Page 35 of Bobbing for Bodies
A high-pitched laugh escapes her. “No, I didn’t. I wanted to smash his skull in!” she riots into my face. “I went to that site he was working on early that morning. Sun wasn’t even up. I hauled those bags of concrete mix up that scaffolding myself. My damn brother wouldn’t help me.” Her gaze disappears past me. “I had to do everything myself.”
“They must have weighed seventy pounds apiece.” And there were three.
She glowers over at me. “You’d be surprised what a mother would do for her son. It gives you supernatural strength just when you need it most.”
“I can imagine.” I come in so close I can reach out and touch her. “They’ll go easy on you,” I whisper. “Jonas said you’ve been having trouble since you’ve had the baby. I’m sure they’ll give you a top-notch psychologist who can help you out.”
Her eyes widen to the size of twin moons. “I’m not going to prison. I’ve killed once, and I’m not afraid to do it again.” She glances to my neck a moment. “If I had a gun, I’d kill you. I’m sorry this won’t be as quick.”
In the blink of an eye my entire head is submerged beneath the water as she struggles to hold me under. I buck and seize as I wriggle my way back to the surface, catching an enormous breath as soon as I hit air.
Stella digs her knee into the back of mine, and I collapse toward the barrel once again. “You little bitch,” she roars as she dunks me under so fast so hard it feels as if she has a bionic grip over me. Stella is right. She’s got supernatural strength right when she needs it most. But so do I.
My elbow flies back into her gut, and she doubles over, loosening her hold over me long enough for me to rise back out, gasping and sputtering.
Stella yanks me back by the hair and tries to throw a punch at me, but I duck right out of her line of fire.
“Freeze! Hands up!” a voice thunders from behind, but Stella doesn’t bother with protocol. Instead, she growls like a lioness, and I’m right back in that water, her body pressed over mine, heavy as if a building were lying over me.
The pressure releases, and I cork to the surface, only to find Stella being plucked off of me by none other than Noah Fox.
“No—” I struggle to say his name as the entire vicinity fills with men in uniform. Noah hands Stella off to the sheriffs before speeding my way.
“Lottie.” He runs his lips over mine, holding me tight as my arms collapse over him. “Are you all right? I need to get you to the hospital—make sure she didn’t hurt you.”
“I’m all right,” I pant as if I just ran the circumference of the planet. “She didn’t hurt me. I promise I’m fine.” I cling to Noah as if he were a life raft, and he is. “Stella killed Hunter. She confessed to the whole thing. Where’s the baby? Where’s Hunter’s son?” I struggle to crane my neck past him. I’m so exhausted I can hardly hold myself up.
“He’s fine.” Noah brushes his thumbs over my cheeks. “She handed him off to Micheline just a little while ago. Bear told me.” Noah searches my features with his eyes as if it were the first time he was seeing me. “All that matters to me is you, Lottie. You’re all I care about. You came into my life and upturned everything I thought I knew. All of those things I swore I’d never feel again, those things that I forbid myself from feeling—you didn’t give me any damn choice. I’m yours, Lottie Kenzie Lemon, and every day without you is miserable. I need you in my life. I need you by my side. I’ve falling hard for you, Lottie. Please tell me that you feel the same or I’ll go insane.”
A laugh bubbles from my throat as I bear hard into his pine green eyes. “Yes. I do feel the same.” The world around us feels as if it slows down, as if all of time stands still just for the two of us. “I’m falling for you, Noah—and, I’m afraid.” My affect falls flat as I spill that singular truth that I wish never crested my lips.
A pained smile expands across his gorgeous face. “Don’t be. We’re in this together. Through thick and thin.”
“I’m pretty sure we’ve seen our fair share of thick.” I bite down over my bottom lip. “Or is it thin that we’ve seen? Sorry, my head’s a bit fuzzy.” I tuck a wet lock of hair behind my ear.
Noah tips his head back, those glowing green eyes never leaving mine. “I don’t know if it’s thick or thin, but I do know one thing for sure. I’m never letting anything petty get between us ever again. Everett called the other night and let me know that the two of you were just friends. He says he’s happy for me, for us. He doesn’t want me to screw it up.”
I cock my head playfully. “Neither do I.”
“That makes three of us.” His dimples ignite as he bows in for a kiss. Noah crashes his lips to mine, and we declare exactly how we feel for one another in front of every ghost and goblin, every vampire and werewolf Honey Hollow has to offer.
Noah blesses me with soft pecking kisses before pulling back to get a better look at me. His eyes ride down over my costume, and he growls with approval.
“I fully authorize you to conduct a pat-down any and every time you feel like it, Officer Lemon.”
A naughty grin twitches over my lips. “Don’t you worry, Detective Fox. I plan on conducting a thorough investigation of your person. I promise to leave no stone unturned.” My hand glides over his chest like a threat. “I suggest you obey my authority and get those lips back to mine right this minute.”
A dark laugh rumbles in his chest. “Yes, ma’am.”
And he does as he’s told.
Chapter 17
Halloween in Honey Hollow has always been filled with its fair share of terrors, but on that night, there was also a genuine relief that Hunter Fisher’s killer had finally been brought to justice. Stella was arrested and is currently awaiting trial. Jonas was booked as an accomplice, and Everett said that although he was a party to aiding and abetting a murderer, that because of the circumstances the legal system wouldn’t go tough on him. Stella is getting the help she needs for her paranoia, and it was brought to light that a part of that paranoia was actually triggered from the birth itself. Baby Travis is with Bear’s mother, and no one is more delighted to have an infant in her care than she is. In fact, in light of the new circumstances, we’ve decided to host a celebration of life party for Hunter, and I insisted on hosting it at the bakery. Keelie had the chefs prepare sandwiches while I baked an entire litany of every dessert I know that Hunter loved—and he loved them all.
The crowd is small, but the atmosphere is cheery.
The surprise Nell and Keelie had been hinting at ever since the grand opening arrived last night just in time for the celebration, and Bear and his crew worked well into the early hours of the morning to install it. When I arrived, they were just leaving, and I about had a heart attack seeing them here. Bear was the one who got to show it to me—and as soon as he flipped the switch, my heart burst like a piñata filled with love. It’s an extension of that glorious oak tree staking claim in the middle of the honey pot with its branches elongating like tendrils all throughout the café portion of the Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery. I called both Keelie and Nell and cried over the phone as I thanked them. Each branch is carefully entwined with twinkle lights, and it adds a flair of magic to this already enchanted piece of Honey Hollow.