Epilogue

A ll’s well that ends well—for now…

A week later, once we’d recuperated from our ordeal, we invited Brenda over to meet some of Archibald and Tater Tot’s bingo buddies.

There were all manner of paranormal people for her to get to know, and she seemed to fit in really well.

As I watched them all laugh and talk, while Doug and Brenda’s dogs played with my dog, Waffles, I couldn’t help but grin.

Shit had turned out okay, and it left me feeling good that we’d helped make that happen. We sure hadn’t done it with much skill—we had a lot to learn—but I felt like we’d done a service to our community.

An older vampire by the name of Gaston had been flirting with Brenda from jump, pulling out chairs and holding doors open for her. He had Brenda giggling like a giddy schoolgirl, and if I was smelling the sitch right? She liked Gaston, too. They had chemistry, and it was fun to watch her smile so much.

Bertrand was being Bertrand. That godforsaken camera in everyone’s face, filming the festivities in order to finish up his cinematography project. At least it wasn’t in my face, but I did end up wearing a Jason mask to make up for how cranky I’d been with him. He’d told us just yesterday, he was moving on to greener pastures.

Instead of being behind the camera, he wanted to be in front of it.

Marty nudged me when she came to stand next to me in the doorway, where I’d propped myself up so I could watch Arch and his friends hang out.

“Hey, I heard from Robbie earlier today.”

I grinned. “Oh yeah? What’s up with her?”

“She said Lorelai’s been stripped of her powers and dropped off to the human police. They forced her to confess to framing Brenda with the threat of death.”

Lorelai Bettencourt was Sonja’s real name. When we’d come down from the commotion, I’d looked her up. She was, in fact, a descendant of the defunct Bettencourt Railroad.

My jaw clenched. She’d almost killed me—took me from my husband and kids. I can’t say I’d be upset if they took her out. “Good. It’s nothing less than she fucking deserves. What about the clan? Have they quit breathing down our necks?”

She drove her arm through mine, leaning into me. “Wanda sweet-talked them, and all’s well that ends well. They weren’t happy we got involved, but we did keep the human police from arresting Brenda—which Wanda reminded them could have created a much bigger problem if they had. They’ll get over it. For the moment, it’s all water under the bridge. Though, I imagine they’ll be keeping a close eye on us for a while. The same way they did when we started OOPS.”

Nodding, I chuckled. “We’re shoving’ it up their asses again. I’m not surprised they’re gonna keep an eye on us.”

Wanda waved to us from across the room, taking long strides in her heels, her phone in hand. “Just heard from Astrid and her mom, Beth. They said the kids can’t wait to see Miss Nina again, and they’ve begun therapy as a family. Beth said she thinks she’s talked Astrid into moving back to Arizona with them.”

That made me feel a shit ton better. “That’s awesome. She could use the support now, and there’s nothing like family when you need help.”

Wanda pinched my cheek with a soft smile. “You know it.” She pointed over her shoulder. “Did you see Brenda and Gaston? Romance is in the air,” she cooed.

Marty cooed right along with her. “I’m so glad Brenda’s found people she can relate to. I wasn’t sure she was going to make it there for a minute. She’s tougher than I thought.”

Brenda had taken a little longer to heal than I did. I don’t know if it had to do with her age, but she gave us a scare for a day or so.

“Speaking of making it,” Wanda said, her eyes watery as she gripped my hand. ”We almost lost you, Tiger. I haven’t seen you look that bad off for a long time. I don’t know what immortality would look like if you weren’t here, swearing and yelling all the time. I love you, Nina Statleon.”

Marty snickered, tightening her grip on my arm. “It would be quiet. Very, very quiet.”

I snickered. “Screw you, Marty.”

But she whispered against my shoulder, “Don’t ever do that again, Mistress of the Night. I couldn’t survive life without you, because I love you, too.”

My throat got tight, but I meant what I said. “I love you back.”

Wanda threw her arms around us with a sniffle. “Group hug!”

Like I’ve said from the beginning, I’m not as emotional as these two Pollyannas are, but my encounter with Sonja, or Lorelai, or whatever we were calling her, had scared me, reminded me how lucky I was to have these two in my corner.

So I let ’em hug me—but only for a second before I was wriggling my way out of their grasp. “Okay, okay, enough with the sappy. We have a party to deal with and a budding romance in the mix.”

As they let me go, Wanda held up her phone again. “I meant to tell you—all those emails we got, asking for help? I think I’ve picked our next case.”

She began to scurry off before I could stop her. “Hey! Wasn’t one enough? I mean, look at the shit we were in! You wanna do it all over again?”

Marty looked over her shoulder and said on a giggle, “But did you die?”

I flipped up my middle finger at them, but I knew I was all in. They knew I was all in, no matter how much I protested and made a stink.

I’d always be all in wherever they were concerned. We were framily.

Forever.

Like, literally …

The End

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the first edition of The Accidental Detectives! Come back next year for book 2: Tell Me It’s Murder Without Telling Me It’s Murder!