Death By A HoneyBee Read online

  “Do you have any idea of what you have put me through? How much money you have cost me?”

  “Josiah, it was easy to set you up. If another beekeeper had been having trouble with Richard, then I would have used him. Like I said, you were convenient.”

  “Meaning the argument at the State Fair.”

  “Yes. You and Richard were so busy eyeballin’ each other that it was easy for me to switch the tags on the jars. Nobody paid any attention to me, no one ever does. And you just left the claim tickets out in the open where anyone could get at them. It didn’t occur to me that he would actually push you, but when he did – so much the better for me. Then you pushed him back. He wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Well, that certainly makes me feel better that it wasn’t personal,” I growled. “How did you make a call on my cell phone?”

  “That was easy too. Don’t you remember you sat near me at the Beekeepers’ Meeting in August? When everyone was loading up their plates during the potluck, including you, I simply hung back. Your back was turned; your purse was open and the cell phone on the top. Richard had our phone turned off at the time, besides he never would have thought to check the time or date that the call was made. I told him I took the call. We had just one phone between the two of us and shared it.”

  “What was the purpose?”

  “I had to have a record that you contacted him. Just more smoke and mirrors. I told Richard that you had called and wanted to see him. You were thinking of selling out and wanted to give him first crack at buying your bees.”

  “So you lured him to my house and stabbed him with adrenaline pens.”

  “He was overweight. Had high blood pressure. The doctor had him on medication. I didn’t know if it would really work, but it was my only chance to be free. I tased him first and just pushed him in where he had pulled some frames

  out. The hive was already open where he was checking it. Then I stuck him in the neck with the pens in the taser burn area and started banging on the side of the hive. It didn’t take much to get those bees stirred up. It was a hard thing to do, but I was desperate to get away from him. To get Taffy away from him.”

  “Oh come on. I think the $750,000 life insurance policy may have been the main incentive.”

  “An incentive – not the motive. The life insurance policy was just the icing on the cake. I had thought of a way to get rid of that wretched man for once and for all.” Tellie exhaled. “You have no idea what freedom tastes like until you have been kept in a cage. I waited years for an opportunity to kill him.”

  “What did you have to do with the letters and the attempts on my life?”

  “That was all Nancy’s doing. One of the reasons I am leaving this town is to get Taffy away from that lunatic. As soon as I bail Taffy out, we’re leaving Lexington forever.”

  “Skipping out on her court date?”

  “Skip out, drop out. I don’t care what you call it. I am taking my daughter and shaking the dust of this snobby town off my shoes. We are going to start fresh and clean where no one knows us.”

  “Taffy will be a fugitive for the rest of her life. Think about what you’re doing,” I said.

  “My daughter will have the special tutoring and education she needs. For the first time, she will have a chance at a good life, and not just the crumbs. I’m not going to waste the insurance money on a trial lawyer when I can use it for her college education. I made a choice of what to do with the money that is left. I am going to give my daughter every advantage in the world. All my married life, I took the brunt of Richard’s anger trying to protect Taffy. And I will go on protecting her until the day I die. Taffy is going to have the life I didn’t.”

  “You’re defaulting on your house?”

  Tellie smirked. “The house was paid in full this morning and will go on the market in two weeks. My lawyer is handling all the details. And once the house is sold, I will have a hundred thousand plus. Meanwhile, Taffy and I will be far, far away.”

  “Speaking of money, how are you going to be free of Joyce?”

  Tellie looked confused. “Don’t know what you mean.”

  “Come on, isn’t she blackmailing you because she covered the last half hour of your shift and lied for you so you could have an alibi?”

  “Don’t you dare drag Joyce into this! She’s my friend. You have no idea what you are talking about.”

  “I know that she stupidly deposited twenty thousand dollars in her bank account, her payoff to lie for you.”

  “Joyce knew nothing, asked for nothing. I asked her to cover for me that day, lied to her saying that I was meeting a man. She knew about my marital problems, so she was happy for me when I told her that I had met someone special. When I got the insurance check, I gave her that money.”

  “As a payoff.”

  “No! As a gift to a friend. She wants to take her dying child to Disneyland. I gave her the twenty thousand so that she and her son could have everything their hearts desired on this trip. She knew nothing about my plans. She thinks I am leaving to meet this made-up man just for the weekend.”

  That certainly knocked the wind out of my sails, but I refused to let sentimentality cloud my judgment. I was fighting for something too – me. “You could have just left Richard like Agnes did.”

  “Left him?” Tellie was indignant. “That’s what everybody says who has never been faced with a woman beater. I did leave him. See what it got me.” She pulled up her sweater. There were faded scars on the inside of her arms, looking like someone had carved a face on a pumpkin. “I ran away with Taffy when she was eight. It took him over a year, but he tracked me all the way up in Seattle, where I was working as a waitress.” She shook her arm at me. “This was my punishment. He told me while I was lying in my own blood, that the next time he would take it out on Taffy.”

  “Why didn’t you go to the police, the women’s shelter, something other than murder?”

  Tellie laughed out loud. “What do you think would have happened when he got out on bail and that is, if he got a judge who took my situation seriously? How many women are killed each year in this country by angry estranged husbands? Just in this city alone?”

  “Too many,” I agreed.

  “Do you think an EPO is any protection? It’s a crummy piece of paper. Unless a battered woman has the money to hire a bodyguard, she’s a sitting duck. You know it.

  “The law is no use to women like me. The law doesn’t protect women like me. It’s all in the man’s favor. And don’t quote me the law, Josiah. The law states that I can only defend myself while I am being attacked. Why should I wait until I am the most vulnerable? Even at Richard’s weakest, he was stronger than me. He liked to sucker punch. Most of the time, the blows came so fast I didn’t have time to move out

  of the way. You can call the police but I don’t deserve to go to jail. I don’t deserve one hour of punishment. Richard got what was coming to him.”

  Her tired bloodshot eyes pleaded with me. “With this money, we can have a new start. I can live without fear. It is up to you, Josiah. Let me go. Please.”

  “You murdered a man! You tried to frame me for his death. Don’t you have any remorse?” I cried.

  “It was the only way out. You know that if I left him, he would have come for me. You know there would have been more violence. Every time he went into a rage, I would think – he’s going to kill me today. I lived with death every day, then I decided I had to get him first before I tried to leave him again. I just didn’t want to take a chance on it being me that was dead.” Tellie pleaded, “Please. Let me live my life in peace and take care of my daughter. You know what it is like to love a child, wanting only the best for your baby. What will happen to Taffy if I am not around to guide her? You saw how that crazy nurse talked her into the stupidest things.”

  “Shut up,” I demanded. “Don’t say that. What you did was wrong.”

  But was it justifiable? The problem was I do believe in justice . . . but some
times justice doesn’t come from a courtroom.

  Shaneika called me later that afternoon, saying she wanted to come over. I gave her the new gate code, as I changed it every few days. It wasn’t long before her car pulled up. I was out by the pool drinking sweet tea spiked with lots of vodka and chewing on a cigar. Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue was playing. His was the best music to get drunk by.

  She plopped heavily into a lounge chair and poured herself a drink. “Wheee, that is strong!” Shaneika exclaimed.

  I pulled a wet towel from my eyes. “Has anyone ever told you that you are a very loud person?”

  “Is that Coltrane playing?”

  “Davis. Shhhh. You’re destroying the mood.”

  “Why do you smoke those filthy cigars when you have asthma?”

  “Self destructive, I suppose.” I took a long pull.

  “I guess that’s better than chewing tobacco. Whose Prius is outside?”

  “Mine.”

  “Yours?”

  “A friend gave it to me.”

  “That is highly unlikely. You don’t have any friends.”

  “Funny.”

  “It couldn’t have been the check for the Mercedes. I know for a fact that check was only around six thousand dollars.”

  “I told you a friend gave it to me.”

  “Hmmm, okay, let’s leave it at that.” Shaneika took another sip. “Are you sober enough to talk business?”

  “Just barely.”

  “I’ve got a buyer for those ten acres.”

  I sat up in my chair. “So soon?”

  “Yep, but the price is too high.”

  “Non-negotiable, like I said.”

  “Won’t come down on the price?”

  “Nope.”

  “That could pose a problem.”

  “Tell them to take it or leave it. Who is it?”

  “Me.”

  “You?”

  “Yeah, me. Got a problem with that?”

  “Ya gwonna bwuild a house?” My words were starting to slur.

  “I’m going to buy a racehorse. That is my dream. My passion. I never told you that my grandfather worked for Calumet Farm years ago. He used to help train all those great champions. He’d take me to work with him, let me feed those horses, brush them. Now I am going have one of my own.”

  “Ten acres ain’t gonna to do it.”

  “That is why you are going to let my horse graze on the rest of your property for free.”

  “Now wait . . . a min . . . ute.” I struggled to find words to express my indignation. My tongue felt like a big fish flopping in my mouth.

  “Look, you’ve got llamas, worn out horses, and weird-looking sheep running around. My horse needs the extra pastureland and isn’t going to bother one of your little pets.”

  My mind cleared a little. “I was thinking of the liability. I don’t want to be responsible if your horse stumbles in a gopher hole.”

  “I have taken care of all that in a little document which you are going to sign.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I can’t afford a big outfit. Horse farms that come on the market are way out of my reach but you have all this land here. I’ll buy ten acres. I will replace those rundown fences but you have to let me use some of your land for free and also that rickety old barn. I need a place to put all my tack and equipment. This is a win-win situation. You are land rich but cash poor. I am cash rich but land poor. We are going to do some horse trading – that’s all.”

  I winced at the pun.

  Shaneika’s eyes became two large moons with twin hazel lakes. “Look, I will make you so liability free that no one can take a penny from you even if they squeezed your big titties.”

  “The land is raw. How are you going to train a Thoroughbred here with no track, no nothing?”

  She threw the document on the table. “Aren’t you tired of being a victim, wallowing in poverty like it’s a badge of honor? Want to play beekeeper? Fine, but don’t act like you are poor when you have all of this.” She waved at the house. “Sell some paintings. Buy some new clothes, get your hair done and get on with it. You’re not the only woman to have her heart broken by some man.”

  I was tired of being poor. I was tired of wallowing in self-pity. If Tellie had the courage to make a new life, so did I. “I’ll sign tomorrow after I read it. I don’t want to do it drunk. And I want a percentage of any purses.”

  “The only way you are going to get a piece of the action is if you help pay the bills for my horses.”

  “Horses! How did we get from one horse to several.” I shook my head. “You are using my pastures for free, using my water, which is free, and having 24/7 guards when you are not here. Matt plans to live permanently in the cabana, and I will be here most of the time.”

  “Okay, two percent of the purse plus tickets to the owner’s box.”

  “I also want to go to the horsey-set parties.”

  “Done. Your haggling is wearin’ me out. I know that you are going to have Matt go over the contract like a fly on an overripe melon, but it’s a fair deal and helps us both get what we want. The check is attached to the title. Sign it and cash the check. Easy money.”

  I sat back in my chair and thought about the high price of this so-called easy money. “Will you get a quilt square for the barn?”

  “Yes, if that will make you cash that check. I will take care of it.”

  “I want something pretty and in soft colors, maybe a pinwheel square.”

  “I’ve got something else to talk to you about,” said Shaneika, ignoring my rambling.

  “Yeah?”

  “I got an official copy of Richard’s death certificate – not just a duplicate.”

  I didn’t react.

  “Also, as soon as the body was released, Tellie had it cremated. No one knows where she put the ashes. It is over for good.”

  Again, I didn’t respond.

  “And Tellie and Taffy have left town.” Shaneika examined me closely.

  “They have? Maybe they’ve gone on vacation.”

  “Tellie resigned from her job. The phone, the water, and electricity have been turned off. They’ve left no forwarding address. They are gone. Looks like maybe you might have been right about them. Do you want me to pursue this?”

  “Nope. Leave it be.”

  “It looks like Taffy is going to miss her court date.”

  “I don’t care anymore. In fact, I dropped the charges against Taffy this afternoon. Just make sure that a restraining order is in place on both her and Nancy forever.”

  “No can do. You can only take out an EPO if you are a domestic couple.”

  “Don’t we have any stalking laws?”

  “Inadequate.”

  I just shook my head in disbelief while pulling a paper out of my pocket. “Make a copy of this, send it to me, but put the original in your safe.” I was hoping that the prepaid Visa cards that I made Tellie purchase for me wouldn’t spill out of my bra.

  Shaneika quickly read the handwritten document. She looked at me in amazement. “This gives you ownership of all Richard’s equipment and his bees – signed by Tellie today. Plus she also gave you the ownership papers to her new Prius. You want to tell me about this?”

  “Nope.”

  “You already knew they were leaving town.”

  “No reason the bees should suffer. This weekend, Matt and I will go get them and bring them here. On your way out, there is a CD on the dining room table. Put that in your safe as well. Don’t listen to it.”

  “What was said and who said it?”

  Faking sleep, I began snoring softly.

  “Well, it looks like crime does pay if you can blackmail,” said Shaneika. “Knowing you is going to be interesting, Josiah. Don’t bother showing me out, even though I know you are not asleep. I also expect a key to this house. I don’t want to be piddling in the fields like some poor migrant worker.”

  Around midnight, my daughter called. “Are you going
to sell to Shaneika?”

  “Hello to you too.”

  “Well?”

  “I need the money. The house needs some serious maintenance. I will pay you back too.”

  “I didn’t pay Miss Todd one red cent. She owed me.”