The Missing Dough(83)

“Did she say why she killed Grant?” he asked.

“No, but it’s not hard to figure out. He stole from her, broke her heart, and then wouldn’t take her back again once he was free of Vivian. It pushed her over the edge, and she snapped,” Maddy said.

“I hope she doesn’t try an insanity defense,” the chief said.

“I’m not so sure that it’s not appropriate in this case,” I said. “Is she talking now?”

“No, she’s still in surgery.”

“How badly did I hurt her?” Maddy asked.

“The doctors said that none of the damage is permanent, but she’s going to be in some pretty fierce pain when she wakes up.”

“Since she just tried to kill all of us, I believe that I can live with that,” Maddy said.

“I’ve got enough here,” the chief said as he looked back down at his notes. “If you’d like, you two are free to go now.”

“Thanks, Chief,” I said.

Out in the hallway, I was about to say something to Maddy when Bob appeared out of nowhere and wrapped her in his arms. To my delight, David did the same with me. After a few minutes, we all managed to pull ourselves free.

“Hey, guys, it’s okay. We’re fine. Really,” I reassured them.

“We were pretty worried about you,” David said. “You should have called us.”

“We managed on our own okay, but we appreciate the offer,” I said as I kissed his cheek. “I will admit that it was a little more than we bargained for in the end.”

Bob looked at Maddy and said, “I can’t believe that I almost lost you. Did you really throw a pickax at Samantha Stout? I heard that you wrecked her shoulder pretty thoroughly.”

“She got lucky. I was trying to bring her down completely,” Maddy admitted. “But I never could have done it if Eleanor hadn’t thrown her shovel at Samantha first. It was enough to distract her for the few seconds I needed to strike out.”

“And let’s not forget Kenny’s part in this. He’s the one who distracted her long enough to let me do that. How is he, by the way?”

“He got hit in the thigh, but the doctors think he’s going to be just fine, though he’ll probably have a limp for a while,” Bob said.

“Good enough,” I said. “Remind me to bring him a pizza here when he’s able to eat outside food. The man’s still a bully and a cad, but he saved our lives, and I’m not about to forget that.”

“I think it was more a matter of self-preservation, when you think about it,” Maddy said.

“Hey, whatever his motivations were, we couldn’t have done what we did if he hadn’t been crazy enough to run straight at a woman with a handgun,” I said. As I turned to Bob and David, I asked, “So, are you two ready to get out of here?”

David nodded. “We are, but we’re probably all too wired to sleep. Is anybody else up for a cup of coffee and a piece of pie?”

“I could eat something after I get cleaned up first,” Maddy said with a grin as she looked at her clay-stained clothing, and I agreed as I followed the three of them out of the police station.

It had been a close call tonight, closer than I would have ever liked, but we’d come through the other side with nothing more than a few blisters from digging, a pretty solid scare, and another story to tell someday. I was particularly proud of my sister for the way that she’d acted. When Kenny had taken her stun gun from her, I’d been worried that it would kill her willingness and ability to defend herself, but she’d proven to everyone, and most importantly, to herself, that when the stakes really mattered, she was fearless and ready to take bold action. In a very real way, Samantha Stout had given Maddy a valuable opportunity to prove to herself that she had what it took to stand up and be counted when it mattered most.

Not that any of us would ever thank the crazy woman for it.

As for me, I was looking forward to getting home, cleaning up, and then going out with the three people in the world I loved the most, to celebrate our lives and what tomorrow might hold for each of us.

It was the perfect way to end the day and another period of turmoil in all our lives.