“No promises.”
BAY PURPOSELY picked an area for us to watch from that she was familiar with. It was close enough to the lake that we could sit and enjoy the wildlife while bored, but not so far from the scene that we’d be out of the loop should Jack and Bernard catch someone crossing the police tape.
That was the goal, anyway.
“What’s the deal with the tanker,” I asked, pointing at the large vessel anchored behind the lighthouse. I’d seen it on previous visits, but never bothered to ask about it. “Do you guys take that out on the lake or something?”
Bay chuckled and shook her head, grabbing a few flat stones so she could skip them across the water. “No. It floats but it you can’t steer it. Sam had to hire someone to tow it in.”
“But why?”
“This is a tourist area,” Bay replied. “Sam opened the tanker around Halloween, but only allowed people to visit the top deck. This spring and summer we plan to turn it into the best haunted attraction in Hemlock Cove.”
“It’s pretty cool that you guys help each other out like that.”
“Sam saved my life last year, so I figure I can help him with his tanker. Only seems fair.”
I arched an eyebrow. “He saved your life?”
“He even got shot in the foot doing it.”
I was a bit dumbfounded by the casual way she related it. “How many times have you almost died?”
Bay shrugged. “I forget.”
“Landon hasn’t forgotten.”
“Landon will never forget,” Bay said. “It haunts him. He almost died saving me the first time. I didn’t even know him then. He was undercover. I didn’t realize he was a good guy until he was almost a gone guy.”
“That’s kind of a romantic story.” I grinned. “Just think; you’ll be able to tell that story to your grandchildren one day.”
“Yes, well, I’m sure it will have grown by that time,” Bay said, dusting her hands on the back of her pants. “By the time Landon is done embellishing it he’ll be superhuman and I’ll be a crying mess.”
“Does that bother you?”
Bay shook her head. “Not in the least. I already think he’s superhuman. In fact … .” Bay broke off, tilting her head to the side as she glanced into the heavy foliage behind her.
I almost asked the obvious question, but the hair on my arms stood to attention as something dark and ominous washed over me. I lifted my eyes to the sky, half expecting a cloud to have passed over the sun or an eclipse to have taken place, but the darkness came from someplace else.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Bay pressed her finger to her lips as she crouched down, resting her palms on the ground as she peered into the foliage. I couldn’t see what she stared at from my vantage point, but I knew we were in trouble by the way she widened her eyes and tumbled backward.
The explosion of movement from the bushes caught me by surprise as Phyllis Grimes, her eyes wide and manic, barreled through them. Her chest heaved, her race participation number hanging onto her tank top by a single safety pin at one corner. Her flushed face glanced between the two of us.
“What the … ?” She seemed as surprised to see Bay and me as we were to see her.
“It’s you?” Bay looked a bit disappointed. “I didn’t think it was going to be you.”
“You didn’t think what was going to be me?” Phyllis looked bewildered, sparing a worried glance over her shoulder. “Why are you hiding in the bushes?”
“We’re not hiding in the bushes,” Bay replied. “We’re hanging out by the water in case Bigfoot comes calling.”
“I … what?” Phyllis was flabbergasted as she rubbed her sweaty palms on her shorts. “You can’t be here. You have to go right now!”
“What do you mean?” Bay asked, confused.
“It’s not safe,” Phyllis growled. “You have to go right now! He’s almost here!”
Bay lifted her head and glanced in the direction Phyllis had approached from, her expression unreadable. “Who’s almost here?”
I wanted to echo the question, but it was too late. I felt another presence before I could open my mouth to warn Bay, instinct taking over and causing me to take an unsteady step away from the trees.
“Run, you idiots,” Phyllis shouted. “He’ll kill you if he sees you!”
I watched as a set of legs moved through the bushes to my right, my stomach twisting as a tall figure stepped into the clearing.
“Oh, it’s much too late for that,” the new arrival pronounced, his eyes dark. “Well, well, well. I wasn’t expecting such a big crowd. That’s going to make what comes next difficult. I don’t have a lot of choice in the matter, though, so I guess I’ll start by asking for volunteers. Who wants to die first?”
Thirty
Jim Green didn’t look happy as his gaze bounced between Bay, Phyllis and me. I could practically see his mind working as he surveyed the situation. When he shifted, I realized he had an ugly-looking knife clutched in his hand, one of those serrated blades hunters use to gut and skin a kill before carrying it to a waiting vehicle. He’d clearly been going after Phyllis when he came upon us, but that didn’t mean he’d tuck tail and run now that he was outnumbered. The knife leveled the field … and then some.
I hesitantly took another step back, increasing the distance between us. I was closest to him, but I had a bit of elbow room should I need to run. Every nerve ending in my body screamed to do just that, but the idea of turning my back on a deranged man with a knife didn’t seem like a good idea.
“What’s going on?” Bay asked, straightening and drawing Green’s attention. “Are you hunting, Jim?”
“I think he’s looking for Bigfoot,” I offered, hoping I sounded calmer than I felt. Even though I knew we were trying to draw a killer to us I was flabbergasted it actually worked. It worked a bit too well. We drew a killer to us, yet our backup felt as if it was miles away. “He’s going to need that knife if he expects to fight the creature I saw out here the other night.”
Green narrowed his eyes to dangerous brown slits. “What are you ladies doing out here? I was under the impression that volunteers were sticking close to the running trail. That was part of the arrangement we struck with the town council when we agreed to use Hemlock Cove’s trails.”
I had to hand it to him. He remained calm despite the untenable situation. His chest continued to rise and fall at a steady pace, but I knew the instant one of us tried to run he’d be on us. The only chance we had was keeping him distracted in the hope that Jack or Landon would come looking.
“Oh, we’re here for you,” Bay answered calmly. “The FBI and Chief Terry are running a joint operation to draw out a killer. Looks like it worked.”
Green’s shoulders stiffened. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Yeah, what is that supposed to mean?” Phyllis asked, her eyes shifting to Bay.
“It means that you’ll be okay, Phyllis.” Bay offered the woman a half-smile. “Landon and Chief Terry will be here any minute. They only spread the word about new evidence at the scene to draw out the killer. It worked … obviously. Apparently it worked too well, because it caused Jim here to chase you through the woods. Speaking of that, why was he chasing you?”
Phyllis’ expression was hard to read, but when she locked gazes with Green a chill washed over me. A lot was said with the glance, none of it was good. I opened my mouth to warn Bay, but it was already too late.
“He’s not chasing me,” Phyllis replied, shuffling closer to Bay. “He was following behind me because we had something we needed to do together. There’s a difference.”
Bay realized her mistake. I could see the realization register on her features. She didn’t back down, and I admired her courage. All I could think to do was run, but leaving Bay to fight the duo on her own simply wasn’t an option.
“You’re in this together,” Bay mused, tilting her head to the side. “I guess it makes sense in a roundabout way, huh? You killed Pen
ny and then panicked. You needed help getting rid of the body. You went to school with Jim and the two of you were tight. I saw photos of you together in the yearbook.”
“We were in love,” Green corrected, his voice dripping with disdain. “We were meant to be together until … well … until Bob ruined everything.”
Bay arched a dubious eyebrow. “Bob ruined everything? How? No one forced Phyllis to marry him.”
“He confused her,” Green spat. “He made her believe things that weren’t true. I tried telling her back then that it was a mistake, but she wouldn’t listen. She wouldn’t … see him for what he was then. He only grew worse over the years.”
I tugged on my ear – a nervous habit from when I was a kid that I thought I’d outgrown – and ran the series of events through my head. It made sense … and yet it didn’t. “You were in love with Phyllis when you were in high school, but she broke up with you because of Bob. You pined for her all of these years, didn’t you?”
“I don’t believe ‘pined’ is the word I’d use to describe it,” Green replied stiffly.
“But it’s clearly not the wrong word, is it?” Bay licked her lips and flicked her eyes to Phyllis. The woman didn’t look to be armed, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t. I could practically see Bay’s mind working. If it came down to it, fighting off Phyllis probably wouldn’t be an issue. She was a bit chunky in the hips and thighs and had a few pounds on both of us, but we could outrun her. Green was the wildcard.
“I made a mistake,” Phyllis offered, her demeanor suddenly grown eerily calm. “I should’ve followed my heart, but Bob twisted my head and I made a bad decision. I’ve regretted it ever since. Jim knows that. He accepts that. He … forgives … me.”
The excuse sounded well-rehearsed but I didn’t believe a word of it. “Let me hazard a guess as to how all of this played out,” I interjected. “You fell for Bob because he was the hottest guy in your class. Isn’t that what you told us over dinner last night while we were looking at the yearbook, Bay?”
Bay nodded. “He even won that award in the mock election. It was in the yearbook.”
“So he was considered the hottest guy in your class and everyone wanted him,” I said. “Even though his prospects weren’t great for making a living, once you were out of school you couldn’t get him out of your head. So when he flirted with you one night you thought you had a chance to nab him.
“You were more than happy to dump Jim here, because you wanted Bob. You thought he’d go further,” I continued. “You dated Bob, married him and even had a couple of kids. You thought you had everything you wanted … but you couldn’t keep him faithful.”
“Bob is a good provider,” Phyllis huffed. “He’s a good … man.”
“No, he’s not,” Bay argued. “He has a certain reputation around this area. He’ll nail anything with a pulse – including older women, young women, fat women, skinny women, ugly women and pretty women. He doesn’t care as long as he gets off.”
“You shut your mouth,” Phyllis hissed, spittle forming at the corners of her mouth as she glared at Bay. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“But she does,” I argued, drawing three sets of eyes to me. I figured the longer we could keep Phyllis and Green engaged in conversation the more time we bought for ourselves. Landon would come looking. He was too wired into Bay to abandon her. “Bob has quite the reputation. I’m new to this town, but at least five different people mentioned it to me.” That was a bit of an exaggeration, but Phyllis didn’t need to know. She looked easy enough to derange, which could only help us if it came down to a battle.
“You’re a liar!” Phyllis’ eyes flashed hot. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. Just … shut your mouth!”
“No, don’t shut your mouth,” Bay countered, shaking her head. “I think Phyllis needs to hear this. Of course, I think Phyllis hearing this over and over is what caused her to kill Penny. What happened? Did Bob sleeping with someone who worked at the resort hit too close to home?”
“Oh, please,” Green scoffed. “Everyone Bob slept with worked at the resort. He slept with guests and workers. He didn’t care. The man was a walking billboard for Viagra, for crying out loud.”
“Stop saying that,” Phyllis hissed, glaring at Green. “That’s not what happened.”
I sensed an air of discomfort building between them. It was obvious they had different goals. I decided to play on that. “You killed Penny in an act of rage, didn’t you, Phyllis?”
Phyllis jerked her eyes to me and swallowed hard. “It was an accident.”
“Of course it was an accident,” Green interjected. “You don’t have a mean bone in your body. You could never purposely hurt someone. This is all on Bob. He’s to blame for all of it.”
Green was either deranged or blind to Phyllis’ true nature. I couldn’t decide which. “What happened? Did Penny confront you? Did she try to drive a wedge in your relationship with Bob?”
“That little tramp told me to let him go so she could have him,” Phyllis replied icily. “She said that he loved her and wanted to be with her, and the only thing holding them back was the fact that he didn’t want to create a hostile work environment by leaving me for someone else who worked at the resort. Can you believe that?”
Actually I could. Penny hadn’t sounded like a very good person from everything I’d heard. To be fair, it wasn’t that she was a bad person. It was more that she was a lost person. “What did you say to her?”
“I told her I’d weathered far worse than her,” Phyllis replied. “Everyone at the resort knew about her. They knew she’d sleep with anyone to get ahead. Hell, do you think Bob was the only one she seduced?”
I shook my head. “No. She seduced Jim and Shane Norman, too. She also slept with a bunch of the grounds workers and bellboys. She wasn’t discriminating.”
Green grimaced at mention of his name. “She was a harlot! I had no idea she was sleeping with Bob and Shane. I didn’t find that out until much later, until it was too late. I never would’ve touched her, but … she tricked me.”
“Tricked you?” Bay’s expression reflected doubt. “Did she trip you so you accidentally fell into her?”
“No one’s talking to you, you foul-mouthed whore!” Green exploded, causing me to shrink back. Bay, however, remained standing steady. She didn’t so much as let a muscle twitch.
“I bet I know how this all went down,” Bay pressed. “She figured out you were still in love with Phyllis and used that to her advantage. That’s what happened, right?”
“She wanted us to join forces,” Green offered. “I thought she was crazy when she suggested it. She thought it would work out well for both of us if we broke up Phyllis and Bob. She brought it up after sex one night, as if it was nothing. Can you believe that?”
“What? You didn’t tell me that?” Phyllis’ surprise was palpable. “What did she want?”
“She said that if I helped her get Bob that you would come running to me,” Green replied. “I considered it, but I wasn’t sure it would really happen. We never really got past the planning stage.”
“You were going to help her?” Phyllis’ confusion turned to rage. “You were going to help her steal my husband?”
“You said you never should’ve married him,” Green snapped, his attention focused on Phyllis. His distraction gave me a chance to meet Bay’s gaze. I couldn’t read her mind, but her intent was obvious when she gestured to the high branch over Green’s head. I knew what she wanted me to do, but wasn’t sure I could do it. My abilities hadn’t always worked on demand.
“I never should’ve married him. But that doesn’t mean you should’ve helped that terrible woman try to break up my family,” Phyllis snapped. “What were you thinking? I can’t believe you’d betray me like that.”
“Betray you?” Green was beside himself as I narrowed my eyes and focused on the only target I had, willing myself to calm down and work the thick branch free from the
stout trunk. “You broke up with me! You betrayed me!”
“I didn’t betray you,” Phyllis shot back, furious. “It was high school. No one marries their high school sweetheart.”
“That’s true,” Bay said, trying to draw their attention back to her and free me to drop the branch. I could feel my power licking at the point of connection, yet nothing happened. My emotions were too wild for the magic to take hold. I needed to center myself. “You were holding onto the past, Jim, and Phyllis was looking forward to the future.”
“What future?” Green sputtered. “She was never going to have a future with Bob. It was only a matter of time before he knocked up someone else and everyone in town found out about his extracurricular activities. We even had bets on when it would happen. All of the workers at the resort had a pool going. Bob was a disgusting piece of filth.”
“Oh, trust me,” Bay said, “that memo was sent out a long time ago. But get back to Penny. Phyllis killed her and then what? Did she come to you for help?”
“She killed her on the eighteenth green of the golf course,” Green gritted out. “Everyone uses the ambulance codes to get back there. That’s where Penny and Phyllis met to hash things out. Penny was already dead by the time I got there. I had a choice. I could either help Phyllis or leave her to do it herself and possibly go to jail. I refuse to let her go to jail, so … I helped her.”
“But how did you do it?” Bay asked. “The medical examiner said there was foreign DNA in the wounds. I’m guessing you used that knife there to open the wound a bit. Although … did you stab her in the throat, Phyllis?”
“I didn’t mean to.” Phyllis managed to regroup a bit as she stared at her hands. “I told her I had no intention of divorcing Bob, but she wouldn’t stop verbally attacking me. She kept saying that he loved her and not me, and that I was pathetic and clingy. I couldn’t stand the sound of her voice.”
“So you decided to shut her up,” Bay deduced.
Witchy Dreams Page 75
