Open Season for Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery Book 10) (26 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

At the bottom of the ski slopes, Spencer Inn had a lakeside café. In the winter months, skiers could sip coffee or cocoa or eat a quick snack before hitting the slopes again. In the summer season, the café offered snacks or quick lunches on the lakeside deck which joined the docks for boaters. It also offered kayak and waterski rentals.

At one of the tables, Kassandra Van Dyke’s mouth watered at the sight of the huge hot fudge sundae nestled on top of two brownies with a cherry on top. “I’m eating every calorie we just burnt off.” She dug in.

Carlisle took a bite of her vanilla frozen yogurt. “Life’s too short to deny yourself innocent pleasures once in a while. How much joy does starving yourself to be thin give you?”

Kassandra stopped with the spoon filled with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge poised in front of her mouth.

Crossing her arms in front of her, Carlisle leaned onto the table. “Are you happy, Kassie?”

In silence, Kassandra took a mouthful of the sundae. “I don’t like who I am.”

“Then change who you are.”

“Truth is, I know I’m not who my father wants me to be.” Tears came to her eyes. “But if I’m not her, then he’ll be disappointed and maybe not love me when he finds out who I really am.”

“If he doesn’t love who you really are,” Carlisle said, “then he doesn’t really love you.”

The roar of the dirt bike interrupted their conversation, along with the conversations of the other hotel guests in the café.

David jumped off the bike and ran across the outdoor café. “Carlisle! Kassandra! We need to get you inside!”

Seeing the uniformed police chief, guests scattered. They didn’t know what was happening, but they sensed that they didn’t want to be outside if the chief of police was saying to go indoors.

Not wanting to waste any precious time, Mac laid the bike down on its side and directed the patrons into the café. Off in the distance, he could hear Gnarly barking and several officers yelling. “I hear him! He went that way!”

Carlisle sprung out of her seat at the same time that a shot rang out from the tree line up the mountain. With a shriek, Kassandra grabbed her left arm and fell out of her chair.

“Kassie!” Carlisle dropped down to the deck and covered her friend with her body.

“What happened?” Kassandra cried.

“Stay down!” David ordered them while pulling the table over onto its side to provide them with cover. His gun drawn, he scoured the tree line for Rudy Crowe while radioing for EMTs and back-up.

Near the edge of the deck, Mac took cover behind a Jeep and gripped his injured shoulder. His teeth chattered from the pain brought on by the jarring ride down the mountain on the dirt bike. The pain from his sprained right wrist shot all the way up to his shoulder and then from his shoulder down to his wrist.

Firing his gun with his right hand would be impossible. Hoping the situation would not come down to a shoot out, Mac transferred his gun to his left hand.

Gnarly’s barking had stopped.

“Do you see him?” David called to Mac.

Mac shook his head. He couldn’t see any movement in the trees and Gnarly was quiet. Experience had told him that when Gnarly was quiet, be afraid. Be very afraid.

“Chief,” Fletcher called David on his radio. “We lost Gnarly.”

Thinking the officer was telling them that Gnarly was a victim of the shooter, David responded with clinched jaws. “What do you mean you lost Gnarly?”

“We can’t find him. He was right up ahead of us—barking all the way. Then, the barking stopped, and now we don’t know where he is.”

“Find the shooter,” David said. “He’s somewhere up in those woods. We have a woman down and as long as we don’t know where he is, we can’t move.”

Behind him, Carlisle had taken off her top to make a bandage for Kassandra’s arm. She displayed no modesty about wearing nothing more than a sports bra and a pair of running shorts.

“How is she?” David asked.

“She’ll live,” Carlisle said with a wink. “I’m getting control of the bleeding. You saved my life. If I hadn’t moved, then that bullet would have gone through me. I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

The sound of sirens coming in from every direction prompted a gunshot from the woods that struck the Jeep behind which Mac was hiding.

Before Mac could return fire, a snarling bark came from the woods followed by a series of gunshots and a scream. Raising his head from where he was hiding, Mac watched the bushes and small trees tumble away while the two bodies rolled straight down the hillside. The viciousness of Gnarly’s barks and growls was matched by the man’s pleading cries for help.

The rolling bodies picked up speed down the steep hill until they became airborne over the last leg of the trail to land on the roadside next to the café. As luck would have it, Gnarly landed on top of Rudy. The dog’s fangs were poised to finish him off.

David stood guard over Kassandra and Carlisle while Mac rushed out from behind the Jeep to take possession of Rudy Crowe’s gun, which he had seen slide down the hillside before they were propelled over the embankment. Tucking it into his waistband, Mac ran over to where Gnarly had Rudy Crowe pinned on his back. Rudy was afraid to move for fear of his throat being punctured by one of the great dog’s fangs.

Hector and the rest of the officers spilled in from the woods to join him.

“We found Gnarly,” Officer Fletcher announced as if it was news.

“How about that?” Mac called Gnarly to his side. While he was released from holding the shooter, Gnarly refused to back down completely until Officer Fletcher had handcuffed him.

The Inn’s medical Jeep, which was used to help skiers or hikers injured on the trail sped up to the dock. The hotel nurse jumped out to run over to where Carlisle and David were tending to Kassandra’s wound.

“EMTs are on the way,” Hector reported to Mac.

Upon seeing Carlisle, wearing David’s shirt over her sports bra, coming toward them, Rudy raged while struggling against his handcuffs, “You’re the one who should be dead! Ashton never did anything to anyone. All she wanted to do was become a doctor and save lives like her parents and grandfather and you killed her!”

“You’re right,” Carlisle replied. “I’ve been saying the same thing to myself every day for the last five years.”

“Get him out of here,” David ordered Officer Fletcher.

The security patrol’s Jeep, loaded up with Rudy Crowe and three Spencer Police officers, left as the EMT van and ambulance arrived to tend to Kassandra Van Dyke.

Upon hearing the news of his daughter’s shooting, Vincent Van Dyke rushed down with a camera crew to capture every moment for potential viewers of the reality show he still had hopes of selling.

“Told you that you took off your sling and wrist brace too soon.” David stepped over to where Mac was clutching his arm close to his side, while examining a small cheeseburger in his left hand.

“Explain this to me.” Mac held up the sandwich for David to see. “I solved the case and all I get is this piece of overcooked meat.”

Down at his feet, David saw that Gnarly was attacking a foot long steak and cheese submarine sandwich that the café manager had prepared specifically for the hero of the moment for saving the day by capturing the bad guy.

Mac tossed the cheeseburger down onto Gnarly’s plate. “It’s not fair.”

“I think it’s because he’s cuter than you,” David said.

“I own this place,” Mac pointed out.

“You’re only cranky because your arm and shoulder hurts,” David said. “Put the sling and brace back on and you’ll feel better.”

“I don’t want to,” Mac said, “and Gnarly is not cuter than I am.”

“How’s this being bull-headed working for you, Mac?” David asked.

As if to add his voice to the discussion, Gnarly uttered a bark.

“Keep it up and I’ll dislocate your shoulder,” Mac replied to Gnarly. “You’re the one who did this to me.”

With a whine, Gnarly picked up the overcooked cheeseburger in his mouth and held it up to Mac.

Epilogue

One Week Later: McHenry Airport

“You didn’t have to come along,” David told Mac when he pulled the police cruiser up in front of the small airport’s terminal.

Glancing back at Gnarly in the back seat, Mac laughed. “What was I supposed to do? Jump out? The call came in while we were on our way to the lawyer’s office.”

“Well, this will only take a few minutes,” David opened the driver’s side door. In the rearview mirror, he saw a white stretch limousine pull up behind his police cruiser.

Mac took his cell phone out of the case. “I’ll try to push the closing for your house back an hour.”

“It isn’t like you’re going to back out on our deal if I don’t sign over the deed today.” After sliding out of his seat, David turned around to watch Randolph York get out of the back of the limousine. With pride, he reached out his hand to help Betty, the Spencer Inn’s registration manager, climb out onto the curb. On the other side, Brian Gallagher took Betty’s granddaughter Caleigh into one arm while reaching out a hand to help Savannah. All three ladies were dressed in stunning summer dresses.

Seeing Mac, Betty waved before rushing up to the cruiser the throw her arms around him in a warm hug. “Mac! I am so glad to see you. I wanted so much to say goodbye to you.”

“Goodbye?” Mac asked, “Where are you going?”

“Hawaii!” she gushed. “Randolph popped the question! We’re leaving right now!”

“I guess congratulations are in order.” Mac shook Randolph’s hand.

“Finding Brian made me take a long hard look at my life,” Randolph York said. “I’ve been fearless when it comes to business but, ever since Lindsey’s mother, I’ve been a coward when it comes to love. Seeing love bloom between him and Savannah gave me the shot of courage I needed.” He smiled at where Brian was holding Caleigh who was alternating between petting Gnarly and shrieking with delight.

Mac asked Betty, “Does this mean we lost our registration desk manager right at the launch of our summer season?”

“Like I was going to give Randolph half-a-chance to change his mind?” Betty couldn’t stop smiling.

Randolph took her into a bear hug. “No chance of that happening, Sweet Pea. If you had any idea how many years I have been waiting for the opportunity to kiss that face.”

“Kiss away.” With her arms around Randolph’s neck, Betty told Mac, “Jeff was so happy when I put in my notice and told him Randolph and I were getting married. He cried.”

“Cried?” David asked.

“Tears of joy ran down his face he was so happy for me.”

“Did Savannah put in her notice, too?” Mac asked.

“Not yet,” Savannah said. “We’re just going away for a long weekend to see Randolph and Mom get married. Then we’ll be back. I won’t be leaving until the end of the summer when Brian is done with his internship.”

“Then she and Caleigh will be going back to Chicago with me,” Brian said. “With luck, we can get Savannah enrolled at the University of Chicago.”

“And I will be a full time grandmother!” As if to enforce her role, Betty scooped up Caleigh from where she was hugging Gnarly, whose ears fell to the side with disappointment.

“Come along, family!” Randolph York called out like a drill sergeant to his platoon. “We have a plane to catch and a new life to begin.”

With the chauffeur and Brian wheeling a cart filled with luggage, they hurried through the terminal and went out the other side to where Randolph York’s private jet waited to whisk them all away.

“Jeff cried tears of joy, huh?” David muttered.

“I think we should change our plan for having lunch at the Spencer Inn,” Mac said.

“Yeah, I’m feeling more like pizza and beer right now.” David went up to the front door.

“Me, too.”

A small airport with only one gate for charter flights, it was easy for them to find their suspects huddled together in the lounge drinking coffee.

“Nice day for flying out of the country,” David told Carlisle Green, A.J. Wagner, Corey Haim, and Kassandra Van Dyke.

“Lovely day, David.” Carlisle knelt down to pet Gnarly who greeted her with a kiss.

Mac took note of the bandage wrapped around Kassandra’s arm. “How’s your arm?”

“It’s perfectly fine,” Kassandra replied. “Thank you for asking.” She had taken to her new life like a fish to water. The false eye lashes were gone, as was most of her makeup. The fancy blonde hairdo had been replaced with a ponytail. Instead of a designer ensemble, she was clad in summer capris and a tank top. She had paired her coffee with a donut covered with a thick chocolate glaze.

“You came to see us off, Chief?” Corey Haim asked.

“Actually,” David said with a chuckle, “I’m here on official business.”’ He turned to Kassandra. “Your father has reported you as being kidnapped.”

Kassandra burst into a fit of giggles. Her new friends joined in.

“Since you’re over eighteen,” David said, “you’re free to go wherever you want.”

“And where I want to go is Africa.” With a sense of purpose, she took a big bite from her donut. “I’m going to build a school and a clinic and pet a leopard.” She held up her hand to show them four fingernails with chipped polish and one broken down to the quick. “Look, I broke my first fingernail yesterday. Isn’t it great?” She was on a roll. “And I had chocolate cheesecake for dessert last night, plus I haven’t done my sit ups in four days.”

“I guess that means you’re going voluntarily,” David said.

“What do you want us to tell your father, Kassandra?” Mac asked her.

“That I love him the way he is,” she said, “and if he loves me, then he’ll love me for who I really am.” With a shrug of her shoulders, she added, “Even if I went back, the reality show is dead anyway. Rock Sinclair signed over his production company to Riva and she has no interest in reality shows. She wants to do real hard hitting programs of substance geared toward helping middle-aged women living independent lives.”

Blinking, Mac shook his head as if to clear his hearing. “Rock Sinclair signed over his production company?”

Kassandra nodded her head. “Yeah, Samuel Nash told me yesterday. I had run into him in the lobby at the Inn when he was checking out. Riva had Rock served with divorce papers and she had something on him … Nash said something about her getting her hands on a video or something—”

“Maybe a video of Rock cheating on his wife with Jasmine,” Corey suggested.

Aware of Rock Sinclair’s fear of his impotency being made public, Mac shot David a knowing glance.

“I don’t know what she got,” Kassandra said with a slight shake of her head, “but I’ll bet anything Nash got it for her, because he seemed very pleased with himself—more pleased than usual when he was bragging to me about it. Whatever was on that video must have been bad because when Riva used the words ‘YouTube,’ Rock caved in and gave her everything she wanted.” She giggled before adding, “And Samuel Nash has cushy job as producer working for her.”

“Sounds like Riva decided to stop being mad,” David said, “and to start getting even.”

“My marriage is going to be nothing like theirs,” Corey said.

“Corey’s fiancée is joining us at Dulles,” Carlisle said. “She’s a teacher and she’s going to help us to set up the school.”

“In return, Carlisle is going to help fund a clinic in our hometown,” Corey said.

“Who knows,” A.J. said, “I might decide to stay on in Africa to run their clinic. It’s a little warmer than Alaska but—” he cast a glance in Kassandra’s direction, “I’m growing kind of fond of sunny weather.”

“And I’m going to learn to drive a bobcat,” Kassandra said.

“You’re not talking about the animal, are you?” David asked.

“No, silly!” Kassandra said. “The big piece of construction equipment. Carlisle is going to teach me. She promised.”

Seeing the pilot coming inside, the group gathered up their carry-on luggage.

“We got some great sending off news already,” A.J. said while offering Kassandra her bag. “The medical examiner found the digitalis in my father’s remains. Rachel has agreed to testify against her mother and Maryland is indicting Dr. Elizabeth Breckenridge for his murder.”

“That is great news,” Mac said.

Corey Haim wasn’t so optimistic. “But the prosecutors warned us that Breckenridge’s lawyers are already motioning to suppress the recording that the feds got of her admitting to killing Dr. Wagner. If the judge agrees, all the prosecutors will have is evidence that he was murdered and Rachel’s testimony claiming it was her mother.”

Mac could see how it would play out. “The defense will claim Rachel is lying because she has issues with her mother. Without any proof of Breckenridge stealing Dr. Piedmont’s research, the jury won’t see any reason for her to kill him.”

The pilot announced in a loud voice, “All aboard.”

“I only wish we could have found proof that Dr. Breckenridge had stolen Dr. Piedmont’s research and book.” A.J. picked up his backpack and slung it across his shoulders. “He was such a great man and to have his whole life’s work stolen like that …”

“The truth will come out.” After giving Gnarly one final kiss on his snout, Carlisle stood up. “It always does. Look at Ashton’s murder. Five years had passed, but with patience, the truth did come out after all.”

“Not without a little push,” Mac said. “If it wasn’t for your phone call and note to pique my curiosity, I probably wouldn’t have been intrigued enough to stick my nose into Ashton’s disappearance.”

“What phone call are you talking about?” Puzzled, Carlisle squinted at Mac with her head cocked. “I left a note at the Spencer Inn for you, but …”

“To my cell phone,” Mac chuckled. “Asking for Robin. You said you were Ashton.”

“I didn’t call your cell,” she said. “I don’t even know your number.”

“Then who was it that called my phone asking for Robin?” Mac murmured.

“I don’t believe it.” David rubbed the back of his neck. “You let us get dragged into a whole murder case because of a wrong number?”

“I’ll give you a thousand dollars not to tell Archie,” Mac said.