by Jessica Beck
I just hoped that no one had changed it. If they had, I was in for a shock.
The alarm turned itself off on my first attempt, and I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that I was safe.
At least that’s what I thought at the moment I stepped inside, no matter how wrong I turned out to be a few seconds later.
That’s when I realized that I wasn’t alone.
Chapter 23
In my defense, I tried to sneak back out. The last thing I wanted was a confrontation with someone who was most likely a killer.
But I couldn’t quite manage it.
My hand was on the doorknob when I heard a voice behind me say, “I don’t know how you figured out that it was me, but you’re not going to live long enough to tell anyone else.”
Chapter 24
I turned around to find Conrad Swoop staring at me. There was a wickedly big knife in his hand, one that I would be defenseless against if I tried to fight him. I would have fled if I could have, but that wasn’t an option, since I’d locked the door behind me when I’d walked in.
“Conrad, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, trying to act as confused as I could. “I was here earlier and I dropped my favorite scarf. Have you seen it anywhere?”
“Nice try,” he said as he neared me. I looked wildly around for something to defend myself with, but there was nothing that I could use as a weapon, especially against the knife he was threatening me with. “Step over here away from the door, Suzanne.”
“If I do, then you’re going to promise not to hurt me, right?”
The smile on his face chilled the blood in my veins. “I wasn’t going to say that. I hate to break it to you, but this is the end for you.”
“Why are you even here, Conrad?” As I looked around the house, I saw that he’d wrecked the place, obviously searching for something. “Did you lose something?”
“An IOU I wrote to Evelyn,” he said in disgust. “She told me that she hid it somewhere in the house, but I can’t find it anywhere.”
“Is that why you killed her? Was it for the money you owed her?”
“I wanted more than that,” Conrad said as he gestured with the knife. I had no choice but to follow his directions. Maybe if I could stall him long enough, someone would come save me. How I regretted not telling anyone where I was going, and that I hadn’t waited for Grace to come back. Then again, if only one of us had to die, I was okay with it being me. Our investigations were motivated more by my desire to find the truth than Grace’s, so it was fitting that I was the one who’d pay the ultimate price.
But not if I could help it.
I spotted a lamp turned over near where Conrad was leading me, so maybe, if I got lucky with a last-chance desperation grab, I could retrieve it and use it against him. I’d have to play things just right before I could try that, though.
“What else could you get out of her?” I asked as I edged closer and closer to the only potential weapon within reach.
“I wanted it all, so I asked the stupid woman to marry me,” Conrad said, his face filling with rage for a moment. “When she turned me down, she signed her own death warrant.”
“That must have stung,” I said, trying to show a little false sympathy. If I could catch him off guard, so much the better.
“Don’t patronize me, Suzanne. It’s clear that you followed me here. How long have you been on to me? There’s no use lying; I’ll get the truth out of you one way or the other.”
“The reality is that you made my final list, but I still wasn’t convinced that it was you.”
That seemed to spark a little interest in him. With a wicked grin, he asked, “Is that so? Who else made the cut?”
“Julie Gray,” I said, inching just a little closer now. In another minute, I’d have my chance, and it would be over, one way or the other.
Conrad laughed. “Nice, the spurned cousin. I really should try to set her up for the fall once I’ve taken care of you.” He looked through the open windows as he added, “Where’s that little snoop buddy of yours?”
“She had to work today,” I said.
“Then it turns out that this is her lucky day. How about your boyfriend?”
I pointed to the window behind him. “He’s right there!”
Conrad took the bait and whirled around.
As he did, I reached down and grabbed the lamp. When I had it in my hands, I ran toward the killer, hoping to knock his head off with it.
I might have managed it, too, but he moved to one side at the last second. The blow hit his shoulder and staggered him for a moment, but he still managed to hold onto the knife.
“Stupid fool,” he said as he pushed me with his free hand. At least he hadn’t stabbed me. I tripped over a few books on the floor, and he stood over me, waving the knife like a baton. “I saw your reflection in the window. You wanted to use the lamp against me. Now I’m going to use it against you. Roll over onto your back and hold your hands together where I can see them.”
I did as I was told, hoping for one last opening, but it never came. Conrad put a knee in my back, driving the air from my lungs for a moment. I felt his full weight on me as he jerked the lamp cord free from its base and wrapped my hands tightly with it.
I couldn’t free myself from my bonds no matter how hard I struggled.
Conrad must have reached down and picked me up, because I felt myself being pulled upward, and then shoved toward one wall.
The wall where there was a closet.
Was he going to just lock me in and then make his escape?
Maybe I’d live through this after all.
The coats were all missing, with wire hangers strewn all over the floor of the small closet. He shoved me inside, and then I heard the door lock.
“Thank you for not killing me,” I said in tears through the door.
“Who said anything about sparing your life?” Conrad asked, with a hint of wicked laughter coming from the other side.
“But I’m in here and you’re out there,” I said.
“That’s right where you need to be. Now shut up. I’ve got something to do.”
I reached down for a hanger, but I couldn’t pick one up without falling down, and if I did that, I wasn’t at all certain that I’d be able to get back up again. On the fourth try, I managed to snag one, but I still wasn’t sure what I could do with it. Perhaps I could twist it in my tied hands and use it to free myself from my bindings? If that failed, I might be able to use it as a weapon, jabbing at his eyes if he ever opened the closet door again.
I was still working the metal back and forth in an attempt to get it to break when I smelled something, and I realized just what Conrad’s plan was going to be.
“Let me out!” I shouted through the door.
A voice from just on the other side of the door said, “Smell that, do you? What’s wrong, Suzanne? You run a donut shop. Surely you aren’t afraid of a little fire.”
The smoke was coming in under the door now. Was it getting hotter inside? “I won’t tell anyone about you. I swear it.”
“Sorry, but I don’t believe you. I may not be able to find that IOU, but nobody else is going to, either. You’ll both burn up together. Good-bye.”
I was getting desperate when I heard the front door slam.
How long would I live, trapped in this upright coffin?
Would the flames get me first, or the smoke?
I’d read that the best thing to do in a fire was to go as low as possible, so I eased myself down onto the floor. But I still wasn’t ready to die, no matter how it might come.
Bracing my back and my bound hands behind me, I started pushing the door with my feet.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a walk-in closet, but a fairly narrow affair.
Pushing didn’t work.
It was time to kick.
Why had I worn tennis shoes today instead of my old hiking boots?
I kicked out, again and again, with all my strength, as the smoke
continued to creep into my little jail cell. It was hopeless. The house was old and solidly built, and the door was thick wood, not a cheap modern variety.
Coughing, I drew my legs back again, and I kicked outward with everything I had.
I was rewarded with the splintering sound of the doorframe as it broke.
But was I really any better off than I had been?
The living room was ablaze, and as the flames crept up the far wall, I could feel the heat on my face as the smoke intensified.
I wasn’t going to die like this if I could help it.
I inched my way across the floor and into the kitchen, where the flames were just beginning to touch. The air was heavy with the smell of gasoline, and I knew that it would be seconds before I had any chance of escaping at all.
Bracing against the kitchen window, just opposite the same place that Grace and I had spied on Chief Martin not that long ago, I worked myself up to a standing position.
How was I going to get out, though?
With my hands still firmly tied behind me, I reached down and managed to pick up a barstool.
The problem was that I couldn’t do anything with it.
I tried shoving it against the window, but I couldn’t break the glass, no matter how hard I tried.
The smoke was getting thicker now, the flames hotter.
There was one, last-chance act of desperation left.
Against all good judgment, I moved quickly toward the smoke and flames instead of away from them, holding my breath the entire time.
Then, with every last ounce of strength I had left, I ran backward as hard as I could, holding the stool like a battering ram.
It felt like forever, but finally, I heard the glass crash as I fell backward into the bush I’d hidden behind, and I could smell sweet, glorious, fresh air again.
I wasn’t sure how long I lay there, but the next thing I knew, Jake was kneeling beside me, freeing my arms and taking me up in his.
And that was when I blacked out again, from the stress, the relief, and the wonder, that somehow, I’d managed to escape with my life.
Unfortunately, so had Conrad Swoop.
Chapter 25
When I woke up, Jake was holding my hand. I was in the hospital, and there was an oxygen tube in my nose.
“Jake, Conrad Swoop killed Evelyn!” I tried to lift myself up in bed as I warned him, but he put a hand on my shoulder and I slipped back down.
“Take it easy, Suzanne. I got him.”
“I thought he escaped,” I said.
“He almost did. I’ve been chasing him all day, and I finally caught him trying to leave town. I’m afraid I owe the city of April Springs one police cruiser. I had to wreck him before he’d stop.”
“I’m sure they’ll forgive you for doing it,” I said, and then I coughed a little. “Jake, can I have some water?”
He held a cup up to my lips, and I took a small sip. It felt wonderful.
“How did you find me?” I asked. “I can’t believe you came to my rescue.”
“No way am I taking credit for that,” Jake said with a smile. “You came to your own rescue. I had to cut the cord off your wrists myself. How did you manage to throw that chair through the window and escape?”
“I didn’t exactly throw it,” I said.
“Then what did you do?”
“I picked it up and ran at the window with it.”
“Backwards?” he asked incredulously.
“You never know what you can do until you have to,” I said.
Jake stroked a stray strand of hair out of my face as he leaned forward and whispered, “I can’t believe that I almost lost you.”
“I wasn’t about to let Conrad kill me if I could help it. How did you know to come looking for me when you did?”
“As I cuffed him, Conrad said that at least he got some satisfaction out of getting rid of you. He wouldn’t say another word, even when I pushed him harder than I probably should have, but as I got close to him I smelled gasoline. I looked at the skyline and followed the smoke from there.”
“You just left him in the back of your car?”
“I wrecked mine, remember?” he asked with a grin. “Actually, he was in Grant’s vehicle. Officer Grant is a good man, I’ll tell you that. If he hadn’t been there to pull me off Conrad, I’m not sure what I would have done.”
“You wouldn’t have hurt him,” I said, confident that Jake’s better nature would have kicked in.
“Don’t kid yourself. When I thought about what he might have done to you, all bets were off.”
“We’re both okay now, so that’s really all that matters.”
He kissed my forehead lightly as Momma and Chief Martin came bursting in.
“I just heard,” my mother said as she rushed to the free side of my bed. “Suzanne, are you okay?”
“I’m a little bruised, and my throat’s sore, but all in all, I’m just dandy,” I said.
“You won’t rest until you scare me to death, will you?” she asked with a smile as a tear ran down her cheek.
“Momma, I swear, I was trying to stay out of trouble, but it managed to find me, anyway.”
She laughed at that. “That’s my baby girl.”
“I haven’t been a baby in a pretty long time,” I said in a raspy voice.
“In my eyes, you’ll always be my baby,” she said. Then Momma turned to Jake. “Thank you.”
“For what? I hope nobody thinks that your daughter needed saving, because she managed to do it all on her own without any help from me, or anyone else, for that matter.”
“I wasn’t talking about that. I heard you caught Evelyn’s killer.”
Jake shrugged. “It was a team effort.”
The sheriff stepped forward and shook Jake’s hand. “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate it.”
“My pleasure. Chief Martin, we need to talk about one of your men.”
The chief’s face fell. “Why, did one of them mess up?”
“On the contrary. Why do you have Officer Grant riding a desk so much? He’s a fine man, and an excellent law enforcement officer.”
“I know that,” the chief said, “and if anyone tells him I said this, I’ll deny it, but I hope that he’ll take my place one day.”
“Perhaps one day soon,” Momma said.
“Is there something that I should know about?” I asked her.
“No, we’re just talking,” Momma said.
“Nothing but idle chatter,” the chief added, echoing her sentiment. “Are you okay, Suzanne? What you did today was a brave thing.”
“Thanks, but how brave is self-preservation? I did what I had to do to survive.”
“Well, not everyone would be as strong as you were,” he said. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks,” I said, and then I saw Momma crying again. “If you all don’t mind, I’m pretty worn out. Can we do this later?”
“Of course,” Momma said. “Phillip, let’s go get some of that abysmal hospital coffee they serve here.”
“I’ll go, too,” Jake said.
“Can you hang back for a second?” I asked him.
“I’ll do whatever you want me to do,” he said.
After Momma and the chief were gone, I said, “I’m glad you caught Conrad.”
“He’s where he belongs now,” Jake answered. “When I think about what he almost did to you—”
“Don’t focus on that. The only thing I’m sorry about is that you have to go back to work. I’m going to miss you.”
“You won’t have time to, at least not right away,” he said with a grin. “I put in for two weeks’ vacation so I can take care of you for a change.”
“Oh, I’ll bet your boss just loved that. How loudly did he say no?”
“He wasn’t happy about it, but he ended up giving in,” Jake said.
“What did you do, threaten to quit again?”
“Hey, if it keeps working, why change strategies?”
“One of these days he’s going to call your bluff. You know that, don’t you?” I asked him.
“When he does, he may just find out that I wasn’t bluffing after all.”
What did he mean by that? “Jake, what are you thinking right now?”
He stroked my hair again, something I loved to have him do, as he said, “Suzanne, I lost someone, two someones actually, that meant the heaven and earth to me, once in my life, and I’m not about to let it happen again.”
“I love you, Jake, but you can’t live the rest of your life worrying about my safety. You know that, don’t you?”
“Tell you what,” Jake said with a smile as he stood up. “Why don’t we save this conversation for when you’re feeling better? Right now, all you need to do is focus on getting better.”
“That I can do,” I said, and then I groaned a little.
“Are you in pain?” Jake asked, suddenly alarmed.
“No, not any more than I was before, anyway. I just realized that I won’t be able to open the donut shop tomorrow.”
Jake laughed, a sound I was nearly certain not that long ago that I’d never hear again. It sounded better to me than a string quartet. “Emma has already been by. She and her mother are going to run Donut Hearts until you can get back to work.”
“Then I know that it’s in good hands,” I said as I settled back down in the bed.
After Jake was gone, I had a little time to reflect on what had happened. Conrad Swoop had tried his best to end my life, but I’d fought him, and I’d won. But more importantly, my brush with death had reminded me to focus on what was important in my life: my family, my friends, and most of all, Jake.
I wasn’t all that excited about being on the sidelines again as I recovered from the fire, but at least I’d have him with me, and that was a win any day of the week.
