Evelyn David - Sullivan Investigations 01 - Murder Off the Books (29 page)

The young man looked back, grabbed the older woman, and tugged her down the stoop.

***

The woman was stronger than she looked, Mac thought as he tried to pry the gun from her hand. “Let go, damn it. Before I have to hurt you.”

“Go ahead and try. I’ll enjoy killing you.” Fieldstone kicked at his leg and connected, her shoe whacking his shin with the force of a baseball bat.

His leg went out from under him, but he managed to maintain his two-handed hold on the gun and Fieldstone’s hand. Off balance, both of them fell to the floor and rolled.

Fieldstone got another shot off, exploding a lamp in the living room.

“Rachel, get out. Take Sam and….” He struggled to gain control of the woman who’d just bitten his right hand. “Shit. I hate that.”

Mac jerked his injured hand free and punched the woman hard enough that she was going to need extensive dental work before biting anyone else.

The back of her head bounced against the floor but she didn’t let go of the gun. “I’m going to put a bullet right between your eyes, old man,” she hissed, even as blood dripped from her mouth.

He prepared himself to hit her again, then sensed rather than saw that Rachel was behind him–directly in the path of Fieldstone’s next wild shot.

“Mac?”

He rolled over causing Fieldstone to be on top and the gun to point towards him and the floor. “Get out, Rachel.”

In a blur Mac saw Rachel swing something large and gold. Glass shattered, raining over his head and face. He closed his eyes, only to pop them open after Fieldstone’s forehead cracked against his chin.

When the stars cleared from his eyes, he pulled the gun from Fieldstone’s limp hand and shoved her unconscious body off him. He sat up and looked at Rachel. “What the hell was that?”

She smiled and held out a hand to him, helping him to his feet. “The matching lamp to the one she shot. I never liked them much anyway.”

They both turned as Whiskey rushed into the room, barking and running in a circle around the woman on the floor.

Jeff ran into the room only a few seconds behind the dog. “Need any help?”

Chapter 37

It seemed like days, but it had been just over an hour since the last of the police had left. For awhile her house had been overflowing with detectives, patrol officers, and, of course, the ambulance crew that had whisked a handcuffed Fieldstone off to the emergency room to check out the damage caused by Mac’s fist and a twenty-year-old lamp.

Rachel listened to the conversation around her and smiled. So much had changed since Fieldstone had marched her and Kathleen into the house at gunpoint. She’d been worried about dying and protecting the others held hostage with her. Now her biggest worry was about whether she’d ordered enough pizza.

“Jeff, you’re going to be up all night. You know pepperoni doesn’t….”

“Katie, my girl,” Jeff reached over and brushed the back of his hand across his wife’s cheek, “Irish Regimental Bagpipers marching through my bedroom won’t wake me tonight.”

“There goes my plans to reward you for rescuing me,” Kathleen said with a laugh as she pushed the pizza box closer to her husband.

“Hey, you two, save the mushy stuff until you get home,” Mac said, as he walked into the dining room. “I see everyone waited on me to start eating. Thanks.”

“We knew you wouldn’t want us eating cold pizza,” Jeff answered, picking up another slice. “How’s the kid?”

“JJ is going to be fine. No surgery. She’s got two cracked ribs. They’re keeping her overnight just to be safe. She said she’s got someone with her, but I’ll check on her in the morning.”

Rachel heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank God. There was just so much blood. You’re sure?”

Mac reached over and patted Rachel’s hand. “I’m sure. She’s already complaining about the bullet holes in her freshly painted office and giving me instructions for the guys coming to sand the floor tomorrow.”

“And before I forget–we got a reprieve. We don’t have to go down to the station tonight. Greeley changed his mind, said for us to come in tomorrow and sign our statements.”

Rachel let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, and then looked up, a new worry line on her forehead. “Are you in much trouble with the lieutenant? Will you lose your license?”

Mac chuckled as he sat down in the chair next to her. “Yes, and probably not. Greeley will chew me out for at least an hour and he’s entitled. Then I’m betting he’ll let me buy him some lasagna and Chianti at Luigi’s and we’ll call it even.”

Whiskey appeared at Mac’s elbow, an empty paper plate in her mouth.

Mac put a slice of pizza on the plate and set it on the floor beside his chair.

The hairy hound offered a gentle woof, then turned her attention to eating. Snickers, who had taken a strategic retreat to the top of the mahogany buffet, shot death ray glares at the intruder, who studiously ignored her.

Mac reached for a beer. “So…are we going to put a hit out on Bridget’s beau?”

“Nah, just make his life miserable for the next fifty or so years,” Jeff mumbled, before biting into another slice.

Kathleen lightly smacked the side of Jeff’s head. “No need for that. I spoke to my darling daughter and we came to an agreement.”

Mac raised an eyebrow.

“Let’s just say that Miss Bridget won’t be marrying anyone this weekend. She’s bringing the young man home so he can ask her father properly for her hand.”

“Any pizza left?” All eyes snapped to the doorway.

“Uncle Dan.” Sam jumped to his feet and ran to hug the former fugitive.

Rachel waited for her son to finish, then wrapped her arms around her brother. “We’ve been waiting. They said they’d released you hours ago.”

Dan shrugged. “Some idiot named Eddie was doing the paperwork and….”

Mac snorted.

“Sit down. You must be starved.” Rachel pushed her brother into the empty seat next to Mac and filled a plate with pizza. “You want coffee, tea, some soda?”

“Rach, stop fussing and sit down.” Dan smiled.

After a moment, she grinned back. “Okay. You’re on your own again.”

Once she was seated, Dan cleared his throat and looked around the table. “I know I’ve been a jackass about this whole mess.”

“No argument there,” Rachel interrupted.

“But, if I may continue
….” He cocked his head at his smirking sister, who nodded her assent.

“First, I’m so grateful to Sam, Ray, and Carrie for believing in me when there was absolutely no reason on earth to do so.”

“No big deal,” Sam said quickly, waving his uncle off.

“It was a big deal, Sam, and I won’t ever forget it.”

“And,” Dan grinned, “you need to get your sorry ass back to Philadelphia.”

Sam held up his hands in defense. “I’m going, I’m going. I already promised Mom that I would be on the 6 A.M. train back to school.”

“And you two….” Dan faced Carrie and Ray. “Do you need me to square things with your bosses? I mean I think I have an “in” with at least one of them.” He glanced over to his sister.

“Nah.” Carrie winked. “My boss is a pussycat. If she ever knew what I really did during my coffee breaks
….”

“Enough.” Rachel laughed.

“How about you, Ray?” Dan asked.

“I’m good. As long as Mr. Sullivan keeps screwing up Mr. O’Herlihy’s vehicles and bringing them to my boss’s garage, I’ll be in good shape,” the lanky teen said with a straight face, but a twinkle in his eyes. “My boss says that Mr. O’Herlihy’s business alone more than pays my salary.”

The group exploded with laughter.

“You’re determined not to let me express my heartfelt thanks,” Dan
said. “I’m trying to–”

“It’s okay,” Mac clapped a hand on Dan’s shoulder. “You can express all your emotions when you write out a check for my bill. Let’s see, Ray gave me a retainer of $1, so I figure you owe me–”

Dan threw up his hands in defeat, then grabbed his pizza and took a big bite.

“Wait a minute.” Carrie raised one hand as though in a classroom. “I’ve got some questions.”

The group looked at the young blonde, who colored at all the attention.

“First, where’s the computer disk with the files we copied using the computer in the Accounting Office?”

Rachel smiled. “It’s in my office at the funeral home. No elaborate hiding place. I just added it to a box of blank disks.”

“Okay. I guess that was as good a place as any.” Carrie frowned. “But I still don’t understand, Mrs. Brenner, about the key. What key did you have that Ms. Fieldstone was ready to… to kill for?” Carrie shivered involuntarily and Ray slid an arm around her.

The young woman smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. Then it was Ray’s turn to blush.

Rachel shrugged. “Well, the key I gave her would have given her access to my will and divorce papers.”

“What key did she want?” Dan asked.

Rachel looked at her brother. “A safety deposit key that she insisted you’d given me. Apparently Malwick kept evidence of Fieldstone’s involvement in the embezzlement in a safety deposit box. I didn’t have a clue as to what key she was talking about, so I gave her mine. I was just trying to buy some time.”

“I don’t understand,” Dan said, shaking his head.

“Fieldstone bragged that she’d frightened Vince into telling her that he’d hidden the key behind a photograph–one that was on your desk.”

“Frightened?” Jeff mumbled, “She shot the poor man’s ear off.”

“Jeff,” Mac warned, “that’s privileged information.”

“And a poor choice of table conversation,” Kathleen added, pushing her plate away.

“What photograph?” Dan looked confused. “I did send you a photo of us at the farm. I just wanted you to know where I was going to be hiding. I thought it would keep you from worrying.”

“Why would you ever think sending me that photo would tell me where you were? Why couldn’t you have just said, ‘Rachel, I’m going to the farm’?”

Dan took a bite of pizza and swallowed while everyone waited for his answer. He grinned, tomato sauce dotting his bottom lip. “Well, I guess that would have worked too.”

Rachel shook her head in amazement. “When did you….”

“I mailed it last week. I told you to watch for it.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did. When we spoke on the phone–”

“No, you didn’t.”

Mac cleared his throat. “Rachel did you get something in the mail from Dan?”

“I haven’t had time to go through my mail,” she confessed. “I threw it all in my briefcase.”

“Where’s the bag?” Mac asked.

Rachel stood and grabbed it off the buffet, opened it and tossed the contents on the table.

Dan picked out a large manila envelope. “Here it is.”

Rachel opened the envelope and pulled out a silver picture frame that held a photo of Dan, Sam, and Rachel sitting on a porch swing, grinning for the camera. She flipped it over, looked at the frame and the cardboard backing, and then laid it on the table. She picked up the envelope again and turned it upside down, shaking it. “No key.”

Mac reached across the table and picked up the frame. He examined it carefully before sliding open the back panel. Taped to the inside was a thin safety deposit key.

“The key to my innocence. If only I’d….” Dan shuddered.

Mac left the key in place. He picked up the envelope and put the contents back inside. “I’ll deliver this to
Greeley in the morning. It might just broker me some peace with the lieutenant.”

“Little brother, I have to admit that it was another key that had me wondering if your luck had finally run out.”

“Huh?”

“I found your key to the farmhouse. Remember the keychain with the brass horse?”

“Trigger? You found Trigger?” Dan sputtered. “I lost that a few weeks ago. I thought maybe I’d misplaced it in the move. That’s one reason I was camped out in the barn for three long miserable days. I didn’t have a key to the house.”

Rachel got up and crossed to the hutch. She slid open the silverware drawer, took out something, then walked back and stood in front of Dan. “Take a look.”

She held out the keychain she’d found next to Tia’s body.

Dan grabbed it. “How did you get it?”

“It was next to….” She inhaled sharply. “It was in the dumpster, next to….”

Dan nodded his understanding. “I guess…guess that Dre′ must have stolen it and left it after-after…
you know, to implicate me. She probably made copies of all my keys. I know she was in my car at least once.”

The siblings stared at the keychain until Dan tightened his fingers around it and slipped it in his pocket.

“I’ve got another question,” Jeff piped up, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Looking directly at his best friend, he said. “You’d already figured out that Fieldstone was the killer before we ever got to the house. What tipped you off?”

“A stupid little lie by Fieldstone,” Mac answered. “It’s always the little things that trip up criminals. When I’d interviewed the woman, she’d been adamant that she’d never met Dan before he came to Concordia. Then Dan told me at the jail that he’d known her in
Vermont. It shouldn’t have mattered that they knew each other before, so of course the question was, why?”

Kathleen glanced at her watch. “Well this has been lovely. Let’s do it again real soon, Rachel.” She pushed back her chair, eyes twinkling. “But next time it’s my turn to bring the duct tape.”

Rachel laughed and everyone began to gather their things.

Carrie and Ray started for the door.

“Just a sec,” Rachel admonished. She looked solemnly at her young assistant, then pulled her in for a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Carrie threw her arms around Rachel and squeezed tightly, then stepped back. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning at the funeral home…but not too early.”

In response to Rachel’s raised eyebrow, Carrie added with a giggle, “I’ll bring the coffee.”

Rachel moved to stand in front of Ray. “You’re quite a fine young man, Raymond Kozlowski.”

The tall teenager grinned from ear-to-ear, then leaned down and kissed Rachel’s cheek. “You should bring your van into the garage soon. Let me give it a tune-up before winter.”

“No way,” Dan interjected. “She’s a got a new Jeep Cherokee coming. That old van is history.”

Rachel shook her head. “You don’t have a job. I’m not letting you buy me a car.”

Dan grinned. “Did I forget to mention that Jack Starling called me? He said Concordia was very sorry for any ‘inconvenience’ that Fieldstone and Malwick might have caused me. I think he was trying to head off a lawsuit. Wanted me to know that my old job was waiting for me–with a raise. I told him I needed a couple of weeks off to recover from the trauma, but that I’d like to come back.”

“Oh, Dan.” Rachel smiled. “That’s wonderful. You and your girlfriend can take that cruise.”

“That’s something else I need to clarify. People have gotten the impression that Lenore Adams and I are a couple. We aren’t. I’ve been seeing her sister, Lily.”