“It’s finally…over…” Sarah whispered and kicked Connor's rifle away from his hand and then slid down onto the floor and covered her face. The hideous snowman appeared before her eyes with a vicious grin on his face. You can't kill me, Sarah...I'll always come back in one form or another...you can never kill me. “Maybe not,” Sarah said, “but I can save my girl.” Sarah opened her eyes, looked around the kitchen, and then grabbed Connor's rifle. “One more snowman to take care of,” she said, ran into the front room and then exploded out into the storm. Mittens was waiting for her. “Let's go, girl!” she yelled over the icy winds and heavy snow and began fighting her way down the street. As she did, a loud bang followed by a bright flash came from the police station. Sarah stopped fighting her way through the deep snow. “The trip wire,” she said. “Come on, Mittens, we have to hurry!”
While Sarah got her legs moving through the deep snow again, Amanda crashed down onto an icy floor, fighting for her life, as heavy green smoke began to fill the air. “I'm going to kill you!” Robbie yelled, reaching for Amanda's throat. Amanda, coughing from the smoke spewing out of the grenade, managed to fight Robbie's hands away.
“Get off of me!” Amanda yelled and began clawing at Robbie's eyes. Robbie grabbed Amanda's hands and shoved them away from his face.
“I'm not going back to prison!” Robbie yelled and managed to wrap his right hand around Amanda's throat while holding down her left arm. Amanda began choking. She threw her right hand across the floorboards, struggling to find anything that might serve as a weapon. “I'm not going back to prison!” Robbie yelled again and increased pressure on Amanda's throat.
Feeling panic overwhelm her mind, Amanda continued to scrabble around, her body growing weaker by the second. Her hands kept coming up bare. The image of her husband and son flashed through her mind. “Good...bye,” she managed to whisper, her world turning dark. But just before she lost consciousness, a loud shot rang out. Her attacker’s body was thrown to the side in a heap, as if someone had tossed him away like an old rag. Amanda coughed, grabbed her throat, and then managed to raise her head. She spotted Sarah standing in the shattered doorway, holding Connor's rifle. “What...took you...so long…love?” she asked.
Sarah ran to Amanda, dropped to her knees, and pulled her best friend’s head up onto her lap. “Are you okay, June Bug?”
Amanda rubbed her throat. “Your trap...didn’t work for one monster but caught another,” Amanda replied. She looked over at Robbie's dead body. Snow howling in from the shattered door was slowly beginning to cover it. “Is he dead?”
“How can he not be?” Sarah asked and dropped Connor's rifle. “Firing this rifle nearly broke my shoulder.” Sarah locked her eyes on Robbie’s chest and saw that he was no longer breathing. I'll be back, Sarah...I'll always be back...the snowman hissed and slithered away. “Come on, honey, let's go find Conrad and Andrew.”
Amanda grabbed Sarah's hand. “How did you kill Connor?” she begged. “I mean, he's dead...right?”
“Yes, honey, he's dead...thanks to Pete.” Sarah let out a heavy breath and allowed the icy wind to cool her face. Even though the winds were cruel and punishing, she cherished the moment. “Think smart...be smart,” she whispered and then called out for Mittens. “Mittens, come on, girl!” Mittens ran through the shattered front door, hurried over to Sarah, and began licking her face. “My hero,” Sarah smiled and kissed Mittens on her nose. Mittens let out a loud, happy bark and then began licking Amanda.
“I love you, too,” Amanda said and felt a relieved smile come over her. “You know something, love?”
“What?”
“If my hubby ever tries to make me leave Snow Falls, I'll punch him square in the nose,” Amanda laughed. “I think we've earned our right to call this town home. Besides,” Amanda added and crawled up onto her knees, “who cares how much trouble we get into? As long as we have heart and keep up the good fight...who can stop us?”
Sarah smiled, hugged Amanda, and helped her friend stand up. “Let's stay out of trouble for a while,” she said, “and focus on the good life. Instead of fighting monsters, how about we go to O'Mally's first thing in the morning and do a little shopping?”
“You bet,” Amanda agreed. She took Sarah's hand and walked her back to the lock-up area where they found Conrad and Andrew handcuffed and gagged. Andrew bowed his head with a pained but relieved expression when they walked in. Conrad didn't do much better. “Sometimes a woman has to save the day,” Sarah whispered in Amanda's ear and then let out a sweet giggle.
Pete was shocked to see Sarah walk through his office door. “Kiddo!” he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and embracing Sarah.
Sarah wrapped her arms around Pete and hugged him as tight as she could. “Oh, it's so good to see you,” she said, taking in a deep breath of coffee, cigar smoke and Chinese noodles. “Your office still smells the same.”
“What in the world are you doing here?” Pete asked Sarah and hurried over to clear off a chair for her to sit in. “Don't answer...just let me look at you.” Pete took in the pretty pink dress Sarah was wearing. “Pretty as ever,” he smiled. “And hey, I like that ponytail.”
Sarah blushed. “Oh, Pete,” she said and threw her right hand at him, “you always did make me blush.”
Pete smiled and plopped down on the edge of his desk. He looked tired, Sarah noticed. His brown suit was wrinkled, and his eyes had dark circles from lack of sleep. “So what brings you back home? Did you decide to take your job back?” he asked in a hopeful voice.
“I've decided,” Sarah explained, “to show my love for you, Pete.” Sarah reached out and took Pete's hand. “You really saved my can, partner. Connor Barker nearly killed me and everyone I love. Because of you, however, we're all alive.”
“All I did was—”
“Be there for me when I needed you,” Sarah spoke in a loving voice. “Now I'm going to be here for you.” Sarah pointed at Pete's messy desk. “Conrad and Amanda are out having lunch with Amanda's husband. Unfortunately, you and I don't have time for lunch.”
Pete looked at his desk and then studied Sarah's eyes. “Boy is that the best news I’ve heard in months…I'm stuck real hard on this case, kiddo,” he said and hurried behind his desk, sat down, and snatched up a brown file. “There's been another robbery and I'm not getting anywhere. Here, take a look.”
Sarah took the brown file from Pete. “Pete,” she said, “before we start this case…there is something I want you to know.”
“What's that, kiddo?” Pete asked, feeling like the old days were finally returning. He grabbed a cigar and shoved it in his mouth, grinning at her.
“Pete, Snow Falls is my home...but Los Angeles will always be my home, too,” Sarah said and set the brown file down onto her lap. “I miss you like crazy and I hate being away from you.”
“I miss you, too, kiddo,” Pete promised.
Sarah felt a tear sting her eye. “I can't stand being away from you...so I've come to offer you a deal.”
“A deal?” Pete asked. He leaned forward in his desk chair. “What kind of deal, kiddo?”
“We'll work on your case together, just like the old days, and after we solve it...you retire—”
“Retire?” Pete asked. “Kiddo—”
“Let me finish, you old grouch,” Sarah said. “I want us to begin a detective agency, Pete,” she explained. “You'll run the agency and every time you get a case I'll fly down to Los Angeles and work on it with you...just like the old days. We'll have a middle ground to work on together. You won’t have to work so hard, and we’ll get to work together again. Best of all, I won’t feel so torn between the two places I love.”
Pete leaned back in his chair, chewed on his cigar, and stared at Sarah. “You're serious, aren't you?”
“I can't run from the snowman forever, Pete,” Sarah explained. “I miss you, Pete...I miss the life I had in Los Angeles, but I can't give up the life I am building with my husband in Alaska. After I killed Con
nor Barker, I realized that a part of me can never stop being a cop. Oh, I love being a writer...but if I stop being a cop, the snowman will win. I tried to stop being a cop...and trouble still followed me, Pete. It followed me right up to Alaska and it wouldn’t let me go, no matter what.” Sarah bit her lip. “Does any of this make sense to you?”
Pete grew very silent and then said: “How much money is this detective agency going to cost me?”
Tears of happiness began falling from Sarah's eyes. She jumped up, ran around Pete's desk, and hugged him. “I'll cover all the expenses, you just be the brains.”
Pete wrapped his arms around Sarah and hugged her tight. “Now, now, no tears,” he said, struggling to fight back his own, “we have a case to solve, remember?”
“A case...right,” Sarah said and walked back to her seat. “So where are we at, Pete?” she asked without wiping her tears away. The tears felt cleansing. Sure, the snowman was still outside in the world somewhere, and sure the nightmares would still come, but Sarah knew that the detective agency work would give her the strength to fight and to balance both parts of her life.
“Well,” Pete said, watching Sarah's tears fall, “a rich house up in the canyon was hit,” he explained and pointed at the file Sarah was holding. “The thugs took a lot of jewelry and some paintings...the usual.” Pete grabbed a file of his own and opened it. “Forensics isn't getting anywhere,” he continued to talk. Sarah opened her file and listened to Pete give an official report. As Pete talked, Alaska slowly faded away and the life Sarah once lived in Los Angeles slowly began to wake up. The feeling felt warm and overwhelming – even exciting. It was time to get to work and start mending the past while building the future that her heart deserved to have. A future filled with excitement and perhaps even a few deadly snowmen...but a future surrounded by the people she loved and adored.
“No prints yet?” Sarah asked, focusing on the case. Pete shook his head and continued to fill Sarah in. As he did, a corrupt cop walked past his office door, listened in on the conversation, and slithered away.
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About the Author
Wendy Meadows is the USA Today bestselling author of many novels and novellas, from cozy mysteries to clean, sweet romances. Check out her popular cozy mystery series Sweetfern Harbor, Alaska Cozy and Sweet Peach Bakery, just to name a few.
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Read more by Wendy
Maple Hills Cozy Mystery Series
Nether Edge Mystery Series
Chocolate Cozy Mystery Series
Alaska Cozy Mystery Series
Sweet Peach Bakery Cozy Series
Sweetfern Harbor Mystery Series
Candy Shop Mysteries
Pineville Gazette Mystery Series
Copyright © 2019 by Wendy Meadows
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
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