A Wild Fright in Deadwood (Deadwood Humorous Mystery Book 7) (30 page)

“Times have changed from when you were alive, Prudence. I can’t go snooping around crime scenes and killing bad guys willy nilly. The police will throw me behind bars and what good can I do from there? My hands are tied. I have to work with the police on cases like Wanda’s.” I tried a sneak attack, attempting to yank Cooper’s hand free while I had her distracted.

Prudence made him clamp down hard again, bruising my bruises. My eyes watered anew from the punishment she was inflicting.

“The law cannot be trusted,” she said when I stopped fighting his grip and held still.

“Not all of the police are trustworthy, that’s true.” I had experienced that first hand when I first received that anonymous threatening note after reclaiming my purse from evidence. “But this lawman sitting beside me is different. He knows about you and me and what we are. He respects our kind.” Okay, so maybe that was exaggerating a teeny bit. “He’s willing to help us no matter the consequences.”

“So you say, but why should I trust him beyond your word?”

“He has a good heart.”

A hard laugh came from Zelda. “He has a strong heart and an even stronger will. I can feel both as he fights me, but that does not mean he will not strike given opportunity. I put my trust in lawmen when I was alive and my family suffered. Murdered in cold blood.” They’d been killed before her eyes according to Doc, who had traded places with Prudence on previous visits and relived her death. But this was the first I’d heard that the police had been involved somehow.

“Every human can be bought for the right price, Executioner, even those who vow to protect. Don’t ever forget that or you may suffer the same fate as me.” Cooper’s fingers began to tighten again. “How do I know you haven’t brought another traitor into my house?”

I looked to Harvey for help. He’d returned to his chair to watch the show. “Tell her about the doin’s out back of my barn last month.”

Struggling under Cooper’s grasp as pain shot up and down my leg, I glared at Zelda. “Prudence, stop it and listen.”

His clench held steady, not tightening further but not loosening either.

I breathed through the pain, like they’d taught me in birthing class. “You can trust this lawman because I’ve tested him and he passed.”

“How did you test him?”

I could hear the disbelief in her question.

“He helped me kill a bone cruncher,” I told her.

“Humans can’t kill bone crunchers, Executioner.”

“Officially, I killed it, but he distracted it.” Sort of.

Actually, Doc had distracted it, but Cooper had filled it with lead and done a great job of pissing off the ugly beast before I’d stepped in to keep it from ripping him to shreds.

“You took a human with you to a kill?” Cooper’s grip on my leg loosened enough for me to rest easy again. “Such an inept hunter.” Her disgust was crystal clear. “It is unfortunate that your line of executioners was sent to finish the job mine started.”

Yeah, well Prudence and her super-star relatives were all dead, while mine were still getting the job done, so she could take her high and mighty attitude and shove it. Although I hid that thought behind a grimace since Cooper’s fucking hand was still locked onto my leg.

“You will avenge Wanda’s death, Executioner.” There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it in her mind apparently. “If you refuse to take up arms and do your duty, this lawman will die.”

What? Was she threatening to kill him? “By whose hand?”

“It is not in his power to complete the task.”

I was afraid of that, but I doubted Cooper would listen to me or a dead woman when it came to facing off with Wanda’s killer. “I don’t know where to find the one who murdered Wanda,” I admitted.

“You must set a trap. Any good hunter knows that.”

“And use what for bait? Myself?”

“You are not what they want.”

“What do they want?”

“I warned you to protect Wanda.”

“Do you have any suggestions on finding the killer before she finds me?”

“She? You speak as if you know who murdered Wanda.”

“I might. She’s, as you say, one of the undead.”

The first time Prudence had called Caly and her albino-like buddies that, I’d been confused. I’d figured she meant the human actors in a zombie wedding musical that was performed at the Opera House back in October. Today, I wasn’t confused.

“She and I have faced off before,” I continued. “I believe she wants revenge.”

“But revenge does not explain why Wanda was killed, nor why this house was searched after she had moved out.” Zelda’s mouth moved once or twice without sound coming out. I wondered if Prudence’s strength was beginning to weaken. Cooper’s hold on my leg certainly seemed to be.

“I saw something on the visitor that night,” Prudence finally got out.

“What?”

“A tattoo—Half goat, half pig. It was the same tattoo worn by the men who murdered my family.”

I knew that tattoo. Lila had the same one on her chest.

“I know what they want,” I told Prudence, my understanding of the situation suddenly clear.

“What?” Harvey beat Prudence to the punch.

“The book.”

“What book?” Prudence asked.

“The book Lila was going to use to raise Kyrkozz the demon. She had it the night she died.”

“Where is this book?” Prudence asked.

“I have it.” Actually, Aunt Zoe had it now, since I’d given it to her. The text was written in Latin, and since my knowledge of that written language went only as far as Pig-Latin vernacular, I needed her help deciphering it.

“That means Wanda’s death is even more your responsibility. You must avenge her, Executioner,” Prudence demanded.

Prudence was right. If I hadn’t taken the book and hid it, Wanda might still be alive. “I will,” I told Prudence and meant it.

“You will try,” she corrected. “When I release this lawman, tell him the answers he seeks can be found with the timekeeper.”

Ms. Wolff? She’d been slain by one of Caly’s cohorts last month. “I already told you that Ms. Wolff is dead.”

“There is more than one. Find the other.”

Criminy! I hadn’t even known the first existed until it was too late. “How will I find the other?”

“Must I do everything for you?”

“Cut me some slack. I’m new at this, remember?”

“I do not know what the other timekeeper’s disguise may be, but I can tell you that timekeepers reside close together in case one is eliminated. It is crucial the other maintain the time.”

“What happens if the time isn’t maintained?”

Zelda’s cheeks creased into a ghoulish smile. “All of Hell will break loose, of course.”

All of Hell? What exactly was in Hell to break free besides Kyrkozz?

With a blink, Zelda’s green eyes were back in place. “Oh dear, did I drop the pie?” she asked.

“Harvey saved it.” I shot the old man a glare. “Were you paying attention to everything she said or were you too busy filling your pie-hole?”

“She who?” Cooper asked from the couch cushion next to mine. “Who said what?”

I looked at him, and then down at where his hand was still clutching my leg.

His gaze dipped to his hand as well. It took him a second before he yanked his hand back like it had been burned. “What did you do to me, Parker?” He leapt up and put several feet between us, rubbing his forearm.

“I didn’t do anything. You met Prudence.”

“I did not.”

“Yes, you did, and you lost the battle.”

“What battle?” He grabbed his gun off the coffee table, aiming a squint at me as he stuffed it back into his holster.

“The battle for control.” I reached down and pulled the hem of my skirt far enough up for him to see what I could feel—five reddish-purple marks clearly made by his fingers. “Who do you think did this to my leg, Cooper?”

Zelda gasped. “Oh, my Lord. Did Prudence do that?”

“Yeah, through him.”

Cooper’s face paled again. I scooted further out of his reach in case Prudence wanted to get in one last squeeze before I left.

“Did she tell you why she wanted you to come today?” Zelda collected the pie plates, clattering them onto the tray along with the pie.

“Yes, she did.” And then some. I had a feeling the punishment she’d inflicted through Cooper’s hand was merely a taste of what she could do when angered. Why couldn’t my mentor be like Glinda, the Good Witch from the North with her pretty pink dress and sparkling crown? “Thank you for allowing us to come to your home and speak with her.”

“The pie was delicious,” Harvey added, fishing pie crumbs out of his beard.

A lot of help he was this afternoon. Next time I’d be better off bringing Elvis the chicken. At least she might try to peck at Cooper’s hand for me.

I started to stand and dropped back onto the couch. A sharp pain from my thigh down held me immobile for a moment.

Cooper reached out to help me up and I batted his hands away. “Don’t touch me. Just give me a moment to get some blood back into my lower leg.”

I rubbed my thigh gingerly and stretched my calf. Then I stood, testing my weight on it. The pain eased to a dull ache as I limped toward the door. Harvey handed me my coat, careful to keep his distance. I didn’t blame him. Prudence didn’t play nice most days.

“I’ll be in touch,” I told Zelda … or maybe not since “touching” in this house tended to come with a side effect of fear or pain or both.

I followed Harvey out the door. Cooper brought up the rear, keeping his distance along with his silence all of the way out to our vehicles.

As we neared my Honda, Harvey rubbed his belly. “You know, I could use a burger.”

I scoffed. “After all of that pie?”

“The pie whet my appetite, and they were small pieces. Don’t you owe me a dinner?”

I owed him several, as a matter of fact. I could use something to fill my stomach, too, since I’d skipped lunch. Comfort food beckoned after Prudence’s reprimand. “Bighorn Billy’s?”

He nodded and rounded the front of the SUV.

“Parker.” I could hear the weariness in Cooper’s voice. His battle with Prudence must have worn him down around the edges. The sharp-tongued detective who’d greeted me upon arrival was gone. “I need to know what happened in there.”

I pulled open my door. “You want to join us, Detective?”

“I can’t. I have a meeting this afternoon.”

I searched his gaze, seeing the uncertainty and conflict behind his gray eyes. Damn it. The last thing I wanted to do was feel bad for Cooper, but here I was with my heart getting soft and melty. “How about you meet Doc and me at the Purple Door Saloon later tonight. We can talk more then.”

He looked back toward the house with a frown etched deep into his face. “Okay.”

I started to climb into my SUV, but he caught my arm, stopping me. “Violet,” he said and then seemed to realize his hand was touching me again and drew back. “I’m sorry about your leg.”

“That wasn’t you, Cooper.”

“It was my hand that did it.”

“Maybe so, but Prudence was the one squeezing me with it.”

“How?” He rubbed his hand down his face. “How did she do that?”

“Doc can explain it better than I can.” I climbed inside my SUV. Without a backward glance, I hightailed it out of there before Prudence decided to sic Harvey on me next.

Chapter Fifteen

My visit with Prudence left me feeling like I was up to my hips in alligators. Not even the lucky alligator tooth necklace Zelda had given me was going to help me on this count.

After a quiet, thought-filled lunch with Harvey at Bighorn Billy’s, I dropped him off at Cooper’s house and headed back to work. The afternoon was almost as slow as the morning, which I didn’t mind after chitchatting with a bossy ghost. It gave me time to think about her advice on using bait to lure Caly to me. That was if Wanda’s death really was her handiwork. The style of murder sure seemed like Caly’s, but the mention of that goat-pig tattoo had me scratching my head.

“Vi,” Mona interrupted my cogitating. “Your phone is ringing.” She grabbed her purse and headed toward the bathroom.

My phone? I looked at my desk phone. Then I heard the muffled ring coming from my purse. I’d forgotten to take my cell phone out when I returned to work.

I answered it before the ringing stopped without taking the time to look at the number on the screen. “Hello?”

“Violet, it’s Rosy.” When I didn’t make a sound, she added, “the camerawoman for Paranormal Realty.”

“Yeah, sorry. You caught me off-guard. Is everything okay over there?” They were filming in Spearfish today if I remembered correctly. I’d sort of forgotten the details Ben had mentioned this morning because of Prudence’s big fat guilt bomb.

“Yeah, we’re fine. Nothing crazy like what you and I saw the other day.”

What? Nobody else was being haunted by psychotic little girl ghosts or their clown dolls? No fair!

“That’s uh …” Rosy lowered her voice. “That’s why I’m calling.”

“Let me guess, Dickie wants to know all about Wilda?”

“Actually, I haven’t shown him the footage.” I heard muffled sounds from her end of the line like she was partially covering the speaker, or maybe just cupping her phone. “I haven’t shown anyone besides you and Cornelius.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve been thinking about it all. A lot.”

Her too? I waited to hear her take on the insanity that was my life.

“If I show this piece with the ghost girl to anyone on the crew, they’ll want to put it on the air and anywhere else they can place the segment, using you to increase their own celebrity status and bank accounts. Your life as you know it will be over. I’ve seen it happen before with other reality television shows, and with the train of fame comes a lot of bad baggage, including long-lasting notoriety.”

She confirmed the worries that had had me chewing my knuckles off and on since I’d seen the replay of Wilda and me. I had plenty of notoriety around this town already. The thought of it being on a world-wide scale made me want to build an underground bunker for me and my kids to live in for a few years.

“What are you going to do?” I asked her.

“It’s not what I’m going to do, it’s what I’ve done.” Again, more muffled sounds. “I deleted that segment.”