Death by Lime: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 5 (6 page)

Tiara felt like a voyeur, watching Kelcie’s date with Sam progress through the gauzy curtains at the window that formed the only barrier between her and her friend’s apartment. She was still in the car, and still looking through binoculars, but feeling worse about it by the minute.

**

“That was a really funny movie,” Sam observed, still chuckling at the comedy that they had just watched while eating their pizza and polishing off the bottle of soda.

“Yes it was,” Kelcie nodded happily. “It was just what I needed to take my mind off of everything that’s been going on lately.”

“I’m so sorry that you had to go through all of that craziness. It’s a good thing for Thomas that he’s in a jail cell right now,” he frowned.

She smiled at his response. “That’s exactly how Tiara feels about it too. I’m just glad that I’m safe for now, unless the person who’s been stalking me is dangerous,” she turned serious.

“Well, you’re probably pretty safe as long as I’m here, right?” he encouraged her.

“Yes, I suppose so,” she agreed.

“Then just relax for a while,” he suggested, pleased when she nodded and gave him a smile. “Do you think it might do you some good to get out of here for a bit?” he asked with a sparkle in his eye.

“I don’t know, it’s kind of late…what did you have in mind?”

“Nothing complicated,” he assured her. “I just thought it might be a nice change for you to get some fresh air, maybe go for a walk on the beach.”

“Hmm…that does sound really nice,” she replied, thinking about it.

“If you don’t want to walk that far, we could take my car down there, have a nice little stroll, and ride back,” he shrugged. “Or we could walk the entire way. Whatever you think you’re up to.”

“I don’t know if I’d have the strength to walk all the way there, but if you want to drive us, I’ll go,” she said finally.

“Great. I have a beach blanket in the trunk if you want to hang out for a bit and just inhale the ocean air.”

“We’ll see how it goes,” Kelcie said, suddenly shy. She wondered for a moment at the wisdom of leaving the house with someone who was basically a stranger, but realized that he’d been so kind to her at every turn, she clearly had nothing to worry about. He didn’t really seem strong enough to protect her if her stalker decided to attack, but it was sometimes hard to tell with tall, wiry men. Besides, they’d be in public, what could go wrong?

“Sounds good to me,” Sam said. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” Kelcie grinned, feeling somewhat free for the first time in quite a while.

**

“
They’re leaving in Sam’s car…should I follow, or should I just go home?
” Tiara texted her mother, feeling more and more like a peeping tom. Clearly, Kelcie was having fun and would be protected by the mere presence of a human being, so Tiara didn’t see the point of continuing her surveillance. When she received no answer from her mother, she texted again, and when she still didn’t receive a reply, she decided to follow the couple just in case they happened to run into the stalker. Three against one would be better than two against one, she reasoned.

**

“Marilyn!” Detective Bernard Cortland called from her front yard. “Answer the door, I need to speak with you,” he said, obviously under the impression that she was inside the house. Her phone buzzed with a text in her hand, but she ignored it.

“Bernard! I’m in the back yard,” she hollered, grateful for the detective’s impeccable timing. Tim moved to step back through the trees and she held her mace out in front of her.

“Oh no you don’t, mister,” she snarled at her neighbor. “You’re not going anywhere,” she stated, hoping that the detective would hurry up and get to the back yard before she actually had to use the mace. She was utterly convinced that the doughy man was a homicidal maniac, and couldn’t wait until Bernard placed him in cuffs and dragged him away to jail where he belonged.

“Marilyn, lower that mace,” the detective barked when he came around the corner.

“Absolutely not! This man is a dangerous criminal,” she insisted, brandishing the mace in Tim’s face.

“No, he’s not,” Bernard said, coming up behind her. “Mr. Eckels, if you’ll excuse us,” he said, dismissing the mystified neighbor, who stared blankly at him. “Mr. Eckels,” he said, louder this time, breaking him out of his reverie. “You can go on home now,” he ordered, his face and tone unmistakable. Tim wandered back through the trees muttering to himself while Marilyn fixed the detective with a fierce glare.

“Are you crazy? You just let him go? I had him cornered!” She wanted to stomp her feet in frustration. “What were you thinking?”

“If you let me get a word in edgewise, I’ll tell you what I’m thinking,” he looked at her pointedly.

“This had better be good,” she warned.

“It’s not good, it’s bad,” he said grimly.

Tiara followed Sam and Kelcie with her lights off, leaving a proper amount of distance between his car and hers so that she wouldn’t be spotted. She was thankful that the route that Sam took was through neighborhoods and avoided overly populated areas where she’d be likely to be stopped for not having her lights on. She guessed, by the direction that they were going, that they were headed to the beach, and her hunch turned out to be correct. She was relieved that, at least as far as she could tell, she was the only one following the couple, which meant that they wouldn’t be bothered by the stalker…at least for now. She watched as Sam got out of the car first, opening Kelcie’s door and helping her out, glad that her friend met someone who was actually nice to her.

They disappeared down the beach and Tiara decided to stay put and wait until they came back to the car to resume her surveillance. Roughly half an hour later, with her stomach growling from hunger and her back aching from sitting in a car all night, she spotted Sam and Kelcie walking slowly back up the beach, up to their ankles in the warm surf. Kelcie looked tired, and Tiara hoped that she wasn’t pushing herself too hard after her traumatic incident with Thomas. She stopped, staring out at the water, and Sam came trotting back up to the car. He pulled out a blanket and what looked like a bottle of wine and headed back down the beach to where Kelcie stood with her feet in the surf. Laying the blanket out, he sat down and patted the spot next to him. Kelcie made her way to the blanket and plopped down beside him.

**

“I can’t believe how tired I am,” Kelcie shook her head, leaving her sandy feet off of the blanket and tucking her knees to her chest.

“Well, you’ve been through a lot lately,” Sam replied, his voice tender.

“It makes me so sad,” her eyes filled with tears. “I thought that Thomas was a little rough around the edges, but basically a nice guy, and he turned out to be abusive and awful. Then there’s this guy who has been stalking me, and that really freaks me out…” she trailed off, trying not to cry.

“What has he done that’s so awful?” Sam asked.

“Who?” Kelcie was confused.

“The…uh…the stalker,” he replied, sounding awkward.

“Oh, well, he followed me around and left gifts and flowers, and one time he even re-did the landscaping in front of my building,” she said quietly, remembering.

“Well, forgive me for saying so, but those don’t sound like bad things,” he chuckled.

“I know. In and of themselves, they’re not bad things. What’s bad is the thought that someone is always watching, always waiting, always lurking. If he had a crush on me or something, why wouldn’t he just come up and talk to me? It’s creepy to act like that,” she shuddered.

“Maybe he was afraid that you wouldn’t respond well,” Sam replied quietly.

“Maybe. But then there’s also poor sweet Cam. What if the stalker is the one who killed him? I’d never forgive myself,” she shook her head and wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her head on them.

“What if he thought that spoiled rich jerk was the only thing standing between him and you?” he said in a low, strange tone.

“It wasn’t like that, Camden was the sweetest person ever, and anyway, he and I…” Kelcie stopped suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She turned to gaze at Sam, and her heart raced when she saw the darkness in his eyes. She realized at that moment that she was in the company of a madman, but instinctively knew that it would be dangerous to let him know that she recognized him for the killer that he was. She swallowed hard, trying to keep the tremor from her voice.

“I mean…once I met you, I was kind of focused on that,” she managed what she hoped was a coy smile. Apparently it worked, because the madness left his eyes and he smiled back. Heart still thumping, Kelcie wracked her brain to try and figure out a new topic of conversation that wouldn’t inflame him. He moved a bit closer and her survival instinct allowed her not to flinch, despite the roiling revulsion that she now felt in the presence of this predator.

**

“Sam?” Marilyn asked the detective, shocked beyond words.

Bernard nodded. “His prints were on both doorknobs at Kelcie’s apartment on the night that he chased Thomas away, so, on a hunch, I compared them with the prints that were found on the florist box, and they were a match. I dug into his history a bit and discovered that he has quite a nasty history of animal abuse and domestic abuse and had been acquitted of murder on a technicality. When those results came in, I took another look at the evidence from Camden Reynold’s murder scene, and found Sam’s fingerprints all over the place, including on the murder weapon. He may be a killer, but he’s not a careful one. I have a warrant for his arrest,” he explained, his tone somber.

Horror gripped Marilyn. “Bernard, Kelcie is with Sam right now!” she fumbled in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her phone, reading Tiara’s latest message. “They left the house together in his car, but Tiara is following them.”

“Text her and find out where they are,” he ordered. “I need to know where to send backup,” his jaw was set, knowing that Kelcie was potentially in grave danger.

“
Where are you?? Kelcie may be in danger…Sam is the killer and the stalker!
” she texted feverishly.

Tiara texted back immediately with the cross streets that were nearest their location on the beach. “
I’m on it,
” she said, causing her mother immediate distress. She gave the address to Bernard, who ran for the door, with Marilyn on his heels, giving him a look that let him know not to even bother trying to tell her that she couldn’t come with him.

“
On it??? What are you talking about? Tiara, don’t you dare leave the car. The police are on their way right now. Tiara? Tiara????
”

Marilyn was terrified when her daughter stopped responding.

Turning off the dome light in Marilyn’s car so that it wouldn’t come on when she opened the door, Tiara left her cell phone in the car, face down, and slipped quietly from the vehicle, not closing the door completely, so that she could be as soundless as possible. Creeping around to the back of the car, she ran silently toward the row of palm trees and ornamental grasses that served as a border between the parking lot and the beach. Her plan was to quickly sneak up on the couple, startling the killer and hopefully putting herself in a position to subdue him with the techniques that she’d learned in her self-defense classes in college.

**

“Really?” Sam seemed so pleased to hear that Kelcie had been thinking about him in a positive manner. “I’ve thought about you constantly too. It’s hard to even get any work done,” he confessed, looking sheepish.

“I know what you mean,” Kelcie continued to lie through her teeth for her own safety. “I can’t tell you how many pies I’ve ruined because I picked up the salt instead of the sugar,” she smiled bravely, her face aching with the effort.

“I have a confession to make,” he said, looking enraptured with her.

“Oh?” she said, bile rising in the back of her throat.

“That night when you and your friend were walking home, and that disgusting neighbor guy stopped you…I almost…” he trailed off, grinding his teeth and shaking his head.

“You were there?” she acted happily surprised.

“Of course I was there,” he said, sounding as though he was bragging. “I’ve watched your every move for weeks,” he boasted with a grin that sickened her. “So, when I saw that sick creep talking to you, I seriously thought about taking him out next,” he nodded, his mouth working.

“Taking him out?” she asked, eyes wide.

“Absolutely. He’d be so easy to eliminate that it wouldn’t even pose a challenge. I can still do it if you’d like. Did he bother you again?” his eyes flashed with psychotic fury.

“Uh…no, I haven’t seen him since the last time,” Kelcie replied, finding it more difficult by the moment to maintain her composure.

“Are you okay, princess?” he asked, having apparently slipped into a world where they were a happy couple with pet names for each other.

“I’m just a little tired,” she yawned to cover her revulsion.

“Hey kids!” Tiara stepped out of the shadow of a bank of ornamental grasses, surprising them. Kelcie saw Sam’s jaw tighten and feared for her friend’s safety.

“Tiara! What are you doing out and about tonight?” she asked, trying to signal danger without alerting Sam to the fact that she was on to him.

“It’s a perfect night for a walk on the beach, don’t you think?” Tiara said brightly enough to let Kelcie know that she understood what was happening.

“Yeah, we just came back from one,” Sam said nervously, his lack of smile indicating that his state of mind had shifted significantly.

Tiara sized him up, locating pressure points, assessing strength and figuring out which technique would be most effective for bringing the tall, wiry young man down.

“How are you feeling Kels?” she asked, genuinely concerned. “I wouldn’t think that you’d be up for a walk after what you’ve been through, with the attack and the stalker and Cam’s murder and everything,” she intentionally tried to provoke the killer in front of her.

“She’s tired, we’re going to head out,” Sam answered before Kelcie could open her mouth.

“I don’t think so, nerd-boy,” Tiara replied, stepping forward as menacingly as she could.

“What do you…” the killer started speaking through his teeth and cut off his sentence abruptly when pools of red and blue from the lights of several police cruisers washed over them. Detective Cortland sprinted down the beach toward them and Sam turned to run.

“Not on my watch,” Tiara yelled fiercely, taking a running dive at the killer and tackling him to the ground. By the time the detective reached her, she had the stalker pinned, his face in the sand, with his arms behind his back, and was fighting the intense urge to pound him repeatedly into the beach.

“Great work,” Bernard complimented her. “We’ll take it from here,” he said, recognizing the fire in her eyes. He motioned to two uniformed officers who came forward and secured the prisoner so that Tiara could get up off of his back. Though tempted to kick sand in the psycho’s face, she took the high road and resisted the impulse. Her mother was holding a trembling Kelcie, but opened her arms wide when her weary daughter came up the beach to the parking lot and enveloped her in a warm group hug.

“I’m so proud of you,” she said, kissing her daughter’s hair, tears streaming down her cheeks. “But I swear, young lady, if you ever pull anything like that again…” she warned.

“I know, I know, Mom. It’s all good,” she replied. “Let’s get Kelcie home,” she said, indicating the miserable, shivering young woman with a glance.

“I agree. It’s girls night, and I won’t take no for an answer,” Marilyn declared, her arm still around her traumatized assistant, who indicated her agreement with a shaky nod.

Bernard approached them as the uniformed officers wrestled the belligerent killer into a squad car.

“Are you going home with Marilyn?” he asked Kelcie, who nodded again. “Good. I’ll need to get a statement from you, but it can wait until the morning,” he advised her. “Get some rest – I know that this couldn’t have been easy for you.”

“Thanks, Bernard,” Marilyn smiled gratefully.

“And you…” he looked at Tiara, who stood protectively by Kelcie’s side, shielding her from the sight of her stalker struggling with the police. “Should I let you know if there’s an opening for another officer?” he teased.

“Nah, I think I’ve dealt with enough bad guys for a lifetime,” she grinned at his compliment.

“That’s right, young lady, you shouldn’t…” her mother began.

“Uh, we’re just going to be on our way, if you don’t mind, Detective,” Tiara interrupted before her mother could go off on a tangent.

“Take it easy, ladies,” he gave them a brief smile before heading over to his car.