Christmas Tree Catastrophe (Lily Bloom Cozy Mystery Series Book 6) (10 page)

The parking lot was big, dark and empty. Any way out meant Lily had to get into her car. No use yelling for help, no one would hear her. She put on her best innocent face and tried to bluff her way past Eddie. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Eddie dragged his eyes from her face to her boots, making her cringe. A spine-chilling prickle coursed through her body. “I would feel sorry for that handsome cop of yours if he couldn’t get married tomorrow because his beautiful fiancé went missing.” He had that same eerie calm voice she remembered from when she was hiding in Malcolm’s closet.

Lily pushed past Eddie to open her car door. “Well, that’s not going to happen.”

A firm grip held Lily’s arm before she reached the door. “Not so fast, Ms. Bloom. We need to talk about why you’ve been visiting the Rosewood today. You seem to be showing an awful lot of interest in Sara Moss recently. I don’t recall asking you to deliver more flowers to her.”

“It’s not any of your business why I came, Mr. Parker. Now, get out of my way.”

“I don’t think so. Not until you tell me what you did with the lottery ticket. I think we’ll both take a little ride together.” He sneered and shoved the hard muzzle of a gun into her side. “I’m not in a good mood, sweetheart.”

Lily’s brain worked in overdrive trying to figure out how to get out of this mess. Breathe and stay calm, she told herself, at least on the outside. “Where are we going?”

“You tell me. Where did you hide that lottery ticket?

“I gave it to my friend.”

Eddie laughed. “You expect me to believe that? You’re a smart girl, quit playing games with me.”

“That lottery ticket is safe where you’ll never find it. What are you going to do? Bash my head in like you did to your partner, Malcolm?”

Lily saw Eddie’s cheek tighten as he clenched his teeth. “Nice try but your friend is in jail for that one. I was visiting my mother at the Rosewood. But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

“Has anyone told you who Tamara’s cellmate is?”

“I couldn’t care less about that gossipy pain in the neck.”

“Well, her cellmate, Candy, seems to know a bit about your whereabouts.” Lily watched as Eddie’s face twisted with anger.

“And isn’t it interesting that her apartment is right next to the library? I suppose it would be mighty convenient for someone visiting Candy to keep an eye on what was happening at the library on Friday night.”

Eddie dismissed that comment with a wave of his hand. “You can’t prove anything. Who’s going to believe someone like Candy?”

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “But on the other hand, her little black book might open a few eyes. Oh yeah, and did you forget that Friday night is Bingo night here at the Rosewood and you don’t visit your mother then?”

Eddie’s mouth fell open. “Shut up and drive to your house. You’d better hope you can come up with that ticket and Candy’s book or you’ll be missing your wedding tomorrow.”

Lots of cars clogged the road allowing Lily to slow to a crawl and formulate a plan. She turned down a side road. “This will bypass all the commuters.”

Eddie smiled. “I like you’re thinking. You’re finally seeing things my way.” But his smile turned to a sneer two seconds later. “Don’t even think of pulling into the police station parking lot. Drive by nice and slow so you don’t attract any attention.”

Well, I better try plan B,
she thought.
At least, plan B once I figure out what it is.

“Turn left here.” Eddie leaned forward. “I have a better idea.” Lily turned and Eddie pointed to Malcolm’s driveway. “Pull all the way up and shut your car off.” He held his left hand, palm up, toward Lily. “Give me your keys.”

Lily tossed the keys past his hand and they landed on the mat at his feet. “You sure do have a lot of nerve,” Eddie said as he reached with his right hand, feeling around until the sound of the jingling keys broke the silence. “Get out and walk to the front door. I’ll be right behind so don’t even think of bolting.”

Once inside, he pushed her toward the back of the house, opening a door and forcing her inside. “No one will think to look for you here, especially when your car will be safely parked at your house where it belongs.” The door slammed closed and the click of a lock behind her let her know she needed to find another way out.

Total darkness surrounded Lily. She moved her hands out to the side, finding walls on both sides. Tentatively, she slid one foot forward until it was suspended in empty space. Bracing herself with her hands on the two walls, she moved her foot forward until it dropped down finding something solid. Slow and steady, Lily worked her way down the stairs, but misjudged in the darkness, and fell forward crashing into the corner of something heavy and hard.

She heard a crack which was followed by shooting pain. Automatically her good right hand reached around to cradle her left arm which dangled uselessly.

The bare light bulb above her turned on, blinding her, and a voice called down the stairs. “Lily? Are you in the basement?”

“Is that you Nina?” Lily’s eyes were shut against the sudden light. “I’m at the bottom of the stairs. I think my arm is broken.”

Nina rushed down the stairs, taking in the scene before helping to support Lily to a sitting position.

“How did you know I was here?” Lily asked, leaning her good side against Nina.

“When your minivan drove slowly by the police station, I expected you to turn in. As you passed by, I saw Eddie sitting in the passenger seat and got suspicious, so I followed.”

Lily’s head fell back against the bench she had crashed into. “We need to get out of here before Eddie comes back.”

“Where did he go?” Nina glanced over her shoulder to the top of the stairs, afraid Eddie might be waiting up there.

“He took my car to my house to find the lottery ticket and Candy’s book.”

“You didn’t leave it there did you?”

“Yeah, I did, but I don’t think he’ll find it and when he doesn’t, he’ll be back.”

Nina stood up and supported Lily with one arm around her waist and the other under her good armpit, slowly helping her to get to her feet. “You go up first and I’ll be behind you in case you need any help.”

Holding her arm, Lily took one step at a time. Her balance was off and she didn’t want to make a misstep. Knowing Nina was behind her helped.

“Close the door and lock it so if he does come back, he’ll be forced to go down and search for me.”

“Shouldn’t you call Ryan and fill him in about what’s going on?”

“My tote with my phone is in my car which Eddie took.” Lily pushed open the front door and scanned the street, hurrying toward Nina’s car. “Come on. Call him with your phone when we get in your car.”

The car doors slammed and Lily let out a big sigh of relief. “Try to get a hold of Ryan now.” She reached for Nina’s phone, listening to it ring. “Start driving.” Lily frowned at Nina. “His voicemail. He probably doesn’t want to talk to you.” Lily left a message for Ryan to get to her house as soon as possible.

Sugarbush Lane was quiet and peaceful, but seeing her minivan in her driveway, Lily suspected it was anything but normal. “What do we do now? Wait for Ryan to get here?” Lily asked Nina.

“Are you serious? Of course, we’re going to wait. You weren’t considering going inside, were you?” Nina shook her head as she searched Lily’s face for a clue to what she might be thinking.

“No, I wasn’t going in, you were.” Lily laughed as she looked toward the front of her house. “Can you tell if anyone is inside?” She pointed to the big front window.

Nina leaned over the steering wheel, squinting. “I think it’s Eddie with his hands up in front as a barrier between himself and someone else. Who could be in there with him?”

“No idea.” Lily checked up and down her street. “There’s no other cars around that I recognize.”

Ryan pulled up behind Nina’s car and walked to Lily’s window. “What’s going on? Did you lose your phone?”

Lily pointed to her house. “Eddie Parker stole my car and phone and is inside looking for something.”

“Is the thing he’s looking for in your house?”

Lily nodded. “And he has a gun, so be careful when you go in to arrest him.”

Ryan called for some backup and carefully approached Lily’s back door with his gun out and ready.

He peered through the back door window before motioning for Lily to come over and join him.

“Is he crazy? He wants you to help him?” Nina asked.

Lily slid out of the car. “I trust him. Come on.” Lily jogged up her driveway, holding her arm, and peaked around Ryan’s back. “I don’t believe it.”

Inside, Eddie stood with his hands up and Rosie sat a couple of feet in front of him. Watching. When Eddie lowered his arms a little, Rosie stood up and bared her teeth until Eddie’s hands shot back up in the air.

A giggle started in Lily’s chest, bursting out into a howling fit of laughter. “You need to go in and give Rosie some back up,” she told Ryan once she could stop laughing. “I don’t even know how she got in the house. She was with my mother all day.”

Iris appeared behind Ryan and Lily. “What’s going on? Are you spying on your own house?”

“Hey, where’d you come from? And how did Rosie get inside?” Lily asked her mother.

Iris leaned around Lily so she could find out what was going on inside. Looking through the window, her mouth fell open, then a roar of laughter erupted from her. “Rosie had been kind of depressed so I decided to drop her off on my way to do some errands. Your minivan was parked in the driveway but I was in a rush, so I just let her in and left. Weren’t you in here?”

More police cars arrived and Ryan told Lily, Iris and Nina to move out of the way. They climbed into Lily’s minivan and Lily filled Iris in on what had happened.

“Shouldn’t you get to the hospital and have that arm checked?” Iris said with her voice filled with concern for her daughter.

“Once Eddie is cuffed and out of my house I need to go in and say hello to Rosie. I’m not leaving until I give Rosie a hug. By the way, how long ago did you drop her off?” Lily turned sideways to look at Iris.

“Hmmm, about a half hour ago. I had to get something for tomorrow before the store closed, so I dropped Rosie off and figured I would come back for a visit when I was done. Here I am. Has she been in there with Eddie the whole time?”

“I guess so. I bet Eddie wet himself when he saw Rosie and realized he wasn’t alone,” Lily said and snickered. “I wonder what he did with his gun. He jammed one into my side when he found me at the Rosewood.” Lily felt around under the seat in her minivan. “Aha! He must have been so distracted about looking for the lottery ticket, he forgot to bring his gun into my house.” She carefully dangled a pistol by two fingers. “Ryan will want this for evidence.”

Eddie was being escorted down the driveway with his hands cuffed behind his back. As he walked by the minivan, Lily rolled down the window. “How was your visit with Rosie?” she asked with a smile on her face stretching from ear to ear.

After what seemed to take forever, Ryan came out of the back door and motioned for Lily to come inside. “There’s someone here that’s desperate to say hello to you.”

Right in the middle of the kitchen, Lily saw Rosie patiently waiting for her to come in, as if to say,
what took you so long, that guy wasn’t any fun
.

“There you are, my amazing Rosie.” Lily sat in one of the kitchen chairs while Rosie sniffed her all over, taking extra time checking her injured arm. She wagged her tail and grinned her goofy doggie smile at Lily when she finished her ritual.

Ryan was busy giving instructions in the living room. When he walked into the kitchen where Lily sat cradling her arm, his face was full of concern. He hustled over to Lily, crouching in front of her with both hands on her hips. “What happened?”

“It’s been a long afternoon.” All the adrenaline and emotion from the day’s events overflowed and tears ran down her cheeks. “I fell down the basement stairs and,” she rubbed her arm, “I think my arm is broken.”

“I’m taking you to the hospital. You can explain whose basement you were in and why on the way.” Ryan gently helped her to her feet and out to his car. As he slid into the driver’s side, he smiled at Lily and shook his head. “Nice try getting out of marrying me, but your plan won’t work. I’m happy to move the wedding to the hospital if that’s what it takes for you to say ‘I do’.”

“That won’t be necessary. I just hope the cast doesn’t clash with my dress.”

Driving through town, Lily enjoyed seeing all the Christmas lights twinkling in the darkness.

“I can’t figure out why we couldn’t find Candy’s little black book once we got a search warrant for her apartment. You wouldn’t know where it disappeared to, would you?”

“Well, as a matter of fact, there’s a couple of things hidden in a planter in my house. That’s what Eddie was after— Candy’s book and a lottery ticket. And, by the way, Eddie’s alibi? A big fat lie.”

“What? How do you know?”

“He was with Candy and I cozied up to Eddie’s sister who works at the Rosewood and she told me she doctored the sign-in book to make it look like he was there on Friday night. That’s confidential information, by the way.”

Ryan shook his head. “I’m curious to hear all the details of your day today, and I’m positive it will be fascinating, but I’m happy to wait until after you get your arm fixed.”

“Good.” Lily’s head rested on the back of the seat and she closed her eyes. “I’m kind of tired.”

Ryan turned into the hospital parking lot. “Here we are, don’t fall asleep yet.”

A groan slipped from Lily’s mouth. “This is starting to throb.”

Ryan opened Lily’s door and helped her out. “Sorry about that, guess you shouldn’t be driving around getting the wrong people upset with you.”

Lily had enough energy left to scowl at him before laughing out loud. “I couldn’t let Tamara rot in jail for something she didn’t do. Plus, she would drive you all crazy with her nonstop talking.”

Ryan had his arm around Lily. “Of course you’re right, but it kills me to admit the truth.”

“What?” Lily gazed up at Ryan’s handsome face watching her reaction.

“You heard me, and I refuse to say it twice.” He kissed her to keep her from gloating too much.