Whispering Pines Mysteries Box Set 3

by Shawn McGuire

  Jola locked eyes on her. “Check back with me in the spring after a rainy day and tell me how you feel about that.”

  At the look of joy on Leslie’s face, I couldn’t help but laugh. “I never thanked you for your assistance. While that could have been a disaster, it worked perfectly. Just don’t go around doing that in public.”

  She held her good hand in the air. “I promise.”

  I pulled Jola aside for a quick question. “Are you okay? You looked absolutely terrified earlier.”

  She didn’t answer right away. “I think so. I’m going to tell Drake and Sanjay I’m taking a few days off.”

  “I’d say you earned that.”

  “I can’t tell you how relieved I was to see you standing in the doorway.” She paused and swallowed. “You put your life on the line for us.”

  That was part of my job, but I wouldn’t dismiss her sentiment that way. “And I’d do it again without hesitation.” She wouldn’t look me in the eye. “What aren’t you saying?”

  Jola inhaled then released a rattily exhale. “I left my patient. When I was done in the shower, I poked my head out of the bathroom and asked if she was okay. She said she was, so I finished getting dressed. When he entered the room, I panicked and cowered in the corner. My job, like yours, was to protect her.”

  I took her hands in mine. “Your job is to heal the sick, not to put your own life on the line.”

  She shook her head, not accepting my comfort. “My job could easily be classified in the ‘first responder’ category. First responders do whatever’s necessary to protect victims.”

  She was too racked with guilt to listen to reason.

  “I want you to promise me something.” I waited until she looked up. “When you find that counselor for Leslie, schedule an appointment for yourself as well.” When she tried to dismiss it, I added, “I’m serious. What you went through was really traumatic. If you don’t get yourself some help, I’ll force it on you.”

  After a short standoff, she agreed.

  While Jola went back to finish with her patient, Lily Grace took her place in front of me. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Why? What did you do?”

  A look of pain crossed her face as she said, “When I went downstairs to get something to eat, Rosalyn wanted to know what was going on up here. I told her Leslie woke up and was remembering the accident.”

  I waited for more and finally prodded, “And?”

  She blurted, “Jonah overheard me. Right after that, he went upstairs, and about two minutes later we heard the gun go off. I was tired and relieved for Leslie, and I wasn’t thinking.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “But you could’ve been shot. Leslie and Jola too. Why was he even in there?”

  I gave her an empathetic smile and explained that Jonah had caused the accident. “He’d been skulking around that room since he found out Leslie had been in an accident. When he heard she was awake, he came up to find out what she remembered.”

  “And to kill her.” She wouldn’t look at me.

  “Maybe. But that didn’t happen. Leslie is fine. Jola and I are fine.”

  She scowled.

  With my hand in the air as though taking an oath, I told her, “I’m not blowing this off, I promise. No doubt about it, the danger was real. I know it was scary, but everything turned out fine.” She let me pull her in for a hug. “You didn’t say anything he wasn’t going to find out sooner or later.”

  She still didn’t look convinced.

  “Why don’t you go get some sleep? Things are almost always better after getting some rest.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t sleep with him in the house.”

  “Look, between Tripp, River, and my dad, he’s not going to be alone for a second until the county deputy comes to get him. Okay?”

  Finally, she nodded.

  “Looks like your vision was right again. Remember? Effie said a black aura meant I was holding on to negative emotions, feelings, or thoughts; feeling anger or hatred toward someone or something; or that I was unwilling to forgive.”

  Lily Grace blinked at me. “You remembered all that?”

  “It was a little upsetting. I didn’t want to get blindsided.”

  Mimicking my droll humor, she added, “You forgot the possibility of disease hiding in your body.”

  “The only thing hiding in my body is half a package of Oreos.” I gave her a cheesy smile. “You predicted something big and bad was coming. I don’t know about big, but you nailed the rest.”

  “Sorry.” She held her hands out half-heartedly. “Want me to try again? Maybe I’ll see rainbows and unicorns this time.”

  I shook my head. “Unicorns scare me.” I held my hand up to my forehead like it was a horn. “I always worry they’ve got a dark side and will gore someone with that thing.”

  She stared then rolled her eyes. “I’m going to bed.”

  I was on my way downstairs to talk with Jonah when I found Rosalyn sitting in the reading nook at the top of the stairs. Her right leg was crossed over her left, her right foot kicking angrily. Her arms were also crossed. When she saw me, her eyes narrowed into a glare.

  “You scared the hell out of me,” she growled when I sat in the chair across from her.

  “Why? Because of my scary verbal judo voice?”

  “This isn’t funny, Jayne.”

  I scooted to the edge of the chair. “I know it’s not. I’m sorry to joke about it.” Everyone in this house was going to need some serious therapy after the last two days. “My job isn’t like that very often.”

  “Was it like that before? In Madison, I mean.”

  I debated the question before answering. “The population there is larger, so they have more cops to spread this stuff between. I don’t know what the ratio would be, but it sure feels like I deal with more death here. There’s something wrong with this place, though.”

  “I know, you’re fixing it.” Her foot stopped kicking, but she hadn’t released her arms yet.

  “I’m trying. Do you remember that list Morgan and Briar had me make?”

  Her head tilted as she thought. “The one that was hanging by your bed when I got here in October?”

  I had to think about that. “No, different list. The one on my wall was a goal list Morgan had me make when I first got here. That was a list of things I wanted to attract into my life.” At Rozzie’s questioning look, I explained, “It was part of the new moon coven gathering she took me to. The list I’m talking about is the one I made during Samhain.”

  “Oh, yeah. The closing out unfinished business list.”

  “This is going to sound crazy—”

  “Nothing around here sounds crazy anymore.” She uncrossed her arms but folded her hands.

  “I think that in order for me to help fix what’s wrong with the village, I have to finish that list first. Jonah was the second to last item.”

  “Okay, you were right. That does sound crazy. Trying to finish that list is going to get you killed.”

  “I don’t think I’m in danger, Roz. As for Jonah, he was looking for help and came to me. I don’t think he would’ve shot me.”

  “Why? Because the village is protecting you?”

  I froze and stared at her. Was that possible? Was the village keeping me safe so I could fix it? That sounded not only arrogant but like far too big a gamble.

  Rosalyn laughed out loud. “You’re actually considering it, aren’t you?” She rubbed her hands over her face. “I need to get back to the real world.”

  “You’re only saying that because Reed hasn’t been around.” I sniffed and pretended to wipe away a tear. “You only love me for my deputy.”

  She responded by kicking my knee. “I don’t want to leave. This place grows on you.”

  “Four months.” I held up four fingers. “You’ve got four months left of college. You can’t drop out now.”

  “I’m not going to drop out of college.” She stared, frown
ed, and then asked seriously, “Will you be okay here?”

  “I think so. I’ve got a lot of people who will come to my aid if I need them. Same as I’ll be there for them if they need me.”

  “Well,” she finally uncrossed and relaxed everything, “that was certainly true tonight. When you were in the room with Jonah, Morgan started muttering some kind of spell. River was ready to call in his hell hounds or whatever force he’s got at his beck and call.” She frowned. “Have you figured him out yet?”

  “Nope. I don’t know if he’s a witch or a warlock, which I’ve been told, is a bad guy and not a male witch. Maybe he’s a fallen angel.” I laughed at the look she gave me. “I’m joking. He’s probably just a very unique human. What I know for sure about him is that, when I need him to, he can get into my head and bring the right answer to the surface like no one else. You know how he is with those mind tricks of his. Anyway, I think I’m safe here.”

  “Good. That helps. So what’s the last item on your list?”

  “To mend fences with Mom.”

  She slapped the arms of her chair. “I thought you said you were safe.”

  We hooked elbows and went downstairs. Before we entered the great room, she wrapped me in a hug. “Love you, sis. I’m so glad we mended our fence.”

  My heart swelled. “Me too. And you know you’re welcome here any time.”

  She pulled away. “Oh, I know. Hold my room for spring break, okay? I’ll text you the dates. I’m going to bed now.” She started for her room, then turned back. “By the way, your verbal whatever voice really is scary.”

  I smiled. “We practiced it a lot at the academy.”

  Rosalyn skipped off to “her” room then, and I went to the great room.

  Tripp, River, Dad, and I had debated about what to do with Jonah until the MPD squad got here. It bothered the others to see him, but all the rooms were full. I wasn’t about to put him in our apartment or the office. We decided it was best to sit him in a chair in the great room and keep guard there. Dad had taken the first watch.

  “Who’s next?” I asked him.

  “River. Tripp is kind of a mess.”

  “He witnessed a lot in the last twenty-four hours. I need to talk with him.”

  “We’ll all be out of your way once the roads are cleared. You’ll have plenty of privacy then.”

  I frowned at that. “You came all the way up here for my birthday, and we barely got to spend any time together.”

  “But I got to see you in action.” He placed a kiss firmly on my forehead. “Once this yahoo is gone, the woman in the garage has been taken to the morgue, and Leslie is off to the hospital, there’s something I want you and I to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  He smiled. “You’ll see.”

  Surprises and secrets made me nervous. “Why don’t you tell River to come down and you go get some sleep? I need to talk to Jonah.”

  “You’re sure you’ll be okay?”

  “Everyone is way too worried about my safety. He’s cuffed. And I’ve still got my Glock. I’ll be fine.” He took two steps away, and I changed my mind. “Actually, Dad? Would you stay while I talk to him? I’m a little too close to this and should probably have a witness.”

  And I just wanted my dad nearby.

  “Of course I will.”

  Chapter 28

  Dad took a seat on one of the sofas, and I set the recorder on the fireplace hearth. I turned a lounge chair around to face Jonah in the corner and asked, “What was all that about upstairs?”

  “I panicked, I guess.”

  “You panicked?” I repeated with little emotion. “Are you ready to tell me what’s going on? How about starting back with whatever that fight was?”

  He looked over at my dad. “Not with him in the room.”

  “He’s not going anywhere. He’s also not going to repeat anything you say. I asked him to stay because I’m too close to this situation and want him to make sure I don’t do or say anything stupid.”

  Jonah leaned forward, elbows on knees, and stared at a spot on the floor in front of him. “Millie and I had been dating for about eight months. We met at the firm’s start of summer barbecue. Her family is a pretty big deal in the social circles, so I already knew who she was.”

  “Just so we’re clear,” I interjected, “I know that the woman upstairs is Brandi, not Camille Gordon.”

  Paling, he glanced at me with guilty eyes.

  “Keep going. What about the fight?”

  “I told you everything that happened to me lately. Losing my job and the apartment.” He sat back in his chair. “I messed up. Big time. I see that now. My dad was giving me the chance of a lifetime.”

  “You mean you messed up the job at the firm?”

  “Yeah. It was a chance to fill my resume with impressive projects. If done right, it would’ve helped me land a great position with someone at the capital. Instead, I acted like the boss’s son and strutted around like I was already someone important.”

  “He fired you because you weren’t actually doing the job,” I supplied, moving this along. I didn’t want to hear a long-drawn-out retelling of what I already knew. The MPD cops could get the details they wanted when they interviewed him in Madison.

  He winced at his own arrogance and shook his head.

  “Please answer verbally for the recording.”

  “No, I wasn’t actually doing the job.”

  “Next thing you know, Millie finds out you got fired. Then what?”

  “She was shocked, but I figured we had a decent relationship. She went to all the functions with me and saw that people liked me. I told her it wouldn’t take long for me to get another position. Another apartment too.” A cloud of anger darkened his face. “That wasn’t good enough. She told me I blew it. ‘Jobs should come to you. You shouldn’t go groveling.’ I mean, yeah, she’s right that it looks better that way, but things don’t always go the way you think they will.”

  He looked up at me, and his expression softened.

  Nope, nope, nope. We were not going to talk about us again. “Was that the discussion you were having Wednesday night? The one that escalated?”

  “It was. Of course it’s better to be sought after, but that didn’t mean all my goals and dreams were dead in the water. I’d have to recalibrate and go at things from a different angle.”

  I didn’t need or want to hear a Jonah Price self-pep talk. He was avoiding my main question. “How did the discussion escalate into a fight?”

  He turned unemotional, like a third-party onlooker observing from the sidelines. “Millie has a very sharp tongue. You think I’m spoiled? She’s got me beat by a mile in that category.” He glanced at me. Probably hoping for some sympathy. Again, nope. “When she realized there was no way my father would give me another chance, she started yelling about what a loser I was and how she couldn’t be with a loser.”

  Another verbal abuser. How long had she been treating him like that? I could hear the berating words. You made reservations for where Friday night? We need to be seen at blah-blah place. Can’t you do anything right? Did you seriously wear that tie today? Would it kill you to keep up with the trends?

  Silly, yes. But I knew some power-hungry poli-sci majors at school. Everything was about appearances and saying and doing the right thing. Or, more importantly, not saying or doing the wrong thing.

  “I was already stressed out,” Jonah continued. “Already feeling like a loser. The more she pushed and accused and attacked, the more the pressure started to build inside me.”

  “Where did you get the gun?” I wouldn’t mention him shooting Millie yet. Contrary to his current actions, he was a smart guy. He’d put it all together eventually.

  He shrugged. “Some of the guys at the firm belong to a local gun club. They go a couple times a week and asked if I wanted to join them.”

  His face lit up like the unpopular kid in school being picked early when choosing sides. Was there any childhood eve
nt more traumatizing? Maybe trying to find a seat in the lunchroom.

  “I went a couple of times and liked it.” He gave me a nod. “You know how it is. It’s stress-relieving to shoot a gun. The power of some of those weapons is intoxicating.”

  For some people, yes. For others, it was anxiety-inducing. “It can be a false sense of security, though. Can’t it?”

  He didn’t respond.

  “How many times did you go to the club with them?”

  “I don’t know exactly. With them, six or seven. I went a few times by myself too.”

  “Enough to make you think you knew what you were doing.”

  His shoulders dropped. “Yeah.”

  “Millie is the person you think you may have killed. Correct?”

  He turned an angry red. “I couldn’t handle another word. You should’ve heard her. She was going on and on about how she thought I was going to be this big deal. We’d already started to be known around the circles as a power couple. She loved that and talked non-stop about where we needed to go to be seen next. She spent every free moment planning the minutiae of what outfits we’d wear to which event. She studied the news for the hot topics we needed to familiarize ourselves with so we could have riveting discussions with important people.” His pallor turned from red to a less irate pink. “I told her if that’s what I had to look forward to for the rest of my life, then maybe politics wasn’t for me. You’re going to laugh, but all I want is to help people and make a difference in their lives.”

  I believed him on that point. At least I would have a few years ago. When we first met, his passion for the poorer areas of Madison caught my attention. He was convinced little changes here and there could make all the difference. We spent many late evenings talking about the pet projects he wanted to get involved with. What happened to that Jonah? He got lost somewhere along the way.

  Just loud enough that he needed to pay attention to hear my words, I asked, “What did you do to Millie?”

  He dropped his face into his cuffed hands. A purpling lump stood out on his left arm where Leslie had hit him with her cast. He should probably put some ice on that.

  “Oh God, Jay. I was pacing around the apartment. You know how I do that when I’m working through a problem?”