Gypsies, Traps & Missing Thieves

by Rachael Stapleton

  “No, we can’t wait,” Kaden said. “Harley, or whatever his real name is, knows he’s been found out. He has no choice but to kill us now.” He ducked as another bullet struck the top of the tree.

  “What if we offer him the coin?” Mallory asked.

  “You have the coin?” Vee gripped Mallory’s arm excitedly. At Mallory’s nod, she added, “If we give him the coin, maybe he’ll take that and leave.”

  Danior reached into her pocket and jingled a handful of change while she thought. “What’s preventing him from killing us after we hand him the coin?”

  “We won’t hand it to him,” Vee said. “We’ll tell him that the police are on the way, then we’ll offer it to him and when he gets close enough, we’ll throw the pouch. When he dives in after it, we’ll run for the parking lot and head for town.”

  Kaden shrugged. “It could work. Like you said, we’re running out of time.”

  Clearly not thrilled with the idea, Danior reluctantly nodded before calling Ron’s name. “I have what you want. If you let us go, I’ll give it to you.”

  “You think you’re so clever. You have it all figured out,” He said laughingly. “The name’s Rowen. Rowen Walton and that coin should be with me.”

  Another shot rang out.

  Danior reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the pouch. She opened it and pulled the coin out, showing it off before dropping it back inside. She then let the pouch dangle between her fingers. “You can either drop the weapon and come and get the coin, or one of us will swallow it. Good luck getting it out before reinforcements get here.”

  When they were greeted with nothing but silence, Kaden added, “Come on, now. This is your best chance. Reinforcements are on the way. Time is not on your side. All we want is to live.”

  A rustling nearby caused them to tense. “You’re lying. You don’t have a cell phone, so how could you call the police?” he ground out through chattering teeth. He was getting closer.

  Mallory took the flip phone out of her pocket and held it up for him to see. “We did call the police. I had Michèle’s phone.”

  Hidden behind the tree, Danior brought the coin to her lips. “I’m swallowing it. Make a decision.”

  “Fine,” Rowen said wearily, “toss the coin to me and I’ll let you go. That’s all I care about.”

  “No deal,” Kaden said, taking the coin from Danior. “You throw the gun away, and then we’ll toss the coin to you.”

  Rowen began coughing. As soon as the fit stopped, he asked, “And what guarantee do I have that you’ll do that once I’ve gotten rid of my gun?”

  “The only guarantee that I’m going to give you, is that I’ll swallow this coin if you don’t get rid of the gun. The police are on their way. If you want this coin, you’re going to have to trust me.”

  Rowen hesitated briefly before tossing the gun away. Wincing, he carefully gripped his injured arm with his hand.

  They all stood up at once and faced Rowen, who slowly backed away from the road. “The girls can go first.”

  Mallory, Vee, Danior and Penny carefully edged around the tree.

  “Hurry up, now, before I change my mind,” Rowen barked. He took a wheezing breath which sparked another coughing fit. He doubled over as they got closer.

  Seeing the color of his aura turn murky as they neared, Mallory grabbed a hold of Vee and Danior and tried to pull Penny back, too, but it was too late. Rowen got to her first.

  Mallory watched, praying that Penny would get the better of Rowen, but the longer the fight lasted, the more Mallory could see Penny’s energy starting to lag. Being drugged for so long had made her weak. She was no match for the stronger, meaner Rowen.

  Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a small pearl-handled pistol and stuck it into Penny’s side. “I think you forgot about Ellie’s gun. Good thing I’m a better shot than she is.” Rowen held out his hand, palm up. “The coin, please.”

  Kaden held out the pouch and walked toward Rowen.

  “No tricks,” he warned as he pressed the gun harder into Penny’s side.

  Kaden dropped the pouch into Rowen’s hand. As soon as Rowen’s fist closed around the sack, he smiled brightly as he peeked inside the pouch. “Well, I guess I don’t need you all anymore. Come on partn—”

  Penny let out a whimper and made one last attempt to tear the gun from Rowen, but caused him to squeeze off another round. Thankfully the shot went wild, but Penny lost her grip and fell onto the snowy ground. Rowen stumbled backward a step.

  Rowen’s finger steadied on the trigger. Danior and Vee looked up; the finality of the situation registered in their expressions.

  When the first shot rang out, Mallory closed her eyes and tried not to sob. A second followed.

  Then there was only silence.

  She opened her eyes and saw Rowen lay flat and unmoving on the side of the road. Penny slumped beside him. Danior and Vee uncovered their eyes and looked up.

  At Cody’s smoking gun.

  Penny jumped up and launched herself into Detective Cody Lumos’ arms while Kaden approached the killer, checking for a pulse.

  Daemon came out from behind the tree and reached down, pulling Danior to her feet. Only the blood loss seemed to make him sway, so instead of helping her up and backing off, he wound up gripping Danior around the waist to prevent himself from falling.

  “Sorry.” He said, pulling his hands back from her open jacket. “I didn’t mean to get fresh with you.”

  Vee immediately came to his other side. He smiled at her gratefully as she helped shoulder him.

  “The manor’s kind of far. Is that caravan unlocked?” Vee asked. “I’ll take him to lay down inside. I’m assuming there’s an ambulance on its way.

  Mallory nodded and dusted some snow from her mittens. “The back should be unlocked.” She smiled to herself as she watched them limp off toward the parking lot. At least someone had made a love connection here. And the upside was that it proved Nana was not always right.

  36

  T he next couple of hours were filled with activity. The snowplow arrived and cleared Bohemian Lake’s road, along with Caravan Manor’s drive. The coroner’s van took Lana and Geneviève’s bodies away; and Mallory stood inside the Manor’s foyer sipping Chef Nataliya’s peppermint schnapps tea with Nana, Danior, Eve, Michèle, and Penny as the police cuffed Rowen Walton and read him his rights.

  Rowen looked through the window at them, and Eve, being Eve, made the sign of the horns and stabbed it at him as if she could ward off his evil.

  Rowen grimaced and shook his head, his shoulders crumpling inward. For a moment Mallory almost felt sorry for him. And then she remembered him threatening to shoot Penny. Her pity evaporated.

  After going through the guest’s rooms, they’d found out that Lana’s real name had been Eliana, although most everyone called her Ellie, and she and Rowen were not a couple, let alone married. From what Rowen told the police, Geneviève had provided them with identities based on the actual guest list, which she’d stolen from Joelle. The fact that one of the game’s red herrings was a fake missing guest named Elizabeth, whose name could be mistaken for Ellie, was a complete coincidence.

  Nana wrapped an arm around each of her girls and walked them away from the front window. “Well, that worked out. Now, where is everyone?”

  “Gloria and Denise are upstairs packing. They need to catch their train,” Mallory replied, “and I believe Joelle and Bronson are still being interviewed by the police.”

  “Why?” Eve asked.

  “I won the game.”

  Mallory smothered a laugh.

  “Oh, lord, woman. You did not solve the mystery; you were the first one murdered,” Eve pointed out.

  “Well, I found the coin.”

  “Not the same thing and you probably knew where it was the whole time.”

  Nana smirked.

  “You did. You fool! We could have been killed. Why didn’t you just hand it over?”

 
Nana’s features suddenly twisted in a grimace, just as Nataliya strolled in carrying a tray of sandwiches and cookies. “Oh, thank goodness, I think I’m feeling faint. Feed an old woman, already, would you?”

  Danior rolled her eyes.

  “I think the police may want to talk to us a bit more,” Mallory added.

  “I already gave my statement,” Danior said.

  “Yes, I know. I overheard. You seemed to have left out one important fact about a little coin being in your pocket.”

  Danior chuckled.

  Nana grabbed one of the egg salad sandwiches and took a seat in front of the lounge fireplace. Turning her chair and settling in with a bright afghan over her lap to watch Mallory and Danior argue in the foyer.

  Eve called out to her across the foyer. “No popcorn?”

  Nana shook her head, the sarcasm apparently lost on her.

  Mallory had just reached out, threatening to forcibly search Danior’s pockets when they all heard a thump, thump, thump at the foyer’s broom closet door. Penny, who was sitting at the base of the stairs to the left of the closet jumped up, as did everyone else, and they all stared in silence at the door.

  “It’s the ghost,” Eve breathed.

  “Good grief, Eve,” Michèle said. “We’ve already established the ghost didn’t push Geneviève down those stairs. We just unmasked the Scooby-doo killer, remember, it was Rowen.”

  Joelle popped out of the broom closet that housed the secret passage just as Detective Bones rounded the landing of the main stairs. “Have any of you seen Vee or Daemon? It’s their turn with the police.” Joelle said.

  Nana and Danior both exhaled and shook their heads.

  “Last I saw them, they were headed for the caravan in the parking lot to bandage Daemon up,” Mallory replied. It had all been a bit of a blur after the shooting went down. Mallory turned to Joelle. “What are you doing in there, anyway?”

  “Yeah, why aren’t you using the main stairs.” Penny asked.

  “I told you, I was just looking for Daemon and Vee.”

  Eve furrowed her brows. “Why in tarnation would they be in there?”

  Focusing back on Danior, Mallory shook her head. “Anyway, back to our discussion. That coin was stolen and you need to hand it over. I’m not sure it belongs to us, Danior.”

  Danior leaned against the glass and crossed her arms. “It’s been missing for fifty years; it doesn’t belong to anyone anymore. Besides, I’m pretty sure there’s a law out there called finders keepers, losers weepers.”

  “That law only applies on the playground,” Mallory said patiently. “We need to consult the authorities to see who owns it.”

  Joelle shut the broom closet door and walked over to the window, pressing closer to the glass. “So odd that they would have just disappeared like that, isn’t it Detective Bones? Where could they be?”

  Mallory nodded absently as she held out her hand. “Come on, we have to hand that coin over to the police.” She turned to Kaden, “Isn’t that right?”

  Penelope looked at them closely. “Wait a minute; I thought it was in the pouch.”

  Mallory shook her head. “Dan replaced the coin at the last second before handing the pouch over to Kaden.” She smiled at Danior. “You did switch it out, didn’t you?”

  Danior sighed before reaching into the inside of her coat pocket. Her eyebrows drew down as she checked the other side. “It’s gone. My change is gone.”

  “Very funny, Danior.”

  “No, I’m serious.” She turned to Joelle, “You said Vee and Daemon are missing?” She patted her outside pocket. After turning them inside out, she unzipped her winter coat all the way and checked the inside of that pocket, again.

  Mallory, noticing a red stain on Danior’s sweater, gasped. “You’re bleeding.”

  Danior looked down in bewilderment. “No, I can’t be.” She opened her jacket wider to reveal a bloody handprint staining her ivory sweater. “That lying thief!”

  “Who?” Eve asked.

  “Daemon. He must have stolen it when I helped him up. He gripped my waist and his hands slid inside my coat.”

  “What about Vee? Do you think he just kidnapped her as a hostage in case he got caught leaving?” Michele asked.

  “No way. That girl was far too eager to be with him,” Nana grumbled.

  They looked at each other before turning back to the window, just as Cody Lumos stepped inside the foyer with a tall, gorgeous dark-haired man. He removed his hat and boots and approached the group of women. His gaze lingered on Mallory, and he shrugged his muscular shoulders. They strained against the contours of his sweater.

  “Ladies, meet Daemon Wraith.”

  37

  “I

  ’m sorry. Who?” Mallory asked, before her brain had even registered that her lips had moved. She’d never seen an aura so pure and enlightened on any man, let alone on a man whose very eyebrows defined the devil.

  “The real Daemon Wraith,” Cody replied. “He got a ride out with one of my men. He heard we were looking for him.”

  The man who reminded her of Aquaman approached and held out his hand to Mallory. He towered over her by at least a foot. Sparks flew when he lifted her hand to his mouth, his five-o’clock shadow brushing against her skin. “My apologies, Miss Vianu. I hope you’ll agree to reschedule our date. I was a fool to let the snowstorm keep me away.”

  Mallory felt a calm settle over her as he said it and Nana and Danior both smirked.

  “But you can’t be Daemon Wraith. He was here….” Mallory stuttered.

  “I assure you I am.”

  Danior turned to Cody with wide eyes. “Well, Detective Lumos, who the hell…”

  “Language!” Nana chided.

  “Sorry.” Danior rephrased, “who the heck was here all weekend, pretending to be him? He just waltzed off with our million-dollar nickel.”

  “We don’t know that yet, but we’ll find him.”

  “We did find out that Rowen was not the one who killed Geneviève. In fact, it was that doting mouse of a girl Vee—short for Veronica, we now realize—who was known as Ronnie or Ron to her friends.”

  “Ron? As in Geneviève’s ‘we can’t trust Ron’ letter?” Eve asked.

  Kaden nodded.

  “You’re saying Rowen is innocent? Why was he shooting at us?” Michèle asked.

  “Oh, Rowen is far from innocent. He just isn’t the Ron that Geneviève was cutting out of the deal.”

  “Dan.” Mallory said.

  “Yeah?”

  “Remember how I said Vee’s aura was murky when she mentioned smoking. I think it represented disgust along with deception.” Mallory said.

  “Uh-huh.” Danior nodded.

  “I think we now know why.”

  “She didn’t really smoke,” Penny replied.

  “Exactly.” Mallory nodded her head. “So, what was she doing outside when we heard Geneviève’s body get tossed down the stairs?”

  “She was never outside. She tossed Geneviève’s body and then used Lana’s staircase to get outside and around the house,” Penny said.

  “That would be my guess, too.” Mallory agreed.

  “So, she was working with Lana?” Danior asked.

  “Actually, I don’t think Lana knew the truth until it was too late,” Mallory said. “Remember, Lana never got the intended letter warning her to beware of Ron until we read it out loud.”

  Nana cleared her throat, “Not to break up your little sleuthing wrap party, but I’d like to know why the real Mr. Wraith didn’t show up for the game Friday night?” Nana asked.

  “Of course,” Daemon replied, stepping forward. “My assistant received a message that the game was cancelled due to the weather. She called back and left a message on a Mr. Bronson’s voicemail but no one returned her call.”

  Daemon’s aura glowed white. “He’s telling the truth.” Mallory said.

  Mallory moved to grab Joelle by the arm, “What do you have to say about
all this?”

  “Nothing. Bronson did tell me right before dinner on Friday night that he’d received a strange message about Mr. Wraith rescheduling. Then, poof, he was here, so we assumed he’d changed his mind, which was why he arrived late. We’d never met him. How were we to know?”

  Mallory glanced at Danior and Penelope. “So, that’s what we overheard at the bar cart.”

  “You overheard us?”

  Danior nodded. “Just a little.”

  “Yes, we were trying to figure out how we were going to rewrite the script again. We’d already rewritten it once when we thought he wasn’t coming.”

  Mallory chimed in, “but I thought he’d played this game before. Vee told us that...”

  “I think the keyword there is Vee.” Danior interrupted. “That lying little shrew. We were played.”

  “Joelle, how long has Vee worked for you?” Cody asked.

  “Vee? Oh, she didn’t work for me. She was a player.” Joelle opened up her clipboard and examined the page for a moment. “Yes, here it is. She received an invitation because she was one of your previous guests. She stayed here during the treasure hunt last summer with Geneviève in the room with the balcony and stairs. Now, Geneviève, she was one of my actors. It was her idea that we take the show on the road and start here. She loved the Manor and its history.”

  Nana cracked her knuckles, “Why, I’ll just bet she did.”

  Lise took note and hammered away at the keyboard, “Yep, got it here, only we knew Geneviève as Jena Walton. Samantha Walton reserved their room at the same time she booked her own, so they must have been related.”

  “So, Geneviève is a Walton. Well, that explains why she had so much knowledge of the manor and the coin. Rowen is also a Walton. Does this mean they’re all in cahoots? Rowen, Ellie, Geneviève, Veronica and the fake Daemon?”

  “I think that’s a pretty fair assumption, but I won’t know for sure until Rowen’s lawyer arrives. I’m afraid he’s stopped talking for the moment.” Cody said.

  “Want me to take a crack at him?” Eve asked. “I always get what I want from a man.”

  “That’s true. He’s hardly good husband material though, Sis,” Michèle retorted.