“Winnie’s part in the scam was to convince some of her well-padded friends to put money into a so-called ‘safe investment’ that never really existed. She liked how it would get her out of the hole she’d found herself in, until one of her pals called to ask if the deal was really safe, because she was planning to use money she’d been saving for her granddaughter’s college education.”

  “Okay. So Winnie decided to pull out,” I said, eyeing the neighborhood I was driving past—private homes with people outside, gardening and chatting with their neighbors. “What was the big deal?”

  “Are you kidding?” Grimm’s eyes bulged out like frogs’ eyes as he gaped at me. “Buddy had brought in guys he’s been doing business with for years. They had everything set up and ready to go when I told Buddy that Winnie refused to hold up her end of the scam.”

  Her end of the scam. I shuddered. This Buddy was pulling the strings. I dreaded to hear what was coming next.

  “I explained to Winnie that she had to go through with the plan. Lots of people had invested in it, and they would be royally pissed if it didn’t go through as arranged. But she just laughed and said she wasn’t about to betray people she’d known since she was a little girl. It had been a mistake to even consider it.”

  He laughed that awful hyena laugh again. “Her mistake was double-crossing us. So I made sure she’d never make that mistake again.”

  “You …?” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “I sure did.”

  Grimm’s phone rang, and he answered. “Okay … Ten, fifteen minutes … Okay.” He paused and glanced at me. “But you told me—” He took a quick look at me again. “Do you think that’s really necessary?” Another pause. “I’m not arguing. I just …” Then: “I understand … Yes … yes, I will.”

  I clasped my hands together so they would stop shaking. If I had it right, Buddy had just instructed Garrett Grimm to murder me, and Grimm was too far under his sway to disobey.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I had to get out of the car and as far from Garrett Grimm as possible if I hoped to make it to my wedding tonight.

  “Hey, steady,” Grimm chided because the car was veering off course as though a drunkard were driving; only it was my terror that had loosened my control of the wheel.

  We had left the section of pretty homes and were now passing more modest houses, many of which were in need of repairs and a paint job. I caught Grimm glancing at me, probably wondering how he was going to carry out the task his BFF had given him.

  Well, I had no intention of making it easy for him. I sat firmly in my seat as I gripped the steering wheel and rotated it from side to side. The car swerved to the left, narrowly missing a car coming from the opposite direction. The door to the trunk flipped up and down. The suspension rocked like a bucking bronco.

  “Hey! Cut it out!” Grimm shouted. “Do you want to get us killed?” He was nervous now, and I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Bad, I decided, when he waved the knife at me.

  “You’re making me nervous,” I said.

  “Then drive properly.”

  “Why should I?” I stared into his eyes. The car drifted to the right, barely missing a parked car. “Since your friend wants you to kill me.”

  “Don’t be silly,” he said, his rictus grin betraying him.

  “Only you won’t get the chance,” I said. The restraint and caution I’d been holding in check since he’d dragged me into the car were gone. I deliberately drove into the left-hand lane and snapped back into the right lane.

  “Cut it out!” He raised the knife.

  “Or what? You’ll stab me in front of our live audience?”

  We peered out at the people on both sides of the street, fear and apprehension in their faces. I turned right at the next block.

  “I didn’t tell you to turn.”

  “No, you didn’t.” I scrutinized the street we were approaching. At the far end of the block, three adults stood chatting in front of a house. I rotated the wheel as hard as I could. The car jumped up on the curb. I spun the wheel in the other direction. The car landed in the street with a shudder.

  “Aha!” I said, pleased with my results. “Finally!” I turned to Grimm. “Looks like the bag of money fell out of the trunk.”

  If looks could kill, I would have died that instant. Grimm’s eyes rolled as he considered what to do. Finally, he came to a decision. He yanked the key from the ignition and flew out of the car, but not before he raised the knife. “Don’t move!” he ordered, then he ran behind the car to pick up the duffel bag of stolen money that had fallen into the street.

  I had a minute at most to exit the car and make my escape. According to Grimm, the driver’s door was jammed, which meant he’d be expecting me to leave via the passenger’s door.

  I glanced at the three men, chatting and laughing. They hadn’t even noticed that I’d ridden over the curb. Now they were walking up the path leading to the front door of the house. No! I shouted in my mind. Don’t leave!

  I inched away from my seat, prepared to scoot over to the passenger seat and fly out the door. Since my feet were now past the steering wheel, I thought why not kick the jammed door. But first I raised the old-fashioned lever button to unlock the car door, in case that was working.

  I rammed the door with both feet. Nothing happened. One more try, then it was out the passenger door and praying I didn’t run into Garrett Grimm, who, I noticed, was right this minute struggling to get a good grip on the duffel bag of money. It wasn’t really that heavy, but it was dense and awkward for one person to grab hold of, especially when that person refused to let go of his knife.

  The third kick did it! The car door shot open. I scooted past the steering wheel and had just stepped on the ground when Grimm let out a shriek. I almost laughed at the expression of indecision on his face. Should he stay with the money or drop the bag and chase after me?

  I took off running down the block and was amazed when I heard footsteps behind me. Grimm had chosen to come after me. I glanced back, terrified because the knife never left his hand.

  Just then the garage of the house the men had entered began to open mechanically, and a middle-aged woman stepped onto the driveway, a garden hose in hand. I imagined she was planning to water the hydrangea bushes bordering her house.

  “Help!” I screamed as I ran. “He’s trying to kill me!”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Carrie. Come back to the car,” Grimm shouted as he chased after me.

  The woman, now twenty feet from me, stared at us. I couldn’t tell if she thought I was crazy or really in danger. The footsteps grew louder. He was gaining on me.

  “He has a knife!” I shouted at the woman. “Help me. Please!”

  Grimm held up both hands. “Look. No knife.”

  I ran as fast as I could, but he was getting closer, panting with every step he took.

  And then I heard the most beautiful sound in the world—a police siren.

  The sound was coming from the direction I was running toward and growing louder and closer. Yay! Help was coming. I halted in my tracks. So did Grimm. For a moment he froze as what had to be his worst fear was realized. Then he spun round to race back to his car and the duffel bag of money. Which was when the woman with the hose turned it on full force and aimed it straight at Grimm.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Three police cars pulled up to where I was standing with the lady with the hose. Seven officers jumped out and came as close to us as they dared while a strong arc of water doused Garrett Grimm.

  “We’ll take it from here, ma’am,” one said to the woman. She turned off the nozzle and set down the hose.

  An older officer in civilian clothes, who I assumed was the person in command, approached me. “Are you Carrie Singleton?”

  I nodded.

  “I’m Captain Chris Donahue of the Prescott Police Department. Are you all right?”

  “I think so.” Though I was surrounded by police officers, I couldn’t stop looking at Grimm, to make sure he couldn’t get at me. I released a sigh of relief when two young officers put him in handcuffs and escorted him to one of their cars.

  “I’ve no idea why you’re treating me like a criminal,” Grimm was saying. “Arrest that woman! She turned her hose on me for no reason. Look at me! I’m soaking wet.”

  “How did you know where to find me? Did Dylan call you? Is he all right?”

  As if in answer to my questions, another car joined the pileup of cop cars. A very familiar car. Dylan got out and ran to me. He enveloped me in his arms.

  “Thank God you’re okay,” he said, as he buried his head in my neck. Were those tears I felt? Tears welled up in my own eyes.

  The sound of clapping and cheering broke out. A crowd of about thirty people surrounded us, with grins on their faces, cheering Dylan and me as if we were stars filming a movie.

  “Is Albi all right? And Tino?” I asked.

  “They’re fine. As soon as I disarmed Rawlins, the brothers grabbed Leslie. We used his phone to call the police in that village. They came and arrested Fred Rawlins and Leslie Thompson. I told them Grimm had taken you hostage, and asked them to send out a BOLO ASAP. That done, I gave the officer in charge a statement. He promised to keep me in the loop, which is how I managed to get here so quickly.”

  “I’m so glad you’re here.” I sighed. “I was so worried.”

  Dylan slipped his arm around me. “Looks like we’ll make our wedding on time.”

  I turned to the woman who had set her hose on Grimm. “Thank you for saving me.”

  “You’re welcome. Did you say you’re getting married today?”

  “Yes. We—”

  She turned from me and, putting her hands around her mouth, shouted to her neighbors: “These kids are getting married today! And she just escaped from a criminal I helped catch.”

  More cheering. Captain Donahue came over to us. He looked harried. “Miss Singleton, we need to take care of some police business before you can leave. First of all, is that Garrett Grimm’s vehicle?” He pointed to Grimm’s old jalopy.

  “It is. Behind the car, you’ll find a duffel bag of money that was stolen in a bank job some years ago, along with lots of stolen items in the car.”

  He nodded. “Wait here.” He went over to speak to two of his men. I watched as they walked over to the green car. On the way, one stopped to look at something lying on the ground.

  “Grimm had a knife he threatened me with,” I said to Captain Donahue as I watched the officer slip on a pair of gloves and pick up the knife.

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to come down to the police station and give a statement.”

  “Now?” I asked, incredulously. “But Dylan and I are getting married in a few hours. I need to go home and shower. Pick up my gown and veil and …” I patted my hair, which I imagined looked like a bird’s nest, and gaped at Captain Donahue, “I have to leave now! A hairdresser will be at our wedding venue to do my hair in less than an hour!”

  Captain Donahue’s expression softened. “The station’s a short distance from here. I promise I’ll be as quick as I can.”

  “You won’t have me answering the same questions again and again?” I asked.

  “No, why would I?”

  “No reason,” I said thinking of John, whose method was to go over the same material several times in hopes of eliciting more information. I stifled a giggle as I realized there was a good chance that John had gotten news of the arrests through the police grapevine and was now shaking his head at the latest escapade Dylan and I had gotten involved in, today of all days.

  “In that case, if you’re ready to leave and your fiancé will drive you, you can follow me to the precinct.”

  * * *

  Ten minutes later, Dylan and I were seated comfortably across the desk from Captain Donahue. Between us, Dylan and I filled him in on how Albi had approached me and begged us to stop his brother from running off with the bank job money.

  Eager as I was to go home, I couldn’t help asking, “Is there any way that Tino won’t be charged with the robbery and can avoid serving a prison sentence?” I asked.

  Captain Donahue exhaled loudly, reminding me of Tom Selleck in Blue Bloods when he was faced with a difficult decision. “Impossible to say, but since he helped stop Rawlins from taking the money, and given that Garrett Grimm threatened to murder him if he didn’t find and hand over the money, they may go easy on him.”

  “There’s someone else involved in all this,” I said. “Someone more dangerous than Grimm. And he’s waiting to hear from Grimm.”

  Dylan and Captain Donahue stared at me.

  I told them about Garrett Grimm’s friend Buddy, who was orchestrating his actions.

  “One of my men is questioning Grimm right now. I’ll have him ask about this Buddy.”

  Dylan and I described the scene at the cabin. How, after we arrived, Garrett Grimm had showed up and pointed a gun at us, ordering us to stow in his car the two duffel bags filled with bank money.

  “Then along came Rawlins and Leslie Thompson,” Dylan said. “Rawlins had a Glock. He ordered Grimm to throw down his weapon, which he did, and Leslie made off with one of the duffel bags. I was about to make my move to disarm Rawlins, when Grimm shoved Carrie into his car, wielded a knife, and ordered her to drive off.”

  “With our phones and one bag of money in the trunk,” I added. “The trunk door kept swinging up and down, but he didn’t seem to notice.”

  Captain Donahue’s head reared back, and he roared with laughter. When he was done, he said, “I apologize for laughing at your situation, Miss Singleton. It had to be terrifying while you were living it, but the escapade sounds like a case of the Keystone Cops, only there were no cops involved.”

  “I was terrified,” I said. “I had no idea what Grimm planned to do with me. It seems Buddy told Grimm to take Tino hostage, but Grimm grabbed me, probably because I was standing closest to him when he made his move to escape Rawlins.”

  Dylan wrapped his arm around me.

  “Who is this Buddy character? Does he have a last name?” Donahue asked.

  “I don’t know what it is. Grimm never said.”

  I told Captain Donahue when and where Grimm and Buddy had met. He stopped me to call one of his officers, instructing her to search their online sites for anyone named Buddy who had a record and lived in Merrivale.

  “Please continue,” he said when he’d hung up the phone.

  “Grimm was carrying out Buddy’s instructions. From what I could make of their last conversation, Buddy no longer had any use for a hostage. He told Grimm to get rid of me.”

  Dylan squeezed me tighter. The phone rang and Captain Donahue answered it. I watched him break into a grin. Whoever was on the other line was feeding him valuable information. When he disconnected, he looked at me.

  “We think we found the right Buddy. Lives in Merrivale and has a record for getting close to other criminals and coercing them to go way beyond what they would do on their own. This information provides us with a way of making Garrett Grimm talk if he refuses to give up his accomplice.”

  “Grimm admitted he murdered Luke Rizzo and Winifred Thompson,” I said.

  Captain Donahue looked at me with admiration. “You got all that while driving around following his crazy directions? Now, if you can tell me everything again in chronological order, and how Grimm’s confession came up in your conversation, we can finish up, and I’ll text over the report for you to sign.”

  * * *

  I sank back against the leather seat of Dylan’s BMW and closed my eyes. Though the agitation caused by my recent abduction had yet to subside, a sense of security was beginning to envelop me. I was with Dylan. I was safe and unharmed. The bad guys had been apprehended, and our wedding was taking place in a few hours.

  Our wedding! I bolted upright and stared at the clock on the dashboard. It was almost four o’clock! There was no way I could keep my hair appointment. And the photographer was scheduled to arrive at Victor’s house at six o’clock.

  I felt panic rising as I wondered how long it would take to get home. I needed to shower and pack up my gown and everything I’d be wearing tonight. Thank goodness Smoky Joe was at Marion’s house!

  I was suddenly aware that Dylan was conversing with someone in low tones.

  “Who are you talking to?” I asked when he ended the conversation.

  “Angela. I told her we needed to push the wedding back two hours. She’ll contact everyone. I’ve already called Victor and your father to fill them in on the delay.”

  I leaned over to kiss his cheek. “I am so lucky to have you.”

  Dylan blinked quickly. “You have no idea how terrified I was when that weirdo ordered you to drive off in his rickety car. I’ll never forgive myself for letting that happen.”

  “You were busy taking down Rawlins. Who knows what evil plan he had for us.”

  My cell phone rang. It was my mother, sounding hysterical. “Carrie, dear, is everything all right? Your father just called to tell me the wedding has been delayed. He wouldn’t say why.”

  “Yes, I’m fine.” Thank goodness Jim hadn’t told her why it was being pushed back.

  She lowered her voice. “Are things all right between you and Dylan? You know it’s normal to have a bout of jitters before one’s wedding day. Everyone wonders if he or she is doing the right thing. And we can always have a mother–daughter chat if you’d like.”

  I cleared my throat to mask the laughter that had bubbled up in my throat. This had to be the most maternal thing my mother had ever said to me. “Mom, I’m fine. Really I am. And Dylan and I are good. It’s just that something unexpected came up. I’ll tell you about it when I see you later.”

  “That was very tactful of you,” Dylan said when I hung up.