Murderous Muffins (16 page)

“Shut up! Get back against the wall, hands over your head,” Frank ordered with the knife blade against my neck. He pulled out my small notepad and a blue ink pen.

“Now you, get over here,” he directed Cat.

Cat slumped as she walked slowly toward him.

I had to say something loud enough so my phone could pick it up and José could hear. I was hoping that he could trace the phone and find us. “Frank, aren’t you worried that someone will walk into the locker room? I mean, Atlas Gym has a lot of clients.”

“Do you think I’m an idiot? I locked the door.” Frank huffed. He turned to Cat. “Take this pen and paper and write exactly what I tell you. Word for word.” Frank bit his lip.

“My penmanship is not so great.” Cat stood next to him.

“’Stop stalling! Write!” Frank held the knife to Cat’s neck. “We are sorry, but we could no longer live with the fact that we killed Mr. Phong,” Frank recited.

“But your fingerprints are all over the needle.” Cat glared at Frank as she shook the plastic bag.

“Problem solved.” Frank snatched the plastic bag from Cat. Then he ordered Cat, “Hold this needle.”

“It’s not sterile,” Cat objected.

“Do you want your neck snapped now?” Frank said. “Or slit?”

Cat held the syringe in her hand; a tear rolled down her face.

Frank said, “Miss Bezu, your turn. Give it to her.”

My trembling hand touched the outer case.

“Now put it in this bag.” Frank held open the Ziploc.

I did as ordered, my mind racing. How could we get away from him?

“This is ironic. I left this very needle on your kitchen counter hoping to get your fingerprints on it, and it didn’t work. Lily took it away. But now it is all coming together nicely, like it was meant to be,” Frank said.

“Lucky you.” Cat’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Next line: ‘We could no longer live, knowing what we did. We hope that you do not grieve for us,’” Frank said.

“Wait,” Cat interrupted. “If I really were to end my life, which, by the way, I would absolutely not, I would want them to grieve for me some, but not for too long. My family would know that.”

“I wouldn’t want anyone to mourn for me. Instead, I would love it if they celebrated my life. Tell stories, laugh, and sip sweet tea under the oak tree,” I said, trying my best to delay our ultimate death.

“Enough!” Frank shouted. “Now you both sign the letter and then give it to me.”

“Should I write, ‘sincerely, Cat’? That doesn’t seem to fit in a suicide note. Neither does ‘see you later,’” Cat said.

I could tell Cat was stalling, too. I continued to draw this out. “Good point. I don’t know what the etiquette is for closing a suicide letter.”

“This is a difficult situation here,” Cat added. “You want it to sound real.”

“Yes, things like ‘yours truly’ seem too light. On the other hand, ‘best wishes’ or ‘kind regards’ or ‘respectfully yours’ are options, too. Although none of them seem to fit here, either. You have put us in a tough spot, Frank,” I said. My head felt light. I knew my nerves were getting the best of me. Where was José? What could we do to save ourselves? I went through some defense moves in my head. Maybe I could try one on Frank if I got close enough to him.

Frank stomped his foot on the ground. “Stop it! Write ‘bye,’ then your name. Now!”

Cat and I locked eyes. We had deferred our end as long as we could. We signed our names, and then Frank took the note and set it on the bench.

“All right, you get up here.” Frank motioned to Cat.

Tears streamed down her face. She got up on the bench. I could see her legs shaking. Frank secured one end of the jump rope around her neck. Then he flung the loose end over a steel beam in the ceiling, catching it on the other side. He tugged a few times. “This will hold. Now you.” Frank pointed at me.

With wobbly legs, I climbed onto the bench. Frank tied the rope around my neck. I felt the rough, twisted rope dig into my skin. It was difficult to swallow. I heard Cat gag. All that was left was for him to kick the bench away, and Cat and I were lynched.

Frank checked the knot around my and Cat’s necks.

I had to stall. I asked him, “Can we please just have one moment together before you hang us?”

“Please, we are best friends and need to pray.” Cat sobbed.

My eyes welled up.

“God, I hate this girly emotional stuff. Fine, you can have one minute. Say your good-byes or prayers or whatever. Then that is it. Any monkey business and I do this.” Frank pantomimed taking the knife and cutting our throats. He wandered a few feet away from us.

“Cat, I’m so sorry. About everything.” My voice came out faint. We stood a foot from each other. I reached up to the rope on my neck—it was taut. If I tried to loosen mine, it would tighten the end around Cat’s neck. “I can’t even loosen this without it hurting you. I’m so sorry.”

Between sniffles, Cat whispered, “It’s not your fault. But I have to tell you we are not, and I repeat, not dying here.”

“Um, we have nooses around our necks. He has a switchblade. How are you thinking we are going to get out of here?” A tear streaked down my cheek. “Cat I really tried to save us, I did. When I got the pen and paper from my purse, I hit José’s number on my phone.”

“Smart girl.” Cat coughed. “ But right now this very minute, we need to save ourselves.”

“How?” My voice quivered.

“Listen to me, when he comes over here to kick out the bench, I want you to put your hand inside the rope next to your neck,” Cat said. “To protect your throat in case this plan does not go well.”

“When you say not well, you mean, becomes a tragedy?”

“Yes. But if it goes right, we escape.” Cat’s eyes were wide and moist. Her voice shook. “When he comes near, I will grab his knife. As soon as I do, we both kick up a leg and thrust it at his head, knocking him to the ground. I take the knife and cut us loose. Then we run like heck,” Cat said. “Don’t look back.”

“But what if this doesn’t work? Then what?” My stomach took a free fall.

Cat’s voice lowered even more. “You have to be one hundred percent in this and believe with your whole heart and mind that we can do this.”

I bit my bottom lip as I held back a tear. “Yes. I love you, Cat. And whatever happens, I consider myself to be so very blessed that I had you in my life.”

“Back at you.” Cat smiled as a tear ran down her cheek.

“Time’s up,” Frank shouted as he approached us. He held the knife in his hand.

“Can you come here a second?” Cat tugged at the rope around her neck. Perspiration soaked her forehead.

“Why?” Frank asked.

I had to come up with something. “We would like you to do a final prayer with us.”

“Huh! You two are stalling,” Frank said.

“No. We are not,” I said.

“Yes, you are!” Frank stepped toward us, wielding his knife.

As he got within inches of us, Cat swiped the knife from his grip. As Frank lunged forward to retrieve his weapon, we both kicked him in the head. He reeled back onto the ground with a thud. For a moment, he didn’t move.

Using the knife, Cat began to saw the rope around my neck. a moment later, I was free, causing the rope to loosen. I untied the knot around Cat’s neck. Perspiration soaked my dress.

We raced toward the door, but it suddenly burst open, and José and two uniformed officers rushed in, guns drawn.

“No one move. Hands up!” José said.

Cat and I raised our arms. We were both panting.

I wept. “José, you are a sight for sore eyes.”

“Smart move with the phone. I traced it,” José said. “Are you okay?”

“You have no idea what we’ve just been through,” Cat added.

The two officers stood over Frank.

“That man lying on the floor killed Mr. Phong,” I said.

“And nearly hung us,” Cat added.

As José took notes, we explained everything to him. Shortly after, Frank was handcuffed and led out by the officers.

As I exited the locker room, the same teenager who had tried getting in a while ago approached me.

“Are the bugs all gone now?” the teenage boy asked me.

“I guess you could say that.” The stress and tension drained; I began to laugh hysterically.

The next morning, Cat greeted me in the kitchen as I poured the freshly brewed coffee into the carafe. The aroma filled the air. It was comforting to be back in my home, performing my daily routine, after all that had happened. Now Frank was in jail for the murder of Mr. Phong. To think my life had been a minute away from ending last night. I shuddered.

“I have to admit, this has been one heck of a sleepover party.” Cat made herself a cup of coffee.

I giggled. “Sure enough.”

“You know what I decided to do?”

“You taught me how to be an amateur sleuth, now are you going to teach me mind reading, too?” I smiled.

“No, smarty pants.” Cat grinned. “Andrew, my mom, and the girls still have a week left in Korea, and I am going to join them. I’m dragging the boys along, too.”

“Well, good for you. I’m glad you came to your senses.”

Cat sipped her coffee. “We need to be together. And there is no time like the present. And everything is fine around here. The Sunshine Market is running smoothly, I’ve played superhero sleuth again and solved another crime. I think it’s okay for me to leave for a while. Plus, I didn’t figure out any more about the fifty thousand dollar deposits. What I really need now is to be with my family.”

“After what we’ve been through, it’s made me rethink what is important. Having dear friends like you, Annie Mae, and José, and having my health. Really, that is all that matters.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more.” Cat grinned as she added cream to her cup. “What about your house?”

“Well, of course it’s important to me, but not as important as people.”

“But it’s still important.”

“Yes, and I know that I still have a list a mile long of things that need to be done. But my life having almost ended did put things in perspective. Mending this house doesn’t seem as urgent as it once did.”

“But the good news is that you can start some repairs on it, now that you got some money from your necklace.”

My hand automatically went to my neck. “That’s right. It’s just a matter of which project to tackle first. Maybe I’ll just write each repair needed on a piece of paper, fill a jar with them, and reach in and pick one.”

“Great strategy.”

“Anyway, in time, it will all get done. I just have to have faith that things will work out. They always do in the end, whether I worry myself silly over them or not. Listen, I don’t want you to worry about me.”

“But that is what I do best.”

“I know.” I squeezed her hand.

“It seems so quiet here now, doesn’t it?” Cat asked.

“Yes. Just you and me. No Lily. No Frank. No Luiz,” I said.

Cat rinsed her mug out. “Hey, that reminds me. I wonder if Luiz ever got those company papers we found in Mr. Phong’s room.”

“I don’t know. I’ll go and check to see if he retrieved them.”

“While you do that, I think I’ll go up to my room and start to pack,” Cat said.

I gave her a hug. “I’ll miss you being here with me, but I’m glad you will soon be with your family.”

***

Cat climbed the stairs as I opened the drawer in the foyer desk. A thin white box replaced the envelope for Luiz, and sticking out under that was a DVD—Sudden Impact.

As I opened the box, my breath caught in my throat. Tears swelled in my eyes as I looked at my pearl necklace, tenderly touching the clasp. It was as if I were reuniting with a long-lost relative that I’d thought gone forever.

A note tucked inside the box read: Dearest Barbara Elizabeth Susan Gordon, I can never repay you for your assistance in solving our business challenge, but please accept this as a small token of my sincerest appreciation. I do hope we can have dinner soon—you can bring the movie. With warm regards, Luiz.

The front door handle jiggled. A blast of warm, humid air blew in as Luiz entered the house.

“Those belong on you, not in a pawnshop,” Luiz said.

Seeing him sped my heartbeat. “I don’t know what to say to you. I mean, you didn’t have to get these back for me. It was so very kind of you, but really unnecessary.”

“Trust me, it was the least I could do. You have no idea how much money it would have cost us if those papers got in the hands of The Emro Company. Come to find out that Joseph owed a lot of people money. He knew that stealing and then selling our company secrets could get him out of debt.” Luiz’s gorgeous green-blue eyes gazed into mine. “And I could not see your family heirloom going to anyone else but you. We really appreciate what you did for us.”

“I still can’t believe sweet Mr. Phong was involved in betraying your company.” I had to look away from Luiz for fear I’d swoon. Just being near him made me light-headed.

“He didn’t take them from us.”

“But we found them in his room.”

“Yes, that is true. However, after we questioned his cousin Joseph, Joseph told us that Mr. Phong took the papers from him, then hid them. He knew what his cousin was trying to do was wrong,” Luiz said.

“But how did Mr. Phong know about them in the first place?”

“Joseph had offered to cut his cousin in on the deal, but Mr. Phong would have nothing to do with it. He instead took it upon himself to steal the stolen documents from Joseph and return them to us.”

My heart sank. “But he died before he could get them back to you.”

“Yes, I’m sorry about that. I know you liked him.” Luiz’s eyes lowered.

I took in a breath in order to suppress a tear. “He was a very loveable man, killed by a very angry one.”

“I heard what happened. The newspaper ran a big story on it. You are quite the famous person now.”

“Yes, I’m the talk of the town. I don’t know if I like all this attention. It’s rather unsettling.” I smiled. “My phone has been ringing all morning. I had to put it on silent.”

“But what you did was so very noble. Finding justice for a friend. Although I have to admit, I was worried sick thinking about you putting your life in such danger.” Luiz caressed my cheek.

His touch was gentle and warm, sending shudders through my body.

I thought of Lily. “Oh, and do you still need employees at your company?”

“Yes.”

“I have one for you. Lily.”

“The young lady who lives here?”

“Yes. After what her boyfriend did, she’s ready to change her life for the better. And she’s a great young lady.”

“Consider it done.” He picked up the strand of pearls. “May I put these on for you?”

“Thank you.” With trembling hands, I lifted my hair. Could he hear my heart beating out of my chest?

He fastened them. “There. Now they are exactly where they belong. They’re magnificent, like you.” He leaned in and kissed me, his lips brushing mine, softly at first, then deeper and more passionate. I sank into his arms, our kiss intensifying as he pulled me close.

Feeling the muscles of his back and the heat from his body made me weak.

Footsteps clicked down the stairs. I pushed out of the embrace.

Cat waved her hands as her face flushed. “Oh, I’m sorry to interrupt you. I’ll be out of your way in a minute. Please ignore me and continue on.”

Luiz stepped away from me and cleared his throat. “Pardon me.”

I fussed with my hair for a second. My body felt warmed up by ten degrees. “We were just, um…”

“Please, no need to explain.” Cat smiled. “This time I know what I interrupted, and I am glad to see you two together.”

“If you ladies will excuse me, I do have to get back to work,” Luiz said. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “Let’s continue later, if that’s okay with you.”

I blushed as I nodded. With that, Luiz said good-bye to us and left.

“Wow, holy smokes, good for you, Bezu!” Cat beamed. “Hey, is that what I think it is?” She pointed to my neck.

“Yes. Luiz gave this to me, as a sort of reward,” I said.

Cat said, “Getting him is the reward. What a nice guy.”

Just thinking of him made me giddy. “Yes, he is the gentleman.”

“And a cutie, too.” Cat tapped my arm.

“Really, I didn’t notice his gorgeous eyes, boyishly handsome dimples, and his incredible sexy body as well as his magnetic personality.” I giggled. “I guess some girls might fall for that.”

Cat laughed. “Yes, but not you.”

“I can’t trust myself with men; you know that.”

“C’mon now. You need to let go of that bull from your loser ex-fiancé.”

“I did,” I stammered.

“Sometimes I think that you might have actually let yourself move on. Like it seems that you did when you were with Luiz. But then you only allow yourself to get so close before you run away or shut down.”

“I do not.” She was right. I held men at an arm’s length for fear of getting crushed again. “I am completely over Bradley Dwight Rabren.”

“Hmm. I think not.”

“If he came crawling back here, I’d slam the door in his face,” I insisted.

Cat arched an eyebrow. “Who are you trying to convince by saying that? Me or you?”

Shaking my head, I said, “Cat, you really don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

Cat smirked. “Okay then. Well, Miss Mysterious Gal, I will finish packing, then get out of here.” She climbed the stairs.

The doorbell rang. I opened it.

Bradley stood there, his sandy-blonde hair hanging in front of his crystal blue eyes. He wore a navy blazer over a button-down white oxford shirt. His khaki slacks and Sperry topsiders finished his outfit. My stomach flipped, and I felt myself melt looking at him and remembering our intense chemistry. A few more crow’s-feet around his eyes made him look even sexier and more distinguished. But he was a dirty rat. A low-down good-for-nothing rascal.

My gut clenched. I wasn’t about to let him back in my life. And now he was back to apologize for leaving me and betraying me. I would not make it easy for him. He’d humiliated me, and now was my opportunity to gloat over him because he obviously still had feelings for me or he wouldn’t be at my house. I didn’t care. I had a hot new Latin guy in my life.

“Well, after all these years, look who is here groveling at my door,” I said, trying to sound smug and indifferent when I really wanted to punch him in the face.

His eyebrows rose. He shifted his stance as he looked at me.

“Well?” I folded my arms on my chest.

“I’m not back to renew our relationship.”

“Oh?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Good, then. Because I do not want you back,” I stammered. “So did the money run out? Is that why you’re here?”

“No, uh, that’s not it.” He looked down at his Sperry topsiders.

“Well, you’re just a scoundrel.” I huffed. “Anyone who would take a payoff to leave their fiancée is just plain immoral.”

“But, but...your dad offered and I said…”

I interrupted him, sticking my finger in his face. “Leave my dad out of this. What he did was wrong, and, trust me, I was mad at him for a long time. But he was sincerely sorry and only did what he did because he knew you were wrong for me. And he loved me too much. Not that I’m saying that justifies what he did. No, that took a long time for both of us to heal from that. But his heart, God rest his soul, was in the right place. And boy, oh boy, was he right about you.”

I took in a deep breath and continued my tirade. “Yes, indeed. You showed your tail and who you really were. I am kind of glad you did something like that before I married you. That way I saw your true character—or in your case, lack of character—before we walked down the aisle in front of God and family and society. You did me a favor.”

“You’re welcome?” Bradley’s voice rose.

“Humph.” I stomped my foot on the hardwood floor. “If I weren’t such a lady, I would slam the door in your face. So why are you here? Because I refuse to take you back, no matter how much you beg. Although I may accept a request for forgiveness if you are offering one.”

Bradley lowered his eyes. “I’ve already established this. I didn’t come here to get you back.”

“Then you want to apologize.”

“No.”

“Then why in heavens are you standing on my doorstep?” I demanded.

He looked sheepish.

I stared at him. “Cat got your tongue? So why are you here?  Are you returning my father’s bribe money?”

“I work for the city now.” He pulled papers from his blazer pocket. “You’ve been served.”

“How dare you,” I screamed. “You’re such a bum.”

“I’m only doing my job.” He turned and marched down the sidewalk, as Annie Mae walked past him toward me.

Rushing emotions collided in me: fury at Bradley and pure joy at seeing my dear friend Annie Mae.

“Welcome back.” I gave her a big bear hug as she entered the house.

Annie Mae smiled from ear to ear. “So, did I miss anything?”