Lemon Meringue Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #4)(88)

Hannah didn't like the way this conversation was starting. As far as she was concerned, Lonnie was a better choice for

LEMON MERINGUE PIE MURDER

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Michelle^s boyfriend than the guy from New York who didn't know beans about small-town life and thought Michelle's descriptions of her hometown were humorous. She was about to horn in and change the subject when Delores reached back to tap her on the arm.

"Do you have an extra sweater in your truck, Hannah? It's getting a little chilly."

Hannah hesitated. If she offered her mother the ratty old hooded sweatshirt she carried in the back of her truck, it would lead to a long lecture about revising her wardrobe and weeding out the clothing that wasn't fit to be worn. "No, but I'll run to the cottage and get you a sweater."

"But you'll miss the fireworks."

"Not if I walk along the shoreline. I can see it just fine from there. And the cottage is only about a block away."

"Well, if you're sure you don't mind___No! I've changed

my mind! I don't want you to go, Hannah!"

"Why not?" Her mother had sounded panicked.

"Because ... well..." Delores leaned back and turned her head to whisper, "The killer could be out there."

"Don't worry, Mother. The shore is crowded with people. He wouldn't attack me in front of all those witnesses."

"But they wouldn't be witnesses, not if they were looking up at the sky. And fireworks is perfect cover for a gunshot with all the banging and booming."

"Things like that only happen in the movies." Hannah was amused. Her mother was well intentioned, but totally irrational. "Besides, there wouldn't be a gunshot because the killer doesn't use a gun. Rhonda was stabbed, not shot."

"You're right. I forgot about that." Delores sighed deeply. "Do you think I'm overreacting?"

"Yes, Mother."

"Well... you're probably right, but you'd better stay here. I'd just worry the entire time you were gone."

"I'll go along with Hannah," Michelle offered. "There's no way anyone would take on both of us. That would make you feel better, wouldn't it, Mother?"

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Joanne Fluke

"Much better," Delores said, and she sounded very relieved. "And while you're there, you can put on the coffee. It would be nice to have a cup when the fireworks are over. And thaw that coffee cake I stuck in the freezer. Ten minutes in the microwave on defrost should do it. And would you carry out the garbage on your way back? I forgot to do it when I left."

"Sure, Mother," Hannah said, grabbing Michelle's hand and making a quick getaway before their mother could think of more tasks for them to do.





Chapter Twenty-Eight

64VT Te're done," Hannah said, gathering up the sweater W they'd initially been sent to fetch and switching on the coffeepot. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready." Michelle came out of her room wearing a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans.

Hannah opened the front door and they both stepped out. "I'm locking it. Do you have the key?"

"I've got it." Michelle whistled as a multicolored shower of streamers shot across the sky. "That was pretty spectacular. Is it the finale?"

Hannah glanced at her watch as another fiery flower blossomed in the sky. "Not yet. The show is supposed to run forty minutes this year. We've still got over twenty minutes left."

The two sisters climbed down the steps to the shore by the light of the fireworks that were bursting in the sky. As they reached the bottom, a huge white shower rained down and Michelle gasped. "What's that, Hannah?"

"What's what?"

"That big thing sticking out under the dock. It wasn't there this afternoon."

"I don't know, but I'll find out." Hannah walked closer

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and waited until another shower of lights illuminated the area. Her voice was sharp as she spoke again. "Is there a flashlight in the cottage?"

"Yes, Mother keeps one in the kitchen.**

"Go get it and bring it down here."

Michelle turned and walked toward the steps. "Okay, but what is it?"

"Just get the flashlight, okay?"

The fates were kind and another volley of fireworks burst in the sky after Michelle had left. Hannah reached out toward the object and shuddered as she realized that the "thing" Michelle had seen was someone's leg. Delores hadn't been so crazy after all when she'd warned Hannah not to come here alone. Hannah stared at the leg for a moment and then she gave a deep sigh. There was only one thing to do and she was the only one here right now to do it.

It took all the strength that Hannah possessed, but she managed to free the ominously still form from its watery prison under the dock and pull it up onto the shore. By the time Michelle got back with the flashlight, Hannah had flipped it over. "Shine the flashlight, Michelle."

Michelle turned on the flashlight and both sisters stared at the inert figure for a moment, the beam of light illuminating the bloody wound on Freddy Sawyer's head.

"Is he dead?" Michelle asked, her voice shaking.

"Only one way to find out." Hannah dropped to her knees and felt for a pulse. "Not yet, but it doesn't look good. Run back to the cabin and call for an ambulance fast."