The Night Is Forever

give me some space. I’m going to follow the trail to the campground.”

He galloped out of the stable on Chapparal and across the pastures.

If you were crazy and thought you had some kind of divine right to a piece of land—as well as the hereditary right to speak to a ghost—where would you go?

A cemetery.

* * *

“Here’s what I don’t understand,” Olivia said. “You’re a good therapist, Mariah. And I always thought you loved what you did.”

“I’m an okay therapist,” Mariah told her. “You’re the great lover of the downtrodden, confused and drug- addicted. And, oh, yeah, they love you, too. You should see the disappointment on their faces when they find out they’re with Mason or me for the day. Now, what I am is a great historian. I can tell you everything about the occupation of Nashville. I can describe every Civil War battle in this state—oh, and I can tell you anything you want to know about Andrew Jackson.”

“I grew up in Nashville,” Olivia reminded her. She felt the gun inside her shirt and wondered if and when she’d get a chance to use it. During the ride they’d taken so far—running the horses hard most of the way—she’d had no opportunity.

Mariah was a good storyteller. She was also a skilled horsewoman. The entire way—gallop, trot, canter and walk—Mariah had kept the gun on her.

And Mariah knew a lot about marksmanship; she’d proven that.

“Yes, you grew up in Nashville. And your good-looking cousin is with the FBI. And you have a great house from your uncle, so naturally you just have to inherit another house from Marcus. And, of course, an agent comes out here with drop-dead looks and of course he immediately falls for you while... Never mind.”

“What do you mean, never mind?”

“Don’t pull any therapist bull on me, Olivia. You can’t analyze an analyzer.”

“Isn’t it more like you can’t con a con artist?” Olivia asked.

“Whatever. Give it up.”

“Okay. I take it you plan on killing me, although that’s pretty dumb. They’ll know it’s you.”

“They arrested Sandra Cheever.”

“And you think she’ll go down alone?”

“I’ll call her a liar. She had the motive. She was the one sleeping with Aaron.”

“But she’s in custody now, Mariah. She couldn’t have done this. People will arrive at the Horse Farm. They’ll find all the bodies you left strewn around—and they’ll realize I’m missing.”

“No one saw me. There are dozens of other people who might have done this,” Mariah said.

“You’re crazy. Aaron’s dead. Drew and Sydney are half-dead. Sandra is in custody and—”

“Mason is out there somewhere and, God knows, I’d implicate that crazy old broad at the cafe.”

“Key words, Mariah—crazy old broad at the cafe. She’s always working, always surrounded by witnesses. When could she have done any of this? But the point is, if you’re going to kill me... What started all this? Marcus was good to everyone. Why did you kill him?”

“I looked it up, Olivia. My great-great-great-grandfather was born on this land. I’m entitled to it. The Horse Farm had to fail.”

“So you could buy it?” Olivia asked incredulously.

“It’s really my land. I have the right to it. I shouldn’t even have to buy it—but I will.”

“It was Marcus’s family land—that’s how he got it,” Olivia said.

“Yeah, well, I went on one of those ancestry sites. And it led me back a bunch of generations. My great- great-whatever was Marcus’s great-whatever’s brother, which means I have just as much right to the land as he did. And then I wouldn’t have to be a so-so therapist. I’d get to be a great hostess for a haunted bed-and- breakfast, and every night I’d give history and ghost tours.”

“You’re crazy.”

“No.” She shook her head. “It should have been so simple. Everyone should just have said, oh, how sad. Marcus Danby became a heroin-whore again and it proves that the whole therapy thing was a pile of bullshit. It would’ve been simple as hell.”

Simple? The murder had been simple?

“But no...you wouldn’t believe it. You dragged in the law, and then when the law here realized that yes, addicts do fall back, you just had to call your cousin. You know, I was onto you—I knew as soon I saw Mr. Handsome Federal Agent walk in that you’d pulled some strings. Yeah, he needed therapy, my ass!”

“Sandra was in on it, though, right?” Olivia said. “I mean, you needed help, didn’t you?”

“Sandra is an idiot!” Mariah snapped. “She wanted Marcus out of the way because she wanted Aaron running the place. She wanted Marcus’s house, and she wanted Aaron in charge, and she wanted a raise. After that, she wanted the two of them to play house forever and ever. But then, when everything seemed to be coming together once Marcus was dead, it looked like the Horse Farm was going to survive! And Aaron was a jerk—”

“But Sandra just let you kill him?”

Mariah sighed. “Sandra might have been a bad choice as a helper—although she should’ve been good. She can be such a bitch, but she’s really a total coward. And dumb! She actually thought what happened at the stream was an accident! I set up the image of the general so I could get all excited and create a diversion before Aaron was found. She didn’t help me. She didn’t even know. I didn’t count on the ripped-up pieces of that cow being all over—they really did make me scream. And it meant I could leave the picture behind, which made everything that much more convincing.”

Olivia stared at her. It was almost impossible to fathom the complexity of a deranged mind. The old cliche about method in madness occurred to her. “What...what about the darts?” she asked. “How did you come up with that?”

“Olivia, I have to tell you—the dart thing is just great. I make those little suckers myself. I add the tiny feathers and then they fly like a damn. They fall out at the slightest movement, which is another plus, and the concoction I put together is pretty impressive. You’d have to be looking for specific poisons to even hope to find them at autopsy. I learned all that from Drew and Sydney, by the way. They know how to mix stuff up because Marcus insisted they had to be prepared for animal emergencies at all times.”

“Good to hear you’re such a wonderful student,” Olivia told her. “So, Sandra didn’t know you were going to kill Aaron—but she gave you the key to his place, anyway?”

Mariah didn’t answer.

“She didn’t give you the key, did she? You took it and had a copy made.”

“I did that months ago,” Mariah said proudly.

“So, Sandra’s really innocent?” Olivia asked.

“No. Sandra innocent? Give me a break. She’s totally conniving. She knew what I was going to do to Marcus. In fact, she told me that if I wanted to make it look like someone else was involved, I should take his horse—or hers. Depending on who I wanted to implicate.” She giggled. “I would’ve taken Shiloh, but you were riding him that day. As far as Sandra’s concerned—well, if this bit her in the butt, she deserved it.”

Olivia reined in and turned around. “Where are we going?”

“Don’t you know yet?”

“No, I don’t.”

Mariah smiled at her. “There’s something I want from you—before you die, of course.”

“What’s that?”

“I want to see the general.”

Olivia gaped at her.

“I know you’ve seen him. I should have that. And you can give it to me.”

“Mariah, I’m trying to stay alive here, but—”

“Then don’t lie.”

“Ghosts were people, Mariah. They remain the real essence of the person they were.”

“Spiritual crap, Olivia. Keep at it.”