Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 50823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Jane’s gaze widened as the first lady burst out, “What are you—”
“Now!” Conrad shouted.
A loud bang filled the house, causing Jessica to jolt.
“Hi-yah,” Tiffany said, kicking the gun out of the other woman’s hands. The weapon went flying and landed with a thud.
Jane dove for the piece, snatching it up while Tiffany followed her masterful kick with a sucker punch to the face. Aurelian Hill’s first lady went down as Jane stood and aimed the gun at her.
“Don’t you dare move a muscle,” she snapped. “I’m placing you under citizen’s arrest for threatening and endangering others, lying, nearly leaving Rolex motherless, breaking and entering with a key, and almost ruining the best Valentine’s Day experience of my life.”
“Did you see me?” Tiffany exclaimed, shaking her fist in the air. “I nailed that! Nailed it!”
“Now would be a good time to explain what’s going on,” Jane prompted.
The widow got serious in a hurry. “Jessie showed up for breakfast as planned only to pull that gun on me. She threatened to kill me to get to you. To buy time, I told her I had Conrad’s key and a thirst for revenge too. I hoped my secret call to Conrad would help the cops beat us to the residence, but no. I had to buy more time by requesting a potty break for number two. Number two, Jane.” Red infused her cheeks. “Thankfully, she fell for it. And so did you. I thought for sure you’d catch on when I said I didn’t care if Rolex forgave me or not. As if I’d ever endure such a travesty!”
“I did catch on.” Eventually. Jane smiled from ear to ear. “I was right about almost everything. I am the world’s best crime solver!”
“And I am practically a superhero!” Tiffany smiled from ear to ear too. “You never answered my question. Did you see me? Huh, huh? Did you see what I did?”
“You were pretty good, I gu–” Jane stopped herself. Tiffany deserved to bask in the moment. “Actually, you were great. Amazing even.”
Suddenly, Conrad, GBH agents, Beau and their buds rushed into the room. The future sheriff scanned the room until finding Jane. He raced over, claimed the gun and yanked her into his arms. He held her tight.
“You’re all right, you’re all right, you’re all right,” he chanted.
“I am,” she promised. “Not a scratch, thanks to Tiff.”
He paused long enough to frown at Tiffany. “You were supposed to duck, too, not execute a roundhouse kick.”
The superhero simply shrugged. “I’ve been taking online classes to distract myself from the fact that I’m living in a cemetery with dead bodies. Pottery. Knitting. Even self-defense. It’s amazing what you can do virtually these days. Anyway, I saw the opportunity and went for it. I must say, feeling my foot make contact with her hand was a rush I’ll never forget.”
The teeniest, tiniest flame of envy slithered through Jane. She’d never gotten to roundhouse kick a criminal. Yet.
But all that emotion faded when Sheriff Moore slapped cuffs on Jessica’s wrists and listed her rights. Beau and Trick checked on Tiffany, who still beamed and kept asking, “Did you see it? Through the window, did you see it?”
“How did you know what was going on?” Jane asked her boyfriend.
“Tiffany activated her phone’s speaker on the ride from the Garden. Thacker never noticed.”
“And my quick thinking and bravery?” Jane may not have shown off her spinning kick skills, but she had faced down her would be killer without flinching.
Conrad shuddered, even as he grumbled, “You were perfect.”
And look? The curse didn’t take Conrad away from her. She fought and defeated it. Which was even better than a roundhouse kick. Almost.
The Sheriff walked Jessica out of the bedroom. The other woman’s head hung low, defeat a heavy mask on her face. For a moment, Jane could spare the victim of blackmail a smidgeon of sympathy. After all, Jessica had been duped by a man who’d only used her.
Oh, wait a minute. Jane just remembered something. “Jessica is the one who shot you.” Any sympathy dried up. “She was in the Garfield house with Tom when you showed up. I don’t know how everything went down, but she confessed, and I’m willing to testify in court.”
Outside the window, Sheriff Moore helped Jessica into the backseat of his squad car.
Conrad’s head tilted. “GBH found some footage made by the bartender and evidence of the blackmail. He’ll be going to prison too, his victims finally free. Though their lives might never be the same. There’s a good chance their cheating will be revealed during the trial.”
That was okay with Jane. Truth was better than lies any day of the week. But she hated the thought of anyone suffering a second longer because of the bartender’s greed.
Justice was served.
“There’s more,” Conrad said. “Bennett kept a log of his blackmail, as well as Gunn’s. Barrow found it and has barely scratched the surface, but it’s already provided details we were missing.”