Deadly Greetings (Book 2 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) (7 page)

Somehow, in the darkness, I’d managed to
kill one of my new lamps.

As I gathered up the remnants of the broken
shade, I had to laugh about what I must have looked like. Of course
no one could get in my place, but that still hadn’t deterred my
imagination one bit. I laughed as I worked, proud of myself for
downing an innocent floor lamp. Hey, I hadn’t known it was
harmless. I’d seen a threat and had taken action. Still, I doubted
I’d I tell anyone about that particular confrontation. After I was
finished, I turned off the lights and went back to bed. If Oggie or
Nash had moved, I couldn’t prove it. “You both missed all the
excitement,” I said.

They didn’t respond, and I was tired of
talking to myself, so I went to sleep, too.

It took me a few seconds to realize what was
happening the next morning, but I finally figured out that someone
was pounding on my front door. I glanced over at my alarm clock and
saw that it was nearly eight. I’d slept in for the first time I
could remember in the recent past. While I knew I had a robe in one
of my boxes, I wasn’t about to spend five minutes looking for it. I
did find my coat from the night before, so I threw it on instead.
“Who is it?” I asked without opening the door.

“
It’s Ethan York. Your
brother sent me.”

“
With breakfast, by any
chance?” I asked, his laughter filtered through the door. “Sorry, I
would have picked up a few doughnuts for you if I’d known. I’m a
locksmith. He said you needed me first thing.”

I undid the dead bolt and opened the door.
“Well, I’ll tell him you’re a man of your word. It certainly is
first thing, isn’t it?”

Ethan was a tall, skinny man with a hawk’s
nose and a mop of unruly gray hair. He took in my disheveled
appearance, then said, “I’m sorry, Ms. Shane, but I had to squeeze
you in when I could. This is it, but I could come back next week if
you’d rather.”

“
No, that’s crazy.” I added
with a smile, “Besides, you’re already here. I’d offer you a cup of
coffee, but I don’t have the vaguest idea where my coffeepot
is.”

“
Thanks for the offer, but
I’m going to have to jump on this pretty quick. Don’t you worry,
now; I’ll be out of here in ten minutes.” He retrieved a brand new
lock set and his toolbox from the hallway, then got to work. I
needed a bath, or at the very least a shower, but I wasn’t about to
take it at the moment, There was only one thing I could do, so I
started unpacking. Ethan was a chatty fellow, so I wasn’t without
entertainment as I worked.

“
You’ve got a good solid
door here,” he said as he started dismantling my lock. “Oak like
they don’t make anymore. Once I’m through here, it would take an ax
to get through to you.”

That particular sentiment sent chills
through me, and he must have seen the expression on my face. “Not
that somebody’s going to be coming after you with an ax. Or
anything else, I mean. Come after you, that is. Hey, I’ve got an
idea: why don’t I just shut up and focus on the job at hand?”

“
You can keep talking, but I
wouldn’t mind if we changed the subject.”

Ethan laughed, and it was a lot more potent
when we were both on the same side of the door. “You’ve got
yourself a deal.” He chatted aimlessly as he worked, fortunately
avoiding any further discussions about potential attacks, for which
I was eternally grateful. Ethan was as good as his word, and
finished the job quickly. “What do I owe you?” I asked as I scanned
the room for my purse.

“
Your brother’s covered it
already,” he said, and before I could protest, Ethan added, “He
told me you’d put up a fuss, but if I took a dime from you, he’d
have my head. Please don’t put me in that position,
Ma’am.”

Well, there was nothing I could do about it,
I realized that. “Thank you,” I said.

He looked relieved, and I wondered what
Bradford I had told him about me. As Ethan handed me the keys, he
added a card. “Don’t hesitate to call me, day or night if there’s
an emergency. Have yourself a nice day, Ms. Shane.”

“
You too,” I said as I
closed the door. The lock had a solid thunk to it as it slid in
place. Bradford was right; I did feel better. But I wasn’t about to
let him pay for the privilege.

There was a note on the register when I got
into the shop.

Written in Lillian’s fluid script, it
said,

Jennifer, I’ll be late today, as I’m just
wrapping up my evening at a little past four in the morning. I’ll
see you at noon with bells on and our lunch in tow.

Fondly,

Lillian

PS Sorry about the short notice, but I’m
having a wonderful time and most decidedly do not wish you were
here. If you must, feel free to dock my wages. Ta-ta!

Well, at least one of us
had a good night. Actually, I shouldn’t say that. Once I got over
attacking one of my lamps, I had fallen into a sound sleep, but I’d
still been groggy this morning, and I’d decided today would be
Casual Wednesday at Custom Card Creations, as the first articles of
clothing I’d found were faded blue jeans and an old polo shirt. I
tacked the note to the corkboard behind the register so I could
tease Lillian about it later; then I got ready to open the shop.
Lillian wasn’t a big fan of music in any form, so I took the
liberty of tuning my radio to a classical station and I enjoyed a
little Chopin while I worked. After I was set to go, I flipped
the
closed
sign
to
open
and
unlocked the front door. Since no one was clamoring to get in and
make a greeting card, I figured it might be a good time to catch up
with my mail. I probably should have gone back to inventorying the
back, but I decided it could wait until the next time I had to
think something through. While I would dearly miss Maggie, I knew
she’d live in my thoughts for a very long time, and a better
memorial I could not imagine. There were several bills in the stack
of mail, a handful of fliers, and one handcrafted card. I
recognized the envelope as one we sold, and I wondered who would be
sending me, of all the people in the world, a greeting
card.

My hands shook as I flipped the card over to
open it and saw the name and return address. Printed in bold
letters across the back of the envelope were the words “Do Not Open
Unless Something Happens to Me.”

Maggie Blake had created a card just for me,
and she must have sent it right before she died.

Somehow I managed to tear
the envelope open, but I was glad no one else was there to see my
fumbling. The front of the black card was decorated with
three-dimensional tombstones and skeletons, and the silver
words
help me
were stamped on the front of the card. The edges had been cut
in a new scallop pattern using decorative scissors she’d special
ordered. I recognized the design because it had just arrived the
week before, and I’d tried the scissors myself before I delivered
them to her.

Inside the card, Maggie had written a
message with a silver marker that stood out against the black
background. It said,

Jennifer, I’m afraid someone’s trying to
kill me, and I can’t for the life of me figure out who or why. I’ve
never harmed a soul in my life. It just doesn’t make sense. If I
should die, make sure your brother investigates it thoroughly. I’m
in the best of spirits, so he can rule out suicide, no matter how
likely it may appear. As to an accident, believe me when I say I’m
most careful, especially lately. Finally, there is no such thing as
a random murder in this case, so if I’m carjacked or a tree falls
on me, you can rest assured that someone wanted me dead. Don’t let
me down, Jennifer. I’m counting on you. Your friend, Maggie.

I dialed Bradford’s cell number as I
finished reading. He picked up on the second ring. “Shane
here.”

The card shook in my hand as I stared at it.
“Bradford, I need you to come to the store. It’s urgent.”

“
What’s wrong, Jennifer? Did
someone break in?”

I tried to keep my emotions out of my voice.
I knew my brother meant well, but most of the time I’d answer his
questions if he just gave me the chance. “I just got a card from
Maggie.”

“
Maggie Blake? Jen, that’s
hardly urgent.”

“
You won’t think so once you
read it. How long will it take you to get here? Hang on, some
nitwit is honking his horn outside.”

I peeked out my front door to see what was
going on when I saw my brother’s patrol car parked in front of my
shop. “Are you stalking me, big brother?”

“
No, ma’am, I’m just serving
and protecting the town of Rebel Forge.”

I wasn’t buying that, not for a second. “I
don’t believe that. So why are you here?”

“
Hey, you called me,
remember?”

I scowled at him, which worked sometimes,
but not often. Luckily, it did this time. He finally admitted,
“Okay, I just talked to Ethan and I wanted to see if you’re
satisfied with his work.”

“
He’s top-notch and you know
it, or you never would have sent him to me. By the way, I’m not
letting you pay for my new lock. I won’t have it, Bradford, do you
hear me?”

“
Fine, I was just trying to
be nice,” he said, a little hurt edge in his voice.

I softened mine. “Bradford, it’s not that I
don’t appreciate the gesture, because I do, but I’ve got to stand
on my own sometime.”

He shrugged. “Have it your way. When I get
the bill I’ll let you know how much it was. Now, what’s this about
hearing from Maggie Blake?”

“
Come on inside. It’s on the
counter.” We walked in, and before I could hand him the letter,
Bradford spotted Lillian’s note. I tried to grab it off the board,
but he was too quick for me.

“
Isn’t that just like our
sweet old aunt?”

I wasn’t about to stand for any bashing.
“Hey, she’s doing me a huge favor volunteering here. Lillian’s
entitled to a life of her own now and then.”

That mollified him some, but it was pretty
apparent the two of them were still on the outs. I didn’t have time
to worry about their petty feud; I had more important things on my
mind at the moment.

“
Read this,” I said as I
handed him the card, tucked back inside its envelope. He took in
the message printed on the back of the envelope, grunted, then took
the card out. Bradford read the message twice after studying the
tombstones and skeletons, then handed the card back to
me.

“
So what are you going to do
about this?” I asked him.

“
Jen, you don’t honestly
believe she was serious, do you? I thought you told me Maggie made
all kinds of gag cards. This sounds exactly like something she
would do. Only this time her timing and her taste were both
off.”

It was true that Maggie was known for her
offbeat sense of humor, but how could I convince him that this time
it was different? “Bradford, she’s not joking. How else do you
explain the fact that she died right after she sent it?”

“
I’ll admit it’s a sick
coincidence, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go.”

I’m afraid I stomped my foot, something I
did only when extremely irate. “This is serious. You’ve got to dig
deeper.”

My brother ran a hand through his hair.
“Jennifer, why don’t you leave the police investigations to me, and
I’ll let you make all the cards you want. I went over that car
myself. There was nothing wrong with the steering or the brakes. I
told you, the road turned, but she didn’t. My professional opinion
is that she fell asleep at the wheel.”

“
Did you have an autopsy
done?” I knew I was pushing him, but I didn’t care. I’d lost a
friend, and it had been murder, from the way things were starting
to look.

“
That’s not my decision to
make. You’ll have to talk to the county coroner about
that.”

I wasn’t about to let him derail me.
“Bradford Shane, you know he’ll never discuss that with me. That’s
why I’m asking you.”

He was interrupted when the front door
opened. I was in no mood to be disturbed at the moment unless a
customer had an American Express Platinum Card clutched in her hand
and was ready to put a serious dent in it. Not only was it not a
customer, but it was my least favorite person in all of Rebel
Forge: Deputy Wayne Davidson, a man who gave me the complete and
utter creeps.

Bradford didn’t look happy about his
presence there, either. “What do you want?” he asked abruptly.

“
I saw your car parked out
front. I need to talk to you about something.”

Bradford said, “Wait outside. I’ll be there
in a minute.”

Wayne looked right through me, without a
nod, a wave or any acknowledgment that I counted for anything.
“It’ll just take a second.”

“
I said go,” my brother
snapped, and Wayne left quickly.

“
Why is he still working for
you?” I asked Bradford. “He’s a complete and utter jerk. I can’t
believe you are keeping him around.”

“
Jennifer, I can’t fire the
man just because you don’t like him. Hold on a second,” he said as
he saw I was about ready to explode. “You don’t have anything to
worry about. I told him to steer clear of you.”

So at least Bradford was willing to
acknowledge that Wayne wasn’t a model employee. I still didn’t like
him coming into my shop. “Yeah, I can see how much he listens to
you. You practically had to throw him out.”

It appeared that my brother wanted to say
something, but then changed his mind. “It won’t happen again; you
can believe it.”