Oh, Fudge!

by Nancy CoCo

“I want my diamonds, Allie,” he said. “You are in no position to deny me.”

  “That’s why you took Victoria, isn’t it? For the diamonds. What about the two million dollars? What did you do with that?”

  “That was a little deposit in case you didn’t follow through.” He stepped closer to me. “You see, young lady, you are a known troublemaker. I knew two million would hurt your family and the Jessops. They need that money back. I tell you what. You get me the diamonds and I’ll let you have the cash back.”

  “You’re lying,” I said.

  “I could be,” he said. “But you won’t know until you get me what I want.”

  “Let me go!”

  “No. In fact I think taking you will more likely get me the diamonds than kidnapping your cousin.” He tilted his head.

  “They won’t give you those diamonds,” I said. I thought about screaming, but I learned a few months ago that no one could hear you when you were in the back alley at night. Screaming would do little good.

  “This time the diamonds are not negotiable,” he said. “I think we’ll start with killing the dog.”

  “Wait! No!” I quit struggling when he lifted Mal up as if to wring her neck. “I’ll call Rex right now.”

  “I see you love your dog more than your cousin,” he said.

  Tears welled up in my eyes. “I love my cousin. It isn’t fair of you to compare the two.”

  He squeezed Mal until she cried out.

  “I’m calling,” I said. “So help me if you hurt her. . .”

  “You’ll what exactly?”

  “See that you get your diamonds.” I struggled against the two guys. “Let me go so that I can call.”

  Mr. Sikes nodded. “Let one arm go. I’m sure you can make a phone call with only one hand.”

  The man who had a hold of me lifted me up until I was on my tiptoes to relieve the pain. I hit the button to instant-dial Rex from my contact list.

  “Manning,” he answered grumpy.

  “Rex,” I said.

  “Be very careful,” Mr. Sikes said as he squeezed Mal again.

  “Allie, what’s going on?”

  “Rex, please listen carefully. I need you to get the diamonds out of evidence lockup.”

  “Allie, I can’t do that. You know that.”

  I swallowed hard. Mr. Sikes put his hands around Mal’s neck. “Please listen. They are going to kill Mal. I need you to get the diamonds out of evidence.” I looked up at Mr. Sikes. “And bring them where?”

  “Leave them at the top of the trash can in front of the Butterfly House.”

  I repeated the instructions.

  “Allie,” Rex said. “Are you okay?”

  “No,” I replied and the second man grabbed the phone from me, ended the call, and threw the phone into the Dumpster. “Wait! You didn’t give him a time frame.”

  “Too late,” Mr. Sikes said. “You’d better hope Manning moves quickly.” He made a motion as if to twist Mal’s head, when my sweet puppy became a snarling mass of fur and claws. She clamped down hard on his hand. Surprised, he dropped her. “Darn it!”

  “Run, Mal! Get Rex!” Mal took off down the alley, her leash trailing behind. I held my breath as Mr. Sikes attempted to grab her leash again, but missed. She was gone in the darkness.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Mr. Sikes said as he took out a handkerchief to stop the blood flowing from the bite on his hand. “Manning knows we have you. He won’t fake the diamond drop.”

  “How do you know that?” I said.

  “Because the man is in love with you.”

  “No—”

  “Take her to the boat,” he ordered.

  “No,” I said as they dragged me off. “Rex knows about the Scoundrel. I told him.”

  “We aren’t using the Scoundrel,” Mr. Sikes said. “I’m no idiot. Shut her up.”

  There was a painful blow to my head and things went black.

  Salted Caramel Fudge

  Ingredients

  14 oz. of sweetened condensed milk

  2 cups of dark chocolate chips

  1 tsp. of vanilla

  ¼ cup dulce de leche

  Sea salt flakes

  Directions

  In a 2-quart microwave-safe bowl, microwave the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips on high for 1 minute. Let sit for 1 minute and stir. (If chips are not all melted, microwave another 30 seconds.) Add vanilla and pour into a buttered 8-inch square pan. In a separate bowl, microwave the dulce de leche just until pourable—0-20 seconds. Pour over chocolate fudge. Use a cold butter knife to swirl the caramel. Sprinkle with sea salt. Cool completely. Cut into 1-inch squares and enjoy!

  Chapter 27

  I woke up in the dark tied to a pipe. My hands were bound with a plastic zip tie and I could feel the rocking of waves beneath the wood floor at my feet. “Help!” I shouted. “Someone, help!”

  There was only silence in response. It seems they dumped me in the bowels of a boat. I had no idea how far out in the lake I was. Or even if there was a crew to hear me. I struggled against the zip tie. My hands were well and truly caught. They were raised above my head and the pipe. I felt the unforgiving metal. It was a good four inches around. There was no way I could break it. I had to try. Pulling just made my wrists hurt more.

  My eyes adjusted a bit to the dark. I was with the engine of the boat. The smell of oil and gas filled my nostrils. I tried to stand but my feel slipped out from under me, making the zip tie dig further into my wrists. I imagined that I would have to break my bones to get out of the tie. I wondered if I could.

  I was surprised they’d kept me alive, since I knew it was Mr. Sikes who smuggled the diamonds and kidnapped both Victoria and myself. Then I thought perhaps Rex would demand proof of life. Sikes would keep me alive as long as Rex stalled.

  Still, it was a sure bet that I would be as dead as Dan and Barbara if Rex gave up the diamonds. I struggled against the plastic tie. I could feel the blood drip down my arm from the struggle. Was it possible to cut your wrist on a zip tie? I twisted and turned to no avail. “Help!” I shouted and kicked the side of the boat. “Help me.”

  Silence followed. Off in the distance I could hear a buoy bell. At least Mal was safe. When I closed my eyes I could still see Fred Sikes holding her as if twisting a dog’s neck was something he did on a regular basis. It made me feel sorry for Wanda Sikes.

  I opened my eyes and struggled again. I was getting tired. It felt like hours had passed, but I supposed it was only minutes. Sweat dripped down my back, blood down my arms, and I tried to break the bones in my hands to release them from the ties.

  It was a lot harder than they made it seem on television. I had good bones. Dislocating my thumbs was also difficult, as all the pulling did was make my back and shoulders scream with pain.

  I called out until my voice was hoarse, and my throat hurt every time I swallowed. There wasn’t even the sound of footsteps above me. Did they have me on an empty vessel? Surely someone was at the helm. “Please,” I said. “I won’t tell if you let me go. Please.” It came out as a croak. My lips were dry. My head pounded. I wondered if I had a bump on it. My hands were too far above my head for me to feel anything.

  I looked at the pipe in the semidarkness. It ran along the length of the boat and into what looked like the shape of a water heater. I was on a boat with hot water. It was yards away, but if I could work my way over there I might be able to follow the curve of the pipe and bring my arms down below my head.

  After what seemed like days, I had inched my way long the pipe to the bend in the elbow. But the circumference of the pipe was larger at the elbow and there was no way I could get the zip tie over it. Frustrated, I kicked at the water heater. Tears welled up and poured down my face, adding to the salty brine of sweat.

  The kicking dislodged the pipe from the unit. I swung precariously by a pipe hanger that wasn’t meant to hold my weight before the pipe jerked violently and came down on my head. It hit me so hard I s
aw stars.

  “You’re okay,” I said to myself as the stars cleared. I listened for any reaction to the loud noises I was making. But no one came. It was clear they had left me alone on the boat. I couldn’t be that far from shore. They would have had to take a dinghy back to the island. I wondered if Rex had given up the diamonds. Or if Mal appearing at the police station would have been enough for him to wait for a ransom note.

  I didn’t want to think about the fact that Mr. Sikes was a killer. Instead I concentrated on the zip tie, which was now at eye level. I stood up on my tiptoes and it brought the tie to my mouth level and I chewed on the plastic. If I could chew the square head off, the zip tie should pull right apart.

  I chewed and chewed, then stopped to rest my aching legs. The square part was just high enough to make it difficult. My entire body ached. Finally, I felt it pop in my mouth and I spit out the bit that held the tie in place.

  Unfortunately, I also heard a motor approaching the boat and the banging sound of a dinghy hitting the side. I pulled as hard as I could to dislodge the zip tie from its mooring. Stupid zip ties were designed to stay in place with the tiny hooks. I got my legs up against the side of the boat when I heard voices and footfalls above. I pushed off with my legs and the zip tie broke free, tossing me across the bottom of the boat.

  I held my breath. They had to have heard me tumble. Whoever had come aboard was also holding their breath, and neither of us made a sound. The plastic tie dangled from one wrist as I inched my way across the floor and into the space behind the engine to hide.

  Footfalls stormed down the stairs along with male voices. “What the heck was that?”

  “Who’s down here?”

  I kept quiet and hugged my legs to my chest. The heat of the engine warmed me. The upper door burst open and a hand with a gun came down first. “Whoever you are, show yourself!”

  The man inched down the steep steps. He flipped a switch cautiously and my eyes closed against the glare of a single lightbulb.

  “Darn it. The pipe broke,” I heard him call to whoever was still above him.

  “What pipe?” came the second male voice.

  “The waste water pipe to the storage tank,” he said and walked over to where I had broken the pipe. “What the heck? There’s blood everywhere.” He raised the gun again and pointed it in my direction. “Who’s in here?”

  I swallowed and kept quiet. Was this a ruse? Were these bad guys or good guys? Did they own the boat? Would they tie me back up and toss me overboard once they realized I’d seen their faces?

  “I said, who’s there?”

  There was a bumping noise and more footsteps above. “Coast guard, freeze!” came the shout above.

  “What the—” The man took off toward the stairs.

  I listened as the sound of boots and shouting filled the air. A man wearing a coast guard uniform appeared through the entrance. “Allie McMurphy? If you’re down here, show yourself.”

  I squeezed out of the small space with my hands up. He pointed his gun at me for a long moment and my heart raced.

  “Allie McMurphy?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  He put his gun away and walked toward me. “Cameron Piece,” he said. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” I said. “What happened?” I started to shake.

  He took me by the arm and I cried out as pain shot through me. “Hold on,” he said. “Let’s get you up into the light where we can see you.”

  I scrambled up the steps to the cabin below decks. Two men I’d never seen before were sitting at the table with their hands cuffed behind them. Rex rushed to me. “Allie!”

  He hugged me and I cried again. This time through the pain for joy. “How did you find me?”

  “We got Sikes to confess,” he said.

  “How?”

  “We’ll talk about that later. You’re shaking and you need medical help.”

  I ignored the men in the cabin and went up into the morning light. “What time is it?”

  “It’s around eleven AM,” he said. “You’ve been missing for twelve hours.”

  “Felt like a lot longer,” I admitted. He helped me into a dinghy to take me back to shore. “Who were the two men in the boat? It sounded like they didn’t know I was there. But they had a gun so I wasn’t sure if they were good or bad.”

  “They claim they didn’t know,” Rex said. “But I’m checking into it. The boat was part of a movie set. They claim they were there to set up explosives. They did have a permit to blow up the boat. It’s why it was moored offshore.”

  “And why no one heard my shouts for help,” I said. My voice was reduced to a harsh whisper.

  “Shh,” Rex said. “You need to rest your voice.”

  We went the rest of the way in silence. It was a shockingly short trip to the shore where Frances, Jenn, and Mal waited for me on the dock. I was surrounded by hugs and questions and tears.

  “You’re contaminating the evidence,” Shane said from behind.

  I shook my head. “I thought you had a confession,” I croaked.

  “Still need to collect evidence in case he rescinds his confession,” Shane said and carefully took me by the arm. “Come on. George is waiting by the ambulance. I hate to say it, Allie, but you look like hell.”

  “Shane!” Jenn said.

  “Well, she does,” Shane said. “That’s a good thing. We will take photographic evidence and put this guy away for years.”

  The ambulance was backed up to the end of the dock and the doors were open. George and Shane helped me to sit on the edge of the vehicle. Shane took pictures while George worked on cleaning my wounds. He gave me a bottle of water that tasted like heaven. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was.

  George wanted to take me to the clinic, but I said I preferred to just go home. So Frances, Jenn, and Mal got into the back of the ambulance with me. George and Shane drove me carefully through Main Street and around the alley to the back of the McMurphy, where I had less exposure to the crowds of tourists.

  “Sandy is taking care of the fudge shop,” Frances said. “Megan has the reception desk.”

  Mal sat on my lap and licked my cheeks. I couldn’t help the overwhelming smile. “I didn’t think I would ever see you all again.”

  “We were so worried.” Jenn helped open the doors and jumped out. “Let’s take you upstairs.”

  “How did you find me?” I asked again. My voice was less hoarse with the water in me.

  “We got a tip about Sikes,” Rex said as he came around the ambulance. Rex had walked the short distance from shore.

  “I’d really rather you came to the clinic for an IV or two,” George said. “You’re severely dehydrated.”

  “I just want to be home,” I said as I climbed out of the ambulance.

  “Then I’ll bring the IV up to your apartment,” George said.

  “I need to debrief you as well,” Rex said.

  “I need to document the physical evidence,” Shane said.

  “Well, then, let’s get everyone upstairs,” Frances said and took me by the arm and helped me up the stairs to the back of the apartment. I felt like I had a parade of people.

  “Really, everyone,” I said. “We’re drawing a crowd.”

  Even coming around the back of the McMurphy, there were so much commotion that people had gathered in the alley. Liz pushed through the crowd. “Hey,” she shouted from the bottom of the stairs. “Allie, are you okay?”

  “She’s fine,” Rex said to Liz and addressed the crowd from the deck at the top of my back steps. “Let’s give her some space, people.”

  Relief filled me and caused tears to form in my eyes as I walked through the kitchen and into the living room. I was home.

  After two hours, a thorough documentation of my injuries, my time on the boat, an IV, and a good hot shower, I was in clean pajamas and sitting in the living room with Frances, Jenn, and Liz. Rex hadn’t left my side. Trent was on his way back from Chicago.
r />   “Now,” I said and leaned back against the pillows, Mella in my lap and Mal by my side both demanding attention. I absently petted both of my fur babies. “How did you find me?”

  “We got a tip it was Sikes,” Rex said.

  “Who? How?”

  “It was Tori,” Frances said.

  “Tori?”

  “Yes, she started remembering things. When you went missing, she remembered why his voice was so familiar to her. It was the same voice of the man who kidnapped her. She called Rex and he went to find Mr. Sikes.”

  “We were able to get a search warrant,” Rex said. “We found evidence that he was writing another ransom demand note.”

  “Rex hauled him into the police station and grilled him until he confessed.”

  “So Mr. Sikes was behind the smuggling and break-ins? Did he kill Dan?”

  “No,” Rex said. “He lawyered up. We made a deal to get to you. He’ll go down on kidnapping but not murder.”

  “Not murder?”

  “He swears he had nothing to do with Barbara’s death or Dan’s.”

  “Then who?”

  “We may never know,” Rex said and patted my knee. “It’s time I go and let you get some rest.”

  After he left, I made a phone call to Victoria.

  “Hello? Allie? Are you okay?” Tori asked.

  “Hi, Tori. Yes, I’m a bit bruised but okay,” I said, and tried not to rub the bandages around my wrists. “I understand your tip led to my rescue. I wanted to call you and thank you.”

  “Oh, you’re welcome,” Tori said. “I’d come to the island and hug you, but my mom won’t let me.”

  I smiled as I pictured Aunt June as I last saw her. She had sworn not to let Tori onto the island for a long time to come. “It’s okay,” I said. “Did you hear that Mr. Sikes swears he wasn’t involved in the murders?”

  “Yes, I heard.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  “Sort of,” Tori said. “I’ve been thinking about it. I mean, would a man use a garden trowel as a weapon?”

  “So you think it was a woman who killed Barbara?”