by Jessica Beck
Tucking the carton under one arm, I flipped off the lights as I walked out, stopping to lock up behind me on the way.
The carton started to slip, and I shifted suddenly to try to keep them from falling.
I hadn’t even had a chance to grab them when someone hit me from behind, the carton of eggs crashing out of my grip and landing on the porch as I was shoved back into the door.
Chapter 14
It took me a moment to get my balance back, and when I finally turned around, whoever had hit me was long gone. My shoulder was aching, but it could have been much worse. If I hadn’t felt the eggs slipping out of my grip at the last second, and if I hadn’t pivoted around to try to keep them from falling, that blow would have hit me directly in the back of the head instead. I peered off into the darkness, but whoever had struck me was clearly gone. Why would someone attack me on my own front porch? It had to be because of the murder investigation! That meant that Grace and I had struck a nerve with one of our suspects, but which one? I reached for my phone again, and then I remembered where it was. Grabbing my keys, I unlocked the front door again.
I didn’t immediately call the police, though.
I bolted the door behind me first.
After I told the chief what had happened, thankful that we still had a landline at the cottage, I phoned Grace. “Hey,” I said.
“How long does it take you to get a few eggs, Suzanne? Did you forget why you were going over there?” she asked playfully.
“Somebody just attacked me,” I said.
“That’s not even funny to me, and we both know that I have a warped sense of humor,” Grace said.
“I wish I were joking, but unfortunately, I’m not,” I replied.
“You’re serious? Is whoever did it still there? Are you okay?”
“Slow down. They’re gone. My shoulder took the hit, but I’m afraid the eggs are broken.”
“Forget the eggs,” she said. “We’ll be right there.”
Before I could say another word, she hung up on me. Thirty seconds later, she and George were there, pounding on my front door.
It was good to have reinforcements on the scene.
George insisted on looking around outside, so Grace and I stayed out on the porch as he searched around the house with one of Jake’s heavy-duty flashlights.
“Do you see anybody?” I called out from the safety of the porch, or what I had once thought of as a secure place, anyway.
“No,” he said as a squad car came ripping up the road.
The chief was out in an instant, and before any of us could say a word, he had his gun out and trained on George’s flashlight. “Drop it!”
“Chief, it’s George,” the mayor said as the light tumbled out of his hands anyway.
The chief put his weapon back in its holster. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I’m not baking a cake,” George said, trying to protect his reputation even in this situation.
The chief sounded a little odd as he replied, “Okay.”
“George was helping us with something at Grace’s place,” I said quickly. “We ran out of eggs, and when I came up here to get some, somebody hit me from behind.”
“With this, I’m guessing,” George said as he picked up the flashlight, and then, using his clean handkerchief, he retrieved a long piece of tree branch.
“Unfortunately, we’re not going to get any prints off that,” the chief said. “Suzanne, are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said as I rubbed my shoulder. “Those eggs saved me.”
The chief looked even more perplexed than he had before. “I don’t see how.”
“I was about to drop them, so when I shifted to secure them, whoever hit me missed my head and got my shoulder instead.”
“We should take you to the hospital and get you checked out anyway,” the chief said.
As George nodded in agreement, I said, “No, thanks.”
“What do you mean, no thanks? Something could be broken.”
I moved my arm around, swinging it from the shoulder. It was a little stiff, and I knew it would be even worse in the morning, but I would still be able to function. “It’s not, though. See?”
“Have you called Jake?” the chief asked.
“No, and I’m not going to,” I said, coming to an executive decision on the spot.
“Suzanne,” the chief said, “he’s going to want to know.”
“If I tell him what happened, he’s going to rush right back here,” I said.
“Is that a bad thing?” George asked.
“He’s dealing with problems of his own right now. Besides, whoever did it is clearly an amateur at it. I don’t think they’ll try it again.”
“What makes you think that?” the chief asked.
“Come on. What was the plan here? They didn’t bring a weapon with them, and they didn’t even know that I wouldn’t be home. When the first strike missed my head, whoever did it panicked and ran away instead of sticking around and finishing the job. Do any of those things sound like a pro’s work to either of you?”
“No, but we all know that amateurs can be more dangerous than professionals,” the chief said.
“I’m not saying I won’t be careful, but I’m not going to let this slow me down. If anything, it’s proof that Grace and I are on the right track.”
The chief turned to his girlfriend. “Can you at least try to talk some sense into her?”
“As a matter of fact, I think she’s making perfect sense,” Grace said. “It’s going to be okay.”
The chief shook his head in disbelief. “Think of me, then. How’s Jake going to react when he finds out that I didn’t tell him his wife was attacked? He’ll skin me alive.”
“Me, too,” George said. “At least think of us.”
“Tell you what. I’ll tell him tomorrow, when things have calmed down a little.”
“What about in the meantime?” the chief asked. “You can’t stay here alone. That’s where I draw the line.”
“She’s staying with me at my place,” Grace said. “Remember?”
“For tonight,” the chief reluctantly agreed.
“For as long as she needs to,” Grace answered.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about everyone’s need to protect me, but I knew if I pushed back too hard, one of the men was going to call my husband. Ordinarily I would have loved to have Jake there, but I’d meant what I’d said. I was in no immediate danger, and he had some serious problems he was working through with his family. “Okay. I give up. Grace, thanks for making room for me.”
“Are you kidding? I’m going to love having company.”
“Good. That’s settled then,” I said as I reached down to pick up the dropped carton. “Hey, there’s still one good egg left. We can make those cupcakes after all.”
“You’re still going to bake after what just happened?” George asked me incredulously.
“Are you kidding? It’s even more reason. Grace and I are clearly on the right track. We just need to narrow things down a little now.”
“Maybe I should postpone my trip to Charlotte,” George said.
“And miss Cassandra’s birthday? Not on my account you’re not,” I said. “Since there’s nothing left for us to do here, what say we reconvene at Grace’s place? I just need to grab a few things from inside if I’m moving in with Grace for a few days.”
As I started to go inside, I found three people following me.
“I’m perfectly capable of doing this alone, you know,” I told them.
“Maybe so, but you’re going to have company, whether you like it or not,” the chief said.
I decided not to fight them on it.
Honestly, I wa
s just as happy to have them there. I might have talked bravely about the attack, but it had shaken me up more than I cared to admit.
I knew that we were dealing with a dangerous character, but now it was personal.
Apparently whoever had killed Simon Reed was now coming after me.
“Comfy, Suzanne?” Grace asked me once I was settled into her guest bedroom. The men had gone, but not before the chief had warned us that he’d be sending his staff to patrol around Grace’s home as often as he could manage it. It had been the only way George would agree not to do it himself, so we’d finally accepted the chief’s offer of unofficial police protection.
“You bet,” I said. My shoulder was sore, and hurting more by the minute, but I wasn’t about to complain about it. After all, it could have been much worse.
“Are you sure you don’t want to call Jake?” she asked timidly.
“Now don’t you start on me,” I said. I knew I was pushing my luck by not calling my husband, but I wanted to see what tomorrow would bring. If we still hadn’t made any progress by the next night, I’d probably let him know what had happened. I wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with it if he called me the next day, but I figured I’d burn that bridge when I got to it. “You know what? I’m really not all that sleepy. Do you mind chatting a bit?”
“Are you kidding? That sounds great to me. What do you want to talk about?”
“Take a wild guess. Who do you think attacked me tonight?”
“As a matter of fact, I was just thinking about the same thing,” she said. “Clearly we have someone worried about us. I wish I had as much confidence in us as your attacker appears to have.”
“Let’s go through them one by one and try to figure out where we stand,” I said. “Who’s first on our list in your book?”
“Sherry West comes to mind,” Grace said. “She doesn’t really seem like a planner, does she? She’s more than a bit of a hothead, too. Whoever attacked you clearly didn’t come prepared. Do you think ambushing you was really a last-minute decision?”
“The choice of weapons seems to dictate it,” I admitted, “though if we’re dealing with a really clever killer, they may have just wanted it to look like it was a spontaneous act of aggression.”
“Do any of our suspects really seem that devious to you?” Grace asked.
“If the chief is right and Rosa was playing us from the start, she could do something like that,” I said. “Then again, her husband could have done it himself.”
“Do you think so?”
“It’s a possibility. What better way to get rid of a rival than by framing his wife for the crime? He could eliminate two problems with one violent act,” I said.
“But why would he go after you?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe he thinks we know more than we really do.”
“That wouldn’t be too hard, given the fact that we don’t know all that much,” Grace answered.
“We know more than you’re giving us credit for,” I said. “In a relatively short amount of time, we’ve come up with a pretty impressive list of suspects, and we’ve uncovered motives for all of them.”
“Excluding Barton, Emma, and her parents, right?” Grace asked me.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t bring myself to think of any of them as a killer, but even if I could, can you really imagine one of them trying to attack me from behind? I know that I can’t.”
“We both know that frantic people can commit desperate acts when they’re pushed hard enough,” Grace replied softly.
I looked at her oddly. “Does that mean you believe they are still in the running?”
“I just don’t see how we can rule them out,” she said.
I was still thinking about that when my cell phone rang. Was it Jake? Grace was about to excuse herself when I saw that it was Sharon Blake, Emma’s mother. “Don’t go anywhere,” I said, and then I answered, “Hello?”
“Suzanne, I hate to do this to you, but Emma and I will both be missing work tomorrow.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We’ve been sitting here in the living room talking to several friends for the past two hours trying to figure out what to do about this mess. Barton could be in serious trouble, and Emma, Ray, and I have been calling everyone we can think of trying to come up with a way to keep him from going to jail.”
“You’re worrying too much. Nobody’s going to jail just yet,” I said.
“Listen, we know you’re friends with Chief Grant, and Grace is dating him, but we’re concerned that he’s going to try and railroad Barton into this.”
“Hang on a second,” I said. “Is Barton with you now?”
“Yes, he’s been here all evening,” she said.
“And he’s never left?”
“No, we thought it would be better if he stayed with us. He and Emma have had their heads together since three. Ray came home after five, and we’ve had a steady stream of folks in since then.”
I could hear people chatting in the background, which confirmed at least that part of her story. “That’s good to hear.”
She sounded perplexed when she answered. “I don’t know why you would say that.”
“Someone attacked me less than an hour ago,” I said. “That clears all of you.”
“Suzanne, why would someone come after you? Are you okay?” she asked.
“My shoulder’s a little sore, but other than that, I’m fine.”
“I still don’t know why anyone would attack you.” Just as suddenly, she added, “Never mind. Obviously whoever did it is worried that you’re going to catch them.” After a moment’s pause, she added, “We were all on your list of suspects.” I started to speak when she interrupted me. “Don’t bother denying it. I can’t even say that I blame you.”
“We have to consider every possibility,” I said, feeling suddenly bad about what Grace and I had been discussing so recently.
“Nobody’s going to fault you for that. I’m sorry we’re abandoning you tomorrow. I suppose if you really need me, I can make it in.”
“Don’t worry about it. Remember, I usually work one day alone anyway. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“I’m positive. Give Emma my love.”
“I will.”
“Sharon, do me a favor. Don’t let her know that any of you were on our suspect list at any point, would you?”
She paused longer than I thought she needed to when she answered. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“Would you tell your mother, if our roles were reversed?”
She had a point that I couldn’t deny. “Of course I would. Forget that I even asked.”
“I thought you’d understand,” Sharon said.
After I hung up, I said, “Barton, Emma, and her folks are all in the clear. They were with neighbors and friends for the past three hours, so none of them could have done it.”
“Attacked you, you mean,” Grace said.
“Surely you don’t think the attack was unrelated to Simon Reed’s murder?” I asked. “That’s too big a coincidence to swallow.”
“You’re right,” Grace said. “Sorry. You know how I get when I’m in killer-hunting mode.”
At that moment, her doorbell rang.
“I’ll be right back,” she said as she stood to get it.
“You’re not answering that door alone,” I said as I got out of bed and threw on the robe that I’d brought with me from home. “I’m coming with you.”
“Suit yourself,” she said.
“Do you have any weapons on hand?” I asked her.
“That depends. Do you count pepper spray?”
“I count whatever can help stop an
other attack,” I said.
After Grace armed herself with the canister from her purse, we went to the door as the bell rang again. Grace peeped out, and then she tucked the spray into her pocket.
“Who is it?” I asked.
Just as I spoke, I heard Momma’s voice clearly from the other side of the door. “Ladies, let me in this instant, or I’ll find a way to knock this door down myself.”
Chapter 15
After Grace unlocked and opened the door, I looked at Momma and smiled. “Were you really going to try to break the door down?”
“Do you even have to ask?” she asked me as she rushed up and hugged me. The pressure on my shoulder didn’t feel great, and I must have winced a little from the pain. Momma pulled back and studied me carefully. “Suzanne, you are really hurt, aren’t you?”
“I’m going to have a whale of a bruise in the morning, but I’m going to be fine other than that,” I explained.
Phillip, who’d been standing just behind his wife, asked, “You didn’t get a glimpse of your attacker?”
“No, I got hit from behind. The force of it pushed me against the door, and by the time I got my wits about me and turned around, whoever had done it was gone.”
“Jake is on his way, I presume,” Momma said.
“As a matter of fact, he is not,” I answered. I could see her starting to protest, so I cut her off. “Momma, he’s dealing with his own issues. Besides, I’m fine.”
“You need to call him,” she said. It was clearly more of an order than a request.
“If I haven’t made any progress tomorrow, I’ll tell him then,” I promised.
She looked at me sharply. “Is that a promise?”
“I’m not in the habit of lying to my mother,” I said.
“How about the time you slipped out of your window and shimmied down the tree to meet Greg Bascomb in the park?” she asked me.
