the business end of things, and from what I’d seen, she never had. I knew I’d have a fair shot at getting her to keep Kelsey on, if I had the chance. Savannah, can you honestly say the world’s not a better place without that louse in it?”
“That’s not up to me to say,” I said. “That was a cute trick with the trash can by the door.”
I was surprised when he smiled. “I had to get that note back. It’s the only thing that links me directly to Derrick’s murder.”
“Not quite the only thing,” I said.
He shrugged. “Without the note, it’s going to be a case of he said/she said. All of us hated him.”
“Not enough to kill him, though,” I said. “Did you really try to kill Kelsey, or was it just staged?”
He smiled. “I had to muddy the waters a little. Besides, she was never in any real danger. I’m getting tired of this. Give me the planner,” Brady said. “I’m not asking you again.”
It was now or never. I started to offer the folder to him when I pretended to trip on a stone. The papers came out, and Brady instinctively used both hands to reach for them, leaving the gun in his pocket.
That was my one chance. As he tried to react to the fallen papers, I threw myself at him, doing my best to drive him over the rail and into the water.
I almost made it, too, but he managed to fend me off and right himself before he went over the edge.
And that’s when Jenny jumped out and hit him, too, sending him over the railing and into the water.
“Run,” I screamed, and I glanced over to see that Jenny was right behind me.
“It was Brady?” she asked breathlessly.
I glanced back to where Brady had gone into the water.
With one hand, he’d managed to grab the top rail, and he was quickly pulling himself back out of the water.
We were in serious trouble now, with nowhere to go that he couldn’t catch us. Jenny’s car was in the opposite direction, so we didn’t have a chance running for it. We were going to have to come up with something else if we were going to live to see the next sunrise.
“He’s coming after us, Jenny,” I said as I led her to the shuttered carousel.
“How are we going to get away?” she asked.
“Run to the other side.”
We did, and as we rounded the corner of the building, I saw that Brady was much closer than I would have expected. There was a look of fury on his face that was clearly driving him on.
As I looked back, Brady fired a shot at us, and it buried itself into a wooden pillar of the building less than two feet away from me.
“Run,” I screamed at Jenny again.
When we got to the other side, I saw that she’d done something to her ankle.
“I think it’s sprained,” she said quietly. “Go on. Save yourself.”
“Not a chance,” I said as I looked around for anything I could use as a weapon. The only thing I saw was a long worn wooden stick with a nail poking out one side. It was clearly used to pick up trash on the ground, but I was going to use it for something else, or die trying to save my friend.
The only hope I had was to catch him by surprise. Running around the other side of the rounded building, I held the weapon in front of me as though it were an ancient lance, and I was on horseback.
I caught up to him just as he turned toward Jenny.
Brady barked out, “Where is she? Don’t try to save her, or you’ll die, too.”
“You’re going to kill me anyway,” she said.
I heard Brady laugh, a sound that was completely devoid of humor, or even humanity. “You know what? You’re right.”
As he lifted the gun, I knew I was going to be too late. I was fifteen feet from where he stood, and I didn’t have a chance of getting there in time.
But my lance did.
I threw it with everything I had, praying that it would find its mark. I’d been aiming for his head, but I struck his leg instead. It found some purchase in the muscle and flesh there, and Brady went down in a heap, clutching his leg. The gun had clattered out of his hands on impact, and we both dove for it.
As our hands touched, I heard the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard in my life.
Zach said, “One more inch, and you’re dead. Just give me a reason. I’m begging you.”
Brady knew he was beaten. He stopped reaching for the gun and pulled the impromptu spear out of his leg.
“I’M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU,” I SAID ONCE HE HAD BRADY tied up with his own belt.
“You were doing fine on your own,” he said.
“Did you get my call?”
He looked puzzled by that. “No, I realized halfway to Murphy that I must have lost my mind leaving you alone. By the time I got here, I figured it had to be Brady, but I’m guessing you beat me to it, didn’t you?”
“I knew two minutes before he showed up,” I admitted. “I just ran out of time.”
He hugged me. “I think you did just fine. I called Murphy, and he’s on his way. He realized Mindi was lying to him the second he heard Cary’s story. Mindi was blackmailing her, but it had nothing to do with murder.”
“What else was it?”
Zach grinned. “I’m glad you don’t know everything. I was starting to get an inferiority complex. Cary was having an affair with a married man.”
“But Derrick was dead,” I said. “How could she blackmail her?”
“Well, I guess I should admit that my initial instincts were wrong. The man she was sleeping with was Frank Lassiter. Mindi told Cary if she didn’t pay up, she was going to the police with some fabricated evidence that Cary and Frank had conspired to kill Derrick.”
“So, his murder prompted yet another crime,” Jenny said as Zach helped her up.
“Throw a rock in a still pond and the ripples go all the way to shore,” he said. “Should we get you to the hospital so someone can look at that ankle?”
She laughed. “No, all I need is an ice pack.” Jenny glanced over at Brady, who’d been silent since I’d stabbed him. “What about him?”
Detective Murphy came up to us, with four uniformed officers. He took the scene in, and then said to Zach, “You were right.”
He shook his head. “She got it before I did.”
Shawn saluted me with two fingers. “Then you’re the one I owe an apology.”
“Seeing him locked up is all I need.”
“That we can make happen. Take him downtown.”
As two of the officers lifted him to his feet, he screamed, “My leg is killing me. That witch stabbed me. I need to go to a hospital.”
“Come on, Brady,” I said with a grin I didn’t feel. “I barely nicked you.”
After he was gone, I asked, “Does anybody mind if we go back to Jenny’s now? I need a long, hot soak in that tub of hers.”
“You’ve earned at least that,” Jenny said.
“Tell you what, ladies,” Zach added, “I’ll even cook for us tonight.”
I looked at Jenny and smiled, and as my husband helped her walk back to my car, I said, “If you really want to reward us, get takeout.”
“Hey, I’m an excellent cook,” he said, with a hint of faux hurt in his voice.
“Sure you are,” I said as I patted his chest, “but it might be nice if we’re all pampered a little tonight.”
Chapter 24
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE LEAVING,” JENNY SAID TWO DAYS later as she walked us
