Roses Are Red; He's Dead (A Mellow Summers Paranormal Mystery Book 9) (11 page)
Read Roses Are Red; He's Dead (A Mellow Summers Paranormal Mystery Book 9) Online
Authors: Janet McNulty
Tags: #paranormal mystery fiction, #cozy mystery, #private investigator, #contemproary romance
“Why kill him?” I asked, trying to buy time while I thought of a way out of this situation.
“He wasn’t supposed to! We were searching the lockers for a reason, but learned that you had somehow ended up with the ruby. Patrick saw it in your pocket when we went to dinner. We thought he could slip into your cabin and get it before anyone noticed, but Matherson must have had the same idea. He surprised Patrick and a fight ensued. No one was supposed to die! Patrick panicked.”
“And hiding the murder weapon in Chad’s locker?”
“With the cops coming around, and people on edge because of a murder, we thought it best to try and throw the suspicion on someone else. Patrick wiped my prints off of the weapon and placed it in a locker; he didn’t know whose.”
“Aimie, where’s Patrick?”
“Waiting for me in town.” Her phone beeped again. “I liked you, Mel”—she aimed the gun at me—“I really did.”
“You could just let me go,” I said.
“You’ll tell the cops.”
“I don’t have my phone with me,” I said. “By the time I make it back to the main building and phone the police, you and Patrick could be halfway to Canada.”
I could tell that Aimie considered what I had said. She didn’t want to shoot me, but she also didn’t want to go to prison. I took a step back. Her grip on the weapon tightened.
“Mel, don’t.”
“Just let me go,” I said.
“Don’t make me…”
At that moment, a low-hanging branch pulled back, on its own, and snapped, striking Aimie in the head. Seizing the opportunity, I tackled her, knocking the gun out of her hands. We rolled across the snow-encrusted ground, each trying to get the upper hand. The gun didn’t lie far. Together, we bolted for it, but before Aimie got to her knees, something hit her on the head, knocking her out.
Billy materialized the moment Aimie dropped to the ground. “I did it! I got my revenge!”
“Uh… thanks, Billy,” I said, while checking to make certain that Aimie wasn’t injured. She was just unconscious.
“Do you think you could keep an eye on her, while I go call the police?” I asked him.
“No problem. She won’t get away from me.” Billy crossed his arms in a triumphant stance, making me laugh.
I jumped to my feet and ran back to the resort, not caring how tired my legs were. Once I reached it, I burst into the main building and rushed the front desk. “I need a phone!”
The lady there gave me a strange look.
“Now!”
She handed me the desk phone and I dialed 911. Once someone answered, I explained everything in a rush and hung up.
“Mel!” Greg ran towards me in his pajamas and untied shoes. “Where’ve you…”
“It was Aimie and Patrick,” I said, interrupting him. “They killed Billy and Matherson. Aimie is out there, now, unconscious.”
Sirens wailed outside. “How did they get here so fast?”
“I woke up and you were missing,” Greg answered. “When I noticed your coat missing as well, but your phone was still on the night stand, I called the police, afraid that you were in trouble.”
When the police pulled up, I took them to where I had left Aimie. She was still lying in the snow unconscious with a triumphant Billy lording over her, not that anyone, but me, saw him.
“I did good, didn’t I?” Billy asked in excitement, pleased that he had stopped Aimie.
“Yes,” I whispered, hoping no one, but Billy, heard me, “you did well.”
“I knew it was her and that twitchy boyfriend of hers.”
I glared at him. Only hours before, he had been certain that it was Chad who had killed him.
Aimie was taken into custody, but they never found Patrick. Greg must have noticed my frustration because he said to me, “Don’t worry. They’ll get him.”
Once the detectives had finished questioning us, and the other guests went back inside, having gotten bored from watching another incident with the police, Greg and I went back to our room, where I finally fell asleep.
Chapter 10
When I awoke the next morning, the entire place was abuzz over last night’s events. Greg and I had decided to check out. We had had enough of this romantic getaway, which had turned out to be anything, but romantic. As I folded one of Greg’s pairs of jeans, a small, velvet box fell out of the pocket; the same box that I had noticed him trying to hide from me earlier. I picked it up.
“Greg,” I said.
He poked his half-shaven face out of the bathroom.
“What is this?” I held up the tiny box.
“Um…”
“You’ve been hiding this from me all weekend.”
“I, uh…”
“What is it?” I asked.
He put his razor down and took the box from me. “I had hoped to make this a very special weekend.”
“But I messed it up.”
“No! Things have not gone as planned, but… I don’t know why spirits seek you out, but it proves what I’ve always known: that you are a very special person.” Greg opened the box, revealing a small, diamond ring. “I had hoped to give this to you under better circumstances. Will you…”
“Yes!” I jumped at him, embracing him in a giant hug and giving him a long kiss.
“Well, if you ask me, it’s about time,” said Billy, appearing before us. He must have decided to allow Greg to see him, since Greg jumped back in surprise.
“Billy,” I said, “what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to apologize,” replied Billy, “for ruining your weekend.”
“It’s fine,” I told him.
“You should know that they caught Patrick,” said Billy. “I guess when Aimie didn’t show up, he decided to turn himself in.”
“And Chad?”
“He’s been released.”
I gave him a look.
“And I promise not to hurt him.”
“So, what are your plans now?” I asked.
“I think I will stick around. This place needs a resident ghost,” Billy replied.
“You could move on, you know.”
“Yeah, but Rachel says…”
“You’ve seen Rachel!” both Greg and I said together.
“When?” I demanded.
Billy didn’t answer me. “I’ve got to go. Bye!”
I watched as he vanished in front of me, wanting to know what Rachel was up to. Knowing that she could be very unpredictable, I finished packing. In an hour, we left our room and trooped down to the front desk to check out, running into Morgan and Burt.
“Oh, I knew you two would be leaving engaged,” said Morgan, noticing the ring on my finger.
I blushed a little at her outburst.
“He proposed!” Rachel burst into the hallway, fully visible to everyone, and snatched my hand, jumping up and down, while twisting me in circles. “I knew he would. I mean, you guys are the perfect couple, aside from the whole ghost and solving a murder thing. Oh, but you’re engaged!”
She stopped. Her eyes moved from Burt to Morgan and back to Burt, realizing that they actually saw her. With an embarrassed smile she vanished.
Before I could say anything, both Burt and Morgan ran down the hallway to get away from us. “I think we better leave,” I said to Greg.
And that’s exactly what we did. He checked us out and I put our bags in the trunk of the car, ready to get on the road with my new fiancé. I just hoped that Rachel hadn’t planned some big surprise party back home.
Look For...
Double, Double, Nothing But Trouble
Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoyed Roses Are Red; He’s Dead. I know it took me a while to write this one, and I apologize to those of you who had to wait for it. I was so busy working on my Solaris Series, that I’m afraid I forgot about Mel and her friends.
Fans have written me, wondering what other adventures are in store for Mel. There are plenty, and now she has a fiancé. If you have ideas on what trouble she should get into, or just want to tell me what you liked and didn’t like, feel free to contact me at
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Thank you so much for reading Roses Are Red; He’s Dead and for spending time with me.
In gratitude,
About the Author
Ms. McNulty began writing short stories at an early age. That passion continued through college until she published her first book: Legends Lost: Amborese under the pen name of Nova Rose. Since then, she has gone on to publish a mystery series, children's books, and even a dystopian series.
Recently, her grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, causing her to visit her grandparents and record her grandfather's memoirs before they become lost. The final result is Grandpa's Stories: The 20th Century as My Grandfather Lived It. She did this to preserve her family history before it becomes lost.
Ms. McNulty currently lives in West Virginia, where she enjoys hiking, being outside, crocheting, or simply sitting around and doing nothing. She continues writing and is busy working on the next book in her Mellow Summers Series as well as her science fiction adventure series: Solaris.
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Get the entire series.
Sugar And Spice And Not So Nice
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Frogs, Snails, And A Lot Of Wails
An Apple A Day Keeps Murder Away
Double, Double, Nothing But Trouble
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