Chapter Three
G ripping his hands across the rusty table to settle him, Wanda soothed, “Ronald, it’s all right. We’re here to help. I’m Wanda Jefferson. Do you remember me from the Bobbie-Sue picnic last summer? We did the potato sack race together.”
Ron’s dark eyes appeared to clear momentarily as he focused in on Wanda’s face. His nod of acknowledgment was slow, his soft voice gruff. “I do remember you, lovely lady. Why…why are you here?”
That sounded more like the Ron I knew. Sweet, always quick with a kind compliment, always willing to help. “Charmaine called Marty’s daughter, Ron. She’s terrified.”
Ron eyed Wanda as though confused. “Is she okay? She shouldn’t be in a place like this with all the riff-raff out there.”
I squeezed his shoulder. “She’s fine, Ron. She’s gone back to Nina’s house to be with Hollis. We’ll take care of her. I promise.”
He looked up at me, the wrinkles surrounding the corners of his eyes screamed exhausted relief. “Thank you, Marty. You’re always so kind, and she’ll need kindness in the coming days.”
Odd that he hadn’t asked about Eve, but I dismissed that in favor of our children always come first and I’d probably think about Hollis before Keegan if I were in the same position.
I love my husband with a passion, he’s the most amazing mate—supportive, loving, kind, smart—but there was nothing more important than our daughter. I know if you asked Keegan, he’d say the same thing.
Noting that Ron looked almost as pale as Nina, I asked, “Have you eaten, Ron? Had anything to drink? Let us get you a little something and then we’ll try and figure this out.”
Wanda dug into what Nina called her Mary Poppins bag, yanking out a water bottle and a package of mini chocolate chip cookies. She unscrewed the top and gave it to him. “Here, Ron. Drink.”
He took the bottle gratefully, taking a long swig. Clearing his throat, he whispered, “Thank you, Wanda.”
I made my way around the table to sit next to Wanda while Nina guarded the door, leaning the back of her head against the viewing window in case someone spotted us. “Ron, we’re here to help. Tell us what happened as best as you can remember. What happened with Zinnia? I think Charmaine told Hollis someone was trying to steal something? None of it’s clear at this point, because Hollis was beside herself when she tried to explain. Can you help clarify?”
His eyes went wide again as he set the water bottle down hard, so hard his jowls shook. “I killed her! I killed her! I told them I killed her!”
His tone went from calm to frantic in zero-point-two seconds. I can’t say why, but it felt strange. It sounded stranger.
“But why, Ron? Why would you kill Zinnia? Her mother’s been managing your house since she was little. What made you hurt her? Was she stealing? What happened today?”
Ron cocked his head, and I couldn’t help but think his state was eternally confused. “I… I can’t remember.”
“What do you remember?” Nina asked gruffly.
He blinked, running his hand over his thick thatch of salt and pepper hair. “I…” Scrunching his eyes shut, he shook his head again as though clearing cobwebs. “I only remember, I was in the room where the vault is located and then…then… I killed her.” He let his head hang low. “Oh my God, I killed her!”
I lifted his chin, his tear-streaked cheeks red and puffy. “But why was she in the room where the vault’s located? Was she helping her mother clean? Maybe taking care of some household chore?”
I don’t know the exact layout of the vault’s location. They live in an estate with tons of rooms. But I did know it was in an isolated portion of his house that likely didn’t need a whole lot of dusting.
He faltered for a moment before once more shaking his head. “I…I can’t remember. I don’t know why I did it!”
Wanda patted his hand, settling him again. “Ron, do you remember hitting Zinnia over the head with a statue?”
His eyes refocused, squinting at me. “Was it a statue? I don’t remember.”
“You don’t remember a lot, do you, Ron?” Nina said. “How do you fucking forget whacking a kid over the head with a statue?”
I looked over my shoulder at Nina and frowned. “ Nina .”
But Ron shook his head. “No, your friend’s right. It doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know what happened or why. It’s just a big black picture in my head. I just can’t remember!”
“Then how do you know it was you who killed her, Ron?”
His eyes landed on Wanda’s face and he blinked hard, but his words were soft. “Because I just do.”
There wasn’t much we could do at this point if he was outright confessing to a murder, but call an attorney.
I gripped his fist across the table, his skin cold beneath my touch. “Listen to me. Do you have an attorney we can call? Have they said anything about setting bail? Did they even let you call anyone?”
His chin fell to his chest in what smelled like defeat. “No. They didn’t let me call anyone, but I do have an attorney as part of my position with the were-council, Marty. Would you…would you call him?”
“Is he a werewolf, too?”
“No. He’s a were-jackal.”
In all our travels, we’d never run across one of those, but I heard they’re incredibly aggressive—though, as a lawyer, that was probably a good trait to have.
“Then give me his number and we’ll call him. You need someone here who has your best interests at heart.”
Suddenly, Ron’s words were crystal clear, clearer than they’d been our entire conversation. “I warn you, he can be a bit rough around the edges, but he gets the job done. He’s a good part of my team.”
“Huh,” Wanda chirped with a small grin. “We have one of those rough-around-the-edges team members, too.”
Nina snorted, crossing her legs at the ankles. “She means Marty. I’m a delicate fucking flower.”
Even Ron chuckled at that. He gave me his lawyer’s name and number and Wanda tapped it into her phone, rising to go to the far corner of the small room and make the call.
“What else can we do for you, Ron, while we wait for your attorney?”
As if he just realized the totality of what was going on around him, his eyes cleared again and he clenched his fists as though startled. “Where’s Eve? Is she all right?”
Took him long enough to ask about his wife. “I don’t know where she is here at headquarters, but I do know she’s here. I think they’re questioning her, but I’m sure your attorney will step in and check on her.”
Wanda clicked her phone off, sitting back down. “Mr. Stan Freemont is on his way. He’s in the building here somewhere already, handling another case.”
“Rafe!” Ron suddenly reared up with another clearing of his confusion. “He’s coming home. Someone has to tell him what’s happened!”
“Don’t worry, Ron,” I assured him. “We’ll get in touch with Rafe. Let’s just worry about you.” Pausing a moment, I wondered how to approach offering him help. While I didn’t have the details of what happened with Zinnia, I was having trouble believing Ron had murdered her.
I realize I’m a bit emotionally involved due to the fact that our daughters were besties, and that can cloud my judgement, but there was something…
My heightened were senses said something was insanely off about his whole demeanor. Yet, I didn’t have a clue what that meant. That aside, how could we help a man who’d blatantly confessed to murder?
“And Pearl. Oh, dear God, Pearl,” he groaned in absolute misery. “She must be beside herself. Someone has to check on her. She has no one, Marty!”
“I’ll do it, Ron. I’ll offer whatever help she’s willing to take.”
He gripped my hand then, his eyes full of fear. “Marty, help me. Help Charmaine and Rafe…Eve. You just started a detective agency, didn’t you?”
My nod was slow. “We did.”
His head bounced. “Then help me! I’ll pay whatever you want—any price. My lawyer will see to an advance or whatever you need. Please .”
“But if you’re confessing to murdering Zinnia, what can we help with, other than seeing to your family, Ron? I’d do that for free.”
He let go of my hands very suddenly and stared at me blankly. “I don’t know…” Ron trailed off for a moment as if he’d forgotten why he needed our help, and then he sat up straight again, his spine rigid. “Wait, I do know. Help me remember what happened today. I need to know exactly what happened. There are cameras in the vault room. Maybe the council police haven’t taken them yet. Please, look into it. I need to know!”
The council police were, for the most part, dolts, but I had a feeling if there were cameras, they’d at least gotten the footage.
There was a knock on the door then, and when Nina stepped away, allowing it to open, a tall man with eyes the size of dimes and a flitting gaze entered, his dark suit impeccable, his black shoes shined to within an inch of their life.
Stan Freemont, I presumed.
Giving us all the once-over with a steely gaze, he asked, “Ronald, what’s going on here? Who are these women? You shouldn’t be talking to anyone.”
Fat lot of difference that was going to make when he’d already confessed to murder, huh?
I wasn’t fond of this guy’s tone when he said women , but if he was an old school paranormal, it wasn’t a tone we weren’t accustomed to. As much as our paranormal brethren revered us, there were as many old schoolers who didn’t love our XX chromosomes doing what they considered men’s work.
To which Nina often spat, fuck them with a sharp ax.
I jumped up, offering my hand. “I’m Marty Flaherty. My daughter and Charmaine are best friends. She called my daughter and asked for our help. We came as soon as we could.”
He didn’t take my hand. Rather, he hawk-eyed me with a piercing gaze, taking a step back. “How the hell did you get in here?”
Nina, always ready to choose violence, sauntered up to him. “Want me to show you?” she growled in her husky tone.
Knowing Nina, she’d picked up on his misogyny. He didn’t bother to hide it when he scanned Nina’s lithe form from head to toe and back again.
This kind of thing happened all the time where my beautiful friend was concerned. In truth, it happened to all of us, but not nearly as often as it did to my supermodel-level-gorgeous partner in crime.
She never noticed because she didn’t care how flawless she was, but we were always on the lookout for her when it came to an intrusive male gaze.
As he continued to ogle her, I knew he was in for it. I didn’t know if it was going to happen in the way of a fat lip or the threat of disembowelment, but I couldn’t wait for him to find out how his obvious staring would be appreciated.
Freemont leaned into her, his grin lewd. “I’d love for someone like you to show me ,” he growled back.
Before either of us could stop her, Nina was digging around in his fat head. His beady eyes went dead, his long, wiry body stiff.
“Here’s the deal, creeper—sit down, shut the fuck up, and do your damn job or I’ll make paté out of your clangers and serve ’em on crackers t my next holiday gathering. Anything else you want me to show you?” Her jaw clamped down hard, a sure sign being in his head wreaked havoc on her, mentally and physically.
Freemont’s jaw clenched, too, making it clear he struggled with Nina’s demand, but he did what he was told, sitting in the chair I’d vacated.
Then his eyes cleared and he stared at Ron for a moment, before he said, “You’re in deep shit, Ron. What the hell happened?”
Ron told the same story he told us, that he’d killed Zinnia, but this time I watched him from a different perspective, and his behavior, his speech pattern, his everything was definitely downright bizarre.
“Shut up, Ron!” Freemont ordered, looking over his shoulder. “Stop speaking and let me handle this.” He turned to us then and growled, “Ladies? You can leave.”
But Ron stirred again, rising up in the metal chair. “No! They stay. I’m in charge here, Stan, and they’re going to help me. Don’t tell them to leave.”
Wanda sat forward and leaned into Ron. “Are you hiring us to look into what happened today, Ron?”
“Yes!” he yelped. “ Yes. ”
“Ron, you’re being hasty. These women can’t possibly?—”
“Can’t possibly what, Mr. Freemont?” Wanda asked in her stern nun’s tone—the one that always made everyone shrink in shame.
“Stan, these women have helped countless people. You know what they mean to our world, whether you like it or not. I asked them to investigate what happened today because I can’t remember the details. Your job is to protect me. It’s my money, I’ll spend it how I like!” Ron shouted, his face going red.
“You heard the man,” Wanda cooed with a bat of her eyelashes and a swipe of a hand across her pencil-slim skirt. She rose from her chair, scraping the metal against the hard floor as she pushed away from the table. “Ron, please have your attorney keep in touch with us so we know your status. Until then, can you give us access to the house so we can investigate the area by the vault? Or did the council actually do their job and declare it a crime scene?”
Freemont cleared his throat, his next words reluctant and curt. “I highly doubt they’ve done a thorough investigation. They never do, but I’ve been informed they’ve already been there.”
Wanda gave him a haughty look, and used an even haughtier tone to make it clear she was in charge. “Good enough. I promise we won’t disturb anything. Now, we’ll get down to business. I’m sure you’ll do the same for Mr. Ellis, won’t you, Mr. Freemont?”
The nod of his slicked-back head was sharp as a punctuation mark. “Of course.”
I placed a hand on Ron’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze of support. “Make sure you let us know if and when you’re released. Until then, we’ll go over your house with a fine-tooth comb, and if you remember anything, please let us know.”
Ron’s eyes grew watery when he looked at us. “Thank you, Marty. Thank you— all of you . I’ll never forget this.”
With that, we took our leave—but not before we heard Stan Freemont call Ron “crazy” for hiring three women. Infuriating me.
As though Nina knew I wanted to turn right back around and sock that asshole in the face, she grabbed me by the arm and redirected me toward the dirty double doors of the council.
“There’ll be no choosing violence today, Blondie. Familiar words?” she taunted.
I looked into her gorgeous coal-black eyes as she guided me through the door and down the steps of the council headquarters. “Fuck you, Elvira. Familiar words?”
Nina cackled and pinched my cheek with a wink. “I love it when you’re all bent out of shape. It makes your cheeks nice and rosy.” Then she cackled again.