A Zest for Murder (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 5)

by Mary Maxwell

  “And who do we have here?” Trent said.

  Dina Kincaid came up behind him. “The short one with Officer Pembrook is Clark Gallagher. And this guy…” She tightened her grip on the man’s arm. “…this is Dermot Flanagan. His father used to rent this building.”

  Trent scowled. “The rafting company?”

  “That’s right,” answered Dina.

  “It wasn’t my idea!” Tipper shrieked. “I was kidnapped! They shot somebody in my house! And then they took me to a cabin out on—”

  “Miss Hedge?” Dina said in a firm voice.

  “What?” Tipper hissed.

  “Best to keep quiet for now,” she said. “I heard them reading you your rights as we walked up the drive there. So don’t dig the hole any deeper with a story that might not be exactly truthful.”

  I wasn’t surprised when Tipper unleashed a torrent of obscenities. I heard Dina gasp softly at one particularly colorful suggestion and then waited for the inevitable reply from Trent.

  “You know what, Miss Hedge?” he drawled in a voice that was dipped in honey and sprinkled with dynamite. “If I had a bar of soap handy, I’d give your mouth a good, long scrubbing.”

  CHAPTER 40

  The ancient Seth Thomas clock on the wall in Trent’s office was clicking toward nine. I had my eyes on the slender second hand as it marched around and around in endless and precise circles, marking the passage of time without change or variation in its journey. I’d been staring at it since Trent left me alone to confer with Denny Santiago about which officers would relieve the pair that was currently at the hospital guarding Tipper and Kyle in their respective rooms.

  “You look like crap, Katie,” Trent announced as he walked back into the room. “Why don’t you go home and get some sleep?”

  I smirked at the remark. “How should I look? I got up at four-thirty this morning, put in a full day at Sky High and then did a bit of research into Kyle Gallagher and Dermot Flanagan before things went completely rogue.”

  “Yeah?” He plopped down in his desk chair with a loud thud. “Find anything juicy in your research?”

  “You know the saying about being in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

  Trent rolled the chair closer to the desk. “Story of my life,” he said. “What about Gallagher and Flanagan?”

  “Okay,” I said. “According to a news story out of Albuquerque, Kyle and Dermot were business partners with a guy called…” I reached for my phone to check the name. “…um, hang on. I need to—”

  “It’s Phil Abruzzo,” Trent said with the smug, satisfied grin of an egghead who knows he’s correct. “Shady guy with ties to a bunch of even shadier creeps in Vegas.”

  I put away the phone. “So you know about the embezzled funds and the fraud charges?”

  The grin widened. “We do indeed, Katie. But I appreciate how much you care.”

  “And I appreciate the appreciation.”

  He snickered. “I’m being serious here, okay? You’re a great resource for us on occasion. I don’t want you to think that we’re taking you for granted.”

  “Or vice versa?”

  His haughty smirk wobbled. “What? How are you taking me for granted?”

  I grabbed my purse and started to stand. Trent held up one of his meaty paws and told me to wait.

  “For what?” I asked. “So you can gloat and tell me how much I mean to the Crescent Creek Police Department?”

  “I’m not joking, Katie,” he sat up and lifted his chin slightly. “We really do appreciate the fact that a local citizen is willing to pitch in and help. And the fact that you know where the boundaries are…well, that’s just icing on the cake.”

  “Is that so?”

  He nodded. “Cross my heart,” he said, jabbing at his chest. “And hope to…” He frowned. “I’m not saying that last part. Never liked to. Don’t plan to start now.”

  “It’s fine, Trent. I get it; you’re a big, brawny deputy chief with an ooey, gooey heart overflowing with tenderness and mercy.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “Yep. That’s me; ooey, gooey, tender and merciful.”

  I stood up and slipped my purse strap over one shoulder. “I hate to cut out in the middle of your emotional blathering, but I’m pretty bushed. I want to go home, take a hot bath and crawl into bed.”

  “Can you spare a few minutes before all of that?”

  “To do what?”

  The phone rang and he reached across the desk.

  “Tipper asked to see you,” he said, glancing at the buzzing phone. “She’s pretty freaked out, Katie. And we all know—” The ring suddenly stopped. “Oh, man! That was my mom. She’s called about thirty times today.”

  “Then you should call her right back.” I turned for the door. “And I’ll go see Tipper for a few minutes on my way home. She may have crossed the line, but she’s still a friend.”

  CHAPTER 41

  “That’s a lovely rose,” said the woman behind the counter. “Is it for a patient?”

  I nodded, but didn’t tell her I was on my way up to see Tipper. Luckily, the gift shop was still open when I arrived at the hospital, so I scooped up a single red bud in a cut glass vase.

  “I hope everything goes okay,” said the cashier as I pocketed my change.

  “Thank you. I’m actually hoping for the very same thing.”

  A few minutes later, when I stepped off the elevator on the third floor, I saw Dina Kincaid and a woman dressed in scrubs sitting in the waiting area near the nurses’ station. Dina said something to the woman, got out of the chair and walked toward me with both hands folded at her waist.

  “Oh, Dina!” I felt my heart plunge. “Has something happened since I left the station?”

  She shook her head. “No. Why would you think that?”

  “The look on your face,” I said. “I thought maybe…” I stopped, cleared my throat and tried again. “Anyway, where is Tipper?”

  She took my elbow and steered me toward the rows of empty chairs in the waiting area. They were upholstered in a dark crimson fabric that was speckled with dots of white and gray. Once we were seated, she launched into a quick recap on what I should and shouldn’t discuss with Tipper.

  “This is a courtesy,” Dina explained. “And we know that it’s complicated. You and Tipper have been friends for years. Trent and I decided that it would be good for her to see a friendly face before she goes to county lockup in a couple of days.”

  “She really was involved in the scheme?”

  Dina nodded silently.

  “What’s your theory?” I asked. “Why do you think she did it?”

  “Because she’s wackadoodle.”

  I sighed. “No, c’mon. I’m serious; what’s her motive?”

  A sad, kindhearted expression emerged through the contemptuous sneer. “Her motive?” Dina repeated. “I’d say it was love.”

  The reply wasn’t unexpected. “Kyle Gallagher?”

  “Along with Dermot Flanagan,” Dina said.

  “Are you telling me that both Kyle and Dermot were in a relationship with Tipper?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think it was that kind of thing. From what I’ve heard so far, Tipper was head-over-heels for Kyle. I know her neighbor reported that she was romantically involved with both, but I don’t believe that to be true. I think she considered Dermot more of a big brother figure somehow. And, anyway, when she found out about their money troubles, she agreed to stage her own kidnapping. They actually believed her mother would cough up two-hundred grand and they’d use it to pay off the clowns in Vegas. And then, apparently, Gallagher’s brother threatened to turn the tables on Kyle.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “From what Tipper told us earlier,” Dina answered, “Clark Gallagher suddenly announced that he was taking the lion’s share of the money and going south to Mexico. The guy’s a loose cannon, Katie. After his girlfriend was shot in Tipper’s kitchen when they argued about the money, his grasp on
reality had really started to slip. At one point, Tipper was pretty convinced that Clark actually planned to kill everyone else once the ransom money was delivered.”

  I let the news sink in slowly. It felt like a slap, a betrayal. But it also seemed like something that could happen when someone made themselves vulnerable to disreputable characters like Dermot Flanagan and the Gallagher brothers.

  “You should go say hello,” Dina suggested.

  Her voice startled me a little, cutting into the reflection about Tipper and the foolish plot to swindle two-hundred thousand dollars from her mother.

  “The nurse just gave her some pretty powerful pain killers,” Dina continued, “so she’ll probably fall asleep soon.”

  I left Dina and walked down the silent corridor toward where a uniformed officer sat in a chair. I smiled after he nodded a greeting. Then I took a deep breath and walked through the doorway.

  “Tipper?” My voice sounded too loud for the hushed space. “Okay for me to come in for a sec?”

  When she turned her head at the sound of my voice, the overhead light glinted on the handcuffs that connected her wrist to the frame of the bed. The only sound in the room was the electronic beeping of the monitors, a steady, metallic cadence that sounded somehow comforting. I walked over and sat in the chair beside her bed.

  “Hey, friend,” she said in a drowsy tone. “It’s really nice of you to come.”

  I put my hand on her forearm. “How do you feel?”

  “Like crap.”

  I nodded. “We’ll keep this short then. I just wanted to let you know that I got your message. Maybe I can come back tomorrow after you’ve had a chance to rest.”

  I put the rose on the tray beside her bed.

  “That’s so sweet of you, Katie,” she said. “You didn’t have to bring me anything.”

  I reached into my coat and pulled out a white paper bag from Sky High. “I don’t know if these are on the approved diet list,” I said, putting the parcel beside the flower. “But I had a few of my grandmother’s Zesty Orange Oatmeal Cookies in the car.”

  She smiled. “Those are my favorite.”

  “I know. That’s why I brought them for you.”

  She closed her eyes and pressed back into the mound of fluffy pillows.

  “Pain?” I asked.

  “Not too bad. I just keep having these waves of…” Her eyes fluttered open. “I don’t even know how to describe them. It’s like the sensation of being on a roller coaster when you first go over the really high part. Do you know what I mean? When the car plunges down and it feels like your stomach is in your chest and gravity isn’t working anymore?”

  “What’re you talking about?” I smiled again. “That’s how I feel every other day.”

  She giggled softly. “Ah, silly…” Her eyes widened and she dabbed at her mouth with a tissue. “It is so good to see you, Katie.”

  “You, too.” We held the thought for a moment, our eyes fixed and unwavering. “And, considering what you’ve been through in the last three days, I’d say you’re looking pretty good!”

  Her mouth tilted into a lopsided grin. “Yeah?”

  I nodded. “Totally.”

  “Well, considering the trouble that I’ve caused, I don’t deserve to hear anything that kind or sweet.”

  From the tempo of her voice and the deflated look on her face, I could tell that Tipper realized she’d made some exceptionally unfortunate choices. As we sat together, surrounded by the relentless rhythm of the monitors, I sifted through the list of questions that had been gathering since the scene outside of the abandoned gas station earlier. I wanted to know everything at once, but decided to start with the most obvious.

  “How did this happen?” I asked. “How’d you get involved with these guys?”

  She attempted to smile, but the effort seemed too demanding. “I fell for him,” she said in a faint whisper. “For Kyle, I mean. For him and the stories he told and the reasons he gave for why it would work and how it wouldn’t hurt anybody.”

  “What about Claire Cain?” I said as her eyes welled with tears. “Dermot’s girlfriend lost her life, Tipper. She died as a result of…whatever scheme you all had planned.”

  “I know. And there’s no way to explain that or…justify any of this.” She dropped the tissue and pressed both hands against her face. “Kyle’s not a bad man, Katie. But he made some…some really bad decisions. If he hadn’t gotten involved with his brother. And if his brother didn’t know Dermot from college. And if they didn’t come to me and Kyle with the idea to settle the score with the guys in Vegas by faking my kidnapping—”

  “So all three of them were involved in the business that they opened down in New Mexico?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “It was Clark’s idea first. He’d always wanted to be his own boss. Kyle got mixed up in it later when he was trying to help his brother.”

  “What kind of business was it?”

  “Something to do with cars at first,” she said. “And then drugs when the car business started to go under. But they got in way over their heads right from the start. Borrowed from a bank. Then from a credit union that was managed by a friend of Dermot’s. And then they hit up their relatives. After that went nowhere, they met a guy who was connected to some really shady characters from Vegas.”

  “And that’s when things really fell apart?”

  She closed her eyes and her head pressed down into the pillows. “Yeah. Clark and Dermot knew that my mother had some money. I met them a few weeks ago when we drove down to Albuquerque. At some point, they convinced Kyle that my mother would pay the ransom and it would be the answer to all of their problems. I found out during that trip that Kyle was also dealing with his own financial troubles because his wife took him to the cleaners when they divorced.”

  “I didn’t know Kyle had been married.”

  “Not many people do,” she said, looking at me again. “And it didn’t last long. But she hired a snake for a lawyer and got every last dime.”

  “Sounds like plenty of bad luck to go around then,” I said.

  Tipper smiled. “Don’t I know it, Katie. I’ll be paying for it from now until my dying day. I just can’t…” She gasped and the tears came again. “How could I be so stupid?”

  The monitors droned on as we sat again for a few minutes without talking. Tipper held out one hand and I squeezed it tightly.

  “You’ll get through this,” I said.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know, Katie. Maybe I don’t deserve to.”

  “Hush now.” I tightened my grip. “You’ll have to pay the price for what you’ve done, but you will get through it.”

  “One day at a time,” she said. “I’m just…how did I get here? I mean, Kyle and I were getting ready to come meet you and Zack at Blanche’s one minute and the next thing I know…” Her gaze narrowed and she pulled her hand free. “…we were about to leave my house and the doorbell rings. Up until that instant, Kyle had been acting totally normal, but I could tell then that something wasn’t right.”

  “Who was at the door?” I asked.

  “All of them,” Tipper said. “Dermot, Clark and those two sketchy girls.”

  “And that’s when it started?”

  She nodded. “I couldn’t believe it, you know? I mean, Kyle and I had sort of talked about it as a long shot, but I didn’t realize they were serious on trying it, like, now.”

  “Trying what? Staging your kidnapping?”

  “Yes. We’d talked about it a couple of times, but only after we’d been drinking. I didn’t think…” She sighed and wiped away a few more tears. “But they were serious,” she went on. “I tried to tell them that Kyle and I were expected somewhere, but Dermot just grabbed my phone and sent that text to Blanche and then…well, then the nightmare became very real very quickly.”

  I waited for more, but she stared blankly at the ceiling. There wasn’t time for all of the unanswered questions swimming in my mind, but I want
ed to ask a few more before leaving Tipper alone for the night.

  “Where did you hide while everyone was looking for you?”

  “Kyle rented a little apartment last week,” she said. “The landlord’s a friend of Dermot’s, so the guy didn’t do a background check. We’d originally hoped to use Dermot’s parents’ cabin, the one they’re trying to sell over near James Peak, but they refused to give him the key when he stopped by the other day.”

  “Dermot had been to see his mother and father?”

  Tipper nodded. “I guess it didn’t go very well though; there’s plenty of bad blood between Dermot and his parents.”

  “Then why were you at the old gas station?” I asked. “If Kyle had leased an apartment to use as your hideout?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Kyle’s brother got jumpy earlier today. A patrol car drove by the apartment two or three times, so we decided to go out to Full Moon Road to wait until my mother came through with the ransom.”

  She yawned and covered her mouth.

  “Just one more thing,” I said. “If Kyle was involved in the scheme, why did he ask me to help find you?”

  A faint grin appeared briefly before Tipper turned on the pillow. “Because he thought it would somehow buy time while we waited for my mother to get the money out of the bank. As if him asking you for help would keep the police off our trail somehow.”

  “Seriously?”

  She nodded. “Pretty pathetic, huh?”

  “That’s one way to describe it,” I said. “That and all the rest.”

  I realized there wasn’t much more to say. Tipper had made plenty of mistakes before in her life, but they were all easy to remedy with apologies, bouquets of flowers or remorseful confessions. It wouldn’t be so easy this time. She faced numerous criminal charges and a long, winding trip through the legal system.

  I was contemplating the next step in her journey when she reached down and pushed against the mattress. “It feels like I keep sliding down these sheets,” she said. “They’re not like the ones I have at home.”