Last Resort of Murder (A Lacy Steele Mystery Book 9) (14 page)

“That wouldn’t be much help to me,”
he said. He picked up his pole and placed the tip gently on her windpipe.

“Are you seriously going to impale
me with your pole?”

“It wasn’t my first choice, believe
me. I was fairly certain you’d break your neck or bash your head on a tree,” he
said.

“Why do I feel like you’re waiting
for me to apologize that I didn’t die?” Lacy said.

“It would certainly have made my
life easier. I want you to know I’m not going to enjoy this,” he said.

“Then why do it?” she said. She was
attempting to ease her hand to her throat to be able to push the pole away, but
she didn’t want him to see and rush the process.

“Because I’ve worked too hard and
too long to have everything messed up.”

“What are you talking about?” she
asked.

“I know you figured out that I
killed Jill,” he said.

“No I didn’t! I had no idea. Just
because I’m a geek doesn’t mean I’m smart. I’m actually quite obtuse, almost
detrimentally so.”

“Oh. Well, now you know, so it’s kind
of the same thing.”

The pole pressed harder into her
windpipe.
Stall, stall, stall.
“Why
did you kill Jill?”

“Because she threatened to claim my
invention. She wanted fifty percent. Can you believe that? She said it was her idea
to begin with, but it wasn’t. And then she said I couldn’t make it work unless
she was the public face of the company because, ‘Who would want to buy a
fitness app from a little tub of lard like you?’ Do you know she actually had
the nerve to suck up to me? She, Jill, was nice to me. The first woman in my
life who paid me any attention, who said my invention was brilliant, who called
me a genius, then turned around and made fun of me. Just like everyone else. So
I poisoned her, and right before she died, I told her that I would get a real
trainer, someone famous with a better body and nice personality. She didn’t
like that.” His grin was evil and so unlike Snaps that Lacy shuddered.

“Snaps, we were friends. No matter
what you’ve done or how far you’ve come, I find it hard to believe you’re
actually going to drive a ski pole through my windpipe.”

He hesitated. Biting his lip, he
retracted the pole. “You’re right. I could never do that. I’ll just bash your
head in instead.” The pole rose over his head. Lacy flinched and tried to run
away but her skis were stuck in the snow and pinned her in place.

She became aware of a swooshing
sound again. As soon as she realized it wasn’t the blood pounding in her ears,
she opened her eyes in time to see Jason gliding quickly down the hill. She
didn’t know much about skiing, but she could see he was much better at it than
Snaps. He, too, was picking his way around the obstacles, only he did it at
full speed. He raised his pole and landed a blow on the back of Snaps’ calves.
Snaps toppled backwards with a howl of pain.

“Are you okay?” Jason asked.

“No, that really hurt,” Snaps said.

“I was talking to Lacy,” Jason
said. “And stay down.” He gave Snaps a violent jab with his pole and made sure
he toppled over again.

“I think I’m good, but I’m stuck,”
Lacy said.

Jason snapped her out of her skis
as easily as Snaps had. “I have got to learn how to do that,” Lacy said. He
helped her up and surveyed her from head to toe.

“You’re not bleeding,” he said. He
sounded relieved.

“It’s probably all internal,” Lacy
said then, noting his concerned expression, hastened to add, “Kidding. I’m
fine, just feeling like I’ve been run through a salad spinner. How do we get
back? Please don’t say we have to ski.”

“No, I think we’ll be riding in style,”
he said, and then she heard it, the loud purr of a motor.

Two snowmobiles arrived carrying
Detective Green and two of the resort’s security guards. They skipped over Lacy
and addressed Jason.

“Is this the guy?” Detective Green
asked.

“This is him. He pushed Lacy down
the mountain,” Jason said.

The detective now turned his full
attention on Lacy, but it was a speculative look that seemed to say,
And you’re still alive?
She wondered if
she should apologize for not dying again.

“Did he make you wear that?” one of
the guards asked, pointing to her blindingly yellow snowsuit.

“No, this is my snowsuit,” Lacy
said.

“Oh,” the guy said and turned to
give his partner a look.

“Snaps told me he killed Jill,” she
said.

“Well, that’s that then,” the
detective said. He pulled out his handcuffs and officially arrested Snaps
before handing him off to one of the security guards. The guards walked away
with Snaps being frog marched between them.

“They’re going to walk all the way
back?” Lacy said.

“It’s not as far as it seems. The
lift is only about ten feet on the other side of this hill,” the detective
said. “And get this—the resort had his ID on file. Guess what his real
name is.”

“What?” Lacy asked. She had always
wondered.

“Toodles.”

“Toodles?” she and Jason repeated.

“I had my dispatch run it twice to
make sure. His full name is Toodles Joyce McKenzie.”

“Who would have guessed that Snaps
would be a step up as a nickname?” Jason mused.

Lacy thought back to Snaps as he
had been in high school—chubby, prone to tears, insecure, and covered in
a near full-body back brace. And all that time his name had been Toodles Joyce.
He must have been thrilled when kids started calling him Snaps. Or maybe he
started the nickname himself, thinking it sounded cool. “When you review his
life, it’s sort of a wonder that he hasn’t killed anyone before now,” she said.

“That’s not the first time you’ve
said something like that. It worries me a little that you believe repressed
high school nerds have so much pent up rage,” Jason said.

“Does it ever make you wonder if
you’re on someone’s revenge list?” Lacy asked.

“It does now,” Jason said.

Detective Green cleared his throat
and stuck out his hand. “Thanks for the help, Cantor. My offer from earlier
still stands. If you want to move to our department, we’ll make it worth your
while.”

“Thanks, but I’ll stick where I am
for now,” Jason said.

The detective nodded. “I’ll see you
back at the resort. I’ve got to call in a transport for Toodles and start on a
mound of paperwork.” He tossed a set of keys to Jason and took off on a
snowmobile, leaving the other one for Jason and Lacy.

Lacy had never ridden a snowmobile
before, but she loved it. It reminded her of being on her scooter. She was
disappointed when it was over all too soon.

“That was great,” she said.

Jason turned to her with a smile
and began trying to smooth down her hair. She hadn’t worn her hat that morning.
She could only imagine what her mane looked like after her tumble down the
mountain and subsequent fast ride through the snow.

He picked a stick out of her bird’s
nest and tossed it away. “This summer we’ll borrow some jet skis. I know a
guy.”

“Okay, but could we not call them
skis? I don’t ever want to ski on anything again. I’ve had enough.”

“Whatever you say,” Jason said. He
stood, helped her off the machine, and turned toward the resort.

Sven was waiting to greet them
inside. He crushed Lacy in a bear hug that lifted her toes off the ground. When
he turned to Jason, Jason took a step back. Sven held out his hand and they
shook. Lacy couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw Jason grimace when Sven
crushed his hand in his oversized paw.

“Joan, Rick, I can’t thank you
guyth enough. If not for you, I’m almotht thertain I would be in a jail thell
by now. You believed in me, Joan. You never gave up. Thith ith the betht day of
my life. Here, have thome couponth for free thmoothieth.” He handed them two
coupons for free kale smoothies.

“Thanks,” Lacy said. She folded the
coupons and tucked them in her pocket.

“I hope you come back, Joan. You’ve
been a thtar pupil. Look at you.” He lifted her shirt slightly from inside the
snowsuit and pinched her waist. “Miraculouth. I can almotht thee your abth
now.”

“I wish you’d stop looking,” Jason
said, and Sven dropped her shirt.

“Well, you guyth take care. Really,
thankth again for everything.”

“No need for thanks,” Lacy said.
She patted his arm. It was like petting her mom’s granite countertop.

“You were right,” Jason said.

“About what this time?” Lacy asked.

“Telling him to call me Rick. That
way I was sort of detached from every conversation. But if I’d had to hear him
call me ‘Jaython,’ I might have channeled my inner fifteen year old and lost
it.”

Tosh’s sisters showed up almost as
soon as Sven disappeared. “Steele!” Belle called and picked Lacy up in a hug
that was almost as bruising as Sven’s.

“Are you leaving?” Lacy asked when
she finally got her breath back.

“I told you she was the smart one,”
Bede said, tapping her suitcase.

“We already checked out, just saying
our goodbyes.” They turned to Jason and—Lacy was glad to note—shook
his hand instead of offering hugs. And as with Sven, he winced a little in each
grasp.

“Just so you know, we took it easy
on little Riley after our talk. We came to the conclusion that we were being a
bit tough on her, seeing as how she’s a new mom and all. But she won’t always
have that baby as a buffer. And when she starts sleeping again…”

“She’s fair game,” Betsy added and
popped her knuckles for effect.

“Sounds good,” Lacy said. When
Riley was fully herself and not overloaded with hormones and sleep deprivation,
she could handle her own against anything the Underwood ladies tossed her way.

Belle gave a little wave and they
walked away in unison.

“They’re like an Olympic rowing team
without a boat,” Jason said. He shook out his hand. Lacy took it and gave his
knuckles a gentle kiss.

“Poor hand,” she said.

“Pity works on you. Good to know,”
he said.

“You already knew that. Remember
when I nursed you after you got shot? It was how we got together.”

“Right, it wasn’t the endless
months of me pursuing you. Instead it was getting knocked flat on my back for a
few days,” he said.

“Speaking of your job, Detective
Green offered you one?” she asked.

“He did. And a pay raise and
promotion. He promised me my sergeant stripes.”

“You said no,” she said.

“I’m sort of attached to the job I
have now. There are a few unwritten perks and incentives,” he said and leaned
in to kiss her.

“Oh, good, I hoped I’d find you
making out in the middle of the lobby,” Lacy’s mother said.

“Frannie,” Jason said and came to
attention like he had been touched with a live wire. “I almost forgot. I have
to make a call. No one check out until I get back.” He hurried away, Lacy and
Frannie staring after him.

“He’s a bit dictatorial sometimes,”
Frannie said.

“You know how it is, Mom. The
Steele women need a firm hand now and then. Keeps us on our toes. Otherwise we
might try and take over the world,” Lacy said.

“I suppose that’s true,” Frannie
said with a sad sort of smile that slipped completely when her husband joined
them.

“Hi, honey. Did you have a good
last morning?” Clint asked his daughter.

“It was okay,” Lacy said. There was
no need to tell them about her ordeal and make them worry. With her parents,
she found that the less they knew, the better. “Hey, I have these coupons. Why
don’t you guys grab a smoothie before we leave? It might give you a chance to
talk.”

“Sweetheart, I’m afraid our issues
can’t be solved over a smoothie. They go much deeper than that,” Frannie said.

Hot tears pricked the backs of
Lacy’s eyes. She blinked them away. “I thought it would be nice was all. Never
mind.”

“No, we’ll take them,” Clint said.
He took the coupons from Lacy. “Come on, Frannie.” Her father could be
dictatorial too, on occasion. Frannie followed grudgingly behind him, plenty of
cool space between them.

“That’s done,” Jason said as he
returned to her side.

Lacy turned to face him and
couldn’t blink back the tears this time. A few leaked out, hot and fast. She
dashed them away, hoping he wouldn’t notice. No such luck.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

“I miss my parents being together,
and how stupid is that? I’m not a kid anymore. It shouldn’t matter.”

He pulled her close. She rested her
head on his chest. “It will always matter because they’ll always be your
parents.”

“I wish I could fix it,” she said.

“So do I,” he said. The difference
was that he was actually going to try. Heaven help them all if he didn’t
succeed.

“What is this meeting about?” Riley
asked. Jason had summoned everyone to an emergency and mandatory family
meeting. Riley was miffed because it interfered with her baby schedule. At
first she planned to skip, but Tosh was making her go.

“I have no idea,” Lacy said. She
was so intent on arranging her suitcase that she failed to notice the look that
passed between Riley and Kimber.

“I think I know,” Kimber said.
“Da-dum-de-dum.”

“Why are you humming the graduation
song?” Lacy asked.

“Don’t play dumb. You know what it
is,” Kimber said, and she tapped her ring finger.

“No way. Jason would never call a
family meeting to propose. Besides, it’s too soon for that.”

“Too soon, too schmoon. When it’s
right, it’s right. Look at me and Tosh,” Riley said. She held baby Lucy with
one arm and tossed items in her bag with the other.

Lacy was looking at them, and she
had no desire to rush into marriage and parenthood like they had. She was wise
enough not to say it out loud, though.

“I agree it’s too soon, but Boy is
in love,” Kimber said. “The only question is what your answer will be.”

“You guys, Jason is not proposing.
He knows I would hate having it done in front of everyone. No big screens or
crowd participation for me, no hidden film crews or flashmob of singers. When
the time comes, I want something simple and private.”

“Prepare to be disappointed,”
Kimber said.

Kimber was teasing her; Lacy knew,
and yet she couldn’t calm the queasy flutters in her stomach as she headed
toward the prearranged meeting room. What if Jason
were
proposing today? It was too soon, too much, too public. Would
she say no? Of course she couldn’t say no, it was Jason. But she didn’t want it
to be today in some resort in a room full of her family. It wouldn’t be,
though, she was sure of it. Almost.

Jason held the door for her and smiled
as she eased by. He winked at her and her heart kicked hard against her
ribcage. Then again, he always had that effect on her, so it was hard to say if
it was heightened nerves. She stepped into the room and stopped short. Her
grandparents were there. Uh-oh.

“What are you guys doing here?” she
asked.

“Jason asked us to come,” her
grandmother said, and she sounded almost as nervous as Lacy now felt.

“Oh,” Lacy said. She sank down hard
into a chair and sat on her hands. They were shaking a little.
Not today, not today, not today,
she
silently prayed.

Her parents filed in, followed by
Michael and Kimber.

After everyone arrived, Jason
entered the room and locked the door.

“Thank you all for coming,” he began.

“Did we have a choice?” Riley
asked.

He ignored her. “I wanted to talk
to you today because something has been going on in this family for a long
time. Tosh, Michael, Mr. Middleton, and I are newcomers here, but it didn’t
take long for me to realize that the Steeles are great at keeping secrets. I
think it’s past time those secrets found the light.”

“Jason, I don’t like this,” Frannie
said.

“Normally, Frannie, I would agree
with you. I don’t like involving myself in anyone else’s personal business, but
these secrets affect Lacy, and that makes it my business. Look what all of this
is doing to her.”

Everyone looked at Lacy whose eye
began to twitch again under speculation.

“She’s ingested enough kale these
last few days to begin the process of photosynthesis,” Jason added.

“Because kale’s high in chlorophyll,”
Lacy explained for the benefit of anyone who didn’t get the joke.

“Science humor you have to explain
is the best kind,” Michael said.

“The point is that there are some
people here who need to speak up about a secret they’ve been keeping,” Jason
continued undaunted. “Now seems like as good a time as any. Who would like to
go first?” He sat beside Lacy and waited.

The room hummed with silent
tension. It was so quiet they could hear the ticking of Mr. Middleton’s watch.
Jason stared everyone down. No one would return his glance. Finally Lacy
couldn’t take the unbearable hush anymore and spoke.

“I’ll go. When I was seven, I stole
Riley’s Halloween candy and ate it. I was afraid of getting in trouble, so I
wrote her a note and told her the tooth fairy took her candy and gave it to
Satan.”

“What?” Riley exclaimed. “I had to
sleep with the light on for a year after that. I was so scared of losing a
tooth that when I finally did, I swallowed it so I wouldn’t have to put it
under my pillow.”

“Sorry,” Lacy said.

Jason put his hand on her leg.
“Baby, I’m delighted you got that off your chest, but I wasn’t talking to you.
Anyone else?” He scanned the room again. This time Mr. Middleton spoke.

“Lucinda, I think it’s time.”

“I suppose you’re right,” she said.

“Don’t tell me you eloped because I
refuse to accept it,” Frannie said.

“No, nothing like that,” Lucinda
said. She took Mr. Middleton’s hand and leaned forward in her seat. “Frannie,
there’s something I need to tell you, something I maybe should have told you a
long time ago. The truth is that your dad and I couldn’t have kids. So we
decided to adopt.”

Frannie looked confused. “Was that
before or after you had me?”

“Well, um…” She looked to Mr.
Middleton for help.

“Frannie, you’re adopted,” he said.

“I…I’m adopted?” Frannie said. She
pressed her hand to her chest.

“There’s a bit more,” Lucinda said
gently. “Your biological mother was Barbara Blake, the woman whose fortune Lacy
inherited. Your biological father is, well, is Tom.”

No one breathed. Finally Frannie
blinked. “You’re my father?” she whispered.

“I’m afraid so,” Mr. Middleton
said.

“This explains so much,” Frannie
mumbled. “Why no one else in the family for generations had red hair, why I’ve
always felt so…” she trailed off and sat staring at the wall in silence.

“I’m sorry you had to find out like
this, Frannie,” Jason continued. “But I don’t think we’re done with the
secrets, are we?”

Her eyes dropped to the floor. She
shook her head obstinately back and forth.

“Frannie,” Clint said.

She shook her head harder. “No. We
swore, Clint. We swore we would never tell.”

He left his chair and sat beside
his wife, placing an arm gently around her shoulders. “Frannie, these secrets
aren’t doing anyone any good. Jason’s right. Look at Lacy. Look at us. We can’t
go on like this.”

“I don’t want to say it, I don’t
want them to find out,” Frannie whispered.

“Then I’ll say it.” He took a deep
breath and looked around the room. “When we were in high school, Frannie became
pregnant.” He paused for a reaction. When there was none, he continued. “The
only people who knew about it besides us were Frannie’s dad and some kid who
used to smoke under the bleachers.”

“Bob from shop class?” Lacy
guessed.

“Yes,” her father said, bestowing
her with a puzzled expression.

“What happened to the baby, Dad?”
Riley prompted.

“Her dad arranged for her to go
away to have it. We told everyone she was going to camp. Not even Lucinda knew.
Things were scary and intense. We broke up for a while, but got back together
after. And then we never talked about it again. It’s weighed like cement
between us all these years.” He pulled Frannie close. She wept against him.
Lacy sniffled and wiped her eyes.

“The baby,” Jason pressed. “It had
red hair like Lacy, right?”

Clint nodded.

“And he was a boy,” Jason said.

“Yes,” Clint agreed.

Jason glanced helplessly around the
room. “Does anyone see where I’m going with this?”

“Was…” Michael cleared his throat
and tried again. “Was he adopted by a couple in Minnesota?”

“Yes,” Frannie muttered, drawing back
from Clint in surprise. “They sent us a few baby pictures and I never heard
from them again.”

“Mom, Michael was adopted in
Minnesota. His adoptive parents died in a car accident when he was little,”
Lacy said.

“Surely you don’t think…” Frannie
said. “I mean, the coincidence would be too much to be believed.” Her eyes
traveled to his shock of red hair and lingered.

“Actually, I had Michael’s and
Lacy’s DNA on file from previous cases. I sent them to my buddy at the state
crime lab for a comparison. They’re a match,” Jason said.

The silence had been deafening
before, but it was impenetrable now. No one knew what to say, including Jason.
Now that his job as the meeting’s facilitator was over, he felt it better to
sit back and shut up.

Lucy gave a faint squeal and
everyone jumped.

“Welcome to the family, Michael,”
Mr. Middleton said at last, and the horrible tension was broken.

“We’re not going to find out that
I’m also secretly a Steele, are we?” Kimber asked, and everyone was grateful
for the laugh.

“You’re an honorary Steele, dear,”
Lucinda said.

“That’s better anyway because then
you don’t have to deal with the drama or food issues,” Riley said. “Can we go
now?” she added to Jason.

“You’re dismissed,” Jason said.

Lacy gasped. Her hands flew to her
mouth to cover it.

“What? What is it?” Jason asked.

“I just remembered that Michael and
I kissed. Gross. This is so much more like Princess Leia than I ever wanted to
be.”

“How do you think I feel? I kissed
both my sisters,” Michael said.

“What’s the big deal? I’m just glad
it stopped at a kiss,” Riley said. “We have to go. I want to get a head start
before Lucy wakes up. Michael, we’ll get together soon to do the brother/sister
thing and talk about how horrible Lacy is.”

“My lot in life makes much more
sense as the middle child,” Lacy said.

“Are you ready to go?” Jason asked.
He could sense that the older adults in the room wanted to talk things out with
Michael. He couldn’t tell if Frannie looked relieved or upset, although it was
possible she was simply in shock.

“I’m ready,” Lacy said. She stood.
“Michael, I’m glad you’re my brother, but you still have to pay me rent for
your shop.”

“Do I at least get a discount?” he
asked.

“I’ll stop charging you the music
occupancy tax.”

“You never charged me that,” he said.

“Well, now I won’t start. You’re
welcome.” She gave her family a little wave and Jason followed her from the
room.

She was quiet while they checked
out and quiet while he loaded the car. Kimber would be riding home with Tosh
and Riley while Michael planned to go with the elder Steeles and Mr. Middleton
and Mrs. Craig. Jason was glad to finally be alone with Lacy, for all the good
it did him. She didn’t say a word as they wended their way down the long
driveway. After another twenty minutes of silence, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s a lot to take in,” Lacy said.

“Are you mad at me?”

She turned to look at him and he
was pleased to see a perplexed expression on her face. “Mad at you? Why would I
be mad at you? My parents are the most together I’ve seen them in ages and I
have a new brother. It was a good day.”

“You’re quiet,” he said.

“Truth?” she said.

“Truth.”

“I’m the hungriest I’ve ever been.
If I don’t get some real food in my belly in the next ten minutes, I think I
actually might perish.”

“Where do you want to go?” there
was nothing nearby for miles.

“I know a bakery. Turn right on
that road.”

Though they were in the middle of
nowhere in a place neither of them had ever been, he didn’t question her.
Usually when it came to directions, she was hopeless. But if food was involved,
she became the Rain Man of the map world.

He followed her guidance until they
arrived at a café in the middle of nowhere. He stopped the car and she turned
to him. “If I max out my credit card, can I use yours?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said and couldn’t stop
his grin as he watched her get out of the car. Lacy was back.