by K. J. Emrick
She had to wonder if maybe JoEllen ever felt this way. Maybe she should ask.
They were watching Browder through the one-way mirror as he sat in the same chair in the same interview room that Nielson had occupied just yesterday. He sat with his back perfectly straight, staring straight ahead. He was a tall man, slim but strong, with spiky purple-dyed hair and a faded scar on one cheek, and that strong chin. Darcy frowned. "He doesn't look like he's going to say much."
"Nope," Jon agreed. "I'm going to try anyway. You should get back home. Talk to JoEllen. Tell her what happened. It's almost dinner time, anyway. You should maybe bring something for you guys and Connor to eat before JoEllen goes stir crazy and goes wandering around town."
"You think she'd really do that?"
"After everything that's gone wrong today?" he asked her, like he was stating the obvious. "Do you really want to tempt fate?"
"Good point." She stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Don't stay out too late, Mister Tinker."
He went in the interview room, and Darcy watched for just a few seconds, smiling to herself to see her man in action. Then she went back out front to go.
Her sister was in the officer's room, having a heated discussion with Chief Daleson. Grace had started to let her dark hair grow long now that she was a mother, the one small change that she had allowed herself. In all other respects she was as stern-faced and strict as ever. Darcy smiled to herself. There was a lot more of their mother in Grace than either woman would ever admit.
She saw Darcy coming and rushed over to give her a crushing hug. "Sis, you have to stop getting into situations like this."
"Grace. Can't breathe," Darcy laughed in a strangled kind of way. When her sister let go she sucked in a dramatic breath. "It wasn't like I planned on this, Grace. Besides, Jon was there to help me."
"Save you, is more like it," Grace muttered, checking over Darcy's cut. "Why was that guy after you, anyway?"
"The man," Chief Daleson answered in his gruff way, "was after a contract killer named JoEllen Meyers. Mistook Darcy here for her. Although, I'm a little confused about why this Browder guy thought Jon would be with a contract killer."
Darcy felt for her Aunt Millie's ring and twisted it as she answered. She and Jon had prepared for this question, knowing it would come sooner or later. "We met JoEllen Meyers this summer up at Bear Ridge, remember? That whole deal with the Sheriff up there."
The Chief nodded. "Right, right. I remember. Odd that someone would come looking for her now, don't you think?"
Darcy just shrugged. That wasn't part of the story she and Jon had rehearsed.
Grace eyed her, and Darcy knew that look. Grace could tell when Darcy wasn't telling the truth, or at least when she wasn't telling the whole truth. That's what sisters were for.
"Anyway, I need to go," Darcy said, already stepping towards the door. "I want to check in with Izzy and see how things in the shop were today."
Officer Blake Cipes came up to them then, handing a report to Grace. "Here you go, Detective. Hey Darcy. Heard about your trip up to Cider Hill. A lot of excitement, huh?"
"I'll say," Darcy had to agree.
"Find anything out up there?" Blake asked. "You went to talk to Megan's parents, right?"
"Yes. They didn't have a lot to say, though."
"That's too bad. I'd like to find whoever killed her."
"I'm sure you'll get your chance, rookie," Grace said, signing a page in the report and handing it back to Blake. "For now, go make sure that's filed before the DA's office has a fit, all right?"
"Sure thing." He turned on his heel to go, giving Darcy the opportunity she needed.
"I have to go, too. I'll talk to you later, Grace, all right? We can firm up our plans for Christmas dinner."
They hugged again, and Darcy was able to make her escape before anyone else asked about JoEllen Meyers.
Her house was within walking distance from the station, so getting home wouldn't be a problem. First, she would make a detour up the street to Helen's shop, the Bean There Bakery and Café. Maybe some take-out spaghetti with those homemade pretzel rolls that Darcy loved so much. Mmm. That sounded good.
Her bookstore was already closed. She and Izzy had taken to closing up early on Mondays and Tuesdays, the first two days of the work week being their slowest in terms of sales. It didn't make sense to stay open when they could go home to spend time with their families. The other days of the week made up for closing early on days like this.
As Darcy walked along Main Street towards the café she could see a lot of activity taking place in the town square. Townsfolk were busy constructing the stage for Misty Hollow's annual Christmas pageant.
Last Christmas she and Jon had played Santa and Mrs. Claus which had been fun even with the added problem of the haunted Santa suit and them both coming close to be killed.
Darcy briefly wondered who was playing the famous couple this year. She realized she'd been so busy that she hadn't had time to be involved in the preparations for this year’s celebration.
The café was busy this close to the dinner hour. Darcy waited patiently in line behind five other people until she could get to the counter and order her food. Helen wasn't here, Elizabeth Archer explained to her, not exactly smiling but friendly in her own way.
The woman looked at the cut on Darcy's forehead, but didn't say anything.
It would be a few minutes for Darcy's order, Elizabeth told her, because the next batch of pretzel rolls wasn't quite ready. Darcy agreed to wait and found a seat at a corner table.
Waving to a few people who said hello to her, Darcy thought through everything they had on the case so far. Every loud noise made her jump, and she had to remind herself that they had the man hired to kill JoEllen in custody. For now, she was safe.
For now.
She thought about Nielson's statement to Jon, which matched up with the vision Darcy had gotten from touching his hand. Blair's emotional words. Megan's father, callously sure that his daughter was dead even though she was only listed as missing. Megan's silent plea to Darcy from the screen of Meet Joe Black.
Find me.
Darcy wished she knew where to look. Even just a hint. Maybe Jon was right. Maybe she needed to do another communication and contact Megan again. Not that there was any guarantee that would get them anything more. Ghosts had their own way of communicating, and it was rarely straightforward or easy. The image of Megan, pleading with her in that loud screaming voice, her eyes simply gone, wearing that Saxton University sweatshirt. The sweatshirt changing to the purple hotel uniform. Not much to go on.
Elizabeth waved a hand to Darcy to tell her that her order was ready. She went up and got the tinfoil container of pasta and the paper sack of roles. "Thanks, Elizabeth," she said, getting a nod in response.
Darcy was halfway out the café door before her thoughts caught up with her. Megan had been wearing a college sweatshirt with the Saxton University name on it. That was the college over in Oak Hollow. A community college, small enough that it didn't even have on-campus housing.
But, Megan's father had said Megan never went to college. Just like him, he'd said.
So why was Megan wearing a sweatshirt from a college she'd never gone to?
Unless she was wearing the hint that Darcy had been looking for all along.
***
"JoEllen? I'm home," Darcy called out as she came through the front door of her house.
"In here!"
Kicking her shoes off, putting the food down on the kitchen table, Darcy followed the sound of JoEllen's voice into the living room. She was about to start blurting out everything that had happened on the road from Cider Hill when she saw Izzy sitting on the couch next to JoEllen. Lilly was on the floor with Connor, playing a game of Chutes and Ladders that Lilly must have brought over from her house.
"Uh, hi Izzy," Darcy said, making sure to put a smile on her face.
"Hi, Darcy. What happened to your head?"
The cut still throbbed a little as Darcy touched it. "I bumped it getting out of the car," she said to Izzy with a straight face. "I didn't know you were coming over tonight."
"Well, if you'd ever get a cell phone," JoEllen said to her, "you would. We called Jon already. He said to tell you he'll be home in a few hours. He also said you were bringing dinner."
"Yes. I brought us spaghetti and meatballs and dinner rolls. Izzy, do you and Lilly want to stay and eat with us?"
"Yes!" Lilly shouted from the floor, moving her piece across the board.
Izzy looked at Darcy apologetically. "I hope that's all right? Lilly's found a friend, apparently."
"Sure did," Connor agreed. "She's got some fun games."
Lilly rolled her eyes. "You're such a boy."
Connor stuck his tongue out at her. Yes, Darcy thought, that was the start of a beautiful friendship if ever she'd seen one.
"Always happy to have you two over, Izzy. I hope Jo…I mean Ellen was good company?" That was Darcy's way of asking what, exactly, JoEllen had been talking about. They so should have taken the time to make up a cover story. This cloak and dagger stuff was way out of Darcy's comfort zone.
"Oh, we've been talking for a few hours now," Izzy said brightly. "She was telling me about how she used to work as a nurse, and about how you guys met on vacation up at Bear Ridge."
"We sure did." Darcy gave a pointed look to JoEllen, who gave a slight shrug and met her gaze without turning away. A contract killer claiming to be a nurse. How in the world did JoEllen plan on pulling that one off? "I tell you what. The food is here and ready and I don't think Jon would mind if we dug into it before he got here. Ellen, do you want to help me set the table? If you don't mind watching the kids for a few minutes, Izzy."
"Sure thing," Darcy's friend said.
When she and JoEllen were alone in the kitchen, she leaned in close and whispered, "Did Jon tell you what happened when you called him?"
JoEllen nodded. "Yes. I'm so, so sorry Darcy. I never wanted my troubles to come down on you."
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you showed up on our doorstep," Darcy said, trying not to sound as angry as she felt. "Look, JoEllen—"
"Ellen," she corrected Darcy again.
With a slow, slow breath, Darcy started again. "Ellen. This time we were lucky. The guy nearly put both me and Jon in an early grave. Do you even know how many people are coming after you? Are we safe here?"
"Yes. For now, at least. My former employer wants me dead, and he has a lot of money to make things like that happen, but there aren't that many contract killers out there. We're a dying breed."
"I can't say that I'm sorry to hear that," Darcy had to say.
"Well, me either, really. The money's good, but the work…nothing you want to brag about, I can tell you that." She paused, putting plates out on the table, and took a shaky breath. "Anyway. The guy you and Jon caught is someone I know from the trade. So, one down."
"How many to go?"
JoEllen sighed again and shrugged. "A handful. I'm not saying I knew all of the people who will do a kill for money. And there's always some stupid idiot willing to try his hand at it."
Darcy set glasses in place. "In other words, no end in sight."
"Unless your boyfriend can get Browder to flip on his employer. Arresting him might put an end to it."
"For now," Darcy noted. "But who's to say he won't hire someone else in the future? Obviously this guy holds a grudge."
With a smirk, JoEllen set the last plate down with a spin. "That's because he just lost full custody of his kids. The ones he tried to hire me to kill. I think he's mad."
"You sound pretty happy about that." Darcy put a hand on her hip, watching JoEllen. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with him losing custody of the kids, would you?"
"Hey," she said, "I'm not just another pretty face, you know."
They ate with the kids at the table, the five of them squeezed in and laughing their way through plates of spaghetti and crispy pretzel rolls. The house had never seemed so alive.
At one point, dishing out more spaghetti for Connor, Darcy caught just a glimpse of a woman with gray hair standing in the living room. When she looked again, the woman was gone.
Great Aunt Millie, watching her niece with an approving smile from the afterlife.
Smudge curled his way around Darcy's feet, meowing as he begged for his share of the people food. Darcy reached down to scratch his ears, then cut off a piece of her meatball and dropped it down to him. "That's all you get tonight, big boy. Maybe I'll pour you some milk later if you're good."
With a happy mrew Smudge ran off into the house.
"I like your cat," Connor said to her. "Can we get one someday, mom?"
"Hmm," JoEllen mused. "Well, I was thinking about a puppy, for when we get a home of our own, but if you really want a cat instead…"
"A dog!" Connor exclaimed. "All right!"
"Wow, lucky," Lilly said, with a look at Izzy.
"Okay, okay," Izzy said to her daughter. "I get the hint. I suppose you're old enough for a pet now. Christmas is nearly here, after all. Who knows?"
Connor and Lilly exchanged excited smiles.
When Jon came home the rest of them were just finishing their plates and discussing what they might have for dessert.
"I vote for ice cream," he said, taking off his winter coat, and then his suitcoat too. Connor eyed his gun with a mixture of fear and fascination.
"Ice cream before dinner?" Darcy teased him. "I'm not sure I can allow my future husband to develop those kinds of bad habits."
"Hey, give me a break." He came around the table and held her face in his hands, putting a gentle kiss against her wounded forehead. "I've had a very hard day investigating a missing person case and…dealing with other things."
He was careful not to look at JoEllen as he said it.
That didn't mean she wasn't aware of what he meant. "How did that go?" she asked.
Jon stole Darcy's cup and swallowed the last of her cola. "Well enough. It took some doing but we have a statement that he was paid to do what he did, and he also gave us the name of the person who paid him."
Izzy braced her elbows on the table and folded her hands together. "You're being pretty cryptic about this. I take it if I asked you later you could fill me in?"
"Yes," Jon told her with an appreciative nod. "Just not now."
"Mom," Connor asked, "what's a crypt tick?"
"It's a bug that keeps secrets," Jon answered without missing a beat.
Then he turned and winked at Darcy. For some reason, Darcy felt herself blushing. Maybe it was the image of Jon as a father, having talks like this with children he and Darcy would create together.
"Lots of excitement in this sleepy little town," JoEllen remarked, rocking back in her chair to lift the front legs off the floor. "I guess I brought you some of it myself but that girl was missing before I came. I'd just like to point that out."
Missing. Darcy's mind caught on that word. Megan was missing. Everyone knew she was missing. The police, Blair, Nielson, everyone.
Everyone, except the killer.
Darcy's eyes went wide and she gripped the edge of the table to steady herself. The little thing that had nagged her. Back at Nielson's apartment, then again at the station. Something had been bothering her and now she knew what it was. Such a small thing.
No wonder she had missed it.
"Darcy?" Jon said to her. "Are you all right?"
"I'm not sure," she answered truthfully. If she was right…
She knew who Megan's killer was.
Chapter Eleven
"Chief, I know what this sounds like, but I promise you it's the truth."
"That's good," Joe Daleson said in response to Jon's promise, "because what it sounds like is more Darcy Sweet weirdness."
Darcy tried not to be insulted by what the Chief had just said about her but it wasn't easy. She knew how people in town
viewed her and her abilities. Even her friends thought she was strange. Most of them had better manners than to say anything to her face, though.
"I'll thank you to be a little nicer to my fiancé," Jon said in a flat tone. "Or have you forgotten how many times Darcy has helped our department out in ways none of our officers could? Or how she saved both me and the mayor from being burned to death in October?"
It lifted her heart to hear Jon stick up for her like that. Take that, she said to Chief Daleson with her eyes.
He heaved a breath, and blew it out again. "I'm sorry, Darcy. Jon's right. Shouldn't have put it that way. In my defense, what you two have come to me with has a lot of holes in it. Basically you're telling me that you know what you know because you know it and that's supposed to be good enough for me."
They sat in the Chief's office, Joe sitting in his high-backed leather chair behind his desk and Darcy and Jon sitting on the other side in chairs that were more functional than comfortable. The room had always reminded Darcy of those cop shows from the nineteen-fifties. Heavy wooden desk, wood paneling, metal filing cabinets. Books stacked along shelves that probably hadn't been taken down or used in years. There wasn't even a computer in here. Joe was old school, to say the least.
Last night Darcy had stayed up in bed with Jon talking through what she had figured out. It had taken some convincing but he finally agreed with her that what she had to say made sense. There wasn't any proof to be had, was his only argument against it.
We can get the proof, she'd said.
How? Jon had asked.
Which was a very good question.
The plan itself had taken a while to put together. Longer than it should have, really, because that close together in bed Jon's hands kept touching hers and then she just had to touch his face and then they were kissing while they talked and that led to…other things.
It was a very good talk.
"So you want me," Chief Daleson said, jabbing a finger against his desk to count off each point as he summarized, "first to get a warrant, and then send you with Shane and Blake to Saxton University in Oak Hollow, so you can do a search of the grounds for a grave you can't prove is there."