“For money, lover.” She kept a steady eye on us as she dialed her cell phone. “Johnny? I have a problem in the forest. I need help.” She finished her call and put the phone in her pocket.
“Let me understand this,” Robin elaborated. “Not only have you killed two men, you’ve been seeing this bookie?”
“You shouldn’t be surprised.” She advanced into the room and took a seat on the bed, crossing her legs. “Or maybe you should since you have no idea what I’m all about anymore.”
“Marion,” he appealed.
“Shut up!” She threw a pair of pantyhose at him. “Tie her up, Robin.”
“Marion.” It was my turn to reason with her. “We’re in the middle of Sherwood Forest. People come in and out of here all the time. Chase will come and look for me when he can’t find me.”
“Thanks for reminding me. Gag her too, Robin.” She tossed him a scarf. “And then we’ll tell your precious Merry Men to close the forest off for the day and leave.”
That sounded like a plan I wasn’t going to like. Robin had already bound my feet and hands together. He tied the scarf around my mouth, and whispered in my ear. “Don’t worry, Jessie. I’ll take care of this outside.”
“A little love talk?” Marion laughed. “Seriously, Jessie? You have Chase. Why do you want Robin too?”
It was too late for me to answer. I was on the floor in Sofie’s bedroom, tied and helpless. I couldn’t even scream for Tony, who was somewhere right below us.
Robin and Marion left me there. I could hear Robin yelling for the men to close off Sherwood.
The awful part about it was that no one was going to question it. Visitors might complain, but that would take a while to filter down to Chase. Sherwood Forest closed once in a while for repairs, or when a tree fell on the path. Unless they asked for help with a situation, Chase left them alone. That was going to be a bad precedent for me this time.
“Having a bit of fun, are we?” Wanda was sitting on the bed beside me. “Who knew you did this sort of thing? I’m sure Chase would be surprised. You’re very tame with him. You might want to break out this wild side occasionally. It might help you keep him.”
I mumbled through my gag. Was there some way I could provoke her to help me? Could she remove the gag or the pantyhose if she tried?
It seemed as though most of her ghostly powers were directed toward scaring people, although she somehow put the goat on the elephant’s back, and levitated objects and people at the Field of Honor—including me.
But either she didn’t want to help or she was ignoring me.
Marion returned with Robin at her side, her gun shoved into his back. “Good work, lover. Now get down there with Jessie. Johnny will know what to do when he gets here.”
“Oh! A threesome!” Wanda laughed. “I’m staying ringside for this!”
Robin winked at me. I knew he had something in mind. Maybe when Marion got close to tie him—he planned to take her out.
Marion may have anticipated that move. She only got close enough to him to use the butt end of the gun on his head. He slumped on the floor beside me. She got another pair of pantyhose to tie him up, and a wool hat that she shoved into his mouth.
Wanda watched. “It looks like I was wrong. Goldilocks has other plans for you and Robin Hood, doesn’t she? How fascinating! I wonder if the Bailiff will come to your rescue in time.”
“Now you two stay right here.” Marion smiled and patted Robin’s head. “I’m sorry this had to happen, Jessie. I was so looking forward to your wedding. I probably can’t return my new dress for that either. What a waste!”
I glared at her, but there was only so much you can do without speaking or moving.
“Of course, poor Chase will be in dire straits, won’t he? Maybe I can console him. We’ll see. I’ll be back in a little while.”
What could I do? Robin was no help. He’d already ordered Sherwood Forest to be closed. The chances of Chase coming to see what was wrong were so miniscule. Marion’s bookie boyfriend, who’d obviously paid her well to kill Dave, was on his way.
I figured Bob was probably a freebie. Marion was afraid he’d recognized her after he’d seen her silhouette. She was willing to let someone else take the fall for being that archer too. How desperate to be famous could someone be?
“I always knew snooping around that way was going to get you into trouble, Jessie.” Wanda’s words of wisdom were uttered with a sigh. “And here you are, right before your wedding, about to meet your maker. Perhaps you and I can be chums, eh? I’d like that, I suppose.”