Chapter 26 Lottie #2
“Lottie, I think you’re confused—” Gina starts, but her voice has taken on that higher pitch that suggests panic might be setting in.
“Confused?” Carlotta snorts, unwrapping another chocolate bunny with unnecessary violence. “Honey, the only thing Lot Lot is confused about is how she ended up with two husbands and a body count that would make a serial killer jealous.”
“I know what you did,” I interrupt, just as Fairbanks appears, looking as if he’s been wrestling with more than just his conscience.
He’s disheveled in that I’ve-been-arguing-with-organized-crime-and-losing way, his usually perfect hair is mussed, and his expensive shirt wrinkled.
There’s a sheen of sweat on his forehead that suggests his chat with Luke Lazzari didn’t go well, and his eyes have that wild look of someone who’s realized they’re in way over their head.
“Fairbanks!” Gina hisses under her breath. “What the heck happened?”
“Luke’s not happy,” he mutters, running a hand through his hair and coming up with a leaf. “He says the heat’s getting too intense. He wants us to shut everything down.”
“I know what you both did,” I continue, feeling like I’m finally connecting dots that have been scattered across Honey Hollow like confetti.
Lenny prowls around them in a circle, his ghostly form radiating menace while his eyes glow with predatory hunger. “Just give me the word, Lottie! I’ll show them what happens to people who threaten and kill those I love! My claws are twitching to dig right in.”
I nod to the couple. “You had a meager share of the business and wanted a cash infusion, but Duncan held the financial reins,” I start, ticking off evidence on my fingers while Carlotta provides inappropriate sound effects in the background as if all that chocolate has given her some serious digestion issues.
“You needed a financial fix, so you started laundering money for Luke Lazzari through the company. Duncan found out and was going to expose you both. You were desperate, and you wanted him dead. First, you planned to pin it on Bunny with the digitalis—I’m betting you laced Duncan’s drink at the festival.
But when that didn’t work fast enough, and after Duncan had that public blowout with Muffin, you grabbed the nearest weapon—my grandmother’s knife—and finished the job.
I’m sure you were hoping the new widow would find herself in prison soon. ”
Both Gina and Fairbanks shake their heads, but their denials lack conviction and are about as genuine as Carlotta’s professed monogamy.
“That’s ridiculous,” Fairbanks sputters, but his face has gone pale under his tan, making him look like a ghost who’s had a very expensive vacation.
“Is it?” I press on, taking another bold step forward.
“You hand-delivered two perfect suspects to the sheriff’s department on a chocolate platter.
Bunny with her foxgloves and access to digitalis, and Muffin with her motive and timing.
Two perfect red herrings. But they both backfired on you because you underestimated small-town solidarity and my ability to see through a wall of lies. ”
Lenny growls at the twosome before us as if he were about to pounce. And I’m half moved to let him.
“Way to go, Lot, Lot!” Carlotta applauds while still holding a bunny and bits of chocolate shoot every which way like candied shrapnel.
“Way to build up the drama! I’m getting goosebumps!
Well, it might be the sugar rush, but still.
Way to take out the trash. You cuff ’em, and I’ll confiscate the goods.
” She gives a side-eye to the tower of chocolate bunnies looking vacantly this way.
“Lottie, we’re friends, remember?” Gina tries, but her voice wavers like a soprano hitting a note that’s just out of reach.
“Friends don’t frame friends for murder,” I point out. “It’s like the first rule of friendship. Right after don’t steal each other’s boyfriends and always share dessert.” Not that she intentionally tried to pin the murder on me, but still, I found the body, and it happened to contain my knife.
Fairbanks pulls Gina back with a tight smile that’s about as reassuring as a shark in a swimming pool. “She’s right.”
“About the friendship rules?” Carlotta asks. “Because I’ve definitely broken those a few times. Well, more than a few times. Actually, I might have made a career out of it. Bros before hos and all that good stuff.”
I slice a glance her way and shake my head. That’s not how it goes. On second thought, that’s exactly how it goes in Carlotta’s world.
“You’re right about everything, Lottie,” Fairbanks clarifies, his smile taking on a maniacal edge that suggests he’s decided to stop pretending to be sane.
Gina swats at him like the annoying gnat he is. “What are you doing, you idiot?”
“Be quiet,” he snaps, his facade cracking completely. “Lottie figured it out. We knew she would.”
He looks back at me with that same unsettling smile and starts walking toward Carlotta and me, effectively backing us toward the tree line. The sounds from the festival are getting fainter by the second, which is never a good sign when you’re confronting a couple of killers.
“We laced his drink with a toxin that came straight from my sister’s little botanical witchery shop,” he continues conversationally, as if he’s discussing the weather instead of confessing to murder.
“Bunny’s got quite the collection of deadly plants.
She can be very educational. And then when Duncan went ballistic on Muffin, I had a change of heart.
” His laugh has all the warmth of a morgue. “And then I stabbed him in his.”
Lenny’s roar shakes the evergreens around us. “Give me permission, Lottie! Let me tear his throat out! I can even the score right now!”
Carlotta starts tap-dancing nervously beside me, her stolen chocolate bunnies spilling every which way with each movement.
“Um, Lot? This confession is getting a little too detailed for my comfort. Can we wrap this up and maybe call for backup? Because I’m getting serious villain monologue vibes here, and those never end well for the good guys. ”
But Fairbanks is herding us deeper into the woods, and the festival sounds are fading behind us like a distant memory. The trees close in around us, creating a thicket of darkness that seems to surround us with malicious intent.
Fairbanks reaches into his jacket with a jerk of his arm, and suddenly Carlotta and I are staring down the barrel of a gun, glinting in the dull light like a very unwelcome surprise.
This is it.
My blood runs cold as I realize how far we’ve drifted from the festival, from my sweet babies, from safety.
All I can think about is never seeing Lyla Nell’s gap-toothed grin again, or holding the twins, hugging Evie, never hearing Everett tell me I’m being reckless while secretly being proud of me for solving another case.
And now I see where all of that recklessness has finally landed me.
Lenny roars as if he’s channeling his inner celestial beast, circling our captors with increasing agitation. “Just say the word, Lottie! I’ll rip them both to shreds! They don’t deserve to breathe the same air as you!”
“Hey,” Carlotta barks his way. “What about the air I breathe?”
“It’s heavily perfumed and morally questionable,” Lenny says without missing a beat.
He’s definitely not wrong.
“I have a silencer,” Fairbanks says almost apologetically, holding the gun out a notch so we can see it clearly. “I’m sorry it has to end this way. But you understand—business is business.”
“Business?” I sputter. “Murder isn’t business! Last I checked, it’s a felony.”
Gina gasps. “Oh Fairbanks, I can’t go to prison. I look terrible in orange.”
“It’s going to be a rough fashion era for you,” Carlotta is quick to inform her. “Orange is the new Gina.”
The woman gasps twice as hard.
“Don’t worry, Gina-licious.” Carlotta waves her off. “You’ll be the prettiest thing there.”
“Oh?” Gina’s shoulders wiggle and jiggle as if the thought pleased her. “Go on, tell me more,” she says as if we’re debating the merits of different chocolate recipes instead of my impending doom.
“Shut up,” Fairbanks roars, steadying the gun on us, and both Carlotta and I cower into one another. Okay, fine. We’re both trying to use each other like a human shield, but we can’t help it. Self-preservation is a very real thing.
“Can I be excused?” Carlotta asks with a shaky voice, raising her hand like she’s in school. “I just remembered I have a very important appointment to not be murdered today.”
I roll my eyes.
The gun inches our way. “I really am sorry, Lottie,” Fairbanks’ voice is tight.
“You’re actually quite likable for an amateur detective.
And your baked goods, well, no one can bake like you.
Honey Hollow is going to lose a culinary treasure—at least for about six weeks.
That’s how long it’s going to take for us to open up our new French bakery, right across the street from your little hole-in-the-wall. ”
My mouth rounds out in surprise. “You mean you’re going to open that fancy French pastry shop right across the street from my bakery?”
“That’s right.” Gina laughs. “And I was so looking forward to seeing the look on your face when we put you out of business. I really did want to keep you around.”
“Me, too,” Fairbanks says with a tick of his head as if the thought of seeing me suffer was something he was looking forward to as well. “But you know too much, and Luke doesn’t like loose ends.”
“I hate loose ends, too,” I say quickly. “Coincidentally, I also hate being threatened with guns. Funny how that works.”
“LEMON!” Everett’s voice booms through the trees like the cavalry arriving just in time.
Fairbanks turns just a fraction, distracted by the sound, and that’s all Lenny needs. The ghostly lion launches himself at Fairbanks with a roar that could be heard in the next solar system before knocking him to the ground in a spectacular display of supernatural justice.
The gun flies out of Fairbanks’ hand, spinning through the air like a dangerous metal frisbee before falling to the ground.
Gina lunges for it, but my foot reaches it first, and I kick the weapon farther away while both Gina and I dive for it, wrestling like we’re fighting over the last chocolate bunny on the planet.
We roll in the dirt and debris from the festival—pastel streamers, Easter grass of every color, and what might be cotton candy from someone’s abandoned snack.
“Get off me, you cupcake-pushing psycho!” Gina snarls, trying to claw her way toward the gun.
“Cupcake-pushing psycho?” I gasp, genuinely offended. “I also make cookies, pies, and artisanal breads! If you’re going to insult me, at least be accurate!”
Gina grabs hold of my shoulders, and a wicked grin curves on her lips.
“I never liked you Lemon girls. Always thinking you were better than everyone else. Fun fact? When you were in high school, and your dumb boyfriend was sleeping around with everyone he could corner, I just so happened to be on that list.”
I gasp at the thought. Bear really was an idiot way back when.
I haul off and slug her, landing one right on her nose. “That’s from Keelie and me.”
“Lemon?” Everett’s voice rings out like a gong once more.
The gun goes off with a sharp crack that echoes through the trees just as Noah, Ivy, Everett, and what appears to be half the sheriff’s department come crashing through the underbrush like the world’s most welcome rescue party.
“Everyone freeze and drop your weapons!” Noah shouts with a roar of his own, his gun drawn and pointed at our little woodland drama.
Everett frees me from Gina’s grip and brings us both to our feet.
Ivy materializes before us, looking like she’s been waiting her whole career for this moment. “Well, well, looks like Essex’s little wife really did solve another case.”
I give a little shrug up at Everett but don’t dare say a word.
“Lemon is a force to be reckoned with, all on her own,” Everett says as he lands a quick kiss to my lips.
Soon, Fairbanks and Gina are wearing matching silver bracelets, and I’m safe in Everett’s arms, where I belong. His heartbeat is racing against my ear, and I can feel his hands tightening over my back as he holds me.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” he whispers fiercely. “I aged ten years in the last five minutes.”
“They confessed to killing Duncan—twice,” I announce to Noah, still catching my breath and feeling like I’ve just run a marathon while carrying a refrigerator.
“Not bad, Lot Lot.” Carlotta surveys the scene with satisfaction while still clutching her stolen chocolate bunnies. “You wrestled a killer to the ground, and I got free candy. This is what I call a successful Easter.”
Lenny trots beside us, his ghostly mane still bristling with bloodthirsty satisfaction. “I could have killed them both with my bare paws! And it would have been so much more satisfying than watching them get arrested. The human justice system is far too slow and kind.”
“Noted,” I say, nodding up at Everett because I know he heard. I sort of act like a conduit when it comes to hearing those who have long since pounced over to the other side.
“We do our best.” Everett offers me a sly wink.
I’m about to mention the money laundering operation when I glance at Ivy and think better of it.
Just because Fairbanks and Gina are going to prison doesn’t mean Luke Lazzari has to.
Some secrets are better left buried, especially when they involve people who probably own silencers for recreational purposes.
Besides, I’ve grown a soft spot for both Luke and Jimmy over the years.
And let’s just say Luke Lazzari owes me one. I’m sure I’ll cash in soon enough.
I press my lips tight just as Everett’s mouth claims mine once again with the kind of kiss that’s so red-hot it’s probably illegal in most states.
It’s thorough, deliberate, and makes my brain forget we’re surrounded by people, chocolate bunnies, and recently apprehended murderers.
When he pulls back, the look on his face is pure sin. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”
“Never apologize for that,” I say with a devilish grin blooming across my face. “In fact, I’ll let you continue what you started later tonight. I believe we met a deadline we’ve been working hard to keep.”
“Can’t wait.” His lips curve with the hint of a devilish grin themselves, and his voice drops to that register that does dangerous things to my pulse. “Though I should warn you—I’ve been making a list.”
“Have you?” I give a little laugh. “Well then, I’ll make sure we check it twice.”
“Wrong holiday?” he teases.
I shake my head. “I don’t even know what day of the week it is when you kiss me like that.”
His eyes flash with wicked intent. “By the time we’re through tonight, you won’t know what year it is.” He kisses me once again.
It’s a much better use of my time and my mouth.