by Laney Monday
I sat on her back, carefully slid the knife and the broom out of her reach, and pulled her arms behind her back. She was slim and willowy, and her wrists were easy to to hold onto.
She whimpered beneath me, “Please, I can’t breathe.”
Apparently she could breathe well enough to talk, though I’m sure she wasn’t too comfortable with all my weight on her. But I wanted to get a little more talk out of Avery, especially about Jacinda and where she might be right now. So I gave one of her arms a little twist, not enough to do damage, but enough to cause some pain and show her I was serious—seriously willing to hurt her if need be. Then I got off her back and let her rise to her feet. I kept that arm turned tight. One good jerk in the wrong direction, and there’d be some tearing.
“Please, don’t hurt me!” Avery pleaded.
“You mean like Jacinda just did to me? Like she did to Derek? Or was it you who killed Derek?”
“Derek? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Why did you have Harvey call me here? You wanted to talk to me so bad, now’s your chance. What message were you going to give me? That you were going to kill me too?”
“I was just trying to help you!”
“Help me!”
“Jacinda, she started ranting. It was really scaring me. She said we had to figure out a way to get you to stay out of this, no matter what. I didn’t like the way she said that. I told her I would figure something out. So I told Harvey to get you to come here. I thought maybe if you heard the ghost yourself … I knew it wouldn’t be enough for you to hear it from Harvey.”
Tears poured down Avery’s pale cheeks. Her button nose turned bright red. She was shaking all over. She was telling the truth.
“You’ve been spending way to much time around Jacinda Peters,” I said. Had it never occurred to this little nitwit that I wouldn’t fall for such a hoax, even if I heard it myself? I guess when you’ve gotten used to people believing in your ruses, when you spend so much time surrounded by people who are not only willing to believe in hocus pocus, but who want it to be true, you lose touch with reality. This must be quite a burst to Avery’s bubble.
“So I pretended to be a ghost. It was harmless. And it was way too easy to sneak Harvey’s key and make a copy, then slip it back. Not that he remembered to lock the doors. We only did it when Derek was gone. He would’ve found us and ruined everything. I really liked Harvey, and he wanted the house to stay the way it was. He didn’t want it turned into an inn. I was really helping Harvey and helping Jacinda sell her books at the same time.” She smiled meekly and shrugged as much as she could with me holding onto her arm.
“You were helping Harvey by making him think he heard things, that there were spirits after him?”
“Harvey already heard things. I just made things go in a certain direction. I just added to what he already thought was there.”
“Harvey needed help. The last thing he needed was you pushing him closer to the edge! Not to mention, you almost killed us both with that chandelier prank!”
“You were in the house when the chandelier fell?”
“Of course I was in the house, and you were upstairs watching!”
Avery shook her head. “No.” She began to sob. “It was Jacinda. She told me she’d made the chandelier fall, but I didn’t know anyone was in the room! I was waiting around the corner so she could jump in the car and I could bring her around so we could interview Harvey about the chandelier right after it happened—”
“While Harvey was still terrified, you mean?”
“But the police had showed up. She’d sneaked out the back during all the commotion of Harvey’s arrest. We ended up doing the story on that instead, since we couldn’t interview Harvey and no one else knew about the chandelier.”
“Except me. Jacinda must have known I was in the house.”
Avery went noticeably paler. “She didn’t want me to know,” she said with a tone of realization.
“Why do you think she didn’t want you to know?”
“Because … ”
“Because she thought I might be on to her. She thought she might have to kill me, just like she killed Derek with that smoothie, and she didn’t want you to know that.”
“A smoothie?” Her face went pale. Paler than the ghost she was trying to portray. “I gave him that smoothie.” Her breaths became big, ragged gulps. “But I didn’t … I didn’t know. She got me to kill him for her. I can’t believe she got me to kill him for her. Please! You have to believe me. I didn’t know what was in the smoothie. She told me she bought it, and I just thought I was supposed to give it to Derek to help butter him up. She told me to flirt with him, you know? Try to get him on our side. Harvey always gave us access to the house, but she was worried that with Derek in control, we’d be shut out. That we wouldn’t have access to the spirits anymore. That is—I was the spirits, mostly. But you know what I mean. You understand, right?”
“She made you do the dirty work, Avery. Unless you want to take the blame, unless you want this poisoning pinned on you, I suggest you come with me right now and tell the police everything.”
“I stood on the porch and sweet-talked him. I offered him that smoothie, straw first. I smiled and fluttered my eyelashes until he took a sip.” Avery sobbed loudly for a moment. I let go of her arm, but kept her within reach. “Okay,” she said finally. “I don’t don’t know what else to do.”
29
As I prodded a sniffling Avery down the stairs, a chirping came from her pocket. “It’s a text message,” she said. “It’s probably Jacinda.”
“Check it,” I said, “but don’t answer until I tell you.”
Avery pulled the phone out. “She’s right outside. She says for me to sneak out of the house as soon as I can. She wants to talk to me. She wants me to meet her at the park.”
“Give me your phone.” Avery gave it to me, and I messaged Jacinda, “Be right there.”
Next I texted Riggins, then Blythe. I didn’t have time for a conversation, for any back-and-forth. I told Riggins Jacinda was the murderer and I was about to meet her at the park with Avery. I told Blythe to call 9-1-1 and then come to the park. I waited a second to see if either one of them would respond to these strange texts from an unknown number.
“What’s going on?” Blythe texted.
Before I could reply, Riggins texted, “Call 9-1-1!”
I responded to Riggins with one word: “Idiots,” then added, “JUST COME!”
I didn’t take the time to answer Blythe.
Harvey was waiting for us in the foyer. “Julia? What’s wrong? What happened to your hair?” he said. “Is Moira angry?” He turned to me with an I told you so look.
“She just … she wants to meet us at the park and talk for a minute,” Avery said.
“But Moira doesn’t leave the house. And Moira never goes to the park.”
“It’s okay, Harvey,” I said. “I’ll come back and explain everything.” I gave Avery a piercing look. “We’re going to work this all out.”
We could see the park, right across the street, from the porch of Reiner House. The lawn appeared to be empty, but a woman stood beyond the lawn, at the edge of the rocky cliff. She bent down, examining the ground.
“Is it her?” I whispered to Avery.
She nodded. I quickly hid behind a full azalea bush, ready to record the encounter with Avery’s phone. I watched as Avery approached Jacinda. Jacinda was still focused on the ground. She was picking up small objects with one hand and placing them in the other. The beads! Jacinda must have noticed the remaining beads. She was busily collecting the evidence.
Avery glanced back at the bush, then called out tentatively, “Jacinda? Jacinda, how could you?”
Jacinda rose slowly, cupping her fingers around the beads. She took one look at Avery, and her jaw dropped. Then her face hardened. Jacinda knew. She knew that Avery knew what she’d done. I saw the murderous spark in her eye. Avery froze. She cowered.
She didn’t engage and get Jacinda talking, she didn’t try to run, she didn’t lash out and fight. She’d just let Jacinda know we were on to her, and now she was a sitting duck. She was toast. If I stayed hidden here, I wouldn’t be recording a confession, I’d be recording Avery’s murder. I swore to myself, pocketed the phone, and came out into the open.
“You! You know, too!”
“Yes,” I said dryly. “And I’m still alive. I wasn’t quite ready to join the ghosts, thanks.”
Whether Jacinda had meant for me to take a tumble as a warning, or to plunge clear to my death, she knew the risk was there. She’d intentionally put my life in danger. Now, it wasn’t as simple for Jacinda as shoving Avery over the cliff. She couldn’t take out both of us. It was over. She was busted, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Jacinda ran, and I followed—until I realized she was headed right toward the cliff’s edge. She stopped there, and turned around with an odd look on her face.
“Why couldn’t you just stay out of it?” Jacinda said to me. “I didn’t want to hurt you, but I knew that you’d meddled in investigations before. Once I found out you were friendly with Harvey, I knew you’d start digging into things. When I saw you jog over to the cliff’s edge, it was like a gift from the spirits. You were just standing there, like you were waiting for it. I knew I might never have another opportunity. I had to act.”
“It wasn’t enough to kill one innocent man for your career, and pin it on another one?” I said.
“Derek wanted to steal the soul of Reiner House, to paint it over with his own fantasy. I didn’t think the police would assume Harvey killed him, but let’s face it, that guy needs help anyway.”
“So they both deserved it, Jacinda? How about you? What do you deserve?”
Jacinda got that odd look on her face again. “My career is over. But my story will live on forever,” she said. “Just like Moira’s.” She took a step closer to the edge, smiling crazily, arms outstretched.
This part of the cliff was nearly a sheer drop, and I knew she had no plans to roll a few feet to the south, where the rocks piled against the cliff in more of a gradual incline, as I had done. No, she would fall straight down into the water—water filled with rocks. It would be an awful way to go. I couldn’t just watch it happen.
Jacinda jumped, arcing her body to launch herself away from any chance of making contact with the earth, to ensure her next meeting with anything solid would be at the bottom, at the end.
“Jacinda, no!” Avery cried.
I lunged, reaching for Jacinda. Her arms slipped away, then her pants as I clutched at them. One last reach with my other hand as she fell. I felt flesh against my fingertips and closed my hand in a tight grip. I had her ankle. The jagged rock dug into my chest. Jacinda kicked violently. I turned my face away from her kick. And then she pulled. My grip didn’t give, but my balance on the rocks did. I slid forward. If I didn’t let go, we were both going to die. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t just let go and drop her over the cliff. I had to fight.
I felt firm hands on my bare legs, pulling me back, away from the edge. “Stop!” I recognized the man’s voice as Harvey’s. He must’ve followed from the house to find out what was going on.
The further Harvey pulled us away from danger, the harder Jacinda kicked. I felt the hands let go of me, and in an instant, Harvey had hurled himself forward to grab Jacinda around the waist. This stopped the kicking, but it also thrust considerably more weight onto the load I was desperately struggling to hold up. I lost my grip. Jacinda lurched. I groped as far out as I dared, and caught nothing. I felt myself on the verge of sliding off the edge, and I had no choice but to fall back, away from the cliff.
I watched as they both tumbled to the bottom of the cliff, screaming and scraping and scuffling, until each of them hit the water with a sickening slap-splash. I ran to the area of the cliff, which inclined more gradually, and half-scooted, half crab-walked down the rocks, digging my fingers into the crevices, trying to slow my descent, trying to speed it up at the same time. Just trying to get to the bottom as fast as I could without getting there exactly the way Harvey and Jacinda had.
I picked my way over and around the rocks, aiming for an outcrop of tide pools. It seemed to take forever. I couldn’t see Harvey and Jacinda, since I was so focused on watching my footing, but I could hear their cries for help. Finally, I reached the base of a large rock on the edge of the outcrop. From there, I should be able to see them, and maybe pull them to safety.
Every time I attempted to clamber up the rock, my running shoes slid on the slimy seaweed. My foot sank back into the frigid water, and I shuddered at the thought of my whole body immersed in that unbearable cold. My foot found something hard and sharp, and I pushed up off of it, hard, and managed to belly-flop onto the rock. The shouts grew more faint, more distant. The top of the rock was free of plant animal growth and just big enough to stand on. Slowly, carefully, I rose to my feet.
“Brenna!” The shout came from the cliff top above. I turned my head and saw Blythe standing there, wide-eyed. “Don’t!” she begged.
I just shook my head. A lump filled my throat. Behind me were my sister’s pleas. Ahead of me, the urgent shouting and splashing of Jacinda Peters and Harvey Thompson, who were being pushed farther and farther away from the shore every moment. I searched the water in front of me for signs of other rocks. Rocks I just might be about to smash my head on. It was so hard to make anything out. A few yards away, Jacinda flailed in the water. Now that death was ready to swallow her up, she was fighting with everything she had to escape its jaws. Further out, Harvey bobbed, half-limp, his face streaked in scarlet. As I stood there, debating whether to jump and just how to do it, I saw the last of the color leave his face. He’d lost consciousness.
He slipped into the dark water, and I launched myself out, as far as I could in his direction. It was so cold, so black. Though there were no rough waves, the water was a force. A thickness, wall-like, pushing against my every effort. I broke the surface just in time to see his hand disappear a few feet in front of me. I filled my lungs with air and dove back under and out, groping blindly, praying desperately. My lungs were burning. My limbs felt so heavy. I needed to go back up for air. How deep was I? Would I even be able to make it back up? Which way was up?
I thrust myself in what I hoped was the direction of the surface, of air, of life. My fingers brushed something. Hair! I grabbed a fistful before it could slip away, and I felt with my other hand until I grabbed cloth. I let go Harvey’s hair and found his armpits, then kicked with everything I had in me, swimming with one free arm. I felt the air on my face. The body was so heavy in my arms. I tried to tread water. Which way was the shore? Everything felt so heavy. Even my thoughts. Like they were still swimming through the dark. And then the light was gone.
30
One of those silver thermal blanket thingies was tucked around the front of me. But something much warmer, much nicer, was wrapped around me, too. Will Riggins. He knelt in the grass, pressing me close to the warmth of his chest. I knew it was him without even looking. I could hear his heart pounding against my ear. So fast. He shuddered. I turned to look up at him. His eyes were big, frightened and relieved at the same time. Everything came into focus.
And that’s when I remembered. I’d been in the water. It was so cold, pulling me down. But now I was here, in the park, on solid ground. I’d almost drowned. I’d almost died.
“Will!” I threw my arms around his neck. My cheek fit so nicely against his chest. “Don’t let go,” I said. “Don’t let go.”
He leaned down and kissed my cheek. His skin was cold, like mine. Salt water dripped from his dark hair.
Blythe came running toward us, arms outstretched, a corner of a plaid blanket in each hand. She bundled it around us. I looked about in bewilderment. A small crowd had gathered from the nearby homes and businesses.
“Here’s another blanket!” It was Jill, bearing a swathe of Seattl
e Seahawks fleece.
Blythe wrapped that around us, too. Then she squeezed us both and cried.
“You saved my sister. I’ll never forget it. Never,” Blythe said between sniffles.
Will saved me? Of course he did. I leaned deeper into his arms, until—
“Harvey!” I exclaimed, pulling away so I could look around.
“It’s okay, Brenna. You pulled him to the surface just before you went down. The chief pulled him out, but you saved his life. The Fire Department are putting him in the ambulance right now. They’re sending another one for you.”
That’s right. I’d heard the sirens. I could see the ambulance parked nearby. Next to it, I saw Avery’s face pressed to the glass of a police car. She was in the backseat, no doubt in handcuffs.
For Blythe’s sake, I didn’t protest the ambulance this time. I just wanted to rest. And then I’d tell the police everything I knew, try to make sure the just thing was done for Avery and—
“Jacinda?” I asked.
“The Coast Guard is searching for her. I think she’s gone, Bren.”
I nodded, not knowing how to feel about that.
***
I just stood there in my tiny apartment with the door open, and stared at Will Riggins in his dark button-up shirt and jeans. With his smile that lit up his eyes under his thick lashes and his dimple that made me melt. And then I realized he was staring at me, too. At my new jeans and the silky sleeveless top I’d settled on after Blythe finally accepted the fact that I was not going to wear a dress. I’d let Blythe curl my hair a little, and of course, as we agreed, I’d let her do my makeup—a much lighter application this time.
I finally broke the silence with a question. “Not too dainty?”
