by J. B. Lynn
Winnie nodded. “Right it is,” she said.
“Do you know that if you go into a theme park, like Disney,” Amanda said, “the natural inclination of most of the crowd is to go to the right, so if you want to miss the lines, you’re better off going to the left?”
Winnie looked at her. “So, you’d rather go to the left now?”
“I don’t think it matters. Do you?” Amanda asked.
“Then why did you bring that up?” Winnie asked with exasperation.
Amanda shrugged. “I just thought it was helpful to know.”
“What would be helpful to know,” Winnie said, waving her paper in the air, “is where Letty buried that box that Bea saw in her vision.”
The sisters moved slowly down the path, looking for a place that matched Winnie’s illustration.
“It just doesn’t make sense that she was here,” Winnie muttered under her breath.
Amanda knew exactly what she meant. Their godmother’s fear of trees had been long documented, and this seemed like the last place she would have gone. “She must have thought it was awfully important, if she was facing her greatest fear to hide it.”
“Do you think trees were her greatest fear?” Winnie asked.
“Do you know something I don’t?”
Winnie shook her head. “Like the water is yours?”
Amanda’s breath caught in her throat. She never talked about her fear of the water, it was just something everybody knew about.
For a long time, she would have said that yes, the water, lakes, oceans, rivers, were her greatest fear. Now she knew differently. “No,” she said quietly. “My greatest fear is losing you or Bea.”
Winnie, who was leading the way, stopped in her tracks and turned back to face her.
“That’s mine, too,” she confessed.
They stared at each other for a second before hugging each other tightly. Amanda felt a warmth in her chest that she hadn’t felt in a long time. It felt good to be connected to her sisters. It was a shame that Letty had to die to bring them together. She found herself blinking away tears.
When Winnie pulled back, Amanda saw that she, too, was crying, but she didn’t ask if they were crying about the same thing. She didn’t trust herself. Winnie tucked the painting under her arm, and impulsively grabbed Winnie’s hand as they walked together down the path.
“It has to be here,” Winnie said.
“We’re searching for a group of trees among a lot of trees,” Amanda pointed out. “It seems like an almost impossible task.”
“But we have to do it,” Winnie said with conviction. “We have to figure out what happened to Letty and why.”
Amanda nodded. She just hoped that they weren’t putting themselves into even more danger by doing so.
41
Bea looked up in surprise as the bell over the door jangled and the front door of One Woman’s Junk swung open. She was sure she had left it locked.
She let out a sigh of relief when Greta, a big bright smile on her face, strolled in, key in hand.
“I heard there was more excitement,” Greta said.
Bea shook her head. “We’re not going to open today,” she said.
“I know,” Greta replied. “I just wanted to come in and get the dish.” She winked at Bea, as though all of this “excitement” was just something to be gossiped about. Totally devoid of concern for the woman who’d been left for dead in a dumpster outside their door.
Before Bea could respond, her cell rang.
When she answered, Winnie spoke quickly, excitedly, at her.
Bea could feel Greta watching her as she wrote down the address that Winnie gave her.
She hung up the phone to find that the store employee was still watching her.
“I’ve got to go,” she told Greta. “There’s really nothing for you to do here.”
“Go where?” Greta asked.
“I’m meeting my sisters at Red Bug Slough,” Bea confided.
“The place that Letty was attacked?” Greta asked with a gasp.
Bea nodded. “We think she may have buried something there. We’re going to try and find it.”
“I can take you,” Greta offered.
“Really?” Bea asked. “That would be easier than calling for a car.”
“Sure.” Greta grinned. “I could be part of the excitement. I’ll go get my car. I’ll be back in a minute.” She hurried back out of the shop.
“Do you want to come along?” Bea asked Nutmeg.
The little dog barked once.
“I’m assuming that means yes.”
She glanced at the bookshelf. “I don’t suppose you want to come along, too?”
The ghost did not signal anything. She limped over to Ash’s store, but he wasn’t in. He’d said something about having to make a delivery.
Feeling badly that the police detective was going to head over to the store and no one was going to be there, she left a note for him and taped it to the outside of One Woman’s Junk before going back inside.
Greta pulled up to the back door of the shop in a sporty little two-door car and tooted the horn. “Let’s go,” she called.
Bea limped over to it and got into the passenger seat. Nutmeg hopped into her lap. “I really appreciate this,” she told the woman she’d been considering firing.
“No problem,” Greta said.
With that, they were off.
“What is it your sisters and you think you’re going to find?” Greta asked as she drove.
“Hopefully, the reason Letty was killed.”
Greta nodded. “Do you have any idea what that is?”
Bea shook her head. “No clue. Whatever it is, it must be valuable, considering how many people have been hurt or killed over this.”
As they pulled up to the address that Winnie had given her, they saw the other Concordia sisters walking on a trail parallel to the road.
Greta beeped the horn to get their attention and then pulled to a stop.
Bea hopped out of the car. “Thanks again.” She waved at her sisters who were heading toward her, and began to walk toward them, Nutmeg running ahead of her.
She saw that Winnie was carrying the framed picture of the farmhouse.
“What is she doing here?” Amanda whispered in Bea’s ear when she embraced her in a hug.
Bea glanced over her shoulder and saw that Greta had followed them. “She offered to give me a ride, I didn’t really expect her to stick around.”
Winnie stepped toward their employee and thrust the painting toward her. “Could you put this in your car and take it back to the shop?”
Greta nodded and smiled. “Of course.” She reached down and took the picture from her. While she took the picture back to the car, the Concordia sisters headed into the park.
“Letty certainly did find a good hiding spot,” Winnie remarked, pulling out her copy of the treasure map.
“It’s taken us long enough to figure out where this was.”
“We should have brought a shovel,” Amanda said.
“Oh,” Bea remarked. “I should have thought of that.”
“None of us planned ahead,” Amanda said. “Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
“Maybe it’s not buried too deep,” Winnie said hopefully.
“It’s not,” Bea said. She’d seen Letty bury the wooden box in her vision.
Nutmeg barked once.
“What now?” Winnie asked in annoyance.
“He’s offering to dig,” Amanda said.
Winnie offered an apologetic smile to the dog.
Bea had to cover her own mouth to keep from laughing out loud. She caught Amanda’s eye and winked at her. Her older sister grinned back. They continued further into the woods, moving slowly as they examined the trees.
“There!” Amanda yelled suddenly. She pointed to an area that resembled the trees on Winnie’s map.
Linking arms, the three sisters moved toward it slowly. “Let’s hope this is it,” Winnie said.
“We can get it from here,” Winnie told him.
She dropped to her knees at the hole while Bea leaned heavily on Amanda.
She didn’t want to complain, but her leg was really bothering her from walking so far on such uneven terrain. They watched as Winnie pulled the box out of the hole.
She looked up at her sisters as she handed it to Amanda. “Should we open it here, or at the shop?”
“You shouldn’t open it at all,” a voice said.
Startled, the Concordia sisters turned around to see who had followed them.
42
“Run now,” Nutmeg growled. He jumped between the three sisters and the man in the woods.
“It’s Matt, the baker,” Bea whispered, as though Amanda and Winnie couldn’t tell that for themselves.
“Run,” Nutmeg growled again.
While Amanda wanted to, she knew that with Bea being injured, it wasn’t a viable option.
Instead, she snatched the box out of Winnie’s hands and held on to it tightly.
Winnie gave her a questioning look, and she muttered under her breath, “Divide and conquer.”
“So much for doing things together,” Winnie replied back.
Matt emerged from the woods, and they saw he was holding a gun.
“What are you going to do?” Winnie challenged. “Shoot all three of us?”
“If I have to,” the baker replied with a sneer. “Give me the box.”
“No,” Amanda said with more courage than she was actually feeling.
“Why did you have our godmother killed?” Winnie asked.
“Do I really strike you as the kind of villain who’s going to have a long monologue about my nefarious plans?” Matt asked. “Now give me the box, or your little sister, here, is going to get it.” He pointed the gun directly at Bea.
“Don’t give it to him,” Bea urged.
Amanda hesitated. While she appreciated her sister’s bravery, she had to figure out a way that they could all get out of this alive.
“What do you want?” she asked the baker.
“The box,” he said. “It’s that simple.”
“And you’ll let us go?” Amanda asked.
“It’s not in my best interest to shoot three people in the middle of a park,” the baker said. “It will just be my word against yours about what happened here, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got a good alibi lined up.”
The three Concordia sisters exchanged a look and Amanda stepped forward. She extended the box slowly. “This isn’t over,” she said.
The baker chuckled. “You’ve really never had any idea of what’s going on.”
He reached for the box.
“Run,” Nutmeg growled. Then the little dog launched himself. Somehow, he got enough air in his jump that he was able to latch on to the man’s arm.
“Run!” Amanda ordered her sisters.
Winnie grabbed Bea, and they began running away, Bea limping with every step.
The baker shook off the dog and spun around, wild-eyed.
“I have what you want,” Amanda yelled, waving the box in the air, hoping to buy her sisters a moment to escape. With that, she crashed into the woods, running as fast as she could, the box tucked under her arm. Her heartbeat pounding in her ears, her breath coming in shallow gasps, she kept slipping on the uneven ground. She could hear him coming behind her. If she could just get to the public parking lot, she was sure that he wouldn’t follow her there. She ran in that general direction, hoping that the time she’d spent in the park had given her enough of a feel for the layout that she was heading the right way. She’d almost made it out of the woods, to the clear path, when she was hit.
It came from the side, a heavy branch swinging at her.
She stumbled and fell, dropping the box. As she scrambled to her feet, she reached for the box, but another hand was already on top of it.
Not a man’s hand.
Looking up, she saw Greta glaring at her, just before her fist came hurtling toward Amanda’s chin.
Amanda stumbled backward, her hand going to her jaw. “What are you doing?” she gasped.
Instead of answering, Greta picked up the box. “I’ve got it!”
“Give it to me,” Amanda demanded. “It was Letty’s.”
Greta sneered. “You’re just as much of a fool as she was. Careful, or I’ll make sure you and your sisters end up dead, too.”
Enraged that this woman, who she didn’t even like, had betrayed her and her sisters, Amanda launched herself at the blonde. They both crashed to the ground and rolled around, each fighting for the upper hand.
Fueled by fury, Amanda pinned Greta to the ground, her hands around the other woman’s throat.
“You killed my godmother,” she screamed, her voice raw with grief.
“She was going to ruin everything,” Greta gasped, clawing at Amanda’s arms.
“And now you’re going to,” Matt said from behind her.
Looking over her shoulder, Amanda saw he now had possession of the box.
He pointed his gun at the two of them. “Let her up,” he ordered.
Amanda released her hold on Greta. The other woman slapped her away and rolled to her feet.
“Let’s get out of here,” the baker said, keeping his gun trained on Amanda. Slowly, they began to back away.
“Don’t follow us,” he warned.
Unsure of what to do, Amanda hesitated.
“Wait,” Nutmeg barked.
She turned to look at the dog.
“Wait,” he insisted.
Considering that the mutt had never led them wrong, and had made an effort to save the lives of her and her sisters, Amanda chose to obey him. After all, hadn’t Winnie just confessed that her greatest fear was losing one of her sisters? She couldn’t put her through that.
So she waited.
Matt and Greta disappeared.
“Wait,” Nutmeg said one more time.
And then she heard them, the crying and the swearing.
Bea was crying, Winnie was swearing.
She turned in the direction of their voices, and her sisters emerged from the woods a few feet away.
“You’re okay,” Bea gasped.
“I lost the box,” she told them, heartbroken.
“Who cares about the damn box,” Winnie said, pulling her into a tight hug. “You’re what matters.”
43
Winnie pulled back from Amanda, a horrified look on her face.
“What?” Amanda asked, glancing around wildly, trying to figure out what had offended Winnie so much.
Winnie wrinkled her nose. “So, first you went dumpster diving, and now it smells like you’ve been rolling around in dog—”
Glancing down at herself, Amanda realized her sister was right. Her clothes were filthy, a mixture of pine needles, sand, dirt, and something she really didn’t want to have to identify.
Bea began to chuckle. “You are such a mess,” her younger sister said.
Amanda pushed her hair away from her face with the back of her hands, trying to maintain her composure. “Well, I tackled her,” she said.
“Tackled who?” Bea asked, confused.
“Greta, she’s working with Matt.”
“That explains how he found us,” Bea muttered. “She must have told him when she went to get her car. I led him straight to us.”
The guilt in her tone broke Amanda’s heart. “You couldn’t have known.”
Bea shook her head. “I should have.”
“No,” Winnie said, squeezing her shoulders. “She had us all fooled. I mean, none of us liked her very much, but no one suspected her. Besides, it smells like Amanda gave her something to remember us by,” she joked lightly.
“You tackled her?” Bea asked, obvious admiration in her tone.
“If Winnie can ta
ke on someone assaulting Bruce Gold, the least I could do was take on Greta,” Amanda said.
“I have two badass sisters,” Bea said with a proud grin.
“Let’s get out of here,” Winnie said.
Slowly, the sisters made their way toward the main entrance of Red Bug Slough.
“We’ve definitely got to get our own car,” Winnie reiterated.
“But we’re going to have trouble with parking,” Bea pointed out.
“We’ll figure it out,” Amanda assured them both. She had the feeling that they could figure almost anything out together.
“You should probably call Tom,” Winnie suggested. “Maybe he can put out an APB or something on Greta and Matt.”
“Good idea,” Amanda said. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and saw that her screen was smashed. “Can’t use mine, how about one of yours?”
Winnie pulled hers out and dialed Tom’s number.
He answered before the first ring was over. “Where are you?”
He said it so loudly that all three sisters could hear it, even though Winnie had been holding the phone to her ear. She held the phone out so all three were centered around it.
“We’re at Red Bug Slough,” Amanda answered.
“Where in the park specifically?” Tom asked.
Amanda glanced around and replied. “Near the pond?”
“Stay there,” Tom said.
“You don’t understand—”
He disconnected the call, cutting off their conversation.
“Well, that wasn’t too successful,” Amanda remarked.
Winnie called him back. “We have to tell him; he has to stop Greta and Matt.”
This time, his phone rang and kept ringing.
They heard a phone ringing nearby, coming toward them. “Maybe whoever that is has a car,” Winnie said, lowering her phone to her side.
Tom Keller, gun drawn, crashed through the woods, running in their direction at full speed.
When he saw them, he slowed to a trot, lowering his gun to his side. “Are you okay?”
“We’re fine,” Winnie began.
“But you have to know—” Bea started.
“Greta and Matt,” Amanda interjected.
Tom held up a hand to silence them. “We’ve got them.”
