Dropping Like Pies, page 8
“Get in line,” Norton said wryly. “If you can find me…”
Norton stopped talking when he heard the door to his bedroom creak open. His blood turned cold and his legs grew weak. Slowly, he turned around to face someone wearing a heavy white ski outfit with a matching ski mask.
“No! Please!” Norton screamed and dropped the phone.
“Norton! Norton!” Tom yelled into the phone, but there was no answer. The next thing he knew, he heard two gunshots erupt on the other line, followed by dead silence. “Norton!”
“Norton is now dead. Kill Billy Northfield, or you’re next!” a sinister voice hissed at Tom. “Kill Billy Northfield before the storm ends, and then kill his friends. I will be in touch again.”
The line went dead. Tom lowered the phone and looked at Brent with wide eyes. “Norton was just shot to death, I heard it. And Holston was shot and killed earlier,” he said, his voice shaking. “We have to get out of here, Brent, or we’re next.”
Brent stared at Tom with confused, angry eyes. “Someone is playing a game!”
“Yes, a game of life and death. We have to leave this lodge, Brent, with what money we have,” Tom insisted. “The person who just killed Norton ordered me to kill Northfield, but what if I do? I know how the game works, Brent, and so do you! We’re marked targets now!”
Tom stood and rushed to a small bedroom that held a single bed, a nightstand, and a reading lamp. Brent followed his brother nervously. “Help me move the bed!” Tom shouted.
Brent shook his head. “Tom, we can’t leave in this storm. We wouldn’t get one mile. The wind chill alone would kill us within half an hour. We’re trapped until the storm passes.”
Tom ignored his brother and began pushing his bed toward the window. As soon as the bed was moved, he dropped onto his knees, yanked up a hidden door attached to the floor, and looked down at a safe. “Whoever killed Norton has people right here in the lodge, Brent. Could be Northfield and his friends. Maybe it was all a set-up to get us to act stupid and then frame us for murder. I don’t know!”
Brent watched Tom fiddle with the safe dial and shook his head. “Tom, knock it off,” he barked, making Tom look up. “We can’t run in the storm.”
“What do you suggest then?” Tom hissed, his eyes vicious. “Stay here and wait to be shot to death?” He pointed at the bedroom door. “It has to be Northfield. It was all a set-up to make us act foolish and frame us for murder. The killer ordered me to kill Northfield. Why, Brent? Why? Use your brain and think about it!”
Brent felt impatience and anger simmer at the edges of his mind. “Tom—”
But Tom was in panic mode, unable to calm down and think logically. He’d let his mind run off in a direction that was far from the truth. “I try to kill Northfield, and the person—or people—the killer has staying at this lodge kills me in return, and you. Get it?”
Brent stared at his brother. “Well, Rhonda Knight did tell me she was a retired cop,” he said, beginning to relent.
“A retired cop, of course,” Tom said. “They catch us trying to kill Northfield and kill us instead. Then they tell the authorities they killed us to save an innocent life. And then what happens? The authorities find out who we really are and give the people who killed us a medal! It’s been a set-up from the beginning. Someone was watching Norton and Holston the entire time, letting them do the dirty work, and now they have to get rid of the hired help.”
Brent looked out at the empty living room. “I can agree with you, Tom, but what about the Russian? Why would someone kill him? I saw his body. He was dead.”
“I don’t know,” Tom confessed, opening the floor safe. “Brent, go pack us a bag apiece with some food, our medicines, and water. Hurry!”
Brent hesitated. “Tom, if we go out into the storm, we’re dead. We’re not young anymore.” Brent paused for a moment, keeping his eyes on the living room. “But we’re not stupid, either. There was a time when we were very clever criminals.”
“That was a long time ago, Brent, and—”
Brent swung away from the bedroom door and locked eyes with Tom. “Why run?” he asked. “Why don’t we kill before we’re killed and make it look like we’re the ones who killed in self-defense?”
“No,” Tom said, shaking his head. “Brent, you know as well as I do that doing that would mean a lot of people peering into our past. If Norton was able to dig up the truth on us, others could do the same. Our only choice is to run. Besides,” he pointed out, “whoever killed Norton isn’t staying at the lodge. If we go on the offense, we’ll never be safe here at the lodge ever again. Day and night, we’ll be looking over our shoulders, waiting.”
As much as Brent hated to admit it, his brother was right. He fell silent for a moment, listening to the storm howling outside the bedroom window. “If we leave, that storm will kill us, Tom. The wind chill alone will kill us within the hour. I admit that we need to run, but not until the storm passes.”
“The killer told me to kill Northfield before the storm passes,” Tom said, reaching into the safe. “Brent, I’m taking my share of the money and running. You can stay here at the lodge if you want, but let me warn you…” Tom took a bag full of cash out of the safe and held it up to Brent. “Norton gathered information on our past. It’s very possible the killer has that information now. Do you know what that means?”
Brent knew what his brother was implying. “The killer can knock off two wanted killers who escaped from prison many years ago, and the world won’t even blink an eye.”
“Exactly,” Tom said, nodding. “Brent, it’s always been you and me against the world. We can’t lose the war now. Now, go pack our bags, and make sure you don’t forget our medicine. I need my ulcer pills.”
Brent watched Tom remove wadded-up rolls of cash from the bag. Before he could say another word, a hard hand struck the apartment’s front door.
“Put the cash away,” Brent hissed at Tom, slamming the bedroom door shut. “Who is it?” he called out in a rough voice.
“Rita and Rhonda Knight,” Rita called back. “We need to talk to you and your brother, Mr. Graft. We have a dead man on our hands.”
Brent grasped the old handgun he had tucked into the back of his pants. If Rita and Rhonda were connected to the person who’d killed Norton and Holston, he would kill them.
“Hold on!” he barked, walking to the apartment door and easing it open cautiously. He spotted Rita and Rhonda standing in the cramped hallway. Neither woman was holding a gun or looked threatening. “Go back to the front desk and wait for me.”
Rita glanced at Rhonda, who shrugged, took her sister’s arm, and walked away.
“He seemed pretty upset,” Rhonda said.
“I know,” Rita replied as they entered the lobby. She spotted Lila standing at the front desk. “Lila, I thought you were with your brother.”
Lila looked at Rita and Rhonda with tears in her eyes. “I went to check on my grandmother. I fear she suffered a heart attack. Please go look—I can’t stand to.” She dropped onto her knees and covered her face. “This is too much,” she wept.
“Go check on her,” Rita whispered to Rhonda urgently. “I’ll stay here with Lila.”
Rhonda retrieved her gun, checked the clip, and hurried away to locate a possible second dead body. To her relief, she saw Zach step out of Rita’s room just as she was about to enter Lila’s grandmother’s room. “We might have a second dead body,” she said to him. “Stay with Billy.”
“Billy has a gun. I’m staying with you,” Zach said. He ran to his future wife, took her hand, and walked with her into a dreary-looking room.
“Oh no,” Rhonda moaned, spotting Lila’s grandmother lying on her bed like a sleeping queen. She ran over to the bed and began checking for a pulse. “No pulse. We need to begin CPR!” Rhonda dropped her gun on the bed. “You breathe for her, I’ll do the chest compressions. Let’s move!”
Zach positioned himself at the head of the bed, lowered his head, and began pushing air into a set of old lungs each time Rhonda ordered him. Deep down, he expected no positive results for his efforts, but after ten minutes of steadily working on Lila’s grandmother, he watched Rhonda pause her chest compressions to check for any signs of life.
“Hey, I’ve got a pulse! It’s weak, but it’s a pulse!” Rhonda lowered her head and studied the old woman’s chest. “Look, she’s breathing!”
“She is breathing!” Zach exclaimed, watching Lila’s grandmother start taking weak, shallow breaths that slowly started to gain a little strength.
“That’s it, Grandma! Stay with us,” Rhonda urged and then rubbed her own face. “I knew it wasn’t a heart attack. And no way this old woman also suffocated just like that young man.” She grabbed her gun. “Looks like Lila Petrov has been a very busy woman.”
“Where are you going?” Zach asked, worried.
“You stay with Grandma,” Rhonda told Zach, feeling her old cop nature take over. “I’m going to go arrest a killer.”
Before Zach could object, Rhonda burst out of the room and ran back to the front lobby. “Great news!” she called out to Lila. “Zach and I started CPR on your grandmother.”
“She’s alive?” Rita asked hopefully.
“Breathing is a little weak, but she’s alive,” Rhonda confirmed, locking eyes with Lila. “I guess you didn’t manage to kill her, did you?”
“What?” Lila gasped, looking horrified. “I didn’t try to kill my grandmother! How dare you!”
“Oh, come off it, girl,” Rhonda snapped. “Your brother is dead, then nearly your grandma. The Graft brothers are in their apartment. Who else could it have been, huh?” She aimed her gun at Lila. “Hands behind your back. You’re under arrest for murder and attempted murder!”
“That’s right,” Rita echoed, adding, “I’m sure when your grandmother can speak, she will confirm the truth.”
Lila gaped at the sisters. “But I didn’t. It’s impossible! I loved my brother, my grandmother is my life. Please—”
“Oh, put a sock in it and save it for a jury,” Rhonda snapped, gesturing for Rita to slap handcuffs on the woman. “Never leave home without a pair,” Rhonda remarked as Rita handcuffed Lila.
What Rita and Rhonda didn’t know was that Lila was telling the absolute truth.
Chapter Eleven
Billy farted. Yep, Billy sure farted. But what did it matter? Rita and Rhonda were both absent. Only Zach was in the room.
“Well, like my daddy always said,” Billy said with a shrug. “Better to get out the gas before your pipes back up.”
Zach stepped toward the fireplace to get away from the incoming fumes. “Maybe you should lay off the donuts?”
“Hey, we thought the food was being poisoned. Now we know the food is in the sunlight and not the sewer.” Billy happily shoved a donut into his mouth. “My back may be out, but my arms and hands are working just dandy.”
Zach checked his watch. “Rita is in the front lobby talking to Brent Graft. Rhonda is in Mrs. Petrov’s room with Lila Petrov. Rita asked me to come and check on you.”
Billy wiped at his mouth. “Back is feeling better. I may be up and walking soon, maybe in a couple of hours. Wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
“That’s good.” Zach warmed his hands at the fireplace. “Billy, a man is dead, and a woman was nearly killed. The Graft brothers were not responsible, either. Rhonda and Rita believe Lila Petrov is the killer, but Lila is insisting she’s innocent. As of right now, I’m not sure what to think.”
“’Cause you defended a lot of guilty people in your past?” Billy asked.
Zach felt an old shame touch his heart. “I’ve seen guilty people claim to be innocent. I know the look, Billy. And Lila Petrov doesn’t have that look. As far as I can tell, she seems truly innocent.”
“If that gal is innocent, that would mean—”
“The real killer is hiding somewhere inside this lodge,” Zach finished, rubbing his hands together. “Billy, we’re due to get married to two very beautiful women in two weeks. If something happens to either one of them…” Zach shook his head. “Nothing is ever simple in life, is it?”
“Reckon not,” Billy agreed, then fell silent. The storm continued to howl and shriek outside the window, letting Billy know that the outside world was just as dangerous as the one inside the lodge. “Reckon my plan to play Tom and Brent Graft for fiddles ain’t so important anymore, now that some unseen killer is loose.”
“Maybe the killer is working for the Graft brothers?” Zach suggested, but shook his head. “That isn’t how the Graft brothers work. I know their kind.”
Billy began to speak, but stopped when Rita opened the door and stepped inside. “Brent and Tom Graft are going to carry the body out into the snow and lay it beside the wood pile,” she explained. “Rhonda is still with Lila. I wanted to see how you were feeling before I joined her.”
“Well,” Billy told Rita, grateful to see his beautiful fiancée, “now that my ears have been filled with all this bad news, I’m not rightly sure how I’m feeling. A bit confused is the first thought that comes to my old mind.”
“You’re telling me,” Rita concurred. “I thought the Graft brothers were our target. I honestly thought they might try and harm you, Billy, but now I’m not certain what’s happening. Brent was openly rude, if not hostile, toward me. He agreed to ask his brother to help him carry the body out into the snow, but that was all the cold fish was willing to do.” She walked over to Billy. “I did call Brad. I’ve having him run Lila for me.”
“This is a mighty strange case,” Billy remarked as Rita adjusted his pillow. He reached up and gently touched her face. “Old Billy is gonna do some serious thinking on the matter,” he promised.
“I wish you would.” Rita sighed, sitting on the side of the bed. “I wish we were back home in Clovedale Falls.”
Billy made a sorrowful face. “I sure messed up by suggesting we take this here trip, huh?”
“Of course not,” Rita protested. She stopped rubbing her face and patted Billy’s hand. “I was glad when you suggested we travel to Alaska to see the land you inherited, Billy, especially after the way my parents acted. None of this is your fault.”
“Maybe not, but I should have been more curious about why old Roger left me all that land,” Billy pointed out. “I reckon I was tired of thinking under a rain cloud and just wanted some sun. As my daddy once said, we all live a day and learn what we can in the middle.”
Rita began to speak, but stopped when she heard a knock at the door.
“It’s Tom and Brent Graft,” a voice rang out. “May we come in?”
Rita quickly retrieved her gun and slid it under her right leg. Billy nodded, and Zach stepped back toward the fireplace, took out his gun, and placed it behind his back. “I’m ready,” he whispered.
“Come in, Mr. Graft,” Rita called out.
Tom opened the door and stepped inside, Brent following cautiously. “We need to talk,” Tom said to Rita. “Please go get your sister.”
Rita looked at Zach, who nodded and left the room. A few minutes later, Rhonda appeared.
“Zach is standing guard,” she said, stepping past Tom and Brent and moving toward Rita. “What’s this meeting for?”
“We’re going to find out,” Rita replied.
Tom crossed his arms. “Here’s the deal,” he said, and to Rita’s and Rhonda’s shock, he began confessing everything. “When Mr. Northfield showed up, we were confused and felt betrayed.”
“We assumed Mr. Holston had betrayed us,” Brent added.
“It’s possible that Norton Manday was involved in the betrayal,” Tom continued. “Our goal was to make Mr. Northfield confess the truth.” Tom left out the part about planning to kill Billy. He walked over to the fireplace and warmed his bony hands. “Up until ten minutes ago, my brother and I were planning to run.”
“But as we were getting ready to carry the body out into the snow, we quickly realized that if we do run, we’re dead,” Brent chimed in.
“What do you mean?” Rita asked warily.
“We were going to carry the body through the back kitchen door, so I went to check on the door and clear snow off the back steps,” Brent explained. “When I did, I found tracks on the back porch made from snowshoes. The tracks were leading away from the lodge.”
Rita and Rhonda glanced at each other. Was Brent Graft speaking the truth? It appeared that he was. “What do you want from us?” Rhonda asked the brothers.
“The truth,” Tom insisted. “My brother and I confessed the truth. Now it’s your turn.”
“Fair enough,” Billy said. “The truth is, a guy I ain’t seen since I was sixteen left me a whole bunch of land up here in Alaska. Why? We still don’t have a clue. But after you two skunks made it clear you wanted to harm me, and after we located a listening device on that there breakfast cart,” Billy pointed to the breakfast cart that still sat along the far wall, “we set out a plan to trap you two and make you confess the truth.”
“Billy is speaking the honest truth,” Rita said. “We don’t have a clue why Roger Edwards left him eighty thousand acres of land.”
“Land I really do intend on selling,” Billy pointed out. “I don’t have the time to fuss with so much land. I got a farm to run down in Georgia. All we came up here to do was get away for a bit and see some pretty land.” He shook his head ruefully. “But we got ourselves lost and ended up at this here lodge. And that is the truth. Take the truth or leave it. Like my daddy always said, ‘You can’t force a fella to sit down and eat a plate of truth when his mind is spoiled with lies.’”
“The man I mentioned was a made-up person,” Rhonda admitted to the brothers. “My sister and I never saw a lumberjack-type man in Billy’s kitchen. We were trying to lay a trap for you.”
“All I did was pay some back taxes on the land,” Billy added. “Back taxes Mr. Holston said I had to pay if I wanted the land. So I paid the taxes because I figured once I sold the land, I’d get my money back and a pretty penny to follow.”
