by J. B. Lynn
“Go upstairs with it,” Winnie said. “Take as long as you need.”
Amanda got to her feet but grabbed Tom’s hand, giving it a tug so that he’d follow her. “You’ve already read it, haven’t you?”
He looked down, as though ashamed he’d gotten caught peeking into her private business. “As part of the investigation. I had to.”
“Then come with me.”
As she and Tom climbed the stairs, Amanda wondered what the contents of the box were, and if they were going to impact her life even more than Letty’s death had already.
46
As they climbed the stairs, Winnie called out, “Detective?”
Tom stopped and turned to face her. Amanda paused, too.
“Which one of them paid Richardson?” she asked, her voice cracking. “Who wanted her dead?”
“That would have been Greta,” he said quietly. “She thought that once she was out of the picture, she’d have plenty of time to search through all of her belongings. But the three of you showed up and didn’t leave.”
Bea gasped. “We’ve been being so nice to the woman responsible for Letty’s murder?”
Tom shrugged. “I’m sorry,” he said. “She had everyone fooled. And for the record, she doesn’t even have any kids, she just used them as an excuse to come and go as she pleased. She came to town with Flatbottom.”
“The art grifter?” Bea gasped.
Rupert appeared on the step above Amanda. “Everything was connected.”
Tom looked at them sympathetically. “Matt will go on trial for his wife’s murder, and Bruce Gold’s assault, he admitted to that, too.”
Amanda knew her sister was reliving the horror of the attack as Winnie shuddered and asked, “Why did he try to kill Bruce?”
Tom’s gaze flicked over to Harmony and Amanda sensed a sudden tension in him. “It was dark. He thought it was Richardson digging around in the rubble, not Bruce. He was angry that Richardson had failed him.”
“But the store burnt down,” Winnie said, confused.
Tom glanced again at Harmony.
“He was trying to kill Harmony,” Amanda murmured. She didn’t know if she guessed that, or if she could feel it coming off Tom.
He nodded. “The fire was just to cover up the attack on her.”
Harmony blinked, startled. “Why would anyone want me dead?”
Tom shrugged. “Greta was worried you knew too much. She thought Letty might have told you Ilsa’s secrets.”
“She didn’t,” Harmony said.
“Apparently, she was good at keeping secrets,” Winnie remarked bitterly.
“And what will happen to Greta now?” Amanda asked, wanting to change the subject. She tried to keep the animosity out of her tone, but she knew from the pity in Tom’s gaze that she’d failed.
“Greta will be charged for her part in Letty’s death and for assaulting Amanda today.”
Amanda glanced down at her hands, still scratched up from the struggle.
“They’ll both be charged for the attack on Suzanne and dumping her in the alley, even though they’re claiming they didn’t do it.”
“Why would they deny it?” Amanda asked.
Tom shrugged. “You and Suzanne are the only living witnesses. She’ll no doubt claim self-defense with you and—”
“I—” Amanda began, outraged at the suggestion.
“I know,” Tom said quietly.
The wave of understanding he emitted felt like a warm hug to Amanda and she let him continue.
“And they’ll deny the Suzanne thing since she was attacked from behind,” he concluded.
“It’s not fair,” Winnie muttered. “They did so much harm and they’re going to get away with it.
Amanda could tell from the surge of frustration coming off Tom that he felt the same way, but what he said was, “Not if I can help it. I’m going to do my best to get Matt convicted of his wife’s murder.”
Nutmeg growled.
Bea and Winnie looked to Amanda for a translation.
“He’s just upset,” she said.
The dog flattened his ears and ran off to a corner.
“If Matt is to be believed, Greta’s the one who used the dagger to kill Richardson to clean up the loose ends,” Tom told them. “She thought he might talk, implicate her to get himself a better plea deal. So she made sure he couldn’t do that.”
“She could have killed any of us,” Bea whispered weakly.
“But she didn’t,” Amanda reminded her.
“She bailed Richardson out?” Winnie asked. “Just to lure him to his death?”
Tom shook his head. “No, that was the art dealer. Apparently, she convinced him that the only way to get back the painting Greta had given Richardson as payment for taking care of…” He trailed off and looked away, uncomfortable.
“For taking care of Letty,” Amanda finished.
He nodded.
“The Salus painting?” Bea asked.
Tom nodded. “We found it in the trunk of her car. She must have taken it from Richardson’s home.”
Amanda and Winnie shared a look, knowing full well they’d asked her to put it in her car after they’d stolen it.
“It’s really nothing special to look at,” Bea said, wrinkling her forehead.
Tom shrugged. “Apparently, there’s a private collector who was willing to pay top dollar for it. Greta stole it from Letty, but before she handed it over, she used it as collateral to have Richardson commit murder.”
“And what about Perkins,” Winnie asked. “Which of them killed him?”
Tom shook his head. “Nobody. According to the medical examiner, he died of an aneurism.”
“And he just happened to do it outside our door?” Winnie scoffed.
Tom tilted his head to the side. “Sometimes a dead body is just a dead body, and not a murder victim.”
Leaving her sisters to digest Tom’s revelations, Amanda led him to the bistro table in the apartment’s kitchenette and they each took a seat.
She looked down at the letter. Finding herself too scared to open it, she blurted out, “I heard about your brother. I’m sorry for all that your family has been through.”
Tom covered her trembling hands with his own. “My family is healing. And I think that what’s in that envelope can help yours, too.”
“Is it about Harmony?” Amanda asked.
“Are you asking that because of a psychic hunch or because you’ve already guessed what it’s about?” Tom countered, as he took the envelope from her fingers. He opened it, unfolded the letter, and placed it in front of her to read.
Without looking at the letter, she said, “I asked her once, Harmony, if that had always been her name, and what she said to me was, ‘Yes and no.’ I think she wanted to tell me then.”
“Read,” Tom urged gently.
Looking down finally, Amanda smiled at her godmother’s handwriting, and her heart swelled as she read what it said. The contents weren’t a surprise to her, just the confirmation she’d needed.
She blinked away tears and looked up at Tom, who was watching her closely. “Thank you for letting me see this.”
Tom nodded, folding up the letter. “I’ve got to return this to the evidence room,” he said, getting to his feet. “But maybe I can stop by tomorrow and check on you?”
She rose, too, and he held out his arms, a silent invitation to an embrace. She stepped into his arms and relished how safe she felt.
Finally, he kissed her forehead and stepped away.
Together, they climbed down the stairs.
“If you need anything,” he said to the other Concordia sisters, “just call.”
Amanda walked him out of the shop and closed the door behind him. She turned and found Harmony, who was standing in the corner. Waiting.
“What was it?” Bea asked eagerly.
“Not that you have to tell us,” Winnie said. “Maybe it was as private as the detective seemed to think it was.”
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Amanda smiled at her sisters and said, “I’ll explain it all. It’s going to be a shock, but it’s a good thing,” she promised them. “Let’s sit.”
Bea sat in the velvet chair. Amanda led Harmony by the hand to sit with her and Winnie on the floor.
“The woman in the photo you found, that Letty left for you, Bea,” she began slowly.
“Aunt Amity,” Winnie supplied. “Mom’s twin sister.”
Taking a shaky breath, she slid a worried look in Harmony’s direction. The older woman gave her an almost imperceptible nod.
“I’m afraid of water,” Amanda said, starting to hyperventilate.
“We know that,” Winnie said.
“I saw them…Mom and Dad….drowning,” Amanda continued, fighting to breathe as the familiar panic overwhelmed her.
Bea leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to talk about it.”
Amanda began to sob softly. “I tried…I tried.” She felt herself growing dizzy, unable to draw air into her lungs.
“Tried what?” Winnie asked.
“She tried to save them,” Harmony interjected. “She almost drowned. She’s terrified of water because she almost died that day, too.”
“Is that what Letty told you?” Bea asked.
Harmony shook her head.
“But she stayed on the beach,” Winnie argued. “That’s what she told us. She was staying on the beach, taking care of us.”
“Amanda tried to save them,” Harmony said quietly. “She was floating face down in the water, not breathing.”
Amanda felt her sisters’ eyes on her, felt how desperately they needed her to make sense of all of this for them. She took a shallow breath and raised her gaze to meet theirs. “Aunt Amity pulled me out of the water. She saved me.”
Winnie sat back on her haunches. “But that story…”
“Was made up by Letty and me,” Amanda admitted.
“Why?” Bea asked plaintively, sounding lost.
“To protect us.” Bea guessed
“From what?” Winnie demanded to know. “What could she possibly be protecting us from?”
Amanda hesitated, torn between wanting to protect them from an unbearable truth and needing to have no secrets between them.
“You don’t have to tell them,” Harmony said softly. “If you do it together, you can show them.”
Amanda felt the truth behind the words. She held out a hand to each sister and they formed their triangle.
“Together,” Harmony began to chant. “Together. With love. Together. With love.”
47
Their powers surged and combined.
Amanda felt her whole body tingle and then go cold as she and her sisters entered one of her worst memories.
Baby Beatrice was crying in her high chair, five-year-old Winnie was hiding under a table, fully focused on the lines her crayon was making on a sheet of paper, and ten-year-old Amanda was watching the adults fight.
There were four grown-ups in the room, her parents, Aunt Amity, and Letty. Her mother was shrieking unintelligibly while the others were trying to convince her that her children would be better off in Amity’s care, at least for a little while.
Their mother suddenly vaulted from her seat and ran out. Their father followed.
Amity and Letty moved to soothe Beatrice. Neither of them noticed that Amanda had slipped out, chasing after her parents.
The memory sped up, making Amanda feel sick to her stomach, but she held on to her sisters’ hands.
Her parents were splashing in the middle of the lake as their mother tried to get across and their father tried to keep her above water. But he was losing the battle and they were both going under.
Wanting to help, Amanda jumped in and began to swim toward them. She soon tired. The water splashed in her face, stinging her eyes, filling her mouth. She struggled, but was running out of air.
“No!” Bea and Winnie screamed simultaneously.
They broke the triangle and Amanda toppled over, gasping for breath.
“You’re okay,” Harmony soothed. “You’re all okay. You’re safe.”
Eyes glassy, Amanda reached for Harmony. “Aunt Amity.”
Harmony pulled her against her chest. “I should have been there for you. I should have been there.”
“You saved me,” Amanda coughed, struggling to sit up. “You pulled me out of the lake.” She looked around and focused on Bea and Winnie, clutching each other tightly, understanding dawning in the eyes of her sisters that their godmother’s friend was actually their aunt.
“We didn’t know your mother would do that,” Harmony sobbed. “She was erratic. Delusional. She put Beatrice in a cardboard box and tried to mail her. We were all just trying to keep you safe. We didn’t know…”
“But why leave us with Letty?” Amanda asked. It was the part of the puzzle she hadn’t been able to figure out.
Harmony shook her head sadly. “Legally, she was your godmother and, in reality, she was the better person to raise you. I think that if you concentrate and ask her, she’ll be able to answer you now.”
Winnie said to Amanda, “I’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
Amanda nodded and grabbed Bea’s hand and gave her youngest sister a reassuring squeeze.
Winnie reached for her hand, but Amanda looked to Harmony. “Join us.”
She felt Harmony’s hesitation and trepidation. The older woman was practically vibrating with fear.
“It’s okay,” Amanda told her.
Winnie, who’d always been the most skeptical, signaled her agreement by grabbing her aunt’s hand.
Harmony leaned forward, held on to Amanda, and made their triangle a square.
The power surged again, differently this time.
“Together,” Bea began to chant.
“With love,” Winnie joined in.
“Together. With love,” all four of them said, raising their hands.
And with their hands raised up, Letty appeared in the middle of the square. Her ghost turned slowly, to face each and every one of them, offering them all her beatific smile. She stopped when she reached Amanda. “I’m so proud of you all,” she said. “This is all I ever wanted, for your family to be back together.”
“Family,” the Concordia sisters and their aunt shouted.
“Guzunder!” Nutmeg barked excitedly.
The End
Author’s Note
I hope you've enjoyed getting to know the Concordia sisters as much as I have!
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JB
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Also by JB Lynn
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The Hitwoman Hunts a Ghost
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The Hitwoman and the Poisoned Apple
The Hitwoman’s Downward Dog
The Hitwoman’s Act of Contrition
The Hitwoman Hires a Manny
The Hitwoman and the Sacrificial Lamb
The Hitwoman and the Chubby Cherub
The Hitwoman and the Mother Load
The Hitwoman Under Pressure
The Hitwoman Plays Chaperone
The Hitwoman Takes a Road Trip
The Hitwoman in a Pickle
The Hitwoman and the Gold Digger
The Hitwoman's Juggling Act
The Hitwoman and the Fallen Angel
The Hitwoman Goes to Prison
PSYCHIC CONSIGNMENT MYSTERY SERIES
One Woman’s Junk
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THE MATCHMAKER MYSTERY SERIES
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About JB Lynn
A Jersey Girl transplanted to the Sunshine State, JB (you can call her Jen) writes laugh-out-loud suspense and mysteries with a dash of romance, but she’s been known to dabble in the occasional goosebump-raising thriller.
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