“I think you need to leave now, Deputy. I don’t like you snooping around my place.” Her tone had gone from friendly to confrontational. She reached over and snatched the note away. “Come back with a warrant next time before you start going through my personal things.”
DeeDee slid out of the small booth, her thoughts racing. At Laura’s house, the mouse on Tucker’s computer had been on the left side, meaning Tucker Rockwood was left-handed.
Yet when his body was found, the FitBit was on his left wrist—opposite of what the manufacturer recommended. He should’ve worn the thing on his right hand, his nondominant side. A fitness buff like Rockwood would surely have known that. In fact, his wife had said he was obsessed with accurately tracking his steps. He didn’t seem like the type that would go against what the manufacturer recommended, not to mention that wearing the FitBit on his dominant hand would cause it to get in the way when he was writing or using the computer.
Then there was the note she’d just seen. Tucker’s writing slanted to the left, again exactly what you’d expect for a left-handed writer. Her gaze flicked to the huge TV in the living room then the expensive purse on the seat by the table. Gina had come into money. Laura’s money.
All the pieces finally clicked.
DeeDee had based her case on the fact Tucker’s FitBit recorded movement of his body between three forty and four seventeen. Both Gina and Laura’s alibis were based on the fact they’d been in a yoga class during that time and thereby unable to have been the ones that moved Rockwood. They’d even had witnesses to corroborate their stories. But now…
DeeDee remembered that girl at the yoga studio saying that Gina had brought a pie and she never got a taste. That had bugged DeeDee. Who would bring a pie to yoga? But now DeeDee realized the girl never actually saw the pie—all she saw was Gina carrying something carefully held in front of her. As if she didn’t want it going up and down… like the movement necessary for a FitBit to track activity.
Slowly, she looked up toward the ceiling right above the sink and spotted a sprig of mistletoe with thin leaves just as she’d seen online. The most poisonous variety. Her hands and arms felt as if they were on fire, and her throat was swelling shut. Pressure built in her sinuses as she tried to reach for her gun, but erupted in another sneezing fit.
Gina seized the opportunity and tackled DeeDee to the floor.
With the trailer being so narrow, there wasn’t much room to move or fend off an attack. Still sneezing and sniffling, she managed to cover her face against the other woman’s scratching nails. Eyes watering, she squinted at Gina, who now had her hands around DeeDee’s throat in a chokehold.
“How did you figure it out?” Gina demanded.
With her allergic reaction now in full swing, breath labored and throat swelling, she managed to force out rough words. “The F-FitBit. It was o-on the wrong wrist. Tucker’s l-left-handed. S-Should’ve been o-on his r-right.”
DeeDee’s frazzled mind tossed up more facts. Owen had said Laura Rockwood’s fingerprints had been on Tucker’s FitBit. Now she knew why. Her vision grew hazy, but she refused to give in to the unconsciousness looming near the edges of her brain. “H-How d-did you k-kill him?”
Gina’s expression turned smug. “It was easy, really. Once we decided to get rid of Tucker, Laura slipped the mistletoe into his food and coffee. We weren't sure how much to use to kill him, but she knew it would eventually build up to toxic levels in his bloodstream. After he died, we took off his FitBit and put the body in the back of Laura’s pickup truck and drove him to the movie set.” She smiled, creepily and coldly. “Do you have any idea how heavy dead bodies are? Way too heavy for two gals like Laura and me to carry, that’s for sure. Good thing we found that dolly sitting out on the set. We loaded him up then moved him down to the edge of the property, near the remote swamp so he wouldn’t be found right away. Too bad Laura put that stupid FitBit on the wrong wrist, though. We’d been so careful to cover all our tracks.”
Making one last attempt to escape, DeeDee bucked hard against Gina. The movement dislodged her assailant, and she gulped in a much-needed breath before shoving the actress hard to the floor and pinning her shoulders to the ground with her knees. “Not as careful as you thought, Ms. Presti. We had movement recorded on Tucker’s FitBit during the time he was moved.” She frowned, realizing now she’d been duped. “But that’s not where the movement came from, was it? You wore the device to the yoga class, didn’t you? Is that why you and Laura fought too? To make sure everybody remembered you both being there?”
“Very good, Deputy.” Gina chuckled. “We wanted to make sure our visit was unforgettable. Worked too, didn’t it? You had no idea it was me and Laura behind it all.”
Another sneeze attack threatened, and DeeDee tried to hold it back, but it was too late.
Gina struck again, this time with her fist. She clocked DeeDee’s jaw hard, sending her reeling backward. Her head smacked hard on the corner of the cabinets as she fell, white stars blinking in front of her eyes. Before she knew it, she was pinned again, trapped, as Gina sat atop her abdomen. “S-So you and Laura w-were in this together the w-whole time?”
“Of course.” Gina squeezed DeeDee’s throat again. More white stars flickered before her gaze as her oxygen levels depleted. “Funny, but we actually met when we were both tailing that bastard Tucker. He had issues with women. Couldn’t keep his hands off them. When we discovered him with Alissa, Laura and I bonded. We started meeting in that little coffee shop and hatching our plan to take Tucker out. I’d read a story in the paper about a killer’s alibi being blown because of a FitBit, and knowing what a fitness nut Tucker was, we decided to use that technology to our advantage.”
DeeDee struggled against her captor’s hold, but her strength was waning. She forced herself to focus on more questions, her words emerging more quietly and weakly than she’d intended, biding her time until she could call for help. “What about the p-poison? You mentioned the m-mistletoe. Our ME found p-phoratoxins in Tucker’s system. But she also found p-phosphorus. How did y-you know to combine t-the two?”
“Oh, that was all Laura.” Gina rested her weight more fully atop DeeDee, making it even harder for her to breathe. “She was a chemist at her father’s pharmaceutical company and thought the mistletoe would be the least suspicious poison to use, since it’s everywhere during the holidays. If they found it in his system, it would be easy enough to explain away with an accidental ingestion. Except it took way longer than we expected for the levels in his bloodstream to reach toxic levels. He didn’t die like we wanted, just kept getting sicker and sicker until she finally decided to mix in a tad of phosphorus with the last dose.”
“R-Rat p-poison?” DeeDee managed to squeak out, remembering how Alissa Snow had said Tucker was sick. Had that been from the mistletoe? Probably. And his body was full of it, which was why she’d had that allergic reaction upon finding it.
“No, actually. Fireworks.” Gina seemed quite pleased with herself. “Our pyrotechnics crew made it easy enough to obtain. Just grabbed a few from the props trailer when no one was looking. That props master is so lost anyone can take anything at any time.”
Dang! Ursula had mentioned fireworks in the list of things that could have phosphorus, but DeeDee had thought it seemed more logical for the killer to have used rat poison. Which it would have been if the murder were under normal circumstances and not on some crazy movie set. “W-What about the s-stake?”
Gina laughed, the sound chock-full of crazy. “We threw that in to confuse you. Figured it would make you suspect one of the protestors.”
DeeDee closed her eyes, berating herself now for being so gung-ho to get over here tonight. She should’ve waited until the morning. Should’ve brought backup, just in case. She knew better than to not follow protocol. That was what had killed Paige.
Now, it seemed, DeeDee would pay the ultimate price as well for her carelessness.
“Are you having a hard time breathin
g, Deputy?” Gina asked as she leaned in closer. “Oh, that’s too bad.”
Acting on pure instinct, DeeDee jerked hard, toppling Gina sideways, and reached for her gun at the same time. Weapon drawn, she stared down at her suspect as pressure built inside her head once more.
No. No sneezing. Not now.
But she couldn’t hold it back. In the chaos, they wrestled for the gun, and Gina got hold of the weapon. She scrambled to her feet and aimed, her eyes flat and cold. “You should have died peacefully when you had the chance, Deputy.”
Prepared to take a bullet, DeeDee squeezed her eyes shut and waited. She’d had a good life, done her best to atone for what had happened to Paige all those years ago. Finally found a guy who made her light up inside like a Christmas tree. Caine Hunter. He wasn’t her intended, but that kiss had been…everything. She’d miss her sister, miss saying goodbye to her dad, even though they never did agree on much. And the guy she was supposed to marry, well…
A loud crack sounded, and DeeDee braced against the pain she expected.
Except the agony never arrived.
Instead, Gina screamed. Brisk wind rushed in along with the scent of pine.
Peeking one eye open, DeeDee spotted a gorgeous blond wolf launching through the open doorway at Gina. The two tumbled to the ground, and the gun dropped to the floor. DeeDee crawled forward to grab it. Her gaze locked with the wolf’s, and her pulse stumbled.
She’d know those amber eyes anywhere.
Caine.
Caine Hunter had just saved her life.
Their connection flared supernova brightly, bringing her both comfort and a necessary burst of energy. She stumbled to her feet with the gun in one hand and pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed 9-1-1 with the other.
The dispatcher answered, and DeeDee relayed what had happened and her location.
Within minutes, sirens wailed in the distance. Caine’s wolf gave DeeDee one last, longing look then took off through the door, disappearing into the night as she cocked her weapon and unclipped the handcuffs from her utility belt, reading Gina Presti her Miranda rights as she rolled the actress over onto her stomach to slap on the cuffs. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
“What’s happening?” Owen shouted, rushing into the trailer with his gun drawn. Dex was hot on his heels.
“Stand down, boss. I’ve got the suspect secured.” DeeDee finished reading Gina her rights then let Dex and Owen take over. Her knees were shaking, and her throat felt sandpaper raw. That stupid mistletoe still hung above the sink, but she wasn’t about to touch it. That was evidence in her murder case, and she wanted everything processed by the book to make sure Gina Presti and Laura Rockwood were both punished for their crimes.
Stan stumbled up the steps to the trailer and peered inside, his expression disbelieving. “Was that a giant werewolf I saw running across the movie set?”
DeeDee exchanged a look with Dex then patted Stan on the shoulder on her way outside. “A giant werewolf, buddy? I think you’re seeing things.”
CHAPTER 22
A few hours later, after they’d gotten both Gina Presti and Laura Rockwood processed and safely behind bars, DeeDee arrived home at last. Her head was still stuffy and throbbing from her allergies, and her arms and hands were red and raw. She hadn’t looked in a mirror since that morning, and DeeDee feared she looked even worse than she felt.
Still, even as happy as she was they’d caught their killers—Laura had caved shortly after they’d brought her in for interrogation—she was still beating herself up for not catching that double-cross with the FitBit sooner.
Then there was Caine’s heroic rescue.
As she stumbled into her bedroom and slowly peeled her uniform away from her inflamed skin, she couldn’t help remembering the utter calm that had come over her at his nearness. The connection between them was good and right and undeniable.
Too bad he wasn’t the man she was slated to marry.
She finished undressing then padded into her bathroom and jammed on the shower. While the water heated, she texted her father once more. If only she could talk to him, explain things between her and Caine, maybe by some miracle he wouldn’t make her marry a stranger, wouldn’t turn to Nia as a replacement.
No response. As usual.
It was for the best, she supposed as she opened the shower door and climbed under the soothing warm spray. No matter what she said, nothing would change her bullheaded father’s mind, and honestly, she did understand his reasoning. Merging with the MacPherson pack was important. She just wished her dad would get over his big ego and stop insisting it be one of his daughters who did the marrying to seal the treaty. Yes, he was their pack alpha, but still.
After scrubbing down then rinsing off, DeeDee got out of the shower and toweled dry, realizing she’d forgotten to take off the mustard seed locket. Its weight still hung around her neck, as if reminding her she had one alternative left.
She slumped down on the edge of her bed and stared at the thing. Deep in her heart, DeeDee knew there was no way she could marry this MacPherson guy, not with what she felt for Caine. It wouldn’t be right. There was only one way, though, to stop the marriage and not have the responsibility fall on her sister, Nia. Too bad that one way would get her ostracized from the pack and ensure Caine wouldn’t want anything to do with her. But marrying MacPherson would be wrong, and at least she could save her sister from the same fate.
In need of a witch’s assistance, DeeDee grabbed her cell phone again and dialed Gray Quinn’s number. It was late, but he was paranormal and hopefully still awake.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hey, Gray. It’s DeeDee.”
“Hey! How are you?”
“I’m good. Listen, I need some help of the magical variety.” She explained the situation and how she needed witchy powers to activate the mustard seed. If it could even still be activated. “Do you think you Quinns can help me?”
“We’ll sure try. Anything for you, DeeDee. We can’t do it at Issy’s, though. This is too big. Way too big. We need a high-energy area.”
DeeDee’s gut clenched. “You mean…”
“Yep, the Tribunal Bar and Grill. I’ll call ahead and see if we can use the back room.”
The Tribunal was a seedy joint halfway between north and south Silver Hollow. It was loaded with high energy and had a back room kept reserved for special use. It was rarely used. In fact, most paranormals avoided it because it was also rumored to be the place bad paranormals were brought for punishment sentencing. DeeDee had no idea what that entailed—few who had been brought there came back to tell about it. All she knew was it had something to do with a bunch of judges, paranormal penance, and some hefty fines.
But if it was the only place they could do it, she didn’t have much of a choice. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Okay. I’ll let my cousins know what’s going on too. Sometimes these things take more than one witch.”
“Great. Thanks, Gray. I really appreciate it.”
She hung up then pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, socks, and sneakers. Her muscles were stiff from the fight with Gina, and she had a knot on the back of her head from where she’d collided with the cabinets in the RV. She slicked her damp hair back into a ponytail then pulled on her heavy work coat and headed out to the squad car, feeling tired to her bones but needing to get this whole marriage thing settled once and for all.
Her neighbor, a nosy little old man named Mr. Roberti, was outside, fussing with his Christmas lights, when she went to get in her squad car.
“Where’re you off to so late, Deputy?” he called, waving.
“Meeting some friends at The Tribunal,” she called back before climbing into the car.
As she slid behind the wheel, her cell phone buzzed with an incoming message.
DeeDee pulled it out and saw it was from Dex, asking if she was okay. He’d se
en the werewolf too, she was sure, but she doubted he made the connection between the creature and Caine. Good thing too, since he also knew about her thing for Caine, because they’d discussed it that day in the car.
She started the engine and backed out of the driveway, giving a final wave to Mr. Roberti before shifting into drive and heading toward the restaurant. Her phone screen dimmed then went black, Dex’s text unanswered. The ritual ahead, whatever it would be, required her full concentration.
She’d chat with Dex later.
CHAPTER 23
I t was nearly ten at night by the time Caine headed to DeeDee’s house. After what had happened between them on the movie set and the way her life had been in danger, he’d needed time to get himself calmed down and get his head on straight again.
He was going to tell her the truth. It was time.
She’d be pissed and most likely wouldn’t want to go through with the marriage after the way he’d lied to her, but it was the right thing to do. Besides, no matter what their pack rules said, he refused to force her into marrying him. Deep inside, he knew she was his soul mate. He could only pray on some level she knew it too. Maybe then she’d forgive him and they could start again.
His driver pulled up in front of her tiny little bungalow, and he started up the snowy sidewalk to her door, only to be stopped by a voice shouting from the next house over.
“If you’re here to see Deputy DeeDee, you just missed her,” a little old man with his hands full of Christmas twinkle lights said.
Caine stopped and walked to her neighbor’s house instead. “You wouldn’t happen to know where she went, would you?”
The little old guy eyed him up and down as if gauging Caine’s measure. He easily had a good foot and a half of height on the elderly man, but that didn’t stop the elderly man from defending DeeDee. Caine liked him already. He smiled and held out his hand. “My name’s Caine Hunter, and I’m a friend of DeeDee’s. I only have her best interests at heart. I promise.”
Cry Wolf (Silver Hollow Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series Book 4) Page 12
