All Murders Final!

by Sherry Harris

  Ryan pointed to the bruise on his temple. “You hurt me yesterday.”

  That meant Ryan had tried to kidnap me yesterday in Bedford, and I was in worse trouble than I could imagine. He went back over by his stun gun. His casual pose against the counter belied the tension filling the kitchen. I squatted by the milk, making sure to face him, and started to sop it up.

  Footsteps pounded from either end of the apartment. Someone else was here. Ryan whipped his head to the left, grabbing the stun gun. I launched myself at his knee and rammed it with my head. He howled in pain as I heard a sickening pop. He grabbed at my hair, but I scrambled out of the way and into the hall. A man in a black ski mask grabbed me and hustled me to the front door. Another ski-masked man slipped into the kitchen. Instead of letting me leave the apartment, the man who had grabbed me trapped me in the corner.

  Mike pulled off the ski mask, his eyes blue ice. “The police will be here in minutes. We weren’t here.”

  Another howl came from the kitchen.

  “Ryan’s being told to go with whatever story you choose to tell the police,” Mike said.

  “How did you know?” I asked him.

  “Hennessy’s story didn’t add up. We decided to keep an eye out.”

  I wondered if Seth had anything to do with that. If that was who was in the kitchen. How else would Mike know what Hennessy’s story was? “Thank you.”

  Mike gave a short nod. “Didn’t know I was going to end up in the guardian angel business.” He waited a few more seconds, blocking my view of the kitchen and hall. Then he moved in even closer and lowered his voice. “You can’t ever tell anyone I was here. Last night or now. That’s the price of doing business with me. That’s what you owe me.” Then he chucked me under the chin and went out the back.

  I braced myself and peeked in the kitchen. Whoever had been with him was gone. Ryan sat on the floor. Sweat poured off his face, and his knee was at an odd angle. My stomach twisted.

  “All I ever did was love you,” he said. “I didn’t want anyone to hurt you.”

  Someone pounded on the front door. “Open up. Police.”

  I hurried to the door and flung it open. Two officers stood there. I pointed them to the kitchen. “Call an ambulance.”

  Pellner ran up the walk. “Are you okay?”

  I started shaking.

  Pellner escorted me to his patrol car and we both climbed in. “What happened after you left the hospital?”

  I filled him in briefly.

  “You rammed his knee with your head?”

  “Yes. I think I dislocated it. Ryan’s knee.” Or I had just hurt him, and the guy in the kitchen had taken care of the rest.

  “I always knew you were hardheaded. Are you okay?”

  “My neck’s sore. My head aches.”

  Pellner pulled out of the space and flipped on the lights and sirens. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”

  “I’ll be fine. Just take me home.”

  “Not this time. Chuck would kill me. When we got the call, Awesome had to physically restrain him to keep Chuck from ripping out his IV and coming over here.”

  CJ. My eyes filled with tears. At least this way I’d see him faster. Any other time I might have thought it was fun riding in a police car, flying down the streets, watching people pull over or not, as the case may be. While I didn’t want to ruin Pellner’s concentration, I had questions.

  “So is Hennessy innocent?”

  “Up to her neck in a stolen goods ring. But according to her, Ryan killed Margaret and Juanita out of some warped love for you. He seemed to go after people he thought had hurt you. She said he had a list.”

  “Why didn’t she report it? Why did she help him?”

  “Ryan found out about the burglary ring while he was working over at her store. He was blackmailing her. And she just kept getting in deeper and deeper, trying to save her business and reputation.” He slowed at an intersection, made sure it was clear, and floored it again. “She swears she didn’t know about the murders or realize what he would do to you or CJ until last night.”

  “What about Frieda? Was she part of the burglary ring?”

  “Not as far as we can tell. She’s an angry old woman but not a criminal.”

  I thought about the gifts, the creepy photos, and all the threats. “I asked Ryan why he didn’t just ask me out. He said women wanted to be pursued.” I shook my head. “I don’t get it. He thought he loved me, but then he’d get very angry, especially if I was out with Seth. Angry enough to send threats and stab my tire. But he never acted like that in front of me. Not once. I thought we were buddies.” At least it hadn’t been James. I knew something was going on with him, but thankfully, not this.

  Pellner glanced over at me. “Don’t try to figure it out. His brain works differently than ours. And don’t blame yourself.”

  But how could I not?

  * * *

  I’d been propped up on a hospital bed for a few minutes, sipping a Sprite and waiting for my turn to be scanned and probed. I was low on the totem pole, considering I had no visible injuries or outward signs of distress. I heard a commotion in the hall, loud voices, protests. CJ burst in, toting an IV and followed by a nurse, who was berating him, Awesome, and Pellner.

  CJ looked at Pellner, Awesome, and the nurse. “Clear out.” He used his commander’s voice, the one he’d occasionally used on his troops. It brooked no nonsense. The nurse, after one last protest, left with Pellner and Awesome. CJ eased into the chair by my bed and took my hand. He looked tired but better than he had earlier this morning. A chill settled on me. It was probably stress, but it felt like the same kind of chill I’d felt that day in Jerusha’s room at the Wayside Inn. She had had a twisted love story, with her waiting, waiting, waiting for love.

  CJ turned to me. “Pellner told me what you said.”

  I’d told Pellner a lot of things in the past twenty-four hours, a lot of it lies, and I wasn’t sure what specific thing CJ was talking about, so I kept quiet.

  “He heard you tell me that you wouldn’t let me die a lonely old man.”

  Ah, that. I nodded, wincing only a little when I did.

  “Did you mean it?”

  Love. It was so complicated. Ryan’s version was a warped, sick one. I thought about Jerusha again. How she’d waited for her lover to return, when the right guy might have been there for her the whole time and she just hadn’t realized it, so she’d died alone. Maybe that was what she’d been trying to tell me that day in her room. I thought about Seth. He was fun and charming. I liked him. A lot. But I loved CJ. Warmth filled my heart—the chill disappeared.

  Then I thought about Mike. Starting a new relationship with CJ meant starting out by lying to CJ. I studied him, his familiar pale blue eyes, the sturdy jaw. I saw past all that to a man who didn’t deserve to die alone.

  “I did mean it, CJ. Every word.”

  Garage Sale Tips

  Tips for Neighborhood Garage Sales

  • Schedule your garage sale near paydays.

  • Most people have garage sales on Saturday mornings, but think about other times when there are events in your neighborhood. For example, if there are lots of open houses on a Sunday afternoon, that might be the perfect time to have a yard sale.

  • Be prepared for early birds by having your items arranged and looking good before they show up.

  • Watch the weather forecast and try to avoid having a garage sale on a rainy or scorching hot day.

  • Be friendly, get out there, and talk to the people who stop by, but have at least two helpers to keep an eye on things.

  Tips for Online Garage Sale Sites

  • Take great pictures, and remember that lots of items look better when shot from an angle.

  • Make sure your photos are in focus and use a solid background so the items stands out. Take one picture from farther away and a few close-ups of each item.

  • Be honest about the condition of an item. For instance, if someth
ing is stained, say so. Also, let people know if the items come from a smoke- or pet-free home.

  • Follow the rules of the group you belong to.

  • Write a good, brief description of each item. Include the serial number if the item has one, the size if it’s an article of clothing, and the age if it’s an antique.

  • Arrange a safe place to pick items up! Police stations in some towns are now allowing people to use their lobbies as a safe exchange place.

  • If you have to go to a stranger’s house to pick an item up, don’t go alone. And don’t be home alone if someone is coming to your house for a pickup.

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 0018

  Copyright © 2016 by Sherry Harris

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat & TM Off.

  ISBN: 978-1-6177-3021-4

  First Kensington Mass Market Edition: May 2016

  eISBN-13: 978-1-61773-122-1

  eISBN-10: 1-61773-022-X

  First Kensington Electronic Edition: May 2016