Lemons 02 A Touch of Danger by Grant Fieldgrove

thinking until I had it all worked out. The car ride back to the beach was a long one.
    Something clicked in my brain, but not about Ms. Ricks.
    “Hey Elise, if this was a movie and we were on to a killer, who would be the innocent person that had to die?”
    “What are you talking about?” she asked.
    “Okay, in movies and TV shows, there are always innocent people that have to die to prove how bad the bad guy really is or how dangerous the mission is getting, or whatever. On Star Trek, whenever someone showed up with Kirk and Spock wearing a red shirt, you knew that guy was fucked…”
    “So what’s your point?”
    “I was just thinking, if this were a movie, who the innocent victim would be.”
    “Okay, but this isn’t a movie so who cares?”
    “I care. I just have a bad feeling about it and right now, I’m thinking that Jamie would be the most likely innocent victim. She was just introduced, if you will, into our story, and is our friend and our helper. A friendly old housekeeper would also fit this bill. They’re friends to the main protagonist but they’re not crucial to the story. They can be killed off without risking the loss of a sequel. Does this make sense?”
    “So what you’re saying is that since Jamie is helping us on a case for the first time, she is going to die?”
    “I’m not saying she IS going to die, I’m saying if this were a movie, she would be the most likely candidate. And right now she is all alone at the beach with your children and I don’t like it all. We need to get them back to Bakersfield, ASAP!”
    “God damn it, Archie.”
    I felt the car accelerate.
    ***
    Back now at the motel to see everyone safe and sound, thankfully. We explain to Jamie that we think it would be best to take the kids back home while we stayed a few more days here and tried to work this thing out. She seemed disappointed that she would be leaving the excitement but relieved that she would no longer have to deal with three kids at the beach by herself. I asked her to take Wrecker back home, too, saying that dogs are always good innocent targets for the villain, but she didn’t seem to have any idea what I was talking about.
    We packed the kids all up and sent them on their merry way, instructing them to call us as soon as they got home.
    Watching them go took a huge weight off my shoulders. I’m glad movies are so cliche.
    When Jamie’s car was out of sight, I walked to the motel office and explained we would only be needing one of the rooms from now on and I paid for an additional four nights.
    The clerk gave me a sly little smile and a wink. Not sure what that was all about. Was that guy hitting on me? How gay.
    I moved all my stuff in to Elise’s room with the two beds and plopped down to watch some RTV.
    Elise noticed my suitcase on the ground with all my clothes spilling out.
    “Jesus Christ, man, how much clothes did you bring? You realize we were only supposed to stay for a few nights, right?”
    “Yeah, I over-pack, so what?”
    “So nothing, I guess.”
    “Looks like it came in handy, huh?”
    “I suppose, oh wise one.”
    I grabbed the remote and clicked on the television.
    “What the heck are you doing?” Elise asked me and she snatched the remote from my hand and turned the TV off.
    “Hey! What’s the deal?”
    “Vacation is over. We have work to do.”
    “We can do work while watching TV. Come on.”
    “Nope. First you need to tell me why you think Emma Ricks is innocent.”
    “Fine, but I’m not completely convinced yet, but damn near, okay?”
    “Fine. Tell me.”
    “Okay, so Anderson filled me in on all the details of the case. I don’t know how he got it and I don’t care, all I know is that the police had solid proof that she was at the Jackson’s house the night of the murder, which she admits to, but what they did not have was a weapon. The knife that was used is long gone, never to be seen again. It was one of those large Martha Stewart looking knives and it