Josie Buckhannon, her fiancée, and her grandmother are targets of practical jokes gone too far. Her grandmother's best friend is decapitated in the Buchannan home with too many suspects to consider. Once again Josie helps the FBI sort fact from fiction and find the unlikely suspect as she lives on the cutting edge of retribution.
On the Cutting Edge
RetributionBy J.J. LuepkeTrafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 J.J. Luepke
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4669-6078-7Chapter One
Memories
"Mayor Glass! To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" Eleanor Buchannon held the hand carved wooden door of her home open for the city official to enter. The robust man, in a gray suit and ponytail, removed his hat and strode into the foyer. His walking stick clattered on the doorframe as he twirled to face her.
"Mrs. Buchannon, Eleanor, if I may," he said with an overabundance of warmth. "That's a lovely lavender outfit you're wearing, much like the choir gowns from high school. If you recall, we were in the choir together back then."
"Thank you for the compliment. Yes, sir, I believe I do remember that. You were the baritone and couldn't decide whether to sing bass or second tenor." They both chuckled.
"Indeed, that was so. I have made many more important decisions since then. In fact, last week I purchased your neighbor's house to the right. I would very much like to make an offer on your home as well. Surely, with your granddaughter getting married, she will be moving away; and, you will be left with all that yard work and snow removal. Certainly, a woman of your stature shouldn't be doing all that manual labor."
"Should I choose not to do it myself, Mayor, I could always hire it done."
"True, true; however, why should you make that kind of expenditure when you have a willing buyer right in front of you? I would be more than generous in my offer, which would allow you to retire in style—perhaps obtain a quaint little condominium across town if you wish to continue to own your own place; or, perhaps rent a small apartment on Main Street where you don't have to drive to the grocery store? One with an elevator so you wouldn't have to climb stairs. Wouldn't that be convenient?"
"I thank you for your concern, Mayor; but, I haven't given it a thought just yet. But, I'm certain that I won't have to make that decision today."
"Please call me 'Ellis'. 'Mayor' is just too formal, especially if we're going to be doing business together. Besides, aren't you in Ladies Aid with Joanie? I would certainly want to treat my wife's friends with a great deal of care. In fact, I would be willing to pay you full market value for your home. I'm sure a nice young family would be interested in renting it."
"As I said, Mayor Glass," Eleanor said as she opened the front door, indicating it was time for him to leave. "I haven't thought much about selling my house just yet. I will let you know should I decide to sell it to you."
"Just think what a lovely bed and breakfast it would make," the mayor kept at her. "Wouldn't that be a nice addition to our lovely town?" The mayor was fierce today. "I can just picture the Christmas tree in your tower window and lights strung around the entry to every room in this spacious Victorian Lady. Or, perhaps, a young couple with a growing family may need a place to rent while they get established financially ..."
"Be that as it may, the answer is still 'No'."
"Mark my words, Eleanor; no one in town will offer you as much as I have for this old house. Please remember everything I've said and give me a call at the City office when you decide to sell." He slammed his hat onto his head and scowled like a bulldog as he stomped toward the door of the Buchannon home, then turned as if to try one last time to convince her to sell.
"No, Mr. Mayor," Eleanor Buchannon said sternly. "I repeat: My home is not for sale at this time, not at any price. If you have no further topics of discussion today, sir, I bid you adieu!"
"We shall see about that, Eleanor!" the mayor replied as he snapped his cane and headed out the door. His ponytail was incongruent with the business suit he was wearing. "I have quoted you a top-dollar offer. Call me if you change your mind."
Eleanor was right on his heels as he exited the charming Victorian home in which she and her granddaughter, Josie, lived in Lakewood, New York. She slammed the door behind him and turned in a huff. Grrr! That man has gotten under my skin ever since he tried to kiss me in high school, she thought as she yanked on the hem of her vest in irritation. She marched to the kitchen. A hot cup of chamomile tea would help calm her jangled nerves. She put the kettle on, set out a clean cup and rummaged through the tea cabinet for the right box. When the kettle was on, Eleanor went to the telephone to call her granddaughter. Josie should know about this immediately!
* * *
"Good morning, boss!" Vikki Dale bubbled with joy at seeing her employer and best friend enter the door of Sanderson & Sons Advertising Agency Monday morning. "Did you have a great weekend?"
"It was phenomenal!" Josie Buchannon said. "Helping P.J. move into his own apartment right here in Lakewood is like a dream come true! I'm so glad he got that job at Lakewood Technologies last month. He's been living with a co-worker, and commuting to his parent's on the weekends. This way we will be able to see more of each other, and actually get to date!"
"I can't imagine you had much opportunity with him living in New York City, even if it was only 90 miles away. Besides, you were kind of busy with the FBI investigation for a while."
Josie didn't want to remember the events that took place only a couple of months ago, but no one in town seemed to want to let her. They were always complimenting her on her courage, bravery and guts. It was redundant, all the way around. The newspaper had printed a banner story on how she helped the FBI catch her attacker and murderer of their employer, Lewis Sanderson. Josie had been run out of town at knifepoint and had to find a different job in New York City. This left her grandmother vulnerable, but she had been assured the police would patrol her street more frequently than usual. Then Mr. Sanderson was murdered, with Viagra® of all things! On the heels of this news, the FBI showed up at Garvey, Sloan and Associates, LTD, where Josie was, by then, making her way, and asked her to come back to Lakewood to help catch the killer. Being a target wasn't something Josie relished, but she enjoyed putting together her "Princess Plan" to accomplish the task. The name seemed appropriate at the time because Mr. Sanderson's lawyer had also arrived in the Big Apple to announce that Mr. Sanderson had been Josie's illegitimate father and that he had left his massive estate to her. Because of that creative plan, the office was now fortified with security cameras, intercom, and sturdier locks on the doors.
With Josie pulling strings anonymously through the estate lawyer, Vikki had been hired to replace Donna Schmidt at the front desk when Donna was transferred to production to assist Hilda Shoemaker. The staff also included Jessica Springer who was the agency's ad model and research assistant. When Josie made her debut as the new owner of Sanderson & Sons, she created quite an irritation for suspected killer Cassandra Coven, the agency's manager. Josie set up scenarios in which Cass's own scathing comments were thrown back at her and her internet access was blocked. Josie was also able to prove that Cass didn't have much creativity and had stolen a lot of Josie's ideas in the past. This was all done purposely and was carefully monitored by the FBI to catch Cass when she finally cracked. She came in one night when Josie was supposedly working late and confronted Josie with a gun. Luckily, Josie's fiancé, P.J. Coleson arrived on the scene in time to knock Cass off her aim, because Cass had locked the basement door, preventing the undercover FBI agent from getting there in time.
Josie shivered at the memory of the near miss. "Let's not bring that up again. I would much rather look forward to planning my wedding and talking about bridesmaid dresses with my maid of honor over lunch today. What do you say? My treat!"
"Certainly!" Vikki said. "I can't wait to show you the dress I found in this month's issue of Bride's Magazine(r)!"
"Great! Now back to work! Any messages for me?"
"There are a couple: Your nine o'clock said she wanted to come in a thirty minutes early as she had another meeting to get to at noon, and it requires some driving. And, your grandmother called. She wants you to be sure to call her at your earliest convenience. She has a meeting and won't be home for supper. She has something important to discuss with you."
"Whew! I guess I'd better get ready for my eight-thirty meeting, then," Josie said. "See you later!" With that, she marched on through the swinging doors to the main advertising room. Greeting the rest of the staff on her way through, she continued to the back where her office was located. She pulled the keys out of her coat pocket and unlocked the door. She was reaching for the light switch when Nathan Danielson came out of his office.
"Good morning, Josie!" he said. "If you have a moment, sometime today, I would like to go over this month's accounting figures with you."
"Good morning to you, too! Yes, I believe I have some time early this afternoon. I should be back from lunch shortly after one. How about then?"
"Thanks!" Nathan said, then spun around and returned to his office. Josie proceeded into her own office and set her briefcase on the desk. Walking around it, she booted up her computer and brought up her schedule. She adjusted it to accommodate the change in her first appointment, and went to the file cabinet to pull the files on First Federal Bank. She would be meeting with their vice president of public relations, Patricia Vizecky in just under an hour. Josie also opened her laptop computer on which she had stored a couple of prospective ads for the back, which she had drawn up at home the night before. She plugged it into the computer and made a couple of last minute adjustments before printing out two copies. When she was satisfied she was ready for the meeting, she grabbed her purse and flitted across the hall to the bathroom to freshen her lipstick. In one of the many magazine ads she had studied over the past couple of years, Josie was aware of how much more seriously people took women when they wore lipstick. Something about it polished off the professional look. After primping, Josie returned to her office to call her grandmother and check her email while she waited.
"Hey, Grams! Vikki said you have a meeting tonight," Josie said when her grandmother picked up. "That's your ladies aid meeting at church, right?"
"Yes, dear, it is. The other thing I wanted to tell you about is that Mayor Glass stopped by today and made an offer on the house. He wasn't pleased when I turned him down. I just wanted you to know about that."
"Thanks for including me," Josie said. "I will pray he accepts your answer. I know how determined he can be to get what he wants. I have to go now, Grams. I am expecting a client any minute now."
"I thought you said your first appointment wasn't until nine o'clock," Grams said, "but, I know how things can change, so I will say goodbye. Love you, Josie Girl."
"Love you too, Grams! Bye!"
Vikki's voice came over the intercom announcing that Ms. Vizecky had arrived.
"Thank you, Vikki. Please ask if she would like a cup of coffee, or water; and, then bring her back." In just a minute, Vikki was tapping lightly on Josie's open door and escorting Ms. Vizecky into the office.
"Good morning, Pat!" Josie stood and extended her hand. Pat shook it. "Have a seat on the couch.
"Thank you." Pat accepted the invitation. "It's already eighty degrees outside. It's going to be a warm September, the way it's starting out."
"Yes. Thank God for central air!" Josie sat in her chair and picked up her printouts. "When you called last week to make this appointment, I was glad you gave me some pointers as to what you had in mind. I took the liberty of putting these sketches together over the weekend. Tell me what you think about them."
The other woman took the offering and paged through them, nodding as she did so.
"Of course, we would replace the photos with actual pictures of your employees in the appropriate roles," Josie said. She grasped the edge of her chair to release some nervous energy, hoping Pat didn't notice. She smiled as Pat looked up.
"These look good," Pat said. "I was hoping you would offer to photograph my staff. They deserve recognition. Since this is the 50th anniversary of the bank, we also want to recognize that. In fact, since you have done television commercials in the past, I was wondering if you couldn't turn this into a made for TV ad, as well as a printed one."
"Yes! I am sure Hildy can do that for you. Were there any other changes you would like to make? Have you redesigned your logo recently, or is that something you might consider? This would be a good time to show both the old and introduce the new one. I have taken the liberty of creating a couple of suggestions for that." Josie picked up another set of designs from the briefcase file and handed them to Pat.
"That is an interesting proposition," Pat said. "I will look them over and discuss them with the bank president. May I take these with me?"
"Yes, of course. Here's a file folder to carry them in." Josie handed her the manila folder she brought them in. "If you want the ads to start running next week, I would need your decision by this Thursday," Josie said.
"Understood," Pat said, offering her hand. "Thank you for the fine work you have already done on the bank's behalf. I will be in touch." Josie shook her hand and walked her to the door.
The intercom buzzed. "P.J. is on line one."
"Thanks, Vikki!" Josie returned to her desk and sat down to take the call. "Hello, P.J.! You don't usually call me at work. What's up?"
"I am at the hospital," he said. "There was an accident at work."
Chapter Two
P.J.'s Problems
"P.J., what happened?" Josie asked as she rushed into the emergency room at Lakewood General Hospital ten minutes later. She took one look at him and nearly fainted. His left eye was black and blue and his right hand was heavily bandaged.
"I'm not sure. One minute everything was fine. The next, my equipment blew up, right beneath my hands. The handle flew into my eye, and my hand slid onto the jagged edge of the lever." He waved the bandaged appendage for emphasis. The boss said I must have let my pen fall into the equipment or some other object. It threw the mechanism off, and when I tried to reverse the action by jerking on the lever, the lever broke."
"Gosh, honey! I'm glad you weren't killed!"
"Me, too, obviously," P.J. said with a lopsided grin. Then the grin faded away. "The only thing is, as you know, I don't drink pop, and my pen was in my work boot the whole time!" He lifted his right leg and twisted it inward. With his left hand, he hitched up his pant leg to reveal the writing instrument hanging on the inside next to his ankle. He looked up with raised eyebrows.
"What's the company going to do about it?" Josie asked. She stepped closer to the examination table and patted her fiancé on the shoulder.
"They said they are going to pull the machine apart to see what caused it. When they find it, they will turn it over to the police for finger printing. A fat lot of good that will do, most of the guys wear gloves." P.J. snorted.
Just then a nurse came in with P.J.'s pain reliever and walking papers. She looked Josie in the eye and said, "Don't let him drive under the influence of this medication." Turning to P.J., she said, "You, young man, are not to go back to work until you come back for a follow-up appointment. Your hand is fractured. Let's put on this wrist brace. Leave it on except to ice your hand a couple of times tonight and three times tomorrow. Do not use your hand until it has
been X-rayed again." "Yes, Ma'am!" P.J. barked in response. Josie had to turn away to hide a snicker.
After the nurse left the room, Josie tried to help P.J. ease himself off the exam table and out the door to the waiting car. On the trip back to P.J.'s apartment, he shared a couple of other work-related incidents that took place since he started at Lakewood Technologies.
It seems there has been a rash of petty little accidents in and around P.J.'s workstation that couldn't quite be explained: Office supplies missing, his office chair lost a wheel, and, the funniest of all was the name plaques on the rest rooms had been switched. P.J. had walked into the ladies' room on his first day at work. Luckily, the only occupant had already finished using the toilet and was already washing her hands.
"If I didn't know any better," Josie said, "I would say you were being hazed, just like some college freshman!"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from On the Cutting Edgeby J.J. Luepke Copyright © 2012 by J.J. Luepke. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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