Page 33 of Christmas Mittens Murder

“You’ve already admitted to us you stole the ring and why, Tawny, so you might as well admit to killing Esther, the one witness who could finger you, to keep her quiet about it.”

Tawny slowly backed away.

They had her dead to rights.

“Fine, yes, so what if I did it?” she spat out. “You’ve got nothing. Where’s your hard evidence?”

“We just heard you confess,” Hayley said.

“And I will deny it. I will say you were so desperate to prove yourself as some remarkable amateur sleuth, you were willing to do anything to pin the blame on someone just so you could claim another victory!”

Bruce turned to Hayley. “She’s right, honey. The cops are going to need more than just our word for it in order to make an arrest.” He smiled. “Oh, wait.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his phone. “I totally forgot, Tawny. We’ve also got your words.” He pointed his phone at her. His recording app was on, taping their entire conversation. “A full confession.”

Tawny’s face went ashen.

Then her eyes welled up with tears.

Hayley felt a twinge of sympathy for her.

But then she thought of poor Esther Willey, who had paid an enormous price for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Bruce pocketed his phone and turned to Hayley. “I’m going to go outside and call Sergio.”

As he started out, Tawny, feeling desperate and cornered, picked up the large metal candy cane by the door and, before Hayley could react, raised it above her head and swung it down hard on top of Bruce’s skull. He collapsed to the floor in a heap, unconscious.

And then Tawny, with a murderous look in her eye, turned her attention toward Hayley.

Chapter Fourteen

“Bruce!” Hayley cried, running to her husband, who was crumpled up on the floor. She bent down to shake him by the shoulder, desperately trying to revive him, when suddenly Tawny, waving the heavy metal candy cane around, charged forward to whack Hayley with it. Hayley popped back up to her feet and ducked just as Tawny viciously swung it, missing the top of Hayley’s head by a few inches. The tip of the giant candy cane smashed into the wall, leaving a dent.

Hayley sprang out the front door, stumbling around in the snow, blinded by the awesome, overwhelming display of lights. She ran as fast as she could, diving into the Frosty the Snowman bouncy house, rolling around, landing on her tummy, and peering out at the property. She saw Tawny, still armed with the large candy cane, searching the massive front yard for any sign of Hayley.

Hayley went completely limp, trying not to move inside the bouncy house, fearing Tawny might spot Frosty jiggling and then know Hayley was hiding inside.

Tawny started hunting around the manger scene, knocking a stuffed donkey aside, making certain Hayley wasn’t hiding behind any wise men or animals or the Baby Jesus’s stained wood crib. Swiveling her head about, Tawny was growing more and more agitated and frustrated.

“Come on out, Hayley! I promise I won’t hurt you. Let’s talk about this,” Tawny said sweetly. She paused, waited a few seconds for any kind of response and, when she received none, flared up with anger and slammed the candy cane down in the snow-covered frozen dirt. Then she stormed back inside the house.

Hayley waited, and then quietly rolled out of the bouncy house and carefully made her way toward the front gate when suddenly everything plunged into darkness.

Tawny must have cut the power by turning off all the circuit breakers. Hayley was totally blind, reaching out with her hands into the darkness, trying to make her way out.

She heard Tawny behind her calling out to her in a sing-songy voice. “Come out, come out, wherever you are! I’m going to find you, Hayley! I know every inch of this property. I know all the good hiding places! You can’t get away from me!”

Hayley shivered in the cold, pressing forward, confident she was not that far from the front gate, where she could slip out and then head into the woods, where it would be much easier to hide. She tripped over a bush and pitched forward, getting tangled up in some string of Christmas lights that had been draped over the bush. Her breathing got heavier as panic began to set in. The lights were wrapped around her arms and legs. She fought to free herself and feared she was making too much noise when she heard a sharp crack, and a bullet whizzed past her right ear, nearly nicking it. Tawny had gone inside to get a gun and was now hunting her down like a deer.

Hayley crawled to her feet and finally managed to shed the string of lights. She figured Tawny would instinctively follow her to the front gate, the obvious escape route, and so instead she darted around behind the manger scene and back toward the main house. She bumped into several displays before craning her neck back to try to locate Tawny. It was pitch black. She couldn’t see anything, but she could hear some labored breathing as Tawny doggedly tried tracking her down.

Hayley dropped to her knees and crawled up onto the front porch and through the front door, where she bumped into something in the dark. She heard a muffled groan and realized she had just slammed into Bruce, who was still lying on the floor.

“Bruce, are you all right?” Hayley whispered.

He moaned softly.

At least he was alive.

“Hayley! I’m starting to lose patience with you!” Tawny roared from outside. Hayley stood up and made her way down the hall to a utility closet, hoping she might find the circuit breakers so she could switch them on again.

---