“It’s him! He’s the killer!” Debbie cried, pointing at Jimmy.
“No, no. Don’t...don’t shoot me,” Jimmy said, still confused.
“It was him. He forced me here, he—”
“Oh, get over it!” Aidan snapped. “Debbie Holloway, you’re under arrest for the murders of Richard Highsmith, Wendy Appleby and Sondra Burke. And for the kidnapping of—”
He didn’t finish. Debbie had apparently decided that suicide by cop was going to be better than the life she would encounter in prison.
Shrieking, she rushed Aidan with the knife high in her hands.
He didn’t intend to let her die so easily. He stooped down just as she reached him, letting her fly over his head onto the dirt path beyond. Then he hurried toward her, knocked the knife away with his foot and thrust her hands back to cuff her.
She began spouting all kinds of furious and vindictive words at him. He ignored her, walking back into the tomb, seeking Mo. She saw that he hadn’t come alone; Van Camp, Logan, the rest of Aidan’s Krewe and other cops were out there, too.
Aidan paused in front of Jimmy Voorhaven.
“You going to be okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Jimmy sagged against the tomb behind him.
Then Aidan knelt by J.J., and Mo heard his sigh of relief.
After that, he walked over to Mo. He took her by her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Mo?”
“I’m okay!” she said. “Really dirty, sore, but...Tommy. Aidan, she did this with Tommy.”
“I know. He and I had a little talk.” He smiled at her and dusted dirt from her face. “A lot has happened since you went down your rabbit hole,” he told her.
Rollo barked. Mo began shaking.
She was alive. Her dog was alive.
And Aidan was standing there, holding her as if she were the most precious thing in the world. She threw her arms around him and held him close for a minute. Then she drew back. “We need help in here. J.J. and Jimmy— Well, Jimmy’s up now, but J.J.’s still out, and if he wakes up in a tomb again—”
Aidan turned and went straight to the fallen boy. He picked him up gently and walked out of the tomb. Mo followed.
Van Camp had Debbie’s arm in a tight grip. She was still cursing, but he ignored her, calmly chanting her rights.
As Mo went with Aidan to take J.J. to a waiting ambulance, she saw something beautiful.
A man and a woman. Richard and Wendy.
They were ahead of Van Camp and Debbie on the path, holding hands and gazing at each other. The man seemed to smile.
When Debbie passed, he extended a spectral foot.
Debbie sprawled onto the gravel path, literally eating dirt.
The pair turned toward them. Mo could just hear Richard. “Thank you, my old friend,” he called to Aidan.
Aidan lifted a hand. “No, thank you,” he said softly.
“I’ll be going to the hospital with J.J.,” Mo told him.
“I’ll be right with you,” he said. “Always.”
Epilogue
Mo ran down the stairs, followed by Rollo. She was, Aidan had decided, more than attractive. She was beautiful, not just in her face and form, but in her voice, her movements—in her life and her vibrancy.
“People will be over soon,” she told him. “And I still have so much to do—” She broke off when the doorbell rang. She ran over, looked through the little window and opened the door. Grace had arrived with Jimmy Voorhaven and J.J.
Aidan was still astonished that it had all worked out so quickly. Mo had been spending a lot of time at the hospital, which meant that Grace kept going there, too. Jimmy was also in the hospital, and Grace had begun splitting her visits between Jimmy and J.J.
Mo had told Aidan that Grace—being Grace—hadn’t messed around. She’d gone straight after Jimmy and had sex a lot faster than Mo had managed. Grace and Jimmy were already engaged. Mo was creating the invitations for their wedding, which would take place that summer—only four months away.
It was amusing and a little worrisome. They were head over heels within a week. Grace had J.J. living with her and was working with social services to be his foster parent and, hopefully, adopt him one day.
It was great for J.J., who needed plenty of love and care. Grace turned out to be the perfect guardian for him—patient, relaxed, honest.
In fact, that was part of why Mo was so excited about today. She had a present for J.J., one that Grace—and Jimmy—would love, too.