“Nobody knows how to find me here,” she continued, grinning. “You’re dead, so you won’t be looking for him. Your boyfriend must already be crushed by your death, so he’ll be distracted. The same for your family. That means I get Terry all to myself, as it should be.”
A hint of furtive movement at the back of the cabin caught my attention. I allowed myself a quick glance to see that Landon, Chief Terry at his side, was making his escape. Chief Terry looked beaten down, weary, but he was on his feet and alive. We briefly made eye contact, and then I turned to Melanie to put my second plan of action into motion.
“You’re not going to get what you want.”
Melanie was surprised. “Excuse me?”
“You’re not going to get what you want,” I repeated. “You can’t force someone to love you. I’m guessing you’ve tried multiple times over your life. It’s not something that can be manufactured. Love is kismet. It happens at the right time, when destiny exerts itself. You can’t simply make it happen because you want it to.”
“Do you want to bet?” Melanie’s smirk was chilling. “Hopper thought he could avoid my wrath, but I showed him. I snuck into his house, waited for him to come back from dinner, and then I taught him a thing or two about shunning my love.”
I felt sick to my stomach. “You’re not even sorry a little, are you?”
“Sorry? About killing a monster? No, I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry for killing you either. I tried to be nice, but you refused to accept me. You were a monster, too.”
“I was unpleasant,” I agreed without hesitation. “I was unwelcoming.”
“Because you wanted him for your mother. Well, that didn’t happen. I won.”
“I wanted him for my mother ... and myself. I wanted him to be an official member of my family. I won’t lie about that.”
Melanie was smug. “You lost. You’re dead and I’m in charge.”
“I didn’t lose. I was mean to you and I’ll always wonder if that played a part in how things went down. I sensed what you are, though. I think I sensed it from the beginning. It wasn’t just anger that he didn’t pick the woman I wanted for him.” At least I hoped that was true. “It was more than that. But as for losing, I’m not the one who lost.”
“You’re dead.”
“Not quite.” I leaned over and picked up a stone from the driveway, lobbing it so it landed with a sound plunk at her feet. “Your parents are dead. That’s awful, by the way. I can’t believe you killed them for money. But I’m not dead. I’m still here. Your plan to poison me didn’t work.”
Melanie blanched. “No ... you’re dead. I can see through you. You’re … shimmery. You’re definitely dead. I know it. You said ... I ... .” Her mind was clearly working fast. So were her hands. She gripped the gun, intent clear as she raised it. She planned to point it at me ... and then pull the trigger.
That didn’t happen because Aunt Tillie was on her feet. She strolled out of the bushes as if she didn’t have a care in the world and raised her hands to the sky. “Don’t even think about it!” She bellowed.
I had no idea what spell she was going to cast or if Melanie would’ve been standing when she was done. Ultimately it didn’t matter. This was my fight and I had a different weapon in my arsenal.
“Take her,” I ordered the ghosts, who looked thrilled at the prospect. “Don’t kill her. I think a life behind bars will be far worse than a quick death. End it, though. I’m done here.”
I turned my back on Melanie as she began to screech. There was no need to see what was to come. The thing I wanted to see most was standing at the Explorer with Landon, and he had tears in his eyes.
“I knew you’d find me, kid,” Chief Terry choked out when I drew closer. “I knew you’d be the one.”
I threw my arms around his neck and gave in to the tears I’d managed to fight off since the moment I knew he was missing. “No one could’ve stopped me from finding you.”
“I know.” He rested his cheek on top of my head. “You’re a good girl. You always have been.”
Melanie continued to scream as the ghosts swarmed her.
“Not so good,” I countered.
“Oh, no. She has that coming.”
At least we could agree on that.
Thirty
As a victim, Chief Terry couldn’t handle his own crime scene. That meant Landon was in charge, and by the time his co-workers swarmed the scene he already had a story in place. It involved me being panicked about Chief Terry going missing and forcing Landon to drive out to Melanie’s cabin as a precautionary measure. He didn’t expect to find anything. It was a happy coincidence that we found Chief Terry being held against his will, and we all worked together to free him.
It was a story that didn’t necessarily make sense on the surface, but we knew no one would dig too deep because everything was tied up with a neat little bow.
Landon arranged for Chief Terry, Thistle, Clove, Aunt Tillie and me to be transported to The Overlook while he remained behind to take Melanie into custody and process the scene. I stood at the door of the vehicle that would drive us away from the horror in the woods, met his gaze over the hood of the Expedition, and smiled.
He offered a small wave and called out. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
That was all I needed to hear. I nodded, returned the wave, and happily left Melanie’s cabin in the rearview mirror.
The second we arrived at The Overlook Chief Terry took over as the center of attention despite the fact that several guests had checked in the previous day. Mom didn’t exactly ignore them, but Chief Terry trumped all else as he was escorted into the dining room and fussed over as if he were royalty.
“Are you okay?” Mom looked as if she was caught between crying and committing murder as she smoothed Chief Terry’s hair and helped him out of his filthy coat. “I’ll make sure this gets cleaned.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Chief Terry protested.
“I want to do it.” Mom was firm. “Just like I want to make sure you have something warm in your stomach. We’re making soup and sandwiches for lunch. I’ll get something out here right away for you.”
“And I’m making warm bread,” Twila offered, smirking. “I’ll make sure you have some of that.”
“Which will pale in comparison to the cookies I’m making,” Marnie supplied, her lips curving. “I’ll make sure you have a huge plate of those.”
It seemed the competition for Chief Terry’s affections was still on ... or perhaps they simply wanted him to feel welcome. Either way, I couldn’t hide my smile as Chief Terry’s cheeks flushed with color and Thistle scowled.
“I want some cookies, too,” Thistle barked as Marnie disappeared into the kitchen. “I was part of the rescue team, for crying out loud.”
I ignored Thistle and let her wallow, instead focusing on Chief Terry. I felt awkward and out of place as I picked at the tablecloth and scuffed my shoes against the floor. “So ... .”
“I’m sorry, Bay.” He uttered the words without hesitation. “I’m sorry for all of it.”
“You don’t have to be sorry.”
“No?” He cocked a dubious eyebrow. “In the past few days I’ve yelled at you, refused to talk to you, picked a crazy woman’s side over yours, but you saved me. What should I be, if not sorry?”
“To be fair, I deserved to be yelled at. We broke the law and stole files.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve done a lot worse than that over the years. I don’t know why I got so bent out of shape over it.”
“Probably because Landon was involved.” I’d given the situation a lot of thought and come up with a hunch. “If it had just been Aunt Tillie, Clove, Thistle and me, you would’ve been annoyed but resigned because we’re always impulsive together. Landon agreeing to break the law shifted things, made them more difficult to deal with. That’s why you were caught off guard.”
“I think you’re using that as a convenient excuse.”
“Do
you have a problem with that?”
“No.” Amusement flitted over his face before he sobered. “I’m still sorry about what happened with Melanie, the way things went last night. It wasn’t your fault. I need you to know that.”
However heartened I was by his words, I knew that allowing him to take the onus on his shoulders was unfair. “I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
“What do you mean?”
“Right from the start, I decided I was going to get rid of Melanie,” I explained. “That wasn’t fair to you. I knew it and yet I persisted. If I’d had the chance I would’ve manipulated her right out of your life.”
“I see.” He stroked his strong chin. “She was crazy, Bay. She planned to lock me in the basement until I saw reason and agreed with her assessment that we belonged together forever. That’s what she said. She was all kinds of nutty.”
“I know.”
“She needed to be out of my life,” he persisted. “She wasn’t a good person ... or safe, for that matter.”
“She was very Fatal Attraction,” I agreed, causing him to scowl.
“I should never have let you watch that movie when you were a kid,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I thought it was a simple romance.”
“I had nightmares for days,” I agreed. “Boiled bunnies and the like.”
“You’ve never let me forget it either.”
“That’s what family does. They never let you forget anything.”
His eyes watered and he blinked several times rapidly. “You’re my family, too, sweetheart. I’m still sorry for how all this went down. You deserved better. I just ... didn’t handle things well.
“The truth is, I wasn’t sure how to handle things,” he continued. “I was nervous about you meeting her and I knew things wouldn’t go well because you were bound to dislike her. From the start, I think I recognized that you were predisposed to dislike her, and that made me nervous. That’s on me.”
“No.” I vehemently shook my head. “I reacted like a baby. Melanie is crazy and needs to be locked in a loony bin for the rest of her life, but when I first met her she was fine. She wanted coffee and conversation ... and I looked at her as the enemy from the start. That wasn’t fair to you.”
“Life isn’t always fair, Bay.”
“You sound like Landon.”
“You’re fond of the boy, so I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Yeah, well ... .” I cleared my throat as I trailed off. “I was upset that you didn’t want to date my mother,” I admitted after a beat, opting to put everything out there so we could move past it. “I always assumed that the two of you would end up together. I don’t know why. It was in the back of my head when I was a kid and it stayed there as I grew up. I thought it was inevitable … like destiny that simply hadn’t yet been fulfilled.”
“Ah ... .” Chief Terry looked caught.
“I know it’s not right to force you into something you clearly don’t want,” I said hurriedly. “I don’t want you to be unhappy. I thought you liked her. After our talk at Christmas, I assumed you’d date her. I know that wasn’t fair, but ... I just wanted you to stay close to my family.”
“I know.” He heaved out a sigh. “That’s why I didn’t want to date your mother.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t want to ruin things, Bay. You weren’t imagining things as a kid. I was always attracted to her.”
“Why didn’t you act on it?”
“Because I was trying to do what was best for you,” he answered honestly, causing my heart to tumble. “At first it wasn’t the right time because you were still grieving the loss of your father and the divorce. Then, suddenly you were a teenager and it took everything I had to keep up with you.
“By the time you left for college it felt as if we’d missed our window, even though something was always there,” he said. “When you came back it was awkward, and I used that as a convenient excuse. So, you see, it never felt like the right time.”
I decided to meet his honesty with some of my own. “I think that’s all in your head. The right time is when you make it. Look at Landon and me. We met when we were kids, had crushes on one another, and then completely forgot about each other. When we met as adults, that was definitely the wrong time to be attracted to each other — what with the murderers and drug dealers and all that — but we couldn’t stay away. It was the right time for both of us even though it felt like the wrong time.”
“Are you saying I should just get over myself and ask your mother out?”
My heart soared at the idea, but I didn’t want to put too much pressure on him. “I’m saying that you should rest for a few days and then get your act together. You hurt her, kind of broke her heart, when you started dating Melanie. She was ... lost.”
“That’s not what I wanted.” He rubbed his forehead, weariness taking over. “I thought dating Melanie would be easier. I was wrong.”
“Oh, you think?” I shot him a grin. “That woman tried to lock you in the basement. I guarantee the only person who is going to try to lock you in a room here is Aunt Tillie ... and it won’t be the basement, because that’s where she hides things she doesn’t want anyone to find.”
“Thank you for telling me that.” He patted the top of my hand. “I’ll get myself together, Bay. I’ll make this up to you.”
“You don’t have to make it up to me. I’m fine. I knew we would always find a way to move past the fight and be fine.”
“Then I’ll figure a way to make this up to your mother.”
“That would be better.” I grinned as I leaned my head against his shoulder. “I thought there was a chance we wouldn’t find you in time.”
“I would never leave you that way, kid.”
“That’s what I kept telling myself.”
We lapsed into comfortable silence, Clove and Thistle sipping coffee at the end of the table as they stared at the wall. They weren’t usually the silent types, but they didn’t want to disturb the moment of tranquility.
Thankfully, as Winchesters, we had Aunt Tillie to do that. She was all bravado and bluster when she breezed through the swinging doors and pulled up short in front of Chief Terry. “I bet you’ll have better taste in women from here on out, huh?”
Instead of frowning, Chief Terry chuckled. “You can count on that.”
“Good.”
The sound of footsteps coming from the opposite direction drew my attention, and when I turned I found Landon strolling toward me.
“Hey.” I straightened. “Did your co-workers believe the story about me making you go out to Melanie’s house?”
He nodded as he knelt in front of me. “Yep. No problem there. She woke up, by the way. She was telling stories about ghosts attacking her. Everyone thinks she’s crazy, which is ultimately good for us.”
“Unless they put her in a hospital instead of prison,” Thistle pointed out. “She killed three people. She would’ve added Bay and Chief Terry to the number if pushed far enough. I don’t think a hospital is the right place for her.”
“She’ll be in a high-security hospital for observation to start,” Landon said. “We’ll have to go from there. At least she’s off the street.”
“That’s something,” I agreed, holding his gaze for an extended moment. “I controlled the ghosts. They didn’t kill her.”
“You did so well.” Landon was sincere as he pushed my hair away and leaned in for a kiss. “In fact, you were amazing. I always knew you were something special, but you blew me away today.”
“Oh, geez!” Chief Terry shook his head and refused to look at us. “I haven’t even eaten yet and I think I might lose my appetite.”
“You and me both, Skippy.” Aunt Tillie was all smiles as she sat at the head of the table.
“Why are you in such a good mood?” I asked, suspicious. Landon gently pulled away from me so he could sit in the open chair on my left. “You were with me most of the day. How could you possi
bly have done something that makes you this excited?”
“I’m a multi-tasker.”
“You’re ... something.”
“Oh, don’t be that way.” Aunt Tillie wagged a finger. “I’m simply in a good mood. There’s no reason to get worked up.”
“I’m not worked up ... but, why are you in a good mood? You didn’t do something to Hopper, did you? I still need to go out to the bluff and send him to the other side.”
“Can you do that?” Landon asked.
“Yeah.”
“Should you do that?”
“It’s better than having him here.”
“That’s true.” He linked his fingers with mine and focused on Aunt Tillie. “Seriously, why are you in such a good mood? It makes me nervous.”
“Can’t I simply be happy to be alive?” She adopted an air of innocence.
“No,” Landon and I answered in unison.
“You guys are absolutely no fun,” she grumbled.
“You’re up to something.” Landon slid his arm around my shoulders as he continued to stare at my great-aunt. “Does this have something to do with whatever you found out from Hopper’s ghost regarding Mrs. Little’s treatment?”
“No, but I’m looking forward to messing with Margaret about that in the future.” Aunt Tillie laced her fingers together, prim and proper, and smiled so serenely that I knew she was about to drop a bomb of epic proportions.
“Oh, what did you do?” My stomach twisted. “It’s something bad, isn’t it? You’ve figured out a way to make the zombie apocalypse come to fruition, haven’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m still months away from achieving that.”
“Then ... what is it?” I narrowed my eyes. “You didn’t manage to clone yourself, did you? I know you were working on that a few weeks ago. I thought you’d agreed to give up that endeavor.”
“Yes, because one of you is more than enough,” Thistle drawled.
“Way more,” Clove agreed.
“Ugh. You guys are starting to irritate me.” Aunt Tillie rolled her eyes. “I’m simply an old woman enjoying the fact that a family friend was rescued from the clutches of a madwoman.”
Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery Box Set Page 29