She froze. “You have no proof of that.”
“Is that why you killed him, Clara? To keep him from telling everyone. To keep him from taking Pike and the baby away from you.”
“Stay out of this, Vianu! Or I’ll be calling your Nana, you hear me?”
She looked angrier than Mallory had ever seen her but her watery eyes told another story.
“How long have you known that she’s his daughter? Wait a minute, does Pike know?” Mallory asked incredulously.
“What? No!”
“You aren’t the killer but you suspect who is.”
Her aura was a dead giveaway and Mallory knew she was on the right track, but there was that guilt again.
She picked up the cup beside her and swigged it back. A moment later, she keeled over, moaning and writhing in pain.
“Clara?” Mallory called out as the old woman slipped to the floor. “Clara!” she grabbed her phone and called for help.
“Come on, Clara! The ambulance is on its way. You’ll be fine” Mallory said as the old woman moaned, opening and closing her eyelids once again. “Stay with me!”
“She didn’t mean to kill him,” she murmured, squeezing her eyes shut again.
“Who didn’t mean to kill him? Pike?”
Had Pike poisoned Caspar after all? Perhaps she was angry that he’d rejected and denied her as his daughter.
“Not Pike. My sister, Candy. Sorry. So sorry. He was Pike’s father. Hedy was cheating on my nephew.”
Mallory’s brain was whirling with the possibilities. So, Hedy was cheating on Tom.
“Candy just snapped when she heard them together talking about it. They were going to tell Pike. They were going to tell everyone. It was so embarrassing. She just wanted to protect him.”
“Him? Protect Tom? But he’s dead—protect his memory? I don’t understand. Or do you mean, protect Pike? Clara?!” Clara had thrown up and lost consciousness. Thankfully, she could hear the sirens roaring down the street.
Ten
M allory pressed a button on the hospital’s elevator control panel. It’d been forty minutes since they’d taken Clara away. Mallory had gone straight to Peace & Light after the ambulance left and explained everything to Star, including the fact that Caspar was Pike’s father. After that, they’d both made several phone calls in an attempt to get a hold of Pike who was apparently Christmas shopping again but they’d had no luck reaching her. They’d finally decided to head to the hospital themselves, positive that Clara would need someone there with her and since Candy was most likely being arrested right this very minute, it didn’t leave very many options.
“It’s hard to believe that someone as sweet as Candy could kill,” Mallory said as the doors slid closed.
“Not to mention, poison is such a nasty, cruel way to die. You really just can’t ever know a person, can you?” Star mused.
“But it makes sense that it was her,” Mallory said. “I mean she had access to the mistletoe, being the owner of the tree farm.”
Speaking of the tree farm, she called Kaden to let him know her whereabouts and if she was being honest, to be nosy. She wanted to know if they’d arrested Candy yet? When he didn’t answer she shot a text instead.
They watched the buttons light up as they ascended to the third floor. As soon as they stepped off the elevator, Mallory heard the tinkling of a piano.
“She’s this way,” Mallory said, hurrying toward Clara’s hospital room. The music intensified the closer she got until it was so loud, her head throbbed. She stopped and sucked in a deep breath, suddenly overwhelmingly nauseous. Her gifts were sometimes more like a curse.
“What is it, Mal? You look sick.” Star whispered.
Mallory looked around for Caspar’s ghost, or maybe Clara had just died. She could feel the familiar effects of poison. Why, oh why had she opened herself up. She turned and reached out, touching the ethereal vision in front of her. “Hedy,” she whispered. “What happened?”
Hedy tried to show her an image but flickered out.
Ghost number three had finally arrived.
Poor Pike. She’d lost her mother now too.
Mallory tilted her head trying to figure out what was different about Hedy. She flickered more than any ghost Mallory had ever seen, like a fuzzy television set. Mallory was sure she was trying to warn them of something.
“Star! Go get Kaden. Something’s going on.” Star nodded and ran back down the hall.
Mallory pushed the handle down, along with her impending sense of dread and opened the door. As soon as she walked in, she realized what Hedy had been warning her of.
Kaden was not busy arresting Candy Spriggs right now because she was in Clara’s room and Hedy Hart was slouched in a chair looking like death warmed over. Her ghost gave Mallory a piercing ‘I tried to tell you’ sort of look.
“Candy?!” Mallory said, trying to remain calm. “Please, please don’t hurt anyone else. The police already know that you poisoned Caspar. There’s no use making it worse.”
Tears streamed down Candy’s face and she shook her head from side to side.
She was standing next to Clara, and Mallory was terrified that she’d do something more to finish her sister off, but her heart monitor gave off a steady beat so it seemed Mallory had got there in time.
The same couldn’t be said for Hedy. Then her ghost flickered and disappeared completely. Mallory skirted around the far side of the bed terrified of what she’d find. She exhaled in relief as she saw Hedy’s chest rise and fall. So, she wasn’t completely gone yet—just dying. That explained the ghost’s unusual fuzzy appearance. Nana had tried to warn her of this. Hedy was obviously the third ghost. Nana had said, if you help the past and present move on, then you can prevent the future. Why had she been so stubborn about listening that morning in Peace & Light.
Candy’s eyes bulged out of her head. “Get out of here now, Mallory! You need to go,” she stressed. “This doesn’t concern you.”
The woman’s emotions were all over the place. She definitely harbored resentment and hate for Hedy but her feelings for her sister Clara were of pure love. The guilt was definitely eating her alive and yet Mallory saw no malice in her aura. How could a ruthless killer be so pure of heart?
Hedy was moaning now, and holding her abdomen—rocking back and forth. Mallory reared back, glaring at Candy. “What did you give her?”
Her lip quivered and she pointed to the syringe on the table.
Oh, God, no. She’d injected her with the mistletoe. Would that work faster or slower than the tea? Mallory wondered.
“Why hurt your sister?” Mallory asked.
“I would never,” Candy grabbed Clara’s hand and squeezed. “Clara. My sweet Clara. I’m so sorry. Please wake up!” She looked up suddenly biting her lip. She had a crazed look in her eyes as she lowered her voice to a whisper. “Go now, Mallory. Hurry. Go now, please. Before he hurts you too.”
A tendril of fear took root in Mallory’s scalp and curled down her backbone as she pulled out her cellphone and dialed Kaden once again. She’d been so focused on the women in the room, she only now realized the bathroom door had opened.
She turned to flee but before she could get out, a man stepped out of the darkness of the bathroom brandishing a large knife. He blocked the door and a menacing look flashed in his eyes. “Hang up and give me that phone.”
Mallory hit end call hoping Kaden had heard enough to be on alert. She tossed the phone on a nearby chair not wanting to get close enough to hand it off.
“Listen, Tannen.” Mallory held up her hands and took a step back. “You don’t have to do this. The police already know about your mom. Don’t get yourself in trouble, too.”
Tannen pointed to the bed and laughed—it was a twisted sound. “Aunt Clara’s got a big mouth and somebody has to shut it.”
“You’ll not speak of your aunt that way!” Candy screamed at her son. “Have some respect, for once in your life.”
Tannen’
s eyes were glassy and crazed and Mallory wondered if he’d drunk some of the poison as well—or if he planned too. She hated to use her empathic abilities again so soon especially when she was still feeling the lingering effects from the last time, but what choice did she have. It was that or die. She opened the door wide to his emotions, they were overwhelming but immediately informative. If she ran, he wouldn’t hesitate to stab her. As a matter of fact, he was not letting any of them leave the room alive.
“I take it you were the one who injected Hedy?”
He jabbed the blade in Mallory’s direction. “Yes. Now back up.”
“Why? Because she cheated on your cousin, Tom? Do you blame her for his death?” Mallory asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice as she did as he said.
“She wasn’t cheating on Tom.” He practically spit the words at her.
“But Clara said that Hedy was cheating on her nephew.”
“Yeah, her other nephew, me. We were engaged first.”
Oh snap! Clara and Candy were sisters and that made both Tom and Tannen Clara’s nephews. But since when had Hedy been engaged to Tannen. Mallory had missed that one.
“She left me for Caspar right before our wedding.” He glared down at Hedy. “She made me look like a fool. She wanted to be some bigtime Hollywood actress but she wound up pregnant and Caspar threw her away so she had to marry the first man that would have her—my cousin, Tom who also lived in California. What a knife to the back. Then she moves back here a year later with him and rubs my nose in it, raising Caspar’s daughter as a Hart. Well, I would have taken her back. That baby should have been mine.”
“Are you talking about Pike?”
“Of course I’m talking about Pike.”
“Then Caspar moves back here after all these years and of course Hedy comes running, too. The perfect little family once again. They’re always flaunting their happiness in front of me.”
Hedy laughed. It was a cross between outrage and surprise. “Happy little family? What are you talking about, Tannen? My marriage to Tom was a sham and when I left him, he overdosed and now my daughter hates me.” She grimaced in pain and took a wheezing breath, “And anyway, Caspar was not Pike’s father. Who told you that?”
“What?” Tannen said.
Yeah, what? Mallory thought as she interjected, “Clara said Caspar was Pike’s father.” Mallory looked to Candy who was staring at her with wide eyes. “She said that’s why you killed him. That you snapped when you heard they were going to tell everyone the truth.”
“Are you sure she said Caspar, dear?” Candy asked.
Mallory thought about it. “Well, no. She said, ‘he.’”
Mallory felt a wave of guilt wash over Candy.
“My mother didn’t kill Caspar.” Tannen said with a chuckle. “I did.”
“Huh?” Mallory was so confused.
Hedy wheezed again. “I can’t believe you. You are so blind, Tannen. You killed Caspar for being Pike’s father. Are you kidding me? Yes, there were rumors that Caspar was Pike’s father but you had to know the truth. Hell, your own Mama knew better.”
Candy radiated guilt once again.
“And the truth is…?” Mallory prompted when Hedy’s eyes closed.
Her ghost flickered and then she opened her eyes again, “Caspar and Tom were lovers. Tom married me to hide his secret and I married him so Pike had a father. Pike took one of those DNA tests for fun when she found out she was pregnant. When the results came back, she realized Tom wasn’t her father. Boy oh boy, she was furious. Tom was gone so I didn’t have him as back-up. He was always the one to soothe her. She wanted—no, demanded—to know who her real father was. So, I called him up—her real father, that is—and a few weeks later we decided we were both going to tell Pike together at his birthday party. That’s when Candy overheard us. She threw a bloody fit and attacked me. I’m sorry to say I left Rory to deal with her crazy behind. Never came back until Caspar summoned me this week for Yule. That’s when I found out Rory was dead. He died that day—poor man. No one ever told me. Pike wasn’t returning my phone calls at the time so I just assumed she wasn’t happy about it. It’s all so sad… I didn’t know… he never got to tell her.”
“Are you saying Pike’s father was…”
“…Rory Salazar, yes. I was pregnant with her before I left town with Caspar. That was why I left town. Caspar and I were friends and he helped me. Caspar is and has always been gay. He was Tom’s friend.”
Tannen shook his head, “Rory? We were engaged and he was twice your age.”
Hedy shrugged and a tear rolled down her cheek. “I know. That’s why I couldn’t marry you, Tannen. You deserved better. It was just one time and I didn’t mean for it to happen but I was ashamed. I knew almost right away that I was pregnant. I begged Caspar to take me with him to California.”
Tannen nodded, his arms limp by his side, the knife dangling from his fingers. “So, that’s why my mother pushed Rory down the stairs last summer. That’s what they were fighting about. I assumed they were having an affair that turned bad.”
Hedy’s ghost appeared. She flickered but then solidified. She was much brighter now and Mallory got scared. She was about to lose her. She made a decision to make a run for it. It was Hedy’s only hope. She darted toward the door and was almost through it—so close—when Tannen’s hand clamped down on her arm. She fought to get free but there was no hope. The man had a good sixty pounds on her.
Suddenly he just let go and ran from her. She looked at the door to see if someone had come in and scared him away. Maybe Kaden had got her message but the door to the hall was still firmly shut.
“Get away from me!” Tannen shouted.
She swung around to see what had him so freaked out.
It was Caspar’s ghost dancing around him. He wore chains like Marley from Dicken’s Christmas Carol. Leave it to the Hollywood director to overdo it. Tannen stabbed at the air like a crazy person and Caspar gave Mallory a wink.
Suddenly, a beam of light shot down from above highlighting Tannen and Caspar. Caspar’s mystery was solved and it was time to move on but he was still attempting to save them even as he was slowly being lifted away. A true gentleman and not a sleezebag. Mallory couldn’t wait to tell Star. That is if she survived and that’s when Mallory’s survival instincts kicked in and she dashed for the hall, running right into Kaden’s arms. Cody, Star and Pike were behind him.
“It wasn’t Candy who killed Caspar. It was Tannen,” She managed to gasp out, all the fear she’d been keeping at bay bubbling up. “In there.” She pointed, then she hurried on eager to find a nurse to help Hedy.
***
A half hour later, Mallory sat in the waiting room with Pike, holding her tight while she listened and cried. Maybe this would be the thing that brought Pike and her mother together—if Hedy could hold on.
She was still stunned by everything that had happened. They all were.
“You know, there’s one thing I’m still stumped by,” Mallory said to Kaden.
“What?”
“Who sent Candy that note about Rory?”
It made no sense. Was it Caspar after all and if so, why was he denying it?
“It was me,” Axl said, coming from behind them. He wore a frock coat and carried a top hat in one hand.
“Axl? What are you doing here and why are you wearing that?”
The dress rehearsal. She’d forgotten all about it.
“My conscience couldn’t take it any longer. I heard Candy was in the hospital and that you guys were here and well, I just wanted to come clean. I deserve whatever comes my way. I sent the note to Candy right after it happened. I was there that night at Uncle Rory’s for his birthday party and saw him die. I’m so sorry, Pike.”
Pike started to cry again and Axl’s chin wavered. He bit his cheek and went on. “I’ve been a coward. I’m so ashamed of my behavior.”
“Axl. What happened that night? The whole story. We need to know.”
He nodded. “Uncle Rory and Candy were both intoxicated and arguing at the top of the stairs. She’d overheard him talking about another woman or maybe to another woman. I always got the feeling they were dating though I don’t know for sure. But if so, I think Candy was the jealous type.”
Mallory nodded, putting the pieces in place. That was clearly the moment Candy was confronting him about stealing Hedy from Tannen. “I think the fight was about her son, but go on.”
Axl nodded. “He was getting rough with her and she just up and passed out in his arms. Well, he was very unsteady from all the champagne and scotch so I intervened. I was only trying to help, but when I pulled her away from him, he lost his balance and fell backward down the stairs.” Axl started to sob. “She was drunk and when she woke up, she thought she knocked him down during their fight. She begged me to cover for her and tell the police he just fell. I didn’t tell her that it was the actual truth.”
“Why not?”
“Because Meg and I are broke,” he said simply. “You didn’t dig deep enough, Mal. If you had, you’d know that Dad blew all our money. Uncle Rory’s money was the only thing keeping us afloat but with him dying, that would all stop. It was a stupid, selfish decision. I thought she was going to inherit Uncle Rory’s estate and I figured if we got desperate, I could blackmail her for money.”
“Does Meg know about this?” Mallory thought back to her conversation with Meg. She’d seemed so genuine but then again so had Axl. Was she in on it, too?
“No.”
“Come on, she worked for Rory. She was the one who gave Pike the keys to the mill. How could she not know?”
“I stole his updated will, okay! I’m not proud of myself but I stole it along with the letter he’d written to Pike. Uncle Rory didn’t die instantly. He lived long enough to tell me to look under the floorboard. He kept asking me to deliver a letter. I couldn’t get into his office for about a week because of the police investigation. I’d already sent the note to Candy. That’s when I realized Meg and I were going to be the ones to inherit everything—as long as the new information remained buried.”
Mistletoe & Hauntings Page 5