Merry Wrath Mysteries Boxed Set Volume III (Books 7-9)

by Leslie Langtry

  The heavy makeup made his features undecipherable. He was about my height and had brown eyes, but that was all I could determine. It didn't matter. Rex was on him. I handed him the bag and turned, running to catch up to the float.

  The imposter was still on the float in Kaitlyn's place. I'd have thought he'd slip into the crowd and vanish as soon as he saw me hand over the coins. Was something more going on? Were all of the girls in danger at the end of the parade?

  We had a few more blocks to go before the whole thing was over. I filled up a bucket of candy for Kevin Dooley. If he did something good, I wanted to reward him. My hopes were not high.

  When Kelly was on her way back from the "medical emergency" that was Betty's brother, she had stopped by our truck and talked to Robert about what to do next. The end of the parade came quickly, and we turned right onto a side street and pulled over.

  Kevin was standing in the intersection, directing traffic. Most of the participants didn't need to go back to the high school parking lot, so traffic was a bit confusing. I nodded at him, and he nodded back. Maybe our conversation about Rex's dog and Oliver Barnes' phone number had deepened our relationship. I suppressed a shudder.

  Robert got out of the car and asked the Kaitlyns to get in the truck and watch Finn. He walked over to the float and stood next to the imposter. Kelly told him not to touch him but to be there in case the guy ran off or tried to attack.

  I loved Kelly's husband. He was a nice guy and a big one. At about 6'4" and 200 pounds, he'd be able to help out if I needed him. And he was under explicit instructions to let me make the first move.

  But first, I had to get the girls out of the way. Kelly and I helped the other three girls get down and ordered them all to the front of the truck. I didn't want them anywhere near this guy if he had a weapon.

  To my surprise, the Kaitlyn imposter just sat there, his hands in his lap in front of him, like they'd been the whole parade route. He didn't speak, and he didn't stand up. What was he waiting for?

  Kelly walked over in front of the girls and took up a defensive stance in front of them. I climbed up onto the flatbed and sat down next to the imposter.

  "So," I said. "What happens now?"

  He didn't answer. He didn't even move his head to acknowledge that I was talking to him.

  "We did everything you asked." My voice went deadly. "Where is the girl?"

  Still nothing. I looked at Robert, who nodded to indicate he was ready for anything.

  "Answer me!" I hissed as I stood, looming over him. He didn't even blink.

  The fact that his hands were still clasped annoyed me. I yanked on his right hand, and both arms moved in my direction. His wrists were secured with zip ties. I ripped off the ghost sheet to see his mouth was duct taped too.

  Blinking fearfully at me was Stan-Call-Me-Stan Coombs.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  I tore the duct tape off his mouth, and he screamed in pain. I had to admit that I enjoyed it. A lot.

  "Where's Kaitlyn?" I raged.

  He rubbed his mouth. The skin was red where the tape had been. "I don't know."

  "You don't know?"

  Stan shook his head. "I have no idea what is happening."

  My adrenaline was spiking. "You don't know how you ended up dressed in the costume of one of my little girls and sitting in her place on our float?"

  He looked nervously at Robert then at me. "No. I don't. Last thing I remember was going to bed last night. Then I woke up in some room, dressed like this. Someone in a ski mask told me I was going to sit on a parade float and not move. Said they had snipers training rifles on me, and if I did move, I'd be shot. Then they put a hood over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was on the float."

  "How did they get you on the float without me noticing?"

  "He said he was going to distract you."

  Disco Mummy bumping into me. He managed not only to plant the phone but also distract Kelly and me. I looked up and spotted the Dad's Club float lumbering toward the intersection.

  "Hold him here. Rip his arms off if he tries anything," I growled to Robert as I jumped down and made a beeline for the other float. I kind of hoped Stan would do something. It was a good thing Kelly was a nurse, because he'd bleed a lot without arms.

  As it slowed down to turn, I climbed the flatbed and dashed into the haunted house. It was just a plywood set with the monsters standing on boxes. They all turned to look at me as the float came to a stop. I heard Kevin shouting at the driver.

  "Where's Travolta?" I shouted at them. "Where's the mummy?"

  The woman dressed as the Marie Antoinette vampire stepped down and toward me. "He left before the last block."

  "Who was he?" I growled.

  "No idea. Just one of the volunteers." She looked up at the others who were climbing down from their windows. "Does anyone know him?"

  Every single monster shook their head.

  I was seething with frustration. "How is it you don't know everyone involved with your float?"

  She shrugged. "I thought he was one of us. There were about thirty people working on the float, and some were only here today. I don't know everyone."

  I left the float after ordering everyone to stay. For some reason, I believed her. Rex could sort this one out. I had to find Kaitlyn.

  Rex helped me down from the flatbed and crushed me in a hug. That's weird. He never showed any affection to me in public.

  "I'm so sorry, Merry." He stepped back.

  I stood there, stunned. And while I'd love to jump into his arms again, I was cognizant of the fact that there were two officers besides Kevin in attendance.

  "The clown?" I asked.

  He shook his head. "Gave me the slip. I found the costume in a dumpster. I saw you give him the coins, and then the crowd surged because the parade started."

  "He got away in street clothes but with a clown face?" I asked.

  Rex shrugged. "I've got some men searching for him. But my guess is he cleaned off the makeup."

  "We don't have the gold, Disco Mummy, or the clown," My shoulders slumped.

  "Disco Mummy?"

  I filled him in on what I'd learned. "We did what they asked, but they haven't returned Kaitlyn."

  "We've taken Mr. Coombs back into custody. He insists he's innocent. And I can hardly believe that he put zip ties on his own hands."

  I looked at the girls, standing off to the sides. They looked worried for their friend. As amazingly badass as my troop was, they were still just little kids.

  "You'll have to question them," I said softly. "But don't ask Betty too many questions. You wouldn't like what she had to do to create the delay."

  Rex laughed. "Kelly already told me. I'm thinking of putting her in for a commendation."

  I walked over and drew Emily, Inez, and Ava aside. "You girls had to see them take Kaitlyn and replace him with that man."

  Emily and Inez shook their heads. "We heard you yelling at some guy and turned to look. We didn't see anything," Emily added.

  Ava just shook her head sadly. All of the girls were pretty shaken. I sent them off to Kelly, who was busy calling parents. How were we going to tell Kaitlyn's parents about her kidnapping? This was definitely the worst day of my whole Girl Scouting career. How can I lead a troop if I'm the reason they are targets?

  Rex appeared. "I've got the officers talking to the girls now, but their parents will be arriving soon. I'll tell the missing girl's parents when they arrive." He looked down at the ground. "I hate this part of my job."

  I shook my head. "I'll tell them. It's my fault. It's my responsibility."

  "You had no idea this would happen," Rex said solemnly. But I had to wonder, if I had turned the coins over immediately or Kelly hadn't found them in the first place, would this have even happened?

  "How did you get the coins so quickly?" I reached over and gave his hand a secret squeeze.

  Rex squeezed back. It was a small gesture, but it helped…a little. "I hadn't taken them
in yet. They were locked in my glovebox."

  I ran my hands through my hair. "Where is she? They promised they'd release Kaitlyn if we gave them the coins. Why didn't they do that?"

  "Maybe she saw something or recognized one of them," Rex said gravely. "I should warn you, this may not have a happy ending."

  It was devastating to hear. If something happened to her, I wasn't sure what I'd do. Besides hunting down and killing everyone involved, that is. This was all my fault. I got involved in something I should've left to the police. And because I got involved, one of my little girls was missing.

  "Stan insists he didn't know," I said. "Do you think he's lying?"

  Rex shrugged. "I'd like to go at him with a hammer and blowtorch too, Merry. But I can't. I'll try to get more out of him."

  He squeezed my hand again before joining his men over by the girls.

  I watched as the girls told the police what they knew. Their spirits seemed a little broken. Most of them were in shock at Kaitlyn's disappearance. I didn't want them to go through this. The girl was their friend. And some scary kidnappers took her.

  The parents arrived one by one. Kelly escorted each girl to her parent's car and gave a short explanation. She had to. The girls would tell their parents what had happened (and Betty would have to explain to her folks why her brother left in an ambulance). I watched their faces as they drove away. They were in shock too. This was probably the end of my Girl Scout career.

  We waited for Ashley, Kaitlyn's mom, to show up. Kelly kept sending me looks. I knew she was dreading the arrival of the missing girl's parents.

  Ava was the last remaining girl. I was hoping they'd all be gone before Ashley arrived. I found myself nervously checking the road for Andy Andrews' car. I never minded if the girls got picked up late. I wasn't one of those leaders. Still, in this particular case, it would have been nice if the parents showed up on time.

  Kelly looked at her watch. "Where are they? It's not like Ashley to be late."

  "It isn't?" I wouldn't know. Since all the Kaitlyns and all of the Ashleys looked alike, I'd never really been able to tell them apart.

  "It isn't. And how do you not know that?" she snapped.

  "Whoa." I held my hands out defensively. "Don't bite my head off. You always handle the arrivals and pickups."

  Kelly looked at Ava. "Sorry. I'm really on edge over this."

  I put my arm around her. "We all are. I'm so sorry this happened."

  "I guess I should call them…" Kelly pulled her phone out. "I really don't want to."

  My best friend has been an amazing co-leader. She handled all the minutiae of everything we did, from begging permission forms from parents to seeing each girl get picked up. She handled the paperwork for the parade and everything else.

  "I'll do it," I said. "Why don't you and Robert head home?"

  She gave me a sideways look.

  "I'll do it. Besides, Rex is here. If I botch it, he can help."

  "Okay. And we'll take the flatbed home. We can return it tomorrow."

  I watched as she joined her husband and daughter in the truck and drove off. As a new parent, something like this was probably a nightmare. Would she even want to put Finn in a troop when the baby got older? I hoped so.

  Rex and Ava sat down on a bench and chatted about the kind of things all girls want to talk about—kittens, puppies, magical princess unicorns, and weapons of mass destruction…

  I did what I had to and took out my cell.

  Ashley picked up on the first ring.

  "Hey Ashley." My mouth ran dry with fear. "I was calling about Kaitlyn."

  "I was just about to call you!" She sounded cheerful. "Thanks for dropping her off. I was in the middle of a macramé project and would've been late."

  Kaitlyn was at home?

  "Oh, that's great." I sounded like a robot as my mind worked furiously. "Can I talk to her for a second?"

  "Oh sure. I've got to get dinner out of the oven. Just hang up after you're done."

  My overwhelming sense of relief was distracted by my spy-dy senses. Something wasn't right. Kaitlyn wasn't missing. She was at home with her mother. The kidnappers had dropped her off. I'd assumed they would deliver her to me. Did they know her well enough to know where she lived? Then again, all of my girls knew their addresses, so it's possible she'd told them.

  I turned to Rex. "She's home!"

  He looked confused, but Ava looked relieved. Seeing her face, I'd have to let the other parents know so the girls could relax.

  "Mrs. Wrath!" Kaitlyn's voice squealed.

  "Hey, Kaitlyn," I started, unsure how to proceed. She didn't sound like she'd just been kidnapped and held for ransom. "Can I ask you a couple of questions about the parade?"

  Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial hushed tone. "Sorry I missed the parade. Please don't tell Mommy."

  I motioned Rex over and put the girl on speakerphone. "It's okay. About that…"

  "I mean," the girl continued, "sorry that I missed the main part. I was there at first."

  "Can you tell me what happened?" Was that the right thing to ask?

  "Oh no! It's a secret!" The kid laughed. "I can't tell anyone."

  Rex grimaced.

  I asked, "Are you okay?"

  "Sure! Why do you ask that?" The girl giggled. "It was lots of fun."

  Ashley shouted something in the background.

  "I gotta go. Bye!" Kaitlyn hung up, and Rex and I just stared at each other.

  What did we do now?

  "I'm heading over there to confirm. I still have to talk to her," Rex said. "A crime was committed, and we have to catch these guys."

  I nodded. "Text Kelly and tell her she's fine. Kelly can send you the address."

  "Everything worked out, Merry." Rex gave me a hug and got into his squad car.

  Everything did work out. But it was a close call. And it was still my fault. When all this was over, I was going to do some serious soul searching about my amateur detective ways. In only a couple of hours, I'd found a connection between Rex's sisters and Stan and one of my kids was kidnapped and held for ransom. And while it did work out for Kaitlyn, who seemed to have a wonderful time being in danger, I still had to talk to Rex about Randi and Ronni. This day sucked.

  I turned to Ava. "Did you call your parents?"

  "Mommy is running late," the girl said sullenly.

  The girl's sad face made me a little angry that Megan Andrews was late.

  "Tell you what." I stood up. "Text her and tell her she can pick you up at my house. We can try the masks on the cats."

  Ava brightened. She texted her mom and joined me. I only lived a few blocks away. My van was still at the high school, but Rex could take me back later. I picked up the bag of costumes, and we walked back to my house.

  Philby was sitting in the window, pawing viciously at the glass as we walked up. The minute we opened the door, she lunged for the bag and dove into it. She dragged the werewolf mask out, stuck her head inside, and trotted around the room like an evil, dictator werewolf.

  Martini sniffed the bags and made a face. Ava sat, and the cat climbed into the little girl's lap.

  "Do you like ice cream?" I asked. It was a stupid question because, hey! Ice cream!

  "Yes!" The little girl followed me into the kitchen and sat at the breakfast bar, the sleeping kitty in her arms.

  I filled two bowls and set out the chocolate and caramel syrup and marshmallow fluff. You might think I'm well stocked for the girls, but the truth is, this was how I ate.

  We ate in silence, pausing occasionally to refresh the chocolate syrup. When we finished, I put the bowls in the sink. Philby jumped up onto the breakfast bar, still wearing the rubber mask. Ava laughed.

  "Sorry this whole thing didn't turn out like we wanted it to," I apologized.

  "We won 1st place," Ava said matter-of-factly. "That's good, isn't it?

  I agreed. I wanted to broach the subject of Kaitlyn's disappearance but wasn't sure how. The gir
l seemed to be in a good mood. Would I spoil it by bringing the kidnapping up? There were some parts of being a leader that did not come easy to me. This was one of those things.

  "Mommy will be here in ten minutes." The girl showed me the text on her phone.

  I needed something to distract her for ten minutes.

  "Do you like dogs?" I asked. "Detective Ferguson has a dog. Want to go with me to let him out?"

  Ava nodded vigorously. She seemed a little conflicted when I explained we couldn't take Martini with us, but in the end she relented. I grabbed the keys, and we walked out the door.

  "Just to warn you," I said. "Fergus is a big dog. But he's well behaved. So don't freak out, okay?"

  "I like big dogs. Miss Didi was mean, but her dog was nice. He was a big dog too."

  I blinked. "Miss Didi had a big dog?"

  "Yup. It was the only nice thing about her. Sometimes she brought him into the store. She didn't like me playing with him. Said he was a purebred something. But I'd give him treats when she wasn't looking."

  I said nothing as I put the key in the lock. I had a feeling we were about to come face to face with Miss Didi's dog.

  Fergus was waiting for us at the door. His tail was wagging so hard I thought it would fall off.

  Ava gasped. "That's Miss Didi's dog! That's Leonard!"

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  I let them play a little until I heard a car horn blasting outside. Ava ran to the window.

  "It's my mom! Thanks for the ice cream Mrs. Wrath!" She ran out the door, got into the car, and they drove away.

  I sat down on the couch, looking into the dog's eyes. "Hello, Leonard."

  His tail began wagging furiously as if to say Yes! That's my name! You know my name!

  * * *

  "I guess that's one mystery solved," Rex said when he arrived home to my explanation.

  He took two steps toward me, pulled me into his arms, and crushed me in an embrace. I felt all the tension flow out of me, and I collapsed into him. My throat ached as the threat of tears pricked my eyelids.