Deep Fried Homicide (The Donut Shop Mysteries) (12 page)

“Be my guest,” he said.  “I think I might have another one of her donuts while you two chat.  After all, I have to get my strength back up, don’t I?”

“Just don’t get carried away,” I said with a smile.  “Hi, Emma.  What’s up?”

“I might be calling you for nothing, but a state police inspector came by the shop this morning.”

“His name didn’t happen to be Inspector Terry Hanlan, did it?”

“That’s the one.  So, you knew that he was in town?”

“As a matter of fact, he’s here looking out for Jake,” I said.  “Thanks for calling, though.”

“That’s not the real reason that I called.  I just wanted to make sure that he was legit,” Emma said softly.  “Inspector Hanlan brought an artist’s sketch by and told me to be on the lookout for some man named Rusk.”

“Yes, we think he might be headed this way looking for Jake.”

“Well, I might be wrong, but I think he’s standing in the donut shop this very second.  He asked me where you were, and I had Mom talk to him while I ducked back in the kitchen to call you.  You’d better have Jake send someone over here right now, Suzanne.  I don’t like the way he’s looking at my mother.”

“Stay on the line.  I’m on it,” I said as I turned to Jake.  “Rusk is in the donut shop!”

“Get Terry!” he barked as he got up off the couch quickly.  The movement must have cost him something because I saw him wincing with pain, but it was clear that Jake was ready for action.

“You’re not going with him!” I ordered as I flung the door open.

“What is it?” Terry asked, alarmed by my shouting.

“My assistant thinks that Rusk is in the donut shop right now!”

“You stay here!” Terry told Jake as he rushed out the door.

“Jake, you can’t go,” I said as I stood in his way.

“Get out of my way, Suzanne,” he said, almost growling the words at me.

“I won’t,” I replied, holding my ground and blocking him from leaving.  “You’re in no condition to tackle a killer.”

He thought about trying to get past me anyway, but I watched closely as he finally gave in.  Grabbing his cellphone, he dialed a number as I heard Emma on my own line.

“He just ran out the door!” she said, nearly out of breath.  “Should I follow him?”

“
No
!”

“Okay, I just thought I’d ask,” Emma said contritely.

“Sorry I yelled, but this man is extremely dangerous.  Are you okay?”

“Everyone here is fine,” she said.  “Listen, I’ve got to go.  That state policeman is back.”

She hung up on me, and I debated going to the shop myself, but I knew that my place, at least for the moment, was with Jake.  If I went, he’d go with me, and I wasn’t at all sure how that would turn out.

“I’m sorry that I had to stop you,” I said.

“You did the right thing,” Jake said as he tried to hug me.  I had to be careful about his arm, but I did my best to hug him back without causing him too much pain.  “I got kind of carried away.”

“It happens to the best of us,” I said as his cellphone rang.

“It’s Terry,” he told me, and then his face fell. “Rusk got away.”

“Then he could be heading this way, and we’re not armed,” I said, realizing that Rusk’s sudden appearance at Donut Hearts may have been a ruse used simply to lure our guard away.  It was a short run through the park toward us, and we were wasting precious time.  “Where’s your gun?”

He reached into his sling and pulled out his service revolver.  “It’s right here.”

“Let me have it,” I said as I reached out toward him.

“Suzanne, I’m willing to wager that I’m a better shot left-handed than you are right-handed.”

“Maybe you’re right,” I said as I grabbed my baseball bat.  “What should we do now?”

“We lock the door and wait.  If he comes for us, we defend ourselves, with deadly force if necessary.  Can you do that?”

“To protect us?  Just watch me.”

“That’s my girl,” he said with a smile.  “Do me a favor.  Pull one of the dining room chairs over to the door.”

“Are you going to barricade us in?” I asked as I did as he’d requested.

“Nothing quite so dramatic as that,” he said as he took the seat.  “I just think that I’ve got a better chance of hitting him if I’m sitting down.”

“Then I’ll be here as backup,” I said.  “If you don’t take him down, then I will.”

“That sounds like a solid plan to me,” Jake said, and then we waited.

Chapter 12

By the clock in my living room, it was barely seven minutes between the time Emma had hung up and the present, but it had felt like forever.  When at last there was a tap on the door, I pulled my bat back to get ready to swing as Jake called out, “Who is it?”

“Terry Hanlan,” he said.

“Go on and get the door, but be careful,” Jake said.  “He might not be alone.”

I opened the door, waiting for something unexpected to happen.

When Terry saw me, he frowned.  “I missed him.”

“He could still be hiding in the park, couldn’t he?” I asked as I pointed behind him.

“The police chief and his men are out there searching right now.  I came through the park myself, but I didn’t see a sign of anyone there.”

After Terry was back inside, I locked the door behind him.  It felt really good sliding the deadbolt into place.

“You know, there’s something that we have to consider.  It might not have actually been Rusk,” Jake said after a moment’s pause.  “You’ve seen those drawings.  They aren’t exactly precise, if you know what I mean.  I’m willing to bet that his face is generic enough to match a few other men in April Springs, especially if they are strangers.”

“That’s entirely possible,” Inspector Hanlan said, “but thinking that way doesn’t get us anywhere.  I’m going to call our boss and see if he’ll officially put me on guard duty.”

“Hang on,” Jake said.  “We need to talk about this before you do anything that we can’t take back.”

Inspector Hanlan looked at him oddly.  “Jake, we both know that if I make that call, we’ll probably have a dozen officers here within the hour patrolling the area.”

“And if Rusk sees that, I guarantee you that he’s going to run.  Is there any doubt in your mind that’s going to happen?  If we keep this to ourselves, we still have a chance of catching him.”

“Maybe so,” he reluctantly said.

“Come on.  We both know that it’s true,” Jake said.

Terry Hanlan leaned forward and stood very close to my boyfriend, who was still sitting down.  “Jake, before you and I make any decisions that we might regret later, I want you to ask yourself a couple of things.  One, are you comfortable with being the cheese in the trap?  And if you are, how do you feel about putting Suzanne in danger, too?”

That wasn’t fair.  I knew I had to speak up before Jake made up his mind.  “Terry, I trust you and Jake and my friends with my life.  I couldn’t be any safer with a squad of troopers parked on my front porch, and if it means we have a chance to catch this guy on our own, I say we go for it.  I’m game for whatever trap you two decide to set.”

Jake shook his head.  “Suzanne, as much as I’d like to agree with you, I think Terry might be right.  Let’s get some backup in here right now, and we can worry about Rusk later.”

I wasn’t about to let it go, though.  “Jake, I don’t know if you want to keep looking over
your
shoulder for the next thirty years, but I know that I don’t want to.  If we have a chance to catch Rusk now, then let’s not blow it.  I say we go for it.  I’m betting on us.”

Jake grinned at Terry.  “I told you she was like this.”

“You were right,” Terry said.

“So, what do you really think?” Jake asked him.  “Be honest with me, Terry.  If our roles were reversed, what would you do?”

“It’s not fair to ask me that question.  There’s nobody in my life that I love as much as you love Suzanne.”  After a moment or two more of consideration, Terry added, “For the record, I’d love to say that she’s wrong, but I don’t think she is.  If we can nab him now, it will be much easier than trying to do it later.”

“Then it’s agreed,” I said.  “We’re on.”

Jake held up one finger.  “Not so fast.  We’ll do it on one condition.  If we haven’t grabbed him in forty-eight hours, we call in all of the reinforcements we can get.”

I nodded in quick agreement.  “I can go along with that.  After all, if we haven’t caught him by then, we probably won’t be able to do it at all.”

“Suzanne, you have company,” Terry said a little later as he knocked on the front door.  Jake was in the bedroom taking another nap, so for all intents and purposes, I was all alone.

When I opened the door, I was surprised to find Trish from the Boxcar Grill standing on the porch with a large pot in her hands.  “Hey, Suzanne.  I didn’t realize that I needed a pass to visit you.”  She was smiling at Terry as she said it, and I wondered what she was thinking when she saw the big state trooper on my doorstep.

“Trish, this is Terry Hanlan.  He’s a friend of Jake’s and mine,” I said.  It was true, too.  While I hadn’t known Terry long, he’d been drawn into my circle of friends fast enough.  Anybody who was trying to keep me and my boyfriend alive got at least that.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Terry said as he nodded briefly.

“Ma’am?” she asked with a smile.  “I haven’t been called ma’am in quite awhile, and the last man who did it was after a lot more than my soup.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Terry said quickly.  Was that a blush forming on his cheeks?  “I meant it with all respect.”

“Well then, we’ll just have to see how you act when you’re being
disrespectful
,” Trish said as she winked at him.

It was time to get Terry off the hook.  “Is that for us, or are you just taking your pot for a walk?”

“It’s Jake’s favorite soup, as a matter of fact, chicken noodle with extra noodles,” Trish said with a smile as she handed the pot to me.  It was heavy, and clearly full.  “There’s enough for everyone, including you,” she added as she smiled at Terry.  “Should we get you a bowl, too?”

“I’ll eat later, but thanks for the offer,” he said.  “I’d better get back to my post.”

After he closed the door, Trish whistled.  “Now that is a big hunk of man.”

“You’re awful,” I said with a smile.  “I can’t believe you made him blush.”

“I’m not surprised at all,” she said.  “After all, that’s how I have my fun.”

“Did someone say soup?” Jake asked as he came out of the bedroom.  “Hi, Trish.”

“There he is, the man of the hour,” Trish said with a grin when she saw him.  “How are you feeling, Jake?”

“Well, right now I’m a little hungry, to be honest with you,” he said, looking steadily at the pot.  “That smells wonderful.”

I hadn’t realized that I was hungry as well.  “Why don’t I dish up four bowls?”

“I’d really like that, but I have to get back to the Boxcar.  If you’ll fill one for Terry, though, I’ll deliver it on my way out.”

“What have you been up to with my friend?” Jake asked her with a grin.

“Me?  Nothing.  Come on, Jake, you know me.”

“That’s why I asked,” Jake said with a grin.  “Thanks for thinking of us.”

“It’s my pleasure.  I expect to see you walking across that park soon enough and eating at my place.  The exercise will do you good.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” Jake said.

I set Jake up at the table, and as he started eating, I got a bowl for Terry and filled it up.

“Trish, this is delicious,” Jake said.

“It should be.  I had one of my girls make it just for you.”

I dug out a tray and put a bowl of soup on it, utensils, some crackers, and a soft drink.  “Are you sure you don’t mind taking this out?” I asked her.

“Honestly, I don’t mind at all,” she said with a laugh.  Turning serious for a moment, Trish said, “Suzanne, if you need anything, and I mean anything, call me.  I’m just a footstep away, okay?”

“I will.  I promise.”

She wouldn’t accept it, though.  “Suzanne, this isn’t a hollow offer.  I mean every word of it.  You are my dear friend, first and foremost, and I’ll do anything that I can for you, up to and including helping you hide a body in the park.”  She turned to Jake and added, “You didn’t hear anything just then, Inspector.”

“What?  Sorry, I missed that.  I was too busy focusing on this delicious soup,” Jake said with a smile.

I hugged Trish.  “Thanks.  I hope that it doesn’t come to that, but it’s still good having friends like you around.”