by Maria Geraci
“You’re not just a murderer, you’re a crazy murderer and a faker. But then I’ve always known that. You’re about as much of a medium as I am.”
“I have to admit, you surprised me the other night at the séance. I had no idea you were going to pretend to be Abby. You’re clever, just not clever enough. You should have stuck with trying to perfect your mango coconut muffin recipe. As for being crazy? Is it crazy to want to help people? Then guilty as charged. And I don’t plan to stop either.”
“What? You’re going to go around killing more people?”
Her voice hardens. “Don’t be so dramatic. I’m not going to kill anyone else, well, besides you. The Angel of Death retired fifteen years ago when she moved here to Whispering Bay. These days I help others by communicating with their deceased loved ones. It’s been wonderfully therapeutic for me.”
“What about Susan Van Dyke?”
“Susan was an anomaly. She needed my particular kind of help, and I had to give it to her.
“Just like you had to help your mother?”
“Yes. Just like that.”
“So Susan asked you to kill her?”
“Kill is such a nasty word. I eased her into the next world. She has no idea the pain and suffering I saved her.”
“And Abby? You think you helped her too?”
She sighs heavily. “Abby was an unfortunate incident. Just like you. She knew too much, and she had to go. Like I said, you’re too clever. You should have let it go, Lucy. Even the police were willing to write off Abby’s death. But no. You had to keep pressing, didn’t you?”
My head is starting to feel better. Maybe if I keep her talking long enough, it’ll stop spinning, and I can make a run for the door.
“So, Abby knew you killed Susan? Or did she figure it out after the dog bit you? That’s what happened, right? Abby might not have known what you did to Susan, but she knew that Cornelius had an irrational hate for you. It was only a matter of time before someone else saw it and put two and two together.”
“I know what you’re doing. I watch T.V. too. This is the part of the plot where the murderer has the too-smart-to-let-live busybody tied up and confesses everything while the busybody tries to escape. Sorry, Lucy, but that only happens in really bad James Bond movies.” She comes at me with the syringe.
“Wait!” I plead. “Will Cunningham is on his way over. He should be here any minute. Any second now. You’ll never get away with this. And…you’re right, Gloria. You were only trying to help people. I see that now.”
The rope is beginning to loosen, but it’s still too tight to allow me any real movement of my hands.
“Good try, but you’ll say anything to save yourself. And Will is out on his big date with Brittany tonight.”
At the look of surprise on my face, she snickers. “That’s the thing about small towns. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing and when they’re doing it. Poor Lucy. I’ve felt so bad for you. In love with your best friend and all this time, he’s clueless. But he’s a man. We can’t expect them to be as astute as we are. I’m afraid that at this point of the night, you’re probably the last thing on Will Cunningham’s mind.”
If I could grab that frying pan and smack the look off Gloria’s face, I would.
Which isn’t a bad idea…
I inch toward the frying pan. Unfortunately, it also takes me closer to Gloria, but it’s my only hope. If I run, she’ll overpower me. I know that for sure now.
“You’re right,” I say trying to sound resigned. “Will isn’t coming over here tonight. He wants Brittany. Not me.”
“He has wonderful taste in books, but in women?” She shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Lucy.”
The knot on the rope seems to be easing. I have to keep her talking so she doesn’t realize what I’m doing.
“I know you’re not a bad person, Gloria. If you were you’d have killed Cornelius after he bit you. Instead, you took him to the vet. Didn’t you?”
“I had to make sure he didn’t have rabies. No one even missed him! I thought he would be fine with Anthony and Aurelia and I’d never have to see him again, so I dumped him back off at the house. But then Abby convinced her dimwitted brother to steal the dog. As long as that dog is hanging around, I’ll always be in jeopardy.”
A movement near the doorway catches my attention.
Oh no. It’s Paco.
How he came down the stairs without making noise is a miracle. Usually, his nails make that annoying click-click-click sound. It’s like he purposefully snuck down the stairs. He’s standing in the doorway, and he’s looking at me with his soulful brown eyes. Only there’s anger in them.
I know exactly what he’s going to do.
Oh. My. God.
I hope it works. Or we’ll both be dead.
Gloria uncaps the syringe. “It’s all right, Lucy,” she says in an eerily soothing voice. “It won’t hurt. In a few minutes you’ll go to sleep, and it will all be—
Paco leaps from his hiding place near the door and sinks his teeth into Gloria’s ankle. Vaguely, it dawns on me that it’s the same ankle he bit before. Way to go, Paco!
“What the—” Gloria howls in pain. “Get off me, you horrible little beast!” The syringe drops from her hand onto the floor.
The frying pan on the counter lies between us. We both reach for it at the same time.
Only I’m faster.
I grab hold of the handle and swing it as hard as I can, hitting Gloria on the side of the head. “Take that, you crazy bitch!” At the same time, the kitchen door crashes open.
We both turn to look.
Will stands there with his mouth open.
Gloria turns to me, blinks like she’s in a daze, then crumbles to the floor.
I wiggle out of the ropes around my wrists. Paco lets go of Gloria’s ankle and jumps into my arms. “Good boy, Paco!”
“Lucy!” The look of disbelief on Will’s face is almost funny. “What in God’s name—what the hell happened here?”
I point to Gloria’s limp body lying on the floor. “Gloria Hightower is the Angel of Death. She killed Susan Van Dyke and Abby Delgado.”
26
Sarah makes another pot of coffee while I struggle to balance a bag of melting frozen peas over the lump on my head. I’m sitting on a chair in The Bistro dining area with my feet propped up while Sebastian scolds me. “Why didn’t you call Travis the second you realized who Gloria was?” he demands.
“Well if I’d known a crazed serial killer was waiting for me down in the kitchen I would have.”
“Ever heard of locking your door?”
“I lock my door.” At least I do now. Ever since the night I came home to find Paco half unconscious, I’ve been careful to double check. I doubt I’ll ever forget again. “I can’t help it if Gloria knows how to pick a lock.”
Will hands me a fresh bag of ice to replace the bag of peas. “Go easy on her, Sebastian. She’s had a rough night.”
I’ll say.
After Will came bursting through the kitchen, he called 911. Travis and Rusty arrived within minutes and took Gloria down to police headquarters. An ambulance came too. The EMTs insisted on taking me to the hospital in Panama City. After they checked me out head to toe, they discharged me with precautions.
The first thing Will did when we got back was to call Sarah and tell her what happened. Sarah’s husband, Luke, called his sister Mimi, the mayor, and despite the late-night hour, within thirty minutes half of Whispering Bay either dropped by to check on me or called. Which is really flattering, except I’m not sure whether it’s to see if I’m okay, or if they’re just worried they might not get their muffins this morning.
“You’re right,” Sebastian says. “I’m sorry, Lucy. I’m just really thankful that you’re all right. But promise me you’ll never do this again.”
“Do what? Provoke a crazy killer into coming after me? Okay, I promise.”
Paco barks happily. I kiss him on the nose. �
�Good boy. You saved my life.”
“Thank God for the dog,” says Sarah.
“He’s a special one, all right.” I look at Will. “Sorry, but there’s no way I can give him up.”
Will doesn’t look surprised. “What are you going to do about your allergy?”
“I’m sure Dr. Nate can help me with that.” I ruffle the top of Paco’s head. “What do you say? Want to stay with me?”
He barks again like he approves, and we all laugh. I swear that dog can understand everything going on around him. How else did he know that I needed him? He might not be a ghost whisperer, but he’s definitely a hero.
Sarah brings us all coffee. “I just can’t believe it. All this time, Gloria Hightower was a killer. And she seemed so normal!” She glances over at Victor and Phoebe, who are talking to Viola, and lowers her voice. “Well, except for the ghost stuff.”
Phoebe picks up on the first part of the conversation. “I always knew there was something off about her.”
Victor nods eagerly. “Me too. I never did trust her. No sirree.”
Considering that Gloria has been part of their ghost society for the past fifteen years, you’d think they’d have spoken up a little earlier.
Everyone starts trying to one-up each other with their most suspicious Gloria stories. Will goes off to the kitchen. I quietly follow him.
“Hey, I haven’t had a chance to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For showing up in the nick of time.”
“I didn’t do anything. Except call the cops, and you could have done that all on your own. If anything had happened to you…” He reaches out and grabs me in a fierce hug.
“Listen,” I say stroking his back. “I’m okay. Really.”
He breaks off the hug, but I can tell he’s still shaken by tonight’s events. I am too, but I’m trying hard to keep it all together.
“What were you doing here anyway? How was your date with Brittany?”
“The evening ended early,” he says meaningfully.
“Oh?”
“Brittany is great. We just…didn’t have a lot to talk about.”
My heart starts thumping wildly. “Maybe the next date will go better.”
He rakes a hand through his hair. “Lucy, about what you said this morning—”
The kitchen door opens. “Hey,” says Sarah. “Travis is here, and he has big news.”
Will and I look at one another. The ER doctor told me that someone needed to stay the night with me to make sure I didn’t develop a concussion. If I ask Will, he’ll do it. We can stay up and watch reruns of America’s Most Vicious Criminals and eat cold pizza and maybe he’ll tell me what he was about to say before Sarah interrupted us.
Travis is surrounded by people, all of whom are showering him with questions about Gloria, including Brittany. She takes one look at me and hugs me almost as tightly as Will just did. “Lucy! Daddy just heard the news from one of the city councilmen, so of course, I had to rush right over here. Are you all right? Oh my God! I can’t believe it. Gloria killed Abby?”
I sigh wearily. “Yep.” I appreciate everyone’s concern, but I’m getting tired of telling the story over and over. I glance at Travis. “So, what’s the news?”
Travis puts his hands up to get the room’s attention. “Everyone, simmer down. Gloria Hightower confessed tonight to killing over ten people in Dallas, as well as Susan Van Dyke and Abby Delgado. She’s going to be charged here in Florida, but I’m sure the Texas authorities are going to want to have their share of her too.”
Everyone starts talking again.
Travis catches my gaze and tilts his head to indicate I follow him. We manage to find a semi-quiet corner of the restaurant. “How’s your head?”
“A little sore but still the same Lucy,” I joke.
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
“For you? Probably a bad thing.”
He fights back a grin. “I stopped by my dad’s place on the way over here to tell him the good news. He’s ecstatic, by the way.”
“I’m glad The Angel of Death case is finally behind him.”
“Thanks to you.”
I raise a brow. This would be my moment to say I told you so. If I wanted to be snarky, but my head aches too much to gloat right now.
“I’m sorry, Lucy. I should have listened to you.”
“Why do I get the feeling that was really hard for you to say?”
“You’re about to get a two for one because I was wrong about something else too.”
“Really? And what would that be?”
“I think I’m turning into a muffin man.”
The deep timbre in his voice makes my girl parts stand up and pay attention.
Holy wow. I think I’m in trouble.
I mean, I love Will. I always have. But I can’t deny that there’s an attraction here with Travis.
He clears his throat. “By the way, my dad told me to give you a message. He said to tell you that he believes you. Any idea what he means by that?”
I smile. “Yep.”
“Care to share it with me?”
“Nope.”
He frowns.
“Oh, Lucy!” Brittany shoves Travis off to the side. She’s holding a fresh ice bag. “Sarah just told me that you might develop a concussion and that someone needs to spend the night to wake you up every hour to make sure you’re okay. I insist that you let me do it.”
“Really, that’s okay. I—”
“Lucy,” she says sternly. “No way am I going to let you spend the night all alone. Besides, we have so much to talk about!”
“We do?”
“Didn’t you get the email from Tara at The Cooking Channel?”
“The one about wanting to come out and film the café for Muffin Wars?”
“Muffin Wars? Lucy, you silly! Did you read the whole email? And all the attachments?”
“Most of it,” I admit. Well, some of it.
“You’re not auditioning for Muffin Wars anymore. Once I knew The Cooking Channel was interested in you, I had daddy pull some strings. They’re vetting you for something a whole lot better! Battle of the Beach Eats,” she says. “Have you seen it?”
“Is that the show that spotlights a beach town and puts all the restaurants in the town in competition with one another?”
She nods eagerly “It’s sooo much better than Muffin Wars. Lucy, this is the big time!”
“Hold on just a second. How did this happen again?”
“When I saw your audition tape, I thought, how can all of Whispering Bay benefit from this fabulous opportunity? Working for the Chamber of Commerce, that’s just the way my mind works. And it came to me. Let’s find a way for The Cooking Channel to showcase all of Whispering Bay’s fabulous restaurants, and Tara suggested Battle of the Beach Eats. Isn’t she fabulous?”
“But…so The Bistro is going to be in competition with The Harbor House and Tiny’s Pizza and all the other restaurants in town? We’re just a coffee house. How can we compete with your father’s place?”
“Oh that. No worries. Each restaurant will be judged on its own merits. It’s all super fair.”
My head is throbbing too much for me to protest. I had a better than decent chance of winning Muffin Wars. But this other show? The Bistro is great, but there are some awesome restaurants here in town, and I’m not sure how we’ll stack up against them.
“Is there a cash prize?” I hate to sound mercenary, but let’s face it, I was really hoping for that ten grand. Besides the money I owe Will, I also have a credit card to pay off now.
“Twenty-five thousand dollars, plus the prestige of being proclaimed the Best Beach Eat in Whispering Bay. And the absolute best part? We’ll be doing this together!” Brittany squeals. “As head of the Chamber of Commerce’s PR department, this is totally my baby. I’m pretty nervous, actually. It’s my first big project, but with you on board to help me, I know it will all go fabu
lously.”
Brittany absolutely believes every word she’s saying.
She hugs me again. “Who would have thought way back in kindergarten that you and I would end up being best friends?”
I inwardly moan.
It’s going to be a long, long night.
THE END
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed Lucy’s antics then you won’t want to miss the next book in the series, WHACK THE MOLE. To receive exclusive for newsletter subscribers only content, such as cover reveals, book news, corny jokes and monthly contests, sign up for my newsletter HERE.
Copyright © 2018 by maria geraci
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WHACK THE MOLE
Whispering Bay Mystery 2
Introduction
Joey “The Weasel” Frizzone has been deep undercover with one of the country’s largest organized crime families and the time has come for him to testify against them. The trial isn’t for a couple of weeks, and the feds need him to lay low, so they hide him in a place no one would ever think to look—a sleepy little town in Florida called Whispering Bay.
Lucy McGuffin bakes the best muffins in town. She’s also a human lie detector, a talent that hasn’t always been easy to live with, because, c’mon, how many times can a girl hear “It’s me, not you,” and keep a straight face?
Lucy’s ability to sniff out a lie has given her a reputation for solving crime, so when the feds get a tip that a contract has been put out on Joey’s life, local police officer, Travis Fontaine, reluctantly seeks Lucy’s help. But Lucy and Travis have a wobbly relationship. The arrogant cop thinks he’s God’s gift to womankind and Lucy isn’t about to become president of his fan club.
Soon there are enough hitmen in town to make Whispering Bay look like a reunion site for the Sopranos. Then someone starts whacking the hitmen. As the body count begins to rise, Lucy realizes she has to step up to the plate. Travis needs Joey to stay alive long enough to testify, and Lucy wants her quaint little town back, minus the mobsters.
