Miz Scarlet and the Holiday Houseguests (A Scarlet Wilson Mystery #3) (14 page)

“It was. We should run those poor dogs
outside and feed them their dinner. I’m sure they’re
starving.”

“Actually, I gave the package of dog
treats to one of the troopers, and he kept them busy so they didn’t
yap.”

“Clever,” I laughed. I kissed him this
time, to show my appreciation for his public safety
skills.

Having been cooped up on the sun porch
all this time, watching strangers come in and out of the inn, the
three dogs were thrilled to see us. Putting on their harnesses and
leashes, we stepped outside. The snow had picked up over the last
hour as the temperature had plummeted. Was that better or worse for
Bur and the gang out on the road?

“There you are!” said an angry voice.
It was Larry. “You’ve got one hell of a nerve, Scarlet
Wilson!”

She came at me like a maniac, fire in
her eyes and arms flailing. I took two steps back as Kenny moved to
block the furious homicide investigator from reaching
me.

“What did I do?” I was
baffled.

“What did you do? What did you do?”
Larry’s voice rose up an octave or two. “How dare you put my
daughter and my father at risk that way!”

“Me? But it was Bur....”

“Don’t you dare blame your brother for
this mess! You’re the one who invited Del into the Four Acorns Inn!
The man is a convicted killer and you let him near my
family!”

“But....”

“Where the hell are they? I can’t find
them anywhere! What did you do with them? I want answers, and I
want them now!”

“They’re not back yet,” I tried to tell
her. She was too busy bellowing in my face to hear me. “Don’t you
realize that when you offered that creep...what do you mean they’re
not back yet? Back from where?”

“I think you’re going to need a drink
for this,” I told her. “Come on. I’m freezing.”

“Back from where?” she yelled again,
even as I opened the door to the sun porch and let the dogs scoot
inside. “Don’t worry. Last I heard from them, they were
fine.”

After Kenny put in an order for two
large specials at Nick’s Pizzeria, we rejoined the Googins girls
and their companion in the dining room. Laurel and Lacey were
peppering Max with questions. I interrupted with an offer of
cocktails.

“I’m making Larry a very stiff gin and
tonic. Would anyone else like one?” With the drink orders in hand,
I went into the butler’s pantry to mix them. Thank heavens for the
mirrored backsplash. I had installed it to help me keep up with the
needs of the Four Acorns Inn guests during meals. It served me well
now, enabling me to keep an eye on the action through the open door
behind me.

Max made his former partner sit down
beside him, ever the solicitous gentleman, albeit with his heart
plastered on his sleeve. His gaze never left Larry’s exhausted face
as they talked. With my drink tray in hand, I returned to the
dining room and put an icy gin-laced tumbler before Larry. She
seemed reluctant to pick it up. I gave one to each of the Googins
girls, and set a short glass with bourbon neat down in front of
Max.

“I’m going for the pizzas,” Kenny
announced, kissing the top of my head. “Don’t talk about the good
stuff until I get back.”

“That might be tough,” Max told him.
“It’s all good.”

“Don’t you dare take one more step,
Captain Peacock!” At the sound of his nickname, Kenny stopped in
his tracks. “No one goes anywhere until I get some answers! Where
is my kid?”

“I can’t help you with that. I came
late to the party. I’m only here because my house closing got
postponed until Monday,” he explained. “I’ll be back.”

He scooted out of the dining room, as
the rest of us sat, dreading the next few minutes. Larry’s eyes
moved from face to face, studying each of us in turn.

“Look at her,” Max said to the Googins
girls and me. “She’s trying to figure out which one of you is going
to break first and give up your partners in crime.”

“Oh, you’re a big help,” I replied
nervously. “Since you’re so brave, why don’t you tell
her?”

“Hey, I wasn’t here either. I’m not
taking the fall on this.”

“We really didn’t have anything to do
with it,” Lacey insisted. “Besides, it’s not like Scarlet or Bur
would have listened to us anyway.”

“I told Bur not to go.” My mother shook
her head. “It was too great a risk, given the weather. But he went
anyway, and he took Michaela with him.”

“Took her where?” Larry demanded. I
could tell she was getting ready to slap the dining room table. It
was one of her signature moves when she was interrogating suspects.
Her hand hovered above the shiny surface of the antique mahogany,
poised to strike. She knew my weakness for family heirlooms passed
down through the generations. Larry meant business and to prove it,
she raised her palm a few more inches into the air
menacingly.

“I’ll tell you what happened,” I
promised. “Just don’t hit that table.”

“
Spill the beans, Miz
Scarlet,” she instructed me, as she leaned toward me, her
expression fierce and determined. “And you’d better not lie to
me!”

“Your father called to say that he
missed his connecting flight from Newark to Hartford. He couldn’t
get a ride, because it’s the last weekend before Christmas. Every
bus, train, and limo was booked.”

“So?”

“So, Bur drove to Newark to pick him
up. He took Mickey with him.”

“She’s in Newark?” Larry looked
shocked.

“Um, not exactly.” I took a long sip of
my gin and tonic, savoring it.

“She was in Newark,” my mother
announced. “And they did pick up Big Larry.”

“Where are they now?” The seasoned
investigator’s eyes narrowed as she gazed upon us with suspicion.
“What happened to them?”

“Well, it’s kind of a funny story,
actually....”

“Miz Scarlet! Stop your stalling right
this minute and tell me where my kid and my pop are!”

“You didn’t get any of your mother’s
texts, dear?” Laurel broke in. “She tried to reach you several
times. Scarlet only did what she did because she was trying to
help, especially when your mother called the inn, needing to be
rescued.”

“What in God’s name happened to my
mother?”

“It’s more like what happened to
everyone else,” I muttered under my breath.

“Excuse me?” she snarled. By this time,
Max was snorting. Larry turned on him. “What’s so damn
funny?”

“Your mother was afraid she wouldn’t be
able to fly tomorrow if the storm got worse, so she changed her
ticket and flew up early. Surprise! Her plane landed this
afternoon,” he told her.

“Say what?”

“I had to send Bur to get her,” I
admitted. “It was the right thing to do, under the circumstances.
Again, no shuttle service because of the holiday....”

“Bur took everyone to pick her up at
the airport?” Larry seemed confused. “Is he insane?”

“Kind of,” Lacey nodded.

“I’m starting to think my son’s
certifiable,” Laurel confided.

“Okay, so he picked up my father and
then stopped to get my mother. Why aren’t they back yet from
Bradley International? It’s a twenty-minute drive.”

“Your mother couldn’t get a flight to
Hartford, so she flew into JFK.”

“She did what?” Larry was
stunned.

“I think she panicked, dear, when she
thought your father might have all the fun here at the Four Acorns
Inn and she’d be stuck in Atlanta.” Lacey raised her glass in a
toast. “Your mother is apparently a very stubborn woman, who wants
what she wants, come hell or high water.”

“Or blizzard,” Laurel added.

“Oh, brother! If that doesn’t just take
the cake....” Larry shook her head, put her hands over her face,
and slumped over on the table. A moment later, her shoulders shook.
We could hear a muffled sound emanate from beneath her crumpled
form.

“Is she okay?” Laurel was clearly
worried.

“It’s probably just the shock talking,”
Max decided. “This has been a very traumatic day for
her.”

A long, high-pitched howl suddenly cut
through our conversation, scattering the startled dogs. Larry
suddenly sat up, tears streaming down her face. She was
laughing.

“My mother saved everyone from being
killed by being her usual stubborn self?” asked the baffled state
trooper.

“Well, I guess she kind of did,” I
acknowledged. “Otherwise, your daughter and your dad would have
been here when you and Del arrived, and Bur would have probably
tried to play hero. It would have been a disaster.”

“Thank God for Max!” my mother
declared. “He was brilliant!”

“He was, wasn’t he?” Lacey concurred.
The retired homicide investigator tried to play down his role in
the drama, despite the accolades that were being heaped upon
him.

“Ladies, please,” Max sighed. “I didn’t
do anything. It was all the SWAT team. I just did my best to make
sure nobody got hurt until we could capture the
bastard.”

“You had my back. You were the only one
who gave me a reason to hope. I knew you had your weapon under that
blanket.” Larry wiped away a stray tear.

“That was just in case things got bad
before they arrived,” her former partner told us. “You always have
to call for back-up.”

“But you,” Larry growled, turning her
attention to me. “You flirted with Del!”

It sounded like an accusation. Was she
jealous?

“I was told to stall,” I confessed. “It
was the only thing I could think of to do under the
circumstances!”

“The man is a convicted killer!” Larry
spit out the words, her anger obvious. “He could have killed you,
Miz Scarlet! He’s killed before!”

“But he didn’t. Max said I had to do
whatever I could to buy some time until the state cops got here.
Besides, Kenny was watching. How far would that creep have
gotten?”

“Well, maybe you have a point, but I
never could have forgiven you if you got yourself killed!” I felt
Larry’s arms go around my neck, and the next thing I knew, I was
enveloped in a big, tear-laden hug. “Thank you for hanging in there
and having my back.”

“I’m just glad the guy’s in custody. No
more threats to Michaela. No more stalking you. He really was
nasty, wasn’t he? That thing he did with his tongue was
disgusting!” I pretended to gag, but the truth was I wasn’t far
from it as I recalled that horrific sight.

“I can’t believe I let him get the jump
on me in the forensics lab parking lot. I never heard him sneak up
behind me.”

“We were all freaked out when your
phone and purse showed up in your car,” Max told her. “We weren’t
sure what to think. If Michaela hadn’t told Scarlet about that
phone call....”

“I’m going to have to make it up to
Mickey somehow. I can’t believe she thought she was protecting me
by keeping that a secret.”

“You had a lot going on, Larry Bear.”
Max rolled his eyebrows, commiserating. “It’s a stressful job. You
had a killer to catch.”

“I’m missing something,” I admitted.
“What did Del have to do with Carmine Tossi, and why did he murder
that kid in the woods?”

“Ah,” the state homicide investigator
sighed. “I’m not at liberty to discuss an ongoing case, but if I
were to speculate, I’d say it’s very possible that the teenager met
with foul play when he put the moves on a rival’s girlfriend at
school. It was probably nothing to do with Carmine, his wife, or
political corruption; nor was Del involved. It was just possibly
your ordinary garden variety of murder.”

“Go figure.” I drained the last of my
cocktail. “It was all about a girl.”

“Most murders aren’t complicated,” Max
pointed out, “and they’re usually personal. Passion, power, or cash
are the usual motivators.”

“Hello! Hey, everybody, we’re back!” I
suddenly heard Bur’s voice call out in the foyer. The dogs left
their napping spots on the dining room carpet and went out to greet
the newcomers, tails wagging.

“Oh, goody,” Larry grimaced, rolling
her eyes at the heavens. She rose from the table and strode across
the room, pausing briefly at the doorway, as if to gather her
courage. “Now we’re going to have some fun!”

She didn’t sound like she was looking
forward to it, so I put my arm around her in a show of support.
“You have faced the nastiest of killers, the most ruthless of
thieves. Surely you can handle Edna and Big Larry.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” she
sighed. “Quick, someone hand me a whip and a chair. And get the
lion cage ready. The circus is in town!”

“We finally get to meet Big Larry and
Edna,” my mother remarked, as she maneuvered her wheelchair away
from the dining table. “How long has it been since your parents
spent any time together?”

“Fourteen years,” my friend said. “It
was the day Michaela was christened.”

“Dear me,” Lacey laughed. “It sounds
like there’s a story there.”