Beware the Orchids (A Shady Acres Mystery Book 1) Read online

  “I doubt it.” He leaned close to my face. “Who is your constant companion? Who would you have told your secrets to? Miss Coconut here. Take the both of you out, and voila! I’ve closed the mouths of those knowing the truth.”

  How did he miss my friendship with Heath? Or the time I spent with Grandma? I was grateful he had, but the man really wasn’t as smart as he thought he was.

  “You two sit tight. I’ll be back later to set the night on fire. Can’t do it while everyone is awake, now can I? They’ll come rushing to your rescue and ruin everything. I’ll tell the guests that the big gal got food poisoning and the sweet Miss Hart took her to Urgent Care.” He slipped out the door and locked us in, covering us with darkness.

  “Do you think anyone will hear us if we scream?” Cheryl asked.

  “No. We’re too far away.” Tears clogged my throat. “Just when I was thinking how stupid he was to think you were the only person I told, he came up with the brilliant idea of food poisoning. Anyone who knows you will believe that you ate something you shouldn’t.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You like to eat.”

  “We’re about to die a horrible death and you’re making fun of me.”

  “No, I’m not.” I struggled against the rope. “I’m only saying how the story makes sense.”

  “Fine.” She sagged. “It’s true. I love food.”

  “Can you see anything?”

  “Just a sliver of light through a crack in the door.”

  “That’s good. We know where the door is. Before he locked us in, did you see anything that might cut this nylon rope?”

  “No. Before we die, I want you to know how much I love you and what a true friend you’ve been all these years.”

  “I love you, too. We aren’t going to die.” Not if I had something to say about it. “Think, Cheryl. We have two hours to figure out how to get free. The party will be over then, and we’ll burn.”

  “Right. Let’s scoot my direction.”

  She ended up pulling me more than I participated in the scooting. When we came up against several crates we had no hope of opening, we moved in the opposite direction. I’d bet my favorite rain boots there was something sharp on top of the counter. Reaching it was the problem.

  “Brace our backs against each other. Maybe we can push to our feet,” I said.

  “Good idea.” Cheryl shoved so hard, I stumbled forward, almost taking us both down.

  “Careful. Remember, how much bigger you are.”

  “Right. I need to remember how delicate you are.”

  I then remembered that, although we were best friends and loved each other immensely, we often snapped during times of stress and could come at each other like rabid dogs. I decided to remain kind and take a gentle approach. “It’s all right. We’ll do better next time.”

  “Don’t talk to me as if I’m a third grader, Shelby!”

  “I’m not. I’m trying to stay nice!”

  “Don’t yell at me!”

  “I’m not!” By this time we were on our feet tugging and pulling against each other. “Hey, we did it.”

  “We’re quite the team.”

  We hobbled to the workbench. “I can’t see anything. Since you’re taller, see if you can feel around the counter top,” I told her.

  “It’s going to hurt when the rope pulls against you.”

  “That’s okay. I can deal with pain if it gets us out of here.” I sniffed. “Do you smell that?”

  “He’s early!” Cheryl yanked against me.

  My feet slid from underneath me, and we crashed to the floor. Smoke seeped through every crack and crevice in the boat house walls. There was no honor from murderers.

  24

  The rope slipped around me. It was loosening! “Quick, Cheryl, wiggle some more.” We were getting out of there. That’s what Harvey got for tying someone of my size to someone of Cheryl’s.

  “Give…me…a second. Your elbow…knocked the air…from me.”

  “If we don’t hurry, there won’t be any air to worry about.”

  By the time we freed ourselves, smoke filled the boathouse. I crawled to the counter where Harvey had found the rope and pulled to my feet. Trying not to breathe too deeply, I felt around the rough surface for something to break the lock on the door. Tears streamed down my face.

  A loud banging came from behind me. I turned.

  Cheryl kicked the wall with all the strength she possessed, stopping every few seconds to gasp for breath. Her efforts made little progress.

  My hand wrapped around the handle of a sledgehammer. I thrust it into my friend’s hands.

  She drew back and whacked the wall. Again and again until the crack between the boards widened. If we could stay conscious long enough, we might make it out alive.

  With her pounding on the wall, I chose that moment to deliver an eleventh hour prayer. Something I should have thought of days ago. My tendency to race toward danger surprised me. As a child, I’d been shy, a loner, content with one or two friends. Now, I was surrounded by multitudes of people who liked me, a few who loved me, and one who wanted me dead. I was treading on foreign soil.

  “Shelby!” An even louder banging than what Cheryl made came from the door of the boat house. Heath had come to the rescue. Hopefully, with help.

  “In here!”

  The door flung open. Heath stood outlined by moonlight. Behind him stood Harvey, a board in his hand.

  “Behind you!”

  Heath turned.

  Harvey swung, connecting with Heath’s head.

  I lunged forward, tackling the round, evil man to the ground. “Cheryl, help me!” I wouldn’t be able to hold him myself, but with my friend’s help, the man was going nowhere.

  Cheryl pinned his arms to his side and sat on him. “Go check on your man.”

  I scurried to Heath’s side as Officer Lawrence and Grandma raced toward us. Officer Lawrence barked orders on his hand held radio while Grandma knelt beside me.

  Heath moaned, relieving most of my fears. “You’re okay.”

  I gave something between a sob and a laugh. “You’re the one we need to be worried about.” A fit of coughing over took me, increasing the tears running down my cheeks.

  Paramedics converged on the scene. One of them slapped an oxygen mask over my face, then gently moved me to the side so he could tend to Heath.

  Officer Lawrence wrestled with Cheryl, trying to get her off of Harvey and to stop punching him. She screamed with each punch and said several choice words that darkened the officer’s face.

  A second paramedic gave her a shot of something in the arm, then administered oxygen to the drugged, but still angry Cheryl. Once she was off the half-conscious killer, Officer Lawrence cuffed him.

  “Good job,” he said, hauling Harvey away.

  “Heath was a maniac once we realized Harvey’s story about food poisoning wasn’t true.” Grandma wrapped her bony arms around me.

  “How did you know?”

  “We called the hospital and every Urgent Care after finding Cheryl’s laptop still up and running. It wasn’t hard to figure out from that point. Teddy sent out a search party and here we are.”

  “Yes, here you are.” I’d never been so glad to see someone in my whole life.

  The paramedics hoisted Heath on to a gurney. “Just for the night,” one of them said.

  “I’m going with him.” I pulled free of Grandma’s embrace.

  “Of course you are. I’ll watch out for Cheryl, although I have no idea how to get a drugged Amazon back to the cottage.” She eyed my large friend with despair.

  I laughed. “You’ll figure it out.” I landed a kiss on her cheek as firemen dragged hoses toward the boat house. It was a total loss, I was sure, since flames no longer nibbled around the bottom, but now devoured the dry wood to the rooftop.

  Oxygen masks removed, Cheryl no longer spewing obscenities, the medical responders prepared to leave. I shuffled after the
m, still gasping out the occasional cough.

  One of paramedics stopped me as I followed them to the ambulance in the parking lot and went to climb inside. “You refused further medical attention.”

  “I’m going with him.”

  “Only immediate family, ma’am. I’m sorry.”

  “But I feel faint. I changed my mind. I need medical attention. The oxygen didn’t work. I’m going to fall.” I put a hand to my forehead and closed my eyes, opening one just enough to see the man’s scowl.

  “Please let her come.” Heath stretched a hand out toward me.

  I grinned and bounded inside, sitting on a bench next to his gurney. “Are you better?” A white bandage wrapped around his head matched the pallor of his skin.

  “Hold my hand and I will be.”

  I slid my hand in his and kissed the back of it. “Thank you for saving me.”

  “You scared me, Shelby. I have a feeling you’re going to keep me on my toes for a long time.”

  I hoped so. Shady Acres had become my home. I didn’t want to live anywhere else or with a different group of people. “I think I’ll leave the sleuthing to the professionals.”

  “At least until the next mystery.”

  I gulped. “You think there will be another one?” I didn’t think I could go through it again. Still, a small thrill shot through me. The adrenaline rush of trying to outwit a killer could easily become an addiction.

  “There is always something going on at Shady Acres.”

  The ambulance pulled up at the Emergency Room doors. Waiting for us was Officer Lawrence and my mother. One looked relieved, the other serious.

  I chose my relieved, eyes filled with tears mother. She opened her arms and I rushed into them like a small child looking for comfort. Her soothing murmurs and soft pats on the back eased the stress and fear of the last few hours.

  Officer Lawrence cleared his throat. “I have a few questions, Miss Hart.”

  “Of course, you do.” I grabbed Heath’s hand as he was being wheeled past. “You’ll have to follow us. Mom?”

  “I’ll be right here waiting for you.”

  We were taken to a curtained alcove number four. Heath was rolled into place. I sat in the vacant chair next to him.

  “Miss Hart, the doctor will check you out after Mr. McLeroy,” the paramedic said. “If you still need the attention.”

  I smiled. “Thank you for letting me come with you.”

  He muttered something to the effect that he didn’t have a choice and left us.

  I transferred my attention to Officer Lawrence. “Your turn.”

  “You’re awfully cocky for someone who almost burned to death.”

  “Almost being the key word here.” I shuddered. “We were free of our bindings and working on getting out when Heath found us.”

  “I saw the smoke,” Heath said. “Hard not to when the moon lights up smoke like a silver cloud.”

  Officer Lawrence pulled out his infernal notepad. “You know the drill. Start from the beginning.”

  I told him how Birdie had come to me for help, how we’d snooped through Maybelle’s things, thinking the numbers were a combination and realizing they were actually a childish code. Then, Cheryl finding out Harvey was in witness protection. “What I’d like to know is why he killed to keep that information secret. Shouldn’t he have just gone to y’all?”

  Officer Lawrence heaved a sigh. “He was still working for the mob, we discovered.”

  “Did you know that your niece was his actual target, not Maybelle?”

  His eyes widened. “He told you that?”

  “Yes, sir. He didn’t like her snooping into his private affairs. The man obviously has no regard for human life.”

  “Obviously.” His lips twitched.

  “Did you ever find my ladybug gloves?”

  “Yep. In Harvey’s cottage. We were coming to arrest him when we found out you were missing.” He snapped his notepad closed. “You were a big help with this case, Shelby, but for the sake of us all, especially your grandmother, stay out of police investigations.”

  Since I couldn’t make that promise, I just smiled.

  The End

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