Callie, who had been outside the door listening in, rushed inside and pushed Mrs. Lenin down even as Frank, who had recently regained consciousness because he hadn't had more than a few sips of the drugged tea, grabbed Joe's ankles and pulled.

Joe fell as the bullet ricocheted off a bell and shot into some glass jars which had been stacked in the corner. 

Before either boy could rise to their feet, Mrs. Lenin had shoved Callie off and stood up.  She ran for the gun which lay near the entrance.  She had almost reached it when a hand came through the door and grabbed her wrist. 

"You're bad," Jim told her, not letting her go as she started to struggle.  Joe and Frank leapt to their feet and took control of Mrs. Lenin as Callie retrieved the gun. 

"Jim, you were fantastic!" Joe praised him. 

"I was?" Jim asked, confused.

"Yeah," Callie agreed.  "You stopped her from getting the gun.  You saved our lives," she added, kissing his cheek.

Jim saw the priest lying on the floor.  "What...." he started to ask, his face clouding over.

Joe looked at Frank who gave a slight nod and took hold of Mrs. Lenin's arm which Joe had been holding.  Joe led Jim outside as a police car pulled up followed by an unmarked car.

"What are you doing here?" Joe asked Chief Collig and Agents Patrick and Davidson.

"Mrs. Barley called the station," Collig informed Joe.  "She said Callie had left a note saying she had taken Jim to the church and for her to call us if they hadn't returned before she did."

"Mrs. Lenin and Father Ramster killed Devon," Joe told them.  "She shot Ramster a few minutes ago.  Frank and Callie are back there now," he added as the two SBI agents took off at a run. 

Chief Collig radioed in for an ambulance.  "Why don't you take Jim home?" he suggested.  "I'll tell Frank," he added.

"Thanks," Joe said, leading Jim over to Mrs. Hardy's car and getting in.

*****

It was early afternoon the following day and Jim, Mrs. Barley, Callie, Iola, Chet, Phil, Tony, and Biff, had all been invited over to the Hardy household for a lunch buffet.  After lunch, the group gathered in the living room.

"From the beginning?" Chet demanded.

"Ramster and Devon's mother were having an affair," Joe explained.  "When Devon found out, he wanted to let his step-father know so he would leave."

"Devon never liked his step-father but his mom wanted to stay married to him because he was rich enough to keep her and Devon in comfort," Callie put in.

"Mrs. Lenin told Devon she was getting a divorce, but she was afraid to let Mr. Lenin know just then, so they snuck out," Frank continued.

"Mr. Lenin didn't hear his wife leaving?" Phil asked.

"She had drugged him, so he slept through the whole thing," Frank answered.

"Wait a minute!" Callie interrupted.  "I never heard her confess that bit to Joe.  And besides, you were unconscious when she admitted everything."

"First off, I had awoken before she got there," Frank said.  "And second, she gave a  full confession at headquarters last night."

"Anyway, Mrs. Lenin took Devon to see Ramster.  Apparently, when Devon refused to listen to their reasoning, Ramster lost his temper.  He started beating Devon," Joe continued.

"When Devon lost consciousness, Mrs. Lenin thought he was dead.  She talked Ramster into making it look like he was strangled," Frank picked up the thread.  "That didn't work out well, so Ramster made it look like a ritual killing by putting him on the altar."

"No one would suspect a priest," Joe said.   "Especially not the one in who's church the body had been found."

"How did Jim get involved in this?" queired Iola.

"Jim had seen Ramster and Mrs. Lenin together," Joe told her.  "When he started going to Ramster for his sessions, Jim showed Ramster one of the pictures he had drawn."

"The one with Ramster kissing Mrs. Lenin," Callie said, having seen the picture the previous afternoon before the police had confiscated it.

"Right," Frank said.  "Ramster told Mrs. Lenin and she figured if she could frame Jim for Devon's murder, she would not only be rid of a witness, but she wouldn't have to worry about someone finding out she had anything to do with the murder."

"But when Joe and Iola dropped in on her, she realized she was in trouble again," Mr. Hardy said.  "After they left, she decided she should see what was going on.  She managed to pick Joe's trail up at the restaurant and followed him to the Barley's.  She then followed Joe and Mrs. Barley to the police station.  She knew she had to do something so she called Ramster."

"And the two of them rigged the road surprise for Joe and Mrs. Barley," Mrs. Hardy stated, knowing what had been coming next.

"She thought if Joe and Jim's mom were dead, no one would be around to help Jim," Frank continued the tale.  "She didn't know at that time that Jim had already been released."

"What about Ramster?" Biff asked.  "Is he dead?"

"No," Mr. Hardy said.  "He took the bullet in the shoulder, but when he fell, he hit his head which is why he was unconscious.  He gave a full confession late last night at the hospital."

"What about Mr. Lenin?" Callie asked, looking at Frank.  "And his mom?"

"Mr. Lenin is filing for a divorce and he and his mother were on their way to breakfast when I saw them leaving the police station this morning," Mr. Hardy said.

"Poor Devon," Mrs. Hardy said.  "He didn't have anyone."

"That's not true," Joe said.  "He had Jim," he explained, smiling at his friend.

Jim smiled back.  "Wanna shoot hoops?" he asked, a bit uncomfortable with everyone's attention focused on him.

"Sure," Joe agreed, standing up.

"You betcha!" Tony agreed, standing up as the other teens rose.  The teens made their way outside, leaving the adults in the living room.

"You have wonderful sons," Mrs. Barley said, looking at Mrs. Hardy and smiling.

"So do you," Mrs. Hardy returned, smiling back.

End

Let the author know what you think of this story