Board Stiff (An Elliott Lisbon Mystery) (29 page)

He hauled me to the ground, then he fell on top of me to smother the flames. His hands were all over my body, searching for sparks and flames.

I couldn’t feel any pain. I choked and coughed, but couldn’t croak out any words.

He picked me up and carried me down the stairs, out into the lot. We collapsed on the lawn in front of the building next door. He held me close while rain poured down on the both us. I lifted my face to wash away the gritty soot and slimy gasoline.

Three fire engines and four squad cars crowded the office lot. The rear doors of an ambulance flew open, and a paramedic climbed out with a gurney. I saw Pete, Matty’s brother, in full fireman gear, run over to our huddle on the grass.

Ransom lifted me to my feet.

“Oh God, Elli, you’re okay,” Pete said as he crushed me in a bear hug. He pulled me toward the ambulance where a crowd of people hovered.

Matty pushed through and my breath caught when I saw him. He looked awful. His face was chalk white, and he broke into a run. He held my face between his hands, and without a single word, he kissed me.

THIRTY

I tilted my head to the clear Carolina blue overhead, letting my freckles pop in the hot sun. I closed my eyes.

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay? Maybe you should still be at home,” Carla said. She and Tod had joined me for lunch by the pool at the Big House.

I’d spent the previous three days holed up in my cottage, though not always alone. Carla provided constant nursing and meal service. Her chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting sped my recovery. Cherry dropped off a get-well blender, in red, of course. Tod persuaded Tate Keating to do a weeklong feature piece on the Ballantynes’ philanthropy. And Jane finally showed a sliver of appreciation by taking over Leo’s Shelter Initiative with nary a complaint.

Matty kept me company when I wanted it and left me alone when I needed it, which made him sexier by the day. I love a man who knows when to leave me alone. He asked me out on a real date, in a two weeks’ time, once I was truly healed. I accepted. I decided not to overanalyze where it would lead and what could go wrong, and just enjoy the ride.

Today was my first day out, and other than my statement to the police, I’d yet to talk about the burning of Mumbai Humanitarian. Although by now, I’m sure these two knew more than I did.

“Yes, Carla, I’m fine,” I said. I wore a light cotton sundress long enough to cover the thin white bandages on the backs of both my legs, which were propped up on a cushy ottoman. “The burn is healing nicely, barely more than a bad sunburn now.”

“You should still be careful,” Ransom said.

I opened my eyes, using my hand to shield them from the sun and watched Ransom walked toward us, wearing faded jeans, a tight white tee and flip flops, and carried a bright red gift bag in his hand. He pulled out a chair and joined us at the table.

I nodded, then tilted back to the sun trying to tan over the colorful bruise on my left cheek. “I’m careful.”

“So why didn’t you light up like briquettes on a bbq with all the gasoline soaking your clothes?” Tod asked.

“Turns out I was wet from the rain, not gas,” I said. “Reena had poured it all over the room, but avoided dripping a single drop on me.”

“She wanted it to look as if Elliott tripped while dousing the room,” Ransom said. “She may have thought it would look suspicious if Elliott was drenched in gasoline. How could she soak herself if she fell down?”

“Why not just pour the gas on the carpet surrounding Elliott,” Tod said. “Make it look like the gas can drained when it fell. That would’ve been the way to go.”

“Maybe next time,” I said.

“Just saying.”

“Reena was in a hurry. Her whole plan was thrown together in minutes,” Ransom said. “We’d been out together when she got a call from her receptionist. Reena told me there was some kind of conference call with Mumbai and she had to rush back to the office. I dropped her off in the pouring rain and left.”

I put on my sunglasses and leaned back farther in the chair. I’d heard all this before. It bothered me to hear it again. Reena’s screams still haunted me late at night, when I was alone under my skylight. Though I did find comfort in soft voices around me now, mingling with the bird calls and lapping pool filter.

“Where was the receptionist, when Elliott was in the office?” Carla asked Ransom.

I heard her pour another glass of lemonade iced tea and the ice cubes rattled in the glass.

“The suite next door, flirting with a dentist,” Ransom said.

“Why did you go back?”

Ransom cleared his throat. “We suspected Mumbai Humanitarian of fraud, been under an interagency investigation for months. Which is why I was dating her. But she was extremely careful. We had a wiretap on her office phone and a unit monitoring her calls. After I dropped Reena at the office, I checked my voicemail. Besides Elliott’s urgent messages, I had one from the unit captain. Reena’s receptionist had called Reena to tell her Elliott was asking about the brochures, a teachers list, and secretly snapped a picture of the boy on the wall. When I couldn’t get Elliott on the phone, I raced back to Reena’s office.”

“Elliott, you should never have gone in there like that,” Carla said. “Do you know how dangerous that was? How foolish?”

I raised my hand. “We agreed. No finger-pointing, no lectures. I solved Leo’s murder and saved Jane from the electric chair. I am the hero of this sad tale.”

“So it all boiled down to a silly appliance commercial?” Carla asked.

“Mostly,” I said. “It certainly spun Leo’s wheels. He was desperate to save Buffalo Bill’s and discovering Reena’s fraud was like finding a treasure map on the sidewalk. He picked it up and followed the trail.”

“He took Brooke’s picture to the Lafferty Foundation. A secretary—”

“Gayle Everheart’s personal assistant,” I interrupted.

“—identified Brooke as one of the teachers from Mumbai Humanitarian,” Ransom continued. “Leo dug further, ended up with an entire file of incriminating evidence against Reena, then demanded five million dollars—”

“Half of the Lafferty grant,” I interrupted again.

“—to keep quiet. With the first board meeting looming on Monday, they struck a deal. They met at his house after your party at the Big House. Leo asked for the money and Reena killed him instead.”

“Well, he certainly wasn’t the smartest member of the board,” Tod said.

“Tod! You can’t say that,” I said and sat up.

“Why not? How did he think such a ridiculous scheme could ever work?”

Carla nodded. “It’s the truth, chicken. That cowboy hat squeezed his brain too tight thinking he could threaten a crazy woman with exposure and get paid five million dollars for it.”

I ate the last tea cookie on the plate and sipped my lemonade. I looked sideways at Ransom. “Did you stop by to get some sun or did you have something else on your mind?”

“Care to take a walk?”

“Sure,” I said. I slipped on my shoes and turned to Carla. “You’ll excuse me? We won’t be a minute.”

“You take your time,” she said. “We’ll be out here all day.”

Ransom and I walked down the lawn to a narrow path on the other side of the reflection garden.

Ransom broke the silence first. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, Nick, I’m fine. Honest.” We walked side by side, his left hand brushing my right. A light breeze carried the scent of his cologne and I breathed deeply. It went nicely with the blooming jasmine bordering the brick path.

One hundred feet later, the path opened to an expansive lawn bordering a beautiful lake with bonfire pits arranged by the water’s edge. Six large brick circles with fresh cord wood piled in the center. We sat in matching Adirondack chairs facing the water.

“I fucked up,” Ransom said. “I never should’ve put you in danger. Reena was very careful and our investigation was dragging. We needed more evidence, but if I thought she was a threat, I would’ve told you. I should’ve told you anyway.”

“I understand,” I said. He still could’ve told me. But I was just so happy to be alive and wasn’t actually all that mad. Yet. I figured the anger would come later. Then I’d let him have it.

“This is for you,” he said and handed me the gift bag.

I untied the large bow from the handles. I reached in and lifted out a vintage Brunswick bowling pin with a red crown ring around the neck and a large B stamped on the front.

“How did you know?” I whispered.

“It was in the window at that shop in Savannah. I thought it matched your game collection.”

“It does, it’s perfect. I can’t believe you remembered it.”

“I remember a lot of things.” He caressed the back of my hand. “I remember the wine cellar. The first night I saw you again in the library. The first time I kissed you twenty years ago.”

I blushed and set the bowling pin on the edge of the brick fire pit. “We can’t go back, you and me. I’ve got a date with a nice guy, you know. A new life.”

“Don’t count me out yet.” He leaned over and tucked my hair behind my ear. He softly kissed my cheek. “I’m sorry for everything. I won’t make those mistakes again.”

“You better not or the next time you get in the middle of one of my investigations, I’ll kick your ass.”

“Next time? What next time?”

I laughed. “This island is full of surprises, Nick. I’m now twenty-seven hours closer to getting my PI license.” Would’ve been more, but I couldn’t very well include my trip to Milo Hickey’s poker game or Chas Obermeyer’s wine cellar. But I was getting there.

I propped my feet on the bonfire pit next to the Brunswick and tilted my head toward the sun.

And next time, I thought, I’m calling the shots.

About Kendel Lynn

Kendel Lynn is a Southern California native who now parks her flip-flops in Dallas, Texas. She read her first Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators at age seven and has loved mysteries ever since. Her debut novel,
Board Stiff
, won several literary competitions, including the Zola Award for Mystery. Along with writing, she spends her days editing, designing, and figuring out ways to avoid the gym but still eat cupcakes for dinner. Catch up with her at kendellynn.com.

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