Daley Buzz Cozy Mystery Boxed Set

by Meredith Potts

  But I could certainly warn Jake.

  I got out of David’s car in a hurry and yelled at the top of my lungs.

  “Jake. Behind you!” I screamed.

  From there, things got crazy.

  Jake whirled around as the man lunged at him. Jake tried to dodge the knife, but ended up getting stabbed in the stomach. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

  The bearded man stood in shock for a moment. He stared at Jake in disbelief that he had missed stabbing him in the heart. A look of complete rage then came over his face as he bent over to grab the knife from Jake’s stomach.

  “Hey, psycho!” I screamed. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  The bearded man didn’t pay any attention to me.

  David, meanwhile, could not be so easily ignored. My boyfriend got out of his car and drew his gun. “Treasure Cove Police Department. Put your hands up.”

  The bearded man’s eyes were as wide as saucers when he saw that David’s gun was pointed directly at him.

  Unfortunately, the man just kept staring and didn’t follow David’s orders.

  “I said, put your hands up!” David yelled.

  This time, the man reluctantly complied.

  With his gun still drawn, David dashed over toward the man then handcuffed him.

  While David was doing that, I rushed over and checked on Jake.

  As I reached Jake, I saw that he was still alive but in bad shape. Knowing that he needed medical attention right away, I pulled out my phone to call for an ambulance. While I waited for the 9-1-1 operator to pick up, I looked down at Jake once more. He was writhing around in so much pain that I had no idea if he was going to make it.

  Chapter Two

  Thankfully, it didn’t take an ambulance very long to arrive on the scene. The paramedics rushed over to Jake and did everything in their power to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, Jake needed more intensive medical attention than the paramedics were able to provide.

  So, without delay, the medics loaded Jake into the ambulance and rushed him off to the hospital. It all happened in such a whirlwind fashion that I wasn’t able to ask the medics any questions. Of course, they were so busy treating Jake that they wouldn’t have been able to answer me, anyway.

  While the ambulance pulled away from the scene with its siren blaring, I was left staring down a huge question mark. Was Jake going to make it? Granted, I had no medical experience, but from what I saw, things didn’t appear to look good for him. He had lost a lot of blood. On top of that, the stone-faced looks on the paramedics’ faces did not inspire confidence in me.

  While I worried about whether Jake would survive to see another day, another scene unfolded on the other side of the parking lot. David had his hands full dealing with Jake’s attacker.

  A number of squad cars had arrived around the same time that the ambulance pulled into the parking lot. From there, David loaded the bearded man into the back of one of the cars. In short time, the attacker would be hauled back to the police station where he would be booked for attempted murder.

  Before that happened, David approached me with wide eyes. “What a crazy night.”

  “I know. I can’t believe it,” I said. “And it’s not even over.”

  “I’m certainly ready for it to be done. It has been traumatic enough already.”

  “I agree. The problem is that I wasn’t able to get a definitive answer about Jake before the paramedics rushed him off to the hospital.”

  “That stab wound certainly didn’t look good.”

  I shook my head. “No, it didn’t.”

  “Then again, I’m not a doctor and neither are you. Maybe he’ll pull through.”

  I winced. “Perhaps.”

  “You don’t think he will, do you?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s the problem.”

  “I’m sure the doctors will do everything they can.”

  “What if it’s too late? What if he doesn’t make it?”

  “I think it’s a little too early to speculate.”

  “Is it?” I asked.

  He stared long and hard at me. “I know things don’t look good right now, but you never know what might happen.”

  I groaned. “No. In this town, you definitely don’t.”

  “That isn’t what I meant.”

  “I know. I’m just really rattled right now.”

  He pulled me in close and gave me a hug.

  “I’m so sorry this happened.”

  I let out a sigh. “Yeah.”

  David began to pull back from the hug, but I tried to stop him.

  “Sabrina, I hate to do this, but—”

  “You need to get back to work. I understand,” I said.

  He nodded. “Right now, the priority is to haul this perpetrator into the station.”

  I mustered as much resolve as I could. “Did you get him to talk?”

  David shook his head. “No. But it doesn’t really matter if he does. After what he just did, he’ll be going to jail for a long time.”

  “Yeah. Even the best lawyer in the world can’t save him now.”

  “That said, when I get him in the interrogation room, I’m going to try to get a motive out of him.”

  “Good luck.”

  David grimaced. “Look. About dinner—”

  “I know. We’ll reschedule it for some other time,” I said.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “So am I. Although, it turns out there are much bigger issues at play.”

  “True. But just so you know, I was really looking forward to this.” He gazed at me.

  I smiled at him. “So was I.”

  “Anyway, I really need to get this perp back to the police headquarters,” he said. “I’ll have a deputy drive you home.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not going home.”

  “Sabrina, there’s no reason for you to come to the station with me—”

  “I know. I wasn’t planning on going to the station.”

  He stared at me. “You’re planning on going to the hospital, aren’t you?”

  I nodded. “Don’t get me wrong. I hate Jake’s business practices, but I don’t want him to die.” I took a deep breath. “I need to know if he is going to make it.”

  “I understand,” he said. “I’ll tell you what. I was going to send a deputy over to the hospital, anyway, to get an update. Why don’t you ride over to Treasure Cove Medical Center with Deputy Carter?”

  Chapter Three

  Unfortunately, Deputy Carter and I sat in the waiting room at the hospital for over an hour without receiving a single update. Or, more accurately, Carter did the sitting. I paced back and forth relentlessly. To the point where I had probably taken five thousand steps in the last sixty minutes.

  I couldn’t help myself. My anxiety level was off the charts. A number of thoughts swirled in my mind. I wondered if anyone had notified Jake’s family about what had happened to him. Then again, I didn’t know if he even had any living family members. Or if they would even show up to visit him.

  Sigh.

  So many unanswered questions.

  While I was at my wits’ end, Carter was as stoic as could be as he sat back in his chair. The muscular, mustached, square-faced, twenty-nine-year-old didn’t even fidget.

  “How do you manage to stay so calm?” I asked.

  “It’s my job,” Carter replied.

  I chuckled. “They must grind that into you at the police academy. David says the same thing to me when I ask him that question.”

  “Actually, that is part of our training. It’s essential to keep calm under pressure.”

  “That’s why you’re a professional—and I’ll always be an amateur sleuth. I’m a complete wreck right now. And I don’t even like Jake,” I said.

  I knew someone who did, though. Someone who should have been in the waiting room with me—Jake’s girlfriend, Daphne Lipton. The problem was that Daphne hadn’t picked up her phone when I had called her e
arlier.

  I decided to try her again.

  Three rings later, Daphne’s phone went to voice mail.

  I left a message. “Daphne. Where are you? Why aren’t you picking up? I have been texting and calling you for the last hour. This is an emergency. Jake has been stabbed and is at the hospital. Call me back as soon as possible.”

  I groaned as I hung up the phone. “I don’t get it.”

  “It has been a crazy night,” Carter replied.

  “I don’t mean that,” I said. “It doesn’t make sense that Daphne isn’t picking up her phone. It’s not like her.”

  “Maybe she’s at a movie. Or the battery for her phone died.”

  “Those are both possibilities. Then again, there’s also the chance that something bad happened to her.”

  “I would be careful jumping to conclusions.”

  “I can’t help it. Like you said, it has been a crazy night. And Treasure Cove is far from a normal town.”

  “That is the understatement of the century.”

  “I can think of some more colorful ways to describe this town, but I have a feeling that you already know what’s on my mind.”

  He nodded. “I have a pretty good guess. It turns out I have seen all kinds of colorful things on the job.”

  “Who is the one understating things now?” I asked.

  “Guilty as charged,” Carter replied. “That said, tonight has been pretty outrageous, even by Treasure Cove standards.”

  I groaned. “It sure has.”

  “Look. You know that you don’t have to be here, right?”

  “I understand that.”

  He looked deep into my eyes. “You’re going to stay here anyway, aren’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “Why?” he asked. “I mean, I’m here because it’s my job. But you could be at home right now.”

  “You’re right. I could be sitting on my couch right now eating ice cream straight out of the carton, but I need to know if Jake is going to be all right. And I’m not going to be able to rest easy until I get an answer.”

  “Okay. I’m just saying that we might be here awhile.”

  “I know. And I’m prepared for that.”

  ***

  When another half hour went by without any update on Jake’s condition, it was hard to keep a lid on my emotions. Or my frustration, for that matter. The longer the wait, the more I feared the worst. My patience was already shot. From there, it was only a matter of time before my hope totally dwindled.

  So when a tall, balding, gawky, fifty-eight-year-old doctor named Keith Goodman finally approached Deputy Carter in the waiting room a few minutes later, I was completely chomping at the bit.

  “Do you have an update?” Deputy Carter asked.

  Goodman nodded. “Thankfully, I have some very good news to report.”

  “Does that mean he is going to make it?” Carter asked.

  “He certainly will,” Goodman replied.

  I breathed a sigh of relief.

  The doctor continued. “We’ve stopped the bleeding, stitched his wound up, and stabilized his vitals.”

  “So there was no serious organ damage?” Deputy Carter asked.

  “Amazingly enough, no,” Dr. Goodman replied. “It’s going to take a while for his wound to heal, but my prognosis is that he will make a full recovery.”

  Deputy Carter’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “That’s incredible.”

  Goodman nodded. “In more ways than one. Mr. Williamson was very lucky that the knife didn’t hit any major organs. Otherwise, I would be giving you much different news.”

  “Can I go in and see him now? I need to take an official statement about his attack,” Deputy Carter said.

  Doctor Goodman held his hand out. “Actually, he has requested to speak with Ms. Daley first.”

  Deputy Carter’s forehead wrinkled. “What?”

  Doctor Goodman shrugged. “I’m just relaying what I was told.”

  Deputy Carter stared at me.

  I turned to Doctor Goodman and tried to diffuse the tension. “You know what? Tell Jake that when he’s done giving the deputy his statement, I’ll be happy to speak with him. But not until then.”

  Deputy Carter gave me a look of gratitude then headed into Jake’s hospital room.

  Chapter Four

  When the deputy was done getting an official statement from Jake, he came back out to the waiting room. Finally, it was my turn to speak with Jake. Although, I had no idea what he was about to say to me.

  I walked into Jake’s hospital room feeling equal parts curious and cautious. When I spotted him sitting in bed with his abdomen all bandaged up, I nearly gasped.

  This was a different Jake Williamson than I had ever seen before. He no longer had an air of invincibility around him. As a matter of fact, he was completely absent of swagger. The sharkish expression that I had grown so accustomed to seeing in his eyes was also gone.

  Life hadn’t just humbled him. He looked totally vulnerable. Not to mention, unsure about how to come to terms with his new reality.

  Typically, I tried to avoid staring at people. In this circumstance, it was hard not to look at his bandaged abdomen. Especially since Jake was doing that very thing himself. He was actually so busy looking down that he didn’t even notice me entering the doorway to his room.

  I stood quietly for a few moments, waiting for him to spot me. I didn’t want to be the one to say the first word. After all, he had been the one to call me in here.

  When I grew impatient of watching Jake remain helplessly wrapped up in his own thoughts, I loudly cleared my throat.

  Thankfully, that was enough to get his attention.

  He looked up at me. “Sabrina.”

  “You wanted to see me?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Please come in.”

  “I have been trying to reach Daphne, but I haven’t had any luck. I’ll keep calling her, though,” I said.

  “Don’t bother,” he replied.

  My eyes widened. “Why not? I mean, after what happened to you, she should be by your side.”

  He grimaced. “I guess she didn’t tell you, then.”

  I scrunched my nose. “Tell me what?”

  “She broke up with me.”

  My muscles tensed. “Oh. I’m really sorry. I didn’t know—”

  He winced. “Trust me. No one is sorrier than I am. It turns out that it has been a terrible week for me.”

  “It sure has. What an awful turn of events.”

  He groaned. “I have a different word for it.”

  The fire that I had seen in his eyes so many times before suddenly returned.

  I backed away, worried that he wouldn’t be able to control his emotions. “Maybe I should give you some time to yourself.”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Sabrina, I asked you to come in here for a reason.”

  I bit my lip. “Okay. What did you want to tell me, then?”

  He stared at me but didn’t say a word.

  An awkward silence filled the room.

  I kept waiting for him to respond, but he appeared to be having an epic wrestling match with his thoughts.

  I scrunched my nose. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather do this some other time?”

  “No. I need to do this now,” he replied.

  I shrugged. “All right. So, what’s on your mind?”

  “Well…”

  He had trouble getting the words out.

  It became excruciating watching him try to untie his tongue.

  “Take your time. There’s no hurry,” I said.

  “What you did back there…I mean…if you hadn’t been there and spotted Todd…well, I don’t even want to think about that.” He took a deep breath. “Look, I owe you…so what I’m trying to say is…thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  The conversation went quiet once again. So many of our discussions in the past had bee
n filled with arguing that it felt so unnatural to be doing anything else.

  As I stared at Jake, I could tell there was more on his mind. I just needed to figure out how to get the words out of him.

  “I know that was really hard for you to say,” I replied.

  “You could tell, huh?” he joked.

  I chuckled. “Yeah. Just a little.”

  “Look. If you had asked me yesterday if I would ever be thanking you for something, I would have said no. But clearly, life can change in a hurry.”

  I nodded. “It certainly can. And in this town, it does—a little too often.”

  “Don’t remind me.” He took a deep breath. “You know, the doctor says that I owe you my life. I mean, if you hadn’t spotted Todd behind me—”

  “Todd would be charged with murder right now instead of attempted murder.”

  “Yeah. That’s why I can’t thank you enough.”

  “I didn’t have as much to do with it as you think. Timing and luck played a much bigger part.”

  “I know being humble is your thing, but take the credit. You definitely deserve it.”

  “I just happened to be there at the right time. Anyone else would have done the same thing that I did,” I said.

  He shook his head. “Not in this town. I mean, look at Todd. The man tried to kill me. And he’s not alone. I think there are more people in Treasure Cove that want me dead than alive.”

  I grimaced and remained silent.

  “See. You know I’m right,” Jake replied.

  “Don’t get me wrong. Anyone who would stab someone in a parking lot is clearly off their rocker. That said, there are a lot of desperate people in this town.”

  “I know.” He lowered his head. “Trust me, I’m aware of just how desperate people are.” He exhaled. “And I haven’t helped the situation any.”

  I almost did a double take. Had I heard that right?

  Apparently, Jake wasn’t done. “All this time you have been trying to warn me. You’ve been telling me that people are at the end of their ropes. That you can only push people so far. But I didn’t listen. And now look at me.”