27. Hattie

"Hattie." The faint sound of Killion's voice rises above the noise of the crowd, but my feet keep moving, determined to click the final piece of the puzzle into place.

I'm out of breath, out of time, and maybe out of luck. I can't find the man I'm looking for anywhere in this crowd.

I cast a quick glance to the left, into the darkness that leads to Jane Jordan's memorial, and I see a faint figure moving in that direction.

"It's him," I say as I force my legs to pound over the sand until I'm just inches away from him. "This is a popular destination this evening," I pant, my lungs still searing from the sprint over. "Hello, Dr. Draper."

He turns around, his eyes catching the light from the illumination behind us and glowing infernal.

"I just came to pay my respects." He sighs as he nods to the body of water cordoned off by the silly garland I had the staff stake around it. "She was a great woman."

"She was a smart woman," I say, taking a step forward.

Rookie gives a low growl. Don't do this, Hattie. Wait for Killion. This man is dangerous. He's killed before.

And on this very spot,Cricket meows. I hate to say it, but I'm siding with the fuzzball.

"She was smart indeed," he says, staring at the body of water lying as motionless as a corpse. Too smart for her own good.

And that's all I have to know to confirm my suspicions.

"She figured things out, didn't she?" I ask. "About you, your past. She was your accountant. You mentioned you had just hired her not too long ago. I bet you didn't think she'd do that much digging. But she was thorough. And from what I can tell, she liked to know her clients, right down to their dark side."

He lifts a brow my way. What is she talking about? She can't possibly know.

"I know more than you think I do, Jeremy."

His mouth falls open and the whites of his eyes shine like spotlights.

A lone whistle goes off somewhere over the ocean and a few seconds later an explosion goes off in the sky.

"It looks as if the fireworks have begun," he says, his eyes still hooked on mine.

"Oh, they have," I say. "And this night is going to blow everything to pieces."

Cricket moans, And here we go. Rookie, go get Killion.

I'm not leaving Hattie,he growls.

Neither am I,she says, holding up a paw and her knife-sharp claws. Besides, we can take him.

"Look, Hattie." Dr. Draper chuckles softly, but the perspiration building on his forehead suggests this isn't so funny. "I don't know what you think you know, but I think there's been a misunderstanding here."

The sky ignites a violent shade of pink as an umbrella of sparkles sinks to earth.

"Has there?" I ask. "Your name is Jeremy Goodwin. You went to dental school in Ohio before moving to Vermont and staying with an elderly couple—Debra and Lyle Perkins? They were found brutally murdered in their home and their boarder was suspiciously missing. That would have been you. Suddenly, you reappeared here in Maine and started a dental practice under the name Erol Draper."

Either she's done her homework or Jane snitched long before she threatened to.

A loud boom goes off and it sounds atomic.

The sky ignites as bright as noonday.

"Jane found out about your past and that's why you wanted her dead," I pant. "You loaded her drink that night with Quaaludes hoping to lure her to the waiting electrocution. That was the easy part for me to figure out. What I want to know is why you sent me jewelry and pretended to be my secret admirer, of all things? I get that you have a penchant for women, especially women that aren't your wife. But why me?"

His lips twitch with the hint of a smile. "Because your mother raved about you, Hattie. She gave me a glowing report on all of her children, but it was you that interested me most. She said you were the best homicide detective this side of the Mason-Dixon Line. I have a feeling you're her favorite."

The sky lights up in shades of red, white, and blue as the crowd on the other end of the beach gasps with delight.

Cricket gasps as well. Grandma gave you away to a killer!

That she did.

I shake my head. "So it was a diversion?"

"A necessary diversion." He shrugs, managing to look affable while doing so. "She was right. You're good, Hattie. Jane found out who I was and what I had done. She wanted me to do the right thing and turn myself in. She wasn't so smart after all. If she was, she would have known someone like me has no intention of ever doing that. Yes, I drugged her. Yes, I lured her away from the party, but I had no idea that something so horrific waited for her here. I saw this body of water, but I was hoping to get her to the shoreline. Drowning after having a few too many drinks—no one would have blinked. Imagine my surprise. I chased her. She fell in." He nods to the black water behind him. There might have been a shove involved, but Hattie doesn't need to know that. "A spark went off. I saw her shaking, then I saw the cord. I took off. You found the body just the way your mother predicted. Your mother is right. It's like an odd talent with you. But just like Jane had to go, I'm afraid so do you. I'm sorry, Hattie. Unlike your mother, I don't play favorites."

A trio of deep baritone booms goes off as the sky erupts in a burst of color.

In one fell swoop, I'm in his arms. Within seconds, my back hits the ice-cold water where Jane met her fate.

"Now you're going to die, Hattie," he seethes as he wraps his arms around my neck and plunges me into the icy depths.

My hands, my feet, and my entire body does its best to free myself from his stronghold.

He lets out a yelp, and I open my eyes to see Cricket attached to his head and clawing at his face. The water erupts in waves as Rookie leaps in as well, but Dr. Draper is still holding me under as my lungs beg for one more breath.

"Freeze—Eagle Sheriff's Department," a deep voice shouts from somewhere in the distance.

A third body pounces into the water, this time knocking Erol Draper right off of me, and I cork to the surface, sucking in as much fresh air as my lungs will allow.

It sounds as if bombs are going off in the sky as the fireworks display grows more aggressive.

Killion handcuffs Dr. Draper and tosses him into the sand before a barrage of backup shows up on the scene.

"Hattie," he pants as he helps me to my feet and pulls me close.

Rookie barks up a storm over the sound of the fireworks erupting in the sky. I knew he'd come! He still loves you, Hattie. I don't know what's going on, but he loves you.

He didn't want to see her dead,Cricket yowls. That doesn't mean he loves her. He was just doing his job.

My eyes hook to Killion's and I try my best to pry into his gray matter, but he's not giving away a single clue.

"Are you all right?" he says, pulling me close one more time. "I'll have an EMT check you out. That looked pretty brutal."

"I'm fine," I pant as I look over at the monster among us. "He confessed. He killed Jane and some couple in?—"

"Vermont." Killion nods. "I just pieced it together."

"He drugged Jane. He sent this." I touch the pendant on my neck. "And the notes. He wanted to distract me from the case before it ever started."

"He was certainly a mastermind." Killion frowns over at the man as he's placed under arrest by a deputy. "I'd better see him off."

Killion starts to leave and I pull him back.

"Wait," I say. "Killion, what's going on? Are you angry with me? If I did something to offend you, don't you think I have the right to know about it? I can't stand this cold shoulder you've been giving me."

He opens his mouth as he's about to say something, but the fireworks start in on their grand finale, and the sky is lighting up like the front line of a civil war battleground—but with more fun colors and far less death involved. It looks like a dream as we stare up at the watercolor sky.

I know about your secret, Hattie.

"What secret?" I ask, looking back at Killion and he nods my way.

Cricket growls from behind, He didn't say anything, Hattie.

A breath hitches in my throat.

That means…

Killion nods my way. We'll talk, he says, looking right at me. But we won't need to use words, now will we?

He takes off and walks with the deputies on their way to a waiting patrol car.

And I shiver in the breeze as the world explodes around me.