Read Between the Crimes (Piper Ashwell Psychic P.I. #2), page 17
Joel’s face hardens. “This is a trick!” He stands up abruptly, but Mitchell is ready with his handcuffs. Joel thrashes. At this rate, he’ll detonate the bomb despite his hands being cuffed behind him.
I rip open the buttons on the front of his shirt, exposing the bomb. Loralei screams behind me.
I touch the wire closest to me and concentrate harder than I’ve ever concentrated before. In my mind, I see Joel assembling the bomb. Step by step. Without opening my eyes, I repeat the actions in reverse order while Mitchell holds Joel still. As soon as I’m finished, I open my eyes.
It’s over.
Chapter Twenty-One
The light of day never looked so beautiful when Mitchell finds the switch to open the drawer in the mausoleum and let us out. The place is filled with police. Even Harry is here, barking at Joel.
Two officers take Joel into custody, reading him his rights. Another attends to Loralei, who thankfully can walk, but she’s a complete mess after the ordeal. She nearly lost it when we had to step over Elijah’s body.
The entire way out of the tunnel, Joel tried to plead with her, tell her how much he loved her. She wouldn’t hear it. She called him every synonym for insane she could think of, which included two that hadn’t even crossed my mind.
“We had no idea where you went,” Officer Wallace says. “We had to bring Harry in. He picked up on your scent, but we couldn’t figure out how to get to you in there.”
“We only found the entrance thanks to Piper,” Mitchell says. “She’s the best detective we’ve got, even if she isn’t officially on the force.”
“Thank you, Ms. Ashwell.” Officer Wallace nods to me.
“Elijah Graham is dead inside the tunnel. Someone will need to go get his body.” I don’t ever plan to go back in there again.
“We’ll take it from here,” Officer Andrews says.
Mitchell and I walk out of the mausoleum, and I’m not surprised when I see Dad sitting in his car on the long driveway that curves all through the cemetery. I walk right over to him, and he lowers the window.
“I see I missed all the fun,” he says.
He wouldn’t have been able to handle what happened down there. Not when Joel had his gun pressed to my temple. If it were anyone else, Dad would have been the picture of calm and done what he had to. But I’m his little girl. He probably would have shot Joel and sent the entire place up in an explosion of body parts.
“Never a dull moment with Piper,” Mitchell says. “She did great. As usual.”
“I think I’m going to take some vacation days after that case,” I say.
“You earned a vacation.” Mitchell puts his hand on my shoulder, earning him a look from Dad, and he quickly removes it.
“Well, boys, I’m going home to take a nice long bath and wash off the craziness of this case.”
“That could take a while,” Mitchell says. “I’d better get you home.”
I take a full week off before returning to the office. Jezebel is happy about it. She doesn’t seem to mind that I’m her new owner. I guess she’s been through a lot with Elijah and Mindy’s divorce and then being left alone when Elijah went after Joel. She seems to like the quiet, pampered life she has with me.
“Time for Mommy to go back to work, Jez,” I tell her, holding her face in my hands.
She gives me those big, brown sad eyes she’s perfected.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’ll be home at lunchtime to take you for a walk, okay?” I kiss the top of her head.
She licks my chin twice before I can pull away.
Dad and Mitchell are both at the office when I arrive. I toss my purse on my desk. “Don’t even tell me we have another case to collaborate on,” I say. “Where’s my coffee?”
Mitchell reaches for the carrier on Dad’s desk. “Marcia says hello. She’s missed you over the past few weeks.”
“You’re a liar. I saw her four times when I bought new books.” I take a sip of the large toasted almond.
“I’m not lying. She mentioned she saw you those times, but she’s been worried about you. I guess she thought you were shielding her from how you’re really doing.”
“I’ll make sure she knows I’m fine. So, tell me what’s brought you back here so soon,” I say to Mitchell as I slump down in my chair.
“I figured you’d want to know what happened after we arrested Joel.”
I nod.
“He requested to see his former doctor.”
“He’s pleading insanity?” I ask, unable to believe he might get away with murdering multiple people and kidnapping Loralei.
“He did. He was sent back to the psychiatric hospital, but he never made it through his first night there. He threatened one of the nurses. Scared her practically to death. She caved and gave him the bottle of medication he requested.”
“He committed suicide,” I say, knowing it’s true.
Mitchell nods. “They found him the next morning. The nurse quit, but she’s being held under investigation for her part in his death.”
“What about Loralei?” I ask. “Is she okay?”
“She filed for an annulment,” Dad says.
I figured she’d do that. Even with Elijah out of the picture, she couldn’t see herself with Steven.
“Steven wasn’t all that surprised,” Mitchell says. “Loralei is moving away. She said she can’t live up to the person her family wants her to be, so she needs to be free of them, too.”
“I guess it’s case closed then. All the lose ends are tied up,” I say.
“There is one more thing,” Mitchell says. “Loralei’s friend Catherine came to us. She confessed that she tried to stop Loralei from marrying Steven. Catherine felt Loralei and Elijah were meant to be.”
“What was the point of her confessing that?” I ask.
“Guilt I suppose. She felt like if she hadn’t interfered, Loralei might have gone on her honeymoon as planned instead of insisting on meeting Steven at the airport.” Dad adjusts his burgundy tie. “Guilt makes people confess strange things. She feels like she drove Loralei away, too.”
“I think from now on, I’m only associating with dogs. They’re so much easier to read and understand,” I say.
“How is Jezebel?” Mitchell asks, sitting forward in his seat.
“Living large the way every dog should.”
“We should set up a play date with Max,” Dad says. “Bring her to Ashwell family dinner night tomorrow.”
“I think she’d love that.”
Mitchell rubs his hands together. “All right. Home-cooked meal at the Ashwell household.”
Dad and I exchange a glance before looking at him.
“What?” Mitchell asks.
“We’re never getting rid of you, are we?” Dad asks.
“He’s like a fungus,” I say. “He won’t go away, but he kind of grows on you.”
Mitchell smiles.
I extend one finger at him as I hold my coffee cup midair. “I said kind of. Don’t let it go to your head.”
He leans back in the seat. “Whatever you say, boss.”
“That’s more like it,” I say. “Now, tell me about the case that really brought you here.”
“You didn’t even have to read me to know that,” Mitchell says.
“I’m starting to figure you out.”
He smirks. “This case is quite the doozy.”
Aren’t they all?
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And look for Drastic Crimes Call for Drastic Insights, coming soon! https://www.kellyhashway.com/piper-ashwell-psychic-p-i
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Also by USA Today Bestselling Author Kelly Hashway
A Sight For Psychic Eyes (Piper Ashwell Psychic P.I. Prequel)
A Vision a Day Keeps the Killer Away (Piper Ashwell Psychic P.I. #1)
Lies We Tell (Lies We Tell #1)
Secrets We Keep (Lies We Tell #2)
Games We Play (Lies We Tell #3)
The Day I Died
Unseen Evil
Evil Unleashed
Replica
Fading Into the Shadows
Passing through the Portal (Free prequel novella to Fading Into the Shadows)
Into the Fire (Into the Fire #1)
Out of the Ashes (Into the Fire #2)
Up In Flames (Into the Fire #3)
* * *
Writing as USA Today Bestselling Author Ashelyn Drake
Second Chance Summer
It Was Always You (Love Chronicles #1)
I Belong With You (Love Chronicles #2)
Since I Found You (Love Chronicles #3)
Reignited
After Loving You (New Adult romance)
Campus Crush (New Adult romance)
Perfect For You (Young Adult contemporary romance)
Falling For You (Free prequel novella to Perfect For You)
Our Little Secret (Young Adult contemporary romance)
Acknowledgments
I have to thank Patricia Bradley first for always having great suggestions and edits, but also for sending me notes saying I’m becoming her favorite mystery author. Thank you for loving my books as much as I do while still pushing me to make them better.
To my family and friends, your support never goes unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you for allowing me to share my books with you. To Kelly’s Cozy Corner, you guys are amazing for taking this journey with me and helping me spread the word about my books.
And to my readers, I couldn’t do this without you.
About the Author
Kelly Hashway fully admits to being one of the most accident-prone people on the planet, but that didn’t stop her from jumping out of an airplane at ten thousand feet one Halloween. Maybe it was growing up reading R.L. Stine’s Fear Street books that instilled a love of all things scary and a desire to live in a world filled with supernatural creatures, but she spends her days writing speculative fiction and is a USA Today bestselling author. Kelly is also USA Today bestselling romance author Ashelyn Drake. When she’s not writing, Kelly works as an editor and also as Mom, which she believes is a job title that deserves to be capitalized.
Kelly Hashway, Read Between the Crimes (Piper Ashwell Psychic P.I. #2)
