Read Honeysuckle Homicide (Trash-to-Treasure Crafting Mystery) Online
Authors: Rose Pressey
We stood frozen on the spot. One slight move and it could set Connie off. If only I could get the gun away from her.
That seemed impossible though.
“Everyone come out.” Connie motioned with the gun for us to exit the building.
Maybe she didn’t intend on letting us have heat stroke after all. I had to think quickly for a way to get out of this situation. I had to act
fast before she shot us or threw us back into that tiny space.
We stepped out into the bright sunlight.
I blinked, trying to adjust my eyes. She motioned for us to move away from the door, so we stepped beside the tall oak tree. I didn’t take my eyes off her or the gun. I wondered if she had a good aim. As close as she stood to us, I guessed it wouldn’t matter. We were easy targets.
Why had Connie singled me out? Was it because I had discovered the body with Ross? Why hadn’t she gone after him too? Connie was in too deep with this now. There was no way she would let us go. This would not end well. I couldn’t let her get away with this. This was life or death and I wasn’t ready to die.
“I suppose you’re wondering why I had Julian locked away in the building?” Connie asked.
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to respond or just let Connie talk. She stared at me, so I figured she was waiting for a response.
“Why did you lock her in?” I asked. This seemed like a trick question.
“
She wouldn’t give me the information.”
“
What information?” I pressed.
“
I wanted to know who everyone suspected killed Luke and Darcy. I wanted to see if anyone suspected me.”
“Just because you killed them.” I watched her for a reaction.
She remained emotionless. “You certainly weren’t any help.”
“You don’t have to do this,” I said.
“Yes, I do. Nothing else I did to get people to think you did this worked.
I thought that idiot ex-husband of yours would go down for Luke’s murder, but they let him go. So now I have no other choice. You shouldn’t have come here.” She waved the gun. “You know what I did now and I have to kill you all.”
It seemed that she wanted to get rid of me no matter if I’d come to her house or not. I did
n’t know what else to do. At least now I knew for sure that she had tried to set me up for the murders. Thank goodness it hadn’t worked, but now it didn’t matter anyway.
I felt Julian and Claire Ann’s tension. They were quiet, allowing me to talk with the crazy woman. If
only I could distract her long enough maybe Claire Ann could get the gun away from her. But if I moved Connie would probably shoot.
“
Why did you kill them?” I asked.
A frown immediately spread across Connie’s face. Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked that question. Especially since she had a gun pointed at me.
“Because he tried to take the house from me.”
“How did he do that?” I asked.
“I wanted him to sell the house at a fair price, but he wanted to just give it away to his friend. He turned real buyers away so that his friend could steal the house from me. Then I went to Darcy for help and she did the same thing. That was when I realized they were in on this together.”
“So you killed them because they didn’t want
to list your house for the price you thought it was worth?”
That was not exactly a reason to kill someone.
It wasn’t like there was any good reason to kill anyone, but I was talking to a crazy person, so that didn’t matter. She wouldn’t understand rational thought anyway.
“
They were keeping the price low so that their friend could get my house. Didn’t you listen to what I said? Oh, never mind and just stop asking questions. I don’t want to talk with you anyway.”
She stretched her arm out and aimed the gun directly at me this time. I swallowed hard as my heart hammered in my chest. This was it. She was about to shoot me.
The loud bang rang out and the bullet whizzed by my ear. I fell to the ground. So far nothing hurt, but maybe that was a delayed reaction. Claire Ann and Julian had fallen to the ground at the same time. They were staring at me, probably wondering the same thing as me. Had I been shot?
Connie was on the ground.
Mitchell Green was holding her arms. Where had he come from? I wasn’t sure, but what I did know was he had saved my life. When I moved to push to my feet, Connie swung her arm around and smacked Mitchell in the head. It sent him to the ground. That gave Connie a chance to grab the gun that had been knocked from her hands. I wished I had grabbed the gun while Mitchell had her on the ground.
Connie was climbing up from the ground with the gun in her hand.
“Drop the gun,” the male voice called out.
When I looked toward the side of the house I spotted Kent standing there with his gun drawn. My heart thumped even faster. I didn’t want him to be shot. I had no idea how he’d found us. Connie was frozen on the spot, but I got the feeling that she would make a move at any moment. I didn’t want to see her get shot right in front of us. I didn’t want Kent to have to return fire if she used her gun.
Connie moved her foot forward but before Kent had a chance to fire his gun, she stumbled to the ground. This time I wasn’t going to give her a chance to get the gun again. I ran over as Kent was running toward us. Mitchell was sitting up from where he’d fallen. Claire Ann and Julian were staring at us in disbelief. I scooped up the gun just as Kent reached us. Kent grabbed Connie and pulled her to her feet and then secured her hands behind her back with handcuffs. My hands and even my legs shook.
“How did you find us?” I asked
breathlessly.
Kent held on to Connie. “I just happened to be driving by and saw Claire Ann’s car. I knew right away that she wasn’t over here on her own.”
Obviously, he knew me better than I realized. Kent called for backup on his radio as I helped Mitchell up from the ground.
“Mitchell
, how can I thank you? How did you know we were here?”
“I didn’t. Connie asked me to dig a couple holes
for her. Said she would pay me. When I got here I saw her pointing the gun at you.”
My stomach turned. Claire Ann looked terrified.
Once the other police had arrived Kent and I stood beside his cruiser.
“
How did you solve two murders?” Kent asked.
I bit back a smile. “It’s a natural talent
, I guess.”
He stared for a moment and then said, “It’s a dangerous talent. I’m glad that it’s over now and that you weren’t hurt
though.”
***
The next morning Kent had stopped by to check on me. We stood on the sidewalk beside his car.
“I can’t believe she killed them just because of selling her house,” I said.
Kent leaned against his car. “Apparently she threatened to turn Luke in to the board of realtors. He got angry and confronted her. When he asked her to leave and walked away that was when she rushed up behind him and hit him over the head with the award. She did the same thing with Darcy.”
I folded my arms in front of my chest. “Yeah, the award she hid in my front yard so that it would look like I had the murder weapon.”
“By the way, that card had Luke’s blood on it. Connie said she threw it at Luke and said that realtors were all alike. After she killed him, she took the card and threw it into the trash to try to clean up the scene.”
I shivered. “If I’d been there a little sooner I might have been her next victim.”
After a couple seconds reflection, Kent said, “I ran into Ross and Charity yesterday.”
I studied his face. “Really? What did you say to him?”
“Not much actually. What’s there to say? He’ll never change his behavior.”
“
Where were they?” I asked.
“
Sitting outside Darcy’s office, which I found odd.”
I nodded.
“That is odd. Did you find out why?”
“
Something about Charity wanting to return the award she had taken from Darcy’s office.”
“
I wondered why Charity had Darcy’s real estate award in her car. Did she tell you why?” I asked.
“I guess Darcy bragged about it a lot and that made Charity mad so she took it.”
“That is weird.”
“
Why don’t you hop in the car? I want to show you something.” He motioned over his shoulder.
I watched him suspiciously. He smiled back.
“What are you up to?” I asked.
“
Get in and you’ll see.”
I climbed into the passeng
er side of the car. Kent drove through town and stopped when we reached the old buildings that he’d bought. I knew he wanted my advice on what to do with them, and I figured that was what this was all about. He acted as if this was an urgent matter though and I couldn’t imagine what would be so important.
He shifted
the car into park. “Imagine a sign in front of the space on the right at the end of the building.”
“Okay. I’m imagining. What does the sign say?”
“How about Raelynn’s Treasures? Or Raelynn’s Rescues and Repurposed? Okay, so I’m not creative with names.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“A place to sell all the treasures you repurpose.”
I stared at him. “I don’t have the money for that.”
“Well, I do. The loan for rehabbing the building came through. I figured maybe you’d want to partner with me for the business. I think you’re really great at what you do, so why not sell so that others can enjoy your work too?”
My mouth probably dropped
open. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, I’m serious. So what do you say?”
It would be hard to say no to that offer. Turning trash to treasure was what I loved to do. Why not make it a career? But working with Kent? I wasn’t sure how that would work out. It would be hard to say no to his smiling face though. Now I would run an inn and a shop?
I released a deep breath and then said, “All right. Let’s do it.”
Items needed
:
Wooden tray
Paint
Scrapb
ook paper or wrapping paper
Mod
Podge (an all-in-one glue, sealer, and finish, can be purchased at any craft store)
Items needed:
Wreath form
Burlap (6 inch wide burlap ribbon allows for less cutting.)
Floral pins
Scissors
Distressing furniture:
Items needed:
Furniture you want to distress
Paint
Brush
Sand paper
Stain
Rose Pressey is a USA Today bestselling author. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.
When she’s not writing about werewolves, vampires and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties.
Rose suffers from Psoriatic Arthritis and has knee replacements. She might just set the world record for joint replacements. She’s soon having her hips replaced, elbows, and at least one shoulder.
Rose lives in the beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky with her husband, son, and two sassy Chihuahuas.
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