by Lynn, JB
“You’re hurt,” Loretta gasped, seeing the blood. She staggered backward weakly.
Her fiancé righted a chair for her to sit in.
“Oh my,” she murmured, fanning herself.
“I’ll call for the police and an ambulance.” Templeton rushed out of the room.
“You should sit down, too, Margaret,” Susan chided.
“She’s right. You don’t look so good, chica,” Armani said, struggling to right her own chair so that she could sit, too. “Who knew that Templeton was such a badass?”
“I did,” Loretta gushed. “You should see what he’s capable of in bed.”
Groaning, I surveyed the carnage.
That’s when I noticed the box Blondie had brought in was blinking. I peered inside and my heart stopped when I saw a countdown was underway. 175-174-173…
Footsteps thundered as Ian raced inside, looking panicked.
“Get out!” I yelled.
He froze, obviously not expecting that greeting.
“Get out!” I yelled again. “Everyone out! There’s a bomb!”
“A bomb!” Loretta and Armani screamed in unison.
“Oh heavens,” Susan moaned swaying weakly.
Miraculously, Leslie, who still clung to her, managed to keep her upright.
Grabbing Armani’s good hand, Loretta pulled my friend to her feet and latched onto her twin with her other hand.
“Go,” I urged.
In hindsight, we probably should have used the time to remove the bomb from the B&B, but there are no guarantees we would have gotten it far enough away and that no innocent people would have been hurt by the resulting explosion.
Templeton ran back in. He frowned at Ian uncertainly and then looked to me.
“Get them out of here. There’s a bomb,” I told him.
He grabbed Armani’s bad arm and propelled the chain of four women out of the room.
“What about Maggie?” Loretta called over her shoulder.
“I’ll be fine. Go! Go!” I yelled back.
“You okay, Matty?” Ian asked.
“Just fine.” The possum righted herself and scuttled out, too.
“Help me with Jack,” I begged Ian.
He ran around the table and began to untie the still unconscious reporter. “You’re hurt.”
I glanced at my arm that was now soaked with blood. “He shot me,” I said incredulously. I glared down at my attacker, who’d been knocked out cold by pugilist Templeton.
“Who shot you?” a familiar voice asked.
Looking up over the dining room table, I saw Detective Brian Griswald staring at me from the doorway.
“Him.” I pointed downward.
Brian hurried over. “That’s Steve the Shark Sincero.” Pulling out his handcuffs, he secured The Shark’s hands behind his back while watching Ian work on Jack. “What happened to Stern?”
“The Shark,” I muttered.
“And who’s the other guy?” Brian asked, staring at my brother.
“Can we stop with the questions? We have to get out of here. There’s a bomb.”
“A bomb?” Brian asked, startled.
I looked at the blinking box. 66-65-64…
“It’s going off in less than a minute,” I told him.
“Holy—” Brian grabbed The Shark under the arms and unceremoniously dragged him out of the room. “Get out of here.”
Ian threw Jack over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and stumbled out the door. He looked back at me. “You’re coming, right?”
“I’m right behind you.” I followed them despite feeling very weak and shaky. I steadied myself against the wall to remain upright.
God coached me along. “That’s it. Keep going. You can do this.”
I’d almost reached the door when I remembered. I stumbled to a stop. It took an effort to turn around, but once I did I headed back for the dining room.
“What are you doing?” God asked. “You’re going the wrong way. Turn around.”
“Piss,” I said through gritted teeth, fighting the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm me.
“Piss,” he repeated reverently. “How could I have forgotten?”
I barely got back to the dining room.
The box was still blinking.
I bent over to pick up the still form of Piss, not knowing if she was alive or dead.
I crashed to my knees as the dizziness enveloped me, and like the possum, I fell to my side.
“Get up,” God urged. “Get up, Maggie.”
But I couldn’t. I was too weak, in too much pain, too dizzy.
“You’re running out of time,” God warned.
“Maggie! Maggie! Maggie!” DeeDee barked excitedly, licking my face.
I wondered if she was some kind of hallucination.
“Don’t drown her, drag her out of here,” God ordered testily. “There’s a bomb.”
“Bomb?” DeeDee repeated on a confused whine.
“There’s going to be fire, you slobbering sack of—”
DeeDee grabbed the collar of my dress with her teeth and tugged, slowly inching me along the floor.
“Let go,” a familiar voice offered.
Dad’s face appeared above me.
Now, I knew I was hallucinating. Dad wouldn’t rescue me in real life.
I heard God instructing DeeDee. “He’s got her. You take Piss.”
“I’ve got you, Maggie May.” Dad slid his arms under mine and half lifted me off the floor.
“Bomb,” I warned weakly, my eyes drifting closed. “There’s a bomb.”
“Give me a hand,” Dad called out and someone grabbed under my knees.
I forced my eyes open as I was hustled through the air.
My other rescuer had an X in the middle of his forehead. Manetti. This was a really weird hallucination.
I moaned in pain as each step they took sent a new jolt of agony through my throbbing arm.
“I know I haven’t been the best father,” Dad huffed breathlessly as we moved through the foyer, “but I do love you, Maggie May.”
Then, we were outside and I was jostled roughly as they traversed the stairs down from the porch.
People called my name from a distance.
“This is as far as I can take her,” Manetti muttered, dropping my legs and running off.
Dad struggled to keep me upright even as I whimpered in pain.
“I’ve got her,” a reassuring voice said.
I searched for its source and found his green eyes.
Patrick Mulligan swept me up into his arms. “I’ve got you, Mags.”
He strode purposefully toward the voices that were calling my name.
“Piss is hurt,” I gasped as the pain threatened to steal my consciousness.
“I’ll take care of—”
The explosion knocked him off his feet, and we crashed to the ground heavily. He scrambled over me, shielding me from falling debris.
I caught a glimpse of the B&B being consumed by a fireball. “Aunt Susan isn’t going to like that,” I muttered.
And then, mercifully, I passed out.
Chapter Twenty-seven
I could hear the witches worriedly mumbling.
I closed my eyes tightly, trying to decide whether this was a replay of my nightmare of waking up in the hospital and being told by my aunts that my sister Teresa was dead and that Katie was in a coma.
I heard Aunt Susan say, “Lawrence feels terrible.”
“We all feel terrible,” Armani told her.
I cracked one eye open and found my friend standing shoulder-to-shoulder with my three aunts. They were all staring down at me.
“She’s awake!” Loretta screamed at the top of her lungs.
“And now the whole hospital knows,” Susan admonished drily.
“She never bought me horseradish,” Leslie complained. “You said if I had any problems I should go to her, but she never bought the horseradish.”
Exhausted by the onsla
ught, I closed my eye, wanting to disappear into the dark void of unconciousness.
Somebody poked at my shoulder. I scrunched my eyes shut, refusing to respond.
“You should have told us about Ian,” Loretta complained. “How could you keep him a secret?”
Hearing the genuine hurt in her voice, I opened my eyes and smiled gently at her. “It was awkward and confusing and we were just trying to figure out a way to introduce him.”
“Saving our lives was a good first impression,” Susan said softly.
I nodded. Overcome with gratitude that she was making an effort to accept him.
“Mary’s always keeping us on our toes,” Aunt Leslie murmured.
Loretta chuckled at that. “I can’t wait to hear how she explains this son of hers.”
I closed my eyes, too tired to even contemplate the conversation.
“Let her rest,” Aunt Susan said.
I heard them shuffling out of the room.
“We’ll be here when you’re ready,” Susan said, patting my hand, which lay by my side.
I grabbed her hand in mine and opened my eyes. We were the only two left in the room. “Where were you?”
She smiled and held up her other hand, showing me her new wedding ring.
“Lawrence and I got married.”
I struggled into a sitting position. “I already knew that.”
She looked confused. “How?”
“Armani predicted it with her tiles.”
Susan made the face of a non-believer.
I didn’t want to get into an argument about my friend’s psychic gifts. “I mean, where were you when everyone called?”
“We turned off our phones,” Susan explained.
“You turned off your phones?” I parrotted disbelievingly. “We were all distraught because you couldn’t be bothered to check your voicemail?”
Susan shook her head. “You do realize that it was only a decade or two ago that everyone was out of touch when they took a vacation, don’t you?”
“But—” I started to protest.
“Besides,” she interrupted. “I knew you had it all under control.”
I collapsed back on the bed, swamped by a sense of epic failure. “I let you down.”
Susan shook her head.
“The B&B is gone.” Tears leaked from my eyes as I processed the idea that our home no longer existed.
“That’s not your fault,” Susan said gently, squeezing my hand. “You saved everyone. Everyone got out because of you.”
“What are we going to do?” I wailed.
“We’ll figure it out. We’re strong, resourceful women. It’ll be hard, but we’ll figure it out.”
There was a knock at the door of the room and we both looked to see my father peering in nervously.
“I heard you were awake,” Archie said carefully, unsure of what my reaction would be.
Susan waved him in. Squeezing my hand one last time, she bent and kissed me on the cheek. “We’ll manage, Margaret. We always do.”
I nodded my agreement, even though I wasn’t feeling very confident.
She turned away and impulsively grabbed Archie by the shoulders. “Thank you for saving our girl. That was a brave thing you did.” Then she bustled out of the room.
“Bet you never thought you’d ever hear her say anything good about me,” he joked weakly.
“It’s a first,” I agreed.
Archie stood at the foot of my bed, uneasily shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “How are you feeling?”
I shrugged.
“So, I guess you’re pretty mad at me.”
I gave him a cold stare. If he hadn’t come back to town, Sinister would have never come looking for him at the B&B and my family would still have a roof over their heads.
“I’m sorry, Maggie May. I never wanted any of this to happen.”
“You never do,” I said tiredly.
Marshal Lawrence Griswald, Aunt Susan’s new husband, strode into the room. “Susan said you were awake.”
I looked away, wishing I wasn’t. I focused on plucking the bedsheet that covered me.
Griswald glanced at Archie Lee. “Heard you played the hero.”
I looked up at that.
“She’s my daughter,” Archie said, the words catching in his throat as he caught my eye. “I’m not a great dad, but I love her.”
Griswald nodded and then looked at me. “Brian’s taken the statements of almost everyone else involved, but he needs to talk to you.”
I nodded my understanding.
Griswald left the room, leaving me alone with my dad.
“She was right, you know,” he said awkwardly.
“Who?”
“Armani. With those letter things. They told me exactly what to do.”
Intrigued, I cocked my head to the side. “What did you think they said?”
“The message was clear. SAVE HER.”
I sucked in a surprised breath. “You came back because of the tiles?”
Reaching out, he patted my ankle. “I came back because I love you, Maggie May.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
It was Ian who drove me home from the hospital. Well, at least back to the place where home had been.
My arm was still sore despite the stitches, sling, and painkillers I’d been given, and every bump that Ian’s truck rolled over irritated me.
He was mercifully silent for the ride, which was a relief since my hospital stay had been filled with chattering visitors; my aunts, my sisters, my friends. Not that I blamed any of them for being worried about me, but it had been a non-stop stream of me needing to reassure everyone I was okay.
At one point, Armani had tearfully apologized for bringing such destruction to my family.
I forgave her. It wasn’t her fault.
It wasn’t even my dad’s fault. It was just a series of unfortunate events that had culminated in some rotten luck.
Brian Griswald came next with a list of official questions. It was him who confirmed that Steve the Shark Sincero had used the ruse of the notorious Licks gang to throw off the investigation and that he’d had his henchman try to kill Delveccio because he was worried the mobster might offer protection to my father and Manetti.
Brian was followed by Jack Stern, who was sporting a bandage on his head, which gave him a wild and rakish appeal. He didn’t say a word. He just walked in, gave me a cheeky salute, and walked out. I had no idea when I’d see him again.
The last person to visit before Ian took me out of the hospital was Patrick. The redhead assured me that Piss was going to be okay. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but Ian showed up in my doorway.
My murder mentor stood up from the seat he’d been sitting in beside my bed. “She’s all yours,” he told Ian.
Ian walked in and extended his hand. “We haven’t been introduced. I’m Ian.”
Patrick’s gaze hardened, but his expression was unreadable. He grudgingly extended his hand. “Detective Mulligan.”
“Thank you for protecting Maggie from the explosion, Detective,” Ian continued earnestly.
I chuckled at the formality of it all. “Patrick, Ian’s my brother.”
The words sounded strange as they rolled off my tongue, but Ian smiled, liking the sound of them.
For once, the redhead’s expression reflected surprise. He recovered quickly, though. “Nice to meet you.”
With a nod of his head at me, he left the room.
My support team was waiting when Ian drove up to the charred remains of the B&B. They swarmed me as I got out.
“Maggie! Maggie! Maggie!” DeeDee barked excitedly, charging toward me.
“Don’t bang into her,” God warned. “She’s still recovering.”
The dog stopped short and looked at me with big, hopeful eyes. “Good I did?”
“You did great,” Ian assured her, stroking her head. My brother smiled down at me. “When your dad let her out of the basement,
she immediately told Mike what was going on so that he could get me. Then, because she’s a very smart dog---”
“That’s debatable,” God murmured.
“She went and found Detective Mulligan,” Ian finished.
“Good girl,” I told her.
She wagged her stump of a tail enthusiastically. “Maggie you love.”
Bending down, I kissed her snout. “I love you, too.”
“Ugggh,” God groaned. “It’s a lovefest.”
“Ignore him, sugar. We missed you,” Piss purred, winding through my ankles.
“We both got busted wings,” Mike cawed, laughing at his own joke.
“Hi. Hi. Hi,” Benny called timidly.
As much as I appreciated their greeting, I couldn’t help but stare at the pile of rubble that I’d called home for most of my life.
Ian placed a steadying hand on my shoulder as I blinked away tears.
A car pulled up behind us.
“Company,” Ian said softly.
I slowly turned to see who had arrived.
A window rolled down and Delveccio looked out at me. “You need anything?”
I shook my head. Walking over to him, I bent down and whispered so that only he could hear, “I think it’s time for me to go legit.”
The End
Author’s note
Never fear, loyal reader—while the B&B may be gone, Maggie and the gang will return in THE HITWOMAN GOES HUNTING.
If you enjoyed Gold Digger, I’d so appreciate it if you could take just a moment to post a review of it.
I thank you in advance. Maggie thanks you. DeeDee thanks you. Piss thanks you. Mike thanks you. Benny thanks you.
God….well, him we’re not so sure about.
Until next time,
JB
Hi there,
I hope you enjoyed THE HITWOMAN AND THE GOLD DIGGER.
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JB
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