Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (20 page)

“You want to s
hare this enlightenment
?”
Alec
narrowed his eyes and
swung his head in my direct
ion
.

“
The
work of an
am
ateur, and
not a very goo
d one.” I shook my
head.
One of the basics I’d learned over the years
as
a cop—listen to your gut and work every angle.
“I’ll explain on the way
. W
e have an arrest to make.”

Alec shut down the m
onitors. “W
ouldn
’t morning be better?
”

“
I don’t trust her next move.”
I reached into my pocket before remembering
my keys
were on my desk. “Let’s take your cruiser.”

From the passenger seat
,
I filled
Alec in
.
“
The
painted
words were
low on
the
windows
of the bookshop
. Since the first incident
,
t
here was something about
the way they were written.
I couldn’t figure it out until I stared at the screen
s
. Even in school Lilyan
had an odd way of forming letters—more like drawing than writing.”

Alec c
licked
the blinker
on
and
turn
ed
. He pulled onto the dirt shoulder in front of Lilyan’s house. The carport was empty of her blue Honda. Sickness roc
ked my chest. “Go to
Maggie’s. She and Sam are there
alone
.” I called Ted for back
-
up.

We
defied
every
speed limit
.
Not more than a quarter
of a mile from Maggie’s
,
I
pointed to a wooded area off the road.
“
That’s
Lilyan’s
car
.” I
t wa
s only a blur
of blue
as we passed it.
Alec
swerved
into Maggie’s
driveway with Ted right on his
bumper.

Out of the vehicles
,
we
stormed down the path.
Sam was on the ground—Goldie hugged against her
.
Lilyan towered
over them. “I tried to tell you nicely, but no
,
you wouldn’t listen. This is all your fau
lt
.” I doubted Sam could make out a word Lilyan spewed out, wildly waving her gun around. Lilyan hadn’t spotted us, but it was only a matter of seconds before she would.

I motioned
to Alec and
Ted to move in from behind. Then
I made my presence know
n.
“Lilyan. I’m here.”

“H
ere to visit this trash
? Just
like her mom.” She leveled the gun toward me. “Maybe she should have the honor of watching you die first.”
Pure hate emitted from her closed expression. Man. The ball whizzed right past me on this one—a rookie could have done better. A gasp release
d
over my shoulder
.
Maggie had joi
ned us. I wanted to c
heck on the progress of the team
as they moved into position,
but
didn’t want
to tip their play. My eyes
remained focused on Lilyan.

A twig snapped
.
I cringed as Lilyan slightly turned
.
In a smooth
synchronized
motion, Alec
tackled her to the
dirt. I rushed forward and grabbed the gun from her grip. Ted
secured
her
arms
at her back
and sna
pped on cuffs.

Ted
gripped Lilyan’s
upper
a
rm
and
escorte
d her do
wn the path to his patro
l car.
The group followed. Lilyan
’s
lips
moved behind the closed glass
.

Sam folded
her arms across her chest.
“She’s threatening
that next time she won’t miss.”

“Had she actually fired at Sam?”
I
tightened my hand around Sam’s,
the color
drained from her face as though
she was about to upchuck her dinner.
“There won’t be
anothe
r chance
.”

I motioned to Ted. “Get her out of here. Mirandize her, and check her for powder residue.”

“By the book.” Ted slid into the driver’s seat. Lilyan thrashed around wielding continuous threats from the back seat.

Alec went around to the driver’s side and Ted lowered the glass. “See how fast you can get a search warrant for her house and vehicle. And have Arnold impound her car.” Ted nodded and Alec came back to where we waited.

Four sets of eyes
were
glued to the cruiser
as
Ted
back
ed
out
of Maggie’s driveway
. With the car no longer in view
,
I motioned
toward Maggie. “Give Abby a call and see if she
has room for the three of you, three if you included Goldie, which I did
. There’ll be a full
-
blown search
ripping through
here
in the morning.”

“
We’re in luck.
I’ll
grab an overnight bag
,” Maggie
said, flipping
her phone closed.

I held on
to
Samantha’s hand, as she started to follow Maggie
.
“
I’m sorry. I made a dangerously bad
call with Lilyan
.”

“Your fault? Seriously? I’m grateful you showed up. After the way Goldie attacked
her, the minute she manag
ed to grab
her gun
, I knew she meant business
.”

“The blood on Lilyan’s arm
was Goldie’s doing?
” I reached down and rubbed the little dog’s head. “
W
e have the makings of a police dog on our hands.”

Her
are you crazy
look didn’t need words.
“I’m going to
help Maggie.”

“You’ll need to come down to the station and give a complete statement tomorrow.”

“Isn’t this where I came in? A detailed report of my accident.” She reached up and gave me a hug
,
lingering a moment
longer than a mere thank
-
you might
. “See you tomorrow.” She pla
ced a
foot on
the
first step and paused, did a
half
-
turn and tossed me a wave. I nodded and she went on in. Heaviness
gripped my stomach
—what if something had happened to her?

Alec and I heade
d to
the station
.
“Boss, h
ow do you want
to proceed with Lilyan’s arrest
?”
I understood the implications, and had
already wrestled with the options
.

“
You take the lead
.
C
all and talk to the psy
ch ward over in Mariner Bay,
see what Dr. Jefferies suggests.
Don’t drop the ball on this one
.
”

Chapter Fourteen

Life is fille
d with
prom
ises—i
t
s ways
often
more fickl
e
than young love
.
P
eople
everywhere fighting
the touch, smell
,
and shape of their own personal emotional legacies. Can we become victors, place our flag in the ground and
declare ourselves conquerors
?
~
Journal entry

“Are
you sure this isn’t Cabot Cove?
I’m waiting for Jessica
Fletcher
to come riding up on her
bicycle.” I sliced into my Belgian waffle
topped with
mounds
of
whip
ped
cream and strawberries.

“Better you hear
it before the gossip chain wakes up
.”
Logan
chuckled
and broke the yokes
with a fork
,
spreading the bright yellow over the egg whites.

“I’m impressed you both fi
nd this humorous.” Maggie’s gaze bounced between
the
two of us. “What if she’d hurt
Sam
? Or
injured
Goldie? Stupid…
stupid
leaving Sam
o
utside
.” She
pushed her plate back, her breakfast untouched.

“Neither happened.
No one was hurt—and I pray
Lilyan
gets the help she needs
.”
T
he
what
if
s
churned in my stomach
, making it impossible
to swallow another bite.

Logan
picked up
the phone
next to his plate
and
studied
the
screen. He s
hoved
the phone into his pocket and
stared at hi
s food, a
penetrating
seriousness replacing
the earlier humor.

“
W
hat
?”
I watched his lips
,
waiting for an answer.

“
T
wo
bullets
were found
embedded in the front porch
rails
of Maggie’s house.
”

Maggie
frowned and
s
hook her head
.
“Two bullets—
”

My chest tig
htened
.
“
Lilyan must’ve fired about the same
time we ran behind the trees
.”
What if I had chosen to go in the direction of the porch?

“
If she’
d been a more experi...never mind. If you need me, call
.” Goldie hopped
up and Logan
gave her a rub before trudging away.

Abby strolled to our table
and
I
welcome
d the
interruption
. I had
met her
when we arrived
in the wee hours this morning
, and instantly
understood the charm and success of the inn
.

Abby touched
Maggie’s shoulder.
“I see you’re
enjoying one
of our signature lattes
.
” She nodded to the cups on the table.
“
I hope everything is alright.”

“Logan has it all in hand.
Sure a
ppreciated your
help
.”
Maggie fiddled with her napkin.

“
The benefit of a small town
, friends helping friends.”
Abby glanced toward the door. “I better ge
t back to greeting our customers—m
y hostess is
out with the flu today. But
let me know if you need to stay another night.”

“I don’t anticipate it, but I’
ll let you know if anything changes.” Maggie stood and gave Abby a hug and quickly sat back down as Abby reclaimed her spot by the entrance.