“Not with that truck behind you,” she threaten.” Brax threw a beer bottle at Eleanor, who ducked. The bottle smashed into the rear window, cracking it. Eleanor, with a few kicks, smashed a hole big enough to slip an arm through. She waved like crazy.
“You crazy old bat,” Brax screamed as he raised his gun and fired a shot off. It didn’t hit Eleanor, but the Hills’ truck swerved and skidded to a stop.
Austin steered the vehicle onto a dirt road and down a trail into the woods. Branches scraped against the SUV, and I knew we wouldn’t be able to get much further before wedging between trees.
When the vehicle stopped, Brax forced us out and pushed us ahead on a trail. Eleanor and I both took one of Ivy’s arms and helped her walk. She fell a few times, but I coaxed her, “You have to stay on your feet; we can’t carry you.”
We pushed through a clearing and staggered to a cabin.
“You know this place?” Brax asked me.
“I wouldn’t tell you if I did,” I spat.
“You might be more obliging if I shoot your friend.”
“Why would you do that? We didn’t do anything to either of you.”
“Not until you thought you could help Ivy. I thought you were convinced that she’d killed Louis.”
“Now I know it was one or both or you,” I said with a quick nod of my head.
“Why else would you have Ivy tied up like that,” Eleanor added. “Even your use of scarves is suspect.”
“She killed Louis,” Brax said. “She’ll be hanging herself soon—it sure will look that way.”
“You’re going to make it look like she hanged herself when she hasn’t even been accused of a crime?” I asked.
“She isn’t even wanted by the sheriff,” Eleanor added.
“I didn’t take you two as the sort of men who wear scarves,” I said. “It’s not really the best murder weapon.”
“They killed Louis,” Ivy said. “They have been framing me from the beginning. They used my ambition as a motive.”
“Nothing wrong with ambition. Why did they want Louis dead?”
“Because he found out who they are.”
“So they’re not the script writers after all. How did you manage to convince Amim you were, Brax?”
“It doesn’t matter now. I still don’t know how Louis knew we were frauds.”
“He’s worked on a lot of movies.”
“Roman is looking for the two of you,” Eleanor said.
“I was certain that Roman wouldn’t come to Tawas,” Brax said. “We almost pulled it off and got a healthy paycheck too.”
“So somewhere two writers are dead and you’ve assumed their identities,” I said. “It’s too bad for you that you’ll never get away with it.”
“You can’t murder the women this movie is being made about, duh,” Eleanor spat.
“Just think, you’ll be a legend. I’ll bet people will flock to the movie when they hear about your sudden disappearance. Nobody will find your decomposing bodies out here,” Brax said.
“This is a hunting cabin,” I said.
“I bet they have a shovel around here somewhere.”
I prayed that I’d hear the Hill brothers’ truck rumbling closer, but the only sounds I heard were birds chirping and Ivy’s ragged breath. Brax might have killed one of the brothers. I blinked back the tears.
“Take the scarf off Ivy’s neck. She’s having trouble breathing,” I said.
“That’s sort of the point,” Brax retorted.
Because Brax was doing most of the talking, I said, “Austin, you don’t want to get involved with this.”
“Who do you think killed the writers?” Brax said.
I inched closer to Eleanor and Ivy. We flopped to the ground at the sound a gun being cocked. A shot had Brax and Austin running for cover as yet another struck a beam of the cabin and wood chips rained down on us.
“What’s going on?” Ivy cried.
“It’s the cavalry, or I hope it is.”
“In the form of a couple of boys we know,” Eleanor said.
Bullets ricocheted as Brax returned fire until he howled in pain, limping toward the cabin.
“You move a muscle and I’ll drop you where you stand,” a loud voice warned.
Brax swore, put his gun on the ground and backed away with his hands up. When I finally looked up, I grinned as Curt and Curtis Hill walked forward.
“Miss Agnes and Miss Eleanor, are you okay?”
“For the most part,” I said.
They helped us to our feet and Curtis untied us. “We called the sheriff before we headed in to rescue you,” Curt said.
“’Course at the time we didn’t know it was you, but we knew someone was in trouble,” Curtis said.
I gently worked at the knots of the scarf and removed it from Ivy’s neck. She smiled weakly, and I held her so she wouldn’t collapse. “She needs an ambulance.”
“We’ll have to carry her out ’cause there’s no way they’ll be able to reach the cabin. It’s not accessible from car anymore.”
“I-is Austin dead?” I asked.
“I just winged him, but he ran into the support beam,” Curtis said.
“I’m glad you boys are okay,” I said. “Didn’t that bullet go through your windshield?”
“Yes, and we weren’t too happy about that. But at least we weren’t hit.”
Sheriff Peterson and the state police arrived. I explained what happened and how Brax and Austin killed Louis because he knew they were imposters, and that they’d murdered two writers and assumed their lives.
“They were trying to frame Ivy for the murder,” I said. “Apparently they were planning to string her up to make her death look like it was suicide.”
“That would be hard to believe, especially with you ladies gone. There’s no way the town would stand to have either of you missing,” Peterson said.
Curtis picked up Ivy despite the sheriff’s warning to wait for the first-responders to carry her out. Eleanor and I were able to walk out on our own, although we were forced to go to the hospital via ambulance. I only agreed to go so that Andrew wouldn’t have a fit when he found out about our ordeal.
Epilogue
Eleanor and I smiled for the cameras at the movie premier. It was unusual for a film that would air on the Hallmark Channel, but after everything we’d been through, Roman made it happen.
“You ladies certainly have given me ideas for the sequel,” Roman said. “Next time I’ll work with the writers so we don’t have another incident like we had this time.”
“I don’t think I can survive another movie being made about us,” Eleanor said. “No offense, but I don’t think Tawas needs anymore Hollywood either.”
“Unless they’re watching it,” Sheriff Peterson said. “I can’t wait to see what your version of me is on the big screen, Roman.”
“Be careful what you ask for, Peterson,” Andrew said.
Mr. Wilson smiled a toothless grin for the cameras, and Elsie and Marjory enjoyed their moment too as they posed for photos. Jack and Bill decided to stay home, but we demanded that Rosa Lee Hill and her boys Curt and Curtis attend. They quickly entered the building, trying to avoid having their photos taken, but I was quick to tell anyone who would listen about how they saved our lives. Interestingly, when we did enter the theater I found Ivy seated between the brothers.
Amim, dressed in simple black slacks and white shirt, approached us. “I can’t thank you ladies enough for all your help. I’m glad nobody was seriously hurt. I’m taking Ivy on as an apprentice. If she does well I’ll help her find work.”
“She’s been through a very traumatic event.”
“You could say the same thing about yourselves.”
“Yes, but when you’ve been at it as long as Eleanor and I, it’s par for the course.” I grinned.
“I still can’t believe the Hallmark Channel was interested in the movie,” Eleanor said. “It’s like a dream come true.”
&nb
sp; “What’s not to like? Two zany sleuths of a certain age. Lucy and Ethel meets Murder, She Wrote?”
She laughed because the movie was simply titled Tawas Goes Hollywood. I glanced up at the marquee and my chest swelled with pride.
I held Eleanor close and we led the way inside and took our seats. We sat next to Eileen and Hannah, who promised to take us for ice cream later, to which I replied, “I think I’ve had enough ice cream for the entire year.”
About the Author
USA Today Bestseller Madison Johns is most known for her Agnes Barton Senior sleuths mystery series featuring lively and zany senior citizen sleuths — Agnes Barton and Eleanor Mason. Her time working at a nursing home was all the inspiration she needed to portray realistic characters that readers have gone on to love. Her first book Armed and Outrageous has solidified her in the publishing world and her series has been well received.
Madison’s aim was simple; she wanted to change how the world viewed senior citizens. Why you could take a stroll through her neighborhood in Mid-Michigan where some of the liveliest seniors live to know she wasn’t that far off the mark.
She knew if she used what she had learned while caring for senior citizens to good use, it would result in something quite unique.
She now works full time as a writer from home where she continues to write cozy mysteries and sweet romances. She also writes historical romances as Clara Kincaid.
Visit her on the web at: http://madisonJohns.com. Sign up for Madison's newsletter list to receive new release alerts at http://eepurl.com/4kFsH.
Other books by this author
An Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mystery Series
Armed and Outrageous
Grannies, Guns & Ghosts
Senior Snoops
Trouble in Tawas
Treasure in Tawas
Bigfoot in Tawas
High Seas Honeymoon
Outrageous Vegas Vacation
Birds of a Feather
Undercover Inmates
Camping Caper
Hawaiian Hangover
Scandal in Tawas
An Agnes Barton Paranormal Mystery Series
Haunted Hijinks
Ghostly Hijinks
Spooky Hijinks
Hair-Raising Hijinks
Ghastly Hijinks
An Agnes Barton Holiday Mystery
The Great Turkey Caper
The Great Christmas Caper
Lucky Strike
Kimberly Steele Sweet Romance
Pretty and Pregnant
Pretty and Pregnant Again
An Agnes Barton/Kimberly Steele Romance
Pretty, Hip & Dead
Petty, Hip & Hoodwinked
Pretty, Hip and Venomous
A Cajun Cooking Mystery
Target of Death
Lake Forest Witches
Meows, Magic & Murder
Meows, Magic & Manslaughter
Meows, Magic & Missing
Meows, Magic, & Mayhem
Meows, Magic, & Wands
Kelly Gray Sweet Romance
Redneck Romance
Paranormal Romance
Clan of the Werebear
Clan of the Werebear, the Complete Series
Shadow Creek Shifters
Katlyn: Shadow Creek Shifters
Taken: Shadow Creek Shifters
Tessa, Shadow Creek Shifters
Llama and the Lady
Western Historical Romance
Nevada Brides Series
McKenna
Cadence
Kayla
Abigail
Penelope
Brides for the Bart Gang
Nevada Sunrise
Nevada Sunshine
Johanna, Bride of Michigan, is 26th in the unprecedented 50-book, American Mail-Order Brides series
Johanna: Bride of Michigan
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