Page 11 of Ghost of You (Haunted Souls #24)
“Oliver’s father battered his mother throughout their forty year marriage.
Over the years, Oliver had begged and pleaded with her to leave him.
Maggie finally did, after she’d been diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Glioblastoma. The diagnosis is an instant death sentence and Walt beat her when she told him.
I guess cancer was Maggie’s final straw.
She lived with Ollie for the last year of her life, which was the year before he met Frankie.
There’s no way Oliver would have hurt my daughter the way his father hurt his mother. ”
“Was there anyone in Frankie’s life who wished her ill or was jealous of her? Someone at work or at the food pantry?” Jude asked. Violence came in all shapes and forms. In this day and age, everyone was capable of flying off the handle and committing a horrendous act.
“Everyone loved Frankie,” Dante said.
Obviously not every one, Jude thought to himself.
“Frankie was a bright light in this community. She volunteered so much of her free time to people who were less fortunate than she was. Not only did she work at the food pantry, she also donated to it as well. She always mentioned a woman named Mia Evans. Mia ran Sea Witches and was responsible for sourcing donations and creating marketing materials that would encourage people to give. Frankie never had anything bad to say about this woman, but when my daughter disappeared, Mia didn’t show up at any of the vigils and didn’t help with the searches.
She’d always claimed her responsibility was to the people who depended on the pantry for their survival, but there were so many others who could have worked in Mia’s stead for an hour or two here or there. ”
Jude scribbled the name in his notebook.
He’d met Mia several times in the past. The Salem PD had sponsored a color run last year with all of the proceeds going to Sea Witches Food Pantry.
She’d run the course and when she finished, looked like she’d fallen into a rainbow.
Mia had crossed the finish line just ahead of Jude, so he’d been there to hear her heartfelt interviews with local reporters who were covering the event.
It had even been Mia’s idea for the volunteers who threw the colored powder at the runners to solicit donations, just like the runners.
Jude couldn’t imagine a woman, like Mia, whose entire life was wrapped up in her community could have committed this murder, but he’d been in the business long enough to know anyone was capable of murder.
“What about people in City Hall? Were there folks who disliked Frankie for her stance on issues or because she’d been elected when they hadn’t?” Fitz asked.
Sofia and Dante nodded. “Ambrose Watson,” the couple said together.
If there was ever a villain hiding in plain sight, it was Watson.
The man was conservative with a capital C, which didn’t bother Jude.
Everyone was entitled to their own stance on issues that affected Salem, but the way he’d gone about trying to cancel pride celebrations and the parade was diabolical.
He’d used fearmongering, promoting the stereotype that the LGBTQIA+ population was out to indoctrinate the children of Salem, likening them to the witches who’d infected Salem back in the 1690’s.
Watson paid for billboards to be erected all over Salem, which caused a rise in hate crimes, and violence against openly gay couples.
“What was his relationship like with Frankie?” Jude asked.
“The two of them were like oil and water,” Sofia said. “Frankie wanted more money budgeted for food, fuel, and housing assistance. She was a huge proponent of universal daycare which would have been paid for by Salem taxpayers.”
“Frankie was the polar opposite to Watson,” Dante continued. “The only thing they had in common was the fact both breathed oxygen. At the time of Frankie’s disappearance, Watson was trying to push through a city ordinance that would add additional taxes for psychic practitioners.”
“I remember that!” Ronan said, sounding energized.
“Ten was off his gourd at the thought of raising prices for psychic readings. He thought West Side Magick would lose business, especially with the summer tourism season around the corner. The proposed bill galvanized Tennyson. He attended protests, carried signs, got our neighbors to sign a petition against the bill. I remember the ordinance failing when it came before the city council for a vote, but I don’t remember the particulars of how that happened. Do you, Jude?”
Jude nodded. “The motion was defeated six to four. There are eleven members of the council, so there was one member who didn’t take part in the vote.”
“The missing member was Frankie,” Sofia said on a sniffle. “In her absence, Watson managed to persuade three other members of the council to vote for the bill to pass. All three of them had promised Frankie they would vote no. That promise went out the window when she wasn’t there for the vote.”
Jude gut feeling that Watson was somehow involved in Frankie’s murder strengthened. He turned to Cope, wondering if his husband was picking up any information about Watson. “Cope, is your gift telling you anything about Watson?”
Cope’s face paled. He looked like he was going to throw up.
Bolting from the table, Cope ran toward the bathroom.
Seconds later, Jude could hear his husband getting sick.
“I’m so sorry.” Jude looked back and forth between Sofia and Dante.
“In all the years we’ve been together, this has never happened. ”
“Do you think Cope saw something?” Sofia asked, sounding scared and hopeful in equal measure.
“I’m not sure. I’ll go check on him.” Jude was worried about Cope. Ten was famous for tossing his cookies when he was in the presence of overwhelming pain and suffering. Jude had been telling the truth when he said nothing like this had ever happened to Cope before.
Unless Jude missed his guess, Cope had seen something.
Possibly more of the vision he’d had of Frankie and the gun coming up to aim at her head.
What if he’d seen the killer? Or Frankie’s last moments?
Heading for the bathroom, he hoped Cope would be able to tell him what had just happened and together, they could figure out a way to tell the Conti’s without adding further heartbreak.