Fudge-Laced Felonies (18 page)

“Because ‘the culprit’ isn’t after the police. He’s after me.”

Ethan started to say something but clamped his mouth closed as we pulled into Mabel’s driveway. No Cadillac sat parked in front of the gray wood-shingled house. Pink impatiens overflowed wooden barrels. She had swept the porch clean. I stuck my head out the open window of the truck and listened. Nothing. “She’s not here.”

“It does appear that way. Can I take you home now?”

“We could go by the paper.”

“No. If you still want to, we can go tomorrow. Today I’m taking you home to bed.”

My cheeks heated at his innocent words, and I sent a quick prayer heavenward for forgiveness at the direction my thoughts had traveled. But to be honest, Ethan should be gracing the cover of People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issue.

The object of my thoughts backed the truck from the drive. “What’s on your mind?”

My face stung with heat. He caught me. “Nothing. Just thinking about everything.”

He chuckled. “What?”

“Nothing.” He snorted with the effort to hold back his laughter.

Had he guessed what I’d been thinking? I turned to stare out the window. How could I ever look at him again? Did he know what he’d said? Was it not an accident? Had the man no sense of embarrassment? He was a volunteer at church! I straightened in my seat. Was he flirting with me? The car grew warm. I cracked my window.

The sight of Aunt Eunice pacing the front porch of our house pulled me from my musings. The sweet woman had closed the store early to welcome me home. “Thank the Lord!” She jogged toward us, her face red with the effort. She waved a white piece of paper in her hand. “This is for you, Summer. I found it on the porch when I woke up this morning.”

As I read the note, my heart skipped a beat. Someone had cut words out of a magazine and pasted them on notebook paper. I read them out loud. “Bring the cash to the highway underpass at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday. Come alone or suffer the consequences.”

I glanced at Ethan. “This is Saturday. I don’t have the cash. Joe took it and gave it to that other cop.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I told you we should’ve kept it. Now what?”

“Stop talking, give prayer a try, and let me think. Lord, give me patience.” Ethan lowered himself to the top porch step, the note in his hand. “Call Joe. Get him over here.”

Aunt Eunice rushed into the house to do his bidding, returning seconds later with the cordless phone in her hand. “He’ll be right here. I’ll whip up something to eat.”

“Food. Her solution to everything. Or tea. She uses that a lot, too.” I joined Ethan on the top step. My head ached, and I leaned to rest on his shoulder. He placed his arm around me, pulling me close.

“Don’t worry, Tink. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I’ll be right beside you.”

“As wonderful as that sounds, Ethan, it’s impossible. The note said for me to come alone.”

“No chance.” His arm tightened.

“What if something bad happens?”

“We’ll get through it together.”

I loved the sound of that. We sat in silence until Joe’s car rolled into the driveway. Ethan got to his feet, keeping his hand on my shoulder.

“What did Summer do now?” Joe scowled.

“I’m right here. You don’t have to talk over me, and I didn’t do anything. We got this.” I snatched the paper from Ethan’s hand and gave it to Joe.

If Joe was the kind of man who swore, I’m sure choice words would’ve come from his mouth. The man needed a vacation. Especially after this week. His face had turned scarlet on so many occasions lately, I feared for his health.

“Well? What am I supposed to do?” I stepped away from Ethan and stared into my cousin’s worry-lined face.

Joe rubbed a hand over the stubble of his hair. “I’m a small-town cop. I didn’t sign up for this. It’s time to call in the big guys. I’m suggesting Wayne call the state police.”

“I didn’t sign up for this either. Someone is trying to kill me, Joe.”

He glared at me. “I realize that. My main concern is to keep you safe.”

“Give me the money back. I’ll turn it over tonight.”

“I can’t. It’s locked up.”

I gnawed my lip. “I got it. I’ll scan a twenty-dollar bill, make copies, and try to fool the crooks that way.” Ethan and Joe looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.

“You’re playing with the law.” Joe shook his head. “That’s counterfeiting.”

“I’m not going to spend the money.” Now my head pounded. I sat back on the stoop. “You come up with something better.”

Joe glanced at his watch. “That’s six hours from now. Plenty of time to find out what the state police want us to do. Let me go back to the station, call them, and head out here when I’m off duty. The other officers at the station can handle the little things. Okay?”

“Can’t you call them now? On your cell phone?”

“I’d rather have privacy.”

“Fine.” At this point, I didn’t care. I wanted the bed Ethan promised me. He must have taken notice of my exhaustion. He pulled me to my feet.

“Summer has a busy night ahead. She’s got to get some rest.” He steered me into the house and shouted for Aunt Eunice to help me. “I’ll be here when you wake up,” he promised, laying a soft kiss on my cheek.

I nodded and allowed my aunt to lead me up the stairs and tuck me into bed like a small child. This was becoming commonplace. Like I was reverting in age, rather than moving forward.

The manager, bless his heart, had rush-delivered my mattress, and I sank into it like a baby in a bassinet. A new down pillow, a free gift with the purchase, cradled my head. Within seconds, to soft murmurs of Aunt Eunice praying, I drifted into slumberland.

A knock on the door caused my eyes to fly open. I glanced at the clock. 10:00. My aunt poked her head in. “The police are here and ready for you. You might want to take one of your pain pills. They’re a stiff bunch.”

Fourteen

Two men and a woman, all wearing dark suits, clustered in the living room. Another man in black slacks and a white long-sleeved shirt sat in front of a laptop. I scanned the room to locate Ethan. He and Joe stood by the front door, looking like misplaced children at an adult party.

“Miss Meadows?” The woman approached me, her dark hair drawn into a tight bun and her face devoid of makeup. Cocoa brown eyes stared impassively into mine. “We’d like for you to have a seat on the sofa.” She motioned toward one of the men, the older of the two. “Mr. Brown will talk you through tonight’s proceedings.”

I covered my mouth to hide a snicker. For a police officer’s name, Mr. Brown seemed a bit cliché, but who was I to argue? I must look terrible. Mister Stern Face relaxed before perching next to me. I raised a hand to my face. Yep. Definitely puffy. My head swam from the effects of the painkillers.

“Don’t be frightened, Miss Meadows. We’ll have you under surveillance the entire time. Officer Bowers,” he motioned his head toward the woman, “will put a wire on you that will enable us to hear everything that goes on.”

“I’m not afraid, Officer Brown.” My lips curled into a smile. “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.” The expression on the man’s face showed he didn’t have a whole lot of faith, if any. “Okay, I’m a little nervous.”

“As you should be. There has already been one attempt on your life.” Officer Brown stood. “You’ll be carrying a bag of marked bills. If anyone approaches you, do exactly as they say. Don’t be brave. Don’t try taking them down.”

Taking them down? Who did he think I was, a superhero?

The doorbell rang. Officer Brown placed a restraining hand on my shoulder. At his nod, Aunt Eunice stepped up and answered the door. She then turned and hid back in the kitchen.

Nate pushed himself inside, only to find his path blocked by every testosterone-packing male in the place. “I want to see Summer. I need to know she’s all right.”

I brushed Officer Brown’s hand from my shoulder and stood. “I’m fine, Nate. Now isn’t a good time.”

“Are you in trouble? I want to be here with you.”

“You heard the lady.” Officer Wayne gave him a soft shove out the door and locked the dead bolt. “How did he get all the way to the porch? Where’s outside security? Any more visitors going to show up at this time of the night?” He sneered. “Way to keep things undercover.”

I shook my head. “He’s my, er, former boyfriend.” Undercover? I glanced out the window. The driveway housed both my aunt and uncle’s truck, Ethan’s pickup, and two dark-colored sedans. Definitely not undercover. It looked like a funeral wake out there. I wasn’t crazy about the analogy.

With still nearly an hour to go before my appointment, I grew bored watching the silent agents doing whatever they did. With all eyes on me, I ambled toward Joe and Ethan. “Any news no one’s told me yet?”

There had to be. The two had been whispering since I came downstairs. “Well?”

Ethan leaned forward to whisper in my ear. His breath tickled the hair on my neck. “The fingerprint on the wooden box from your tree house was Terri Lee’s.”

“Ethan!” Joe crossed his arms. “That’s the last time I tell you anything.”

“I’d have dragged the information from you sooner or later. You never could keep a secret. How you became a police officer, I’ll never know.” I peeked over my shoulder at the police wraiths floating around the room. “I knew she was guilty. Now we just have to find her.”

An almost-overwhelming sense of gratification washed over me. If my grin got any bigger, my face would have split in two. I wasn’t doing too badly at this investigating business. If Terri Lee showed up to collect the money tonight, they’d close the case, and I could refocus on the candy store.

“Miss Meadows?” Officer Bowers approached me with some wire contraption in her hands. “We’re ready to get you wired.”

“A venti mocha latte will do that.” I giggled, thinking myself clever. Apparently, the medication still made me loopy. I was the only one laughing.

I held my arms straight out from my sides. “Let’s do this.”

The woman’s face paled, and she glanced at the group of men. “It would be better if we did this in another room. You’ll have to remove your shirt.”

Idiot. “Of course.” My face heated. “Don’t you police officers have a sense of humor?”

“Not while we’re working, Miss Meadows.” Officer Bowers waved her hand for me to precede her. “You need to wear a baggy blouse. It’ll hide the wire more effectively.”

“We can also stuff it in my cleavage, if you know what I mean. God hasn’t exactly deprived me in that area.” I snorted at my cleverness and delusion of grandeur.

“Are you sure you’re up to this, Miss Meadows? Are you on medication?”

“Painkillers. Aren’t they great? I really don’t care about anything.” I opened the door to the bathroom and grabbed a navy blouse from where I’d draped it over the clothes hamper the day before. “This one will work. It’s big, baggy, and buttons up the front.”

Ms. Police Officer rolled her eyes at me as she shut the door. “Strip down to your bra. Let me get this hooked on you.”

“But I hardly know you.” I snickered then quit at the stony silence greeting my joke. Really, I’d have to discuss the police’s lack of humor with Mr. Brown.

Brown stepped up to us as soon as we reentered the living room. “Don’t forget, Miss Meadows. We’ll have you in our sights the entire time. If someone approaches you and you fear for your life, turn and run. We’ll be there in seconds. Under no circumstances should you leave the area with anyone but one of my officers. Understand?”

“Perfectly, sir!” I saluted and sobered when I caught the frightened look on Ethan’s face. His skin turned the color of creamed wheat beneath his tan. The silly man did care for me. The thought warmed me, overpowering the niggling fear quickly rising. What was I doing? The medication had nothing to do with my goofiness. I was terrified and trying desperately to cover up the fact.

“Showtime, folks.” Brown clapped his hands and, before I knew it, ushered me outside and into a van that appeared on the property as if by magic.

I glanced toward the house. Ethan stood outlined in the light of the front door. Joe clapped him on the shoulder, and the two sprinted to Joe’s squad car. I felt safer knowing Ethan would be close by. Silly, considering the others were trained professionals. But knowing there would be at least two people near the underpass who really cared about me, not because it was part of their job, left me more secure.

Aunt Eunice waved from the kitchen window. She lifted her apron and dabbed at her eyes. Trying to solve this case on my own affected my family, as well.

Lord, forgive me for my selfishness. Keep my family and me safe from my stupidity.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense for me to drive myself? I mean, if the suspect sees me getting out of a van and knows I drive a Sonata, and my aunt and uncle own trucks—”

“Miss Meadows, we have it all worked out so they don’t know what you’ll be driving. You’ll be fine. Besides, the last time you drove, someone ran you off the road. It’ll be dark. We’ll drop you off approximately fifty feet from where you need to be. You can walk the rest of the way. We’ll be watching you every minute.”

Brown gave me a wink. I think he meant to reassure me. It left me gaping like a fish, since the man’s face screwed up like a dried tomato. He obviously couldn’t wink. Then he slammed the rear door, casting me into darkness.

Within seconds, a dim light burned over my head, and I released the breath I held. God, be with me. God, be with me.

We arrived a few minutes later. The van door swung open. Brown held a finger to his lips and helped me disembark. With my feet firmly planted on the asphalt, I looked for Joe’s squad car. No sign of it. My stomach plummeted.

Humidity hung like a heavy blanket in the Southern summer night, and I shivered from the van’s air-conditioning. Only the stars lit the two-lane highway. Brother moon was hiding. A bullfrog croaked from a nearby pond. Simple sounds that would comfort on a normal night.

I walked toward the underpass, my tennis shoes pounding dully against the road. I moved closer to my destination, the rapid beat of my heart drowning out the noises of unseen creatures.