Trying to shake off the feeling of melancholy and ignore the fact that she hadn’t actually achieved anything worth noting so far during her life, Lilah poured herself a glass of cold water from the pitcher in the fridge and went to sit on the porch to enjoy a few minutes of sunlight while Winnie sniffed around the yard. The beagle was beginning to look a bit porky around the ribs, and Lilah had the sneaking suspicion that that was due to the fact that she had been replacing walks with treats more often than not lately. Both she and the dog could use a good jog — but that would have to wait until tomorrow. It was time for her to head out to the Granger Farm and scare the pants off of a few guests.
“Hey, Johnny,” she said as she walked past the milking barn, her mask under her arm. “How’s it going?”
“Not bad at all, Ms. Fallon,” he said. “It’s a right busy day, and we’ve got a large group coming tonight for the maze and hayride.”
“Sounds like fun,” Lilah said. “And you can just call me Lilah. It doesn’t make sense for me to call you by your first name and you to be all formal and call me Ms. Fallon.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” he said sheepishly. “It’s habit. I’ll try and remember to call you Lilah from now on.”
She continued on her way, feeling lighthearted and happy. So far all of the other employees at the farm had been nice to her, and she hadn’t made a single major mistake. The guests had all been great too, other than one kid who had tried to poke her with a stick. They wanted to be scared, which made her job pretty easy.
Back at her usual spot in the corn maze, Lilah pulled on her mask and got to work. The time passed a lot more quickly than it had the first day; she hardly even noticed the discomfort of the outfit anymore, and she had gotten better at judging when the next group of maze goers would appear; should could tell by the screams from around the corner just before her, where a man dressed as a werewolf lurked.
After a pretty successful shift in the corn maze — she had startled one woman so much that she had dropped her cup of apple cider, which Lilah felt a bit bad about — she pulled off her mask and headed back to the little farm store for her own cup of cider and a donut. The shop was busier than normal, so she took her snack outside and sat on one of the benches in the shade to relax.
“Hey, scarecrow.” Lilah looked up to see Reid standing a few feet away, smiling. She quickly swallowed her mouthful of donut.
“Reid,” she said. “Hi. Are you here with your niece and nephew again?”
“Not today. Mrs. Perry actually asked me to stop by. She gave me some good news, and a dozen free donuts. Do you want one?”
Lilah considered the proffered bag, then shook her head. “I shouldn’t,” she said, nodding towards her own half-eaten donut. “Between these and all of the cookies I got from Margie, I’ve been eating way too much sugar lately. What was the good news?”
“We did it.” His smiled broadened. “All of the signatures that you, Val, Margie and I got over the last few days worked. Val emailed the list to the owners of the farm yesterday, and got their reply today. They called the Perry’s this morning and specifically requested that they keep the haunted hayride running.”
“Awesome.” Lilah grinned back at him. She usually avoided any unnecessary interactions with Reid, who had asked her out in the past only for her to turn him down, but this small victory was definitely a good time to make an exception to her usual rule of staying far away from the attractive man who lived and breathed the fast paced life that she had recently gotten out of. “You know what, maybe I will have a second donut. It’s not every day that we have a cause to celebrate.”
He offered her the bag again and she picked a donut out. He grabbed one himself and sat down next to her. Lilah was suddenly self-conscious of the fact that she was wearing an unflattering scarecrow costume. She immediately admonished herself for caring. Yes, Reid was attractive, there was no denying that. But he wouldn’t be good for her. He was another tie to the fast-paced, ruthless business world that she was trying to avoid. He was obsessed with his work, was a slave to his phone, and traveled for work more often than was healthy; a corporate man through and through. If she was going to enter into a serious relationship with someone, she wanted it to be with someone who shared her own goals in life. She wanted a job that she loved, a cozy home that she adored, and maybe even kids if she managed to find a husband before her biological clock ran out. None of that included a man who was already married to his work.
“Are you on break, or done with work for the day?” he asked.
“Just on break,” she told him. She thought she saw his face fall.
“Ah, okay. Are you going back to the corn maze?”
“The hayride,” she said. “The corn maze closes after dark. I guess they’ve had too many issues with kids getting away from their parents in the dark. I think Johnny — one of the guys who works at the farm year-round — said that next year they’re going to buy some lights to line the paths with.”
“That sounds like a good idea. What —” He broke off as a pair of men came out of the farm shop, bursting through the doors and shoving a woman out of the way. One of the men was red in the face, his hands clenched into fists. The other was Mark Perry, the farm manager.
“I knew something like this would happen, but you convinced me to put a payment down on that trailer. You better have my money, Mark, or this is going to get ugly.”
“Calm down, Don. I’ll get you your money. I’m not trying to cheat anyone. It’s not my fault that —” Mark’s gaze slipped over to Lilah and Reid, and he stopped mid-sentence. With a nod of his head, he indicated that Don should follow him, and they disappeared around the side of the building.
Lilah exchanged a look with Reid. What on earth had they just witnessed? The handsome businessman raised an eyebrow.
“Are you as curious about that as I am?” he asked. She nodded. They got up and tiptoed to the corner of the building. She was surprised at his sense of adventure, but then again, he did seem to care about the farm. He had probably been going there most of his life, after all. Reid put a finger to his lips, and they listened in silence to the hushed conversation taking place around the corner.
“— have your money by next week. I just don’t have it on me.”
“I need it now, Perry. If you’re taking your stuff off the market, I need to look elsewhere. I put a lot down on those fog machines. If you don’t give me that cash back, I’m going to view it as theft. You’re running a shady operation here, trying to sell stuff that isn’t even yours.”
“Look, I didn’t think the farm owners would care. They aren’t even in this state. I guess a few people got word that I was going to shut the hayride down and collected signatures to try to show the owners that it was still a popular attraction. I just got the email from them this morning. I wasn’t trying to pull anything over on you. Just give me a few days, and I’ll have your deposit back to you.”
“I want it tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow’s Sunday. The banks are closed.”
“Monday, then,” Don snarled. “No later than that. And I am not happy about any of this.”
They stumbled back as the man came around the corner, but he didn’t even seem to notice them. His face was still beet red, and he muttered to himself as he walked away.
“It sounds like someone’s not too happy about our success,” Reid said darkly.
“Yeah. But it’s his own fault for trying to sell something that wasn’t his in the first place.” Lilah’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she looked at it. “Oh crap,” she said. “That’s my alarm. My break’s over. I’ve got to go.”
She downed the rest of her cider in one gulp and, eating the donut as she jogged, hurried away, her mind full of questions about the conversation that she and Reid had just overheard.
CHAPTER SIX
* * *
Still shaken, Lilah was almost late to her spot along the path of the hayride. She yanked the burlap mask over her face and rushed
into the orchard. The fog machines were already turned on, and with dusk fast approaching, the effect was very eerie. It didn’t help that she knew that the other employees were probably all at their own stations already, and were watching her as she ran past. The mummies, especially, gave her the heebie-jeebies. With their faces covered, it was impossible to tell who they were. She was pretty sure that one of the mummies had waved at her earlier, but she hadn’t the slightest idea who was underneath the wrapping.
Lilah got to her spot in the nick of time, and receded into the shadows of a gnarled apple tree just as the hayride came around the corner for the first time that night. The tractor chugged along slowly, and the group of people — adults and children alike — chattered and laughed excitedly in the trailer. It suddenly hit her what she and her friends had accomplished. Thanks to them, this haunted hayride would be around for years to come, and hundreds of people would get to enjoy it. Lilah hadn’t grown up in Vista, so she didn’t have quite the same attachment to the festivities at the Granger Farm that people like Val and Reid did, but she was still proud that she’d had a hand in saving one of the town’s best attractions.
She staggered out of her spot behind the apple tree, her arms out to the sides and hands flopping, trying her best to look as much like an uprooted scarecrow as she could. A few of the younger children let out yelps and screams as she got nearer. The fog swirling around them made for a good effect, especially in the moonlight. It was the perfect night, not too chilly, but not as clammy and warm as some of the nights had been, with a not-quite-full moon that illuminated the path, but created dark shadows between the trees.
The people in the trailer screamed and laughed as she approached. As the trailer slowly rattled past, she retreated back into the trees to wait for the next load of spooked guests. One of the werewolves howled, a pretty convincing sound as far as she was concerned, though she had never actually heard a wolf howl in real life. To her right, the pair of mummies moaned and groaned as they stepped out of the fog, arms raised straight out in front of them. Beneath her mask, Lilah grinned. This was fun.
The next trailer trundled by a few minutes later, and she came out of hiding once more, this time running at the trailer for the last few steps. As it passed, she began walking back to her spot, when she noticed that the fog in her area seemed to be thinner than usual. She frowned and cocked her head, listening. The fog machine wasn’t very loud, but it did make a noise that she had gotten used to blocking out, though she could usually hear it if she concentrated. Now, however, it was silent. Lilah glanced to her right, but there was no sign of the next trailer. She wasn’t really supposed to leave her position, but if the fog machine was broken, she was sure someone would want to know.
She dashed across the path and into the thicker woods that bordered the orchard, where the fog machine was hidden. A red light was blinking on the back; it needed a refill. With a sigh, she returned to her spot in the apple trees and fished the walkie-talkie out of her costume.
“Fog machine number eight is down,” she said into the device, keeping her voice low.
“Copy that. On my way.” The reply was garbled, but she was pretty sure the one who answered had been Mark. She wondered fleetingly if he was still in a bad mood from his argument earlier, then pushed that thought out of her mind as she caught sight of the next tractor. She had a job to do.
By the time the tractor and trailer had passed and she was back behind the gnarled apple tree that she considered home base, the fog in her area had completely dissipated. She was about to call on her radio again when she saw movement in the trees. She recognized Mark; he was crouched over the bush that hid the fog machine and was fiddling with something. The werewolf to her right howled; her signal that another trailer was on its way. Was Mark going to be finished refilling the fog machine in time? She hoped so; he was easily visible from the path.
She peered to the right, then glanced across the way at Mark, gauging how much time he had left. Not much, she figured. Maybe half a minute. She bit her lip, watching him struggle with the fog machine. Should she offer to help? Just as she was about to leave her hiding spot behind the apple tree, she noticed a white form hurrying towards Mark from the left. It was one of the mummies; they must have noticed the fog machine was out, too.
The mummy paused to pull a prop up from the ground — a Beware sign that had a cruel looking stake on the other end. A frown creased Lilah’s brow. They weren’t supposed to mess with the props while the attraction was open, so what was this mummy doing?
She realized seconds before it happened that something was going really, really wrong. As the mummy approached Mark with the stake held up, she opened her mouth to call out a warning. The words got stuck in her throat; she felt like she was in a bad dream.
Mark looked up just as the Mummy brought the stake down. The pointed wood pierced his chest and the farm manager grunted, falling to his knees. Lilah gasped and staggered forward, not quite sure what she was going to do, but certain that she had to do something. At that moment, the tractor rounded the corner and chugged slowly along the path in front of her. Lilah faintly heard the people on the trailer muttering, but was too much in shock to focus on what they were saying.
She took a few weak steps towards the trailer, and as soon as it had passed hurried the rest of the way across the road, pausing only to pick up a large branch. The mummy was still there, now kneeling next to Mark, trying to hold him up.
“Get away from him!” Lilah shouted, suddenly finding her voice again as she raised the heavy branch as threateningly as she could.
“Wait! Lilah, it’s me.”
She recognized the voice instantly, and took a horrified step backwards, letting the branch droop even as the mummy pulled her mask off.
“Val?”
Her friend’s face was pale in the moonlight, and the front of her mummy costume was stained with Mark’s blood. The man wasn’t moving, his eyes unblinkingly open as they stared past her.
“Val,” Lilah said again, her voice shaking. She felt as if all of the strength had gone out of her. The branch fell to the ground with a thump. “Did you… did you kill him?”
“What?” her friend gasped. “No. That was the other mummy. He ran away just as the tractor was passing by. I didn’t realize what he was going to do, I thought he was going to go help Mark. I swear, if I had known…” She trailed off, her eyes wide as she looked helplessly up at Lilah.
“Oh.” Lilah hesitated for a moment. Her gut said to believe her friend. After all, there had been a few seconds when Mark and the mummy that had killed him were blocked from her view. But where had that mummy disappeared to so quickly? No, she couldn’t think like that. Val wouldn’t hurt a fly. “Is he…” She trailed off; the answer to her question was obvious. There was no way that Mark was alive. “We need to call the police,” she said instead. “And we need to stop the hayride.” Her brain felt scattered, but she knew one thing; she didn’t want the kids on the next trailer to have to see any of this.
CHAPTER SEVEN
* * *
“Just calm down, ma’am, please,” Officer Eldridge said, sounding exasperated. “Listen, the two of you were the only witnesses. I need to take your statements before you leave.”
“I can’t do this right now,” Val said, her voice rising as she edged towards hysteria. She had pulled the mummy wrapping off her face, but was still wearing the rest of her costume. “I have blood on me. The blood of a dead man. Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I saw someone get killed!”
She drew in a tremulous breath, and Lilah was concerned that she was going to start sobbing. She had never seen her friend this upset, though she couldn’t blame her for being on the verge of a breakdown. She had just witnessed someone get brutally stabbed right in front of her, and had held his body as he died. With a chill, Lilah realized that if the killer was the other mummy, then that meant that Val must have been standing next to him or her all evening.
“I can start with
the scarecrow while you compose yourself,” the officer said. “Jenson, get this woman a blanket and something warm to drink, and do what you can to help her calm down.”
“Yes, sir,” said a young female officer, who corralled Val and lead her over to a straw bale to sit on. Officer Eldridge turned to Lilah.
Killer Halloween Cookies: Book 2 in The Killer Cookie Cozy Mysteries Page 3