Marked Down for Murder (Good Buy Girls)

by Josie Belle

  Summer opened her mouth to respond, but Blair never gave her the chance as she continued her tirade.

  “You are a beautiful young woman who was bred to find a man who can care for you and provide for you in the manner to which you should become accustomed.”

  “No!” Summer snapped. “That’s enough, Mama. I care for Tyler Fawkes. No, he may not be incredibly attractive or have a lot of money, but he makes me feel special and he makes me a better person, and I—well, I love him!”

  The room went silent for the space of a heartbeat, and then Blair went apoplectic.

  “Nurse!” Blair cried. “I need a nurse!”

  Summer and Sam scrambled around looking for the call button. They were too late.

  A woman in pale blue scrubs came rushing into the room from a door that connected to the next room. She was hobbling, favoring her right leg as if she’d hurt the left one in her hurry to get to Blair. She had her hair tucked into a surgical cap, and a mask covered her lower face. She moved it aside as she asked, “What is it, Mrs. Cassidy?”

  “The pain, oh, the pain,” Blair cried. She clutched her chest.

  “Is it your wound?” the nurse asked. She frowned. She did not appear overly sympathetic, and Maggie couldn’t blame her if she’d injured herself on her way here only to find Blair in the middle of a dramatic episode. “Your pain medication should have kicked in by now.”

  “No, it’s not my gunshot wound, it’s my heart,” Blair said. “It’s breaking.”

  “Oh my god,” Summer said. “I need a drink.”

  “There’s a water fountain in the hall,” the nurse said.

  “Well, unless it’s spitting vodka, it’s of no use to me,” Summer snapped.

  “We need to take your mother up to her room,” the nurse said.

  Sam had finally located the call button. While putting it on the bed, he accidentally pressed the button.

  “What are you doing?” the nurse barked at him.

  “Sorry,” Sam said, and raised his hands in the air as if she had a gun on him.

  The nurse glared at Sam and Summer. “You can come back tomorrow.”

  “I’ll be dead by then,” Blair said.

  “Mama,” Summer whined.

  Another nurse passed Maggie and Dot as she joined the group in the small room. “Is everything all right in here?”

  “Yeah, thumbs here hit the button by mistake,” the first nurse said, gesturing toward Sam.

  The other nurse nodded and then glanced around the room. “It’s just as well. Your room upstairs is ready, Mrs. Cassidy, so I’ll take you up now.”

  “I can take her,” the first nurse said.

  “I’m on rotation up there. It’s fine,” the second nurse said.

  She began to prep Blair’s bed while Summer stepped close to hug her mother good-bye. Blair refused to hug her back.

  “I’ll be posting a detail outside your door, Blair,” Sam said. “We’ll be keeping a close eye on you until the shooter is caught.”

  Blair heaved a deep sigh. “At least someone cares.” Then she rolled over on her good side, facing away from Summer.

  The nurse began to wheel Blair out of the room, and Sam gestured for Summer to come with him.

  “Good night, Mama,” Summer said.

  Blair did not respond. It was then, as Maggie watched Summer’s face crumple with guilt and remorse, that she finally understood what Bruce had told her before about Summer’s life. Summer had been expected to be the prettiest and snag the richest boyfriend or husband, and suffered guilt-laced silence if she didn’t. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

  “Scooch,” Dot said, pulling Maggie aside as Summer and Sam pushed through the door.

  “Deputy Wilson, I’ll take Summer back to the station if you’ll take the first shift watching over Mrs. Cassidy,” he said.

  “Yes, sir,” Dot said. “Don’t you worry, Summer. I’ll keep her safe.”

  “Thanks, Dot,” Summer said. Then she threw herself into the smaller woman’s arms and gave her a crushing hug.

  Maggie could tell Dot was taken aback, as her eyes went wide and it was a moment before she returned the hug with an awkward pat on the back.

  As Dot followed the stretcher that carried Blair Cassidy down the hall, Sam walked Summer and Maggie out. They paused by Maggie’s car, where Sam gave her a quick kiss and said, “I’ll call you later.”

  “We can order a pizza,” Maggie suggested.

  “Fully loaded?” he asked, and she nodded with a smile.

  “You two make a cute couple,” Summer said. “Sickening, but cute.”

  “Thanks, I think,” Maggie said. She wasn’t sure what to make of Summer like this. Then again, she wasn’t sure what to think about Summer’s declaration of love for Tyler. She wondered if Tyler knew.

  Yeah, she knew it was none of her business, but still, the romantic side of her refused to let Summer’s mother destroy whatever might be happening between Summer and Tyler. And wouldn’t Sam be happy that she was butting out of murder and butting in to romance?

  She waved to them as she drove off, wondering how she was going to engineer a meeting between Tyler and Summer with Summer still behind bars. There simply had to be a way.

  Chapter 18

  “This is quite possibly the stupidest idea you’ve ever had,” Ginger said.

  “Don’t be such a doubter,” Maggie said. “Tyler needs to know how Summer feels about him before Blair poisons Summer any further. And if he visits her in the jail, she’ll see that he cares, too.”

  “And you think that you can get him to go to the jail with you because—?” Ginger asked.

  “I need his truck,” Maggie said. “I put in a bid on two of those vintage steel desks, you know, the sort built to survive a nuclear attack, that they auctioned last month and I just got the notice that I won. Tyler picks up stuff for me all the time, so this is perfect.”

  “How is it that he is going to see Summer when she’s in lockup?”

  “It could be that she’s getting released about the same time that we’re picking up the desks,” Maggie said. “I’m awaiting a text from Dot to coordinate our efforts.”

  “So, Summer is off the hook?” Ginger asked. “Sam doesn’t think she killed her stepfather?”

  “Well, since her mother was shot while she was locked up, it does seem unlikely that she had anything to do with Bruce’s murder, if the two are connected, which Sam seems to think they are,” Maggie said. “Plus, I think they had to either charge her or release her, and I don’t think Sam was ready to charge her. She just didn’t have a motive to kill Bruce.”

  The bells on the door chimed and Tyler poked his head in.

  “Maggie, you ready to roll out?” he called. “I promised Tim Kelly I’d help him move this morning.”

  “Just let me grab my purse,” she said. She hurried into the back room and grabbed it from her desk. “Thanks for watching the shop for me, Ginger. I promised myself I wouldn’t close again in the middle of the day. I swear I won’t be long.”

  Ginger just shook her head at her friend. “I still say you’re crazy. But good luck!”

  Maggie grinned and let the door swing shut behind her.

  Tyler’s well-loved pickup truck was parked curbside in front of the shop. He opened the passenger door for her and Maggie climbed up and in, noting that the pine-shaped air freshener hanging off the rearview mirror was working triple overtime. She was pretty sure she felt her nose hair curling in response to its overpowering fake piney scent.

  “So, what are we hauling today, Maggie?” he asked.

  “A couple of desks; heavy steel ones. Did you bring the ramp and handcart?”

  “Of course,” he said. “Where are the desks?”

  “Head toward the center of town,” she said. “I’ll ta
lk you through the directions.”

  Tyler shifted the truck into drive, using the lever on the right side of his steering wheel. He waited until the road was clear and then he made a wide U-turn to take them to the center of town. Maggie waited until they were right in front of the police station.

  “You want to park, oh, right about here,” Maggie said.

  “What?” Tyler squawked. “Give a guy a little notice, Maggie.”

  “Sorry,” she said. Little did he know she was apologizing for a lot more than poor directions.

  Tyler braked hard and eased the truck up against the curb. He maneuvered it in between two parked cars, parallel parking like a pro. Once he shut off the engine, Maggie hopped out of the truck and gestured for him to follow.

  “Come on,” she said.

  He didn’t move. He sat staring at the red brick building behind Maggie, plucking his lower lip between his thumb and index finger.

  He leaned across the seat, looking at Maggie through the open passenger door. “I’ll wait here.”

  “You can’t!” Maggie protested. “I need you to help me figure out logistics and stuff. Those desks are really big and awkward and I need your expertise.”

  Tyler frowned at her. “Maggie Gerber, I’ve known you my whole life. You are the worst liar ever. I was there when you tried to tell our third-grade teacher, Mrs. Campbell, that the dog ate your homework.”

  “It was a good excuse,” she protested.

  “Oldest fib in the book and hampered by the fact that you did not have a dog, which Mrs. Campbell knew. Besides you have an inability to maintain eye contact when you lie,” he said. “It’s a dead giveaway.”

  “I can, too,” Maggie argued. She stared at him as hard as she could, bugging her eyes out.

  “So, why are we here?” he asked.

  “To pick up those desks,” she said.

  “Ha! You just looked away!”

  “I did not!”

  “Did, too,” he said. “Maggie Gerber, what are you up to?”

  “Nothing,” she squeaked. This time she felt her eyes dart away. Darn it, why was she such a bad liar?

  “Maggie, what would your mama say if she saw you right now?” he demanded. “Telling whoppers and not even being the least little bit ashamed.”

  “I’ll tell you what my mama would say,” Maggie snapped, getting irritated by Tyler’s stubbornness. “She’d say, ‘Why isn’t that Tyler Fawkes getting out of his truck to help my baby girl like a proper gentleman should?’”

  Tyler heaved a sigh. “I can’t go in there, Maggie. She’s in there!”

  “She as in Summer?” Maggie asked. “Well, I have some news about that, but I’m not sure I’m going to tell you now, since you’re being such a big chicken.”

  “News? What news?” he asked.

  “Come on,” she said. “I’ll tell you on the way.”

  “Is it good news?” Tyler asked cautiously.

  “Very,” Maggie said. Then she slammed the door and began to walk toward the station, leaving Tyler to race after her. She checked her phone to make sure they were still on schedule. Yes, Dot’s text said they were processing the paperwork right now.

  “So what is it?” he asked. “And no more lies.”

  They were almost to the doors when Maggie turned to him and said, “I heard Summer tell her mother that she loves you.”

  This time she maintained eye contact and put her hand over her heart to add a measure of veracity to her statement.

  Tyler’s eyes popped wide open and he went slack-jawed, then he shoved her shoulder and said, “Shut up!”

  He squealed like a teenage girl, and it was all Maggie could do not to laugh. She might have if his shove hadn’t smarted so much.

  “Ow,” she said, rubbing her shoulder.

  “Sorry.” He looked contrite, and then suspicious. “Are you messing with me, Maggie? ’Cause that would just be mean.”

  “Am I known for being mean?” she asked.

  “Well, according to Summer—” he began, but she interrupted.

  “To you,” she clarified. “In all of the years that you’ve known me, have I ever been mean to you?”

  “Well, no,” he said.

  “Then trust me,” she said. “She went toe to toe with her mother for you. Now you need to show her some support or she’s going to get over you so fast you’ll hiccup and she’ll be gone.”

  Tyler gasped and then yanked open the door and strode into the station. He stopped in the lobby, standing with his hands on his hips, looking like Superman surveying the scene before him.

  Maggie, unprepared for him to stop short, plowed into his back. She bounced off, as Tyler didn’t move. Wondering what had him rooted to the spot, Maggie glanced around him to see Dot and Sam standing at the front desk with Summer.

  Summer and Tyler stared at each other, but no one spoke. Maggie dug her knuckle into Tyler’s back to propel him forward—hopefully with his verbal skills fully functional.

  “Oh, uh, hi, Summer,” he said as he moved away from Maggie.

  Maggie sighed, as her hopes for his verbal functionality were obviously for naught.

  “Hi, Tyler,” Summer said. She fiddled with the ends of her hair and glanced down at the paperwork in front of her as if embarrassed.

  Maggie had to give Dot credit. She had obviously overseen Summer’s wardrobe choices for the day. Who knew the deputy had such skills in the makeover arts?

  Summer was in a long, flowing floral dress with cute ankle boots and a denim jacket. Her blonde hair was done in careless waves down her back, and her makeup was much lighter than usual. She was the picture of a sweet damsel in distress.

  Since Tyler had always seemed partial to the overly madeup, sexy Summer, Maggie wasn’t sure this was the best outfit choice, however much she liked it herself, but one look at Tyler’s dumbstruck face and she knew Dot had been spot-on.

  She glanced at the deputy with her eyebrows raised, and Dot winked at her.

  “Just one more signature,” Sam said. “And then you are free to go—just don’t leave town.”

  “Do you need a ride?” Tyler asked. “I’ve got my truck right outside, and I’d be happy to give you a lift anywhere you need to go.”

  And just like that, Maggie knew she had been thrown over. She would have been irritated if this hadn’t been a part of her plan all along.

  “Oh, I have a ride,” Summer said. “But thank you. That’s very sweet of you, Tyler.”

  Summer rested her hand on Tyler’s forearm and gazed up at him through her lashes. Maggie was surprised he didn’t drop to one knee and pop out a proposal right there, but she had a feeling his brain matter had turned to mush, making his motor skills all but useless.

  She shot a glance at Dot, who shrugged. Obviously, she had no idea who Summer’s ride was either.

  “You know I’d do anything for you, don’t you?” Tyler asked Summer. His voice was so tender, Maggie felt her own throat get tight as she watched the two of them.

  Summer blinked at him and blushed a faint shade of pink. “You are so wonder—”

  “That’s it!” a voice cried from the front door.

  They all turned as one to see Blair Cassidy entering the station with her arm in a sling and a uniformed driver holding the door for her.

  Sam came out from behind the desk as if he anticipated trouble. He moved to stand beside Maggie, and out of the corner of his mouth, he asked, “What are you up to, darlin’?”

  “Me?” Maggie asked. She tried to bite her lip and look at him through her lashes like Summer had done to Tyler, but judging by the grin he seemed to be unsuccessfully fighting off, she did not have the same stupefying effect.

  “What’s ‘it,’ Mama?” Summer asked. She glanced nervously at Tyler, as if afraid he was the answer to her question.
<
br />   Maggie wondered if Summer would take on her mother again in defense of Tyler. If she did, Maggie suspected this could get downright ugly.

  “The truck that jumped the curb when I got shot!” Blair cried. She turned to Sam. “Did you catch him? Is that why it’s parked out there?”

  Sam blinked. “What are you talking about?”

  Blair marched back to the glass doors. Her driver jumped out of the way before she stomped over him. She tapped one of the glass panes with a well-manicured red fingernail.

  “That’s the truck, the one parked right there, that was driven by the person who tried to shoot me,” she said. “I’m sure of it.”

  As one, they all crowded toward the doors to look.

  Tyler was the first to speak. “But that’s my truck.”

  Blair sucked in a breath and scurried around her driver as if using him as a human shield. The poor guy had no idea what was going on, and flinched when she gripped his upper arm with her good hand and dug her nails in. The man couldn’t escape if he tried.

  “So, it was you!” Blair cried, glaring at Tyler. “You tried to kill me!”

  Chapter 19

  “What? No!” Tyler protested. “I would never!”

  “Don’t you lie to me!” Blair screeched. She lifted up her arm in the sling. “Look what you did to me.”

  “Mama, if he says he didn’t do it, he didn’t do it,” Summer protested.

  “You get away from him,” Blair said. She reached around her driver and grabbed Summer by the arm, yanking her close. “He tried to kill me. He could try to kill you, too.”

  “No, I didn’t!” Tyler argued. He fisted his hands in his hair, looking as if he might rip it out by the roots.

  “Blair, this is a serious accusation. Are you absolutely certain that is the truck?” Sam asked.

  “Yes,” Blair said.

  “I thought you said your back was to it and you didn’t see anything,” Maggie said. She didn’t doubt for one second that Blair would use this as an opportunity to break Tyler and Summer up.

  “I was turned away, but I knew it was a truck because I saw its reflection in the window,” she said. “And I remember that streak of bright green paint on the front bumper. It was the last thing I saw before I was shot!”