Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: A Helen Bradley Mystery (Helen Bradley Mysteries Book 2)

by Patricia H. Rushford

  "I didn't say I thought it was your husband."

  "No, but the microbial causes are in his locker.”

  "Okay, let's leave that for a minute. What about your father?" Helen held her hand up. "I know, heart attack. Could you tell me what happened and where?"

  Mai took a sip of tea. "Over there. By the window. I was in my office. My father told me he was going upstairs to look over some files on the progress of the implants on which Adriane and he had been working. He seemed upset about something, but I never learned what it was. Shortly after that, I heard a noise upstairs. I didn't think too much about it at the time." Mai closed her eyes. "I realized later it was my father. If I'd gone to investigate, perhaps…” Her voice trailed off.

  "Was anyone with him?"

  "Adriane was supposed to be, but she didn't arrive until we'd already begun resuscitation."

  "Who was the first to reach him?"

  "Paul found him and called us." She shook her head. "My brother didn't kill our father, Mrs. Bradley."

  "No, but I'm beginning to get a clearer picture of who did. You said Adriane was supposed to be with him."

  "Yes, he'd stopped at her office on the way up and told her he wanted to talk to her."

  "But she didn't go?"

  "No, I don't think so, at least not right away. I heard her tell him she needed to finish some notes while they were fresh in her mind and she'd be up in about fifteen minutes. She felt terrible about that. She kept saying if she'd been there he may have made it through."

  "Sammi told me your father and Adriane had implanted the brain rejuvenating device in Irene. How many other residents received one?"

  She frowned. "There were no others."

  "I think you're wrong about that. My hunch is that your father discovered some disturbing news, that Adriane had used the implant in a number of people. Perhaps that's what he wanted to talk to her about. I think she did come up here and somehow slipped him some digitalis."

  "You have quite an imagination, Mrs. Bradley." The voice came from the back stairwell.

  "Adriane! I didn't hear you come up." Mai swiveled her chair around, then gasped.

  "Obviously." Adriane strolled toward them, the gun in her hand giving proof to Helen's suspicions.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Adriane glanced from Mai to Helen. "You're wrong about the digitalis. Andrew did have a heart attack."

  "You were with him?" Mai asked.

  "It was a difficult decision, really. If I had helped him and he survived, my career would have been ruined. He was going to fire me and turn me over to the authorities, all because I followed his lead. We needed to try the implant on more patients, not just Irene. But he wouldn't allow it. He said letting Irene have the implant had been a mistake and he was going to remove it."

  "But why, Adriane?" Mai asked. "Why jeopardize our entire operation? The implant holds a great deal of promise, but until we're certain of how it performs on animals over a long period of time, we can't…"

  "You just don't get it, do you, Mai? You have no idea what it's like to wait an eternity for your dream to be realized. You were born wealthy. You married a brilliant man. Your herbal remedies have almost no government restrictions. All I wanted was a chance to prove my implant really worked on humans. And I was getting good results. I pleaded with your father to let me stay, or at least let me transfer to Mexico where I'd have more freedom. He wouldn't listen. So when he collapsed, I had to make a decision, my life or his."

  Helen picked up her cup and warmed her hands on it. Maybe if Adriane got close enough she could throw the hot liquid in her face. "Just how far are you willing to go to guard your secret? How many more people will you be forced to kill?"

  "I never wanted to kill anyone. I had no choice. When Irene found that disk, I had to do something. When I couldn't find it in her apartment, I…"

  "You hired someone to gun her down," Helen finished. "Only he botched the job. Then to make certain he'd never implicate you, you killed him and Irene. Tell me something. How did you know where we'd be?"

  "She confided everything to me. I was the one person she trusted. I encouraged her to turn the disk over to a private detective. I even went with her when she called you from the pay phone."

  "How could you have betrayed her like that?" Mai gripped the edge of the desk.

  Adriane tossed her a disgusted look.

  "What about the bombing? Did you hire Jack to plant the bomb in Sammi's car?"

  "Jack owed me in exchange for my silence on his little side business with the patients and the unfortunate incidents with Ruthie and Iris. The bomb was his less than brilliant plan. However, no one will ever be able to prove I had any connection to either of those men. I should never have hired them," Adriane sneered.

  "Good help is hard to find, especially when you hire known felons."

  "So true. But there will be no more botched jobs. I'm taking care of you personally this time. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. I tried to warn you off, but you didn't seem to get the message. Well, it's too late now, isn't it?"

  "Adriane, please…" Mai pleaded.

  "You can't possibly get away with this," Helen announced with a great deal more conviction than she felt.

  "Oh, but I can. I'm getting quite adept, really. I've already taken care of our little guard downstairs and closed the pharmacy for the day so there'll be no witnesses."

  The gun Adriane had trained on them was a standard .38 police issue, the kind Andi had been wearing. "That's Andi's gun, isn't it?"

  "How very observant of you. But don't worry. Andi is fine. She’ll just have a headache when she wakes up, which is more than I can say for you.

  "Now, " Adriane continued, "let's get down to business. First you must finish your tea. But before you drink it, we need to add one more ingredient. Mai, will you do the honors, please?" Adriane waved the gun at her, then stepped over to Mai's herb cabinet. She opened it and glanced inside. "Ah yes, there it is. What are you waiting for, Mai? Come get your hemlock."

  "Hemlock?" Mai rose and took several unsteady steps toward the cabinet. "But I don't have…"

  "Of course you do. You've been keeping a bottle just for such an occasion as this. You're terribly distraught. Losing your parents and now having your brother arrested for murder. Your life is crumbling around you. The sad thing is that Mrs. Bradley discovered your little secret and you had to take her with you. It will all be explained in your suicide note. Good girl," Adriane said as Mai grasped the small bottle. "Now take it back to your desk and add a few drops to yours and Mrs. Bradley's tea."

  "A murder-suicide." Helen stood and set her cup down on the desk. "There's just one problem. I have no intention of drinking this stuff."

  Mai seemed to gain courage from Helen's refusal to comply and set the bottle on the desk unopened. "And I have no intention of pouring it into the tea."

  Adriane pulled the lever back on the gun, aiming it at Helen. "Then Mai will have to shoot you, then kill herself."

  Helen moved away from the desk. "Put the gun down, Adriane. Give yourself up."

  Adriane waved the gun. "Stay back."

  "No. You can kill us, but I guarantee you it won't be the end of it." Helen inched closer. "You're a murderer now, a cold-blooded killer. You once had a career as a brilliant doctor. Now you have nothing. You'll spend the rest of your life running, knowing somewhere, somehow, someone will discover what you did."

  "That's not going to happen.” Adriane glanced toward the front stairwell.

  Helen had heard it too. Someone was coming up the steps.

  "Is everything okay up here?" Jennie called as her head cleared the floor.

  Helen seized the moment to deliver an upward kick to Adriane's arm. The gun discharged, sending a bullet through the window. Using her left hand, Helen slammed her fist against Adriane's windpipe. Adriane, arms and legs flailing, fell back, slamming her head against the corner of the cabinet. Her body went limp and the gun dropped to the flo
or. Helen scooped it up and tucked it in her waistband.

  Jennie rushed toward them. "What's going on? I found Andi on the floor behind her desk and…" Her wide-eyed gaze swept over the room and landed on Adriane. "Is she dead?"

  "I don't know. Better call for help."

  Mai hurried to her colleague's side and checked for a pulse. "She's alive. Bring me the first aid kit. It's in the cabinet beside the sink."

  Helen retrieved the kit and knelt on the other side of Adriane.

  "I already called 9-1-1 for Andi. They're on the way—so is Dad." Jennie hunkered down next to Helen. A deep pool of blood had formed around Adriane's head. Mai deftly cleaned and bandaged the wound. "Can I do anything to help?"

  Helen wrapped her good arm around Jennie's shoulders. "You already have, darling. You already have."

  When they heard the sirens, Helen sent Jennie downstairs to direct them.

  Having done all they could for Adriane, Helen focused on the pale drawn face that so closely resembled Irene prior to the shooting. "It isn't over, Mai," Helen said.

  "I know." Mai hauled in a deep breath. "David is still at the house. Packing, I suppose. He has tickets to Mexico in his briefcase. I overheard them planning to leave separately and meet at the airport. That's when I came here."

  "How long have you known?"

  "About the affair? I've suspected it for years. David and Adriane met and dated for a while in med school. With her engagement to Paul I thought her fixation with David was over. Then when Father died and Paul started showing interest in Sammi…” she sighed. “I suppose Adriane knew she was losing Paul and made a move for David instead."

  “I’m sorry.”

  Sirens and the clattering of footsteps up the marble stairs obliterated Mai's response. Helen hung around long enough to make the necessary explanations, then walked back to Edgewood Manor with Jennie.

  "Wow, that was so cool."

  "What's that, Jennie?"

  "The way you took Adriane down."

  "You helped by distracting her.'' Helen grasped Jennie's hand. "Which reminds me, what were you doing at the lab?"

  "Looking for you. I came in early so I could talk to you, but no one knew where you were. One of the residents said they'd seen you coming this way. When I found Andi I knew something was wrong, so…" Jennie shrugged.

  Helen thought about lecturing her for walking into a dangerous situation but refrained. Maybe later when she had more energy.

  "Well, I guess I'd better get to work." Jennie hesitated. "Are you going to be okay?"

  Helen nodded. "I do think I'll lie down for a while, though. I'm suddenly feeling very tired."

  Jason showed up an hour later to tell Helen they'd picked up David Chang at the airport and transported Adriane to a hospital in town.

  "I imagine David was surprised to see the police instead of Adriane."

  "You might say that. He's anxious to save his own skin, that's for sure. Claims he had no clue that Adriane had done anything wrong."

  "Hmm. Do you believe him?"

  "I don't know at this point. It's going to take a while to figure out who did what. I doubt Adriane was working alone."

  "Don't underestimate her, Jason. She's a very resourceful woman."

  "So are you, Mom. So are you."

  Helen related Adriane's confession. "I'm sure she's the one who fired at me in the physical therapy room."

  Jason nodded. "Oh, I meant to tell you, we found Sammi."

  "Is she all right?" Helen prepared herself for the worst.

  "She's fine. Paul did go after her, but not to pay her off or hurt her. He just advised her to see an attorney before she turned herself in and offered to help with legal assistance."

  A week later, Helen wiggled her toes in the warm sand in Fogarty Creek State Park on the Oregon Coast. The rest of the family would be down in a couple of days. She smiled at the thought of having them all together again at her little beach retreat.

  It had been a grueling week, giving her statements and helping to build a case against Adriane. When David Chang learned what his girlfriend had done, he was quick to cooperate with the police. He admitted to lying the night Adriane had shot at Helen, saying he feared they might both be suspects and that they agreed to provide each other with alibis. Though he denied using the bacteria to kill Irene, he did confess that two of his vials had turned up missing the day after Irene had been shot. They surmised that Adrian had introduced the bacteria into Irene’s fragile system at the hospital.

  All in all a complicated affair.

  Helen's heart still ached when she thought of the Kincaids and all the tragedies they'd been through. Paul had been released and all charges dropped. He, Mai, and Chris were desperately trying to salvage what remained of Kincaid Enterprises. They'd be all right in time, once the publicity died down. Andrew Kincaid had built a solid foundation based on his commitment to help the older generation. Fortunately, the antiaging products and Mai's herbal remedies were selling better than ever.

  Work on the implant had been shelved for now, but Helen had no doubt it would surface again. The implants Adriane had done on five Alzheimer's patients had been removed, which was sad, in a way, as two residents, Gladys and Iris, had shown dramatic improvements. Sadly, the others had not.

  And then there was Sammi. Though Helen’s old friend would be facing charges, she was a happy woman. Sammi and Paul were engaged and planned to be married by the end of the year.

  The wind tugged at Helen's straw hat, flipped it off, and sent it tumbling over the sand and into the surf. She scrambled out of her lounge chair and ran down the beach to retrieve it. A tall familiar figure with silver hair stooped to pick it up.

  Tears pooled in her eyes at the sight of him. "It's about time you got here."

  JB closed the distance between them and gathered her in his arms. "Hello, luv. Did you miss me?"

  "What do you think?" She swatted him on the back with her hat, then kissed him soundly. Helen had a long string of questions for this thrill-seeking husband of hers, and he undoubtedly had some for her as well, but all of that could wait.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

  Award-winning author and speaker Patricia H. Rushford has written over fifty books, including five mystery series including: The Helen Bradley Mysteries, The Angel Delaney Mysteries The McAllister Files, which she wrote with a police detective. She's also written the popular Jennie McGrady Mysteries and the Max & Me Mysteries for kids.

  Patricia's most recent works include Strangers in the Night, a romantic suspense for Summerside Press. Most of her mysteries are set in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where she lives with her husband Ron. She enjoys sharing the sights sounds and culinary delights of the northwest with her readers. The Oregon and Washington coasts provide the settings for many of her novels.

  Patricia, who worked for 18 years as an RN, holds a master's degree in counseling. In addition, she conducts writers' workshops for adults and children and has been the Director of the Oregon Christian Writer's Summer Conference and co-director of Writer's Weekend at the Beach. Patricia has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows across the United States and Canada.

  Books by Patricia H. Rushford

  FICTION

  Romantic Suspense

  Sins of the Mother

  Strangers in the Night

  The Angel Delaney Mysteries

  Deadly Aim

  Dying to Kill

  As Good as Dead

  The Helen Bradley Mysteries

  Death on Arrival

  Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

  Red Sky in Mourning

  A Haunting Refrain

  When Shadows Fall

  The McAlister Files

  Secrets, Lies and Alibis

  Deadfall

  Terminal 9

  She Who Watches

  Novels for Guidepost Books

  Strangers in Their Midst (Mystery and the Minister’s Wife series)

  Chasing the Wind, Meas
ure of Faith, and With Open Arms (Stories from Hope Haven)

  Mysteries for Kids

  The Jennie McGrady Mysteries

  The Max & Me Mysteries- Available as e-books

  Non-fiction:

  It Shouldn't Hurt to Be a Kid

  What Kids Need Most in a Mom

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