"How did you know?" Jon asked her. Back in Jon's car, they drove around and around Misty Hollow, with no real goal in mind other than talking about what to do next.
"When I was downstairs with Belinda," Darcy explained, "looking at her treasures, I saw the hatchway. It wasn't locked then. I checked. I locked it before we left, of course, but I figured if whoever was doing this got in once, they would get in again."
"Smart," he complimented her. "So. We know the motive is this money Belinda is supposed to be hiding in her house, but who do we think is doing it?"
"Not Giattano," she said, crossing that name off her mental list. "That leaves Rita, and Cassidy and Angela Whedon."
"The Handyman Express owners? Why them?" He slowed for a man and a woman holding hands to cross the street at an intersection, looking over at her as he did.
"Giattano mentioned how those two had criminal records, and also how they were experts at installing locks. If someone is constantly picking the lock on the basement hatchway, then it stands to reason they know something about locks."
They watched the couple cross to the other side of the street, Darcy wishing that she could be walking around with Jon now just like that instead of trying to solve yet another problem for her neighbors. At the same time, it felt right to be doing this with him. To be helping people who needed it. Together.
"Hm," he said thoughtfully. "I didn't know about that when I spoke to them. I'll call back to my people in Oak Hollow and ask them to interview those two again. At least get an alibi for this morning. Speaking of such things, don't you need to get back to the bookstore?"
She sighed. Yes, she did. She really wanted to play hookey and let Izzy watch the place for the day, again, but she'd been doing that too much already as it was. Not that she didn't trust Izzy, but it wasn't fair to her.
"Too many responsibilities?" he asked her suddenly, in that voice that used to make her melt.
"Something like that. With mom's wedding coming up, and the store, and Grace's baby on the way, and this thing with Belinda, and…"
She trailed off, and in the silence that followed he reached over and held her hand with his. "It will be all right," he said to her. "We'll figure everything out."
She couldn't say why, but somehow, this time, she believed him.
It had to be Rita. Didn't it?
Darcy had debated this out with herself for two solid hours, working in the bookstore more or less on autopilot, selling books to people with a smile, even selling three e-readers one right after the other. It was a good sales day, to be sure.
After, staring at the register, she couldn't remember a single person who had been in the store. That was how distracted she was.
She growled and shook her head. "This is stupid."
"What's that?" Izzy asked from over in the history section.
"Nothing, I guess," Darcy told her. "I've just got a lot on my mind."
"Jon, you mean?" Izzy winked.
"Well, yes, him. But this trouble that I'm helping Belinda Franco with is bugging me and I can't keep my mind on my work."
Izzy came over, two copies of American History: The Real Story tucked under one arm. "Darcy, it's all right if you want to go take care of that. I've got this."
Darcy looked at her friend. Izzy and she had grown close over the last few months. It was good to have someone to depend on, someone you shared secrets and troubles with. "That would be wonderful, Izzy. Are you sure?"
Izzy shrugged. "You saved me from a murder charge. I think I can cover for you one more time. After all, isn't that what friends do? They help each other out."
Darcy came around the sales counter and gave Izzy a hug. "Thank you. I've just got so much going on right now."
She went into the office and made a few notes for herself for tomorrow. She was really going to have to put in some hours this week and next to make up for the time she had spent away from the store.
From the shelf over the desk, a book fell, thumping in the middle of Darcy's carefully penned note, causing her to leave a long scratching pen mark across the page.
"Millie!" Darcy laughed. "I'll find time to hang out with you, too. Just not now. Okay?"
On her way out she thanked Izzy again. A mother and a young child of maybe three were coming in as she was leaving, and she held the door for them to get in before stepping outside to get her bicycle and head for—
Wait.
She looked in through the front window of the store, watching the child pick through the kids' books with a big smile as his mother chatted with Izzy. Something had clicked in Darcy's mind.
Holding the door open for someone.
Her mind added that idea to something Izzy had just said to her and suddenly the question of who was "haunting" Belinda became a whole lot clearer.
If she was right…
She needed to find Jon.
"Are you sure?" Jon asked her. This time, they were both hiding inside Belinda's home. They were in the living room, sitting on the floor behind one of the couches. The furniture had low backs, but if they sat down like this they would be hidden from the view of anyone coming up through that special door.
Darcy answered Jon's question with one word. "Yes." She was sure. They were going to find their would-be thieves tonight.
She had explained her plan to Jon twice, repeating it when he asked her to, before standing back with a smile to watch the way his eyes sparked when he caught on to what she was saying. He had pulled her into a tight hug, and then kissed her.
Oh, how she wished they were doing that now.
After she had finally permitted him to step out of the embrace, they had set the plan into motion. Now, they waited to see if it bore fruit.
Belinda had left her house an hour ago, very publicly, calling across to one of her neighbors to tell them, in a loud voice, that she was going out for the evening. If anyone had been watching, there was no way they could have missed that performance.
"You know," Jon said, "in a way I'm kind of sorry for Belinda. Here she thought her dead husband had come back to take care of her, and it turns out that it's just a common case of greed. Someone trying to steal from her."
Darcy pushed back a few strands of her dark hair that had fallen into her face. "I see what you mean. I suppose everyone deserves to have the people they loved watch over them even after death."
"We need to talk," he said so suddenly that she thought her mind would get whiplash.
"Uh," she stammered. "Jon…"
"I know, I know. We're on a stakeout and this isn't the time. The thing is, there's never a good time for us. I was going to wait until we were done with this but we've been sitting here for an hour already. My butt is going numb."
In spite of herself she giggled. "No, wait. Don't make me laugh. Not after saying that. You can't just say that and then be all cute and funny. I've given you plenty of opportunities to talk about this."
He raised an eyebrow. "So you do think I'm cute?"
She shoved his shoulder hard, and he rocked back on the floor. He smiled, and she smiled back, even if she was mad at herself for it.
"It's kind of important, what I need to say, is the thing," he said, settling back into a sitting position. "It's about us."
Oh, thank God, Darcy thought to herself. Finally. But here? Now?
"I had a long talk with Chief Daleson yesterday," he told her, confirming what she had suspected. "After I filled him in on what we were doing here I had a talk with him about my old job. Things are still unsettled for me over in Oak Hollow. Those burglaries, for example. I can't just leave the investigation half done. But—"
He stopped, and raised a finger to his lips. Oh, for Pete's sake, she thought. No way. He did not get to shush her just as he was getting to the good part!
Darcy heard it then, too. The sound of the hidden door to the basement being opened. She ground her teeth together. The bad guys would come now, right in the middle of her chance to finally find out what was going on in Jon's head. Just her luck.
Jon pulled out his gun from its clip-on holster at his waist. Darcy had asked him if he thought it was really necessary. He'd given her that cop look he did sometimes and reminded her about all the times they'd had to fight with someone to arrest them. Including her use of a frying pan over a man's head, once. She hadn't argued after that.
Keeping low below the back of the couch, they listened to the sound of the door thumping gently against the wall as it was pushed open all the way. Next, they heard the voice.
"I can't believe it's taking this long to find that money," Rita said. "I seriously thought I was going to go crazy working for the old bat so long. Day after day after day, searching the house the whole time and knowing I had to come back the next day and search some more. Where is it?"
Jon looked at Darcy, and nodded. This was the part they both had been sure of. Once Darcy explained what she had figured out, it was obvious that Rita was involved. It was the next part, what was going to happen now, that they had placed a bet on.
Darcy held her breath.
"Maybe it's because you're nearsighted. Or just slow," a man's voice said.
They both recognized it immediately.
Giattano Franco.
Darcy blew a kiss at Jon. She'd won the bet.
Jon rolled his eyes. He'd been sure that either Cassidy or Angela Whedon, or both of them, were involved with Rita on this caper. She mouthed the words "pay up" to him, and he whispered back, "later."
It had occurred to Darcy that there were two people invading Belinda's house. One to search, one to keep watch. That's how they could disappear with such ghost-like swiftness. That's how they were able to search a room as quietly and quickly as Darcy had witnessed that first day she had come over to talk to Belinda, with books taken off shelves and stacked up and furniture and photographs moved around without a sound.
Two suspects. Friends helping each other out, just like Izzy had been talking about.
Jon counted to five using his fingers, holding them up one at a time.
One.
Two.
"Look," Giattano was saying. "We've already been through this room. Three times. Let's try upstairs."
Three.
Four.
"I just don't know where she would hide that much money," Rita said. "I mean, is it in stocks? Bonds? Silver certificates? What?"
Five.
Jon jumped up from behind the couch, surprising both Rita and Giattano, who had their backs to him on the stairs, heading for the second floor. "Hold it, right there. You're both under arrest."
Speaking of valuable things, Darcy thought with a smile, the look on the two fake ghosts was priceless.
Jon called for a squad car to come round up Rita and Giattano. It didn't take long, but by the time it got there Giattano was a blubbering mess, spilling every detail of their crime. He had told Rita about the money left to Belinda by her husband when they had gone on a date. He'd been trying to impress her, he said, but he had no idea that Rita would come up with this scheme. She'd gotten herself employed as Belinda's home companion, running errands or whatever, and used that time to search the house for money or bonds or anything like that, only to come up empty.
But Giattano, being code enforcement officer and nephew to Belinda, knew there was a basement to the place. He'd gone to Oak Hollow to get the information on the renovations, including how to open the secret door.
That had allowed them to use the hatchway entrance to come and go as they wanted. Rita had opened it from the inside at first. They didn't want to break in and rouse suspicion, especially after Belinda had terminated Rita's employment. They had managed to make a spare key for the hatch doors at some point, and now they had free run of the place. They could be ghosts, and no one would know the difference. Neither of them had figured on anyone looking into Belinda's crazy stories about a ghost haunting her.
"I mean, seriously!" Giattano moaned between snuffling sobs. "Ghosts! Who would listen to such nonsense!"
"Me," Darcy told him. "That's who."
"It wasn't my fault!" the frail little code enforcement officer whined. "It was Rita! She put me up to it! It was all her idea! And we didn't get a penny to show for it!"
"Oh, shut up," Rita put in. "I never should have trusted you to help me with this!"
"You shouldn't have come here by yourself!" he shouted at her. "That's what got us caught! You got greedy! I told you to wait for me! This was a two person job, I said. One to watch and one to search. You never listen to me!"
"Shut up!" Rita said again. Jon told them both to be quiet and the way he said it, they didn't argue.
Darcy was glad when they were finally handcuffed and driven away by Officer Wilson Barton. Darcy thanked Wilson, and the beefy man tipped his hat to her like cops on old-time police shows used to do. Just life in a small town, Darcy thought to herself.
When they were left alone on the sidewalk in front of Belinda's house, the neighbors watching the patrol car roll away into the night, Darcy sighed and folded her arms. Her plan had been something of a gamble. Jon had casually let Giattano know that Belinda was going to be away from her house tonight while Jon and Darcy were going to be out of town, and gee he sure hoped nothing happened while they were gone. Darcy had done the same with Rita. They'd taken the bait.
So now, all they had to do was let Belinda know that for certain, no one was haunting her house. Darcy didn't know how Belinda would take it, but it was important that she knew the truth.
She turned to Jon now. "You were about to tell me something inside," she reminded him.
"I was?" he said coyly.
"Yes, you were. But let me ask you a question first, and then maybe you won't have to say anything else after that."
He pursed his lips, considering. "I already lost one bet to you."
"Trust me."
"Okay. What's your question?"
She swallowed and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, suddenly very nervous. More nervous than she had been in the house waiting for burglars to show up. "Okay. Um. Look, I love you. I haven't stopped loving you even with you being so far away. Now, I've been asking you for the last three days whether or not you were going to be able to be a part of my life."
"Yes, you have," he said, not making this any easier on her. "So, your question is…?"
She glared at him. Men.
"My question," she said, "is, do you want to be with me? Like, forever?"
His expression changed, and she held her breath.