Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery Series Box Set Volume 1 (Books 1 - 4)

by Cindy Bell

  “Are you sure that you’re okay?”

  “I’m sure.” Eddy turned towards his car. He was surprised when he felt her hand on his arm.

  “Eddy, promise me that you will not do anything by yourself.” Samantha looked at him pleadingly. “I know that you want this case solved, but this is the best way to do it. I just want you to know that all the hard work you did was not for nothing. Two criminals are going to be behind bars, and that’s much better than none. Don’t you think?”

  “Of course. Yes, it’s better, Sam,” he reluctantly agreed. “I just got too caught up in my old ways. I wanted to get to the core of it, and even when I was a detective that wasn’t always possible. I’ll be fine, I just need to be with my own thoughts for a bit. Okay?”

  “You’re sure you don’t want company?” She met his eyes.

  “I’m sure. Not today, Sam. But thank you.” Eddy opened the door to his car. “I will let you know when I speak to Brunner.”

  “Do you want me to come with you to talk to him?” Samantha perked up as if she looked forward to it.

  “I don’t think so. It’s better if it’s just me. If anything doesn’t go as planned, I don’t want your name involved in the investigation. Bye Sam.” He leaned over and gave her a light hug. Samantha stiffened and then smiled.

  “Bye Eddy. Have a good night. Or at least try to.”

  “Okay.” He smiled.

  As Eddy drove away he looked in the rearview mirror. He hoped that this wasn’t the last time he would see Samantha, but his decision had already been made.

  Chapter 15

  As Eddy was driving the short distance to his villa he was thinking about the decision he had made. He felt comfortable with it even though he wasn’t completely sure if it was the right one. All of a sudden something strange caught his attention. Outside Paul Carlil’s house was Terry’s car. There was nothing strange about the car being there she was his granddaughter after all, but what was strange was the fact that Paul was standing in the doorway of his villa talking to someone. Eddy recognized straight away that it was Karl.

  Eddy slowed down, he was about to pull over on the side of the road and jump into action to protect Paul when the men shook hands and Paul ushered Karl inside. They seemed friendly with each other. Eddy didn’t know what to make of the situation, but he decided that he needed to find out what was going on. He continued to his villa and parked his car there then he swiftly walked back to Paul’s place. Eddy was almost at the door when it swung open in front of him. He quickly moved to the side of the house and hid in the shadows. Terry, Karl and Paul stood in the doorway.

  “Thanks, Grandad,” Terry said as she kissed him on the cheek.

  “See you soon, Paul.” Karl shook the man’s hand.

  Eddy’s heart was pounding. He couldn’t believe he had doubted his initial instincts. Terry was involved all along.

  Terry and Karl walked towards Terry’s car. Eddy was ready to confront them both, he wanted to find out the truth. Eddy expected to hear them talk about how they had pulled off the robbery, how they had succeeded and fooled everyone, instead Terry started crying.

  “Please, Karl,” she said in a low, trembling voice. “Please just leave him alone.”

  “I told you, Terry,” he said gently. “You have nothing to worry about from me. You’ve done your part. You will be okay. You just need to keep your mouth shut now.”

  “So, what are you doing here?” she asked. “I thought you were going to leave him alone.”

  “I just wanted one last visit to say goodbye.” Karl shrugged and then looked into her eyes with a stern expression. “And to remind you of the consequences if you don’t keep quiet.”

  “I never told anyone.” She sounded genuinely upset to Eddy. Could she have been pulled into this?

  “Just keep it that way and you’ll be fine,” Karl warned.

  “I’m so scared,” Terry said through her tears. “What about the others? What if they come after me? After Grandad?”

  “They won’t,” he said. “They don’t care about you, you’re nothing to them. They know that you’re taken care of.”

  “I wish I’d never gotten into this.”

  “I’m sorry. Just keep quiet and you’ll be fine.” With that he turned on his heel and walked towards the street where Eddy presumed his car was parked.

  Terry steadied herself against the car. Eddy knew that he could be booked for stalking or harassment if he tried to talk to Terry again. She had made it clear that she had no issue calling the police. But he needed to find out the truth. She seemed scared and he needed to know how she was involved.

  Eddy knew that if he confronted her then and there she would probably scream or at least he would scare the life out of her. Then the police would be called and he might never find out the truth.

  Eddy waited until Terry got in her car and then he ran to his. He wished he could get Samantha to come with him to talk to her, but that wasn’t an option. It was too late now. He quickly caught up to her, but he kept his distance so she wouldn’t spot his car. Eddy recognized that they were heading to her house. As he followed Terry his heart pounded. He tried to piece together everything he had overheard. Terry was obviously involved somehow, but it didn’t seem willingly.

  As Eddy pulled up to Terry’s house she was getting out of the car. He quickly got out of his, he had to get to her before she got into her house otherwise the opportunity would be lost.

  Eddy parked the car and walked straight up to her.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said as she looked at him trying to process what was happening. “I want to help you.”

  “You again,” she said. “Get away from me, you crazy man.”

  “Terry,” Eddy said gently. “I just want to help you. I overheard you talking to Karl and I know that you are involved in all of this. I can help you.”

  “No one can help me.”

  “I can help,” Eddy repeated. “You just need to tell me the truth and we can put them all behind bars. You won’t have to be scared anymore.”

  “I should have kept quiet in the first place and then I wouldn’t be in this position.”

  “What position?” Eddy said trying to get the truth out of her.

  “It doesn’t matter now.” She shook her head. “I just tried to do what was right and now it’s all a mess.”

  “Tell me what happened,” he said. “I know you didn’t have anything to do with the robbery. Just tell me the truth.”

  “Okay,” she said hesitantly “But out here. I’m not letting you in my house I don’t trust anyone anymore.” She walked Eddy up to her porch and they sat down across from each other at a table.

  “I had no idea what was going on until the robbery,” she said as she took a tissue out of her purse.

  “What was going on?” Eddy asked wishing Samantha was there. He knew that she would get to the truth faster.

  “When Karl started working at the bank I was immediately suspicious of him. He seemed so interested in the workings of the bank.” She wiped her eyes with the tissue. “You know procedures and other things that had nothing to do with him. I told him somethings at first and we went out for coffee a few times. He seemed so intent on befriending me. I thought maybe he just liked me. But then the robbery happened and I saw the way he acted and everything came together.”

  “You worked out he was involved,” he pressed gently. He didn’t want her to clam up. From her body language and what he had overheard her say to Karl, Eddy knew she was telling the truth.

  “I suspected it,” she said. “But I never wanted to believe it. But after the robbery I ran after him to ask him about it and he denied everything. And then…” she started crying.

  “It’s okay,” Eddy said. “Take your time.” He had heard Samantha say that to upset people that she wanted to get information from, but what he really wanted to say was, hurry up.

  “Then I received some photos from him. He was with my grandfather. He h
ad become his friend. I couldn’t believe it. He said that if I did anything my grandfather would get it.”

  “He blackmailed you?” Eddy’s eyes widened.

  “I didn’t know what to do.” She grimaced. “I was so scared and then you came to see me and I had to get you off my back so I called the police. I couldn’t let Karl think I would tell anyone about him, including you. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “I don’t know what to do,” she said. “I haven’t told my grandfather because I don’t want him to worry, but I’m scared.”

  “It’s okay,” Eddy said again with more determination. “I will protect you and the way I’m going to do that is by getting these criminals arrested.”

  “What if they come after me?”

  “Don’t worry I’ll make sure your name is kept out of it.” Eddy didn’t like that Terry had kept information from him and the police, but he understood it. She was one of the people that needed protecting not punishing.

  “How?”

  “You don’t need to worry about that,” he said. “You just take care of yourself and get some rest. This will be over very soon.”

  She nodded her head as she stood up and walked towards her door. When she had stepped just inside the door she turned around. “I hope you’re right,” she said before she closed the door.

  Eddy hoped that he was right, too. He was more determined than ever to make sure that these criminals were put behind bars not just for the crimes they had committed, but to protect Terry and Paul, the innocent members of the community. He walked to his car and slowly drove back to Sage Gardens. He wanted to call Samantha to tell her about the conversation he had just had with Terry, but it was late and he didn’t want to wake her or have her worrying about it. She would find out soon enough. One thing was becoming clear to Eddy, Karl was guilty of more than being an accomplice to a robbery. If Karl was responsible for blackmail was he also responsible for murdering John?

  Chapter 16

  When Eddy woke up the next morning he felt as if he had the best night’s sleep ever. He felt comfortable with the choice he had made. Even if this was the last action he took in his life, he was satisfied, because he would be doing what he loved, serving justice. He straightened his hat and grabbed his old, small tape recorder and placed it in his pocket. He might be able to use it to record their confessions to the robbery, the more proof the better. He found the recorder on his phone much too difficult to handle secretively or when he was in a rush.

  When Eddy made it to the car he felt his heart begin to race. It was early enough that most of Sage Gardens was still sound asleep. He wanted to make a quiet exit. He felt a pang of guilt for not telling Samantha the truth, but he wanted to make sure that she didn’t get in the middle of what he was about to do.

  As he drove towards Derek’s house he thought about everything that had happened. He hoped that he would be able to get all three arrested for the robbery, but he had to accept that he probably wouldn’t be able to get them arrested for murder. He could only hope that the police would look into their involvement in the murder. He parked in the driveway and walked up to the front door. He placed his hand in his pocket to start the tape recorder. Just as he did Derek opened the door and startled Eddy. Eddy immediately withdrew his hand from his pocket. He wasn’t sure if he had managed to start the recording and he didn’t want to make Derek suspicious by putting his hand back in his pocket.

  “So? Do you have some information for us?” Derek asked.

  “Let’s go inside first.” Eddy gestured to the door.

  Derek nodded and stepped back. Karl stood in the hallway inside the entrance. “Did you find out where the money is?” He looked at Eddy anxiously.

  “I did.” Eddy looked between the two men and knew that the next words he spoke would change everything.

  “So?” Derek glared at him. “Where is it?”

  “It’s at a storage facility.” The words left Eddy’s mouth before he even realized he had decided to speak them.

  “Let’s go get it!” Derek started to open the door.

  “Where are you going without me?” The door swung open hard behind Eddy. It struck him in the back. Eddy stumbled forward. When he caught himself and turned he found himself face to face with Charlie. “Did you think I was going to let any of you get away with this?” She pulled out her gun and closed the door behind her. “Did you think I wouldn’t know about your little meetings?” She laughed as she waved the gun in their direction. “I know everything that you do.”

  “You don’t trust us?” Derek did his best to seem tough.

  “Trust you?” Charlie laughed again. “How could I trust someone that can’t even make a simple murder look like an overdose?” Eddy was surprised as it didn’t seem that Charlie pulled the trigger, but it did look like she had orchestrated it. He just hoped he was recording this.

  “You’re the one that decided to involve personal business and to get me to do your dirty work. None of it was necessary.” Derek grimaced. “If I had known you were setting up someone you had a personal tie to, I wouldn’t have done it.”

  “Don’t try to pin this on me, Derek. Do you really think the police are just going to let that go?” She sighed. “I gave you a simple instruction. Leave some of the money, make it look like an overdose. The cops would assume he was the bank robber, and the entire thing would be over with. We would have been in the clear. Instead you messed everything up.”

  “You never told me he could fight.” He pointed to the deep bruise on his cheek bone. “Do you think this felt good?” Eddy listened intently as he didn’t want to interrupt them and stop them from telling the truth.

  “Oh, toughen up.” Charlie shook her head as she waved the gun. “None of it matters now, anyway.”

  “You’re right it doesn’t.” Derek sneered. “All we want is our money.”

  “There was never going to be any sharing of the money, boys. Who cares if a parolee and a security guard who was an accomplice to a bank robbery end up dead? I can tell you who cares. Nobody.” She chuckled and pointed the gun directly at Eddy. “And you? An old cop who decided to meddle? Well, you figured it out all right, and then the convicted criminal over here shot you. Sad story, but a simple story, and it’s over.” She shrugged. “I was going to wait a few more days, but since you two decided to go behind my back I had to move things up a little. Lucky enough for me, you all made it easy for me by being together. So, let’s not drag this out.” She pointed the gun at Derek. “Who are you going to shoot first?”

  “What?” Derek stammered out. He took a few steps back. When Charlie waved the gun he froze.

  “Oh, did you think I was going to do all of the dirty work? I had to clean up the mess you left with John, you fools, you couldn’t even take care of that.” She smirked.

  “I had nothing to do with that,” Karl protested. “I had nothing to do with the murder.”

  “Maybe not,” Charlie said. “But the police are going to think otherwise.”

  “You don’t have to do this,” Derek said. Charlie waved the gun towards Derek in a threatening motion.

  “Derek, if you don’t want to pick, then you can be the first.” She released the safety. “I respect the fact that you’re man enough to volunteer.”

  “No wait, all right, I’ll do it!” Derek gulped down a few breaths of air. “Eddy.” He mumbled the name. Charlie pointed the gun at Eddy. Eddy braced himself. It wasn’t until that moment when Derek spoke his name that he realized he had gotten himself into a terrible situation. There wasn’t much chance that he was going to get out of it. In the end Charlie was going to win. She was going to have all of the money. She was going to get away with arranging the murder of her ex-boyfriend. Terry and Paul might still be at risk. Eddy had sacrificed everything, for nothing.

  “So, I guess you think you have it all settled then, Charlie?” Eddy was desperate to distract her. “But what you don’t know is that Karl and Derek were plann
ing on making you take the fall. In fact, I’ve contacted the police and they are on their way here now, to arrest you. You think you’ve won, but really, you’re about to spend your life in prison.”

  “What?” Charlie snapped out the word. She continued to point the gun directly at Eddy, but she glared in Derek’s direction.

  “Don’t listen to him!” Derek hissed. “He’s making it all up. We would never turn you in.”

  “Never!” Karl glared at Eddy. “He’s just mad because Derek picked him to die.”

  “Fine, take the risk. You can waste your time trying to murder us all, or you can take your last chance to escape. It’s your choice.” Eddy tried to act casual.

  Charlie flinched. It was the first time Eddy had seen her act anything but confident. All at once he was aware that she was terrified of going to jail. She wasn’t afraid of violence, but she was afraid of handcuffs. He decided to apply a little pressure.

  “The moment those sirens start flashing in the window, these two are going to trip over each other to be the first to turn you in. That’s the consequence of being in charge, Charlie. The only thing that you can negotiate with is the money. If you can give the cops the missing money from the bank robbery, then you might be able to get your sentence reduced. But I can tell you right now, if you pull a trigger, you’re not getting anything reduced.” Eddy shook his head. “You’ll be lucky if you get paroled in fifty years. Is that what you want?”

  “You must really think I’m a fool.” Charlie laughed. “I knew who you were from the moment I laid eyes on you. A real lone wolf. I don’t believe for a second that you called for back-up. In fact I doubt that anyone even knows you’re here. Do they?” She locked eyes with Eddy. “You don’t have any back-up.”

  “Charlie, I can take care of him for you.” Derek stepped forward. “Let me do it for you. I’ll make sure nothing comes back on you. Just give me Karl’s cut.”

  “Karl’s cut?” Charlie grinned. “A little too late, Derek. I’m taking every last dime.” She pointed the gun towards Derek. “Get against the wall or you’ll be the first to go.”