by K. M. Waller
If I could get in and find it, I might be able to see if he’d mentioned any other secrets than the one about Brianna and Dr. Caldwell sneaking around behind the mayor’s back.
Chapter Fifteen
Once again, Mossy went to bed early and within minutes snored like an angry animal fighting another angry animal over its dinner. I’d spent the afternoon hanging around the flower shop and preparing my outfit for the night’s excursion. From her closet I’d borrowed the perfect black shirt and pants along with black tennis shoes. I’d also found a black scarf and I wrapped it around my head to cover my hair. I’d found a flashlight under the sink.
Fairies often poofed in and out of places undetected, so I didn’t consider my plan an act of breaking and entering.
I held my pouch of fairy dust against my chest. I’d use just a little to get the electronic door to open at the mayor’s office. The rest would be kept for an extreme emergency.
The back door gave a creak as I opened it, but the sound only caused Mossy to roll over on her side. Interesting enough, that position stopped the snoring.
I walked the length of the alley when a rustling caught my attention. Please don’t be the scarred man.
Olivia jumped out of the shadows and shouted, “Hey.”
I yelped and grabbed my chest. “What are you doing out here so late?”
She glanced at her wristwatch. “It’s only ten, and I am fourteen.”
“You’re grounded,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, but this is Uncle Callan’s first night off and when he stays up all day, he crashes pretty early. He won’t even know I’m missing. Plus, I wanted to come say hello and see how your investigation is going.”
“What investigation?” I asked.
Her gaze started at my head and traveled to my toes and back. “Why are you dressed like a ninja? Are you going spying? Can I come?”
“Absolutely not.” I pointed to her bicycle she’d tossed haphazardly on the ground. “You’re going to ride back home now or I’m going to call your uncle.”
“Rude,” she said, the hurt showing in her sour expression. “I only want to help.”
“I’m not spying. I’m on my way back to the flower shop.” I turned and pretended to take a few steps in the direction from where I’d come. “Nothing to see here.”
“Right,” she said. “Fine. Bye.”
She hovered near her bike and watched me, so I turned my back to her. I walked all the way to Mossy’s back door and stood there counting to fifty. I didn’t want to risk waking my aunt by going inside so I ducked down in the shadows just in case Olivia hung around to test my lie.
I tiptoed down to the corner and checked in every direction. No Olivia. Good. She’d gone home like she’d been told.
Mossy had told me earlier that she was the only storekeeper who lived behind her shop. All the other stores closed down around six p.m., and then the square became deserted. I found this to be true as I didn’t pass another person as I cut through the park and into the back alley of city hall.
The alley behind city hall had become the thing nightmares are made of. I wasn’t usually scared of the dark, but I didn’t want to use the flashlight just yet. The one security light attached to a tall pole flickered on and off and the moon hadn’t been kind enough to grant enough light for me to see clearly.
My walk down the alley took forever. I passed a dumpster and a raccoon poked out his head. I held a finger to my lips to shush him. He glared at me and then returned to whatever waited for him in the trash. At least I wasn’t completely alone.
Before using my coveted supply of fairy dust on the door, I tried the knob thinking maybe it would be left open. No such luck. I pinched the smallest amount of dust between my thumb and pointer finger and sprinkled it on the doorknob.
The door opened with ease and I stepped inside and waited for an alarm. If it went off, then I’d have to use dust on the control system, too. The little light on the box stayed green and I wondered if the last person out had forgotten to set it.
I bypassed the elevator and used the emergency exit stairs to the second floor. So far, so good. I started at Brianna’s desk and held the flashlight high over the pile of papers spilling from her inbox. One by one I carefully set them aside in order. Not that I think she’d notice if I messed them up. Most of the pieces of paper were invoices and second and third notices. Some as far back as a month or two. I thought the mayor said John handled the invoices? Maybe that was only for petty cash. Or maybe he hadn’t been paying any bills and keeping all the petty cash for himself. That didn’t make sense with what Mossy had said about his inheritance.
“What are we searching for?” Olivia appeared beside me.
I screamed and slapped my hand over my mouth. After three deep breaths, I narrowed my eyes. “What are you doing here? I told you to go home. Your uncle will kill us both.”
“I followed you like a true spy.” She smiled and took the flashlight from me. “You left the door unlocked, but don’t worry, I hit the star button on the keypad and locked it behind us. Tell me what we’re searching for so we can work faster.”
I gritted my teeth. At least if I kept an eye on her in here, I could walk her home right after. “Allondra mentioned a possible resignation letter full of secrets from John. I need to find if it exists, and if the mayor or Brianna kept a copy.”
“Did you check John’s old office?” she asked.
I glanced around. “I didn’t even notice that he had one.”
“It’s around the corner in an old broom closet. He used to complain to Emory about it all the time.”
We walked past the mayor’s office to the corner of the building and found a closed door. A nameplate had once been attached to the wall but now all that remained was a sticky residue. Inside sat a desk with a rolling chair behind it. Drawers on the desk had been left half-open and papers were scattered to the floor.
“Looks like someone already searched through it,” I said.
Olivia held the flashlight. “It could have been the police. They’re awful messy when they search things. I heard Officer Foster tell Uncle Callan that the sheriff’s office couldn’t find John’s work laptop.”
I knew for a fact that his laptop was on his coffee table in his house that night. I could pass that information on to Officer Foster but I doubt he’d trust me again after I didn’t provide anything useful at the crime scene.
Olivia clicked off the flashlight.
“I can’t see,” I said, trying to hold a piece of paper up to the window.
“Shh. I hear someone.”
I dropped the paper on the desk and rushed to her. We clamped on to each other. I tilted my head to the side and heard the ding of the elevator.
“We have to get out of here,” I said.
The distinct sound of high heels clicking on the floor were followed by a shuffle. Two people were in the mayor’s office.
“The only ways out are the stairs and elevator, and we have to pass by the mayor’s office for both,” Olivia said.
“Maybe the mayor will go into her office and shut the door?” I whispered close to Olivia’s ear.
She clawed at my arm. “If we’re caught, Uncle Callan is going to send me to boarding school.”
“Okay.” I patted her hand. “We’ll find our way out.” Even if it meant using another touch of the fairy dust.
We scurried forward hand-in-hand to crouch behind Brianna’s desk chair.
“I will be paid in full. That was the agreement,” a man’s voice said.
“I’m doing the best I can,” the mayor responded. “If I could get into my work laptop I could show you the email where I canceled your services well ahead of time. I should only have forfeited the deposit.”
The sound of a click soon followed her words. The urge to get a better look at the man overwhelmed me, but I needed to focus on Olivia’s safety first. I crawled to the edge of the desk and laid flat against the floor. From this angle I could the pro
file of a man, and he held a gun.
Fear froze me to the spot. I’d never seen a real gun before, but I knew they ended lives with a single trigger pull. How did I protect Olivia?
The man waved the gun toward the desk. “Give me what you have. I’m not leaving town until I get it all, and my patience is worn thin.”
The man with the gun turned to the side a little more and I realized it was the same man that had been arguing with the mayor in the alley. The nice guy, Vinnie. Lesson learned on people not being what they seem.
The mayor rifled through her desk drawers, and I scooted on my stomach back to Olivia. I made a gun symbol and her jaw dropped. We were in serious trouble.
I moved the rolling chair to the left and gently shoved her beneath the desk. I leaned in close. “Stay here no matter what happens.”
She nodded and withdrew a cell phone from her pocket. The screen lit up and cast light on her face and reflected in her glasses. She mouthed, “I’m calling for help.”
“I’ll cause a distraction,” I mouthed back and wiggled back to my spying position at the corner of the desk.
“The money was here, I swear it was,” Mayor Caldwell’s voice raised an octave in panic.
“I think you’ve been jerking me around this entire time,” Vinnie said. “I’m going to kill you and your cheating husband and make it look like a murder-suicide. Free of charge.”
Whoa. Dark. I’d have to use the remainder of my fairy dust on this devil in disguise.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I stepped out into the light coming from the mayor’s office.
Vinnie turned the gun on me. “What are you doing here?”
I needed to get into face-toss range. I had nothing going for me. Except the fake psychic thing.
“The raccoon told me you were here,” I said and took a tentative half-step forward.
“The what now?” he asked.
Confusion. Good. “I can speak to animals, and this raccoon that lives in the dumpsters behind the alley told me you were here with a gun. He didn’t know who else to tell.”
His gun arm had slouched but he straightened it and stepped toward me looking outside the office. “Who did you tell?”
“No one. I came straight here,” I assured him. I didn’t want him searching around and finding Olivia under the desk.
He grumbled something under his breath.
“I’m sorry?” I put a hand up to my ear and took another big step forward.
He barely noticed how we’d become within arm’s reach of one another. “I said I don’t usually have to kill some many people at one time. This is very annoying.”
“Why are you killing anyone at all? It seems to me that you could choose to kill no one.” One more step and I couldn’t miss.
“That’s my job,” he stated flatly and pointed the gun back at Mayor Caldwell. “I kill people for a living. And usually I get paid really well, unless someone tries to stiff me.”
I needed his focus on me. “Couldn’t you get another job?”
His shoulders slumped. “This is what I’m good at. Now, Juniper, you are a real nice girl and I’m sorry I have to kill you, but if you don’t stop asking me questions, I’m going to do it sooner than later.”
“Sure,” I said, then tossed my entire bag of fairy dust in his face. “Bad luck!”
He coughed and sputtered and dropped to his knees. “It burns, holy mother of fire, it burns.” Even though he clawed at his face with one hand, the gun remained in the other.
Mayor Caldwell, who’d remained silent throughout our exchange, screeched at me, “Get the gun from his hands before he shoots us!”
“Stand back!” A voice came from behind us. “Everyone down on the ground!”
I didn’t know why I needed to get on the ground, but I did as the stern voice instructed. I touched my nose to the floor and waited.
Several pairs of men’s shoes ran past my face.
“Juniper?”
I turned my face to the side. “Callan?”
“Where’s Olivia?”
“Under the desk.” I stuck out my arm and pointed to Brianna’s desk.
He rushed over and pulled her out. She fell into his arms and clung to him.
A body belonging to one of the pairs of men’s shoes crouched down beside me. “You can stand up now, miss.”
“I’m not sure I can.” My body had turned to jelly the minute I knew we were no longer in immediate danger.
The man stuck a hand in my face, and I reached for it. He pulled me to my knees first and then to my feet.
The man with the scar.
“You,” I said.
“Agent Steven Fisher, FBI,” he introduced himself.
Callan had calmed Olivia and they approached us. “What’s the FBI doing in Lilac Cove?”
“Chasing down a contract killer. One of your citizens was planning to turn in evidence yesterday morning that a contracted hit had been taken out by their significant other.”
“You’re John Bleaker’s interview,” I said, putting the time line together.
Agent Fisher eyed me with a hint of surprise in his expression. “I can’t confirm any specific details in an ongoing investigation.”
“Why were you following me around?” I asked.
“You showed up at the same time as some very interested things happened in this town. I didn’t think it was a coincidence.”
Officer Foster walked a handcuffed Vinnie past us. Tears streamed down the hit man’s face. “If I’m blind, I’m going to sue you, Juniper.”
“Fair enough,” I said. I’d be gone in a couple of days and his suing wouldn’t matter.
Chief Rayburn walked the mayor out of her office next. “Come on, Nicole. You have some questions to answer and we’re going to search your office real good.”
She cut her eyes to me. “I don’t know whether to thank you or spit on you.”
After she walked past, I turned to Olivia. “Are you okay?”
Callan stepped in front of her. “You don’t get to talk to her. I don’t completely understand what the two of you are doing here, but my niece never should have been in this building with you and a man with a gun.” I opened my mouth to explain but he shook his head. “I need to get her home now.”
“He’s mad,” Agent Fisher said. “I’ll explain to him that she went in after you even after I’m pretty sure you’d told her to go home.”
“You were watching us?”
“Like I said. I was here to find a killer and I couldn’t be sure who it was. As I’m sure you’re well aware, appearances can be deceiving. It could’ve been you.” He tucked his badge and identification into his back pants pocket. “Once I heard the call come over the scanner about a man with a gun, the pieces fell into place.”
Me, a contract killer? I glanced down at what Olivia had described as my ninja outfit. Okay, I could maybe see how my actions could be taken as suspicious.
Another Lilac Cove police officer approached us, and Agent Fisher nodded to me. “We’ll take this one’s statement in the morning. Right now, I’d like to search the mayor’s office.”
“I don’t have to stay?” I asked.
“Do you need someone to escort you home?”
“I can make it back on my own. I’d like to get back in before Mossy notices I’m gone.”
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning Mossy opened Fairyland Flowers to a group of customers. I’d told her about the night’s events, but not until after she’d had her morning cup of tea. She’d been unhappy with me but proud I’d stopped an evil man from hurting more people.
Emory stood at the head of the group of customers with Allondra not far behind.
I stifled a yawn and worked with Mossy to fill flower orders. It seemed that as soon as the mayor’s integrity came under fire, the town realized that Mossy’s should have never been questioned.
After Emory paid for her bundle of wildflowers, she pulled on my sleeve. “Come dow
n to the café when you get a break. We have some news to share with you.”
“I’ll be down in a few.” I looked forward to seeing what information I could exchange with the gossip club.
“Oh, go on now,” Mossy said, leaning across the counter. “I’m used to running the shop on my own, and this isn’t Walmart on a Black Friday.”
I’d never been in the human world on Black Friday or inside a Walmart, but I didn’t need to in order to understand her reference. I stood back and marveled at the way Mossy greeted her customers and filled their orders. I couldn’t imagine her sitting on a throne and doling out fairy errands all day.
Emory, Allondra, and I walked down to the Corner Café and found Gladys waiting for us inside.
Allondra sniffed. “I didn’t see you at the flower shop this morning.”
“I told you on the phone that I didn’t need fresh flowers this week. I’ll get an order from Mossy next week for the church to make it up to her.”
“Good enough,” Allondra said. “We take care of our own in Lilac Cove.”
They didn’t need their hypocrisy pointed out to them, no matter how much I wanted to remind them that only yesterday they’d believed Mossy to be involved in John’s death.
Gladys tapped her fingers on the table, the urge to talk making her lips twitch. Was she waiting on me? Give a little to get a little from this crowd.
“The mayor got arrested last night,” I started the conversation for them.
For the first time since I’d met her, Gladys forced a huge smile. It changed her entire appearance. “Officer Foster was in early this morning getting coffee and luckily so was I after Emory called me last night as soon as she heard the call go out over the scanner.”
Allondra leaned in and rolled her hands in a circular motion. “Get on with it.”
“Not only did the mayor hire a hitman to take out her philandering husband, she must have found out that John was going to tell on her to the FBI. They found what they think is the murder weapon, his laptop, blank Fairyland Flowers invoices, and a stack of cash hidden in her office.”
