Murder without Mercy

by Tegan Maher

  My face went hot, and I cast Serena a guilty cringe. I don’t know how she managed to escape my magic when everything else froze, but she did.

  “It was that or let her shoot those deputies. One of them has a wife and baby at home and the other ... well, he doesn’t deserve to be shot, either.”

  “Oh, I’m not disagreeing with you. I’m just, once again, concerned about the consequences.”

  Since we had all the time in the world now that we were outside of it, apparently, I tilted my head at her. “How do you know there are consequences?”

  She shook her head with a resigned look. “Cher, you know all magic has consequences. Why would this be any different? You’re altering fate. What if one of those deputies is supposed to die?”

  “Oh, he’s not,” a lighthearted voice said. “You’re good. This time, anyway, but don’t go makin’ a habit of it. You were actually supposed to stop time to save him. That one on the left has something big to do later in his life.”

  I jumped and swung my gaze to find an auburn-haired woman who looked to be a couple years younger than me wearing a purple halter top and skin-tight black jeans striding toward us. Serena’s face lit up with an enormous smile.

  “Wren, sugar. You’re a sight for sore eyes. If you’re not here for them,” Serena said, motioning toward the officers, “then who?”

  The woman’s face colored, and she looked a little sheepish. “Mercy, actually. I was late getting here, and by the time I did, her spirit was gone.”

  Worry crossed her face. “When her name came up, it about broke my heart. I volunteered because I wanted to be here for her, but I had a jackass in Panama City who refused to admit he was dead.”

  Once she got closer, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and that weird cold feeling that had assailed me right after Mercy died washed over me again. I shivered.

  “Yeah, sorry about that,” Wren said, reaching her hand out toward me. “It kinda goes with the whole reaper thing.”

  “Reaper thing,” I parroted, reaching out to take her hand then wondering if that was such a good idea.

  Her generous mouth spread into a grin. “You’re safe. I have to reap your soul with my own magic, and it doesn’t work on anybody who’s time isn’t up. I’m Wren, reaper for the Gulf Coast area. This is a little north of my region, but I asked to be assigned since I know Mercy.”

  “Noelle Flynn.” Relief washed over me, but she inclined her head toward Doris.

  “You should probably take care of that. It’s never a good idea to leave time suspended for long. Or at all, for that matter.”

  I jumped into action and darted toward Doris, snatching the bullet from midair and slinging the gun far away from her. I started time again, and the two officers made the arrest without further issue.

  Mercy popped in right as they were putting her in cuffs. Her eyes lit up when she saw Wren.

  “Are you here for me? Did I do something wrong? Should I have stayed with my body? I wasn’t sure what to do and I wasn’t sure how long I’d been dead when I woke up this way.”

  Wren waved her off. “It wasn’t you; it was me. I was late, and I’m so sorry. I should have been there for you.”

  She stared at Mercy for a moment, and tears welled in her kohl-rimmed violet eyes. I’d never seen any quite that shade before and was sure it was a color only a magical person could have.

  “Aw, don’t cry, sweetie,” Mercy said, swooping over to her. “I’ve been fine. These folks walked me through it, and I wasn’t scared even for a minute.” She paused. “Well, maybe for a minute because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to me, but then Noelle’s Aunt Addy and her friend Cheri Lynn helped me through it.”

  Wren furrowed her brow. “There are two souls here?”

  I laughed. “There are much more than two. We have at least a dozen, and probably more.”

  Concern etched her face. “There shouldn’t be. I mean, occasionally one has unfinished business and is allowed to stay behind, but that’s the exception, not the rule.”

  Addy and Cheri Lynn popped in at that point, but I stepped between them, afraid Wren would wrench them away somehow.

  She waved me off. “I’m not going to do anything they don’t want to do. This isn’t my territory, and I’m not here to rock the boat.”

  She turned to Addy and Cheri Lynn. “That is, unless the two of you want to move on.”

  Neither of them hesitated for so much as a heartbeat.

  “No way,” Cheri Lynn said. “I’m happy right where I’m at.”

  “Same here,” Addy said, slamming her arms across her chest. “I ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

  “Aren’t you even curious what comes next?” Wren asked. “Wouldn’t you at least like to know what you’re turning down?”

  Addy did pause for a second then, and I knew she was thinking of Uncle Calvin. “If I choose now, will it be my last chance?”

  Wren shook her head. “When you’re ready to move on, just contact Serena, or close your eyes and think of me. I’ll hear you.”

  Addy gave a sharp nod. “Then I’m stayin’ put.”

  “Me too,” Cheri Lynn said.

  All eyes turned to Mercy.

  She sighed. “It’s not that simple for me, or at least not yet.”

  “You are my responsibility,” Wren said. “I’m supposed to see you across.”

  “Do you have to?” Mercy asked, her worried gaze on Serena.

  “Technically, yes, but I do have a little latitude and can make the call to let you stay behind if you have a good reason,” she said.

  “Well, I do. I need to deal with my family and make sure that my assets go to Serena without a hitch. I don’t want my money-grubbing brother and sister to get a dime.”

  “What do you mean, Cher?” Serena asked. “Assets? I thought you were poor.”

  I couldn’t help myself; I laughed. “Definitely not poor.”

  “No,” Mercy said, her blue eyes shining. “Rich is more like it. And now you are. Stupid rich, actually. I left all my banking information in your glovebox. You’re the outright beneficiary to those, so there’s nothing my family can do. I think they’re going to hassle you about the property, though, and it was my grampy’s. The one place that felt like home to me, and I want you to have it.”

  Serena’s dark eyes welled with tears. “Cher, I don’t know what to say. I don’t feel right takin’ your money or your land.”

  “Why not?” Mercy asked, eyebrows drawn down. “You’ve always said you’d like to settle down. Give Billy roots and a yard to play in and a school where he could make friends. Here’s your chance. You were good to me when nobody else was and I want you to have it.”

  Wren glanced back and forth between them. “I’m making the call. You can stay. Just call me when you’re ready. You know how.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the time. “But right now, I have to collect a little old cat lady, and you can lay money she’s gonna argue with me. I just know she’s gonna make me do something ridiculous like read them one last book or something.” She rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t even believe the strange things I do on this job just to get people to cooperate.”

  Serena laughed. “You don’t have to, you know. You can just touch them with your scythe, and away they go.”

  Wren sighed. “Yeah, I know. Just sometimes I feel like a jerk for not doing something so easy even if I do feel stupid doing it.”

  “You’re one strange reaper,” Mercy said, shaking her head.

  “Yeah, well you know how I came into the job and what I did before. It’s not like I can just shut that off.”

  Now my curiosity was piqued, but I didn’t feel like I knew her well enough to ask.

  She turned to me. “I’d love to give you the 411, but I really do gotta go. Maybe another time?”

  I smiled. “As long as you’re not here to kidnap unwilling souls, we’re good.”

  Wren held up a hand. “I have enough monkeys in my own
circus, thank you very much. I have no desire to mess with whatever it is y’all have goin’ on here.”

  Chapter 19

  Several hours later, I was sitting on the deck admiring my freshly cleaned pool and drinking a glass of wine when his truck rumbled up the drive. I smiled and got up to get him a beer.

  “Hey, you,” I said, handing him the beer and heading back around the corner of the porch to the deck. “Did everything go down okay?”

  He slid into the chair beside mine and popped the top on his beer. “Better than expected, actually. She confessed.”

  I sighed. “So Mercy’s dead because of some jealous nutcase. No other reason.”

  “Yep,” he said, shaking his head. “Senseless.”

  We sat in silence, each lost in our own thoughts until the sun dipped below the horizon and the outdoor lights came on, illuminating the blue water of the pool and casting shadows across the deck around it. It was serene and hauntingly beautiful.

  A small critter of some sort—a rabbit, probably—skittered across the far end then disappeared into the darkness. An owl hooted nearby, a great reminder that even in nature, death was always right there, waiting in the shadows. The rabbit skittered back into the light and raised up on his back feet to pilfer a planter of early lettuce I’d planted. Safe in the light again, at least for now.

  I smiled, happy for the rabbit. It was a small win, but one I was glad for after the tragedy of the last couple of days.

  Chapter 20

  Fancy’s parking lot was relatively empty, and I figured everybody was partied out from the weekend. Marybeth herself, the owner, was behind the bar wearing her signature black tank top and jeans, the Harley tattoo on her chest visible.

  I took our usual table and smiled. By the time I got comfortable on my stool, she was already halfway to the table with the first bucket of beer.

  “Hey, sugar,” she said, a wide smile splitting her face. “Long time, no see. Is the whole group coming? Do I need to bring a coke for Anna Mae?”

  I nodded. “Yes, please. As far as I know, everybody’s gonna be here, even Bobbie Sue and Levana.”

  “Wings?” she asked, and I nodded again. It was kind of our thing. Fifty wings, a couple buckets of beer, and a few games of pool interspersed with gossip and the joy of just hangin’ out together.

  Raeann was the next to trickle in followed shortly after by most everybody else. Poor Anna Mae waddled to the table, her hand on her lower back.

  “Holy moly, am I gettin’ tired of this,” she said, eyeballing the stool beside me. “I feel like I’m gonna need a crane to get up on that thing.”

  I smiled and offered her my hand, which she took. I gave a gentle pull, and it wasn’t but a second before she landed on it with a not-so-gentle plop. She fidgeted and shifted her weight for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. “Now I gotta pee.”

  Louise laughed. “Remember a year ago when you thought it was funny when I was in misery? This is payback for laughing at me.”

  Anna flapped a hand at her. “You hush. You were never the size of a whale like I am. You were pretty and looked like every other pregnant lady.”

  “And so do you,” Louise said, smirking. “You only feel like the Goodyear Blimp. To everybody else, you’re just a cute little woman with a bun in the oven.”

  Anna grumbled for a minute but smiled. “I just have to remind myself that it’ll all be worth it once she’s here.”

  “She?” Raeann asked, brow raised. “I thought you weren’t going to find out.”

  “Oh, we’re not,” Anna rushed to say. “It’s just ... it feels like a girl to me, and it doesn’t seem right to keep calling her it all the time.”

  “You’re carryin’ it high,” Coralee said, “and no offense, but you’ve also put on some weight in your hips and butt. It’s definitely a girl.”

  Anna Mae scowled. “Thanks, Coralee. Just what every pregnant woman wants to hear. Bless your little heart for bein’ so honest. I haven’t been able to see my toes for two months, let alone my backside. It’s nice to know it’s the size of a dump truck, too.”

  Coralee smiled and tipped her beer toward Anna. “That’s what friends are for, sugar. You’re adorable, though, and if another single soul dares mention it, I’ll gladly stomp their teeth out for you.”

  I barked out a laugh. Coralee, who looked so put together all the time, was every bit as fierce as Bobbie Sue was, and every one of us down to a woman would do the same to anybody who dared hurt poor Anna Mae’s feelings. Or anybody else’s for that matter.

  The front door opened, and Levana, who’d chosen a seat at the head of the table closest to the aisle, groaned. “Speaking of stomping somebody’s teeth out, as you so eloquently put it, Olivia just walked in the door.”

  I gave an internal sigh and rolled my eyes. As usual, she had Tweedle Slut and Tweedle Sluttier with her, and they were all dressed like they were trying to pick up the hottest nerds in the eighties. Her pants were so tight, I wasn’t sure if they were actual fabric or if she’d just painted herself baby-poop green.

  For once, I hoped she’d keep walking, but of course, she just didn’t have the brain cells to do it.

  “Well look who it is,” she said, hooker-red lips curled. “And here we thought y’all’d moved to that dive bar out by the trailer park.”

  I rolled my eyes. She wasn’t any better at insults than she was at self-preservation.

  “Nah, we figured you’d done worked your way through all the men over there, and none of us wants to catch your gonaherpesyphilwarts off the chairs,” I replied.

  Her scathing gaze roamed over us and landed on Anna Mae. I pulled in a deep breath. She wouldn’t go there if she had a single living brain cell left in that homely melon of hers. Apparently, she did not.

  “Wow, Anna Mae. If you get any bigger, you’re gonna pop. You’re never gonna lose all that weight. Your backside’s gonna be as big as Noelle’s for the rest of your life. At least you’re old enough to have a kid, though. I’d have laid money Shelby would have been the one knocked up, the way she was runnin’ around last summer.”

  Oh. No. She. Didn’t.

  Bobbie Sue was the closest to her, but I jumped off my stool, hoping to get to her first. In my haste, I bumped Anna Mae, who slid off the stool and grabbed my arm for support. She gasped and something warm splashed all over my flip-flop-clad feet. Anna Mae’s eyes went round, and her gaze darted to me.

  Bobbie Sue had Olivia by the collar with her right hand and had her left drawn back to deliver the punch that I’d wanted to land.

  “Oh, no!” Anna Mae cried. “My water!”

  Bobbie Sue paused long enough to glance our direction. When she saw the look of shock on both our faces and the puddle of liquid at Anna Mae’s feet, she jerked Olivia toward her, then shoved her so hard backwards that she crashed into the next table.

  “You got one comin’ to ya the next time I see ya,” she said, jabbing a finger at my archenemy. “So don’t be surprised when you get it.”

  We hustled Anna Mae out the door and into my truck since it was the biggest vehicle we had. I’m not sure why we didn’t take more than one; I suppose we were all so freaked out that we didn’t even think of it.

  With her tucked into the front seat doing her breathing exercises and the other five stuffed into the back, I pointed the nose at the hospital and put the pedal to the floor.

  “Just breathe, Anna Mae,” Louise said, rubbing her hair.

  “No offense, Louise,” Anna said from between clenched teeth as she panted, “but if you touch me again, I’m gonna pull your arm off. Even my arm hairs hurt.”

  I cut a glance to her out of the corner of my eye. Anna Mae was as sarcastic as the rest of us, but she was never mean.

  “I’m gonna call Matt,” Bobbie Sue said, wiggling around and trying to reach her back pocket to pull out her phone.

  Cheri Lynn chose that moment to pop in. “What are y’all doin’? I came to Fancy’s, but Marybeth said y’al
l hauled out of there so fast you didn’t even pay your tab.”

  “Eww, Cheri Lynn!” Levana cried. “You’re freezin’ me to death!”

  There was so little room in the truck that the poor ghost had nowhere to go. She moved forward a little so that she was squished on the console, careful not to touch either me or Anna Mae. Having a ghost pass through you was akin to somebody running ice water through whatever body part they were touching.

  Anna Mae let out a howl that was somewhere between an enraged she-bear and a rabid rabbit and Cheri Lynn bounced over into me.

  “Tell you what,” Cheri said when I jumped, “I’ll go tell Matt and Addy and Belle. They’re gonna want to be there.”

  “That’s a grand idea,” I said, shaking my right arm to thaw it out.

  “That’s right,” Anna Mae growled between huffs, “Go get Matt. This is all his fault and he’s gonna go through every excruciating minute of it. If I gotta pass a watermelon through a keyhole, he’s gonna stand witness.”

  I bit back a laugh because frankly, I was afraid to let it escape. She didn’t look like she had much of a sense of humor right then and proved it two seconds later when she screamed a string of profanities that would have made a sailor blush with shame. I’m pretty sure she even made up some new ones and wasn’t sure who to feel worse for—her or Matt when he got to the hospital.

  Finally, we made it to the hospital, and I pulled up in front of the emergency entrance, doing my best not to slide in sideways. Nurses rushed out with a wheelchair and I breathed a sigh of relief that we’d been so close.

  Cheri Lynn had found Matt, and by the time they wheeled Anna Mae inside, he was striding through the front door, a pink Victoria’s Secret duffle bag over his massive shoulder and his face a pasty white. It would have been funny if he hadn’t looked so terrified.

  The staff didn’t waste any time getting Anna Mae and Matt to the maternity ward, and the rest of us waited nervously in the waiting room.

  “You may as well get comfortable,” Louise said, picking up a Better Homes & Gardens from the nineties off the table. “It’s gonna be a while.”