by C Farren
“Why are you watching Katie’s house?” she asked.
The inside of the car smelled like stale burgers and fries. Sheriff Fisher looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. He had bags under his eyes the size of an elephant’s foot.
“Why are you talking to Katie?” the sheriff demanded.
“I was just giving her my condolences,” said Wren, trying to keep the defensive tone out of her voice. “She’s just lost her husband. She needs all the support she can get at a time like this. I know how she feels.”
“Your husband didn’t die. He’s still alive.”
She hated the fact that everyone in Snowflake Bay knew of her marriage break-up. Nobody outside of her family had the precise facts, but they knew enough. It was still idle gossip all these years later.
“How well do you know Katie?” Wren asked, changing tack. “I know you were friends with Garrett.”
“I know she loved Garrett and would never kill him,” the sheriff replied. “She’s a remarkably kind, caring woman.”
Wren almost choked on her own saliva. “Really? That’s not the impression she gives off to everyone else. She’s haughty and hostile and rude to everyone.”
“That’s just a veneer. You don’t know her like I do. She loved Garrett.”
The sheriff’s eye twitched slightly, and the corner of his mouth was curled up in a smile. Was he in love with Katie?
Was he Jordan’s father?
“Were you sleeping with Katie?” Wren spat out.
The sheriff glared angrily at her. “Get out of my car.”
“You’re not saying no,” said Wren. “Why is that?”
She crossed her arms and refused to leave. This was too important. She had to have all the facts.
“I am not having an affair with Katie,” he stated. “Happy now?”
“I’m not sure I believe you,” said Wren. “I saw that look in your eye when you talked about her. That was love.”
“Is this any of your business?”
“It is my business if the man charging my father with murder is the man who framed him in the first place!”
He got out of the car and charged around to her side. He ripped the door open.
“Get out of my car now before I drag you out,” he screamed.
She was scared now. “Is this a confession?”
“I don’t answer to you, but no, this isn’t a confession.”
“Where...where were you at the time of the murder?”
He didn’t answer her, and so she refused to get out of the car. He was a trustworthy man. She’d known him all her life. Wren was sure she’d believe whatever he told her.
“I’m waiting,” she said impatiently.
“I was binge watching Call the Midwife with Keegan if you must know,” the sheriff admitted. “Keegan came around because it was my birthday the day before and he’d forgotten. He brought some terrible chocolate cake he’d made himself and we caught up with the last season of Call the Midwife on Netflix.”
“That’s nothing to be ashamed of. I love Call the Midwife.”
She got out of the car, careful to avoid the sheriff. His heated stare made her feel very uncomfortable. Maybe she deserved it for accusing him of murder.
Or maybe I accused the right man?
“I’m sorry,” said the sheriff. His face softened. “I’m sorry if I scared you. I do have a temper.”
Wren was wary. “I did accuse you of murder.”
“Garrett was my best friend. I was just checking in on his wife. I promised myself that nothing bad would ever happen to her.”
“But you are in love with her, right?”
He didn’t answer her. She left it at that.
FIONA WAS SITTING OUT on the front porch. There was a pitcher of sweet tea on a table and she was drinking from a glass. Gracie was sat on her lap, looking relaxed and smug. Moths attacked the small light bulb that hung from the ceiling. It looked very cozy.
“What took you so long to get home?” Fiona asked.
Wren sat down and sighed with relief. “Today has been a very long day.”
She poured herself some sweet tea. It was her own concoction. She bought plain powdered tea and added to it, creating new recipes. This one was strawberry and apple, made from real fruit juices. It was the only way she could make something like that and know it didn’t have any cloying sweeteners in it like most store-bought sweet teas did.
“I bumped into Sheriff Fisher,” said Wren. “He’s in love with Katie, and I don’t think he killed Garrett.”
“Love can make you crazy,” said Fiona. “I wouldn’t believe a word he says, sheriff or not.”
Wren nodded. “Yeah, I know. As much as it pains me to admit it, despite his alibi, he’s still on my suspects list, as is Katie and Jordan. They’re all liars, and they all have possible motives to kill Garrett. Katie has several motives, as you pointed out so bluntly.” She grinned at Fiona’s outrageous look and took a sip of her tea. “I’m not sure about Jordan. He had no motive to kill his father as far as I’m aware. Maybe he killed him because he was so upset the man wasn’t his biological father? Maybe his emotions finally got to him? Jordan is a very passionate person.” She took another sip of tea to hide her blush. “Sheriff Fisher is so very in love with Katie. Maybe he finally decided he wanted her to himself and murdered his best friend. I’d like to think he was a law-abiding person and wouldn’t do anything so heinous, but anyone can be forced to murder by circumstance.”
Fiona stroked Gracie’s head. “You sound like you know by experience.”
“Someone wronged me badly in the past, and... I thought about hurting them. I would never have gone through with it, but I was so devastated and angry that I couldn’t see reason. Maybe I could’ve killed them. I don’t know.”
The angel poured herself another glass of tea and waited patiently. Wren wanted to share her story. She needed to share it.
Chapter 20
“I used to work at the local tourism office,” said Wren. She leaned back into her chair, anxious. Her past was a mixture of joy and sadness. “Snowflake Bay has a lot of tourism because of all the movies and TV shows they filmed here. I say used to film here. We don’t get that many big Hollywood productions anymore, but the Trademark Channel films a couple of Christmas movies here every year. You should see the town dressed up as Christmas in the middle of Summer! So, the tourism is quite high, and the local council opened up a tourist office. I got my first job there, straight out of high school. Even back then I was directionless. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. But I liked my new job. It gave me money, and new friends, and I enjoyed taking tourists around the town to show them all the places they’d seen on film.
“I made a really good friend in Penny.”
Fiona held her hand up. “Who’s Penny?”
“She works at the tourist office. Anyway, Penny and I had wonderful fun. We sometimes did tours together and stayed late after work getting drunk. It was during that time I was with Alex. We’d been dating since we were thirteen, can you believe it? He proposed during senior Prom, and we married a month later. I didn’t regret a thing. I knew I loved him and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. My parents loved him too. They treated him like a second son.
“My boss at the travel agency was Gregory Pendle. He was fine to work with, though he could be quite strict at times. I got on great with him. I’d been there about seven years when he cornered me in his office and kissed me. I told him I wasn’t interested and he apologized and I thought everything was fine. It turned out he was harboring a grudge that boiled up over the next couple of years.”
“What did he do?” Fiona asked.
Wren felt her hands tremble as she gripped her glass of sweet tea. “He told Alex that we were sleeping together. I can still see the look on Alex’s face now, all that hurt and betrayal. I convinced him that Gregory was lying, and I was sure we’d worked it out, but after that things were never the same. I had it out with Gregory over
his lies and he fired me.
“Alex and I tried to carry on as normal for months, but he’d lost trust in me, and I felt betrayed because he initially believed Gregory. Then I found out he’d kissed someone else. He admitted to it and he felt guilty about it, but after that I didn’t trust him. After a while we decided we couldn’t live together without trust and we split up.”
Fiona reached over the table to grip her hand. The angel’s fingers were tiny.
“That’s terrible,” said Fiona. “But how did this lead to you contemplating murder? Was it Alex you wanted to kill?”
“No. I never blamed him. I blamed Gregory.” Wren hated even saying his slimy name. It was like molten lava on her tongue. “After Alex left and we started divorce proceedings I needed a job, and so I sucked down my pride and went back to the tourism office. Gregory seemed repentant over what he did, and he apologized, and so I got over it. It was nice to work with Penny again.
“Then Penny told me she was the one who Alex kissed, and she told me they were thinking about dating each other but didn’t want to upset me. I gritted my teeth and gave them my blessing. Inside I wanted to scratch her eyes out. But I didn’t. Alex could date whomever he wanted.
“Then Gregory tried it on again. I told him to get lost again. He apologized again. This time I’d had enough. His lies last time had ruined my marriage and I wasn’t having it. So I sued him for sexual harassment.”
Fiona opened her mouth in shock.
“It turned out the tourism office was owned by a subsidiary of the Trademark Channel. They didn’t want a scandal, and they didn’t want the town to pull out of letting them film there, and so they settled outside of court. I got a million dollars.”
“What about Gregory?” Fiona asked. “I hope he got fired.”
Wren laughed bitterly. “Nope. He still works there, but he’s on a very tight leash.”
She took another sip of her tea but found the glass empty. The pitcher was empty too.
“There’s my tale,” said Wren. “I got a million dollars, but I lost my husband.”
“What happened with him and Penny?” Fiona asked delicately.
“It didn’t last long. She still works at the tourism office. I hear she has a worse love life than I do.”
“So, you’re not still friends?”
“Never in a million years.”
They watched the moths circle the light bulb, hitting the hot glass, chasing each other, playing games. The night was getting cold.
“You never said who you wanted to kill,” said Fiona.
“I thought that was obvious,” said Wren. “I wanted to kill Gregory.”
“The son of a bitch might have deserved it.”
“Possibly, but it made me feel so guilty for even thinking it. The hate I felt for that man made me a lesser person. I like to think I’ve gotten over it but talking about him even now makes me hate him.”
Sometimes their path crossed in town. He would smile and say hello and act like everything was fine between them. She would ignore him. She didn’t think she’d be able to stop herself from throttling him if she engaged him in conversation.
A short while after I told my parents about it, Gregory’s house was broken into and his house completely trashed. Was that Dad? Or Mom?
She found herself smirking. Perhaps Gregory deserved it.
“So, what about you?” Wren asked. She’d had enough of talking about her pathetic past. “You keep letting bits and pieces of your life slip out. I know you were married.”
“I’m not supposed to talk about it,” Fiona insisted.
“You can be vague. Talk to me. If you’re going to be staying with me for the foreseeable future, then I want to know you.”
Fiona continued to stroke Gracie’s head. Wren sensed a deep sadness in her, a grief that hadn’t settled.
“I was in love once, but I died,” said Fiona. “He was the kindest, gentlest man in the whole world, but he could also be brave and pig headed and he had the smelliest feet. He could make a pig sty seem fragrant by comparison. But I loved him, and I died, and I could never say goodbye.”
“When did you die?” Wren asked. “Or is that too sensitive?”
“I really can’t tell you. Sorry.”
Wren sighed. She’d get some private information out of her eventually. For now, she’d let the angel keep her secrets.
“Tell me about the afterlife then,” said Wren. “How does one become an angel?”
“If you do good in life you get given a choice; go to Heaven, or become an angel. I chose Heaven at first, but then I got bored, and I asked to become an angel.”
“Who asks you?” Wren wondered. “Is it God?”
“No. It’s another senior angel called Gabriel. He’s sort of like the boss of all angels. Imagine...imagine a small-town mayor crossed with a bossy librarian. He’s nice enough, but only in small doses.” Fiona laughed. Gracie became startled and jumped from her lap and ran back into the house. “He tells really filthy jokes.”
“Can I ask why you got bored with Heaven? Surely it’s the most wonderful place in existence?”
“Well of course it’s wonderful, but that can get repetitive after a while. I lasted about twenty years before I left my little slice of Heaven and become an angel.” She appeared thoughtful. “Heaven was nice. Really nice. But I was made to help people, and I can’t do that by lounging around all day.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“The boredom can drive people insane, and so they have their memories wiped and start the process all over again. I didn’t want that to happen to me.”
The angel looked into the starry sky, lost in her memories. There was an awful lot she wasn’t revealing, but Wren could wait. They’d only known each other for a few days, even though it felt like they’d been best friends for life.
“Why do I feel like we’re best friends already?” Wren asked. “We’ve only known each other three days.”
“I’m such a wonderful person,” said Fiona.
“It’s not that some weird angel magic like what happened with Keegan?”
Fiona shrugged. “I don’t know what went on there. But as for me and you...I’ve never really had a proper friend before. It feels right.”
Wren couldn’t agree more.
THE SNORING BURSTING forth from Fiona’s room was almost rattling the floorboards. It didn’t make sense that angels could snore. Surely a person’s every ailment was healed the moment someone died?
There were three cats on her bed.
“Why do you think you can just waltz in here and take over?” she demanded. “What is wrong with you?”
Gracie looked up at her, sleepy eyed and adorable. She meowed gently, licked the ear of the black cat, and went back to sleep. The ginger cat’s ear twitched, obviously listening in and pretending to rest.
“I’ll have to put up some posters around the neighborhood,” she said, slipping into her dressing gown. She was going to read a little before she switched her light off. “Before I know it there’ll be half a dozen of you little felines in my home!”
She laughed and went to close the curtains. A reflection of light caught her eye from the bushes in her front garden.
Binoculars?
Wren opened the window. “Get off my property before I call the police!”
Something rustled in the bushes and then all was still. Wren watched, gaze alert, for another minute before she sighed with relief. They were gone.
Someone is spying on me!
She closed the window and pulled her curtains closed. She’d never felt so scared in all her life.
Chapter 21
Fiona tapped on the window, making cute baby noises. Wren had stopped the ginger cat from coming in that morning, and now it was outside on the windowsill, meowing and looking pathetic. She was determined. It could find somewhere else to sleep. Two cats were more than enough.
“Let the poor thing in,” said Fiona. “He’s hungry.”
&nb
sp; “I’m not in the mood for this,” Wren snapped. She sipped at her coffee, feeling anxious. “Some other sucker can feed it.”
“You let the other one stay.”
Wren fixed the angel with her direst stare. “I’m doing Mrs. Rison a favor. I wasn’t happy about it, but Casper seems to like it here.”
“So does the other one.”
Wren sat by the table and poured herself a coffee. She added milk and three spoons of sugar.
“Why are you in such a foul mood this morning?” Fiona asked. “I thought we got on great last night.”
“Someone was watching the house,” said Wren. “I caught them spying on me with binoculars. They were hiding in the bushes in the front garden.”
“Maybe it was an owl or something. The light from the moon reflects from their eyes.”
During the night Wren had tried to convince herself of the same thing. It had to have been an owl, or a candy wrapper that had blown onto her garden. Why would someone be watching her?
“It’s the killer,” said Wren. She knew with certainty. “They spray painted that message on my house, which is still there by the way because I haven’t gotten around to cleaning it off yet, and now they’re watching me. They want me to stop investigating Garrett’s murder.” She grinned and stood. Nobody was going to make her feel low or anxious ever again. “Fat chance of that. I’m in this to the bitter end.”
“Good on you,” said Fiona. “But first...”
THERE WERE FOOTPRINTS in the soil behind the bush. Someone had been watching the house. Fiona couldn’t help but shiver. This investigation was starting to get sinister.
“Maybe the postman left them,” Fiona suggested.
“What is the postman doing behind my bushes?” Wren demanded.
The angel sighed. “Someone was watching the house, weren’t they? This is making me feel sick. My wings are tingly. To think that someone is...”
Fiona felt an odd sensation on her back. Before she knew it, her wings had sprouted, fully formed, almost knocking Wren to the ground.
