by Lynn Cahoon
Marty snorted. “Well, we know this is bunk because Pat wasn’t innocent. He was a mean jerk and used people.”
“I don’t think that was what she was talking about. She said she’d killed the prison guard in anger because her daughter had been taken from her. She said she was wrong to strike out but that whoever killed Pat was related to her and acting unwisely.” Angie glanced at Thaddeus.
“How the hell did you figure that out?” He rubbed his face. “You’re right and you’re wrong. I am descended from Lyda. From that baby girl that was taken from her. But I didn’t kill the guard. I was here to try to contact her. To see if those rumors about her haunting this place were true. To show her that we’d made a difference with our lives. Lives that she gave us.”
“What are you talking about?” Tamera stared at her uncle. “This is why you wanted to come here? To talk to a dead person rather than bond with Tad and me?”
He shook his head with a slight eye roll. “You two are fine. Your space in the will is set. You won’t be left penniless.”
“It’s not about the money.” Tad shot back. “You’re the closest thing I’ve had to a father since I was sixteen and you treat us like we’re strangers. Why can’t you just be a normal uncle and take us to dinner. Ask what’s going on in our lives? Just give a shit.”
“Tad,” Tamera squeezed her brother’s hand.
“No, he’s right. I’ve been distant. At first, I thought you were okay. You didn’t need me. Then I just lost track. I focused on my career and the money and not the people who matter. I’m sorry.” Thaddeus took put his hand on the top of the siblings’.
“Touching family scene aside, which one of you two killed Pat?” Bridget brought the conversation back to the present. “The ghost said one of you did it for the wrong reasons.”
“I didn’t kill your friend. I was here for other reasons.” Thaddeus glanced at his nephew. “And I believe Tad was here to please me.”
“I didn’t kill anyone. I might be a screw up, but I’m not an idiot.” Tad broke the circle and wiped his eyes. “So find another patsy. I’m not being one this time.”
“Return to the circle.” Liz commanded. And to Angie’s surprise, Tad followed suit.
Angie spoke up. “She didn’t say a relative did this, she said someone did it in her name. Someone killed Pat because he was like the guard who fathered her child.”
“I’m telling you all again, I didn’t kill Pat.” Marty sighed. “Did I hate the guy? Yes. Was he making Rachel’s life hell because she was in love with me? Yes. Did I want him out of our lives? Hell, yes.”
“There’s one person who would benefit from this chaos. There’s one person who needed Pat out of the way.” Angie shook her head at Marty who started to speak. “It was you Sara. You killed Pat so Nick could take his job.”
“That’s stupid. Sara didn’t even know I wanted to work here. Besides, we’ve got a gig in the works. The four of us are starting a ghost busting podcast. It’s going to be awesome.” Nick turned and looked at his new wife who was staring at Angie, her face pale. “Right, honey? Honey?”
“Stop talking about that dumb podcast. It’s not going to make a dime. How do you plan on us making rent or even putting gas in that dumpy van of yours? And you’re running our credit cards up with your stupid toys.” The words fell out of Sara’s mouth before she realized what she was saying.
“You killed someone?” Nick stared at her.
“No. I didn’t. Honey, look, I just want us to be okay. I want you to think about us, not this stupid podcast.” She looked pleadingly at her new husband. Then she looked at the table. “I didn’t kill Pat.”
“But someone did, and you helped him.” Angie repeated. “Do you want to tell us why you locked the guards in the closet?”
She stared at Angie. “How did you know that was me?”
“You stupid cow.” Glen yelled at her. “They were guessing and now you’ve just gone and ruined my alibi. I should have known you weren’t up to this. You’re a B student at most.”
“Hey, I’m Dean’s List, just like you.” Sara shot back. “I wrote most of your damn book.”
“And now you’ve ruined the whole thing.” Glen stood up and pulled a gun out of the back of his pants. “I guess it’s going to have to be a Halloween massacre story. Thank God I wrestled the gun away from him before crazy Tad took us all out. Thanks for the poor little rich boy story. That will help with the motivation.”
“I don’t think so.” A man spoke behind where Glen stood. “Lower your weapon or you will be the first down.”
Angie looked up into the face of Sheriff Allen Brown, Ian’s uncle. He and several other law enforcement officers stood with guns drawn all focused on Glen’s back.
“How did he know?” She whispered to Ian.
“Beats me, but I’m glad he’s here.”
Chapter 9
Angie and the crew gathered around the table where they’d eaten dinner. It seemed so long ago. She sank into a bench to watch as the police first brought out Glen and Sara to patrol cars, then Pat’s body to the coroner’s wagon. A small woman pulled up in a Mini Cooper and ran towards Marty. She didn’t even glance at the cart while it wheeled her ex-husband to the wagon. Angie watched as Rachel threw her arms around the clearly tired Marty. “True love always wins.”
Ian followed her gaze and smiled. Then he stepped forward to talk to his uncle. “Are we free to go? Or do we need to hang around longer?”
Allen Brown took out a handkerchief and mopped at his face. “You can go. We know where to find you in case there are more questions. Miss Turner, I can’t believe you got yourself into another situation here. Didn’t we just talk about this?”
“Don’t look at me. I didn’t schedule this outing, Matt did.” She rubbed her face. She needed sleep before service tonight. “Hey, how did you know we were in trouble? The doors were supposed to open at six, which was only fifteen minutes ago.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. Your goat got out of her pen.”
Angie’s heart missed a beat. Visions of the trucks that sped down the road in front of her house filled her head. “Precious? Tell me she’s okay.”
“She’s fine. Erica called me to tell you that she took her over to the goat farm since she didn’t know how to fix your fence. She’s heading out of town to visit with her parents, so she wanted to make sure someone knew where Precious was. I tried to call the emergency line so I could get a message to you, but it was off line. That phone is always supposed to be open. So the security company checked an open feed to the common room, and that female guard kept staring at the camera and mouthing SOS. When Glen would walk by, she’d pretend to be sleeping. So we had a pretty good understanding of what was going on about an hour ago. We just had to get people here. Once Glen started talking mass killing, we knew we were out of time.”
“Precious saved us?” Angie started giggling.
Allen exchanged looks with Ian. “I said all of that and all she heard was her goat saved you?”
“She’s had a long night.” He slapped Allen on the back. “We’re taking off. I’ve got to get her home so she can get some sleep, or no one’s eating at the County Seat tonight. Besides, it sounds like I have a fence to mend.”
They said their goodbyes but as they were leaving the area, a school bus stopped at the gate to the penitentiary. The teacher was trying to figure out who to talk to with the police and ambulances blocking the way.
“I think their Halloween party just got cancelled.” Ian looked up at the kids hanging out of the windows, staring at the building.
“I bet a lot of people died in there,” one little boy said to his friend.
The other one pointed to the door, “Look, there’s a real live prisoner standing at the doorway. Maybe she escaped.”
Angie turned to see a woman dressed in a 1940’s
traveling suit. She held a suitcase. She smiled at Angie and nodded her head. Then she looked up and disappeared.
“Wicked cool. Did you see that? She was a ghost. And not one of those stupid sheet covered people. I bet she’s a hologram. Do you think she’ll run on a loop?”
Angie knew that what she’d seen hadn’t been a special effect. Lyda had left the building. And it was about time. Angie stood there a minute longer, watching the place where Lyda had been standing.
“Angie, do you need me to go get the car? You can sit on that bench and I’ll be right back.” Ian took her arm.
“I’m fine. I was just looking at something.” Angie fell into step with Ian. It was time to get back to the real world. A world where long dead people didn’t use her staff members as their personal Western Union. “Time to start thinking about what we’re cooking tonight. If you want to come by, I’ll buy your dinner.”
“Sounds amazing.”
They walked hand in hand down the short hill to the parking lot. Then she got into Ian’s car and leaned her head against the window. She closed her eyes and stopped thinking of Lyda altogether.
Dear Readers –
Muffins are the first thing I learned to bake in Mrs. Higgin’s Freshman Home Ec class. I think I still have the apron I made in that class, sharing fabric with my best friend and her sister. High school is where I became aware of the possibilities of being an adult. Having my own place, making my own meals. It all seemed so magical then. I dreamt of being a fashion buyer in New York City (I would have never loved the heels), or a suited lawyer fighting for the rights of others, or a mom with twelve kids making muffins and serving on the PTA.
Instead, I had one kid, one career in social service, now one in the private sector, and finally, the dream job I never thought I could have – author. Follow your dreams because you can’t change the past, but you can always start over and change the future.
Much love,
Lynn
Special Chocolate Chip Muffins
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 muffin tins (or use spray oil).
Mix into a large bowl
2 cups all-purpose flour
1⁄3 cup light-brown sugar, packed
1⁄3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
In a separate bowl, mix
2⁄3 cup milk
1⁄2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix together, but don’t over mix. (Rookie mistake I’ve made too many times.)
Add to the mix
1 (11 1/2 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1⁄2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Pour into muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool.
Love the Farm-to-Fork Mysteries?
Don’t miss the rest of the series
WHO MOVED MY GOAT CHEESE?
ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO, DEAD
KILLER GREEN TOMATOES
DEEP FRIED REVENGE
And novella
HAVE A DEADLY NEW YEAR
Available now
And be sure to read these mystery series by Lynn Cahoon
The Cat Latimer Mysteries
The Tourist Trap Mysteries
And coming soon
The Kitchen Witch Mysteries!