Lost Souls by J. Bishop (the giving tree read aloud txt) 📗

but this one was prescribed to Lydia Stanford, as was the bottle beside it. The blood rushed in his ears and his heart picked up its pace. What was going on? He returned to the mirror, seeing Chad and the cackling woman, still swirling but starting to fade, and fought to put the pieces together, when Chad pointed to a spot behind Mason. Mason turned, seeing the half-filled closet.

He whirled toward it, seeing the men’s clothes hanging from the rod. Telling himself to stay calm, he walked over, slid the door back, and flipped through the shirts and pants. There weren’t many and there was no way to know whom they’d belonged to. Seeing a shoe poking out from below, he shoved the pants out of the way, and froze when he saw a pair of worn, scuffed brown boots in the back. He reached for them, pulled them out and almost dropped them when he turned them over and saw the familiar Justin logo stamped on the bottom of the boot. Chad’s boots, he thought. The ones Trick asked Cissy to find.

“Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit,” he mumbled to himself. Putting the boots down, he grabbed for his phone, seeing the missed phone and text messages from Trick and Mikey. His habit was to silence his phone when meeting with a client, and he’d missed them. His fingers racing to call back, he reached for the gun in his ankle holster when a woman’s voice stopped him cold.

“Put the phone down, Mason.”

He stopped and saw Serita standing outside the door, aiming a gun at him. He slowly let go of his weapon, which was still in the holster, dropped the phone onto the bed, and raised his hands. “Hi, Serita.” He paused. “Or do you prefer Shay?”

Serita encroached, and he stepped back into the room, forcing himself to take slow breaths. She grinned. “How did you know?”

He swallowed. “Chad’s the one in the mirror, and you have his boots. Are those his clothes, too?” Her grip tightened on the gun, and Mason kept his arms up. “And I saw Lydia in the mirror.” He thought about that. “You must have known that I would see them. And that would give you away.”

“I figured, but it didn’t matter. I needed you here. You saw Bradley today, and you and that damn sister of yours won’t stop snooping around.”

Mason had to keep her talking. “Why did you invite me here the first time?”

Her face flickered with uncertainty. “That was legit. Chad was haunting me. I knew it was him, but I couldn’t get rid of him. Bradley and I were planning to leave town, but I don’t want Chad following. I called you on a whim, hoping you could take care of it, but imagine my surprise when your sister called the next day, wanting to talk about Lydia and Chad. I realized you were investigating Chad’s death, and were suspicious of Lydia’s. If you’d have left it alone after I talked to your sister, it wouldn’t have mattered, but you didn’t.”

“You and Bradley killed Lydia. Why?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I did it. Bradley just helped. He covered for me.”

“You killed Chad, too?”

Her eyes blinked, and her head twitched, and he didn’t like the look on her face. “He deserved it.” The gun shook in her hand. “He knew…he knew…and he was going to talk.”

“He knew you’d killed Lydia? How did he know?”

She blinked again. “I don’t want to talk about this.” She waved the gun. “I’m just waiting for Bradley. He’ll be here soon. Then he’ll finish this, and we’re out of here.”

Mason kept his eye on her weapon, wondering if he could take it from her. “What’s Bradley’s going to finish?”

“You. My guess is he’ll shoot you, but that’s up to him. I’d do it, but I don’t want you and Chad both haunting me. You and your sister can pester Bradley.”

Mason’s breathing stopped, and he clutched his hands into fists. “My sister? What are you doing with Mikey?”

“I called her not long after I talked to you. She couldn’t wait to meet with me, only Bradley’s waiting for her instead.”

A cold well of hatred bubbled up in Mason’s stomach. “You touch her─”

“Too late,” said Shay. “She’s probably already dead.”

Mason’s vision went white, and he launched himself at Shay just as the gun went off.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Valerie flew through a light as a car horn blared. “Are you sure about this?”

Holding the phone to his ear, Trick cursed when Mikey’s phone rang and went to voicemail again. He’d tried both her and Mason several times with no luck. “I’m sure.” Lowering the phone, he disconnected. “It’s got to be Shay and Bradley. Mason and Mikey got too close, and Shay and Bradley are scared. They’re getting rid of the threat, and then they’ll disappear.”

Valerie slowed and turned down a tree-lined street. “Where?”

Trick checked the map. “Keep going. We’re close.”

“We need to call this in. The cops need to know.”

Trick shook his head. “Not yet. We have to see what we’re dealing with.”

“Trick─”

“Turn here,” said Trick.

Valerie hit the brake and turned.

“Go slow. It’s just down the road.” He pointed as a driveway came into view. “Stop.”

“Here?”

“Here.”

Valerie slowed and pulled over. Trick saw a small one-story house on a multi- acre, wooded lot. The trees provided ample privacy, and if he hadn’t seen the dirt and gravel driveway with a mailbox out front, they might have driven past it. Valerie had stopped just short of the entrance to the driveway, but Trick could still see the small house through the trees. He grabbed Valerie’s binoculars and peered through them. The house backed up to more woods with a rutted, narrow road behind it leading deeper into what looked like a forest. Not far from the house stood a smaller structure, wooden and dilapidated, and Trick guessed it had once been a barn. The door to it stood slightly open.

“If they’re in trouble, why don’t we call the cops?” asked Valerie.

Trick