epilogue

“I even undressed him. I undressed him and I still thought he was you!”

“Well, was he hot? ’Cause if he was a hot dead guy, I can understand you thinking that.”

Death cuffed his little brother on the back of the head as he dropped down next to him at the picnic table. “Be nice. Sophie helped us save your sorry butt.”

“Careful!” Randy rubbed his head. “You could give me brain damage.”

“Can’t damage what you don’t have.”

The celebration in Rowdy and Annie Tanner’s backyard was joyous though tinged, for the firefighters, with regret. Randy was alive and that was the main thing, but he was also leaving. “Since the last time I saw this moron,” he’d said, throwing an arm around Death’s shoulders, “he’s been ambushed, blown up, buried alive, shot at, kidnapped and threatened at knifepoint, kidnapped again, beaten up, threatened at knifepoint again, then shot at again, and almost drowned. Clearly he needs to be under the supervision of a responsible adult.”

“And where do you come in?” Rowdy shot back.

“He’s gonna help me look for a responsible adult,” Death grinned.

Randy would have to pass a refresher course to get his paramedic certification restored, but he already had a job lined up as an airborne medic with the Rives County Life Flight service, and he’d been accepted as a member of the East Bledsoe Ferry Volunteer Fire Department. Wren, with her local connections, had helped to smooth his way. They both understood that, while finding Randy alive had helped immensely, Death was still struggling in ways that were not going to be fixed overnight. Together, they would provide him with the support system that he needed so badly and had gone so long without.

“Are you going to sell your house?” Cap asked.

“No, not planning to. Not anytime soon. I’m only moving a few hundred miles away. I will be back to visit from time to time. I’d like to have a place to stay when I do.”

Trinka, Talia’s girlfriend, bounced out of the house with a pan held in hot pads. “Look! I made cornbread!”

Talia gave her a dubious look. “You? Made cornbread?”

Trinka laughed merrily. “Well, okay, technically Annie made it. But I cut it. That’s practically the same thing.” She set it on the table.

“Wouldn’t you guys love to have seen Leilani’s face when she found out Alaina tried to cheat her out of her inheritance?”

“Yeah, that’s a funny thing,” Death said. He snagged a piece of the hot cornbread and glanced around at his audience with a faint grin. “We talked to the lawyer. Seems that will Andrew showed the wives was just for show.”

“It wasn’t real?” Annie asked.

“The Einstadt fortune is all tied up in trust funds. Andrew had access to the interest and a percentage of the profits from business holdings while he was alive, but very little wealth that was actually at his disposal after he died. The estate will pass to his children now. There were provisions for supporting a childless widow, but whoever drew up the legal papers—Aram Einstadt probably—was as concerned about the family name as he was the family fortune. The one thing that could get anyone disinherited was being convicted of a felony. Instead of securing her fortune, Alaina’s killed the golden goose.” They were still laughing about it when a horn drew their attention and everyone turned to find a gold station wagon pulling into the yard.

“Oh, look!” Wren said. “It’s the Keystones!”

“All of them?” Death asked.

“Looks like just the twins and their wives.” She got up and ran to meet them.

“This is the family Wren works for,” Death told Randy. “You’re gonna love these people.” They stood up to meet them as Wren brought them over. “This is Roy and Sam,” Death introduced them. “And their lovely wives, Leona and Doris.”

“You’re such a charmer,” Doris said, kissing his cheek.

Roy and Sam shook hands with Randy.

“I’ve heard of some weird things running in families,” Roy said, “but being mistaken for dead is a new one.”

“But we’re so glad you’re okay and home where you belong now!” Leona gushed. She caught Randy in a fierce hug. “Quick, sweetie, tell me. What’s your brother’s middle name?”

“Randy,” Death growled warningly.

Randy cocked his head and considered. “What’s in it for me?”

“Don’t you do it!”

“Pie. Homemade pie.”

“What kind of pie?”

“Pecan.”

“Randy!”

“With whipped topping?”

“I’m warning you.”

“With whipped cream. Real whipped cream. And homemade ice cream.”

“Dúnadan,” Randy said swiftly. “What flavor ice cream?”

“Dúnadan! From Lord of the Rings!” Wren smiled and clasped her hands together. “That’s perfect!”

Leona patted Randy’s cheek. “Any flavor you want, sweetie.”

“Randy, how could you?” Death asked, betrayed and tragic.

“It’s not my fault. She offered me pie.”

“You’re a slut.”

“Yeah. But I’m a slut—with pie.”

Rowdy and one of the younger firefighters dragged another bench over so there’d be room for the Keystones at the table. “We apologize for crashing your party,” Sam said.

“Not at all,” Rowdy told him. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Well, our work got put on hold and we were all dying to meet Death’s brother so we thought we’d take a day trip.” He addressed Wren. “You’re going to like this job, Wren, when we can get back to it. The old Hadleigh Plantation is going to auction.”

“The Haunted Hadleigh House?” She asked, excited. She turned to the others to explain. “It’s an old plantation with a lot of weird stories and legends attached.”

“Some weirder and more attached than others,” Roy said. “The hot topic right now is The Vengeance Trail.”

“Sounds spooky!” Annie commented. “What’s The Vengeance Trail?”

“It’s a trail that runs across the Plantation and a legend from the Civil War,” Wren said. “They say a soldier—some versions say Union and some say Confederate—killed an old man and stole his horse. That night, when it was too dark to see and the soldier was ready to stop for the night, the horse suddenly bolted down The Vengeance Trail. He ran under a tree with a low-hanging branch, killing the soldier and avenging his master’s death. Now, on nights of the new moon, they say you can still hear the horse’s pounding hoofs and the soldier shouting at him to ‘whoa!’”

“Creepy,” Death agreed. “But why is that a hot topic right now?”

“Because,” Roy said, “yesterday morning some hikers found a body on The Vengeance Trail. He was lying under a low-hanging branch and his neck was broken. They haven’t identified the body yet, but he was wearing an apparently authentic Confederate Cavalry uniform. The only tracks besides the hikers’ footprints were the hoof marks of a running horse.”

the end