Murder Is Our Mascot (24 page)

"What I've done?" Arlene looked incredulous. "What I've done is provide a loving home with a devoted mom for a child who deserved it and was denied the chance."

Emily could see the fire of conviction in Arlene's eyes, and another thought occurred to her. "You loved Stephen Olsen, didn't you? But you thought he and his wife didn't deserve their baby because she was suffering from postpartum depression, unable to care for their son."

Arlene waved the gun in the air, and Emily backed up a little further. "Postpartum depression?" Her voice was high and thin. "That woman just didn't want to be bothered by a baby. It interfered with her shopping and sleeping." Her lips tightened. "'It.' That woman actually called him 'it.'"

Emily nodded, hoping she looked sympathetic rather than terrified. "I can see why you would find that so horrible. Stevie is a wonderful boy."

The gun lowered slightly, and Arlene smiled in a way that made Helen whimper behind Emily. "He is exactly like his father. Kind, smart, beautiful. That's why I named him Stevie. He never looked like a Jacob anyway. I did love Stephen, but he spent all his time doting on his wife. He hired me so that I could be the one to take care of that baby. He never even saw me."

"That must have hurt your feelings," Emily said, trying to keep Arlene talking.

"Hurt? Guess so, but I was used to it. My mom was too busy trying to climb the corporate ladder to ever bother with me. But my dad, my dad was wonderful. Why couldn't Stephen have been more like my dad?"

"I don't know," Emily said. "What's your father like?" And where was he, she wondered. Surely a father, if he was in his right mind, would never let his daughter get away with kidnapping a child.

"My dad was taken from me when I was only seventeen. The hospital intern who fell asleep at the wheel and hit him head-on was probably a mother, too. An overworked mother, more concerned about her career than her baby. I was left with nothing and no one."

Emily wasn't sure what to say next, besides the truthful, "I'm so sorry for your loss."

Arlene stared into space for a minute, and Emily took the opportunity to try and stand up again. Arlene jerked the gun back in her direction, and Emily once again eased back down. "You have no idea what loss is. You have the perfect parents, friends like that Gabby with her beautiful children that she probably ignores, and Ted or Tad or whatever his name is who wants to marry you and have a family." Arlene shook with rage.

"Gabby is an excellent mother, and Tad is just my friend. Besides, I'm not sure I even want to have children. I worry I wouldn't be a good-enough mother. Not selfless enough. The way you are with Stevie."

Emily had hoped these words would soothe Arlene, but they only served to inflame her further. "Not sure you even want to have children? Must be nice to have that choice."

Emily stayed silent this time. Letting out a choked sob, Arlene said, "I had to have a hysterectomy when I was seventeen for severe endometriosis. I lost my dad the same day I had the surgery." Tears spilled over and left track marks down her flushed face. Emily's heart broke for the seventeen-year-old girl who had truly lost her whole world. But the woman Arlene had become had to be stopped. Her losses had snapped something in her, causing her to lose touch with reality. When Arlene swiped at the tears and steadied the gun with both hands, Emily knew their time was running out. Helen was gripping the back of her shirt so tightly she couldn't have moved if she wanted to. Since the sympathetic approach hadn't worked, she decided to try the defensive one. It probably wouldn't penetrate through Arlene's psychosis, but if she could keep her talking, maybe there would be time for Tad or Detective Gangly-Arms to show up. She didn't believe in ESP, but she still sent out fervent messages to Tad through the ether, begging him to hurry, to know what a desperate situation she was in.

Emily made her voice sound stern. "Arlene, you tried to kill Gabby and me once by running us off the road, but you didn't succeed. How do you think you're going to cover your tracks now? Helen's Tahoe is in your shed. Stephen is here in town. He won't rest now that he's found his son. You have nowhere to run this time."

"I told you before, Stevie is
my
son!" Arlene took a deep breath. The eerie smile was back. "You see, I didn't want to have to hurt anyone. Helen had been acting funny on our last run together, so I decided to follow her. I heard her making that appointment with Jim. I made sure to get there first. I didn't plan to kill him, but I had to make him see reason. The big oaf thought he could overpower me and drag me to the police, but I'm stronger than I look. We struggled, and I managed to get him with my pepper spray. I hit him in the back of the head with a hammer I keep in my bag for driving real estate signs into the ground. When he was knocked unconscious, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get rid of him once and for all. I waited for Helen and used the pepper spray on her too. From there it was easy to bring both her and her vehicle back here. I've been letting Stevie hang out with his new friends so much, he never suspected a thing."

"Why didn't you kill Helen then?" Emily asked. Helen's grip on the back of her shirt was now choking her.

Arlene actually looked sad for a moment. "Helen is the one person who has truly taken the time to get to know me. I've had to keep us moving a lot so Jim couldn't find us. I know it was hard on Stevie, but Jim always seemed to be too close for comfort. I had hoped that finally hiding in plain sight would do the trick. It's been just Stevie and I for so long. But now that he's older and wants to spend time with his own friends, it was nice to have someone to talk to. I didn't want to hurt Helen. I've laid a careful trail for the police to follow. They already believe Helen is the murderer. I had hoped to disappear and leave it at that, but with Stephen in town, I'm out of time. The plans have to change."

Arlene motioned with the gun for them to stand up. Emily had to help Helen to her feet, and the woman swayed against her, the drugs and terror making movement practically impossible. Arlene gave Helen an apologetic look, but the terrified woman never met her eyes. "I'm sorry, Helen. I really am. But I have to shoot you and Emily. The police will believe that you shot Emily for interfering and then killed yourself out of remorse. I need your bodies in your Tahoe, though, so that there will be no question that you were also behind the attempt on Gabby and Emily's life." She snarled at Emily. "You are the most infuriatingly nosy woman I have ever met. That brick I threw through your window never even slowed you down. The only reason I didn't just shoot you then was because you obviously cared about Stevie."

"Well, thank you very much," Emily said, surprised she could summon up sarcasm at such a moment. She got a gun jabbed in the ribs for her effort. Arlene marched them into the hall, Helen stumbling and Emily doing her best to keep them both upright with the use of only one arm. "You know, Arlene, the Tahoe is here. Won't the police find that suspicious?"

Arlene laughed. "I've already thought of that. Stevie and I are staying in a hotel an hour or so down the road. Once he's asleep, I'll come back and move the Tahoe to your duplex's carport. But for now, let's get you guys out there. We've had enough chitchat. It's time to get this show on the road."

Emily moved toward the back kitchen door at Arlene's prodding. "Open it," Arlene demanded. Emily stepped cautiously through the broken glass and pooling water. Cold air blasted through the broken windowpane. Emily's hand fumbled on the doorknob, which was now slick with moisture. "Hurry up!" Arlene snapped.

"Mom?" Stevie's voice from the hallway stopped Arlene in her tracks.

"Mom, is everything okay?" Stevie asked again, standing in the doorway, confusion written all over his face. "What are you doing? Ms. Taylor? Ms. Burning! Where have you been? People have been looking for you all week."

Arlene turned toward him, carefully hiding the gun behind her back. "Stevie, I need you to wait in the car. I
told you
to wait in the car."

"Yeah, I know, but you were taking so long, and I needed to use the bathroom. I thought Mr. Higginbotham was here to help you load the last boxes? His car's still out front. Where is he?"

Another voice from the hall spoke up. "Mr. Higginbotham is right here. You okay, Emily? Helen?"

Arlene knew she was trapped. She raised the gun, and Emily pounced. She and Arlene crashed into the cabinets as Emily slipped on the wet floor. Arlene's grip on the gun remained firm. Emily hung on to Arlene with her left hand, using her casted right arm as a club. Arlene grunted when Emily made contact, but she kept her hold on the gun. Emily dimly heard Tad yelling at Stevie to call the police, before he also grabbed Arlene, attempting to wrest the gun from her. In their struggles, the gun went off. The sudden boom in the small kitchen shocked everyone into silence. Then a high-pitched scream had everyone rushing into movement again. Tad had Arlene's arms pinned behind her. Stevie was sobbing into his phone to the 9-1-1 dispatcher, and Emily caught Helen as she fell, blood gushing from her arm.

"She's been shot!" Emily screamed hysterically. Immediately, a compress covered the wound, and Emily glanced around to see where it had come from. Mr. Barnes ordered Emily to keep constant pressure on it. She was too stunned by his presence in this bizarre nightmare to say anything, but she obeyed. She watched, everything dim and muffled as if she were underwater, as Barnes moved, one sleeve torn off his button-down shirt, to the sink. He tore off the other sleeve and held it under the stream of water. He returned to bathe Helen's face. "It's only a flesh wound," he assured them all. "But she's still losing a good amount of blood." He turned to Stevie and said calmly, "Is the ambulance on its way?" Stevie's Adam's apple bobbed as he nodded his head
yes
. Barnes's calm in the midst of all the chaos seemed to clear away some of the fog, and Emily finally found her voice. "What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Apparently, Ms. Taylor, you're not only pesky, but also a thief." The words were delivered with his typical sneer. "After Mathletes' practice finished, Mr. Higginbotham discovered that his car had been apprehended."

"I figured you got tired of waiting and took the car on home. I did wonder why you hadn't left a note," Tad spoke up, shifting his weight ever so slightly to keep Arlene pinned to the floor. "Looks like you were too busy." His clenched jaw betrayed his fury at being left in the dark.

"As he had no other means of transportation, and I was still at the school," Barnes continued, "I offered him a lift. On the way, he got your message, so we rode to the rescue. Good thing that Cobra's fast."

Emily had to agree. "I think I may have a new appreciation for sports cars."

Barnes smiled a real smile at her, and Emily wondered if some kind of truce was in the making. His next words derailed that idea. "You sure do know how to make a mess of things." He motioned around the room, and Emily leaned back on her heels, surveying the wreckage. Tad was still holding on to Arlene, who was sobbing hysterically and trying to explain herself to Stevie. Emily wasn't sure if he was listening to her or not, though. He had one hand clenched in his fringe of hair, the other gripping his cell phone, occasionally responding to something the dispatcher said.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Arlene became even more frantic, pouring out assurances of how much she loved him to Stevie. They all watched as he slid down the wall to sit next to her. Tad released her enough to let her hold Stevie's hand. Emily checked to see where the gun had ended up, surprised to see it resting comfortably in Tad's hand. She gave him a raised-eyebrow look, but he just shrugged. Tad kept his eyes trained on Arlene as she furiously talked to Stevie in low, desperate tones.

Helen stirred, struggling to regain consciousness, just as Detective Gangly-Arms came storming into the kitchen, paramedics in tow. Emily stayed by Helen's side as she was loaded onto a stretcher, unsure of whether to ride to the hospital with her or stay to help Stevie. Barnes took the decision out of her hands. "I'll go with Helen. They'll need to take your statement." He motioned toward the detective. Emily hadn't thought he could surprise her any more than he already had, but then he tossed over his shoulder," Keys are in her. I'll pick her up at your place later." And then he disappeared out the door.

Emily turned to Detective Gangly-Arms. "We have to stop meeting like this," she joked, but he was not amused.

"We have two very different ideas of what 'butting out' looks like." He hesitated, then touching her lightly on the shoulder, added, "Thank you."

Emily spoke quietly, not wanting Stevie to overhear. "Helen's Tahoe is in the shed out back. Arlene is responsible for all of it."

The detective nodded. "We've been going over all of the old case files for the missing Olsen baby. A picture of the baby's nanny was put through a digital aging program. It's a clear match between Arlene Davis and the nanny, Bridget McMillan."

"What happens to Stevie now?" Emily asked him.

"We'll find his father, and hopefully, they can heal together. Stevie's going to have a long road ahead of him. Poor kid."

"Stephen Olsen is in Ellington," Emily reported. That was news to Gangly-Arms. He stepped away to bark some orders into his phone. This might have been the detective's first big case, but Emily thought he'd handled it well. She might even have to start calling him by his real name. Or not. She didn't want to get ahead of herself.

When the detective turned back to Arlene, by unspoken agreement, Emily and Tad flanked Stevie. "Arlene Davis, you are under arrest for the kidnapping and imprisonment of Helen Burning, the attempted murder of Emily Taylor and Gabriella Spencer, the kidnapping of Jacob Olsen, and the murder of Jim Layton." The clink of the handcuffs made Emily wince at the sound of their finality.

Stevie stumbled and Tad caught him. "Why? Mom, why?" Emily felt her heart shatter as she witnessed the utter anguish on the boy's face.

"I did it for you, Stevie. You're my son. I love you. Never forget—I love you," Arlene kept calling back to him as a uniformed officer led her out to a waiting car.