Who Killed the Ghost in the Library: A Ghost writer Mystery (26 page)

Grandma Alma turned and patted my cheek. “You take care of yourself, young lady. You’re very precious to me, and I don’t want anything else happening to you,” she said, giving me a hug.

“I love you too, Grandma.”

“Don’t let that grandson of
Walt’s boss you around too much, Cam,” she said. She gave me a hug, holding on long enough to whisper in my ear, “Walt says that Mike’s very fond of you, and so am I. Take care of that boy.”

“I’ll do my best,” I
replied.

“Well, let’s get going,”
Grandma Alma said, looking at her watch, “it’s almost eleven. They’re serving roast beef and mashed potatoes today.”

They left
, and I sat down on the couch. There was a tiny little throbbing pain starting on the left side of my head, probably from moving around too much. “Jo, would you mind going into the kitchen and getting some Tylenol and a bottle of water for me?”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. My head just hurts a little, nothing big. It’s going to be like this for a few days.” She went to the kitchen, got the things I asked for, and brought them back to me. “So what did you find?”

“Amelia rented a car
, a steel gray Chrysler 300, from Enterprise at the airport. It looks like she rented it for four days.”

“So until
Wednesday.”

“Then she drove down to Waco, and checked into the Hotel Indigo last night. Looks like she had dinner at the hotel restaurant.”

“What is she doing down in Waco?” I said.

“No clue,” Jo replied, “but she has a first class ticket on Delta for
Wednesday afternoon.”

“Any idea where she’s going?”

Jo’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “The Cayman Islands.”

“My, my, Mrs. Ashton, what do you have to hide?”

Chapter 43

Mike and Randy got back about thirty minutes later, and we told Mike what we had learned. “What the heck is
she doing in Waco?” Randy said as Mike called Danny to give a description of Amelia’s rental car.

“We’ve been asking ourselves the same thing,” I replied. “Afraid we didn’t come up with an answer.
And by the way, your grandfather encouraged my grandmother to go AWOL from the nursing home this morning.”

“Your grandmother said she was going to get permission.”

“Ha! She bribed Bertha with Godiva chocolate Walt won playing bingo.”

“
She was laughing about it all the way back to the nursing home,” Randy said.

“
She won’t be laughing if my mother finds out,” I said. My stomach growled at that moment. “Anyone else hungry? We forgot to eat breakfast.”

“I’m taking Jo out for a nice steak dinner,” Randy said. “She’s been a big help to us this week, and I thought I would take her out as a way to say thank you.”

Jo blushed as she packed up her laptop. “This is the most excitement I’ve had in quite a while,” she said. “Thanks for including me. I’ll keep an eye on her activities, and let you know if anything else comes up.”

“Thanks, Jo,” Mike said. “I’ll make sure the department cuts you a check for all your work. You’ve earned it.”

Jo gave me a hug, and Randy did, too. “Wait a minute, I almost forgot! Do you have that box I gave you before we left the house this morning?” he said to Jo.

“Oh yes, I do. It completely slipped my mind,” she said, digging into a front pocket of her backpack. “Here you go. Randy said your phone became mulch under the wheels of that truck, so we got you a new one.”

I took the box from her. “You guys didn’t have to do this. Thank you so much.”

“I’ve programmed all the important numbers that you need. It’s just like your other phone, just a newer model,” he said as I opened the box. It was an Android phone, with a purple cover.

“Very cool,” I said. “Thanks.”

“I’ll call you later to see how you’re doing,” Randy said. “Come on, let’s go. I’m starving.”

After they left, I told Mike, “Those two make a cute couple.”

“What makes you think they’re a couple?”

“He held the door open for her, and he was holding her hand as they left.” My stomach growled again. “Let’s warm up some of that casserole, shall we?”

“You just sit there. I think you overdid it a little this morning. You’re a bit pale.”

“Just a little headache.”

“I thought so.”

“I just need some Dr Pepper. I’ve usually had one by now.”

He went into the kitchen, and I could hear him putting ice in a glass, followed by that familiar pop of a can being opened. I gratefully took it from him when he brought
it to me. “So how was your morning? Did you learn anything from Jasmine Rogers?”

“How did you know I was going to talk to her?”

“Woman’s intuition.”

“Let me heat up our lunch and then we’ll talk.”

Ten minutes later, we were both holding a bowl of Green Chile Casserole. Mike sat next to me on the couch. “So, what did she have to say?”

“I had to talk to the district attorney first, but he agreed to grant her immunity in exchange for her testimony.”

“She’s going to get away with attempted murder? That’s insane!”

“I don’t like it, either, Cam, but if it leads us
to the person responsible, well…you have to take the good with the bad.”

“So what did she have to say?”

“Jake Yarborough was hired by Artie Shatton to kill Cliff Scott and my grandfather.”

“So that $500,000 was for two killings.” Mike nodded. “Did she say why?”

“No explanation was given, nor did they ask for one. I guess when that much money is put into your account, you don’t ask a lot of questions. You just do as you’re told.”

“So who killed Jake?”

“Artie. She said that he was afraid Jake would implicate him to make a better deal for himself.”

“Why did she go after your grandfather?”

“Artie threatened to kill her, too, if she didn’t fulfill their contract. She didn’t have a choice. But she said she didn’t try very hard to kill or even hurt him. She said she doesn’t have it in her to kill someone.”

I snorted. “Then she’s definitely in the wrong line of work.”

“No kidding.”

I put my bowl on the table, grabbed a notepad and pen, and started making notes. “Jake Yarborough killed Cliff Scott. Artie kills Jake to keep him quiet. Amelia claims that Artie killed his father.
That leaves two bodies: Aggie and Ray Foley.”

“Why are you including Ray?”

“After that dream I had yesterday, with the two of them at the bottom of the well holding hands, I have no doubt in my mind that those were his bones they found down there.”

“How’s your headache?”

“Much better. Just needed a good jolt of caffeine.” I put the notepad and pen down, picked up my bowl, and finished off the casserole. “It’s always better on the second day. Are you finished?” He nodded, so I took his bowl from him and took it to the kitchen. I rinsed both bowls out and placed them in the dishwasher, along with the dirty forks. “So what now?” I said as I went back into the living room.

“We need to find Artie and Amelia. I only have that girl’s word about what happened.”

“You’ve also got the money that was wired into Jake’s account.”

“Yes, we do have that. But
Artie could claim that was for anything.” I looked at him skeptically. “Hey, you and I both know what it’s for, but proving it in a court of law is another thing entirely.” His phone rang. “What’s up, Danny? Really? Where? I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. No, don’t do anything until I get there.”

“What’s going on?”

“One of the patrols spotted Amelia’s rental car parked in front of Prufrock’s office downtown.”

I jumped up. “Give me five minutes.”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“
Did I ask?”

“No, but I’m telling you. You’re staying here.”

“I’ll just drive myself.”

“I still have your keys.”

“What makes you think I don’t have a spare? And I do know how to hotwire a car.”

“God, you’re a stubborn woman. Alright, hurry up. If you’re going, at least I’ll be with you in case you get dizzy and fall down on your butt.
I’ll wait for you in the car.”

I threw on a gray t-shirt, jeans and my tennis shoes, grabbed my phone off the coffee table, locked the door and got into the patrol car in three minutes. Mike peeled out of the driveway and headed for downtown. “I wonder what she’s doing at Prufrock’s office.”

“Good question,” Mike said, as he turned left on Green Street (I swear two wheels came off the ground). “Maybe getting her affairs in order before she takes off for the Cayman Islands.”

“But wouldn’t that leave Prufrock exposed to charges of aiding and abetting?”

“Possibly, if she did do something illegal.” A sudden thought occurred to me. “We should have asked Stanley who was in that back bedroom when Aggie’s body was found.”

“
It was Amelia,” Mike replied, turning right on Underwood Lane. “We got the results this morning.”

I looked down the street and saw the gray Chrysler sitting in front of a one story, red brick building.

And then the car blew up.

Chapter 44

The Chrysler flew about three feet off the ground before it came crashing down. Mike slammed on the brakes, and we skidded to a stop about a half a block from the burning car. “Call 911!” he said as he got out of the car. Pulling a fire extinguisher from the trunk, he ran toward the wreckage as I did what he asked. I don’t know what he hoped to accomplish with that fire extinguisher; there was no way he was going to put out that fire with that little tin can.

He realized that after a couple of minutes, because he came back over, dropping the extinguisher on the ground in front of the patrol car. “I hope nobody was in there,” I said as he leaned against the car.

He shook his head. “I couldn’t get close enough to find out. The windows of the office were blown out.”

“Maybe they’re still in the office. We need to make sure they’re alright.”

“We’re not going in the front door obviously. Let’s see if there’s a back door,” he replied as a fire engine came toward us. We went to the left, down a small path that ran between Jenson’s Bakery and Stella’s Boutique, which was right next door to Prufrock’s office. Turning right, we ran down the alley. There was a Mercedes parked in the back; probably the lawyer’s car. Mike tried the back door of the red brick building, and found the door unlocked. Hurrying inside, I noticed there was a thin veil of smoke in the air. We went through the kitchen area, and down a short hallway to the front of the building.

We reached the main lobby area, where a desk was on its side, the chair wheels up. Papers were scattered all over the floor, and two large potted plants had fallen over. “Good Lord,” I said, looking around. “It’s a good thing his secretary wasn’t here today, or she would have been seriously injured.
”

“We shouldn’t stay in here too long. Let’s split up, and holler if you find him.”

From the lobby, there were two hallways. Mike went down the one on the left, and I took the one on the right. There was a bathroom to the left and a smaller office across the hall on the right. The hallway ended at the doorway of a large office. A mahogany desk took up half of the room. Two very expensive looking, red leather chairs were in front of the desk, but they had been tossed aside. There were wood filing cabinets in the right corner of the office, and various drawers had been opened. Files were scattered everywhere. The smoke was starting to make me cough, and certainly wasn’t good for my head.

I heard a grunting noise from behind the desk, and when I went to look, I saw Prufrock on the floor, tied up like a Christmas goose and gagged. “Mike, he’s in here,” I yelled as I bent down beside him
, ignoring the urge to throw up. Taking the gag out, I started working on the ropes. “Are you alright?”

“The ruffian beat me up,” Prufrock whined. “Just came busting in here, demanding that I hand over some files to him. I had no idea what he was talking about, and told him so. That’s when he punched me a few times, tied me up and left.”

Mike came over and told me to move out of the way. Pulling out a pocket knife, he cut the ropes and helped Prufrock to his feet. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Just a few bruises and my wounded pride,” Prufrock replied, straightening his Oxford shirt and brushing off his pants.

“Where’s Amelia Ashton?” I said.

“Let’s get outside,” Mike said, grabbing Prufrock’s arm. “We can question him once we get out of here.”

We hurried down the hall and out the back door. When we walked around the corner, the firemen had the fire out. All that was left of the car was a burned out shell. “If she was in that car, there’s no way she would’ve survived,” I said quietly as tears slid down my cheeks. I brushed them away.

Oliver Malloy came over to us. “You guys alright?”

“Mr. Prufrock probably needs to be checked out,” Mike said. “He was in the building when the car exploded.”

Prufrock waved off the paramedics. “I’m fine.”

“Where’s Amelia Ashton?” I repeated my earlier question. Kim offered me some water, which I gratefully drank.

“Who?”

“Really, Prufrock, are you going to tell me you don’t remember your father’s most important client? The woman you were seen with at the police station a couple of days ago?” Mike said.

“I haven’t seen her since that day,” he retorted. “Why are you asking about her?”

Mike grabbed his arm and dragged him closer to the burned car. “Because that is her rental car, and it’s parked in front of
your
office. You want to try again, or would you prefer to go sit in a jail cell for obstruction?”

Prufrock yanked his arm out of Mike’s grasp. “There’s no need to resort to ruffian tactics, Chief
Penhall. I’ve certainly had enough of those for one day.”

“Where is she, Mr. Prufrock?” I said, stepping between Mike and the lawyer. He looked at me, uncertainty in his eyes. “If she’s in danger, we need to know.”

“There was a knock at the front, about fifteen minutes after Mrs. Ashton arrived. When I unlocked the door, he forced his way inside. He wanted to know where she was. I pretended not to know who he was talking about, but he punched me in the head and pushed me down the hall. She was sitting in one of the chairs in front of my desk. He told her not to move, and asked me about some old files that belonged to my father. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he didn’t like that answer. You saw what he did to my files. I don’t think he found what he was looking for. He trussed me up, stuffed my handkerchief in my mouth, and hit me in the jaw. Knocked me out. I came to just before Ms. Shaw came into the office.”

“Did you recognize the man?” Mike said.

Prufrock shook his head. “He was wearing a mask, and I didn’t recognize his voice. But…”

“But what?” I said.

“It was the strangest thing,” he said. “Mrs. Ashton seemed to know who he was.”

“
Artie,” Mike and I said.

“Who’s Artie?” Prufrock said.

“Never mind,” Mike told him. “Did the man give any indication where he might take her?”

Prufrock shook his head. “None.”

Oliver came over. “We checked out the building. It smells a little smoky, but there was no fire damage inside. Just the damage to the main lobby.”

“At least my secretary wasn’t here when it happened, Mr. Malloy. The rest of it is just things, Mr. Malloy, easily fixed and replaced.” Wow, I was surprised to hear that from him. I figured him to be a rather coldhearted man. “Although it is going to be rather expensive to do all that.” Nope, he was still coldhearted.

“Mr. Prufrock,” Oliver said, “we’re going to need some information from you for our report.”

“And when you’re done with that,” Mike added, “you need to go down to the police station and give a statement as well.”

“Can’t you two just share information?” Prufrock whined.

“No, we can’t,” Oliver said. “We both need to know different things, so I’m afraid you’ll have to talk to both of us.” He led a very unhappy, grumbling lawyer away.

“Does he really need to give two statements?” I asked Mike.

“Probably not, but it’s always fun to yank a lawyer’s chain,” he grinned.

Danny came over. “You two alright?”

“We’re fine,” Mike said. “We’ve got a kidnapping, though.”

“Who?”

“Amelia Ashton.
”

“Do we know who did it?” he said.

“We believe it was Artie Shatton,” Mike replied.

“The mechanic? No way,” Danny said, shaking his head. “Artie’s a nice guy. He wouldn’t do something like that.”

“It’s a long story, Danny, and a bit complicated,” Mike said, and gave him a brief rundown on everything that we had learned.

“Wow, I don’t believe it.”

“We need to find out what kind of vehicle he drives,” Mike said, “as well as any other vehicles he might have access to.”

“I’ll send a patrol over to the garage to check his records.
Kathy can check the DMV records for us.”

“What about property?” I said. “Surely he owns some besides the garage. He’s lived here thirty years. Want me to call Jo?”

“Good idea. Have Randy come pick you up and take you home. Danny, don’t send anyone to the garage just yet.”

“Now wait a minute…”
I started to say.

Mike looked at Danny, who got the message and walked away. “Cam, I need to help with the search. That’s means a lot of moving around. That’s something you don’t need to be doing right now,” he said, putting his hands on my
upper arms. “But I want to use your house as a kind of headquarters. Get Jo to go over to your house and set up there. I don’t want to alert Artie to what we’re doing.”

“He’s going to know something’s up when that patrol goes over to his garage,” I pointed out.

“I’ll take care of that. I know a couple of the guys who work there. We can ask them what we need to know.”

“Let me borrow your phone. Mine’s still in the car. Do you think he would take her to the Ashton house?” I said.

Mike shook his head. “Too obvious. He knows that’s the first place we’ll look. My guess is he’s got some property around the county somewhere, and that’s where he’ll go.”

I wasn’t as confident about that as he was, but I didn’t say anything. When I got in touch with Randy, he agreed to pick me up in ten minutes. I gave Mike back his phone as we walked back to the patrol car. “I’ll plug my phone into the charger as soon as I get home,” I said. “
Call me every hour, and let me know what’s going on. As soon as Jo finds something, we’ll let you know.”

“I wish Prufrock had gotten a look at what Artie was driving.”

“Whoever it was probably parked around the corner so he couldn’t get a description of the car.”

“You don’t think it was Artie?” Mike said as I opened the door and got my
phone out.

I thought about it. “It probably was, but you know what they say about assuming.”

“Well, right now, it’s the only assumption I have to go on,” he replied, giving me back my house key, but keeping the car key.

“Do you think he’ll hurt her?”

Mike waved at Danny, who started walking in our direction. “I don’t know. Obviously, he’s got a specific reason for taking her. Whatever that is, he’ll keep her alive until he gets what he wants.”

“And after that?”

“After that, I don’t know.” But I could tell by the look on his face he did know, and I had a bad feeling it wasn’t going to end well for Amelia.