Yarn Over Murder (A Knitting Mystery) (14 page)

Oh, boy,
Kelly thought. This was the Greeley team’s best player. She could hit it outside the fence exactly like Kelly could. And she was a double threat. Not only could she hit long, but she could also run fast. Faster than most players. Faster than Kelly, even. She could hit a double easily, without breaking a sweat. If so, they’d have two players on base.

Kelly glanced toward second base where an earlier hitter had gained second when her hit to left field took a bad bounce as the fielder ran to retrieve it. If this batter hit a double, then that runner could easily gain third, if not try for home. That would mean her Fort Connor team could fall behind. They were ahead by one point, that’s all. If another batter hit one into far right field, then the third-base runner would fly home. And the fast-footed batter could make a dash for home right on her heels. Kelly had seen this girl easily gain two bases on a play.

Lisa’s first pitch to the batter fell outside.
Ball
one
.
That’s not good, either,
Kelly worried. It didn’t matter how this girl got on base. Once she was there, she was a bigger threat due to her speed.

Lisa’s second pitch was right in the zone, and Big Batter swung hard—and missed.
Whew!
Kelly glanced over her shoulder at her teammates who were also crouched and ready for whatever came. Lisa threw again, this ball moving faster and right in the zone. Big Batter swung and that sweet sound of bat hitting ball rang out.
Crack!

Kelly watched as the ball sailed up, up, and far into right field. An easy double for fast-footed Big Batter.

“Nice hit,” Kelly congratulated her as she rounded first base. Big Batter smiled and saluted while she jogged toward second base. Megan, as fast as she was, had just reached the ball. Her strong arm heaved the ball to the center field player, who threw it to second . . . two seconds after Big Batter arrived.

The Greeley team’s fans loudly cheered the double and the tying run from the stands. Kelly watched the Greeley team congratulate their teammate after she’d crossed home plate.

The second baseman called out, “We’re tied. Stay sharp!”

Kelly watched another batter take a couple of practice swings, then take position behind home plate. This batter was an average hitter. She’d hit a single one time, then struck out the next. Not as much power as Big Batter.

Lisa’s pitch was high.
Ball one!
The next pitch was a little low, but the batter swung anyway.
Strike!

Okay . . . one ball and one strike, Kelly thought, gently swaying side to side in her first baseman’s motion, keeping her muscles loose and ready. The next pitch was high again. Ball two. The following pitch was wide. Ball three.

C’mon, Lisa, tighten up,
Kelly silently counseled her friend. The next pitch was just in the zone on the edge. The batter swung and missed.
Strike two
.

Oh, boy 
. . . Kelly thought. Crunch time.

Lisa wound up and delivered, the pitch flying smack dab into the zone. The batter swung . . . and this time, she hit it.
Well, I’ll be damned,
Kelly thought, watching the ball fly out then head downward and bounce in deep center field.

Kelly watched the center fielder race up and snatch the ball. Glancing to the side, Kelly saw the batter running as hard as she could toward first base . . . almost there.

“Here!” she yelled to the center fielder who was already aiming toward her base.

The ball sailed fast and Kelly reached high to snag it, just in time as the batter stepped out to touch first base.

“Got it!”
Kelly yelled, ball firmly in her glove and her left foot solidly on base.

“You’re out!”
the base umpire called, pointing toward home plate.

Kelly quickly glanced toward third base and spotted Big Batter hastening back to third base for safety.

“Whoo hoo!” Megan yelled from right field. “Way to go, Kelly!”

Cheers from their side of the bleachers rang out, and Kelly looked over and spotted Jennifer and Pete and Cassie waving their arms at her and cheering. She threw the ball to Lisa, then grinned and waved back at them. She thought she noticed Burt and Mimi but she wasn’t sure it was them, so she waved that way in case.

The sun winked its last bright glare over the mountain tops, then slid quietly behind. Shade, at last. The temperature would start to drop now and the evening mountain breezes would pick up. By nighttime it would feel cooler with no remnant of the day’s heat. Except maybe the sunburned faces of tourists who didn’t think they needed to wear sunscreen in the mountains. They only made that mistake once, usually.

The next batter that came up for Greeley was an easy out. She couldn’t resist swinging at pitches whenever they were in her vicinity. Unfortunately, she usually struck out . . . as she did right now.

“Three outs!” yelled Coach Megan from right field as she jogged forward.

“That was close,” Kelly said to the center fielder as they walked toward home plate.

“You got that right,” the center fielder said, pointing to Big Batter. “She’s always dangerous.”

“Oh, yeah. She must have run sprints in college or something,” Kelly joked.

“Hey, nice catch,” Big Batter called over to Kelly as she retrieved her fielders glove and headed that way.

Kelly smiled and waved to her as she called out, “Thanks!” Now, if only she could hit a nice long drive into left field, maybe she could help her team break this tie. That would be
really
sweet.

Saturday, June 23

Kelly
watched the television in her cottage, saw the flames leap from treetop to treetop. Such a frightening sight. The hot dry wind whipped up and caused the wildfire to roar back to life from the smoldering hot spots north of Poudre Canyon and wiped out a week’s worth of effort in that area. Glacier View residents to the north were completely evacuated, all the way to the small town of Red Feather Lakes. Kelly saw those red orange smoke plumes rising behind the mountains as she drove home from the game last night. Scary. And they all thought that the firefighters had turned a corner in the High Park fire. Julie’s concern about the wildfire flaring up again was justified. Burt was convinced the winds had died down in northern Colorado. Unfortunately, they hadn’t. Those wicked hot winds had a mind of their own. Wildfires created their own weather systems with the hot dry air and flames.

Carl’s bark outside in the backyard brought her attention back, and Kelly checked her watch. She didn’t have that much accounting work on her plate today, so maybe this was a good time to make some progress on that sweater. Plus, she wanted something to take her attention away from those horrible scenes of wildfires destroying entire subdivisions of homes and burning forests, whether it was in Colorado Springs or Fort Connor.

Kelly went onto the patio and refilled Carl’s new water dish from the outside faucet. Carl came racing over to check if any food was involved in the procedure. Discovering that there wasn’t, he galloped back to the fence, where he’d been keeping watch over a woman who was walking her dog along the edge of the golf course. Carl woofed a warning, just in case the pair might decide to venture into his territory.

As far as Carl was concerned, all the shade from the huge cottonwood tree belonged to him. He allowed the squirrels to share it because they provided entertainment value. And sport. But strangers walking small animals needed Big Dog’s permission to intrude into Carl Territory.
Noblesse oblige
.

Carl ran back to the patio and slurped from his new water dish. Kelly gave him a quick head rub before Carl galumphed off to the fence again. “Super-size water dish, Carl. Enjoy,” she called to him as she went back inside.

Grabbing her newly filled coffee mug and briefcase bag, Kelly headed out of her cottage. She hurried across the driveway, eager to escape the high-nineties-degree heat. How could it have built that high in midmorning? Yesterday was ninety-nine degrees. Tomorrow would reach one hundred degrees or more. This was not typical Colorado weather. Once again, she blamed La Niña. La Bruja would be more like it, she thought, using the Spanish word for “witch.” Kelly was thankful there were no softball or baseball games tonight. She and her friends would gather in air-conditioned surroundings.

Stepping into the foyer of Lambspun, Kelly felt the welcome cooler air brush against her skin. She spotted Cassie in the central yarn room, filling yarn bins. “Ahh, it feels so good in here. I was just out in the backyard with Carl, and it’s in the high nineties already.”

“I know, it’s crazy,” Cassie said, stuffing the last ball of yarn on the table into a bin. “I’m glad we had softball clincic yesterday.”

Kelly walked into the main room and set down her mug and bag. “You know, I wonder if I should call all the kids’ parents and see if they want to move the clinic earlier in the morning or something.”

Cassie followed her into the room. “Naw, I wouldn’t try it,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “It sounds like everybody’s schedules are pretty full. I thought I had a full schedule, you know, like going to softball with you and tennis with Megan and university lab with Greg and therapy clinic with Lisa. But some of the girls have even more going on. It’s crazy.”

Kelly had to smile. Cassie and her friends were already confronted with scheduling problems. “I don’t know whether to feel good about that or not,” she said. “Some people say kids your age are over-scheduled with no free time. Others say it’s good training for real life. I can see both sides.”

Cassie’s eyes went wide. “Oh, no, I
love
doing all those different things! I never had a chance to do all this back in Denver. Like yesterday, I was at the computer lab with Greg and the Geeks, and they were showing me how a motherboard works. You know, inside the computer. They showed me how everything is put together and which part does what. It was fun. They even let me take some stuff apart and put it back together. That’s so cool.”

Kelly settled at the table and pulled the evacuee sweater from her bag. “I’ve seen Greg’s computer lab, and it is definitely filled with tons of stuff. So if you like messing with computers you’ll find plenty there.” Kelly picked up her bright green stitches where she’d left off. She was one row away from binding off the sweater bottom.

“Oh, yeah. I love going over there. Greg says the Geeks save up stuff for me to play around with. Plus, there’s always some new software stuff to look at.”

Suddenly Mimi stepped inside the main room and waved at Kelly. “Kelly, if you have a minute, can I ask you a question? We can go up front.”

Curious at Mimi’s suggestion, Kelly dropped her knitting onto the table. No wonder it took her so long to complete a project. So many interruptions. “Sure, Mimi,” she said, joining her friend in the central yarn room.

“Oh, Cassie, I saw Carl looking over here, big paws on the fence,” Mimi said. “He looks lonely. Why don’t you go give him a pat?”

“Sure. Can I go into the yard and play with him, Kelly?” Cassie asked as she headed toward the foyer, clearly eager to take Mimi’s suggestion.

“Absolutely, Cassie. Carl loves to play with kids. They’re way more fun than adults.”

Cassie laughed that little laugh as she pushed open the front door. Kelly turned to Mimi and noticed a worried expression she hadn’t seen before.

“Okay, Mimi, what’s up? You’ve never needed me to come up front to ask a question.”

Mimi’s concern deepened. “You’re right. Dan, Burt’s former partner, showed up a few minutes ago to question Connie. They’re outside at one of those far tables, away from the other customers.”

“Oh, boy. I guess this investigation has moved into the official phase now. Officer Warren was pretty darn thorough, so I’m sure the detectives are using all her notes. She was always scribbling in that little notebook of hers. She reminded me a lot of Detective Morrison.”

“What I’m afraid is Dan came because Connie told Officer Warren she went back to Andrea’s ranch after she left you folks. That would have made a third visit to see Andrea. And considering everything you and the others have told me about that Saturday, and all those arguments, well . . . I can’t help but worry about that third visit.”

“You’re not alone, Mimi. I’ve worried about that, too. Apparently, no one else was there to witness what went on at that third visit. Burt said that Jim told him he left Andrea’s ranch and wasn’t aware that Connie had returned. And it sounds like Dennis was already gone as well. That’s what worries me. No one else was there.” Mimi’s worried expression deepened.

“What has Connie told you about that third visit? You’re the only one she talks to. She barely speaks to me. I’m sure it’s because I was there to witness the first two blowouts.”

“She hasn’t told me a thing about that last visit, Kelly,” Mimi said anxiously. “That’s another reason I’m so worried. I’ve tried talking to her about it twice, and each time she just looks away and says she doesn’t want to talk about it. Well, you can imagine how that makes me feel. When I told Burt what she said, he got that worried expression of his. He told me it makes Connie look like she’s hiding something.” Mimi started chewing the side of her lip.

“I hate to say it, Mimi, but I agree with Burt. It does make Connie look guilty. Heck, she looks guilty whenever I even mention that Saturday. Even if I’m saying we’re all her friends and we all care about her. She still ducks her head and her face kind of screws up like she might cry, and she doesn’t even answer most times.”

Mimi wagged her head, another sure sign of worry. “You have to wonder what else would cause that guilty-acting behavior. And as much as I hate to even think it, I have to consider the possibility that she pushed Andrea or something. If she did, it had to be in a moment of anger. Connie has a hot temper. Burt and I have seen it flare up for years. Especially if Jim paid attention to another woman.”

“Did he do that a lot?” Kelly asked, curious.

“Not when they were first married about fifteen years ago, but if truth be told, Jim did develop a wandering eye. Particularly these last few years. He’s tall, dark, and handsome, and Connie was very jealous and possessive of him. Unfortunately, she’s also got quite a temper. I’ve known Connie for a long time. She was one of my first employees when I had a little shop over in Old Town.”

Just then, Burt beckoned to them from the loom room. “C’mon out to the café. I have a feeling that interview is winding up, and I think Mimi and I should go outside and talk with Connie after Detective Dan leaves.”

“Good idea, Burt,” Kelly said, ushering Mimi in front of her as they all three headed toward the hallway and into Pete’s café. Burt beckoned them toward an empty table beside the large windows.

“See, Dan is standing up now. So I think this is a good time to talk with Connie. In case there’s anything she wants to get off her chest.”

Mimi took in her breath and drew back, hand to her breast. “Oh, my! Burt . . . do you really think she pushed Andrea?”

Burt wagged his head in that way Kelly recognized as his resignation to something he didn’t like. “I wish I didn’t Mimi. I don’t know if she did or didn’t. But I think we should offer Connie a chance to tell the truth about what happened in that third visit.”

Kelly looked through the window, watching Connie’s face. It was red as if she’d been crying. “Oh, brother. It looks like she’s been crying. I don’t know if that’s a good sign or not.

“It all depends on what Connie has done and what she told Dan,” Burt said solemnly.

Mimi didn’t say anything, simply patted her hand against her chest and stared anxiously out the window as they all watched the end of Connie’s police interview with Detective Dan.

•   •   •

“Hey,
Jayleen,” Kelly said into her cell phone as she stepped inside her cottage. “The fire authorities said they’ve got the Bellevue Canyon fire put out at last. Is that true?”

“Yes, Kelly-girl, firefighters have beaten down all the hot spots there, so, finally, we have no large outbreaks in our canyon. At last. Wildfire is only burning to the northwest in those remote forested areas.”

Kelly felt a wave of relief wash over her as she dropped her briefcase bag on her desk chair in the corner. She sank into the comfy cushioned armchair, kicked off her shoes, and stretched out her legs to relax. “Oh, thank goodness. Steve and I have been watching the fire authority meetings on television every night. Thanks to all those firefighters, we made a lot of progress . . . until yesterday.” She sighed loudly. “It shocked me to hear how fast that Glacier View fire moved. With the national commandant now moved to Colorado Springs, there’s a whole different bunch of fire guys talking on TV. So I wanted to make sure I got the straight word from you.”

“Well, Curt and I have been going out and talking to people every day, trying to get the straight word, as you call it. Some of them get to talk to the firefighters themselves when they’re delivering supplies. One guy said he heard a fireman say the wildfire rolled over that upper ridge of Glacier View like a huge ball of flames. It ate up that newest development of houses in one fiery gulp.”

Kelly pictured some of those homes and their pretty views and closed her eyes at the image of flames consuming that entire area.

“Curt covers Landport, and I go into Loveland and Fort Connor and over to the Ranch where the other evacuee shelter is.”

“What else have you heard?”

“Well, containment dropped back to 45 percent because of that Glacier View outbreak. They expect hot, windy conditions to continue for a while, so priorities are containing hot spots and the unburned areas within the fire’s interior.”

Kelly sipped iced coffee from her mug, trying to cool off. In the late afternoon, the cottage was hot, even though the ceiling fans were moving, stirring the hot air. She wouldn’t have braved being here now if she didn’t have to go through some of her file folders in the desk drawers. “Well, that makes sense.” A clanging bell sounded from Jayleen’s end.

“Hold on, Kelly. A text just came in from Curt.”

Kelly laughed. “That’s the loudest text alert I’ve ever heard.”

“That’s so I’ll hear it.” Jayleen paused. “A wildfire broke out in Estes Park.”

“Oh, no! Is it around the town, or did it go into Rocky Mountain National Park?”

“No, it’s small and on the other side of town. They’ve jumped on it right away, so they should be able to contain it.”

“Have fire authorities told you when you folks can return to Bellevue Canyon?”

“No, not yet. We’re expecting to hear something this evening. Maybe.”

“Okay, I’ll keep my fingers crossed, Jayleen, that you guys can return to the canyon soon. And that your place is not on the fire authorities’ list.”

“We’ve been keeping track of everything we hear about. Burt has a big map of Bellevue Canyon, and we’re putting black marks on places we hear rumored to have been lost. Keeping track. So far, there’s no black mark right on my ranch, but there’re others pretty close. We heard one rumor that there may be damage to the property but the ranch house is still standing. I can live with property damage. I’m praying those rumors are right.”

“Well, I need some good news. So I’m going to take Curt’s advice and picture your ranch house still standing.”

Jayleen laughed softly. “Bless your heart, Kelly.”

A thought darted into Kelly’s mind. “By the way, you said you’ve been going over to the Ranch evacuee shelter. Have you seen Jim Carson? He told Burt he was helping out over there in the Salvation Army kitchens at the Ranch. Serving food, I think.”