Haunted Renovation Mystery 1 - Flip That Haunted House (25 page)

“Get off my pants,” I said through clinched
teeth. “You’re pulling them down and my butt is exposed.” I grabbed
my pants, pulled them up and lowered back down from the window.

There was no plan on how to rescue Carolyn.
Calling the police would have been the wise thing to do, but whom
was I kidding? Not in this town. I didn’t always make the best
decisions and now was no exception. I turned around on my hands and
knees in order to slink off the porch and back to the truck. A
black boot placed in front of my face stopped me.

“I can’t believe it’s you.” I peered up. Jim
Richmond, the jolly realtor stared down at me. His evil expression
sent a chill down my spine. His mouth twisted into a sinister
grin.

“I’m going to kill you.” He said with not so
much as a twitch of the lip. He grabbed my arm and snatched me up.
A pain seared through my arm as if he’d pulled it from the socket.
He pointed a gun at my mother’s head. Once on my feet, I drew my
hand back to punch him. He gripped my arm and twisted with such
force I thought I’d throw-up on his boot. He laughed as I screamed
out in pain. Obviously, he took pleasure in hurting me. I would
have never guessed he’d be this evil.

My arm ached under his hand. I twisted, but
couldn’t break free. Once again, I screamed out in pain. He lurched
back his arm, and landed a sucker-punch square on my jaw. Stars
formed in front of my eyes. Panic had set in and I didn’t know how
I’d get us away from this lunatic. I regretted having my mother
bring me here. I didn’t want her involved.

“Get up,” he ordered Mama.

She stumbled along the porch. He
scowled.

“I said, get up!” His hold on me
tightened.

“She’s trying,” I said.

He smacked me with the palm of his hand and
I fell to the floor. With legs like rubber, I fumbled to my feet.
Jim pushed us through the door. Carolyn looked up with horror in
her eyes. The cabin under other circumstances would have been cozy.
Now it felt as if it was a hopeless prison. There was no escape as
far as I could tell.

He pulled two more chairs into the center of
the room, all the while the gun pointed at us. “Sit.”

I moved over, my gaze never left Jim. My
mother sat in one chair and I eased into the other. He wrapped the
rope around my mother and then me. Our hands were tied.

“We’re gonna die,” Carolyn screamed.

“Please, Carolyn, don’t think such things.
Positive thoughts. You have to remain strong,” I said.

“Do you have any suggestions to get us out
of this?” she snapped.

“No, but I’m not about to let him kill
us.”

Carolyn sobbed.

“Please don’t, Carolyn. I thought you were
stronger than that?”

“Well, you thought wrong.” She sniffled.

“You’re a psychic medium—I thought all
mediums were always calm under pressure?”

“I was born with a gift, that doesn’t mean
I’m not scared.” Carolyn’s sobbing eased.

We sat quietly waiting for his next move. He
paced around the room, mumbling under his breath. Jim’s scarlet red
face twisted with anger, mottleed with fury. Sweat broke out on his
forehead like dew. Had he ever been kind? Did something just send
him over the edge? Trails of veins bulged at his temples and I
thought he may explode at any moment.

Carolyn looked at me. “What’s with the
outfit?”

Even with Carolyn’s eclectic style—which
almost rivaled my mother’s—she could spot a bad outfit when she saw
one. And at a time like this.

“Don’t ask.”

“How did you find me?” she asked.

“A little bit of detective work. I’ll
explain later.”

“If there is a later.” She sobbed again.

“Shut up, you hens.” He screeched out the
vehement command. Jim’s mouth twisted. He stuck his wrinkled face
in mine, then poked the gun into my side.

Why had he kidnapped Carolyn and murdered
Payne?

“You know, at first I thought I’d just scare
you, when I saw you snooping around Payne’s office. I was there,
you know? Hiding behind the cabinet in the corner. At first, I
wasn’t sure if you saw me, but I realized you saw me leave the
building. Stupid bitch! Why didn’t you just drive away?”

Jim paced around the room, delivering his
lecture.

“Then you started sneaking around. You’re
just the type of person I detest. You make me sick.”

What was so bad about me? Whatever. I didn’t
care one way or the other. With the gun pointed in my direction, I
didn’t want to push my luck by asking. I’d gotten all of us into a
pickle. My mind raced. I needed a plan. My thoughts were muddled,
though. Panic and shock consumed me.

Fear covered my mother’s face. I’d never
hassle her about her wardrobe again if we got out of this mess.
Thinking of puppies and babies was helping to calm my nerves. But
nothing I thought of completely helped clear my thoughts. Rational
thinking would be the only thing to save us.

Carolyn sniffled, making my guilt mount. It
was my fault she was in this mess. My mother sat quietly. She was
probably the bravest out the three of us. She hid her fear
well.

A sneer of disgust covered Jim’s face. “I
wanted what was rightfully mine. I wanted my money, but that
bastard refused to hand it over. People warned me not to believe
him when he offered me the extra money if I could unload that
stupid haunted house.” He paced in front of me, waving the gun.
“That evening, I walked into his office. He had a smug look on his
face and it was just too easy to kill him. I went for my cash,
plain and simple. He promised me. I was owed, but he refused to pay
up. Said he’d changed his mind and hadn’t made as much on the house
as he’d hoped, so he couldn’t afford to pay me.”

Jim barely paused to breathe. How long could
he rant?

“I told him I wasn’t leaving without my
money. He said it’d be in my best interest to leave.” Jim scoffed.
“He said, ‘don’t play with fire and you won’t get burned.’ I lost
it. I was ticked off. A man has to do what a man has to do, you
know? He had this paperweight on the desk, so I picked it up and
hit him in the head. I hit just at the right spot, I guess, because
all it took was one quick lick.”

My stomach turned. I cringed as the image of
Payne’s lifeless body flashed through my mind for the millionth
time. A chill ran up my spine when I realized how easily he’d
killed the man. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill all of us.

Jim continued. “No one wanted to buy that
place, you know? Every time I tried to sell it someone would look
at it once, claim they’d seen something, and the deal would be off.
Some broad would spot a ghost and run from the house. Then you came
along. You shocked me. I couldn’t believe you actually went through
with it. You’ll never fix that house, by the way.” He laughed.
“You’re not very bright are you?”

I gathered my courage and asked, “Didn’t
someone live in the house for years before Payne Cooper bought
it?”

“Shut up.” He put his head in his hands, the
gun still in his grasp. Clearly, I’d overstepped my bounds.

“As a matter of fact, someone did live
there.” His tone was calm. “Hell, old Thomas Bennett lived there
for over fifty years and never one word was said about the place
being haunted. At least, not that I ever heard. The ghost talk
didn’t start until Payne Cooper bought it. At first, I thought it
was just a fanciful story, then I saw something myself…”

“What did you see?” I asked.

“That’s enough talking.” His tone changed.
“I’m tired of dealing with you hens.”

“You won’t get away with this, you
know?”

Jim chortled. “Why not? I got away with the
first one. What’s three more?”

“Even if you kill us, you still won’t get
any money,” I said.

“Yes, that’s true. But…alas, I have to.
Y’all know I killed Payne now.”

I’d seen many movies where the victim was
able to talk themselves out of being exterminated. Obviously, it
only in worked in the movies, because Jim didn’t put the gun down
or untangle us. Silence surrounded us. Only a few birds chirped
outside the window.

“Did you leave the tile next to my
door?”

“Did you like that? I thought it a nice
touch. Plus, I needed a good laugh.” He chuckled. “Now, how about
some nice music to die to?”

The sick bastard! He really was crazy.

I watched, my heart pounding, as Jim turned
and walked toward the entertainment center set against the wall.
Stereo equipment, a DVD player, a TV, and other knickknacks lined
the shelves. Frames with family photos sat on top.

“Are those your grandchildren in the
photos?” I asked.

He twisted the knob, trying to find a
song.

“Shut up, I said! I can’t concentrate.”

Okay, even thoughts of his family didn’t
work. Sweat beaded on my forehead.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, that’s the
song he choose?” I whispered.

My eyes wide, I glanced over at Mama. Jim
had found the oldies station. Chuck Berry sang the lyrics to
My
Ding A Ling.
Jim danced with the music. Despite my fear, I had
to stifle a giggle when he began dancing in front of us. He snapped
out of his gleeful parade just in time.

He turned to face us again, then pointed the
gun back and forth at all three of us. He flashed a rakish grin. My
wrists hurt from the rope. I wiggled them, but the twine didn’t
budge. I said a silent prayer. Loosening the rope was my only hope
of escaping the madman. Jim really knew how to tie a knot. I
wiggled my hands behind my back, trying not to let him see me. As I
worked the rope, a glimpse of movement from the window caught my
eye. What if Jim had an accomplice? Although, for all I knew it
could have only been a deer running past. With that thought, my
hope quickly faded. Then, once again, I saw the movement.

A dark-brown batch of hair bobbed up and
down across the window. I prayed someone was there to save us, and
not there to help Jim bury our bodies deep in the woods. Jim
continued to fumble with the radio.

He stopped, then turned around and said,
“Well, it’s time, ladies.” He brushed his hands together in a clap.
“Are you ready?” He pulled the gun from his waistband. “Who wants
to be first?”

Carolyn let out a soft whimper, but it
turned to a loud sob quickly. My eyes widened and my life flashed
before my eyes. My thoughts turned to my family, how I’d never
finished one stupid job and even to Reed. At least I had that one
kiss before I died. My mother sat without making a peep. I turned
to look at her.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, “I can’t believe I
got us into this. I just wanted to finish the darn house flipping.
You kind of never finished anything either, you know.” I looked at
her. “And you passed that trait on to me.” Maybe I shouldn’t
confront her at that moment, but since we were about to die, I
needed to everything off my chest.

“I did finish something. I raised you and
that was a tough job. I think you turned out all right.”

“Did I? I’ve never completed one project. I
drift from one thing to the next, looking for something. What, I
have no idea.”

“Sometimes accomplishments aren’t measured
by how much money you make or what award you receive in the end,”
she said.

“But it’s important to me to finish.”

“Alabama, listen to me. You can do anything
you set your mind to. It’s not for your lack of trying. You just
needed to find your niche—”

Jim moved and she stopped talking. He’d been
distracted by the radio again. He stood in front of the door and
stared at us. A loud clatter came from the porch, then the door
burst open, knocking Jim to his knees. The gun flew out from his
hands and landed across the floor. Reed leapt on top of him,
wrangling him to the ground. Jim struggled and Reed punched with
his fist. There was a fire in Reed’s eyes.