Up In Smoke: Spirit of the Soul Wine Shop Mystery (A Rysen Morris Mystery Book 3) (7 page)
Read Up In Smoke: Spirit of the Soul Wine Shop Mystery (A Rysen Morris Mystery Book 3) Online
Authors: K.J. Emrick
All she heard was him saying Christina would be fine. She threw herself around his neck and held on tight. “Thank you. Oh, Brandon, thank you.”
“No worries,” he told her, holding her as tightly as she held him. “I figured I should save you for a change, this time. Now. Can you explain what the hell is going on?”
From up the street she heard the wail of emergency sirens, coming fast to help her sister. “I can,” she promised. “But not now. I want to make sure Christina gets to the hospital first.”
***
Rysen sat with Brandon and her father in the hospital cafeteria, drinking bitter coffee from a vending machine. Was it possible for coffee to go stale? If so, that was definitely what she was tasting in this little Styrofoam cup. Stale coffee.
At her father’s insistence, Rysen had been checked out by a nurse. She was fine. She was only glad that this was Josh’s day off. Awkward wouldn’t begin to describe how she would have felt if he was here.
“Okay,” Brandon said slowly. “I think I have it. Do me a favor and give it to me one more time.”
Rysen nodded, knowing that her dad would need to hear the whole tale a few more times himself. He’d spent the last two hours at Christina’s bedside. Even after Chris had regained consciousness, he didn’t feel safe leaving her alone. Rysen had finally coaxed him away when she saw the look of exasperation on her sister’s face.
The cafeteria had seemed like as good a place as any for Rysen to tell them what she had figured out so far. “Beatrice was trying to get Christina’s shop away from her. She’d been trying for a while, from what I can figure out. Maybe even since before I got back to town. The guys stealing her supplies that you and I busted, Brandon, were hired by Beatrice.”
“And when that didn’t work,” he said, continuing the story as she had laid it out for him, “she tried poisoning Christina?”
“Yes.”
Her father’s fists clenched on the table. His usually stony expression was etched with hard anger now. If he could have gotten his hands on Beatrice right now, it was a fair bet that she’d be dead. Even if she wasn’t dead already.
“Just sorry I had to shoot her,” Brandon said. “I would have liked to see her go to trial and answer for the things she’s done. Which brings me back around to my original question. Why? What was the point of all this? Revenge on you?”
Rysen shook her head. “No. Remember, she started all this before anyone even knew I was coming back to town. Before Josh and I…” She didn’t finish that thought, but it was obvious what she meant. Before she and Josh started dating. Brandon’s expression was unreadable, but she wondered if he was feeling the same mixed up emotions she was.
“Then, why did she do it?” her father asked. “Why try to poison your sister? Why try to burn you alive? I’ve lived in the same town as that woman for her whole life and so help me, if I’d known she was this crazy I would have put a stop to her myself.”
“No one knew, Dad,” Rysen said. “How could we? She kept her crazy pretty well hidden. As to the why, I have a theory. It’s pretty crazy, but I think I’m right.”
They both waited for her to say more. She took a deep breath, and dove right into it.
“There’s treasure under our store.”
That got pretty much the exact reaction she had expected. When both of them realized she wasn’t joking, they began arguing over each other that it was a crazy idea and what was she thinking and couldn’t she just be serious?
That last comment came from her dad. Rysen had known this would be a hard sell, but it was the only thing that made sense. Beatrice had been down in that cellar looking for something. She hadn’t put it together at first, but then she remembered the stories that Mason Blaithe had talked about. Stories that every child in Cambria knew. There was buried treasure in the ground, if you knew where to look. Rysen figured Beatrice had figured out where to look. Or at least thought she had, and she was willing to kill to get her hands on it.
“I admit I can’t prove it,” Rysen said when they’d finally had their say. “But I think once all the rubble is cleared away from where Christina’s shop used to be, if we do a little digging of our own, we’ll find something down there.”
Her father shook his head and then downed the last of his coffee with a grimace. “Nasty stuff. Look, I’m just glad you’re all right, Rysen. I don’t know what I would have done if you or your sister had been in that building when…”
He coughed like he was clearing his throat, but Rysen could see the concern in his face and the way he shifted in his chair. She smiled at him, and was rewarded with a smile of his own.
That almost made it all worthwhile, just to know her father loved her that much.
“I’m going to go back to check on your sister again,” he declared, standing up. “Brandon, I don’t know how to say thank you. You saved my girls’ lives.”
The two of them shook hands. “You’re welcome, sir,” Brandon said to him. “Your daughters are special people. Glad I was there to help.”
After her father was gone, they sat and talked for a bit longer, about this and that, about what had happened, how scared Rysen had been, and how she was still very certain she wanted to become a private investigator.
Finally, he looked at her with a very serious expression and leaned in closer so he could lower his voice in a whisper. “I’ve got a lot of paperwork to do for the police. They take it personally when you shoot someone, even if it’s for a good reason. There’s something I wanted to say to you, first.”
Her breath caught in her throat. She knew what was coming.
“Rysen Morris, I think I love you.”
“Brandon, please…”
“I know, I know. You have a relationship going with Josh.” He nodded, and sighed. “I don’t want to make things hard for you. I just wanted you to know how I felt. I thought I owed you that much.”
“You just saved my life,” she said. “I don’t think you owe me anything.”
His hand found hers on top of the table, covering it warmly. “Yes. I do. Listen, I’ve said this to you before, but I’d like you to think about who you really want to be with. When you know for sure, let me know what you’ve decided.”
That was almost the same exact thing that Josh had said to her. The irony wasn’t lost on her. Brandon smiled at her with that beautiful smile of his, then stood up to leave. She watched him go, even though she could have called him back and they could have talked more and maybe she would have even found it in herself to say those three little words back to him.
The truth was, she still wasn’t sure what she wanted. She could go over all the arguments in her head as many times as she wanted. She just didn’t know.
Rysen hid a yawn behind the back of her hand. She knew one thing. She was tired. This had been the longest day of her life. She looked at the clock on the cafeteria wall. Was that really the time?
There was nothing else she could do here, except see her sister one last time. That, and apologize again for suspecting her in the first place. Would Christina ever forgive her for that, she wondered?
Rysen smiled as she made her way to the elevators. That’s what sisters did. They forgave each other.
Maybe a big bouquet of flowers from the gift shop would help.
***
When Rysen got home she stripped out of her clothes and took the longest, hottest shower of her life. There was dust and dirt and other things all over her clothes, plus a few cuts in the sleeves of her shirt. After she’d let the water wash the day away from her she struggled into her pajamas and into bed.
As tired as she was, she couldn’t sleep.
The question of Josh or Brandon was what kept her awake. With everything else that had happened, including nearly being killed by an insane woman, that one decision was what occupied her mind. For hours, she debated with herself.
In the end, the decision was a lot simpler than she thought it would be.
It just made sense. Once she’d allowed herself to make the choice, she realized it was exactly what her heart wanted. It felt right. It was right.
It was one more mystery she had solved.
Throwing off the covers she jumped out of bed, suddenly awake and energetic. Her phone was on the bedside table. She dialed his number.
After three rings, he answered.
“Hi,” she said. “I’ve made my choice.”
She waited for him to yawn and ask her what in the world she was talking about.
“My choice,” she repeated. “I choose you. I want to be with you.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, excitement creeping into his groggy, sleepy voice.
“Yes,” she told him. “I’m sure. I love you too, Brandon.”
-End-
More of the Rysen Morris Mystery Series
Thank you very much for reading Spirit of the Soul Part Three: Up In Smoke – A Rysen Morris Mystery!
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Strongly influenced by authors like James Patterson, Dick Francis, and Nora Roberts, Kathrine Emrick is an up and coming talent in the writing world. She is a new Kindle author/publisher and brings a variety of experiences and observations to her writing.
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