Jewelry Can Be Deadly (Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery Book 6) (12 page)

J
o pushed
her way through the door of Roger’s villa and stepped into chaos. The entire pristine living room that Valda paid so much attention to decorating was destroyed. Furniture was overturned, paintings were ripped off the wall, even the silverware drawer had been emptied onto the kitchen floor. There didn’t appear to be anyone in the villa. Jo’s first thought was that someone must have abducted Roger. Then she heard a light rustling from the hallway.

Jo pulled out her phone and sent a text to Eddy to let him know that she needed help. Then she crept carefully down the hallway. If someone had done so much damage to the house and its contents, what might they have done to Roger? She made her way to the back bedroom. She could hear more subtle sounds of movement. Though she listened close she did not hear any voices or groans. The bedroom door was partway open. She was tempted to push it all the way open, but she had no idea what she would be walking into. Was Roger alone in there? Was someone else in there with a gun?

Just when she worked up the nerve to push the door open, her cell phone chirped. It was an announcement that she had received a text message. She could have kicked herself for not turning her ringer off after sending the text to Eddy. She knew that now whoever was in the bedroom knew that she was there, right there, outside the door. Her heart raced as she placed her fingertips against the smooth surface of the wooden door.

“Roger? I’m coming inside.” She pushed on the door and then jumped back, just in case whoever was inside decided to fire. She was met with only silence. Slowly she poked her head around the corner of the doorway. In the middle of the room strapped to a wooden chair was Roger. He had tape over his mouth, but his eyes were wide open. They looked towards the closet. Jo’s heart pounded as she moved silently towards the closet. Her hand shook as she picked up a lamp from the bedside table.

She opened the closet door, with the lamp in her hand, ready to attack. Tony lunged out at her in the same moment that she swung the lamp forward. It connected with his head and shattered into pieces. Tony groaned and sank to his knees.

“Ow, you didn’t have to do that!”

Jo grabbed the gun from Tony’s hand. “And you didn’t have to hide in a closet with a gun waiting for the chance to shoot me.”

“Well, I didn’t know what else to do!” Tony stood up slowly, stumbled out of the closet and sat down on the edge of the bed. Jo tucked the gun into the back of her pants and walked over to Roger to untie him. As she bent down to untie his feet, Tony jumped up and snatched the gun from her waistband. Jo spun around so fast that she almost lost her balance. She leaned heavily on Roger’s knee to catch herself.

“Tony!” Jo shouted.

He pointed the gun at her. “Get away from him, back away.” Tony gestured with the gun.

“Tony, I let you live, now this is how you’re going to repay me?” Jo said.

Jo moved carefully to the side. She kept her eyes fixated on the gun. At any moment Tony might eliminate all of his problems, that meant her and Roger.

“Get down.” Tony pointed to the corner of the room. “Don’t move a muscle.”

“I’m not moving. Just take it easy, Tony.” Jo tried to meet his eyes, but he already looked back at Roger.

“Now, you’re going to tell me where that necklace is. I know you stole it back from me.” He reached out and ripped the duct tape off Roger’s mouth in one swift movement. Roger let out a shriek.

“I didn’t,” Roger shouted. “I didn’t take the necklace. I hope I never see that thing again. It wasn’t worth it when I stole it. It’s given me nothing but problems ever since.”

“Why do you continue to lie to me?” Tony shook his head. “If you would just tell me what I need to know, all of this will be over.”

“You’ll just kill me, like you killed Valda.”

“You can’t prove that.”

Jo froze. Those words sent a chill down her spine. It was true that they couldn’t prove that Tony killed Valda, but that wasn’t a denial of guilt.

“Please, Tony haven’t you done enough to me? Haven’t I paid enough?” Roger gasped.

“I don’t know, Roger, have you spent years of your life locked behind bars while your partner in crime is completely free to do whatever they please? You are angry at me about losing your wife, but I never even had the chance to have one!”

Jo’s heart jumped into her throat. The amount of venom in Tony’s voice made her think that she and Roger were not going to get out of the situation alive.

“Tony, stop. Think about what you’re doing. You’re never going to get out of this. You’re going to go back to prison or worse. Right now you have the chance to walk away,” Jo said.

Jo’s phone chimed again. Then again, several times, rapidly.

“Who is that? Who is contacting you?” Tony glared at her.

“It’s nothing, just a friend, no one important.”

“Did you tell someone that you were here?” Tony scowled. “Are you setting me up again?”

“No one knows.” Jo clutched her phone tightly. “Maybe someone is looking for me.”

“Well, they better not find you or they’re going to be in a world of trouble, too.” Tony reached out and snatched the phone from her hand. He flipped it over and looked at the screen. Whatever was on the screen made his eyes widen. He dropped the phone to the floor and released the safety on his gun. “All right, Roger, last chance to come clean. Trust me, you’d rather be alive. There’s nothing in this world worth dying for.”

“I don’t have it.” Roger closed his eyes. “I went looking for it to steal it back, but I couldn’t find it.”

“I looked, too.” Jo edged the phone closer to her with the tip of her toe. She tried to get Tony’s attention off Roger before he could pull the trigger. “I didn’t find anything. I thought it was in the curtain rod…”

“It was!” Tony turned the gun on her. “You do have it!”

“I don’t!” Jo managed to get a glimpse of the text on her phone.

Be careful. The medical examiner flagged Valda’s death as a homicide. An official investigation has been started. It might spook the murderer.

Jo grimaced. Thanks a lot, Eddy, she thought to herself. Tony was definitely spooked. “That’s it, there’s no more time to argue. One of you is going to tell me the truth right this second or you’re both going to die.” Tony raised the gun and pointed it at Jo. “You can be the first, since you can’t seem to mind your own business.” Jo’s eyes widened. She knew that she was out of excuses. Drew had saved her once, would he be able to do it again? Tony had a gun. There was no escape.

Just then Samantha burst through the bedroom door with a flurry of swinging arms and shouting. Jo stared at her, perplexed. Samantha continued to swing her arms and shout. Tony stared at her as well with his mouth half open. Suddenly, Eddy jumped through the window behind them. In the same moment that Eddy’s feet struck the floor with a loud thump Walt burst through the door from behind Samantha and tackled Tony to the floor. Eddy piled on top of Walt and wrenched the gun out of Tony’s hand. In the middle of it all Roger struggled to get out of his chair, while Jo continued to only stare with shock. She blinked when Samantha finally stopped shouting.

“What was that?” Jo stepped back as Eddy wrestled with Tony until he had him locked into a set of zip ties.

“You’re alive aren’t you?” Samantha grinned.

“Good point.” Jo shook her head. “You guys managed to arrive right on time.”

“Are you okay?” Walt looked over at her, his brows knitted with concern.

“I’m okay.” She nodded. “It looks like we have our murderer here. Don’t we, Tony?”

Tony rested his head against the floor and sighed. “All right. It was an accident, but I guess it doesn’t matter now, does it?”

“Yes, it matters,” Roger whispered. “It matters why my wife had to die, when all you had to do was ask me for the necklace.”

“Like you would have given it to me.” Tony twisted his head to glare at him.

“If you had given me a choice between Valda and the necklace, yes I absolutely would have given it to you. She stayed with me even when I had nothing.”

“It’s easy for you to say that now, but that’s not what would have happened and you know it.”

“I guess we’ll never know.” Jo crossed her arms. “Because Valda is dead. You killed her.”

“It was an accident.” He groaned. “I just wanted her to be quiet. When I told her that Roger was a thief, that her necklace was stolen, she kept shouting at me that it wasn’t possible, that I was a liar. Then when I tried to take the necklace from her, she ran for the couch and screamed. I tried to catch her, but she got away. She was running for the door and I grabbed a pillow.” He rested his forehead against the floor. “I just needed her to stop. I needed her to slow down before she drew too much attention. I put the pillow over her face and held it there until she was quiet. But then…”

“It was too late.” Eddy frowned.

“I just wanted her to stop. I just wanted the necklace. I never meant to kill her.” He shook his head. “If only she had just kept quiet, and given me what I asked for.”

“It was not her fault!” Roger shouted. “You can’t blame her for her own murder.”

“It wasn’t murder, it was an accident,” Tony said.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to let the police decide that. I am calling them right now, okay Jo?” Eddy met her eyes.

“Yes, please.” She nodded.

“We all heard your confession, Tony. We all know you tied Roger up and held a gun on Jo. You are not getting out of this one,” Eddy said.

“But I don’t have the necklace.”

“No one cares about the necklace.” Jo crouched down beside him. “We care about Valda. Now her death will not go unnoticed or unpunished.”

As they waited for the police to arrive Jo felt a sense of peace wash over her. Maybe they hadn’t solved the entire crime, the necklace was still missing, but Tony was going to pay for Valda’s murder. When the officer arrived, Jo recognized him from the last time Eddy called the police. He looked from Roger tied up in the chair, to Tony zip tied on the floor.

“I’m assuming that there is a very good explanation for this?” He looked from Eddy to Jo.

“Officer, this man murdered this man’s wife.” Eddy pointed from Tony to Roger. “He came here tonight to murder him, and my friend, Jo.”

“Murder him?” the officer asked.

“I only killed her because he took the necklace I stole! I never meant it.” Tony thrashed on the ground. “He deserves to be in prison, he’s a thief!”

“Sir, are you aware that you are confessing to murder?” The officer stared down at him.

“Yes. Yes, I confess to it all. It was an accident, but what do I care? I’ve lived most of my life in prison, I’m going back either way. But this time, I’m not going back alone. You’re going to pay the price right along beside me, Clem!”

Roger was pale as the officer called for back-up. He didn’t speak a word. Jo stood quietly as she tried to keep the officer’s attention off her. Walt touched Jo’s shoulder lightly.

“You did good, Jo. You didn’t give up.”

“I guess.” Jo frowned. “But we still have no idea where the necklace is.”

“One of them must have it. I’m sure some good old fashioned police interrogation will get to the bottom of it all.” Eddy winked at her.

“I hope so,” Jo said.

Samantha grabbed Jo’s hand. “I’d love to write an article about this, what do you think?”

“I think it’s better that you don’t.” Jo frowned. “If people know that the necklace is missing, Sage Gardens will experience a very strange kind of gold rush.”

“Ah, good point.” Samantha nodded. “It’s a shame, it would have been a great article.”

“Maybe one day, Samantha, if the necklace is ever found.”

“All right, everyone, I’m going to need statements.” The officer took a deep breath and flipped open his notepad.

I
t was
dark by the time Jo began to walk back to her villa. For the first time she didn’t expect anyone to be hiding in the bushes or following her. Yet as she approached her street, she felt on edge yet again. She felt like someone was following her.

“Not again.” She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. “This is getting ridiculous.”

She paused beneath one of the street lights and looked all around her. Suddenly there was a flash of a figure, just a shadow, that swung from the roof of one villa to the roof of another. When the figure landed it jumped down just as swiftly from that roof and disappeared behind a tall bush. Jo stared hard at the bush. She knew that if she stepped any closer she would be putting herself at risk, but if she stayed right where she was she would risk never getting to find out who was following her. She walked away from the street that led to her villa and towards the bush. When she reached the bush she found nothing. There was no one hidden behind it. She shook her head. Had it been her imagination? An illusion created by the light? Perhaps a cloud passed over the moon at just the right moment. She started to turn back towards her street.

As she did she caught sight of the figure again. It disappeared just as fast down her street. Jo broke into a run in an attempt to catch up to the person, but there was no one to chase. Whoever it was, was gone, yet again. Frustrated, she stalked towards her villa and instead of going straight in she walked past it and into her garden. Though it was dark and the beauty of it was dulled by the lack of light, it still comforted her. It soothed her nerves enough that she could let go of the memory of the figure. She took a deep breath of the air that was thick with the smell of soil and willed her body to relax. A lot had happened over the past few days. Old memories surfaced and new memories were made.

Once Jo was calm again she stepped into her villa through the back door. She tossed her things on the kitchen counter and headed down the hallway. She walked into her bedroom ready to collapse. She was still frustrated over Drew’s ability to evade her. She knew that she had lost the necklace once and for all. It would never be returned to the family it was originally stolen from, and Valda’s death, though now solved, would still not be completely resolved.

As Jo sat down at the foot of her bed she felt some relief. At least Tony was back behind bars where he belonged. She stretched out on the bed, but when she laid her head on her pillow it hit something hard. She jumped up and turned to see the ‘Rose Diamond’ necklace stretched out across her pillow. Pinned beneath it was a short note.

I
t’s finally yours
.

L
ove always
,

D
rew

S
he stared
at the note and the necklace with absolute disbelief. Drew stole the necklace, just to give it to her? Her heart began to race, not only because of old feelings, but because she would be able to return the necklace to its rightful owners.

Jo picked up the necklace and studied it intently. All at once she knew what had happened. Drew followed her to Tony’s house. While she was outside with Roger threatening to shoot her he broke in through the front door, just as he had taught her, and took the necklace from the curtain rod before she even had the chance to look for it. That was why the door was left open. Then he showed up to pretend to take the bait, as he recognized her plan as his own. The entire time he had the necklace. He was still a thief, and he would always be a thief, but he was not a murderer. That gave Jo quite a bit of comfort.

Drew had given her a treasure, but the real treasure she discovered, was the love and loyalty of her friends. She picked up her phone to call Samantha. She would have an article to write after all.

T
hank
you for reading ‘Jewelry Can Be Deadly’. If you would like to be notified of new releases by Cindy Bell you can sign up here:
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