Spotting the bags of biscuits on the table, Lucinda picked up a handful and tossed them at Beth and her accomplice. They ducked every which way to avoid them, but Beth never let her guard down or the gun that was still aimed at ChiChi.
Priscilla’s eyes widened in fear as she grabbed her old wooden bat and cocked it over her right shoulder, ready to strike a blow at any minute when the lights flicked off and Beth and her partner ran for the front door.
“Don’t let them get away,” ChiChi yelled, running after them, her gun waving as she ran. Beth and Tattoo Boy unknowingly ran down the only alley without an exit.
“Flashlights,” ChiChi yelled and the two grannies turned them on, aiming the light on the two suspects. Realizing their mistake, Beth and Tattoo Boy turned around with their hands up, and just as Beth cocked her gun, her accomplice took off like a shot, dropping the bag of white powder on the ground. Beth’s hands started shaking.
“Drop the fuckin’ gun,” ChiChi said through clenched teeth, “or I’ll blow your fuckin’ head off.”
“ChiChi,” the two grannies’ shouted in unison.
“I heard it on Law & Order,” she said out of the corner of her mouth without taking her eyes off Beth. “Now, put the damn gun down . . . nice and easy and nobody gets hurt.” ChiChi could see Beth was showing signs of weakening. “There’s no way out Beth, and too bad for you Tattoo Boy left you holding the bag. That’s how much he loved you.”
Apparently realizing she was cornered, Beth threw her gun down on the ground.
“Kick the gun out of the way, Priscilla,” ChiChi ordered but Priscilla was frozen in place. Mr. Puffins jumped from Lucinda’s arms onto the gun at an angle, and it slid across the pavement as though he was sliding into home base. Beth tried to make a run for it but Lucinda tackled her like a line-backer, accidently kicking the butt of the gun with the tip of her shoe. It fired right into Beth’s foot. Beth dropped to the ground like a wilted flower, screaming and crying just as the wail of sirens echoed against the buildings.
Chapter Fourteen
IT HAD TAKEN NICO three weeks to go back into The Doggie Bone after being released from jail. A strange twinge of anxiety twirled in his gut wondering if Juliana wanted anything to do with him.
The shop was busy when he entered. He walked around to kill time and noticed her glance up at him every time he looked her way. When things died down, she walked over.
“Hi stranger.”
“Hi,” he said. “How are you feeling?”
“So much better.” She walked in close and pulled him into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you decided to stop. I’ve wanted to thank you, but as you can see, I’m all alone in here, so other than late night after I’ve made the treats for the following day, I’m ready to crash for a few hours.” He could see she had dark circles under eyes. “I wanted to apologize to you for Beth,” she said. “I still can’t believe she would do such a thing. Not just to you and me, but to the others too. My doctor later told me that if you hadn’t brought me to the ER when you did, I could have died. I’ve apparently been consuming arsenic for some time. They tell me it builds up over time and I was getting close to the end—so thank you.”
“I really do appreciate hearing you say that. I’ve been miserable. I know you don’t know me very well, but negative thoughts that you might think I was a creep kept running through my mind, and I was afraid you wouldn’t ever want to see me again.”
“You had nothing to worry about. Even before I found out it was Beth, I knew it wasn’t you.”
Nico released the breath he’d been holding in. “I’m sure you were as devastated as I was to hear that your best friend tried to kill you because of me.” He puckered his lips, “I know, I certainly was and still am.” He lowered his head. “And when my attorney told me they both finally confessed, he told me Beth had admitted to killing both women and poisoning you because of me. I honestly found it hard to believe, but I guess the worst part was that she told them it was all because I had rejected her. I couldn’t for the life of me understand what she meant, but then, I remembered. We were good friends all through school, like brother and sister. I had no idea she had a thing for me, and when she asked me to the prom, and I’d told her I’d already asked Lyndsey Williams, she sloughed it off as nothing. Little did I know she was harboring so much hatred toward me. Her belief was if she couldn’t have me, no one else could.”
Juliana gasped. “That’s the woman who died at your restaurant!”
“Exactly.”
“What about the other woman, the one at the bistro?”
“I’d dated her too. But the interesting thing is both those women rejected me afterwards, so that’s why I’m so confused.”
“And then me,” Juliana said, a single tear ran down her cheek and she swiped at it with the back of her hand, “do you know why she did that to me?”
“Probably because she thought we were getting too close.”
“Well, what about Randy? Did he confess to colluding with her?”
“Yep. He was the one to poison the two women with the deadly herb he’d planted in the Auberge garden. Apparently he and Beth had been planning their revenge for a long time. And you know what he held against me?” She shook her head. “He’d overhead Keller Thomason, the owner and executive chef at the Auberge, say he was going to hire me. Randy didn’t think it had anything to do with my skills, except that I was a DeLuca. He figured if I was out of the way, Keller would hire him instead.”
“And did I understand it correctly that it was Mrs. DeLuca and her two friends who caught them in the act?”
He snickered. “In the flesh. God bless the grannies who never gave up and took them down . . . and,” he said, “Lucinda Baudouin, she’s one of the grannies, didn’t even realize when her hand hit Nonna ChiChi’s phone that dropped to the ground from her pocket, that she somehow hit the record button and it recorded Beth threatening them.”
“She hadn’t pushed the recorder button?”
“No. Nonna had asked Lucinda to hold the phone in case they needed the police.” He snickered. “Lucinda’s a major dinosaur when it comes to modern technology.” They shared a laugh. “When the police were called and the PCC learned of the poisonous plant in the garden behind the Auberge, they confiscated the plant.”
“So how did Beth get the arsenic?”
“Believe it or not, all you have do is Google arsenic and cyanide, and what pops up is quite amazing. There are several venues where it’s available.” Nico shook his head. “Absolutely amazing to me. I would have thought the government would have placed a ban on it, or at the very least, scrutinized those who were buying it.”
“Wow!” Juliana said slumping back in her chair. She expressed her frustration. “So much has happened in such a short time, I just can’t get over it.”
He paused before continuing. “What hurts me the most is that although Beth got her revenge, she’s going to spend the rest of her life in prison . . . so what did she gain? And the same thing with Randy. Now, the only kitchen he’s going to work in is a prison kitchen and there’s no creativity going on in there.”
Chapter Fifteen
NONNA CHICHI RYO and the grannies stepped onto the stage set up in front of The Napa Grand Hotel to receive an award for their bravery. A large crowd stood on the sidewalk and filled the street in honor of the grannies. Barriers had been placed at both ends of the street to stop traffic from infringing on the celebration.
Sheriff Jack walked to the microphone. “We are here today to honor three very special women of our community for their bravery, their dedication of preserving the quality of life we all enjoy here in St. Helena, and for working hand-in-hand with my department to bring down the perpetrators.” Applause broke out. “If it hadn’t been for Mrs. DeLuca’s quick mind and heavy hand, we might never have caught the culprits and we are very grateful.”
Nonna ChiChi stopped listening for a minute because she’d almost choked on the gum in her mouth hearing
Sheriff Jerko say they worked hand-in-hand when he’d told her to butt out. But that was okay. She’d let bygones be bygones and give him a free pass this time around.
“So it gives me great pleasure to present this Humanitarian Award that will be displayed in the Town Hall for all to see. Please join me in thanking them for their dedication to the Daughters of Prohibition, and for making life in St. Helena a wonderful place to live.”
After the ceremony, Sheriff Jack pulled ChiChi aside. “Congratulations on your achievement, but I’d like to ask you a question.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Is that gun of yours registered?”
“Are they registering fake guns these days?” she winked and he burst into laughter.
That night, the small town of St. Helena was back to business as usual knowing that so long as Nonna ChiChi was at the helm in this wonderful little town, everything was going to be fine.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
K. T. Roberts writes romantic suspense with sass and brass and her soon-to-be published cozy mystery series featuring Glitzy Nash and the Goombahs, promises to be even sassier. She’s an author for Montlake Romance.
In 2012 she decided to try her hand at self-publishing and wrote her first mystery series, the Kensington-Gerard Detective Series. The Last Witness is Book One in that series. Elusive Justice is Book Two, and Deadly Obsessions is Book Three.
Blind Retribution is her first romantic suspense published by Montlake Romance and will be released November 29, 2016.
Originally a Jersey Girl, she lives with her real-life hero, Bob, in Arizona. They have four children. Although she’s a former chef, whipping up a gastronomic treat for family and friends has been relegated to the weekends because during the week, she’s in front of her computer writing her next great novel.
She has memberships in Romance Writers of American, Valley of the Sun Romance Writers and Sisters in Crime.
For more information about her books, visit her website at http://ktrobertsmysteries.com , and while you're at it, drop her a note. She loves to hear from her readers.
She blogs on 3 separate weekly blogs:
http://itsmurderinfthefirst.blogspot.com
http://chefcarolynskitchen.blogspot.com
http://cozycaperswordpress.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ktrobertsmysteries1
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You can subscribe to her monthly newsletter titled K. T’s Jersey Girl’s Musings by clicking on this link. http://bit.ly/1tkK8uC. Be the first to receive exciting news about releases, noteworthy events and chances to win prizes. Don’t miss out on the fun!
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St. Helena Vineyard Series: Desserts Can Be Deadly (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 7
