Relatively Dead (33 page)

A few yards down the road I stopped, pulled the seat up to fit my legs, and then took off again.

CHAPTER 35

“What I don’t understand is why Jason let go of your hands even after you’d fought him so hard.” Frances eyed me with a combination of shock and awe as she sipped her wine.

“He underestimated me once too often.”

It was a couple of days after Jason tried to kill me. We were at the home of Rigo’s parents, Tina and Ernie. All of them were there. I didn’t tell them about lying to Jason. I felt a little guilty about it, even though it had undoubtedly saved my life. I’d narrated all the events of my day in the mountains leading up to the final confrontation with Jason.

Ernie was treating this like a great adventure. “Where did you drive when you left Jason?”

“I knew I couldn’t drive very far, because when Jason slammed me against the car he hurt my back and my leg.” Tina frowned so I hastened to alleviate her fears. “They’ll be fine—just king-sized bruises.”

I’d limped into the house with Rigo’s help, and was sitting on the softest couch.

“I drove into Idyllwild and asked the first person I saw where the ranger station was, because that’s a government facility. I drove there and told them about Jason. They called the Riverside County Sheriff’s office in Hemet. While we were waiting for a sheriff’s deputy to drive up from Hemet, the rangers drove back to the trailhead with me. Jason was still there, still incapacitated. He may lose part of his eyesight. They took his knife and stayed with him until the deputy came and arrested him. One of them gave me a sandwich to eat—from his lunch.”

Rigo already knew the story because he was the first person I’d called, but the others peppered me with questions. Tina wanted to know if there was enough evidence to convict Jason of murder.

“That’s a complicated issue because he actually murdered three people. He’s being held now on attempted murder—mine—while the police review the evidence. He made sort of a confession to me, which should help in all three. First he killed Timothy Boyd in Northern Ireland. Then he killed his grandson, Jason. The email to Jason was definitely sent by him—his account has an email address using the name Ironsides. The police have found credit card and passport information that show he was in the Belfast area when Timothy was killed, so that’s circumstantial evidence.

“He could be tried in both Northern Ireland and England at some point, but Los Angeles has first dibs on him. It may not be possible to prove he pushed Tom Kelly off the train platform. I was there and I didn’t see him do it. Neither did anyone else. Of course, he’ll retract the confession he made to me.

“As far as the murder of his grandson, Jason, that may be the easiest to prove. He had a registered gun that shoots bullets like the one that shot Jason, but it hasn’t been found and he told me he’s gotten rid of it. Apparently nobody recognized him at the party where young Jason was killed, although the police are pursuing that avenue with the cooperation of Marcia Mathewson, young Jason’s girlfriend. She has a pretty good list of the people who were at that party.”

Ernie asked what Jason’s motive for the murders was.

“He killed Timothy and Jason because they were besmirching the Boyd name by running the scam. Jason explained some of his philosophy to me. What it boils down to is they violated the Golden Rule.”

Frances said, “The Bible gets pretty bloody in places.”

I continued. “He spent much of his life in the army, and I gather from hints he gave, did some spying for the government. He was a trained killer and apparently had a highly developed sense of duty and honor. When he saw his relatives not upholding his standards he couldn’t let them continue.”

My voice cracked a little. “I think he killed Tom because he thought with Tom dead I’d go away and stop nosing around. When I didn’t, he decided I had to go too. I feel somewhat…responsible for Tom’s death.”

I was cuddled with Rigo. He had a protective arm around me. “Carol has promised she won’t get involved with any more murders.”

I laughed but then aborted it because laughing hurt various parts of my body. “I never intended to get mixed up with murder. I was just trying to locate my cousins. I figured they’d be good people because we shared some DNA. I know that sounds conceited. Anyway, I was wrong. I guess the lesson here is all humans share DNA, but we’re all partly good and partly bad—”

“But some of us are badder than others.” Frances finished my sentence. That’s what makes my work so interesting. Finding people, some of whom may not want to be found, uncovering frauds. Without criminals it would be a dull world.”

Tina asked when I was going back to North Carolina.

“I’m flying back tomorrow. I need to see my grandmother before her dementia gets worse. She’s one of my good relatives.” I hesitated as my voice broke a little. “The police have wrung about all they can get out of me at the moment, although of course I’ll be back to testify at Jason’s trial. I’m like a bad penny. You can’t get rid of me.”

Ernie smiled. “We’re all glad to see you at any time, but one of us will be gladder than the others.”

Rigo looked a bit embarrassed, so I gave him a squeeze. I felt the same way.

***

Audrey drove Grandma to the Raleigh-Durham Airport to meet me, at her insistence. I collected my bag from the carousel and waited for them outside at the pickup area. When they pulled up I saw Grandma in the backseat and climbed in with her. I gave her a big hug. She recognized me as I could see from the tears in her eyes. As Audrey drove us to Chapel Hill, she asked me what I’d been doing.

I gave a brief and sugar-coated recap of my adventures. I hesitated about telling Grandma that Jason was a killer, because I knew she had good childhood memories of him. I wouldn’t be able to hide it from her, however, so I told her, as delicately as I could. When I was through she surprised me.

“He always was a rapscallion. He was forever getting into trouble. I’m not surprised. He’s the black sheep of the Boyd family.”

“But Grandma, I thought you liked Jason.”

“Oh, he was fun to be with. You never knew what he was going to do next. But I wouldn’t have married someone like that.”

“Since he’s your first cousin, it’s probably just as well. You might have passed on some bad DNA. Then how would I have turned out?”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t want you to be any wilder than you are already. It’s not suitable for a girl to do the things you do.”

“I know, Grandma. I’ve learned my lesson. From now on I’m going to be meek and mild. I’m going to take up pursuits like napkin folding.”

Of course, I had my fingers crossed when I said it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After spending more than a quarter of a century as a pioneer in the computer industry, Alan Cook is well into his second career as a writer.

Forget to Remember
, the first Carol Golden mystery. CarolGolden is not her real name. She doesn’t remember or real name or anything about her past. She is found in a Dumpster in Southern California, naked and unconscious, and has to find out who she is and why someone wants to kill her.

Run into Trouble
, winner of several awards, chronicles a race along the California Coast in 1969 during the Cold War. As participants and former undercover agents Drake and Melody encounter deaths and other obstacles, they fear that the Cold War is about to heat up.

The Hayloft: a 1950s mystery
and award-winning
Honeymoon for Three
 feature Gary Blanchard, first as a high school senior who has to solve the murder of his cousin, and ten years later as a bridegroom who gets more than he bargained for on his honeymoon.

Hotline to Murder
takes place at a crisis hotline in Bonita Beach, California. When a listener is murdered, Tony and Shahla team up to uncover the strange worlds of their callers and find the killer.

His Lillian Morgan mysteries,
Catch a Falling Knife
and
Thirteen Diamonds
, explore the secrets of retirement communities. Lillian, a retired mathematics professor from North Carolina, is smart, opinionated, and loves to solve puzzles, even when they involve murder.

Alan splits his time between writing and walking, another passion. His inspirational, prize-winning book,
Walking the World: Memories and Adventures
, has information and adventure in equal parts. He is also the author of
Walking to Denver
, a light-hearted, fictional account of a walk he did.

Freedom’s Light: Quotations from History’s Champions of Freedom
, contains quotations from some of our favorite historical figures about personal freedom.
The Saga of Bill the Hermit
is a narrative poem about a hermit who decides that the single life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Alan lives with his wife, Bonny, on a hill in Southern California. His website is
alancook.50megs.com
.