Murder by Artifact (Five Star Mystery Series) (34 page)

“Yes, sir.” The deputy steered the car in a wide loop and parked near the SWAT van.

Tony jumped out and gave the deputy two thumbs up even as he continued his conversation with Rex. “Is everyone on the same frequency now?”

Sounding much calmer than he had, Rex answered in the affirmative. “What’s the plan?”

“I’m not sure I’d call it a plan, I seem to be the one Vicky wants to impress, so I think I’ll let her.” Tony didn’t want to admit his lack of a plan. “Link me to Chandra.”

“No, sir. I don’t like it.”

“Rex, you’re not getting paid to like it.” Tony strode toward the front door of the Gift Shoppe with his recent chauffeur hot on his heels. A glance to the side confirmed Wade and Mike approaching from the opposite angle. They looked like commandos.

“Sheriff?” A girl’s voice whispered in his ear. “Where are you?”

“I’m just outside the front door.”

“The Queen and that other woman are screaming at each other.”

Sure enough, Tony heard sounds of a cat fight coming through the radio or the door or both. “Hey, Chandra?”

“Yes?”

“How do you know if a customer comes in and you’re in the back room? Is there a bell?”

“No. There’s a light that flashes in the stockroom.”

“Good.” She might have said more, Tony cut her off. He stared through the glass of the door. Doreen stood on the far side, almost facing him. Vicky stood with her back to him. The marble counter between them held a bridal bouquet of long-stemmed white flowers and lots of ribbons and bows. His stomach churned.

Easing the door open a crack, he released the aromas of perfumes and candles and the sound of two exceedingly angry female voices.

Without warning, Doreen grabbed the long-stemmed flowers and began whacking Vicky across the face with them and swearing at the top of her lungs. For her part, Vicky pulled the revolver’s hammer back with her thumb and pointed it at Doreen’s chest.

In the split second before Tony and the first three deputies lunged inside, Tony realized he’d never suspected the Queen to have such a command of profanity.

Swearing the entire time, Doreen went ballistic, leaped over the counter like an Olympic hurdler and planted her fist into Vicky’s jaw.

Before she could hit the floor, Tony grabbed Vicky’s gun hand, squeezing it hard and pointing the barrel of the revolver at the floor. With the hammer back, it wouldn’t take much to make it discharge. Doreen continued slapping Vicky with the barren stems she clutched in her free hand. When he shifted positions, she turned on him, hitting his nose with the sap, or whatever gel-like goo comes out of broken flowers, shoving a thorn into his lower lip.

Two deputies each grabbed one of the Queen’s arms and dragged her away.

While the extra deputy clung to Vicky’s free arm, Tony managed to wrestle the revolver away from her without shooting anything. Vicky wasn’t going down easy. She lashed out with a foot, caught the edge of a glass shelf filled with crystal gewgaws and sent it crashing into the one behind it. The chain reaction of shattering shelves and glassware moved across the store like dominos falling.

Above the sound of breaking glass and a string of curses, Tony heard a scream that made his skin crawl. Doreen sounded like a banshee.

The deputy clinging to Vicky let out a pain-induced, “Bitch.”

Without releasing his grip on her, Tony glanced at his assistant. Vicky’s teeth pierced the man’s forearm. He was swearing a blue streak but wasn’t giving up. Tony signaled a SWAT member to join them. He guessed the man weighed about two hundred pounds and carried close to another hundred in gear. “Sit on her.”

“Sir?” After a quick glance at the situation, he happily complied, lowering himself onto Vicky’s thighs, holding her firmly in place while Tony snapped one of the bracelets of his handcuffs on her. Seeing she still had her teeth set in the deputy’s arm, Tony reached across and under her chin and squeezed her cheeks with his fingers, pressing against her teeth. When she opened her mouth, he picked up a fallen package of cornbread mix and wedged that into her mouth in place of anyone’s body parts.

The instant the handcuff snapped on the second wrist, he sent the bite victim out to see the doctor. “Tell Doc she might have rabies.”

Theo paced around her office making herself and Sheila dizzy. The Queen wouldn’t put up with interference of any kind, especially in her own business. Theo knew that for a fact.

Finally her phone chimed. “Tony?”

“Everything’s fine.”

She guessed, “Doreen shot Vicky with her own gun?”

“Not quite. She was holding her own, though, and swearing like a sailor.”

“I guess you’d know all about that.” Theo began to giggle. “No offense.”

“None taken.” Although he rarely used profanity, Tony’d had a fair command of it by the third grade and added to it each year after that. His Navy days served as graduate studies.

“Where’s Vicky now?”

“She’s locked up. I can see her from here. She’s in the holding cell pacing, spitting and screaming.”

Theo heard Rex’s laugh echoing through the phone. “So everyone’s okay?”

“Vicky bit one of the loaner deputies. We owe him big-time.”

Theo thought he sounded tired. “He’ll be alright?”

“Yeah. Doc cleaned it up and gave him some antibiotics.” His voice lightened. “He’s in the lunchroom, laughing his fool head off now and trying to write up his report. He says Vicky is bad news. He also claims he never, ever, met anyone who scares him more than Queen Doreen—and he did two tours in Iraq. The man knows scary.”

In the middle of the night, Tony lay awake. The breeze moving through the bedroom, propelled by the ceiling fan, felt pleasantly cool. He was sweating like crazy. He opened his eyes, staring through the darkness at a wicker chair on the tiny balcony outside. It would feel so good to sit out there and let the fresh air clear his mind and dry his skin.

This felt even better. This was heaven.

The big bed was overcrowded. Theo lay pressed against him. Where her skin touched his, he baked and she sweated. The dog panted. To welcome Theo and the boys home, Daisy had been allowed to join them and now lay across the foot of the bed. Jamie and Chris slept soundly, their warm bodies draped over their parents like puppies sharing a box.

Excitement and relief kept them all awake until the early hours of the morning. Only when allowed to sleep next to their parents had the boys finally settled down, fitful even in their sleep.

Tony felt tears welling in his eyes. He’d nearly lost Theo to Vicky’s madness and he’d barely had a chance to see her today. The relief of finding her safe brought another wave of adrenaline racing through him. The backwash was stunning. A new baby or another heartbreak? The last pregnancy had been so difficult for them all, but especially Theo, and then had ended in a miscarriage.

He was happy about the prospect of another baby, wasn’t he? Awake, though, he worried about Theo and how they could afford another one.

Mostly he worried about what would happen to all of them if they ever lost Theo.

The boys wanted to stay with Theo. They begged to go to work with her and keep her in sight. Theo agreed, mostly because she needed the reassurance of seeing their precious faces. She expected they would tire of the quilt shop before noon. In truth, it was closer to eleven.

Theo laughed as Jamie grew restless, knowing he probably wanted to tell everyone he knew what had happened. The little boy loved being a storyteller. He would embellish a story beyond recognition. In his version, Theo was sure he would have rescued his mother from a cartoon villain, complete with top hat and mustache.

He’d have to make up his own details. They hadn’t shared many of the facts, believing the boys didn’t need to know how close she came to dying or being crippled in a fall down the mountain.

Chris was comfortable in the window seat of her office, reading a book with the sleeping cat draped across the back of his neck.

It made her sweat just looking at the pair.

Jamie poked Chris in the ribs. Chris shifted. Jamie attacked again. Chris looked over the top of his book. “Mom?”

Theo didn’t bother to glance up from her sewing machine. She knew exactly what was going on. “Jamie, stop it.”

Jamie persisted, never quite crossing the line that would result in lost privileges, or worse, total grounding.

On the edge between irritation and laughter, Theo reached for a paper on her desk. “I have to go deliver this clue to the mystery quilt to my friend Caro. Do you want to come with me, stay here, or finish the day at camp?”

“Camp.” In a rare moment of total agreement, the boys dashed down the stairs.

Theo trotted behind them, pausing to tell Gretchen where she was headed. “I’m going to drop the wild bunch at day camp and take this clue to the mystery quilt to Caro.”

“She hasn’t been in the shop for a while.” Gretchen’s look of concern was reflected in the face of the customer, one of the regulars.

“No.” Theo agreed. “She didn’t even make bowling the other night, and she only misses if her son can’t come stay with Gregory.”

“I’ll hold down the fort.”

Theo dropped the boys at day camp, sure that the high school kids who were the paid staff would earn their money. Maybe earplugs were supplied by the supervisors.

At a quick knock on his door frame, Tony looked up and saw Mike and Dammit ease into his office. Mike’s expression told him he wasn’t visiting. “What’s happened?”

“Ruby just got a phone call from one of Hub’s relatives. One of the ones we talked to a few weeks ago.”

Tony felt his heart beat faster. “And does this mysterious relative claim to know something about Ruby’s baby—not a baby now—Ruby’s girl?”

“Yes.” Mike’s attempt to restrain his smile failed. “She claims she can give Ruby an address. The address of the girl and her new family.”

“No kidding?” Tony laughed. Even if the lead turned into another failure, another one could turn up, a true one. “Ruby, with your help, has broken through the family wall of silence and with a clan like that, it’s the biggest hurdle.”

“I hope so.” Mike’s fingers massaged the bloodhound’s floppy ears.

“And what does Ruby expect?” Serious now, Tony settled back into his chair. “Does she think the girl will be happy to see her, happy to learn she was sold like yard sale goods?”

“Ruby is a realist.” Mike’s eyes were clear, untroubled. “If the girl is happy, living with a good and loving family, she won’t interfere. She might hope to become a family friend, you know, one invited to birthday parties.” His face hardened. “If it’s not a good situation, we’ll both fight.”

Tony nodded. “When do you leave?”

“As soon as you say go.”

“Go.”

With a salute, Mike turned and left, the dog trotting at his side.

“And good hunting.”

NIGHT ON THE MOUNTAIN

Draw a diagonal line on wrong side of 24 of the 2 1/8′′ squares of Light #3.

Place one right side down on the end of each 10 1/4′′ by 2 1/8′′ Medium #1 strip. Sew on the drawn line, press to light. This creates a light triangle on one end. Make sure all triangles are sewn in the same direction. It does not have to be the same direction as the blocks in Clue #3.

On 7 of these strips, create triangles on both ends. If the point is up on the left end of the strip, the one on the right end should be down, forming a wide parallelogram.

Lay out quilt top
.

Alternate A and B blocks, 3 across and 4 down, leaving space between the blocks for the sashing. Place a 2 1/8′′ square of Light #3 in each intersection. Arrange plain end of sashing strips to the outside edges. The sashing strips with triangles on both ends should be placed in the middle of the quilt. The sashing strips and setting squares should form a small four-pointed star.

Sew top together.

Borders:

Using the 1 3/4′′ squares of Light #3 and the 32 squares of Medium/Dark #1 sew four star blocks. Make 16 star points by placing the right side of light to right side of medium. Stitch diagonal from corner to corner. Press to light. Arrange with Light #3 square as center and Medium/Dark #1 as block corners.

Measure corner blocks—trim all length-of-fabric strips to that width.

Measure quilt length and width. Trim 2 of the length-of-fabric strips to length of quilt and 2 to the width of the quilt.

Sew long borders onto quilt sides.

Sew one corner star on each end of strips cut the width of the quilt. Sew onto top and bottom.

Quilt as desired. Use remaining 2 1/2′′ strips for binding.

At Caro’s house, Theo rang the doorbell. She thought she heard Caro’s voice but wasn’t certain. There was definitely someone moving around inside. She leaned to one side and peeked into the window. Caro’s husband stared back at her.