Tara wished she could text Danny. He wouldn’t be able to get here in time, but she could tell him everything. She could say goodbye. She had to go. It was now or never. She stood and unlatched the window. Wind and rain rushed in as she opened it, sending the window flying back against the wall with a loud bang. The doorknob rattled as someone tried to push it open. Tara hauled herself up to the window and began to crawl out. The chair fell to the floor behind her. She was only halfway through the window. Footsteps pounded toward her. She squeezed out another inch, as rain pelted her face, stinging her cheeks. Hands grabbed her ankles and began to pull.
“No!”
“I’ve got you,” Andy said. “I’ve got you.” Tara kicked and screamed, but his grip was strong. As he pulled backward she clung to the window frame. “Don’t fight me.”
“Let me go.”
Her grip weakened, her hands were too wet, he was too strong. She was yanked back into the room and fell to the floor. Andy towered over her. On the bed behind her sat the fire poker.
“You weren’t supposed to be involved in this.”
“Mimi tried to tell me.” I always had the notebooks with me. How could I be so stupid? She meant that she’d had them in the vehicle. “You were the one who messed with Mimi’s notebooks.”
“She was rather organized,” Andy said. “Made it easy to learn about all the guests.”
“Bartley said he knew nothing of this game Veronica was playing. Because it wasn’t her game. It was yours.”
“Hardly a game.” He flashed with anger. “Rather a well thought-out plan. Can you imagine, Nancy coming to stay here? Best friends with Veronica back in the day. She didn’t even realize Alexis was Martin’s daughter. Not until it was too late.”
“When she did realize who Alexis was—who you were—it must have come as quite a shock.”
Andy’s eyes danced. He looked as if he’d gone mad. “It was my fault. I carried around the article on my father’s suicide. It was to motivate me. That was stupid of me. She found it. Started asking me a bunch of questions. She planned on telling Veronica that her new driver was her old driver’s son. I couldn’t have that. She was going to destroy our plan.”
Tara stood up from the floor, which wasn’t easy. She stumbled. Andy pushed her onto the bed. She reached for the poker.
“Don’t be stupid.” He shoved her hand away, grabbed the poker, and flung it across the room. “Do that again, and I’m using it on your head.”
She believed him. He didn’t plan on letting her leave this inn alive. The only question that remained was whether she’d choose a peaceful death or a violent one. She didn’t believe she could talk him out of it. He’d already killed three people. But talking was her only shot. “It’s over. You got your revenge.”
“I’m not going down for this. It was justice.”
“I won’t say anything.”
“I’m afraid I don’t believe you.”
“Danny knows I’m here.” She stopped. Looked at the window. Bartley. Where was he?
Andy sighed. “It was a terrible storm. The branch fell directly on you. I tried to save you.”
“They’ll find evidence I was in the cottage.”
“This isn’t CSI.”
He didn’t know she had the keys in her hand, ready to stab. Should she aim for his eyes? Groin? “Your father wouldn’t have wanted this.”
“It’s not as hard as I thought,” Andy said. “Killing someone.”
“Because you think they deserved it,” Tara said, winging it as she went along. “Do I?”
He grabbed the glass of milk from the bedside table. “Just drink it. You won’t feel a thing.”
“How did you pull it off? Don’t I deserve to know?”
“Drink it and I’ll tell you.”
“Tell me and I’ll drink it.”
“I had two years to watch them. Learn their habits. Eddie was always drunk. Veronica always lost the brooch. It slipped off in the car, right after we left your shop. I knew it was that night or never. I’d just been notified that Eddie was arriving by bus. Easy enough to suggest I drop him off at a little trad session first. It was actually you who gave me the idea to use Eddie as my alibi.”
“Me?” She hadn’t expected this.
“You’re the one who commented that we looked alike in the cap. What a gift you gave me.”
“We should be even then.”
Andy laughed wryly. “I honestly didn’t want you to figure it out. But you have. It’s out of my hands.”
She needed to keep him talking. She took a tiny sip, trying to keep as much in her mouth without swallowing. “You’re the one who wound Veronica up that evening. Made her think Nancy was murdered by one of her guests.”
Andy laughed. “Nancy was murdered. I was only telling her the truth. But yes. It was rather easy to wind her up. When she saw the bottle of whiskey in my glove compartment, she was so upset she couldn’t resist.”
“You’re evil.”
“No,” he said, the anger flashing through him once more. “She’s the one who ruined our father. Our childhood. She treated him like a thing. Not a person. A thing. Never could relax a day in his life. Who do you think he took it out on?” He let the inference hang. Tara shuddered. “She made him that way. She’s the evil one.”
As long as he was talking, she was still alive. “How on earth did you get her out to Clifden Castle the next morning?”
“It was easy to steal keys from the valet. I took a car parked the furthest from prying eyes. Could have been caught. But I wasn’t. Now drink.”
Tara took another sip. “But how did you convince Veronica to go to the castle that early?”
“I told her someone with information about Nancy’s death wanted to meet her.” He grinned. “I wasn’t lying. It just happened to be me.” He gestured to her glass of milk, now shaking in her hands.
“Nancy didn’t deserve to die.”
“She was too nosy for her own good. She had a peaceful death. Her own sleeping pills made her drowsy. The sun did the rest.” A shiver ran through her. Once she fell asleep, how would he kill her? Where would he hide her body? She’d never know.
He pointed to her glass. “Drink. All of it.”
“If I don’t?”
“Then it will be very painful. Don’t bring that on yourself.”
“Mimi put it all together. Realized you had been going through her folders that sometimes she left unattended in the vehicle.”
Andy nodded with a smirk. “Those stupid notebooks. She had me father’s obituary. An article that was written about his suicide. It mentioned he was found with the book. I guess dat’s when she put it together.”
“Places to See in Ireland Before You Die,” Tara said. “It was you who left the book in my shop. You who put the red X in the books, luring the guests to certain spots. You who planted the amends at the locations.”
Andy nodded. “Mimi figured out I had a sneak peek at the amends. She was too organized. I must have tipped her off. I honestly don’t know how she figured it out. Next thing I know she’s asking me all sorts of questions on the sly, asking to see me motor license.”
“To see your last name.”
“Aye.”
“Didn’t you have to fill out paperwork to get hired? Didn’t Veronica know your last name?”
“I used a fake ID for dat. But me motor license has me real name. I wouldn’t let Mimi see it. I could tell—she was going to start digging. Now drink.”
Tara took another sip, holding it in her mouth as long as possible. “Why did she throw flowers out of my vase?”
The question took Andy by surprise. He threw his head back to laugh. Tara let milk dribble out of her mouth. “I told her you’d hidden her watch in the vase. She freaked out.”
He was laughing over a woman’s death. He was a psychopath. Andy pointed to the milk. “All of it. Or what I’m going to do next is really going to hurt.”
Tara brought the glass up to her lip
s, then when Andy relaxed for a second, she threw the liquid in his face. Then, before he could react, she drove her keys into his right eye. He screamed, clutching his eye as he stumbled back. Tara ran for the window. From the hallway, she could hear Alexis. “What’s going on?”
Andy stumbled toward her, but this time Tara was out the window, in the rain and mud, and running for her life.
She’d made some progress, but slipped for a third time, and that’s when she heard his voice.
“Come back here.”
She scrambled to her feet, and reached the road. In the distance she could see headlights of an oncoming car. Just then, someone materialized beside her. A large man. Bald. “Bartley.” He grabbed her arm and they ran across the road. They slipped in the muck on the other side and both slid to the ground. “Stay down,” Bartley said. “I knew he was no good.” Tara lifted her head. Andy was directly across the road from them. The poker was in his hand. His eyes were fixed on them when he stepped into the road. Didn’t he see the oncoming car?
“Hey,” Tara said.
Andy spotted Tara on the ground and grinned. He headed for them. In his rage, he either didn’t see the car, or thought he could beat it.
“Don’t look,” Bartley said. Tara bowed her head. She winced as she heard the thud of Andy’s body on the car, and the screech of brakes. A woman’s scream rang out. Alexis emerged, appearing before the car, soaking wet and screaming. She threw herself at Andy’s side.
“He came out of nowhere,” the driver said, stepping out. “I swear, he leapt in front of me car.”
“He did,” Tara said. “He came out of nowhere.”
Chapter 35
Tara felt the sun streaming in on her face before she felt the little paws knead her chest. She opened one eye and found Savage staring at her intently. Beside her, Danny groaned. “What time is it?”
“It’s dog time,” Tara said.
Danny pulled a pillow over his head and groaned again. “I hate dog time.” Tara scooped Savage into her arms and padded out of bed, as Hound approached, tail wags whacking her thighs.
“I need a better set of friends,” Tara joked. “Party animals instead of you morning people.”
“Do you want me to go with you?” Danny mumbled from underneath his pillow.
“Nah,” Tara said. “I got this.”
And she did. The morning air was fresh. She took in the bay, her dogs at her heels, and realized with a touch of irony, now that she’d be going on salvage trips, she would be seeing much of Ireland. Just like Martin Bixby’s book. Andy survived the accident. He was in the hospital, with a long recovery ahead of him before he could be transferred to a jail cell. Alexis had been arrested as an accessory. She was talking, trying to reduce her sentence. Eddie and Cassidy had been able to add to the picture as well.
The morning of Veronica’s murder, Eddie had woken up on the grounds of the castle, and assumed he’d blacked out. He was terrified that he wouldn’t be believed. A part of him was convinced that he may have killed Veronica in a blackout. He and Cassidy had never kissed, never had an affair—and that’s why neither of them came forward as each other’s alibi. The valets had all seen Eddie sleeping in Andy’s vehicle, but because of that tweed cap, and the way Andy had positioned him, there was no reason to think it was anyone other than Andy.
Nancy Halligan had no idea Alexis was Andy’s sister. Which is why she felt completely comfortable confiding in Alexis. How she’d heard some island gossip—that Andy Bixby had taken a job as Veronica’s new chauffeur. Her mistake was confiding in Alexis that she found it suspicious and was about to tell Veronica. Calm down, Eddie. Andy had pretended to be Eddie on the phone, worried about this Andy character. Didn’t Nancy think it was strange that he was Veronica’s new driver? What if he was up to no good? It was how he’d lured Nancy to the old stone house.
Alexis and Andy Bixby had planned one murder, but ended up killing three. What a tangled web we weave . . . And Tara had almost been number four.
But she was here. Alive. Bartley was partly to thank for that. He’d been doing his own snooping, and she’d learned he’d suspected Andy all along, he just didn’t have the proof. When he heard Tara was going off with him to Inishbofin island, thankfully, he followed. And she was ever so grateful for it.
She took a deep breath and sent up a prayer for her mam, Thomas, Veronica, Nancy, Mimi, and even Martin Bixby. Veronica had been a mean drunk, but she wasn’t to blame for Martin’s suicide. She didn’t deserve to die. None of them did. Hopefully, now that their killers had been caught, they could all rest in peace.
Savage barked, knocking Tara out of her reverie. Hound lifted his head and howled. In concert, they whined and tugged on their leashes, dragging Tara forward. “Bunch of babies,” she said, picking up the pace. “A pair of freaking babies.” They wagged their tails and pulled her along. She laughed. This was life. This was one day at a time. And she was going to appreciate every fleeting moment of it.
Author’s Note
For each book, I do as much research as possible. For this one I had the pleasure of visiting Clifden Connemara with my father. We had an amazing time. The scenery was jaw-dropping. Clifden is a beautiful and vibrant town. We loved taking the trek to the Clifden Castle from downtown Connemara, and I was especially thrilled to see a rainbow along our way. What a fabulous set of ruins, set back amongst the mountains and bay, and pasture, and rolling hills. We also hiked the blue trail at Connemara National Park, and took a bus from Galway to Clifden along N59. I was amazed how the drivers handle those narrow, winding roads. Unfortunately, I did not get to Ballynahinch Castle as they were booked solid. From the research I’ve done, it looks like an incredible place to stay, and I hope to be strolling their grounds one day soon.
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