by Renee George
“Do you plan to kill me?”
“Not if you don’t give me any trouble. Once Clem Hanley is dead, then I don't care what happens to me.”
“What about your mom?” I gestured to the bed. “That’s her, right?”
Jordan nodded. “She took pills. I found her on the seventh.”
“That was almost two weeks ago.”
“She left me a letter. My dad, Clem Hanley, and Jock Simmons had started a gaming operation in Moonrise and a few towns close by, but Dad developed a taste for gambling. They used his debt against him and forced him out of the business, and when his debt grew beyond his means, they forced him to sell the florist shop to them for half the value. He’d been doing online gambling and going to the boat in Cape Girardeau as well, and when the legitimate creditors started coming after him, he declared bankruptcy then hung himself the day after their anniversary. He’d wanted to spend one more with her before he died. Mom didn’t want to spend another one without him.”
“My parents were both killed when I was seventeen,” I said. “I know what it’s like to lose the two people who love you most.”
“If they loved me the most they would have stuck around,” she replied.
“So, for revenge, you poisoned Jock with antifreeze. How did you manage that?” I asked, trying to keep her talking because talking meant she wasn’t shooting me.
“The only thing Jock liked more than young women was vodka and cranberry juice cocktails. So, I started an affair with him a few days after mom died.”
“You brought him here?”
My bedroom is the only finished room in the basement, so I never let him up in the main house. Even knowing who my father was, that he was responsible for his death, Jock never had any problems taking me to bed. The man had no conscience.” Her hands shook, the gun wagging as she told the story. I think it was a story she’d wanted to tell for a while. “James is going to bring his father to me tonight, and then, I’ll be finished.”
Was she planning suicide as well? She must have seen the question on my face, because she said, “No. I plan to turn myself in. I want the whole world to know what they did to my parents. I want to see the faces of all the people in town who let those bastards get away with murder.”
“Only they didn’t murder your parents. You said so yourself.”
Her voice went sharp and cold as she punctuated the air by thrusting the barrel of the gun at me. “If you force someone into a position where the only way out is death, then you have to take some responsibility.”
I raised my bound wrists. “I’m not trying to upset you. How is James going to get his father over here? Is he in on the plan with you?”
“He’s in love with me. He has been for years, and he hates his dad. But no, James doesn’t know what I plan. He thinks it’s a prank. That I just mean to scare his dad.”
And that’s why she’d been hanging out with James.
“Now,” she said. “I need you to come over here and lay on the floor so I can rewrap your arms and legs. I don’t want to shoot you, but I will.”
When she’d said she didn’t want to kill me earlier, she’d meant it, but just now, when she said she’d shoot me, she’d meant that, too.
I heard distinct barking sounds outside the window. Smooshie? My pulse spiked, but I worked to slow it down to conserve my energy and strength.
Jordan’s brow furrowed at the noise. I took a step toward her. “Don’t move,” she ordered me. “I will shoot you.”
“I’ve survived worse,” I said, taking another step in her direction.
She jerked the gun at me, her finger sliding to the trigger. “Stop!”
The doorbell rang. When Jordan reflexively turned to look over her shoulder, I lunged at her, a primal scream tearing from my throat as I rammed my shoulder into her chest. She shouted, her gun hand flying up, and she fired the weapon into the ceiling. Before she could bring the gun down again, I clasped my hands and swung both my arms like I was holding a bat and clocked her under the chin. Jordan’s head hit the door frame.
I wrapped my bound wrists behind her head and pulled her face down on my knee then threw her aside. She’d dropped the gun, so I picked it up before sprinting past her down the hallway to the living room.
I heard Jordan wail from her mother’s bedroom as I unbolted the front door and flung it open. Parker’s face was red with sweat and terror as he fell inside. He’d been trying to beat down the door to get to me. Smooshie rammed her body around him, growling and snarling until I dropped to the floor beside her.
Parker knelt beside me, his hands and eyes searching me for injuries beyond the cuts and bruises.
“Call the police,” I said when I could breathe.
“I already did.” I heard sirens in the distance as if they’d been cued. He gave me an odd look. “Why didn’t you go all furry?”
“Something’s wrong with me. I was hit on the head, and when I woke up, I couldn’t reach my cougar side. It doesn’t matter right now.” I handed him the gun. “Jordan is down the hall. You have to go keep an eye on her until the police get here. Make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone.”
Smooshie was practically on top of me. “I’m not alone.” I touched his leg. “Thanks for finding me.”
Parker shook his head. “When Veronica called and said you’d disappeared four hours ago, but your truck was still out front, I was frantic. Smooshie tracked you to this house. She’s a real hero.”
I kissed her nose. “Such a good Smooshie. I’m so grateful you and Parker found me.” She licked my neck then made a yuck face. “Vinegar,” I told her. “I feel the same way.”
Parker walked Jordan into the living room, his face ashen and haunted.
“Whoops,” I said. “I guess I should have mentioned the dead mom in the room.”
Epilogue
Bobby Morris, who had been appointed acting sheriff, arrived with backup. One of the deputies had cut my wrists free. Parker and I gave our statements while they arrested Jordan and took her into custody. A morgue van was called for the body, and Bobby insisted I go to the hospital to have my wounds looked at, so Parker took me to the emergency room where they put fourteen stitches into my right shoulder wound and glued a deeper, but smaller gouge on my back. They put me through a CAT scan followed by an MRI for my head injury. The doctor said I had swelling at the base of my parietal lobe, but no bleeding on the brain. Since I didn't have any major head injury symptoms, he kept me overnight for observation and then let me go home.
And by home, I mean, Parker’s. Parker wouldn’t let me out of his sight for two days. Not until day three, when I was able to finally shift. Buzz talked to the scientist who had told him about the fertility solution, about what happened, and the guy said he was going to study that area of a shifter’s brain and see if it is tied to our abilities.
Frankly, I was just glad to feel my inner feline once more. I didn’t know how much she was a part of me until she was gone.
Friday, the day before the open house, Bobby Morris allowed me to go visit Jordan Deeter in prison. She sat across from me, a glass divider between us. I picked up the receiver on my end and waited for her to do the same. She stared at me for a few minutes as if debating whether she would.
I breathed a sigh of relief when she finally grabbed it and put it to her ear.
“How are you?” I asked.
“My lawyer wants me to take an insanity plea.” She shook her head. “I’m not crazy.”
“You turned your house into a cooler to keep your dead mom fresh while you killed the men you blamed.”
She mushed her lips together then half-smiled. “That sounds a little crazy,” she finally said.
“It really does,” I agreed. “Look, grief can make you nuts. Believe me. I’ve had my share of vengeful feelings. Take the deal.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I would have done it,” she said. “I would have killed Hanley if given a ch
ance. The fact that I still want to do it—”
“Means you need a lot of help,” I said.
Can you tell your cousin I’m sorry? I just panicked. I hadn’t planned for Jock to figure out that I was poisoning him. He came at me, so I stabbed him. I knew he and Jock had fought because Jock had a black eye and raged about it when he came to the house.”
“How did you get him out to your car to drive him?” Jordan wasn’t much bigger than me, and Jock had outweighed her by a good fifty pounds.
“He was still on his feet. I told him I’d take him to the hospital. So, he got in on his own. He looked so close to death that I just pushed him out into the parking lot and drove off.”
“And then used the app to spoof the sheriff’s department.”
“I don’t feel good about it, believe me. It’s the only part of this I regret. Well, that and hitting you, and well, not punishing Hanley.”
“Speaking of Hanley. I thought you’d like to know that he’s going to get what’s coming to him. Anna Avery came forward about his gaming and racketeering, public fraud, and property schemes. She’s turning into the state’s best witness for a sweetheart deal to keep her and her husband out of jail. If it makes you feel better, Hanley is going to get a life sentence. He’ll have a lot of time to think about the lives he’s ruined, including his own.”
Jordan leaned forward. Her smile widened. She placed her free hand against the glass. “Thank you, Lily,” she said. “I do feel better.”
Saturday morning arrived, and Parker had barely slept the night before. He was so nervous about the open house. All the volunteers, whether it was their shifts or not, showed up. They helped us dress the dogs in cute accessories that made them look adorably adoptable. Smooshie wore a pink tutu, and I dressed Elvis with a tux dickie and a bowtie. Parker shook his head at me, but he didn’t complain. Smooshie and Elvis were the perfect ambassadors for the breed, and we needed to use every tool in our arsenal.
It had been a good week. Buzz was free, my cougar was back, all the people who needed to be in jail were in jail, and our rescue dogs had a brand-new home where they could really be safe.
I watched as Keith made balloon animals for children, Larry was working a popcorn stand that the high school loaned us for the event, and Theresa was selling pit bull gear, t-shirts, hats, totes, and calendars. More than sixty people had shown up before noon, and we’d managed to get the paperwork rolling for a couple who wanted to adopt Star. She’d been without a forever home for so long, that I prayed they checked out, and Star would finally get all the love and attention she deserved.
Theresa had come back to work, but there was still tension between us. She said she didn’t blame me for her parents’ legal trouble, but I didn’t know how she couldn’t. But she was cordial, and I would take it for now, because it was better than her hating me.
I slipped under Parker’s arm and put mine around his waist. “Are you happy?” I asked.
He dipped his head and kissed me. “So much happy.”
The End
* * *
Dear Reader, I hope you have enjoyed this latest Barkside of the Moon Mystery, because, great news, Book 5 is coming Winter 2019!
Also, if you did enjoy the book,
please consider leaving a review.
Paranormal Mysteries & Romances
By Renee George
Witchin’ Impossible Cozy Mysteries
www.witchinimpossible.com
Witchin’ Impossible (Book 1)
Rogue Coven (Book 2)
Familiar Protocol (Booke 3)
Mr & Mrs. Shift (Book 4)
* * *
Barkside of the Moon Mysteries
www.barksideofthemoonmysteries.com
Pit Perfect Murder (Book 1)
Murder & The Money Pit (Book 2)
The Pit List Murders (Book 3)
* * *
Peculiar Mysteries
www.peculiarmysteries.com
You’ve Got Tail (Book 1) FREE Download
My Furry Valentine (Book 2)
Thank You For Not Shifting (Book 3)
My Hairy Halloween (Book 4)
In the Midnight Howl (Book 5)
My Peculiar Road Trip (Magic & Mayhem) (Book 6)
Furred Lines (Book7)
My Wolfy Wedding (Book 8)
Who Let The Wolves Out? (Book 9)
* * *
Madder Than Hell
www.madder-than-hell.com
Gone With The Minion (Book 1)
Devil On A Hot Tin Roof (Book 2)
A Street Car Named Demonic (Book 3)
* * *
Hex Drive
https://www.renee-george.com/hex-drive-series
Hex Me, Baby, One More Time (Book 1)
About the Author
I am a USA Today Bestselling author who writes paranormal mysteries and romances because I love all things whodunit, Otherworldly, and weird. Also, I wish my pittie, the adorable Kona Princess Warrior, and my beagle, Josie the Incontinent Princess, could talk. Or at least be more like Scooby-Doo and help me unmask villains at the haunted house up the street.
When I'm not writing about mystery-solving werecougars or the adventures of a hapless psychic living among shapeshifters, I am preyed upon by stray kittens who end up living in my house because I can't say no to those sweet, furry faces. (Someone stop telling them where I live!)
I live in Mid-Missouri with my family and I spend my non-writing time doing really cool stuff...like watching TV and cleaning up dog poop.
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Did you love Pit and Miss Murder? Then you should read Gone With The Minion by Renee George!
How do you save your family when they're about to lose the literal farm? You make a deal with a demon, of course. And then you spend the next one hundred and forty-nine years making him sorry he forced you to sign in blood on the dotted line.
To save her family, Southern Belle Olivia "Liv" Madder made a bargain with a demon lord and ever since, she's been haunted...by her three dead sisters, and her own guilty conscience. Every decade, since the deal, Liv has had to find a human willing to bargain their soul with Moloch. If she fails, even once, he'll not only drag her to Hell, but he'll take her sisters, too. It doesn't mean she can't make Lord Jerkface miserable in the process by removing his lesser demons from the Earthly plane.
When her latest contracted soul dies before the bargain is sealed, she has less than four days to find another soul or her own agreement will be broken. But Moloch offers her a get-out-of-Hell-free card: steal an old book once owned by paranormal researcher David Jensen. The same David Jensen she fell in love with sixty years ago but left to protect him and his family. Then Moloch drops the biggest bombshell: David has died.
Heartbroken and feeling she has no choice, Liv makes the trip to Sanctum, Missouri only to find David's grandson has the book. Worse, he's keeping a mysterious family secret that threatens Moloch, Liv, and her three sisters. What's a minion to do when her world falls apart? Get Madder than Hell and kick some demon butt.
Read more at Renee George’s site.