Zoe Donovan Mystery: Haunted Hamlet Part 15

I leaned down to kiss Zak. I really wished we could spend the day making up, but I knew we couldn't. It was already late in the morning, and I had promises I needed to keep.

"As much as I hate to say this, we really need to get going." I sighed. "I promised Salinger I'd be in to make a statement before noon, and I want to go get Charlie."

Zak had been right. Charlie would be fine, but Scott had wanted to keep him overnight to monitor his vitals, just in case there was no internal bleeding or a head wound not immediately apparent.

Zak kissed me one more time. "Okay, let's go get Charlie. It's just not the same around here without him."

"I suppose we should check on Drake. He's probably responsible for the fact that I was still alive when you found me."

"I'll call the hospital to see if he's allowed visitors," Zak suggested. "There's no use going over there if he isn't."

"That's true. I suppose Salinger has a guard on him. I'm sure they'll move him to a secure facility as soon as he's stable. I know he kept a huge secret all these years, but I really hope the DA goes easy on him. He could have just left me to die at Joel's hands."

"We'll make sure Salinger knows what he did for you."

It turned out that Drake Bollinger's had been the other voice I'd heard at the Henderson house. Filming the video thirteen years ago had been the joint effort of Joel and Drake, both film enthusiasts. Joel had convinced Drake that if they wanted to make an authentic horror movie, they needed the actors to be genuinely scared, so they'd enticed the counselors to come to the house for a party. None of the counselors except Drake knew that the spooky happenings had been ch.o.r.eographed.

"I'll go down to take care of the animals while you grab a shower," Zak added.

"We could shower together," I flirted.

"If we do, I guarantee you won't make your meeting with Salinger."

"Oh, very well. I'll be down in less than twenty minutes. It would be wonderful if you started the coffee while you're downstairs."

"Already on it."

That evening, I sat with Zak and Charlie while Levi and Ellie sat on the adjoining sofa. Bella and Shep lay at Ellie's feet, Karloff was snuggled on the sofa next to Levi, Marlow was curled in Zak's lap, and Spade hung out with Ellie. It was so nice to have the whole family together. I know that if I'd died in that secret room, my ghostly self would really miss the us we'd become.

"So Joel was the mastermind behind this whole thing," Levi stated. "Who would have thought?"

"I was pretty surprised myself when all the pieces fell into place. I've known him a long time and he really never seemed like the type to be so evil. In fact, prior to all of this happening, I would be the first to say he was a really nice guy."

"I guess sometimes circ.u.mstances can compel a nice guy to act in a not so nice manner," Ellie suggested. "If things had gone differently and no one had died that night thirteen years ago, Joel might never have ventured over to the dark side."

"I don't know," Levi countered. "I think the dark side has to be lurking around in the first place in order to rear its ugly head. Drake took a bullet rather than let Joel hurt Zoe. If circ.u.mstance was the only variable, he could just as easily have let her die in order to keep his secret."

"True," Ellie acknowledged.

"I really believe that initially neither man meant for anyone to get hurt, but after Rachael fell down the stairs and broke her neck and George was killed by Griff's car, Joel freaked out and things spun out of control," I added.

"So Joel killed the missing counselor?" Levi clarified.

"Drake told Salinger that Joel confessed to killing Bart in order to keep him quiet. I guess after everyone ran outside, Bart realized Carol had been left behind. When he went back inside the house to get her, Joel was standing over her body. It seems Carol, who was still alive, was just starting to come out of it when everyone started panicking. Once Bart realized that there had been someone else on the premises the whole time, he figured out what had happened. He told Joel that his little prank had caused the death of two people, and he was going to the police with the truth. Joel killed him. Carol had heard everything, so Joel smothered her in order to keep her quiet."

"G.o.d, it really was all so tragic." Levi sighed. "Not only did perfectly normal people commit truly heinous acts, but there were quite a few people who lived quietly with the memory for all these years. It seems almost incomprehensible."

"What's really strange is that a thirteen-year-old murder mystery was solved by digging into a modern-day accident," Ellie commented. "So Drake is going to be okay?"

"It looks like he will," I confirmed.

Zak got up to toss another log on the fire. I felt myself begin to drift off as fatigue set in. Charlie was curled up next to me, and as I felt his little heart beating with the palm on my hand, I knew I would never take the people and animals I loved for granted again.

"So no one other than Joel knew that he killed Bart and hid his body in the secret room," Levi was saying.

"As far as I can tell," I answered. "After Davenport came back to town and started snooping around, Drake called Joel and insisted that they come clean about what had happened that night. Of course, he still believed Bart simply had taken off and Carol had died from a blow to the head. He'd never said anything in all those years, but he was afraid Davenport was going to figure things out. Joel said they couldn't go to the authorities, but Drake argued that everything that went down thirteen years ago was just a terrible accident, and they should accept responsibility for keeping the secret all these years. It was then that Joel filled Drake in on exactly what had occurred with both Bart and Carol. Drake still wanted to go to the sheriff's office, but Joel threatened him, so he came to Ashton Falls to try to talk Davenport into leaving the area. By the time he got here, it was too late. Joel had used the props he already had on site for the haunted barn to scare Davenport into falling down the stairs and then hoped that everyone would believe what they did: that the whole thing was simply an unfortunate accident."

"Then Drake confronted Joel after he kidnapped you and Joel shot him," Ellie pieced together. "The question is, how did Drake know that Joel had kidnapped you?"

"Good question. I guess I'll have to ask him."

"I'm glad he did. Save your life, that is," Ellie said.

"Can I get anyone more wine?" Zak asked.

"No, but I'll take some coffee and some of that cake I brought," Ellie answered.

"I'll take a beer, if you have one," Levi added.

"I'm fine." I smiled When Zak got up to get the beverages, Charlie thumped his tail, and I coaxed him into staying with me rather than following him and Bella into the kitchen. Scott had a.s.sured me that Charlie would be fine, but he wanted me to keep him quiet for a few days.

"So what now?" Levi asked as Karloff snored in his lap.

"Salinger has put out an APB on Joel, and I'm sure Drake is looking at some sort of consequence for his role in the whole thing once he gets out of the hospital. Salinger knows Drake tried to help me and ended up shot for his efforts, so I have the feeling they'll work out some sort of deal. Right now, I just want to relax and enjoy what remains of the Halloween season."

"What are you going to do about the party?" Ellie wondered.

"I'm not sure. I really want to spend the evening with my friends and family, but Scott recommended that I keep Charlie quiet for a few days, so I'm not sure how that's going to work with a house full of people."

"I suppose you could postpone the party for a few days," Ellie said. "Zak worked so hard on the decorations, it would be a shame to waste all that effort completely."

"We could do a Spook-vember party next weekend," Levi suggested.

The idea had merit. "I'll ask Zak what he thinks."

"Thinks about what?" Zak asked, coming back with the refreshments.

"Postponing the party until next weekend and renaming it the first annual Spook-vember Spectacular."

"I'm not sure I'd want to do it in November every year, but postponing it this year sounds fine with me. It might be better than trying to do it tomorrow as planned. We really should keep Charlie quiet like Scott recommended. Hopefully, the little guy will be back to his old self by next weekend."

"I'll call everyone tomorrow morning," Ellie proposed. "I have the guest list we made up last month, unless you've added anyone to it since then."

"I'll take a look at the list, but it should be pretty accurate," I said.

"School is out for the holiday, so I can help," Levi offered.

"That would be nice." Ellie smiled.

"So about Karloff . . ." I looked directly at Levi. "He seems to really like you."

Levi grinned. "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to thrust the little guy off on me."

"Levi doesn't do babies of any kind," Ellie reminded me.

"Now, hold on. I never said I didn't like babies. I might not be quite ready for a real baby, but I have to admit this little guy is working his way into my heart. He's really pretty cute, plus I bet he'd be the perfect chick magnet."

"Why do you need a chick magnet when you have Darla?" Ellie asked.

"Darla and I have decided not to see each other anymore. We're still friends, but we both wanted to see other people, so it was a mutual agreement."

"So you'd consider taking him?" I asked.

"Maybe," Levi hedged. "Can I take him for a few days and see how it works out?"

"Absolutely."

Chapter 15.

Halloween

"I'm sorry we had to postpone the party, but this is nice." I was snuggled on the sofa with Zak. Charlie was lying next to me, sound asleep and dreaming about adventures in doggie land. Bella was lying at our feet, and both Marlow and Spade had decided to curl up on the back of the sofa. The room was dark except for the light from the fire and the Halloween decorations.

"This apple eclair cake Ellie dropped off is to die for," I commented as I slowly chewed the last bite.

"It would be good with other kinds of filling as well," Zak commented.

"Is there enough left to offer to our little band of trick-or-treaters when they come by?" I asked.

"Yeah, Ellie brought two cakes. I was going to put one in the freezer, but I'll save it to serve when your parents get here. And speaking of your parents . . ." Zak began, "we need to talk about something before they get here."

Uh-oh. That didn't sound good at all.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just that . . ." Zak paused.

It was a long pause. Long pauses were never good news. I felt my stomach muscles tighten.

"Just tell me."

"Your dad came by today while you were at the vet with Charlie for his follow-up. I guess the guys at the firehouse were really disappointed to hear that the bachelor auction was off. The single guys were actually looking forward to the auction and . . . well, you know they really need a new truck."

I felt my heart sink, but I didn't say anything. I was determined to kill off Jealous Zoe once and for all. Not only did she threaten my relationship with the man I love more than life itself, but she almost got me killed. Again.

"We do need a new truck," I choked out.

"Your dad asked me if I would be willing to reconsider partic.i.p.ating in the auction if we made a few changes."

"Changes?"

Zak took a deep breath. I could see he was nervous about having this discussion. "We'd find a new organizer, for one. I insisted that the only way I would even consider the plan was if we did it without Brooke."

I smiled. "I appreciate that, but she did have a point. We're only going to make the kind of money we need for a new fire engine if we can bring in the high-society clientele she promised. The women in this town couldn't afford to spend thousands of dollars on a date even if they wanted to. Without the women Brooke can bring in, the whole thing will be a bust."

"That's true, but I think your dad has someone in mind to take Brooke's place. Someone who makes Brooke look like a guppy in a shark pond when it comes to high-society connections."

I know I must have looked confused because Zak continued without waiting for me to catch up.

"Your mom."

"My mom. Of course. I keep forgetting who she is. During the past few months, I've gotten so used to her just being my mom that I forget she used to be Madison Montgomery, socialite extraordinaire. So what did you tell Dad?"

"I told him that I'd talk to you about it. They still want me to be the headliner, so I'll still need to go on a date. A very platonic date," Zak a.s.sured me.

Zak waited while I considered the situation. The town needed the money the event would bring in, and it made sense to utilize the fourth most eligible bachelor in the country when we had him at our fingertips. I trusted Zak and wasn't really all that concerned about another woman bidding on him. And if my mom ran things, you could bet she'd put together a cla.s.sy affair and would invite women who had altruism rather than boyfriend stealing on their minds.

"Okay," I agreed as the doorbell rang, announcing my family's arrival.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure. Let's go see how adorable Harper looks in her Halloween costume. Get the camera."

I jogged over to the door and opened it. The porch was filled with people I loved dressed to celebrate my favorite holiday. The world suddenly felt like a wonderful place.

"Oh my gosh, aren't you all so adorable," I cooed as Harper, Morgan, and Ava, all dressed in Halloween costumes, greeted me. Of course, they were only six months old, so they were all held by their respective mothers, and none seemed to care about the candy I slipped into the plastic pumpkins their parents were holding. I took Harper into my arms and cuddled her to my chest.

"Take our picture," I instructed Zak. I wanted to remember every detail of Harper's first Halloween. In spite of the impending bachelor auction, I couldn't remember the last time I'd been this happy.

"Come in, all of you," I invited. "I need tons of photos to remember this special event. Where are Jessica and Rosalie?"

"Rosalie has a cold, so Morgan and I are going to bring Halloween to them after we finish here," Jeremy explained. "I knew you'd kill me if I didn't bring Morgan by first."

"You were right, I would have. Don't leave without taking a goodie bag for Rosalie. I made up something special."

Unlike the babies, Rosalie, at five, would love the treats and gifts I'd prepared.