Chapter Nine
Melody lay in bed, staring up at the vague shadows on her ceiling. Even though it was getting late, she was too wired to close her eyes. She felt like she should get up and do something since she couldn't sleep, but her brain was tied into too many knots to consider doing anything other than just lying as still as she could, thinking.
Dinner with Oskar had been nice. They'd talked about his son a little, and he told her he was going to look into getting custody or adopting Julius. He had quickly turned the conversation to her, though: her family, her schooling, her hobbies. His questions had been genuine, and by the time they were done eating, Melody realized that they were on a date. A real date.
Now she didn't know what to do with that information. She liked Oskar. It was fun talking with him, and he knew exactly what to ask to open her up and keep the conversation going. But where could this go? She wasn't looking for a relationship, and he was going to be responsible for a child soon. It was going to be a confusing time for him. Her, too.
Although studies had been done, and Shifters were more likely to form lasting romantic relationships. That was a huge perk.
I am not a gold-digger.
A voice came out of the dark. "Hey."
Melody groaned. "Not now, Cindy."
"I need to talk to you."
With another groan, Melody sat up and turned on the light. Cindy wrinkled her nose. "There's a hole in that shirt. I can see your belly button."
"They're pajamas. I don't need to be sexy when I'm sleeping alone."
Cindy shrugged. "Whatever you want. I just wanted to say thank you. I was scared that Oskar wouldn't care about our son being here. Thank you for telling him. Things are going to work out now. I might be dead, but Julius is going to be okay. I just wish I could… I wish I could say goodbye to my fiancé."
Melody nodded. "I understand. But he's going to be okay, you know. We all have to deal with death. People are tough."
"I suppose. It's different for Shifters, though. We have a hard time getting over death, especially the deaths of our significant others. But what now? I don't have anything left to stick around here for. Shouldn't I be seeing a light or something?"
"I don't know. My ghosts usually just go away and never come back."
"You're useless." Cindy rolled her eyes. "I'm tempted not to tell you what I found out about the case."
Melody straightened. Both Oskar and Uncle Todd's pleading for her to stay away from the case rang in her ears, but she pushed them aside. If Cindy had information, then she needed it. It wasn't like she was going after a killer, after all. She would get the information and relay it to Uncle Todd, and he could handle it from there.
"Please tell me."
Cindy cocked her head to one side and shrugged. "I'm not actually sure how relevant it is, but after Fezioni died, I was wandering around. Well. I was following that daycare woman. I wanted to know more about Julius' situation, and she was going to go look stuff up about him or something. I don't know what she was doing, I just know she was going to the city for something."
"I thought you said this had to do with the case."
"It does. She was driving to the city, and along the way she stopped and threw a baseball bat into the woods. That's odd, right?"
Melody swung out of bed. "Uncle Todd said Fezioni was hit by a baseball bat before he was thrown over the bridge. But Elisabeth? She's such a quiet, kind woman. Why would she want to kill Fezioni?"
"Maybe he threatened to kidnap Julius?" Cindy clapped her hands. "She's protective of those kids."
"Yes, she is," Melody muttered. "But why would Fezioni tell her that he was going to take Julius? I need to talk to her."
She knew she should tell Uncle Todd about this, but what would he do with it? Elisabeth wouldn't talk to him. Besides, Melody wasn't putting herself in danger by going to talk to her. Elisabeth wasn't going to hurt her.
Cindy vanished on the drive to Elisabeth's house, but Melody didn't spare too much time thinking about it. She was single-minded in her purpose. Her heart was beating harder than normal, but only because she was so close to solving this case. At least she thought she was.
Was Elisabeth the killer? What motive could she possibly have?
Elisabeth answered the door wearing a faded Care Bears bathrobe tied over flannel pajamas. She blinked at Melody, rubbing her eyes.
"I'm sorry for waking you so late. But I have something to talk to you about." Melody quickly slipped into the house, despite Elisabeth's protests. "Uncle Todd found a baseball bat in the woods on the way to the city, and it had Bobby's name on it. It was covered in blood."
Elisabeth's face paled. "What?"
Melody turned away from her, going to the living room. On the way over she had kept thinking about what could have possibly motivated Elisabeth to kill somebody. On the mantle was a picture of Bobby. Melody picked it up, studying it.
"What are you doing here?" Elisabeth's voice rose to a higher pitch. "Get out. Get out of my home."
Melody took out her phone and brought up the article of Fezioni's death from the newspaper. There was a picture of him and she zoomed in on it. Holding the two pictures together, she turned back to Elisabeth. The younger woman paled, shivering as she looked at the two images being held side by side.
"They have the same eyes," Melody said, her voice quiet. "The same nose. Bobby looks more like you than him, but he is Fezioni's son, isn't he?
Elisabeth sank down onto the couch, still staring at the two pictures. Melody turned off her phone and sat beside the other woman, putting a hand on her shoulder. She waited patiently, knowing that this couldn't be easy for the shy, quiet woman. Even though she longed to ask why Elisabeth was letting Oskar take the blame for a murder she had committed, Melody kept her mouth shut and waited.
The living were like ghosts in that way. If they didn't want to say something, they wouldn't.
"David and I were high school sweethearts," Elisabeth mumbled eventually. "He was the bad boy, and I felt special that he paid attention to me. Then I got pregnant and he didn't want anything to do with me anymore. It could have broken me, but Bobby… he's the best thing that ever happened to me and so I did everything I could to give him a good life. I put David in the past and I thought he'd stay there."
Melody put her arm around Elisabeth as the younger woman began to cry softly. Tears splattered on the glass over Bobby's face.
"When David showed up again, I was sick. I didn't want him anywhere near me or my son. And I told him that, but he said that it wasn't my choice. I didn't plan to kill him." Elisabeth snorted. "Or maybe I did. We met out on that bridge, and I had all my savings. I told him to take it and leave us alone and he just laughed at me. Said that it was nothing compared to what he had."
"He must have been referring to the money he got from kidnapping Cindy."
Elisabeth shuddered. "He… he told me he was going to take Bobby. That if I wanted to be in my son's life, I'd have to take him back. He said that he knew how to make people disappear and if I didn't do as he said, I'd never see Bobby again. And I snapped. He laughed at me when I grabbed the baseball bat."
The young woman sat up straighter. Her eyes hardened and she turned to Melody. Though tears were still streaming down her face, she looked determined and angry, every bit a woman who could have slugged a man in the head.
"He wasn't laughing when he went over the bridge. I did it for my son. I did it for Bobby."
Melody squeezed her hands. "I have to tell my uncle."
Elisabeth's shoulders slumped again, and she nodded. "I know. Just promise me something first?"
"Of course."
"Look after my son. I have no family, and you're the closest thing I have to a friend. I just don't want him to end up in the system. Please."
Melody squeezed the other woman's hands. It was a huge responsibility, but she couldn't turn down a mother's plea for help. "Yes. I'll look after him. I promise."
Elisabeth nodded her thanks, and with a heavy heart, Melody pulled her cell phone out again and dialed Uncle Todd. Elisabeth put the picture back on the mantle before she returned to Melody's side, leaning against her side as she started to cry again.