by Ginny Gold
Sorry, Mona mouths from across the room.
“But . . . why?” Maggie asks.
Tess’s eyes cloud over in anger, like she’s reliving a painful memory. “You of all people should understand.”
Maggie’s brain is slowly becoming clearer and clearer, but she can’t make sense of this statement.
Tess looks up toward the ceiling, but not before Maggie notices a tear crawl its way down her cheek. “My parents were killed when I was a kid.”
“And James killed them,” Maggie says before she knows she’s wrong. James wouldn’t have been old enough.
Tess shakes her head. “His dad did. A drunk driver. And James’s dad walked away without a scratch.”
“But he was punished,” Maggie says, knowing suddenly that she has to keep Tess talking. Maggie has to get out of here. Tess is a murderer, and she wants Maggie out of the picture.
“No,” Tess hisses, meeting Maggie’s eye again. “He never went to jail, was never punished; he never suffered like I did.”
“But what did James have to do with it?” Maggie asks.
“James’s dad is still out there.” Maggie tilts her head. She thought James’s only family was Kami. “He disowned James when he divorced Anya because he couldn’t accept James’s sexuality. James hasn’t talked to him in years. But I know that a parent never really stops loving their kids, no matter what, because I never stopped loving my parents even though I’ve lived nearly my whole life without them.”
“So you killed James to make his dad suffer.”
“And Kami too,” Tess adds, a smile making her teeth visible. “Their dad took the two most important people in my life from me, so I did the same to him.”
Mona makes a small sound and Tess turns around to look at her. Behind Tess’s back, she holds a knife and Maggie thinks back to how James was killed. This can’t be the same knife because she knows the one from James’s crime scene is in police custody. But could it be the weapon used to kill Kami?
The fog is gone from Maggie’s head and she knows her life is in mortal danger. She takes a deep breath to calm herself while Tess approaches Mona.
Maggie takes stock of her situation. Her wrists and ankles are bound with Duck tape. She tries to pull one wrist out but the tape is tight enough to make her hands go cold. She doesn’t want to attract attention to her movements so she stops moving when Tess turns back around.
“Don’t you want revenge on Josh McMann for killing your parents?” Tess sneers in Maggie’s direction.
“He’s in prison. For life. I’m getting my revenge by letting him rot in jail.”
“You think he feels remorse? Killers don’t feel remorse, I can promise you that.” Tess’s eyes are fiery and wild.
“There’s another way,” Maggie says, desperately searching for a way out.
“It’s too late for another way for me.” Tess smirks. “And for you, too. Sorry Maggie.”
Tess brings the knife out from behind her back and makes a sudden movement toward Maggie. In Maggie’s desperation, she kicks out her feet, thankful that they’re not taped to the chair but only to each other. She falls backward, leaving the chair and landing on her side. Her head begins to throb again, but she doesn’t have time to think about her pain.
Her kick is perfectly aimed and more perfectly timed. Tess is knocked backward and loses the knife in her fall. By complete luck, the knife slides to Mona’s feet.
Maggie slithers across the room on her elbows and knees while Tess recovers from her fall. But Maggie is faster. She reaches the knife first and quickly cuts her wrists free, lucky that she can still twist her body into awkward positions.
Maggie doesn’t have time to cut Mona free before Tess is nearly on top of her. But without a weapon, Tess no longer has the upper hand and she quickly throws her hands up in defeat.
“Duck tape,” Maggie demands in her most threatening voice. She would never be able to follow through on any threats of violence, but holding the knife in Tess’s direction is enough to make her obey.
In an ironic twist, Maggie tapes Tess to the chair she was in earlier, but makes sure to secure her wrists and ankles to the chair so she can’t crawl away. Then she undoes Mona’s tethers and searches for her handbag. She has a phone call to make.
“Daniel. Tess is guilty. I’m at her house. She killed James. Get here now,” Maggie blurts out as soon as he answers. She keeps one eye on Tess the whole time from the kitchen where she found her handbag.
“I’m on my way.” The line goes dead and Maggie heads back to Tess in the living room.
Maggie has nothing left to say to Tess. She’s beside herself with relief that this whole ordeal is over and she’ll be able to move on with her life. Not only that James’s murder is solved, but time traveling is no longer an option so those who have been coming to Silver Springs in search of the keys will have nothing left to find.
A loud knock on the front door to the apartment alerts Maggie to Daniel’s arrival and she shouts for him to come in. He does so, gun drawn, but quickly lowers it when he sees that Maggie isn’t in danger. Mona has disappeared to a bedroom somewhere else in the apartment.
Tess hasn’t said a word since the roles reversed and Maggie became in charge. And with Daniel there, her demeanor doesn’t change either.
“You got a confession?” Daniel asks Maggie so Tess can hear.
“I did. But not recorded. Mona can confirm it too.”
Daniel looks around. “Where is she?”
Maggie suddenly has a terrible feeling that Mona was involved somehow and she shouldn’t have let her go so easily. “Maybe in her bedroom.” Maggie stands to go look for her.
“Stay here,” Daniel says and turns toward the back of the apartment. He comes back a moment later with a very cooperative Mona. Maggie’s fears seem to have been for nothing. “I’ll need all three of you at the station.”
Maggie and Mona nod but Tess still doesn’t make a single reaction, passively allowing Daniel to undo the Duck tape and replace it with handcuffs before leading her out to the single police car.
***
Maggie doesn’t make it to Bingo. She’s drained by the time everything is wrapped up at the police station and all she wants to do is go home. For the first time since moving to Silver Springs, home means the house she shares with Clem, not the house she left in Denver.
With her feet up on the coffee table and Opal curled next to her on the couch and the dogs sleeping with one eye open and trained on Opal on the other, Maggie calls Drew.
“We missed you tonight,” he says, already at home. “What happened with Mona?”
“Turns out Tess wasn’t missing at all. She’d made herself scarce while she killed Kami Vaughn,” Maggie starts to explain. She walks through the rest of her evening, finally ending with the relief of coming back to her house.
“So now that all the time traveling pieces are destroyed, does that mean you’re moving back to Denver?” Drew asks once Maggie finishes her epic adventure.
Maggie has been thinking about what she’d do ever since she smashed the trinket on the cat collar. She’d moved here to help Ginger Rae, Winona and Erline look into that mystery and try to keep everyone safe. Without the possibility of time travel, or anyone coming after the keys to unlock it, Maggie is no longer needed for that task.
“I think I’ll stay here for a little while. It should be quieter without murderers and thieves coming after all of us, hoping for some supernatural powers.” Maggie smiles at the thought of a slower paced life.
“I like that plan,” Drew says, and Maggie can hear the smile on his face through the phone.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ginny Gold lives in the high Rockies and wouldn’t trade it for the world. She loves anything outdoors—especially skiing, cycling, and gardening, though living at over 9,000 feet does make for a short growing season. You can also find her volunteering with local nonprofits and schools when she’s not cooking up her next cozy mystery for he
r loyal readers.
BEFORE YOU GO . . .
If you enjoyed this installment of the Silver Springs Cozy Mystery Series, be sure to join my FREE COZY MYSTERY BOOK CLUB! Be the first to know about new releases, promotions, sales, new recipes, and even be entered to receive advanced reader copies. Join the club here—http://www.ginnygoldbooks.com
OTHER BOOKS BY GINNY GOLD
Silver Springs Cozy Mystery Series
Author’s Note: This series is best enjoyed when read in order.
Pawsitively Deadly
Maggie Boothe has found herself in a bind. Her parents are dead—suspected suicide—but her twin sister doesn’t believe it. And Maggie is the one with the skills to find out the truth. But she wants nothing to do with her hometown that harbors nothing but bad memories.
Maggie agrees to spend two weeks in the small Colorado resort town of Silver Springs, investigating what really happened to her parents. After only a few hours back home, strange things start happening. And they keep piling up.
Maggie finds herself listening to the advice of a tea leaf reader, going on a date almost every night, and following leads that bring her nowhere. She isn’t sure she wants to know the truth if it means turning her own world upside down.
Pawsitively Murder
Maggie Boothe is stunned when a second murder in Silver Springs brings her back to her small hometown. Immediately upon her arrival, her parents’ friend, Erline, confesses she might be in trouble and Maggie knows she made the right decision to come and help.
With the assistance of Maggie’s new friend—and possible heartthrob—Drew Kent, she’s able to come up with a list of possible suspects. But when Erline’s house is broken into, Maggie wonders if the theft is connected to the murder and how that will change her investigation. What goes missing makes Erline’s heart stop.
A shocking discovery at the end of her investigation changes Maggie’s life forever, and she’s not sure she’s ready to take on the next chapter alone.
Pawsitively Lethal
Maggie can’t believe she and her twin sister, Clem, are turning 53. Celebrating in Silver Springs isn’t exactly what she’s hoping for, but she goes along for the ride. And she’s thankful she did when what should have been a carefree birthday party turns into a murder crime scene.
With plenty of family members of the victim coming under suspicion, Maggie thinks she’s hot on the trail of the murderer. It’s only when Ginger Rae, friend of Maggie’s and aunt to the deceased, shares a little known secret with Maggie that the path might have to change drastically.
Suddenly, with more questions than answers, Maggie worries she’s been chasing dead ends and the killer could have already gotten away with murder. Could this case be related to previous crimes committed in Silver Springs? And if so, who could possibly be on the suspect list?
The Early Bird Café Cozy Mystery Series
This series can be read and enjoyed in any order.
Rise and Die
Kori Cooke loves living in her hometown of Hermit Cove and running her dream business—The Early Bid Café. For two years, she’s been the sole breakfast spot in town so when culinary rival, Tessa Doyle, moves to the small town, Kori can’t help but think she’s just there to compete.
Suddenly, Tessa’s Sunrise and Shine café is under attack, with a rock through the window on Monday morning. Kori knows she’s innocent, but still doesn’t feel much empathy for her breakfast nemesis. But when Kori gets arrested and grilled by Detective Gunn and childhood friend Lieutenant Zach Gulch, she can’t help but wonder if she’s the new target.
And when things escalate to Tessa’s murder, Kori comes under more scrutiny. Will she and best friend Nora Farmer be able to crack the case before she’s on the receiving end of a deadly dish? Or is she in more danger than she realizes and should skip town to avoid the heated investigation?
INCLUDED: In The Kitchen with Ginny Gold—Goat Cheese Omelets and The Early Bird Café’s menu!
Deadly Surprise
Kori is over the moon excited to be going on a date with none other than Lieutenant Zach Gulch, childhood crush and stunner to look at. But that thrill is quickly stifled the next day when Zach reveals that family DNA showed up at a crime scene in nearby Scoter Circle.
They both know the DNA isn’t Kori’s but it belongs to a close male relative. With her father long dead and her cousin Tyler living across the country, that only leaves Jay as a suspect. And it turns out his gun was also in the right place at the wrong time to pin everything on him.
Now, Kori and Jay have a list of online dating profiles that become the top suspects, starting with the deceased’s violent ex-husband. Will they be able to find the real killer before Jay is behind bars with a guilty conviction for a murder he barely knows anything about? And why did the murderer try to frame him—he hadn’t been in touch with Heidi for years.
As the questions pile up, they hope the body count stays at one.
INCLUDED: In The Kitchen with Ginny Gold—Breakfast (or lunch) Smoothies straight off The Early Bird Café’s menu!
Dead and Berried
Summer is in full swing and Hermit Cove is hosting the county’s annual Summer Strawberry Festival. Kori’s Early Bird Café has a front and center booth where she’s selling sweet breakfasts and desserts all day. Best friend Nora Farmer is supposed to occupy the booth directly across from hers near the entrance where business will be best, but when she fails to show up on the opening day, Kori knows something is wrong.
And it couldn’t be more wrong. A body is found on Nora’s property and next to it is a pint of poisoned strawberries. All fingers are pointing at Nora. And when a bloody shovel turns up in her barn, things look like they’re taking a turn for the worse.
With such a busy weekend will Kori have time to help clear her best friend’s name? Or will Nora have to take the fall for a murder she didn’t commit? They worry that Nora could be the next target if they can’t solve the case fast enough.
INCLUDED: In The Kitchen with Ginny Gold—Her Secret Recipe for An All Natural Cleaner!
Croaked Wheat
Kori Cooke’s life is heating up in the kitchen, and in the bedroom. Things seem to be falling into place—finally—with long time eye candy, Lieutenant Zach Gulch. But that doesn’t mean everything else in Hermit Cove is just peachy.
When best friend, Nora Farmer, finds a body in a delivery of grain for her farm, Kori is immediately by her side and ready to find whoever is responsible. But the suspect list is growing without finding any real answers: a jilted mistress, a greedy wife, and ex-coworkers who might have been up to no good.
But Kori’s mission of finding justice gets put on the fast track when Nora goes missing and Kori worries that the killer has kidnapped her for getting to close to the trail. Will Kori be able to save Nora in time or will she be the next body to be found? Kori finds help in unlikely places, but has to question everyone’s information and whether she can trust it.
INCLUDED: In The Kitchen with Ginny Gold—Baking with Gluten Free Flours!
Smashed Potatoes and Gravy
Kori Cooke is excited for Thanksgiving. Not only is she hosting Thanksgiving at The Early Bird Café, but she’s also throwing a baby shower that same week for her good friend Jenna Rhodes. But when Jenna is late to her own shower, Kori knows something is wrong.
A dead body is found on Jenna’s property and she suddenly finds herself in jail, and nearly ready to pop she’s so pregnant. Kori knows Jenna can’t be guilty, but then who is?
Kori gets dragged into the investigation and is hot on the trail to the real killer, only to find out it’s a dead end. As she looks for more and more clues, she starts questioning if she might know the murderer, and even be their friend. Kori isn’t sure who could be guilty, but she knows for sure she has to find out before the killer notices her tracks.
Will one of Kori’s friends go to jail for a crime they didn’t commit? Or could she be blind to the truth because she doesn’t want to
see who the real killer is?
INCLUDED: In The Kitchen with Ginny Gold—Thanksgiving Day Menu!
Gingerdead Man
Christmas is just around the corner and Kori is busier than ever. She has the town cookie exchange, Secret Santa at The Early Bird Café and plenty of time spent with family. So when she finds a dead body in the parking lot of the café, her work load just about doubles as she hunts down the killer.
By Christmas Eve, Kori has plenty of questions but not enough answers. Boyfriend, Lieutenant Zach Gulch, tries to warn her away from the investigation but all of his pleas fall on deaf ears. Even a warning from the killer can’t keep Kori off the trail as she thinks she’s getting closer.
But a single wrong turn could spell disaster for Kori. Will she be able to find the right lead before she’s added to the body count?
INCLUDED: In The Kitchen with Ginny Gold—A Special Gift For You!
