Gossip Can Be Murder (26 page)

Up front there was a fair amount of cursing going on. The driver was clearly at the limit of his abilities and the passenger somehow thought that shouting his displeasure would change that.

I found a decent rip in the tape at my ankles and gave it a hard pull, savoring the sucking sound it made as it peeled away from my jeans. But the sound drew attention from the front. The passenger turned fully in his seat and stared at me.

It was David Ratwill.

Chapter 42

Almost calmly I told myself that I should have known who grabbed me. Ratwill and Leo Malone were really the only choice. All that self-talk about rape and abduction and identity theft seemed a little silly now. Clearly, the whole goal was murder.

That thought had roughly a tenth of a second to flit through my head before David barreled between the seats and came at me. He only failed to remember that a woman’s strength lies in her hips and legs, and since mine were still tightly bound at the knees, I had a fairly good weapon right there. I kicked out and got him right in the face. His nose gushed blood, his eyes rolled back and he went down hard.

For good measure, I gave another solid kick to his left collarbone, but he was out cold—limp as a stuffed toy.

Leo managed to get the van somewhat under control and was standing on the horn to make other vehicles get out of our way. When David’s dead weight landed with a crash Leo turned to look back at the ruckus.

Bad move.

The van went squirrely and began to shimmy hard. I rattled around in there a bit, and Leo’s attention went right back to the road.

Red and blue lights began to flicker in the rearview mirrors.

I started to offer up a little thank-you prayer, but that turned out to be a little premature.

Leo regained control and floored it.

I found myself against the back doors again, grabbing around for anything that might save me from flying out the back if they came open. The van was completely utilitarian, unfinished on the inside, so there were some metal crossbars and struts along the sides. I ripped off my remaining duct tape and inched up the side of the cargo space gripping them whenever I could.

“You fool!” I screamed at Leo. “You’ll never outrun them.”

Doesn’t this jerk watch TV?

He pulled a gun and aimed it over his right shoulder. That shut me up pretty quickly. I edged over to his side of the vehicle, figuring it would be harder for him to hit me at that kind of angle. Nudged David again but he was still limp as a rag. Beyond his body I got glimpses of a spare tire mounted to the side of the compartment, at the rear. And where there’s a tire, there must be . . .

Yep, the tire iron was there, neatly fitted into a bracket. I grabbed it and yanked.

I had no idea what I would do; clearly, whacking Leo from the back while we were moving at eighty-five miles an hour wasn’t smart. I edged forward again, scooting my newfound weapon along the carpet with me.

Chapter 43

Drake stared out into the night. The last of the glow in the west was fading quickly. Ahead, the westbound stream of cars had slowed, brake lights flaring as drivers realized it.

“Man the spotlight,” he called out to Ron, showing him the handle and switch. Ron tested it, getting the feel for aiming it.

“Something’s going on. Looks like a half-dozen emergency vehicles, at least.”

“I don’t like it.” He slowed airspeed as they caught up to the line of traffic.

“I think it’s a roadblock.”

Below them, a vehicle suddenly whipped out of the westbound lane, bumped its way across the median and climbed the embankment to the eastbound lanes.

“Shine the light! Is that our van?”

Ron worked the handle and finally spotlighted the one. Two ladders on top.

“What can we do?” he shouted toward Drake.

“Just keep the light steady. I’ll hover right over it.”

A couple of miles down the road he saw that two of the state cruisers had seen them. Lights blazing, they came after the van. The other traffic had pretty much come to a stop, cars pulling off to the sides everywhere.

“He’s going close to ninety,” Drake said. “I’m tracking him.”

Over the radio he heard the pursuing officers order someone ahead to lay out the tire strips.

He held his breath. What would the strips do at this speed? What if the driver saw the strips in advance and went off the road? What would he do if they’d hurt Charlie?

Chapter 44

A bright light shone down on the van and I had the fleeting feeling that maybe heaven was calling me—one of those bright light in the tunnel things? Then I heard the overhead thrum of rotor blades and a huge feeling of relief rushed over me.

Unfortunately, Leo heard them too. He slowed down enough, barely, to take his eyes off the road for a second.

Pointing the gun at me he said, “I didn’t think anything of bringing down one helicopter, you know. And pushing Rita over that wall wasn’t too bad either. So don’t think I won’t shoot you and then take out your nosy ‘expert witness’ husband.”

Threaten me all you want. But don’t threaten to take away the guy who has made my life so happy.

Without hesitation I raised the tire iron and smacked his wrist. The pistol dropped behind the passenger seat and I snatched it up.

“It’s time to stop the van, Leo.”

Chapter 45

Linda Casper and I got together for lunch a week later. I’d spent the week babying my sore muscles and bruises, hiding my stiffness from her as best I could when we met up. I wondered again about the woman I’d run into at Casa de Tranquilidad, Samantha Sweet, whose brief touch had seemingly healed my head wound. I would have loved to see if the same magic worked on my current condition.

As we filled our plates at Soup R Salad’s long salad bar, Linda asked how my interview with the police went. It took me a moment to shuffle everything in my mind and remember which interview she was talking about—there’d been so many. I’d watched through the glass as Leo Malone was interrogated, got to see his admission that he’d stalked Rita in Santa Fe at David’s demand, blackmailed by David because of his involvement in the cause of Mike Walters’ fatal helicopter crash. Gossip in the corridors at Casa de Tranquilidad had told him what he needed to know to track Rita’s movements and catch her alone in the courtyard. In a maintenance uniform he’d blended in and gotten access to all parts of the spa and hotel. The police weren’t convinced that Manny Salazar’s death was suicide. Clearly, Malone saw Manny as a weak link, and may have chosen to eliminate him. That particular investigation was just beginning.

It was a confession of sorts, but realistically, if those two could have made me vanish before I had the chance to tell anyone else the whole story, they might have gotten away with everything—Rita’s murder, Salazar’s death, the helicopter crash, and skipping the country with the AceChem settlement money. Leo admitted that they came after me because I just wouldn’t let it go.

Linda’s question, I realized, pertained to the shots I’d fired at David Ratwill in the forest that final night in Santa Fe.

“I spoke to Gallegos on the phone. That was a real study in frustration.”

David was still making noises about sticking some kind of civil rights violation on me, not to mention assault charges for what I did to him during the wild ride. I told the police the entire story about that, and they assure me that self defense allows a woman to do a lot against two armed abductors. That’s reassuring.

Linda spoke up again. “Shirley has called me a couple of times and we’ve chatted. She’s given me a couple of cookbooks on the vegetarian lifestyle and I’m adopting it.”

“You are?” I smiled to take some of the utter surprise out of my voice. Linda’s always been a girl who loved her burgers.

“Yep. I’ve lost six pounds already,” she said, spreading her arms to show me her slimmer frame. “And my blood pressure’s down a few points, too.”

“Well, good for you.” Although I couldn’t see myself ever giving up Pedro’s chicken enchiladas, I genuinely wished her luck.

“And have you heard anything about Trudie?” I asked.

“She’s still locked away in the state mental hospital. Not much word from there, but one of the masseuses went up to visit her and said she just babbles about how much David loves her and how they’re going to be together. That woman never did have much of a handle on reality, did she?”

Remembering the wild look in Trudie’s eyes, I had to agree.

“Does Shirley say anything about Celeus Light’s involvement in David’s financial schemes?”

“Oh, no. He wouldn’t be. He’s way above all that. His seminars are more popular than ever. I’ve heard there was standing room only at his talk last week.”

Oh boy. I stopped eating for a moment and reached across the table to touch her hand. “Linda, I don’t want to step on your good spiritual intentions, but take my word for this. Celeus Light is not all he seems. There’s a whole other side to the guy.”

Something in her face closed.

“That’s all I’m going to say. We learned some good things from his program. Just don’t put all your faith in one person. Keep your eyes open.”

She jabbed a chunk of lettuce and chewed it with vigor. Luckily, Linda isn’t one to hold onto anger and her mood lightened considerably by the time we finished our meal and walked out to our cars. We hugged in the parking lot and she said, “Take care of yourself, girl. Lunch again on the eighteenth?”

“Yeah.” I squeezed her hand and walked to my own vehicle.

At home, I found Drake organizing his desk. He looked as if a giant weight had come off his shoulders as he tucked his research documents into folders and stuck them away in a file box, labeled for delivery to Rick Valdez’s office.

“Even though Mike Walters died in that crash, I’m glad we were able to clear him of any fault, “ he said. “And I feel that the case being dismissed was the right thing. It wasn’t the manufacturer’s fault either. Leo will do jail time and he’ll never get his mechanic’s license back. That’s about all the victims can expect.”

“Didn’t you say that all three men had life insurance?”

“Yeah. I know that doesn’t replace a husband or a father, but neither does a million-dollar settlement. I just hope everyone is able to get on with their lives now.”

“And us? Maybe we’ll be able to put the worries behind us and get on with life too.”

“Planning on it,” he said. “Starting right now.” He pulled me onto his lap and gave me a kiss that sent tingles clear to my toes.

Books

by Connie Shelton

The Charlie Parker Mystery Series

Deadly Gamble

Vacations Can Be Murder

Partnerships Can Be Murder

Small Towns Can Be Murder

Memories Can Be Murder

Honeymoons Can Be Murder

Reunions Can Be Murder

Competition Can Be Murder

Balloons Can Be Murder

Obsessions Can Be Murder

Gossip Can Be Murder

Stardom Can Be Murder

Holidays Can Be Murder – a Christmas novella

The Samantha Sweet Mystery Series

Sweet Masterpiece

Sweet’s Sweets

Sweet Holidays
(December 2011)

Gossip Can Be Murder

Published by Secret Staircase Books, an imprint of Columbine Publishing Group

Copyright © 2010 Connie Shelton

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information contained in this book we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistency herein. Any slights of people, places or organizations are unintentional.

Book layout and design by Secret Staircase Books

Cover image © KCPhotos

Cover background image © cekur

First trade paperback edition: June, 2010

Electronic edition: June 2010

More Charlie?

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And . . . Connie is pleased to announce a new mystery series, featuring Samantha Sweet, the woman you met in this story, as the main character. Sam breaks into houses for a living. But she’s really a baker with a magical touch, who invites you to her delightful pastry shop—Sweet’s Sweets.

Don’t miss
Sweet Masterpiece
, the debut book in this series!

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