18 Tennyson

That one of Patrick Marsh’s former or present lovers killed Jillian didn’t surprise Tennyson in the slightest. What did was that it was this lover in particular.

“Mabel?” Patrick said, sound as shocked as Tennyson felt.

Fitzgibbon got to his feet, and thanks to Ten’s left foot, stumbled forward. Jude caught him just before his head hit the floor.

“What the hell is going on?” Patrick asked, when Fitzgibbon got back to his feet.

“Why don’t we let the psychic answer that question, Tennyson?” Mabel swung her gun toward Ten.

Ronan stood up and attempted to put himself between the deranged woman and Tennyson.

“Stay where you are, asshole. I can shoot a lot faster than you can run.”

Ronan obeyed. Fear filled his blue eyes.

“I’ve never killed a psychic before. Didn’t even have one on my serial killer Bingo card.” Mable offered Ronan a chilling smile before switching her attention back to Tennyson. “Tell me, Tennyson, why didn’t you see me coming?”

“Who says I didn’t?” Ten asked. He hadn’t exactly been truthful with Ronan earlier when he said none of them would need their Kevlar vests, but sacrifices had to be made when a killer was on the loose. Besides, what Mabel had planned was far worse than anyone could have imagined. There were a lot more names on her hitlist, most of whom were members of his family. He’d just found River. There was no way he was going to let anyone harm come to him. If Ten had to take a bullet to keep that from happening, so be it.

“If you’d known there would have been a houseful of cops here waiting for me. So far as I can see, it’s only the five of you and none of you are armed.” Mabel laughed.

Ten couldn’t help thinking she’d sounded completely unhinged. He also knew the cops were on their way. Richmond said so. It wasn’t going to take his officers long to figure out what was happening inside the house. What he needed to do was stall for time. “Being armed or unarmed doesn’t matter, Mabel. So long as you’re here with me, you can’t kill my family.”

Ronan growled from beside Patrick Marsh. He looked ready to charge straight at the deranged woman. Unbelievably, Patrick whispered something to Ronan that calmed him instantly and kept him in his seat.

“You know who’s on my naughty list then?” Mabel asked, with an excited look on her face.

Ten swung his left hand around the room. “All of us. All of our families, and as many of the St. Pete police officers you can kill before they take you down.” It took all of Ten’s self-control to keep his emotions in check. Getting worked up wasn’t going to help their situation, it was only going to make Mabel angry and more unstable than she already was.

“I’m going to go out in a blaze of glory.” Her eyes danced with a maniacal light.

Ten chuckled. “Yes, you are.” It wasn’t the blaze of glory Mabel imagined it would be, but Ten wasn’t going to be the one to tell her. He took a quick glance at his watch before looking back at Mabel. “Since we’ve got a little time, why don’t you explain all of this to us. My husband and his friends don’t have the same gifts I do and if you’re going to execute them all, the least you can do is tell them why.”

“Execute?” Jude muttered. “I don’t fucking think so.”

“Think again!” Mabel swung the gun in Jude’s direction and before Ten could yell out a warning, pulled the trigger.

Jude threw himself over the arm of the chair and crashed to the floor. There was a bullet hole in the headrest of the chair where Jude had been sitting seconds before the shot was fired. If he hadn’t moved when he did, Jude would be dead. “You missed.” Jude huffed a laugh.

“I won’t miss the second time!” Mable aimed the gun in his direction again.

“For once in your life, shut the fuck up, Jude.” Tennyson didn’t bother to look at him. His attention was focused only on Mabel. “He’s always been a loudmouth. Please tell us your story. The executions can wait a bit.”

Mabel grinned at Tennyson. “I like you. Under other circumstances we could have been friends. I could have used your gifts to help me become better at what I do.”

“Indeed,” Ten agreed. “I could see where someone like me could be beneficial to your career trajectory.”

Mabel laughed. “Career trajectory. You’re a funny guy. You know why I’m doing this.”

Ten nodded. “I do, and to be honest, I don’t blame you for being upset. If a man treated me the way Patrick treated you, it wouldn’t take much for me to understand your way of handling things was the only way.”

“We’ve known each other since high school, haven’t we, darling ?” Mabel asked, swinging the gun toward Patrick. “You sat beside me in biology and wanted to copy off my test. I allowed it in exchange for something, didn’t I?” Mable held her free hand in front of her face, spreading her first two fingers and sticking her tongue between them. “It was a win-win situation. At least at first. You rocked my world and then broke my heart when you dumped me just before prom.”

“Jillian,” Ten said. It wasn’t a question. In his mind’s eye, saw a beautiful blonde woman in a tight, red dress that barely covered her ass. She wore the prom queen’s crown and Patrick was her king. His sight then flashed to Mabel. At home, drowning her sorrows with a large pizza and a bottle of vodka. “There he was, fucking the prom queen and you were in the ER having your stomach pumped after your mother found you’d drunk an entire bottle of Smirnoff.”

Mabel’s eyes widened, as if she’d finally realized Ten’s gifts were genuine. “I let him do anything he wanted to me and he chose her? That sniveling frigid virgin! He couldn’t get his dick into her until they got married, but that didn’t stop him from coming back to me, did it?”

“Mabel, you always knew we were just fuck friends back then. Just because I was with Jillian, didn’t mean she met my needs. That’s what you were for. I had my eye on the future and it was Jillian’s money, not your mother’s double wide, that would get me there.”

“It’s going to feel so good to kill you at long last.” Mable laughed again.

“Tell him what happened after he married Jillian,” Ten urged. He rubbed his hands together, as if to say, “This was going to be good.”

“My stepfather gave me this gun. Taught me how to use it. How to make it a part of me. He also taught me so much more about sex and pleasure than you could have done in a lifetime. Even now, all these years later, you’re still Mr. Sixty Seconds.”

Patrick opened his mouth looking as if he had plenty to say about that comment, when Ten interrupted. He knew if Patrick kept antagonizing her, she was going to shoot him and there wouldn’t be anything Ten could do to keep it from happening. “Tell him about the night you killed Jillian.”

Mable took her focus from Patrick and brought it back to Tennyson. “That bitch was going to divorce you. She’d signed the papers and everything. You’d think that would have worked in my favor, me wanting to get you back and all, but without Jillian’s money, you were just the same king of premature ejaculation you’d always been. I was going to be compensated for my time, effort, and pain, so I kicked in your front door. Jillian was sitting on the floor like a five-year-old. She startled when I burst in, she looked like she had no idea who I was, so I told her.” Mable giggled. “I let her know I was the one you were really in love with. That you’d never stopped fucking me in the all the years you’d been married and that maybe she could have kept your attention if she’d let you fuck her up the ass. Then, I explained my larger plan and BOOM! I shot her in the chest. The last thing I did before leaving the house was to drop the signed divorce papers into the fireplace. I watched them burn until I heard your footsteps from upstairs. I darted out the front door, but stayed in the shadow of that old elm tree in your front yard so I could see your reaction.”

“How did he react?” Ten asked, unable to see what had happened after the murder was committed.

“He screamed. It was an honest to goodness horror movie scream. I’ve lived with that sound in my mind for the last ten years. Never fails to make me dripping wet.” Mabel brushed her hand against her crotch, all the while smiling at Patrick, who looked as though he was going to throw up.

“What was the plan that you explained to Jillian before you shot her?” Ten asked, knowing exactly what she’d said, word for word, but Mabel needed to say it in order for her confession to be used against her. He’d seen Fitzgibbon pull out his phone and hit the record button when he’d stumbled and Jude had to help him back up. He’d left it under the sofa where Mabel couldn’t see it, but Ten could.

“I told her that I didn’t want you back to love, honor and cherish you, oh, no. I wanted to break you. I was going to make it my personal mission to see you convicted of first-degree murder and sent to prison. That’s an automatic life without parole sentence, but you boys know that.” Mable offered Ronan, Jude, and Fitz a superior grin. “I knew I hadn’t left any forensic evidence at the scene of the crime that would implicate me. When I left your house, I changed into different clothes and shoes and dumped each piece of clothing in a separate dumpster. One in Danvers, another in Beverly, my boots in Peabody. No one ever found anything. I assumed you’d be arrested and tried for Jillian’s murder.”

“But that didn’t happen,” Ten said.

“No, the Salem Police Department was even more worthless than I thought. So, I sat back and bided my time. You called the afternoon of Jillian’s funeral and wanted to get together. I knew you would. You could never stay away.” Mabel laughed again. She sounded completely calm and in control. Ten knew the sociopath inside her had taken over the narrative. “That night, after you shot your load, I laid in Jillian’s bed beside you and came up with another plan. One that I’ve followed resolutely over the last ten years.”

“This was your grand plan? All you did was marry me,” Patrick said in a sour tone.

“I watched as you called the insurance company and got them to release Jillian’s life insurance. I watched as you transferred all her money to your account and then I casually suggested what a good idea it would be for you to relocate to Florida. I kept watching as you built your business and fucked your way through every singles bar in St. Pete.”

“How were you watching if you were up here?” Patrick asked.

“I wasn’t up here, dumbass. I moved to Florida when you did, I just stayed out of sight until the movement was right to accidentally run into you at the Publix two blocks over.”

Ten could see the produce department in his mind’s eye. Mabel was picking over avocados and pretending not to know how to tell if one was ripe. Patrick made a beeline for the woman in distress and recognized her after he’d asked if there was anything he could help her with.

“It was all so easy after that. Your fledgling landscaping business wasn’t doing very well. In fact, it was about to go under, taking you, and all of Jillian’s money with it. I wasn’t about to let that happen. While you’d been floundering, I’d been making business connections of my own. You meet so many interesting people when you work at the bank.”

“That’s how you met River,” Ten said. “You’d heard from the grapevine that he needed some landscaping services for a new housing development.”

Mabel nodded in agreement. “I dangled that little gem in front of Patrick and he took the bait, just like I knew he would. Everything was a piece of cake after that. The partnership with River took off. Your business was saved. You finally looked at me like I was something. That I was more to you than just a no-strings fuck. The more I helped your business and your finances grow, the more you realized you needed me in your life. Then you proposed.”

“You fell right into her trap, Patrick.” Ten almost burst out laughing. These people were so messed up that they truly deserved each other. “Tell them the rest of the plan.”

“I still wanted to see you rot for Jillian’s murder, but the Salem Police had forgotten all about her case. I knew if your second wife turned up with a nasty case of arsenic poisoning, someone would take a second look at you, so I dosed myself with the poison from your taxidermy workshop. Not only would you be convicted of poisoning me, but you’d be convicted of killing Jillian, which would leave your entire estate, your money, and your business to me.” Mabel laughed again. She sounded like a cartoon villain, cackling with her own cleverness.

“It was a great plan, Mabel, until we came to Florida and hired Shane Matheson to help keep tabs on Patrick,” Ten said.

“I was already working with him. I didn’t have the time to keep tabs on you, so I paid Matheson to do it for me. I knew all about the women you were fucking. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. That’s where I made my mistake. I’d been paying him to watch Patrick, what I didn’t realize was that the services I paid for would include Shane watching me. He found me outside Jennifer Crewe’s house with my Colt revolver in my hand. I told him I was just keeping tabs on the girl Patrick was cheating on me with, so I’d have more leverage in divorce court, but he knew why I was there that night and he had to die. I bought a Santa suit and BANG!” Mabel shrugged as if killing a former police officer was no matter to her. “After that, it was easy to blow away that bitch.” She made a gun with her finger and thumb and fired it at Patrick.

“You were the one who killed Jenn too?” Patrick sunk his head into his hands.

“You have to admit it’s a genius plan,” Ten said, his eyes never leaving Mabel. “Up until now. Why are you here?” It was the one thing Ten couldn’t see. Mabel was on the verge of getting away with committing three murders and here she was, confessing to her crimes. Ten knew the St. Pete Police, and Captain Richmond, were outside, ready to make entry. Why the hell would Mabel choose to stumble at the one yard line?

“I had to hide the gun in Patrick’s house. It was the only way he’d be convicted of killing Jennifer and Jillian. I heard you all chit chatting and decided I would kill Patrick instead and put the blame on one of you. I’ve spent the last fifteen years of my life in love with a man who used me and threw me away like garbage. All that’s left to do is kill you.” Mabel pulled the trigger.

Ten dove to floor, ducking for cover. From where he was lying, he could smell gunpower and could see Patrick slumped against Ronan. Bright red blood bloomed across his chest. Ronan was trying to work himself out from under the dead weight of Patrick Marsh’s body. He wasn’t dead yet, but unless the cops breached the house now, he was definitely going to be. Ten heard Mabel cock the revolver and was waiting for the gun to fire again, when he heard shots come from the front of the house.

Mabel fell to the floor wordlessly. Her glassy, unfocused eyes seemed to be on Tennyson. He knew she was dead. Ten heard the call that the shooter was down and the officers, followed by Captain Richmond, came into the house.

“Thought I told you boys to wait for backup,” Richmond said.

“We had all the backup we needed with Tennyson.” Fitzgibbon crossed the room and grabbed his phone from under the sofa. “Mabel’s confession is right here.” He tapped the screen and seconds later, Richmond’s phone chimed with an incoming text.

Ten wanted to rush to Ronan, but the paramedics were working on securing Patrick Marsh to a backboard. His husband looked none the worse for wear, but knew his ears were ringing with the shot. It had been another close call for all of them, but they were going to walk away from this crime scene unscathed. He couldn’t wait to get back to his kids. After the morning he’d had, they all deserved a treat. Dinner at Olive Garden, which was Everly’s favorite restaurant, and homemade ice cream with heaps of gooey hot fudge at Big Olaf’s would do nicely.