Page 75 of Hold a Candle

“We were on a stakeout in the hayloft,” Jamie replied, his eyes twinkling. “We kept watch over the back pastures and Juice in his tree. He was still there the last we saw.” He walked towards the coffee pot. “Ah, the smell of fresh coffee in the morning.”

“Help yerself,” Darro replied with a tired chuckle. “Poppy is coming over with a couple of her American breakfast casseroles at 6:30 a.m. The morning crew will be coming in at 7:00 a.m. and sending the night crew home.”

“We were going to volunteer to make breakfast,” Jamie replied. “I figured Lucerne would be grounded this morning.”

Darro smiled. “Aye, she had a hard time settling down, so I turned her alarm off and told her not to worry about getting up until she wanted to. She finally fell asleep.”

“I took Poppy home last night so she could get some rest,” Angus added. “Ben and Dorothy are staying with her.”

“Any news from Mica?” Darro asked, taking a drink from his cup.

“Aye,” Pauley replied, taking the cup of coffee Jamie handed to her and sitting down at the table. She and Jamie explained everything Mica had told them.

Darro looked thoughtful. “That is interesting, although some of it sounds really suspicious. It seems like a lot of trouble to go to for Juice to kidnap Florence and bring her up here under the pretense of taking potshots at the boys just for a distraction. It doesn’t really add up. Especially since no police were needed here to guard the boys. Unless this Kelpie just wanted her out of town and away from the main action.”

Angus nodded. “It would make more sense that Florence brought Juice up here and they both got hit with some very bad luck,” he quipped. The other’s stared at him.

“Florence could have made up the story since they were caught and Juice was already dead,” Angus added, his grin unrepentant.

“She sure was hightailing it back to the car,” Jamie replied. “If not for the helicopter, she would have been able to get away too. She could pretend surprise later and say that Juice must have stolen her rifle from the boot of her car. After all, that’s where Mica said she kept it.”

Pauley frowned. “She’d have a hard time explaining why her hair turned white at the office tomorrow,” she pointed out, poking holes in Jamie’s theory.

Jamie nodded. “Aye, that’s true. It worked out better for her this way. Except for the dead part, of course.”

“But if she planned to create a distraction with Luca, why bring Juice at all?” Pauley mused.

Angus snapped his fingers. “What about Brodie? Maybe Juice shot Brodie and Florence planned to dispose of Juice as a loose end in the woods.”

“Again, why?” Pauley asked, her forehead screwed up in a frown. “If Juice really is a professional hitman, they don’t die easily, and why would Kelpie want him dead anyway? They don’t grow on trees, especially when they have such excellent covers.”

“Unless,” Jamie began slowly, “Florencewasthe loose end and didn’t know she was the one who was supposed to die in the woods after killing Luca? She had the skill for the long distance shot and now she is dead, after all,” he pointed out, his eyes roving around the table.

They all stared at each other until finally Pauley sighed. “We may never know the truth of all of it, although they are still investigating. Right now, it looks as if Florence simply had a heart attack under normal circumstances. Unless some other evidence comes out, I’m sure it’s going to stay that way.”

The others agreed.

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