by Temple Hogan
“You can’t talk to her like that,” Phil snapped. “That’s sexism.”
The man turned to confront Phil with such a scowling face that she automatically moved back a space, but Beck was there at her back, his arm going around her protectively.
“You’re damned right,” Hilliard said. “If she were a man, I would have said ass and a lot worse.” He paused and studied Phil then shook his head. “I should have known,” he muttered. “I heard there were three of you.” He turned to Charlie. “When’s the other one due to arrive?”
“I’m sorry, sir. I’ll secure the perimeter.” Charlie waved Phil and Beck away.
“I’ll have someone else do it, Spencer. Just get out of here,” Hilliard snapped.
Phil and Beck headed back to their respective vehicles. Phil could hear Charlie’s boss bawling her out before he finally stalked away. When Charlie joined them, she seemed thoroughly chastised.
“What a jerk!” Phil said.
“He’s not so bad,” Charlie said, although she still looked crest-fallen.
“He was just doing his job,” Beck said and opened Phil’s car door for her. “Can you get away, Charlie?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said with some exasperation.
“Let’s go back to the house and have some of Phil’s tea and talk this over.”
“I have a better idea,” Phil said. “Let’s go back to the bar where this all started. I want to thank Tammy for her tip.”
“Sounds good to me. I could use a good stiff drink,” Charlie said.
“I’m game if they’ll let me in,” Beck said and they all got into their cars.
As they rolled out of the driveway, Phil looked back and saw Hilliard talking to two uniformed officials, but he lifted his head and stared after them.
“Okay, I want to hear everything,” Beck said, when they were settled around a table with glasses of cold beer. No one had challenged his being there, not even Junior Boniface who was playing pool with a pal. The big man cast Beck a glance and ducked his head as if absorbed in his next shot.
“I don’t see Tammy anywhere,” Phil said, looking around. Even the bartender seemed not to notice they were present.
“Boy, talk about being a persona non grata,” Charlie said, lifting her beer glass.
“We seemed to be talking all around what happened today,” Beck said with some irritation. “I want to know what hornet’s nest you girls stirred up and how it came to a man’s death.” He scowled at Phil and her sister.
“I honestly don’t know why,” Charlie said in such a way that made her sound as if she knew something but wasn’t telling.
“Spit it out, Charlie,” Beck ordered.
“She doesn’t know anything,” Phil said. “That’s just her way. I told you once. We came here and Tammy gave us a tip about Lenny and Joey Strada.”
“So we went to see Strada and he lied to us,” Charlie broke in. “He said Lenny wasn’t around, but he was.”
“We saw him when we went into the carwash,” Phil rushed on.
“We followed him out to his trailer and were going to snoop around but he had a vicious hound and you know how Phil’s afraid of dogs.” Charlie cast a derisive glance at Phil.
“So we ran and he chased us with a gun and poor T-bone and when he couldn’t find us, he kicked T-bone,” Phil finished the narration.
“Why couldn’t he find you?” Beck asked, his gaze fixed on Phil’s face.
She looked away. “We…we…”
“Oh, don’t be shy about it,” Charlie snapped. “He knows we’re witches.” She paused and looked at Beck. “You do know we’re witches?”
Beck nodded.
“Well then we changed into crows and flew up into the trees.”
Beck sat quiet for a long moment, gazing from one to the other then sighed deeply.
“Hello, Beck,” a quiet voice said and they looked up to see Tammy standing nearby. She glanced at Charlie.
“What’s going on? I heard the police sirens going off a little while ago. Someone said there’s trouble out to Lenny Barnes’ place.”
“He was murdered overnight,” Phil spoke up. “Do you know anyone who would want to kill him?”
Tammy stood with her mouth hanging open, her gaze darting from one side to the other.
“Do you know if he was into drugs? Could it have been someone he owed money to?” Phil persisted.
“I don’t know,” Tammy said, her voice so low they could barely hear her. “I have to go.” She turned to walk away then stopped and glared back at them.
“What happened to his dog?” she asked.
“What?” Phil asked, surprised by her question.
“That hound he had. Did they find him?”
“I have it,” she answered, sharply. “Why do you ask?”
“I just wondered, that’s all,” Tammy said, averting her gaze then she raised her head and met their gazes defiantly. “Lenny treated that poor animal so badly. That creep got what he deserved.” She walked away then without looking back. They watched her leave the bar and walk toward her car. However, she paused then slammed her car door closed without getting in and trudged back toward the bar.
“She’s coming back,” Phil informed Beck and Charlie. “I’m glad we have a chance to talk to her some more, even if she doesn’t want to. She must know something that can help us.”
“We can’t force her to talk,” Charlie said.
“She’s innocent, Phil,” Beck put in. “I’d bet my life on it. She’s had a rough time of it and when Joey Strada threw her aside, she just fell apart.”
“How long ago did that happened?” Phil asked, something clicking around in her brain. Something had been revealed that she should have caught. She couldn’t remember what.
Beck shrugged. “A couple of years.”
“You said Diane had a thing with Joey, right?” Phil asked in a low voice. She hated to question him further about his wife’s infidelities, especially in front of Charlie, but she felt she had to know. A knot was burning inside her and she feared it might consume her if she didn’t push forward with what she’d started.
“Diane had a thing with just about every eligible man in town, even some that weren’t. I understand she wasn’t choosy.” He took a long pull of beer, set the glass down and turned to her, his expression calm.
He’d stated a fact and he seemed unbothered by it. Phil didn’t know whether to be happy or sad for him that he’d gotten over his ex. She knew such rock solid acceptance had come from a long time of pain.
“Let’s get out of here,” Charlie said. “I thought coming back here might bring us some insight, but it isn’t happening for me. Let’s pick up a pizza and go out to your house.”
“They have great burgers here,” Beck said absently as he stared at the door where a man had entered.
Joey Strada!
“Burgers sound great,” Phil and Charlie said in unison.
Beck placed the orders and they settled back to wait. Shortly after Strada entered the bar, Tammy reappeared. Her expression was dark as she made her way to her usual table in the corner and intently watched the carwash owner. Joey had joined Junior Boniface at the pool table. Junior said something, nodding his head at Tammy and laughed loudly. Joey glanced at Tammy and shrugged then turned away in a deliberate gesture that dismissed her entirely. Phil studied the woman’s face, which was distorted with rage and a sudden image of an entirely different sort filled her head.
“Beck,” she said in a low voice, laying her hand on his arm.
He glanced at her and smiled, his hand going to take hers, his fingers entwining. She saw so much love in that look and gesture. She squeezed his fingers.
“I have to leave for a minute and while I’m gone, if things get a bit weird, please don’t be upset, okay?”
“Where are you going?” he asked with sudden alarm.
“You’ll know soon enough.” Phil glanced at her sister. “Explain it to him.”
“E
xplain what? I don’t even know what’s going on,” Charlie said, but Phil had already slipped from her chair and was hurrying across the bar toward the lady’s lounge.
Phil entered the bathroom, made a pirouette then exited and headed to the bar. She patted down her dark auburn hair and raised her chin. She resembled Diane or at least the pictures she’d seen of the woman, but she still felt very much like Phil. She hoped she could pull this off.
Everything went quiet when she entered the main bar. Even the click of pool balls fell away as the room went silent. She gazed around and smiled then hitched her hip to one side.
“Hello, boys,” she said in a throaty voice. She had no idea what Diane Crawford had sounded like, but she knew she looked the part and that was seventy-five percent of the charade. Deliberately, she moved toward the men at the pool tables.
“Have you missed me?” she asked coquettishly, stopping before each man to play with a shirt button or straighten a collar. When she got to Joey, who was speechless, she smiled and leaned against him.
“Did you miss me, baby?” she asked softly and gave him a long, lingering kiss.
At first, he stood stiff and unresponsive then his arms closed around her and he dragged her closer while his kiss grew more possessive. It felt as if his embrace might last forever, if a shrill scream hadn’t penetrated the heavy, smoke-tainted air.
Joey jerked his head up. Phil glanced around and saw Tammy moving toward them, a sharp knife held high over her head, ready to plunge downward.
“You’re dead,” she yelled in seeming disbelief. “I killed you once. I’ll do it again.”
Tammy lunged at Phil, obviously believing she was Diane, but Beck was right behind her. Before Tammy could drive the blade down at Phil, Beck’s powerful hand closed around the crazed woman’s wrist. The blade deflected, missing Phil by mere inches.
Tammy’s cry was a desperate howl of rage. She wrestled with Beck, struggling to break free of his grip and all the time her eyes, bright with madness, stared at Phil with evident murderous intent. Beck subdued her on the floor, her hands pinning behind her back, but her legs thrashed as she tried to break free. Charlie moved forward and quickly clipped a pair of cuffs on her wrists, only then did Tammy stop struggling. Charlie glanced at Phil and nodded toward the lounge door. Quickly, not wanting to miss anything, Phil entered the bathroom, made another pirouette and headed back out as herself.
“Did you see a woman back here?” Junior Boniface asked as she re-entered the main bar.
“A redhead?” Phil asked. “She went out the back door.”
Junior hurried toward the back. Phil rejoined the group of people gathered near the pool tables. Charlie was reading Tammy her Miranda rights.
“Anything you say can and will used against you in a court of law,” she finished.
“I don’t care if everyone knows,” Tammy said defiantly. “I killed the bitch. She deserved it. I’ll kill her again if I get the chance.” She glanced at Beck. “The only thing that I’m sorry for is that you were blamed.”
“Did you have anything to do with Lenny Barnes’s death?” Beck asked.
Tammy lowered her gaze to the floor then faced them all again with the same defiance she’d shown before.
“Yes, I killed him and I’m not sorry for that either. He was at Diane’s house that day spying on her for Joey. He saw me leave. He was blackmailing me to keep quiet, and when I ran out of money, he demanded sexual favors, disgusting things. I couldn’t stand it anymore.” She lowered her head and began to cry then glared at Joey Strada.
“It’s all your fault,” she cried. “You knew how much I loved you. She didn’t love you. She didn’t love anyone but herself, but I loved you. I would have done anything for you. When I heard you tell Lenny she was getting to be a pain in the ass and wouldn’t leave you alone, I knew what I had to do. I killed her for you, but you wouldn’t even look at me anymore. Do you know how that made me feel?” Her expression hardened.
“I should have killed you. I should have killed you!” The words ended on a high, shrill sound of anguish. At that moment, the door to the bar opened and a couple of police officers entered. One of them was Captain Nick Hilliard.
“What have you got, Spencer?” he snapped, noting the restrained woman.
“She’s confessed to the murder of Diane Crawford and Lenny Barnes,” Phil said. “She made the confession after I read her the Miranda rights. Several witnesses overheard her.”
“Good job, Spencer,” Hilliard said and nodded to his man to take Tammy away. The woman went silently, casting a final glower around the bar as if searching for someone.
“Captain,” Charlie said. “I’m bringing Joey Strada in, as well. There’s evidence he was aware of who had killed Diane Crawford from the very beginning.”
Hilliard observed the carwash owner. “Bring him in. We’ve been wanting to talk to him about some of his other activities. And Spencer…” He held out an extra pair of handcuffs. “Cuff him.” He glanced at Beck.
“We want to see you and Miss Spencer down at the station for questioning. You’re witnesses to what went down.”
“We’ll follow you,” Beck said.
* * * *
Much later they all gathered in Phil’s kitchen to do a replay of all that had happened. Nothing had been said at the station about the sudden reappearance of a woman who was supposed to be dead, but now Phil glanced at Beck.
“I’m sorry I had to impersonate Diane,” she said softly. “I hope it wasn’t too much of a shock.”
“Not to me,” he said, taking hold of her hands. “I knew the minute you appeared as Diane that it was you, and I knew who you did it for.”
“Tammy was absolutely transfixed when she saw you,” Charlie revealed. “She leaped up and headed to the bar where she grabbed the knife they use to cut up lemons and such and headed straight for you. Luckily Beck’s fast on his feet.”
“Among other things,” Phil grinned at him.
Suddenly, she wanted to be alone with him. She wanted to strip away his clothes and run her hands over his body. Her muscles quivered with a sudden and urgent need that only he could assuage. Images of his large body and all of its large parts pumping into her sent a shot of heat through her.
Beck seemed to read her thoughts because his grip on her hand tightened slightly, enough to send her a message that he was thinking and feeling the same. Phil couldn’t wait to get him alone in their bedroom. She yawned elaborately.
“Let’s talk about this tomorrow. I’m exhausted.” She faked another yawn.
“What I want to know is how you figured out it was Tammy?” Charlie said. “What gave you the clue?”
“She asked about the dog,” Phil said somewhat impatiently. Her need for Beck was growing.
“That’s right, she wouldn’t have known the dog was missing unless she’d gone out to Barnes’ trailer after we’d left. Good catch, Phil.”
She beamed at her sister and Phil realized Charlie had just given her a rare compliment. Her mouth fell open in disbelief and a warm feeling of pride.
“You did a great job tonight, Beck,” Charlie said, grinning at Beck.
“I know,” he said, getting to his feet. “But let’s talk about it tomorrow.” He pulled Phil up into his arms.
“Okay, but you know, I was just thinking that I’ve never had a big brother before,” Charlie said, blissfully unaware they were waiting for her to leave. “I think I’m going to like this.”
“Goodnight, Charlie,” Beck said, swinging Phil up into his arms.
“I haven’t finished my coffee,” Charlie said, blowing on the steaming cup of liquid. Then she looked up and, seeing Beck already walking toward the stairs, shrugged and got to her feet.
“Don’t worry about me, guys. I’ll let myself out,” she called after them.
About the Author
Temple Hogan is the author of over forty books, some hard cover, under the name of Peggy Hanchar and Peggy Roberts. She lives on an
inland lake in Michigan with her husband, three cats and one naughty Shitz Tzu named Gizz. Her hobbies are cooking, gardening, acrylic painting and reading detective stories. She’s currently at work on her next book.
Temple loves to talk to her readers and can be found at TempleHogan.blogspot.com.
Also Available from
Resplendence Publishing
Dark Surrender by Temple Hogan
Taste of Darkness Series, Book Three
Vampire Hunter, Marika Stanislaus—or little sister as her older, protective brothers like to call her—is on her own for the first time. With both men tied up in Europe, she’s the only one left to investigate an active vampire at work in the Florida Keys. She’s tired of her brothers treating her like a baby. After all, she’s one hundred and ten years old, a woman of the world.
Nicholas Kyrillos just wants a quiet, peaceful retreat where he can rest and contemplate something other than dodging hunters who want to nuke him. He has few rules, chief among them, no women. With a daily supply of blood from a medical house, he plans to walk the shoreline and read all the literary classics he’s missed the past century or so. He never reckoned on a rogue vampire, who’s picking off unsuspecting tourists as his personal smorgasbord, or on a gung-ho, fresh-faced vampire hunter who’s unrelenting in everything she pursues, especially when she’s spent the night in his bed. Where’s the peace now?
After Dark by Kris Norris
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Temperance Dunnigan can’t believe she’s agreed to travel to New Orleans to be part of Avery Smith’s special ghost hunting squad—and in the midst of Mardi Gras no less. There isn’t a sane reason to be there…other than Avery. Though she considers him a spoiled, rich kid, his money is her ticket to finally getting some concrete evidence to lay the eternal question of spirits to rest.
Avery didn’t think twice about inviting one of the foremost paranormal investigators to his retreat. After all, Temperance is smart, daring and totally not his type. He’s more than aware of her feelings toward him and embraces the chance to work with someone he has absolutely no interest in…that is until she becomes entrenched in a deadly summoning. Saving her life wasn’t part of the plan, and now he can’t stop his heart from racing every time she looks at him. They’ve got one week to figure it out before all hell breaks loose, and Avery loses more than just his reputation.