by Diane Weiner
“He killed himself. I led the horse to the water. He chose to drink.” Sophie nudged Susan closer to the edge of the waterfall. Susan didn’t want to die. She dug her heels in. Sophie nudged harder and Susan approached the edge getting closer with each step.
“Sophie, don’t do this. No one has to know. I won’t tell anyone. Just let me go.”
“Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“You could run away and no one would ever know.” Susan felt herself losing traction as she backed up. Unable to maintain her balance, she fell to the ground, landing hard on her hip.
Sophie gave her a kick. “Get up.”
Susan reached out her arm but found nothing to grab onto. The water sounded like an approaching train. Frozen bullets of ice stung her cheeks as they shot to the ground. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw she was only two feet away from the edge. Sophie lowered the gun until it pointed directly at her forehead. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to die and prayed like she’d never prayed before. Please, God. Don’t let me die like this.
In a flash, Sophie was knocked to the ground. Susan heard a thump. When she opened her eyes, Sophie was on the ground. The gun lay on the ice beside her. She saw Jackson sitting astride over Sophie. Then she watched him slap handcuffs on her. Mike and Lynette came running out of the police car.
“Mom, Mom, are you okay?”
“Thank God she didn’t kill you,” said Mike.
Susan hugged them until they couldn’t breathe. Then she turned to Jackson.
“Jackson, you saved my life. This is enough to charge Sophie with murder, right?”
“We have our smoking gun. Had it before she grabbed you.”
“Are you trying to kill me with the suspense?” said Susan.
“The blood found on the crowbar was Caleb’s, but we found a fingerprint in that blood. We ran it through the database. All school employees have to be fingerprinted.”
“And?”
Jackson cleared his throat “That fingerprint belongs to Sophie Bartolo. Her print was on the murder weapon. We got her dead to rights.”
“We talked to Rusty and we’ve pieced together the whole thing. She killed Adam Bartolo because she was in financial trouble. She needed the life insurance money, and counted on her old boyfriend Rusty to take care of her.”
As Sophie was led to the cruiser she said, “That’s a lie. Adam fell off that cliff all by himself.”
Lynette broke in. “We have a witness who saw Adam drinking lemonade, then acting dizzy and disoriented. That was right before he fell. Oddly enough, Rusty told us that you had asked him to swipe his father’s blood pressure medicine. One of the side effects is dizziness.”
“That was Rusty’s idea. He killed Adam.”
“Rusty has an airtight alibi for the day Adam was killed,” said Lynette. “Adam’s brother was on to you. When he got back from the military, he ordered a report which showed that Adam had Medipress in his system. Odd, since Adam had no history of high blood pressure. Caleb also tracked down a photographer, who witnessed Adam’s bizarre behavior.”
Jackson continued. “Caleb was threatening to bring the evidence to the police. That’s when you came up with your plan. You faked your own kidnapping and framed Caleb. We know about the bracelet you planted in the parking lot.”
“Caleb returned from duty early. He had an injured rotator cuff. There’s no way he could have lifted the statue over his head to knock you out. You should have been more careful in fabricating your story,” said Lynette.
“He did it. He knocked me out.”
“You were never kidnapped. We have a witness who saw you at Donna’s Diner during the time you were supposedly abducted.”
Jackson continued. “The night of the murder, you snuck into Caleb’s, opening the window with the crowbar Rusty forgot to take back with him after he broke in to plant those fake e-mail threats. You blackmailed Rusty into helping you with those. Lucky for you, the crowbar was laying there right outside. Rusty had left it behind. Then you went in and hit Caleb over the head with it.”
“I want a lawyer.”
“Better late than never,” said Jackson. He turned to the other officer, “Take her to the station and book her.” He led her away in handcuffs.
“Who are you, Hawaii 5-0? Book her, Danno.” Lynette laughed. “Dad, why don’t you take Mom home? Jackson and I will go over to the Bartolos and tell them we have their sons’ murderer.”
Chapter 56
“Okay, Lynette. Tell Jason to put Annalise in her highchair. Dinner is ready.”
“Lucky for you, I cooked tonight,” said Mike.
“Jason, you’re closer. Can you hit him for me?” said Susan. She helped Mike bring the lasagna and garlic bread to the table. “I made some noodles with butter for Annalise.”
“Noodles with butter? That girl loves her garlic bread,” said Lynette.
“I already know she gets her appetite from her mom,” said Susan. “Still, tomato sauce is a bit rough for a toddler’s tummy.”
Mike interrupted. “So did Sophie Bartolo end up confessing?”
“She did. Tried to plea bargain, but we have too much against her. We’re going for two counts of first degree murder.”
“I’m sure the Bartolos are relieved that she’s finally been caught,” said Susan. Her cell phone vibrated on the coffee table. “Excuse me. It’s Audrey. I’m going to see her this weekend.”
Susan took the phone into the kitchen. “Audrey, I’m so glad you called back. I’ll see you this weekend. What? Why? No, Audrey. Please.” Susan put the phone in her pocket.
“Mom, are you okay in there?” said Lynette.
Susan sat back down at the table.
“What happened? Was it Audrey?” said Mike.
“That was odd. She sounded so strange. Audrey said not to come to Florida. Said it was too dangerous. Then she ended the call.”
“Dangerous?” said Mike. “Is she worried about the plane getting hijacked or something?”
“Don’t tease her, Dad. You know she’s disappointed.”
Annalise dumped the entire bowl of pasta on herself and squealed.
“Annalise, bad girl,” said Lynette. “Food is for eating.” She got a napkin and picked up the spaghetti from the floor.
“We left the diaper bag in the car,” said Jason. “It has a change of clothes. I’ll get it.”
“No, I will. I need a little fresh air. Give me your keys,” said Susan.
The air was bitter and Susan wished she’d thrown on a jacket. Lynette’s car was parked at the end of the driveway. Susan was startled by a sound. When she turned to look, she only saw darkness. Must have been the wind. She retrieved the diaper bag, but when she went to lock the car back up, she was grabbed by a large figure in a black coat. Her heart stopped. A set of ebony eyes were the only features visible. The rest of the head was wrapped tightly in a wool scarf. She started to scream, but a gloved hand clenched her mouth shut.
“Don’t scream,” said the figure. “Get in the car.”
Susan crawled into the back seat with this interloper. Her legs were shaking and sweat soaked her brow. She wriggled to try to free herself but couldn’t.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you.” The gloved hand moved away from her mouth and Susan caught her breath.
“Who are you and what do you want?”
“I’m not here to hurt you. Susan, I’m your brother.”
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Diane Weiner is a veteran public school teacher and mother of four children. She has enjoyed reading for as long as she can remember. She has fond memories of reading Nancy Drew and Mary Higgins Clark on snowy weekend afternoons in upstate New York and yearned to write books that would bring that kind of enjoyment to her readers. Being an animal lover, she is a vegetarian and shares her home with two adorable cats and a little white dog. In her free time, she enjoys running, attending community theater p
roductions, and spending time with her family (especially going to the mall with her teenage daughter and getting Dairy Queen afterwards). Murder in the Middle is the third book in her Susan Wiles School House Mystery series and she has plans for many more.
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