Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #16)(88)

“What is it?” Hannah asked, feeling her heart begin to race in excitement.

“He’s standing at home plate with a bat. He’s in the World Series and he’s wearing a blue and white uniform. I know it’s a silly rhyme, but I can’t remember the names of the teams.”

Hannah thought fast. It had to be a pro team that wore blue and white uniforms. “The Toronto Blue Jays.”

There was a pause while Barbara considered it. “No, not them.”

“How about the Kansas City Royals?”

“No. I don’t think that’s it, either.”

“I wish I could think of more teams, but . . . wait! How about the Dodgers?”

“That’s it. He’s Roger the Dodger. Do you believe me, Hannah?”

All the pieces of information in her head rose up into a whirlwind and snapped into place. Barbara was Warren Dalworth’s daughter. And Roger was her half-brother. And unless she was way off base, Warren had called in a lawyer to change his will to include Barbara. He’d done the decent thing by telling Roger about it and Roger had decided to kill his half-sister so that he could have Dalworth Enterprises and its millions all to himself.

“Do you believe me?” Barbara asked again.

“Yes, I believe you,” Hannah told her. “I know you’re right, Barbara.”

“Then you have to believe this. I think Roger was standing outside my room when Jenny called you and told you about the rabbits. And he knows where you are because he must have heard Jenny ask you if you were in the penthouse investigating. You have to get out of there, Hannah! I think he’s going to come looking for you next!”

“Barbara. Listen to me!” Hannah went into near-panic mode. “Ring for the nurse, hit the emergency button, and then call Mike at the sheriff’s station. Tell him I’m up in the penthouse and Roger is coming here to kill me like he killed Doctor Bev. I’ll give you the number of the sheriff’s station. It’s . . .”

“Stop,” Barbara interrupted. “I worked there almost all of my life, Hannah. I know the number. I’ll call Mike’s cell, too. Just get out of the penthouse. And if you can’t get out fast enough, find a good place to hide until Mike gets there.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine


Hannah grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder. Then she punched in Andrea’s number on her cell phone. “Andrea?” she said when her sister answered. “Don’t come back to the penthouse. Roger killed Doctor Bev and he just tried to kill Barbara again. Call Mike and tell him to hurry. Roger could be here any minute.”

“Roger’s there, Hannah. I’m just driving past the garage and his car’s parked in the penthouse section.”

“Is he still in his car?”

“No. Get out of there, Hannah! Hurry! I’ll call Mike!”

There was a click and Andrea was gone. As she slipped her cell phone back into her pocket, Hannah had the feeling of being abandoned, of losing her sole connection to normal life. Somehow she managed to shake off the feeling. It could stop her from thinking clearly and she needed to keep her wits about her.

Leave now, every instinct told her. You can get down to the second floor before he can get up here. Leave your purse here so he thinks you’re hiding here. Make him take the time to look for you up here. That’ll give you time to go the rest of the way down to street level. And once you’re there, you can run for your life.

Acting almost instantaneously, Hannah tossed her purse on a chair and made a beeline for the stairwell door. She was halfway down to the landing when she realized that she didn’t have the key to open the door to the second floor. There was nowhere to go but back up.

She turned, grabbed the rail and hurried up. She was on the second step from the top when she heard the door at the bottom of the stairwell bang open.

Heavy footfalls began to ascend the stairs, but Hannah didn’t stick around to see if it was Roger. She took the final two steps at a leap and went through the door to the penthouse, slamming the deadbolt home behind her. It wouldn’t stop him for long, but it could buy her time enough to find a good hiding place.

A second later, she’d retrieved her purse from the chair and was hurrying to a second staircase, this one leading to the penthouse garden. With energy born of fear, she climbed those stairs faster than she’d ever climbed stairs before, and she emerged under the see-through dome at a run.

Where should she hide? Hannah hesitated for a split second before her mind provided the answer. She’d hide where he’d never expect her to hide, outside the dome in the rain.

The moment she thought of it, Hannah raced across the expanse of the rooftop garden and picked up the remote that controlled the window-washing safety cage. She aimed the remote at the area Andrea had shown her and pressed the button. Slowly, much too slowly to suit Hannah, the cage came out of its sheltered dock and began to move toward the hinged window.

For someone who didn’t enjoy heights, thinking about swaying out there in the wind and the rain wasn’t pleasant. As a matter of fact, it was downright terrifying. She reminded herself that getting killed by the man who’d murdered Doctor Bev and had tried to kill Barbara twice was even more terrifying. Given the choice, she would much prefer braving the elements at a dizzying height, even in a thunderstorm.

At last, after seeming to take forever, the cage reached the entrance point. Hannah shut off the remote, opened the hinged window panel and sent up a quick prayer for Mike to hurry as she stepped into the cage. As she closed the hinged panel behind her, a bolt of lightning so bright it almost blinded her zigzagged down from the sky to the earth. It was followed by a clap of thunder so loud it shook the cage.