“Jon knows it’s you,” Kylie said.
“Bull! You didn’t know it was me.”
“I knew that Kenny did the actual killing,” Kylie said. She looked at Kenny. “You see, I was in his mind. I was. He messed up tonight.”
That startled Mandy enough that she forgot for a minute that she was holding the gun. Kylie started for her, but she quickly remembered.
“Bull. And get in here. I’ll shoot your kneecap if you don’t move. I’ll put you in all kinds of pain—”
“Poison can be pretty painful from what I hear,” Kylie said. “And it’s not bull. Ask Kenny. I was in his head. I made him knock the drink out of that woman’s hand, and then I made him trip and fall.”
“She did,” Kenny whispered, writhing on the ground. “Somehow, she gets into your head!” he cried.
Can I get back? Kylie wondered. She’d never tried to enter another human being—it had just happened.
If she couldn’t really do it, could she psych him out?
She forced herself to smile at Mandy despite the terrifying concept of the gun pointed straight at her head.
“I can make Kenny get up and force that poison down your throat,” she told Mandy and stared at Kenny. “Get the vial, Kenny. Do it!”
“Bull!”
She would never know if Kenny thought she was commanding him again or not. He started to get to his knees and crawl, and Mandy turned the gun on him.
She never fired. Jon leapt up onto the porch behind her and slammed her down to the wood.
Her gun went flying.
“You bastard!” Mandy raged. “You bastard! I need that house. A few lousy people died. Who cares? They were bitches anyway. Get off me. Get off me, get off me! You can’t prove this. You can’t prove anything. I’ll beat you in court, I’ll say you attacked Kenny and me, so convinced that you had it figured out in your self-righteous mind. I’ll—”
Jon had cuffs in his pocket. While Mandy was still down, he used them on her, drawing her wrists to the small of her back.
He didn’t wrench her to her feet. He left her cursing him and threatening all kinds of lawsuits as he hurried down the porch steps to Kylie, drawing her into his arms and looking into her eyes.
“I was there,” he whispered. “I ran into Obadiah, but…Kylie, I knew. I knew when you called to me. I came around the back. Obadiah saw them both, and I didn’t want to take any chances. I couldn’t let her see that I was here. Kylie…”
She put a finger to his lips. “I’m okay,” she told him. “I’m always okay. Because of you.”
A police car came jerking up onto the grass.
Ben Miller stepped out. “The realtor?” he said incredulously.
“Yeah.”
“He’s lying! He’s telling a terrible lie! That man over there called me saying he needed my help to get his girlfriend to sell the house,” Mandy called from the ground. “And this idiot—”
“He called you at this hour of the night?” Ben asked. He looked at Kylie. “But Kenny Innes is the killer?” he asked.
“Yes, but she was pulling the strings. He must have had one hell of a crush on her. He lived with Ginger to be next door to Brim House. And he must have drugged her when he needed to slip out to commit the crimes,” Kylie said. She noted that Obadiah Jones was coming down the steps. She looked at him, hoping that he saw the depth of her appreciation in her eyes.
He nodded to her and mouthed the words, “Proud of you.”
“No! He’s a killer! I just came here to help,” Mandy raged. “Anything they say is a lie!”
Jon pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. He smiled. “Well, I’m guessing everything Mandy has had to say is…the truth? I think it will work in court, anyway.”
“What?” Mandy screamed. She surged to her feet and stumbled down the steps, staring at Jon and then at Kenny, who was still curled on the ground.
“Idiot!” she raged at Kenny. “You let her call him?”
She went to kick him. But Kenny let out a scream of anguish unlike anything Kylie had ever heard. He locked a leg around hers, knocking her down, still handcuffed, to the ground.
Before anyone could stop him, he rolled over with the vial in his hands.
“Drink!” he cried, forcing the vial to her lips, even as Jon and Ben dove for the pair, desperate to separate them.
Epilogue
Ginger Radisson spent the night in the hospital, but she would be fine. When she could talk later in the day—Halloween—she kept crying. She’d had no idea. But then, she hadn’t known why she felt like she was half-asleep all the time either.
Now, she knew.
And she would forever question her taste in men.
They were able to get Mandy Nichols to the hospital in time to save her life.
It seemed to be a consensus that everyone wanted her to stand trial—and to rot in jail for the rest of her life.
Kenny seemed to have lost his mind completely, but he would stand trial for his crimes, as well. It turned out that Mandy believed she had a family connection to Teresa Johnson’s children, and therefore, felt it was fitting that those who had come later down the family tree pay and create insanity at Haunted Happenings—and at Brim House.
Brenda discovered that she had a few girlfriends who needed a place to live.
She wouldn’t have to live in the infamous haunted house alone.
And she was keeping it.
Halloween was the holiday, but Monday was the day they celebrated. Calvin Daily insisted on having a goodbye appreciation dinner at his house, and the Matheson family, Mr. and Mrs. Flannery, and even Ned Olsen came over. They welcomed Brenda home and thanked Jon, Kylie, and Ben.
Everyone knew that Kenny insisted that Kylie was a real witch that could get into his head.
The good thing, of course, was that no one believed him.
They’d be driving back to Krewe headquarters in the morning, and Kylie would be back at the museum. Jon would return to doing whatever it was the Krewe called upon him to do with his exceptional knowledge and expertise.
For now, they stood in the front of the Daily house, looking back at Brim House before walking over to settle in for their last night.
Kylie leaned against Jon as he slipped his arms around her.
“You did it,” he told her.
“I did some research. You knew all along that it was one of the neighbors.”
“I suspected. The Mandy Nichols part…in the end, it made sense. She did have a key.”
“Right.”
He was quiet for a minute, and then he said softly, “Kylie, what you have is really something extraordinary. I believe that we are all gifted, all the Krewe members and friends. But what you have…you seriously saved that woman’s life. But I worry about you so much. It’s a tough burden, too. I love you, and I wish that I could take some of it off your shoulders. Make it all right.”
She turned in his arms and looked up at him.
“Jon. Don’t you know? I’m fine. I’m always fine. As long as I’m with you. And no matter what the future brings, I’ll still be fine. Again, as long as I’m with you.”
He pulled her closer. “I will always be with you,” he said softly. “Always.”