The Pine Hill Inn

by J A Whiting

  Balling up the towels, she opened the detective’s shirt and pressed the cloth against the wounds. She did the same for the lawyer, all the while speaking gently to them saying it would be okay, help was coming, they were going to be fine.

  At last she heard the sirens, and then people talking in the driveway as the emergency personnel hurried inside. A police car arrived shortly after the ambulance.

  Breathing slowly in and out trying to control her emotions, Ella sat on the waiting room sofa with Raisin on her lap speaking with two officers explaining why she’d come to Billing’s office and what she found when she arrived.

  Still alive, Jonas and the lawyer had already been whisked away to the hospital.

  After more questions and discussion, a detective told Ella she could leave, but before she stood up, the law enforcement officer squeezed her shoulder.

  “Thank you. If you hadn’t arrived when you did, well….” the man’s voice trailed off.

  On shaky legs, Ella carried Raisin to the car where she called Livvy and told her what had happened.

  “I’ll come there. Wait for me,” Livvy told her sister.

  “No, no. I want to go home. I’m just leaving. I’m okay,” she said, even though she wasn’t.

  “Come here. I’ll make you tea and give you dinner. We’ll make a fire and I’ll wrap you in a blanket … the cutie cat, too.”

  Ella was so grateful for her sister that her eyes welled up. “Okay. We’re on our way.”

  Because her shirt and slacks had blood on them, Ella drove her car into the driveway of her house to change before going to Livvy’s.

  “I want to get out of these bloody clothes.” Ella rolled down the car window for Raisin. “I’ll just be a minute. You can stay in the car.”

  When Ella got out, she followed the walkway to the backdoor feeling weak and woozy. Before going inside, she stood on the patio in the darkness, looking up at the trees, breathing deeply, trying to calm herself.

  She froze when she heard the crunch of the leaves under someone’s feet.

  “Hello, Ella.”

  Ella turned to see Rose Mahoney standing a few yards away, and adrenaline flooded her body.

  “Rose.” Ella had been wearing her protection amulet since she’d come back from Salem. She reached up and could feel it under her shirt. “You’ve been busy this evening.”

  “So have you.” Rose’s eyes looked glazed and wild shining in the light of the backdoor lantern.

  A binding spell raced through Ella’s mind in an attempt to keep the woman from doing harm.

  Ella said, “You knew Leo was making a will. He told you that you would be the beneficiary?”

  “He told me, yes. Then he changed his mind.” Rose’s facial muscles sagged.

  “Leo told you’d he changed his mind?”

  “Leo was going to end our relationship.”

  “He told you that?”

  “No, he didn’t.” Rose’s face contorted. “But I knew what was on his mind.”

  “Leo’s friend at the inn told me Leo thought you were going to end it.” Ella wanted Rose to talk so she could plan how to get away from the woman.

  A look of confusion passed over Rose’s face. “It doesn’t matter.” Rose reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a knife. The blade glinted in the light.

  Ella felt dizzy for a moment, but she shook it off. Keep your wits about you, she told herself. Silently, she repeated the binding spell.

  When Rose took a step forward, the wind kicked up and blew through the trees with a roar that caused her to hesitate for just a split second.

  Raisin leapt from behind the woman and onto her head, hissing and digging her claws into Rose’s neck and face.

  At that moment, Ella grabbed a jar candle from the patio table and dashed at Rose, smashing her in the face with the heavy glass object.

  Rose dropped the knife and fell to her knees with Raisin still clawing at her back.

  When Ella hit the woman on the head and Rose slumped to the ground, she grabbed the knife from the patio and, panting, stood over her attacker waiting for her to move.

  Rose remained still, and Raisin jumped away from her and looked up at Ella.

  “Good work. Thank you.” Ella’s heart filled with love for the feline.

  Raisin threw back her head and howled into the darkness.

  When Ella sank onto a patio chair, the cat jumped onto her lap … and right after the young woman called the police, she placed a second call.

  “Can you come over here?” Ella asked weakly.

  Livvy raced the two blocks to Ella’s house and when she whipped around to the back of the home, her eyes went wide seeing Rose on the ground. Wrapping Ella in her arms, Livvy ran her hand gently over her sister’s hair as Ella’s tears dropped onto Livvy’s shoulder.

  “Raisin helped me.” Ella’s voice was hoarse.

  Livvy reached down to lovingly pat the feline. “You’re the best cat ever.”

  In the next five minutes, Mike arrived in the car with Jack, two police cars screeched to a stop in front of the house, Ben and Aunt Jin drove up and jerked to a halt at the curb, and an ambulance sped into the driveway.

  And then Ella sank into her family’s protective embrace.

  23

  Jonas Damon, Rose Mahoney, and the lawyer would all survive their injuries. Rose was arrested for the attempted murder of three people. Charging her with Leo’s murder would come later.

  Rose knew that Leo had changed his mind about naming her his beneficiary and it infuriated her that he had done so. She waited for him to come outside after his shift so she could try and convince him to keep her as the beneficiary, but her decision was already made to kill him if he didn’t cooperate.

  She stabbed him three times that night.

  Rose was also enraged at the lawyer who followed Leo’s instructions to discard the will he’d put together. She went to see him with her murderous intention, but discovered he’d gone away for a few days. When he returned to work after his short vacation, Rose paid a visit and when she saw Jonas Damon in the office, well, that was a bonus. The woman attacked Jonas first, and when he fell, she went after the lawyer. She had surprise on her side as well as a very sharp weapon.

  After her attacks had been made, she waited a block away to see how long it would take for someone to find the bodies. Rose watched as Ella pulled into the lawyer’s driveway, and two hours later, she followed Ella home.

  After the attack on Ella, the family clucked over her and Raisin at Livvy’s house. They made them tasty things to eat, made a cup of tea for Ella, and Jack brought Ella and Raisin each a soft blanket and he sat petting the cat listening to her purr.

  They all talked about what had happened and thought Ella missed sensing Rose and her wickedness because she was so distraught and exhausted from finding the wounded men at the lawyer’s office.

  “I need to sharpen my ability to pick up on things when I’m feeling depleted,” Ella said. “It might save my life someday.”

  Jin praised her niece and the cat. “You both did well in the face of adversity. Neither of you panicked, you kept your wits about you, you waited for the right moment, and you acted with decisiveness.” She looked to Ella. “You had the presence of mind to recite the correct spells.” Jin then smiled at the cat. “And you are an invaluable creature. You have my gratitude, fine Raisin.”

  The cat trilled sweetly as Jack kissed her on the head.

  The next afternoon, Ella and Livvy drove to the inn to tell Leo and Rebekah about the previous evening’s events. The sun was lower in the sky, but the air was unusually warm and pleasant when the sisters walked to the section of the garden that was next to the meadow. They sat on a bench in the sunshine and watched the birds fly to and fro.

  “It’s so peaceful here,” Ella said. “I understand why Rebekah loves it. It’s especially comforting after a traumatic incident.”

  “Do you think you should talk to someone about how to cope w
ith feelings from the attack?” Livvy asked.

  “I don’t think I need to. I have you,” Ella smiled. “You know, over the years, I’ve been attacked and threatened by angry ghosts. A few years ago, I was deceived by a man I trusted. A terrible article about us full of lies and exaggerations was written by that man causing a whole lot of trouble for all of us. Being attacked by a living person wasn’t much different from being attacked by ghosts. I’m learning to let go of hurt. I’m trying to be stronger. I’m learning that verbal, written, or physical attacks won’t stop me from doing the things that are important to me.”

  Livvy hugged her sister. “Don’t ever leave me, okay?”

  Ella chuckled. “Don’t worry. If I go first, I’ll stay behind and haunt you until it’s your time to go.”

  “And I’ll do the same.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  When the sisters looked back out over the field, they spotted the two shimmering figures standing at the edge of the gardens watching them.

  “Hello, Rebekah,” Ella said. “Hello, Leo.”

  Livvy told the ghosts they’d come to share some news, and then she and Ella took turns relaying the tale of Rose Mahoney’s actions.

  When they finished, Leo looked devastated, but Rebekah reached out and took his hand.

  “We wanted you to know that Rose was arrested. Eventually, she’ll be charged with taking your life,” Ella explained to Leo.

  Livvy asked if they could place the flashlights on the ground, and when the spirits didn’t disappear, she took that as a yes. “We’ll do like we always do. If your answer is yes, light up the flashlight on the left, and for a no answer, flicker on the flashlight on the right.”

  Ella asked, “Are you okay, Leo?”

  Yes.

  “Are you doing okay, Rebekah?”

  Yes.

  “Is there anything we can do for either of you?”

  No.

  Livvy asked, “Would you like to cross?”

  No.

  “Do you think you’ll cross someday?”

  Yes.

  “Are you going to stay here together for a while?”

  Yes.

  “We’re here if you need us,” Ella told the spirits.

  Yes.

  The ghosts’ shimmering atoms started to dim, but before they disappeared completely, they each put a hand over their hearts and nodded.

  When they vanished from view, Ella and Livvy grasped hands.

  “They thanked us.” Ella could barely squeeze the words from her throat.

  Livvy brushed at her eyes. “I’m glad they’re together. Rebekah’s been alone far too long.”

  Ella began to feel better over the next few days, gaining her strength and energy back and she was happy to be in the classroom and meeting with students. She’d even given a talk on Colonial textiles at a university in Boston and was pleased with how well it was received.

  That afternoon, when Ella was working in her office, she received an email from Liam with a copy of the article he’d written on the family. He wanted her to read it over, share it with the family, change, add, or delete whatever they wanted to, and let him know if they were okay with it being published.

  Ella thanked Liam, sent the article to her family members, and spent the next forty minutes reading and re-reading the story.

  When another hour passed, there was a knock on her office door, and when she opened it, Liam was standing there with two coffees and a paper bag.

  “I know you probably haven’t had time to read the article, but I wanted to come by and say I heard what happened and I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

  “Come in and sit.” Ella invited the journalist into the room. “That coffee smells really good.”

  “It should,” Liam smiled. “It came from your sister’s shop. I brought two muffins, too. One blueberry and one corn.”

  “I like them both. Let’s share,” Ella suggested.

  “Where’s Raisin?” Liam asked. “She’s okay, isn’t she?”

  “She’s fine. She’s at Livvy’s playing with Jack. I had a long day today so I dropped her off at their house.”

  “Good.” Liam nodded. “I didn’t want anything to be wrong with my biggest fan.”

  Ella chuckled. “You’ll have to come and see her one of these days. She’ll be thrilled.”

  “Do you want to talk about what happened the other day?” Liam asked. “Or would you rather avoid the topic?”

  “I can talk about it.” Ella sipped from her coffee cup and then proceeded to tell Liam the details of the incident with Rose.

  Liam listened carefully and asked some questions, and when the telling was done, he leaned back in his seat. “It’s hard to believe people can be so full of rage, that people can be so greedy and so selfish and have no thought or care for anyone else. It’s baffling to me.”

  “Me, too. I have to keep reminding myself that there are more good people in the world than bad.”

  Liam held Ella’s eyes for a few seconds. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  A moment of shyness came over her and she glanced down at her piece of muffin. “Thanks.”

  There was an awkward few moments, before Liam smiled and started talking again. “I really like Quinsigamond and its neighborhoods. I decided to look for an apartment in the area. I’m kind of tired of Boston, the hurry, all the people, the high cost of rent. I like being able to drive five minutes and be out in nature. It’s nice here. I need a change, and being a writer, all I need is an internet connection to do my work.”

  Ella was pleasantly surprised. “Really? That’s great. You’ll only be about forty-five minutes from Boston and there’s the commuter rail into the city if you don’t feel like driving.”

  “I have some story ideas about the area. I’m going to do some research and then pitch the ideas to some publications.” Liam seemed excited by the prospects.

  “That’s really wonderful.” Ella smiled at the man. “And maybe Raisin will get a chance to see more of you.”

  “I was hoping that might be a possibility.”

  “I read the article you sent.”

  Liam’s expression became serious. “And?”

  “I loved it. You changed our names and didn’t mention the name of our business or its location.”

  The journalist nodded and grinned. “I changed the names to protect the innocent. It’s a great story about all of you. You do good work. There’s no need to publicize who you are and have a bunch of crazies who don’t understand what you’re about come out of the woodwork to hound you.”

  “Thanks,” Ella said. “It’s very thoughtful of you.” The smile on Liam’s face made her heart do a little flip.

  “Are you almost done here?” Liam asked. “Would you like to go for a walk when you’re finished up for the day? If you’re not too busy. It’s really nice out. A little chilly, but not bad at all.”

  “I’d like that.” Ella got up to get her jacket, and they went outside to walk along the trails behind the university.

  “I’m having dinner at Livvy’s later. Would you like to come?” Ella asked.

  “That would be great.”

  “And you’ll get to see the cutie cat.”

  “There’s nothing I’d like better.” Liam grinned at Ella sending tiny sparks shooting through her veins.

  As they strolled along under the trees, the young couple’s cheeks flushed pink, and it was most certainly not from the chill in the air.

  __________________

  I hope you enjoyed the The Pine Hill Inn! The next book in the series, A Murder on Poet’s Hill, can be found here:

  viewbook.at/MurderonPoetsHill

  Thank you for reading!

  Books by J.A. WHITING can be found here:

  www.amazon.com/author/jawhiting

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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

  ELLA DANIELS COZY WITCH MYSTERIES

  About the Author

  J.A. Whiting lives with her family in New England. Whiting loves reading and writing mystery stories.

  Visit me at:

  www.jawhiting.com

  www.bookbub.com/authors/j-a-whiting

  www.amazon.com/author/jawhiting

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