02-A Book to Die For (2014) Read online

  “Are you saying Chuck is Shelia’s father? That can’t be.”

  Bonnie gave me her confused look. “Why do you say that?”

  “Sit down, Bon. I’ve been keeping something from you that you should hear.” I was afraid she was going to drop the shoebox, so I reached out for it and set it down on the table.

  “Fred found the missing pages of your father’s manuscript.”

  “Fred?” she asked, raising her brows.

  “Well, he didn’t actually find them, but he led me to them. Chatter had got into my motor home and took them from the scanner to make a nest, but that’s not important. What is important is that your father claims Reverend Johnson is Shelia’s father.”

  “No shit? All this time he’s been giving her money and watching her back. Maybe daddy got it wrong. Those clippings kind of say Chuck is her father. Don’t they?” she asked, pointing to the shoebox.

  “I suppose. Maybe he was wrong about Jonathan too.”

  “Too?” she answered. “You know about Jonathan?”

  “Yeah, I read enough of your father’s manuscript to know about Chuck and Margot, and Margot’s husband having a vasectomy during his first marriage. Old Chuck must have been one heck of a stud in his day?”

  Bonnie smiled and took another drink before continuing. She had a far-away look in her eyes. “And a lot better looking. I had a crush on him myself, but at least now you know why Charlie hates you so much. He thinks he’s protecting his daughter.”

  “Does Jonathan know?” I asked.

  “No. Margot sent Jonathan to live with his father after they divorced. Nobody ever told him he wasn’t his real father.”

  “In Minnesota?” I asked.

  “How’d you know that?”

  “A little birdie told me,” I answered, using her phrase, from the day before, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

  It seemed to work. I did make her smile, so I told the truth. “His accent, Bon. The only people I know of, who talk like that, are from the frozen north.” I didn’t know what more to say. Fortunately, I didn’t have to; my cell phone started to ring and when I looked at the caller ID I saw it was my sister’s husband.

  “Hey Bon, it’s Julie,” I lied. I didn’t want her to overhear any juicy details about my loan. “Hope you don’t mind if I call her back from my place.”

  Fred and I returned to my cabin with the news clippings Bonnie had given me. He didn’t want to leave as long as there was still food on her counter, but I promised him a big treat when we got home. This time I didn’t try to run up the hill. Maybe Julie was right. I either needed more exercise or had to go on a diet. The mountain air was making me winded.

  Fred soon forgot about the treat I had promised him when he spotted Chatter calling him from a nearby blue spruce. I let him try to catch the squirrel and went into the cabin to return Ira’s call. My cell phone rang before I could start the call. “Hi, Bonnie. What’d I forget?” I asked while checking for my wallet and keys. I had a bad habit of misplacing both of them.

  “Jake, there’s a county truck coming up your way. You better get Fred in the house. It’s the dog catcher.”

  “Thanks, Bonnie. You’re a sweetheart,” I said and hung up my phone. The county did have leash laws which most people up here in the hills ignored, and the county rarely enforced. Still, I thought it would be wise to fetch Fred just in case.

  Fred was sitting at the base of the big blue spruce waiting for Chatter to get closer. I thanked my lucky stars for that squirrel keeping Fred close and called for him. When that didn’t work, I rushed back to the kitchen to get some kind of treat that might get him away from Chatter. Julie’s cookies were still sitting on the table, so I grabbed them and ran back outside. Luckily, Fred liked cookies better than squirrel-in-a-tree and I was able to bribe him away from Chatter. It wasn’t a minute too soon. The animal control officer was out of her truck and headed my way.

  “Stay and be quiet,” I said to Fred then threw him another cookie and went back outside to greet my new visitor. Of course Fred had the last word and started barking to go out with me.

  “Morning, Officer,” I said as she placed one foot on the first step of my porch stairs then stopped to look up at me.

  “Hi, Jacob,” she said.

  Do I know her? I asked myself before answering her. “You can call me Jake. Unless you’re here to arrest me for running loose without a leash, then Mister Martin will do.”

  A small smile formed at the corners of her mouth. I couldn’t help notice the lack of lipstick or any other makeup. It gave her a tomboy look which I found very attractive.

  “You don’t remember me, do you?” she asked, holding out her hand. “We went to high school together. I’m Sherry Franklin.”

  “Sorry I didn’t recognize you, Sherry,” I answered while shifting Julie’s bag of cookies to my left hand and reaching out to take Sherry’s hand. “What brings you up this way? It’s not often we get a visit from animal control. Come to think of it. We never get a visit from you guys.”

  “Hope those aren’t peanut butter cookies you were eating?” she asked, quickly withdrawing her hand. “You probably don’t remember when I almost died from them.”

  I subconsciously wiped my hand on my pants. “You’re that Sherry?” I asked. “My God, I’d almost forgotten about that.” The cafeteria never served peanut products after that.

  She watched me wipe my hands as though I had the plague. “It’s okay. I carry a couple epipens in the truck, just in case.”

  “An epipen?” I asked.

  She finally smiled. “It’s like a syringe, only smaller. If I ever come in contact with peanuts, I can give myself an injection of epinephrine.”

  “Oh,” I replied. I didn’t feel like telling her I already knew what the epipen was and that my question had been rhetorical.

  “That was a long time ago,” she said. “I had a crush on you when we went to Lakewood High. You and were in my second period English class.”

  She stepped back, removing her foot from the porch step. Her smile faded and she reached into her back pocket. “I was supposed to pick up your dog for running loose and give you this summons to appear in court,” she said, holding the summons but not quite giving it to me. “But I can see, or should I say hear, that he’s in the house and not running loose so I’ll just give you the summons.”

  Call it a premonition or a sixth sense, but whatever you call it, I could feel she wasn’t happy serving me. She looked so vulnerable. Like a child having to read aloud in front of the class. I was beginning to feel sorry for her.

  “Where did you get the idea I let my dog run loose?”

  “I can’t say, Jake, other than someone filed a complaint,” she answered without looking at me. Then she completely changed the subject while staring at the ground. “It’s okay, Jake. I know you don’t remember me. I was not much to look at in those days; just a fat teenage girl with a crush on the cutest guy in class.”

  I started to mumble something. Sherry didn’t wait. “Tell you what, Jake,” she said, sticking the summons in her back pocket. “I’ll say I wasn’t able to deliver it.”

  She quit studying the ground and looked up at me. I think I saw a tear. “Did you eat any of those?” she asked.

  “No. I used them to bribe my dog to stay put.”

  Then out of the blue she reached up and pulled me toward her and kissed me.

  “Thanks, Jake. I’ve been dreaming about that ever since I saw your name on the summons,” she said, heading back to her truck. “Watch your back. Someone is out to get you.”

  I stood there watching her go. A couple weeks ago, I would have asked her to stay, but now I felt guilty about the kiss and thoughts of what it could have led to. Then out of nowhere it hit me. I knew who killed Lonnie.

  “Sherry,” I called out before she got into her truck.”

  She turned at the mention of her name.

  “Sherry,” I repeated. “Can I see one of those pens?”<
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  I’d expected bewilderment, but she was smiling. “Was the kiss that bad?” she asked.

  “No. It was great,” I answered while walking over to her truck. “I only asked because you just gave me a great idea on how to finish a short story I’m working on. It would make a fantastic murder weapon. I don’t need the pen itself, just the case it comes in so I can describe it correctly.”

  She opened her truck door and rummaged through the center console, then handed me a case. “Take this one, Jake. It’s left over from the last time I had to inject myself.”

  Fred was waiting at the door when I returned to the cabin. He ran past me, straight for the tree and Chatter before I had a chance to grab him. “Oh well,” I said aloud while pushing the recall button on my cell phone. “Go ahead and run loose, Freddie. Something tells me she won’t be back anytime soon.”

  Chatter seemed to know Fred’s limits. She would get just close enough so when he jumped he could almost bite her. I finally took a seat on my rocker so I could watch the circus when Ira picked up his phone.

  “What did you ever do to the guy, Jake? Lucky he’s not connected to the mafia or I’m sure there’d be a contract on you,” Ira asked after he told me my loan had been wired to my bank already and I brought him up to date on my dilemma with Chuck and the DA.

  “He thinks I killed his illegitimate daughter’s husband.”

  “His what?”

  “It’s a long story, Ira,” I answered. I had moved out of my rocker to watch the road just to be sure Sherry didn’t change her mind.

  “The short version is that I was in charge of a barbeque grill earlier this month that blew up killing a neighbor. It turns out the guy was Charlie Randolph’s son-in-law. Charlie’s been trying to crucify me ever since. First with a wrongful death suit, then he comes up with this BS felony charge; and to top it off, I got a visit from animal control this morning over Fred running loose. I can’t imagine what he’ll do next.”

  “Well, I can tell you what he won’t do. He won’t be getting the DA to prosecute anytime soon. He doesn’t have enough evidence, but watch your back, Jake. Randolph knows some very powerful people.”

  That was the second time in less than an hour someone told me to watch my back. I wanted to tell Ira that it wouldn’t be necessary much longer since I now knew who killed Lonnie. I immediately called Bonnie after Ira hung up.

  “Hi, Jake, is Fred okay?”

  I pictured Bonnie’s innocent smile and hated myself for what I had to do. “Yeah, unless he manages to catch Chatter. The dog catcher just warned me to keep Fred on a leash. Hey, Bon, can I ask a favor?”

  “Of course, Jake, I don’t have much, but whatever it is, it’s yours.”

  “You’re the best, Bon Bon, but I didn’t call for a loan,” I stammered, trying to think how to tell her what I wanted. “Does Margot still have her Saturday dinner parties?”

  “You want her to invite you?” she asked.

  “I was hoping Julie and I could come as your guest without telling anyone beforehand. I’m afraid certain people wouldn’t come if they knew I was coming.”

  She hesitated before answering. I wish I could see her expression over the phone. It must be one of pure confusion. “Well, it’s not my party, but I’m sure Margot won’t mind if you guys tag along. What’s it all about anyway?” she asked in a very suspicious voice.

  “I have something for Chuck that should get him to stop his harassment. I’m afraid he won’t show if he knows I’m coming.”

  The pause on her end of the line was a little too long before she answered. “You’re not going to tell him I told you about Lonnie, I hope?”

  “No, Bon, it’s nothing like that. I won’t say anything you told me.”

  “Thank you, Jake.” Then another pause before she spoke again. “Can you tell me what it is?”

  I had to think fast and make up something believable. “I know you don’t care for him much more than I do, so you can’t tell anyone, not even Margot. My brother-in-law, the lawyer, says I have grounds for a huge libel and harassment suit. I’m going to tell Chuck to back off or get Ira to sue him.”

  “Ooo, I don’t want to miss that. Why don’t you guys pick me up at five on Saturday and we can all go down to Margot’s together?”

  “You got it, Bon, and thanks,” I said then disconnected. I couldn’t see her expression and was just as happy that she couldn’t see the joy on my face. My plan to trap Lonnie’s killer, or what was becoming a plan, was beginning to take shape, but first I had to take care of business and call my old boss back before Julie got home.

  “You sure you want me to do this?” Julie asked, holding scissors in one hand and a clump of my hair in the other. “It’s not too late to change your mind. I’m sure a barber can repair it.”

  “Keep cutting, M’love, or are you afraid all the girls will find me sexy now that bald is in?” Julie went back to snipping off my hair without any more objections. A minute later we were beyond the point of no return.

  She had come home wearing a blond wig to cover her own baldness. She had seen her doctor and made the appointment for radiation treatment earlier in the day, then went and had all her beautiful hair cut off before it fell out on its own. I had insisted she cut my hair, but she had refused until I had taken matters in my own hand and nicked my scalp. I agreed not to do the same to Fred.

  “I wish you wouldn’t take the job, Jake,” she said as I watched my dirty-blond hair hit the floor. “My disability pay is more than enough to get by until I go back to work, and I will really need you here to tell me how gorgeous I look bald.”

  I had agreed to meet with my old boss in the morning to discuss going back to work. The company’s effort to trim expenses by firing me and several hundred others two years ago had backfired. The bean-counters thought they could save mega bucks by outsourcing our work offshore. The math worked for them as they would no longer be paying half our pay out in benefits, but the team in Bangalore failed to live up to expectations. There were so many bugs and security holes in the new software that management finally had to scrap it and go back to the old code. Now they need some of us back to maintain it.

  “Tell you what, Gorgeous. I’ll tell him I need to work from home. He can take it or leave it.”

  “Thank you, Jake. It was beginning to look like a rewrite of The Gift of the Magi. Only I donated my hair instead of selling it and you didn’t buy the rings yet, did you?”

  I could feel wet drops on my exposed scalp. I wanted to wipe them off, but the scissors were cutting hair around my ears and didn’t think this was a good time to make any sudden movements. “Not yet. Would you like to go pick them out next Saturday on the way back from Margot’s?”

  “Margot’s? What are you talking about, Goofy?”

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I solved Lonnie’s murder today and invited us to Margot’s weekly dinner party. All the interested parties will be there so it will be the perfect time to set my trap.”

  We spent the rest of the afternoon discussing my plan over pizza and beer at a local restaurant in downtown Evergreen. She thought it would be a good place to try out my new haircut, but wasn’t ready to go without her own wig. I didn’t manage to turn a single head. It was amazing how many men shaved their heads.

  Julie managed to politely point out a few flaws in my plan and made suggestions to make it work. She also made me promise to delete the ad selling my motor home. She had big plans on visiting the major national parks, starting with the Grand Canyon, once the chemo was over. Her grandfather had taken her on a trip there when she was only ten. It was what made her choose a career that involved animals and working outdoors.

  Chapter 16

  Julie and Bonnie did most of the talking on our trip to Margot’s home in Cherry Creek. Julie suggested taking her car rather than my beat-up Jeep or her state-owned SUV. She had joked about the neighbors calling the police if we drove up to Margot’s in my Wagoneer.

  They were still chat
ting away when we made our grand entrance, but stopped when Margot met us at the door. “You’re late, Bonnie. We finished dinner twenty minutes ago.”

  Bonnie didn’t act surprised. “At least we brought dessert. Can we come in?”

  Margot didn’t answer and led us to her great room. Everyone stopped talking the minute I walked into the room.

  Chuck was sitting alone in a huge, overstuffed, leather recliner. Shelia, Carlos and Reverend Johnson were facing him from the matching sofa.

  “I’d like to introduce Jake’s new fiancé to everyone,” Bonnie said before they could recover. “This is Julie Bartowski, she’s a game warden.”

  Chuck looked over at Margot then spoke before Bonnie could finish. “What the hell is he doing here?”

  Margot kept her cool and rose to greet Julie, ignoring Chuck’s remark. “I’m so happy for you, Dear,” she said, giving her a little peck on the cheek.

  Julie had brought a batch of her homemade cookies and handed them off to me so she could return Margot’s greeting.

  “Let me put those on a plate,” Bonnie said, taking the cookies from me.

  The reverend got up and came over to Julie the second Margot stepped back. “A game warden? Now there’s an interesting occupation,” he said, extending a hand. “I’m Reverend Johnson.”

  “I sort of fell into it after college,” Julie said, returning the handshake. “I wanted to be a park ranger so I studied zoology. After taking the state test, I got a call from the DOW.”

  “That’s a crock,” Chuck said from the safety of his recliner. “Whoever heard it called Zoe-ol-ogy. She’s as much a game warden as me. She can’t even pronounce zoo-ol-ogy?”

  Julie couldn’t help but smile and reached into her purse. “I’ve got my badge in here somewhere,” she said and made a show of dropping a few things on the floor. We didn’t know how to make it seem natural when we cooked up our plan the day before. Chuck made it so easy for us.

  “Is that an epipen?” Shelia asked when she saw Julie pick up the injector I had borrowed from Sherry the dog catcher.