“He has a gun.”
“You know, that plant’s been growing like a weed the past couple years. I wonder if that’s why.”
“You are such a sassy brat.”
“Mason likes it.” Jade smiled to herself. “It’s good to see you’re still practicing. What’re you using today? Water? Crystal ball?”
“You know, if you hadn’t spent so much time on your mail-order business, Doug might’ve been happier.”
“Good going, Mom. You’ve been dying to say that for six years.”
“Well, it’s true! Why else would he drive off in the dead of winter with two other men?”
“Ah, to check his boat?”
“Who goes to check a boat in the winter?”
“Anyone who’s concerned about it after an ice storm.”
“He should’ve stayed at home,” Mona said angrily.
Hindsight, Jade thought, but she said, “So who are you mad at? Me, or him?”
“I wanted grandchildren,” Mona said with a huff.
“Yeah, well, I’m working on that.”
“You are?” Mona’s surprised sigh clearly said Jade was forgiven.
Jade thought it a good note on which to end the call.
“Your father’s getting married.”
Okay, not a good time. So this is what had her mother a little peevish, making up some preposterous story about Doug being in the conservatory just to justify an attention-getting phone call.
“That’s why he’s not there this month.” Mona misinterpreted Jade’s silence and took up the slack. “Poor baby, you want me to come home?”
“No! No,” Jade said, softening her tone. “Dad might want to bring her by and introduce her. It is his month, you know. We all agreed.”
Davy Stockard stepped through the arch, entering the drying room on the tail end of a revolver.
“Oh. Mom, you know what you were seeing a few minutes ago?”
“Of course, dear.”
“Can you see him now?” Personally, Jade couldn’t take her eyes off of him.
“Well, no, I’m not concentrating now.”
“Let me congratulate you, then—you’re getting pretty darn good.”
“Am I?” Mona sounded proud of herself. “Hey, whaddya mean? He is buried there? He was shot? What?”
“Hang up,” Davy said.
“Mom? Gotta go.”
“Is that him I heard?”
“It’s Davy.”
“Hang up!” Davy shouted.
Jade set the phone down without pushing the OFF button, hoping it wasn’t asking too much for Mona to listen in, wise up, and send help. Soon.
“Davy. Hi.”
“I want my money.”
“Davy, we talked about this. Remember?” Jade spoke slowly, holding his attention, buying time. The moon wasn’t high yet, but it was full; anything could happen. “We all got together. Your mom and dad, and you, and me.”
Marigold, yarrow; she carefully assessed her supply of herbs in case Davy’s finger slipped and she ended up with a new orifice.
She continued a dialogue with Davy, feigning calmness and serenity. “Doug’s lawyer was there, too, remember?”
“Doug promised he’d take care of us.”
“He did, Davy.”
“He said if anything happened to him, there’d be money.”
“There is. It’s in a trust to help take care of your parents. And you.”
“It’s not fair!”
“Your brother worked for his money.”
“I owe money. The café. The gun store. The taxidermist, ’cause I got a ten-point buck. The gas station. New tires. Sears, ’cause I bought Mom something nice for Christmas, ’cause I’m supposed to get money.”
“Doug paid for that policy. It’ll take care of necessities, like an apartment, your food, your medical bills—”
“All my friends. I been telling ’em I’d pay ’em back when I got my share.”
“—but if you want extra cash, you have to get a job.”
Jade had set it up the way Doug had wanted, in spite of knowing her in-laws would gripe about this and that, why they couldn’t have more. It was their nature. The revolver was unexpected, though.
A rap at the window drew Jade’s and Davy’s attention toward the backyard.
Anthony? Without a coat and hat?
Davy was as distracted as Jade, which was the whole point, she realized, as Mason flew through the arch and tackled him to the floor. Honestly, she’d barely had time to get scared, and there he was, doing his Bond-Rambo thing again.
“Ow! Hey, get off!” Davy shouted. He quickly ceased struggling.
Mason rose to his feet, Davy’s weapon in his possession. As he dumped the bullets, he seemed to be wrestling with a decision. He looked at Jade. “I should call the police.”
Mason pocketed the bullets and tucked the revolver into the waist of his jeans as if he’d done it a thousand times. Very sexy. Watching him was far more interesting than trying to figure out what to do about Davy.
Without taking his eyes off Davy, Mason added, “Or you could just let me finish him off.”
“Hey, no, man. Jade knows I wouldn’t really hurt her.” Davy scrambled to his feet, watching Mason warily.
“He’d be easy to kill,” Anthony said, strolling in as casually as if they rubbed people out every day. He punctuated with a little twisting motion of his hands, like wringing a chicken’s neck.
Davy grabbed his throat and swallowed hard. “No, no, hey, man. Keep the gun. Honest. I’m too chicken to hurt anybody. Tell ’em, Jade.”
Mason pinned him with a long glare before turning to Jade. “What do you think?”
“You shouldn’t have brought a gun in here, Davy,” Jade said. “You went too far.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” Davy hung his head.
“The police?” Mason’s brow lifted in question, as if he already knew the answer.
“Well…” Jade thought of what Doug would want her to do. Shook her head.
“Right. Then it’s only fair, Davy, that you know I’ll be watching you. That if I so much as think you might scare Jade again, I’m going to take action.” Mason stepped into Davy’s space and looked him in the eye when he growled, “And I don’t mean calling the cops. You get my drift?”
Davy nodded like a dashboard chihuahua.
Anthony zeroed in on the source of a thin, reedy voice and picked up the cordless phone. He listened a moment, then handed it to Jade. “Your mother?”
Snow still covered the landscape, but the walks, streets, and most driveways were clear when Mason stepped outside on Monday morning. He had no camera, no destination in mind, just…outside.
“Conscience botherin’ you?” Henry appeared out of nowhere, as he had several times in the last few days. Now that he knew why Mason was snooping through the house, he didn’t keep to himself so much anymore. It wasn’t that he was more sociable so much as he was being more obvious about keeping an eye on him and his partner. Kind of a warning: I’m everywhere. So behave yourselves or you can disappear, too.
“You have anything to do with those guys disappearing?” Mason asked.
“Nah, I liked Doug. He was good to Jade. Never lied to her or anything.”
Ouch. “I’m not doing it on purpose.”
“Sure you are.”
“Okay, but I’m not doing it to be mean. It’s temporary. She’ll forgive me.”
No comment.
“Won’t she?”
Henry didn’t say anything for a minute, then tipped his head to the sky. “See that moon?”
“Pretty hard to miss.” It rode overhead, the eastern side lit by the early-morning sun.
“Moon in the fourth quarter,” Henry said, “is the best time to end things. Not just anything, mind you. Things you want to go away for good. Permanent-like.”
“That so?”
“Like keeping your purpose here a secret,” Henry suggested.
“This is
a witch thing, right?”
Henry shook his head. “Oh, witches use it, all right. Astrologers use it. Lots of people. Farmers.”
“Farmers?”
“Sure. Best time to treat weeds…and other pests. Gets rid of ’em for good.”
Mason stared down at the old man. “Wouldn’t be trying to tell me something, would you?”
Henry shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
“Who knew professional photographers were so tough?” Jade said, teasing Mason as her friends congratulated him effusively on saving her from Davy.
“Ah, it was nothing,” Mason said, grinning because it felt good that Jade wasn’t hiding how she felt about him from her friends.
She’d just relayed the days-old story to the Monday morning rendezvous around the plank table. Not once had she said, “But don’t tell anyone,” or pulled her hand from his grasp. She was so trusting, he felt like a heel. Getting things out in the open couldn’t happen soon enough to suit him.
“You were so brave,” Jade said, kissing his cheek.
“Stockard’s a loon,” Noah said.
“I’ll say,” Buzz agreed. “Lucky he didn’t ‘mistake’ you for 007, when we all know it’s just a part you play.”
Mason loved watching the easy way Buzz teased Jade, mussing her hair, sorting through her mail.
“Ooh,” Noah said, “next time we see him, we should tell him you really are a secret agent.”
“Jade, too,” Buzz agreed eagerly. “What’ll her number be?”
“I need a number?”
“Yeah, you know,” Mason joined in. “If I’m 007, you get to have a number, too. Otherwise it’s not official.”
“I see. What would you suggest?”
“I wouldn’t give you anything less than a ten,” Mason said, earning him instant adoration from all the women and knowing smirks from the men. Not that he gave a flying fig what anyone except Jade thought. Personally, he’d give her a twelve, but he’d tell her that in private.
Two-year-old Hannah started to scramble to her feet in the child seat, and Mason smoothly scooped her onto his lap.
“She’s messy,” Weezy said, hustling to his side. She’d been watching Mason with open skepticism, as usual. She didn’t seem to buy his story that he was in the “writing” phase of the project, where he could spend more time around Mystic Manor and less out photographing eagles.
Mason cuddled the toddler the same as he had all his sister’s children. “She’s fine. You ready for more ’nana, Hannah?” he asked, then teased her with the rhyme in a singsong voice until she giggled. Seconds later, he realized everyone else had fallen silent. “What?”
“Nothing,” the guys said, shrugging it off.
Weezy had a new look in her eyes, friendly, like the first time they’d met, before she’d figured out he’d wedged his way into Mystic Manor without an invitation.
It was nothing, though, compared to the way Jade was looking at him. If there was any question this woman wanted to have babies, it was gone now. His babies. Christ, that sounded good.
That did it. He was telling Anthony today to find someone else to finish this job. He was coming clean. There’s be no more talking him out of it.
Buzz and Noah began tossing around ideas on how Courtney and Annie could spend their new money. Anthony called. When Mason’s phone vibrated on his belt, he snapped it up, passed the toddler to Weezy, and politely withdrew to the dining room.
“We have to talk,” Mason said right off.
“My uncle called. We’re done. I’m outta here.”
“They pulled the plug?”
“Packing as we speak.”
Finished!
“Think this’ll work out the way you want?” Anthony asked.
“I’d be a whole lot happier if someone had taken one look at us and confessed.”
“People disappear every day; fact of life. Jade accepted it a long time ago. There never was a chance you were going to be her knight in shining armor, but you, my friend, have to look on the bright side.”
“There’s a bright side?”
“Stockard’s disappearance eventually brought you to Jade’s door.”
“Yeah, that’s worked out so well. I hate that I’m going to hurt her.”
“I know. Listen, I booked the first flight out for me. Figured you’d want to stay a while. You know yet how you’re going to tell her?”
“I’m open to ideas.”
“Lyle flew out last night, so you don’t have to rush. Ease into it gently.”
“Right.”
“And keep your gun handy.”
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Noah said, “Hey, we haven’t hashed over any Dear Alice letters lately.”
“Alanna!” Annie and Jade corrected.
“Oh, yeah, yeah, that’s right. Never can remember that name. Always enjoy them though.”
“I printed some off the e-mail account,” Annie said, pulling folded pages out of her purse. “I was going to work on them while I wait at the dentist’s office, but sharing with you men is always so, ah, enlightening,” she said tongue-in-cheek.
“Hear that, Noah? We’re enlightened.”
“I heard that.”
“Not exactly what I said.” Annie passed the letters around the table.
Jade looked forward to this as eagerly as the men. They all had a different take on things, which Annie often found useful, and they often had spirited debates over what advice was right.
The first two were no-brainers.
“Tell him to talk to his basketball coach at school,” Buzz said, referring to the one Weezy read aloud from a high-school athlete. Noah was all nods next to him.
Weezy jumped all over the letter Annie read from a young grandmother. “It takes more than just the parents to make sure kids turn out right. She has to correct those babies now or they’ll just be a handful later. Don’t mean she can’t love ’em and hug ’em just the same.”
“Who’s next?”
“I got one,” Noah said.
Dear Alanna,
There’s a man living in a woman’s house pretending to be something he’s not. Since this woman helped reunite me, my fiancé, and our unborn child, we feel we owe her a favor and maybe should tell her about this man. Trouble is, he is my ex-fiancé, a private investigator working undercover, and since I recently dragged him to the altar and then jilted him (through no fault of his own), I feel I owe him too, sort of, and should not let my fiancé blow his cover.
Three sentences. That’s all it took to ruin Jade’s life. She marveled at this, stunned into a block of icy calm because it was the only way she could keep breathing, keep her heart beating.
How could no one around notice that her world had just ended?
“Hey, wasn’t Mason just jilted?” Buzz asked, oblivious. “We should get his take on this.”
When Jade’s world stopped spinning, she glanced at Annie. She appeared equally startled, though Jade would bet she didn’t feel as if a semi had run over her.
Annie said, “Wow, look at the time,” and jumped to her feet, but Noah held the letter out of her reach and said, “There’s more.”
Could it get worse? Jade wondered, sick to her stomach as Noah continued.
Do I sit back and do nothing? Sort of let one favor cancel out the other? Do we tell her and jeopardize my ex, or not tell her, knowing she’ll probably get hurt?
Jade stared nowhere in particular. The wall maybe. Another dimension. She was afraid if she connected with this, she’d break in two.
“I can poison his coffee,” Weezy said, touching Jade’s shoulder, drawing her back, surprisingly still upright in her chair.
“I can cut his brake lines,” Noah offered.
Jade scooted her chair back and stood up. She didn’t remember her knees ever shaking like this before. It made her mad.
“Jade…?” someone said. She didn’t know who.
To no one in particular, she said, “I’m going upstairs.
When he comes back, stall him.”
Chapter 21
I t hurt that Mason hadn’t confided in her. Jade wondered why for all of three seconds.
Of course he hadn’t confided in her. She was the damn case.
Or the death benefit was, or her husband. It was all the same deceitful thing.
She tore through Mason’s room, on a tear to find whatever there was to find. She could’ve stormed into the dining room and asked him to his face, but if he was the liar she thought he was, he’d just deny it. His steel blue eyes wouldn’t even blink.
She knew it was true. She knew it, knew it, knew it, and like a fool, tears welled up and blurred her vision.
Stupid not to trust her instincts.
Stupid to let him stay when she had a policy not to.
She rummaged through the top drawers of the high-boy before it dawned on her that if Mason was hiding something, it’d be secure under the disgusting clothes he’d arrived in, so she knelt and yanked open the bottom drawer.
Empty. Too bad. The smell alone could’ve knocked her out and put her out of her misery.
Anthony, she remembered, had asked that she skip the daily cleanup in his room because he hated having his stuff moved. While it wasn’t that odd a request at the time, and he’d let the girls change his linens, it now raised Jade’s suspicions. She stormed into his room without bothering to knock.
“Oh! Jade. Hi.” Anthony body-blocked the open suitcase on his bed. The look on her face must have said it all, because he started gushing. “Honest, he wanted to tell you days ago, but I wouldn’t let him. We had to stay undercover. See, we already had a couple weeks’ time in…”
“Really.” It was all she needed to hear.
“There was a lot at stake…”
“Now you’re just making me madder.”
“Oh-kay,” he said, closing the lid behind him.
The socks in the river and the Banishing Oil and every other spell to get rid of Mason hadn’t worked, so Jade knew the Universe had a different plan in mind. Knowing it didn’t make her any less angry. This was just plain unacceptable. She wanted him out of her life now.
She ignored the stabbing pain in her heart that accompanied that thought. Mason was not a part of her. She ran to her parents’ room, found it unlocked, threw her arms up in the air at the realization that she’d had no privacy for three weeks and hadn’t even known it. She helped herself to a red pillar out of Mona’s dresser, took it back to Mason’s former room, and lit it with enough energy to chase out the hardiest of men. She didn’t even have to call it up; it was just there, pulsing through her body, scratching to get out.
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