Jo inhaled sharply. All the color had leeched from her face. Her eyes were as wide as saucers. Even her hair was motionless.
Willy’s eyes narrowed. “D’y’all think I’m stupid? I’m going to follow you, of course.”
His response was barely audible over the pounding of my heart. I was so scared. It was a toss-up as to what would happen first. I would either pass out, throw up, or wet myself. I struggled to slow my breathing. I needed to think. My mind was screaming, Keep him talking! Just keep him talking!
“And then what?” My voice wobbled as though I was crying.
“And then you and Ms. Jolene will disappear.” Willy’s voice was as cold and heartless as his words.
Jo cut off a sob. My attention shifted to her. If she fell apart, so would I. I wanted to use our silent communication to urge her to be strong. But my gaze dropped to the rolling pin lying on the kitchen counter behind her. When I’d opened the door for her, we’d inadvertently switched positions. Now she was within grabbing distance of the rolling pin.
I returned my attention to Willy as my mind raced to form a plan. “We can’t just disappear. We have friends, family, and coworkers. Jo has a business.” I caught her gaze and used mine to direct her to the rolling pin behind her before meeting Willy’s eyes again. “People would search for us.”
“So what?” He waved the gun dangerously. “I’ll be long gone and forgotten by then. They haven’t connected me to Fiona’s murder. Why would they connect me to yours?”
“So you did kill her?” I needed to move. I needed to keep Willy’s attention on me and away from Jo to create an opportunity for her to act. But I was too scared to convince my legs to work.
I glanced at Jo and read my terror in her eyes. Marvey, I can’t.
I dug deep, trying to find even a drop of courage for both of us. Please, Jo, please take this chance with me.
Willy responded to my question with a question of his own. “How did you figure it out?”
“Buddy told someone he’d ‘stolen’ Fiona away from a younger man. You were that man. You and Fiona were going to be married, but then Fiona met Buddy.” I forced my legs to step away from Jo and the door, drawing Willy’s attention with me.
“I begged her not to break our engagement.” He kept his gun trained on me. ”Buddy Hayes wasn’t good enough for her. He was a failed businessman with no ambition.”
“But Fiona was in love with him. She wasn’t in love with you.” I took another, larger step away from Jo and the door. Willy’s back was almost completely turned toward her.
“What are you doing?” He waved the gun. “Get back to the door.”
I held his gaze. “Your engagement was a business arrangement. You didn’t love her and she knew it. You wanted to marry Fiona for the money and property she’d inherited from her uncle, your biggest client.” I stepped back, further angling him away from Jo.
“Stop. Moving.” Willy raised his voice.
“Killing Fiona was a crime of passion.” I was counting on his “passionate” nature to keep him blinded to everything except me, giving Jo the opportunity to strike him with the rolling pin. “You proposed to her again, didn’t you? At the bookstore. How did you know she was a widow?”
Willy’s lips curled in disdain. “I read about Hayes’s death on the internet months ago and immediately proposed.”
That probably hadn’t been a good idea. “Of course, because in your mind, she was free to marry you.”
“And she said no!” He was shouting now, almost out of control in his anger. The gun was still pointed at me. “She kept saying no every time I asked her. When I found out about her book signing, I decided to come to Peach Coast and ask her again, in person.” Willy’s back was to Jo now. He couldn’t see her. He was so angry, I didn’t think he could see me, either. But the gun was still on me. “I got so mad. I shoved her. She fell.”
This was Jo’s opportunity.
“Then I was stabbing her—” Suddenly he crumbled. The gun dropped from his hand and he fell, unconscious, to the ground.
Jo stood over him, her eyes wide, one hand covering her mouth, the other clutching the rolling pin. “My God, Marvey. Have I killed him?”
I crossed to her on shaky legs and kicked the gun out of Willy’s reach. I kneeled beside him, searching for a pulse in his neck. “No, he’s alive.” I looked up at her. “And so are we, thanks to you.”
“No.” The rolling pin clattered on the ground as she dropped down beside me and wrapped her arms around me. “It was all thanks to you.”
“Okay, then we did it together.” I tightened my hold on her. “And now that we’ve closed our investigation, let’s never do this again.”
Our first call was to Spence—after we’d tied up Willy to the best of our ability. Spence called the deputies. Although he drove separately, and Jed and Errol used their lights and sirens to speed through town to the crime scene, Spence arrived at the same time as them.
Jo and I spotted his car pulling up behind the deputies’ cruisers at the end of the walkway. He’d barely stepped from his sedan when we raced toward him, throwing ourselves into his embrace. The three of us stood in a silent group hug, giving and taking strength from each other.
Chapter 32
“‘Cobbler Crawl’ is aptly named.” I braced my hands on my knees as I fought off a wave of nausea after the fifth annual Peach Coast Cobbler Crawl late Saturday morning. “I almost ended the race that way, by crawling.”
Conversely, Spence, my race partner, stood beside me, looking like he could run another three-and-a-half-mile event. Jo,
