by Rose Pressey
The ghosts and I exchanged looks. I knew the woman she was speaking with had to be her best friend. She wanted her to fix me, and I knew what that meant, considering that April had been following me around.
“What do you mean you don’t want to be involved? No, I didn’t lie,” Mandy said.
“Oh, it looks like there is trouble in best friend paradise,” Charlotte said.
“Yes, trouble indeed,” I whispered.
Mandy went back into the office.
“What is she doing this time?” I asked.
“I’ll go look.” Charlotte took off.
Only a few seconds had passed when Charlotte reappeared. “I don’t know what she was doing, but she just walked by again.”
I hoped she was gone for good this time. Easing the stall door open, I inched my way toward the office. When I reached the office door, I looked over my shoulder.
“She’s not back there. Don’t worry,” Charlotte said.
I had been calm through a lot of this, but now my nerves were on edge. She’d left the office door open, so I stepped inside. Everything looked just as it had the last time I’d been in there. I scanned the room.
“You should see if the drug is still in the drawer,” Maureen said.
“Good idea.” When I peered down at the desk, I spotted the phone. I reached down and picked it up.
“Whose phone?” Charlotte asked.
When I swiped the screen, it lit up.
“You’re not going to believe this, but Mandy left her phone again. She must have gotten a new one.”
“She really can’t keep up with that thing,” Charlotte said.
“Is there anything new?” Maureen asked.
“You should check the text messages first,” Charlotte said.
My hand shook as I touched the screen to get the messages to pop up. “There are no text messages that stand out as unusual.”
“Check the email and the photos,” Charlotte instructed.
I moved to the photos first. I had already looked last time, of course, but maybe there was something new.
“She should really look into password-protecting that phone,” Maureen said.
“I’m glad she hasn’t done that,” I said.
“She’s not as smart as she thinks she is,” Charlotte said.
“Uh-oh,” I said as I looked at the screen.
“What’s that?” Charlotte asked, stepping closer.
“How did I not notice this in the photos last time?”
“What is it?” Maureen asked with excitement.
“There are photos I didn’t see last time.”
Maureen pretended to cover her eyes. “I’m almost afraid to find out what they are,” she said.
“Mandy is a hot mess,” Charlotte said. “That being said, let’s see the photos.”
“There’s a photo of Mandy at the event where Ramon was murdered.”
“And?” Ramon asked as he moved closer.
“Well, it’s what Mandy is wearing that caught my attention.”
“Please tell me she is wearing clothing,” Maureen said.
“Oh, I couldn’t handle having that sight burned into my retinas.” Charlotte shivered.
“She’s wearing the bracelet.”
“The one that Danielle had?” Ramon asked.
I nodded. “That’s the one.”
“Danielle did say that Mandy had stolen stuff from her. Maybe she stole that bracelet,” Charlotte said.
“Wouldn’t Danielle have noticed Mandy wearing it that day?” I asked.
“Yes, I think I would have noticed,” Charlotte said.
“There was a lot going on. Maybe she didn’t pay attention,” Maureen said. “Or maybe she only wore it when Danielle wasn’t around.”
I looked through more photos on the phone. I stopped on the next one. “Whoa.”
“What is it?” Charlotte and Maureen asked in unison.
“There’s a photo of Mandy at the event.”
“Well, we knew she was there,” Charlotte said.
“Yes, but she took a photo of the area where Ramon was murdered.”
“Maybe she was morbidly fascinated after I died,” Ramon said.
“That’s not the case,” I said. “She snapped a photo of Ramon’s back as he went into the restroom.”
“So she was waiting for him when he came out?” Charlotte asked.
My stomach dropped. “Yes, it seems that is the case.”
“So she was there and had the bracelet too. She lost the bracelet when she killed Ramon. I think she was there to watch him die and wanted to take a photo to remember the event,” Charlotte said.
“That is disturbing,” I said.
“I guess I think differently about Mandy now,” Ramon said.
“Yes, I guess you do,” Charlotte said.
“I had no idea she would do something like this to me.”
“We understand how you feel,” Maureen said. “We’ve all been murdered. We’ll never understand the sick minds of our murderers.”
“What do we do now?” Ramon asked.
I placed the phone in my purse. “I have to get this to Dylan. After that, we can go to the police with it. I’m sure Dylan is getting worried about me now.”
“I hope she doesn’t come back for the phone before you can get out of here,” Charlotte said.
That was why I needed to get out of there right away.
“There’s no time to look to see if the drug is still in the drawer.”
“I guess Mandy put it there so that the police would think Elise had killed Ramon,” Maureen said.
“I suppose she was growing impatient, waiting for the police to find it,” I said.
I hurried over to the door and stepped outside. I left the door open just as Mandy had.
“Do you have the phone?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes, I have it in my pocket.”
The thunderous sound of hooves rushed by.
“I think they sense your stress,” Charlotte said.
“Wait. I see someone coming,” Ramon said.
I immediately stopped, pressing my body up against the barn.
“Who is it?” I whispered.
“Oh, it’s just a man going to a different barn,” Ramon said.
Whew. I released my pent-up breath. “Is it safe to go now?”
“Yes, it’s all clear,” Ramon said.
I rounded the side of the barn. Now I had to get across the lot without running into Mandy. Maybe she wouldn’t realize she had lost her phone. Yes, I forgot that she was probably busy with the horse. That meant I wouldn’t have to worry about running into her right now. I made it over to the tree that grew by the entrance that led back to the track. The next thing I knew I had been hit on the back of the head. I tumbled to the ground.
Chapter 32
Cookie’s Savvy Tips for Vintage Shopping
There’s a ton of wonderful vintage costume jewelry
out there just waiting for you to discover it.
“Cookie, are you okay?” Charlotte yelled. “Look out. Here she comes again.”
Mandy wrapped something around my neck. She pulled me back with it, and I was choking. I reached for my neck to try and loosen whatever was constricting my neck and throat.
“She’s choking you with the horse reins,” Ramon yelled.
I was gasping for air. I had to think of something before it was too late. I probably had only seconds before I would black out. Clawing at the leather strap was doing nothing. I couldn’t get my fingers between the reins and my skin so that I could get air. I had no idea she was so strong. I had to think of something else.
Obviously, I couldn’t stop her this way. The more I struggled, the worse it got.
“We have to do something,” Charlotte said.
I’d never heard her so panicked. The ghosts were moving around, trying to help. They grabbed at Mandy, but it was having no effect.
“I’ve never seen a more evil face,” Mau
reen said.
I couldn’t believe this was the way I was going to die. I’d put myself in danger, and now I couldn’t get out. What could I do to stop her? I tried to kick up, but that did nothing either. I punched her from over my head, but it did nothing.
I remembered I was wearing a hat pin. If only I could reach it. I would have to move swiftly though because she might try to stop me. Either way, she would have to loosen her grip. In one swift movement, I reached up for my hat. I couldn’t believe it, but I made contact with the pin right away and pulled it from the hat. With all my strength, I jabbed the hat pin toward Mandy. She screamed out, and the leather reins dropped from my throat.
“Oh, Cookie, I can’t believe it. Run,” Charlotte said.
I scrambled up from the ground. The hat pin had landed in Mandy’s cheek.
“She’s really mad now,” Ramon said.
Yeah, well, I was a little agitated too. I ran from the barn. I had to get the police. Or just anyone. Someone to help me stop this madwoman. With one quick yank, Mandy had pulled the hat pin from her face. She was coming after me.
“Run faster, Cookie,” Maureen said.
I’d love to have run faster, but my legs didn’t have a big stride. Mandy had longer legs, and she moved like a gazelle.
“Here she comes, Cookie,” Charlotte yelled.
Movement from my right caught my attention. Like a streak of lightning, Dylan appeared. He ran past us and tackled Mandy. They fell to the ground with a thud.
“Wow, that was impressive,” Maureen said.
Dylan had managed to subdue Mandy, although she was still struggling to get up.
“Cookie, can you get me those reins?” Dylan motioned with a tilt of his head.
He was still holding Mandy’s hands behind her back. I ran over and grabbed the weapon she’d just used to try to murder me. How ironic that now she was being tied up with it. Dylan got Mandy up to a sitting position.
“I’d like my phone back now.” Her voice was full of venom and hate.
I handed it to Dylan. “I think the police would like to look at it first.”
Ramon was standing beside me. “I guess now I can tell you.”
I whispered out of the corner of my mouth, “Tell me what?”
“Mandy believed in witchcraft. We went to the occult store together. That stuff spooked me though. I didn’t want to know what she was doing.”
“Now you’re telling me this?”
“Mandy, you sent me the strange poem and the note?” I asked.
“It wasn’t me.” She glared.
“Who was it?”
I didn’t believe anything she said.
An evil smile spread across her face. “It was April. She does anything I tell her to do.”
I looked at Dylan. “Mandy placed the drugs in Elise’s office, hoping that Elise would be arrested for the murder. She stole a lot of things from Danielle, and probably a lot of other people too. She lost the bracelet at the crime scene. She even took a photo of Ramon right before she murdered him.”
“You have no proof of that,” Mandy said.
“There is proof on your phone,” I said.
“I didn’t leave the drugs in the desk drawer.” Mandy struggled to get free.
“How did you know that was where it was?” I asked.
She glared at me. “You should mind your own business.”
“Why did you do it?” Dylan asked.
She smirked. “Ramon deserved what he got.”
“What?” Ramon yelled. “I did nothing to deserve that.”
Dylan saw me looking over at the tree. He probably wondered if I’d lost my mind.
“You tried to kill me too,” I said.
“You were snooping around too much.”
At least she had admitted it. Thank goodness, the police arrived to take Mandy away. Her glare was creeping me out. The officer led her toward the police car. Mandy stared at me for as long as possible. She gave up when they stuffed her into the backseat of the car. Mandy would probably watch me from there too.
“Did she hurt you?” Dylan stroked my cheek with the palm of his hand.
I rubbed my neck. “Well, my neck is kind of sore, but I should be okay. I’m glad you came along when you did. I would have had to fight her again.”
“Looks like you did a pretty good job of it.”
“Well, thanks to my vintage hat pin.”
The police still needed to talk with us.
The young detective approached. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“I can tell you.” Charlotte held up her hand.
Maureen waved her hand in front of Charlotte’s face. “Remember, he can’t hear you.”
Charlotte slumped her shoulders. “Oh yeah.”
“Well, here goes. The whole story. I was hiding so that Mandy wouldn’t see me. Mandy left her phone on the desk in the office.”
“For someone who loves social media so much, she sure can’t keep up with her phone,” Charlotte said.
I continued, “I looked through the phone and noticed something odd. There were photos, and in one I spotted the bracelet on Mandy’s wrist. The one found at the murder scene. The photo was taken the day of Ramon’s murder. But there was another photo taken at the location of the scene of the crime. Ramon was in the background, so he was alive at that time. That placed Mandy at the scene of the crime just before he was killed.”
The officer stared at me. When I looked at Dylan, he smiled.
The officer nodded. “Okay, we’ll be in touch if we have more questions.”
“Oh, they’ll have more questions all right. Cookie solved the crime,” Charlotte said with pride in her voice.
After speaking with the officer, Dylan and I got a chance to see the race from right there by the rail. The track was a good distance away, but we still felt the excitement as the horses and jockeys went by.
“The horse won,” I yelled, jumping up and down.
The ghosts were jumping up and down too.
“Despite Mandy trying to interfere with the training,” Dylan said.
“They should have fired her a long time ago,” I said.
The officers were nice enough to let us watch the race before asking us questions again. I couldn’t believe the horse had won. Now if I could just get a chance to go back over and talk with everyone. They probably didn’t miss us though, with all the excitement of the win.
As we stood there watching the police escort Mandy away, it sounded as if someone whispered, trying to get my attention. I peered over my shoulder. Corbin, the horse groomer who had disappeared, was standing by the barn. He motioned for me to come over. I hurried over without saying a word to Dylan, who was still busy talking with the police.
“Is he hiding from the police?” Charlotte asked.
“I guess we’re about to find out,” I said.
“Corbin, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“Is it safe to come out now?” he whispered.
“Safe from what?”
“From Mandy.”
My eyes widened. “Do you mean that you’ve been hiding because of her?”
“That’s terrible,” Charlotte said.
“I was afraid she wanted to kill me,” Corbin said.
“Why would she want to kill you?” I asked.
“Just because she’s plain mean.”
I certainly couldn’t deny that.
“You’re safe now,” I said. “She left in the police car.”
Corbin stepped out from the side of the building.
“How long have you been hiding here?”
“Oh no, I wasn’t hiding here,” he said. “I went out of town.”
“So what made you come back?” I asked.
“Well, I just missed it here, and I was going to go to the police. I wanted to see if there wasn’t something I could do to stop her.”
“Did you know that she killed Ramon?”
Corbin shook his head. “I wasn’t sure, bu
t I had my suspicions. I should have said something to the police,” he said.
“Actually, some people thought that maybe you had killed Ramon.”
“Yeah, like you,” Charlotte said.
His eyes widened. “I did it? Why would I kill Ramon? I liked him.”
“I liked you too, buddy,” Ramon said.
“What happened to you?” Corbin asked.
I knew I looked as if I’d been in a hurricane.
Charlotte stepped forward. “Well, as Cookie was leaving, someone attacked her from behind. Mandy was trying to choke her with a horse’s reins. It looked as if the poem Cookie found was about to come true.” Charlotte waved her hands. “There was a struggle, but Cookie managed to use the hat pin from her vintage hat to stab Mandy. That allowed her to get away. Thank heavens, Dylan had been looking for Cookie. Luckily, he arrived just in time to subdue Mandy until the local police arrived.”
Charlotte had forgotten that Corbin couldn’t hear a word of what she’d just said.
“I stabbed Mandy in the face with a hat pin.”
Corbin’s mouth dropped open. “Well, at least you got away from her.”
“Yes, and you’re safe now,” I said.
“So they really arrested Mandy?” Corbin asked.
“She’s been handcuffed, and soon she’ll be on her way to jail,” I said.
“Now that makes me happy,” Charlotte said.
“Everything seems so final now,” Corbin said, looking down at his shoes.
I supposed the reality had set in now.
“Thanks for everything, Ms. Chanel. I’m going to find everyone and let them know I’m back.”
“They’ll be happy to see you.” I smiled.
Corbin took off for the track. Dylan was watching me, so I walked back over.
“Everything okay?” Dylan asked.
“Just fine,” I said.
We talked with the police for a bit longer. When they drove Mandy away, it was as if the dark cloud over us dissipated. Danielle sent a text to find out where I was. She wanted me to join them at the winner’s circle. I never thought I’d be at the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs. She had no idea that Mandy had attacked me and that she had been arrested.
Dylan and I made our way to the winner’s circle. It was much larger than it appeared on TV. The smell of flowers and dirt filled the air. Brightly colored tulips decorated the area. The excitement was thick. People gathered around the horse and jockey. Cameras and reporters asked questions before we posed for a photo with the winning horse.
