by Josie Belle
“Because I don’t want to have a baby,” Maggie said. “I’ve already done the midnight feedings, tooth fairy visits, and exploding science projects. If that’s what you want, then we have to break up, because I don’t want to hold you back. You’ll just grow to resent me and you may lose your chance to have the family of your dreams with someone younger who wants the same thing.”
Sam stared at her with his mouth agape. He looked like he was about to speak when his phone rang. He checked the display and let out a sigh. He raised one finger to Maggie to indicate he needed a minute. She clenched her hands together in anxiety, not knowing from his expression how he felt about her outpouring of honesty.
Sam barked, “Collins.”
Maggie heard a sharp voice on the other end. She could tell it was bad news.
“I’m on my way,” Sam said. He ended the call and was already running toward the door. “I’m sorry, Maggie, I have to go.”
“Wait, what’s happening?” she cried.
“Summer’s house is on fire,” he said.
“I’m coming with you,” she said.
“No, you’re not,” Sam said.
“Really?” Maggie asked. “You know I’ll just follow you.”
Sam growled. “Fine, but this time you stay in the car.”
Maggie locked the door behind them and they hurried down the sidewalk to Sam’s squad car. This time it was an ear-piercing journey with both lights and siren warning anyone and everyone of their impending arrival.
A fire truck was already parked in front of the house when they arrived. From what Maggie could see, they had kicked in the front door. Floodlights on the truck illuminated the house and the smoke that was billowing from the back of it.
An ambulance was parked on the side of the house and Sam started for it at a run. Disregarding the “stay in the car” thing, Maggie was right behind him.
Sam looked over his shoulder and snapped, “Can’t you even pretend you’re going to listen to me?”
“Sorry, no,” she said.
He took her hand in his and they jogged the rest of the way to the ambulance.
An emergency medical technician was working on Deputy Wilson as she sat in the ambulance on a stretcher. Summer and Blair were sitting on the back end of the ambulance, and they both looked pale and disheveled, but not harmed.
“Deputy Wilson, are you all right?”
“Fine.” She coughed. She didn’t sound fine, and she didn’t look fine either.
The EMT was a handsome black man, and he gave Dot a concerned look and said, “She has smoke in her lungs and some second-degree burns. She’ll be all right but I want to take her to the hospital.”
“She’s a hero,” Blair Cassidy said. “We were asleep but she woke us up and got us out.”
“Any idea what started the fire?” Sam asked.
“Oh yeah,” Dot said. “A Molotov cocktail thrown at the house. It exploded on impact. Whoever did it was traveling on foot, and I only know that because I happened to be looking out the back window when they tossed it.”
“A drink?” Blair asked. “They threw a drink at the house?”
“A Molotov cocktail is a handmade bomb,” Sam said. “A glass bottle full of gasoline with a kerosene-soaked rag in the mouth that serves as a wick. It’s used more to light things on fire than blow them up.”
“Well, mission accomplished there,” Summer said. She was looking at her house with large, sad eyes.
“Who would do such a thing?” Blair asked. “We could have perished in a fiery death.”
“Wild guess, but I’m betting it’s the same person who shot at you,” Dot said. She broke into a coughing fit, and Sam and Maggie exchanged a concerned glance.
“Hospital, Deputy Wilson.” Sam said it sternly as if he expected a fight.
“But I need to give a description and I want to canvass the area behind the house,” Dot protested. “I know about where I saw the person, and maybe there is some trace evidence left behind.”
Sam looked at the EMT for input. He was a good-looking man with broad shoulders, close-cropped brown hair and a kind smile. His badge had a medical symbol on it and the name JAVIER.
“Officer Wilson,” Javier said. His serious tone indicated he was about to deliver bad news.
“The name is Dot,” she said. She gave him a coquettish smile, which somehow was extra charming with the oxygen tube running under her nose.
“Dot.” He said her name with a grin. “As the man who has just tended your burns and put you on oxygen”—he paused to adjust the plastic tubing that ran from her nose and over her ears to the oxygen tank strapped to the wall—“I am asking you to please go to the hospital and not let my hard work be for nothing. It would be a shame if something bad happened to a fine-looking woman such as you.”
Dot’s eyes went wide. She leaned over to glance around him at the others.
“Is he flirting with me?” she asked Maggie in a whisper loud enough for everyone, including Javier, to hear.
Maggie glanced at the EMT, who was grinning at Dot as if he thought she was about the coolest thing he’d seen all day.
“Yes, I believe he is,” she said.
“Well, isn’t that something?” Dot asked. “And I’m in uniform and everything.”
“I like a woman in uniform,” Javier said, and he wiggled his eyebrows at her. “And just so you know, I can’t ask you out if you go against my medical advice. It would start our relationship off on terrible footing.”
Dot gave him an intrigued look and said, “Get a load of you.”
“She needs to go to the hospital,” Javier said to Sam.
Javier did not look like he was willing to debate the issue, and Sam looked back at Dot with his forbidding sheriff’s face.
“Hospital,” Sam said to Dot. “I’ll protect the scene. If there is anything to see, you can do it in daylight tomorrow.”
Dot punched the stretcher in frustration. “Cute EMT or not, tomorrow will be too late. We have to move on this now.”
She then broke into a fit of coughing that only served to prove Javier right.
“Medic!” a voice called.
They all turned to see one of the firemen being carried out of the house. He was holding his arm at an awkward angle. Another EMT waved to Javier from the group of firemen, obviously wanting backup.
“I’ll be right back,” Javier said. He frowned at Dot. “Do not go anywhere.”
Dot gave him a sulky nod and he dashed away to help his colleague with the fireman.
“I’m going to check out the house,” Sam said. “Ladies, why don’t you all sit in the ambulance with Deputy Wilson and keep her company.”
Maggie knew this was code for Do not let her out of your sight. Summer and Blair seemed to get it, too, as they nodded and climbed into the back of the ambulance with Maggie. It was an awkward foursome gathered there, with Blair and Summer on the bench across from Dot while Maggie sat on the edge of the stretcher. The three of them had Dot surrounded, and she wasn’t going to be able to escape the ambulance no matter how hard she tried.
“He thinks he’s so smart,” Dot muttered. “Just because he wears the big badge.”
“Tell me about it,” Maggie said.
Dot began to cough, and Maggie saw Blair and Summer exchange a worried look.
“We owe you our lives,” Summer said. She put her hand on Dot’s arm. “Please do what Javier and Sam tell you to. St. Stanley needs a woman like you on the force.”
It was the nicest thing Maggie had ever heard Summer say. Dot blushed and fidgeted with the oxygen tube in her lap.
“Thanks,” Dot said. “I was just doing my job. Someone is out to kill you, Blair, and I’ll be darned if I’m going to let that happen on my watch.”
“Thank you,” Blair said. She looked faint and M
aggie figured Dot’s words did not have the soothing effect she had been going for.
“So, Sam told me that he found a link between Terry Knox and Bruce Cassidy,” Maggie said. She thought talking about the case might take their minds off the house that was still ablaze behind them.
Blair nodded. Summer let out a shaky breath and forced her gaze away from the house.
“It looks like Terry murdered the Cassidys and assumed their identities,” Summer said. “I just can’t believe it. I mean, he just didn’t seem like a killer.”
“I didn’t think so either,” Maggie said. She and Summer stared at each other. This was the first time Maggie could remember that they had ever been in accord about anything. It was weird.
“I still think Sam should let me help canvass the area. I saw the person who threw the firebomb,” Dot said. “They took off into the woods, but they were dragging their left leg like they’d hurt themselves. I know we could catch them if we get everyone out in the woods.”
Maggie frowned. “What did you say?”
“We could catch them if we—” Dot said, but Maggie interrupted.
“No, before that.”
“They were dragging their left leg,” Dot said.
Maggie felt the blood rush out of her face. She turned to Blair with her eyes wide. “I know who killed your husband. I know who’s trying to kill you.”
Blair blinked at her. “Who?”
“Sela Cassidy,” she said.
She rose to go and tell Sam what she knew, but the back door of the ambulance slammed shut, locking her in.
Chapter 25
“What the—?” Maggie cried. She banged on the door. “Hey, open up!”
The ambulance lurched forward and Maggie was thrown to the floor. Summer and Blair grabbed onto each other and braced themselves against the wall while Dot clung to the handle of the stretcher she was still on.
“What the hell?” she cried. “See if Javier is up there and ask him if he has lost his mind.”
A small window looked into the cab of the ambulance. Maggie hauled herself to her knees and crawled to the front. She pressed her face against the window but could only make out the back of the driver’s head. It was not Javier. With a knot of gray hair on top of her head, it was clearly a woman.
Maggie rapped on the glass. The woman turned and faced her and Maggie sucked in a breath. The face wasn’t disguised by a surgical mask and cap this time, but there was no mistaking her. It was the nurse who was in the hospital the night Blair had been shot. Maggie suspected she was no more a nurse than Maggie was. In fact, Maggie would stake her shop on it. The woman driving the ambulance had to be Sela Cassidy!
Maggie stared at her. Then she rapped on the glass with her knuckles and yelled, “Stop, Sela!”
Sela’s eyes narrowed, and then she laughed. The sound was muffled, but even through the glass, Maggie could tell it was unpleasant.
“Hey!” Maggie slapped her palm against the glass. “I said stop!”
Sela ignored her. She gave Maggie a nasty look, then turned back to the front and cut the wheel hard to the right, causing Maggie to slam into the ambulance wall and the others to yelp as they struggled to hang on.
“It’s Sela,” Maggie said as she scrambled to grab ahold of something to keep from being tossed across the ambulance. “Sela Cassidy is driving the ambulance.”
“What?” Dot asked. “How do you know?”
“You told me. Sort of,” Maggie said as she grabbed a hand strap.
“What?” Dot looked like she wanted to smack the information out of her.
Maggie hurried to explain. “It all fits. Sam said that Sela was a professional skier until she blew her knee out. So it made sense that she would live in Europe, as she would be familiar with the lifestyle. Switzerland would be a natural fit for her. But do you remember the night Blair was shot? The first nurse who came when Blair called was limping.”
Summer and Blair didn’t get it, but Dot did. She clapped a hand to her forehead and said, “The person I saw running from the house was limping!”
“It has to be Sela,” Maggie said. “And I’m going to take a not-so-wild guess and say she’s our shooter as well as our arsonist.”
Dot slapped her hip. “Damn it! That cutie EMT gave my gun to Sam when he was examining me. Oh, when I see him again I’m going to shoot him!”
“Focus!” Maggie cried. “We’re in deep trouble here.”
“It’s me. She wants to kill me,” Blair said, clutching Summer close. “Maybe I can reason with her.”
“Mama, the woman shot you, tried to burn down my house and stole an ambulance. Does she seem reasonable to you?”
The ambulance swerved and they all braced themselves again, then they hit a pothole hard and everyone bounced in their seats as their teeth clacked together with the impact.
“We have to overpower her,” Dot said. “It’s our only chance.”
“Chance? We don’t have a chance. She’s going to kill us all,” Blair said. “She may have been gunning for me, but she’s not going to leave any witnesses.”
“We’re four to one,” Dot said. “We can take her.”
“With no weapons?” Summer cried. “Oh my god, we’re dead. Dead, I tell you.”
“Calm down,” Maggie said. “Dot’s right. We have to try to save ourselves. There has to be something in here that we can use.”
They each glanced around the interior of the ambulance. The medical equipment did not inspire any brilliant self-defense strategies.
“This is impossible. What are we going to do?” Blair asked. “Throw bandages and gauze at her?”
“How about this?” Dot asked. She yanked the oxygen tubes off her face and hefted the small tank off the wall and into her lap. “I can bash her on the head with it.”
“Yeah, I’m guessing she’ll shoot you before you manage to crack her skull,” Maggie said.
“I’ll sacrifice myself,” Blair said.
“What?” Summer cried. “Mama, no!”
“Listen to me, baby girl,” Blair said as she grabbed Summer’s hands. “You are the most important thing in my life. When she stops the ambulance and opens the back door, I will throw myself on top of her, and the three of you run.”
“That’s—” Dot began to protest, but Blair held up her hand. “It’s me she’s after, and I’m willing to sacrifice myself for my girl. You two get her out of here.”
“Oh, Mama,” Summer sobbed.
Maggie looked at Dot and wondered if she had a lump in her throat like Maggie did. Judging from the sheen in her eyes, she did. It just went to show that even the shallowest of people sometimes had hidden depths.
“I still say I can clobber her,” Dot said.
“Please don’t risk it,” Blair said. “This whole mess is my fault. If I hadn’t married Bruce, or Terry, or whatever his name was, then none of us would be in danger right now.”
“It’s not your fault, Mama,” Summer said. “You loved him. You had no way of knowing that he wasn’t who he said he was.”
The ambulance started to slow. Maggie glanced out of the window. Sela had driven them out of town and into the middle of a wooded area. Maggie wondered how she planned to kill them all. Surely, she had to realize that she was outnumbered and that even if she did get away with it, the police were bound to figure it out. Not to mention that if she killed Dot, it would be a cop killing, which was very, very bad.
“Let us go, Sela!” Maggie banged on the glass.
Sela turned around and gave her a hard, cold stare. She hit a button on the console and her voice came over a speaker into the back.
“Sorry, but you’re collateral damage,” she said. She said it as casually as if she were commenting on the weather.
“Why are you doing this?” Maggie asked. “We’ve done nothing to you.�
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Sela glanced through the small window past Maggie at Blair. “She stole my identity.”
“No, I didn’t,” Blair protested. “Not on purpose. I didn’t know Bruce . . . Terry was a murderer. I never would have married him if I’d known.”
“What?” Sela cupped her hand to her ear as if she couldn’t hear Blair, but Maggie suspected she was faking.
“I didn’t know!” Blair cried. Her voice was a piercing shriek. “I promise you I didn’t know.”
Sela’s face went hard and dark. “I’m the only Mrs. Bruce Cassidy.”
“Oh, is that the problem?” Blair asked. “You can totally be the widow. I don’t mind at all. You can have all the money. Everything. Just let us go.”
Maggie looked at Blair with a frown. Did she really think she was going to be able to negotiate her way out of this? She turned back to Sela. The woman looked like she wanted to slap Blair.
“I’m the widow, because I killed him,” Sela said. “Terry was supposed to pose as Bruce and keep sending me money, but he fell for you and my money stopped coming.”
“Oh, did you hear that, Mama?” Summer asked. “Bruce . . . er . . . Terry wasn’t a murderer. She is.”
As the weight of her words had pressed in upon her, Summer went from looking cheered to very alarmed.
“Oh, that’s bad, isn’t it?” she asked.
“You think?” Maggie asked.
Sela hopped out of the front of the ambulance and slammed the door shut.
“She’s killed twice,” Dot said. “I don’t really think four more bodies are going to faze her much.”
Blair moved to stand in front of the back doors. “Stay behind me. I’ll try to tackle her.”
Maggie and Dot exchanged a glance. Blair weighed about one hundred pounds soaking weight. She couldn’t even tackle a chocolate éclair without backup.
Dot hopped off the stretcher. She still clutched the oxygen tank in her hand. Maggie and Summer moved in behind the other two. As far as Maggie was concerned, it was a one-for-all-and-all-for-one sort of moment. Somehow she had never imagined that she’d be side by side with Summer Phillips. It just proved that life was ever the surprise even when facing impending death. Maggie really wished she could see Sam just one more time.
