“Twisted?” Her voice pitches. “How dare you take something so necessary and turn it in an effort to make me sound as if I was the psychotic one in this equation. Those girls—they killed my sister.”
“Heather”—her name slips from me in a whisper as I struggle to piece it all together—“she was obsessed with the afterlife. They all were.”
She nods. “And they wanted to die, just a little.” She averts her eyes. “Or as my sister put it in her journal, just enough. They wanted to see what waited on the other side. Guess who Heather and Rachel thought should go first?”
“They were part of a club. The Post Vitam.”
Her lips part. “My God, how do you know all this?”
“And you’re right,” I say, ignoring her question. “For whatever reason, Aileen went first.”
“They made her,” she huffs at the thought. “Or they asked and she was too nice to say no. She was a people pleaser. They killed her mercilessly. Rachel admitted it. Heather held a towel over my sister’s face while Rachel pinned her down. I couldn’t let them get away with it. They took Aileen away from me, from the planet. They murdered her. And I was going to make sure they both met with the same unfortunate fate.”
She takes a blind step forward.
Sherlock rips out a few rabid barks, but Kiki is unfazed.
“I had to do it, Bizzy. My sister—she deserved better than this.”
“Your sister would never have wanted you to harm anyone.” The words come from the deepest part of me.
“I don’t care,” Kiki riots as an unnatural icy breeze blows past us, mussing our hair, knocking most of the cosmetics right off the table.
“That’s her,” I hiss as I give a quick glance around. “That’s your sister. Both Aileen and Rachel were haunting Heather. Aileen—she’s here.”
“No,” Kiki shouts as she swipes that cleaver off the table and strangles it in a menacing fashion. “She’s not here, Bizzy. She’s dead. Just like you’ll be soon enough.”
Kiki lunges at me with that blade in her hand and Sherlock jumps between us, doing his best to knock her down. Kiki swipes him away with her free hand and sends him flying to her right as if he were a ragdoll.
Bizzy! Sherlock barks as he charges for her again, and this time she swings the cleaver in his direction, nearly taking off one of his ears.
I pick up the chair next to me and toss it at her, giving Sherlock the chance to get away.
Kiki pauses a moment to get her bearings as she pants my way.
“Kiki”—I say her name as sweetly as I can—“this ends tonight. You don’t need to carry this burden anymore. We can get you help. I have people you can talk to.”
“Like that detective you’re engaged to?” The words riot out of her as she lunges my way.
I turn to run, but she catches me by the wrist.
She hoists the cleaver over her shoulder as if she were readying to take a powerful swing.
“If only you had waited another few days, none of this would have happened. You would have made a beautiful bride, Bizzy. And now, Heather has taken another life—yours.” Tears stream down her face, and her voice is thick as she struggles with her emotions. “I’ll make this quick. One blow to the head. I won’t make it hurt. I made sure it was quick for Rachel because she confessed. She apologized. She said killing my sister brought her great grief. But Heather—she was heartless right to the bitter end. She wanted me to let it go. She insisted it was all in the past. She wanted to move on, but Leeny couldn’t move on. Heather didn’t get that. She had to go, too. I made sure of it.”
“You planted all those cleavers around the inn to throw off the case, didn’t you?”
“No.” The word sails from her on the defense. “Why would I do that? I never wanted to scare anyone. I like the inn. I like you, Bizzy.”
“You were hoping to pin this on Bates,” I say.
“Or Jane, or Peter, or whoever the heck your boyfriend was willing to put away. I really don’t care anymore. I knew they would never prosecute anyone. I just needed the time to finish this shoot, collect my paycheck, and never be heard from in these parts again.”
“You were so close.”
“It’s still happening.”
“No, Kiki.” I pluck my wrist free with a violent jerk. “It’s not.” I run out of the tent like a lightning bolt and head for the murky darkness at the edge of the cove.
Kiki runs with a cry in her throat as her footfalls pound their way behind me.
Sherlock barks into the night as he runs a circle around her, jumping and biting, doing his best to slow her down, but she’s unstoppable in her fury.
Fish scampers ahead of me, and I can see the glowing waves as they crash down over the ebony shoreline. The moon is but a sliver, and the rest of the production company is too far to our left for me to cry out to them.
My foot catches on a rock, and I fly face-first into the sand. No sooner do I prop myself onto my elbows than that cleaver lands into the sand next to me with a heavy wallop.
Before I can process it, Kiki is on top of me, grunting as she tries to pin my legs down with her own.
Bizzy! Fish cries as she leaps onto Kiki’s back, but the woman is undeterred.
Sherlock bites at her backside and snaps and barks, snarls, and pushes up against her with all the force he can, but all I see is the gleam of that blade, the red liquid glossing its sides as it’s held high up above me.
My hand slaps over a rock the size of a large apple as I grip onto it.
Kiki bellows with all her might as she brings that blade down over me, and I roll to my right just in time for her to dig that cleaver into the sand once again. She plucks it out with brute force, and before she can aim it in my direction once again, I take the rock in my hand and knock her over the temple with all my might.
A sickening thud fills the air, and that cleaver in her hand comes crashing down just as Kiki falls limp over the sand.
Instinctively, I push myself out of danger’s reach. Sherlock continues to bark as he runs a spastic line toward the inn and back again.
“Bizzy,” a deep voice thunders as Jasper and Leo run in this direction while reaching for their weapons.
I crawl on all fours until I stagger to my feet, and soon I’m snapped up into Jasper Wilder’s strong, capable arms.
“She did it.” I glance back at Kiki whose body is beginning to writhe over the sand. “She confessed to killing both Rachel and Heather. It was revenge. She did it for her sister.” I nod to Jasper. “Her sister was Aileen Bradley.”
Leo lands Kiki in cuffs and calls it in while Jasper pulls me close, and I can feel the explosive pounding of his heart ricocheting against my body.
“It’s over.” He lands a kiss to the top of my head. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”
Jasper gently lifts my chin with his finger until my eyes are locked with his.
“Bizzy Baker, you scared the hell out of me.” He shakes his head ever so slightly. “You’re going to keep doing this, aren’t you?”
“God, I hope not.”
A silent laugh bucks from us at the very same time before Jasper seals his lips over mine.
The wail of patrol cars cut through the night, and it truly feels as if this entire nightmare has finally come to an end.
I glance back to Kiki just as Leo helps her to her feet and she staggers a bit. But it’s not Leo or Kiki who has my attention. It’s the luminous girl who looks as if she has miniature stars trapped in her hair that has her arms wrapped around Kiki.
“Aileen,” I whisper and the ghostly woman looks my way and gives a mournful nod before dissipating, her arms still very much wrapped around her sister until she’s no longer visible.
And something tells me she won’t ever be far away from her.
Chapter 18
Jasper and I made our way back toward the shoot just in time to see Camila bludgeoned to death with the working end of yet another cleaver. It turns out, that once Faith r
ealized Kiki was MIA, she took it upon herself to bring down the bloody mixture and they finished the scene as best as they could. And what a beautiful bloody scene it was. Both Jasper and I thought it was very well-executed, pun intended.
And the very next morning, Peter went ahead with Kiki’s original suggestion and Fish was filmed looking solemnly toward the cerulean blue waters of the Atlantic. Sherlock managed to squeeze himself into the scene as well.
Here’s hoping they both make it past the cutting room floor.
It’s the night of the cast party at the Silver Shufflers Club down in Edison, and everyone from the production team and then some are here.
Camila is already giving Peter the cold shoulder now that her part in the movie is over. And it seems as if he has a sudden interest in one of the extras, a buxom blonde that reminds me a lot of Heather Kent. I guess he has a type. Unfortunately for Jane Olsen, she wasn’t it. Hopefully, she’ll take him to the cleaners and find someone else who will appreciate her all on her own.
It’s dimly lit inside the club as red and pink spotlights strobe above us to the rhythm of the raucously loud music straight from the rollicking fifties. The scent of fresh coffee permeates the air and the refreshment table is filled with platters and platters brimming with s’mores bars brought over from the Country Cottage Café.
In fact, I drove over with Emmie and helped transport the platters myself. Jasper said he’d meet me here after work. It’s the very next day after the incident with Kiki. She was booked and is being charged with the deaths of both Rachel Hatterman and Heather Kent. Jasper says they’re going to try to get her the help she needs. Her mind fractured all those years ago when she lost her sister. And I most certainly agree, Kiki needs help and lots of it.
Emmie hands me a s’mores bar and toasts me with one of her own.
“To my best friend, Bizzy Baker, the best detective just this side of Honey Hollow.” She gives a little wink as she mentions the town my sleuthing friend, Lottie Lemon, is from.
“Very funny. But I’ll have you know, I’d like nothing better than to never have to solve another homicide again. How about we toast to no more stumbling upon dead bodies?” I lift my s’mores bar higher and she does the same.
“Hear, hear.”
We both take a bite and moan.
“Emmie, I want these at my wedding.”
“You bet. Would you like to wear them, considering the fact you only have a month left and you still don’t have a dress?”
“You’re on a roll, you know that? I happen to be a big believer in things working out in the end.”
Macy bops up with a pink cowboy hat and matching boots.
My eyes ride up and down my sister’s pink fringed outfit morbidly slow.
I angle myself toward her. “How concerned should I be by this country fried display?”
She flicks her wrist my way before holding up a fruity drink.
“Don’t come at me just because I know how to stand out in a club.”
Emmie ticks her head to the side. “She’s got you there, Bizzy. In fact, I think every gentleman in this place has their neck craned in this direction.”
“Yup.” Macy frowns at the thought as she inspects the crowd. “And if I’m lucky, maybe they’ll take me somewhere nice where they can use their AARP discount.” She makes a face. “It looks as if both the director and the hot actor already have their hands full.”
I look past her and confirm that both Peter and Bates Barlow are already ensconced by an entire brigade of women.
Emmie butts her shoulder to my sister’s. “Don’t worry, Macy. Bizzy’s old friend McKenna is getting hitched at the inn and she just requested the ballroom for a magic show beforehand. Who knows, Macy? She might even have a clown or two at the event for you.”
Macy sticks her finger down her throat. “I hate clowns. Besides, I’ve already dated like sixty of them.”
A laugh bucks from me. “I wouldn’t be so quick to knock a man with big feet, Macy. Who knows? Maybe a man with a rubber nose and a rainbow wig will be Mr. Right?”
“Oh, honey”—she shudders—“those creatures wouldn’t even qualify as Mr. Right Now.” She trots off for the bar without missing a beat.
A tall, dark, and arrestingly handsome man walks into the club and takes my breath away with his presence. Half the women in the place just gasped because they want him, and half the men just groaned because the ladies they want suddenly aren’t interested in them.
Jasper’s diamond clear eyes scour the room like lasers until he comes upon me.
“Speaking of Mr. Right,” I say. “I’ll be back, ladies.”
I swoop over to my handsome fiancé’s side and smack his lips with mine before we exchange hellos.
“Hey, hot stuff.” I give his ribs a squeeze. Jasper was up all night doing paperwork on the case and closing it out. “It’s nice to have you back now that everything is behind us.”
“It’s nice to be back.” He glowers as he stares out into the crowd. “But not everything is behind us.” Jasper leads us to the center of the dance floor, and just when I think we’re about to bust a move to this doo wa ditty, he taps a man on the shoulder, and once he turns around I’m surprised to see it’s my brother.
“Hux?” I glance just past him to affirm my worst nightmare. Camila is the one trying to do her best to swivel her body up against his.
Then like a bat out of a belfry, in swoops Mayor Mackenzie Woods in all her dark and haunted glory as she wraps her arms around my brother’s waist.
“I’m here now.” She bleeds a dark smile my way. “Ready to dance the night away with my man.”
Good Lord, I don’t know what would be worse. Hux with Camila or Hux with Mack.
Soon enough, Hux and his hussy are lost in one another’s eyes as Jasper navigates both Camila and me to the side.
“I know what you did,” he says it to her curtly, and just this side of angry.
I grunt at the thought. “What in the world did you do now?” It comes out harsh as if I were scolding her, and I’m pretty sure I will be doing just that in less than a minute once the proverbial gauze is removed from my eyes.
“What are you both rambling about?” Camila tugs down the little black dress she’s squeezed herself into as she does her best to look past us. “Make it quick. Jordy is coming out tonight. He told me to save a dance for him.”
Jasper folds his arms across his chest. “This would work better if you would confess.”
Before she has a chance to weasel out of it, Leo Granger steps up beside her, looking lean and mean with his dark hair slicked back. The fact he’s scanning the crowd tells me he’s looking for my bestie.
“Evening.” He nods my way. “Did Jasper share the good news with you yet?”
“What good news?” I look to Jasper with open-mouth surprise.
“Camila”—Jasper narrows those high beams of his in her direction—“fine, have it your way. Camila was spotted on the security camera of the inn planting those cleavers. It was grainy and difficult to read, but I took it to the lab where they magnified and digitized it.”
“No way.” She shakes her head. “It wasn’t me. You said yourself the image was grainy.”
Jasper sighs. “Yes, the digital image from the inn was grainy. But the security footage from the local mall was not. Specifically, just outside of the Kitchen Corner. You were seen leaving a week ago with a sizable bag. I spoke to the manager and they affirmed that someone on that date bought thirteen cleavers. That would have been you, Camila. If you don’t confess, I’ll be forced to have you turn in your credit card statements.”
Camila huffs, “Fine. I did it. Is it really a crime? All I did was a little decorating. I’m the one that produced the yearbook. I was essentially responsible for the biggest break in this case.”
“Maybe so,” I say. “But probably not. Jasper and I have a pretty good track record of catching a killer without you. Camila, you terrified the guests.”
&
nbsp; Leo nods. “Bizzy’s right. This very much falls under terrorism.”
I suck in a quick breath of delight. “That means you’ll be fired from the sheriff’s department.” I do a little hop. “And arrested!” I nudge Jasper in the ribs. “Go ahead and cuff her. Better yet, you do it, Leo. I’m suddenly in a dancing mood.” I thread my arm through Jasper’s. “I bet we can jitterbug with the best of them.”
“No one is arresting me.” Camila tips her chin in the air. “You can’t prove anything. My credit cards won’t show a thing. Just because I was shopping at a kitchen supply store means nothing. I’ve already conferred with counsel.” She nods toward my brother, and I suddenly want to wring both her neck and his. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe my date is here.” She snaps her fingers in the air and swivels her hips as she sashays her way to Jordy.
“Someone’s in a celebratory mood,” I say. “And ironically, it’s no longer me. Why does she seem to get away with everything?”
Before I can reach for Jasper’s weapon and start firing in her direction, Georgie and Juni dance their way over, each holding a glow-in-the-dark magic wand with a star gracing the tip.
Juni does an odd little dance in front of Leo.
“Aren’t you gonna arrest me?” She shakes her chest at him and I roll my eyes.
“Arrest someone,” I tell him. “I think I’ll actually sleep better tonight because of it.”
Leo makes a face. “I’m not arresting you, Juni.”
“Fine,” she bleats as she all but climbs Jasper like a pole. “Feel like tasing me tonight, Officer?”
Georgie plucks her wayward daughter off my man.
“Down, Juni,” she says, doing her best to hold her back. “This heart-stopper is taken, too. You’ll have to forgive her. She’s had one too many Shirley Temples.”
I shake my head. “Georgie, Shirley Temples don’t have any alcohol in them.”
“Who said anything about alcohol?” Georgie swats her daughter with the purse in her hand. “My Juni has never been able to handle her sugar.”
Emmie comes over holding a platter of those chocolate and marshmallow wonders.
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