Revenge in the Roses (Lovely Lethal Gardens Book 18) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  About This Book

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  About Silenced in the Sunflowers

  Get Your Free Book Now

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

  About This Book

  A new cozy mystery series from USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer. Follow gardener and amateur sleuth Doreen Montgomery—and her amusing and mostly lovable cat, dog, and parrot—as they catch murderers and solve crimes in lovely Kelowna, British Columbia.

  Riches to rags. … Bullets start flying. … Rage is rising, … especially for some!

  When the journey to Rosemoor for a celebratory evening turns deadly, Doreen’s life is flipped on her head. She can only watch in horror as Mack is shot right in front of her. Horrified, she vows to solve this case and fast, before the shooter realizes he failed and comes back for a second attempt.

  Corporal Mack Moreau has been shot before, but this time it’s way worse because Doreen watched it all happen. Now she’s planning to catch the shooter before Mack even starts to heal. That’s not a good idea. She’s yet to consider that maybe the shooter wasn’t after Mack but really wanted to shoot her. After all, the cases she’s been involved in have created a whole new level of acquaintances in her life. How many of them are gunning for her?

  But Doreen is not deterred, and, with her trusty team at her side, she’s determined to keep Mack safe by finding his shooter before he tries again.

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  Chapter 1

  Late August, Tuesday Evening

  A few days later Doreen Montgomery walked down to Nan’s with Mack Moreau and the animals bouncing at her side. They loved to go for a walk at the best of times and adored going to Nan’s anytime, but to have Doreen and Mack together on this walk heading to their favorite place? Needless to say the animals were delirious with joy. Even Thaddeus struggled to figure out whose shoulder he should ride on and kept switching from Doreen to Mack and back.

  “This is becoming a bit of a habit,” Doreen noted.

  “Is two times a habit?” Mack asked in a teasing voice. “I don’t come down here anywhere close to the times that you visit.”

  “Maybe.” She shrugged, too happy to care.

  “I have to be there now because Nan is hosting a celebration for you.”

  Doreen chuckled. “I told her not to bother.”

  “Yep, but you also know how much she loves doing this kind of stuff.”

  “Yeah, that’s true,” she murmured. “She really does have fun, doesn’t she?”

  “And so she should. It’s important to her.”

  Doreen nodded. “And anything that’s important to Nan is important to me.”

  “Although I’m not too sure that I want Bernard there,” Mack noted in an odd tone.

  “You’re fine to have Bernard there,” she replied immediately, “because he doesn’t matter to me, not in that way.”

  “At least my brother has got your ex working on some paperwork. Now to get this divorce of yours settled.”

  “I know. Isn’t that huge?” She clapped her hands. “Also I have a message from Scott at the auction house, but I couldn’t reach him directly. Something about the antiques. He said it was good news though.” She beamed up at him. “Sounds like we get to eat for another day.”

  “Yay,” Mack said, with a grin. “You got the ten thousand dollar reward from Bernard. With any luck, Nick is making progress on your divorce. Plus now money from the antiques auction might be coming in too. You’ll be rolling in money before you know it.”

  “Even though I’m sharing that reward with Esther, I’m feeling pretty cheeky about money right now,” she admitted. “I know five thousand isn’t much. But, as Candy said, until you have to sell your clothing to buy food to eat, you don’t know what poor is.”

  “But I liked your response,” he replied. “It shows your priorities are right.”

  “I hope so,” she murmured. “How will Candy turn out in all this?”

  “Better than I think she expects. I mean, she had physical possession of the real diamond for ten years, yet she didn’t know it wasn’t the fake ring. Although she technically didn’t do anything illegal, she was still part of the original plan to steal one expensive diamond ring,” he added, “so that will be the only issue. I’ve left it with the DA to sort out, but I suspect she will get off with a small sentence or probation, if anything at all. She was there, helping to solve it at the end. At least that’s how she put it. Something about the way you suggested that she say it.”

  Doreen shrugged. “Candy didn’t complain when I called for the police to give us a hand,” Doreen noted, still beaming. “So, as far as I’m concerned, Candy helped solve it at the end, and she should be let off the hook. Besides, she has been going to therapy for a long time, will continue going, and seems intent on rehabilitating herself.”

  “I know,” Mack admitted. “And anything that she can do to get herself back on track is huge.”

  “I agree. It’s pretty sad when we see the same people committing crimes time and time again.”

  Mack nodded.

  As they came around the corner of the greenway, heading toward Nan’s, Doreen looked up at the sky and sighed. “It’s a perfect evening.”

  “And everybody’ll be there,” he said, chuckling. “What fun.”

  “I could do without all the attention,” she groaned.

  They came up to the huge rosebush alongside the pathway, leading from the parking lot to the front door of Rosemoor.

  She smiled and said, “Aren’t they beautiful?”

  “I didn’t think they bloomed this time of year.”

  She nodded. “Roses can bloom for a very long time, if they’re well tended to. Kind of like revenge.”

  He looked at her. “Where did that come from?” he asked.

  She shrugged, gave him a little smirk. “You know, like, Revenge in the Roses.”

  He rolled his eyes. “How about you just take a break from all these murder cases?”

  “Maybe,” she said cheerfully. “I intend to enjoy tonight at least.”

  “Good.”

  They walked the last few steps, when a man stepped out from a parked vehicle, and called out to Mack, “Hey, copper.”

  Mack turned toward him and frowned. “Can I help you?”

  “Absolutely you can. You can die.” And, with that, he shot Mack. He fired a second shot at Doreen, but she had already dropped beside Mack, who’d fallen into the rosebush.

  He called out, “Revenge is best served cold.” And, with a hard laugh, he added, “And now you’re dead too.” He bolted away in a vehicle, tearing off as fast as it could go.

  All Doreen could do—as she tried to stop the bleeding in Mack’s upper chest—was think about h
er words. Revenge in the Roses. Had she helped make this happen?

  Chapter 2

  Doreen huddled in the waiting room of the ER, more shaken and shocked than she’d thought possible. All she saw was Mack’s bleeding body in the bushes. She kept getting up and pacing, before sitting back down again. Several of Mack’s coworkers, and even the captain, had already approached her and had asked her question after question after question. She could tell them only so much. And most of that was pretty nonexistent. She knew Darren had gone to Rosemoor to talk to multiple people at the seniors’ living center, but she couldn’t imagine that anybody had anything to say. There wasn’t much to tell.

  As Doreen had gone over it time and time again in her own mind, she wasn’t sure that she could have done anything differently, but, at the same time, guilt ate at her. She hadn’t expected something like that.

  And the gunman’s words also concerned her. Instinctively she worried that the shooting was connected to one of her nightmarish cases, but she had her doubts. She told the captain that she was pretty sure this shooting had something to do with Mack’s cases. The captain had a team working on it right now, but still the captain wanted to make sure that she was okay.

  He asked her again, “Wouldn’t you be better off going home and resting there?”

  “No,” she replied. “I can’t leave him here.”

  He looked at her, smiled, and patted her hands. “I’m really glad you care, but Mack won’t be very happy if you wear yourself down any more than you already have with all these other cases. You’ve been here for hours.” He added, “Plus it’s been pretty chaotic in your world lately. You should rest as much as you can. They’re taking Mack in for surgery now, but the bullet didn’t cause any major damage, so he’ll be fine.”

  She took yet another shaky breath, looked at the captain, then smiled slightly. “I know that should calm me down, and I’m grateful for that. Plus he’d be livid if I felt guilty, but …”

  “And why would you feel guilty?” the captain asked curiously. “Did you know this would happen?”

  “No, of course not. But I feel like I should have done something more,” she’s cried out softly. “Or at least seen something. All I can tell you is the color of the vehicle and what the man looked like, but that’s not even clear. He had on a hat and sunglasses, and he had a small handgun. I didn’t even see it clearly enough to offer anything useful. We were just going down for that celebration and then …” She stopped and shook her head. “I don’t even want to think about that.”

  “One of my men is still down there, talking to all the residents.”

  She nodded. “I know Darren went down there. And I really hope that somebody at Rosemoor saw something, but chances are they don’t know what they might have seen.” He looked at her curiously. She shrugged. “You know what it’s like when a crime happens. Nobody ever sees anything, until you point out something completely unrelated, and they’re like, Oh, yeah, you mean like the guy I saw at such-and-such time.” She waved her hand around. “It’s as if you have to jog people’s memories.”

  The captain smiled. “You’ve come a long way doing all this. Became quite a pro in no time at all.”

  “I don’t know that I’ve come anywhere,” she muttered. “It seems none of it’s been worthwhile, as Mack got shot tonight.”

  It was a hugely sad reckoning for the type of work she did. She groaned softly, wishing she had an update on Mack’s condition.

  As if to answer her wish, the admitting doctor stepped out, looked at her, and asked, “You are still here?” And then his gaze landed on the captain, and the doc’s tone became a little more formal. “Mack is still in surgery, but I haven’t had any word as yet.”

  “And it’s not serious?” Doreen asked.

  “It’s serious, in that all surgery is serious,” the doctor explained, “but, in his case, it certainly could have been worse. If the bullet had been any lower …”

  She nodded. “That’s the thing, right? I mean, Mack’s a big guy. Plus I don’t even know if maybe Mack was already moving in a certain direction, such that the shot completely missed the location that this gunman was aiming for.”

  “Either way,” the doctor replied in all seriousness, “it’s a good thing it happened the way it did. Mack will pull through this with no problem.” But he looked at her and frowned. “You on the other hand …”

  At that, the captain stood and nodded. “I know. I’ve been trying to get her to go home, but she’s insistent on staying.”

  The doctor nodded, then froze.

  Just then the big double doors at the ER entrance opened up, and it looked like half of Rosemoor came striding in. As soon as Nan, who led the charge, saw Doreen, she cried out and raced to her side. “Are you okay?” Nan asked Doreen.

  “I’m fine,” Doreen murmured, reaching out and hugging her grandmother. “It’s not me who’s hurt. It’s Mack.”

  Nan gave a nod. “I heard that too. Darren’s been questioning everybody at the home. It’s so frustrating to think that we were there, most of us actively involved in getting ready for this celebration,” she stated, “and then look what happens. And, of course, none of us saw anything because we were so busy doing our own thing inside.”

  “Of course.” Doreen reached up to scrub away her fatigue. “How do you think I feel? I was right there beside Mack when it happened.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you feel guilty,” Nan murmured. “Yet there’s absolutely no reason for you to feel that way. You couldn’t have known what would happen.”

  Doreen gave her a sad look.

  “But you’ll feel that way anyway. I get it.” Nan looked over at the captain. “Captain, you should send her home. I went to the house looking for her, and, of course, she wasn’t there. That’s why I rounded up the troops to make sure you weren’t holding her.”

  The captain’s gaze went from Doreen to Nan and back. “I’m not holding her in any way. I’m also not keeping her at the hospital. Doreen’s free to go. In fact, I’ve tried many times to convince her to go home. However, she won’t leave Mack.”

  At that, the entire group of seniors behind Nan gave a happy sigh.

  “Oh, we do like hearing that.” Richie turned to look at Nan and whispered, “I want to double my money on that bet.”

  Doreen gasped and jumped to her feet.

  Nan immediately reached over and patted her granddaughter’s arm. “It’s fine.” She gave Richie a quelling look, and he flushed, realizing that he’d said something completely inappropriate right in front of the captain. And Doreen.

  Doreen glared at Richie, turned back to the captain, and asked, “Will Mack be kept in the hospital?”

  The captain pivoted to the doctor, who was still here, an odd look on his face, as he studied the group of ragtag seniors in front of him. “Doc, will Mack be let out anytime soon?”

  “We’ll certainly keep him overnight and likely for several days,” the doc replied. “But it will be up to the surgeon himself as to what we’re looking at for as a time frame—not to mention if anything goes wrong during surgery.”

  At that, Doreen’s bottom lip bubbled out.

  The doc shook his head. “We’re not expecting any problems,” he rushed to reassure her.

  She didn’t know what to say, but just because he wasn’t expecting problems didn’t mean that they wouldn’t happen. She ran a hand over her forehead. Then she looked at Nan. “He could be here for quite a while. Maybe I should go home for a bit.” Although she didn’t know why. Then the why hit her.

  “I need to take care of the animals. As soon as Mack was taken away, I tried to get into the ambulance with him, but they wouldn’t let me because of the animals,” she said in outrage. “Like, I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t the animals be allowed?”

  The captain just stared at her.

  Her shoulders sagged. “Okay, fine. I’m not being reasonable.”

  “And that’s a sure sign,” replied the captain, “that you
need to go home and rest. If Mack’s conscious, I’ll get him to call you. If he’s not conscious, I’m sure you’ll find out how he’s doing later this evening.”

  “Meaning, I’m also not family, so I won’t be allowed in to see him.” She groaned and then looked at the captain. “Did you phone his brother and his mother?”

  “I phoned Millicent, and somebody has contacted his brother. I believe he’s on his way up here.”

  “Right, he lives down on the coast.”

  Hating herself for her errant thoughts about how to avoid Nick, she realized she would have to deal with Nick as well, which made the decision for her at this moment. “Considering the ordeal I’ve got coming now,” she muttered, “I might as well go home and try and get some rest.” But she hesitated, looking around at the ER staging area, even though she knew that Mack wasn’t here.

  At that, the captain got up. “I’ll send you home in a cruiser. I promise, if anybody hears anything, we’ll let you know.”

  She looked up at him gratefully. “Thank you.” And then she caught Nan trying to poke her head around various curtains to see who all was inside the ER.

  Doreen grabbed her grandmother’s arm and asked in a low voice, “What are you doing?”

  “Checking to see who’s having trouble today,” she said in a chatty voice. “You never know who you’ll find in a place like this.”

  Doreen rolled her eyes, as the admitting doctor’s gaze widened. Doreen winced and apologized. “I’m sorry. I’ll take them out of here.”

  He nodded slowly. “That’s an interesting group of friends you have.”

  “Not just me.” Doreen laughed. “They’re also here to support Mack.”

  “Oh, absolutely we are.” Richie nodded. “Although my grandson told me to stay home.”

  The captain looked at him and sighed. “And, of course, that wasn’t something you were willing to do, huh?”

  “No, of course not, not if Doreen’s here,” Richie replied. “That’s where the action is. And, if poor Mack’s been hurt, we all must stand in solidarity behind him.”

  The captain suddenly caught sight of the large Rosemoor bus outside the main entrance door. “Did you guys commandeer the bus? Who drove?” he asked suspiciously.