Nun the Wiser (A Deadly Habit Cozy Mystery Book 2) (9 page)

Chapter 16
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I locked up my shop and turned to see Adam loading his duffel bag into my car. “Are you sure we’ll get there before the police do?” I called back to him. I pushed against the door to ensure it was secured, and then walked over to the driver’s side of the car.

“Considering that we’re leaving so early, we should get there well before the drop off time,” Adam replied with a grin. “But you never know — the police might want to show up early as well. You never know what to expect from criminals, so the cops tend to plan for every possible scenario.”

I pulled open the car door and slid inside. As I turned the ignition, I looked over at Adam. “Well, let’s just hope everything works out today. Do we have everything we need?”

Adam looked around the car, and then hoisted the large bag up on his lap. He pulled down the zipper and sifted through its contents briefly before looking up at me. “Yeah, I think so. Two sets of binoculars, my camera with the telephoto lens, and a few notepads, of course.”

I laughed. “Journalists can’t leave the house without something to write on.” I shifted the car into drive and sped off toward our destination.

Adam looked over at me with a wide smile on his face. “Hey, a writer always has to be able to write!” He pulled out his cell phone and glanced down at it. “When I have no other choice, I just use this, but give me a number two pencil and a sheet of paper over technology any day.” He exchanged glances with me as I rolled my eyes. “Well, for the note-taking, at least.”

The trees and bare paddocks whizzed by as we continued our trip to the meeting spot. It was for the most part a boring drive, with frostbitten countryside and nothing but an occasional flock of sheep to look at. Winter in this district made everything look like a desert, in contrast with spring and summer when everything was lush and green.

Walcha was the only break in the journey, but with a population of only around three thousand people, it only took about three minutes to drive though. Then it was back to the same scenery, until we approached West Springs. The countryside now afforded magnificent views of the valleys below.

I swerved to miss a fat waddling wombat and focused harder on driving, while Adam scribbled furiously in one of his notebooks. The countryside now had bush either side of the road, and there was the danger of wildlife running onto the road.

West Springs, Next Left
. As I read the sign, Adam looked up. “We’re here already?”

“Time flies when you’re doodling in your books,” I joked. Nevertheless, my heart was in my mouth. I knew we had planned to keep well out of the way, but I couldn’t help but be nervous.

I pulled off at the next exit and followed the road a short distance until we came to the fire station and rest area. They were some distance from the few solitary houses that dotted the top of the hill.

“Go right this way,” Adam said, pointing up a road that didn’t seem to lead to anywhere. “If we follow it up a bit, there should be a good spot for us to hide out. We should be able to find a good vantage point under cover of those trees.”

I kept on driving slowly as the road turned to dirt. Presently we came upon a slight embankment. Several wattle trees were scattered around the bottom, their winter branches still promising ample shelter. “This looks like it could work,” I said.

“Yes, it does. Park back here a bit and we can hide over in those bushes,” Adam said.

I stopped the car under a large tree. We walked over to crouch down behind the cover of the wattle trees. Adam pulled out a set of binoculars and handed them to me. I looked through and then adjusted the sights. At first, all I could see was a blur of colors, but after a few flicks of the dial, everything came into focus.

“It should be going down right over there,” Adam said, pointing over in the distance. “Look, here’s one of our guys.”

I squinted fiercely. I was able to see the car clearly, but the dark windows concealed the driver’s identity for the time being. “I can’t see who it is, and that’s definitely not the convent car,” I said. “Maybe that’s the Jack guy from the letter.”

“Maybe,” Adam said, “but that’s not the convent car either.”

I watched as an old, beat-up gray car pulled up beside the other. The door flew open and a pair of white shoes, partially covered by a black habit, touched the pavement.

“It’s a nun, but why isn’t he in the convent car?”

“I’m not sure,” Adam said, shaking his head. “Maybe they realized that it was being watched and decided to get something a bit less conspicuous.”

Suddenly, I thought about the time. I looked around frantically and realized that the police were nowhere in sight. I pulled out my phone and looked at the time. “They’re a whole hour early!”

“I was afraid of that,” Adam said. “They probably had a fail-safe already figured or something.”

I looked over at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

“A lot of gangs and groups like this have a back-up plan in case the police are watching. Basically, if the note says the meeting is at three p.m., it really means that it’s at two p.m., or something prearranged like that.”

I pulled the binoculars back up to my eyes and looked over at the two cars. The man whom I assumed to be Jack was now standing outside the black car, talking to the nun. I noticed the man was tall, with dark hair and a pair of glasses resting on his nose. “What are they doing?”

“I’m not sure, but it looks like they’re surveying the area,” Adam said.

I watched closely through the binoculars as Jack and the nun continued chatting. I noticed that their heads were swiveling. Adam was right — they were making sure they weren’t being watched.

After a few minutes, the nun followed the man to the trunk of the black car. I wondered if Jack was getting the money in order to make the exchange.

“This is a disaster,” I said to Adam. “The cops finally believe us, and they could’ve caught one of the nuns in the habit and all, but they’re not even here yet!”

Right then, Adam grabbed my arm. “It’s the police — look!”

I scooped the binoculars back up. I saw a dark, unmarked car with tinted windows. It slowly crept toward the meeting spot, but I figured the suspects might have seen it as well.

Just as I suspected, the nun’s face looked in the direction of the road. He pointed toward the car and then he at once ran off toward the tree line, leaving the other man with a dumbfounded expression on his face. I tried to follow the nun with binoculars, but he disappeared behind some bushes off in the distance.

The cop car sped up and stopped right before the two suspects’ cars. In double quick time, two officers jumped out with their guns pointed at Jack.

“At least he knows better than to run,” Adam said.

Just then, several more cop cars pulled up. The doors all flew open, and the police scattered like ants into the surrounding area, apparently looking for the fleeing suspect.

“Where’s the nun?” I said urgently.

Adam pointed. I trained my binoculars in the direction and focused on a large bush that was shaking violently. After several moments, a man wearing only his underpants emerged. He tossed a large, black bundle into the rushing river before sprinting off.

“The police have seen him,” Adam said gleefully.

I didn’t share his enthusiasm. “He just ditched the habit he was wearing,” I said. “The cops will never find it in that river.” I turned the binoculars on the river and watched the current carrying away the evidence. “They’ll never know he was a nun!” I was disappointed.

All of sudden Adam said, “Get down!”

I pulled the binoculars from my face to see the nun barreling straight toward us.

I threw myself backward, falling under the bush as Adam slid beside me. I peeked through the bushes to see several officers on top of the half-naked man. “Phew,” I whispered carefully. They were right in front of us, but they remained oblivious to our presence.

Adam looked at me and winked. “Phew is right. That was close!” he said in the slightest of whispers.

“All right, Slim Eddie, it looks like you have a bit of explaining to do when we get back to the station,” one of the officers said.

“I have nothing to say,” he replied, spitting into the wind. “I want a lawyer.”

“Good,” said one of the other cops, “because you’re going to need one. It just so happens we have a fingerprint that’s waiting for a match, and you’re the most likely candidate according to AFIS.”

“What, are you trying to pin that body on me now? This is a joke. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?”

“Who said anything about a body?” the cop said. “Guilty conscience?”

“So, what exactly is up with these Shadow Gang guys always being caught naked?” one officer asked another.

“I don’t have the slightest clue, Sarge, but maybe these Shadow Gang guys just enjoy running around in their birthday suits. This is the second one we’ve caught wearing nothing but his underwear.” The two cops started laughing as the first pulled his cuffs from his belt.

“You have the right to remain silent —” he began as he handcuffed the struggling Slim Eddie’s hands behind his back and then walked him over toward the other officers.

I looked through my binoculars at Jack, who was sitting in the back of one of the cop cars with his hands cuffed as well. “It looks like we got another one of the nuns,” I said, smiling at Adam. “And whoever this Jack guy is.”

“Yes, but the cops still aren’t going to believe that they’re hiding out as nuns. They’re ditching their habits on purpose — it’s all about maintaining this charade. They obviously have an agreement to surrender and keep their mouths shut about the convent if they get caught.”

“Maybe Sister Maria has promised them a really good lawyer in return for their silence,” I replied.

“Maybe,” Adam said, looking down at his notepad, “but I’d say they’re too scared of what will happen to them if they talk.”

I smiled. “That’s true. I’m awfully disappointed they didn’t catch him in his habit, but look on the bright side — we just helped the police take down another member of the Shadow Gang. It’s only a matter of time until we get the rest, too.”

Adam smiled and locked eyes with me. “I know.”

“Poor Mrs. Sutton,” I said. “At least her murderer is going to be brought to justice.”

Chapter 17.

Butterflies were going crazy in my stomach. I was standing in front of the floor length mirror in my room for the fifth time as I tried to figure out just what I was going to wear. That in itself was silly, wasn’t it? It was just breakfast, and it was just Adam. I had eaten breakfast with him plenty of times before. I had seen him plenty of times. Why did this time feel so different?

I shrugged. Maybe it was because this time we weren’t meeting up in a hurried and frenzied state to discuss the latest happenings in our war against the nuns. That’s what I felt as though I were in, a war. I knew the fake nuns, apart from Sister Maria, were men. I knew they were bank robbers. Adam did too. And so we were waging a war against them, doing everything that two people who knew the truth could, even though everything else seemed to stand in our way.

But here was a time between battles. That’s what war is, wasn’t it? A series of battles makes up a war. You win some, you lose some, but in the end the war ends, and one side is left standing. I was determined to be that side. I was determined to win. So our meetings were mostly hurried, Adam calling me, or me calling Adam, telling each other something we had learned — a quick pick up in front of my apartment, and then a hurried meal as we sped to some destination, as we tried to trap the bank robbers.

Today it was different. The war wasn’t over, but a battle had been won, and there would be respite, and it seemed, celebration.

Breakfast had been Adam’s idea. “Come eat with me tomorrow morning,” he had said, and it hadn’t been a question, and even if it had, I would have told him yes. There wasn’t anything to go over, not this morning. No new information. No new happenings. One of the gang members had been caught, and a murderer had been taken off the streets. It was a time of celebration, and Adam and I were going to celebrate together.

Of course, that made sense. I knew that. We were in this together, and only had each other. But it felt like something more. I thought back to the other week, when Adam and I had almost kissed. One of my naughty cats had gotten in the way of that, and the desire had given way to awkwardness. Adam had not tried again since. Would he kiss me today? My heart raced ninety to the dozen at the thought.

I thought the outfit I was wearing now looked the best. Simple, just jeans and a cute top. I considered heels for a minute, but decided on black flats. I looked for the umpteenth time at the clock on my cell phone. He would be picking me up in five minutes.

I rushed to brush my teeth again, and made sure my hair was dry from my shower earlier. After a quick stop at the cats’ bowls in the kitchen to spill some food into each, I was heading downstairs.

As I stepped onto the sidewalk, he was just pulling up, a smile on his face as he leaned over and threw the door open for me. He looked amazing, of course. His teeth were perfect and white, his hair looked nice, and he wore a gray polo shirt which somehow made his eyes seem ten times brighter than normal.

“Hungry?” he asked as I climbed in and shut the door. I pulled on my seat belt and nodded.

“Yes.”

“It’s a bit of a drive, all right? I thought it would be fun to get out of town.”

“Okay,” I said. “Sounds like a plan.”

We listened to music as we drove, Adam reaching out to scroll through an older model iPod which was plugged into the dash as he played song after song, bands he liked, and songs I had never heard before. I wasn’t much of a music person, but it seemed as though he was. He spoke with great knowledge about various bands, and seemed excited to be sharing his favorites with me. I found myself smiling so much that my cheeks began to hurt.

We drove along the highway, and then passed a few more towns without any sign of stopping. When the car finally slowed, there was nothing in front of us besides a grungy looking truck stop gas station in a large lot next to a long and low white building. It had the word ‘Restaurant’ written in blue capital letters over the glass front doors.

“I know it doesn’t look like much, but let me tell you they have omelets here the size of the moon. It’s a little secret place that I’ve fallen in love with. It’s well worth the drive.”

There were a few trucks and cars near the gas station, but the parking spaces in front of the restaurant were clear, though there were three cars parked along the side of the building.

“It looks like a pretty big secret,” I said with a smile.

Adam laughed. “I asked you on the breakfast date,” he said, “so I get to pick.”

The butterflies whirled in my stomach again. He had called this a ‘date’. “Fair enough,” I managed to say.

“I guess there’s a slight chance eating in this place will make you sick, but like I said, the omelets are kind of worth the risk.”

I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not until he laughed. I frowned at him in mock annoyance.

When he held the door open for me and I stepped inside, I was pleasantly surprised. The place was spic and span, no doubt due to the fact that if the waitresses weren’t cleaning, there was simply nothing else to do. The floors shone white, and the formica-covered table tops were bright in an alternating pattern of pink, blue, and yellow. The booths along the side were sparkling clean.

There was a long counter on the other side of the room, with swiveling red topped stools for patrons. There seemed to only be one waitress now, standing at the counter in front of a large man with a long beard. I guessed was a trucker. I assumed his truck was on the other side of the lot, near the gas pumps. He had a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him, and a steaming mug of coffee.

A cook could be seen through a window cut into the car wall, working on something on the stove there, and a young guy was washing the far corner of the floor with a mop.

When the waitress saw us, she turned and grabbed a coffee pot from the counter behind her. “Sit anywhere,” she said.

Adam led me to a nearby booth and we sat. There were two white coffee cups in front of us and Adam flipped his over as the waitress approached.

“Hey, Ethel,” he said.

“Hey, finally found a friend I see.”

“Very funny.”

Ethel filled Adam’s cup and then turned to Rose. “Coffee?”

“Oh, yes please,” I said, hurrying to flip over my cup.

Ethel filled it. “I know he wants a tomato and cheese omelet, but what can I get you?”

I smiled. “I’ll have the same. I heard these things were good.”

“He eats enough to know. Adam here is keeping us afloat single handedly.”

We all laughed and then Ethel went off to relay the order to the cook in the kitchen.

“I thought maybe we could stop by Mrs. Sutton’s grave,” Adam said when the waitress was gone. “Since they got him,” he added, meaning the man who had killed her.

“I would like that,” I said with a nod.

“Kind of a weird date I know.”

“Is that what this is? A date?” I spoke without thinking, and then silently chastised myself.

Adam smiled his lopsided grin. “I figured if I kept calling it a date that it would make it one,” he said.

I tried not to show how pleased I was. “Okay, it’s a date.”

Adam laughed and poured some sugar into his coffee. “Do you go on many breakfast dates first thing in the morning?”

“I don’t go on many dates, period,” I said truthfully as I reached for a couple of small plastic cups of creamer that were kept in a small soup bowl on the edge of the table.

“The exciting world of furniture and chalk paint keeps you busy?”

“Something like that.”

“So all it took was some bank robbers to get us out of our dateless funks.”

“Hey, I never said I was in a funk,” I said. The conversation went on, and it was all just so refreshing. We spoke about the case of course. I told Adam all about Mrs. Sutton, and what a wonderful woman she had been.

For once, our conversation was not dominated by the stressful feeling of failure, of struggling to stay afloat in the tide of evil. We’d had a solid win, and we were happy.

Breakfast came quickly, a massive yellow omelet and a pile of fried potatoes, with smaller plates of toast. I watched as Adam put butter and syrup on his omelet.

We ate and talked and laughed some more. When the food was gone, we sat for a while longer and drank a few more cups of coffee. Adam left money for the bill and a tip after an hour or so of chit chat, and we got up to leave.

Adam stopped me with a hand to my arm as we were crossing the parking lot to the Jeep.

“Hey, I just wanted to say, I’m glad you’re okay,” he said. “With that night, the cold, I was worried about you. I realized that you — um, you mean something to me. I mean, I knew you did before that, but then I really knew,” he finished awkwardly.

I smiled, turning up my face to his. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me. We hugged for a moment, and then we pulled away a little.

“Thank you for everything,” I said softly.

“Thank you,” Adam said with a laugh. Our faces were close to one another, and when he spoke, I could feel his breath on my lips — I could smell his toothpaste and the syrup and the coffee. We were going to kiss. I stood on my tiptoes, his lips nearing mine.

Just then, a booming honk blared through the air and I jumped. Adam and I turned to see a massive truck idling ten feet away, waiting for us to move so he could pass through the parking lot. We couldn’t help but laugh as we hurried to the Jeep. And as much as I didn’t want it to be so, the moment had passed once more. First a cat, and then a truck.

We rode to the cemetery, where we spent some time with Mrs. Sutton. Then Adam dropped me off at home, and I pecked him on the cheek before climbing out of his Jeep. I stood on the sidewalk and watched him drive away.

I was happy. I didn’t know what else I was feeling, but I knew I was happy. We had won the battle. We had almost kissed again. We were making a dent in the bad guys. We would win the war. And soon, nothing would be in the way — not bank robbers, not cats, not trucks. We would make sure that all the nuns were arrested, and then we could focus on other things. And I was pretty sure that the other things would turn out to be each other.

* * * * The End * * * *

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Next Book in this Series
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Book THREE in
The Deadly Habit
Cozy Mystery series.

A Murder of Nun
.

The police find one of the nuns murdered in the pawnbroker’s store, and Bunny is caught standing over the victim, holding a knife. All the evidence points to Bunny, but Rose and her friends are certain who the culprits are.

Can Rose and Adam prove Bunny's innocence before the real killers come looking for them?

And now that the nuns have turned on one of their own, can Rose stay out of harm's way while taking down another member of the Shadow Gang?

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#1 Best-selling Cozy Mystery author, Morgana Best, lives in a small, historic, former gold mining town in the middle of nowhere in Australia. She is owned by one highly demanding, rescued cat who is half Chinchilla, and two less demanding dogs, a chocolate Labrador and a rescued Dingo, as well as two rescued Dorper sheep, the ram Herbert and his wether friend Bertie.