Hannah couldn’t help the shocked expression that crossed her face. She’d been so sure that Ross would show up to sign the withdrawal slip. “So Ross didn’t contact you at all?” she asked.
“Not physically. But about twenty minutes ago, Lydia buzzed me to say that I had a phone call. I asked who was calling and she didn’t know, but she said the caller had told her that it was imperative for him to talk to me.”
There was only one question to ask and Hannah asked it. “And it was Ross?”
“Yes.”
“That makes sense,” Mike said. “Ross only contacted Hannah once in person and that was before anyone else in town was awake.”
“The other two times I talked to Ross, it was on my cell phone,” Hannah explained. “What did you do when you realized that the phone call was from Ross?”
“As soon as I realized it was Ross, I wrote Ross’s name in big, block letters on my notepad so Lonnie and Rick would know who it was. And then I put the call on speaker phone so they could listen in.”
“Smart,” Mike commented, giving Doug an approving nod. “Go on, Doug.”
Doug paused to take a sip of his coffee and then he went on with his account. “The first thing Ross did was identify himself. Then he asked me if I had his withdrawal slip ready to sign and I told him that I did. And then I said that the bank didn’t normally keep that much cash on hand, but I’d managed to get it by armored truck early this morning. All I needed was the signed withdrawal slip before I could release it.”
“What did he say to that?” Hannah asked.
Doug looked terribly embarrassed. “He accused me of playing games with him to try to get him into the bank. And he called me a name that I’d rather not repeat in polite company. I was shocked, Hannah. The first part of our conversation was friendly, almost like he was a regular bank customer. But then he turned ugly. He said I should listen to him and listen carefully, that he’d filled out a withdrawal slip that he had with him and taken a cell phone photo of it. He was faxing that photo to the bank and since he’d already signed the withdrawal slip, I should give the money to you and be quick about it.”
“Did you explain that you couldn’t accept a fax, that you had to personally witness his signature?” Mike asked.
“Of course I did. And then he called me another name, even worse than the first one, accused me of setting a trap for him, and said that if I didn’t release the money to Hannah, there would be some very nasty consequences.”
Rick nodded. “It was really frightening, Hannah. Ross sounded really unhinged. Both Lonnie and I think he’s insane.”
“That’s right,” Lonnie agreed. “It was almost like he had two personalities, the nice one and the nasty, vindictive one.”
“I’m sorry, Hannah,” Doug apologized, “but the change in his voice really rattled me.”
“It rattled me, too,” Hannah admitted. “What else did Ross say?”
“He accused me of lying to him. He said he knew that I’d given the money to you because we were friends. And he said the word friends in a very nasty way!”
“What came next?” Mike asked him.
“He repeated that there would be consequences for lying to him, that he knew the truth and I wouldn’t get away with trying to trick him.”
They sat there looking at each other for a moment. Ross truly was insane.
Doug shook his head. “That’s really all I can tell you, Hannah.”
Hannah picked up on Doug’s phrasing. “I understand. But did Ross say anything else?”
“Yes, but I’d rather not say. It’s . . . really bad.”
“You have to tell us, Doug,” Mike said, giving him a hard look. “It’s important.”
“I know.” Doug sighed, and it was clear to everyone that he didn’t want to go on.
“Go ahead,” Hannah encouraged him. “We have to know what to expect from him, Doug.”
“Okay.” Doug swallowed again. “Ross gave that really nasty laugh again and said it wouldn’t do any good, that he was going to get his money back from Hannah even if he had to . . .”
“If he had to . . . what?” Mike leaned forward.
Doug looked more troubled than Hannah had ever seen before. “Ross said he was going to get his money back from Hannah even if he had to kill her to get it!”
Chapter Nineteen
“Are you okay, Hannah?” Norman asked, when Hannah came back to her stool at the work station.
“I think so. I just got a little sick to my stomach when Doug told us about . . . what Ross said.”
“I know. You looked as if you were about to faint.”
“Maybe you’re right. I did feel really dizzy and horribly sick to my stomach.” Hannah took a sip of the orange juice she’d poured for herself. “Where did everybody go?”
“Mike assigned Rick and Lonnie to stay with Doug,” Norman told her. “He thought that when Ross found out that you didn’t have his money, he might blame Doug and try to hurt him.”
“So Rick and Lonnie are at the bank with Doug again?”
“Not exactly. Lonnie is sticking with Doug at the bank, but Mike assigned Rick to guard Doug’s family.”
“Then Mike thinks that Doug and his family may be in danger from Ross?”
“That’s what he said. And he also said that he didn’t want to take any chances. He went back to the sheriff’s station to assign some other deputies to various places, and then he’s going to drive out to your condo to make sure that Ross isn’t there. He left me here to protect you, but he doesn’t think that you’ll be in any danger as long as The Cookie Jar is open.”
Hannah gave a little nod. “Because there are too many people around for Ross to risk doing anything to . . .” she paused, feeling a bit sick to her stomach again, “to hurt me?”
“That’s right. Do you have much more work to do here, Hannah?”
Hannah thought about that for a moment. “Well . . . yes, I do. We have to mix up the cookie dough for tomorrow’s baking and take care of the customers out in the coffee shop. Lisa and Aunt Nancy are out there now, but Aunt Nancy has to leave at four because she has a dinner date with Heiti.”
Norman smiled. “How is their engagement going?”
“Really well. They’re going to get married in June. It’ll be a small wedding and I promised to cater it. Lisa’s baking their wedding cake and it’s going to be chocolate because Heiti loves chocolate.”
“Sounds wonderful. Do you think I’ll be invited?”
“I’m sure you will. And even though Aunt Nancy seems to think the wedding will be small, they’re going to invite the whole sheriff’s department since Heiti is working for them now.”
Norman laughed. “Don’t forget about Lisa’s family. She has lots of aunts, and uncles, and cousins.”
“True. Aunt Nancy and Heiti say they’re going to keep the wedding small, but I have a feeling they won’t be able to do it without risking some hurt feelings. Everyone here in Lake Eden is going to want to be invited.”
“You’re right. Weddings tend to grow larger every time you make out a revised guest list.”
Hannah thought back to Norman’s initial question. “Why did you want to know how much longer I have to be here, Norman?”
“Because I’ve got a few errands I want to run.”
“Why don’t you go and do what you need to do right now? I’m fine here by myself because I’m not really by myself. I’ll lock the back kitchen door behind you, and I promise I won’t let anyone in unless I know who it is.”
“Okay, but don’t open the door without checking the peephole,” Norman reminded her. “I’ll be back around four or so. Can we leave then?”
“I’m sure we can. I’ll mix up tomorrow’s cookie dough, and we can invite Mike and Lonnie to have dinner with us tonight. We’ll pick up pizza at Bertanelli’s on the way and I have the Chocolate Cream Pie for dessert.”
“Sounds great! And we can get salad and garlic bread, too. Do you think you have enough pie?”
“I know I do. After you left, I made another pie. We’ll have enough, Norman. And if there’s any left over, we can take pieces to Clara and Marguerite.”