by Неизвестный
“Forget this,” Jack said harshly. “I’m going to find Marvin. He was dating Anya back then. Clearly, he was her accomplice.”
“Wait,” Miranda said. “I think I have a way to find out for sure.”
“How?” Jack asked, and she loved the fact that he still asked for her opinion even though he was the police officer and she was just a crime novelist.
Of course, crime novelists knew all the twists.
“We’ll lay a trap,” she said, certain her plan would work.
“Using what as bait?” he asked her.
Smiling, Miranda reached into her purse and took out the loose emeralds she had dumped there after she had retrieved their box from floor. “These. The thief took the box, but I had already emptied these out. The killer will figure that out soon enough. But if we tell them where to find the emeralds, I bet they come looking.”
Jack looked from the jewels to her, and a slow smile spread over his face. “That’s my girl.”
“Mm-hmm. And don’t you forget it. Oh, and Jack?” she said, leaning in close. “I think I love you, too.”
The emeralds lay in a very obvious spot out on the kitchen counter. Together, Miranda and Jack walked through the house, talking very loudly.
“Are you sure they’re safe back there?” Miranda asked Jack.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Jack answered, his voice matching hers. Anyone, anywhere in the house, would be able to hear them. “No one would think of looking in the kitchen for them. On the counter. We’ll have to hurry up though, the Raven’s Falls police will be here soon.”
Now Miranda lowered her volume to a whisper. “Try not to be so obvious about it, will you?”
“Sorry,” he said. “I never took drama in high school.”
They went through every room in the downstairs, finding each one empty. Then they went to the stairs for the second level, talking the whole way, knowing that if anyone was left in the house, they must have gone up there to hide, or to wait for the police—
“Miranda! Miranda it worked! Come quick!”
That was their early warning system. Miranda had left Kyle and Anya in the kitchen with strict instructions to make as much noise as they could as soon as anyone showed up to swipe the emeralds. Now Kyle’s shouts were joined by Anya’s scream, and Miranda grabbed Jack’s hand and began racing back the way they came.
“I take it your ghost friends are calling?” Jack asked.
“Yup,” she answered as they ran at a dead sprint.
“Well, well,” he said with a smile. “Kind of handy having them around.”
“Kyle has his moments.”
They slid to a stop in the kitchen doorway. The emeralds were gone.
But, in the middle of the room stood exactly the person who Miranda had expected to see.
Barbara Graham.
She blinked at them in surprise, her curly gray hair bouncing as she looked from Jack to Miranda.
“Huh,” Jack said. “I guess I owe you twenty dollars, Miranda.”
“Never bet against your girlfriend,” she told him sweetly.
“Yeah,” Kyle said, smugly flying this way and that. “I could’ve told you never to doubt Miranda.”
Barbara flashed them a sweet smile. “What’s this all about, you two?”
“Give the stones back,” Miranda said to her, “and just stay here quietly until the police arrive. We know everything.”
The smile on the older woman’s face slipped, just a little. “You know everything about what, dear? What stones?”
Anya floated close, pointing to Barbara’s left fist. “They’re right there. And to think, I used to call her a friend.”
“They’re in her hand,” Miranda told Jack.
He arched an eyebrow, certain he knew where that bit of information had come from, but he still stepped forward and pried Barbara’s hand open to retrieve the jewels. They shone with a green fire as he gave them to Miranda to put back in their box.
Barbara clasped her hands up at her chest, staring down at Thomas’s dead body. “How did you know?” she asked softly.
“Lots of little things,” Miranda told her. “Like how you didn’t want us here, or how you liked to spend your time at this house. I had to ask myself why. You couldn’t possibly have had anything in common with Thomas and Anya. Then it hit me. Somehow, you found out about the emeralds.”
Knowing she was caught, Barbara didn’t hold anything back. “Yes. Oh, I’m so ashamed, but that kind of money could set me up for the rest of my life, at my age. Anya got drunk one night and let slip that she had committed this big robbery years ago. She said the jewels were still in this house. So, I’ve been searching for them for months now. Inviting myself over. Snooping about when I could. I finally found them yesterday. I found them, and I was going to be rich, but Anya caught me. She saw what I had done. She made me put them back and she told me I wasn’t welcome here anymore.”
Barbara took a heavy sigh, and told the rest. “I had to have those jewels. I needed the money so badly. So, when I saw Anya argue with that Marvin fellow and come in here, I decided to make my move. I always carry digitalis with me for my heart. I crushed up several of the pills and sprinkled them over a piece of chocolate cake, and gave them to her as a peace offering.”
“Oh,” was the very small sound from Anya’s ghost. “Oh, my. Chocolate was always my favorite…”
“You weren’t her accomplice,” Jack said to Barbara with absolute certainty. “Not when the emeralds were stolen. You couldn’t have been.”
Barbara shook her head, wiping away tears. “No, dear. That was Marvin. I heard what the two of them were arguing about yesterday. He said he helped her steal them, and he wanted his cut. Mementos from their past, he called them. He didn’t think it was fair that she broke up with him and then shared the wealth with a new man.” She looked up at Jack. “I don’t think you understand how lucky you are not to have stayed with her, young man.”
Anya’s blue aura brightened momentarily, and then began to dim. By degrees, she became harder to see. Her mystery had been solved. It was time for her to move on.
In her last moments on this plane, she floated closer to Jack. “She’s right, I think. You’re lucky you didn’t stay with me. I ruin everything I touch.” Then she looked at Miranda. “Take care of him. He deserves better than me. He deserves you.”
When she had faded out of sight altogether, Miranda took Jack’s hand in hers. “She’s gone, Jack. She’s at peace.”
He nodded. He didn’t have to ask who she meant.
Barbara wiped at her eyes again. “But please, tell me. That couldn’t have been all of it. There had to be something else that told you I killed Anya.”
“There was,” Miranda told her. “When Jack and I were in here with Marvin, the power went out, turning off all the lights in the house. Marvin couldn’t have done it because he was here with us. In fact, he couldn’t have done it anyway, because only someone who was familiar with the house and knew where the main switch was could have done that. Millie’s just the caterer. I doubt she’s been looking through every inch of this place trying to find some hidden jewels. You have. You know where everything is, including the main shut off for the power.”
“Ah. I see.” Barbara nodded. “I had to kill Thomas, too. He figured out that I killed Anya. He was about to come and tell you his suspicions, Jack. I would have lost everything, and I didn’t want to go to jail. So I shot him. Then I turned out the lights when I saw you had the emerald box, Miranda, and I took it from you.”
“And clubbed me over the head,” Jack pointed out.
“Frying pan,” Barbara shrugged. “Sorry.”
“So why not kill us, too?” Miranda had to ask. “You’ve already killed two people, what’s a few more?”
“Because I’m just so tired of killing,” Barbara explained. “Besides. You have my gun.”
That was when uniformed officers of the Ravens Falls Police Department came rushing in. After a few
words of explanation they took Barbara into custody, and asked Jack and Miranda to wait for someone to talk to them outside.
After all, this was an active crime scene again.
Out on the front lawn, Miranda and Jack were met by Constable Simpson, looking just as sour and taciturn as before. He took possession of the emeralds from Miranda, and gave a low whistle when he looked inside the box.
“Don’t get many cases like this in Raven’s Falls,” he said.
“We didn’t used to in Moonlight Bay, either,” Jack said lightly. “Not until Miranda showed up.”
Kyle put his fists on his hips, leaning in to glare at Jack. “He should be a bit more grateful, don’t you think? After all, you and I practically solved this whole case!”
“Not the whole case,” she told him.
“What’s that?” Simpson asked her.
Jack smiled at her, amused and unwilling to help her out of the spot Kyle had just put her in. “Um,” she hedged, “what I meant was there’s still one loose end. Marvin Locke is still at large. He was the accomplice in the original jewel heist.”
“He wanted me to come investigate this,” Jack explained. “He figured if all eyes were on the murder he’d have a chance to find the emeralds and make off with them before anyone was any the wiser. He didn’t expect to get caught up in the murder investigation himself.”
“Riiight,” Simpson said slowly. “Well, we’ll be leaving that part up to the boys in the Northern Territory. Our concern right now is securing this crime scene so that—”
“Get back!” a uniformed officer came screaming out of the front door. The others followed, with Millie and Barbara in tow. “Move! Get back!”
Miranda didn’t know what was happening but she moved away like she was being ordered to. Then she felt the rumbling of the ground.
Then the entire house began to shake apart.
In very short order, the house was tilting, leaning, sinking into the ground as beams cracked and stonework broke apart. Windows shattered. It was exactly what she had seen in her vision, but Miranda still couldn’t believe it.
The ground was swallowing up the house where Anya and Thomas had lived, and loved, and lied. It was descending into the depths of the Earth, and it was taking Thomas’s body with it.
They all ran further, over to the other side of the street, as the ground continued to turn soft and slide away. With a horrible rumbling, like the sound of Satan himself swallowing the world, the house collapsed down, down, down. Dust and dirt plumed up in its wake, and a jet of water from some severed underground pipe jetted up high in the air for only a moment before it was buried along with everything else.
Constable Simpson swore very quietly, and very eloquently.
“Sinkhole?” Jack wondered aloud.
Miranda didn’t think so. She wouldn’t say anything until later, when she was alone with Jack and there wouldn’t be so many ears to hear her and call her crazy, but she knew better.
There were some things that people did to each other that were so horrible, so terrible, that they violated the bonds that connected every living thing in the universe. When that happened, the universe tried to course correct by erasing the evil from existence.
Theft. Greed. Murder. Lies and deceptions both old and new. All of that had taken up residence here in this house. It had been an evil place.
And now it was gone.
When she looked over at Jack, she saw him smiling. Watching that place get swallowed up had brought him a sort of peace as well. His past was truly erased now. There was only his present.
His, and hers.
“Yup,” Kyle said into the silence that settled all around them. “Jack’s a keeper.”
“I know,” Miranda told him, settling herself against his side. “I know.”
-End-
A-Maze-Ing Death
A Moonlight Bay Psychic Mystery Short Read 6
Description
No Ordinary Murder!
When Miranda and Jack (and Kyle) decide to take a mini vacation they can't believe their bad luck. From almost the moment they arrive at their destination they find themselves entangled in yet another murder investigation.
Jack Travis is shocked to discover that the victim, a fellow police officer, is a man he knows and respects.
Was he there on vacation or was he working undercover?
No one seems to know and were not even aware that he was a cop. None of it adds up.
And what exactly does it mean when Kyle starts to feel strange around some of the suspects? Could Miranda be in danger?
Will they figure it out in time and find a way to save everyone in this psychic mystery?
Chapter 1
“You know, I thought this week off from work would never come.” Jack stretched out his legs and reached for Miranda’s hand as they sat, side-by-side, on the couch in his home.
Miranda leaned sideways to rest her head on his shoulder. “Well, it’s day two. Are you relaxing yet?” She knew she was relaxed. She was very comfortable with Jack Travis sitting here with her. They’d gotten so close over the last couple of months and she couldn’t imagine her life without him anymore. “I mean, a nice quiet evening in with your girlfriend. Isn’t that enough for you?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said in that low, sultry voice he kept just for her. The one that always sent a warm sensation swirling deep within her chest. “I’ve never felt so relaxed in all my life.”
“Good,” Miranda teased. “Then relax quietly so I can watch the rest of the movie.”
“Hmm,” he purred. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind.”
“I know. If you’re a good boy I might find a way to relax you better later. Maybe. If you’re a very, very good boy. Now, shush.” Miranda turned her attention back to the TV. They were watching Tombstone—the good one with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer—and Wyatt Earp was just waxing lyrical about living on room service.
“Hey, that sounds like a good idea,” Jack said, interrupting one of the best parts.
“Oh, you are impossible,” Miranda complained as she hit the pause button on the remote. “What sounds like a good idea?”
“Room service.”
“Huh? What about room service?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It was just a thought.”
“I swear you’re impossible sometimes.” She crossed her arms, but she was more amused than anything. “What are you thinking?”
“Well, what about we take a little break somewhere this week? Live on room service and never get out of bed. It’s kind of a thing, you know.”
His piercing blue eyes held her gaze, and his dark hair felt wonderful under her fingers. His hands were already tangled in her mane of red tresses. His eyes wouldn’t stay off her curves or her trim waistline and she loved the way he made her feel. Like a teenager with a crush. It was more than her body that excited him though. It was the same for her. Sure, his tight abs felt great under her hands but there was more to him than looks. So much more.
“All right,” she said, deciding to go along with his idea. “So, where?”
“The destination doesn’t matter. Just a nice room and good room service, somewhere that no one knows us. It’s a stay-cation, I guess. Just pack a bag and book a room and reeee-lax!”
That actually sounded amazing. “Ok, I’m for it,” Miranda said, twisting on the couch until she was cross-legged and facing him. “I really am, Jack. In fact, Sapphire recently stayed at some hotel about two hours from here, I think it is.” She remembered Sapphire saying it was down along the coast from Moonlight Bay and was just outside of Melbourne on this side.. “Some place called Misty Point that she said was absolutely lovely. And it had a kind of gimmicky maze in the grounds. Might be fun, don’t you think?”
“Maze? Like a big hedge maze?” Jack asked, clearly amused. “I haven’t seen one of those since I watched The Shining.”
“Well,” Miranda laughed softly, caressing his leg with her toes, “hopeful
ly it won’t be anything like that. It’s actually called the Maze Hotel. They’re pretty famous for it, apparently. You want to give it a try?”
“OK, I’ll check it out online and get the number.” He reached over to the table beside his couch and picked up his smart phone. “When do you want to go?”
“Right away,” Miranda answered, starting to get excited at the prospect of taking off some time with her boyfriend.
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “So, you don’t want to wait until after Tombstone? I mean, this is the fortieth time you’ve watched it. Maybe the gunfight at the OK Corral will end differently this time.”
“I’ll just pause it,” she said in mock seriousness, “until we get back.”
Then she whacked him over the head with one of the throw pillows.
In a matter of just minutes, Jack was off in the kitchen, making his enquiries with the Maze Hotel.
As Miranda stretched out comfortably on the sofa, Kyle wandered into the room with Butter following along closely at his heels. Being a lovable, furry Golden Retriever, Butter made a noticeable racket as he padded his way into the room, tongue lolling, breath panting in and out.
Being a ghost who was invisible to most everyone except Miranda, wisping a blue light from the spiritual image of his lanky body, Kyle Hunter made no sound at all.
Miranda looked lazily over at Kyle. They’d been friends before his death, and they were still friends now. “Were you waiting in the other room this whole time?”
“Moi?” Kyle asked dramatically. “Never. We have a deal, you and me. Whenever you’re making out with the incredibly hunky Detective Jack Travis, I’m to be out of the building. Me and Butter were outside. I can pick up his ball now and toss it around. Not far, but he does love the game.”
Miranda knew that Jack was just Kyle’s type, too. At least, Jack was the type of guy Kyle used to be into before he died. Well. He would have to live vicariously through her. Jack was her guy.
