Heather Horrocks - Who-Dun-Him Inn 02 - Inn the Doghouse (30 page)

The doorbell rang and I jumped.

So did Lamont, so much so that I feared he was going to pull the trigger, but he didn’t.

He looked at me. “Be quiet.”

It rang again.

A third time, this time longer. I kept quiet.

“Vicki!” my grandmother’s voice called out.

It was Grandma Ross! She saw my text!

Loud knocking. “Let me in. I know Vicki is in there.”

Lamont swore and moved closer to the door.

I couldn’t let him hurt Grandma, so I yelled, as loudly as I could, “Grandma, get out of here. Lamont’s got a gun.”

“You stupid cow,” Lamont hissed. “You just signed her death warrant.”

He opened the door, grabbed Grandma and pulled her inside.

With Grandma in danger, I jumped to my feet and threw myself forward, tackling Lamont. He tossed me aside. I jumped up onto his back as he went to close the door—but a flood of old women came in, surprising both Lamont and me. At least fifteen women in their sixties, seventies, and eighties marched in! Even the woman with the walker was there!

“Watch out!” I yelled. “He’s a killer. He killed Gene.”

“What the—” Lamont began, but three of the little, old ladies started hitting him with…an orange pumpkin-carving knife, a big purse, and a cane!

Grandma’s karate yell made Lamont and me both jump, and some of the women gasped in surprise. Then Grandma kicked him.

He flailed around, just in time to catch a punch to his solar plexus that apparently knocked the wind out of him.

I didn’t know karate, but I still aimed a kick at the gun and sent it skittering across the floor.

When he went down, Grandma kicked him in a place no man ever wants to be kicked.

I grabbed the gun and my phone and called 9-1-1 while Grandma picked up his gun and pointed it at his head.

All the fight went out of him.

“Tie him up, ladies.”

Five seniors approached him with a roll of duct tape, and began to wrap it around his ankles and wrists.

Grandma pointed to the walker and asked the little old lady owner, “May I borrow this?”

The woman nodded.

Grandma set it on top of Lamont, and sat on it. “There. That ought to take care of him.”

Just a few moments later, Detective Shannon arrived, with backup, and arrested Lamont. Only then did Grandma relinquish her ringside seat. And only then could I cry with relief at having nothing bad happen to my grandmother or me.

And Liz would be released from jail!

Life was good again.

Chapter Seventeen

Monday, November 21

GRANDMA ALWAYS TOLD ME IF I had a problem to just sleep on it because everything looked better after a night of sleep.

She was right.

By the next day when my family and close friends made a belated trek to the cemetery to place flowers, Lamont had taken Liz’s place in jail.

We were going so I could place the flowers on Robert’s grave that had never made it there and to talk with Zach, and also to support Liz as she placed flowers on Gene’s grave and tried to reach some sort of closure on the unsavory and untimely ending of their marriage.

Grandma was regaling the others with the story of how she got my SOS text and realized her party was just a street or two away, and how she enlisted the help of all the senior partiers, who grabbed whatever weapons they could find before heading out to save me. She even called Paul as she raced up the street. He’d already alerted the authorities, who sent some squad cars. I smiled at her. She saved my bacon, she and her unlikely band of elderly cohorts along with her karate yells and indomitable spirit.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t use her own gun from her purse because Paul had already confiscated it. She glared at Paul as she spoke.

He smiled innocently at her. “Yes, and then I had to take Lamont’s gun away from Grandma because she was trying to stuff it into her purse.”

“Well, I need another gun since you took mine.”

“It was evidence, Grandma.”

Zach and I stood with the others while Liz laid flowers where not even two weeks before Gene had been lowered into the ground. The fancy headstone wouldn’t be done for a few more weeks.

Grandma put her hand on Liz’s shoulder as Liz sniffled.

Zach pulled free and ran over to where David was standing. Somehow he ended up here with the family. Perhaps it was because he brought dinner over to my house just as we were leaving. Perhaps one of his many
reliable sources
informed him we were going.

Lonny saw us pull onto Main Street as he was heading home from church, and followed us here.

Grandma said, “At least Gene was trying to help Misty.”

“I guess,” Liz said.

Grandma continued softly, “Misty is your stepdaughter, you know.”

Liz choked on laughter. “Oh, please, I so don’t want to go there.”

I didn’t blame her and changed the subject. “Colton is out of jail now.”

“Herbert said Misty is going to stay with him for awhile. And he told Colton he needs to earn enough money for a wedding ring so he can take care of his family. He also said after the wedding, they could move in while Colton finishes school.”

Liz was quiet.

Grandma went on. “Herbert also told me he’s flying down to visit his daughter, Misty’s mother. He hasn’t seen her since she ran away.”

“So he confessed because he thought Misty killed Gene?” Lonny asked.

Paul nodded. “He thought he was going to jail in Misty’s place.”

Zach hugged Liz. “Don’t cry, Aunt Liz. You’ll see Uncle Gene again.”

“I know, baby,” she said, hugging him. “Thanks.”

David walked over to me and spoke softly. “I’ve been doing some thinking.”

“Oh, you have, have you? About what?”

“I’ve been thinking it would be nice if we went out sometime. Like on a date.”

I looked at his eyes. I couldn’t help teasing him. “Feel free to ask.”

He chuckled. “I’m working up my courage.”

Lonny came closer to us and glared at David, who smiled.

“Has anyone heard if Georgia is coming to the Thanksgiving dinner?” I asked about my black sheep sister, trying to avoid an all-out war between my wannabe beaus.

Grandma said, “She said she’s coming.”

“Good.” Liz pushed herself up and brushed off her pants. “Now you men, come with me. Let’s let Vicki and Zach visit with his father.”

The men reluctantly followed her.

I held Zach’s hand as we carried our flowers to Robert’s grave.

We both knelt on the grass to set out the flowers we brought. When we finished, Zach flopped onto his backside and hugged his knees. Looking at me, he said, seriously, “Mom, do you think Dad minds that David comes to our house so much?”

I looked at my son, so similar to his father, and decided to tell him about my previous visit. “I came up here and talked with your father. I told him it was time for me to move on. What do you think about that?”

Zach shrugged. “I like David. I think Dad likes him, too.”

“That’s good, I guess.”

“Dad likes Lonny, too.”

I smiled. “They’re both very nice men.”

“And they both like you, Mom.”

I sat down beside him with my knees against my chest. “Yes, I suppose they do. That’s very perceptive of you to notice.”

He pondered that for a moment before asking, “So the murder was solved, right?”

I laughed, knowing where this was headed. “Yes. The murder was solved.”

“So you’re going to keep your promise now.”

“Yes, I definitely am.”

“And no one said Penny was theirs, right?”

I laughed again, finding such infinite joy in my son. There were no calls to claim the dog, though I called both vets and the animal shelter as well as pasting a flyer up at the supermarket. “Right.”

“And Penny is a grown dog.”

“Yes.”

“So do I get to keep Penny?”

I hugged him close, my love overflowing from my heart. “Yes. You can keep the stupid dog.”

There was much rejoicing.

~ THE INN’D
~

Thank You!

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my book,
Inn the Doghouse,
the second in the Who-Dun-Him cozy mystery series
.
I love to write these light-hearted, humorous mysteries to allow people to curl up with a good book for an afternoon. I hope you were entertained.

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Did you see any (gasp!) errors or typos?

Though this book has gone through numerous edits, by myself and others, including two professional editors, we are human. If you spot any errors or typos, please email me at
[email protected]
and let me know! I want my books to be as clean as possible, both in content and in format.

Thanks again…

For your time and interest, and for telling your friends about my books. If you’d like to know more about my other books, that section is just a page or two away.

Happy tales, Heather Horrocks

www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com

About the Author

Raised overseas by her shop-til-you-drop mother and pay-for-the-purchases oilman father, avid mystery and romantic comedy lover Heather read her way through Columbia, Venezuela, London, Kuwait, and Iran—and later bought a video store so she could watch stories on the little screen, too.

She’s written numerous bestselling novels; two mystery series (
Who-Dun-Him Inn
and
Bad Mothers Club),
romantic comedies (including the
Chick Flick Clique
and
Christmas Street
series), and inspirational books (
Women Who Knew the Mortal Messiah)
.

She loves anyone who can make her laugh, which explains why she adores her witty husband, her funny friends, Anne George mysteries, Bill Cosby, and her cute little dog Gus. She loves to cook for friends, siblings, and especially her nine children and stepchildren and their families. She and her husband reside in Utah. You can find her online at
www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com
.

Books by Heather Horrocks

Christmas Street Romantic Comedy Novella Series

Bah, Humbug!

Kissing Santa

Deck the Malls
and
The Naughty List (2014)

Who-Dun-Him Inn Cozy Mystery Series

Snowed Inn #1

Inn the Doghouse #2

Inn the Family Way #3
and
The Czech’s Inn the Mail
#4
(2014)

Bad Mothers Club Cozy Mystery Series

Murder is Misunderstood #1

Chick Flick Clique Romantic Comedy series

A Hound Dog Named Elvis
(in
A Timeless Romance: Autumn
anthology)

Pride and Precipitation #1

Regally Blonde #2

My Spare Lady #3
and
While You Were Stranded #4 (2014)

Inspirational Books

Women Who Knew the Mortal Messiah

Men Who Knew the Mortal Messiah

Women and Men Who Knew the Mortal Messiah

Women Who Knew the Great Jehovah (2014)

LDS Romances & Other

You Just Turned 8: An LDS Baptism Book (2014)

How to Stuff a Wild Zucchini

Old Maid of Honor

Baby Mine

Previews

For previews of upcoming books by Heather Horrocks, to sign up for New Releases email, or for more information about the author, visit
www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com