“Sandy, it’s Carolyn. I need a favor.”
She said softly, “I’d love to help, but I’m in the middle of something right now.”
“This can’t wait,” I said.
“Hang on a second.” After two minutes, Sandy came back on the line. “Carolyn, I hope this really is important, because I’d hate to get fired for blowing my boss off like that.”
“I wouldn’t have asked you otherwise. Do you keep records of who checks out the microfiche?”
“Yes, but that’s near my desk, so if anyone used it, I’d know about it. Besides, I’ve got the key, remember?”
“This is important. Has Nate Walker been by there in the past two weeks?”
Sandy paused, then said, “No, I thought of that, but I can’t remember him ever visiting the library, at least not that department.”
“But you don’t work all the time, do you? Would you check your log? I’ll hold.”
As I waited for Sandy to come back on the line, I watched Rose haul another armload of personal things to her car. It appeared that she was absolutely serious about leaving town. I’d feel horrid if I was the cause of it, but I’d have to look at it as collateral damage. Bill’s reputation was at stake, maybe even his life, and our ability to keep living in Maple Ridge was on the line, even if Sheriff Hodges decided not to arrest him for murder. Tongues would keep wagging and people would keep speculating, regardless of the truth.
Rose waved a final farewell to me, and I called out, “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Are you coming back?”
“I sincerely doubt it.”
Before I could ask her anything else, she was gone. I hated to see her leave, but now that she wasn’t my prime suspect, I could hardly throw myself in front of her car to stop her.
Sandy came back on the line. “Sorry I took so long. You’re right. He came by one night I wasn’t working.”
“Check the date.”
I held my breath as she said, “It was two nights before Charlie Cobb was murdered.”
That was half my theory proven, and now it was time for the other half. “Does the log give the dates of the material he checked out?”
There was silence on the other end, then Sandy said, “It was the same time frame I looked up myself later. He was reading the newspapers for the month after his wife died.”
“So he saw Charlie’s DUI arrest before the man was murdered?”
“He had to,” Sandy said. “Carolyn, I’m so sorry. I just assumed I’d know if he’d been by.”
“It’s not your fault. You can’t be there every hour the library’s open. You deserve a life, too, you know.”
“What are you going to do? Do you really think he’s guilty?”
“I’m pretty sure of it. Now all I have to do is get the proof I need.”
She hesitated, then asked, “You’re not going to confront Nate by yourself, are you?”
“No, I’m not that crazy. After we hang up, I’m calling the sheriff and telling him what I found out. He might ridicule me for snooping, but he’s got to check it out. I’d expect his visit in about an hour, if everything goes according to plan.”
“Call him as soon as we hang up,” Sandy said as my telephone started beeping. Blast it, I’d forgotten to recharge it yet again. “Sandy,” I started to say, hoping to get her to call the sheriff for me, but my telephone died before I could finish. I wasn’t going to be able to call Hodges, but I wasn’t that far from his office. Maybe that was best anyway. At least if I talked to him face-to-face, he couldn’t hang up on me.
I got into the Intrigue and had just put the keys in the ignition when I heard a voice behind me. “You just couldn’t stop snooping, could you, Carolyn?”
I didn’t have to turn around to know that Nate Walker was sitting behind me. I felt a nudge in my neck as the knife in his hand tweaked me.
Chapter 13
I could feel a trickle of blood run down my neck. “Ouch. That hurt,” I said. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Don’t play coy with me. I heard your entire conversation with that nosy librarian. You couldn’t just leave it alone, could you? I had a feeling you’d finally twig to what I did. I’ve been following you around town for days. The sheriff was never a threat. If it makes you feel any better, you were the only one I was worried about. After I take care of you, that librarian is going to have an accident herself. You were too smart for your own good.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered, but at the moment all I could think about was the knife still pressed against my neck. I started to dab at the blood with a tissue, but Nate snapped, “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“If blood gets on my blouse, it’ll ruin it.” Why on earth had I said that? It was the craziest thing in the world to complain about at the moment.
Nate wasn’t amused. “If you don’t do exactly what I say, it’s going to get a lot more blood on it. Start the car.”
I kept my hands in my lap. “I need to know where we’re going first.”
He said, “Do you really want me to cut you again?”
“Take it easy. I’m going.” I started the Intrigue, but I kept it in park.
Nate snapped, “What are you waiting for?”
“I still need a direction.”
He paused a minute, then said, “Take Compton Road out of town. And don’t try anything, Carolyn. This knife might slip and go in a little farther.”
“I’ll do what you say,” I said as I started driving. Compton led out of town straight into the woods. There were too many places Nate could kill me and leave my body, and it would take the sheriff forever to find me. I couldn’t afford to let things get that far. I knew I was a goner if I listened to everything Nate said, and surprisingly, that helped. After all, if I was going to die anyway, which was starting to look like a near certainty, I might as well take him out, too, if I could manage it. I was sorry I wouldn’t be able to say good-bye to my husband or my two sons, but I hoped they’d be proud that I’d died fighting.
“Slow down,” he ordered. I wanted to mash the accelerator to the floor, but we were going through downtown, and there were people out shopping, enjoying the day, oblivious to the drama unfolding in my car. It was too risky to try anything just yet. I didn’t mind the thought of taking Nate out with me, but knowing I had hurt an innocent bystander would be too much to live with, even if only for a few seconds.
I asked softly, “How did you finally figure out that Charlie was probably the one who killed your wife?”
“I’ve been struggling to put Winnie’s death out of my mind since she died, but you and those two biddies brought it all to light again. I’ve never stopped thinking about how she died, but I suddenly realized I hadn’t approached the problem very systematically. I was in some kind of a haze that just wouldn’t lift. That’s when I thought about searching through old newspapers to see if there was anything that might be related to what happened to her that night. Charlie Cobb’s DUI stood out.”
“The sheriff must have suspected the same thing,” I said.
“There was something that wasn’t in the papers. Evidently Charlie got a girlfriend to lie about his whereabouts that night, and Hodges bought it.”
“How do you know that?” I asked, glancing back at Nate in the rearview mirror. I almost wished I hadn’t. His eyes were black and empty, as if Nate’s soul had already left his body.
“Charlie told me everything just before he died.”
I hadn’t even considered the possibility that Charlie Cobb had actually talked to his murderer before he died. “So you didn’t just sneak up on him and hit him with that brick?”
“Give me some credit, Carolyn. I had a suspicion but no proof. I decided to talk to Charlie, to hear what he had to say for himself. The fool broke down crying, if you can believe that. He said he’s been waiting since it happened for that tap on the shoulder. He was almost relieved that he didn’t have to hide it
anymore.”
“So you killed him,” I said.
“What was I supposed to do? Take him to Hodges and have him confess again? Where did that leave me? Knowing the sheriff, he’d botch the arrest and Charlie would go free. No, Winnie’s blood cried out for vengeance, and it was my job to give it.”
The foot traffic was thinning out, and I was almost ready to make my move. I had to stall him for a few more minutes, then I’d be ready to take my shot at wrecking the car. I had my seat belt on, but from the way Nate was kneeling against the back of my seat, I knew he wasn’t belted in. If I could throw him through the windshield, I might be able to get away, and if he died in the process, I would try not to lose any sleep over it.
“I didn’t know your wife, but I heard she had a good heart. Would she have wanted you to commit murder, for any reason?”
“Don’t talk about Winnie,” he said, drawing fresh blood. “You’re not worthy.”
“Sorry,” I said.
It was time. I glanced in my rearview mirror, and though nobody was following us, I said, “There’s the sheriff. He’s right behind us. What do you want me to do?”
Nate looked over his shoulder, and the pressure eased off my neck for just a moment. Against every instinct I had, I jerked the car into a telephone pole and hit it square on.
The air bag deployed in my face, and I felt a thud behind me. As the bag collapsed, I reached for my seat belt and stumbled out of the Intrigue, straight into Butch’s arms.
“Are you all right?” he asked me. “You’re bleeding. You must have cut yourself.”
“He did that,” I said as I tried to look into the back of the car. There was blood on the backseat window, and I realized that I’d probably killed Nate in the collision.
Butch yanked the door open, and the coffee shop owner tumbled out onto the ground.
“Is he dead?” I asked.
Butch checked for a pulse, but judging by the blood on Nate’s face, I didn’t expect he would find one.
Butch grinned at me instead. “His heartbeat is strong. Nate’s going to have a whale of a headache when he comes to, but my guess is that he’s going to be fine.”
I couldn’t believe it. “But what about all that blood?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say that you broke his nose, and maybe another bone or two, but he’ll survive.”
There was a faint siren in the background. “Did you call the sheriff?”
Butch grinned. “He wasn’t happy about it, but I finally got him on board.”
“How did you know where to find me?” My head was spinning, and I wanted to lean against something, so I backed up against the car. Bill had ordered that Intrigue for me special, and now I’d wrecked it. Even if it could be repaired, I didn’t ever want to drive it again. I’d never be able to sit in the driver’s seat without remembering the bite of that knife on my neck.
“I was looking for you at Fire at Will and I saw you drive by. Nate was crouched down, but I could see that someone was behind you. I nearly broke my arm getting into my car. I was about to ram you myself when you wrecked. That was a nice bit of driving, by the way.”
“I don’t know about that. I was just happy to have a seat belt and an air bag.”
Butch nudged Nate with a toe, and he groaned slightly. “I’m just as glad he didn’t.”
Hodges pulled up, and Butch and I quickly brought him up-to-date. There was no scolding in the man’s voice as he said, “An ambulance is right behind me.”
“Butch said he isn’t hurt too much,” I said, looking down at Nate.
“It’s for you. Did you even realize you were bleeding?”
I put my hand to my neck and saw quite a bit more blood than I’d expected. For some odd reason, the sight of it made me woozy. “I’m all right.”
Butch shook his head. “We’ve got an iron woman on our hands.”
The ambulance arrived, and the techs started for Nate.
The sheriff said, “He can wait. See to her first.”
One of them obliged, while the other started ministering to Nate. I was led to the back of the ambulance, and in a minute the wounds were cleaned and bandages applied. “Thanks,” I said.
“You still need to go to the ER,” the EMT said, “but that should hold you for now.”
Sandy drove up, with Bill in the passenger seat. As soon as he got out of the car, I collapsed into his arms, but all I could say was, “I wrecked that beautiful car you gave me.”
Bill stroked my hair gently. “That doesn’t matter. We can have it fixed good as new.”
“I don’t want it. Not now. Not ever.”
“Fine. Whatever you say. I’m just happy you’re all right.”
“Me, too.”
I looked over and saw that they were loading Nate onto a stretcher. He was coming around, but he wasn’t making that much sense. “Is it worse than we thought?” I asked.
Hodges said, “No, but they like to take precautions. Do you want to ride to the hospital with us?” he said as he pointed to the ambulance.
“We’ll see that she gets there,” Butch said.
The sheriff didn’t challenge it, and we followed the ambulance in Butch’s car, with Sandy right behind us.
Bill asked softly, “Why didn’t you call me?”
“I tried, but you must have been working in your shop.”
“I’ll never forgive myself that I wasn’t there for you,” Bill said.
Butch shook his head. “There wasn’t anything anybody could do. Carolyn handled it.”
“By destroying my beautiful car,” I said. My neck was getting sore, whether from the knife pricks or the impact of the wreck, I couldn’t say.
“Enough about the Intrigue. It’s metal and plastic, and it can be replaced in a heartbeat. I can’t believe Nate tried to kill you.”
“I don’t think he’s in his right mind,” I said. “Killing Charlie pushed him over the edge, and I don’t know how he held it together as long as he did. I owe a few folks around town an apology,” I added.
“They’ll understand, once they hear what really happened. By the way, what really happened?”
I grinned in spite of my pain. “It’s a long story, and it looks like we’re here.”
Butch pulled into the ER entrance, and a husky young male nurse was waiting for me with a wheelchair.
“I can walk,” I said.
“Ma’am, please take a seat. I have my orders.”
There must have been some fire left in my eyes, because Butch said, “I’d rethink that if I were you.”
He started to say something when Bill chimed in. “Just sit in the chair, Carolyn. Don’t be such a stubborn mule about it.”
I thought about chiding my husband, but I just didn’t feel up to it. I plopped down in the chair, then turned to the nurse and said, “I’m Carolyn, and if I hear one more ‘ma’am’ out of you, you’re going to be the one who needs a ride.”
Bill laughed, then said, “She’s going to be fine.”
Butch added, “There was never any doubt in my mind.”
I didn’t need stitches, a good thing, since I’d hated needles since childhood. But my joy was cut short when I found out I had to get a tetanus booster shot because of the knife wounds.
As we were leaving, Sheriff Hodges approached. “Do you have a second?”
“There’s no need to apologize, Sheriff,” I said.
He looked startled by my comment. “Apologize? You nearly got yourself killed meddling in police business, and you actually thought I came over to say I’m sorry?”
I touched his shoulder lightly. “There’s no need to gush. You’re forgiven, and you’re most welcome, too.”
“For what?” I honestly thought his head was about to explode.
“For solving two crimes in a single day. Charlie Cobb ran down Winnie Walker, and Nate killed Charlie for it fifteen years later. Now if you’ll excuse me, the pain pills they gave me are kicking in, and I’ve got to go home so I can
get some rest.”
I left him standing in the hallway of the emergency room, his mouth wide open.
That sight was almost worth the pain of getting stabbed and the price of wrecking my car.
Chapter 14
Two weeks later, Fire at Will was having a private party, and I was surprised to find that I was the guest of honor. The entire Firing Squad was there, along with Hannah and her son, though David was an honorary member now. Bill was lumbering around in the background, trying not to hover, and failing miserably at it, while my two sons had made a special trip home to celebrate with us.
I picked up one of the frogs in the display window and said to David, “I love these little guys, and I was right. They’re selling really well.”
“You should see the next line I have in mind,” he said, his eyes positively alight. “I’m thinking about doing mythological creatures. Wouldn’t you just love to see a dragon?”
“As long as it’s in miniature,” I said with a laugh. My neck was mostly healed, but I’d have a small scar there for the rest of my life. It was a small enough price to pay for what I’d been through.
Hannah touched my shoulder. “How are you doing, Carolyn?”
“The nightmares are easing up, so that’s something.” I’d had a recurring dream in which Nate was holding a knife to my neck as I shopped for groceries, stood in line at the post office, and even weeded my garden. It was as though his image had been burned into every memory I had. The one good thing was that none of the dreams had taken place at the pottery shop, and for that I was forever thankful.
“That’s good to hear.” She nodded as she gestured toward my husband. “Bill’s keeping pretty close tabs on you.”
“I know, and as sweet as it is, it’s driving me crazy. He hasn’t built a single piece of furniture in two weeks.” I smiled as I added, “He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m sending him back to his shop tomorrow. Enough is enough.”
David asked, “Any word on Nate?”
“David,” Hannah said sharply.
“It’s all right. The sheriff told me that he’s cooperating fully, and that he’s not going to put up a fight. Evidently he can live with what he’s done, though I don’t see how that’s possible.”
A Fatal Slip Page 18
