by Tegan Maher
I could see through his eyes now, and it was awkward, trying to move his limbs without moving my own, but I didn't dare leave him inside and out of sight, where I might lose my grip and give him a chance to hurt Justin. I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other until his body reached the door, then I saw his hand reaching down to open it.
Closing my eyes so I didn't lose him when I could see him, I twisted the doorknob with his hand and pulled the door open, then slammed him as hard as I could to the porch.
The guys rushed forward and I concentrated on holding him still until Earl grabbed Darren's wrist and shoved a knee between his shoulder blades. Once he was disabled, I let go of his mind.
The wind died down, and colors burst behind my eyelids, making me dizzy. I spread my feet a little to keep from falling and opened my eyes to get my bearings. The men were staring at me, and Darren was crying like a little girl and babbling about Jedi mind control.
Matt just shook his head and grinned. "And that, gentlemen, is why you should never piss off a redhead."
Chapter Forty-One
Justin had managed to wriggle free of the ropes that bound him and rushed out of the house to me.
Max floated out of the house, quiet and retrospective, looking toward the road as a car came plowing into the driveway, almost on two wheels. Emily and Bobbie Sue jumped out and rushed towards us. "I need to go see Em. She's put her whole life into those kids. Her heart's gonna be broke."
Another mind brushed mine and I almost panicked before I realized it was Shelby's. Noelle! Are you okay? What in the name of Hades is going on?
I gave her the Reader's Digest version and told her everything was fine.
Oh my god, I just felt a huge rush of energy a few minutes ago, but when I tried to reach you, it was like you kept pushing me back out.
That's weird. The whole situation is weird. I think we need to talk about it in-depth when I get home and we're alone, just me, you, Rae, and Addy. Maybe get Aunt Elizabeth to come, too.
All right. Love you.
Love you back.
It was several hours before we got everything sorted. Chet admitted that he'd gone to "try to talk some sense into the old codger" about his spoiled Satan's spawn, but that Max had been alive when he left.
Poor Joe had gone to tear Max a new one about the stinky fishing boat and found him dead. He'd picked the pieces up and moved them out of the way so he could get to him, then panicked when Max flickered in as a ghost for the first time, disoriented, and fled without calling the cops. He's not one that can usually see our ghosts, so it was an understandably horrific experience for him.
I was relaxing on the porch with Hunter and Addy, watching as the workmen re-measured the area for my deck according to Matt’s new specifications, when Max popped in. He’d decided to stick around after all, and he and Emily took the trip he’d been planning.
That’s why we were surprised when he popped in.
“Hey Max,” I said. “Shouldn’t you be somewhere near New Mexico right now?”
“Yeah, Em’s taking a shower, so I figured I’d pop over and let you know I finally remembered what exactly happened.”
Even though we knew Darren did it, he refused to say a word about it.
“That would be great if you want to share that,” Hunter said. “It makes no sense to any of us.”
Max pressed his lips together and turned to look out over the pasture. “A couple weeks ago, he asked to borrow more money. He always said borrow, but I never saw a dime of it back. Em told me years ago to cut him off and make him work for his money the same as everybody else did, but I loved the boy. This time though, I told him no.”
He shook his head. “I did him wrong by mollycoddlin’ him, and I guess in the end I got my own self killed. Em was right; he was a grown man and needed to stand on his own two feet and learn to work. He was always chasing an easy dollar and that’s what he’d done again. I’d already caught him stealing once. That’s why I changed the combination.”
Ah. Well that explained that.
He took off his hat and ran his hand through his silvery hair. “I came in that day to put money in the safe, and he was trying to get into it again. When he saw me, he started begging. He’d borrowed the money from the wrong folks and they were calling in the marker. I told him no, and he got so mad at me he picked up the lid and swung.”
I felt horrible as I watched the emotions flicker across his face.
“That’s really all there is to it,” he finished.
“I’m so sorry, Max,” I said, and I was.
He gave me a tired half-smile. “Me too, kiddo. Me too,” he said as he faded out.
“Well then,” Addy explained. “Now we know why he flickered out every time we mentioned the actual murder. His mind just couldn’t deal with the memory and shut down.”
That was as good an explanation as any, I suppose.
As far as the rest, I'd asked Hunter to do some preliminary poking to push Bobbie Sue and Earl through as foster parents, with the end game of adopting Justin. I wasn't going to say anything until everything was in place, but I did plan to have him spend more time with the two of them.
A boy needed a mom and a dad, and Hunter and I weren't anywhere near there. If something happened and we didn't work out, I didn't want Justin to lose yet another father.
Earl and Bobbie Sue, on the other hand, needed a son as much as Justin needed good parents. She'd think twice about that ice-cream thing when it was her upholstery in danger, I was sure. Until then, he had a home with us for as long as he needed it.
Bobbie Sue got to give Miss Ditz the royal boot, and Louise turned out to be a huge asset who will likely end up as general manager, which will play well with my plans for Justin.
We definitely needed to have a family meeting about what had happened with the whole mind-control thing, but that was going to have to wait for a couple of days.
After everything was all cleaned up nice and neat, I went home, ate an entire bowl of Aunt Addy's spaghetti and meatballs that Shelby had made for me, then crashed for twelve hours. The thing I learned from my first experience with mind control is that it takes a ton of energy.
THE SOUND OF MOTORCYCLES revving in the driveway at seven the next morning woke me up, and for once, I was semi-excited to get out of bed at that hour.
By the time I stumbled downstairs, Hunter already had a pot brewed and a cup creamed and sweetened the way I liked it.
"So, are you excited?" he asked.
I blew across the top of my coffee and took as big a drink as I could while still leaving skin on my tongue. "Excited about what?"
"You're going to learn to ride today! Wow, you are sharp as a beach ball before you've had coffee."
I glared at him and he kissed me on the temple, but I dropped an ice-cube in my cup to make my coffee gulpable. Just the thought of sitting on that bike and riding by myself made the sunshine a little more tolerable. By the time I was dressed and clomping down the stairs in my boots, I was positively giddy.
Expecting to see his sleek, shiny bike, I was surprised when I bolted out the front door and found a dirt bike sitting out front, with Cody sitting on it and smiling.
I scowled and looked at the scrawny, knobby-tired thing. "What's this?"
"This," Hunter said, "Is what's going to keep my perfect paintjob perfect while you learn the ropes. I guarantee you're going to drop it at least three or four times over the next week, so let's get that out of your system on something that's meant to take a beating."
Thinking back to how rough I was on my first car, I had to give him the point. And besides, I've seen the motocross bikes. Those suckers are fast. I looked at the shiny red bike in front of me in a new light and nodded.
It was time to start living again instead of worrying, and I had some catching up to do. I smiled as I fastened my helmet and started the bike. No time like the present to start making up ground.
THE END
Thank y
ou!
I hope you enjoyed reading Murder to the Max as much as I loved writing it. If you’d like to find out what’s going to happen next in Keyhole Lake, Murder so Magical is available here and will be finished by the end of January, or if you’d like a short story to tide you over, grab Bubble, Bubble, Here Comes Trouble here. Become a member of my readers group to get exclusive access to the first few chapters as I finish them. Thank you and happy reading!
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About Tegan
I was born and raised in the South and even hung my motorcycle helmet in Colorado for a few months. I've always had a touch of wanderlust and have never feared just packing up and going on new adventures, whether in real life or via the pages of a great book.
When I was a little girl, I didn't want to grow up to be a writer—I wanted to raise unicorns and be a superhero. When those gigs fell through, I chose the next best thing: creating my own magical lands filled with adventure, magic, humor, and romance.
I live in Florida with my two dogs. When I'm not writing or reading, I'm racing motorcycles with my tall, blond, and handsome half or binge-watching anything magical on Netflix.
I'm eternally grateful for all the people who help make my life what is today - friends, readers, family. No woman is an island.
