“I don’t do favors,” Russ said.
“How are you going to hide all of our bodies?” Ron was starting to visibly panic now. “They’re all family. It’s not as suspicious if they disappear. If we disappear with them, that’s going to raise a lot of questions.”
“Not if the police believe you’re the ones who got rid of them,” Russ tilted his head toward us.
I noticed that Landon was slowly moving closer to me as the conversation went on. His body was rigid with concentration – and his right hand had disappeared inside of his leather jacket. Was he really going to kill us? I can’t believe I ever thought he was hot.
“Why would the police believe we killed them?” Ron was grasping at straws now.
“You were going to kill them.”
“That’s not the point.”
“What is the point?” Russ was becoming increasingly bored with Ron’s questions.
“Look, there’s got to be a way to make this beneficial for all of us,” Ron wasn’t done trying to wrangle for his life. Emily had moved to his side.
Russ and Ron were so focused on each other they hadn’t noticed Landon move up to my side. “You have to run in to the maze,” he said in a low voice.
“You don’t think they’ll notice?”
“I’ll do what I can to cover for you. Just get out of here as fast as you can – and don’t go back for the car. They’ll expect that.”
“How do you think we’re going to be able to get Aunt Tillie through this maze without them catching up?”
Landon glanced at Aunt Tillie and smiled grimly. “Something tells me she’s stronger than she looks.”
I glanced over at my mom. She seemed to understand what was about to happen. She was herding Marnie and Twila toward one of the pathways that led into the maze. Thistle and Clove were edging over, too.
“Why are you helping?”
“Maybe I like witches,” Landon winked with as much bravado as he could muster. I knew he was scared shitless, though.
I saw that Marnie, Twila, Aunt Tillie and my mom had disappeared into the maze. Clove was going now. Thistle was giving me a hard look. She wasn’t going to leave without me.
“Go,” Landon whispered. He pushed me toward them.
I didn’t hesitate. I broke into a run. I didn’t look back, even when I heard Russ yell. Thistle and I caught up to the others. “Take them ahead,” I ordered Clove.
“What about you two?”
“We’re going to slow them down,” Thistle said resignedly.
Clove looked uncertain. “We should stick together.”
“We have to buy them time,” I insisted.
Thistle shoved Clove hard. “Go!”
Thistle and I looked at each other. We only had one shot at this. We raced a few passageways down and waited until Clove had managed to get everyone else through it. We climbed up on the hay bales that were placed there and pushed hard, toppling them over. They cascaded down and blocked the pathway. It would take our pursuers a few minutes to get through there – which was a good thing. We were now cut off from the rest of our family, though.
Thistle and I both jumped when we heard a gun go off. The sound of a woman’s shriek followed it. Emily.
“They must have killed Ron,” Thistle said.
We heard another gun shot. Emily had gone eerily silent.
Thistle shrugged. “It’s not like they didn’t have it coming.”
I kneeled down and motioned for Thistle to climb over me. “I’m not leaving you alone here,” she argued.
“You have to help Clove,” I ordered. “I’ll be able to hide easier if it’s just me. I’ll be fine.”
Sophie and Shane had appeared at my side. “The ghosts will be able to help,” I said. I was relieved to see them.
Thistle still looked dubious, but she did as I ordered. She looked back at me over the tower of hay bales, pausing for a second before racing off into the dark. “Good luck,” I murmured.
“They’re coming,” Shane warned.
I skidded off into a corner and pressed myself into the wall trying to hide. I could hear footsteps closing in. I kept backing down the passageway, trying to be as quiet as I possibly could. I was stunned when I felt a warm body move in behind me. I involuntarily opened my mouth to scream, but it was cut short when a hand clamped over my mouth.
“It’s me,” Landon breathed in my ear. “Do not scream.”
I turned to him in surprise “You’re alive.”
“That surprises you?” His eyes twinkled in the moonlight.
“Do you think now is the right time to flirt?”
“If we die in the next few minutes you’re going to be glad to have one final good memory,” Landon whispered, pulling me closer to him and pinching my butt. “Shh,” he cut me off when I started to protest.
“Be quiet,” Sophie whispered. “They’re coming.”
I heard a variety of different epithets as Russ and his other cronies apparently happened on the toppled hay bales. “They can’t get back through this way,” he ordered. “Go back around front. We’ll catch them when they try to go back to the car.”
The car. I mentally smacked myself. I had forgotten to warn them away from the car.
When he was sure they were gone, Landon relaxed his grip on me. He didn’t entirely release me, though. “They won’t go back to the car, right?”
I looked at Landon helplessly.
“Crap,” Landon swore. He scanned the immediate area quickly. “Why does a corn maze have walls made out of bales of hay?”
“Ambiance?”
“Don’t be cute.”
It was hard to be cute when I was terrified for my family. Landon grabbed my hand and started moving in the opposite direction from Russ.
“Where are we going?”
“There’s an emergency exit somewhere over here,” Landon muttered. “I saw it when I was here the other day.”
“You were scoping out emergency exits in a corn maze?”
“I look for emergency exits everywhere.”
I watched Landon search the far wall for the hidden exit for a few minutes. When he found it, he pushed it open and raced through it. I followed soundlessly. I had no idea what his plan was, but it had to be better than the mind-numbing fear that was clouding my brain.
When we stumbled out into the open air, Landon paused to get his bearings. “They’ll exit at the back, right?”
I nodded.
Landon took off in the direction of the rear of the maze. I wordlessly followed him, struggling to keep up. I didn’t want him to slow down, though. Not if it meant that he could save my family – even Aunt Tillie.
I pushed the lingering pain in my ankle out of my mind. Landon now had a decent lead on me. I saw him disappear around the corner of the maze. A few moments later I followed – coming up short when I saw the scene in front of me.
Russ had a grip on Aunt Tillie’s arm. Landon had stopped a few feet in front of me. No one else was in sight.
For her part, Aunt Tillie was having none of this. “You let me go right now you piece of shit!”
“Shut up, old lady.”
Russ was glaring at Landon. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you.”
“You should always follow your instincts,” Landon said smoothly.
“It’s all ruined now,” Russ screamed.
“The others got away?” Landon asked.
“Yeah, it’s pretty pathetic when the only one you can catch is the old one in a combat helmet.”
“Where are Gunner and Diesel?”
“I sent them after the others.”
Fear was knotted in the pit of my stomach. I moved to Landon’s side, eyeing Aunt Tillie warily. “Leave her alone. She’s just an old woman.”
Aunt Tillie glared at me. “You shut your mouth. I’m so sick of your mouth.”
“Now is not the time for you to be ... you,” I ordered her.
“Did you ever think it wasn’t the time for yo
u to be you?”
“Not really.”
“That’s your problem. You have a definitive lack of foresight.” If Aunt Tillie was scared, she wasn’t showing it.
“And you look before you leap.”
“The whole family does that,” Aunt Tillie countered.
She had a point.
“We’re probably going to die,” I said finally.
“That’s your other problem,” Aunt Tillie chided me. “You have no faith.”
“Since these are probably our last few minutes, I want you to tell me the truth.” Stall. Stall. Stall.
Aunt Tillie waited for me to ask the question.
“Did you start the pot field?”
“That’s the question you wanted to ask?” She seemed surprised.
“I didn’t figure you’d tell the truth any other time.”
“I didn’t start it,” she said. “Your Uncle Calvin did.”
“Uncle Calvin?” Now I really wished I had been able to meet the man.
“He liked his pot,” Aunt Tillie shrugged. “He liked his potato chips, too. He finally found a hobby that brought the two together.”
“Is that why you let them keep it?”
“This may come as a surprise to you, but I’m not as rigid as you think.” I could believe that.
Russ was making a move on Aunt Tillie. I had to do something.
“Wait!”
Russ turned to me expectantly. I saw Landon eyeing me curiously. I think he was even interested to see what I would do next.
“I have one more question,” I said. I was desperate. I didn’t know what else to do.
Russ looked at me expectantly and waited.
“Did you curse Thistle, Clove and I yesterday?”
Aunt Tillie smirked to herself. “I don’t curse people. You know that. I don’t need to,” she added. “I don’t need magic to win.”
With those words, Aunt Tillie lifted her tiny leg higher than I would have imagined possible at this point in her life and kicked Russ as hard as she could in the balls.
Russ crumpled forward, screaming in pain.
Landon raced forward, tackling Russ. Aunt Tillie took a step away. I raced over to her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she waved me off. “That boy with you would be good looking if he didn’t have hair like a girl,” she said after watching them wrestle on the ground for a few seconds.
Landon and Russ were grappling for the gun. We both jumped when it went off. I saw Landon slump on top of Russ.
Aunt Tillie and I were frozen in our spots. He’d shot Landon.
Russ shifted Landon’s body off of him. I could see Landon’s blood splattered on his shirt. Russ was gripping the gun in his hand and climbing to his feet. There was nowhere for us to run. And boy, did Russ look pissed.
“You guys have been more trouble than ... well, just about anyone I’ve ever met.” Russ huffed.
I slipped my hand in Aunt Tillie’s. It was the only measure of comfort I could offer her.
I screwed my eyes shut when I saw Russ raising the weapon. I tried to move in front of Aunt Tillie as much as I could, to shield her. I knew it was a fruitless move, but I didn’t know what else to do.
I felt Shane and Sophie move in beside me. “We don’t know what to do?” Shane whispered.
“There’s nothing you can do,” I said. My eyes were still closed.
When the gun went off, my heart stopped. It took me a full five seconds to realize that I didn’t feel any pain. I must be in shock.
After another five seconds, I finally opened my eyes. I was surprised to see Russ lying on the ground next to Landon. He wasn’t moving.
I swung around to see Chief Terry standing beside me. His gun was out and he was moving toward Aunt Tillie.
“Are you two okay?” He seemed concerned, but he didn’t stop as he continued on toward Russ and Landon.
“I’m fine,” I said. Then I passed out.
Twenty-Nine
Aunt Tillie’s face swam into view. She was leaning down over me. She looked more irked than concerned.
“Am I in hell?”
“Not yet,” she scolded. “You’re embarrassing me, though, so you probably will be later.”
A hand was reaching down for me. I grabbed it and found myself face-to-face with Chief Terry.
“What happened?”
“You passed out like a ninny,” Aunt Tillie supplied.
Chief Terry smiled and shook his head. “How do you feel?”
“I’m fine,” I started. Everything came rushing back to me. Landon.
I swung around to see a group of paramedics had arrived and were working feverishly on Landon. No one was buzzing around Russ.
“Is …?”
“Russ is dead,” Chief Terry acknowledged. “They’re still working on Landon.”
“Will he survive?”
Chief Terry read the concern on my face. “It’s too soon to tell.”
The paramedics had moved Landon onto a gurney and they were rushing him toward the ambulance. I heard one of them barking out orders on his radio: “We’re en route to Northern Michigan Hospital,” he barked. “We have an injured FBI agent with a gunshot to the chest. We’ll pump him full of fluids on the way, but he’s going to need to go into surgery.”
I watched as Landon was wheeled past me. His face was ashen and motionless. He already looked dead. Then, what the paramedic had said into the radio, sunk in. “An FBI agent?”
Chief Terry looked momentarily embarrassed. “I wanted to tell you,” he protested. “I really did, but I didn’t think you would be able to keep your mouth shut and the minute Thistle and Clove found out, then everyone in town would find out.”
“You told me to stay away from him,” I countered.
“I didn’t want you to mess up his investigation,” Chief Terry explained. “He’s been undercover with these guys for months.”
“But you told me he was a bad guy,” I argued.
“He’s an FBI agent, not Gandhi,” Chief Terry said. “Besides, I don’t like the Feds. They’re always full of themselves.”
“How long have you known?”
“Not long,” Chief Terry said. “I thought I recognized him that day out at the corn maze, but I couldn’t be sure. We met at a training exercise more than a year ago. He came to my office to fill me in, though, that morning you showed up. He didn’t want me to blow his cover.”
“So you lied to me. I knew he wasn’t just there to answer questions.”
“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you everything. There’s a difference.”
“I didn’t realize we were able to use elementary school logic,” I grumbled.
“Oh, get over it,” Aunt Tillie interrupted. “He had a job to do. You had a job to do. Everything turned out fine, like I told you it would.”
“Really? Now you’re going to pull out the ‘I told you so’ card?”
I heard a commotion behind us and turned to see what was going on. I was relieved to see Russ’ cohorts being led out in handcuffs. It looked as if the state police had gotten a little overzealous with them, given the bruises that were becoming apparent on their faces under the bright police lights that had illuminated the area.
“I see they put up a fight,” I smiled.
“Not with us,” Chief Terry laughed.
“Than how …?”
I saw a group of people walk around the corner of the maze and exhaled a pent-up sigh of relief when I saw Mom, Marnie, Twila, Thistle and Clove come into view. They looked a little dirty and unkempt, but otherwise unharmed.
“They’re the ones who subdued them,” Chief Terry said.
“They did? How?” Thistle and Clove had caught sight of me and were rushing to my side.
“Thank the goddess, you’re all right,” Clove said, throwing her arms around me.
Thistle merely smiled. We weren’t big on public displays of affection. “I was worried about you guys.”
&nbs
p; “We had everything under control,” Thistle said.
I saw that the two bikers were giving all the women in my family a wide berth, casting wary glances at them – along with the occasional glare – as they were led to the patrol cars.
“What happened to them?”
Thistle smirked. “Our moms got a little, um, overzealous.”
“With what? A car?”
“No, more like a rake and shovel they found on the far side of the maze when we exited.”
I saw that a couple of officers were carrying a rake and a shovel toward the police cars. The ends were bagged to preserve evidence. I was hoping that was just a formality and that my mom and aunts weren’t going to be charged with anything.
“How did you get separated from Aunt Tillie?”
Thistle glowered at her. “She purposely separated from us. I couldn’t control her. She was like a banshee. She kept saying she had to wait for you. I made a choice to get our moms away and leave her. I figured she was fairly indestructible.”
“You did the right thing,” I assured her. “In fact, Aunt Tillie is the one who hobbled Russ so Landon could make a run at him. Oh, and Landon is an FBI agent.”
Thistle looked surprised while Clove looked relieved. “Good. I knew someone that good looking couldn’t be a drug dealer.”
Thistle was watching grimly as the police zipped Russ’ body up in a body bag. “She didn’t shoot him, did she?”
“No, Chief Terry did that. She just kicked him in the balls.”
“Oh, well, it’s not like he didn’t have it coming.” Thistle would have probably kicked him in the balls herself if she had the chance.
I was watching my mom, Marnie and Twila cautiously. “They seem okay.”
“Yeah, they beat the shit out of those guys,” Thistle said. She looked proud, despite herself. “When the cops showed up, they were begging them to arrest them and get them away from the crazy witches.”
“I don’t blame them.” I turned to Chief Terry expectantly. “So, now what?”
“Now? Now you go home.”
“That’s it?”
“For now. I’ll send officers out to the inn to question you guys, but that is pretty cut and dry. We’ve already hauled the other two bodies out of the center of the maze.”
Witchy Dreams Page 22
