“I never agreed to it,” one of the other men said. “I never agreed to hiding a body. All I agreed to was having Jason fake getting hurt on the job.”
“Yeah,” said the other. “Jason volunteered for it as long as he got the biggest share of money. When you hit him too hard and it started to all go wrong, the only reason I agreed to keep my mouth shut was because it was already done and over with, and none of us meant to kill him. But this is different. What you’re asking for is murder, and I'm out.”
Ellie watched as one by one the three men surrendered, putting their hands up and standing against the motel wall. Ronald look around, realizing that between Russell and Steve, he was outnumbered, now that his men had abandoned him. He shoved Ellie one more time, sending her falling to the ground again, where she skinned her hands and knees, then he took off running, trying to get into the van. He was too slow, however, and Steve grabbed the driver’s door before he could slam it shut. Russell was only seconds behind and he yanked Ronald out of the car and slammed him against the side of the van. This time, he was prepared to make an arrest, and snapped handcuffs on the man. He left Steve watching the enraged man and hurried over to Ellie.
“Are you okay?” he asked, reaching his hand out to her.
She stood up, wiping the gravel from the palm of her hand. She was bleeding, but it wasn't bad.
“Never better,” she gasped. He pulled her into a hug.
Epilogue
Considering the fact that her best friend's husband had witnessed the arrest of the four men behind Jason Strauss’s death, Ellie had a lot of explaining to do to her friends. She only wanted to tell the story once, so she waited until Russell got the full story out of the men, and the next day she had Joanna, Steve, Shannon, and James all over for dinner. Russell was there as well, and Nonna was on the phone, set to speakerphone. Ellie told them all the story about how she had realized the truth when the cleaners mentioned drinking to Jason the night before. Russell hadn't even discovered the identity of the body until that same day, so there was no way that they could have known before he did, unless they had witnessed Jason’s death. Everything had been so rushed those couple of days that both of them had overlooked the obvious. When she finally realized what was going on, she hadn’t even thought before confronting the men then and there.
“So, it wasn't premeditated,” she finally said. “Or, it was, but it wasn't murder. They meant to make it look like Jason got hurt while he was working. It would've been a pretty bad injury, something they could collect insurance benefits on, but I don’t think any of them meant for him to be permanently hurt. From what they said last night, Jason was supposed to collect the largest percentage of the payoff, and the others would get a little less. Ronald had signed them all up for an extremely good insurance plan, and the payout would have been enough for them all to at least take a good vacation. But something went wrong, and he hit Jason with the brick way too hard. Jason died and they all panicked. Ronald convinced them that they had all just become accessories to murder and would end up in prison for life if they didn't help him hide the body.”
“So, they hid him in your grandmother's basement,” Shannon said, holding her hands to her mouth in shock.
“I don't think they expected it to be discovered for a couple of weeks,” Ellie said. “Ronald removed the man's fingerprints and teeth so he wouldn't be easy to identify, and he knew that there was no paper trail connecting him to the cleaning business. He probably didn't know that Jason had listed the cleaning business as his job on social media.”
“Did you ever find out who broke into the house that night?”
Ellie nodded. “It was Ronald. I mentioned in front of him that the attic had some of my grandmother's things in it, and that he shouldn't go in there. When the insurance payout failed, he must've been panicking, since he had to pay large insurance premiums every month. He must have thought it would be easy pickings, to break in and steal her stuff. Thanks to Kevin and Sawyer, that didn't work out.”
They all chatted for a while longer, then Ellie stood up to take the casserole out of the oven. It was an unplanned dinner party, but she wasn't complaining. It was nice to have them all together and safe. Making something for them all to eat was the least she could do. She wanted to show Steve how grateful she was after he had saved her the other night. That wasn't something she could just forget. She still wasn't sure that she liked what he was doing to the town, but he seemed like a pretty decent person. As far as she was concerned, he would always be welcome in her home.
While she was busy getting the food ready, Russell came into the kitchen and put his arms around her.
“Are you doing okay?” he asked her.
She turned around to kiss him. “Never better,” she said, meaning it this time.
Also by Patti Benning
Papa Pacelli’s Series
Book 1: Pall Bearers and Pepperoni
Book 2: Bacon Cheddar Murder
Book 3: Very Veggie Murder
Book 4: Italian Wedding Murder
Book 5: Smoked Gouda Murder
Book 6: Gourmet Holiday Murder
Book 7: Four Cheese Murder
Book 8: Hand Tossed Murder
Book 9: Exotic Pizza Murder
Book 10: Fiesta Pizza Murder
Book 11: Garlic Artichoke Murder
Book 12: On the Wings of Murder
Book 13: Mozzarella and Murder
Book 14: A Thin Crust of Murder
Book 15: Pretzel Pizza Murder
Book 16: Parmesan Pizza Murder
Book 17: Breakfast Pizza Murder
Book 18: Halloween Pizza Murder
Book 19: Thanksgiving Pizza Murder
Book 20: Christmas Pizza Murder
Book 21: A Crispy Slice of Murder
Book 22: Lobster Pizza Murder
Book 23: Pizza, Weddings, and Murder
Book 24: Pizza, Paradise, and Murder
Book 25: Meat Lovers and Murder
Book 26: Classic Crust Murder
Book 27: Hot, Spicy Murder
Book 28: Pork, Pizza, and Murder
Book 29: Chicken Alfredo Murder
Book 30: Jalapeño Pizza Murder
Book 31: Pesto Pizza Murder
Book 32: Sweet Chili Murder
Darling Deli Series
Book 1: Pastrami Murder
Book 2: Corned Beef Murder
Book 3: Cold Cut Murder
Book 4: Grilled Cheese Murder
Book 5: Chicken Pesto Murder
Book 6: Thai Coconut Murder
Book 7: Tomato Basil Murder
Book 9: Hearty Homestyle Murder
Book 10: Honey BBQ Murder
Book 11: Beef Brisket Murder
Book 12: Garden Vegetable Murder
Book 13: Spicy Lasagna Murder
Book 14: Curried Lobster Murder
Book 15: Creamy Casserole Murder
Book 16: Grilled Rye Murder
Book 17: A Quiche to Die For
Book 18: A Side of Murder
Book 19: Wrapped in Murder
Book 20: Glazed Ham Murder
Book 21: Chicken Club Murder
Book 22: Pies, Lies and Murder
Book 23: Mountains, Marriage and Murder
Book 24: Shrimply Murder
Book 25: Gazpacho Murder
Book 26: Peppered with Murder
Book 27: Ravioli Soup Murder
Book 28: Thanksgiving Deli Murder
Book 29: A Season of Murder
Book 30: Valentines and Murder
Book 31: Shamrocks and Murder
Book 32: Sugar Coated Murder
Book 33: Murder, My Darling
Killer Cookie Series
Book 1: Killer Caramel Cookies
Book 2: Killer Halloween Cookies
Book 3: Killer Maple Cookies
Book 4: Crunchy Christmas Murder
Book 5: Killer Valentine Cookies
Asheville Meadows Series
Book 1: Small Town Murder
Book 2: Murder on Aisle Three
Book 3: The Heart of Murder
Book 4: Dating is Murder
Book 5: Dying to Cook
Book 6: Food, Family and Murder
Book 7: Fish, Chips and Murder
Book 8: Deathly Ever After
Tails of Alaska
Book 1: Mushing is Murder
Book 2: Murder Befalls Us
Author’s Note
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