All the World (12 page)

              “Honestly, I don’t know how things will go with Cesare, but I hope to see you soon,” Lexie whispered. “Please keep them safe!”

              Pierre gently squeezed Lexie’s arm. “Good luck. Be safe.”

              “You too.”

***

              The pain in Lexie’s arm and shoulder had transformed from sharp stabs to a dull ache, and the seatbelt in Pierre’s car only exacerbated it. She fought with the grey strap, tugging it away from her neck. A car honked from behind, startling Lexie so much that she grabbed the wheel with both hands and hit the accelerator. The seatbelt strap smacked against her shoulder and chest, and she winced.

             
How much damage have I done to myself? I look like I’m falling apart! Maybe I am! What will everyone think when they see me walk into town hall?

              Avon Road was nearly devoid of cars, but people were wandering down the sidewalks. Lexie passed two women dressed in men’s clothing in front of a cigar shop and a group of kids wearing fairy costumes ran across the street.

              Vernon Hill’s town hall was located at the intersection of Avon Road and Duffson Lane. Its wooden roof, tan brick walls, and brown shutters gave it the appearance of a hunting lodge in the forest. Though it certainly was not the most impressive building, town hall added character to Vernon Hills.

              Lexie locked Pierre’s car and walked toward the building. The wooden steps leading to the front door were bowed from the rain, and they squeaked each time Lexie put down her feet. Once again, she was unsure of what to say to Cesare. He would deny having done anything underhanded with the theatre business, and Lexie wouldn’t be surprised if he accused her of stalking.

              Lexie pulled at the handle and knocked several times. The old front door was locked.

This is strange. The visitors’ center is in there. Don’t they want to showcase everything in Vernon Hills to guests?

              She craned her neck to peer through the square window on the door. A figure was wandering down the hall, approaching the door slowly. Lexie tried to smooth her hair away from her face in an attempt to look somewhat presentable.

              The door was opened by a bedraggled Scarlet MacDougal. Her brown hair was frizzy and toppling down from the bun high upon her head. Smudge from mascara and eyeliner stained her face. Scarlet’s black pencil skirt was twisted, and her cream-colored blouse was untucked and buttoned haphazardly. Something that looked like wax was splattered on her black heels.

             
She looks worse than me!

              “Out, damned spot! Out I say!” Scarlet snipped sharply. “Out, out now!”

              The woman rubbed her hands together as though she were washing them. They were red and raw as though she had used too much hand sanitizer.

              Scarlet’s voice softened to a consoling whisper. “Nothing is there…no spots at all…none, none…”

              “Mrs. MacDougal, may I come in?” asked Lexie tentatively. “I need to speak with Mr. Garland. I was told he’s meeting with your husband.”

              Scarlet looked down at her own hands, the palms now facing upward to reveal dry, cracked skin. Her eyes widened, and she snarled, “I see the spots! You lie! I see them there, crimson stains, scarlet spots…like my name. No water will wash them off! Are they on my husband’s hands? He is too full of the milk of human kindness, but James carried out the deed!”

             
Okay, so she’s cursed like everyone else. Who is she? Pierre would know.

             
“Out, out now!” Scarlet begged, rubbing her hands together viciously. She turned away from Lexie and meandered toward a sign directing people to the restrooms.

              Lexie thought Scarlet MacDougal was a sad sight. A twinge of pain went through her chest as she wondered what character had taken root in the unhinged woman. She took a few steps forward when there was a crunch beneath her feet. Lexie looked down to see a broken candlestick, and she assumed it belonged to Scarlet.

              Voices could be heard coming from the room at the end of the hallway, and Lexie quietly made her way to it. She peered into the room to discover it was an office occupied by Mayor MacDougal, Cesare Garland, and the Leer sisters. The mayor was pacing, sweat gleaming on his forehead and face. Bella and Donna were leaning against the wall near a dry erase board, and Cesare was looking at papers spread out on a large desk.

              “Why do you need to consult your wife? You are the mayor and should know how much money has been set aside to aid with building the research lab,” one of the Leer sisters scoffed. “Your weakness tarnishes the reputation of Vernon Hills.”

              Cesare waved his hand carelessly. “Reputation is a frivolous and false imposition, frequently determined by facts without merit. Vernon Hills has lost no reputation at all.”

              Mayor MacDougal stopped pacing. “In all honesty, Scarlet should be mayor.”

              “So, she wears the pants in your relationship? I guess we were right, Donna,” Bella snickered, shooting a glance at her younger sister.

              Donna smirked. “Well, it’s sad that you consider her stronger than you given her present condition.”

              Mayor MacDougal glared at the sisters. “I got my position through Scarlet. She planned everything.”

              Cesare frowned. “Everyone says she is an excellent campaign manager. That’s what you mean, right?”

              The mayor shook his head. “It was her idea, and I only went through with it after she got the leverage. I lied because I didn’t want you to put your lab somewhere else. As you said, Vernon Hills needs a great economic boost, and a Garland Corporation facility can do that. I thought you would see a weak mayor as a bad investment, but now I see that lying to you is more of liability.”

              “Is now really the time to discuss this?” asked Cesare tersely.

              Bella crossed her arms. “What are you talking about? It doesn’t sound like you’re talking about the town finances.”

              “Leverage? Did you blackmail someone?” Donna inquired. “Are you talking about the upcoming election?”

              Cesare causally straightened his shirt and pulled out his phone. “Politics, leverage, and scandals often come in the same package.”

              Bella eyed Cesare suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

              “Politics are all about leverage and scandals,” explained Cesare as he sent a text. He added quietly, “Certainly you know that.”

              “You actually believe those nasty rumors? They are all unfounded lies!” snapped Bella.

              “Really? I’ve heard there’s proof. In fact, I’ve seen a video of you, Bella, trying to convince that poor boy to come home with you. He looked so terrified when you unbuttoned your shirt. I bet it was the first time he’d seen a woman’s breasts.”

              Bella paled. “Where did you see that?”

              Cesare smirked. “I asked if there were any scandals that could put a stain on the town’s name. Mr. MacDougal was happy to show me in exchange for a research lab.”

              Bella spun around to face the mayor. “How could you? Scarlet said she locked everything away after the last election!”

              Mayor MacDougal covered his forehead with his palm. “Cesare said he would endorse me in the next election if I gave him all the town’s secrets. I need his support if I’m going to help the town grow! Scarlet gave me the videos and told me to show them to Cesare.”

              Lexie had to give it to Bella. The woman took a few deep breaths to calm herself, straightened her bony body, and said, “Videos can be altered, and you only have one.”

              “I have more than the video. I was also provided with a number of pictures of the encounter and a video of you drugging the boy’s father and driving him to the Midsummer’s Inn. You could be charged with rape as well as child molestation.”

              Bella’s face turned the color of a dirty carrot, and she glowered at Donna. “Are you trying to ruin our reputation? You said you deleted that video! You said you took it as a joke! Look what you have done to us!”

              Lexie felt her heart racing. The Leer family was about to implode.
Those women have a nasty sense of humor. So much for sisterly loyalty.

              “
Our
reputation? The only reputation ruined is
yours.
I never thought you should’ve gone after the banker and his son!” shouted Donna.

              “You are a filthy liar! You want everything I have!” Bella threw a stapler at the wall behind her sister.

              Donna put her hands on her hips. “I am the better sister! I haven’t done anything wrong! I should have run for mayor! You never would have had to seduce the boy if I had run! There is no stain on
my
name!”

              Lexie saw a small smile tugging at Cesare’s face.
He’s actually enjoying this!

             
“You’re wrong, Donna,” Cesare interjected placidly. “Honestly, discussing the murder of your little sister, Dahlia, five years ago in town hall was foolish. As prominent members of the community, you should have realized the building has video and audio surveillance. It seems Dahlia had some dirt on you and Bella that she intended to take to your father. It was your idea to kill her by pushing her down the stairs. You said it would look like an accident. Luckily for you and Bella, everyone bought that story. So, which one of you actually shoved her down the steps?”

              “Dahlia’s death was a tragic accident!” Donna implored.

              Bella looked at her sister shrewdly before facing Cesare. “Donna is to blame for Dahlia’s death. I suppose we should spill all the family secrets.”

              Donna and Bella looked like they were going to attack each other. Lexie held her breath and bit her lip to keep from shouting. Suddenly, two hands slammed into her back, sending her tumbling into the room. She hit the floor and looked up to see Scarlet stepping over her.

              “Oh, the woes I have caused!” wailed Scarlet. “I am Brutus in a woman’s body! A place in the deepest circle of Hell is reserved for me!”

              Despite Scarlet’s dramatic entrance, Cesare, Mayor MacDougal, Bella, and Donna all had their eyes fixed on Lexie struggling on the floor.

Chapter Eleven: Blood will have Blood

              Lexie winced as she pushed herself into sitting position. She touched her left shoulder to feel the swollen bruises. Her shoulder was a wreck, and Lexie had no business running around without some type of brace. Unfortunately, the current state of Vernon Hills made that impossible.

              “Spying now are you? Following me, perhaps? After our last encounter, I thought you’d want nothing to do with me.” Cesare made his way over to Lexie.

An amused expression crossed his narrow face and a dangerous spark gleamed in his hazel eyes. He looked like a hungry animal staring down at its prey. However, Lexie was certain that Cesare’s hunger had very little to do with food. She felt a sick, tingling sensation in her mouth and throat, signaling that she was close to vomiting or fainting.

             
I need to focus! Remember what I am here to do. I cannot fall apart now! Remember Flora, Nickolas, and all the others!

              Lexie struggled to her feet, refusing to take Cesare’s hand. “I have questions.”

              “Well, I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment. If your questions are so important then you shouldn’t mind discussing them on my way back to Benton Junction. I’d rather discuss personal matters away from my office, so we can talk at my condo.”

              Lexie clinched her fists. “I’m not going home with you! My questions aren’t that
personal
!”

              “Lex, you interrupted an important meeting. If your questions had to do with official Garland Corporation business, you would have gone to Benton Junction or left an urgent message with my secretary. Only personal questions would involve you following me.”

              “You wouldn’t have return my calls or seen me if I’d done things the
official
way!” argued Lexie. “I don’t want to go through a million people just to ask you a few questions!”

              Cesare reached forward and pressed his palm to Lexie’s injured shoulder. She flinched and backed away, earning a soft chuckle from Cesare. “Your questions are personal, and I gladly would have agreed to see you. Of course, we would have met on my own terms.”

              “You are so—”

              A candlestick flew by Lexie’s face and smashed against the wall, splitting in half like a snapped crayon. She turned swiftly to look behind her and caught sight of Scarlet pacing and muttering.

              “Who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?” Scarlet wailed, pulling at the collar of her blouse. “We killed him! We murdered him!”

              Everyone, with the exception of Lexie, seemed to have momentarily lost the ability to speak, so she quietly asked, “Who?”

              “Mayor Leer,” whispered Scarlet.

              Mayor MacDougal swallowed hard and fixed his eyes on a stray paperclip on the floor. “Honey, have you been self-medicating? This is so unlike you. I thought I told you to wait in the conference room during my meeting. Where did you—”

              “But she knows, she knows!” Scarlet pointed a shaking finger at Bella. “She gave us the medicine to stop his heart! He turned sick, oh so sick!”

              Donna’s mouth dropped open and her face flushed puce. “You killed Dad? Were you promised the position of vice mayor if you helped them?”

              “I never touched him! James and Scarlet did everything! People told me you planned to discredit me in the election so you could run! I thought the MacDougals were going to kill you too!”

              Donna stormed over to Bella and punched her squarely in the face, shattering her nose. Blood dribbled from both nostrils, and bruises were already forming on the center of her face. “You deserve so much worse! Dad would be disappointed! You are a trashy, power-hungry slut!”

A broken nose did not stall the older sister. Bella maneuvered behind Donna and flung her forward against the desk, slamming her head into the hard wood. Donna let out a howl of pain and swiped her arms across the desk, sending office supplies to the floor. She grabbed and clawed at her chest and turned around.

              “What have you done?” shouted Mayor MacDougal.

              The dull end of a letter opener was protruding from Donna’s chest. Her bulbous eyes were so wide that they engulfed half of her face. She sank down to the floor with her back against the desk. Dark red stains bled through her beige shirt.

              “You…selfish…bitch!” Her voice gurgled like a kettle as she gasped and struggled to breathe. Donna fixed her eyes on Bella, and Lexie watched in horror as the spark faded from the blue orbs.

              “The spots are back!” Scarlet screamed and turned to Bella. “I see them on my hands and yours as well. I tell them to go, but they always come back! You are stained! You have dirty hands!”

              Bella was clutching the sides of her face and mouthing something over and over.

              Lexie was trembling.
At least she feels guilty.

              “This isn’t my fault! This isn’t my fault!” Bella’s voice grew louder with each sentence. “This isn’t my fault! This isn’t my fault!”

              Cesare’s face was pale. “Perhaps Vernon Hills is a bad investment.”

              Considering there was a dead woman in the room, no one could argue with him. Scarlet was rocking back and forth while her husband gripped her shoulders. Lexie held onto the door frame, pressing her cheek against the cool paint. Bella stopped yelling, and her eyes darted around the room before halting on Scarlet. A kaleidoscope of emotions—most notably guilt, jealousy, and rage—crossed her face.

              “This is all your fault!” she hissed. “You couldn’t keep your mouth shut!”

              Pity shimmered in Scarlet’s eyes. “Power corrupts, and you were corrupted by power. We all have been cursed by the hunger for power! Perhaps you have a place in the deepest circle of Hell as well.”

              That comment sent Bella over the edge. She ripped the blade out of her sister’s chest and raised it above her head. Blood oozed along the metal office utensil and trickled down her wrist as though it were a swollen vein.

              “You and your husband are the only ones who deserve a place in Hell!” Bella yelled, charging at Scarlet.

              “Stay away from her!” bellowed Mayor MacDougal. He quickly pushed Scarlet behind him. The unhinged woman stumbled and grabbed Lexie for support.

              Bella, eyes fixed on Scarlet, tried to dodge by the mayor. Lexie choked back a shout and loosened her hold on the door frame. She tried to move, but Scarlet’s grip on her shoulders was too tight.

              “Let me go! We need to move!” begged Lexie while staring at the fuming Leer sister.

              Bella shifted the pointed piece of metal between her hands before gripping the hilt and measuring the distance between herself and Scarlet. Lexie screamed when she realized Bella intended to throw the letter opener.

Her scream caused the mayor to jump. He snatched at Bella’s arm with both hands and failed to grab it. Bella bared her teeth and refocused on Scarlet, but Mayor MacDougal spit in her face and seized the weapon. He shouted and opened his hand to reveal deep, red slices where the blade had pierced his palm and fingertips.

The room suddenly became very still, and all eyes were fixed on Mayor MacDougal. The letter opener clattered to the floor, and he shifted his foot so he was standing on it. He stared at his cut hand with a mixture of fascination and horror. His mouth opened as he turned his hand back and forth before his face.

              “Blood will have blood,” he murmured as he dipped his finger into the blood pooling in his palm. The man ran his finger along the side of his hand as though he were doing nothing more than finger painting. “Just like in the dreams.”

              Lexie’s mind flashed back to Mayor MacDougal’s therapy session with Dr. Lindegaard. She remembered him describing how his nightmares always ended with him saying those haunting words.

             
He also said two of the witches looked like Bella and Donna Leer. He killed both of them in the nightmares. Will he kill Bella?

              Lexie doubted that the slicing of a hand fulfilled the words “blood will have blood.” There was no way a few drops of blood would pay for murder. She wondered how many people in that room would shed blood for evil deeds committed in the past.

              “That’s right!” Bella shouted. “Blood
will
have blood!”

              She attempted to charge through Mayor MacDougal, but the man continued to block her path. Their struggle looked like a morbid dance as they clashed to and fro. Lexie wiggled out of Scarlet’s grasp and gently tried to push the disturbed woman out of the room.

Perhaps Bella will calm down if Scarlet is out of sight.

              Unfortunately, Scarlet only made it a few steps before turning and shouting about red spots and Hell. There was a loud thump, and Lexie saw the mayor lying on the floor. He was breathing deeply, and his peppery hair was covered with so much sweat that he looked like he had just stepped out of a shower.

              “James!” Scarlet called out her husband’s name as she stared into the room. “James!”

              Scarlet’s bloodshot eyes flickered to Lexie’s face, and then she tangled her fingers in the fabric of Lexie’s shirt. Lexie’s protests died in her throat when Scarlet dragged her deeper into the room.

              “James! James!”

              “Bella is going to kill you!” Lexie frantically explained. “You can’t go back! It’s too dangerous! Let me call the police! They can help before anyone else gets hurt!”

              “No, they can’t!” Bella snarled.

              The last remaining Leer sister was standing inches away from Lexie and Scarlet. Bella’s arms looped around Lexie’s waist, and she threw her to the floor.

             
How is it that I always end up on the ground?

             
Hoping to trip Bella, Lexie latched onto her leg. The woman caught herself on the door frame, her bloodied nose leaving red smears on the white paint. She muttered something in a low voice that was so garbled Lexie couldn’t make out what she was saying. Moments later, Bella slammed her knee into the side of Lexie’s face.

              “Damn it!” Lexie clutched at her head.

              “Yes, yes, everyone here is damned!” Scarlet exclaimed.

              Bella grabbed Scarlet by her hair and pulled as hard as she could. The woman let herself be dragged and did not seem to realize the danger she was in.

              “You never should have opened your mouth!” spat the Leer sister. “We could have kept our dirty secret between us! Look at what you’ve done!” Bella gestured at Donna’s body.

              Scarlet shook her head. “The blood of your sister is on your own hands. I see the spots now.”

              There was no hesitation or pity in Bella’s eyes as she lowered her hands to Scarlet’s face and snapped her neck. The crack sent chills through Lexie, and she could not stop the scream that escaped her mouth. One of Scarlet’s black shoes came off her foot and landed by the mayor’s head when her limp body hit the floor. Lexie scooted away from the bodies, bumping into something long and lean. Her eyes travelled upward only for her to discover she was leaning against Cesare’s legs. But Lexie was too weak to even attempt to move. A look of shock was plastered on his face, and he clutched his phone so tightly that the bones of his knuckles were visible through his skin.

             
Mayor MacDougal turned his head to stare at Scarlet. Tears filled his eyes and tremors shook his body as he sobbed for his dead wife. He mouthed her name over and over before covering his face and howling in anguish. Then he went very still, and Lexie realized that he had fainted.

             
I hope he stays alive!
The plea flickered through Lexie’s mind as she watched Bella’s eyes shift around the office.

              “I’m going to kill you too!” Bella stood by the mayor’s head with her hands on her hips. “You don’t deserve to live!”

              “He can face a judge and jury for his crimes. Is there any reason more blood needs to be shed today?” Cesare’s voice was tense and clipped, a sign that he was very uncomfortable.

              Bella spun to face Cesare. “This is what needs to be done! This is justice!”

              “Then Lady Justice must be blinder than I thought,” Lexie muttered, her eyes darting to the painting of the blindfolded woman behind the desk.

              Lexie slid backward when Cesare walked around her. She shuffled around on the floor until she was leaning against the wall. Lexie closed her eyes and breathed in deeply for a moment.

             
I just wanted to ask about a magical key. Instead I get thrown into a bloodbath!

              Bella paced from the unconscious mayor to her dead sister. She turned away from Cesare and stared down at the floor, the muscles tightening in Bella’s bony shoulders. Bella leaned forward until her torso was balancing over the desk. The room remained silent with the exception of Cesare sending another text message.