Caught in Lies: Mahoney and Me Mystery Series, #3

By Mary Lee Tiernan

A shot rings through the forest, and an old man falls. While on a bicycle ride, the narrator hears the blast from the gun, and the hunt for the murderer begins. Identity theft and impersonation lead Detective Mahoney and the narrator across the county to New York to uncover the connection between two 'look-alikes' who may be responsible for Homer Hunter's death. Or perhaps the answer lies in the boast of a disturbed youth who believes old people are useless and should die.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Lee Tiernan
• Release date: Jun 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781507014943

Book preview

Chapter 1

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I was bicycling down an isolated stretch of a two-lane rural road a few miles out of town enjoying the breeze in my face, the birds chirping in the trees, the squirrels scampering up and down the tree trunks, and the feel of my healthy muscles working. Muscles. Time to take a water break and hydrate. I pulled over to the side of the road. It may be deserted at the moment, but one never knows when a car or truck may come barreling around a corner.

As I took a sip of water, a man yelled, What...No! Please!

Bang! The sound reverberated through the woods. I know that sound, and it wasn’t a car backfiring. I quickly scanned the woods for a hiding place. Should the shooter come this way, I certainly didn’t want him to know I was around. I spotted a clump of bushes about ten feet off the road. I anchored my bike over one shoulder and held it there with one hand—fortunately it’s a racing bike and weighs under 20 pounds—and held on to the handlebars with the opposite hand to keep the front wheel from smacking me. Leaves crackled and twigs snapped under my feet. So much for sneaking quietly to my hiding spot.

Still safe. No cars. I laid the bike down on the ground and dropped down next to it. The bushes didn’t completely camouflage me, but I assumed I wouldn’t be visible to someone who wasn’t actually looking for me. Hopefully, the shooter wouldn’t be taking his time appreciating views of the countryside if he drove by.

I pulled out my cell and called Mahoney. Mahoney is my husband, my prince charming, my best friend, a great detective, and a great chef all rolled into one gorgeous package. Right now I needed the detective part of him. I listened to the Leave a message on his voice mail. Great.

Mahoney, I need you a.s.a.p. I may not be able to answer when you call back. If the shooter was within sight of me, I wouldn’t take the chance of his hearing my voice. I’m on the...follow my GPS signal. I’d heard a car. I hung up and turned the phone to vibrate.

I would have expected the shooter to be zooming away. This car traveled at normal speed with music blaring from the open windows. Not the shooter? Another car? I wasn’t silly enough to run up to the road and flag him down to ask for help. It still could be the shooter feeling confident that he’d gotten away with murder. Fortunately the driver kept his eyes on the road ahead, his hand drumming on the steering wheel in beat to the music. I noted his license plate number and not completely trusting my memory, texted it to Mahoney.

The car passed out of sight. I stayed where I was. If that wasn’t the shooter, he could come along any minute, and I had too many miles to pedal to safety. I’d wait for Mahoney. I turned on my back and stared up at the treetops. What should I think about to distract myself while waiting? What about that character I’d painted into a corner? How will I get him out of it? I’m a writer. Not the number one on the best seller list type, but moderately successful. I was considering various possibilities for my character when I heard another car. I rolled over to my stomach. Good or bad, I had to see what was coming. The car roared by fast enough that I only caught part of the license plate. I texted it to Mahoney.

Before I had time to roll over again, I heard the hum of a third car. It traveled much slower than the other two. From a distance, I saw the driver’s head turn from side to side. No, please. Oops, same words the victim used. Speed up; keep your eyes on the road, please. They tell us when bicycling to wear bright colors so drivers see us. Bad advice today. I didn’t want the driver to see me, and my bright orange shirt and white bike didn’t blend with the brown and green of the woodland.

I pushed my face into the leaves up to my eyes. If the car stopped and the driver approached me, I planned to get up and run. I wasn’t going to lie there until he was on top of me with a gun pointed at me. The car was close when my cell phone vibrated. I froze. Any movement could attract attention. Where are you, Mahoney?

I heard a siren wailing in the distance. The car continued past me. Once more I texted the license plate number to Mahoney, although my hands shook as I did it. He’d left a text message, Coming.

The sirens were louder now. I didn’t budge until I saw the police cruiser and heard it screech to a stop about 15 feet away. Mrs. Mahoney? an officer called. Mrs. Mahoney?

I call Mahoney by his last name; everyone does. He prefers it to Jack.

I’m over here, I called back and stood up waving my arm.

One cop stayed with the car; the other rushed over to me as I brushed twigs and leaves from the front of me. Are you okay?

I am now, I told him.

Detective Mahoney should be here any minute. We were closer to your signal so he sent us. He spotted my bike on the ground. I suppose this is yours?

I nodded and he bent down to pick it up. What happened? Did someone run you off the road?

No. I think I heard someone being murdered.

He almost dropped the bike. Murdered? He was young; his badge identified him as Moranski. Cedar Falls—that’s where we live and Mahoney works—doesn’t have a lot of murders. Thank goodness. This was probably Moranski’s first brush with homicide. What...where...? he stammered. Yup. He didn’t know how to ask the questions.

We heard another siren wailing in the distance as we walked to the cruiser. It grew louder very quickly. Tires squealed as a black car pulled up alongside us and screeched to a stop. Mahoney was here. He jumped out of the car and ran to me. Princess?

I knew immediately how upset he was. Normally, he only calls me ‘princess’ in private. We first met when a madman stalked me, and Mahoney was the detective assigned to the case. Sparks flew between us, and I’d asked Mahoney how that could happen so quickly. He said it was natural because I was a Princess in need of being rescued and he a Prince Charming in need of a princess to save. I like being his princess, and my prince charming has rescued me on more than one occasion.

I’m okay.

He put his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes. You sure?

I’m sure.

When you said you might not be able to call back...

I didn’t want my voice to be heard if someone was nearby.

He relaxed. You’ve got stuff stuck in your hair, he said and brushed away some with his hand.

No doubt the ground debris was tangled all through my curls. I’m sure it’s all over me.

What happened? Mahoney asked. The two patrolmen stood nearby listening.

I think I heard a murder. I told him the story from the moment I stopped for a drink of water till he arrived.

Wow! said Moranski. I wouldn’t have thought of doing all that.

You do have a way of getting yourself into trouble, don’t you? Mahoney said to me. He was referring to the other misadventures we’d shared. We seem to attract them. To Moranski he said, And you keep this inside the department. He didn’t want the wrong ears hearing the cop’s enthusiastic retelling of the story.

Mahoney led me over to his car. Why don’t you sit while I call for reinforcements?

Moranski wandered over. Do you still need us, Detective? He indicated the ‘us’ by waving his hand in the direction of the patrol car.

Yes. Stay put. Radio in your location and tell them I said I need you here. Also tell them to send out the canine unit.

Mahoney called Bert Egger, his working partner and his friend. I was friends with Bert’s wife Molly. The two of them had been our witnesses at our wedding.

Need you, Mahoney said and gave our location. Mahoney’s skimpy with words on the phone. He listened. This is more important, possible homicide. He disconnected.

Mahoney turned his attention back to me. This will take a while. You gonna be all right?

Sitting in a car for hours isn’t my ideal activity, and I knew I’d be in for another couple of hours giving a statement. How long?

Mahoney shrugged. Depends on how long it takes us to locate the body. He never doubted my impression that a murder had taken place.

I made a face and sank back into the leather seat. I’d rather be home showering and getting out of these dirty clothes.

Tell you what, Mahoney said. He rested one arm across the top of the door frame and leaned into it. You need to be here to point us in the right direction. Once we’re organized and start searching, I’ll have a uniform drive you home.

I smiled. That sounds much better than waiting the whole time. Did you get the license plate numbers I texted to you?

I looked quickly at the phone when it rang in case it was you again, but didn’t pay a lot of attention when I only saw numbers. He played with his phone as he spoke. Three text messages?

Right.

He checked each one. All license plate numbers?

Yup. Those were the three cars that drove by while I was hiding.

The second one isn’t complete.

The car went by too fast for me to catch the whole number. It’s the third car that really scared me. He was driving slowly and scanning both sides of the road. I was afraid he’d spot me.

Cars. Can you tell me the colors? He knew I was next to useless in identifying makes and models.

Black, red, and light green in order from first to last.

Any descriptions of the drivers?

Can’t help you much there either. I was on the ground, and they were on the opposite side of the car with the sun shining through the windshield. Made it hard to see much. Males with brown hair is the best I can do.

Ages?

The first one might be younger because of the music blaring, but I wouldn’t be able to identify any of them.

The arrival of Bert in his car and the canine unit in another halted any further