Kitten Kaboodle (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 20) (11 page)

I was so stunned as to be speechless. “Huh?”

“She was suffocated.”

I frowned. “Suffocated? That makes no sense.”

“I completely agree. This case has become a major pain in my backside. I have a whole passel of folks who are guilty of something, yet it appears that unless Nona or Aspen is lying, we still don’t have the killer.”

“Okay, this is crazy. Are you absolutely certain how Edna died?”

“Coroner said the official cause of death isn’t the head injury, which I guess was minor, but suffocation, due, most likely, to someone holding something over her face.”

Could this day get any crazier?

After I hung up with Salinger I decided to track down Nona. Chances were with the Zimmerman clan in residence she wasn’t at home. I called her cell and found out she was in the bar where she liked to hang out. I told her I had news and would meet her in the coffee shop just down the street. I figured it would be too loud in the bar to talk.

When I explained to her what Salinger had told me, she was just as shocked as I was.

“I can understand how Aspen could have accidentally hit Edna with the shovel while trying to protect the kittens, but there’s no way she suffocated her,” Nona insisted.

“Are you sure? You’ve only known her for a short time. Accidentally hitting someone with a shovel is one thing, but suffocating a person implies intent.”

Nona frowned. “What’s going to happen now?”

“I’m not sure. Aspen is still in jail pending a plea bargain, but with this new information it might not be in the cards. And while I don’t mean to alarm you, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Salinger doesn’t bring you in again as well. Someone smothered Edna with the intention of killing her. Based on the timeline, the two of you have to be his best suspects.”

“Should I run?”

“I wouldn’t. If you’re innocent—and I assume you are—things will get straightened out.” I looked at Nona with pity in my eyes. “You know that if Edna was dead when you arrived the odds are that Aspen is responsible for her death.”

Nona didn’t say anything, but I could see she was taking what I said seriously. She looked a lot older without the sass she usually displayed. My heart was breaking for her as she came to the same conclusion I had: Aspen mustn’t be as innocent as she seemed.

I watched as the look on Nona’s face went from defeated to determined. “No. Aspen didn’t do this. I don’t know who did, but I do know Aspen was truly traumatized when she accidentally hit Edna. Sure, she didn’t handle it well, but she’s just a kid. She panicked.”

“A kid?”

“She’s just twenty-two.”

“Really? I thought she was older. She has a teaching degree.”

“She graduated high school a year early and was on an accelerated program in college. What are we going to do? We have to help her.”

I really had no idea. I supposed the first thing I needed to do was decide if I even believed in Aspen’s innocence. This entire situation was bizarre. The traffic in and out of Edna’s barn on the day she died resembled a freeway during rush hour. If someone other than Aspen or Nona actually killed Edna that would mean there was yet another person at play. The odds of that were astronomical. Unless…

“Okay, walk me through this again.” I dug around in my backpack for a notepad and a pen. The timeline for the sequence of events was going to be tight. I wondered if another player was even a possibility.

“Ever since Aspen made me aware of the situation with Edna’s cats I’ve been sneaking over to her place every now and then to take a peek and make sure the cats weren’t in danger. Until Monday I hadn’t seen anything that alarmed me enough to confront Edna, but the motherless kittens were in bad shape. I marched myself up to the door and demanded that they receive medical attention. Edna refused. That’s when I came to see you. After I left your house I headed over to talk to Aspen. When she heard about the kittens she decided to take a stab at convincing Edna to do the right thing. Aspen tends to be a bit more diplomatic than I am, so it made sense that she be the one to speak to her.”

“And what time would you say it was that Aspen left to go over to Edna’s?”

“About noon.”

“Okay, then what?”

“A short while later she came back, close to hysterical. When I calmed her down she explained that she and Edna had struggled, and somehow Edna ended up getting hit in the head. Aspen said she was alive but unconscious and she panicked. I decided to check out the situation myself. When I got there Edna was dead, so I took my jacket out of the storage compartment and framed myself. You know the rest.”

“And the kittens were still there when you found Edna dead?”

“Yeah. I was going to wait a bit and then make an anonymous call reporting Edna’s death, but the lady who came to purchase a kitten beat me to it.”

“So Fritz and Tucker must have come by and taken the kittens after you were there. Do you have any idea what an incredibly small window of opportunity we’re talking about? If someone smothered Edna after Aspen left and before you arrived, this person would have had to time it perfectly. There’s really only one explanation.”

“There is?”

“Whoever killed Edna was watching everyone come and go the entire time. When they realized Edna had been hit with the shovel they saw their opportunity to finish the job and took it. I suppose it’s possible someone just happened by during the twenty-minute window between Aspen hitting Edna and you finding her dead, but it seems unlikely.”

“I didn’t see anyone else in the vicinity and Aspen didn’t mention seeing anyone either.”

“It had to be a neighbor. My money is on Jethro. What do you say we pay him a visit to check out our theory?”

“I’ll drive.”

I know I should have insisted on driving, but Nona had replaced her feelings of defeat with determination, and once she made up her mind about something there was no stopping her. At least I’d begun to get used to Nona’s hell-on-wheels driving style and wasn’t nearly as terrified as I had been the first time. Of course the biggest problem with taking Nona’s hog was that it very loudly announced our arrival, leaving no chance for a surprise visit.

Nona parked in the drive in front of Edna’s house. At least she’d realized that would give us a chance to scope things out before we actually knocked on Jethro’s door. I climbed off the back of the bike and removed the helmet Nona had lent me. It was going to be several minutes at least before my legs felt really steady.

“What’s the plan?” she asked.

Plan? I supposed it would have been a good idea to have come up with a plan before we made the death ride out to the county.

“I’ll go have a chat with him. You wait here,” Nona instructed.

“I can’t let you go up to the door alone.”

“Give me five minutes. If I’m not back call the sheriff.”

Calling the sheriff suddenly sounded like a good idea. “Wait,” I called after Nona as I dialed Salinger’s cell.

Surprisingly, Nona stopped walking. I really hadn’t expected her to. I was about to suggest that we just wait for Salinger to arrive when someone hit me on the arm from behind, knocking my phone to the ground. In the split second before I turned around I noticed Nona staring at someone from behind me.

It was Tilly, and she had a gun.

“It was you?” I breathed.

Tilly’s face was twisted into a snarl that made her look like a demented lunatic rather than the sophisticated woman I’d met the other day. “You just couldn’t leave well enough alone.”

“But why?”

“Sometimes a woman has to fight for what’s hers, but Edna didn’t understand that. She thought she could have any man she wanted whether he was already betrothed to another or not.”

“Betrothed?” I remembered Tilly making a comment about a wedding and a reception in her garden. “Donald,” I realized. “You’re Donald’s fiancée.”

“It was only a matter of time before she managed to get Donald under her spell, the way she did with Pete and countless others. I had to do it. Surely you can see I had no choice.”

I’d been in pretty much this same situation a number of times before, so I knew agreeing with her was the best tactic, but apparently Nona hadn’t had the same experiences.

“You always have a choice,” Nona said. “Edna probably picked him ’cause he was sending her vibes. My guess is the poor victim thing was an act.”

I groaned as Tilly lifted the gun and pointed it directly at Nona.

“She didn’t mean it,” I tried. “She’s an old woman who doesn’t understand about true love.”

I glared at Nona in an attempt to communicate to her that it was time for her to let me do the talking. She glared back but, for once, remained silent.

“I’ve spoken to Donald,” I continued. “I could tell his commitment to you was strong and true. Edna should never had tried to seduce a man who was so clearly in love with his fiancée. You’re a very lucky woman and you’ll make a beautiful bride.”

Tilly smiled just a bit.

“No one needs to know about Edna, but if you use that gun now people are going to figure it out. How about we put it away?”

I was encouraged by the look of uncertainty on Tilly’s face. At least she seemed to be thinking about what I was saying.

“I bet the dress you’ve picked out is lovely,” I added as a means of keeping her attention on the wedding and not shooting us.

“It was my mother’s.”

“How very special. And your flowers?”

Tilly frowned. She didn’t answer, but she did raise the gun just a bit. Dang, I was losing her.

“It’s about time the cavalry arrived,” Nona hollered, causing Tilly to look behind her, which allowed me to propel all one hundred pounds of my body at her, knocking her to the ground. The gun went off, Nona let out a very ungrandmotherly cuss word, and I hit Tilly with all my might, knocking her out cold.

I took a deep breath as I kicked the gun out of Tilly’s reach. “Are you okay?” I asked the woman who stood behind me.

“I do believe the bitch has gone and shot me.”

I saw the blood on Nona’s shirt and momentarily panicked. By this time Jethro had heard the ruckus and wandered over. I handed him the gun and told him to keep an eye on Tilly until Salinger arrived, and then I climbed onto Nona’s hog and instructed her to climb on behind me. The dang bike weighed more than I did, but somehow I got us to the hospital without killing either one of us.

“Oh my God, I just heard.” Ellie came running in through the double doors. “Is Nona okay?”

“I don’t know.” I was fighting the tears that were building up behind my eyelids. “I’m waiting to hear. How did you even know what happened?”

“Levi called me. He’s here as well, parking the car.”

“How did Levi find out?”

“Jethro called him. Not on purpose. You left your phone on the ground after you took off with Nona. You told Jethro to watch Tilly until Salinger got there, but your call hadn’t gone through. He tried to use your phone to call Salinger, but he ended up pressing the wrong button. I’m guessing Levi’s number was in your call history. Anyway, when Levi heard what happened he called Salinger and then me. We figured you’d need reinforcements.”

I hugged Ellie. “I do. I really do.”

“Not a word to Levi about you-know-what.”

“I won’t,” I promised as Levi rushed in and scooped me into his arms.

Waiting to find out how badly Nona was hurt was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, in spite of the fact that I had my two best friends with me. I thought of calling Zak, but there was nothing he could do, and he’d just worry. I’d fill him in when he got home later that evening.

“How did you manage to get Nona to the hospital on that bike?” Levi asked.

“I have no idea. When I saw blood all over the front of Nona’s shirt I panicked. Looking back, it was a stupid idea to bring her into town on the back of the bike. What if she had passed out and fallen off?” I was beginning to hyperventilate.

“But she didn’t.” Levi laced his fingers through mine and gave my hand a squeeze. “Jumping on the bike was the fastest way back into town. You probably saved her life.”

“I could have used Jethro’s old truck.”

“Yeah,” Levi admitted. “That might have been a better choice.”

“What time is Zak supposed to be home?” Ellie asked.

“I’m not sure. Late. After midnight. I thought of calling him, but I don’t want to worry him.”

“Did you call to let the Zimmermans know what’s going on?” Levi added.

“No, and I don’t intend to. Not unless it looks like…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Nona couldn’t die. In the short time I’d known her I’d come to love her. She just had to be okay. “What’s taking so long?”

“It hasn’t been that long,” Levi reassured me. “Can I get you some coffee?”

“No. Coffee will only make me jittery, and I already feel like I’m going to jump out of my skin.” I walked back and forth across the waiting room floor while Ellie and Levi watched me with looks of concern on their faces. I know how hard it can be when someone you love is in crisis and I didn’t want them to worry about me, but as hard as I tried, I couldn’t fake a nonchalant attitude.

“My buddy is letting me use his cabin in Vail this winter. I thought we could all go skiing,” Levi suggested.

“Skiing?” Ellie commented. “Nona is in surgery and you want to talk about skiing?”

Levi shrugged. “I thought Zoe could use a distraction.”

“I do need a distraction and I think it would be fun for all of us to go to Vail.” Of course even as I said that, I realized Ellie wouldn’t be doing any skiing this winter. “How big is this cabin?”

“Five bedrooms. It’s really more of a house. I haven’t been there before, but it looks awesome in the photos. There’s even a giant hot tub on the back deck overlooking the mountains. I can picture us sharing a bottle of wine while we take a long soak at the end of the day.”

Hot tubbing was another thing Ellie would be unable to participate in. Poor thing. Being pregnant was going to be a drag.

“It sounds wonderful,” I said.

“I’ll see if I can find out when the cabin is available,” Levi offered. “I’ll have time off around the holidays, so maybe we can do it then.”

“Don’t you think trying to cram a ski trip in with everything else that’s going on over the holidays is sort of pushing it?” Ellie asked.

Levi shrugged. “Maybe, but it seemed worth bringing up.”

“Mrs. Zimmerman,” a doctor I’d never met before said as he came through the double doors that said “No Admittance
.
”

“That’s me.” I stood up. “How is she?”

“She’s lost a lot of blood, but she’s going to be fine. Luckily, none of her vital organs were hit and you got her here in a timely manner.”

I let out a deep breath. “Thank God. Can I see her?”

“She’s in recovery and there’s little chance she’ll wake up until morning. I suggest you go home, get some sleep, and come back then.”

It was decided that Levi would drive Nona’s bike back to the house and I would go with Ellie. It was late and I was tired, but I was totally wound up, so I decided to head over to the boathouse to process a bit without having to deal with the Zimmerman clan. I knew that once my heart stopped beating a mile a minute I’d probably crash, so Levi agreed to come to Ellie’s as well, and then drive me home when I was ready.

He frowned but didn’t say anything when Ellie handed him a beer, me a glass of wine, and settled herself with a glass of water. I was sure he had no idea what was really going on, but he was perceptive, and he knew Ellie better than anyone on the planet. I had a feeling he was going to figure things out if she didn’t share her news sooner rather than later.

“How was your doctor appointment?” Levi asked.

Ellie shrugged. “Fine. Just some female stuff.”

“Female stuff?”

“Hormones,” I pitched in. “Dang things get just a tiny bit out of whack and your entire body goes to hell.”

“I see.” It was clear he didn’t see but decided not to push it.

“So how does the team look this year?” I asked. As head coach for the high school team, Levi was always up for talking football.

“Fine. Is there something going on that you girls are keeping from me?”

“Of course not,” Ellie insisted. “Zoe is probably still in shock over what happened.”

“Shock?”

“Nona could have died.” Ellie must have noticed the real look of panic on my face because she added, “But of course she didn’t and will be totally fine.”

“The team looks good this year.” Thankfully, Levi decided to play along with a game for which he clearly didn’t know the rules. “We have a new running back who just transferred in from Bryton Lake. His addition to the team provides us with a double benefit because not only do we have his athletic ability but now Bryton Lake doesn’t.”

“That’s great, Levi.” I smiled as if this was the best and most important news I’d heard all day. He and I continued to talk football while Ellie was clearly struggling with runaway emotions. Once we’d exhausted the subject of football the conversation changed to the new school year and how it would affect Zimmerman Academy. After one glass of wine I claimed fatigue and asked Levi to drive me home.

“Is Ellie really okay?” Levi asked. He was clearly worried.

“She’s fine,” I assured him.

“And it’s hormones that are making her feel so bad?”

“Yes,” I responded honestly. “It is.”

Levi took a minute to chew on that before he asked, “If something really was wrong you’d tell me?”

“Of course I would. Why would I keep anything from you?”

“I don’t know. I do know that you and Ellie appear to have a bond that no longer seems to include me. I mean, I guess I get it. Things have been weird between Ellie and me ever since we broke up, and I imagine you’ve been put in a spot where you feel like you need to choose sides.”

“I haven’t chosen sides. I wouldn’t. You and Ellie are
both
my best friends. I would never do anything to hurt either of you, but it’s true that trying to play the middle can become awkward at times. Having said that, I promise you that Ellie is fine, though she may have something on her mind. If I were you, I’d wait for her to be ready to tell you what that something is.”

Levi pulled up in front of my house. I could see he was struggling with the whole thing, and I guess I didn’t blame him. If he and Ellie had a secret and I was the odd man out it would drive me nuts.

“I get what you’re saying, but my instinct tells me Ellie is upset about something and it’s my natural inclination to want to help her. In spite of everything that has happened I still love her. I’ll always love her.”

“I know.” I placed my hand over Levi’s. “If you want to help her just be there in a supportive, best friend way while giving her the space she needs to sort out whatever it is she needs to sort out.”

Levi looked uncertain, but I could see he was willing to think about what I’d said.

I opened the car door. “I’ll call you tomorrow after I see Nona.”

“Okay. Thanks, Zoe. Have fun with your husband when he finally gets home.”

“Oh, I intend to.” I slammed the door and hurried up to the house. Ellie and Levi were both very important to me. I would be there for Ellie every step of the way, but I really hoped her pregnancy wouldn’t permanently destroy our best friend triad.