Random Acts of Murder: A Holly Anna Paladin Mystery, Book 1 (Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries)

by Christy Barritt

  “Why did he go to you?”

  “He knew I was working with the police on this. He thought I might be able to help.”

  She crossed her arms. “And were you?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Some guys tried to manipulate him into selling drugs. He told them no. They got rough with him, but he somehow got away. He’s been on the run since then.”

  “What do you mean, since then?”

  “He left my house, Jamie.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

  “Jamie . . .”

  “You knew how worried I was.”

  “It was difficult—”

  “Not nearly as difficult as wondering if your brother might be dead.”

  “Jamie, he made me promise,” I tried to explain.

  “How could you do this? I thought you were my friend.”

  “I am your friend. Jamie, you know I am.”

  She glanced at her watch. “You know what? Maybe I have time for that coffee after all.”

  As she left the room, tears squeezed at my eyes. What a mess, and it was all my fault.

  CHAPTER 41

  “Alex asked me to come and check on you. I told her that the doctors here were perfectly capable of caring for you,” William said. He was my sister’s fiancé, an average-looking guy with an even temperament and premature worry lines on his forehead.

  “Thanks for coming,” I told him. “It’s kind of you.”

  We did the normal chitchat, and I thought I was free and clear. He didn’t seem the least bit suspicious that something may be wrong with me other than bath salts and a serial killer on my tail.

  “Do you mind if I look at your charts, Holly?”

  My throat tightened. I’d been so close. I knew if he took one look at my medical history, he’d know something was wrong. Yet, if I refused, he’d only grow concerned.

  With hesitancy, I nodded.

  He picked up the clipboard and scanned the stats there, reviewing my information. His eyebrows drew together and he shook his head. “This can’t be right.”

  I said nothing.

  He looked at me, the lines on his forehead deepening. “Holly?”

  I pressed my lips together and nodded. I wanted more than anything to deny it, but I couldn’t. William knew the truth.

  “Oh, Holly.” He tilted his head, speechless for a moment. “Does . . . does Alex know?”

  “I haven’t told anyone yet.”

  “Really . . .?” He shook his head. “Cancer?”

  “There are no good treatments for the particular variety I have. I always have to be unique, you know. So, anyway, I’m just accepting it and living my last days to the fullest.”

  He glanced at the chart again and shook his head. “Holly, could I review your charts? I’m not an oncologist, but my best friend from med school is. I’d just like to take a look.”

  “Look all you want. I don’t have any hope for a different diagnosis, though.”

  “And there may not be one. But I’d like just to review this. I’ve never heard of this kind of cancer, even.”

  “It’s rare.”

  “I do hope you’ll tell your family soon, Holly.”

  I filled my lungs with a long breath before nodding. “I will. I promise.”

  Just then, someone knocked at the door. I looked up and saw Chase there. William excused himself as Chase came and sat beside me.

  “Where’s Jamie?”

  “She couldn’t stay.” My heart thudded with the words. “It was nice to have a little quiet.”

  “I’ve got good news.”

  “I could really use some good news right now.”

  “We just arrested Orion for the murder spree plaguing the city.”

  I blinked in surprise. “What?”

  He nodded. “It’s true. Someone came forward with information to implicate Orion. We discovered the drug was being manufactured on the bottom level of one of his old warehouses. He had connections with each of the boys due to the basketball league he started.”

  “Did he own up to the charges?”

  Chase shook his head. “No, he’s denied them, but that’s normal.”

  “That’s great news.”

  “I wanted to come and tell you myself. It still doesn’t explain why he chose you to take the fall by stealing the mop and bucket, but that may just be one mystery we never figure out.”

  I nodded.

  “I’ve got to go attend to some more details. I’ll stop by in the morning, though. At least you can rest easy now that this guy will be behind bars.”

  “That sounds great, Chase. Thank you.”

  ***

  I tossed and turned all night, partly because I was in the hospital hooked up to machines and partly because of the turmoil churning in my life.

  Of course, one of those major sources of turmoil should now be eliminated, but I just couldn’t come to terms with Orion being arrested.

  Sure, he’d been on my suspect list. Sure, he had motive, means, and opportunity. But somehow everything felt too easy.

  Brian had been a suspect, but he’d just had a gambling problem.

  Abraham had been a suspect, but he’d just taken on a part-time job.

  I’d halfway suspected John, but he’d nearly been a victim of the killer himself.

  Rex had crossed my mind, but he’d been the one who’d turned over the information to nail Orion, even though he might lose campaign money.

  I supposed I could be overthinking this whole thing. Maybe I was just looking for things to worry about. That’s how my life felt sometimes.

  The other fact remained that, because I’d kept everyone in the dark about my illness, I lay in the hospital room by myself right now. Unless you shared your problems with other people, you couldn’t expect them to help you carry the burden. I’d dug this hole for myself, and now I had to live with it.

  I also had to live with the fact that my best friend wasn’t speaking to me. Maybe we were growing farther and farther apart. We hardly ever fought, yet this week we’d had two major ones. Was God preparing Jamie to not have me in her life anymore?

  “Hey, sis.” Alex stuck her head into the room. She held up a flowered overnight bag. “I brought you some clothes.”

  I’d had no choice but to call my sister. Not unless I wanted to go home in a hospital gown, which I didn’t.

  I sat up. “Thank you. I’m so ready to get out of here.”

  She crossed her arms. “You could have called last night, you know.”

  “I know, but you had Ralph’s campaign rally.”

  “There’s more to life than politics.” She sat down across from me. “So, someone put bath salts in your actual bath salt?”

  I nodded. “Strange, huh? It’s the same stuff that’s connected with Cena.”

  “I wish people realized how messed up drugs can make you. Then maybe they would think twice—both the users and the dealers.”

  “There’s too much money in it for people to give it up.”

  She shook her head. “You heard about Orion Vanderslice?”

  “Isn’t that crazy?”

  “No one can believe it. I mean, everyone knows he’s not the friendliest guy and that he’s money hungry. But who would have thought he’d sink this low?”

  “I heard he was manufacturing the drugs in his warehouse.”

  Alex nodded. “He claims ignorance. He probably didn’t know exactly where the drugs were being made, most likely on purpose as a safety precaution.”

  I shook my head. “I still think it’s crazy. I mean, making drugs is one thing. But cold-blooded murder? That’s a whole different story.”

  “I agree. People will go to desperate measures to protect their futures, even the CEO of a successful company. He got himself in a bad position and was scrambling to get out.”

  Why wasn’t I going to desperate measures to ensure I might have more of a future?

  “Listen, how about
if I help you get cleaned up? I know you still have a few hours until you’re discharged.”

  I smiled. “That sounds great. No baths, though. Only showers for a while.”

  ***

  At lunchtime, I insisted Alex should leave. She wanted to wait, but I knew that even though it was Sunday, she had a busy schedule. I really was okay with being alone in the hospital.

  What I wasn’t okay with was the change in my thoughts about dying.

  About my choice to be alone in all of this.

  In my realization that secrets could hurt people.

  Put it all together, and I was melancholy when Chase arrived at two.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t be here earlier,” he started. “We’ve been busy trying to wrap this investigation up.”

  “How’s it going?”

  He nodded. “Good. We found purchase order forms for Orion Enterprises, signed with Orion’s signature, for chemicals used to make Cena. It proves he knew about the drugs. He has no alibi for the nights of the murder. He employed two of the boys who were killed.”

  “Wow. I’m glad it came together.”

  “Me, too.”

  “You look nice,” Chase told me, glancing up and down at my dress. “You don’t miss a beat, do you? Even being here in the hospital, you still look like a million bucks.”

  “I do like feeling like a lady.”

  “You are a lady, Holly.”

  I bit back a frown. “At least one person thinks so.”

  “You have others who don’t?”

  “Apparently, I cause strong emotions in people. Good and bad emotions. Lately, a lot more bad emotions.”

  “I can’t see it.”

  I smiled. “You’re kind.”

  “I’m honest.”

  I stood. “The doctor just discharged me about thirty minutes ago. I’m ready to go.”

  “Perfect. Your chariot awaits.”

  A nurse brought a wheelchair into the room and walked with us as Chase pushed me down to the entrance. Once we were in his car, he turned to me. “Where to, my lady?”

  “Anywhere but my house.”

  “Want to hang out at my place for a while? As you know, it’s nothing fancy.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, nothing fancy sounds perfect.”

  The day was unseasonably warm. Chase kept a hold on my hand as we walked inside. “I have something I think you’ll like.”

  He led me through the house and out the back door. I blinked at what I saw there. Party lights were strung from the posts of a pergola over the back deck. A nice grill and a comfy-looking love seat were there.

  “Nice.”

  “I can’t take the credit. The previous owners did this. I think they liked their parties.” He pulled out a chair. “Want to sit?”

  I shook my head. “Not really. Too much sitting lately.”

  He walked over to a box and opened it up. “I know you love your old music, but I happen to think music from the sixties reigns supreme. Despite that, I did find some Nat King Cole.”

  A moment later, “When I Fall in Love” gushed through the speakers. He clicked the lights on overhead and took a step closer.

  “You care for a dance?”

  A tremble took over my limbs, and it wasn’t because of my disease. “Sounds nice.”

  His arm went around my waist, and he took my hand in his. Gently, we swayed back and forth to the music. Something about his touch made me crave it even more. He was warm, and for just a moment, I felt safe. He leaned down until we were cheek to cheek.

  As the lyrics of the song washed over me, I had to hold my tears back. The nostalgia nearly did me in, and I wanted to capture this moment forever.

  Dancing with Chase like this was what I’d dreamed about, ever since high school. And it was even more perfect than I’d envisioned.

  He pulled back, his face dangerously close to mine. He leaned toward me, and I felt certain he was going to kiss me.

  I closed my eyes.

  His lips hit my cheek instead of my lips, though. He lingered there, softly pressing his lips into my skin.

  “Holly—”

  “Yes?” I whispered.

  “I want to kiss you.”

  “Then why don’t you?”

  His lips covered mine and he drew me closer. I wrapped my arms around his neck, totally swept away in the moment. He pulled back, sighing in my ear.

  “Why now?” he mumbled.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, all these years of liking you—”

  I recoiled in surprise. “You haven’t liked me all of these years.”

  “Sure I have.” His eyes twinkled. “I just thought you were out of my league.”

  “Oh, Chase.” Could I have really misread things so badly?

  “So, all these years of liking you, I finally have you in my arms, and now . . .”

  A lump lodged itself in my throat. “Let’s not talk about that.”

  “You have to talk about it sometime, Holly.”

  “Why ruin the moment?”

  We swayed back and forth.

  “Maybe we should get married,” he whispered.

  I stopped. “What?”

  He grinned and shrugged. “It’s on your bucket list, isn’t it?”

  “You’ve got to stop joking like that.”

  “Who says I’m joking?”

  My cheeks flushed. “Chase, that would be crazy.”

  He looked in the distance. “Is it crazy? You know better than anyone how short life is.”

  I imagined being with Chase as I lived out my final days. I imagined the feeling of protection I always felt when I was with him. I thought about waking up to his arms around me.

  I contrasted those images with those of living in my mom’s house. Going to work every day for a supervisor who hated me. Continuing on, feeling surrounded by people yet surprisingly alone.

  Chase won by leaps and bounds.

  “What would you do if I said yes?”

  “I’d say, let’s go.”

  “No preacher would marry us in a day.”

  “Maybe he could write us in for later this week. You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”

  “It’s tempting.”

  “Just give in, Holly. Do something for yourself. You’re always so concerned with others.”

  I nodded. “After the election is over, if we both haven’t decided this crazy whim is just that, then let’s do it.”

  He picked me up and spun me around.

  Maybe my first kiss would only be shared with the man I married after all.

  CHAPTER 42

  I spent the night at Alex’s. I just couldn’t stand the thought of staying in the other house by myself.

  Chase and I had spent the rest of the day yesterday at his place. We’d watched old movies and ordered pizza and just enjoyed being together.

  He’d driven me to Alex’s place, kissed me good night, and promised to call me today.

  I’d awoken early, poured some coffee, and plopped myself on Alex’s couch to watch the news.

  The headline story was about Rex. How he’d turned over key information that had led to the arrest of Orion. How he was a hero.

  I dreaded talking to Ralph or Brian today. I couldn’t begin to imagine how many percentage points he’d drop.

  Just then, Ralph’s picture came on the screen.

  “In other news, Ralph Paladin’s family was given a devastating blow recently when they found out that sister Holly Anna Paladin has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.”

  I sat up straighter. What? I could hardly breathe.

  Brian’s face came on the screen. “As you can imagine, the family is devastated. Holly is doing well, though, and she’s insisting that her brother go forward with his campaign.”

  My mouth dropped open. I glanced at my cell phone. It was dead, and that was probably a good thing. My phone was going to be ringing off the hook. I had to talk to Alex and Ralph before they heard this.


  Or did Ralph already know?

  How did Brian know?

  I rubbed my temples.

  Tomorrow was election day. It appeared that both candidates were pulling out all of the stops.

  Alex’s phone rang. I jumped up to answer, but she must have just gotten out of the shower and grabbed it.

  I braced myself. Sure enough, she stomped down the stairs a few minutes later, her eyes wide and on me. She wore a robe, and her hair was pulled up in a towel. Based on the water sprinkled across her face, she hadn’t even had time to dry off.

  “Is it true?” she demanded.

  “Alex—”

  “Don’t do that mumbo jumbo where you give a long-winded explanation before answering. I just need a yes or no.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “Yes.”

  I waited for a lecture. For anger. For accusation.

  Instead, my sister threw her arms around me and didn’t let go. “I can’t believe it. Why didn’t you tell me? You’re my baby sister.”

  “I didn’t want to worry you. Especially not with the wedding coming up.”

  “Why have you been carrying this alone? I could have been there for you. Throughout meetings and decisions and heartbreaks.”

  “I was going to tell everyone. After the election and wedding. Those deserve to be happy times.”

  She hugged me again. When she pulled back, I saw the tears in her eyes. She carefully wiped them away with the edge of her robe. “This is going to take a while to sink in. You told Brian?”

  I shook my head. “I have no idea how he found out.”

  “Well, Ralph is going to give him a piece of his mind. Then I’m going to jump in. How could he do this to us?”

  “Anything to win. I guess he milked the Melinda story for all it was worth and he needed something new.”

  “Holly, I just don’t know what to say. I have so many questions.” She shoved the phone in my hand. “But first you have to call Ralph.”

  ***

  Two hours later, Alex left. I insisted that she should. She told me she was going to wrap up things at the office and then come home early. She would take today off to be with me, and tomorrow because it was election day. I figured there was no need to argue with her.

  I found my phone, plugged it in to charge, and checked my texts. I had a whole slew of them, mostly from people who’d watched the news. Awesome.