For reasons we all understood, Pickle said absolutely nothing else about this woman Melinda. I was simply glad he had been there when she attacked me so that he could expose their relationship in a way that didn’t implicate him.
But I didn’t think much about that stuff then because I was still waiting to hear from Jared and Tuck about Dad and Symeon. And so were Mom and Mart. Mom was sitting quietly in a chair in the café with her forty-nine-millionth cup of tea from Rocky; Mart was pacing and intermittently shouting about whether this fishing cabin was actually a cabin in Evergreen, Colorado, or Shanghai; and I was alternating staring at my phone and staring out the window on the lookout for Jared’s cruiser.
Finally, Stephen brought a chair over to the front window for me so I could sit with my dogs, who were completely unconscious. The excitement of earlier had drained them, and despite the fact that I was still a mess of anxiety, their adrenaline spikes had apparently already faded and left them completely exhausted. I kind of wanted to curl up on the dog bed with them and just rest, but I settled for petting their ears as they slept.
Henri and Bear had immediately cleaned up the glass, and Woody had salvaged a piece of plywood from the back of his truck to temporarily repair the front door. Marcus, Cate, and Rocky had managed to organize the books into categories and make a pile of those that suffered too much damage to be sold at full price, and I was able to say that I thought we could do a sidewalk sale next week, give people a discount on the damaged titles and still generate some income for those authors. Lucas had stripped the covers off of all the magazines since they were far too beaten up to be sold now, and I’d need to return them for a partial refund.
I could see that all this was happening, and I wanted to help, too. But between the pounding headache I had from being hit in the head with a brick – the one brick, ironically, we’d removed in the ceremony yesterday – and my ever-increasing worry, I was useless. So Walter and Stephen sat on the floor beside me and the dogs and kept me company. They didn’t even try to talk to me, and I appreciated the quiet companionship more than I could say at the time.
I had just checked my phone for the eight-hundred-thirty-second time when a cruiser flew by the window, sirens blaring and lights on. All of us jumped up and ran to the front windows. My heart was squarely against my tonsils, and I was having a little trouble breathing. That was not a good sign, and I rushed over to grab Mom and hold her close.
At that moment, my phone dinged, and everyone rushed over as I opened Jared’s message. “Your dad and Symeon are fine and with me. Tuck is in pursuit of the other suspect. Take everyone and go somewhere safe.”
I read his words to myself and then out loud. “Where do we go?” Marcus asked.
“My house,” Elle said. “It’s remote, and most of you haven’t been there.”
Mom nodded. “Let’s go.”
Marcus ran to the back of the store and armed the alarm as everyone spilled out into the street. We left all the lights on just to deter anyone from trying to pry the plywood off the door, and then we sprinted toward the cars that were closest – mine and Stephen’s. Everybody that is, except for Pickle. “I need to go to the station,” he said as he hugged me before I got in my car. “I’ll update you if I can.” Then, he was off at a jog up the street.
It was a tight squeeze to get us all in two cars, but when Mart and Elle climbed into the hatch of my Subaru, we all fit and headed out with Elle driving my car and leading the way. Just to be safe and be sure that whoever Tuck was chasing hadn’t double-backed and decided to follow us, she circled around town for a few loops before speeding up and shooting out toward her farm. As she reached her road, she slammed on the brakes and spun my car up the driveway with Stephen right behind. For a brief moment, I felt like I was in that car chase from The Italian Job but with an Outback and a Tesla instead of Minis. And with no one, apparently, chasing us.
As soon as we got to Elle’s gorgeous house tucked into the hillside above her farm, we all jogged inside and proceeded to make sure all the doors and windows were locked. Taco and Mayhem made the rounds of the house to sniff and double-check the perimeter before collapsing on the deck that overlooked the farm below.
The deck was only accessible from the house, so as Elle, Stephen, and Walter prepped drinks and dinner, most of us found seats on the deck to look down at the bright colors and neat rows of Elle’s flower and vegetable garden. This time of year, the zinnias and sunflowers were really putting on a show, and I let my gaze linger on the vibrancy of the blooms as they danced in the late afternoon breeze.
Mom and Mart sat near me, and after a few minutes of quiet, when the news about Dad and Symeon had sunk in and the frenzy of our race to Elle’s house had subsided, Mom said, “He’s okay.”
I nodded, “And he’s okay,” I said to Mart.
Simultaneously, all of us took a deep breath, and then we laughed, good and long and hard. So long and hard, in fact, that Bear came over and checked on us. “You ladies all okay? Did someone slip you some laughing gas?”
Henri stepped up next to him. “Better,” she said. “They’re high on relief.”
I nodded and stared out over the fields below again, and as I did, the cloud of dust behind an approaching car brought me to my feet. “Look,” I said as I stepped toward the railing.
I didn’t recognize the vehicle. A long, sleek sportscar of some sort, not a police cruiser for sure. But before I could say anything, Bear had his hand on my arm. “Inside. Now.”
Without hesitation, I sprinted toward the door just behind Mart and Mom and the dogs at my heels. Everyone else followed suit, and as soon as we were all inside, we slammed the door shut and locked it, pulling the long curtains shut too.
Then, Walter and Stephen ran around the house to check all the doors and windows again just as Cate and Lucas shoved a heavy sideboard from Elle’s front hallway against the door. “Which windows have ground access?” Woody asked Elle.
“Just the two in the back bedrooms and this one here,” she said pointing toward the kitchen window above the sink. “I’ll get this one.”
Woody and Henri sprinted toward the further bedroom, and Mart, Lu, and I took the closer one as Bear followed behind us with a fireplace poker. I scanned the room and tugged a wooden baseball bat from the wall where Elle had it displayed. “Go be sure Woody and Henri have something,” I said to Bear, and he bolted out of the room.
“We have crutches,” Henri shouted to us, and then Mart grabbed a broom from behind the door and took up a position on the opposite side of the window from me.
That’s when we heard the thundering of footsteps on the stairwell to the basement next to us. “The basement door,” Stephen shouted through the wall.
“Bear,” I screamed. “The basement.”
The form of a large man tore past the bedroom door, and seconds later, we heard footsteps going down the stairs. The basement opened under the deck, and while we had been sure that all those doors and windows were locked, they were the easiest entry point into the house. I hoped the men were in time.
A moment later, though, I knew they hadn’t made it because I heard a new voice, and it was taunting us from the stairwell. “It would be best if we could do this civilly, so maybe you will let me come up the stairs so that, well, your friend Stephen doesn’t have to bleed.”
I cringed and looked at Mart. “It’s Thomas,” I mouthed.
She nodded. We’d had dinner with Dad’s friend a number of times, and their voice was very familiar. “Okay, we’re coming into the living room,” I said.
I quickly walked into the living room and slid the baseball bat under the front of the couch then watched Mart slip the broom against the doorframe. Henri was able to tuck her poker back by the fireplace just as first Walter then Bear and then Thomas with a pistol to Stephen’s back emerged at the top of the stairs and moved into the living room.
A quick glance around the room told me everyone was here, well, almost everyone. Woody and Elle were still missing. I imagined Woody had stayed back in the bedroom, but where was Elle? And what were they thinking they could do with our friend held at gunpoint?
I couldn’t worry about that, though, not with Stephen in danger. “Thomas, what do you want? What happened?”
“Your father happened,” they said with a sneer. “He talked me into that ridiculous game with the mail, and then that woman started telling everyone that I was dating your father. Then, he found out, and he left.”
I sighed. “Who, Thomas? A man you were seeing?”
As Thomas nodded, the gun slipped a bit, and I saw Walter’s head twitch at the motion. I had to keep him talking, buy us some time.
“He thought you and Dad were really dating?” I took a step closer, and when Thomas didn’t move the gun back up, I took another. “He didn’t believe you when you explained.”
“Oh, he believed me, but he thought I was being cruel to play such a trick on that postmistress.” Thomas shook his head. “He said that her gossiping was her problem, not mine, and I was no better than her to try to call her out on it.”
I shook my head and tried to look really sympathetic as I took another step closer. “He should have taken your side, Thomas. You and Dad did us all a favor by exposing Margie’s gossiping nature. She was the one who was wrong here.”
Thomas waved the gun up in the air as they gestured with their hands. “That’s what I said, but he wouldn’t have any of it. And now he’s gone, and the only person who has my back is Melinda . . . and you took her away, too.” The gun was now directly pointed at my face. “You have all these friends, all the people who always support you. They’d never abandon you, even if they thought you made a mistake.”
Mart stepped forward then, and Thomas swung the gun at her. “But we are your friends, Thomas. Everyone here loves you. We care about you.”
A stricken look crossed over Thomas’s face. “No, not like you care about Symeon or Burt. They are your people, and I wanted you to know what it felt like to lose them.”
I studied Thomas’s face and tried to figure out their logic. Kidnapping Dad made sense, at least in the way Thomas was seeing things, but taking Symeon seemed random.
“Okay,” I said, trying to draw his attention back to me. “What did Symeon do?”
“Are you kidding? He saw me that morning on his way to the post office, and he didn’t even speak to me. Didn’t even speak.” They waved the gun around, and I saw movement in the hallway behind them. “I had just done the most horrific thing imaginable, and I’m sure I looked a fright. But he totally ignored me.”
I glanced over at Mart who was staring at Thomas. I could see the rage tightening in her jaw, but she kept herself in check and said, “You’re right. Being ignored always makes me upset, but that doesn’t sound like Symeon. You’re sure he saw you?”
“Of course he saw me,” Thomas said as they leveled the gun at Mart again. “I was right there on the sidewalk across the street. He was almost to the post office, and I waved. But nothing. He didn’t even look my way.”
I sighed. “Thomas, I don’t think he saw you.” I spoke slowly. “I was sitting on the front stoop of the sidewalk with the girl who had just found Margie’s body. I expect Symeon saw me before you waved and was just focused on getting to me. I don’t think he meant to snub you at all.”
A wave of fear washed over Thomas’s face, and for a split second, the gun dropped to their side. At that moment, Jared leaped out of the hallway and tackled them, knocking the gun to the ground. Mart grabbed it and pointed it toward Thomas and, thus, at Jared. She was shaking so badly, I thought she might accidentally fire.
I stepped over to her and pushed her hands down so that the gun pointed at the floor. Then, Elle rushed up the stairs with Tuck right behind her. He came over, took the gun, and set it on the counter behind Mart and then helped Jared lift Thomas to his feet.
Then, Mart and I collapsed to the floor and lay there as the dogs licked our faces. Only when Jared came back in with Dad and Symeon did I move and only then just enough for Jared to lay down beside me and put my face in his neck.
When I finally pried myself off Elle’s hardwoods a few minutes later, Mom and Dad were tucked into each other in a corner of a couch, and Mart was on Symeon’s lap in a chair on Elle’s deck. Taco and Mayhem were sitting with Cate and Lucas at the dining room table, and everyone else was scattered about the room, except Tuck who had gone back to the station with Thomas in his cruiser. He had promised to come back shortly, once the prisoners were secured and he’d had a chance to talk with them.
Meanwhile, Walter and Elle set out the massive amount of pasta and the three sauces they had made earlier, and we all took plates but then mostly ignored the food and drank the wine that was also set out.
Jared took each of our statements separately in the front bedroom while the rest of us sat in a kind of stupefied silence, letting the alcohol and the quiet sunset outside soothe us. After I gave my statement to Jared, I had come back and put my head on Dad’s lap on the couch. While I felt his breathing against me, he pulled his fingers through my curls again and again, just like he had done when I was little and we’d watch basketball games together on Sundays.
Eventually, Jared had all the information he needed, and he made himself a plate of food and proceeded to polish it off and go back for seconds as we all watched. When I raised one eyebrow at him, “A good day’s work always gives me an appetite,” he said as he sat down next to me and put one hand on my knee. “Especially when the people I care about are all okay.”
I smiled and placed my hand over his. “So you knew it was Thomas when you got to the fishing cabin?”
Dad spoke, “It was Thomas’s family place. I’d been there a couple times when we took their boat out. I told Tuck and Jared that as soon as they arrived.”
“Plus, Thomas was the one who grabbed each of us after Melinda got our attention,” Symeon added.
“I wanted to tell you on the phone, Harvey,” Dad said.
I shook my head. “Nope, no guilt on your part. You didn’t do this. Thomas and Melinda did. I was just glad to know you were both okay.”
Mart kissed Symeon’s cheek. “Same. Same,” she said. “But how are Thomas and Melinda connected?”
“Ooh, ooh, I think I figured this one out,” Cate said as she put her hand up higher and higher in the air like answering a question asked by her third-grade teacher. “They are siblings!”
Dad smiled but then shook his head. “Good try, Cate, but no. Anyone else want to venture a guess?”
Lucas side-eyed his wife and said, “They used to date.”
“Ding. Ding. Ding,” Symeon responded quietly. “Before Thomas came out, Melinda was their high school girlfriend. They stayed friends all this time.”
Cate looked at her husband. “How did you know?”
“Rage like that only comes out when romantic love is involved,” he said. When Cate raised an eyebrow at him, “What?! I read the Bridgerton books, you know.”
I laughed.
“Wow, good on her,” Henri said. “Well, until she was part of a kidnapping and assault scheme.” A chuckle passed through the room.
“So she was just backing up Thomas’s plan?” Mom asked with a look at Dad.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Thomas sounded like they were just all about revenge for being isolated, but when she threatened me it had to do with the gossip thing.”
Stephen looked at Walter and then said, “When I was in high school, I dated a woman. She was wonderful and fun, and I really liked her . . . except I wasn’t in love with her because, well . . .” He waved his hand in front of himself. “Years later, we saw each other at a high school reunion, and she told me that after we broke up, a lot of people said she had turned me gay and spread nasty rumors about her.”
“And you think the same thing happened to Melinda?” Lu asked.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Walter said as he shrugged. “It happens a lot, unfortunately. Just part of our society’s general ignorance and ugliness about queer identity.”
My head dropped back on the couch. “I seriously do not understand why people have to hate other people.”
Jared pulled me closer and said, “It’s because you are incapable of hate.”
Then, Symeon lifted Mart from his lap and got down on one knee in front of her. “I was going to try and do this at a more romantic spot, but I realize now I don’t want to wait even one minute. Martha Weston, will you marry me?”
Mart gasped and then stared at him before nodding and then lunging to kiss him so quickly that he fell backward onto the floor.
“Thank goodness,” Stephen said. “I was about to burst with the good news.”
I stared at my friends and then I got it. “This was what you threatened Margie about?” I asked Symeon. “She knew you were going to propose.”
As Symeon picked Mart up and snuggled her back into his lap, he said, “She opened my package with the ring I’d ordered.” He looked at Mart. “It’s at home. I’ll get it on your finger right away.”
Mart grinned. “You wanted to surprise me.”
“Almost more than anything,” he said.
The entire room cooed in delight, and Woody said, “On that note, I think I need to get on home. Can someone give me a lift to my truck?”
“I’ll take you,” Stephen said as he looked at Walter, “If you’re ready.” Walter nodded, and the three men stood.
“Mind giving us a ride home on the way?” Mom asked as she helped Dad to his feet.
“Not at all,” Walter said. “You must be exhausted.”
Dad nodded and then leaned down to give me a quick hug. “Thank you, Harvey.”
I shook my head. “For what?”
Dad sighed. “Never mind. I’m too tired to explain how wonderful you are.” He laughed and took Mom’s hand.
Jared leaned over and whispered, “I’m not too tired. And if you’ll let me, I’ll keep helping you believe it, too.”
A smile slid up my face and I let myself lean into this amazing man a bit further. “I think I can do that,” I said, “but only after I sleep.”
We were just about to head out with everyone else alongside when Tuck came in Elle’s front door. Suddenly, I felt wide awake and sat back down, as did Lu, Cate, Lucas, Elle, and Jared.
“I’m just here to pick up my wife,” Tuck said deadpan.
I groaned. “You do remember we’re all voters and that you have an election coming up, right?”
“Well, when you put it like that,” Tuck said with a smile as he sat down on the arm of Lu’s chair. “Both Melinda and Thomas have confessed, and they have been officially charged with kidnapping and assault. Devon Springer was also arrested as co-conspirator. Thomas has, as you may have guessed, also been charged with murder.”
I hadn’t realized I was still tense until I felt the last of the burdens of the week falling away. “Did Melinda say what her motive was?”
“She honestly wasn’t making a lot of sense. She just kept talking about how rumors hurt people and some things aren’t anyone else’s business. When she started chanting ‘Sticks and Stones’ over and over, I stopped listening.” He rubbed his face. “Pickle is with her, and I expect he’ll suggest she plea insanity, which is probably the right call.”
“Can he still serve as her attorney even though he witnessed her attack Harvey?” Cate asked.
Tuck nodded. “Because he was her attorney before and because she is not trying to plead innocent, there’s not conflict of interest on his part. He is only obligated to provide her the best defense he can.”
“And if she pleads insanity . . .” Lucas didn’t finish. It sounded like it was an easy case to make given what we’d seen and what Tuck had just described.
“Here’s something I didn’t know, though. She was at the press conference this morning,” Tuck said and scanned our faces for our reactions.
I let my mind run back over the crowd that morning, but I had no recollection of anyone who looked like Melinda being there. “I didn’t see her.”
“Actually you did.” He took out his phone and pulled up a photo and then zoomed in. “Right there.”
“The dude with the moustache who asked about Margie’s murder?” I stared at the photo another minute. “She’s really good at costumes.”
“For good reason. She does special effects make-up for a company over in Baltimore,” Tuck said.
I stood up again. “Well, that’s about the last revelation I can handle for the night. Who needs a ride?”
“Oh no,” Jared said taking the keys from my hand. “I’ll drive.”
A crew is coming to repair your downstairs window tomorrow, Elle,” Tuck said as he hugged her. “Until then, we’ve done a patch that should hold just fine overnight. They’ll start here and then head to your store, Harvey. Meanwhile, we’ll up patrols past here and the store for the night.”
“Thanks, Tuck,” Elle said as she held her front door open for me. “I may still sleep with the lights on tonight, anyway.”
“Actually, if you have some lunch meat handy, I’ll leave you two guard dogs to keep you company.” Taco and Mayhem hadn’t yet moved from their reclining poses by the couch, and I liked the idea of having them keep Elle company tonight. I knew how scary it was to sleep in your house the first night after someone invaded it.
“Really?” Elle said as she looked at the two hounds over her shoulder. “They do seem pretty comfortable.”
“You think?” Tuck said.
“They are. Feed them whatever meat you have, give them some fresh water, and they’ll be fine. If you really want comfort, let them in your bed,” I said.
“Do I have to lift the big one?” she said with a glance at Taco.
“He’s got surprisingly good ups,” I said.
With that laugh, she closed the door, Tuck and Lu headed to his cruiser with Cate and Lucas while Jared, Mart, Symeon, and I all climbed into the Subaru for the ride back to our house.
Before we even got out of Elle’s driveway, I was asleep, and when I woke to a gentle nudge on my shoulder, I found we were in our driveway, and Jared was pulling me up to stand so he could guide me into the house.
Mart and I found our pajamas from the night before and climbed into my bed after helping Jared set Symeon up with his spot on the couch. Jared took Mart’s bed, and I think we were all asleep within minutes.
When I woke up the next morning, Mart was still drooling on the pillow beside me, but I could hear movement in the kitchen. I slid on my robe and wandered groggily into the sunlight, where two of the most attractive men I’d ever seen were cooking omelettes.
“Two days in a row, sir?” I said to Jared as I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You’re spoiling me.”
“That’s the plan,” he said as he poured me a cup of coffee, added sweet creamer, and sprinkled the top with sugar. “That’s the plan.”