by K E O'Connor
Reggie’s head poked out of the purse on Sylvia’s lap, and he growled. Flipper stepped in front of me and matched Reggie’s growls.
A gust of cold wind blew my hair over my face, and as I pushed it back, I spotted Lonnie behind Sylvia’s wheelchair.
Sylvia also sensed Lonnie’s presence, because she twisted her head and looked straight at her dead son. “I’m not stealing your gold. I’m keeping it safe.”
Lonnie scratched his chin, and his confused gaze went from his mother to me.
I held my hands up. “I have no clue what’s going on.” I’d never figured Sylvia to be the killer. How could she have wheeled herself into Lonnie’s bathroom, without him hearing her? She must have had help.
“This is family gold,” said Sylvia. “And I’m not stealing it. I knew Lonnie had a secret place in his desk. And when Ignatius began talking about leaving, I had to move the gold somewhere safer. I can’t have him abandoning this family.”
The front door of Carson’s annex opened, and his head popped out. “What’s going on out here? All the yelling is disturbing our card game.”
“Don’t let him see the gold!” Sylvia placed Reggie over the gold in her lap. “He’s worse than Ignatius, always sniffing around looking for it.”
Carson strolled over, a beer bottle in one hand and some cards in the other. “Everything okay, Sylvia?”
“Everything’s fine. Go back to your card game.”
“What have you got there?” Carson came closer and peered into Sylvia’s lap, ignoring the menacing growls coming from Reggie. His eyes widened, and he dropped the bottle of beer.
“This is not your business, Carson.” Sylvia pressed her hands together and glared up at him.
“Of course it’s my business,” said Carson. “Where did you get the gold bar?”
“Lonnie gave it to me before he died,” said Sylvia. “It’s the only one I know about.”
Carson’s gaze went to the bag in my hand. “I suppose Lonnie gave you some gold as well?” He made a grab for the bag, but I swung it out of his reach, my muscles straining under the weight of the gold inside.
Two of the men who’d been playing cards with Carson emerged from the annex and strolled over. “What’s happening?”
“Get over here, AJ and Max. We’ve found the gold,” said Carson.
The men exchanged a glance and strode over.
Lonnie spun around Sylvia, panic in his eyes. He looked over at me as if he expected me to help.
“This is your mess,” I whispered to him.
“The old lady’s been hiding it,” said Carson, as AJ and Max stopped by his side.
“Show some respect,” said Sylvia. “You still work for this family.”
“Only until I get my hands on that.” Carson pointed at the gold. “And you’ve saved me the trouble of tearing this place down brick by brick until I found it.”
“You killed Lonnie to get the gold?” The question popped out before I could stop myself.
“I never liked him,” muttered Helen.
Lonnie stopped flying around and focused on Carson.
“Lonnie’s death was an accident. You both keep out of this.” Carson gestured to AJ and Max. “Get the gold.”
They strode towards Sylvia, but I blocked their way, not feeling as brave as I looked. “Stay away from her; she’s just an old lady.”
Sylvia snorted. “I’ll whip those two. Don’t worry about me.”
Part of me wanted to run away as fast as I could, but there was no way I could leave Sylvia on her own with these thugs. They wouldn’t simply take the gold and vanish. They’d want to get rid of all witnesses, and that included me, Helen, and Sylvia.
“Make this easy on yourself,” said Carson. “Hand over what you’ve got there and we’ll go. I only want what I’m owed.”
“You said we’d get it all,” said one of the men.
“Keep quiet, AJ,” snapped Carson. “What’s here will set us up for life.”
“The boss won’t be happy,” said Max.
“Shut your mouth,” hissed Carson. “This amount of gold will see us right for life. We can take off and forget about the others.”
“You double-crossed us.” Steel ran through Sylvia’s words. “You’re working for someone else, someone who is after our gold.”
Lonnie floated next to Sylvia, anger on his face as he glared at Carson.
Carson smirked. “Of course I’m working for somebody else. Lonnie held out on us all. No matter how many times I tried to persuade him to let me know where the gold was, he wouldn’t budge. And we all knew he was going to waste it on some foolish charity. He should have divided it among the people who were loyal to him.”
“He would have seen you right,” said Sylvia.
“Which is why you were running off into the night with it,” I said to her. She wasn’t forgiven for trying to sneak off with the gold.
“I wasn’t going anywhere,” said Sylvia.
“It’s our gold,” said Carson. “Hand it over.”
AJ grabbed at the gold on Sylvia’s lap but received a bite from Reggie for his efforts. He backed off and pulled a gun from his waistband.
“He’s got a gun,” squeaked Helen.
“There’s no need for violence,” I said, my gaze glued to the gun. “This can be settled over a nice cup of tea.”
“The time for talking is over,” said Carson. “We want what’s owed us. Hand over the gold.”
“Lonnie wouldn’t want you to do this,” I said.
Lonnie nodded and jabbed a finger at Carson.
Carson pulled out his own gun and swung it towards me. “How do you know about Lonnie?”
I swallowed, my heart thudding too quickly. “I know you murdered him.”
Carson shrugged and then gave a small nod. “What if I did? And anyone else who showed too much interest in the gold.”
I looked around the garden and felt light-headed. The cold spots! I’d been walking through ghosts this whole time, and they’d been showing me where Carson had buried them. No wonder this place weirded me out.
“Have you been working undercover for Lonnie?” asked Carson. “You some kind of double agent?”
My eyes widened. “No! I’m a personal assistant. But why did you kill Lonnie?”
Carson adjusted his grip on the gun. “He’d gone soft and was an embarrassment to this family. I did everyone a favor by getting rid of him. The Cornell name won’t be ruined by Lonnie becoming a do-gooder. And the gold can be shared with people who’ll use it properly.”
“I’m guessing you’re not going to invest yours in any good causes,” I said.
“I’ve got a few investments I’ll be making, but nothing like Lonnie planned.”
I held the bag of gold tightly, determined not to give it to Carson. “This is only a tiny amount of gold. Lonnie hid it in his desk.”
Sylvia’s head whipped around. “You knew about that hiding place too?”
“Lonnie showed me,” I said. “Well, I sort of found it by accident, so he had no choice but to show me.”
“Before he died?” asked Carson, his fingers tightening on the gun. “I knew it! You can’t be as straight as you appear. Lonnie’s had you working for him, getting information. Have you been spying on me? I knew Lonnie was suspicious of me asking questions about the gold. That was another reason I had to get rid of him.”
“No! Nothing like that,” I said. “I promise you. I’m as straight and boring as I look.”
“Lorna sees ghosts, the same as me,” said Sylvia, shooting a pointed look at Lonnie.
AJ laughed. “Ghosts! Is she being serious?”
“Ignore her; she’s a mad old woman. She’s always going on about seeing the dead.” Carson focused his attention back on me. “If you knew Lonnie before he died, and he told you about that hiding place, perhaps he told you where the rest of the gold is.”
“I didn’t know Lonnie when he was alive,” I said, feeling my knees begin to shake.
Flipper and Reggie growled in unison as Carson took a step towards me.
“Keep the mutts out of this,” said Carson. “I’m happy to waste a bullet on them.”
“Don’t you dare,” said Helen, stepping in front of the dogs.
I shot her a grateful look for defending Flipper and Reggie.
“I enjoy a good dare,” said Carson. “It keeps things lively. Which one will it be first? The little runt or the wolf with the freaky blue eyes?”
Flipper jumped at Carson at the same time as Helen kicked him in the knee.
Carson roared with anger, and Lonnie joined in the fight, latching onto his wrist and making Carson drop his gun, before shooting off towards the annex.
Reggie jumped off Sylvia’s lap and sat on top of the gun, a pleased expression on his furry face.
Sylvia wheeled her chair into Max’s legs, and I threw myself at AJ.
AJ gave a surprised grunt as he dropped his gun and hit the ground, my knee making contact in between his legs as I landed on top of him. Flipper ran over to help me and growled in AJ’s face.
I ground my knee into AJ’s groin. “If you value your own crown jewels, you won’t move.”
I wasn’t sure if my threat was effective, but the fact Flipper was baring his teeth an inch from AJ’s throat meant he didn’t even blink.
I looked over to see Max squashed under Sylvia’s wheelchair. But my heart pounded as I spotted Carson had shoved Helen to the ground and was scrabbling for the gun Reggie was concealing with his furry butt.
“Lonnie!” I yelled.
Lonnie appeared, but he was not alone, as five more ghosts materialized, their angry glares fixed on Carson, and shot straight through him. His victims had come back for some well-timed revenge.
Carson froze to the spot, and his eyes widened. “What just happened?”
“Are you okay?” I shouted to Helen.
Helen rolled over and frowned at the grass stain on her dress. “I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t worry. Lonnie and his friends are on the case,” I said. “Carson doesn’t know what hit him.”
Lonnie and his ghostly sidekicks wheeled in a circle and charged towards Carson, grabbing the back of his jacket and yanking him across the grass.
Carson’s arms flailed as he tried to keep his balance. He was followed by an angry looking Reggie, who nipped at Carson’s ankles whenever he got within range.
AJ moved underneath me, and I pressed my knee in harder, making him grunt and stop squirming.
“We called the police!” Chelsea and Elita ran out of the house together, clutching each other’s hands. “We saw what happened. Don’t worry. Help’s on the way.”
I let out a sigh, surprised to see the two women working together. Now, all I needed to do was keep AJ pinned to the ground while Lonnie and his buddies kept Carson busy, and Sylvia kept squashing Max with her wheelchair, and everything would be fine.
Chapter 23
My heartbeat felt like it was back to normal as the police loaded Carson in the back of their car. He was the last to be taken away.
The police had arrived quickly after Chelsea and Elita had alerted them to what was happening outside the house, and we now had several armed police striding around as the evidence was collected and statements were taken.
I watched as Elita and Chelsea stood side by side talking to the police. Looked like their newfound bond was holding. Might not be for long, but at least, they’d stopped fighting to help us. Michael hovered nearby, Elita’s ever faithful companion. I hoped things worked out between them, he was a sweet guy and Elita deserved happiness.
Sylvia sat by the door to the main house with Reggie on her lap, and Ignatius by her side. Every time he said something she told him to be quiet. She must want to keep him off the police’s radar in the hope they’d think the gold theft was all Lonnie’s doing. He’d be lucky. Ignatius deserved some prison time after everything he’d put me through.
And it was more by luck than expertise that we’d stopped Carson and his gang from taking the gold. If the rest of his gang had come out of the annex to see what was going on, we’d have been history.
I looked down at Flipper, who sat by my side, taking in the scene. “Don’t think we’ll be doing that again anytime soon.”
He stood and paced away from me before coming back, his attention flitting from me to the driveway.
I expected to see Lonnie appear, but after the fight, he’d vanished and had yet to return. His ghost friends were also missing. But something was bothering Flipper.
Helen walked out of the house, a tray in her hand, which was full of mugs of tea.
I let out a relieved sigh as Zach’s Land Rover shot along the driveway and stopped outside the house. That’s what Flipper must have been sensing, Zach and Jessie’s arrival. Zach jumped out and ran over to me, closely followed by Jessie. He pulled me against his chest before stepping back, his worried gaze running over me.
“I’m fine.” I’d called him as soon as the police had arrived to let him know what had happened.
Gunner got out of the Land Rover and strolled over. Despite him trying to appear nonchalant, I could see a tightness around his eyes as he focused on Helen.
“Everybody is fine,” I said.
“I ruined my dress,” said Helen. “It will take me ages to get these grass stains out.”
“You’re only fine because you were lucky,” said Zach. “You should never have taken this job. And you should never have agreed to go digging around and trying to get proof the Cornells stole that gold.” He shot an angry look at Gunner.
“Finding the gold wasn’t all that hard,” I said. “Discovering who killed Lonnie was a bit trickier. There were so many possibilities.”
“Who did kill him?” asked Gunner.
“Carson Rosso,” I said. “He’s been double crossing the family and figuring out a way he can get his hands on the gold. And he’s been killing off people interested in the gold. You will find some interesting things in the garden when you start digging.” That was something I didn’t want to stick around for.
“Carson’s been killing his rivals?” asked Zach.
“At least five people are dead, and all thanks to Carson’s greed.”
“It doesn’t surprise me, he’s as slippery as a sand eel,” said Gunner. “We’ve got an open file on him, and are investigating his involvement in several serious offences.”
“You can add robbery and murder to that list,” I said.
“Already on there,” said Gunner. “And you’re sure you’re both okay?” Again, his gaze shot to Helen.
“Stop flapping around us,” said Helen, “and have a mug of tea.”
Gunner smiled at her and took a mug. “Nothing ruffles your feathers.”
“Please tell me you aren’t going to keep working here,” said Zach. “I’ve hardly slept worrying about you.”
I looked at Helen. “I think our time as undercover agents is over.”
“Suits me,” said Helen. “We can come help at the house, instead.”
Gunner groaned. “I don’t want you getting under my feet and trying to convince me to paint every room pink.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” said Helen. “My favorite color isn’t pink.”
“What is it?” asked Gunner.
“It’s lavender,” said Helen.
Gunner groaned again. “That’s even worse. And I suppose you’re going to try to persuade me to have scented candles in every room, as well?”
“I’ll have them in my bedroom,” said Helen. “But that’s somewhere you’re never going to get into.”
“Don’t be so sure of that.” Gunner grinned at her.
Helen tutted and passed around the rest of the tea.
“I think it’s a good idea,” said Zach to me. “You can both come and work on the house. It will be great having you there. We can start putting in the furniture, and the kitchen is well on the way to being finished.”
I looked at the Cornell house; every light was on and the warm amber glow blazed into the night, chasing away the darkness. “This job was going to pay for the furniture,” I said. “We should try to find something else; otherwise, we won’t be able to move in so quickly.”
“We can sit on old boxes until we have enough money for the fancy stuff,” said Gunner.
“You might be able to do that,” said Helen. “I’m not going to be sitting around on dusty old boxes.”
“I’ll let you sit on my lap if you sweet talk me enough,” said Gunner.
Helen shook her head, but I could see she was suppressing a smile.
I looked over her shoulder to see Lonnie drifting backwards and forwards. “Give me a minute. I’ve got a bit of unfinished business to sort out.”
Zach reluctantly let me go, and I walked over to Lonnie. He drifted across the lawn, and I followed him all the way to his collection of military vehicles.
“I guess you’re going to miss all of this,” I said to him as he stopped by a tank.
Lonnie shrugged and then nodded.
“At least you know what happened to you,” I said. “It wasn’t anyone in your family who killed you.”
Lonnie nodded again.
“And your ghostly helpers?” I looked around. “They can show themselves.”
Lonnie gestured with his hand and five more ghosts appeared on either side of him. They all had on smart suits and slicked back hair. Typical gangsters in style, but they’d helped us when we needed it and I was grateful.
“Thank you. Hope you can find some peace now Carson’s been arrested. The police will find out where he buried you and make sure you all get a decent burial and your families know what happened.”
The ghosts all nodded, and that tense, dark vibe I’d been dogged by faded. All they wanted was resolution for their murders, and now they had it.
I leaned against the tank. “So, that only leaves the rest of the gold. Any chance you’re going to tell me where it is?”
Lonnie smiled at me and winked.
“Is that a yes or a no way in hell am I ever going to find out what you did with the gold?”
Lonnie’s smile widened, and he pointed at the tank I was leaning against.