Candy Canes, Corpses and the Gothic Haunt

by Rachael Stapleton

  Rudolph moved behind her and jammed the gun into her back. “I really don’t want to shoot you, Juniper, but I will if I have to. It won’t be all that difficult to make your death look like a robbery gone bad.”

  “I wouldn’t count on that. You heard me talking to Jack, and he’s on his way.”

  “So, I’ll have to kill him, too.”

  “Four murders in one place will look awfully suspicious. Besides, I called Kaden. He knows I found out you killed Feliz and Sally.”

  Rudolph laughed—it was a twisted sound. “You really are a bad liar. I heard you leave the message. You didn’t tell him it was me. You said it was Louise. Poor, poor Louise. It will be so easy to frame her. I’ve already been setting it up, you know, just in case.”

  Juniper’s heart sank. He was right. But Penny was hopefully listening. There would be one other person who knew the truth.

  Rudolph prodded her toward the opening under the stairs. Juniper would delay it as long as she could and hope for the best. If he took her back to his store, she’d have a fighting chance. The store was open, and if she screamed, someone would surely come running.

  They reached the large open area. Instead of heading down the tunnel that led to his store, he pushed her toward the passageway she hadn’t explored yet.

  “Where are we going?” Juniper asked.

  “Shut up and keep walking.” He jammed the gun against her back and Juniper winced. Once they were a few feet inside the tunnel, he threw a switch and a string of lights along the ceiling flashed on. She’d wondered about that. It would be hard to move merchandise in the dark.

  “This tunnel goes to the river, doesn’t it?”

  He didn’t answer.

  Juniper hoped Penny was picking all this up. The cell phone signal in her basement had been good, but she wasn’t sure how long that would last in here.

  Rudolph ignored her. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, but it could only have been a few blocks. A quarter of a mile at most. As they walked, she searched for some kind of escape path but there was nothing. The only way out was back the way they’d come. They soon reached a set of hardwood steps at the end of the tunnel and Rudolph ordered her to go up. There was a door, and he reached and slid the lock over, and pushed it open. “Out,” he said.

  They exited it into some sort of barn, there were broken down boxes but otherwise it was eerily empty.

  “What is this place?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “This is Louise’s barn, isn’t it? This is where you get your shipments. The trucks pull in here and you can unload under cover. And this is why you’ve been dating her—so you can keep her busy whenever you’re getting a shipment. Smart.”

  “Less chatter and more movement,” Rudolph grumbled as he pushed her outside the barn.

  It was snowing again but Juniper could make out the Inn in the far distance below. She shivered, her sweater was wool, but it wasn’t quite as warm as her coat. Of course, she would be a lot colder if Rudolph made her walk on the river like she suspected he was going to. The river looked frozen to the naked eye but everyone knew it wasn’t solid in December. Her heart pounded so hard she could hear it. She had to think of something. And fast.

  If she ran, Rudolph wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her.

  He nudged her with the gun again. “Keep walking.”

  Juniper wasn’t going down without a fight. She planted her feet and spun around so she facing Rudolph. She could see into the barn. “I’m not going anywhere,” She said. “Not until I get some answers. You owe me that much.”

  “I don’t owe you anything.”

  “Well, I’m asking anyway. Why, Rudolph? I don’t understand. I don’t understand why you did any of this. Not the sabotage, and especially not the murders.”

  “Why? You want to know why?” he said. “That building should have been mine. Helen Patone was my partner. She was supposed to buy that place from you. I went out of the country to deal with our suppliers, and when I returned, she was in jail. All of our plans. slipped away just like you’re going to...under the ice,"

  “You mean your drug smuggling business? That’s why you needed full tunnel access, isn’t it?” Juniper caught a glimpse of Jack’s head coming up through the hatch. She forced her gaze to stay on Rudolph so she didn’t give Jack away.

  “That house was supposed to be mine. But you had to have your little Ghostly Inn.”

  “Gothic Haunt,” Juniper corrected.

  “Whatever.”

  Jack was inching closer. He crouched down behind boxes as he moved forward.

  “So you killed two people trying to drive us out.”

  “Soon to be three,” he said. “Your chef figured out it was me. I dropped my phone that night in the taproom, and he found it. I hid and listened while he called you. I had this with me.” He held up the bat. “I’d been planning to use it on your fixtures. Instead, I turned on the basement light and smashed a wine bottle, luring him into the cellar, and when he came to nose around I took care of him.”

  Juniper was going to be sick. She took a deep breath and swallowed. Poor Feliz. Tears filled her eyes. Juniper blinked them away. She was not going to let Rudolph see her cry.

  “What about Sally?” Her mouth was so dry, she could barely get the words out.

  Rudolph shrugged. “Don’t tell me you’re actually upset about that one. You should be thanking me. She was trying to steal Jack from you. Everyone knows how much she hates you.” He chuckled to himself, “and her boyfriend was so outspoken about competing for business. I could tell you were on to me. It was just too perfect of an opportunity to miss. So, I planned to set it up to make it look like Sally was behind the sabotage to throw you off my scent. I drugged her vitamin water when she stopped into the convenience store and planted her in your basement using the tunnel. She was supposed to get caught inside after I demolished the place, but she woke up early and saw me. Basically she signed her own death warrant.” He motioned with the gun. “I’ve had enough of this. Time to go for a polar dip.”

  That was the moment Jack had been waiting for. He sprang up and tackled Rudolph from behind. They crashed to the ground. The gun flew from Rudolph’s hand and skittered down the slope onto the ice. Juniper watched in terror as they rolled on the ground. Jack was much bigger, but Rudolph was crazy. Sharp winter wind sliced through Juniper’s sweater as she contemplated how to help Jack. The bat lay on the ground near them but she couldn’t get close enough to get it.

  Jack rolled on top of Rudolph and pressed one hand to his throat to hold him down. He drew his other hand back for a punch just as Rudolph grabbed Jack’s wrist and used it for leverage to pull Jack off him. Before Jack could react, Rudolph jumped to his feet. He grabbed the bat and swung it down toward Jack’s head. Juniper screamed.

  Jack rolled away at the last second and the bat struck the ground with a clang. Jack kicked the bat out of Rudolph’s hands. It rolled to her feet and Juniper snatched it up.

  Before Rudolph could go after Jack again, she drew the bat back with both hands and swung with all her might. The bat hit Rudolph’s knee with a sickening thud and Juniper heard the bone crack. He fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

  The bat dropped from her hand and she turned to Jack, who pulled her into his chest.

  He held her and they stood like that until they heard sirens. “You called the police?” Juniper said.

  “No, I didn’t.” Jack said.

  “Get away from me!”

  They swung around in time to see Rudolph backing up onto the ice. He had a crazed look on his face and the gun in his hand was pointed at them.

  “Rudolph, no!” Juniper shouted. “Stop moving!”

  But it was no use. He wasn’t looking at Jack and Juniper or Penny, who was now creeping up the path to the left of him. Not that she could do much good. She’d go through the ice with him if she attempted a tackle.

  He was looking off in the distance in a complete daze when multip
le flashes of light burst onto the scene.

  Rudolph seemed to have snapped out of it for a moment and swung the gun wildly, back and forth between where Juniper and Jack stood, and the empty graveyard that backed onto the Inn’s hill.

  When Juniper turned, she saw what had him so freaked out. It was Victoria in all her ghostly beauty. She was slowly gliding between the gravestones toward him. He shot the gun off and just as he did the ice cracked and he fell through.

  Thirty Six

  _____________

  J ACK stood on a chair and tapped his spoon against the side of an empty champagne glass. No one heard it over the din. Juniper was behind the counter, making a peppermint schnapps coffee for one of the guests. So far, opening night had been everything she’d dreamed it would be. They had a packed house. Every table was full, and it was standing room only at the bar. Jack’s entire family was there, along with all of their neighbors and friends. Juniper’s parents and siblings were due to arrive the next day, and everyone had raved about everything from the local wine and the holiday flavored craft beers to the food pairings.

  The servers rotated throughout the party now, passing out the midnight champagne while Jack tried again to get everyone’s attention, to no avail. Finally Eve pulled a rape whistle out of her massive purse and let loose an ear-splitting blast. The crowd fell silent in an instant.

  Jack shook his head. “Holy silent night, I really need one of those.” He was greeted with laughter. “Anyway, the New Year is almost upon us. Please take a glass of champagne so we can toast and afterward our amazing friend and multi-talented chef, Finn Valentine, will be playing for us.

  There was a round of applause and Finn took a mock-bow.

  “Please don’t expect too much. His paella is better than his playing,” Jack teased.

  “Hey. I resemble that remark,” Finn retorted.

  “Now before we begin the countdown, I just wanted to congratulate the girl of the hour…” He pointed in Juniper’s direction. “My beautiful partner, Juniper Palmer. She has beaten the odds—”

  “And Rudolph Windsor,” Eve hollered.

  “Yes, she did do that,” Jack agreed.

  “I heard Rudolph’s got a red knee,” Penny joked.

  “He’s also got frostbite,” Eve added. Everyone laughed.

  Juniper thought back to when the police had arrived. It had been just as Rudolph went under and they’d managed to get him out before he drowned. It had been his lucky day—well, he had gotten arrested, so perhaps not such a lucky day.

  “But in all seriousness,” Jack went on. “Junie has always dreamed of owning a Victorian Inn and tonight, we can see all that dreaming has paid off.”

  Someone yelled, “Hear! Hear!”

  “She’s had a rough few weeks, but she didn’t quit. She didn’t give up her dream, and we’d like to thank you all for turning out to celebrate with us.”

  “Speech, speech,” the room chanted.

  Juniper’s face grew hot at the cheers to speak. Jack jumped off the chair and lifted her up onto it. “Come on, Junie, appease your fans and give us your New Year’s resolution.”

  Juniper thought about what she’d say. Part of her wanted to say that she hoped to give up finding dead bodies in her house but that was probably not the right thing to share. Instead she raised her voice and said, “I promise to pay closer attention to Victoria.”

  Murmurs crossed the room. Some people knew about the ghost of the Gothic Haunt, while others were baffled by the comment. Juniper’s close friends smirked, they knew what she meant. Victoria had been trying to tell her about those stairs the whole time, and Victoria had saved Juniper and Jack from being shot. The lovers had looked away for only a moment but a moment was all that it took for Rudolph to scramble and retrieve his gun. If Victoria hadn’t summoned the strength to appear in the graveyard, who knew what would have happened.

  A sharp bang rang out and a giant green warning firework lit up the night sky just as Finn began to play the sweet, nostalgic “Auld Lang Syne” on the piano.

  “Must be midnight,” Jack shouted.

  Some of the guests scattered to grab their coats while others gathered around the piano to sing along with Finn and Pike. “Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind,” The familiar words rang out.

  Juniper pulled her coat and boots on and followed Jack out onto the front lawn to enjoy a private moment with him to the backdrop of fireworks. You could still hear the singing outside, punctuated by the loud explosions of pyrotechnics. Most everyone had joined them now, and the show was coming to an end. A blue rocket lit up the sky long enough for Juniper to identify Hatti walking away. “Hatti, wait.” Juniper ran to catch up.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Tears trickled down Hatti’s face.

  “It’s better than okay,” she said, scrubbing at her cheeks with a balled up Kleenex. “Thanks for including me tonight, Juniper. It’s been a long time since I had that much fun.”

  Juniper pulled her in for a hug. “You’re so welcome.”

  “I can’t help but feel like my father is smiling down on us right now,” Hatti said. “I only wish I’d told you earlier about those darn tunnels…”

  “It all worked out. You know, that reminds me: I wanted to talk to you about your pictures.”

  Hatti tilted her head. “Yes?”

  “I was wondering if you would consider putting them on display here inside the Inn?” Juniper smiled.

  “Really? That’s a great idea,” Hatti said, “My father would be so pleased.”

  “That’s not all. I also think those tunnels are part of the town’s history. They need to be preserved.” Juniper grinned at the surprise on her face. “I’d love to work with you and the historical society to see what we could do with them. I was thinking maybe a tour? Or a ghost walk or something to incorporate them into the house and town.”

  A tear made a track down Hatti’s face. “Yes, thank you.”

  Jack came up behind Juniper after she walked Hatti to her car, and a thrill went through her when he pulled her in for a long kiss. “It was a great night but I can’t wait to just be alone with you.”

  “It was,” Juniper said, and curled into him once again. “Still, I can’t help thinking it almost didn’t happen,” Juniper said as she looked across the road to Rudolph’s shops. “That creep was right under our noses and we didn’t see it. It makes my blood boil.”

  “And poor Louise,” Jack said. “Has anyone heard from her?”

  “I talked to her this morning. She brought the rest of the charcuterie over, but she’s not ready to face the public. She’s keeping the shop closed for another week.”

  “She truly loved that monster, huh?”

  “Yes, she was devastated that he’d used her. She’ll be okay,” Juniper said. “She’s just hurting right now.”

  It was one in the morning by the time Finn stopped playing Christmas tunes on the piano. Everyone was gone now except Jack’s family, Finn, Pike and Eve. Jack and Juniper stood behind the bar putting glasses away. When they’d finished, Jack turned to Juniper and handed her a wrapped parcel.

  “What is this?”

  “It’ll help you with your resolution. I meant to give it to you this morning.”

  Juniper tore the paper away and saw Victoria’s diary. “You found it.”

  “I did. I thought I’d wrap it for the added suspense.”

  She opened it and began to read just as she felt a tingling at the back of her neck.

  “This is wonderful. I’m going to read it tonight. I want to thank Victoria for all her help lately and maybe the key to helping her move on is in this journal.”

  “You want her to move on?”

  Juniper looked up just as Victoria materialized in the doorway. “No, I like having her here, but I think it would be best for her to move on. There must be something keeping her here. Daemon Wraith is returning this month and he said he’d help me.”

  Jack smi
led. “Well then, I think this calls for some kind of toast.”

  Juniper nodded, “I agree but I think I’m too tired for words.”

  “I’ll make the toast, then.” He held up his glass. “To the prettiest bride who ever lived.”

  “I better be—wait a minute. What . . . what did you say?”

  “You heard me.”

  Juniper laughed. “I did, but I think I missed something… like our engagement.”

  He shook his head. “Nope. You didn’t miss a thing. I didn’t want to take a chance you’d say no again. So, I’m skipping that step and we’re just going to get married right here, right now.”

  “Right now, and you’re not even going to ask me first?”

  He shook his head. “No, because it wouldn’t matter what you said. I refuse to live without you, Juniper Palmer.”

  “Really. Well, just so you know, my answer would have been yes.”

  Jack held up his glass with one hand and placed his other hand on the small of her back and pulled her closer. “Oh, good… hey, Eve,” he mock-shouted. “You can go ahead and unbar the doors… she said yes.”

  Juniper smirked as he slipped a diamond ring onto her finger—the same ring he’d proposed to her with many years ago. He’d hung onto it all that time. The thought warmed her heart. “Does this mean we can at least wait until I’ve had time to shower and buy a gown before we get hitched?”

  He clinked his glass to hers. “I guess if you’re going to be high maintenance like that.”

  Want more Bohemian Lake? Keep reading for a sneak peek at the second book in the Bohemian Lake series: Gypsies, Traps and Missing Thieves. Bonus: Yummy recipe.

  One

  _____________

  E lbows propped against the wrought-iron railing of the manor’s third-floor balcony, Mallory Vianu cradled her coffee for warmth. She gazed out over the snow-covered lake and tall pines of Gypsy Caravan Manor Resort and watched the big, wet snowflakes as they tumbled to the ground like feathers from a torn pillow.