by Lynn Cahoon
“You’re always a surprise, little brother.” Trent slapped Levi on the back and smiled at Mia. “One mystery solved. Now we just have a few more to work through.”
“I’d just feel better if we knew more about a few things.” Mia picked at a piece of lint on the couch.
“Well, listening to the rest of the story, now I know we should continue our little slumber party tonight. I’ll drop Mary Alice off at her place, run and check on the store, then pick you back up on my way back here.” Trent nodded to Grans. “Will you be okay for about an hour?”
“Dear, I’ve lived through worse storms than this one. I’m sure I can be by myself for an hour.” The look on Grans’s face had Mia biting her lip to keep from laughing.
“I’ll get you a list of supplies I’ll need for Mexican night.” Mia stood.
Levi pulled Christina up as well. “I’m heading out to the ranch to check on Mom and Dad. As long as the roads are plowed out of town, we should be able to be back before sundown.”
Christina looked at Mia. “Maybe I should stay here with you?”
Mia raised her eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure I can handle myself for a few hours today. Besides, it will give me time to check on the renovations, including when that inspector’s going to be back in town. I’ve got plenty to do around here.”
Trent pulled her close. She could feel the scruff on his cheek where his beard was growing; he hadn’t shaved for a couple of days. The sensation made her shiver. He whispered, “Try to stay out of trouble, and if anything—” He paused and put his hands on her arms for emphasis. “Anything happens, you call me. I don’t care if you lose Mr. Darcy for a few minutes. Anything that’s unexpected, I want to know.”
Mia smiled. “I promise I will pretend I’m a princess enclosed in a tower, safe in my own little world.”
“Not quite the analogy I was looking for, but it will do.” He tapped her nose. “And once we get out of this, we need to talk.”
Mia’s stomach clenched. “Sounds like a date,” she chirped, immediately regretting her choice of words.
Trent smiled and turned to Grans. “You ready?”
Thirty minutes later Mia was alone in the apartment. She’d walked through the school, writing down items on the clipboard that needed to be finished before she could open. She loved the way the bright sun beamed on the yellow walls where she’d finished painting. The remaining gray walls depressed her. “Finish painting” was the first thing she’d written on her list.
Something she could control. Not like the rest of her life. She stood and stretched, glancing at the clock as she pulled a soda out of the fridge. The gang would be back no later than five, ready for dinner, but until Trent came back with the groceries, she couldn’t really start her prep. She glanced at her list. She had at least an hour before Trent came back, more than enough time if she hurried, to get the entryway painted, allowing her to check one item off her list.
She ran to her room, changed into her old jeans and painting T-shirt, and headed to the kitchen to grab her cell. When she picked it up the phone rang, and she fumbled to pick it up. Not taking the time to check the caller ID, she answered, “Hello?”
“Mia? Oh, God, come quick, your grandmother has fallen.” The woman sounded out of breath.
“Grans? Where is she? The hospital?” Mia’s heart beat faster, waiting for the answer.
“No. I’ve called the ambulance, but they’re out on another run. You need to take her.” The woman was insistent.
“I’ll be right there. She’s at her house, right?” Mia pulled on her coat as she left the kitchen. She glanced at the notepad, and scribbled, Gone to help Grans. As she shut the door to the apartment, the woman finally answered her question.
“No, she’s at Adele’s. She fell down the stairs.”
CHAPTER 21
Mia stopped two feet from the front door. “Wait, why was she at Adele’s? Who is this?” No answer; the phone call had been cut off. Mia dialed Grans’s landline. Not surprisingly, Grans had left her cell on Mia’s coffee table. A fast busy signal indicated that the phone lines were down, probably due to the storm. Why would Grans be at Adele’s? Mia’s thoughts went back to the discussion about Samuel. Grans had been sure that the photos should prove that the man killed Adele for the inheritance. Would she have walked over after Trent dropped her off just to make sure the dead woman hadn’t left a diary or some other clue?
But then who had called Mia? This whole thing stunk. But then Mia saw a vision of her grandmother crumpled at the bottom of the stairs. It couldn’t hurt just to make sure she was okay. She dialed Trent’s cell. No answer. She left a voice mail, explaining she’d gone to Adele’s to check on Grans and asking him to call her as soon as possible. His words about staying put echoed in her head.
She shouldn’t have let Trent drive Grans home. The woman was sneaky; Trent didn’t know that. But she should have seen the look before they left. She would have stayed with Grans while she grabbed fresh clothes. She would have . . . but she hadn’t. Now Grans needed her. She grabbed the spare keys to Grans’s car, started the engine, turning the defroster on full blast, and scraped the windows as clear as she could. Hopefully the roads would be plowed and her windows would finish defrosting long before she arrived at Adele’s, making the trip to the emergency room a bit safer for Grans.
Ten minutes later, after almost flying into a ditch not once, but twice, Mia pulled into a driveway filled with snow. No tire tracks, no other car. How had her grandmother even gotten over here? Who had called Mia? She pushed away the thought and ran up to the porch. The front door stood open. Fear gripped her, but she pushed through, her fingers brushing her cell in her pocket.
As she walked into the large foyer, she called out, “Grans? Are you here?” She listened to her voice echo in the hall, then heard the door slam and a lock click behind her.
A small woman stood by the door with a very large gun in her hand. Mia didn’t know anything about guns, small or large, but she did know this one looked very, very real. “I take it Grans isn’t here.”
“Sorry, a bit of a lie. I’m so glad you could make it. If we hurry, we should be able to get this done and you won’t be missed for days, living up in that old school by yourself.” The woman actually smiled, and finally Mia recognized her. Helen Marcum.
“Now we’re being polite? Like a real law professor from Chicago?” Mia tapped the screen on her cell, hoping she’d just dialed someone, anyone.
Helen stepped closer. “I figured once you found the old bat’s notes about Sam, you’d figure me out pretty quickly. It’s funny. You think if you only had money, everything would be fine. They’d treat you right. Be nice, but no. All those people in Arizona, all they remembered was my husband being a drunk and me feeding their brats at school.” She shook her head violently. “Never once did they invite us to their crappy parties, even after we bought our way into that stupid country club.”
“So you decided to move and take on a new life. Didn’t you think someone might check up on you?” Mia glanced around the room, looking for something, anything, to use as a weapon or to duck under once Helen stopped being so chatty.
“Ha. Don’t make me laugh. People don’t bother the rich. All they do is talk about how they don’t have any style or hate their choice of paint colors. Seriously, even when they didn’t know I’d been poor, they still treated me like white trash. Nuevo rich, as Miss Adele called me. Oh, not to my face. Even she didn’t have that kind of guts.”
“Wait, let me get this straight. You’re pointing a gun at me because people talk about you behind your back?” Mia spoke louder. “I don’t think I ever heard anything about you, Helen, or your husband, Travis.”
“Don’t try all that hostage negotiation crap with me. Using my name isn’t going to change the fact that you’ll be dead in”—Helen glanced at her wristwatch—“maybe ten minutes? I want you to understand why I’m shooting you. It’s the Christian thing to do.”
“How
in the hell is any of this Christian?” Mia felt the heat flow to her cheeks. The woman was even crazier than she’d thought. As soon as she saw Helen blanch, Mia wondered if she’d pushed too hard.
The gun waved toward her. “Now don’t you be cussing in front of me. I’m not that kind of lady.”
She’ll shoot me, but she doesn’t want to hear the word “hell?” What the heck? Mia prayed to the Goddess. Maybe this was all a dream and she’d wake up soon. Mia realized Helen was watching, waiting for a response. An apology? She’d be damned if... Mia swallowed her pride for a few more moments to figure out a plan, “I’m sorry. I’m a little stressed. I’ve never been threatened with a gun before. I’ll listen to what you have to say.” She hesitated, then added, “It’s only right.”
“Exactly. That’s what I tried to tell Adele. When I told her I would kill her before I’d let her tell everyone I had been poor, she laughed. In my face.” Helen’s cheeks turned red at the memory. “She laughed at me. She said she was using the party to clear up a few misconceptions, one of them being me and my husband’s rightful place in the community. That we were no better than the people who worked at the Lodge or the grocery.”
“How did you kill her?” Mia felt drained, her energy being sapped by the heightened awareness she was putting out, trying to draw someone, anyone in. Okay, maybe not just anyone, but someone to take care of this crazy woman. All she had to do was keep her talking for a few more minutes. Then someone should arrive. She hoped.
“I had a carving knife I’d stolen from a buffet in Arizona. The chef there, well, I don’t know if you could call someone who worked there a chef, but he’s the one who told me about Magic Springs. That he was planning on moving here as soon as his probation was up.”
“Probation?” Mia inched closer to the entry table. The antique wood may not stop a bullet, but maybe it would slow it, or deflect it away from her. She had to be talking about James. Why had James been on probation?
“See, even you are more intrigued by the bad parts of life than the good things we do. Yes, this guy was on probation, but he said the charges had been a big misunderstanding. He’s too sweet a guy to be a thief. He said it was because he was gay. Gay people always get treated badly.” Helen sagged a bit, the gun drooping in her hand. “I don’t want to talk about that. It’s confusing. When I saw him here I thought for sure he’d rat me out. But he never did. He may figure we held each other’s secrets. But I wonder if he even recognized me. I’m a lot skinnier now. Hired my own trainer, just like the movie stars. I still work out three times a week.”
We’re talking about workouts? Mia jumped on the topic. “You can really tell. I mean, I didn’t know you before, but you look so healthy.”
Helen smiled, a cold smile that never reached her eyes. “Don’t patronize me. I know you saw that interview we did with the newspaper reporter, just like Adele.” She stopped and cocked her head toward Mia. “Now, did that person look ‘healthy?’”
Mia decided to play dumb. “I don’t understand why you keep saying I saw an article. I didn’t see anything.”
“The librarian said she gave you the flash drive. The woman’s very disappointed that you didn’t seem interested in setting up a library card.” Helen shook her head. “You aren’t fitting in very well here; maybe they’ll just think you moved home to live with that hunk of an ex-boyfriend.” Helen smiled again, looking more like an alligator this time. “I could get lucky and some animal could drag off your carcass before you’re found. That way we wouldn’t have two murders in Magic Springs in less than a month.”
“How about you just don’t kill me—that would cut down the actual crime rate.”
“Now, you know I can’t do that.” Helen nodded to the back of the house. “Where’s the back door?”
“There isn’t one. You’re going to have to take me out the front.” Something was going in her favor.
“What do you mean there isn’t a back door? All houses have a back door.” Helen frowned.
“You don’t remember seeing one when you and Samuel toured the house, do you?” Mia pressed.
Helen cocked her head, “How did you know Samuel gave us a sneak peek?” She paused. “Never mind. I have to get back to the Lodge. We’re playing bridge at four.” She waved the gun toward Mia. “Go out the front door. I don’t care; you’ll still be just as dead as soon as we get to the trees in back.”
Mia considered her options as she walked past Helen, but the woman kept the gun focused on her and Mia didn’t think she’d be able to wrestle the firearm away without getting shot in the process.
As soon as she crossed the threshold, she was yanked to the left, a hand over her mouth. Helen had been pulled to the right, and then her gun was taken away. Mia watched as Baldwin cuffed the woman.
“You okay?” Trent’s voice whispered in her ear and he removed his hand from her mouth.
“Luckily Helen didn’t want blood all over the house just in case she still got to buy it.” Mia squatted down, taking deep breaths, trying to keep from doing something stupid like passing out. She glanced up at Trent. “You’re the one I called?”
“Actually, you dialed City Hall. The receptionist got your call to Baldwin and he called me to see where you would have gone. When you said it was Helen your grandmother knew exactly where the two of you were.” Trent knelt close to her. “You want some water?”
Mia stood and shook off the dizziness. “I want to go home.”
Baldwin nodded. “I’ll stop by later to get your statement; there’s no need for you to come to the station now.”
Mia watched him walk Helen to the police cruiser that sat near the curb. “My, how things have changed.”
“Stop giving him a hard time. He’s just doing his job.” Trent held her close. “I was worried.”
“So was I.”
“I told you to stay home. Locked in the apartment.” Trent smoothed her hair with his hand. “Don’t you ever listen?”
“She said Grans had fallen, I couldn’t reach either of you. I thought she needed me.”
Trent released her from his arms and the two walked to her grandmother’s car. “Understandable, but not forgiven.”
She handed him the keys. “You making the margaritas tonight?”
“I can; why?”
Mia slumped into the passenger seat of the car. “Make mine extra-strong.”
CHAPTER 22
Forgiveness. Trent forgave her for not following orders after three margaritas that night, and the five of them played Scrabble until the fire died down. Then Mia slipped into her bedroom and slid between the covers, then fell asleep.
Now, it was two weeks later and both Samuel Jacobs and Helen Marcum were in jail, awaiting trial. And Mia couldn’t sleep again. She had a few more things to deal with before her essence would be clear. Her daily chants and prayers had felt dull, as if her connection to the Goddess was blocked. Then Gloria told her why.
She read the handwritten list one more time. Taking a pen out of her jacket pocket, she added one more item. She sat cross-legged in front of the fire, calming herself. Gloria, the rag doll, sat on her lap, helping her to focus. Mr. Darcy even sat next to her, reaching out one paw to rest it on her leg. She had a feeling from the way the cat was watching her that Dorian was the one doing the comforting.
She read the list again, wondering why she was stalling. Every slight, every hurt, every pain her heart had felt while she was with Isaac and after they broke up was on the paper. She needed to forgive him for these things so she could give up the hurt.
A noise behind her caused her to turn. Christina stood behind the couch watching her. She walked over to the hearth and dropped to the floor beside Mia. “What are you doing? You’ve got a big day tomorrow; you should be sleeping.”
Mia smiled at the mothering tone from someone twelve years her junior. “You know me. I can’t sleep before an event. Besides, it’s time to do something.”
Christina’s gaze fell on the pap
er on the floor in front of her. “What’s this?” She picked it up and silently read the list. When she finished she set it back down. “I told you that you were too good for my brother. This list more than proves it.”
“Thanks, but that’s not why I wrote the list.” Mia started tearing the paper into strips. “I’m forgiving him.”
Christina stopped her from tearing the paper with both hands. “Wait, you can’t go back to him. He’s not worth it. You won’t be happy. No matter what he says, he’s not sorry.”
Mia pulled Christina into a hug. “I’m not going back. I’m releasing myself from the responsibility of hating him.” She looked into the girl’s eyes. “Don’t you understand? Forgiveness isn’t for the person doing the wronging. It’s for the people he or she wrongs. I can’t move on with my life until I release the past. And forgiving Isaac is part of that release.”
Christina wiped her hand over her brow in an exaggerated gesture. “Whew. I thought you’d lost your mind there for a minute.” She watched for a while as Mia finished tearing the sheet and had a small pile of strips sitting in front of them. “Mia?”
Mia turned to her, “Yes?” She sensed Christina’s hesitation but thought she knew what she would ask her.
She picked up a piece of paper. “Can I add some things to the pile before we burn them?”
“Are you ready to forgive him?” Mia put her hand on Christina’s shoulder. “It’s okay to be mad as hell. He used you. Used your fear.”
Christina flipped back her hair, and Mia noticed the bar in her eyebrow had been taken out. No more piercings. She’d grown up so quickly in the last month, Mia didn’t want her to force the reconciliation of the Adams family. “I know. But you’re forgiving him. And honestly, I don’t want to hurt anymore. I’m ready to let go and just live.”
Mia handed her the pen. “As long as you really mean it, get writing.”