“I was back at the house and ready to set up her little suicide scene when you come knocking on her door. I didn’t have time to get her on the bed, so I just left her there, lying on the floor. I waited for you to leave, and when you did, I tried to get everything set up again, but you came back with the sheriff, and I had to hide in her closet until I could finally make a run for it. The only reason I made it was because I threw that log at the side of his neighbor’s house. I hoped that would give me some distance between us and it worked.”
“You left the note for me, too, didn’t you?” The question was rhetorical, but I asked anyway.
“I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen.” She sighed.
“They’re going to figure it out, Ellie Jean. They’re already close to finding the owner of the font.”
“To think, they had a suspect and would have brought him to trial, too, but nope. You screwed that up because of a stupid font,” Belle said.
“But I killed her so she couldn’t tell anyone.”
“I recognized the font though, Ellie Jean,” I said.
“And that’s why I have to kill you now, too.”
The room lit up like the Brave’s stadium during a night game. The bright light hurt my eyes, but I didn’t dare close them. Relief washed over me when I saw Belle staring at me from across the room.
Dylan walked through the door, his gun aimed straight at Ellie Jean. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. How about instead, you put your hands behind you? You’re under arrest Ellie Jean Pruitt.”
Matthew and two other deputies stood nearby, and I remembered there were two other deputies that had been watching me and Belle. I wondered what had happened to them.
Belle rocked her chair, and the legs bounced on the ground. “What took you guys so long? I’ve been here for hours, and I really have to use the ladies’ room.”
Matthew laughed, and the side of Dylan’s mouth twitched. He gave one of the deputies a head nod, and the younger man rushed over to Ellie Jean and cuffed her wrists to the table. Another deputy untied me and Belle.
Belle made a beeline for the ladies’ room. “Be right back.”
I made a similar beeline, straight for Dylan’s arms. “What time is it?”
“It’s past midnight.”
“Oh no, Bo.”
“He’s okay. One of the doggy daycare employees is at your house with him. I said you had an emergency.”
I cried, a full throttle, ugly cry. Dylan hugged me, and I latched onto his body for dear life. “I thought I was going to die.”
“I know, but you know I’d never let that happen.”
Belle hugged Matthew, but she didn’t cry. Once she let go of him, she charged toward Ellie Jean. “You listen here, you old woman—”
Matthew stopped her. “Belle, no.” He pulled her back to him. “You don’t want to do that.”
Dylan read Ellie Jean her rights, and one of the deputies carried her off.
“Where is the deputy that was supposed to be watching me?” I asked.
“Whatever Ellie gave you that knocked you out, she gave to him, too. Put something in the tea from Millie’s.”
“What about Belle’s deputy? What happened to him?”
“Food poisoning.” He rubbed his chin. “Or at least that’s what he thought. Now we’re not so sure it wasn’t just poisoning in general, seeing as the food came from Ellie Jean, too.”
“She told us why she did it,” I said.
“We’ll need to get a statement, but first, I’m taking you to the hospital to get checked out.”
“I’m okay. I don’t need to go to the hospital. I just really want to see Bo.”
“It won’t take long at the hospital. A quick blood test and a checkup. I need to know what she gave you.”
“I’m pretty sure it was Ambien. I drank that tea and about fell asleep right after. Ask William.” I panicked. “Oh no. William, she’s done something to him. We have to find him.”
“We’ve got him. He’s okay. He’ll probably have a pretty bad headache for a few days but that’s about it.”
“I thought he did it. I saw his flyer and I tried to call you, but I…I don’t remember what happened next.”
“I do, and I’ll fill you in later. Let’s get you checked and then I promise, I’ll bring you straight to the house so you can see your baby.”
“Will you stay?”
He smiled. “I can’t. I have to work, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Okay.”
And that’s exactly what he did.
* * *
I did finally sleep like the dead, and even though it passed in seconds, I needed those ten hours of rest like the desert needed rain. Dylan must have been worried, because the only reason I woke up was his repetitive pounding on my bedroom door.
“Why don’t you just come in?” I finally hollered. “It’s not like you haven’t been in here a thousand times.”
The door opened slowly. “I’m pretty sure you think I’m someone else.”
I yelped and then yanked my pink and white duvet over my partially clothed body. “What? Oh, goodness. I thought you were Belle.”
He leaned against my door frame, and the corner of his mouth twitched. “I bet you did.”
Bo wiggled his tail and made little whiny, happy sounds at Dylan.
Dylan smiled. “Hey buddy.”
Bo’s tailed wagged harder, his Boxer booty in full swing, too.
The duvet rested under my chin. I pulled my arm out from under it and waved my hand toward the door. “Can you just give me a moment, please?”
He turned toward the hallway. “I’ll be making coffee in the kitchen. With Bo. Go ahead and put on your flannels and a t-shirt.” He winked.
I blushed. Bo jumped off the bed and followed him. The traitor.
Dylan closed the door, and I waited a few seconds before jumping out of bed and sprinting to the bathroom to rinse my face and brush my teeth. I threw on a pair of sweats, a tank top and an oversized sweatshirt—a red one with a hoodie—and when the smell of fresh brewing coffee hit me, I followed it to my kitchen.
“I really needed that sleep.”
“I bet.” He handed me a cup of java. “We released Austin. Ellie Jean confessed to everything.”
“Good.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I actually thought Caroline or William could have been the killer.” I set the coffee cup down on my kitchen table. “I feel horrible for that.”
“Lily, we get this stuff wrong a lot of the time. You can’t expect to get it right, either.” He picked up my cup. “Come, let’s sit outside.”
We went onto my back patio. Bo followed. Dylan threw his tennis ball and Bo galloped after it only to be distracted by a dragon fly which he chased around the back yard for a solid fifteen minutes.
“It’s natural to suspect people when lives tangle together like all of yours,” Dylan said.
“I know, but I feel bad, and Caroline is so unbalanced right now. She’s really upset about our friendship, too.”
“You can still fix that.”
“I know, and I intend to. There’s a lot of things in my life I have to fix, and a few things I need to attend to, like the stink issue at the office.”
“Yes, I know what happened there, too.”
“You do? Did you talk to that Bobby guy? What was his last name?”
“I don’t remember, but no, I didn’t talk to him. Ellie Jean told me.”
“How would Ellie Jean—oh, wait, don’t tell me.” I shook my hands toward him. “Hold on, how could she make the—”
He stopped me with a smirk. “She’s a librarian with a specialized degree in research. With that kind of training and the Internet, she’s got the world’s how-to book right at her fingertips.”
I crinkled my nose. “Ew. I hadn’t considered that.”
“I didn’t think you would. Your mind isn’t capable of thinking like that.”
&
nbsp; “Like what?”
“Like a murderer.”
“No, I don’t believe that it is.”
“I’d appreciate it if you would set up the new password on the digital lock on your office door today.”
“Is that how she got in?”
He nodded. “Said she’d been there bright and early that morning and laughed when she came by to check it out saw you and Belle and had the scarves wrapped around your faces.”
“She has an ugly soul.”
“Most killers do.”
Bo gave up on catching the dragon fly when he discovered a toad in the grass. The toad hopped, and Bo jumped back, scared of the little brownish green monster barely a quarter of the size of his paw. It wasn’t the first toad to scare him, and it wouldn’t be the last.
“Bo, it won’t hurt you unless you lick it,” I said.
“I thought it would turn into a prince?”
“That’s frogs, and I’m pretty sure that only happens in fairytales.”
“Would you like to try it and find out?”
“What do you mean?”
He leaned in close and whispered, “Ribbit.”
I laughed. “Bless your heart. You’ll try anything, won’t you?”
“To prove to you I’m here to stay? Yes.”
My heart swelled. “I need to see Caroline.”
He stood. “Okay, but I’m coming back tonight. I’ll make you dinner.”
I couldn’t refuse.
Chapter 14
My first stop was Henrietta’s place. Thankfully, I had her address in our class registration information. I’d called her on my way and asked if she could invite Bonnie over because I had something to give them both.
I didn’t even have a chance to knock on the door before it swung open and the two older ladies smothered me with a duel bear hug.
“Oh, sweetie, are you all right?”
“Heavens, we were worried to death about you. How’s Belle?”
“That Ellie Jean is a good for nothing snake,” Henrietta said. They’d clasped their hands into mine and escorted me into Henrietta’s home.
Henrietta shoved me toward her pink and gray early nineties couch. “Here, sit. I’m going to fetch you a glass of iced tea.”
“Don’t put any illegal prescriptions in it,” Bonnie said.
“I don’t have any of those,” Henrietta shouted from the kitchen. “All of my drugs are legal.”
I laughed. I hoped Belle and I could be carbon copies of Henrietta and Bonnie when we hit their age. Their zest for life was admirable and charming.
They squished on both sides of me and wanted all the dirt, so I gave it to them, everything, down to the most intimate detail, including the fact that at one point my fear level hit such an extreme I nearly wet myself. It surprised me, how cleansing and relieving it felt to release it all to them. They didn’t judge, at least not me anyway. They had a massive vocabulary filled with choice words for Ellie Jean, and I couldn’t disagree with any of them, but I kept my opinions about her to myself. Even though she wanted to kill me, a part of me understood her motivation. Her daughter had been wronged by Savannah and Heather, and yes, I was guilty by association in her twisted mind, so whether justified or not, she had a need to defend, to seek justice. I didn’t agree with her decision or her actions, but I knew the love a mother felt for her child saw no boundaries and lived guided by no laws.
My mother always defended me, unless of course, I was wrong, then she’d make me own my wrong and make it right. But, if someone wronged me, they had better run. She would sic her sweet southern lady on the wrong-doer in such a way that would send them flying into the gates of Hades begging to be let in, just to sit a spell and rest. So, yes, I understood Ellie Jean’s motivation.
“Okay ladies, enough about me. I have something for you.”
Bonnie’s eyes lit up. “A present?”
“Oh, sweetie, you shouldn’t have. What is it?” Henrietta asked.
I retrieved two envelopes from my bag and handed them to the ladies. “Refunds for the class.”
They both pushed their heads back and shook them.
“Oh, no, no, no.” Bonnie said.
Henrietta pointed at her friend. “Yes, what she said. We don’t want those.”
I extended my hands and the envelopes out further. “Please, you deserve these. We haven’t even finished the class and it just didn’t go as planned. We can’t take your money. Belle and I agreed.”
“It may have not gone as planned—” Bonnie said, and then Henrietta continued for her.
“But it was a darn-tootin’ blast.”
“It sure was. We haven’t had that much fun since the county fair in ‘69.”
Henrietta made an O shape with her mouth, covered it with her fingertips and giggled. “Bonnie, you hush. We swore never to speak of that again.”
“Oh, now don’t get your undies all twisted in a knot. I’m not telling our secrets. I’m just saying it was fun, that’s all.”
I smirked. “You two know that secrets aren’t ever really secret in a small town.”
The two women covered their mouths and giggled.
“This one is,” Bonnie said.
“And it’s safe with us,” Henrietta said.
“Well, I’ll do my best to keep it that way, but only if you take these checks and promise to stay in touch.” I put a check on each of their laps. “Otherwise, I might have to have a little talk with Old Man Goodson and Billy Ray.”
“Oh, dear,” Henrietta said.
“Well now, we can’t have that, can we?” Bonnie asked.
Henrietta shook her head and plucked the envelope from her lap and stuffed it inside her dress and into her bra. “There, I took it.”
Bonnie followed suit.
“So, how are your boys?” I asked.
“Oh, darling, they are working hard to keep up with us,” Henrietta said.
“Darn tootin’,” Bonnie said.
* * *
My next stop was Caroline’s, but even though we’d ended our last conversation on good terms, I felt I needed some kind of peace offering for thinking she could be a murderer, so I stopped at Millie’s for a half dozen of her chocolate scones. Actually, I wanted seven, so I could munch on one while I drove.
Austin Emmerson sat at a table outside the café. I stepped back when I saw him, surprised he had been released already.
“They dropped the charges and released me late last night, or early this morning, I guess,” he said.
“I’m glad.” I pointed to the entrance to Millie’s. “I’ll be just a minute. Can you stay?”
He nodded. “I’ve got all the time in the world.”
I placed my order with Millie and let her shower her love on me while I enjoyed every moment of it. She wanted the dirty details—her words—of my traumatic experience—again, her words, but I told her I just couldn’t go into them and that I wanted, no, that I needed some time to heal before I talked about them. She understood. I asked if she’d bring my things outside, and she agreed.
I sat with Austin. At first, we just stared at each other, and then we both sighed. It was one of those, holy-cow, I can’t believe that all happened kind of sighs from both of us.
He leaned toward me. “Thank you, Lily.”
“For what?”
“For believing me. You were the only one.”
“I…I uh…you’re welcome.” I rubbed my neck. “I did believe you, for the most part, but there were moments I wasn’t sure.”
“Of course, and I understand that. I wouldn’t have known for sure, either, but even my parents thought I killed my wife.”
“They did? That must be horrible knowing that.”
He nodded. “My life will never be the same.”
“I don’t think mine will be, either.”
He shook his head. “That woman. I can’t…I can’t believe she did this. All because of Faith Pruitt. And the thing is, I didn’t actually date that girl. We talke
d a little at camp, and then she texted me afterwards, but that was it. We didn’t have a relationship, so I don’t know why she thinks we did.”
“How did you find out about this?”
“One of the deputies told me. The one Belle’s dating? Matt something or other.”
I nodded.
“He told me the whole story. Wanted to know what was true and what wasn’t.” He leaned back in his seat. “And I’ll confirm to you, the dating thing definitely wasn’t.”
“So, what happens now for you?”
“I don’t know. Savannah’s parents won’t talk to me, and yeah, my parents were helping me with this, but you know, I just don’t think I want to go back to my life. I don’t know. I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I guess I need a little time.”
“I can understand that.”
“Are you okay? You know, really? That must have been scary.”
I didn’t want to say how I really felt. I just wasn’t ready to deal with it. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m a lot tougher than I look.”
He smiled. “You definitely are a tough lady. Dylan’s one lucky guy, that’s for sure.”
I hoped it didn’t show, but on the inside, not one part of me felt tough. The inside felt like a fragile glass vase ready to crumble into tiny pieces if just touched with a fingertip.
Millie brought out the scones, and Austin and I hugged goodbye. He promised to keep in touch, but we both knew that wasn’t likely, and I was okay with that. I didn’t mention anything about Savannah and William. I didn’t see the point of bringing up the past again. It was time to move on, for everyone.
I took the scenic route to Caroline’s hoping to practice what I wanted to say. Even though I went five miles under the speed limit, the drive wasn’t long enough to decide on the right choice of words. It didn’t matter anyway. I knew once I saw her, I’d have to wing it.
William answered the door. “You okay? We heard what happened. I feel responsible.”
“I’m good.” I searched his head for a lump or bump. “How are you?”
Decluttered and Dead Page 17
