Collette gasps. “I knew you weren’t right in the head, Lottie Lemon. You’re going to get yourself killed out here if you keep yapping. I bet he’ll make sure you disappear and turn you into an episode of his sick show!”
Ridge tips his head my way. “Ask anything at all.”
“Your shows are so great. You investigate a lot of disappearances. By chance, did you know any of those people who disappeared?”
Any trace of a smile evaporates from his face as his expression contorts to slight confusion.
“I…”—he glances to the evergreens a moment—“why would I know them?” He casts a suspicious glance my way.
My shoulders give a little bounce. “I seem to run into a few investigations myself, and oddly, I always somehow happen to meet the victim just before they perish.”
His eyes narrow in on mine. A crooked grin struggles to slide up his cheek.
“Are you confessing something to me, Lottie?”
I shake my head. “No. Do you have something to confess?”
His lips knot up as he tries to figure out what to make of the conversation.
“What exactly is this about?” His voice is darker, thicker, and decidedly angrier.
“Oh, nothing.” I blink quickly as if I were just rousing from a stupor. “I just ran into Kent and asked if you had any eight-by-ten glossies you could autograph for the guests of the B&B and he mentioned they were back at your office, something about it being at his house.”
“Oh, that.” He belts out a light laugh. “I keep my office at his place. It was temporary in the beginning, but I’ve found it easier than renting a space.”
A chill runs down my spine, tingling all the way to my toes. And there you have it. That box of twisted treasures doesn’t belong to Kent. It belongs to this monster before me.
Collette gives a ghostly moan. “It’s true, Lottie! That’s his office. That must mean those are his macabre trophies.”
My phone buzzes in my purse, and I choose to ignore it.
“Lottie?” a male voice calls out, but I can’t tell if it’s Everett or Noah—or whether they’re out in front of the B&B or inside it.
Collette leans in. “Don’t worry, Lottie. I’ll go get them.” She zips off as I release the strap of my backpack and unzip it with my right hand until my finger relaxes over Ethel.
There have been a few times where my not so friendly Glock has comforted me, and this is definitely one of them.
Now that either Everett or Noah is on their way, I feel emboldened, and there’s a pressing urgency in me not to let Ridge Porter out of my sight.
Ridge takes a step in and latches onto my gaze.
“I’ll make sure to have those pictures sent over first thing,” he says as his expression grows somber once again. “Lottie? Are you okay? You look a bit dazed and thrown off your game. Maybe it’s the heat?”
“So why did you do it?” I shake my head over at this comely man, who for all practical purposes seems well-educated and well-poised. “Why did you kill Dane Gannon?”
His eyes sharpen over mine, any trace of a friendly demeanor instantly evaporating.
“Why would you ask me something like that? Lottie, I think you’re confused.”
“No.” I shake my head. “I think I’m just fine. The security cameras weren’t working the night of Dane Gannon’s murder. Last night when we visited you at the studio, Kent said that you were a whiz at all things electrical. He said you could defuse a bomb if you had to.”
He chuckles at the thought. “Kent? Geez. You had me going, Lottie. Of course, Kent is going to make it sound as if I could do amazing things. I’m his boss. Sure, he puts up the capital, but I produce the goods. And just because I’m good at one thing, doesn’t mean I pulled the trigger. That’s a rather dark analogy, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know what to think. Dane said that he enlisted Kent to help him out of a pickle and you gave us a plausible scenario. But what if Dane knew the truth about your show? Dane was about to go to the police, wasn’t he, Ridge? And he was going to tell them that indeed you knew all seven victims that you’ve featured on this show—and that you’re the reason they’re missing.”
Everything about Ridge grows dark in an instant. He glances behind me to the right and left, and I can tell he’s about to bolt.
“I have to go.” He begins to stride right past me, and I quickly pull Ethel out of my purse and point the barrel his way.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I say as my purse dangles unnaturally over my elbow and my belongings spill out one by one. Embarrassing really. I’m sure Ivy Fairbanks would laugh if she could see me now. Noah’s partner has never really cared for me or my amateur sleuthing antics.
“Lottie?” Ridge looks as if I’ve struck him. His hands rise slowly as he keeps his eyes on my gun. “You’re not really going to shoot me.” In one swift move he grabs ahold of my wrist as we struggle for the gun. “I’m going to shoot you,” he grunts. “And I promise it’s going to look like an accident.”
Collette rematerializes, swimming around me frantically with her display of crimson stars.
“I can’t find anyone, Lottie. Not even Carlotta. Now you’ve done it! Oh my God, he’s going to kill you! And then you’ll be dead, just like me.”
“Collette,” I cry out as I try to elbow Ridge in the stomach. If his man parts were a foot closer, I’d have a knee to shove into them.
Ridge pauses a moment. “Who the hell is Collette?”
Collette Jenner gets right in his face and screams like a banshee, as loud as a jet engine, and Ridge howls back as if it physically caused him pain.
“He’s touching me,” I pant. “That means he can hear you,” I shout her way.
Ridge grabs ahold of the gun, and I can feel it slipping from my grasp. But just before he yanks it from me, I pull the trigger and a deafening clap of thunder emits from it as every bird in the evergreens up above flees for their lives.
“You killed all of those people!” I riot in his face as I struggle to get the gun back. “You’re the reason they’re dead. I saw that horrific treasure box in your office. You’re sick! That blue handkerchief that Dane had on him the night of his murder? You kept it. That was your disgusting trophy for killing Dane Gannon.”
His body stiffens. “You saw that? How the hell did you—”
He snatches Ethel away before he can finish his sentence and turns the barrel at me just as I hook my foot behind his and send him stumbling backwards.
A laugh puffs from his cheeks as he pants my way.
“Yes, I killed Dane,” he says, pointing the working end of Ethel right at me once again. “You’re right. I did it. Dane was a snoop, just like you. He had to go. And now you do, too. I’m not all that sorry. The only thing I’m sorry about is the fact I couldn’t make you disappear. You would have made for a great season opener.”
An explosion goes off just as a body pushes me out of the way and lands me with a certain grace and deftness over the soft summer grass.
I look up to see Everett Baxter with his swollen lips curving up as if he were happy to see me, and to my right, Noah has a knee over Ridge Porter’s back. Ridge’s left arm is profusely bleeding. It looks as if Noah got that shot right where it needed to be.
“Lemon”—Everett helps me up and pulls me in so tight I can feel his heart ricocheting off my chest in rhythmic detonations—“are you oaky? Is the baby okay?”
My mouth opens and closes. “I’m okay.”
In an instant, the entire sheriff’s department swarms the area and Ridge is being taken by deputy escort into a waiting ambulance.
“He confessed to killing Dane,” I tell Noah as he heads our way. “And he was responsible for every unsolved mystery on his show. I have proof.”
Detective Ivy Fairbanks steps up next to Noah, and I tell them everything that’s inside of that sickening treasure chest at the base of Ridge Porter’s desk. Of course, I don’t actually tell Ivy that I broke into h
is office. I’m sure she wouldn’t be as quick to turn a blind eye as Noah is.
Ivy takes a breath. Her crimson locks are spun into a tight knot much like Collette’s.
She nods my way. “I’ll obtain a search warrant right away for Kent Noble’s home. I don’t say this often, but impressive work, Lottie.” Her expression sours as she looks from me to Everett then Noah. “Congratulations to the three of you on the baby. That’s…a bit mindboggling for me to comprehend, but I suppose it was inevitable.” She takes off and Collette fills her void.
“Quick,” I say. “Give me your hands. Collette is here.”
Collette Jenner’s ghostly body begins to fade, and I suppose that as well was inevitable.
“It looks as if I’m headed back to paradise. Too bad I couldn’t get a bite out of you, Essex, but I did have access to an entire bakery, so for that, Lottie, I thank you.” She begins to rise into the sky. “Hey?” she shouts down at us. “Do you think there’s any chance of me coming back? I knew a lot of wicked men, Lottie. This may not be the last you see of me!” She turns into a crimson blip in the sky and my heart breaks to see her go.
“I guess that’s the end of Collette Jenner for now.” I shrug over at Noah and Everett. “Before we move one inch, I have a confession I need to make.” My chest bucks with emotion and I invert my lips in an effort to stave off tears. “Noah, Everett, I beg your forgiveness, because I should have told you earlier—heck, I did tell you earlier, but you wouldn’t believe me, and then it snowballed like nobody’s business, and then the timing never felt right. And then, before I knew it, here we are, standing right here, holding hands under a beautiful summer sky.” I take a deep breath. “And since there will never be a good time to tell you, I’m going to do it now.” I look into Noah’s forest green eyes, then into Everett heavy blue ones. “I’m not having a baby. I was never pregnant. It was a silly rumor Carlotta started that I couldn’t get away from. That night of Dane’s murder—Sammy slipped some psyllium into the peach cobbler she handed me. It was initially for Dane. I know I mentioned it, but it bears repeating. That’s the only reason I was sick. I’m so sorry.” Tears come, and this time there’s no fighting them. “I saw the excitement in both of your eyes, and it just breaks my heart to tell you the truth.”
Noah pulls me into a strong embrace, his chest bucking against mine a moment, and I can feel his profound sense of grief.
Someone calls for him from the crowd of deputies, and his eyes meet up with mine.
“It’s okay, Lottie.” He sheds a mournful smile. “As long as you’re happy and healthy, that’s enough for me. I love you.” He dots a kiss onto the tip of my nose before taking off.
Everett pulls me in and I can feel him breathing over my hair. His breath both warms me and enlivens me at the very same time.
“Lemon”—he pulls back enough to examine my features—“I should have believed you the first time. I guess I chose what to believe. I guess I wanted this more than I realized.”
A sorrowful smile comes to me as the events of this day, of last night at Kent Noble’s house come crashing to the forefront of my mind and my stomach begins to churn, bubbling and hot. I break free from his embrace, stagger over, and vomit into my mother’s border garden.
I may have a thirst for justice, but that doesn’t mean it won’t make me sick.
Chapter 19
The summer sky gives way to shades of tangerine and auburn as fall licks on its heels. It’s the end of August, the end of a long, hot summer, and the end of this the last Saturday of the month as we celebrate Noah’s birthday down at Honey Lake.
It seems as if all of Honey Hollow has congregated around this mass of water as the lake glimmers navy and silver.
Everett volunteered to grill for Noah, and Noah has insisted on helping, so the two of them have been hovering over the community grills here at the lake as they cook mounds of steak, hot dogs, and hamburgers for any and everyone who would have them.
The Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery has provided all of the sweet treats for today’s festivities. And seeing that I’ve invited the entire sheriff’s department, I’m glad that I spent the entire last week baking up a storm to make sure we were well-stocked on all of Noah’s favorite desserts. There are cookies, brownies, eclairs, cream puffs, muffins, macarons, dozens and dozens of Noah’s favorite chocolate chips cookies, and a cake, too—but it’s not just any cake. I took a page out of my recipe book from last year and built a towering cake comprised solely of donuts—made exclusively with luscious glazed confections in every shape, size, and color. Suffice it to say, the sheriff’s department got a good chuckle out of that one.
Noah heads my way, along with Mom and Wiley, Noah’s look-alike father, and I can’t help but frown a little at the man holding my mother as if she were about to float away.
“Oh, Lottie!” Mom trills. “Everything is perfect. And it’s all your fault I’ve blown my diet.”
Wiley nods in agreement. “I’ve eaten an entire pan of peanut butter chocolate brownies all by my lonesome.” He slaps his stomach just as Noah’s brother, Alex, crops up.
“It’s true.” Alex nudges his father with his elbow. “I watched him do it.” He shakes his head over at his brother. “Another year older, and none the wiser. I heard Lottie here busted not one case but two.”
Noah gives a wistful tick of the head. “Actually, it was nine. And because of it, Peter Green is a free man.”
It’s true. It turns out, the cup had someone else’s DNA on it—the real killer’s. And that security camera glitch was identified as being a lot longer than a few seconds. The receipts at the register were reexamined, and low and behold there was a single order placed just seconds before that night manager died—and it was for an extra-large soda.
Mom shudders. “And to think they found all of those bodies buried right there on Ridge Porter’s property.”
Noah sighs. “And we wouldn’t have found a single one if it wasn’t for Lottie.”
“I didn’t know where the bodies were buried. I just so happened to stumble upon that treasure chest of grisly souvenirs. Ridge disclosed where the bodies were buried.” I pin my gaze on Noah. “A certain homicide detective winnowed it out of him during intense interrogations.”
A light round of applause breaks out just before Mom and Wiley head over to the dessert table with Alex leading the charge.
Everett comes over and wraps his arms around me for a moment as I bury my face in his strong chest that holds the scent of the man I love.
“Everything all right?” He nods to Noah. “I heard a heroes applause.”
Before Noah can respond, both Suze, Noah’s mother, and Eliza, Everett’s mother, land before us.
Suze lifts her chin and her short blonde hair bounces over her eyes.
“Of course, my son is a hero.” She reaches over and gives him a quick pinch to his cheek. “And he’s untethered from you.” She narrows her eyes my way. Suze is a walking-talking sourpuss, if ever there was one, and I’ve made it a sport of holding my tongue around her. “I hear your womb is barren. Although, I’m certain it won’t be for long. Eliza”—she flits her gaze to her old friend—“it looks as if the reproductive ball is in your son’s court.”
Eliza belts out a laugh. Her dark hair is slicked back into a French twist and her lips are glossed a cheery shade of crimson.
“I would accept whatever the heavens give me. Lottie, you are my official daughter-in-law. I don’t have any problem welcoming a baby Baxter into this world.”
Everett glances my way. I could feel him grow rigid when she mentioned that daughter-in-law thing.
“Actually”—Everett starts—“about the marriage—”
I give his chest a quick scratch, cutting him off.
“We’re working on it.” I shrug up at him. “It’s been a bit of a challenge, but I think everything will turn out just fine.”
Everett closes his eyes a moment, a smile curving on his lips.
“Th
ank you, Lemon.” He dots a kiss to my cheek before nodding my way. “It will work out just fine.”
Evie runs by with Toby as she and her friends make a mad dash for the dessert tent. The sun has just set and the sky is quickly turning a brilliant shade of navy.
Suze sighs. “Come, Eliza, before the teenagers pick over the chocolate chip cookies.”
They take off and I can’t help but giggle. “I see where you get it, Noah.”
We’re about to join them just as a couple of adorable mamas-to-be waddle their way up along with my sister, Meg.
“Did we miss it?” Lainey says, pressing her hands into her back as her stomach distends like a bullet in front of her.
Keelie moans. “Don’t tell me I hauled myself all the way to Honey Lake, only to find there are no more of your delicious donuts. You don’t know what a craving I’ve had for one of those things, Lottie. I’ve been battling indigestion all day, and I just know your donuts are the cure for it. And if they’re not available, I may never forgive you for this.”
A laugh trembles out of me. “There are plenty up there.”
Meg grunts as she squints over at the dessert tent, “That might as well be a mile for these two. I’ll hop over and make up a plate.”
“A plate?” Lainey harps. “Make it a platter, lady!”
Keelie wrinkles her nose over at Noah and Everett. “So you guys really got the memo about Lottie’s lazy ovaries?”
I make a face. “My ovaries are not lazy. And thankfully, they’re not crazy either.”
“That’s right.” Lainey pats her stomach. “You really dodged a baby bullet. This pregnancy stuff is no joke.”
Everett sighs as he starts to take off. “Let me get you ladies a seat.”
“Ooh”—Lainey calls after him—“make it a tall seat! If I get anywhere near the ground, it might take the entire fire department to get me back up!”
“Speaking of the fire department,” I say. “Where are Forest and Bear?”
“Work.” Lainey shrugs.
Peach Cobbler Confessions Page 15