside. I laughed out loud as I pictured Derek tipping his hat and thanking me for finding him an out before he jumped into an Uber and took off for the private terminal at the airport where he met a tall woman named Jewel. I sat back in my chair and smiled. I knew now that I could finish the manuscript. And maybe, like Tizzy said, there would be a book number three.
Ben called me during his meal break. We talked for a little while, still confused about exactly where we were. The only thing for sure was that being each other’s plus one was back on, starting with the engagement party. ‘You can tell Theo to stand down,’ Ben joked.
The rest of the day was a blur and I fell asleep in my clothes.
I was back ready for action on Thursday. I took all the notes from my clients and worked on their pieces. Six hours went by and it felt like five minutes. Rocky came and went and came back in the room and seemed surprised that I was still there. I finally got a chance to fill Sara in on what had happened, though by then she’d heard the story from Ben. Without me saying anything to him, he’d left out our change of status, too.
On Friday, I was ready to go back to my clients and show them the changes I’d made and talk about what had happened. My first stop was Handelman’s. When I saw Lewis, I wanted to hug him and congratulate him for being innocent, but then he didn’t know that I’d thought he was guilty.
Laurel was there with her niece and nephew and snagged me the first chance she could and suggested that Lewis and Emily look over the stock in the back room for a few minutes. By now the whole story with Rex and Ted/Tony and my part in it was all over the neighborhood. Here it comes, I thought as we stood in front of the counter.
‘So you wrote those letters,’ she said, looking at me. The only thing I could do was what I’d been doing a lot of – apologizing. I explained that I’d fallen for his charm and agreed to work in a different way than I usually did. ‘But will never do again,’ I said.
She had gone to the police with her story, but had insisted on keeping her identity a secret. ‘I’m just so embarrassed about it,’ she said.
‘You shouldn’t be,’ I said. ‘You got free of him before he did any real damage. You didn’t give him the lump sum he wanted.’
‘It was pure luck and Lewis,’ she said. ‘He just told me what he did. When I first asked my financial advisor to get the money for Todd, as I knew him, he mentioned it to Lewis. My nephew felt uneasy about it, but he didn’t want to say anything to me. He asked my advisor to stall releasing the money. It led to Todd going from Dr Jekyll into Mr Hyde. Lewis did me a big favor even though I was heartbroken at the time. I feel terrible for Cocoa. Maybe when some time has passed, I’ll let her know he duped me, too. She has to deal with the whole thing with Rex as well. It seems a pretty extreme length to go for a recipe, but then I don’t know what I’d do if someone ripped off one of my designs.’ I thanked Laurel for the earrings and showed I was wearing them. ‘And now let me get to why you are here.’ She called Lewis and Emily out to join us.
I showed them the new version I’d created. I had the story how the store had started and placed it in a time where service was what all stores offered. I had put in some photos Laurel had sent from the early days of happy kids getting their shoes fitted, reaching in the prize jar and watching the cow going over the moon. Then I’d added a heading that said times change, but little feet don’t. There was no other store like it in the city. The next section spoke of the present and included the photos I’d taken and the quotes from the moms. There was a quote from Lewis on how they gladly took returns, but there were very few because they made sure the shoes fit before the kids left the store. A section was devoted to how much time they took with every child, letting them walk around the store. I’d included the hopscotch mat I’d suggested so the kids could try out the shoes in action. I’d already researched it and told them where they could get one.
Lewis was going to start uploading it to their website as soon as I sent everything to him electronically. On its own, the cow started her trip over the moon and we all laughed.
I went to see Haley next. I stopped in front of the place and looked up at the banner across the front. Though she’d never told me, she was using my suggestion for the name of the place. I felt a little thrill as I read Coming Soon: Fro-Zen. The door was unlocked this time. When I walked in I did a double take. Cocoa LaPorte sat on one of the stools. Haley looked up with a tense expression. ‘Meet my investor and my mother,’ she said. I must have looked puzzled. ‘Hess is my father’s last name. She’s always gone by LaPorte.’
Cocoa gave me a wan smile. ‘I’m sorry for everything. I can’t imagine what my brother was thinking. Well, he wasn’t thinking. He was trying to be the big brother even though I’m the older of us.’ I let her go on, even though I didn’t have the same take on why Rex had done what he did. ‘I’m hoping that the court will be lenient with Rex.’ She hung her head sadly. ‘If there’s any upside, my daughter and I have made peace. She’s willing to listen to my advice and I’m OK with the final decision being hers.’
Haley nodded. ‘It’s kind of like what you said,’ she said, looking at me. ‘I’m going to stop trying to reinvent ice cream. I’m going to go for special instead of weird. So no whitefish-flavor ice cream. I’m going to keep most of the flavors I had you try, but I’m also going to have flavors like a dense chocolate ice cream with pieces of my grandmother’s famous cake embedded in it.’
‘That sounds like a winner,’ I said. ‘I suppose I’ll have to rewrite this now,’ I said, looking at the pages in my hand.
‘Not completely. Please leave in the part about me being an alchemist,’ she said. ‘And I have a new flavor for you to taste.’ The scoop had vanilla ice cream swirled with ribbons of golden honey and studded with California almond. It was both delicious and different.
Before I left I asked Cocoa how what had happened would affect the plans for LaPorte’s expansion.
‘We’re going ahead with it. Rex’s sons will handle the new places and my daughters will help me. My mother is already back working. She didn’t like being pushed out by Rex.’ I asked her if she still wanted my services.
‘You mean because you wrote the letters?’ she said and I nodded.
‘It’s not your fault. Your intent was to bring happiness to a couple. We were all victims of him.’ She had a sad smile and I gave her a hug.
Zooey’s was my last stop this time. We had communicated by email and she’d left comments on what I’d written which I’d now incorporated. We still had drinks she needed descriptions for, but the end was in sight. She was dressed in a colorful caftan and had a scarf over her hair. Her eyes widened when she saw me. ‘I’m glad you’re OK.’ She reached out and grabbed my arm and held it as her words started to tumble out. ‘I had no idea that Uncle Rex would do anything like that. But my mother should have known better. I thought she was seeing someone, but I had no idea that it was Ted or that she was going to marry him. It’s doubly creepy now how he came on to me.’ She stopped and noted the stunned look on my face. ‘You didn’t know Cocoa is my mother?’
‘You never mentioned your family and you said you just wanted to go by Zooey.’
‘Guilty,’ she said. ‘I was trying to make my own way. I didn’t want everybody connecting me with LaPorte’s.’
‘So, then Haley is your sister?’ I said, still processing what she’d said.
‘My twin to be exact, though it’s fraternal twin. We both wanted to do our own thing. Now we’re all going to help each other and my mother. Next time you come in, I’ll have the family chocolate mint cake, but with a twist. I convinced my mot
her to make it in squares.’
Just then Rita came in dressed in a suit and heels. She started to give Zooey her order as she caught sight of me. She looked at me as if she thought she knew me, but didn’t know from where. Zooey filled her in on who I was. Then Zooey told Rita her mother was Cocoa LaPorte.
Rita put her head in her hands while she waited for her coffee to brew. ‘If he wasn’t already dead, I think I’d kill him,’ she said.
When the writers’ group met the next time, before we got down to business we talked about Rex and Ted. Ed wanted to hear how Ben had saved the day. Ben gave me most of the credit for my plan. He was still keeping his cop persona around them, but every now and then, when he looked my way, his eyes lit up. Daryl was overwhelmed with the whole story and just listened. Tizzy’s brows were locked in a furrow. ‘It’s all my fault. I should never have told Rex about the love letters and you letting that guy keep stuff in your desk.’
I accepted her apology just as the others had accepted mine. Tony or Ted had conned us all in one way or another. I thought back over my reaction to him. The writer in me wanted to find the right words to describe the effect he had on people. The best I could come up with was that he made you feel special, valued, and as though whatever you were saying was the most interesting thing in the world. His looks were charismatic. Just looking at the way his eyes danced made you want to smile and keep gazing at them. I was still upset with myself for having been taken in by him. Obviously, it hadn’t been to the degree of Laurel, Cocoa, Lois or Rita, but enough so I’d done things I felt uncomfortable about doing and almost gotten killed for it. I hoped I’d learned something so it wouldn’t happen again.
While Ted’s death had just been a small story in the newspaper that didn’t make it to the TV news, the whole episode with Rex made it all over the media. Rex was charged with attempted kidnapping of me while they figured out the charges in Ted’s death. Rex’s attorney was already claiming it was self-defense. But there was the issue that it was in the midst of a burglary. The crazy part was that the story really became about Ted and his assorted aliases. How he charmed his way into the lives of women and then hit on them for money. The point was that they were smart, successful women who no one would expect to fall for a con.
Writing a Wrong Page 23
