Chapter Ten
“ N ina! Wanda!” I sputtered, the frigid water seeping into my bones after I rose to the surface, stroking with numb arms to stay afloat. The stench of briny water and damp air settled in my nose. I love the water, but I prefer mine with chlorine.
Lights dotted the horizon from the homes surrounding the lake, but they were so far away, no one would ever hear me cry out for help.
What the frack happened? One minute I was putting together a piece of the puzzle to Zinnia’s death, the next, we were eyeballs deep in a freezing-cold lake where patches of ice floated.
Nina’s head popped up out of nowhere, her gorgeously silky hair plastered to her skull. “Where the fuck is Wanda?” she barked into the harsh wind, panic in her tone, her eyes scanning the water around us.
I didn’t see her anywhere, making alarm set in. There was only one place she could be. I pointed down at the water, shrugging off my heavy jacket so I could move freely and diving into the murky lake. She had to still be stuck in the SUV.
My heart crashed against my ribs in abject fear. Listen, Nina doesn’t breathe, you could leave her under water until the cows came home and she wouldn’t drown.
In fact, we’d often joked she could take a talent like that on the road—maybe do a Houdini-esque residency in Vegas, if she didn’t hate people so much.
But Wanda? She’s a halfsie, and the werewolf half of her…I don’t know. We’ve never tested to see what could happen if the vampire half of her doesn’t kick in. I only knew we’d had an OOPS case involving a woman, now a dear friend, who’d been accidentally turned into a mermaid, and throughout the whole underwater adventure, Wanda had made it clear she didn’t love all that water.
She can swim…but she’s no Michael Phelps. She’s satisfied with the shallow end of the pool when we take the children swimming at my house.
Pushing my way through the icy water, my eyes stinging as I searched, I managed to locate the SUV. I launched my way toward it, moving my legs with as much speed as the water would allow.
Nina was already there, grabbing my arm and pointing to the passenger seat where Wanda bobbed, unconscious.
Fear spiked along my spine when I saw her, so helpless, still buckled in. The backseat window was cracked, fissures of spidery webs covering the glass.
Nina punched at it with her fist, the glass tearing at her skin, the water limiting her impact. Grabbing the frame of the window, she used her feet to kick it. I joined her, using all of my strength to break through, but I couldn’t hold my breath any longer.
I pointed up before launching my body toward the surface. When the frigid air hit my lungs, I took deep breaths, filling up before I dove back down again to find Nina had managed to get through the window and was busy tearing at Wanda’s seat belt.
Wanda’s hair billowed around her face, her body still limp as Nina struggled.
We’re strong, no doubt, but we were fighting a zillion gallons of choppy water. I swam through the window, my pulse zinging along my veins. Grabbing the seat belt, I yanked as hard as I could right alongside Nina.
With a silent howl of victory, we were able to tear the seat belt, practically shredding it in the process. Nina wrapped her arms around Wanda’s torso, dragged her out through the window, and we swam to the surface.
When our heads popped up, Nina had Wanda on her back, holding her wrists around her neck. She began pounding the surface with one arm toward the shoreline, and I followed suit.
I don’t know how long we were in the water. I sure don’t know how we got there to begin with, but when we hit that sandy lakefront, I was never so happy to touch dry land.
Nina dragged Wanda away from the water, rolling her to her side as I crawled to her and tapped her face, but her eyes remained closed, her chest still. “Wanda! Do not make me force Nina to give you mouth to mouth. I’ll never hear the end of it!’
“Get behind her and tilt her chin up!” Nina ordered as the wind tore at us, leaving me shivering so hard, my teeth chattered.
My thumbs stroked her cheeks as I lifted her chin up, praying she’d open her eyes. “Wanda! If you can hear me, you’d better not die on us! After everything we’ve been through, this is no way to go!” I bellowed against the icy wind, my lips sluggish from the cold. “We’ve fought demons and ghouls and all sorts of monsters, drowning is not on your bingo card!”
Nina rolled Wanda to her back and pinched her nose, preparing to press her mouth to our BFF’s ice-blue lips and blow the life back into her lungs, when she suddenly gurgled, spitting a fountain of water out of her mouth.
We immediately rolled her back to her side as she gasped and coughed, her skin pale.
I pulled her limp form to me and whispered, “Oh, thank God! Are you all right?”
She inhaled deeply, the condensation from the cold air making clouds puff from her lips. “What happened?” she groaned.
“I think someone hit us,” I said through my clacking teeth.
Nina hauled us both up, standing in front of us to protect us from the wind, her hair dripping wet, the skin on one hand deeply torn. “ Yeah , someone fucking hit us. Came out of nowhere. Forget that for now, we gotta get you two somewhere warm and find a damn phone to call for help.”
But we didn’t have to go anywhere, sirens were suddenly blaring and there was a chubby man running down the lakefront, waving one arm in the air, and in the other, holding some blankets.
“Hang on, ladies! I called 9-1-1!”
Our “rescuer” stayed with us, covering us in blankets until the paramedics arrived, checking on us and offering to bring us something warm to drink.
But we assured Mr. Baker we were fine, thanking him profusely for his kindness.
The next hour became a blur of activity as Nina did everything she could to avoid having her nonexistent blood pressure taken, mostly by sneering and growling at the paramedics…while also hiding her injured hand in the sopping-wet pocket of her jeans. Wanda batted them away more gently, also refusing care.
So awkward. They must have thought us insane, all soaking wet, our lips blue and teeth chattering, but our choices were few if we didn’t want to be discovered.
When the police took our statements, Nina made up a story about hitting a patch of ice and losing control of the car. We didn’t need the human police sniffing around and digging too deep.
They, too, urged us to go for a checkup at the hospital, concern clear in their eyes, but we politely refused—because wouldn’t a good once-over at a human hospital be a total hoot?
Imagine their faces when they realized Nina didn’t have a heartbeat?
Finally, Wanda assured them our husbands would insist on an ER visit and that appeared to do the trick.
As we thanked them, watching the red and blue lights diminish, Tottington arrived with warm, dry clothes and a worried look on his face. “Ladies! What have you done?”
Nina grinned at him, her smile warm as she took a fluffy towel from his hands to dry her hair. “My hero. I kinda love that you think we did this on purpose, but somebody hit us and we landed in the drink. I almost died.”
Tottington rolled his eyes, his hair lifting with the howl of the wind. “You cannot die unless blood deprivation and garlic are involved, Dark Lord. I’m no longer fooled by your dramatic attention-seeking, madam.”
She barked a laugh as we made our way to Wanda’s minivan, climbing inside, where the warmth of the heater greeted us full blast, along with three travel mugs, two with piping-hot tea and one with synthetic blood for Nina.
Honestly, aside from Archibald, Tottington was one of the best things to ever happen to our little posse.
I squeezed his shoulder in gratitude. You’re a godsend, Tottington. I think I love you.”
Nina growled at me, flashing her fangs. “Back off, Blondie. Tater Tot’s taken,” she teased, making us all laugh, even Tottington.
Wanda settled into the backseat, soggy and pale, plucking at her wet skirt. “Thank you for coming for us, Tottington. If you were at Nina’s in Long Island and hadn’t been at Marty’s, grabbing some things for Hollis, I don’t know what we would have done. I don’t think I could have run all the way back to Nina’s, feeling like a wet noodle.”
Tottington gave her a warm smile. “Of course, Miss. I’m happy to be of service. Now where to? I’d suggest the castle, where Archibald is preparing a feast for your evening meal, and Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Jefferson are due to arrive at any moment. I don’t doubt they’ll be quite concerned about your mishap. Yet, something tells me you’re not willing to forgo your appointment with Mr. Ellis.”
“Damn right we’re not,” Nina crowed, as I held up a blanket to shield her while she peeled off her wet clothes. She held up the pink ruffled shirt Tottington had found for her in my closet, and made a face. “What the fuck is this, Tater Tot?”
He winked, his face otherwise remaining stoic as ever. “Miss Marty doesn’t possess a single T-shirt with a tactless statement on it. What was I to do?”
Nina scoffed as she shook out a pair of my tailored slacks in beige. “And these?”
Oh, dear. The hem on my slacks would never even reach her mid-shin. She was at least six inches taller than me.
Tottington pulled out of the lakefront parking lot and headed toward the council headquarters. “I thought they complemented the color of the blush-pink shirt quite well, don’t you agree?”
I shook the towel I was holding up. “Stop complaining and get changed, Nina! We have to get to that meeting with Ron, and I don’t want to arrive in clothes that smell like fish.”
“Are we going to talk about who tried to kill us?” Wanda asked, her tone weary.
“Yeah, let’s fucking talk about that .”
“How do we know the intent was to kill us? Maybe it was just an accident?” I wondered aloud.
“That car came out of nowhere, Marty. It came from the street on the right, while we were at the stop sign. Rammed into us full speed. I call bullshit the intent wasn’t to whack us. If it wasn’t, they would have stuck around and called 9-1-1. So who the hell thinks they can kill us? We’re immortal, for shit’s sake.”
I clucked my tongue as I discarded my wet shirt and pulled on a warm turtleneck. “If that’s the theory, it’s someone who doesn’t know you’re a vampire. Wanda and I aren’t immune to hypothermia, Nina. Or drowning. The frigid temps of the lake, coupled with the accident, could have killed us. If you hadn’t been there, I don’t know if I could have gotten Wanda out of that seat belt before I drowned, too.”
“Then why? Who wants us eating dirt?”
The throbbing in my head that I’d thought was gone returned. “I don’t know. Someone who doesn’t want us to find out the truth about what happened the day Zinnia was murdered?”
“But Ron confessed,” she protested, flapping her hands at the ruffles around her neck. “All we’re doing is trying to fill in the blanks. Like why the fuck he killed her. What his motive was. As far as anyone without intimate details of that day is concerned, he admitted to murder. So why would someone want to whack us?”
I still felt like something was off. Totally off about Ron’s confession. “Because I’m starting to believe, this is some kind of weird cover up and maybe whoever took us out at the lake thinks we’re getting too close? Maybe that person does have intimate knowledge about what happened. I mean, every time Ron talked about Zinnia’s death, everything from his body language and the cadence of his voice changed. Something’s just not right, Nina.”
“Okay, fair enough. Maybe we’re closer than I thought, but if it isn’t one of the people we spent two days interviewing, who the hell could it be?”
“Oh! Before I forget. I had a revelation just moments before we were knocked into oblivion.”
“Share with the group,” Wanda encouraged, sliding on a navy-blue shirt in mulberry silk, running her fingers over the soft material. “Ooooh! Is this the one you got from that cute little boutique in Connecticut when we were visiting Phoebe and Sam at their beach house?”
I grinned with a nod. “Total steal, right? I mean, how often is it that you find a piece made of mulberry silk out in the wild? I knew you’d like it.”
“I adore it. It’s so luxurious,” she purred. “You might have to pry it from my cold dead hands.”
Nina clapped her hands with a sharp slap. “Hey! Numbskulls! Pipe down, already. It’s a damn shirt. Not the cure for cancer. Marty said she had a revelation and the next thing, we’re talking about fucking blueberry silk. Clothes should be the last thing on your minds. Jesus Christ and a tweed jacket. Get a grip.”
“It’s mulberry silk, heathen,” I corrected, making Tottington snicker.
Nina leaned back from the front seat and flicked her fingers in my face. “I don’t care if it’s made from baby Jesus’s hair. Stay on track, and tell us what the hell your revelation was.”
As the lights of the council building grew closer, I said, “Rafe.”
“What about him?” Wanda asked, glancing at her reflection in my compact mirror to apply some lipstick from an old Bobbie-Sue kit I had lying about.
“His name starts with the letter R.”
There was a moment of silence while they digested that bit of information.
As we pulled into the council parking lot, Nina finally said, “How the hell did we miss that? You think Rafe might be the dude who wrote the letter—the dude who got her pregnant?”
Smoothing my straggly hair, I nodded. “It makes a heck of a lot more sense than Ron, don’t you think?”
“We really suck at this.”
“’Tis not that you suck, Dark Lord. ’Tis that you’re learning as you go. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Running my hand over my hair again, and smoothing my skirt, I sighed. While Totting’s words were encouraging, it didn’t make me feel any better. As a metaphor—or is it an analogy?—anyone on the outside looking in would probably have screamed, “Don’t go in the basement, you idiots!” in reference to us missing this very important clue.
And they’d be right. We’d all missed it. Instead of looking outside the box, we’d had another case of tunnel vision.
“That’s very forgiving of you, Tottington, but the fact remains, we still missed it. So far, we’re the worst detectives ever.”
Wanda brushed her hands together. “Then I say we stop berating ourselves and go see what Ron says.”