Dead Is Just a Dream - [Dead Is - 08] (13 page)

Bianca came, but stood just outside the circle. She was silent, but her fingers had lengthened into claws.

The desolate cries grew louder until they welled into one unified shriek. Answering howls came from distant points all around us.

When it stopped, I stepped closer to Mrs. Wilder, and Bane let out a low growl.

“It’s all right, Bane,” Elise said.

I bent down to look at the teacup. I knew enough not to touch it. There was a strange powder at the bottom.

“Ground-up silver,” Nicholas Bone said. I hadn’t even heard him approach.

Ryan was behind him. “We got to all the paintings that were left,” he told us. “But some are unaccounted for.”

“Like which ones?”

Ryan cleared his throat. “One titled
Silver
.”

Elise growled, her eyes glowing a fierce red. “We must find this painter Jensen Kenton.”

“Elise, don’t,” Daisy said.

But she was already gone.

“If he’s the murderer, he has something of Mrs. Wilder’s on him,” I said. “We need to find Jensen before Elise does.”

“Let’s split up,” Ryan said. “Daisy and I will take the third floor. Bane, go with Jessica and check the second floor.”

“He’s probably long gone,” Daisy said.

“I hope for his sake he is,” Bane said grimly. “Elise will rip him apart.”

We found Jensen hiding in the kitchen.

“Pretty smart,” Bane said. “All the food smells mask his scent.”

“Pretty guilty, I’d say,” I replied.

“A wolf just tried to eat me,” Jensen said in a trembling voice. “Help me.”

I saw a lace handkerchief sticking out of his pocket. The one that Mrs. Wilder had mentioned missing earlier.

“Why did you murder Mrs. Wilder? She was a good person.”

“Good person?” he snorted. “Like that matters.”

Elise reappeared in the doorway. “It matters to me,” she snarled, and her jaw elongated as her teeth grew longer and sharper.

I started to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Bane stopped me. “I wouldn’t do that,” he said. “Not now.”

“You’re an artist,” I said to Jensen. “Why would you kill anyone?”

“I wasn’t an artist,” he said. “I used to be an artist. A bad one. But black magic changed all that. I found a new outlet for my . . . creative impulses.”

“You’re right, you’re not an artist,” I said. “You’re just evil.”

The chief of police and Deputy Denton arrived, which probably saved Jensen’s life.

“We’ll take it from here,” Chief Wells said. “Thanks, Daisy and Jessica.”

“But Chief, he killed my grandmother!” Elise said.

“All the more reason to let the law deal with him,” she replied.

After a pause, Elise nodded. “Make sure the city council knows what happened.”

Chief Wells read Jensen his rights and then cuffed him before the deputy led him away.

“Thank you all for your help tonight,” the chief said to us. “But there are a few things I don’t understand. Why would a high school art teacher kill anyone?”

“Mrs. Lincoln was his aunt,” I said. “And Mr. Martin killed her for an inheritance.”

“But she died with a look of horror on her face, just like the nightmare victims,” Daisy said. “That confused us for a little while. Until we realized that she must have been truly aghast that her nephew was trying to kill her. Mrs. Lincoln didn’t make a big deal about it, but she was worth a lot of money and Javier Martin was her only heir.”

“What about Mr. Bellows, the shop teacher?” Chief Wells asked.

“Mr. Martin must have killed him, too,” I said. “He used the wood shop at school to carve his diabolical puppets. Then he used the gemstones he stole from his aunt’s jewelry for his marionettes. The shop teacher must have realized he was covering up his crime.”

“We should be able to match the string found at the crime scene with the string Mr. Martin used for his puppets,” the chief said.

“He must have been desperate for money,” I said.

“Or he was just crazy,” Daisy replied.

“One doesn’t cancel the other out,” Chief Wells said drily.

Dominic wrapped his arms around me. “Hey, I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Mrs. Wilder . . .” I didn’t finish my sentence because I realized Bane and Elise were standing next to him.

“I heard. I’m so sorry, Elise,” Dominic told her.

“I know my grandmother wasn’t a young woman,” she replied. “But I can’t believe she’s been murdered.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t make it in time to save her,” I said.

“You tried, Jessica,” she said. Mrs. Wilder had been a lovely, gracious person who was a legend in Nightshade. I wondered what would happen to Wilder’s Restaurant, and, more importantly, to Elise.

Lily and Balthazar Merriweather rushed up.

“Where is she?” Lily asked. “Where is my sister?”

Daisy stepped forward. “I have some bad news. Mrs. Wilder is dead.”

My head was spinning. How on earth could Mrs. Wilder and Lily Merriweather be sisters? Mrs. Wilder had been in her eighties and Lily couldn’t be much older than Flo.

“Aunt Lily, I can’t believe Grandmother is gone,” Elise said. Lily broke into loud sobs.

Daisy took Lily by the hand. “You’ve had a shock, Lil,” she said. “Sit down and I’ll get you some water.”

It took hours before everything was sorted out.

“What should we do with all the marionettes?” I asked.

“Load them up in my van,” Flo said. “We’ll go burn them in the dumpster outside the diner. After we remove the jewels from their eyes, of course.”

“I want to keep my Vincent Price puppet,” Eva protested.

“Why don’t you make a new one instead?” I suggested. “I’m not sure you want something Mr. Martin helped you with.”

“You’re right,” she said glumly. “Maybe I can make two of them this time. A young VP and an old one.”

“Maybe I should just buy you the poster,” Evan said.

We all laughed.

“You’re right,” Eva said. “After tonight, I never want to see a puppet again. Unless it’s on
Sesame Street
.”

“You still watch
Sesame Street
?” Andy asked.

“What? I can’t watch scary stuff all the time,” Eva replied. “And besides, Big Bird rocks.”

She had a point.

“This place is a mess,” I said. “We should clean up so Elise doesn’t have that to deal with on top of everything else.”

Bianca overheard me. “Go ahead and go home, Jessica,” she said. “Mrs. Wilder”—she cleared her throat before she continued—“Mrs. Wilder arranged a cleaning crew. They’ll be here first thing in the morning.”

“Let’s go to Slim’s,” Flo said. “I didn’t have time to eat tonight.”

“But it closed for the party,” Ryan said.

She gave him a tiny smile. “I know the owner.”

“I don’t feel like being alone right now,” Eva admitted. “It’s been quite an eventful night.”

“I know I should go home and get some sleep,” I said. “But I’m too wired.”

“Me, too,” Daisy said.

“It’s settled, then,” Dominic said. “We’ll meet everyone at Slim’s.”

Dominic and I got into his car, but he didn’t start it up right away. “I was worried about you tonight,” he said. “A little freaked out, even.”

I inhaled. Had the evening been too much for him? “I know it’s tough for you, me being a virago,” I said softly. “But I can’t help who I am.”

“I know,” he said. “My mom was wrong, you know. You’re not like she is. She pushes everyone away. You don’t.”

“Speaking of your mom,” I said. “Where was she tonight?”

“You’re not going to believe it,” he said, “but she’s on a date.”

I waited to see what else he would say, but instead, he kissed me. A long time later, he started the car and we headed to Slim’s.

“What took you so long?” Eva whispered when I slid into the booth next to her at the diner.

“Nothing,” I said, but my blush gave me away.

“That must have been some nothing.” She giggled.

“What are you two talking about?” Evan asked.

“Nothing,” Eva and I said at the same time.

“Okay,” he said. “I get it. Girl stuff.” He turned his attention back to the menu.

“Poor Mrs. Wilder,” Andy said.

“Poor Elise,” Ryan said. Daisy leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Good work, Jessica,” she said. “I can’t believe we caught two killers in one night.”

“The clown confused me at first,” I said. “She distracted me from the real killers. But she won’t be bothering anyone from now on.”

“Are you sure?” Dominic asked.

“She’s heading home soon,” I said. “That’s not a problem, is it?” I was teasing him. I already knew the answer.

He kissed me. “I’m sorry my ex dressed up like a clown and terrorized you.” His breath tickled my neck. “But now I know your weakness.”

“I can’t believe that five people died this fall,” Poppy said. “Even more would have if you and Daisy hadn’t stopped them.”

“I had a good time working with you, Jessica,” Daisy said. “We should do it again.”

Ryan gave her a long kiss. “Gotta go,” he said. “Mr. Bone gets cranky if I keep the council waiting.”

“But it’s after midnight,” I said. “You can’t possibly mean that they’re meeting at this hour.”

He winked at me and I blushed. “I can’t tell you, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

Maybe I sounded a tad too concerned that he was leaving, because Dominic gave me a kiss of my own.

Ryan smiled at Daisy. “Are you coming with me?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” she said. “Jessica, the Nightshade City Council is special. Maybe one day you’ll see.”

I’d thought I knew a lot about Nightshade, the city I was supposed to protect, but I was realizing I’d only scratched the surface of its secrets.

Six Years Later

My boyfriend had a surprise for me, but he refused to give me any hints, even though we were in his car, headed . . . somewhere.

“Ryan, you still haven’t told me where we’re going,” I said.

“It’s a surprise,” he said. “Don’t be so impatient, Daisy.”

“You’re headed toward Main Street,” I said smugly. “Are you taking me to Slim’s?”

He laughed. “Always the detective, aren’t you?” Ryan kept his eyes on the road, but I could tell there was mischief in them.

I gave him a triumphant smile when he parked in front of the diner, but instead of heading to Slim’s, he steered me across the street, toward the police station.

Ryan kissed the palm of my hand and then held up a set of keys. “Guess what I have?”

I recognized the keys. “The big surprise is in the morgue?”

When he grinned, my heart beat a little faster.

He took my hand. “Don’t you remember?” he asked softly.

“Of course I remember,” I replied. “Our first kiss.” Ryan and I had been friends since we were little, but things had changed the night we’d snuck into the morgue to solve a mystery.

He opened the door. “After you.”

There was the same beat-up metal desk and filing cabinet, but there were daisies everywhere. Daisy chains concealed the steel drawers along one wall, daisies were scattered in a path leading to a candlelight picnic, laid out on a yellow and white gingham blanket.

“How did you manage all this?”

“Chef Pierre cooked everything,” he replied. “And Sam and Sean helped me decorate.”

“It’s beautiful,” I said. “But what’s the occasion?” It wasn’t my birthday or anything. “Not that I’m complaining,” I added.

He took a deep breath. “I know this is an unconventional place for this.” His face was serious, and for a brief second I wondered if he was going to break up with me. But Ryan and I were solid, and besides, why would he make such a big effort to dump me? He would, however, make a big production out of a proposal.

Ryan plucked a daisy from one of the vases. “She loves me, she loves me not . . .”

I finished his sentence. “She loves me.”

He gave me a serious look and then took another deep breath. “The flower’s never wrong. Here goes, unconventional location or not.”

My hand went to the locket he’d given me for my seventeenth birthday. Was Ryan Mendez going to propose to me?

“For what?” My voice trembled as I asked the question.

“For this,” he said. He took a small black box out of his pocket. “Daisy Giordano, will you marry me?”

“Yes.”

He kissed me. “You haven’t even seen the ring yet,” he joked, but his voice was choked with emotion. “It’s a sapphire, as blue as your eyes.”

He slid the ring on my finger, and we both stared down at it.

“You didn’t have to propose just because I’m leaving town for a few months,” I teased. I was starting a six-month post-grad program in New York to hone my cooking skills.

“You mean
we
are leaving town, don’t you?” he asked.

“You’re coming with me?” I asked incredulously. “But what about your job?”

“I took a leave of absence,” he said. “My job will be waiting for me when we get back.”

“Ryan, you didn’t have to do that,” I said.

“I didn’t want to be away from you for six months,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine it.”

I gave him a long kiss. “You’re the best boyfriend ever.”

“I’m not your boyfriend,” he said, deadpan.

“You’re not?” Then it dawned on me, and I smiled. “Okay, you’re the best fiancé ever.”

“I’m all packed,” he said. “And I’ll be able to help out at a detective agency there.”

“You know what this means?” I asked.

“What?”

“That Poppy and Rose are probably already planning the wedding for us.” The last few days, my two psychic sisters had been giving me strange looks and bursting into giggles at odd times.

“I have been so worried that you’d read my mind,” he said. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“It was,” I told him. “The best surprise of my life.”

“And it’s only the beginning,” he said.

“It will be hard to say good-bye to Nightshade,” I said.

“Katie Walsh will be here looking after things,” Ryan replied.

“Katie? Sean’s sister?” I leaned out to take a look at his face. “Little Katie from next door?”

He nodded. “She’s going to do big things,” he said. “And she’s thirteen, not so little anymore.”

“That’s a relief,” I said. “With Jessica and Flo traveling so much with the band, Nightshade needs someone to take care of things while we’re gone.”