“Drop the gun, Anna,” she said, her eyes glinting.
I slowly bent down, my hand purposefully shaking on the gun, as I swiped my finger across my phone and shoved it in my back pocket. Glancing up, I confirmed Gloria was watching my gun. I placed it on the floor, stood, and kicked it toward her.
Hopefully my phone called somebody. Anybody.
My pulse thudded in my ears. Outside, a car door slammed, then silence.
Her hand trembled once and then steadied.
Henry groaned, kind of rolling back and forth while Brooke pressed on his wound. It looked like an upper thigh hit. “You just shot a process server.”
Gloria snorted, looking every bit her sixty or so years. “You might want to cover that wound.”
“Are you insane?” Brooke shouted. She rose, planting herself between Gloria and Henry, hands shaking. “What are you doing, Aunt Gloria?”
“Listen, you little shit.” Gloria’s tone cut deep. “You think I didn’t know you were selling tea to my enemy?”
I spread my hands, slow and careful. If I could get close enough, I could take the gun. “Nana is not your enemy, Gloria. Not at all.”
Her eyes flared. “Another move from you and I’ll shoot you next.”
“I understand.” I lifted my hands higher. “But Gloria, there’s no need to shoot anyone. Maybe you thought burglars were here and hit Henry by accident. We can fix this.”
She shook her head. “I’m not that stupid, Anna.”
Of course she wasn’t. The pieces clicked into place. Wait—this had all been her. Not Brooke. Not Henry. Not Brad Backleboff. The tunnel made it all possible.
“You switched out my Nana’s tea,” I sputtered.
Brooke’s mouth fell open, then closed. “You didn’t do that, did you?”
“Of course I did.” Gloria’s chin lifted. “How dare you sell tea to that woman? How. Dare. You. You set that woman up with wellness tea. I run a supplement store.” She threw out her hand toward the shelves. Bottles rattled. “You betrayed me.”
I shook my head. “So wait. You used the tunnel and replaced Nana’s tea with tea laced with mushrooms, didn’t you?”
Gloria laughed, short and sharp. “Yes. She’s going to prison now. At the very least, she’ll be out of business.”
The facts slapped into order way too slowly. “Where in the world did you get laced tea supplements?” I breathed.
She sighed. “I plan to sell them once things calm down and have been working with a distributor out of Washington State. The market is huge. You just have to label it so the feds don’t notice.” She gave a small, proud nod. “I’m going to be rich, Anna. Plus, your grandmother deserves some pain. She cheated in the pie contest every year. You know that.”
Heat climbed up my neck. “Nana doesn’t cheat. She just makes a better pie than you.”
“Ha.”
I blinked once, then again. “Wait a minute.” Nana had the only key to the fridge at the Elks. Nobody else got to that damn pie. “You put the lotion in your own pie?”
I couldn’t believe it.
She snorted. “Yes. Of course.”
“Why?” My brain wasn’t keeping up.
“She deserved it, and I liked the idea of suing her. A lot. Ruining her reputation has been a goal of mine for a while.”
What a nutjob. I blinked. “So you used the tunnels to steal lotion?”
“No, Fiona gave everybody free samples of that months ago. I just kept mine and shoved it in my pie before planting it in that fridge.” Gloria laughed, the sound quick and sharp. “Even then. I bet it tasted better than hers.”
