Resorting to Murder (A Darcy Sweet Mystery Book 11) (9 page)

"Fine,"
JoEllen suddenly said, breaking Darcy's train of thoughts.  "So now that we know where to look I'm going to get my son back."

She stood up, not waiting for them to argue with her, and headed straight for the door.  It was Jon who stopped her with a simple question. 
"How?"

When
JoEllen spun back on them Darcy could see the anger in her eyes.  A lion couldn't have growled as menacingly as the petite blonde killer did.  "I'm going over to his place, and get my son back," she repeated.

Jon stood up to face her.  Darcy was sur
prised at how calm he was.  Her nerves were on edge and her stomach felt like it was tied in knots.  If JoEllen really wanted to get at Carson, could either of them stop her?  Maybe it was Jon's police training, or maybe just his own compassion, but he didn't back down from JoEllen.  "What are you going to do?  Are you going to kill Carson?"

She shrugged, not budging from where she stood.  "It's what I do."

"But not who you are," he said.  "You were trying to give that life up, remember?  You were giving it up for Connor."

"I'd do anything for my son. 
Anything."

"Then think. 
Do that much for him.  Darcy and I have had experience with kidnappings.  Her brother-in-law was taken not all that long ago, and we very nearly didn't get him back.  What happens if you go over there, shoot Carson in the chest, and leave him bleeding on the floor?"

"Then,"
JoEllen said with a smile that Darcy definitely did not like, "I get Connor back."

Jon simply shook
his head and took another step toward her.  "And if Connor isn't there?  Have you thought about the possibility that Carson is keeping your son somewhere besides his home?  Or his shop?  You can kill Carson, fine, and I'm sure that will feel good considering what he did to Audie, but how does that help you get your son back?"

The
intensity of JoEllen's anger faded.  "Then I'll torture the information out of him.  I'm not just a killer, you know.  I have other skills."

Darcy didn't doubt it.

"Skills or not," Jon said, with another step that nearly closed the gap between him and JoEllen, "how long would it take to torture the information out of Carson?  Hours?  Days?  Do you think Connor has that long?  What if you slip up and kill him before he tells you where your son is?  We might never find Connor if we do it your way."

"What are you going to do, cop?  Arrest me?"

"No," Jon said, without returning any of her hostility.  "I'm not going to arrest you.  I'm going to help you."

JoEllen
squeezed her eyes shut.  A single tear leaked out and ran down her cheek.  "All right," she relented.  "All right, all right, all right!  I just want my son back.  I want my son!"

As her words rang in the small cabin, Jon closed the rest of the distance between them. 
Darcy had been surprised at the compassion he had shown JoEllen.  She was even more surprised now when he reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  "We'll get him back.  You just have to trust me and Darcy."

When
JoEllen opened her eyes again the tears had dried.  Her gaze was intense, and maybe more even a little vulnerable.  "Tell me what you want me to do."

"I don't want you to do anything.
"  As JoEllen started to protest he held up his hand.  "I want you to stay here with Darcy.  I'm going to follow Carson.  I'll see where he goes and what he does.  I'll find Connor.  He has to be checking on him, wherever he's got him hidden."

Darcy caught Jon's eye with a raised eyebrow.  This was part of the plan they hadn't discussed.  He shrugged and came back over to her on the bed, kneeling down in front of her, holding her hands.  "It's the only thing that makes
sense, Darcy.  He knows you now, so you can't follow him around without it seeming suspicious.  If he sees JoEllen, he'll know we're on to him.  I'm the only logical choice.  I've got the experience with doing stakeouts and he's never seen my face."

It was hard to argue with that.  Still, she twisted her ring around and around her finger and waited for someone to come up with a better idea.  When no one did, she nodded and leaned forward to rest her forehead against his.  They shared a silent moment where words weren't needed.

"I'll come back to you, sweet baby," he told her, calling her by that special nickname.  "I promise."

She followed him to the door of the cabin while he put on his shoulder holster with its .40 caliber automatic held snugly in place.  JoEllen's gun was
now in the glove compartment of his locked car.  She hadn't asked for it back.  They hadn't offered.  Everyone seemed happier that way.

Their kiss goodbye was long and slow and liquid.  It felt like it lasted forever.  For Darcy, it wasn't long enough.

Then he was gone and Darcy was locking the door behind him.

She stood there, collecting her thoughts and emotions, letting this crazy day finally catch up to her.  She didn't realize exactly how long she had been standing like that until
JoEllen cleared her throat behind her.  "It's easy to see how in love you two are."

Darcy
didn't know what to say to that.  Of course she loved Jon.  She couldn't remember ever feeling this way about any other man, including her late ex-husband Jeff.  When she thought of Jon, her whole world seemed brighter somehow, like he made things better just by being in her life.  He was everything she had ever wanted in a man.

But did he feel the same way?

Feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, Darcy looked away from JoEllen and went to sit back down on the bed, carefully studying the floor.  She knew she was blushing.  This weekend was supposed to be the time Jon and she needed to explore their relationship and see where they stood with each other.  She'd made her feelings clear to him.  Everything out in the open.  It seemed like he had been starting to open up to her in return, just as this whole mystery had caught them up in its tangled lines.

Well.  Yesterday had been fantastic
, at least.  Just the two of them, finding intimate ways to express their love.  Then JoEllen had come crashing into their lives and everything else had been pushed aside.  Today was almost over, and she could pretty much figure that once Jon found where Carson was hiding Connor, that would take up most of tomorrow as well.  The whole weekend was pretty much a wash.

"I mean,"
JoEllen said when Darcy didn't respond, "he seems like he has…well, like he's…"

"Got a stick up his butt?" Darcy offered, unable to keep from smiling at that image.  "It's part of his persona.  Jon sort of wears his badge like a second skin."

"Only, he doesn't do that with you."  JoEllen drew one knee up to her chest in the chair where she sat.  "With you, he's different.  He relaxes completely when he's with you.  You guys are perfect for each other."

Darcy considered that.  Did Jon really do that
with her?  She thought about how he was now, compared to how he had been when they first met.  Stiff.  Professional and distant.  In the time that she had known him and loved him, she'd seen a tender side that she knew he kept from most people.  He had told her things that no one else knew.  They were good together, in a way that apparently showed, if JoEllen had picked up on it after just one day.

"Audie and I used to have that," JoEllen said, her pale blue eyes tearing up again.  "He made me want to be better.  His
love made me want to give up my old life and become someone he could be proud of.  He was my whole entire world.  We were going to get married, even.  And now he's out there in that cold, dark grave like he doesn't even matter…"

She choked up, the words stuck in her throat.

Darcy reached across to take JoEllen's hand, the table an easy reach from the bed.  "You understand why we had to leave him there, right?  We couldn't go to the Sheriff.  Not yet."

JoEllen
held tightly to Darcy, wiping angrily at her tears with her free hand.  "Yes.  Sure.  Whatever.  We can't have the guy who's blackmailing me know we're on to him.  I can't go shoot him because if I do we won't find Connor.  It's all so completely logical and sensible.  And my fiancé is still lying in a shallow grave in the woods!"

"For now, yes.
  But when this is all over, we'll make sure that Audie gets the burial he deserves, with a headstone that tells the world he was loved."

Silence fell heavily over them like a shroud.  Darcy
didn't know how to make things better for JoEllen.  All she could do was hold JoEllen's hand and let her cry without judging her for being caught in this situation.  Everything else aside, JoEllen needed their help, and Darcy and Jon were going to give it to her.

Into the heavy silence, Darcy's stomach growled.

JoEllen looked up at her.  Darcy couldn't help it.  She burst out laughing.  JoEllen started laughing with her and for a moment she seemed less like a dangerous killer and more like a friend.

"Oh, for Pete's sake," Darcy mumbled, still laughing.  "I suppose we should order something for dinner.  We need to eat, right?  Starving ourselves
won't help anyone.  Hey, I know.  Why don't you call that pizza place you were calling yesterday and order us something?"

JoEllen
turned her eyes away.  "Well, actually, I wasn't calling for pizza when I came over here yesterday.  I just wanted to check you and Jon out.  I was so sure you two were the ones who had taken Connor.  Especially after seeing Jon.  He has this way of carrying himself that lets you know he's more than just a common, everyday kind of guy."

"Right," Darcy said, smiling mischievously. 
"Because he has a stick up his butt."

They laughed together again until Darcy's stomach growled a second time, and then they laughed some more.  It felt good to Darcy
, letting her forget how worried she was for Jon and for little Connor and even for JoEllen.  "So what do you feel like eating?" she asked.

"To tell you the truth, I do feel like pizza.  It's Connor's favorite food.  I'll have a couple of slices, I think. 
For him."

They used the phone book tucked into the top dresser drawer in the cabin to find a place that delivered, and
they ordered from there.  Delivery took just twenty minutes from town, and they had eaten their meal and drank canned soda and cleaned up by the time the sun was going down.

Just like they had needed to eat, they needed to sleep.  They agreed that they should at least try to get a few hours of rest in case Jon came back with news and they needed to move quickly.  Once they found Connor, getting him back and making sure he was safe could take the rest of the night.  The room's
only bed was momentarily a problem until Darcy offered to sleep on the floor with the comforter and a pillow.  JoEllen started to argue, but Darcy insisted.  With a yawn and a full body stretch JoEllen nodded, and it was settled.

They had wanted to stay in the same cabin in case Jon did come back
before morning.  That was fine with Darcy.  Not that she was worried about JoEllen running away.  Right now Darcy and Jon were her best chance to get Connor back.  She wasn't going anywhere until they found her son.  The truth of the matter, really, was that Darcy wanted the company.

The floor was layered with a thick brown rug that was a lot more comfortable than Darcy had imagined it would be.  She lay there, curled up with the quilted blanket tucked
under her chin, and listened to JoEllen's breathing slow to an even rhythm.  Darcy couldn’t blame her.  She must be exhausted after everything she'd gone through in the past few days.

Not long after that,
with her thoughts wrapped around images of Jon, Darcy fell asleep as well.

Darcy
always had trouble knowing if she was in a dream brought to her by her special gifts.  They seemed so completely real, usually, except for some small things here or there like a puzzle putting itself together or people who were dead sitting down to have meaningful conversations with her.

This time, she didn't have any trouble at all.  This was a dream.  No doubt about it.

At the long, rectangular table
placed outside in a wide meadow, Darcy's cat Smudge sat cross-legged in a padded chair with a high back.  He was pouring tea for someone Darcy couldn't quite see, hidden in shadows under a big floppy hat.

Floppy hat.
  Carson wore a floppy hat…

"No," her cat said.  "She only comes here for the tea."

His black and white fur was being ruffled by the slow, warm breeze.  In the dream here, Smudge was her size, stirring sugar cubes into the steaming cup in front of him.  He smiled now at Darcy like having tea together in an endless sea of freshly mown grass was something they did all the time.

The shadowy form next to Smudge shifted just enough so that Darcy could see who it was
.  She was an older woman with steel gray hair done up in a tight bun under the hat.  Her long black dress faded into the shadows cast by towering, menacing trees on her side of the table, making her appear to fade away like a ghost and then reappear whenever she turned to Darcy.