But it worked to mask the person’s approach. Because on the stairs behind Allyson appeared a familiar set of boots, then faded jeans, then holey T-shirt and leather jacket, then B.J.’s face. He held his gun at the ready.
Penny used her peripheral vision because she didn’t want to alert Allyson to his presence, but it was hard to hold back the tears of relief … and fear. Allyson would think nothing of shooting B.J. And Penny was sure that that was one death she would not be able to withstand.
“Come here,” Allyson said, nodding to the chair.
Penny surveyed the sharp tips of the six-inch nails set into the seat of the chair at quarter-inch intervals, and swallowed. “Do you think you can put the gun down to help me into the chair?”
Allyson smiled. “Only if you promise to behave.”
“Where would I go?”
“True.” Allyson set down the gun, then beckoned her forward.
Penny moved slowly to give B.J. time to advance.
“Now it’s important that you get into the chair very easily,” Allyson said, then smiled. “We don’t want a lot of blood the first time.”
B.J. put his gun to the back of Allyson’s head and shouted over the sound track, “Freeze or I’ll blow your head off!”
Allyson went rigid with surprise, her painted mouth rounded. Then she cursed violently under her breath and put up her hands. “I prefer the giving end of pain over the receiving end.” She rolled her eyes at Penny. “I knew this guy was going to be trouble the minute I saw him.”
Quaking with relief, Penny ran to turn off the sound track. By the time she came back, B.J. had handcuffed Allyson and bound her ankles with a cable tie, all of which she seemed to enjoy. He turned to Penny, and she fell into him, sobbing.
“Are you okay?” he asked fiercely, covering her with his coat. “God, I was terrified of what I would find.”
“How … did you … know?”
“The DNA results came back—the hair belonged to Jodi Reynolds.”
“She’s being held upstairs, with another woman.”
He nodded. “I brought a team of people with me. They’re swarming the entire building and grounds.”
“They’ve done horrible things,” Penny said, choking.
“I know,” he said. “Some of that crushed bones mixture they’re selling is human bones.”
“Premium product at a premium price,” Allyson said.
B.J. pointed his gun at her. “If you say another word, I will shoot you, do you understand?”
Allyson nodded meekly.
He looked back to Penny and his jaw hardened. “Did she kidnap you?”
“No. One of the women being held managed to get to the cupola and wave a rag. I saw it from my garden and … came to investigate.”
He frowned. “Why didn’t you call someone?”
She smirked, her energy returning. “A lot of good it would have done to call the police.”
He leaned his head closer. “Why didn’t you call me?”
A hot flush made its way up her neck. Because it was the first thing she’d thought of, and the instinctual response had spooked her. “I …”
“It’s okay,” he said gently. “You don’t have to explain. What matters is that you’re okay. When we found the opening in the gate, and the tools you’d left behind … I thought the worst.”
“I was … terrified,” she admitted, still reeling over what could have happened and no one would have been the wiser. “Thank you, B.J., for … coming when you did.”
He bit into his lip, then winked. “Get dressed, babe. This nightmare is over.”
31
If the recipe is a success,
pass it on …
Marie and Penny sat at the juice counter and watched as the voodoo festival banner that had been stretched across Charm Street was taken down.
“This town will never be the same,” Marie said, sipping from her juice glass.
“So true,” Penny said. And neither would she.
“Do you think they’ll have the festival next year?”
“I don’t know.” The fact that Allyson and her little club had been using the festival as a way to attract victims and to fence their gruesome contraband wasn’t exactly Chamber of Commerce ad copy.
“I can’t believe that Jodi Reynolds is Sheena’s sister.”
Penny nodded. “Apparently, Sheena changed her name when she was a teenager and moved away from her family. Jodi came to Mojo looking for her.”
“And was kidnapped and tortured.” Marie shook her head. “I just can’t believe this was happening in a town like Mojo.”
It was national news. The little town famous for its Instruments of Death and Voodoo Museum was now infamous for the things that had gone on within the museum’s walls. The governor was sending a task force to have the entire house analyzed for any DNA that could be linked to open missing persons cases.
“And Sheena Linder is really Ruth Reynolds. Wow, I would never change my name—would you?”
A little smile curved Penny’s mouth. “I certainly understand why some people do it.”
Jodi was the reason B.J. had stopped at Sheena’s house the first day Penny had seen him. He’d asked Sheena if she was Ruth Reynolds, and she’d slammed the door in his face. The next time, he’d gone back with personal items of Jodi’s that her grandmother had given him—a pair of shoes that Sheena had sent to her sister and a videotape of Jodi’s graduation, to try to soften Sheena and convince her that Jodi might have been in the vicinity of Mojo when she’d disappeared. Sheena had been afraid that Deke might discover her history and had shunned the cameras so that no one from her past would recognize her. But the sisters were together now, and from what Penny had heard, Sheena was a changed woman. Indeed, she had changed her mind about suing Penny for the broken tailbone when she’d learned that Penny was the person who had rescued her sister from the Torture Tower, as it was being called. And more surprisingly, Sheena had handed over all the documentation on the assets that Deke had hidden during the property settlement.
Penny squinted. Maybe there was the possibility that she and the woman would become friends. Then she made a rueful noise. Nah.
The only glitch in the case was that Allyson Davis wasn’t giving up other members of the “club,” so for now, she and Dr. Troy Archambault were the only people being charged, and Troy had abjectly denied knowledge of the cadaver enterprise that was being run out of his family’s former mansion. Jodi Reynolds and the other woman, Giselle Taylor, told of unspeakable acts on up to a dozen people they had been held with and who had subsequently “disappeared.” Penny wondered if Mona was somehow involved, but she would leave the rest of the detective work to the police. Still, it was odd that Mona had withdrawn her opposition to Penny’s garden.
Jimmy Scaggs had been freed, and the last Penny heard, Henry would be well enough by next year to hunt the bumper crop of black truffles that Jimmy was expecting. Diane Davidson had taken care of Henry while Jimmy had been incarcerated, and the couple had been seen around town together. Admittedly, they seemed like a good fit.
Although what did Penny know about relationships?
“So, who made the Deke voodoo doll?” Marie asked.
“I don’t know … we may never know.” Although Penny had someone in mind.
Guy walked through the showroom wearing a John Deere ball cap and a camouflage shirt, a la Jimmy Scaggs. But the look was somehow compromised by the pink iPod clipped to his military belt.
“Some mysteries will never be solved,” Marie muttered.
Penny smiled. “Did you hear that Gloria Dalton is moving to Mojo?”
“Your divorce attorney?”
“Yeah. She’s decided to turn down the D.A.’s job offer and take over Deke’s practice.”
“Think she can make it in a small town?”
“We’ll see.”
“Guess we’re going to be getting a new chief of police.”
“Looks like it,” Pe
nny said, shuddering. Allyson Davis’s depravity was almost inconceivable.
“Are you going to sell your story?” Marie asked. “You are the bravest person I know.”
“Save all your admiration for the cops and investigators who exhaust every lead to find a missing person. I just happened to be in the right garden at the right time.”
“Speaking of investigators, have you seen B.J.?”
Penny’s heart gave a little tug every time she heard his name. “Not since the day of the bust at the museum.” It had been traumatic for both of them. Emotions had been running high … too high for any rational conversation. “I’ve talked to him on the phone a couple of times—sounds like he’s very busy with all the sudden attention his agency is getting.”
“He looks like that and he’s filthy rich,” Marie said dreamily. “He’s too good to be true.”
“Kind of like Kirk?” Penny asked, taking a sip from her glass, but Marie suddenly seemed fascinated by her cuticles.
The door chime sounded and Jules walked in, seemingly light on her feet this morning, swinging her walking stick.
“Good morning, Jules,” they said in unison.
“Bonjour, ladies,” Jules sang, her voice strong. “I came for my morning elixir.”
“Coming right up,” Marie said.
“How are you doing this morning, Jules?”
“Right as rain,” the old woman said. “How about you?”
Penny thought about it, then nodded. “I’m good, actually.”
Jules pointed her finger. “Take care of your unfinished business and you’ll feel better.”
Marie looked at Penny and lifted her eyebrows.
Penny leaned into the counter. “Jules … you wouldn’t happen to know anything about a voodoo doll made in the likeness of my ex-husband, would you?”
Jules pursed her wrinkled mouth and shook her head. “Not me.”
“Or a little red toy car?”
“Nope.”
“Someone breaking into my apartment and cleaning?”
“Nope.”
“A snake in my bed?”
“Nope. Although I believe I warned you about a serpent being underfoot.”
Penny frowned. “What about Deke’s coffin falling?”
“Nope.”
“Hm,” Penny said, studying the woman intently. “I guess it was all just coincidence.”
“Nothing is coincidence,” Jules said. “Things happen because you want them to happen—”
“Or because they need to happen,” Penny finished.
“Right,” Jules said. “So maybe those things happened to help you figure out the puzzle of your life.”
Penny narrowed her eyes. Figure out the puzzle—like when she hadn’t taken the hint of letting the crumpled toy car lead her to Deke’s car, the coffin had been compromised as a second hint? Like if Allyson hadn’t used a garden stake to frame Penny, Penny might not have been restaking her garden at just the right moment to see the distress signal from the cupola? And wasn’t she in a better, calmer place now than at any other point in her life?
“Excuse me,” Penny said, then went to her office where she paced for a few minutes, practicing deep breathing techniques. Finally, she picked up the phone and dialed. As the rings mounted, she wiped her clammy hands on her jeans.
“Cumberland Federal Women’s Facility.”
“Hi,” Penny said. “I … I’d like to arrange a phone call with an inmate, please. Anita Frank.”
“I’ll need the inmate number and date of birth.”
Penny recited the information.
“And what is your name?”
She closed her eyes briefly. “Just tell her it’s Penny.”
“And when should I tell the inmate you would like to arrange the call?”
Penny wet her lips. “As soon as possible, please.”
Penny was given instructions on when to call back for a response, and she hung up, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. If her mother didn’t want to communicate, that would be her problem … but at least Penny could rest in the knowledge that she’d done everything to make an effort to forge some kind of relationship.
She picked up a bag from her desk, then walked out into the showroom. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the garden.”
She walked outside, thinking how quickly the weather changed this time of year. Cool and dry, it was great for late fall planting. She looked over the expanse of the newly tilled black soil and sighed with pleasure. This time next year her garden should be yielding produce every single day. She expected to hire more people, attract new commercial business, and become a mainstay for the community. She bit her lip as she stared at the roof of the Archambault mansion. She only hoped the town would be able to compensate for the tourist dollars it would lose while the museum was shut down—especially if it never reopened. And until the full extent of the torture and cadaver ring was revealed, everyone in Mojo would look at their friends and neighbors a little differently.
Then she inhaled deeply and expelled a cleansing exhale. No matter what the future brought, she was going to embrace it. She picked a nice fresh spot of dirt near the end of the plot and crouched down, running her fingers through the fertile soil.
The Charm Kit to Bury the Past instructed her to place items representing situations that she wanted to be reconciled in her life in a burlap bag (with the aromatic packet provided). She had selected a picture of her and her brothers when they were little, her father’s pipe, a single earring that her mother had given her when she was little to play dress up, the letter that Wendy had written apologizing for her affair with Deke, the pewter lovebirds ornament that said Deke and Penny, forever, and a packet of vitamins. Satisfied with her assembly, she put the items in the bag as instructed, then dug a hole as deep as she could with her hands and buried it with handfuls of black soil, repeating positive mantras like, “The past is gone, the only thing I can change is the future.”
Maybe voodoo and magic were just a figment of one’s imagination, but if the belief brought peace, what was the harm? Afterward, she stood, content with where she was headed with her life, resolute to mend broken relationships where possible … and ever hopeful for a strong relationship with a loving man.
“Hello.”
Penny turned to see B.J. walking toward her on the perimeter of the garden. Her heart, frivolous thing, starting beating wildly. “Hello,” she managed in a relatively calm voice.
“Looks nice,” he said, nodding toward the cleared land that went up to the fence around the Archambault mansion.
“Thanks, I’m really happy with it.”
He smiled. “Good. I like to see you happy.” His mouth turned down suddenly. “I can’t stop thinking about what might have happened if I hadn’t gotten there when I did.”
She turned to face him. “But you did get there … and I’m fine.” She smiled.
“I would have looked for you,” he said suddenly.
She frowned. “Hm?”
“I was listening to the conversation between you and Allyson before you walked down to the basement. I wasn’t in position to get to you, but I heard …” He looked up. “I heard what she said about you not having anyone who would look for you if you disappeared, and I wanted you to know that … I would’ve looked for you. And I wouldn’t have stopped looking until I found you.”
Tears welled in her eyes—he couldn’t possibly know what those words meant to her. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t want him to think that she thought it meant he was in love with her. “Thank you,” she said.
He cleared his throat and looked out over the garden again, this time gesturing. “This isn’t going to work.”
Proud of her garden, she bristled. “Why not?”
“Because I was just asked to lead the task force that the governor is sending to the museum to try to solve open missing persons cases.”
She gasped, uncaring if her feelings for him were too obvious. �
�You’ll be working in Mojo?”
“And living.” He grinned sheepishly. “I realize that I have to be near you, or I’m never going to get any work done.”
Her heart took flight, but she reined it back in. “What does that have to do with my garden?”
“I don’t plan to walk all the way around every time I want to see you,” he said, pointing toward the fence. “So I was thinking if we put in a gate right about there, it would make life easier.” Then he shrugged. “If you want.”
She leaped into his arms and kissed him with all the pent-up energy of missing him, wanting him, and needing him. When they pulled back, they were both flushed, and she was anticipating being in his arms tonight.
“I love you, Penny.” His voice was full of wonder, as if he himself were surprised. “I think you worked some voodoo on me.”
“I love you, too, Baron Jeffrey.” At his surprised expression, she laughed. “You’re not the only one who can investigate.” She pressed her face into his shirt, so happy she was afraid to move.
“Hey, did you know that if you crumble up a bag of Frito’s in tofu, it’s not half bad?”
She laughed. “That kind of defeats the purpose.”
“Hey, I’m trying to learn to compromise. But that means you have to eat a bag of potato chips occasionally.”
She thought of the stash in her desk drawer and grinned. “I can do that.”
They walked over the garden holding hands. And Penny … she was showing a lot of gum.
Can Gloria adjust
to being a small-town attorney?
What handsome devil in Mojo
suddenly needs an attorney?
Does Marie really have ESP?
Is Kirk a real person?
Is Steve a real cad?
Who is making voodoo dolls
of local residents?
Will Jimmy ever take a bath?
Who will Sheena sue next?
Is Guy really gay?
Will the end of the voodoo museum
mean the end of Mojo?
In Deep Voodoo Page 28
