Murdering the Roses (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery) by Cindy Bell Page A

would. The truck would not serve as any kind of shield from the bullets and the twins were not likely to give up. After all with the amount of money they were after they certainly wouldn't care about two more murders.
    Vicky turned hard to catch the street that would lead them back to the inn. Luckily the twins missed the turn and Vicky was able to get some distance between them. She had the gas pedal to the floor when the engine began to sputter. The old truck was about ready to give out. She could see the inn in the distance rising up against the mid-morning sky. Never before in her life had she been so desperate to get to it. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. Now would not be the time to lose control of the truck.
    “We're heading that way,” she called into the phone that her Aunt held up for her to speak into. “So far they're not shooting, but they are definitely armed.”
    Meanwhile, the sheriff was running the information they had on Timothy. It was sketchy at best, but when run with the new information of Timothy having a twin brother, they came up with a match. In fact, it was an identical match of a man who was a Bob’s cell mate. A man who had been charged in the past with crimes related to murder for hire. The sheriff was being driven by one of the rookie officers to the inn when he got on the radio to all cars available.
    “We are dealing with some very dangerous individuals, who are reported to be armed. Please proceed with extreme caution, and remember we have civilians in the middle of all this, so be care ful what you are shooting at!” He then looked over at the rookie officer and barked at him, “can't you drive any faster?”
    As Vicky drew closer to the inn she could see the flashing lights of police cars against its stoic walls. She felt a slight sense of relief, but that relief disappeared when the twins' car began ramming them from behind. They must have seen the flashing lights as well and were trying their hardest to run the truck off the road before it could reach the inn.
    “Aunt Ida we're going to crash,” Vicky warned, her voice shaking as she spoke. “I can't keep the truck on the road much longer!”
    Just then she heard the squeal of tires and the sound of gunshots. She closed her eyes briefly, expecting to feel the pain of a bullet at any moment, but when she opened them she was still pulling into the long driveway that led up to the inn. The twins' car was no longer ramming them from behind. She dared a look in the rear view mirror and saw that a police cruiser had pulled up behind the twins' vehicle and taken out both of its back tires. The car had spun off into the ditch beside the driveway. The driver of the cruiser emerged with his gun drawn.
    “It's Mitchell!” she cried out with relief as the truck sputter ed into the parking lot of the inn before finally giving out. The truck was immediately surrounded by police cars that were waiting for them. Officers jumped out to escort the two women from the truck.
    “He needs back up!” Vicky announced with desperation in her voice, but other cars had already driven up behind Mitchell's, including Sheriff McDonnell's. Several officers were pointing their weapons at the twins' car. The two men began climbing out of the car as Vicky and Aunt Ida were whisked to safety within the inn's walls by two police officers.
    “What a ride!” Aunt Ida cried out with glee as she peered out the front window to see what was happening. Vicky was anxiously watching to see if Mitchell was safe. 
    She watched as the twins surrendered their weapo ns to the officers and then lay down in the driveway to be cuffed. They knew there was no way to get out of the situation now. As soon as Vicky was sure they were in custody she rushed out of the inn. Aunt Ida followed right after her.
    “Do you have any idea how much danger the two of you were in?” Sheriff McDonnell demanded as soon as the two brothers were escorted away to a waiting