Death of a Hot Chick
Page 25
And he’d forgotten me. I dialed 911. As the phone rang I scooted back, away from Brandon.
“Come and get me, darling. I’m all yours. Kill me again.”
“I’ll get you, I’ll get you,” Brandon yelled.. “You’re dead. You’re buried.”
When someone answered, I whispered, “Emergency at Smith Harbor Marina. Brandon Bates has gone crazy. Listen.” I turned the phone toward him.
He had gone crazy! He screamed, “Nicole you’re dead. I killed you. Stay dead.”
She floated closer to him. “Come and get me.” She almost sang the words as she dipped and swirled around him.
He saw her! He must be seeing her because he lashed out wherever she was. Sometimes his hand went through her. She zoomed away, then back, with her hands holding her blouse away from her neck.
“Kill me again, darling. That’s a good boy. Reach for me. Follow me.”
Brandon darted after Nicole’s ghost as she flitted around him, then through him, then out to the water and back.
I whispered to my cell phone. “Send someone quick. Send the police.”
“Okay, we’re even. You’ve got the killer.”
Brandon lay flat on his face, spread-eagled on the dock.
“Nicole?” I whispered. “What did you do?”
“Hit him with a bucket. The ring is in his pocket. Give it to me.”
I shook my head while I held the cell phone to my ear.
“You want another storm?”
“It’s proof,” I whispered as I listened to the 911 operator tell me to wait for the police. As if I’d do anything else. Mentally I thanked Nicole for saving my life. Mentally, I tried to explain. She must have listened because the storm didn’t return.
“Get it. Show it to me.” She just wouldn’t admit she’d heard me.
I spoke to the cop who came on the phone. Told my story. When I looked up, I saw Nicole taking form. She walked over to Brandon. She tried to put her hand into his pocket, but it sort of slid right through.
“He’s got the ring. It’s mine. Give it to me.”
He wasn’t dead. He started moving. “I’m not going anywhere near him.” In fact, I backed up quickly and ran. If he came to, he’d go after me.
“Don’t worry. I’m loving this.”
I turned and watched. Nicole had disappeared again, but she was definitely there. The bucket had a life of its own. It whirled and, as Brandon tried to push himself up with one hand, hit him again.
“Yes, you do that,” Nicole said.
Which is when I realized I didn’t need to tell her anything. She’d read my thoughts. I left the dock and went to watch for the cops. Brandon wasn’t going anywhere with Nicole on guard. A man ran toward me holding a gun. I dropped, but he passed me. I watched as he headed toward the end of the dock. He saw the bucket sail through the night sky and hit Brandon once again.
Epilogue
The 911 operator hadn’t heard Brandon well enough to understand any actual words. However, the undercover F.B.I. agent lurking to discover Pop retrieving his loot had. He came running when he heard a male voice yell, “Nicole you’re dead. I killed you. Stay dead.” He skimmed over the part about a flying bucket, but he testified with me. Which is fortunate, because no one would have believed my story. Brandon survived for the trial, but he was a little the worse for the battering.
A month later I got an e-mail from Finley after all the newspapers and TV channels carried the news that Brandon had eventually confessed to murder. At least, I’m sure it was from Finley, although the return address was just a bunch of unrelated numbers. “I told you so,” was all it said. But I replied, and maybe it went through. I haven’t heard back yet.
Pop is still searching for his nephew, because he never did find that loot.
Slim’s sister stopped by to give me the jacket and shoes her brother-in-law found in his sunken boat. Pop was as good as his word.
Teddy cemented her position on the newspaper by bringing in a killer story.
Kaye went back to preparing for the fall semester. She clipped all the newspaper items to send to her husband in Namibia.
Granny hasn’t lost her driver’s license—yet.
My battling parents are still battling.
Gregory can’t forget his flirting ways. Totally unprofessional, I tell him, now that he’s my part-time boss. I’ve done a couple of trips for him and have a few feelers out in other directions. (Hey, a girl has to look out for herself.)
I put a lot of money in my new bank account and paid Wes for the work he did on Snapdragon. I even paid the lawyer. Instead of looking for an apartment, I’m babysitting someone’s nifty 36-foot Cape Dory for a couple of months. I’m looking at cars instead of boats, for the time being.
I haven’t heard any more from Nicole, so she must be happy wherever she is, even though the ring wasn’t buried with her. It was front and center at the trial.
About the Author
Norma Huss
Eighty-two year old first-mate to her husband of fifty-six years, Norma Huss has sailed the Chesapeake Bay, the Intracoastal Waterway south to the Florida Keys, as well as north through New York's Erie Canal, and into Canada's canal system both under sail and by cabin cruiser. Their adventures inspired Norma to write Death of a Hot Chick.
This is not the first writing venture for Norma. She has had short mysteries published as well as children’s magazine stories and articles. At age seventy-nine her first mystery novel. Yesterday’s Body was published to the delight of her friends in Pennsylvania.
Norma continues to be an inspiration to her five children and eight grandchildren, illustrating that age is just a number.
Contact Norma Huss on line:
Website: http://www.normahuss.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/normahuss
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Norma-Huss-Author/207257515984923
Goodreads: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Norma-Huss-Author/207257515984923
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/NJ
Books by Norma Huss
Yesterday's Body (2011 EPIC finalist)
Death of a Hot Chick
Praise for Yesterday’s Body
“I just read the excerpt and I very much like your voice.
You project just the tone and attitude I love to read.”
Chris Roerden, Author of Agatha Award-winning
Don't Murder Your Mystery
“I think if you like mysteries you'd like Norma's book.”
“I really want to tell you how much I enjoyed reading
Yesterday's Body. I think Angela Landsbury
would be a good person to be Jo.”