Ellie’s heart thump, thump, thumped in her ears and she hadn’t even left the shop yet. She was standing behind the counter bagging up a stack of books. Ma’May was ringing up the sale, a big one that looked like it was a very early Christmas gift, while Ellie was doing her best to assist.
Once the sale was complete and the counter cleared, Ma’May whispered, “You sure about this?”
“I have to be,” Ellie said with false bravado. “I’m just going to ask about flowers for the shop. It’s totally innocent. The police haven’t released the information that Abbie and Lilith were killed with nightshade, so she should have no reason to suspect me of anything but a friendly visit.
“It will be even better if Cynthia or Margot have already called her,” Ellie went on, careful to keep her voice low. “It won’t be an out of the blue visit, which is less suspicious. Especially if they make it clear it wasn’t my idea to go over there.”
“All right,” Ma’May relented, though concern lined her face.
“And we have a plan, remember?” Ellie continued. “I’ll text you when I get there, and if you don’t hear from me in thirty minutes, then you will call Will and tell him what happened. I’m sure it will be fine.”
That last part was a bit of a lie. She hadn’t told Ma’May how close a call she’d had when she’d left Katie’s house with Beau. She also hadn’t told her how worried she was that Katie, if she really was behind everything, was cleverer than anyone knew. Still, they had a plan and Ellie was sure it was a good one.
This time she was leaving Beau with Ma’May at the shop. As much as he could use the exercise, Ellie didn’t want to take any risks if she brought him. Between possibly not being allowed into Katie’s house if she brought Beau and any possible danger she might put him in, it was just safer to leave him at the shop.
Slipping her coat on, Ellie turned to Ma’May and said, “It will take me about twenty or thirty minutes to walk over there. I’ll text you the minute I get to White Oaks, okay?”
“Okay,” Ma’May agreed. “I’ve got Will’s number on speed dial, and I will call him the instant you don’t text me at the thirty minute marker.”
“Thanks,” Ellie said, and she said a silent thank you for having a grandmother who not only understood, but embraced modern technology.
Ellie opted for the warmer jacket that she’d bought at Worth It!, and she was glad for it when she stepped outside. The temperatures were falling quickly and soon she’d be getting ready to shovel snow. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to it, but for now she was going to enjoy a cool, but beautiful autumn day.
Despite the cold chill, the sun was out in full force and Ellie slipped on a pair of sunglasses. Even with the brown tinted shades, the sun brought out the blazing colors in the trees and Ellie let herself smile as she walked. After all, she needed to appear happy and casual when she arrived at Katie’s door. If she acted suspicious in any way, it might ruin her plans.
Her smile started to dip as she got closer to White Oaks Lane. She’d wrestled with the idea of calling Will and letting him in on their plan, but had decided against it. If he’d known about it, he’d probably not let her do it, or interfered, or done something to prevent her from going. She hadn’t called him before, but the closer she got to Katie’s, the more she debated it.
No, he’ll just tell you to stop, she told herself as she turned onto White Oaks Lane. Instead of calling Will, she texted her grandmother to let her know she’d arrived and then set a timer on her phone. If it went off and things were okay, she knew she had to text her grandmother immediately. If it went off and things weren’t okay, at least she’d know how much time she’d have before her rescue.
She climbed the five steps to Katie’s front door and took a deep breath in before she rang the bell. Peering through the frosted glass oval on the front door, she thought she could see a light on, but didn’t hear any footsteps in response to the bell.
“Come on,” Ellie muttered to herself. Her whole plan required one main thing – that Katie be home. She rose her hand to ring the bell again, but to her relief she saw a shadow move through the house. Katie must be on her way.
A moment later, the front door opened and not a moment too soon. Ellie barely had any time to stand up straight so it didn’t look like she was trying to see what was going on inside before Katie appeared before her.
The older woman had a friendly smile on her lips, and was wiping her hands off on a kitchen towel. “Ellie, hello,” Katie greeted her. “Cynthia told me you might be stopping by.”
“She did?” Ellie asked, careful to keep her tone light and friendly. “I’d hoped she had. I didn’t feel quite right stopping in unannounced.”
That much wasn’t completely true. If Katie knew exactly when Ellie was coming, she’d have time to put away anything that she might not want seen. Still, it appeared less suspicious if Katie knew she was coming, and under such an innocent pretext.
“Don’t fuss over it,” Katie assured her. “I was just doing a little baking. I find myself most ambitious in the morning, don’t you?”
“Oh, definitely,” Ellie agreed, though it still wasn’t completely true. She’d had to force herself to become more of a morning person as she’d gotten older. Having a nine to five job called for that. Despite trying to get more sleep on the weekends, even now she found herself always waking at seven in the morning on the dot.
“Always best to get a jump on the day,” Katie said, and then a funny expression crossed her face. “My gosh, where are my manners? Come in, come in!”
Despite the friendly and inviting words, Ellie was suddenly struck by a tight, anxious clenching in her belly. Her instincts were telling her to be cautious, and she was going to listen to them. Just because Katie acted the part of an inviting hostess didn’t mean that was her true intention.
“Thank you,” Ellie said as she walked in through the front door.
Once inside, Ellie was almost certain she’d found her woman. Even with dark, elegant wallpaper on all the walls she could see, the main color of Katie’s home was definitely green. Plants of all types and varieties were found in every corner, on every shelf, and accenting every piece of furniture in the house. To say the woman liked plants would be an gross understatement.
“Wow,” Ellie found herself mumbling as her eyes trailed from planter to planter.
Katie let out a pleasant laugh before she said, “Yes, it’s a bit of an addiction. The plants, that is. Cynthia told me that was the reason you were coming by.”
“Right,” Ellie agreed, her focus snapping back to where it belonged. Before she could go on, something dinged from the other room.
“Sorry, one moment,” Katie said before she disappeared. Ellie wanted to take the opportunity to examine some of the flowerless plants in the living room while she waited, but Katie reappeared not thirty seconds later.
“Everything okay?” Ellie asked.
“Yes, yes,” Katie assured her. “I just needed to take the cookies out of the oven. They’re on the rack to cool off now. Anyway, where were we?”
“I was about to ask if I could purchase some flowers from you,” Ellie told her. “For the bookstore. With winter not far off and everything that’s happened, I thought the shop could use a little color. Cynthia suggested you might be the person to talk to.”
“And right she was,” Katie said. “It truly is dreadful. Poor Abbie, such a sweet woman. I feel absolutely terrible for her husband. I’ve heard he’s a good man, and was a good husband to her.”
“Yes, it really was,” Ellie agreed and then pressed, “And then Lilith as well. What is happening to our little town?”
“Hmm? Oh yes,” Katie added, the sympathy in her voice wearing thin. “Well, these things happen.”
It took a lot more inner strength than Ellie thought she possessed not to react to Katie’s dismissive words. A moment earlier and she was bemoaning what had happened to Abbie, but the mention of Lilith had her turning cold as ice. It left a strange taste in Ellie’s mouth and only made her want the truth that much more.
“I guess they do,” Ellie said. “But Ma’May and I thought that perhaps some flowers would really liven up the shop, make people happy, and keep their minds off the unpleasantness while they’re in the store.”
“I think it’s a marvelous idea,” Katie agreed. “Now, nothing in here is flowering right now, but if you’d like, I can show you my greenhouse.”
“I’d love that,” Ellie said. She was careful not to appear too excited about the idea, but she also couldn’t come off as blasé. It was a hard line to walk.
Following Katie through the large old Victorian home, Ellie walked through the living room, dining room, and then to a large wall of glass doors that were completely fogged over.
“It’s pretty warm in here,” Katie warned her. “You may want to leave your coat.”
“Thanks,” Ellie said and followed her advice while Katie opened the doors. Even before she stepped into the greenhouse, a wall of steamy fog washed over her and she could feel the humidity wreaking havoc on her curls. The frizz she was about to deal with was going to take a lot of work to tone down when she got home.
Once she was inside the greenhouse and adjusted to the heavy moisture in the air, Ellie finally got a look at just what Katie was hiding. The inside of the house had nothing on this and what felt like a million flowers bloomed all around her. The smell was heavenly as it hit her nostrils and color exploded from every square inch of the large greenhouse.
“Wow,” Ellie mumbled as she looked around. “These are beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Katie said as she lovingly examined some of her plants. “Fifteen years of hard work, though the last five or so really gave me a chance to create something special.”
“I’ll say,” Ellie agreed as her eyes fell on the very familiar looking purple flowers of the nightshade plant. Nearby were the small clusters of red blossoms that she recognized from her research as Japanese Skimmia, along with a small planter of delicate white flowers with yellow centers that she assumed were the Christmas Roses. She was quick to move her gaze to a new section of the greenhouse to ensure Katie didn’t realize that Ellie recognized the deadly plants for what they were.
“Now, what were you thinking for your shop?” Katie asked once Ellie had a chance to do a full tour of the greenhouse. “I’m happy to put something together for you.”
“Oh, um,” Ellie mumbled. She hadn’t actually thought of what she wanted in the shop. She didn’t think that there would be any exchange of flowers in the end, and she was left hanging. “I think something red would go nicely, or yellow. Something vibrant and full of life. Other than that, I’m not sure. I’m not really a designer or a florist.”
“That’s okay,” Katie assured her. “How about we get out of the heat and we can figure something out.”
“Good idea,” Ellie agreed. She had what she needed from the greenhouse, she’d seen the nightshade plants. The rest didn’t really matter.
Once they were in the dining room and the doors to the greenhouse were shut, Katie offered Ellie a seat and promised to return in a moment. As quickly as she could, Ellie checked the time on her phone and saw she had ten minutes left before she’d need to report in to her grandmother. Not much, but it should be enough to say a polite goodbye and leave Katie’s house.
She was mentally rehearsing some ways to excuse herself when Katie returned with a china plate that had several cookies on top. “Have a seat,” she said as she put the plate down on the table. On it were half a dozen thumbprint cookies, each with a dollop of purple jelly in the middle. “We can talk about what you’d like for the shop.”
A knot of worry formed in Ellie’s belly when she saw the cookies. She had no proof, but she remembered the abandoned plate at Lilith’s place and knew just what was waiting for her if she ate one of the cookies Katie was offering her. “Oh, I was just going to trust your judgement,” Ellie said. “You appear to be the expert.”
“I won’t deny that,” Katie said with a laugh. “But please, I’d love to know more about what you’d need and how much you’d like to spend. I hope you don’t find that rude.”
Reluctantly, Ellie took a seat at the table and said, “No, not at all.”
“Good, good,” Katie said as she sat down as well. “Please, have a cookie.”
Ellie’s heart thumped when Katie slid the plate closer to her. “Can I ask what’s in them?” Ellie asked her.
“Oh, just some flour, butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla,” Katie said. “And some homemade jelly in the center.”
Ellie’s palms grew moist as she looked at the plate. “I really appreciate it,” she said. “But I don’t eat eggs or dairy. Sorry.”
“Come now,” Katie said with a hurt expression. “They’re homemade. If it’s a diet thing, you can always have a cheat day.”
If she wasn’t so worried about the notion that Katie was attempting to poison her like she did Lilith and Abbie, Ellie might have been offended by that. But she had bigger concerns than Katie insulting her waistline.
“It’s more of an ethical thing,” Ellie informed her. “I really do appreciate the offer, but I’m going to have to decline.”
Katie sighed as she pushed herself up from the table and walked over to a large antique buffet table that stood against the wall. Like all the furniture in her house, it was covered in plants, these ones holding a variety of spider plants.
“You really should have just eaten the cookies,” Katie said as she opened one of the drawers and retrieved something from it. “Now things are going to get messy.”
“Pardon me?” Ellie asked, but Katie didn’t need to answer her. As the older woman turned, Ellie saw what she had taken out of the drawer. Slick, metallic, and black, it wasn’t another plate of poisoned cookies, but a large handgun that Katie now held in her hand.