by C Farren
Ginger laughed. “Is this some kind of joke? Maureen is dead.”
To prove she was very much alive Maureen slapped Ginger across the face. Wren imagined her friend enjoyed that.
“You tried to kill me,” Maureen accused her.
“Why would I do that?” Ginger asked. “You’re my friend.”
Wren looked towards Maureen and nodded. It was time to reveal the truth, no matter how unpleasant it might be.
“Maureen’s father killed your mother,” said Wren.
Ginger shook her head. “No. My mother is still alive. She’s in Florida. You heard me talking to her at the barbeque!”
“Your mother is dead,” stated Wren. “She was the body that was found in the walls of Maureen’s apartment. She was identified by the metal splint in her leg.”
“Cassandra Turnpike,” said Maureen. “That was your mother, though she went under the name Sandra Locket, her maiden name. I remember Sandra, though not well. She was reported missing a long time ago.”
“She was reported missing on the same day Maureen was told her mother had died,” added Wren. “Which is why we initially thought the skeleton found in Maureen’s apartment was her mother.”
“I can phone you my mother right now,” said Ginger. “You can talk to her!”
“That woman you keep phoning is your aunt Lena,” said Maureen. “She’s the one that lives in Florida.”
Ginger looked uncomfortable now. “I do have an aunt called Lena but...”
Wren sighed and said, “Stop lying. We have proof you did all those things and we know why.”
“Go on. Why?”
“Maureen always has had a penchant for telling the truth, being honest. It’s not because she’s vindictive or loves starting arguments. It’s who she is. When she was a teenager and saw her father kissing another woman she told her mother. At the time her mother was hosting a dinner party to celebrate the completion of their new apartment building, and everyone heard Maureen’s proclamation, including your parents, Ginger. Your mother was the one having an affair with Ginger’s father.
“An almighty argument ensued. Yolanda Stripe, Maureen’s mom, already had a history of mental instability. She left that night and never returned. Maureen’s father told her she was dead, having fled into the snowy wastes to die. She believed him. And why shouldn’t she? He was her father.
“Your parents, Ginger, were another story. They’d just moved into the apartment building, most likely a gift for keeping a roof over the head of his mistress and their child. Your father left, leaving you and your mother alone. That night your mother visited Johnson and, after an argument, murdered her. You saw it all. I think you both saw it all.”
Ginger was crying now.
“I saw it,” Ginger admitted. “Mom dragged me along. I wish she’d just left me at home. But I didn’t know what I saw. I was only three years old. I blocked it from my memory.”
“I sort of blocked it,” Maureen admitted. “But I always thought it was my father murdering my mother. In my head that’s what I was sure had happened, even if I couldn’t actually fully remember it happening. That’s why I always thought his story of her running off to die in the wilderness was false. My subconscious mind knew the truth and was trying to warn me.”
Ginger and Maureen looked at each other briefly before looking away.
“Something triggered the memory,” said Wren. “Otherwise you would’ve tried to kill Maureen a long time ago.”
“It was September last year, and I was doing my rounds at the hospital when I overheard the two of you talking,” said Ginger. “Maureen was talking about this black book she had, and I suddenly had a memory of that night.”
“That was the night my mother gave me my first black book as a gift,” said Maureen. “It was at the dinner party, just before she left for good.”
Ginger nodded. “And everything about that night came flooding back. I remembered everything, from Maureen’s cruel confession to her father strangling my mother and watching him shove her body into a half open wall.” She rubbed at her eyes before turning her venomous glare back onto Maureen. “It was your fault he killed her. You should’ve stayed quiet. If you’d kept your mouth shut we both could have grown up with both sets of parents!”
“I know that,” Maureen admitted. “I know that.”
“You don’t know everything,” said Ginger. “Otherwise you would never even contemplate phoning the police on me.”
“I know everything. I know that you’re my sister. I’ve always known.”
Even Wren was shocked at this revelation. Maureen had never mentioned it, not even when they were discussing laying this very trap. The woman knew how to keep her secrets.
“You’ve always known?” Ginger asked, almost slurring her words. “Why did you never say anything?”
“My dad told me never to mention it,” said Maureen. “But I should have.”
This meant that Maureen’s dad and Ginger’s mother must have been having an affair for near a decade. Was it more than just a fling then, perhaps something more? What if they were in love with each other? Maybe it didn’t matter. He still killed her in the end.
“Is that why you’ve always been nice to me?” Ginger asked. “Is that why you’ve charged me hardly any rent?”
“Yes,” said Maureen.
“It still doesn’t change the fact that it’s your fault my mom is dead and that you deserve to die for it!”
Ginger charged at Maureen. Before she’d gotten half a yard the woman was pounced on by twelve angry, hissing cats, bringing her down to the ground. Darcy sat on her neck, his claws digging into the soft flesh of her neck. Maybe the cat couldn’t kill her, but he could make her hurt a lot.
“Get them off me!” Ginger screamed.
“Not until you admit to what you did,” said Wren.
“Fine!” shouted Ginger. “I tried to kill Maureen!”
“And you kept Keegan hostage,” added Wren.
“I kept Keegan hostage!”
“And you shot Rosa!”
Ginger shook her head. “I didn’t shoot Rosa!”
“Stop lying.”
“I swear I didn’t shoot her! I knew she was watching me, and I followed her to her apartment but I didn’t shoot her! I heard her arguing with someone and there was a gunshot and I left. I didn’t want them to hurt me.”
Wren nodded, and Maureen commanded her cats to leave Ginger alone. They left their victim reluctantly. Darcy gave Ginger a hiss, as if warning her they weren’t finished with their brand of feline justice just yet.
“Are you sure you didn’t shoot Rosa?” Wren asked.
Ginger spat out a mouthful of cat fur. “I couldn’t kill anyone. I mean, I tried to kill Maureen, obviously, but I suppose my heart really wasn’t in it.” She noted their eye rolling and added, “I knew she’d survive being pushed down the well. It wasn’t really that deep. When I poisoned her at the new year’s party I didn’t put enough poison in her drink. If I really wanted to poison her properly she’d be dead, right?”
“She sort of swerved away at the last minute when she tried to run me over,” said Maureen. “And she really didn’t put much effort into it when she strangled me.”
Wren couldn’t believe this. “Do you really expect me to believe this? You tried to kill Maureen six times! Did you forget she blackmailed a fifteen-year-old child into trying to burn you alive? You almost died for real this time! Your cats almost died! Don’t listen to a single word she says. That fire was malicious and evil.” When Ginger tried to say something when Wren interrupted her. “Maybe you had second thoughts every other time but not this time, which is why you forced someone else into doing it for you. You wanted to be certain that Maureen would actually die.”
“That’s not true. I...”
“You’re lying,” said Maureen. “You really, truly wanted me dead this time.”
“But you’re not dead!” Ginger insisted. “That has to count for something, right?”
&
nbsp; “And I don’t believe you about Rosa either. You shot her.”
“You have to believe me,” Ginger pleaded. “I didn’t shoot Rosa – not on purpose, anyway. I snuck in to see what evidence she had and I saw that wall she had with all the photos. I was taking away the photos that had me on them, and I’d just burned the negatives, when Rosa confronted me with a gun. I attacked her and the gun went off by accident. I didn’t mean to shoot her.”
“And what about Pilar?” Wren asked.
Ginger shrugged. “I knew Pilar would have the cleaning products suitable for cleaning up so much blood. I stole the key to her van when I visited her for brunch. We always have brunch once a week. But I had an accident when using the cleaning fluids, and I spilled a bit on my neck. The rash has gone all up my face now. I look like a monster.”
Maureen ripped away Ginger’s veil. There was a nasty red rash all up the side of her neck and chin. It looked ghastly.
That was why Ginger was always scratching her arm!
“You assaulted her and blackmailed her son into killing Maureen,” said Wren. “She was supposed to be your friend.”
Ginger shrugged, rubbing at the rash on her neck. “It was necessary.”
The accused was looking around, as if trying to find a way to escape. She had no chance. The cats wouldn’t let her set a foot out of the door before they clawed her to shreds.
“And let’s not forget what you did to Keegan,” said Wren.
The hospital had been her last stop before laying the trap for Ginger. She’d gone to the coma ward and had her suspicions confirmed straight away.
“When you knew Keegan was investigating you lured him in and sedated him. Then you wheeled him into the hospital and put him in the coma ward. I’m not sure how you kept him comatose like that, or how you stopped other hospital workers from interfering, but it was a great plan. Who would think the comatose man in bandages in the coma ward was actually the missing Deputy Keegan Fisher?”
Wren hated herself for not knowing. She’d actually watched Ginger work on Keegan at the hospital right in front of her and she hadn’t even known it was him.
Ginger grinned and shrugged. “I’m the head nurse of that ward. What I say goes. Plus, it wasn’t hard to keep the deputy out of it for a while. I do have a degree in chemistry after all. My little cocktail of drugs worked perfectly.”
She didn’t like to think about Keegan lying in that unconscious state for all that time. He must have been so lonely.
“You’re a liar and a psycho and I wish you weren’t my sister,” spat Maureen.
“I wish you were never born, you freak!” Ginger cried.
Ginger was about to attack Maureen again when the cats hissed menacingly. She stepped back, frightened, straight into the arms of Sheriff Fisher. Deputy Stark was beside him. They’d been in the kitchen listening in all this time.
On the bookcase was Aarna’s cellphone. She’d gladly set up a live feed to stream on her YouTube channel. Every one of her 106,000 followers, give or take, was watching this confrontation right now.
“You are under arrest for the attempted murder of Rosa di Marco, the attempted murder of Maureen Stripe, and the unlawful imprisonment and assault of Keegan Fisher,” said the sheriff as Deputy Stark snapped some handcuffs on Ginger. She didn’t struggle, just continued to stare with hatred at Maureen, as if she were the only person in the room. “You have the rights to...”
“Just let me kill Maureen!” Ginger begged, struggling violently in the sheriff’s grip. “Please! She ruined my life!”
“Do you want those cats to attack you again?” Wren warned her.
Maureen was looking away, as if even Ginger’s presence was painful to her.
“She’s a menace!” Ginger cried as the sheriff dragged her away. “Just let me kill her! It’s her fault my mother is dead! It’s her fault for everything!”
The door slammed shut, leaving the room in silence. The cats were sitting around Maureen, staring up at her, clearly concerned. Maureen wouldn’t even move. Her face showed no emotion. She looked like she’d frozen in time.
Wren turned off Aarna’s cellphone. She put a hand on Maureen’s shoulder.
“She’s gone,” said Wren. “She won’t be coming back.”
Maureen continued to stand there silently.
Ginger has broken her.
“Can I ask you something?” said Maureen.
Wren nodded.
“Will you be my sister?” Maureen asked.
Wren couldn’t help it. She cried and pulled her sister in for a hug. Maureen didn’t cry, but she clutched Wren like her life depended on it, like she’d never been hugged or given any comfort before.
“I think you need a shower,” said Maureen, pulling away. “You smell horrible.”
Chapter 29
“What happened?” Keegan asked.
The doctors had carefully brought Keegan round after disconnecting him from all the tubes feeding into his body. Ginger had certainly been thorough. The fact that she hadn’t killed Keegan sort of proved that the woman didn’t really have it in her commit murder. Her attempted slayings of Maureen were quite slapdash after all, just as she said. Maybe there was another reason why she didn’t kill Keegan? Was it because he was a cop?
Or was it because he had angel blood in him?
“You’ve been asleep for a while,” said the sheriff. He smiled, putting his hand on his son’s arm “But you’re fine. You’re going to be okay.”
He tried to sit up in bed but squirmed in pain. “I feel like I haven’t walked in forever.”
His father explained to him what had happened. At first he didn’t believe him because it sounded so preposterous but he soon came around. The proof was in his muscles, which hadn’t been used in nearly a week.
“I’ve been here all this time?” Keegan asked. “That mad woman wrapped me up like an Egyptian Mummy and said I was a John Doe in a coma? Nobody questioned this?”
“Ginger is the head nurse for the comatose ward,” said Wren. “Why would they need to question her?”
Keegan sighed. “I could murder a burger.”
The doctors checked him out again, giving him tests to determine how he was doing. Wren and the sheriff stepped away to talk privately.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Wren asked.
“I don’t know,” the sheriff admitted. “I hope so. It might take him a few weeks to get fit again. Not using his muscles for all that time has weakened him.”
“I hope you have that woman locked up good and proper.”
“She’s not going anywhere.”
Could she get Brock to flit Ginger to the Chinese island where they’d deposited Becky? It would be a fitting way for the woman to end up.
I need to stop thinking about that as a solution for everything. It could lead me down a slippery slope.
The sheriff offered to give her a lift home, but Wren declined. She needed to talk to her mother. She’d walked past them when Keegan was waking up and she didn’t appear to be her usual self. She was downright miserable. She quickly phoned Dot, who told her to meet her in the hospital cafeteria in five minutes.
She found her sitting, staring forlornly into a cold cup of coffee. The ever-present stench of stewed cabbage was there as usual.
“Are you okay?” Wren asked.
“I’m as okay as a I can be,” Dot answered. She looked up and said sadly, “I just dumped Anthony. I told him I never want to see him again.”
She sat down. While she still didn’t like the man she still felt a little sorry for him. He loved Dot very much.
“I thought Dad gave you his blessing?” asked Wren. “I thought you wanted to marry him?”
“I will always love Wick,” stated Dot. “I’m going to wait for him, no matter how long he stays in prison. Wick is my life, Wren. Anthony makes me happy, of course he does, but he’s not my husband.”
Wren took her mom’s hand.
“You have my blessing too you k
now,” Wren said, surprising herself. “If you’d wanted to marry him I wouldn’t have objected; much, anyway.”
Dot smiled and patted her hand. “I know, but it’s Wick and I forever.” She wiped at her eyes, trying desperately not to cry. “And we will never mention Anthony ever again, okay?”
“I promise.”
WREN POPPED IN TO SEE Keegan again on her way out. She stopped, realizing Lenny was in there with him. She didn’t want to interrupt an intimate moment.
“It’s okay Wren,” Lenny called. “You can come in.”
She smiled. “I hope you two have gotten back together.”
Lenny clutched Keegan’s hand. The way they smiled at each other made her all gooey inside. They so belonged together.
“Are you okay with this, Wren?” Lenny asked. “I know we haven’t seen eye to eye since I got out of prison but...”
She grabbed him and hugged him tight.
“Everything is forgotten,” she told him, giving Lenny a kiss on the cheek. “We’re friends again, okay? Friends forever.” She took Keegan’s hand. “We’re all best friends forever. Not even prison and psychotic nurses can keep us apart.”
She left them to it. They needed some alone time together.
“Hey, before you go,” called Lenny. He was excited. “Is it okay if I keep bringing in my baking every day for you to sell at the Metropolitan? I love baking so much, and I think Gran could do with the help, though she’d hate to admit it.”
“That would be great,” said Wren. “But what about your job at Reba’s law firm?”
“I can do both,” said Lenny. “It’s not as if we get many cases in this town anyway.”
They discussed what to bring in tomorrow. Lenny said he had a recipe for some apricot cream horns that he wanted to try. She couldn’t wait to try them. She knew her customers would devour them in seconds too.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK OF this?” Benedict asked. He held up a red sequin dress.
“Looks cheap.”
“This cost three thousand dollars,” said Benedict sharply. “Diana Ross wore it.”
“Diana Ross would look good in it.”