She sniffled. “You were supposed to help me.”
I took a step toward her with the goal of leading her and that heavy pipe of hers away from Harley. I prayed he was still alive.
“I was trying to help you,” I said, holding my hands wide to show her that I was no threat.
“My father…” She looked up at the ceiling and blinked. When she continued, her voice cracked, “You know who killed him?”
“Yes. I know who killed both Joe and Sammy,” I said. She still was too close to Harley. I choose my next words with care. “I also know Joe helped Sammy Dalton steal five million dollars’ worth of gold. That’s why he left Cedar’s Hill. He took the gold, changed his name, and moved here.”
Mary took a step toward me. “But, the gold? It’s gone, isn’t it?”
“Everyone I talked with commented on how Joe was obsessed with finding Blackbeard’s lost treasure.” I moved closer to Harley. Close enough that I could block Mary if she tried to swing that iron pipe again. “But Joe was never searching for Blackbeard’s gold. It was my friend Bubba who pointed out that Joe never provided any detail beyond what someone could read on a Wiki page on the Internet. Others have mentioned how he had moments where he forgot…things. The aging residents of the island have seen the signs before. They believe he had dementia.”
“Oh great, I gave up my life for a man who was losing his mind?”
“Gave up your life?” I asked. I glanced down at Harley, and nearly cried with relief when I saw that he was still breathing. “I thought you didn’t know where Joe had gone.”
“I didn’t.” Her voice turned sharper. “He up and ran away, didn’t he? He didn’t care about how his leaving affected those he left behind.”
“You’re talking about the car dealership closing,” I offered.
She nodded. “I worked there since high school. I put everything into that place. Everything. And then he ran off and left the dealership buried under crushing debt. It didn’t last even a month after he abandoned it.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “It’s not like you expected to inherit the shop.”
“I-I-I—” She sputtered. “Why would you say that?”
“Because it’s true.”
“You mean because of my stepmother?” Her pretty cheeks turned pink.
I didn’t let her distress deter me. “No, that’s not what I mean. Let’s stop pretending. Your name isn’t Mary, and you’re not Joe’s daughter.”
She opened her mouth to protest. But she must have recognized the futility of denying what I clearly knew was true, because she quickly shut it again.
“I admit that you had me fooled until I accidentally called the number for the car dealership on Mary’s business card. When I discovered the number had been disconnected, I did a quick Google search. I was feeling so sorry for poor Mary. And that’s when I saw it, a picture of her with two of her friends—Sammy’s daughter and you. You seemed genuinely upset that day we met, but you’re not Joe’s daughter. You may have dyed your hair red to look like hers, and your face is similar to hers, but you aren’t her. No, you’re Joanna Waller, Mary’s friend, aren’t you?” I tilted my head to one side. “Why do you think you should have gotten anything from Mary’s dad?”
“I worked for her dad at the used car lot.”
When she didn’t offer anything else, I asked, “You were what? His private secretary?” The pieces seemed to settle into place. “Delilah was Joe’s secretary before he married her, wasn’t she? I imagine they’d been having an affair long before his wife died.” I drew a slow breath. “Were you his mistress as well as his secretary?”
I hated it, but I’d worked in the business world long enough to know that some men expected their secretaries to be a co-worker with benefits.
“He promised he’d leave Delilah and make me his partner both in marriage and in the dealership.” Her eyelids snapped angrily. “But that was a lie. He disappeared only a few days after making that promise. Neither Mary nor Delilah seemed at all put out by his abandonment, not even after the car dealership collapsed in bankruptcy. He’d hidden what he’d done from everyone. He’d been taking out loans left and right on the dealership, putting the money in his personal accounts.
“He left Mary and Delilah sitting high in hog heaven. And me? What did I get as a reward for letting that old goat near me? Not a crumb. That’s what.” As she gave her impassioned speech, she lifted the lead pipe as if preparing to play a game of baseball. “It took me a while to figure out what he and Sammy had done. And then I had to wait and wait for Sammy to get released from prison before I could follow him, here, to this little rat-hole by the sea.”
“And when Joe couldn’t tell you where to find the gold, you lost control?” I asked.
“It was an accident. He kept saying he couldn’t take me to the gold and that he needed to get away. I hit him because he kept saying over and over that he didn’t know where the gold was. The lying bugger. He fell down his house’s front steps and died on me. He died before he could give me the gold. He gave those other women everything and left without even thinking what his leaving would do to me. I deserved that gold.”
“Is that why you burned down his house after you killed him?” I stepped over Harley. I needed to move Joanna further away from him. “Because you were still angry?”
She sniffled. “The gold wasn’t there, and I knew I needed to get rid of the evidence that I had been there.”
“And then, after the storm, you dyed your hair red and returned, pretending to be the grieving daughter. But why do that?”
“Are you an idiot? I came back because the gold is here. And I needed help finding it.”
“You set out to use me?” I’d blindly trusted her. I’d felt sorry for her. And she’d been pulling my strings all along.
“Everyone on the island says how you’re the one that can figure things out. Heck, everyone was talking about how you found John’s body and how you were already asking questions about his death.”
“So you followed me to his burnt house? You contrived our first meeting?”
She was right. I was an idiot. And in my attempt to be honest with my friends, I’d pulled both Althea and Harley into her trap. They were hurt because of my stupidity. They could die because of me.
She shrugged without showing a lick of remorse.
“But I wasn’t getting the results you wanted, so you went after Sammy, isn’t that right?” I asked. I had to keep her talking. And I had to hope that the call I’d placed had gone through.
“He had a treasure map to help him locate the gold. I’d watched him steal it away from Delilah. I’d been watching him ever since his release from prison, which wasn’t easy. That surfer who used to work at the bank was following him on and off too. Never knew when that one would show up.”
“Wait. I’m confused. Why didn’t you let Sammy find the gold for you, then? Why did you attack him?”
She pushed out a sharp breath. “The fool man kept leading me around in circles. He’d pull out that map, swear, and then wander around in circles all over again. He clearly didn’t know what he was doing. I needed to get my hands on that map and do it myself.”
I shook my head. That didn’t ring true. Delilah had taken the map from Sammy, not Joanna. “But you didn’t take the map,” I pointed out.
“Didn’t I?” She smiled. “Couldn’t make things look too obvious. I took a picture of the map with my phone.”
“Ah,” I said. That’s all I needed to say. I could tell by the way pride danced in her eyes that she was bursting with a need to share how she’d outsmarted everyone, including the police. Of course, I also realized that her openness to share all this with me meant that she had no plans of letting me leave Althea’s shop alive.
“The map is flawed. No wonder John lost track of where he’d buried it. No one could find the back of their hand following it.” She shook her head with dismay. “But I’ve been watching you. And I know you’re jus
t about as clever as I am. And you know this island.”
“I don’t know the island as well as some,” I admitted.
“Come on.” She stepped toward me, while still gripping the iron pipe. “You found the buried gold.”
I swallowed down a lump of worry and nodded. “Yes. Just today, I found the gold.”
“Where is it?” She charged toward me. “It belongs to me, you know.”
I backed away from her and nearly tripped over Harley. “You came to me pretending to be someone else. You pretended to be grieving, and I promised to help you.” I wasn’t sure why I said that. Surprisingly, despite having lived my life expecting the worst of others, the sting of betrayal still hurt.
“Oh, you’re going to help me all right. You’re going to hand over that gold you have no right to. And in return for that favor, I’ll help you end this miserable life of yours. Your best friend has turned her back on you. Your mother won’t talk to you. Anyone with a brain would understand why you’d snap and attack your boyfriend and ex-best friend. They’d fight back, and everyone ends up dead.”
I shook my head. “No, you’re wrong. No one would believe that. And I made up with Althea.”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, does it? You being dead and all. That’s the important part.”
She swung the pipe like it was a baseball bat.
I ducked.
“You thought you were so clever setting that trap for me.” She swung again. I jumped out of her way. “But I knew what you were doing. I stood outside your apartment and listened as you and your silly friends made plans.”
With a downward motion, she tried to knock me down with the pipe again. And again, I managed to avoid her. “If you kill me, how are you going to find the gold?”
“You’ll be begging me to let you tell me where you hid the gold before I’m done with you.” She swung the pipe.
I needed help. Where were the police? Where were my friends? I’d hoped my aborted call had at least caught their attention.
Where was Chief Byrd? He should be here.
Mary came at me again. Swinging wildly.
The pipe caught me on the back. I went down hard and landed on Harley. He groaned.
“Help!” I cried.
With a banshee yell that had my hair standing straight up, Bertie—not Chief Byrd—came crashing in from the back door. And she had a gun. A big one.
“Give me the gold!” Joanna growled as she hit me in the back again. The force of the blow knocked the breath from my lungs.
“The police have it,” Bertie shouted. “Leave her alone.”
“Where’s Byrd?” I wheezed.
“Prioleau called him off,” Bertie growled. “Said he already had the killer in custody.”
“The detective must mean Big Dog.” I coughed. “He didn’t do it.”
“That’s kind of obvious,” Bertie lifted the gun. “Don’t even think of swinging that thing again, honey.”
“Where’s Bubba?” We needed help in cornering this swinging she-devil. She was too dangerous to let get away.
“He’s coming.”
But it wasn’t Bubba who burst in like Bertie had, but Trixie and Barbie with Stella on a leash barking like a hellhound. The ruckus distracted me more than it had Joanna. Before I knew what was happening, the madwoman grabbed me up from the floor and used me as a shield between her and Bertie’s ginormous gun.
At the same time, Bertie shouted, “Honey, I warned you to leave my girl alone!” She then squeezed off a shot.
I closed my eyes tightly closed, fully expecting the bullet to slam into me.
It didn’t.
But Joanna, obviously realizing she was dealing with a group of armed lunatics, released me and dove to the ground.
I took the opening and jumped on top of her. My back screamed in pain as I did it. Those glancing whacks I’d taken from her iron pipe hurt like the devil. I could tell they were going to leave a rainbow array of bruises.
Bertie fired again. Plaster and splintered wood rained down on my head.
“Bertie, put that gun away,” Byrd hollered.
I looked up in time to see the police chief, moving faster than I’d ever seen him move, run into Althea’s shop. Bubba followed him through the back door along with several Camellia Beach police officers.
Things moved quickly from there as Byrd and his men took over. Sirens blared as EMS was called. Althea still hadn’t moved. Bertie had rushed over to her. She cradled her daughter’s head in her lap. I did the same for Harley. His eyes fluttered before they opened. He reached up and put his hand on my cheek.
“You okay?” he asked.
I had to shake my head. “I’m not the one who got conked over the head, you numbskull.”
He smiled. “Glad to hear it.”
By that time Marion had arrived with her crew. “Again, we meet under the worst conditions,” she said in place of a greeting.
I pressed a kiss to Harley’s lips before turning his care over to her capable hands.
I was relieved to see Althea had woken up. She was talking quite animatedly to Bertie. She then grabbed hold of her mother’s arm. “Mary tricked me,” I heard Althea say, her voice scratchy but urgent. “When I was driving to the Chocolate Box, I saw my shop’s front door was wide open. I stopped and check it out. I barely saw her before she knocked me out.”
“She knocked you out after you sent those texts to me?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.
“Texts?” She shook her head. “I didn’t send you any texts. Once I got to the shop, I only expected to be there long enough to check things out and then lock the front door.”
Marion nudged me out of the way. “You can catch up later. Right now, we need to take care of your friend.”
“They’re both going to be okay,” Byrd assured me, sounding surprisingly kind, as my two closest friends were wheeled out on stretchers. Before she left, Marion laid a heavy blanket over my shoulders. I didn’t realize until then how badly I was shaking. Both Althea and Harley could have been killed.
“It’s over,” Bertie said as she wrapped her powerful arms around me. “It’s over.”
True, it was over. I looked at the stains of blood on the floor and started shaking again when I thought about what could have happened. Joanna had been one step in front of us the entire time.
“She didn’t win,” Bertie said as if she knew what I was thinking. “Harley and Althea will be okay. As soon as Hank lets you go, you’re going to come with me to the hospital and we’ll both see to them ourselves.
She was right. Joanna was going to spend a very, very long time in jail. And my friends would recover. “It’s over,” I agreed and silently vowed to give up sleuthing forever.
Chapter 31
Three weeks later…
It was nearly morning and I still hadn’t gone to bed. Trixie and Barbie had moved into the newly renovated Pink Pelican Inn the previous day, so I finally had a bed instead of a sofa to sleep on. Still, ever since that night we’d confronted Joanna, I’d felt unsettled, restless. It was as if an invisible hand was tugging at me, willing me to do something. But I had no idea what that “something” could be.
Well, there was the fact that I’d never actually talked with Harley about that moment in the car and how I’d blurted out that I loved him. Instead of facing it, I’d avoided him. Not that it had been too difficult. We were both busy. Me, with helping residents make repairs on their homes. And him, with helping residents file claims with insurance agencies and making sure no one got taken advantage of. There simply hadn’t been time for us to explore what it meant to be us.
He’d asked me out on a date a couple of times, and I’d turned him down, claiming I had too much work to do in the shop. It wasn’t a lie. The wholesalers were catching up with their backlog of deliveries. Supplies were rolling in, and I spent most days and nearly every night in the kitchen downstairs with Bertie by my side as we worked to rebuild our stock. And w
henever I had a free moment, I worked with Althea to get her shop back up and running. I’d catch a few hours of sleep only whenever exhaustion demanded it.
I had no time for sleep, I kept telling myself.
But this morning, as the grayness of morning lightened the inky night sky, I forced myself to face the truth. I’d worked myself ragged so I wouldn’t have times like this, time to stop and contemplate what had happened three weeks ago.
I stood outside my apartment door and leaned against the railing that looked out over the marsh and the river beyond. Stella stood next to me, her tiny body a warm comfort pressed against my leg. After a long, hot summer and equally steamy fall, the air was finally starting to feel cooler. A delicious, crisp breeze brushed my cheeks.
The door to the apartment next to mine opened then closed again. I kept my face turned to the marsh, but my heart beat faster as I listened to footsteps approaching behind me.
Harley stopped right next to me, his shoulder nearly touching mine.
It was too early in the morning for Stella, who liked her sleep, to do anything other than offer a low growl of protest at his nearness.
“Hello, stranger.” Harley’s voice sounded raspy, as if he’d just rolled out of bed.
“Good morning,” I said, still without turning my head to look at him. If I saw kindness in his eyes or the gentle crease of his smile I might blurt out that I loved him again and again and again. And what a mess that would be.
“I hear the Chocolate Box has been having record sales lately.”
“The ghost hunters are still prowling the island.” I chuckled. “I should have a sign made that says, ‘Come for the Gray Lady. Stay for the chocolates.’ As much as I hate to admit it, the group has been a boon for everyone in the business district. But they won’t stay forever.”
“Speaking about people not staying forever, Big Dog has told me that he’s leaving this morning. After grumbling and growling about it for weeks now, he says he’s accepted his brother’s invitation to stay at the family home for a while. He complains that it’s your fault.”
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