Shaking from her ordeal, I couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying. It turned out to be the latter but at least she had her crush to console her.
“Maybe she can ask him if he can visit her in the psych ward,” Eve said.
Rushing to my friend’s side, we ushered her into the truck, eager to disappear. Zane drove us home. As thankful as I was to have Jade back and in her natural form, my heart was still heavy. The silence on the ride back left me replaying the conversation I’d had with Eve. I’m not going to lie; it did a number on my mind—and not in a good way. I knew what I had to do and didn’t like it one bit.
We pulled up to the front of our store and the truck rolled to a stop. I didn’t want the long, drawn out or playful goodbye we normally shared. I hopped out of the cab as soon as he placed the truck in park.
“We have to talk about some things tomorrow, Zane,” I said, shunning his kiss goodnight—as painful as it was to refuse it.
The look on Zane’s face nearly broke my heart and had me running back to him. As silly as it seemed, I wanted nothing more than to feel the warmth of his arms wrapped around me while he assured me everything was going to work out.
As for Jade, we got her into a warm bath and did our best to baby her for the rest of the night.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The next morning, Jade seemed no worse for wear.
“I can’t believe you mistook me for the wrong goat. It’s like you don’t even know me,” she chided Chloe.
I got her caught up to speed with everything I’d learned so far about the McDermott case, Zane, Eve, and the Hellions. Chloe went on to recount her nearly first sexual encounter with Daryl, until she kicked him into unconsciousness.
“I saw Susan. Yesterday,” Jade said. “It turns out, there’s a great view from the rooftop I was stuck on. Anyway, she was meeting some guy on the far side of the boathouse. I have no idea who he was, but they looked very cozy with each other. They even kissed.”
“Really? I guess she wasn’t really into Charles Nelson if she already moved on,” Chloe said.
“Speaking of Charles Nelson, I just remembered something. Well, two things. First, when Charles bought the elephant for Susan, he paid with a check. It was then that I noticed he was left-handed. I told him his writing reminded me of my dad’s. Second, Chloe said Daryl had found the elephant and an unopened card in Charles’ car. Yet, Susan told Jade she had gotten the statue and loved it.”
“Okay, but he can’t be a suspect. This was a murder, not a suicide,” Jade replied.
“No, but he also said that Susan was left-handed. What if she wrote the notes? And why did she lie about the elephant?” I asked.
“What would be her motive for murdering Charles?” Chloe had finally joined the conversation.
“In part, her motive is the same as Michael’s motive. Greed. But to get there, she has a bonus for killing off the guy who’s stalking her and she puts the blame for it on her brother. He goes to jail and she gets all the money, the land and the whole development.” Once the thoughts popped into my head, everything seemed to click. Call it a gut instinct or angelic intuition, if you will. I was certain I knew who the murderer was.
“Say you’re right? Then two questions remain. How do we prove it? And who is the mystery man she met?” Jade paced around the table before flying off on another topic. “I sure could go for a salad, and a brown paper bag.”
“That’s the goat in you talking. It’ll wear off soon enough.” Chloe shrugged.
“One way or another, we’ll get her to confess. Then it’s up to Daryl to take care of the rest through the legal system. Easy peasy,” I said.
“Now, I have some personal issues. Maybe both of you can help me, especially you, Jade. You have…experiences Chloe and I are lacking, if you know what I mean. What I’m trying to say is, I don’t think it’s right for me to get involved romantically with Zane. What if we were to fall in love, knowing our stay here on Earth is only temporary? It’s not right. Another part of me just plain wants him, if you know what I mean. But I don’t see how I can separate my heart from my body.”
“Yeah, that would kill you. Technically, ripping your heart out would definitely kill you.” Chloe laughed at her lame attempt at a joke.
“You know what I mean. Is it possible to have a relationship which is more physical than emotional? I mean, if I can’t have one, can I have the other? Is it right? How did you do it, Jade?”
I probably sounded like a complete idiot, but I didn’t care. If I couldn’t talk to my friends about these sorts of things, who could I talk to about things like this?
“Um. Okay. I would like to clarify something. I am still a virgin in the academic sense. However, I have thought the process through in multiple ways and have imagined exactly how it would play out. Therefore, I consider myself not a virgin, at least in my thoughts.”
“Cuckoo,” Chloe whispered, circling her index finger around her temple.
“The night I first met Zane, we got into a philosophical discussion about the nature of love. He was talking about a story by the ancient Roman poet, Virgil, and how the main character became addicted to the dark forces of passion and it killed him.”
“Jesus! If some stranger in the park would’ve said that to me, I would’ve been out of there like a bat out of Hell. No offense to Zane and his buddies,” Chloe said.
Jade shoved Chloe aside. “Sure, I get old Virgil’s point but that’s what happens when you mess around making love without being in love. Emmy, the question for you is, would you want to separate the two? For me, I can only imagine being fully, all out, stupid in love with someone and also wanting them so bad I would do backflips over hot coals to get in bed with him. It has to be an all or nothing for me.”
“Same, kind of. I mean, I really, really like Daryl. I can’t say I’m in love with him, but I also really enjoyed making out with him. I know I’m not ready to go all the way, so I’m going to say ditto to what Jade said. My heart and vagina are in it together all the way. Hey, I wonder if that would be a good quote for a tattoo.” Chloe laughed.
I cringed. “It’s probably best for me to walk away from Zane.”
The bells on the front door announced the arrival of a customer.
“Hey, Jade. It’s your crush, the smoking hot swimmer guy slash fireman,” Chloe teased.
“Ooh. Then again, I’d like to modify my answer by saying that all work and no play makes Jade a dull girl.” Jade skipped to the front of the store.
“Hey, Jade. I wanted to stop by to see how you were doing?”
“Hi, Erik. I’m much better today. Thank you. You won’t see me pulling a prank like that again.”
“I was just saying to myself; ‘we keep bumping into each other, why not tempt fate and see if she’d like to go on a date?’ so here I am. What do you say? Would you like to go on a date with me?”
“Yes, definitely. When?”
“I’m off this weekend. How about we catch a movie Friday evening?”
“Perfect!” Jade nearly bounced off the ceiling.
After he left, we cornered Jade. “Seems you left quite an impression on the boy,” Chloe joked.
“Yeah. Nothing like standing on a rooftop naked to reel them in.” I couldn’t help it, I had to join in on the good-natured teasing.
“Not by choice,” Jade replied.
“Uh-huh.” Chloe snickered.
“Okay, smartasses, that’s enough about my soon to be love life. We need to focus on the matter at hand. How are we going to get a confession out of Susan?”
“We’re going to confront her. We’ve tried everything else. I say we just get her into a corner and have at it. We need to appeal to whatever is left of her good nature.”
“I’ll make sure Daryl knows everything about those forged notes too,” Chloe said.
“Oh, my naïve little angels.” We all jumped when Eve entered the store without causing the bells to ring. “If you truly believe Susan McDermott is
capable of burning an innocent man to death just to frame her brother, do you think she will simply cry out her confession if you ask her nicely?”
“Well, when you put it like that…maybe not exactly. Maybe another truth serum?” I suggested.
“Those things are ineffective against hardened criminals. I’m afraid this is a job for someone with a little more…experience. I have certain methods that can be very effective in coaxing a confession out of someone. Methods which are best kept secret from young baby-faced angels.”
“Promise us you won’t torture her, Eve. We can’t condone it.”
“I don’t make promises. I’ll call and tell you when and where to bring your police officer friend for the confession. But, in return for clearing Michael McDermott’s name, he will owe me, and the price will be to turn over his entire development into a land trust so those natural areas will be preserved. Again, I will use whatever method it takes to convince Michael to comply and I don’t want to hear a single complaint from any goody-two-shoe angels. I am a witch, after all.” Eve vanished as quietly as she had showed up.
“As long as I’m not required to become a goat again, I’m good with whatever she’s up to,” Jade said.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Hey, Emmy,” Zane said, entering the store.
“Good morning, Zane,” I replied politely, trying to sound as if he was any other customer. I didn’t even make eye contact, I just continued dusting the shelves.
Silence.
As childish as it may seem, I positioned myself so I could catch a glimpse of his reaction to me in my peripheral vision.
He was calmly leaning against the jewelry counter, watching me dust. Ignoring him was pointless.
“Let me guess, my mom got into your head,” he sighed.
“What do you mean?” I continued my faux nonchalant dusting routine.
“First off, you’ve been dusting that same shelf over and over. Secondly, you’re trying your best to seem disinterested in the fact that I’m here, yet you keep looking at me through the corners of those pretty blue eyes of yours. Thirdly, I know I didn’t say or do anything to warrant the cold shoulder routine, so I suspect my mother gave you a lecture. Am I right?”
“No.” I turned to face him. “Well, yes, she did but she only clarified everything I’ve been worried about.”
“I see. Let me take a stab at it. You’ve been racking your brain about love and commitment, good and evil, angels and devils, Heaven and Hell, your virtues and morality. But those are nothing more than excuses and illusions to distract yourself from the real issue. It all boils down to one thing, being afraid of getting your heart broken.”
“Maybe, but your mom thinks—”
“My mom thinks a lot of things and says even more. She’s had her heart broken. Naturally, she is protective. She gets manipulative because it’s just who she is. The key to her is knowing her nature and staying ahead of her game.”
“And here I thought witches were motivated by their evil intentions. Not love for her son. In any case, she was right.” I found myself involuntarily stepping closer to the jewelry counter, directly opposite of him.
“We can’t deny there is a special spark between us. Beautiful magic, which I don’t understand. Where do we expect this thing between us to go? Eventually, I am going to leave. I don’t know when, but when I do that, I will have to go. Where does it leave me? Where does it leave you?”
Zane pointed to the street. “See those people walking hand in hand? Or the couple with the baby stroller? Tomorrow isn’t a guarantee for any of them, and they all know it. It sure doesn’t stop them from falling in love. They understand their mortal nature and refuse to surrender to it out of fear of the inevitable pain. The key for them is to make a life filled with more pleasure and less pain.”
“Pleasure? Or love? You sound a bit devilish now.”
“One leads to the other. It doesn’t matter.” He leaned over the counter. Our lips were nearly touching.
“Then again, what about who you are? And who I am? How cursed would we be with our two polarized origins of Heaven and Hell?”
“I don’t know about you, but I was created right here in the mortal world. I claim no allegiance to any other universe.”
“Hmm.” I wanted to avoid discussing my own origins, and his kiss was the distraction I needed. For the moment, I could put my worries aside for another day.
“Hey, lovers! Break it up. Something’s going down at the police station,” Jade shouted from the porch.
The nosey populace of Angel Bay had gathered outside the station. Chloe ran from the back door, racing to meet us at the store.
“She did it. Eve must have scared Susan with the wrath of Hell because she showed up and confessed to writing those notes and setting Charles Nelson’s house on fire. We did it, guys!”
“Wrath of Hell is right,” Eve said, shocking us with her presence again.
“Jesus! You have got to stop sneaking up on us, Eve,” Jade screeched.
“I don’t know,” Zane said, skeptically. “Those notes were obvious forgeries. What made Susan think she could get her brother convicted of murder with those obvious fakes?”
“Unless…” I rushed to the computer, my angelic instinct kicking into high gear. Pulling up the county website, I found a picture of the District Attorney.
“Here he is, Steven G. Pigg. Jade, does he look anything like the man you saw meeting with Susan behind the boathouse?” I pointed to the image of a middle-aged man with a shaved head and a handlebar mustache.
“That’s the guy. I’m sure of it.” Jade nodded at the picture.
Steven G. Pigg seemed to live up to his name. Just looking at the picture of the guy left me with a bad feeling. Could evil ooze from someone’s picture?
“The DA was in on it with Susan. We need to go,” Zane said.
By the time we reached the station, an obviously expensive BMW squealed to a stop on the street in front of the police station. To our surprise, it was the DA, and he was storming into the station to take on Daryl. We were right behind him.
“Officer Sextant!” Steven yelled. “Are you trying to torpedo the McDermott case by listening to this crazy woman and her insane theory? She’s distraught with grief. Obviously, she wants to take the rap for her brother. I order you to rip up her bullshit confession this instant or I’ll have your job!”
Daryl didn’t even get a chance to respond.
Susan spun around and shrieked at Steven. “You don’t understand. I’ve seen what will happen to us for doing this. What our punishment will be. Our only hope is to tell the truth and beg for mercy.”
“She’s nuts. You see that, right? This bitch is completely off the deep end. Take her to the county hospital, Officer. She clearly needs a psychiatric evaluation.”
“You’re just as guilty as me! I lit the fire, but this was your plan. You said you’d handle the charges and make sure Michael was sent to jail, where you’d have him killed. We did all of this for greed. So we could take control of the development project and never have to worry about anything—ever again. You said you would marry me!”
“Marry you? I don’t even know you. You crazy bitch.”
“Hold on there. We have an eyewitness who saw you talking to Susan behind the boathouse two days ago. You even kissed her,” I said.
“Great, now you have these stupid girls involved in the case? Who else? This biker trash and his hag of a mother? You are not fit to wear that uniform.” Steven continued to lash out at everyone present.
“Enough!” Eve said, clenching her fists. Steven G. Pigg’s rant had finally come to an end.
Much to our shock, his face turned beet red, then a lovely shade of eggplant purple as he grabbed his chest and fell to his knees, gasping for breath.
“I—yes. Everything Susan said is true. But it’ll be my word against yours in court, you fools. Nobody will ever believe you. And when the case against me is dismissed, I will destroy each and
every one of you.”
“Except you overlooked one thing,” Chloe said, patting Daryl on the back. “Officer Daryl happens to have everything recorded with his security cameras. Susan’s confession, your confession and your threats. You’re finished.”
Daryl handcuffed Susan and Steven before stuffing the two of them into his squad car. He thanked us for our help and headed off to the county jail.
Eve vanished from the scene as soon as Daryl and his prisoners drove away. She was off to strike a deal with Michael McDermott while the iron was hot.
“I’d say we’ve each played a part in redeeming ourselves and we’ve moved one baby step closer to being the angels we hope to be.” I smiled, happy we were able to solve the case and bring justice for Charles’ death.
“You sure are trusting that your strange mission to Angel Bay is as simple as that.”
“Whoa. What do you mean?” Chloe asked.
“Yeah, what’s he talking about?” Jade demanded.
“Just saying. There’s always more than meets the eye.” Zane shrugged.
“Relax, guys. We did it. We solved a murder. The guilty are off to pay their debt to society, and an innocent man will be freed. Even all the flora and fauna of thousands of acres are saved from development. Really, we should celebrate this victory.”
“What about Midge?” Jade asked. “We never solved that mystery.”
“Sometimes, the obvious explanation is the correct explanation. Poor Midge met her mortal fate. No mystery involved.”
“Come on.” Chloe tugged Jade’s arm. “You heard the girl. We’ve got a party to plan.”
Over the next few days, I found myself drawn even closer to Zane. It was as if my little plan to cool my jets had completely backfired.
By Saturday afternoon, our party was in full swing. We’d reserved the park, brought in a small company to set up a few carnival rides, and we even had a band. It was nice, and a way to tell Angel Bay how much we loved and appreciated our new home. Even Eve and the Hellions showed up, since they brought their own kegs of beer, we couldn’t say no.
Practically Angels Page 14