The Hindleford Killer (The Psychic Eye Mysteries Book 1)

by Danielle Rose-West

  He snapped his jacket back in place and wiggled his tie with both hands to straighten it. Smoothing a hand through his hair, he said, “Not at all. I know a liar when I see one.” He stabbed a finger towards her chest. “I’m going to make sure you pay for everything. You lucked out on this case, but you won’t be so lucky again.”

  He spun on his heel and walked away. “I’ll be watching you,” he tossed over his shoulder.

  Paige let him go, too tired to fight with him. She had no idea why he hated her, but that was a problem for another day. She had no intention of getting involved with another case, so hopefully DI Hammond would get bored and leave her alone.

  “We’re ready to go now,” the female paramedic called out to her. “You wanted to go to the hospital with us, right?”

  Paige turned back to them. “Yes, thank you.” Mandy was lying on a stretcher, out cold. “Is she okay?” Paige asked, concerned. She hurried to the girl’s side.

  “We gave her a sedative,” the paramedic assured her. “She’s not physically hurt badly. She may scar in places, but she will heal. It’s her mental state that’s going to take a long time to recover, if ever.”

  Paige nodded. She knew all too well how hard it could be for the mind and emotions to heal from something like this. She followed the paramedics out of the building.

  The breeze flowed over her skin as they made their slow way back towards the trail where the vehicles had to park. Paige raised her gaze to the sky. She had no idea why she’d been given this ability that she had, but tonight she was thankful she had it. Tonight, she celebrated life and the treasure it truly was.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  “Nothing! There is nothing in the paper about you,” Beth growled, scrunching up the paper and throwing it across the table.

  “Hey! I wanted to read that!” Jeremy complained bitterly. He grabbed it up and tried to flatten it out with his hands.

  “There was nothing on the news either!” Beth continued, ignoring Jeremy’s outburst. “You’d think they would mention you. It sounds like the police did all the hard work. Huh! They’d still be looking for him if it wasn’t for you!”

  Paige slouched on the sofa, a hot cup of coffee in her hands. “I’m glad they haven’t mentioned me,” she said wearily, running a hand through her tousled dark hair. “That’s the absolutely worst thing that could happen right now.”

  She hadn’t been to the café for the past couple of days. Thankfully, Carla had stepped into the breach and was running the café while Paige took a short break. After everything that had happened, she just needed some time out. She couldn’t face all the questions the customers were bound to fire at her regarding Mandy and Louisa. It would happen at some point she knew. She just wasn’t ready for it yet.

  “How can you say that?” Beth cried. “You’re a hero. You saved everyone from that lunatic killer. You should get the credit for that. A headline that reads ‘Psychic Eye solves case that baffled police’ or ‘Psychic Eye brings down The Hindleford Killer’.” She spread her hands out as if printing the words in the air.

  Paige sighed, “Stop calling me that! Headlines like that are just what I want to avoid.”

  “I don’t understand you,” Beth shook her head. “I’d be crowing from the rooftops if I had your talents.”

  Paige closed her eyes. She had no idea how to explain how she felt. After the shock had started to wear off, all she could think about was Louisa. She’d truly liked the girl. She’d been a friend. It was hard to reconcile her with the madman that had done such terrible things.

  “I don’t want credit,” she insisted. “It doesn’t feel like a victory. You didn’t know Louisa. This is really hard.”

  “You didn’t know her either,” Jeremy pointed out. “She……….he…..whatever, was a cold blooded killer.”

  She nodded. “He was, but she wasn’t. There were two people in there. Louisa will never get the chance to live a life because of the presence of Ryan. It’s sad.”

  “He’s a nutter,” Beth waved her hands in the air. “There was no Louisa. She was all in his head.”

  Paige put down her mug and rose to her feet. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

  The sound of the doorbell echoed through the house. Paige hoped it wasn’t reporters or well-meaning customers. Frowning, she headed over to the window and pulled back the curtain. Detective Steele stood on her doorstep. She glanced down at her pyjama bottoms and strappy top. Great! She looked a fright. Then she silently berated herself. What did it matter? She wasn’t interested in the man anyway.

  “Who’s that?” Beth asked.

  “It’s Steele,” she answered over her shoulder as she headed out of the living room.

  Reaching the front door, she swung it open. “Detective. What are you doing here?”

  He smiled, possibly the first genuine one she’d ever seen on him. It made him even more handsome. Her heart fluttered in her chest, even though she tried to squelch it down.

  “I came to see how you’re doing.”

  “Come in.” She led him to the living room. “Did you want a drink?”

  “I’m not stopping. I just wanted to check on you and fill you in.” He sank onto the sofa beside her, nodding his head to Beth and Jeremy. “We’ve done a psyche evaluation on Ryan. He has been deemed extremely mentally ill and is being treated for his condition.”

  “What does this mean for going to trial?” Jeremy asked. “Those families deserve justice for what he’s done.”

  “They do,” Steele agreed. “In this case, there is no doubt Ryan is the Hindleford killer. He shows no remorse for what he’s done. I don’t think he’s capable of it. There has been no sign of his other personality. I think without the ritual he performed, she won’t make another appearance.”

  “Good,” Paige said softly. “I would hate to think of her experiencing jail.”

  He reached out and patted her hand. Sympathy and understanding flowed from him to her. She truly appreciated that he understood how she felt. He seemed to be the only one.

  “Ryan will be held in a secure facility for the rest of his life. He won’t be able to harm anyone else. It’s the best that can be done, I’m afraid,” Steele explained. He glanced at Paige. “How is Mandy doing?”

  She shook her head with a sigh. “She’s not good. Her parents are taking her to counselling, but I’m not sure she can reconcile what’s happened. She’s having a hard time understanding that there were two people in Louisa. She will probably never get over this. The only plus is that her ex is now staying far away from her.”

  “I had a few words with him,” Steele smiled grimly. “This has been one hell of a case. It’s going to take time for the whole community to heal from it.”

  “What are you going to do about the afternoon tea event?” Jeremy asked. “You’ve got all those posters and plans. You’ve worked so hard on it. Is that all just going to fall by the wayside?”

  “I think it would be insensitive, under the circumstances,” Paige bit her lip.

  “Actually, it might be what everyone needs,” Beth disagreed. She sank down onto the arm of the sofa, next to Paige and held her hand. “I may not understand why you feel as you do, but I’m trying too. I get that Louisa was someone you felt close to and liked. Maybe this would be the best way to honour her.”

  “I’m not sure that’s how the town will see it,” Paige said, uncertainly. “The only thing people will remember about her is that she was the Hindleford killer.”

  “Maybe don’t make this event about Louisa. Make it a place for people to heal,” Jeremy suggested.

  “You need a way to heal too. And to grieve.” Steele leaned forward, regarding her with a wise, understanding expression on his face. “You feel Louisa died in all of this, don’t you? To you, she was another victim of Ryan’s. Forever buried inside him, with no life of her own.”

  Tears filled Paige’s eyes, slipping down her cheeks. “Yes,” she replied, her voice wobbling. “
I feel she died too. She was a real person. I felt her. Her hopes, her dreams, her love of simply baking.” She swallowed hard. “If only she’d been born a woman or if the mother that had adopted Ryan had allowed him to be a man.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. Perhaps there was never a chance for either of them, with the illness the father passed on.”

  “Oh, Paige. Why didn’t you say that’s how you felt?” Beth wrapped her arms around her. “I wouldn’t have said all I have if I’d known. I keep forgetting you have access to someone far deeper than a normal relationship.”

  “It’s okay,” Paige sniffed, rubbing Beth’s hand. “I’m not sure if I can pull off the event, in any case. I have lost two more members of staff, remember? Louisa is gone and Mandy has handed in her notice. It’s understandable that she doesn’t feel she can return.”

  “We’ll help,” Beth waved a hand at Jeremy. “Won’t we?” She raised a brow at him.

  “Sure, if you don’t mind being arrested for mass poisoning,” Jeremy replied wryly. “Remember that birthday cake you attempted to make?”

  “It wasn’t that bad!” Beth huffed.

  “Yeah, it was!” Jeremy insisted. “Could have been used as a lethal weapon,” he said to Steele out of the corner of his mouth.

  “I won’t cook anyway. We’ll just help with the decorating, advertising and such,” Beth patted Paige’s knee. “What do you say?”

  “Alright. We’ll give it a go,” Paige gave in with a smile. “But I want to forget about setting it up for mother’s day. Let’s make it a charity event instead and host it very soon. We can give the proceeds to a charity that helps victims of crime and their families.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Beth clapped her hands enthusiastically.

  “I happen to know the director of such a charity,” Steele offered. “I can text you his details. They always need donations.”

  Paige raised her brow. “That would be great. How do you know him?”

  Steele cleared his throat, looking slightly embarrassed. “When you see everything I do, sometimes putting the bad guys behind bars isn’t enough. I’ve been giving donations and sometimes I’ve run a fund raiser for the charity. It’s something else I can do to help and it helps me.”

  “Wow. I didn’t pick that up from you,” Paige smiled, teasing him a little. “It seems you have hidden depths I’ve yet to discover.”

  Steele rose to his feet, his face suddenly closed and slightly guarded. Paige could have kicked herself. She should know by now that people didn’t like to know she could read them so easily. She’d let her guard down and put her big foot in her mouth.

  “Well, I’d best be off,” he said, heading quickly for the door.

  “I’ll see you out.” Paige climbed to her feet and shot into the hallway behind him. She hated to think she’d upset him and dearly wanted to put things right. “Steele, you know I’d never pry into your private self, don’t you?” she asked him tentatively. “I know what I can do often bothers most people. They think I know everything about them, but I don’t. I wouldn’t intrude on someone that way.”

  Steele dipped his head briefly in acknowledgement of her words. “It’s okay, Saunders. I guess we all have things we’d rather stayed private. That’s all.”

  “I know. I promise to respect that.” She wanted his trust, she realised. What Steele thought of her mattered. It shouldn’t, but it did. “Thanks for coming,” she said softly. “It means a lot that you did.”

  Steele nodded. “You’ll get through this, Saunders. You’re strong. It will get easier.”

  She sighed. “I hope you’re right.” Paige rubbed at her heart. “It feels heavy in here right now.”

  “This kind of investigation is always hard. Just remember the lives you saved not the ones that were lost.” He patted her arm before opening the front door. He stepped out onto the porch. “I’ll see you around. Take care of yourself, Saunders.”

  “You too, Steele.”

  She watched as he walked away, sadness filling her. Would she see him again? The case was over. This whole time she had only wanted to see the back of him. Now, she felt an emptiness inside at his departure. After her stupid blunder, she wouldn’t be surprised if he avoided her at all costs.

  “Come on, we have lots of planning to do,” Beth tugged at her arm, breaking into her wool-gathering.

  Paige allowed herself to be pulled away, back into the living room. If they were going to pull off this charity event, they had a lot of work to do. She thought of Mandy and Louisa, how they’d planned the event and been so excited. Sadness welled up inside her. How she wished they would both be there to enjoy it. She could never have predicted the outcome of this case. It was one of the reasons she never wanted to be involved in another one again.

  Epilogue

  Paige carefully placed her small, dainty cakes on one of the cake stands she’d bought from a warehouse selling off old stock. It had been a steal. She was so pleased with the dainty stands and the tea service that went with them. They had a gold rim which stood out against the white ceramic. Stylish and unfussy. Perfect.

  “Service!” she called out.

  Beth bustled in, her cheeks red. “I’ve never seen so many people. This place is busting out at the seams!”

  Paige laughed. “I know. We’ll have a lot of money to give to Mr Connors at the end of the day.” She wiped her hands. “How many more orders?”

  “Another three parties have come in.” Beth blew a strand of hair, now dyed back to blonde, out of her eyes. “Oh, there is a gentleman that would like to pop in a moment to see you. If you’re okay with that?”

  Curious, Paige nodded. Who could it be? She was surprised to see Officer Green poke his head into the kitchen a short time later. “Hope I’m not intruding,” he said, biting his lip uncertainly.

  “No, of course not,” she smiled. “This is a surprise. What can I do for you?”

  “I just wanted to thank you,” he said, his gaze flicking around the kitchen. His cheeks flushed red. “You were right about my wife. We had us a good chat, and I’ve come to realise how much I’ve been neglecting her. So, we’re putting more romance into our lives. Starting with this afternoon tea. I’ve also planned a second honeymoon as a surprise. She’s always wanted to go to Florida.”

  Paige clapped her hands together. “I’m so happy for you both,” she declared sincerely.

  He finally settled his gaze on her. “It’s thanks to you,” he said. “If you hadn’t kicked me up the backside and made me realise what my Mary has been trying to tell me all this time, we may have fallen apart.”

  “I’m just glad you listened,” she smiled softly.

  “I just wanted to express my gratitude. You didn’t have to help me, after I was such a jerk to you.” He made to leave, then turned back. “We were all impressed with how you brought in that killer. Well, most of us anyway. You did good work.”

  “Thank you, Officer Green. From you, that means a lot.”

  He nodded his head and exited the kitchen. Paige quickly made up the last three orders that Beth had brought in, her mind a whirl. So much had happened in such a short space of time, much of it awful. But even in those dark moments, there were glimmers of light.

  Carla scurried through, taking out two of the final orders, Jeremy hot on her heels to serve the last. Paige sighed with relief. The afternoon tea was a huge success, but extremely tiring. She didn’t even want to glance at the sink, filled with bowls and dishes that needed rinsing and loading into the dishwasher.

  It could wait. She stepped out of the kitchen and gazed around the café, transformed into a beautiful garden oasis. Beth had outdone herself. She’d placed pots of flowers around the room, with banners made of twisted leaves around the walls. Trellis fencing had been attached to the walls, lending to the garden feel.

  Happy faces could be seen at every table. Talk and laughter filled the air. With her gift, Paige had seen the very worst of humanity. The greed, selfishness, and somet
imes cruelty. At this moment, her friends and neighbours reminded her of the other side of humanity. The kindness, generosity and the ability to bounce back from hardship.

  She felt her heart swell with love as she gazed around the scene before her. So many people had turned up, wanting to support her and each other. They had already raised so much for the charity that would give its help out to those that really needed it. People like Mandy, who had faced the very worst of life and lived.

  Paige was glad she could play a small part in that. She was proud and happy to be a part of such a community. She didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, so today she would bask in the good things around her.

  With that thought, she picked up a coffee pot and entered the happy scene.

  A Note from the Author

  It has been a while since I’ve had the chance to write. As many of my previous readers know, I work full time now and haven’t had as much time to devote to the written word. Happily, I am remedying that now, starting with this new series. They are slightly shorter books, but will be an ongoing series I am really enjoying developing with many story arcs travelling through the series. These are mainly about the mystery with a touch of romance. However, Paige and Kieran are in no rush to be in a relationship and I am not one to hurry them!

  I truly hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I am starting work on book two, in which Paige, Kieran and all their friends will be back with a new mystery to be solved. Of course Paige isn’t keen to investigate another mystery, but Kieran has his way of persuading her! You’ll have to wait to see what comes next for them both.

  If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review. We authors always appreciate your feedback. Our work is a labour of love. It gives us tremendous pleasure when we know you’ve enjoyed our work. I do have other books I have written if you like my work. If you enjoy mystery, you may like my Haunted by the Past series, or my fantasy romance the Fairy Tale Match series. I wish you many hours of reading pleasure.