by J A Whiting
“You killed Kyle?” Nell asked.
“You’re darned right, I did. I did the world a favor by getting rid of him.”
Nell could see that the colors coming off of Mari had faded and had slowed their movement.
“Get in the garage.” Mari waved the gun towards the open door.
Nell knew if they went into the garage, they’d never come out again. She could call the dogs for help, but by the time they got to them, she and Violet would be shot dead.
Since taking the self-defense class, the sisters always said that if someone ever victimized them, they’d rather go down fighting. They had to take the chance. Nell remembered the words their instructor had told them. Commit. Attack. Be strong.
Nell gave her sister’s hand a little squeeze and when Violet took a quick look sideways at her, Nell held her eyes and looked quickly down at the ground.
Violet gave a slight nod.
“I told you two to get in the garage.” Mari took a step forward leveling her gun at Nell.
With her heart about to burst from her chest, Nell lunged at the woman, her left hand jabbing Mari under the throat and her right punching under the hand that held the gun.
At the same time, Violet dropped to ground and rolled into Mari’s legs knocking the woman off balance just as Oscar and Iris flew around the side of the garage and jumped at Mari’s chest.
The woman fell backwards, and her sideways motion helped Nell to wrest the gun from her hand.
Mari hit the grass and attempted to scramble away, but the two dogs stood over her growling and snapping like vicious werewolves.
Violet leapt to her feet, saw the gun in Nell’s shaky hand, took it from her, held the weapon in her own two hands, and pointed it straight at Mari’s head. “Don’t you dare move,” she ordered the woman in a low menacing tone.
Nell heard a car pull up to the house.
Peter’s SUV.
Feeling her legs shaking like leaves in the wind, Nell’s eyes filled with tears of relief as she sank down onto the grass. Iris and Oscar hurried to Nell to make sure she was all right, and she kissed their heads and wrapped her arms around her sweet dogs.
“It’s over. We did it. We’re safe. All of us are safe.”
25
Mari Harding would eventually be charged with the murders of Jennifer Harding and Kyle McLeod. Early on the morning of Jennifer’s death, Mari drove to the state park and left her car in the west side lot near the trails. She ran back into Bluewater and to Jen’s house to ask for a bandage and that’s when she spiked her sister’s drink with the drug. Mari knew Jen’s habits in the park and it wasn’t hard to find her. She also knew that Jen and Kyle often separated on their hikes and at some point, Jen would be alone.
Mari had her reasons for what she did … she needed money, she was tired of her parents’ judgmental attitudes and their withholding of approval and affection, she was jealous of her younger sister, and Kyle was growing suspicious that she was Jennifer’s killer.
There are always reasons in such criminal cases, but there are questions that are forever unanswerable … despite all the things that caused Mari to be angry and unhappy, how could she justify taking another person’s life? Was she lacking in the thing that makes us human, that creates empathy and caring for someone else? Was she missing the one powerful thing in her mind or heart that forbids such an act against another being … the one powerful thing that connects us all to one another?
Nell and Rob talked about it long into the night and came to the conclusion that although there were reasons, there were no excuses for committing such a terrible and vicious act.
John and Ida hosted dinner one night for everyone to celebrate the end of the case and the safe-keeping of the investigators, and the older couple cooked a feast for Nell, Violet, Peter and Dani, and Rob.
John forgot to pick up beer and wine so at the last minute, Violet drove to the store to get the items, and when she returned, she wasn’t alone.
“Look who I found at the store,” she said. “I told him he had to come and join us.”
Joel Bishop smiled at the group as he helped Violet carry the bottles of wine and the six-packs of beer to the table. “I hope you don’t mind,” the man told John and Ida. “I didn’t think I should barge in, but Violet insisted.”
“Yes, I did insist. The more, the merrier.” Violet opened a bottle of merlot and poured the wine into glasses.
“You’re very welcome to join us.” Ida pumped Joel’s hand in welcome.
Wagging their tails, Oscar and Iris recognized Joel and hurried over to greet him and the man spent a long time scratching their heads and necks.
After rousing games of badminton, corn-hole, and croquet, Ida lit the candles on the deck table and the group gathered around to enjoy the food.
John raised a glass. “To Peter, Nell, and Violet … for their dedication to justice and for their bravery.”
Everyone clinked glasses.
Rob joked, “I told Nell and Violet that if I didn’t force them to take that self-defense class, the outcome might have been different. So I think I should be included in the toast.”
John raised his glass again and modified what he’d said. “And to Rob, for forcing the sisters to do something they didn’t want to do.”
Rob said, “Not exactly the rousing praise I was hoping for, but I’ll take it.”
During the meal, Peter answered questions and told what he could about the case.
“We suspected Mari early on, but there was nothing to hang the case on. Nothing proved her guilt. She had an answer for everything,” Peter said. “And there were the other suspects, too, to consider.”
Violet leaned closer to Joel. “You were one of them, by the way.”
Joel’s jaw dropped. “Me? Seriously? You suspected me? I thought you were talking to me because I was helping you find clues.”
“Don’t worry,” Nell said with a smile. “We suspect everyone.”
“But, why me?”
“You were in the state park when Jen was there,” Peter said. “You separated from your running partner so there wasn’t anyone who could say you’d left the park.”
“And,” Nell pointed out, “you had cuts and bruises on your face and hands. Those injuries could have come from a struggle with Jennifer.”
“I didn’t even consider I was a suspect.” Joel shook his head. “If I were you, I would have suspected me, too.”
When the meal was over and the dishes were cleared, coffee and tea were brought out and John carried to the table a platter of pastries and desserts including baklava, mini-eclairs, cannoli, homemade donuts, and cupcakes.
Joel’s eyes went wide. “Do you all eat like this all the time?”
The group chuckled and assured him this was a special occasion.
Dani and Peter went down to the grass to play another game of corn-hole while John, Joel, and Violet discussed John’s long career as a journalist, and Rob, Ida, and Nell played a trivia game.
The dogs supervised Dani and Peter’s spirited game.
Nell watched her sister converse with the two men and she noted the colors coming off of Violet and Joel when they looked at each other. Shades of yellows, pinks, and blues sparkled all around them.
Happiness, life, attraction.
The beauty of it made Nell smile.
When Ida went into the house to get some crackers and cheese, Nell leaned close to Rob and whispered, “I think Violet and Joel like each other.”
Rob turned to look at them on the other side of the deck. “Do you see colors on them?”
“I do.” Nell told him what she saw and what she thought the shades and hues represented.
“Joel seems nice,” Rob said. “They look good together, like they fit.”
Nell watched Rob’s face as he glanced back to Violet and Joel. The way his dark brown hair fell over his forehead made a little tingle run over her skin, and she almost reached over to push a strand of his hair away from
his eyes, but she held back.
Sometimes, Nell felt that Rob was attracted to her, and then other times she thought she was imagining things. Reaching over and touching his hair was too intimate a gesture between friends. It would be awful if she endangered their friendship by doing something that made him feel awkward or uncomfortable. No. She kept her hand in her lap, and the moment passed.
Ida came out of the house with the crackers and two bottles of sparkling water. Rob poured three glasses, handed one to Nell, and gave her a warm smile. Violet, Joel, and John came over to the big table to join in the game, and a few minutes later, Dani and Peter came to play, too. Another hour flew by as the group laughed and joked about some of the silly answers to the trivia questions, and when Nell glanced around the table at her friends, her heart swelled and she thought about how lucky she was.
When the game ended, Joel thanked Ida and John for their hospitality. “I haven’t had this much fun in a very long time.”
“Come on, I’ll drive you home,” Violet said.
Peter and Dani helped the others clean up and after hugs and thanks, they headed out to walk home.
“I’m going to take Oscar and Iris for a stroll around the neighborhood,” Nell said.
“I’ll go with you,” Rob told her. “It’s late. You already fought off one bad guy this week.”
After thanking the couple for a wonderful evening, Nell and Rob and the dogs stepped onto the quiet street to walk down to the beach.
“It was a great time,” Rob said. “I ate too much.” He patted his stomach.
“We can run it off in the morning,” Nell told him.
Walking under the glowing streetlamps, Rob asked, “What colors do you see at night?”
Nell explained what she was seeing. “You’d expect everything to look dark, but there are lots of light colors mixed in. Silvers and golds, whites, light blues. There’s always lots of sparkle in the darkness.”
Rob sighed. “I wish I could see what you see if only for an hour.”
“Violet says that to me all the time. I wish you both could see it all. I try to describe it to Violet, but I see so many more colors, she doesn’t have the words for what I see. I try to explain the colors by relating them to what she knows and sees, but it seems so inadequate. I can’t do it justice.”
“Is it a burden?” Rob asked.
“Sometimes. Wait. Do you mean is it a burden to be a tetrachromat or to be able to see emotions as colors?”
“Both.”
“You know the colors can be overwhelming to me. I need to be in nature or to be in a white room to calm my mind when I get overloaded. I get headaches, some people don’t understand and think I’m a freak or I’m making it up. So sometimes it can be a burden, but really, I wouldn’t trade it.”
“And what about seeing emotions as colors?” Rob asked.
“That started off scary. I didn’t know what was happening. You’ve been a big help. You always have a theory or an explanation for what’s happening to me. It makes me feel less of an oddity.”
“You’re not an oddity.” Rob chuckled. “Well, sometimes you are.”
As they turned the corner, the toe of Nell’s sandal caught on a loose sidewalk brick and when she stumbled, Rob grabbed her hand to keep her from falling.
“Ever graceful,” he said with a smile.
“That’s my middle name.” Nell pushed her hair back from her face with her left hand and looked down. “You’re still holding my hand.”
“Oh, yeah. I am.” Rob didn’t let go. Instead, he took a step closer to Nell and held her eyes with his, sending a flash of heat running through her veins. “Is it okay?”
“Is what okay?” Nell was glad he couldn’t see her blush in the dark.
“That I’m still holding your hand.”
When Nell nodded, Rob brushed his thumb over her cheek, took a deep breath, and leaned close to place his lips gently on hers.
Oscar and Iris sat down to watch the kiss, along with the spectacular colors that shot into the dark night shimmering and sparkling over the couple like a million dazzling fireworks.
Thank you for reading!
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Also by J. A. Whiting
OLIVIA MILLER MYSTERIES (not cozy)
SWEET COVE COZY MYSTERIES
LIN COFFIN COZY MYSTERIES
CLAIRE ROLLINS COZY MYSTERIES
PAXTON PARK COZY MYSTERIES
SEEING COLORS MYSTERIES
About the Author
J.A. Whiting lives with her family in Massachusetts. Whiting loves reading and writing mystery and suspense stories.
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