Spring Break Murder Page 15

  The bike ride was scheduled to start at eleven, which gave us an hour to ride to our destination where we would have a picnic lunch to celebrate the bike riding season. This was the time of year that many of the snowbirds started to migrate home after winter, so it was a fun farewell sort of event. There was even supposed to be some fun games and a raffle to win a few prizes. Normally it would be a relaxing event, but today was going to be a little bit different.

  I wanted to have someone come with me, but no one else wanted to go for a long bike ride and I couldn't actually tell them what was going to happen with the plan and everything, so I knew I would have to do this alone. First, I wanted to send a message to Max.

  Hey Max, just wanted to say I love you and I hope you have a good day.

  If I told Max my plan, I knew he would do everything in his power to talk me out of it. At least when I was in Shady Lake, he was around to help me with my crazy plans, but there was no way I would be able to convince him that I knew what I was doing. So I made the decision to not tell him until it was over.

  Even though Max was working, he was usually able to send a quick message back. Today was no different as my phone buzzed almost instantly.

  Hey Sweet Thing, I love you too. Have a great bike ride.

  I needed to do something to distract myself until it was time for the bike ride, so I took my stack of trashy magazines out to the deck along with some breakfast and flipped through them as I fueled up for the ride. Losing myself in the world of celebrity gossip was all too easy and when I looked at my phone, I realized it was almost time to start the ride. If I didn't skedaddle, they would leave without me and the plan would be ruined.

  Tossing all of my magazines into my suitcase, I grabbed the bike helmet and shoved it on my head, clicking the buckle under my chin. As I climbed on the bicycle seat and pushed off, I couldn't help trying to get myself into the right mindset.

  "It's go time," I whispered to myself before I started laughing hysterically at just what a dope I was. I took a few deep breaths to calm down and re-center myself. I couldn't be weird or emotional if I wanted to catch a killer.

  I joined the large group of bicycles at the entrance gate. I had been told there were two rules to be part of the Bike Brigade: Everyone had to wear a helmet and everyone had to wear a red shirt. I was a rule follower, so check and check.

  The Bike Brigade was much bigger than I expected and several dozen park residents and their bicycles were waiting at the park entrance. I was a bit tickled to see a handful of couples even had two-seater bicycles. Maybe I could talk Max into riding one of those with me. The sea of red bicycle riders milled around until finally Susie climbed up onto a rock that was in the grass next to the paved road. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted out directions to everyone.

  "Hello everyone, I'm so glad you could join us today," she said. "Everyone seems to be following the rules of the club so let me just say that it looks like great weather for our picnic and if everyone rides safely, it will be a great day."

  There was a smattering of cheers and clapping before everyone climbed on their bicycles. I hadn't actually gotten off of my bike so I scooted around everyone, hoping to stay towards the front of the pack during the ride. The best bet for our plan to work was if I could stay up front, which would be a challenge both mentally and physically for me, not to mention having to try not to focus on my poor hands.

  Susie was the leader of the Bike Brigade and she planned the routes so once she shoved off and started pedaling, the rest of the Brigade followed along. I ended up just a few spots back from the front, which would be great. The beginning of the ride was along a semi-busy highway, so we all went single file to make sure no one was too close to the cars that were whizzing past. In Minnesota, everyone looked out for bike riders and gave them space but apparently that wasn't the case in all states. Score another for Minnesota.

  I tried to keep a slow, steady pace so that I wouldn't burn out my leg muscles right away. There wasn't much I could do until we were done riding in one big line. I was pleased to find out that I wasn't puttering out as fast as I thought I would. Once I was back in Minnesota and the snow melted, I thought maybe I would buy a bike.

  Susie signaled a turn and just like a group of synchronized swimmers, we all signaled along with her, everybody turning right one person at a time. My hand was the only bandaged one that didn't fit into the group. This time we were riding along a road that had much less traffic so we were able to ride more in pairs and groups.

  The sun was getting hotter and even though there was a nice breeze, I could feel that my hair was full of sweat under my helmet. If this plan worked, I hoped no one was there to get my picture for the paper because I'm sure I would look atrocious.

  After a few bursts of energy that left me mostly breathless, I ended up riding next to Susie. She had a smile on her face, but she seemed tense. Her hands were clutching her handlebars so tightly that her knuckles were white.

  "Hi Tessa," she said. "I would ask about your hands but there is no time for conversation. I need to keep our pace."

  "Oh that's alright," I said, trying not to huff and puff. "I'll just ride along with you. It's been nice getting back on a bike. Thanks for lending one to me. And my hands are okay, just a little accident."

  Susie nodded, looking straight ahead. Even though our pace wasn't that fast, Susie was not interested in making conversation. That was fine with me. I had one thing that I needed to make sure of before we got to our destination. It was the final piece of the puzzle, just to make sure my hunch was right before we put the plan into place.

  Unfortunately, I couldn't confirm it until we stopped or at least slowed down a little bit. I might have remembered how to ride a bicycle and I might even be having a little fun doing it, but I couldn't do more than one thing at a time.

  We went up and down a few rolling hills. Sweat was pouring down the back of the red polo shirt I had borrowed from Sally. I hoped it wasn't a new shirt or else I would have rivers of red dye down my back. That was probably preferable to the red sunburn I had figured I would bring home from vacation, although I hadn't had any time to sunbathe.

  My thoughts turned to sun burn as I focused on how hot my face felt. I hadn't put any sunscreen on before the bike ride, which was proving to be a mistake. We had been riding into the sun the entire time. I just hoped my face wouldn't be peeling when Max picked me up at home. Shedding my face skin may be the ultimate test to make sure he is worthy to marry, I suppose. If he could love me through that, he could love me through anything.

  Susie stuck her arm out and made the stop signal. I put my bandaged hand out to signal a stop also. Up ahead, there was a four-way intersection with stop signs on each side. We slowed to a stop and I took the chance to check for the last clue I needed.

  Once my bike was at a complete stop next to Susie, I looked over at her neck. Bouncing over her red shirt on her chest was a necklace with a bike charm dangling from it, matching the one I had seen on the security tape. Gotcha.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The rest of the bike ride was a bit of a blur. Once I saw the necklace that Susie was wearing and confirmed that it matched the necklace I saw on the person in the security tape, I had to wait until we reached our destination before I could make the rest of the plan work.

  I stayed next to Susie for the rest of the ride, worried that if I backed off she would either get suspicious of me or that I would somehow lose her. The beginning of the ride had been pretty easy but the further we rode, the more winded I got. It was a good kind of tired though, and I was still seriously considering buying a bike to get me around Shady Lake next summer.

  As we rode on, I tried to focus and think about why Susie would have been at the pool after Louise. Had she been the one to actually kill Hilda? Why had she been wet after she left the pool that night? There were so many questions. I just hoped that the questions would be answered soon.

  After what seemed like an eternit
y of bike riding, we turned onto a road that had a big sign next to it announcing that we had made it to our destination. The picnic was going to be at a state park a bit out of the city. The Bike Brigade had rented a picnic shelter there for a few hours so that everyone could sit in the shade while we prepared to ride back all the way back to the park. My poor sunburnt nose would thank them for the shade.

  There were a few cars parked outside next to the picnic shelter, mostly the club members who had volunteered to drive over the food and other provisions for the picnic. But there was one car with tinted windows that just had to be Officer Mendoza. I flashed as much of a thumbs-up as I could make towards the car so he would know I had visual confirmation of the necklace. I couldn't see inside the car, so I wondered if Officer Johnson was along. He may be pretty vanilla, but that didn't mean he was a bad cop. I really should cut him a little slack, but I had been worried that he wouldn't want to go along with our plan.

  I pulled my bike around the the side of the picnic shelter and parked it with all of the other bikes. Even though I had come up with the basics of the plan, Officer Mendoza was the one who would make sure it all worked which included timing things just right. I was depending on him to make it all come together.

  A few of the permanent grills around the picnic shelter were already full of meat with some of the men of the club tending them. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and bratwursts all had their own grills and the barbecuers dutifully turned and poked and prodded them until they were deemed done and put on platters, ready to be eaten.

  As lunch was cooking and being set up, I wandered around making small talk and trying not to be nervous. Susie was also milling around the crowd and I wasn't sure if it was just me, but she seemed to be giving me a wide berth. Or I may have just been hyper aware of her whereabouts. Either way, I kept my eye on Susie.

  Even though I had eaten a bigger breakfast to fuel up for the ride, I was famished after all of that. I loaded up my plate with potato chips, a hamburger, and a bar for dessert. Lunch was delicious even though I could barely taste it because I ate it so fast. I did take the time to savor my dessert, which was the kind of bar that had cereal and peanut butter as a base layer with a nice, thick, chocolate frosting. My fingers were covered with thick chocolate after eating one of those in the Florida heat. As much as I would have loved to lick all of the chocolate off of my fingers, I resisted the temptation and used a napkin to wipe them off instead.

  Now I was starting to get antsy. When would Officer Mendoza put our plan into place? It felt like it was taking forever and the longer it took, the more nervous I got. The officers would need to show themselves soon.

  "Hello there," Susie's voice suddenly boomed around the picnic shelter. Apparently there was a speaker system in place. "I'd just like to welcome everyone to the end of the year picnic for the Bike Brigade."

  A light amount of applause came from the audience as I looked around, finally spotting Susie standing next to the table of desserts holding a microphone. She still looked nervous like she had before but for all I knew it was unrelated to our plan and she just had a fear of public speaking.

  "Before we get to the raffle and some of the games, I'd just like to talk a little bit about this year's Bike Brigade and some of the fun things we all did together," Susie said, running her fingers through her sweaty hair.

  She pulled out a piece of paper and started reading off trips they had taken together. Honestly, it sounded pretty fun and I thought that if there wasn't already a bike club in Shady Lake, I should start one after I buy my bicycle. I was scanning the crowd when I noticed that someone in the car with tinted windows was trying to get my attention. Susie was busy with her spiel, so I took the chance to sneak out of the shelter and over to the car.

  The front window rolled down just enough so I could see Officer Mendoza in the driver's seat. Next to him was a grumpy looking Officer Johnson while Louise was waving frantically at me from the backseat. Well, the gang was all here.

  "Tessa, I saw what looked like a thumbs up and I am assuming that means you saw the necklace?" Officer Mendoza asked. Normally, he was in a happy, smiley mood but today he was all business. His face was set in a serious, eyebrow furrowing expression. There would be no joking around before the plan went down.

  "Yes, it was definitely her necklace I saw on the security tape," I said. "I'm not sure what she did, but she was definitely in the pool area on the night of Hilda's murder."

  "Louise, are you ready to do your part?" Officer Mendoza asked.

  I bent down a little to see Louise a bit better. She was chewing her lip, but nodded her head.

  "I'm ready," Louise said. "Justice needs to be done, for Hilda."

  "Let's just hope this works," Officer Johnson said. "This plan isn't that much of a plan and I'm still not sure why we are depending so much on this civilian with the broken hands."

  Officer Johnson sat scowling at me from the front seat. He alternated between giving me the stink eye and pretending I wasn't there. To be honest, I understood why he was so skeptical. In Shady Lake, the police officers knew me and knew they could trust me if it came to that. But down here in Florida, they didn't know me from Sam. I was some lady who waltzed into a murder investigation to help. And the plan I came up with wasn't really a plan, it was more of a very basic idea of a plan that we were mostly going to wing.

  But I did have one thing going for me: for some reason Officer Mendoza believed in me. I'm not exactly sure why other than maybe he was like me and he followed his gut instinct. Either way, Susie wasn't going to stand up there and speak forever. We needed to get this plan rolling or it might not work at all.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  I took a deep breath and prepared for my part of the plan. Everyone was still munching on their lunches, listening to Susie. I hadn't really been listening to what she was saying, but at this point she had to be wrapping up. It was now or never if we wanted this to work.

  Winding my way through the picnic tables, I made my way to the front of the crowd. When Susie spotted me, she suddenly stopped talking and looked at me like I was some sort of idiot. I kind of felt like an idiot, but this was all part of the plan.

  I reached out with both hands and grabbed the microphone out of Susie's hand. She was so surprised she didn't even try to stop me so I took the opportunity to wrap one arm around her shoulders so that she couldn't walk away when she realized what was about to happen. I struggled to hold the microphone in just one hand since it was still bandaged, but I needed to make sure that Susie stayed next to me.

  "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I have a few things to say," I said. I tried to make my voice so syrupy sweet that it almost dripped, hoping the crowd would go along with me. "First of all, my name is Tessa and I am staying with Bill and Sally. I'm best friends with their daughter Mandy. Second of all, let's just give a round of applause for Susie and everything she does for this club."

  The crowd went along with me and applauded for Susie, who waved one hand in confusion. There were even a few cheers from some of the more enthusiastic Bike Brigade members. I waited for the noise to die down before I continued on. This was the key part of the plan. Taking a big breath, I continued on.

  "Now, I have a surprise for everyone," I said. I plastered a big smile on my face. "We have a special guest here today that most of you probably already know. I'm pleased to announce that Louise Templeton is here, fresh from the police station."

  Louise took her cue beautifully, emerging from behind the picnic shelter wall and walking slowly through the crowd. She waved like a star to her adoring fans as she slowly floated through the crowd. I was pleased to see she was met with smiles and waves from most of the people she passed by. Louise's biggest desire in life was to be loved and accepted and she deserved that.

  I glanced at Susie to see that her face registered absolute shock. Her mouth was open and she looked dumbfounded. I could see that she was trying to figure out what was going on. A few obscenities came out under
her breath as I could see that she was trying to figure out why Louise had been let out and whether anyone knew about her connection to the murder.

  Louise finally got to the front of the crowd and stood on the other side of Susie, hemming her in so that she was stuck between the two of us. I could feel Susie tense up. She was so nervous that it was almost like she was a caged wild animal.

  "If anyone didn't know, Louise was being held as a suspect in Hilda's murder," I said. I tried to sound as upbeat as possible so I didn't spoil the picnic mood, but it was hard to be positive about someone being murdered. "But now she has been released because new evidence has come to light."

  "I will tell my side of the story because I know everyone is curious," Louise said. She was lapping up the spotlight. I supposed it was her moment to shine, in a completely weird way. "I saw Hilda in the pool area and I went in to give her a piece of my mind. It got a little heated and I'm ashamed to admit that I shoved her. She fell over and hit her head but that was when I left. I got scared and I ran home, bumping into Susie on the way who was kind enough to escort me the rest of the way."

  Louise turned to look at Susie, her eyes filled with warmth. She reached out and put her hand on Susie's shoulder. Susie was trying to avoid looking at Louise and when she felt Louise's touch, she flinched away. I was holding her tight enough that she couldn't move far. Instead, Susie dropped her gaze to the ground. I hoped that our plan would start working soon because I didn't want this to become too much of a public spectacle.

  "It took a little while for this all to get straightened out with the police," Louise said with an odd laugh. "Obviously it looked like I was the one who had murdered Hilda. I'll be the first to admit that I should not have pushed her, but when I left she was alive and well. That means that someone out there was the one who killed Hilda and instead of doing the right thing and turning themselves in, they are letting people like me and Mandy take the fall for it."