by Kelly Ethan
“Why would anyone agree to killing themselves?” Xandie was equal parts horrified and pitying. To be in such a position to make that decision was a terrible predicament.
“The plane had a parachute. My son decided since he’d parachuted hundreds of jumps with the army it wouldn’t be a big thing to leap out of a crop duster. And then we’d have enough money to tide us over until I got a proper paying job. I had three other kids and a mortgage to consider.” She wiped the tears away with the back of the hand. “I didn’t want him to do it, but he wouldn’t listen. Next thing the police are knocking at my door and the money’s in our mailbox. He never made it out.”
“Who hired him?” Priss pushed the lady, obviously hoping for a specific name.
“No names, but...” She paused, considering her words. “The cops came first thing. The money appeared in our mailbox early that same evening. I was in the garage sorting things out. I didn’t see the car driver get out, but I saw the car leave.”
“And?” Xandie let her voice trail off.
“The car was a silver BMW and someone with long blonde hair was driving.”
“You didn’t see the license plate by any chance?”
For the first time, the woman smiled at Xandie. “It was easy to remember. PEN1.”
Blonde hair, silver BMW with the plate PEN1? Sounded like Adelind Penne. It would be easy to mistake blonde hair for silver if you’d only had a quick glance.
The woman got up and reached behind a row of cooking books on a shelf. “Here. My son wanted to make sure his family didn’t get into any trouble. He wrote a letter detailing everything. Plus, he kept the original note offering us the cash. You can take it. It might help.”
Priss reached out and took the letters. “Thank you. This means a lot to us. To me.”
The lady sniffed and stood, ushering Xandie and Priss out. “If you put away the person who arranged this, I’d appreciate it. Peace for my son and my family.”
“We plan on it.” Xandie grabbed the woman’s hand and squeezed gently. “Thanks for being so honest with us.”
The woman nodded and closed the door behind them.
The girls walked back to the car, both silent, processing what the woman had told them.
Priss pulled out of town and back onto the highway before she spoke. “Are you thinking Adelind Penne?”
“It’s starting to add up. I’m not sure if Ronald knows and is covering for her or not. We still need to connect more dots. But yeah, I think the killer is Adelind. She’s determined to be the only Penne heir.”
“What’s our next step?”
Xandie settled into her seat for the drive. “We get back to Point Muse and plan how to trap Adeline.”
“That’s something I can get behind.” Priss flashed an excited smile at Xandie. Then she concentrated as they approached another narrower part of the road near the coast.
Xandie stared out the window, musing on the problem of the murderous Adelind Penne. She glanced over at Priss. Her new friend was handling the latest events much better than Xandie would have. Xandie frowned as Priss tensed, hands tightening on the wheel. She kept glancing at the revision mirror and back over her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a car coming up fast behind us.” Priss pulled closer to the edge of the road to allow more room for the car to pass but the other vehicle stayed on their tail.
Xandie turned in her seat. The car was right behind them. But she couldn’t see who was driving because of the tinted windows. “Tell me it’s not a silver BMW?”
“Nope. A green SUV. I can’t see who’s driving.” Priss pushed her foot down, surging in front. “We need to get ahead and shake them. The road will open soon, and we don’t want to go over the edge.”
Xandie peered out the window. There was a ditch on her side. No coastline yet, but it wouldn’t be too far away, not to mention more spots for a tragic accident to occur. Or in the case of Adelind Penne, an engineered accident, masking a murder. “What if we force them into a ditch? Take control?”
“They haven’t done anything yet.”
“That might not last for much longer. The SUV is on the move now.” Xandie pointed as the other vehicle pulled up next to them and inched closer and closer to the side of their little blue car.
“Xandie, hang on. They’re going to hit us.”
The green SUV scrapped the side of the car with a fingernails-on-a-blackboard screech of metal against metal.
Xandie hung on grimly as the little car bucked. Priss fought to kept them on the road. “Even if we ram him, would it make a difference since we’re smaller than the SUV?”
“Maybe if we time it right. We might have a chance.” Priss nodded to another car coming their way. “Hope you got your seatbelt on.”
Xandie braced herself for whatever her friend had planned.
The SUV must’ve spotted the car coming toward them and made a move to pull in behind them. Priss slammed her brakes on and hit the corner of the SUV, sending it into a tailspin. Then she sped off.
The vehicle stopped at a drunken angle across the road. The oncoming car sped past them and braked in front of the SUV. “Priss, you might just become my best friend.”
“You only love me for my driving skills.” Priss smiled at Xandie, a tad wobbly but faking composure.
Xandie shuddered. They’d come so close to disaster and only the quick thinking and defensive driving of Priss, plus lady luck, had saved them.
Adelind Penne wouldn’t get away with murder again, at least not today.
Fifteen
“Let me get this straight. An unknown green SUV allegedly tried running your car off the road?” Caleb Braun ran a hand through his short marine style sandy haircut.
Xandie cleared her throat and offered a tentative agreement. “Yes?”
“Do you have any proof this happened?”
“Ah, Caleb?” His twin brother, Riley, tried to interrupt.
Caleb held a hand up. “I’m five minutes older than you. I’m in charge and I say quiet. I need to interrogate my witness.”
“But you need to look...”
“Riley, give me five minutes here.” Caleb forced a smile and continued. “Xandie, you and Ms. Makepeace were involved in an alleged vehicular incident. Did you stop and exchange details, call emergency services?”
Priss rolled her eyes. “They rammed us. No way would we get out of the car.”
“Allegedly rammed.”
“Caleb Aloysius Braun. You listen to your brother or I’ll box you around your ears and won’t do your washing for a week.” Agatha Braun stood in the doorway, glaring at her son.
“You whined to mom? You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Riley rolled his eyes. “And you should check their car out. A green vehicle has rammed it. Lots of paint scrapings left behind,” Riley growled back at his brother.
“Thank you, Deputy Braun, for your insight.” Caleb heaved himself up. “You can fill out a statement when I come back in from checking your car.” He stomped out of the station and gave his mother a wide berth.
Agatha Braun waved Riley off and stood next to Xandie and Priss. “Sorry, ladies. Zack’s delayed so Caleb’s still in charge for at least another few days. I think I’ll be grateful when his big brother’s back.”
Xandie wasn’t happy to have chief cranky back in town. “I wanted to thank you for setting things up for us with Wolf.”
“Anything for you, Xandie. The old boy needed a shakeup, anyway. And I hear Elspeth is doing just that. Plus, setting up wards at his place.” Agatha snickered and then sobered. “I heard you had trouble driving back into Point Muse today?”
“Someone rammed my car. Know any green SUV’s?”
“Not personally, little dragon. There’s a report taken this morning about an SUV stolen from the dragon compound.” Agatha wiggled her eyebrows. “What’s the bet it’s green?”
Xandie shook her head. “I’ll pass on that bet, thanks. Do you want to know
what we found?”
Agatha pursed her lips “You need to speak to Marjorie first. When you come back out, make a formal statement and present your evidence. But I think she needs to speak to her grandmother.” Agatha nodded to Priss and pressed a button. “Go through to the holding cells. When you’re done, buzz me. I’ll let you out.”
Priss stood, her face composed except for the thin line of her compressed lips. “Thanks, Mrs. Braun.”
Agatha nodded and pointed to the door.
Xandie followed behind Priss into a different holding area to the one where she was incarcerated when the killer knight stalked her. Obviously the matriarch of the Penne clan received more consideration than a lowly librarian did. She wasn’t sure what to expect from this new area, but cheery yellow paint and white trim wasn’t it. Holding cell was stenciled in black ink over the top of the door. The central panel of the door was gray with a slot for food. The top and bottom panels were clear though. What surprised Xandie the most was the fact the door was wide open.
“Hard times ain’t hard with the doors open.” Priss shot Xandie a frantic what-do-I-do stare.
Xandie rapped on the open door. “Up for visitors, Mrs. Penne?”
Marjorie Penne lifted her head and smiled at Xandie. “Alexandra. You’ve met my granddaughter, Esmeralda?”
Es sat cross-legged on a small silver and blue rug placed in the middle of Marjorie’s cell. She met Xandie’s confused glance with a grin. “I bought stuff from home to make it more comfortable. Gran posted bail but stayed here.”
Marjorie raised a hand. “Peace, child. I decided it was more peaceful here. Plus, once the killer acted again, it would be obvious I wasn’t involved.”
“As long as you didn’t pay someone else to commit the crime to get you off the hook?” Priss smiled with her teeth but it was a half-hearted effort.
“You have a terrible opinion of me, but yet I am at a loss why a stranger would care?” As Marjorie frowned at Priss, a considering look crossed her face. “Other than the last time you aired your opinion of me, have we met?”
Xandie reached out and gave her friend’s hand a squeeze of encouragement.
“Not exactly.” Priss took a deep breath and rushed the last few words out. “But you knew my mother, Melinda Penne.”
Marjorie shook her head rhythmically. “No. No. My daughter Melinda had no family. She disappeared years ago.”
“Twenty-four years ago, correct?”
“Yes.” Marjorie’s one word was closed, final.
“She was pregnant with me when she left town with my father, Simon Makepeace. He was a dragon slayer.”
“I never knew his last name.” Marjorie cleared her throat. “How is it possible you’re Melinda’s child? Dragons aren’t compatible with humans.”
Priss shrugged. “Nature finds a way. There are slayer records that mention hybrid births, but they’re rare. I’m sure Xandie could dig up library records relating to the topic.” Priss glanced at Xandie, who nodded agreement. “Plus, we think my father might’ve had latent dragon DNA.”
“If that’s true, why isn’t my daughter here telling me this?” Marjorie eyes shimmered with unshed iridescent tears.
Priss took out her mother’s scale and passed it to Marjorie. “Not long after I was born, she came back to tell you about me. A crop duster carrying Dragons Breath hit her. Both her and the pilot died.”
A single tear slid down Marjorie’s face as she gripped the scale. “This was hers. I feel it. I was aware of the crop duster accident, but I was away at the time and there was never any mention of a dragon involved.”
Xandie broke in. The tension had built in the room and even Es held her breath, waiting for the next development. “Someone paid the crop duster to target Melinda on purpose.”
“But why? She left me, there was no reason to hurt her.”
Xandie licked her lips, dreading what she had to tell the elderly woman. She hoped the old dragon had a tough hide. “Melinda received a letter supposedly delivered from you, banishing her. Priss has it here. And a letter to the pilot of the plane offering money if he took the dragon out.”
Priss held the letter out with a trembling hand to her grandmother.
Marjorie snatched the letters out of her hand and poured over them. She raised devastated eyes to the room. “This is not my writing. I would never banish her, and children are a blessing. Hybrid or not.”
Priss swallowed. “That’s not all. We have evidence either one or both, Adelind and Ronald, were behind it and Archibald and Iris Malone’s murder.”
Marjorie reached out a hand to Es, both dragons shell-shocked. They huddled together, comforting and holding each other.
“Why do you think mom and dad were involved?”
“Because my Aunt Winifred sold a salve to treat Dragon Shale infection to Adelind at the same time as the crop duster incident. I contracted transferred Dragon Shale when the Inn was overrun by rats when I met with Ronald. Adelind was there too. Archibald was in a dragon art fraud scheme with Iris Malone. He agreed to help Priss prove her claim, but he was killed, and the murderer framed Priss.”
“Oh my gods.” Marjorie collapsed against the cell bed, dragging Es with her. “After Melinda disappeared, I waited six months before I made Adelind heir. If I’d known Melinda had a child, I would never have done that.”
Xandie walked up to Marjorie and crouched at her feet. “Ronald was a go-between. He delivered the letter, gave Melinda money, and she contacted him and Adelind when she wanted to meet with you. Penne-owned cars dropped off pay-off money and another car with the license plate PEN1 tried to ram us off the road today. I’m sorry, Marjorie, but the police have to know.”
Marjorie’s hand trembled as she gestured to a bottle of sparkling water sitting next to a hamper of food. Es passed the drink over and Marjorie toyed with the open bottle. “Adelind’s ruthless, but I never expected murder.”
“Ronald met with me and he implied you were losing it. Dragon dementia. And that you might be a silent partner with Iris and Archibald.”
Marjorie snorted. “I have plenty of money and if I want to sell any artifacts, I can do it. No need to resort to criminal activities.”
“He might’ve been the one informing the police too,” Xandie offered, worried this might be the tipping point for Marjorie.
“Mom and dad love high society. The parties, the respect and fear everyone pays the Penne heir.” Es rubbed her eyes. “I don’t care. I guess I’m similar to my grandmother. Archibald and his mother are like Adelind and Ronald.”
“Could your parents kill to keep their positions of power?” Priss’s words tore a hole in the temporary peace of the cell.
“I would have said Mom would never have dirtied her hands and soul, but now...” Es trailed off miserable. “My father follows orders. Doesn’t have an autonomous bone in his body. He couldn’t have thought this plan up. His whole married life has been about marriage to the Penne heir.”
“Either one is capable of murder?”
Both dragons nodded. Es burst out of her seated position and paced the cell. “But Mom’s concerned about grandmother. She helped me get the hamper ready. How could she do this?”
Marjorie calmed Es with a hand in the air. She stood, an aged woman coming to terms with heartbreak. Marjorie extended the scale to Priss. “This is yours. Your mother would have wanted you to have it.” She smiled, a wavering curve to her lips. Es choked back a sob behind her.
Priss cradled the scale against her chest before slipping it back onto her necklace and hiding it away. She eyed Marjorie, uncertain what to do.
Marjorie made the first move and enveloped Priss in a tight dragon hug. “Welcome home, granddaughter.”
Tears ran down the dragons’ faces.
After a while, Xandie coughed. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have to decide what we do next.”
Marjorie dropped her arm and stepped back to the bed. “There’s only one course of action.” She glanced a
t Es. “I’m sorry, my darling, but the police have to know.”
The teenager’s face whitened, but she nodded her agreement.
Decision made, Marjorie sighed. Tension seeped away as she picked up the bottle of water and took a small sip.
Something niggled at the back of Xandie’s mind and her necklace warmed until it blazed against her skin. Adelind helped pack the gear for her grandmother, including the hamper and the bottle of water.
“Stop.” Xandie rushed forward and slapped the bottle out of Marjorie’s hand, but it was too late.
Es screamed as Marjorie convulsed, falling to the ground.
“Priss, get Agatha in here and call an ambulance.”
Priss bolted for the buzzer and screamed for Agatha.
Es moaned and dropped to her knees next to her grandmother.
“Stay back.” Xandie pushed her away. “If it’s a poison fatal to dragons, it could hurt you.”
Agatha and Riley slammed into the cell, first aid kit in hand. Caleb led Xandie and Es out and then collected the evidence while his mum and brother tended to Marjorie.
Priss stood in the doorway, arm around Es, both of them locked together in misery.
This was her fault. If Xandie had told Marjorie earlier, they might have stopped Adelind earlier. “I’m sorry, Priss. So damn sorry.” Xandie stepped out of the way as ambulance personnel crowded the holding cells. The paramedics moved to stabilize Marjorie for transport.
Es elected to ride with Marjorie to the hospital in the ambulance.
As they passed, Priss shoved her evidence at Xandie. “Nail my aunt to the wall, Xandie.” Her eyes overflowed as Es dragged Priss away.
Agatha came up behind Xandie and watch them load Marjorie into the ambulance. “That’s what power and greed gets you. Twenty to life.”
Xandie turned to Agatha and gave her the letters. “I want to make a statement on the murder of Melinda Penne, Archibald Penne, Iris Malone and the attempted murder of Marjorie Penne.”
Agatha Braun nodded and patted Xandie on the shoulder. “It’ll be all right, Xandie. Marjorie’s a tough old dragon.”
