by Deb Baker
She felt nauseated by the pain in her shoulder and from the fumes that had filled the air.
Gretchen heard the downstairs door open, saw men with badges below her, felt her knees buckling. “Upstairs,” she said.
They pounded past her. One of the officers stayed behind. He bent down to her. “You’re going to be okay,” he said. “I’m right here.”
Shouts came from above. Then a shrill scream.
A cop at the top of the stairs called down. “She jumped from the balcony.”
Gretchen leaned against the rail, cradling her arm.
From below she heard other officers talking, shouting orders. She caught enough of what they said to know that her attacker hadn’t survived the fall.
This time, Rachel really was dead.
The officer who was protecting Gretchen moved aside. Strong, capable arms lifted her.
“Are you all right?”
“What took you so long?” she said to Matt.
“Oh, so now you want me,” he said. “It’s about time.”
He gave her a dazzling smile, but his face was pale and he had that trapped look he got when his doll phobia kicked in.
“Get me out of here,” she said.
“Great idea.”
55
Home. There really wasn’t anyplace like home. Gretchen found herself surrounded by well-wishers and a pack of small animals. Even Wobbles braved the crowd to welcome her. Her arm was in a sling, and pain medication pumped through her veins making her feel warm and mellow. She’d been lucky: only her collarbone was broken. It would heal.
The sexiest man alive sat next to her.
“We’re going to call you the aerosol queen,” Matt said.
April giggled, watching him with adoring eyes. “The attack of the aerosol queen,” she said. “A great name for a movie.”
“Quit calling me names,” Gretchen said, laughing.
“It’s true,” Nina said. “You blasted Jerome, then Andy and Julie. You are the aerosol queen.”
“I’ve removed every spray can from the house,” Caroline said.
“Very funny. And I didn’t blast Andy.”
“You clobbered him,” April said. “Good thing you didn’t do permanent damage.”
Nina was fussing with Tutu’s barky braids, straightening them before she said, “What a horrible life Richard had. Committed to an insane asylum when he wasn’t unbalanced at all!”
“Like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” April said. “That Nurse Ratched was more nuts than the inmates. It turns out that Rachel was the crazy one in the family.”
Gretchen couldn’t tear her gaze from Matt. “She was so convincing,” she said. “I never would have guessed that Julie had removed her mother’s head from the armoire. Her intention was to take her mother’s body out, or what was left of it, in bits and pieces.” What a gruesome thought.
“We tested her tote bag,” Matt said. “She transported Flora Swilling’s head inside it.”
“Yuck,” April said. “And to think I was alone at the museum with her. I bet she took Flora’s head that day.”
“We discovered the skeleton before she completed her mission,” Nina said. “Thanks to our friendly ghost.”
Matt’s Chrome cologne was acting as an elixir. Gretchen felt light-headed. “What about the real Julie Wicker? Did she exist as Rachel said?”
“Julie Wicker actually was Rachel’s second cousin. When the real Julie Wicker passed away, Rachel, always the schemer, sent for her birth certificate and reinvented herself as Julie.”
“On a part-time basis?” Gretchen thought this was utterly bizarre.
“Exactly. She was testing out her new role in case she needed it one day. That day came when Allison Thomasia arrived in Phoenix and Rachel thought she had put together too many pieces. Allison began to delve too deeply into their family history and that really set Rachel off.”
Nina shivered. “And to think that she was a member of our club, that she was one of the cast members.”
Gretchen snuggled closer to Matt. Her shoulder injury had saved her from having to deal with his anger. Instead, he was in male protective mode. She liked it. “Trudy Fernwich came as a big surprise to her.”
“Yes, thanks to due diligence by Attorney McNalty, the trustee,” Matt said. “Trudy Fernwich is Flora’s niece, but she was a black sheep of sorts and hadn’t kept in touch with the rest of the family for many years. McNalty is shocked at what happened. Allison came to his office, and, thinking he was doing a good turn, he brought her together with another family member, Julie Wicker. He’s understandably upset.”
“Andy flew back to LA,” Caroline said.
“I was worried that I had killed him.” Gretchen felt more than a little guilty about her attacks on two innocent men.
“He’ll be fine,” Matt said. “And he refused to press charges against you, although I tried to talk him into it.” From the playful grin on his face, Gretchen knew he was kidding.
Gretchen glanced at her mother. “I’m glad you didn’t marry him. He’s not one of my favorite people.”
“Andy’s been under incredible stress,” Caroline said, defending him to the very end.
“Jerome is behind bars for a while,” Matt said.
“We aren’t pursuing charges against him for entering the museum,” Caroline said.
“That will help,” Matt said. “But he still has a concealed weapon charge to deal with.”
Nimrod leapt at Gretchen’s legs until Matt picked him up so he could give Gretchen a kiss.
“I missed you, too,” she said.
“What about me?” Matt said. “Didn’t you miss me?”
“Bring your face over here,” Gretchen said. “I’ll show you just how much I missed you.”
“Nina,” April said, laughing, “tell us how your psychic antennae went so awry? What about, ‘The killer must be a man’?”
“I was wrong this time,” Nina said, not fazed by her error. “But I’m going to ask our ghost for help figuring out where I went wrong.”
“You’re kidding,” April said.
“Want to help?”
“No way.”
“She’s waiting for us at the museum,” Nina said. “I can feel it.”
Caroline laughed. “You’re giving up auras and tarot readings to become a ghost hunter?”
“You don’t just quit gifts like mine. I’m simply tuning in to another paranormal wavelength.”
“I can’t help feeling responsible for some of what happened,” Gretchen said. “I’m the one who told Julie that Mom was at the museum the morning she tried to run her off the road.”
“How could you have known?” Caroline said. “She’s responsible for her actions, not you.”
“I should have known when she left Curves to run errands. She was gone from play practice all morning and I never connected-”
“None of us did,” April said.
Gretchen wasn’t through. She was cleansing her conscience. “I told the cast that the doll head was at our house. Julie was right there, taking it in. If we had been home, who knows what she would have done to us.”
“Why did she want the doll head?” April asked, directing the question to Matt.
He shrugged. “We might never know. Maybe in some twisted way she wanted to keep the doll with her mother.”
Gretchen leaned back into the warmth of Matt’s arms and closed her eyes. She’d beat Nina’s tarot card reading, had changed her fate. Others had been ruined, had suffered despair and sorrow, and for that she was sorry.
But those she loved had survived.
At the moment, she was completely pain free.
Life, she decided, couldn’t be better.
56
The lights went on to the thunder of applause. The cast took one bow, then another. Bonnie had pulled off her part without a hitch. Nina, after minor complaints, had stepped into Julie’s role and had done an amazing job. Jerome, having served ten days in jail,
performed magic with the lights.
Mr. B. sat at the back of the room, clapping right along with the rest of them, his unlit pipe tucked between his teeth.
What a huge success the luncheon was. Enough money had rolled in to open the museum and keep it operational for several months. They would easily fulfill the terms of the contract.
One generous benefactor had pledged even more.
The six-foot Barbie looked stunning in the full-length pink gown April created for her. “No cheerleading outfit for Barbie,” April said with pride. “This is a formal affair.”
Daisy came in after the luncheon guests were gone. She wore her purple and red outfit, and her arms were filled with packages. Gretchen gave her a big one-armed hug, still favoring her left shoulder.
“The big day is right around the corner,” Gretchen said. “Are you ready?”
“I bought my wedding dress,” she said, putting down several enormous shopping bags. “I’ll show it to you later.”
Gretchen glanced at the bags and was surprised to see that they were from expensive stores. What was going on?
“I have a little money of my own,” Daisy said. “I don’t usually need it.”
“A little? Don’t need it?”
“Most of it’s in trust.”
“In trust?” Gretchen sounded like a parrot, repeating everything her friend said.
“I heard about Rachel and what she tried to do to you,” Daisy said. “I feel sorry for the way it ended up. I have some issues of my own, but I’m going to work on them.”
Gretchen smiled at her homeless friend. “I think you’re wonderful just the way you are.”
“I’m sorry that the present I gave you caused so many problems.”
“A gift? What?” What had Daisy given her? Love. Loyalty. Friendship. All of those things.
“The museum,” Daisy said.
“What about it?”
“I own the house. Well, not really. It will always be part of the family trust, but I get to decide what to do with it. Richard doesn’t want to get involved, so we can continue restoring it for a museum.”
Gretchen was trying to comprehend. Daisy was their museum benefactor?
“You’re Trudy Fernwich? You’re the beneficiary?”
Daisy winked. “It’s our secret,” she said.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless.”
“Say you’ll accept the position of museum curator.”
Gretchen sat down at one of the luncheon tables. Fell down, was more like it. The chair saved her from hitting the floor. This couldn’t be true. Daisy didn’t have twenty dollars to her name.
“What about the repair business?” she stammered. “Mom can’t handle it alone.”
“She already found a new helper.” Daisy adjusted her red hat. “Me. It will be my first paid job. She said you would teach me. Well? What do you say?”
“Why don’t you want to run the museum?”
“Me? No. Can you see me meeting with those wealthy people who were here for the luncheon? I don’t think so. Besides, it’s haunted.”
Gretchen’s mind was fast at work. She’d bring in traveling doll collections and give presentations. The world of dolls was an endless parade of fashion and history. The traveling doll trunk was in the museum where it belonged. She’d made sure of that. What else would she discover in the storage boxes?
On the sidewalk outside, she saw Matt coming toward her. He hadn’t been ready to face a stage full of dolls. They had plenty of time later to overcome his phobia.
Tonight was the night. She was sure of it. The mating dance was about to end.
Then he stopped. Put his cell phone to his ear. Glanced at her. Apologetic eyes.
Gretchen sighed. She’d lost him again.
Nina traipsed past on her way to her Impala. Stopped. Held up a deck of cards between long tapered nails. “Come with me,” she said. “The cards don’t lie. You suffered pain, did you not? Come. You need a new reading. Where will the future take you next?”
Everything was back to normal.
Whatever that was.
***
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