Chapter 30
CHAPTER 30
H etty King slams me to the ground so fast it feels as if gravity malfunctioned and is doing its best to suction me straight to middle earth.
The outdoor deck just above the Blue Water Café is barren with the exception of the killer and me.
The next thing I know, Hetty is sitting on top of my chest, and I look up just in time to see her fist ready to smash down over my temple. No sooner do I raise my hand in self-defense than a bright pink eruption of stars fills the sky as Beatrice roars to life.
Hetty tips her head to the sky. “What the heck was that?”
“That’s the ghost of Beatrice Fiddlefae ,” I say, trying my best to push the woman off of me, but she’s holding her own.
“What?” she squawks again, this time with a laugh caught in her throat. “Is it true?” She looks up at the sky as if searching for her. “Is it you, Fiddle-faddle? You stupid, silly cow. You never did know how annoying you were. The entire group was glad you were gone so we wouldn’t have to hear you whine anymore about how your husband traded you in for a new model.”
“Wow, you really are a horrible person,” I grunt. “So I won’t feel so bad when I do this.” I lift my knee to kick her in the chest, but she twists her body to avoid it. And just as she’s about to bring down her fist, a wild shriek ignites from poor Beatrice who was forced to hear such terrible things come from this witch’s mouth.
In seconds, Hetty is lifted off of me and is suctioned into the sky about ten feet high, suspended in a thicket of hot pink stars with her limbs spread wide as if she were caught in a spiderweb, an intergalactic spiderweb, that is.
A tussle breaks out to my right and I spot Bess and Nettie stepping outside.
“I said no strippers,” Bess admonishes her bestie.
“And I said it’s too late! ” Nettie grouses back. “They’re already on their way.”
I try to get up, or move, but my head feels glued to the deck. And if I’m being honest, it feels as if I’ve got a steel drum thumping in my skull. I guess I took that fall harder than I thought.
A jag of lightning goes off in the sky, followed by a mean growl of thunder.
“ Help ,” Hetty shouts, albeit rather weakly, and both Bess and Nettie look up and let out a shriek.
I’m about to flag them over when footfalls speed this way.
“I don’t care how many ladies you marry,” the voice of a rather irate woman spews. “If one of them is constantly in the middle of a homicide, then I’m going to assume foul play. It’s a numbers game, Baxter. And let’s face it, the odds are not in her favor.”
“ Ransom ,” Bess calls out in a panic as she points to that hot pink nebula that’s hovering just above the ship.
“What in the world?” Quinn shouts at the sight.
“Ransom,” I all but whisper as I struggle to rise. “She confessed.”
“Trixie?” Ransom bolts this way and pauses as he takes a moment to marvel at the woman suspended in space just overhead.
“She did it,” I call out over the raging wind as best as I can. “She confessed to killing Lucy and to killing Beatrice Fiddle-faddle, too.”
“ Fae ,” Beatrice shouts over the brewing tempest the ship seems to be moving through. “It’s Fiddlefae .”
Ransom pulls his weapon and points it up at the sky. “ Freeze ,” he bellows, although there is a slight hesitation in his voice because, let’s face it, whatever is happening to Hetty is definitely out of the realm of reality—but obviously not possibility.
“Good grief,” Quinn shouts as the wind picks up twice as hard. “What have you done now, Troublefield?” She turns to Ransom. “See this? It’s a prime example of what I’ve been trying to tell you. If something out of the norm is happening on this ship, you can bet dollars to deranged Troublefield donuts that your brand new fiancée is at the helm.”
Both Bess and Nettie help me to my feet just as those hot pink stars begin to fade.
“Oh no,” Beatrice moans as she hovers over that canopy of stars that Hetty is suspended in. “It seems my time on the planet is through once again. However, this time, it seems I was able to right a few wrongs. I’m sorry I didn’t help you sooner, Trixie. It was so nice to meet you, and Bess and Nettie, too! You girls take good care of one another, and I’ll see you all on the other side! Ta-ta for now! I’ve got a hot date to tend to. Wish me luck!”
“Goodbye, Bea,” I shout into the sky and both Bess and Nettie do the same. “Good luck to you!”
Just like that, it’s as if the hot pink lights go out as Beatrice takes her stars and speeds back to Paradise.
And Hetty King’s body slams right back to the waiting deck below.
Quinn does the honors and arrests the woman. And as she’s pushing her along past me, she pauses for a moment to give me the stink eye.
“Good work, Troublefield,” Quinn pants out the words. “I don’t know how or why you did that little party trick, but maybe keep that one to yourself in the future. It’s bad enough you seem to magnetize to the dead.” She takes off and Bess, Nettie, and I exchange a glance.
“Boy, do I ever attract the dead,” I say and the three of us share a little laugh on behalf of all the supernatural shenanigans we’ve been a part of for this past year.
“Troublefield,” Ransom pulls me in and wraps his strong warm arms around me just as the rain starts in. “Are you all right?”
“I’m better than all right,” I say, hiking up and giving him a kiss. “I’m with you. Everything is perfect.”
The whipping wind comes in hard and brings with it a driving rain, both of which usher us back inside. And to my surprise, there are male strippers. An entire slew of them, in fact.
Ransom hops on stage, along with the men from his security team, as one by one they remove their shirts, much to the delight of the crowd. And as it happens, my handsome husband-to-be is doing the stripping deed dead last—and evoking a near mass hysteria in the process.
Oh heck, it’s a full-on mass hysteria that has even driven the Captain this way to see what’s going on.
Ransom shakes his hips to the thumping music with the rest of his men before pointing my way and flicking his finger until Elodie all but pushes me onto the stage right along with him.
Soon, we’re dancing the night away as the stage is flooded and the rest of the women hop on up to join the party.
“ RIP single life ,” I shout up over the music to Ransom as I reel him in by his tie. “I guess I’ll have to change the name of my blog!”
He tips his head as he wraps his arms around me. “You don’t have to change a single thing for me.”
“But I need to speak the truth. How about Suddenly Hitched—What a Trip? ”
His lips curve with what looks to be malevolent intent and he gives a subtle nod.
“It’s perfect.” He presses his body to mine and we just about cease all movement. “Perfect, just like you.”
“Like us,” I say as we share a steamy kiss right there on the stage at a party meant to celebrate my wildest dreams come true.
This man right here is it.
And I am living the dream.
Justice was had tonight, and so was a darn good party.
The killer is off to the brig for now, and as for me, I’m ready to enjoy the rest of this crazy bachelorette party and a future with Ransom that’s brighter than any of Beatrice’s stars.