Snow can be deadly sage.., p.13
Snow Can Be Deadly (Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery Book 10),
p.13
“Why?” Jeremiah called out from the crowd. “Why did you kill him? You didn’t have any right!”
“Because, he killed my father first. Howard was his business partner, and he conned him and gambled all of the money away. My dad lost the business, the house, everything, all because of that drunk, greedy fool. So yes, I killed him. He deserved to die. He was worthless, and I decided to do the world a favor. When he told me who he was, I asked him how he could even look me in the eye. You know what he told me?” He stared hard at Jeremiah. “He said that he was sorry, and he had some money that he wanted to split between you and me. That’s why he’d come back to the resort. He wanted to split it between us. I told him, I didn’t want his money. I didn’t want anything to do with him. Nothing could bring my father back. He demanded that I listen to him. That I take his money, because he wanted to start over, he wanted to have a relationship with his son. When he said that, I just, I lost it.” Ben shook his head and lowered his eyes. “I will never get that relationship with my father, because of him. Why should he get to have one with you?” He looked up at Jeremiah again and glared. “I thought with his ex-wife, and the loan sharks, and the guy from the casino being at the resort, I had a good chance of getting away with it.”
“You were wrong.” Eddy scowled at him. “Murdering him was terrible.”
“It was nothing compared to what he did to my family. People can’t just get away with that!”
“That’s not it though, is it?” Jo turned to face Bart.
“What do you mean? We found the body, we found the killer, the murder is solved.”
“The murder, yes. But Ben wouldn’t have been able to pull all of this off, not with your eyes constantly on the resort.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” He frowned.
“Earlier, when I found the body, you said you saw me go into the bar on the camera. But the camera was pointed away from the door of the bar. I noticed it when I went inside. So why would you lie? You clearly didn’t see me on the camera.”
“Uh, well, it must have been one of the other cameras as you headed for the bar.”
“There’s no camera in the dining hall. All you could have seen was me walking down the hallway outside of it. So are you going to tell me that you were able to figure out exactly where I was based on that?” She gestured to the two men beside him. “Don’t let him get to his gun.”
“Stop, this is nonsense. I did nothing wrong.” Bart sighed. He held up his hands as the two security officers turned towards him. “Put your hands on me, and you’re going to lose your jobs.”
“Why don’t you tell the truth, Bart?” Eddy glared at him. “From the start you didn’t want to admit that I saw a body. You kept insisting that I might have been confused, or drunk. Ben’s admitted he was the killer, but I’m certain that he didn’t do it on his own. I’m betting when the police do a full investigation of this, they’re going to agree with me. It’s better if you admit it now.”
“Okay, look, I didn’t kill Howard. I didn’t have anything to do with that.”
“No, you just wanted to protect the resort.” Jo rolled her eyes. “Money is more important than human life.”
“No, that’s not it either. I wanted to protect Ben.” He looked over at the man in handcuffs. “He’s not a bad person. He really isn’t. He just snapped. When he first came here, he was a mess. He had no one to look out for him. I made sure he got a job, and got himself stable. Not many people can survive what he did.”
“His father’s bankruptcy, and his suicide.” Eddy nodded. “Yes, that must have been hard on him.”
“He looked at Howard like he was his hero. He had no idea who he was. But I did. I research everyone that gets hired here. I knew that Ben was Dan’s son. I knew that Howard was responsible for Dan’s death, but I didn’t think it would be a problem if Ben never found out. I knew that Howard inherited the money and he said that he planned to tell Ben the truth. I told Howard to leave things as they were, but I was worried that he wouldn’t listen to me. That’s why I told Callie to contact Howard’s wife, and why I tipped off Carlisle and Billings. So they all knew that Howard was back. I even told Billings about the inheritance. I figured one of them would be able to take care of my problem, get rid of Howard, and Ben could keep living his life in peace. But it didn’t work out that way. I was too late and Howard decided he wanted to make amends straight away, and so he confessed who he was to Ben.”
“He actually asked me to forgive him.” Ben growled. “Why should he get to have a relationship with his son when he took my father from me? Why should he get to clean up his act and be a better man while my dad is cold in a grave because of his schemes and addictions?”
“It wasn’t his fault.” Jeremiah crossed his arms. “He didn’t put the gun in your father’s hands.”
“No, he just stripped a good man of every ounce of his worth. My mother left him, and he thought he had nothing left to live for.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you, Ben. Growing up without a father, I know what that’s like. But it didn’t give you the right to commit murder. When Howard told me who he was, I couldn’t believe it. I was so angry. I told him that he’d ruined everything, that he didn’t deserve to be alive, and I meant it in that moment. My mother struggled so hard on her own, and he never even cared. But he really was trying. At least, I thought he was.” Jeremiah lowered his eyes. “I guess I’ll never know now.”
“I’m sorry, Jeremiah. I wouldn’t wish this kind of pain on anyone, but it was worth it. Howard had to pay. My father can finally rest in peace.”
“You saw Ben moving the body, on the cameras, didn’t you, Bart?” Jo looked back at him.
“Yes, I did. I saw him. There wasn’t time to think about it. I just knew we had to hide the body as fast as we could. I thought, Howard would have killed himself eventually, he would have ended up dead somewhere in a drunken stupor.”
“Except, he did stop drinking.” Jeremiah frowned. “Who knows how long it would have lasted, but maybe he could have turned his life around.”
“You’re just as guilty, Bart.” Eddy nodded to the security guards beside him. “Cuff him.”
Bart didn’t struggle as the men beside him secured the handcuffs around his wrists. Instead he looked right at Jo.
“I thought maybe you would understand.”
“Not murder, no I will never understand that.”
Outside the lobby there was a roar of an engine. Samantha looked over to see a large snowplow clearing the driveway that led to the front door. Behind the plow were several police vehicles. The blizzard had come to an end, and so had their real life murder mystery. Yet, she was no longer quite as excited about the cruise she’d won. Eddy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
“You did good, kid.”
“Then why doesn’t it feel that way?” She tilted her head to the side to look into his eyes.
“Because a man is dead, and there’s no way to feel good about that. But thanks to us, his son knows the truth, and his killer will pay the price. That’s the best that we can do.”
“I guess that’s good.” Samantha frowned.
“We did our best, Sam. It’s a very good thing.” Jo patted her shoulder.
“Yes, I guess it is.” She sighed. “I think this was the last activity I’m going to plan for Sage Gardens. Clearly it didn’t work out well.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Walt smiled. “You solved two mysteries in one weekend. That’s pretty great if you ask me.”
“Samantha!” Amber waved to her from a small group of women gathered near the café. “Do you have a minute?”
“Here it comes.” Samantha grimaced and slipped out from under Eddy’s arm. As she walked over to the women, Jo stepped up beside her.
“We just wanted to tell you that this was the most amazing trip.” Amber smiled. “All of this drama and intrigue, it was better than watching a movie, it was like being part of it.”
“I guess I can see that.” Samantha nodded and managed a smile. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourselves.”
“We’ve decided you should be in charge of all of the activities.” Amber looked at the other women, then smiled at Samantha. “You handled the crisis like none of us could have, and still made sure we had a fun weekend.”
“Wow? Really?” She braced herself for the laughter. Surely they had to be joking.
“Really.” Amber nodded. “Thanks for all of your hard work.”
“Thank you.” Samantha smiled. For the first time she felt welcomed by the women who she’d been trying to connect with since she had moved to Sage Gardens.
“Come with us, let’s have some tea.” Amber turned towards the café.
“Jo?” Samantha looked over at her.
“You go ahead, I’m going to take a walk in the snow.” Jo smiled.
“Do you want company?”
“I think you’re occupied.” Jo laughed.
“No. I’m not. Thanks ladies, I’ll catch up with you when the bus loads up.” She linked her arm through Jo’s. “Let’s go freeze our buns off together.”
“Wonderful. Did I ever tell you about the time that I went sledding in shorts and a bra?”
“What?” Samantha laughed as they walked away from the café. It was nice to feel included, but it was even better to know that she could rely on Jo’s friendship. As the two waded out into the snow, they were joined by Walt and Eddy.
“Did you know that frostbite can begin to affect your skin in only…”
“Walt!” Samantha and Jo laughed.
“What? It’s very important information.”
“Yes it is, pal, yes it is.” Eddy threw a snowball straight at him.
“Don’t, it’s full of dirt and smog and…”
“Ouch, better get that snow off your nose, Walt, you don’t want to get frostbite.” Jo laughed and wipe his skin clean with her hand.
“Ugh.” He sighed and looked into her eyes. “Thanks.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll avenge you.” She scooped up a pile of snow and formed it into a tight snowball before hurling it at Eddy. Their snowball fight continued until all four were too cold to play anymore. That night they sat by the fire in the lobby and listened to memories of Howard shared by the staff and the actors. In the middle of their conversation Walt slipped away. When he returned some time later, he took Jeremiah aside, and gestured for his friends to join him.
“What is it?” Jeremiah looked between them. “I don’t think I can take anymore shocks.”
“Your father recently received an inheritance.”
“And?” Jeremiah frowned.
“And we had no idea where it might be. There’s no record of it being in any account. But I do know he planned to give it to you,” Walt said. “I also knew that if he had it in cash, he had to have it nearby. So I looked through his room. It didn’t take me too long to find the loose floorboard in his room. The money is there now along with a note explaining why he wanted you to have it. The police have already searched his room and didn’t find it.”
“But what about all of his debts?”
“They were his debts, not yours, Jeremiah. You were the only one willing to give him a second chance. I can’t tell you that he would have sobered up, or that you might have had a relationship, but I can tell you that he cared enough to try to make amends, and that’s something. So let him.”
“Thanks, I will.” Jeremiah offered them a small smile. “Thanks for everything.”
By the next morning the parking lot was clear and the bus was ready to take them back to Sage Gardens. Samantha made sure that everyone was on board, then waved goodbye to some of the staff members as she climbed on the bus as well.
Walt settled into his seat with perfect posture. Eddy put his headphones on to drown out the impending singing. Jo opened one of the books she borrowed from Eddy, and Samantha sat down with a sense of gratitude for her friends. As the resort disappeared behind them, Samantha gazed at the large glass windows that sparkled with the reflection of the sun off the surface of the snow. It was a beautiful place, which now had its own tragic story. Maybe if they hadn’t been there, Howard would have remained a missing person forever. At least now his son knew that his father didn’t just disappear for a second time, and his killer knew that revenge wasn’t as sweet as he expected. The only question that lingered on her mind, was what kind of mystery would be waiting for them when they got back to Sage Gardens.
The End
Thank you very much for reading Snow Can Be Deadly. I hope you enjoyed it. You can sign up for Cindy’s newsletter to be notified of her latest releases so you don’t miss out on the special new release price at
http://www.cindybellbooks.com
Also by Cindy Bell
Sage Gardens Cozy Mysteries
Birthdays Can Be Deadly
Money Can Be Deadly
Trust Can Be Deadly
Ties Can Be Deadly
Rocks Can Be Deadly
Jewelry Can Be Deadly
Numbers Can Be Deadly
Memories Can Be Deadly
Paintings Can Be Deadly
A Macaron Patisserie Cozy Mystery Series
Sifting for Suspects
Recipes and Revenge
Nuts About Nuts Cozy Mysteries
A Tough Case to Crack
Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mysteries
Murdering the Roses
Dead in the Daisies
Killing the Carnations
Drowning the Daffodils
Suffocating the Sunflowers
Books, Bullets and Blooms
A Deadly Serious Gardening Contest
A Bridal Bouquet and a Body
Dune House Cozy Mysteries
Seaside Secrets
Boats and Bad Guys
Treasured History
Hidden Hideaways
Dodgy Dealings
Suspects and Surprises
Ruffled Feathers
A Fishy Discovery
Chocolate Centered Cozy Mysteries
The Sweet Smell of Murder
A Deadly Delicious Delivery
A Bitter Sweet Murder
A Treacherous Tasty Trail
Luscious Pastry at a Lethal Party
Trouble and Treats
Fudge Films and Felonies
Wendy the Wedding Planner Cozy Mysteries
Matrimony, Money and Murder
Chefs, Ceremonies and Crimes
Knives and Nuptials
Mice, Marriage and Murder
Bekki the Beautician Cozy Mysteries
Hairspray and Homicide
A Dyed Blonde and a Dead Body
Mascara and Murder
Pageant and Poison
Conditioner and a Corpse
Mistletoe, Makeup and Murder
Hairpin, Hair Dryer and Homicide
Blush, a Bride and a Body
Shampoo and a Stiff
Cosmetics, a Cruise and a Killer
Lipstick, a Long Iron and Lifeless
Camping, Concealer and Criminals
Treated and Dyed
About the Author
Cindy Bell is the author of the cozy mystery series Dune House, Sage Gardens, Chocolate Centered, Macaron Patisserie, Nuts about Nuts, Bekki the Beautician, Heavenly Highland Inn and Wendy the Wedding Planner.
Cindy has always loved reading, but it is only recently that she has discovered her passion for writing romantic cozy mysteries. She loves walking along the beach thinking of the next adventure her characters can embark on.
You can sign up for her newsletter so you are notified of her latest releases at http://www.cindybellbooks.com.
Cindy Bell, Snow Can Be Deadly (Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery Book 10)
