All You Want

by Rachelle Ayala

  “It’s a reach, but possible. Diana isn’t answering any questions without an attorney, and we can’t get a public defender to show up until Monday.”

  “So, Diana has no alibi for the ghost hunt or the fireworks show or the questioning after discovering the body. But Molly was seen by everyone at the ghost hunt, the fireworks show, and the body discovery.”

  “You’ve done enough digging.” I take the pencil from her hands. “Look, we have Diana behind bars. The security tapes are being checked. You have heavy police presence, so there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying the trick or treat hunt. Is this like an Easter egg hunt?”

  “Sort of, but we have scary stuff hanging from the trees, and coffins to open in your search for goodies. In order for everyone to spread out, they’re given a map with the order of trees and hollows to visit, and we make sure every map has a different order.”

  “What a neat idea. Can I be on your team?”

  She pokes my abdomen which is lean and mean, no jelly on my belly, and says, “You can get all the treats you want from the kitchen, but yes, you can trick or treat with me. Some of the stations require you to solve a puzzle before you get a treat.”

  “You have the best ideas.” I put her cowgirl hat over her head and pull the rim down over her eyes.

  She giggles, now relaxed. “Since your uncle paid for the Pickaxe Polly Parlor, I can let you stay there tonight.”

  “That sounds mighty fine to me, Pardner,” I drawl like a sheriff from the old west. I feel like picking up my filly and taking her to the Pickaxe Polly Parlor right away, but I’m an honorable man, and I have to stay on my toes tonight and keep Tami’s Halloween safe.

  ~ X ~

  It’s the giggling echoing through the tunnel that alerts me to intruders. I’m glad they’re female and stupid, but still, I have to scare them away.

  I’m wearing a furry mask, so I put on the Bigfoot glove Foxy brought with her. Tonight’s Trick or Treat is the night I get Tami, and I can’t have anyone messing this up.

  “Help!” Foxy shouts. “Someone help.”

  “Shut up.” I grab the gag. “I don’t want to hurt you, so stay quiet while I deal with them.”

  “It sounds like my friends.” She struggles and groans. “Don’t hurt them.”

  “Too late. You shouldn’t have shouted out.” I shove a knee into the small of her back. She whimpers as I twist the gag over her mouth. “You better hope they think it’s a game.”

  She whips her head up and down. Her eyes bulge, and she shudders. I cover her with my body and push her down on the musty mattress.

  “Now, stay here and don’t move. If you’re good, I’ll let you go.” I tuck an old blanket over her to hide her flaming red hair.

  Last thing I want is for the females to panic. From the sound of them, there are more than one, and they think they’re on a grand adventure. Well, I’ll give them something to get really scared about.

  I turn the crank on the mineshaft door and latch it behind me. The giggles echo down the tunnel, and I can hear the scraping sounds of them shoving aside the flap on the coal bin.

  This pisses me off. I don’t need more complications. I only need one friend of Tami to hold for ransom, not three. I might be able to scare them away with a dead animal. Too bad there’s no one but the cat.

  “Here, kitty, kitty.” I soften my voice to lure the wildcat within reach of my weapon. My headlamp picks up a set of glowing yellow orbs.

  I unsheathe my hunting knife and draw my arm back so the cat can’t see it.

  “Meow?” The kitty’s eyes move closer.

  “Have a piece of cheese for you. Some eggs too.” I’m glad I tucked that greasy bag in my jacket pocket and forgot to give it to him earlier.

  The cat creeps closer, almost in range. I keep my right hand behind me as I rifle through my pocket with my left hand to drop the bag of food.

  He decides it’s safe and scampers toward me. Right as he reaches the white bag, I whip my knife around.

  A blinding blue light shines in my eyes, flashing on the blade, and the cat darts between my legs, escaping back toward the mineshaft. The knife stabs the ground, popping up a pebble that hits me right below my eye.

  “The cat went that way,” a female says. “I told you it’s not black.”

  All I can see is a greenish glow behind a blue light saber.

  “Is too,” the other one says. “Oh my. It grew.”

  I hear the clink of metal against the tunnel’s rock wall.

  “Arragh!” I roar, lifting the hunting knife. “Yeoww! Arrghaow.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” the neon-green female says. “It’s a monster cat.”

  “Looks like a man, two arms and two legs. I can see his shadow against the wall.” The second woman shoves herself in front of the first one. She’s wearing 3D printed armor, a horned Viking hat, and is carrying a broad axe that’s too big to swing in these cramped quarters.

  Her mistake.

  I turn off my headlamp, so she can’t see me coming, while her friend’s stupid blue light pinpoints their location.

  “Rosalie, let’s just leave,” neon-green lizard whimpers. “I bet the trick and treat hunt has started already.”

  “Someone’s down here,” Valkyrie says. “What if it’s the murderer?”

  “It can’t be,” Neon says. “They caught Diana already.”

  The stubborn Valkyrie stares my direction but doesn’t move closer. I can see her hesitating, thinking, and then finally shrugging. “I thought I heard someone calling for help. Didn’t you say you heard them too?”

  “It might be one of the haunt effects,” Neon says. “Come on, Rosalie. Let’s go back. I need to pee, and this place gives me the creeps.”

  “Okay, okay, you might be right about the cat,” Valkyrie concedes. “All this coal dust is dirtying up my fur pants.”

  “My jumpsuit is stained too. Ruined!” Neon shrieks. “We have to hurry and change.”

  “Ugh, you’re right. We should have stopped at the coal bin.”

  “At least we can tell Tami where the cat’s been hiding,” Neon says. “She says she’s too fat to squeeze through and Todd’s too big.”

  What? I straighten up too quickly and hit my head on the rock above. This screws up my plan. If those two can’t get in here, how am I going to trap them in the coal bin?

  Tami’s family owes me big money, and I’m going to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against them if they don’t hand me what’s mine.

  “Did you hear that?” Valkyrie says. “I heard someone cussing back there.”

  “I didn’t hear anything.” Neon’s voice retreats. “Ow, I broke a fingernail. This place is disgusting.”

  I scuttle back to the mineshaft door and wait until I hear nothing before turning the metal wheel to crank it open.

  Foxy’s still lying on the mattress, drooling into the gag.

  I seal the door and ungag her.

  “Did you hurt my friends? What did you do?” she asks.

  “I didn’t hurt them. Scared them away, but we’re going to have to try something different.”

  “Like what? What do you want? Are you going to let me go?” Her voice gets on my nerves, but at this point, I need someone to sound off with.

  “They’re going trick or treating tonight, and we’ll be waiting for them—only not where they think.”

  “What do you mean? Are you letting me go?” she asks.

  “Yes, if you act the part for me.” I yank her to her feet. “Can you disguise your voice?”

  “Oh, yes, I minored in theater in college,” Foxy says. “I can play my part, but promise you won’t hurt Tami or anyone?”

  “Have I not treated you well?” I place a straw into a water bottle for her. “You wanted a horrid haunt weekend, and you’re going to get your money’s worth.”

  Thirty-Two

  ~ Tami ~

  I print out the maps to the Trickvenger Hunt locations, along with clues. After Ros
alie and Suzette came back covered with coal dust, Todd left to search Diana’s house to find her costume, as well as the pickaxe and other incriminating evidence.

  “It was so scary,” Suzette says. “You did a great job with the coal bin and the scary sound effects.”

  “I still think someone was down there,” Rosalie says. “It responded to what we did. Right after I said I saw his shadow, he switched off his lamp.”

  Suzette sucks in a hissing breath. “Enough. I’ve had enough bone-chilling scares. It was spooky down there, and my hair’s a mess. Broke my fingernail and dirtied up my jumpsuit. What am I going to wear?”

  “How about a plain black sheet?” Rosalie laughs. “I can’t wear my stuff either.”

  “How are we going to pick up guys hiding in sheets?” Suzette whines.

  “By sneaking up on them, putting your hands over their eyes, and when they turn around, drop the sheet.” Rosalie’s voice gets husky. “Have you narrowed down anyone you want?”

  Suzette shakes her pretty black curls and pouts. “That cute one is a deputy, so I can’t take him away from his duties.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re into older guys, not that there’s anything wrong with that,” Rosalie says.

  “I’m not telling. It’s one of the young ones, but I haven’t seen him around. I’ll have to wear the slinky fish outfit then. Hope he’s a fisherman.” Suzette grabs a garment bag and unzips it.

  “Did you guys find any clues?” I ask them. “Do you think anyone used the tunnel to sneak around the basement?”

  “The cat definitely did,” Rosalie says. “Do you think Diana used it to get away from the murder scene?”

  “Oh, she could have hidden in the Baja Angel room until the coast was clear.” Suzette lifts out a scaly, silvery dress.

  “Right, and then snuck upstairs to be with your uncle and get her alibi,” Rosalie adds. “Hey, wait, if everyone guesses Diana for the murderer, then no one will win the gold nugget.”

  “The gold nugget isn’t even real. There’s an asterisk on the box,” I explain. “Anyway, I’ve extended the deadline for the guess, because Diana must have had some help, especially with planting false clues to throw us off track.”

  “What do your gray cells tell you?” Rosalie asks Suzette who rolls her eyes and says, “I’m not telling.”

  Off she goes into the bathroom, and Rosalie borrows a key to another room so she can shower and change.

  Once I’m alone, I take out my chart and wonder.

  Who else might know about the tunnel?

  Evan, most likely. He supervised the construction.

  Dillon and Diana who used to play in the ruins when the property belonged to their grandmother.

  Any of Dillon’s friends? Possibly, except Todd didn’t know, and he used to share a paper route with Dillon. But could the Drunk Tank guys know? It’s possible they hid in the mineshafts to drink and do drugs.

  Molly and Randy would fit the profile, and then there were the older generation.

  Might Walt, Donnie, Johnson, and Corny know Diana’s grandmother?

  Vinnie. He’s the groundskeeper, and his family owned the Sixty Miners before Todd’s uncle bought it. But that means Chip Colson might also be acquainted with the underground tunnels.

  My head hurts.

  There’s a knock on the suite door, and Todd ambles in, smiling.

  “Any updates from the search warrant?” I ask him.

  He dots a kiss on my lips, and then pulls a chair and straddles it backward. “Got her costume. It’s got dirt, grime, and oily stains on it, but no soot. Not the same amount your friends got on their costumes.”

  “Are you saying she didn’t go through the coal bin?”

  “She could have changed into something else and dumped it,” he says. “The pickaxe is still missing, and she denies taking it. She still claims she spent the night with my uncle.”

  “So, she’s talking?”

  “A little, but she won’t answer my questions. Says we’re still in danger because the real murderer is out there.” He gives me a meaningful look. “I’m going to have to send a team through the coal bin to look for evidence, assuming your friends didn’t mess it all up.”

  I raise my hands. “Hey, don’t blame me. You didn’t mark it as a crime scene.”

  “That’s because I didn’t think anyone could fit through it other than the cat.”

  “Randy’s thin enough.” I pick up the paper and study my chart. “He wasn’t seen at the ghost hunt, the fireworks, or after the body was found.”

  Todd looks over my shoulder. “Nice chart. Anyone else have no alibis?”

  “Diana, which we knew already. Vinnie, but he wasn’t supposed to work. Chad, who was knocked out, and Donnie.”

  “I caught up with Donnie today. His knees were bothering him, so he went home. He’s sorry he missed all the excitement.”

  “Well, I didn’t really think one of the old guys crawled through the tunnel.”

  “I’ll send Shane with Randy and Dillon.” Todd wears a self-satisfied smirk.

  “But what if Randy’s the murderer?”

  “They won’t be armed, not even with nightsticks, and I’ll have Shane wear a body cam to record their movements. See if they know anything,” Todd says. “I’m not as dense as you think.”

  “I never said you were dense.” I wrap my arms around him and give him a kiss. “Well, maybe your muscles are very dense.”

  “Oh, I have a nightstick that’s even denser, especially when you’re around.” His voice lowers to a seductive drawl.

  “I’d love to play with your nightstick.” I let my tongue explore his mouth as he swivels around until I’m in his lap.

  How’d I get so lucky that he’s changed his mind about me? He’s kissing me like a man parched with thirst, and I’m that fountain of love he’s craving. I can feel the passion and power that this man exudes, and gosh, but I’m melting with each delicious slurp.

  I take his beefy hand and press his palm over my breast, giving him permission to touch and handle. Without missing a beat, he moves his hand in a circular and caressing motion while scissoring my nipple between two fingers. His kisses deepen, and he tangles his other hand around the nape of my neck, twisting my hair.

  The hard baton between his legs presses against my thigh, and I wiggle my fleshy behind in his lap, so pleased that I’m turning him on.

  Maybe I was wrong about him being ashamed to be seen with me because of my plus size. Maybe it was all in my mind. He’s assured me he loves everything about me, and I can’t believe he’s even encouraging my crazy business ventures.

  What happened to keeping outsiders away and decreasing traffic?

  What happened to sticking to the old ways?

  Not that my brain has two cells left to think about Todd’s contradictions. All I know is the floodgates are open, and my heart is being swept away.

  I’ve always wanted this big bear of a man, and my fantasies and dreams are coming true. I let out an earthy moan when he lowers his lips to suck on the sensitive spot below my jaw.

  I tug the tails of his shirt from his belt and slip my hands into the waistband of his pants. The length of his cock pulses against my exploring fingers, and I gulp at how the myth is real. Big hands. Big feet. Big …

  “Gosh, will you two get a room?” Suzette’s amused voice squeaks at the same time the door closes, and Rosalie says, “Oh joy, eye bleach needed.”

  I gape at them, my hand still deep in Todd’s pants, and all I can do is give them a cat licked the cream smile.

  “I think it’s time you two pick up your Trickvenger maps and figure out the clues.”

  ~ Todd ~

  Now that Tami’s friends are crazily orbiting her and flinging sexual innuendo, I take Tami’s list of people, times and places, and retreat to the doorway. “I’m going to organize the deputies and give them their patrol assignments.”

  “Will you be back for dinner?” she asks.

 
I give her a wink. “Even better, I’ll go on the hunt with you. Will you wait for me?”

  “Sure, if it’s only me and you, I’ll explore every crevice and climb every stump.”

  “You got it.” I cross my fingers and give her a parting kiss.

  Her answer lifts my heart as I exit the door to the sounds of giggling and teasing.

  Let them have their fun. I hate to admit it, but Tami’s sorority sisters bring splashes of color and warbling songs to this sometimes drab and bleak former mining town. New life keeps us mountain folk from turning into living ghosts.

  Especially if the newcomers are as psycho-delicous, exoti-maniac, and bubble-luscious as these flirts. We do have to be careful of runaway development, so I’m not exactly giving Tami the green light at the planning commission unless it means greenbacks to support town services, like more police, fire, paving, and bridge expansion. Safety cannot be sacrificed, but at the same time, it would help our town to gain new businesses.

  I call Shane and update him with my findings at Diana’s house. “I’ve bagged the costume for evidence, as well as the packet of research materials Viola gave to her. You have anything on Molly?”

  “Checked around town, and the guy who owns the gas station said she woke him up last night to fill up her tank.”

  “What time?”

  “Around two in the morning. She said she had an out of town emergency. Didn’t say what or where.”

  “That explains why she’s not around.” I make a note. “How’s the children’s trick or treat going?”

  “The Vice Squad is here directing traffic and doing the neighborhood watch. So far so good,” he says.

  “Okay, nothing urgent, but at some point, I’ll need you to take Randy and Dillon into the tunnel Tami’s friends found that starts behind the dumpster. Apparently, it connects to a door through the old coal bin and into a mineshaft. The girls think they saw a man at the other end, but for sure the cat ran by. It could be where the killer, if it’s Diana, disappeared after Tami discovered Viola’s body.”