by Holly Quinn
Nash took in the information and then studied her carefully. “Would you care to join me for a cup of Liquid Joy? Now that you’ve called me over here, I think I just figured out a way that you can help me.” The detective looked pensively at her as he pondered and raked his hand through his curls.
“Pardon?” Sammy raised a hand to her ear to be sure she was hearing correctly.
I’m heading to Liquid Joy to grab a cup of coffee before my stakeout. Would you like to join me?” He crossed his arms across his chest and waited expectantly.
“Huh?” Sammy’s heart beat with eagerness. “Do you want me to go with you? On a stakeout? Or just join you for coffee?” Oh, please let it be the stakeout he’s asking me to join.
Tim took all this in with pure amusement, and Sammy swatted him with the back of her hand.
“Get your coat,” Liam urged.
Sammy turned quickly on her heel, before the detective had the chance to change his mind, and rushed toward her office. “Deborah,” she called out over her shoulder. “Can you cover for me this afternoon and close up on your own? I’ve been summoned on official police business.” Sammy grinned as she rounded the corner to step inside her office and reached for her coat.
“Sure, no problem.” Deborah shadowed, poking her head just inside the office door as Sammy was placing her knit hat on her head. “Does this have anything to do with the investigation into Wanda’s death?”
“Yeah, and it sounds like the police are onto something pretty big and they need my help,” she said as she buttoned up her winter coat and then slipped on her gloves.
“Get going then, Sammy. Please be careful though, okay? We kinda need you around here. Make sure and listen to that detective and don’t put yourself in any more compromising positions,” Deborah added warily.
“Thanks. I’ll be back before close to pick up Bara. If something comes up and I can’t make it back, I’ll send Ellie over to get him.”
She patted her dog on the head before meeting Liam by the front door. Tim was already across the street, stepping into Liquid Joy ahead of them.
“What’s the plan?” Sammy’s eyes searched the detective’s penetratingly.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud.” He chuckled. “I think I could use your help to set a trap. Are you up for that?”
“Absolutely!” Sammy beamed. “What do you want me to do?”
“Walk with me,” he said, opening the front door of Community Craft. Sammy clutched the top of her winter coat and kept stride with him willingly. Together they crossed the street to Liquid Joy, where Tim was soon exiting with three covered cups in a coffee carrier.
“Looks like you finally got your wish.” Tim eyed Sammy as the three walked along the sidewalk toward the alley leading to the police department. Sammy assumed they were heading to the back lot where the detective’s car was parked.
“How do you mean?”
“I mean, your assistance is required in an ongoing investigation by our lead detective here.” Tim jerked his elbow toward Liam, careful not to spill the coffee he was carrying.
“Yes, I guess I did get my wish. I must have worn him down,” Sammy teased back. “Officer Maxwell, does this mean you won’t be so hard on my cousin then?” she hinted.
“Let’s keep Heidi out of this,” Tim said with a warning smile as he removed his coffee cup and handed the other two that remained in the carrier to Sammy. The officer moved toward a patrol car and opened the door. “I’ll meet you over there.” He regarded the detective with a quick nod of his head and slipped into the SUV.
Sammy hurried to catch up with Liam, as she’d fallen a few steps behind due to the recurring pain in her ankle. “So, is it true? Have I really worn you down?” she asked.
“Something like that,” he answered with a lopsided grin.
Sammy followed the detective to where his silver Honda Civic was parked. He opened the passenger door and held it for her.
“Sorry for the mess,” he said as he quickly sidestepped in front of her. He brushed off the seat with the sleeve of his jacket and removed a potato chip bag, all before Sammy climbed inside, and then shut the door.
Liam slid into the driver’s seat and settled in next to her. “Click it or ticket,” he said. As soon as Sammy set the coffee in the cup holders between them, she followed his lead and clicked on her belt.
“Do you have your phone with you?” he asked as he started the engine.
Sammy removed her cell phone from her pocket and waved it in front of her. “I almost thought I’d have to get a new one, with this little puppy having been left inside my glove compartment in the cold overnight. Thank goodness it thawed. These things cost an arm and a leg.” She grimaced.
The detective drove the Honda Civic to the very edge of the parking lot of the police department, put the car in park, and turned his head to face her squarely. “Before we start this, I need to be perfectly clear. Under no circumstances do you leave the safety of this car unless I allow it. Understood?” He held eye contact with her until he felt he had been clearly heard.
“Yes, you have my word.” Sammy crossed her heart with her finger. “Where are we going? I feel like I’m being kidnapped again, minus my hands being tied.” She lifted her hands to illustrate her freedom. “Do you want to let me in on what’s going on?” She giggled nervously, though her nervousness came from excitement that he’d finally asked her for help in an ongoing investigation. This was epic. Not knowing what was coming next, however, left her breathless.
“As I mentioned, I didn’t want to hold Marty last night. I had to let him go.” Liam let out a whistle. “Keeping him in custody isn’t going to lead me to the perp. So, I think I have an idea that might work.”
“Okay?”
“Following him is my best bet.”
“Do you think it’s possible Marty faked his own kidnapping as a ruse? You think he was the one who poisoned his wife all along, don’t you?” She turned to face him and watch his demeanor for confirmation.
“I’m not entirely sure,” he admitted. “Marty was vague when I questioned him last night, and I just want to rule him out as a suspect so I can move on to others to interrogate if it isn’t him,” he said, tapping his fingers along the steering wheel. “Either way, elimination will help, I think.”
“Okay, do you plan on letting me in on your plan of attack on how you want to do this?” she teased as she watched the familiar landmarks pass through the car window, trying to gauge exactly where they were going.
“Last night, before I left your house, do you remember what you said to me?” He turned his attention from the windshield to look at her, and suddenly she felt cornered. The only thing she remembered is that they had come dangerously close to kissing. As a matter of fact, she had dreamed about it all night. Her heart leapt at the thought. She didn’t think that’s what he was referring to, though, so she remained quiet in hopes that he would clarify. She could feel her face getting hot.
His eyes left hers and returned to the windshield to focus on driving. “You mentioned that Marty went to the Smoky Mountains with his extended family. That’s where we believe he would have come up with the mountain laurel and turned it into a toxic honey, with which he potentially poisoned his wife.” The detective paused.
“Yeah, so …” Sammy turned to him and watched the corner of his temple pulsate as if he was in deep thought.
“After hours of interrogation, he didn’t give up anything regarding Wanda’s poisoning. I began to think, I need to go at this from a different angle if I want a confession, or at the very least, I need substantial evidence. And since I don’t want him on merely kidnapping charges, our best bet is to set a trap and hope he’ll walk right into it.”
“Sounds like a smart plan. I see where you’re going with this, I think.”
“To be clear, I want him on murder charges, not just kidnapping, if he did indeed poison his wife. There’s no way I’m letting him get away with just a slap on
the wrist. But then last night during my interrogation, every which way I tried, I couldn’t get him to spill or slip up. So, if it really was Marty behind all of this, the only way to get the evidence I need to make it stick is to trap him. Either way, by process of elimination, I’ll know whether or not he was indeed involved.”
“Okay?” Sammy tried to piece together all that he was saying in her mind, but she wasn’t sure she was totally following. “What do you want me to do? Where do I come in?”
“Here’s my idea. I need you to make a phone call.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Who am I calling exactly?”
“Give Marty a call and tell him what you found inside the farmhouse. Tell him about the cut-up magazine and tell him you left the evidence exactly where you found it. Ask him if he thinks you should tell the police.” The detective said this as if he was considering his plan and executing it in his own mind, yet he was letting her be privy to it all unfolding.
“I’m still a little confused. I think you’re going to have to spell it out for me as clearly as possible so that I don’t make a mistake.” She looked down and unbuttoned a few buttons on her coat, as the adrenaline was causing her to sweat nervously.
“I want you to call Marty and tell him you found the magazine with the missing letters while you were looking for a phone to call for help. Tell him you know that whoever was in that house must be involved. You can even accuse him if you’d like. Which, to be honest, is one of the others reasons I wanted to bring you with me. If I know exactly where you are, I can protect you if he is indeed the killer and might try to retaliate during this ruse.” He leaned over and tapped lightly on her hand.
Sammy flipped her hand in his and took hold of his hand, giving it a light squeeze before letting go. She loved that he was protecting her and considering her safety above all else.
“Here’s the thing. When Marty shows up to remove the evidence, we’ll know for a fact he’s trying to conceal it and we’ll know he’s our killer. We’ll have him cornered. Otherwise, why would he try to remove it? If he wasn’t guilty and he didn’t create his own ransom note, then his immediate instinct would be to call the police, right? We’ll just have to sit and wait. I have dispatch ready to deploy additional backup if need be.”
“Oh wow.” Sammy fidgeted with her phone nervously. “Okay, I can do this.” She evened her breathing. “Should I call him now?”
“Yeah, I have his number right here.” The detective scrolled for Marty’s phone number and then handed over his iPhone. “Here. If you call him now and it is indeed him behind all this, he’ll rush over there to remove the evidence, but we’ll have a few minutes’ head start, so go for it. Use your phone, though, so he doesn’t trace the call back to me.”
Sammy’s hands were trembling as she dialed the number. Marty answered on the second ring.
“Hello, Marty? It’s Sammy Kane.” She swiped the phone to speaker, filling the car with the sound of his voice. Maybe the detective could use Marty’s words as evidence as well, if need be.
“I see you found your way home,” Marty said sarcastically.
Sammy’s phone almost slipped from her clammy hand as she chuckled and tried desperately to lighten the conversation. “Yeah, especially after all you put me though. You’re lucky I didn’t freeze to death out there. Did you know I ran out of propane in the middle of the night? Despite what you put me through, I’ve decided not to press charges.” She eyed the detective, whose eyes left the windshield momentarily and looked at her intently before returning his eyes to the road ahead.
“Yeah, well, I’m not going to feel indebted to you for that. You seem to think it’s okay to be in everybody’s business, so you kind of brought it upon yourself. Look, I’m packing to get out of here. I’m not sure why you called me, but I have to go.”
“Wait!”
“What is it? Why are you pestering me? You really are a tenacious one, aren’t you?”
Sammy tapped the detective on the thigh while saying, “I called to help you. I think whoever owns that farmhouse might be responsible for everything that’s happened. Maybe even your wife’s death.”
“What did you say?”
“I found a cut-up magazine with letters missing. Just like the letters in the ransom note your brother-in-law Jackson was sent.”
“Did you tell the police?”
Sammy’s eyes darted to the detective, and he shook his head no.
“No. No, I wanted to call you first. Should I go ahead and notify the police?”
The detective nodded and patted her arm encouragingly.
“Where did you find it?”
“Inside the farmhouse. I found a key in the barn and went in to use the phone.”
“Thanks. I’ll pass on the information to the police—not your concern. Goodbye, Sammy.”
“’Bye.” Sammy clicked the phone off and then took a deep breath. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath through the entire conversation.
“You okay?” The detective held the steering wheel with both hands but turned toward her briefly to check on her.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Now what? We wait, right?” Sammy unbuttoned the remaining buttons on her coat and opened it beneath the seat belt.
“Right. Something you’re not very good at,” he teased with a lopsided smile.
Sammy responded with a toss of her hand. “Did you catch that Marty said he was packing?”
“Yeah, and that’s interesting news, since I told him not to go too far. I’m not worried about it; the FBI is hanging close to him to see if these mysterious kidnappers show themselves anyway. I doubt he could use the bathroom without them knowing it. He’s just not aware that their presence is all around him.”
The remainder of the ride was eerily silent between them as Sammy wrestled with one last thing she hadn’t yet shared.
“Liam?”
“Yeah?”
“There is one more thing that may or may not be relevant to this case.”
“What’s that?” His eyes remained on the road rolling endlessly before them. They must be getting close, as the houses were becoming fewer and farther between. Sammy instantly flashed back to the desolation and fear she’d felt when Marty had taken her against her will. Goose bumps rose on her flesh—and not from the cold.
“You okay? I lost you for a second.” The detective reached out and nudged her lightly.
Sammy smiled, returning to the present and the man sitting next to her, who would surely protect her this time from any impending danger.
She deflected her fears by returning to the subject at hand. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, I was just thinking about whether I should share something that was hidden and private to Wanda. I found a cryptic rhyme inside her quilt. The quilt Wanda draped across her lap the night she died. I’m not exactly sure what she was trying to say with that message, but the quilt was also part of a trail map that someday I think she hoped someone would figure out. Or maybe it was just some weird way of keeping herself sane.”
“Rhyme? How odd. What’d it say?”
“The blocks pieced on this quilt release me of guilt, or something along those lines. You haven’t uncovered an affair or anything during your investigation, have you?”
“No. Everyone I interviewed confirmed the opposite, that Wanda was very loyal in her marriage. Apparently, her husband was the jealous type and constantly accused her of infidelity. Maybe because she was fit and attractive, he felt insecure, but everything I’ve heard thus far is that she was loyal and trustworthy.”
“So, what else do you think Wanda felt guilty about? And why piece together a quilt of a trail map if it meant nothing? It had to mean something for her to stick that rhyme in there. Don’t you think?”
“What I think is, I like the way your mind works.” He turned and winked at her before easing the car to a stop alongside the road in front of a familiar landmark. Tim pulled up alongside and rolled down his window as the detective di
d the same, sending a rush of cold air into the car.
“I’ll take the back of the farmhouse on foot,” Tim said as he rolled ahead to conceal the SUV patrol car far in the distance.
Sammy shuddered from the cold and from dread. She didn’t know how she was going to feel returning to the farmhouse, and she was surprised at her amount of unease. Her eye caught the painted quilt block that hung on the barn, and she tried to focus on the intricacy of the log-cabin pattern instead of her growing anxiety. The painted quilt blocks have to mean something … what do they mean? What else do all these farms have in common?
“All right, we need to find a clear stake out position where we can still see the front of the house, since Officer Maxwell will take the back. Where do you think we should hide, partner?”
“Partner?” Sammy’s eyebrows wiggled in amusement. “I like the sound of that.”
“I thought you would.” He smiled wide, sending a pleasant ripple down her spine. She wondered if they’d ever get the opportunity or the right moment to attempt that kiss again.
Sammy pointed to a group of trees on the opposite side of the road. “You think you can sneak your little Honda in there?”
“I can try.”
The detective swung the steering wheel hard and turned the car in the direction of the trees. Luckily, because of the great low canopy of pine branches, there was just enough room to tuck the car beneath them without shoveling. Anyone who was paying attention would see the tire tracks and find them. Hopefully, whoever was about to show up would be much too preoccupied with removing evidence than to notice someone watching them.
When parked, the detective stretched across her lap to reach the glove compartment. “Excuse me,” he said, and Sammy caught a slight whiff of aftershave as his arm passed in front of her. He reached inside, pulled out two miniature sets of field glasses, and handed her one. “It’s official. Go ahead and spy. Since you’re so into this, wake me when you see something,” he added, before he set his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes.
