Black Water Creek (19 page)

Chapter
36

“I’m gonna grab a burger and fries down at the Ice Shanty,” Paul said. He did a quick check to make sure no customers were close by before he wrapped his arms around Kelly’s waist and kissed the back of her neck. “Want me to bring you back something?”

“I can’t understand why you
don’t weight five hundred pounds with all that crap you eat.”

“Yeah, but it’s good crap. So you want some of it or not,
Picky?”

Kelly spun around and put her arms around his neck. “Chili dog. Extra cheese.”

“Hypocrite.” Paul glanced at the classifieds on the counter. “Find anything yet?”

Kelly sighed and picked up the paper. “Nothing. There hasn’t been a decent apartment listed in over a month.”

“My offer still stands, you know. That second bedroom in my condo would look great with all of Keegan’s toys in it. And you in my bed.”

“I have been thinking about it. But…I don’t know, it still scares me a little, I guess. It’s a big step.”

“I thought the guy was supposed to be the one afraid of commitment.” Paul gave her a half smile.

“Well, I do my best thinking when I’m shoving a chilidog in my face
, so get cracking.”

Paul gave her a salute before heading to the door. Now wasn’t the best time to tell him, but

Kelly actually did decide to move in with him. Despite being a little nervous, it felt like the right thing to do. She may have been confused about a lot of things in her life but she was positive of one thing. She loved Paul and wanted to share her life and her son with him. She couldn’t wait to surprise him tonight over dinner and accept his offer.

“Excuse me?”

Kelly twirled around, surprised to see two women standing at the counter. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you come in. How can I help you?”

“The young lady at the front of the stor
e said your name is Kelly Raney. Is that right?”

With all the press and police over the last couple of months Kelly was no stranger to meeting strangers
, but these two were different. The woman talking looked like an ordinary middle aged housewife and the other one had to be at least eighty years old. Not exactly the reporter type, either of them.

“Yes, I’m Kelly.”

The younger woman held out her hand. “My name is Nancy Simmons and this is my mother, Bethany Taylor.”

Kelly shook the older woman’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Taylor is my married name. My maiden name is Bethany McDole. If what all the news stories said were true, my sister Elizabeth was one of the girls found in your basement.”

Kelly’s mouth hung open and she realized she was still holding onto Bethany’s hand. “I…I don’t know what to say!” She pointed to the corner of the shop where a few chairs for reading were set up. “Please,
have a seat.”

“Thank you, Kelly
,” Bethany said. “We’re on our way to a family wedding this weekend and we decided to side track for a couple of hours to stop by the town and hoped to talk to you. I haven’t been in Black Water Creek for close to forty years now.”

“Would you like some water or maybe a cup of coffee?” Kelly asked.

“That’s very kind of you but we can’t stay long,” Nancy said. “Mom, I’m going to browse around a little bit. Let me know when you’re ready.”

“Alright, dear.”

“So, Elizabeth was your sister.” Kelly said. “To tell you the truth, it all happened so long ago it never occurred to me that any relatives of the victims would still be alive.” Kelly put her hand over her mouth and blushed. “That sounded really bad.”

Bethany laughed and Kelly’s embarrassment
quickly faded. Bethany had soft kind eyes and Kelly felt completely at ease sitting across from her. “I’ll be the first person to admit I’m old, dear,” Bethany chuckled. “I’m eighty-eight, for Pete’s sake. I was just a year old when Elizabeth disappeared. I grew up knowing her just by the few family photos we’d had in the house. Whenever I asked my parents what happened to her, their faces would fall, never quite sure what to tell me. I think for years they couldn’t decide themselves. I don’t know if my mother ever truly accepted the possibility that Elizabeth was dead. She went to her grave believing my sister was out there somewhere and that one day she’d return to us.”

Kelly slowly shook her head. “That’s just terrible. As a mother myself I just can’t image what it must be like to lose a child. I mean, a death is one thing, but to never know…”

Bethany leaned forward and placed her hand on Kelly’s knee. “Now I do know. And for that I want to thank you. It was a terrible thing that happened to my sister and our family and I’m sorry my parents were never able to find closure. But at least I can.”

Kelly gently grabbed Bethany’s boney hand and squeezed. “I’m glad.”

“Tell me, Kelly. Is it true what they say? That you learned of the murders in a dream as if the spirits of those girls were trying to reach out to you?”

Kelly nodded. “I have no doubt in my mind
that’s what happened. As a matter of fact…” Kelly rubbed her hands together and studied them before looking up to Bethany. “A few of my dreams directly involved your sister. I was…” She frowned and shook her head. “I was Elizabeth in my dreams. In her body, reliving the past. I don’t know, I still have a hard time grasping what happened to this day. Some of the memories are a little fuzzy and it can be frustrating.”

Bethany looked at the floor, absorbing what Kelly had told her but not responding
for a moment. Eventually, she looked up and looked over the book cases surrounding them. “Seems to me, you have quite a story to tell, Miss Raney,” she winked. “If I were you, I wouldn’t let it go to waste. Stories are meant to be shared.” Bethany rose from her chair and turned to her daughter. “Come on, dear. We still have quite a drive ahead of us.”

Kelly walked them to the door, said goodbye, and watched a
s Nancy’s car pulled out into the street and drove off. She thought about what Bethany had said. A story to tell.

Chapter
37

Kelly sat back and stretched, rubbed her eyes, and glanced at the clock. Somehow 10:30 had morphed into almost 2:00. She looked over at the couch and smiled at Paul, head back, mouth open and lightly snoring. Keegan was curled up next to him. She really should wake them both and get them to bed. In a few minutes.

Her
fingers went back to the keyboard and she squinted at the monitor, anxious to get everything out as if it would all disappear the next day when she sat down to try and write again. Earlier that night she’d had dinner with Paul as planned and accepted his offer to move in. Afterwards she sat down at his computer, planning to write down a few notes, and before she knew it, 5000 words had slipped out.

Paul and Keegan put in a movie while Kelly kept typing
. 5000 turned into 10,000. She wrote as much as she could remember about all her dreams and experiences in the cottage, her quick research in the library, her conversations with Mrs.
MacAuley
, everything. At 3:00 she finally forced herself to stop for the night.

*****

Kelly kept writing in her spare time and returned to the library to try and find more newspaper articles and information about Hoskins’ victims. The librarian suggested she contact the county historical society. A man by the name of Matt Lee who ran the society was thrilled to hear from Kelly. He told her he’d actually tried contacting her several times shortly after the Hoskins’ murders made the news but never heard from her. Kelly apologized for assuming he was just another reporter at the time and not calling him back.

With Matt’s help, Kelly uncovered a wealth of information not just
about some of the victims and Hoskins but also about what Black Water Creek was like back in those days. Matt read over what Kelly had written so far and was impressed with the quality of her work. It was his opinion that Kelly could turn what she’d written into a fascinating book and get it published.

Despite all the time she’d put into it, it never really occurred to Kelly to write a book about her experiences.
Up until that point it was just a journal for her and she enjoyed the therapeutic effect writing had on her.

She started over from the beginning using what she’d written so far as a guide and within a couple of months she had a finished manuscript with a title to go with it.
The Black Water Creek Killer
. Kelly wrote it as a mix of fiction and non-fiction, taking artistic license describing the events that happened based on her research and dreams.

Her friends read the manuscript, provided feedback, and checked for typos. Kelly used some of the money she’d set aside for an apartment to hire an editor and cover designer. She self-published the final product on Amazon
just in time for Christmas.

*****

Kelly re-paid Matt for his help with the book by assisting him to convince Ed and Sue to donate the cottage to the historical society. Matt had a plan of returning the cottage to its original condition, complete with period furnishings and decorations, and open it as a museum. With public access to the basement cells, of course.

Ed agreed and helped with the fund raising and restoration efforts. That spring he finally decided to retire from the auto
repair business and sold the shop to Cheryl. With extra time on his hands, Matt and the historical society board asked Ed to be the museum curator and caretaker. He accepted.

The museum was an instant hit, drawing
visitors from miles around. It gained nationwide attention when the stars from the popular cable show, “Ghost Squad,” spent the night there for an episode with their high-tech equipment. They attempted to contact the spirit of Harlan Hoskins and his victims.

To Matt and Ed, most of the “evidence” they captured on the show wasn’t much more than organized audio static or dust bunnies captured on tape
, but it still made for entertaining TV. That episode put the museum on the map and ghost hunting enthusiasts from around the country made Black Water Creek a popular destination.

*****

The popularity of the Ghost Squad episode and the museum helped to boost Kelly’s book sales as more people took interest in the Hoskins murders. Her sales took off and
The Black Water Creek Killer
broke the top 100 list on Amazon and stayed there for months.

It didn’t take long for Kelly to start getting courted by literary agents and requests for interviews. This time as an accomplished self-published author.
She sold the rights for a television documentary based on her book and shortly after, her agent had several offers on the table for motion pictures based on the novel.

Later that year, Random House and Penguin Publishing both offered Kelly
six figure publishing deals. She politely declined, not seeing a reason for their services since she was already making that kind of money on her own.

Chapter
38

“Oh my God, I think I’m going to throw up.”

Tammy gently grabbed
Kelly by the shoulders. “Now you listen to me. You’re not going to throw up. You’re going to calm down, and everything is going to be fine.”

Kelly waved her hands
in front of her face and took a deep breath. “You’re right. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. I spoke in front of a packed auditorium last weekend and barely broke a sweat.”

“Hey,” Tammy said. “A room of book geeks is one thing, a
full church watching you tie the knot is another. Trust me, if I was up there I’d be yakking my guts out right now.”

Kelly laughed
. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too, kid.” Tammy stood next to Kelly in the mirror and put her arm around her. “I clean up pretty decent once I get off the sauce, huh?”

“The prettiest Maid of Honor I’ve ever seen.”

Tammy poke
d Kelly in the ribs. “Hey, speaking of pretty, what do you think about Paul’s cousin, Tim? Not too shabby, huh?”

Kelly rolled her eyes. “You never stop, do you? Just do me a favor and try to keep your hands off him until the reception okay?”

“No promises!” Tammy headed for the door just as Cheryl poked her head in.

“Knock
knock!” She stepped aside and revealed Keegan in his tuxedo. “Somebody wanted a chance to kiss the bride to be.”

“Oh my goodness, don’t you look handsome?” Kelly beamed.

Keegan frowned and tugged at his collar. “I’m itchy.”

“I’m sorry, buddy.” Kelly tried to squat down to her son’s level but her dress wouldn’t have it. She leaned ov
er as far as she could instead.

“Remember, you have a very important job to do. You get to take the rings up to the alter so Paul and I can get married
. And an important job needs a fancy uniform.”

Keegan mulled it over and looked down at his tux. “It’s not a uniform like an army guy, it’s just a suit.”

Cheryl busted out laughing. “At least we’re not making you wear a dress. Uh oh, speaking of dress…”

Cheryl’s four year old daughter Ashley came running
down the hall. “Mommy, it’s time!”

“Okay you two.” Cheryl took Keegan’s hand. “Ring bearer and flower girl are up! Let’s go.”

“Bye sweetie, I’ll see you soon.” Kelly waved at her son before Ashley grabbed his other hand and yanked him out of the room.

Kelly had just a few seconds of silence and another chance to obsess in the mirror before another knock. Ed stood in the doorway and whistled. “Wow, you look beautiful, Kelly.”

She glanced down at her dress and flattened the front with her sweaty hands. “Thanks, Ed. You’re looking pretty dapper yourself.”

He walked into the room and reached into the breast pocket of his tux. “I know we don’t have much time but I wanted to give you a little something since we have a minute alone.” He pulled out a small white box and handed it to Kelly.

“Oh Ed. I don’t know what to say.” She carefully lifted the diamond necklace from the box and held it up in the light.

“It’s been in my family for years,” Ed said. “Belonged to my grandmother who gave it to my mom. Since I don’t have any sister
s, she gave it to me before she died. Sue never felt comfortable enough to wear it. Too fancy for her tastes, I guess.”

“Ed, I can’t take this. It’s
a family heirloom and must be worth a fortune.”

“You’re right on both counts. In case you haven’t noticed
, you are a part of this family. You have been since day one.”

Kelly waved at her face. “Don’t make me cry Ed, my makeup took hours this morning.” She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. “Thank you so much. For everything.”

Ed held out his hand. “I can hold onto that until after the wedding so it’s safe.”

“Nothing doing.” Kelly unclasped the pearl necklace she was wearing and put it on the counter. She turned around and held the diamond necklace up. “I would be honored to walk down the aisle wearing this.”

Ed clasped it for her. “Well, I supposed it’s time. They’re waiting for us, you know.”

Kelly stood at the rear of the church, holding on to Ed’s arm by her side. She watched as the bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the aisle. She took great joy in the faces of the guests as they watched Keegan and Ashley lead the procession.

The church was beautifully decorated, the weather outside was perfect, and most importantly, the man she loved stood at the alter waiting for her. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, and to just enjoy
it.

At that moment, it hit Kelly how truly blessed she was and the incredible turn her life had taken just a short time ago. The memory of her fight with Don that morning her and Keegan took off was so fresh it seemed like it just happened yesterday.
It was hard to believe the dramatic chain of events that followed all because her crummy little car broke down a few miles from where she now stood.

A hush fell over the church before the pianist started playing “Here
Comes the Bride.” It seemed most modern brides found the old tune corny and chose a different song to play as they walked the aisle. To Kelly, it felt old fashioned and right. All the guests turned to the rear of the church, all eyes on her and Ed.

He squeezed her arm and smiled. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

They walked forward.