Hallow Be the Haunt (Krewe of Hunters #22.5)(31)

“Because it wasn’t right. The whole thing wasn’t right. It was just creepy.”

“Why didn’t you come forward when she was killed?” Jake asked him.

He lifted his hands. “Come forward with what? It was no secret that I was seeing her—though she pushed me out of the shop often enough. It was as if… If she had a boyfriend, she couldn’t be there. Does that make sense to you? That was how she acted. And I tried to tell her that if it was all above board and normal, having a boyfriend wouldn’t matter at all. It wouldn’t mean anything. Most young women have boyfriends.”

“Did you ever see or hear of them doing anything…not right?” Jackson asked.

“No,” Jonathan admitted grudgingly. “Just…those meetings. And making it such a special thing for a young woman to be named one of their shop artists. You didn’t see any men there, did you?”

Jake and Jackson seldom betrayed what they were thinking and they didn’t now.

“When did you last see her?”

“The day before she was killed. We were supposed to go out the following morning. I was already working here, so my nights were taken. She called me and said that she was having another of her meetings, but maybe we could get together when it was over. I told her that if the meetings were more important than me, she shouldn’t worry about it. We were over. Then… Then I learned through the news that she was dead.” His voice was tremulous. He looked at Ashley suddenly. “That’s why I’m so damned glad I’m out here. Out here… I’m not even going back to NOLA at night. I—I can’t go back there. Not now.”

The door opened. Parks had arrived.

“This is Detective Parks with NOPD,” Jake told Jonathan.

“How do you do, sir?” Jonathan said.

“I don’t know. How do I do?” Parks asked, looking at them one by one.

“Jonathan thinks that there’s something up with the art shop,” Jake said.

Parks nodded. “So much for casual, huh?” he asked.

“What?” Jonathan asked, confused.

“Not to worry,” Ashley said. “I’m going to take them to meet our witches.”

“Our witches haven’t been killing anyone,” Jonathan said.

“And how do you know that?” Parks asked.

“They didn’t kill Shelley,” Jonathan said, and his voice was thin. “They were here that night, scaring the bejesus out of those unwary souls who walked into the gingerbread house.”

“What time do you close?” Detective Parks asked.

“Our last groups go through the kitchen, the smokehouse, and do the haunted hayride at midnight. But after, it’s not always easy to get people out. After they’re all gone, we do some cleaning up. So we’re out of here between 1:00 and 2:00 A.M.”

“She could have been left there any time, son,” Parks told him. “She was killed elsewhere and brought to the wall of the cemetery.”

Jonathan looked sick, as if he might just break down and cry. “I didn’t kill her, I swear. I loved her.” He stared at Jake suddenly. “I loved her. Look into that art studio—something is wrong.”

“Are you all right?” Ashley asked him. “Jonathan, do you need someone to take your place tonight?”

He shook his head. “Work,” he said huskily. “Work—keeps me sane.”

“Thank you, Jonathan,” Jackson said. “And if you think of anything—”

Jackson, Jake, and Detective Parks all handed him their business cards.

“Call any one of us,” Jake told him.

Jonathan nodded glumly, staring into space. “I loved her,” he repeated. “I really loved her. I just couldn’t compete with…with whatever it was.”





Chapter 10



Witches.

At first, they’d been looking for witches.

Then it became clowns.

But the truth was, it was neither.

It was three chameleon-like killers who didn’t want to be caught and who—it seemed—were so adept at their costume changes that they were doing quite well.

Meeting Ashley’s “witches,” Jake couldn’t begin to think of any of them as cold-blooded killers.

The actresses playing in the gingerbread house were Lavinia Carole, Valerie Deering, and Rhonda Blackstone. They all smiled genuinely when they met Jake, Jackson, and Parks—as if they were truly innocent of even being aware of any wrongdoing, much less a part of it.

“Jake. Fiancé Jake, right?” Lavinia asked. “We’ve heard people say that Ashley’s fiancé was…um, big.”

Valerie laughed. “Handsome is what we’ve heard,” she said.

“And you’re an agent, too?” Rhonda asked Jackson.

“He’s actually my boss,” Jake told her.

“Oh, nice,” Lavinia said. “And you, sir?” She turned to Parks.

“NOPD,” Parks said.

“Oh, are you the officer on duty here tonight?” Rhonda asked.

“I’m on duty, but there will also be a man in uniform here, like always,” Parks said.

“I was about to practice being pushed into the oven. Want to see how it works?” Lavinia asked them. “One of you has to be an attendee,” she warned.