Purrfect Crime (The Mysteries of Max Book 5) Page 17

  And that’s when she heard a noise. It wasn’t loud. Just a footfall. She looked up in alarm.

  “Hello? I just want a quick word.”

  She moved toward the back of the private gym and found herself in the sauna space, the wood cabin where Donna had met her end to the right, a few wooden benches placed beneath wooden pegs to her left, several terry bathrobes still dangling from them. She noticed that the door to the sauna was ajar, and wondered if anyone was in there. She took a quick peek but saw that the space was empty. Drawing back, she suddenly heard movement behind her and when she spun around, found herself gazing into the cool blue eyes of Hillary Davies, Donna’s trusty CEO.

  “Oh, hi, Hillary,” she said, quickly recovering from the shock. “I was looking for you.”

  Hillary smiled. Her head was covered with a scarf and she was wearing coveralls and gloves. “I was just finishing up in here.”

  “Tad asked you to handle the move?”

  “Yes, he did. He didn’t want a bunch of strangers rooting through Donna’s personal stuff, so he asked me to coordinate the whole shebang. The realtor was in here just now.”

  “So Tad is selling the place, huh?”

  “Yeah, this place and the other one. He never was much of an East Coast guy anyway. I think he’s secretly glad he can move back to LA with the boys.”

  She cleared her throat. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, Hillary.”

  The woman raised her eyebrows. “Oh?” She wiped her gloved hand across her nose, leaving a dark smudge.

  “You… lost a girl a couple of years ago, isn’t that right?”

  Hillary nodded. “Suzy. Yeah, we lost her. And then I lost Henry, too.”

  “Henry?”

  “My husband. He couldn’t process Suzy’s death so he… took his own life shortly after.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah.” She sniffled, wiping her nose again. “That was a tough time for me. A real tough time.”

  “She… died after you tried apitherapy to alleviate the consequences of her rheumatic arthritis, right?”

  She nodded, blinking now. “She was only ten, but suffering so much. I never even knew kids could get arthritis. Doctors said there wasn’t much they could do, and she was in so much pain…”

  “And then you read about Donna’s apitherapy experiments.”

  “I got one bee—only one, mind you—just to have a try. Henry wasn’t too keen, but I persisted.”

  “Because Donna advised it.”

  “Donna.vip has always been my bible. Long before I started to work for her. Donna knows.”

  “But what Donna didn’t know was that bee sting therapy can be very dangerous.”

  “Even lethal,” Hillary said, her voice hoarse now. “One sting, that’s all it took.” She looked away, swiping at her eyes. “I placed it on her arm with a pair of tweezers, just the way I was supposed to. Henry was working late, and Suzy had been complaining about the pain again, so I decided to give it a try. Suzy was brave—oh, so brave. She said she didn’t mind a little prick. She was actually more worried about the bee than herself. Said she didn’t want the bee to die, like she read online. The prick was fine. Just a little sting, just like I promised. But then…” She choked. “She had trouble breathing, her throat closing up.”

  “Probably because her tongue was swollen.”

  “She looked into my eyes and said the bee had made her dizzy. And then her eyes turned up and she was gone. I—I tried to revive her but I—I couldn’t. By the time the ambulance showed up, it was too late. She—she died in my arms. And all from one little bee sting.”

  “Anaphylactic shock. One sting is enough.”

  “I didn’t know,” said Hillary, shaking her head. “The website… there had been no warning, no instructions on what to do if something went wrong. So…”

  “So you blamed Donna Bruce for the death of your girl.”

  Hillary merely stared at her, eyes wide, face pale.

  “You decided that if you could only get close enough to her, you might find a way to make her pay. And you were in luck. She needed a CEO and you had just the right qualifications. So you worked closely with her, trying to figure out how you could get your revenge.”

  “The woman was totally irresponsible,” said Hillary. “She didn’t care. All she cared about was making more money and becoming the biggest name in lifestyle advice. When I told her perhaps we should add a disclaimer to the site—at least to the most controversial claims, she laughed me out of the room. Said if people were dumb enough to buy the junk she was peddling, they got exactly what they deserved. That’s when I knew she was simply evil.”

  “So you killed her.”

  “Yes,” said Hillary, her clear blue eyes unwavering. “And I made sure she suffered just as much as Suzy did. And as much as Suzy’s mommy and daddy did. I did it for her. And for Henry.”

  “I understand, Hillary,” said Odelia. “And I’m sure that a jury will, too, when they hear the whole story.”

  The woman frowned. “A jury? What are you talking about?”

  “If you come with me now, you can turn yourself in. I’ll be there every step of the way.”

  Hillary laughed. “You can’t seriously think I’m going to jail for this.”

  “You killed someone, Hillary. You didn’t think you were going to get away with this, did you?”

  “Of course I’m getting away with it. I did what was right. I killed the woman who killed my little girl. Donna got exactly what she deserved, and my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.”

  “Donna had two children of her own. I’m sure they won’t feel the same way.”

  Hillary pressed her lips together. “Donna didn’t care about those two little brats. All she cared about was herself, and the attention she could get as a mother of two. She used those kids. To her they were nothing more than a PR stunt.”

  “Let’s just—hey!”

  Quick as a flash, Hillary gave her such a powerful shove that she fell backwards, tumbling through the open door into the sauna cabin. And before she could get up, the former CEO had slammed the wooden door shut and bolted it from the outside. A sudden sense of panic rose in her chest like bile. She pounded the door. “Let me out! Let me out right now!”

  But Hillary merely regarded her coolly, and then she was gone.

  “Hey! Hillary!”

  She darted an anxious look at the ceiling, hoping the same fate that had befallen Donna wouldn’t happen to her. She would hate to be stung to death by a couple thousand bees! When no sound came through the ventilator, she sighed with relief. But then she noticed the temperature in the small space was rising and rising fast. God, no. Hillary had turned up the heat—probably cranked it up to the max! And had turned off the fan.

  She tried the door but it was bolted shut. She pounded the one tiny window that offered a view of the outside but it was thick glass, unbreakable without the right tools. She quickly searched her pockets but came up empty. Her purse containing her phone was still in the pickup.

  The heat was rising quickly and sweat broke out on her brow. Worse, she was starting to have trouble breathing because of the lack of ventilation. She understood now what Hillary was trying to accomplish. She’d simply let her die from heat exposure. Make it look like an accident. Already she was feeling the strain, and dropped down on the wooden bench. She removed her T-shirt and jeans, and tried to stay calm and collected. Panic wasn’t her friend right now—slowing down her heartbeat and helping her body deal with this sudden assault was.

  She closed her eyes and tried to remember the few yoga lessons she’d taken. Slow breaths. Centering herself. Someone would come. She’d get through this. She was not going to die.

  As the temperature soared, she was now sweating so much her underwear was soaked and she was starting to feel dizzy. And just before she dropped down on the bench, she thought she felt a rush of cool air and a face swimming before her eyes. And then
she passed out.

  When she came to, she found herself gazing into Chase’s eyes. She was lying on the floor and someone was poking at her arm.

  “Chase?” she asked weakly. “Where am I? What happened?”

  He smiled. “Thank God. I thought I lost you, honey. How are you feeling?”

  She smacked her lips. “Thirsty.”

  He laughed, and when she looked down, she saw that a male nurse was checking her pulse. “She’ll be fine,” he said. “She’s going to need a lot of fluids, though.”

  “I’ll make sure she gets what she needs,” Chase assured the man.

  She looked around, and saw she was right outside the sauna, the sauna door open. Then memory returned and she tried to sit up. The moment she did, her head started swimming again. “Hillary!” she cried. “Hillary tried to kill me!”

  “I know,” said Chase, gently easing her down again. “We got her. She’s in custody.”

  “And how is my favorite niece?” asked her uncle, crouching down next to her.

  “I’m your only niece,” she said weakly.

  Her uncle seemed worried. “Please, Odelia, if you don’t want me to die from heart failure, never pull a stunt like this again. Next time you want to confront a suspect, call for backup.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t sure Hillary was the one—though I had my suspicions.”

  “Good thing Chase had the same suspicions.”

  She gave Chase a look of surprise. “You did?”

  “After what happened on the beach I started looking for the name of that girl from Cleveland. Don’t ask me why. A hunch, I guess.”

  “Women’s intuition,” she said with a smile. “It’s rubbed off on you.”

  “That might well be the case. Cause that girl turned out to be Hillary’s daughter. Died seven years ago after an apitherapy attempt gone wrong. It wasn’t a big leap from that incident to Donna’s death by bee sting, so…”

  “So you flew to my side like a rescuing angel.”

  “Only a lot uglier,” Uncle Alec said with a grin.

  Odelia placed her hand on Chase’s cheek. “Chase isn’t ugly. He’s gorgeous.”

  “That’s just the drugs talking,” Chase grunted.

  “’No, that’s me talking. I think you’re gorgeous, Detective Kingsley. And I thank you for saving my life.”

  Uncle Alec shuffled uncomfortably. “I’ll give you kids some space,” he muttered, and got up.

  “The Chief is right, Odelia,” said Chase. “Please don’t pull a stunt like this again. Next time call me first.”

  “I will,” she promised him. “And my cats, of course.”

  “Of course. Where would we be without your cats?”

  “Nowhere! They solved this whole thing! Well, Dooley did, at least.”

  “Of course he did. Let’s get you out of here. You’re not making any sense.”

  He helped her to her feet and she leaned on him as they walked away from that fateful sauna cabin. She noticed someone had dressed her in a thick sweater. Since it said NYPD on the front she assumed it was Chase’s. “What happened to my bra and panties? They must have been soaked.”

  “I… removed them,” he said, blushing slightly. “But I looked away as I did.”

  “Of course you did,” she said, placing her hand on his chest and squeezing.

  “Now what was that about me being a gorgeous rescuing angel again?” he asked when they were out in the open, and making their way to his car.

  “Oh, you liked that, didn’t you?”

  “It’s not something I hear every day.”

  “Well, if you propose to me, Chase Kingsley, I promise I will tell you all that and more.”

  He eyed her sternly. “Still the drugs talking. Let’s get you to your father.”

  “Yes, because you’ll have to ask his approval. He’s old-fashioned he is, my dad.”

  “Ask for his approval, huh?”

  “Yep. Ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage.”

  “And if he doesn’t approve?”

  “Then you’re shit out of luck, buster.”

  He laughed. “Now I know it’s the drugs talking.”

  “I’m serious!”

  “So am I. Let’s get you home and into your jammies.”

  “Ooh. Naughty naughty, Detective.”

  Unfortunately, the moment she stepped into his car, she passed out again. She had a dim recollection of Chase carrying her up the stairs and tucking her into bed. He pressed a kiss to her brow, hoisted Max onto the bed and then she fell into a well-deserved sleep.

  Epilogue

  When I finally looked up from my bowl, I was feeling extremely pleased with myself. In the days that had passed since Odelia had caught Donna’s killer, I’d stuck to my diet and Dooley had stuck to his. And as I had slimmed down, Dooley had packed on the pounds. It was probably too much to say we were the same weight, but we were a lot closer in size than before. Dooley would always be a skinny cat, of course, and me a more sizable one, but I liked to think we’d both benefited from this uncomfortable episode in our lives.

  When Chase had brought Odelia home, half unconscious, it had come as quite a shock to us, and when I’d seen her like that, I’d sworn that I was going to lose those pounds no matter what. We’d obviously let our human down in her hour of need and I was feeling very badly about it, even though Odelia said there was nothing we could have done.

  I still felt that if I’d been more alert, we would never have allowed her to go off without her feline assistants by her side. I needed to be fitter, healthier and stronger than ever, if I was going to be my human’s protector, and for some strange reason all of a sudden I didn’t feel so hungry again all the time, or so weak. And even the diet food suddenly tasted better.

  Which just goes to show: it’s all a matter of psychology. I once saw that on the Discovery Channel, so it must be true.

  It was barbecue time at the Pooles again, and for the occasion Odelia had placed four bowls in a row, our names printed on the sides: Max, Dooley, Harriet and Brutus. The fearsome foursome. And for the first time in days, I wasn’t eating diet kibble but an actual piece of red meat!

  All the usual suspects were present and accounted for: Tex and Marge, Vesta, Uncle Alec, Odelia and Chase. After we’d eaten our fill, us cats jumped up on the porch swing and settled in for the evening, watching our humans eat. Watching humans is actually one of my favorite hobbies, apart from cat choir and snooping around, of course.

  Odelia wandered over, a Coke Zero in her hand. “And? How was the food?”

  “Delicious,” I said. “Though I don’t feel like I deserve it.”

  “Oh, stop it, Max,” she said with a smile. “You guys cracked this case.”

  “No, Dooley did,” I said honestly. “I just slept right through the whole thing.”

  “You all worked together, just like you’re supposed to. And I’m very proud of you. All of you.”

  “You are?” asked Harriet, who’d been feeling kinda bummed out at the role she’d played. Or not played.

  “Yes, I am. You guys are a real team. My fierce feline team.”

  “Talking to your cats again?” Chase asked, ambling up.

  Odelia turned to him. “Of course I am. I’m crazy cat lady, remember?”

  “You’re my lady,” he said huskily, and took her in an embrace. Smooching ensued, and cheers rang out from Odelia’s family. It was safe to say this burly cop was a big hit with the Poole clan.

  Just then, a skinny, pimply UPS guy arrived in their midst, and asked, “Vesta Muffin? Who’s Vesta Muffin?”

  “Oh, God. Not again,” Tex muttered.

  “That’s me,” said Gran. “Right here, buddy.” She took reception of a small package and signed off on it. And then she went and handed it to… Marge. “Here you go, honey. This is for you.”

  Marge gave her mother a look of surprise. “For me? Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I am. And I even paid for it with my
own money.”

  Marge opened the package, and discovered it contained a pair of gold hoops. “Mom!”

  Gran nodded. “Just my way of apologizing for all that hoopla with the bees.”

  Mom wiped away a tear and took her mother in an embrace. “I love you, Mom.”

  “And I love you, honey. Thanks for putting up with me all these years. I know it can’t have been easy.”

  Us cats also wiped away tears. Humans. They can really surprise you sometimes.

  And as the Pooles sat down for dinner, Marge showing off her gold hoops and Tex showing off his barbecue skills, Uncle Alec and Chase discussed the case and Gran… was carefully looking around, then, when she was sure no one was watching, took the box that had contained Marge’s hoops and retrieved it. And as she stalked off towards the house, I thought I could hear a definite buzzing sound coming from inside that box. When she saw four cats watching her every move, she pressed her finger to her lips. “Not a word, all right?” she whispered, and disappeared inside.

  Humans. They’re completely bananas. Or is it beeneenees?

  “So Dooley cracked this case, huh, Max?” asked Brutus. “And you slept right through it.”

  I might have admitted this to Odelia but I wasn’t going to admit it to Brutus. “Dooley cracked this case but he had a lot of help from me,” I said therefore.

  “Max is right,” said Dooley. “I could never have done it without him.”

  “But you’re the one who discovered that telling bit about the bees, right?” Brutus insisted.

  I saw where he was going with this. “Let me stop you right there, Brutus,” I said. “I was the one who taught Dooley how to surf the web, so technically I’m the one who discovered that clue.”

  “Horse manure,” Brutus growled. “You admitted yourself you were passed out on the couch at the time while Dooley did all the heavy lifting. He’s the real hero here. Isn’t that right, Harriet?”

  Harriet was otherwise engaged, though, as she sat staring out at the hedge at the end of the garden. “Mh?” she asked finally, when Brutus nudged her. “Oh, you’re right, smooching partner. Dooley solved this case. He won fair and square.”