High Stakes Crime: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Shelby Nichols Adventure Book 15)

by Colleen Helme

  “Anyway, we tried so hard to find you yesterday and last night, but Coco couldn’t track your scent.” He shook his head. “It turned out that we’d started looking in the wrong spot.”

  “What? How come?”

  “Stewart wrote down the wrong numbers. I honestly don’t know if he did it on purpose, or if he was too rattled, or what. By the time we figured it out, it was too dark to continue the search. I’m so sorry we didn’t find you yesterday.”

  I shook my head. “No… don’t be… it’s fine.”

  Chris sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. “It was rough. Josh and I both knew that our chances of finding you alive were getting slimmer with each passing hour. Coco didn’t want to stop either, but we couldn’t risk it in the dark. Anyway, this morning, we made it back to the correct starting point, and Coco picked up your scent pretty quick.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t know this, but you went a long way before you fell into that hole, probably a good three or four miles. It wasn’t in a straight line either, and it wasn’t anywhere near where you should have been.”

  I sighed. “I’m not surprised. I got turned around and then I panicked. I should have stopped walking long before I fell down the hole. I’m so sorry I put you through that. All of you.”

  “Hey… I know. It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

  I nodded and tried not to cry, but my eyes filled with tears anyway. Seeing them, Chris came to the edge of the bed and sat beside me. He pulled me into a warm hug, rubbing my back in comforting motions. I rested my head on his shoulder and let him soothe me. I took several deep breaths, and the tears subsided.

  Chris pulled away, and I rested my head back on the pillow. “So now it’s your turn. How did you end up in that hole?”

  “That’s the weird thing, I—” The beeper went off on my IV machine. “Does that mean I’m done?”

  Chris glanced at the bag and nodded. “I hope so. I’ll find a nurse.”

  He came back a few minutes later with a nurse, who checked everything out and told me I was good to go home. While she took out the IV, Chris left to call Uncle Joey. He’d given Chris strict instructions to call when I was discharged so he could send a car for us.

  It took another half-hour to finish up the paperwork. The nurse put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me out to the patient pick-up zone. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so it caught me off-guard to have a black limo pull up. The nurse was surprised too, and she wondered if I was a celebrity or something.

  I held back a smile and thanked her while Chris helped me inside. I sat back in sleek luxury, feeling horribly dirty and unkempt. I’d purposely avoided looking in a mirror, afraid of what I would see, but now I wished I had. I might have been able to do something about my appearance before I got home. Oh well.

  It was full dark when we pulled in front of our house, but lights blazed from all the windows. Chris helped me out, and the front door flew open. Savannah rushed out the door and threw her arms around me.

  “I knew Coco would find you!” She hugged me tight, and I held her close, struggling to keep from crying.

  She pulled away and raised her arm in a sweeping gesture. “Do you like it?”

  I took a closer look at my house, and my breath caught. The driveway, garage, sidewalk, and the whole front of the house was covered in red, pink, and purple hearts.

  “Oh my gosh.” I held my hand to my mouth, and unexpected tears splashed down my cheeks.

  “After Dad called with the news, a ton of people came over and did this.” She was thinking that a lot of people loved me, and it had helped make up for how scared she’d been.

  I sniffed, and cleared my throat to get my tears under control. “Whose idea was it?”

  She shrugged, thinking it was Holly, but she didn’t know for sure. “I don’t know. Look, there’s Grandma. She’s been waiting for you too.”

  We hurried to the house, and the hug from my mother was one of the best hugs I’d ever gotten. No one loved me the same as she did. As she held me tight, she poured her strength and love right into my heart, and it was then that I knew I’d be okay.

  Josh and Coco came home around midnight, tired and worn-out. Even though I’d been in bed asleep, I heard the commotion and got up to see them. We spoke for a few minutes, and I gave them both lots of hugs before Chris ordered me back to bed. I fell asleep quickly and didn’t wake up again until eight the next morning.

  I wasn’t sure what day it was and got up to find Chris in the kitchen making breakfast. “What day is it?”

  “Friday.”

  “Did the kids go to school?”

  “No. I let them stay home, but they’re still asleep.”

  Just then, Coco came rushing in through the doggy door, woofing you home, you home. I knelt down to rub his head and kiss his nose. He was so happy to see me that I almost started crying again. What was wrong with me?

  After giving him another rub, I stood up and glanced Chris’s way. “So, are you taking the day off too?”

  “Yes. I got all my court cases and appointments rescheduled for next week.”

  I swallowed. “Thanks honey.”

  He came to my side and pulled me into his arms. “I’m just glad you’re okay. You never finished telling me your story. How did you fall into that hole anyway?”

  I shook my head. “I was looking up at that big tree. I thought maybe if I climbed up high enough, I could see which way to go. The next thing I knew, the ground gave way, and I was sliding down into the pit. At least it went down at an angle until I hit the ledge, or I might not have survived.”

  Chris nodded. “Yeah, you were lucky.”

  “I tried climbing out, but it was too steep. It was awful. Knowing I was stuck down there in the dark was the worst. If you hadn’t found me…” I shivered.

  Chris pulled me against him and held me tight. My stomach made a gurgling noise, and he chuckled before leading me to the kitchen table. “I’ve got some eggs and toast ready, do you want some?”

  I grinned, but winced as it pulled on my cut lip. “Yes. That would be great.”

  For some reason, I couldn’t talk about all the gold I’d found, or Jeremiah’s remains and the cavern with the petroglyphs. I wasn’t sure why, but every time I thought about sharing, the words got stuck in my throat.

  Maybe I didn’t want Chris to be burdened with that knowledge. Or maybe it wasn’t the right time. Since I didn’t feel bad about keeping it a secret, maybe it was just as well.

  I spent the rest of the weekend with my family, taking it easy. It wasn’t hard since everyone wanted to take care of me, and, with all my cuts and bruises, not to mention the aches and pains, I had to admit that I enjoyed being pampered. It was also great to talk to so many of my family members and friends who’d been worried about me.

  Uncle Joey even told me to take a few days off before coming into the office. Still, by the time Monday morning came along, I was ready to get back to my normal life. If I had known what the day held in store for me, I might have stayed in bed.

  CHAPTER 14

  I arrived at the precinct at nine that morning with two dozen donuts. Besides Dimples, Bates, Williams and Clue, I wanted to thank everyone else for all the well wishes. Most of them had called me, even Chief Winder, and their concern had filled me with warmth.

  After the donuts disappeared, Dimples motioned me over to his desk. “You ready to get back to work?” He wasn’t sure I’d want to yet, but he could still use my help.

  Since he was right, I asked him a question instead. “How’s the case going? Did you make any progress?”

  “Yes and no,” he began. “I tracked Jinx down, but I haven’t spoken with him yet. That’s where I could use your help. Want to go with me?”

  “Maybe.”

  Dimples sent me his biggest smile, knowing how much I loved watching his dimples move around in his cheeks. Working with me was the best, and he was grateful I’d come in today. He couldn’t always solve the cases
he worked on alone, but, together, we were unstoppable, and he was lucky I was his partner.

  Wow. He was certainly loading it on. Why was that? Under all of those positive thoughts, I caught a tendril of unease, and I knew there was something he kept from me that I wouldn’t like. Hmm… that didn’t sound good.

  I raised my right brow. “Where would we be going, exactly?”

  “Uh… we’re going to corner Jinx at work. It should be a piece of cake.”

  Now I knew something was up. “And where is that?”

  His shoulders slumped. “He’s a maintenance worker for the sewage treatment plant.”

  My eyes widened. I’d driven by that plant before, and the smell was bad, even from the street. “Seriously? Maybe we should wait until he goes home for the day.”

  “I’d like to do that, but it’s better to catch him at work.”

  “But it stinks there.”

  His lips turned down. “I know, but it’s not that bad.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Speak for yourself. Can’t you send a couple of cops to pick him up and bring him down here?”

  Dimples sighed. “I would, but it’s a lot less problematic to talk to him at work. He can’t avoid us if we show up, and, more importantly, I think it’s better not to draw attention to him in case word gets back to his gang.”

  Now it was my turn to sigh. How could I argue with that? “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

  Dimples smiled again, giving me another look at his cheeks to soften the blow. I just rolled my eyes and followed him out to his car.

  On the drive over, Dimples filled me in on the case. “Jinx isn’t his real name of course. It’s Joel Bardsley, and I found him through his ties to the vigilante group. They’ve got a big following on social media, and Jinx is one of the biggest hotheads of the group. He’s not someone you’d want to meet on a dark street.”

  “Well… as long as he doesn’t jinx us… right?”

  Dimples rolled his eyes and snorted. “I think catching him at work means he’ll be less volatile.”

  “Volatile?” I snickered. “That’s not a word you use much. But you might have a point. Although I’d say catching him at work means it’s going to be more… malodorous, or putrid, or even foul. Yes… foul’s a good word to describe where we’re going.”

  He shook his head. “Say whatever you want. But at least we’ll be able to talk to him.”

  “True, true.”

  We exited the freeway and began the drive down a long stretch of road on the edge of the city. About a block away, the first fumes of the sewage plant reached my nose. “Crap. You can already smell it.”

  “Yup,” Dimples said. “A lot of crap going on around here.”

  “Ha ha.”

  Dimples pulled into the parking lot, trying his best not to react to the smell.

  Didn’t he know he couldn’t fool me? “If I’d known we were coming here, I would have put a few drops of essential oils in a handkerchief to hold over my nose.”

  A muscle in his jaw ticked, but he kept his mouth shut. He was thinking that I could complain all I wanted, but catching a killer should be worth a little inconvenience, right?

  He had me there.

  Inside the plant, Dimples pulled out his badge and introduced us to the receptionist. “We just need a word with one of your employees, Joel Bardsley. We’d rather he didn’t know we were coming, so if you’ll just point us in the right direction, we’ll be happy to find him.”

  The young woman shrugged and typed his name into her computer. “It looks like he works in the pretreatment processing area.” She stood, pointing toward a double door on the far side of the wall. “Go through there and all the way to the end of the hallway. Another set of double doors will take you to the pretreatment area.”

  “Thanks.” Dimples and I followed her directions through the doors and down the long hallway. We didn’t see many people, but those we did see were wearing white coveralls with white helmets and protective glasses. Some even wore gloves.

  It made me just a little nervous, especially when we pushed through the double doors and stepped inside a large, open area that housed huge pipes and three big storage tanks. Raw sewage came through the pipes and was processed through a series of filters before entering the tanks.

  The smell was bad, but not nearly as bad as I’d expected. Two workers monitored the drainage pipes and filtering process to make sure nothing got past the filters to clog the pumps. Noticing us, one of the workers approached.

  “What can I do for you?” he asked, pitching his voice loud enough to carry over the machinery.

  “We’re looking for Joel Bardsley.” Dimples showed the man his badge. “We just need to ask him a few questions.”

  The man nodded, thinking that Joel had finally gone too far with his vigilante justice agenda, and it didn’t surprise him. “I’ll send him over.” He headed to the third set of workers and pointed toward us. I couldn’t hear him, but I easily picked up that he was telling Joel that we wanted to talk to him.

  Joel froze, staring at us with half-lidded eyes, and easily determined that we were cops. He contemplated running, but he didn’t want to look guilty in front of his coworkers, so at least Dimples had that part right. A slow walk later, he came to stand beside us.

  “You wanted to see me?”

  “Yes.” Dimples motioned to the double doors. “Let’s talk out there.”

  Dimples and I led the way. I didn’t like turning my back on Joel, especially since he was thinking that he could shove between us and run if it came down to it. But he held back, thinking that he wouldn’t do anything so stupid, since he needed to know why we were there first.

  The double doors shut behind us, and we turned to face him. Dimples introduced us before he began. “We’re here because we’d like to ask you a few questions about Troy Hudson’s murder. He was a friend of yours, right?”

  Alarm rushed over Joel, causing his heart rate to spike, but he covered it with a shrug. “I knew him, sure, but we weren’t close, and I have no idea who might have killed him.”

  “No?” Dimples continued. “We heard he owed you a big debt, and he was in the process of paying you off when he was killed. What can you tell us about that?”

  He shrugged. “Don’t know what you mean. He didn’t owe me nothin’. Whoever told you that was full of crap. Maybe they’re the ones with something to hide. Like I already told you, we weren’t close, and I don’t know what you’re talking about. If that’s all, I’ve got to get back to work.” He stepped back toward the double doors.

  “Jinx. We’re not done with you.” I used my authoritarian mom voice, hoping to put some fear into him.

  Hearing his street name sent his heart racing, but he covered his panic and turned back with a sneer. “Oh I think you are. Unless you’re here to arrest me, I don’t have to talk to you.”

  “It would go better for you if you did,” I continued. “I don’t think you meant to kill Troy. And, if you help us out, we might be able to cut a deal with the D.A.’s office. Maybe even get the charges dropped from murder to manslaughter.”

  Jinx scoffed. “Whatever happened to Troy… it had nothing to do with me.” He was thinking that this was all Troy’s fault, and we weren’t going to pin this on him. Troy was the idiot who thought his debt was repaid. He was even more stupid to threaten Jinx with exposure if he didn’t say they were even. An idiot like him didn’t deserve to live.

  “We know Troy threatened to expose you and your group if you didn’t cut him loose. I think that’s why you killed him. How did Redman take it? I don’t imagine he was too happy about it.”

  Jinx sucked in a breath, finally realizing he might be in deeper trouble than he’d thought. There was no way I could know any of that, unless someone had been there and seen him kill Troy. But that didn’t make sense. He could have sworn they were alone. Something fishy was going on here.

  Knowing he’d killed Troy, I decided to capitalize on his thoughts. �
��When Redman finds out we have a witness to your murder of Troy Hudson, I don’t think your life will be worth much, do you?”

  Jinx panicked. We had a witness? He couldn’t risk going to jail, and if Redman found out, he’d kill him for being so sloppy. His only option was to find out who our witness was and kill him. The only way to do that, was to run.

  Turning, he ran back through the double doors and into the treatment center. We took off after him, chasing him past the first two treatment tanks. He reached the third and climbed up a ladder to run along a steel walkway above the churning tank of sewage water. On the other side of the building, he could slip out of the exit and disappear.

  Dimples surged up the ladder right behind Jinx, but I stayed back, not about to risk falling into an open sewage tank. Just above the tank, Dimples tackled Jinx on the narrow walkway. Jinx fought back, elbowing Dimples in the stomach. Dimples lost his hold, and Jinx rose to his feet. Before Jinx could turn to run, Dimples took a swing at him, catching Jinx in the jaw.

  The force of Dimples’s punch sent Jinx colliding into the railing. Jinx’s upper body began to tip over the edge, and his face contorted with fear. At the last moment, Dimples grabbed Jinx’s coveralls, but Jinx was too heavy, and they both toppled over the handrail and fell into the smelly tank.

  I may have screamed, since the supervisor quickly pushed an alarm which stopped the rotation device inside the tank. Several workers quickly ran to the tank, managing to pull Dimples and Jinx out without too much trouble.

  They hustled the men to the back corner and immediately sprayed them down with a hose mounted on the tiled wall. Several more workers rushed in, shouting that they needed to be taken to the decontamination unit right away, and I lost sight of them.

  The smell was so much worse now, causing me to gag. Poor Dimples. I tried to breathe through my mouth so I wouldn’t throw up, but I knew I had to get out of there. I turned and nearly collided with a worker who’d come to get me. “Detective? If you’ll come with me, please?”