Page 7 of Macaron Massacre
I’m about to scream or pass out as I try to shake myself out of this nightmare when a peculiar fog percolates before me and Nell Sawyer appears, one ghostly vapor at a time. The scent of fresh picked apples accompanies her as I take in the heavenly fragrance.
“Nell!” I cry out and lunge over her with a firm embrace. She feels solid, and real, and every bit as if she were still among the living.
“Yes, child, it’s me.” She pulls back, and I marvel at that beautiful wrinkled face, her hair glowing pale as a flame. “Now we’ve got a body to tend to, haven’t we?”
“Rich Dallas.” I shake my head in disbelief. “Who did this, Nell?” Sadly, I’m a bit relieved, and I feel like a monster because of it. Meg runs through my mind. “Oh my God, please tell me my sisters weren’t responsible.”
“Oh heavens, I can’t do that. But don’t you worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this together.” She gives a sly wink.
My head is spinning with all these new developments.
“Why you, Nell? Did Rich even know you? I mean, I’m thrilled you’re here, but I thought it needed to be his favorite pet or human.”
“Oh, it’s been stretched before. But in this case, it’s fairly accurate. He had no pets that we know of, and strangely enough, I babysat Richie when he was a child. I was just a spring chicken myself, of course. And it turns out, I was the only person who showed him a shred of kindness.”
“My heart breaks just hearing that. No wonder he was a tyrant.” A swell of emotion rises up inside me, and it’s all for the beautiful woman standing before me. Her eyes shine so bright, and I can see every color of the rainbow in them. “Oh, Nell, so much has happened since you’ve passed. I’m in love with both Everett and Noah, and my heart isn’t too happy about it. And Greer Giles! She was murdered in February, and now she and her two-hundred-year-old boyfriend, Winslow Decker—they haunt my mother’s bed and breakfast. And the tourists are just eating it up. She runs these haunted Honey Hollow B&B tours and charges an arm and a leg—and, believe you me, she’s getting the entire corpse, too! Of course, she sends the busses to the bakery afterwards for what she’s dubbed as The Last Thing They Ate Tour. I know it sounds grisly, but it’s exactly what’s been happening since you’ve been gone.”
“Oh dear.” Her hand covers her mouth, and she looks paler than paper. In fact, she looks downright blue.
“It’s really not that bad. It’s actually—” I’m about to finish my sentence when Noah pops his head into the walk-in.
“Lottie?” He inches back with a look of curiosity. “Who are you talking to?” He glances around before he spots the body. “Crap.” He drops to his knees and checks for a pulse before calling for Everett. He pulls me out of the refrigerator just as Everett storms the kitchen.
“There you are, Lemon.” His dark brows are winged like a bird in flight. “We were getting worried about you. We thought maybe you found another one.”
“She did,” Noah shouts as he quickly taps into his phone. “Get Ivy in here. Get Lottie to safety. Call in any medics that might be in the building. I’m putting in a call to 911. I want this building detained.”
Everett growls as he wraps his arms around me. “Are you okay? Who was it? Is there a ghost involved?”
“Yes, I’m fine. It’s Rich Dallas.” I glance back to where I was standing a moment ago with Nell. “And the ghost—you won’t believe who I just saw.”
The room floods instantly with bodies—Ivy, Forest, an entire slew of off-duty nurses, doctors, EMTs, firemen, and sheriff’s deputies. The wail of sirens can be heard headed this way already.
Everett bows down and catches my gaze with his stormy eyes. “Did you saywho? As in a person? Who was it, Lemon? Was it my father again?”
“No. I’m sorry. It was—”
Mayor Nash storms in, and bodies part like the Red Sea as he bellows, “What in the dickens is going on in here?”
Noah takes a measured step forward just as my mother glides up next to Mayor Nash.
“It appears there’s been a homicide. Considering the fact the family of the deceased is on the premises, I think it’s only fair we contact them first.” Noah makes his way over to me as the room ignites with rumblings. “Lottie, I’d like for you to help break this to your mother, and then I’ll need you to help direct me to his family as well.”
“Yes, of course,” I say, emerging from Everett’s grasp, but he quickly tucks a kiss just under my ear. “Who was it, Lemon?”
I pull back. “It was Nell,” I practically mouth the words, and his eyes enlarge in an instant.
Noah tucks his hand to my lower back as we make our way through the tangle of bodies to my mother.
“Mom, I’m so sorry. I have terrible news.”
Her eyes fill with terror. She’s biting her nails before I get the next few words out.
“Who is it, Lottie? My God, who was killed?” she shrieks so loud half the room quiets down in an effort to listen in.
“It was Rich.” I shrug apologetically. “I’m sorry. Rich Dallas is dead.”
“Oh.” She inches back as if the news weren’t that off-putting, after all. “Well, that’s just terrible.” She looks to Mayor Nash. “I’ll be grieving for weeks.”