The shadowy figure raised the gun, gesturing in their direction, and Maddie reacted instinctively. She grabbed Marla’s shoulder and shoved her in the direction of the reindeer pit.
“Run.”
“But … what’s going on?”
“Run!” Maddie screeched, ducking her head when the gun went off a second time. She couldn’t see anything thanks to the snow, but she heard something hit the ground a few inches away from her foot. “Run now!”
22
Twenty-Two
“What’s going on?”
Maddie shoved Marla behind one of the antsy reindeer and lifted her head to peer over the animal’s back. The figure that followed them into the field behind the beer tent was still coming, and the woman did not look happy.
“It’s Wanda Hodges,” Maddie whispered, her face burning from the cold as the snow lashed at her skin. “I can’t freaking believe it. It’s Wanda Hodges.”
“That old biddy who sleeps with the reindeer?” Marla asked, making a face. “Why would she be shooting at us?”
“She’s not shooting at me, you moron,” Maddie said, cuffing the back of Marla’s head. “She’s shooting at you.”
“But … why?”
“Yes, Maddie. Why don’t you tell Marla why.”
Maddie jolted at the sound of Wanda’s voice. The cold caused whispered conversations to carry and she realized – after the fact, of course – that Wanda had heard everything they said. “Why don’t you tell us why,” Maddie countered, shifting so she could remain behind the reindeer and still keep an eye on Wanda. “I think we’d both love to hear it.”
“Speak for yourself,” Marla sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “It really stinks out here. What is that smell?”
“You’ve got reindeer crap on your boot,” Maddie replied, pointing.
“Oh, well, that’s just great,” Marla deadpanned, annoyed. “I’m running through the dark from a crazy woman with a gun and now my Italian leather boots have reindeer crap on them. Merry freaking Christmas!”
It was a surreal situation, but Maddie couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “Oh, this is so not how I saw my first Christmas with Nick going.”
“Join the club.”
Maddie narrowed her eyes. “You’re not spending Christmas with Nick.”
“I would be if it weren’t for you.”
Maddie rolled her eyes so hard she was surprised she didn’t topple over. “You need to let it go.”
“She does, doesn’t she?” Wanda appeared on the other side of the reindeer, her eyes glinting under the muted light. It wasn’t completely dark, but the increasing snow made it feel as if it was much later in the evening than it really was. “She needs to get over going after other people’s men. I know you feel it as much as I do, Maddie. She’s made your life miserable … and all because she wants Nick when he belongs to you.”
“Is that what this is about?” Maddie asked, buying time as she shoved Marla toward the next reindeer. She wanted to keep as much distance between Wanda and herself as possible. “Did you kill Angela because she was sleeping with Mike?”
“Mike and I were in love. Angela didn’t seem to understand that. I explained it to her several times, but she wouldn’t stop laughing at me. I guess I showed her, huh?”
“What was the point, though?” Maddie challenged. “You’d already killed Mike. What good did killing Angela do you?”
“I didn’t mean to kill Mike,” Wanda said, ducking behind the reindeer Maddie and Marla abandoned moments before. She briefly disappeared from sight before popping her head up behind the animal and grinning. “I loved him. I wasn’t lying about that.”
Maddie shifted her eyes to her left when Mike popped into existence. He had a cigar clenched between his ghostly teeth and seemed keenly interested in the scene … while also appearing strangely detached.
“How long were you and Mike seeing each other?” Maddie asked, keeping a firm grip on Marla’s coat as she tugged the reluctant woman farther into the reindeer pen. She knew she was heading in the wrong direction, but Wanda’s gun made it hard to strategize.
“We were together for four months,” Wanda replied. “It was the best four months of my life.”
“That’s kind of sad, huh?” Mike asked, making a clucking noise as he shook his head. “She was terrible in bed. I only kept going back on nights I struck out with other women. She clearly thought more of the relationship than I did.”
“I think that’s true of everyone you slept with,” Maddie muttered.
“What did you say?” Wanda asked, her eyes bouncing to the spot at Maddie’s left. “Were you talking to someone?”
“I was just trying to keep Marla on her feet,” Maddie said, feigning a sweet smile. “She’s got lazy tendencies.”
“Oh, well, right,” Marla muttered. “Why don’t you kick me while I’m down. That will make things better.”
“If you don’t keep moving, you’ll never get back up,” Maddie hissed, refusing to release Marla’s coat as she tugged her toward another reindeer. She had an idea that involved circling back toward the festival, but she was going to need Marla’s help to pull it off.
“Tell me about your relationship with Mike,” Maddie prodded, grimacing when she almost slipped on something in the pen – she was almost positive it was the same thing on Marla’s boots – and remaining focused on Wanda.
“There’s not much to tell,” Wanda said. “We were in love. Other women ruined it. I’m handling those other women.”
She was succinct. Maddie had to give her that. “But … Mike was the one who slept around,” she pointed out. “He was the one who refused to settle down. He was the one who cheated on you. Why take it out on everyone else?”
“Mike had a weakness,” Wanda replied. “It was a mental weakness, mind you, but it was a weakness all the same. He told me about it. He had what others might call a sexual addiction.”
Maddie cast a hateful look in Mike’s direction. “It’s just typical that you would lie about something like that.”
Mike held his hands palms up. “Everyone wants a ride on Santa’s sleigh, baby. I can’t be reined in.”
“Oh, whatever.”
“Seriously, who are you talking to?” Wanda asked, glancing around curiously.
“Myself,” Maddie replied, not missing a beat. “I always talk to myself when I’m nervous. That’s my mental weakness.”
“A lot of us have that one, honey. Don’t fret about that.”
Maddie was oddly touched by Wanda’s concern even though the woman held a gun and was clearly bent on murder. “What happened the night you killed Mike? Did he tell you that he got Daisy Walker pregnant? Did you overhear him with her that night?”
Wanda’s eyebrows winged up her forehead, surprise evident on her face. “How do you know about that?”
“Daisy told me. She admitted to being pregnant and confronting Mike at the winter wonderland the night he died. It seems Mike lied to her about having a vasectomy.”
“Mike told that lie to anyone who would listen,” Marla interjected. “No one with any brains would’ve believed him.”
“Hey!” Mike was affronted. “I only attract dames with brains.”
Maddie ignored him and shook her head. “Daisy is a naïve girl who didn’t know better. Now she’s pregnant and has no idea what to do with the baby. To make matters worse, Mike was sleeping with her mother at the same time.”
“Oh, gross,” Marla made a disgusted face. “Vera, too? What a complete and total pervert. I’m totally glad that loser is dead.”
“She doesn’t mean that,” Mike said, flashing a charming grin. “It’s the grief talking.”
“Shut your mouth,” Maddie warned. “This is all your fault.”
Wanda’s eyes gleamed as she stepped closer, causing Maddie to jerk Marla around another reindeer in order to keep distance between them. Marla yelped, her eyes flashing, but Maddie ignored the woman’s discomfort and remained fo
cused despite the invading cold and snow.
“It’s true what they say about you, isn’t it?” Wanda’s eyes were keen as they scanned the reindeer enclosure. “You talk to ghosts, don’t you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Maddie lied.
“You do. You’re talking to Mike right now. That’s why you’re acting so strange.”
Marla’s eyes widened to comical proportions. “Is that true? Are you talking to Mike’s ghost? If so, tell him he owes me a new set of boots since his propensity to sleep with anything that moves is the reason this is happening.”
“I’ll be sure to relay your message,” Maddie said dryly.
“And you can tell her that she wasn’t worth one boot, let alone two,” Mike shot back. “Daisy was more fun than her. She was certainly a lot more inventive.”
“You are so sick,” Maddie complained, rolling her neck.
“What did he say?” Wanda asked, her eyes lighting up. “Does he have a message for me? Does he miss me?”
“Tell her I wish I’d been in my truck when she approached me that night,” Mike said. “Tell her I wouldn’t have missed her if I had the truck.”
There was no way Maddie was volunteering that information. “He’s very sorry about what happened,” she lied. “He feels that he hurt you and he never meant for that to happen. He was just sort of … lost. He thought he would have time to get things together, but it never happened.”
“That’s not what I said,” Mike protested. “I didn’t want to get things together. I liked being a mess. Women always give a lot of themselves when they’re trying to fix a mess. I used that as a ploy to get tail all of the time.”
“You are a rancid piece of crap,” Maddie snapped.
“Are you talking to Mike or Marla?” Wanda asked.
Maddie pursed her lips. “It really could go either way, huh?”
Wanda nodded. “How does he look? My Mike, I mean. Does he forgive me for killing him?”
“Absolutely not,” Mike said, offering Maddie a firm headshake. “You tell her she’s going to hell for what she’s done.”
“Mike not only understands why you did what you did, but he’s also flattered,” Maddie lied, earning incredulous looks from Marla and Mike. “He doesn’t want you to blame yourself. He even understands why you killed Angela. He sat with her while she died.”
Instead of having a calming effect on Wanda – which was Maddie’s intention – the woman’s eyes flashed with rage. “Excuse me? He sat with Angela when she died? She was tempting him! I told her he couldn’t stop himself and she slept with him anyway. This was all her fault! She and those other tramps are responsible for all of this!”
“She was afraid.”
“That is so typical of her,” Wanda groused, shaking her head. “I cannot believe that man! He sat with her as she was dying – even though she deserved it – and he laughed at me when I suggested getting married. I mean … he laughed.”
Maddie’s stomach twisted at the deranged look on Wanda’s face. She was clearly off her rocker. How long had it been since she rounded the bend? Why didn’t anyone notice? The woman was a loner, there was no getting around that. She preferred the company of animals to people. That’s why Maddie had been surprised when she realized Wanda was sleeping with Mike. Perhaps Wanda was a lot lonelier than anyone realized. That could be the only explanation for why she latched onto Mike the way she did.
“Wanda, did you really think you were going to marry Mike?” Maddie’s tone was gentle.
“Why not?” Wanda challenged. “We were the same age and we had the same interests. We didn’t want children and we had a great time in bed. There were times we sat there and talked for hours after we made love. Hours! Are you telling me that wasn’t real?”
Maddie slid a sidelong look in Mike’s direction as she continued to lead Marla around the reindeer. They’d almost managed to loop back so the festival was right in front of them. The only problem was that the area between the reindeer pit and festival was flat and devoid of anything but a few random trees to hide behind. Maddie had no idea how she was going to get Marla back to relative safety given the circumstances.
“I think that some people mistake lust for love and think it’s real,” Maddie replied, choosing her words carefully when all Mike could do was shrug. He clearly didn’t love Wanda. Maddie was fairly certain he didn’t love anyone, including himself. “Sometimes one person develops feelings for another, but those feelings aren’t reciprocated.”
“It wasn’t all in my head,” Wanda barked.
“I’m not saying it was all in your head,” Maddie said, holding up her hands in a placating manner. “I’m just saying that looks can be deceiving. Mike was a charming guy who liked having physical relationships with as many people as possible. That doesn’t mean he loved those women.”
“Darned right,” Wanda muttered. “He loved me.”
“I didn’t love her,” Mike said.
Maddie ignored him. “Why did you focus on Marla? You had to know that their … um, relationship … was nothing more than sex. It’s not as if she was a rival for Mike’s affection.”
“She slept with Mike when he was with me. That’s cheating. I can’t abide by no cheating. I’m going after all of them. Er, well, except maybe Daisy. She really had no idea what she was doing. She couldn’t help herself.”
“But Mike did the cheating.”
“And Mike isn’t around to take his punishment,” Wanda said. “That doesn’t mean these floozies don’t deserve their punishment. They sinned, too.”
“Oh, that’s such a load of crap,” Marla snapped, causing Maddie to widen her eyes. “What sin? I wasn’t married. Mike wasn’t married. We got drunk and horizontal. End of story.”
“Marla, don’t,” Maddie warned, her voice low.
Marla pretended she didn’t hear the admonishment. “Mike was a fun-time guy. Do you know what that means? That means he was good for a poke or two, but he was never going to be boyfriend or husband material for anybody.
“For crying out loud, look around,” she continued. “He was sleeping with you, me, Angela, Daisy, and Vera. He didn’t love any of us. He just wanted to get his rocks off and move on to the next woman. Are you delusional or something?”
“You shut your foul mouth,” Wanda snapped, waving the gun for emphasis. “He loved me. You should talk about being delusional, though. I’ve watched you pant after Nick Winters for years and he never even knew you were alive. He was clearly in love with Maddie – even when she was gone – and yet you couldn’t see the truth when it was right in front of you. That’s how it was for Mike and me. We belonged together.”
Despite the fact that she’d murdered two people, Maddie couldn’t help but feel sympathetic toward Wanda. She was completely lost and alone. She killed the man she thought she loved in a fit of anger because he didn’t want to marry her. Then, with nothing to do with her overzealous feelings, she went out of her way to take out the other women in his life. Maddie couldn’t help but wonder if, in her grief, Wanda thought she could have Mike to herself if she took everyone else out. At least then she would be the only one left.
“Wanda, you know that Mike wasn’t worth all of this grief, right?” Maddie kept her voice even. “He wasn’t worthy of your love. You deserve better.”
“He’s gone,” Wanda said. “I don’t have anything.”
“So why do you keep fighting for him?”
“Because that’s all I know to do.” Wanda lifted the gun and leveled it on Marla, causing Maddie’s heart to clench in her chest as she instinctively grabbed Marla’s arm.
“You can’t do this,” Maddie said. “Marla didn’t set out to hurt you. She’s a rotten person, but this isn’t her fault. Mike did this.”
“Hey, I was upfront about my feelings,” Mike complained. “I told her that I wasn’t in it for a relationship. She never listens. None of them ever listen.”
“I have to do this for Mike,�
� Wanda said, her eyes swimming with tears. “This is the only way we can be together.”
“No!” Marla screeched as she threw up her hands to cover her face and Wanda jerked her arm as she pointed the weapon in Marla’s direction.
Maddie’s heart skipped a beat as a gunshot filled the air and she opened her mouth to scream. And then, as if in slow motion, she turned her head to Marla. She expected a red spot to appear on the woman’s chest as she slowly sank to the ground and bled out. Instead Marla scrambled to cover herself and offered a keening wail to let the world know she was still alive.
Confused, Maddie blinked three times in quick succession and turned her face back to Wanda. The woman wasn’t standing on the other side of the reindeer, though. She was on the ground instead, her eyes wide and staring at the night sky as the snow began to pound.
“Maddie!”
Maddie snapped out of her molasses-infused funk and swiveled quickly, finding Nick, John, and Dale racing toward them. Nick reached Maddie first, tugging her to him as he rubbed her back and murmured her name over and over again.
“How did you find me?”
“Don’t ask,” Nick muttered, kissing her cheek. “You’re in so much trouble, Mad. I don’t even know where to start.”
“I was trying to help Marla. I didn’t mean to wander away. It just sort of happened.”
“I know.” Nick cupped the back of her head as he kissed her forehead. “You’re still in trouble. I’m going to boss you around like you wouldn’t believe for the rest of the night.”
“What about Wanda?”
“She’s dead,” Dale said, kneeling by Wanda’s body. “We only had one shot at it when we realized she was going to kill Marla. John took that shot. He did what he had to do.”
John offered Maddie a sheepish smile as Marla made a screeching sound and threw her arms around his neck. John was taken aback and offered her an awkward pat on the arm as he locked gazes with his brother.
“How is it that you get the great moment with the girl and I get … this?”
Nick smirked as he snuggled Maddie close. “Karma?”
“Whatever,” John muttered. “At least this is over.”
Grave Holiday (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 9) Page 19
