Wicked of the Christmas Past: A Cozy Mystery on Kindle Unlimited (Paranormal in Manhattan Mystery Book 4)

by Lotta Smith

  Natalia opened her mouth like she wanted to protest, but instead she harrumphed and shut it again.

  “Anyway, Rita was heartbroken. She had success, but the relationship with her old friends got screwy and the guy she really liked was swept away by one of her friends. The situation might have seemed like the end of the world to Rita, so she started grumbling about how she couldn’t write anymore, and perhaps she could have gone so far as quitting being Carina Christien. Then voila! A knight in shining armor appeared in front of her.” Rick turned to Dylan Woodhouse. “And it was you, Dylan.”

  “Well, a knight in shining armor sounds like a stretch,” Woodhouse mumbled.

  “You worked your ass off consoling and encouraging the heartbroken author. Of course, that’s the right thing to do, considering an author who sells millions of copies without breaking a sweat is hard to come across.” Rick winked. “Anyway, you had a natural way with ladies, and I’m guessing you used your charm to steer Rita into loving you. Promising words and actions that implied you genuinely cared for her should have done the trick. Thanks to your hard work, Carina Christien kept on writing her bestselling books. You worked very hard at keeping secret the fact that you had a steady girlfriend, didn’t you? You intended to keep the existence of your girlfriend from your star author for a while, at least until getting promoted to chief editor.”

  Rick gave Dylan a sideways glance.

  “Dylan, I guess you underestimated the woman’s instinct. Perhaps Carina had a gut feeling that you’d been hiding something from her. So again she hired Larry Burton, who found out about your very steady girlfriend. And things were screwed all over again. Carina refused to pay Burton for his service, insisting she didn’t believe him, and she had another temper tantrum. Meanwhile, it turned out that your girlfriend was pregnant and you were tying the knot with her, adding fuel to Carina’s anger. As a result, the trouble between you and her got out of control, spreading to the publisher as well. In a desperate attempt for damage control, you sought help from Carina’s best friends—at least, you regarded Catherine and Natalia as her best friends. Anyway, when you had a talk with said friends, you learned that Carina Christien wasn’t a one-woman operation by Rita Balman.”

  Rick spoke like he’d witnessed the whole thing, and like always, I didn’t know where his confidence came from. Still, I could tell his story was mostly accurate. Catherine, Natalia, and Dylan blanched as if on cue. As for Dylan, his mouth was agape, and he didn’t seem to notice. Perhaps he wouldn’t have noticed if a giant frog leaped inside.

  “Learning about the presence of the co-creators of meticulously developed stories and attention-grabbing characters by Carina Christien must have been a shocker. Still, this little piece of information could have helped you think about the next step—or rather a truly sinister, diabolical plan.” Rick snorted.

  “A diabolical plan?” Puzzled, I glanced at him.

  “Oh yes, the plan goes like this: Carina Christien kills herself, confessing that it wasn’t she who had been writing her bestselling books but her ghostwriters, and then the ghostwriters come into the spotlight like shooting stars. Who wouldn’t be interested? Of course, as Kimmie said, Carina had no intention of killing herself. Still, she had to die to accomplish this diabolical plan. So basically, staging Carina’s suicide to kill her was an absolutely needed process, followed by the rise of Carina’s ghostwriters. Talk about a cold-blooded scheme!”

  As he went on, everyone froze in silence. It seemed like time had stopped, but Harry Geiser, the assistant photographer, held his head in his hands and started to shiver.

  “Harry, I suppose you suck at lying, but I’ve got a hunch that you took a major part in shaping the scheme of getting rid of Rita. Perhaps Catherine steered you into coming up with the perfect scenario. Anyway, the fact that you were the mastermind of the portraits featured on Carina’s website came in handy. You agreed to set death by hanging as the theme of that photo session.”

  Harry’s face turned white like tofu.

  “The plan was to lure Rita out to the balcony by convincing her to use the moonlit sky as the backdrop. Conveniently, Catherine and Natalia visited Rita’s office on that special night. Maybe they acted like they wanted to make up with her. They helped you set up for the photo shoot, preparing the suicide note, too. Then the two friends left, or pretended to leave, with you, except either Catherine or Natalia was lurking. Meanwhile, you and Tyson began getting ready for the photo op outside of the building. By the way, both of you said the reason for making two phone calls to Rita was to settle the time for the photo shoots. Then again, neither of you gave me the exact time and date. Like I told you in the beginning, I’m just guessing, but I have a hunch that you didn’t want to disclose the settled timing because the two of you were witnessing Rita’s fall from outside.”

  Tyson cleared his throat. “For the record, I had no clue about the jeopardy my client was facing. I’m a regular photographer specializing in commercial photos, and I believed it was going to be another gig for her website, just like usual.”

  Rick raised an eyebrow. “Okay, so you made the first call to Rita, telling her to come out to the balcony as you were ready. When you saw her on the balcony, you called her again, telling her to climb up on the railing.”

  Tyson gulped. “Yeah, right. She followed my instructions and climbed up on the railing. Dressed in black, sporting red shoes and a red ribbon around her neck. I was in the zone, shooting my camera at her like a maniac, just like usual.”

  “Except either Catherine or Natalia came out from hiding and pushed Rita off the rail.” Rick went on, looking Tyson straight in the eyes. “You witnessed Rita falling, yet you decided to keep your mouth shut. I don’t know the reason why and I don’t care.”

  Tyson opened his mouth to say something, but words failed to come.

  Rick crossed his arms. “Anyway, Catherine, Natalia, Dylan, Tyson, and Harry—all of you were either directly or indirectly involved with the murder of Rita Balman. The turn of events reminds me of the Agatha Christie mysteries, except this is no entertainment. Still, as I told you in the beginning, all I have is theory, and I have no evidence. Perhaps if Rita was alive and she recalled what happened on that night, things would change.” Then he turned to Kimmie. “That’s about it. Are you happy now, Rita?”

  When he said the name, everyone gasped, and I cocked my head to the side, wondering if he’d confused the sisters’ names. Kimmie took a sharp intake of breath and reached for the choker necklace.

  “The red stone on Kimmie’s necklace is a hidden camera available for $240.99 at USCAB’s online store.” Rick pointed at her necklace. “I have a hunch that Rita’s been watching us from somewhere close by.”

  “B-but… isn’t she supposed to be… dead?” When Dylan stuttered, the sound of heels clicking on the hardwood echoed from the stairs.

  The sound ceased when she entered the café.

  She was dressed in a black dress and black coat with lots of frills and ribbons, topped with a black lacey veil covering her face a la funeral style. If it were a photograph, she might have looked like the portrait of a woman in a black-and-white photo, except the ribbon wrapped around her neck and her platform heels were the color of blood spewing from the aorta.

  When she lifted the veil, exposing her face, I gasped. Her alabaster skin was flawless, her lips were crimson, and her eyes looked huge as they were surrounded by cobwebs drawn in black eyeliner. But the most striking part was her pupils because they were red, as if she were bleeding from both eyes. I knew she was sporting red contact lenses. Still, seeing a woman with crimson pupils was scary.

  Emerging from the stairs in her full Carina Christien gear, Rita looked at everyone’s face with her crimson eyes.

  “Hello, everyone. I’m finally back from my deathbed. Nice seeing you again!” She was smiling, and the tone of her voice was chipper, but somehow, her flamboyance made me shiver.

  CHAPTER 8

  Everyone except f
or Rick, Kimmie, and Rita froze in silence.

  Rita was the one who broke it.

  “Hello, Rick. I’m so very much impressed with your deduction.” She moved her gaze to him and offered a content smile. “Actually, you’ve definitely surpassed my expectations.”

  “Glad I could help.” He chuckled wryly. “I knew you were alive.”

  “How did you know that, if I may ask?” Rita tilted her head to the side.

  “Aside from your sister’s necklace being a dead giveaway?” He shrugged. “First of all, since you’d been plotting this for over a month, your alleged death was too sudden. Not to mention your sister was too well-composed considering that she’s supposed to have lost her sister who meant more than her parents. Besides, it wouldn’t be easy to keep the media from having a field day about your mysterious death, in case you were actually dead. And one more thing. The part about you having no memory of the night of your attempted murder isn’t true.”

  As he looked her directly in the eyes, Rita’s lips parted, showing beautiful yet slightly unnaturally white teeth. Watching the teeth gleaming, I assumed that she’d had a dental job while recovering from the injuries.

  “You’re right. I’ve been lying to Kimmie. When I climbed up the railing, Catherine came out to the balcony, and then she pushed me off to the condo’s patio. I remember that,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “What?” Kimmie gasped. “If you remember that, why did you take such a measure? We should have pressed charges against her!”

  Facing a confused glare by her sister, Rita let out a small sigh. “Sorry about lying to you, Kimmie, but I was literally dying to know why Catherine tried to kill me. Okay, so I knew she felt bitter about me. Then again, her decision-making process is completely based on the calculation of pros and cons, so I’d been thinking what she’d obtain by killing me off. In the meantime, when I was recovering from the injuries, Dan Rowling caught wind of my accident, and he kindly paid me a visit.”

  Rick’s eyebrows visibly twitched the moment his dad’s name was mentioned.

  “I was surprised at first. After all, we’d met just a few times when he helped me with my research. Dan has been so warm, kind, and supportive, listening as I sobbed my heart out to him. When I finished crying, he said he had a hunch that his son would be able to help me disentangle the situation.”

  Rick slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand, muttering, “I didn’t know that guy’s been helping this many authors with their research.”

  Rita’s face turned solemn. “I know it’s egoistic of me to drag you into this mess of mine, but I was desperate to know the reason why it happened, so I couldn’t say no to his kind offer. He said this setting was perfect, and I can’t agree more. Look, Rick, I know you were not keen on coming here at all. I apologize for all this trouble, and again, thank you so much.”

  Then she took a deep bow.

  “No need for an apology. The fault is all his… I mean, my old man’s the one who organized everything… including but not limited to that double-date with Violet Huss.” Clenching his hands into fists, Rick smiled tightly, except his eyes were not smiling. Dan was in trouble.

  He then took a deep breath to pull himself together. “So Rita, now that you know everything, what’s your next step?”

  “Well, for starters….” Rita smirked and slipped her hand into the pocket of her coat.

  “No!”

  Everyone gasped when her hand reappeared, holding a gun and aiming it at them.

  The problem was I was sitting near her enemies and there was the possibility of getting hurt, or worse. Suddenly, I was swiped off my chair as I froze there with my mouth agape like an idiot.

  “Rick!” I gasped. After setting me down, he stood in front of me, shielding me with his body.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered, his eyes focusing on Rita. “Just stay calm.”

  I reached for his hand, and when he held mine back, I almost cried.

  “Hey, Rita, you can’t shoot me!” Dylan snapped. Rita’s gun was trained at him.

  “You think so? Let’s see if you’re right—though it may turn out you’re dead wrong.” Rita chuckled. “Having cut off my ties with my friends, thanks to your deception, I was totally devastated and toyed with the idea of killing myself. My favorite weapon for committing suicide is a gun. An easy getaway is one of the perks of death by gun, but you can’t ignore how red blood looks stunning in contrast to a black gun. Oh, did I mention that your scheme of trying to kill me by hanging grossed me out? Why should I die in such a gruesome way? No thanks, no siree. I’ll paint you all red with a trick of bullets. Don’t worry. When I’ve taken care of you all, I’ll join you in hell.”

  Catherine shrieked. “Hey, Rick! You have to do something to help us! Detain her or something. You’re supposed to serve and protect us people!”

  “I don’t think so.” Rick shrugged. “I’m off duty today, and I’m not packing heat. Considering that she’s got no reason to hurt me or my partner here, I don’t wanna become collateral damage by trying to be a hero. Besides, I have a dinner reservation I don’t want to miss by injuring myself.”

  My ears perked up when I caught the phrase “my partner.” “Rick, did you just say—”

  He quickly shushed me, prompting me to shut up.

  “So Dylan, answer my question carefully. You lie a little, and I’ll shoot you. You’re the one who plotted and planned the whole thing, right?” Rita asked in a cold tone with her gun trained on Dylan’s chest.

  “Oh yeah! The hell I did! I thought my plan would be a riot for publicity, and I was tempted to shape a legendary bestselling author who came back out of the ruin like a fucking phoenix! Still, I’m not the one who committed an actual murder attempt. She’s the one who pushed you!” Spewing saliva from the corner of his mouth, Dylan pointed his accusing finger at Catherine.

  “Hello? You’re the one who brainwashed me into committing that terrible crime!” Catherine shot back at Dylan, and then she turned to Rita. “Look, Rita, I’m so sorry! I just had temporary insanity. Just like he conned you, he conned me, too. Please forgive me. I’m really glad you’ve recovered.”

  “You’ve been conned? What? Are you trying to put all the blame on me? Y-you’re the one who started it!”

  As Dylan’s voice rose an octave, Rita snorted disgustedly. “I don’t care about who started this mess. I’m so shocked to have learned that you decided to kill someone for such a trivial reason. By the way, Catherine, you have to take everything from me, don’t you? You used to be uninterested in Harry, but the moment you noticed that I liked him a lot, you suddenly developed a huge crush on him. Hey, Catherine, you’re obsessed with taking everything from someone else, aren’t you? I know you slept with Dylan, too. Don’t even think about lying to me or else I’ll shoot you first.”

  “Aargh!” Catherine wailed. “You’re right! I got interested in Harry because you said you cared for him, and I slept with Dylan! But you’ve got everything, so I figured you wouldn’t care. On the contrary, I have no potential for success and I know it! My looks are ordinary, and I’m not talented like you. You know I was jealous of you! I was envious of your accomplishments! I ended up having this silly misbelief that I could prove I’m greater than you if I got the hearts of the men you couldn’t win. I’m sorry!” She threw herself on the floor and cried, begging for mercy.

  Natalia stood by Catherine’s side. “I will not apologize to you!” she snapped. “Okay, so I admit to having taken your generosity for granted, just like Catherine did. Then again, if you hated our guts so much, you could have just told us so. Instead of communicating with us, you hired that Burton person, having him snooping around us and digging into my past that I wasn’t proud of. That’s… that’s outrageous! Guess what? I wanted to kill you. So, go ahead, kill me already if you want to. I’ve toyed with the idea of killing myself anyway!”

  Unlike her friend, Natalia sounded oh-so-defiant, but I had a hunch that her attitude was merely
a façade. The sense of self-importance about her was apparent from her past words and attitude.

  Perhaps Rita was aware of Natalia’s thought patterns. She responded by raising one corner of her crimson lips.

  All of a sudden, Harry scurried toward Rita and knelt on the floor.

  “Rita, I’m so sorry for everything that happened!” he apologized profusely, prompting Rita to frown, still holding the gun in her hand.

  “I wasn’t aware of your feelings. Though I always liked you more than my boss’s client, I had this fixation that our relationship should be solely based on business. I’m merely an assistant photographer and you’re Carina Christien. Anyone can see that I’m no match to you, so I forced myself to hide my feelings toward you for the fear of becoming a laughingstock. Then I met Catherine at your office… and I fell for her. Having no idea that everything was a calculated ploy, I fell really hard for her. In retrospect, I can’t believe my stupidity, but it’s also true that I played a crucial part in the whole mess.” His eyes were brimming with tears as he spoke.

  He seemed like a good guy, except maybe a tad bit dense in the romance department.

  “This is all my fault, and I should be the one to take all the blame. On top of it all, you’ve suffered enough, and those people are not worth killing by yourself!”

  One moment he was making a tearful confession, and then he jumped up and snatched the gun out of Rita’s hand.

  “Harry, no!” Tyson yelled while Catherine, Natalia, Dylan, and I gasped.

  Without the slightest hint of hesitation, Harry put the muzzle of the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. The gunshot sound was inaudible, but blood splattered on the right side of his face.

  “Wahhhhh!” I screamed along with everyone else, while Jackie shrieked by my ear at the top of her lungs.

  “Ohmygawd, Ohmygawd, Ohmygawd!” Despite being dead herself, Jackie was shivering and blanched. “Ohmygawd! I can’t believe I just witnessed a suicide! Guess what? This is turning out to be the worst Christmas ever!” She added, “Okay, my first Christmas since my death was just as terrible, so I guess it’s a tie.”