A Wonder Springs Cozy Mystery Omnibus: Books 1, 2 & 3

by B. T. Alive

  “What?” Jamie said. “What are you talking about?”

  Grandma’s eyes narrowed to slits.

  Chapter 42

  “I’m going to buy your property, Ms. Graves,” said Grandma. “The house, the orchard, everything. Today.”

  “You are crazy,” Jamie said. “I’m in no position to talk about real estate! My aunt was murdered this morning. Her basement had a secret door with a tunnel—”

  “What did that nincompoop David Sky bid you?” Grandma said.

  Jamie hesitated, darting glances at the rest of us around the room. With me, Cade, Tina, Imelda, and Grandma, the small space was definitely approaching maximum occupancy.

  Then Jamie said a price. I won’t even tell you what it was, because it was truly, truly outrageous. Like, you could probably buy Connecticut for less.

  Grandma gave Tina a pointed glance.

  Tina shook her head.

  “Okay, okay!” Jamie said. She said a number that was much, much lower. But still an offense to human decency.

  “I will say this once,” Grandma said. “I’ll give you that, plus an extra twenty percent.”

  A slight dizziness seized me. That “extra twenty percent” would have taken me years to earn. I tried to imagine flinging around huge chunks of human life with such ease.

  Jamie gasped. “Why would you ever do that?”

  “Because life is short,” Grandma said. “And I want to minimize how much time I spend with you.”

  Jamie stiffened. “I see,” she said. “Well, I have had other offers—”

  “Make that ten percent.”

  “Wait, wait—”

  “Nine,” Grandma said.

  “Okay, okay! Done! I’ll take it!”

  Grandma smiled. She clasped Jamie’s hand with a single, icy shake.

  “We’ll go over and see Ambrose James at once,” Grandma said. “I’ve already had him draw up the papers.”

  “It’s a crappy old house and a stupid orchard!” Jamie snapped. “What do you even want it for?”

  “My friends have had their eye on it for quite some time,” Grandma said, her Southern drawl growing lazy and positively luxurious. “We have many small businesses here in Wonder Springs, and the more successful among them are eager to expand. I know them all personally… Frannie, Natisha, Elaine…”

  She turned toward Cade, who was taking all this with a somber, yet stoic, air.

  Grandma tried to look stoic herself… but then a smile seemed to escape her, all on its own, and her eyes went bright.

  “And I also think it’s high time that orchard went public,” she said.

  Cade gaped. “Public? What do you mean?”

  “I mean an actual business,” she said. “A pick-your-own orchard will be a huge value add for the entire town, and you’ll have a constant stream of tourists through the whole growing season.”

  “Me?” Cade said.

  “Not as a gift,” she snapped. “You’ve got to earn this, young man, and you’ve got a lot to learn. I can offer you a one year trial period as the business manager, and most of your salary will be a percentage of the profits. No more guaranteed payouts from a ‘business’ bleeding cash. If you really love those trees, you’re going to have to prove it, and learn all the same nitty-gritty boring business details that the rest of us do to keep the lights on. Understood?”

  Cade was grinning so wide I thought his ears might pop off. “Yes, Grandma. Thank you.”

  “One year,” she said, wagging a finger. “If I were you, I’d get some help.”

  “Like a master saleswoman, maybe?” he said, giving me a smile that was pretty much deliriously happy.

  Oh, that smile. One of these days, I was going to float away.

  “Maybe,” I said, with an elaborate shrug. “Depends on the commission.”

  Cade just shone even more.

  But then Tina cut in. “What about all those people who wanted a hospital?”

  “Oh, trust me,” Grandma said. “I do have one other condition—”

  “You can do this later!” Jamie snapped. “I thought you all were trying to catch my relative who wants to kill me! Elaine!”

  “Actually, Harriet,” I said.

  “I’m related to Harriet?” Jamie said. “The hairdresser?”

  “No, no, you’re not related,” I said. “She just wanted your secret family hoard of gold.”

  “What?” Jamie said.

  I frowned at Tina. “Did you not explain all this?”

  “I tried,” Tina said.

  “Right when she first came to?” I said. “Because they can still be really hazy—”

  “What gold? Where?” Jamie said.

  “Relax,” I said. “The police are getting it.”

  “Police?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said a flat, serious voice, which turned out to belong to a state trooper. He was a tall, Hispanic man in his late forties, with the standard gray short-sleeved button-down shirt and pants, and one of those big light police hats that seem to stay on the head by magic. He surveyed our small crowd with a deadpan expression, and then he focused on Grandma. “I was told I would find your sheriff?”

  “Right here,” said Sheriff Jake, who appeared at the doorway in his uniform, utterly casual, as if he’d only stepped out for coffee. “Thanks for coming out, Rafael.” The two men clasped hands in a ritual grip. “Did you find everything?”

  “Not exactly,” said the officer. He flicked a questioning glance around the room, reminding the sheriff that the rest of us were probably not in law enforcement.

  “They’re fine, go ahead,” said Sheriff Jake. “The one in jail’s my son.”

  “Speaking of which…” Cade said.

  The officer raised his eyebrows.

  “Go on!” the sheriff urged him. “He’ll be fine, it’s good for him. Did you find my flares?”

  “We did,” said the officer. “And, as this young woman indicated,” he nodded at Tina, “we did ascertain that there is a body deep in that crevice. It appears to be decades old. It’s going to take a specialist team to get down there.”

  Grandma stifled a small gasp. “Sandra?” she said. She gave the sheriff a questioning look.

  He nodded. “I think you’ll find it’s the previous owner of the house,” he told the officer. “Sandra Graves.”

  “Thanks for the tip.” The officer’s impassive face twitched into the tiniest hint of a frown. “What we did not find, however, was a woman matching the description we were given.”

  “Harriet?” I said. “She’s gone?”

  The officer cleared his throat. “Nor did we locate any, eh… coffin stocked with precious metals.”

  “That’s gone?” I said. “The entire thing? That’s impossible! That thing must have literally weighed a ton! She could never have gotten that out of there!”

  “Not by herself,” said Grandma, quietly.

  She looked so grim that I tingled with dread. And the dread brought me back to feeling trapped in that crawl tunnel… the attack… wait.

  What if Malice Alice hadn’t only “found” me in there to torture me? What if she’d somehow been able to use me to find the way right to that exact spot… to the Graves gold?

  Harriet had said that there was a secret tunnel entrance somewhere out in the woods. What if that entrance was outside the Shield that protected us from psychics like Enoch? What if Malice Alice and Enoch and whoever else they wanted had been able to sneak in through the tunnels, underneath the Shield… and make off with Harriet and that entire massive coffin?

  If so, that meant that Great-Uncle Vincent had just filled his war chest with many, many millions. For his future attacks. On us.

  Not to mention that he’d probably recruited Harriet, a powerful new psychic who could read minds.

  Fantastic.

  Relax, I thought. That’s just one hypothesis.

  “So that’s it? That’s all you found?” said Sheriff Jake. “An empty space and the crevice
with the skeleton?”

  “No,” said the officer. “Is anyone here named Summer?”

  “Me,” I said. “Why?”

  For the first time, the officer studied my face. His own face revealed nothing of his reaction; he might as well have been wearing those huge mirror sunglasses. “Do you recognize this handwriting?”

  He handed me a small, square, gray card that seemed to absorb the light like an overcast sky. In thick block letters was written:

  SUMMER.

  I flipped it. The back read:

  IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN.

  UNTIL IT IS.

  “Crud,” I muttered. Hypothesis confirmed.

  My mind flashed to Enoch, leaning into David’s sports car to touch me, his warm fingertips scratching my cheek… Summer, you must learn.

  “Miss?” said the officer. “Does that mean anything to you?”

  “It does,” I said. “I’ve got to step up my training.” I met Grandma’s eye. “Now.”

  Chapter 43

  Several weeks later, in the late summer, came the grand opening of the new orchard. We pulled everything together just in time for people to be able to pick the peaches.

  That morning, I should have been excited, and I was, but I was even more excited about… something else. A huge breakthrough. And this time, I was determined to tell Cade.

  So, after breakfast (both mine and Mr. Charm’s), I scooped up my comfy Ragdoll cat and walked with the stream of excited locals and tourists down the path to the new public orchard. I’d walked among these beautiful trees so many times before, but only by myself or with Cade. Now, almost every tree had an excited cluster of visitors, chatting and laughing and exclaiming with delight.

  “I recognize so many faces, Charm,” I murmured, pressing his warmth a little closer. “They’re so happy.”

  Mr. Charm purred.

  “Sure, I am too,” I said. “But you need to help me find Cade.”

  I scanned the crowd.

  I saw Uncle Barnaby and Aunt Helen, the night owls out in daylight for once, strolling down an orchard row and trying to look normal. Uncle Barnaby had at least ditched his wizard hat, but he’d opted to layer the robe, open, over a T-shirt and baggy shorts, as a kind of casual “summer trench coat”. The effect was unfortunate.

  Uncle Denny (who is Aunt Helen’s husband, Tina’s dad, and this total sweetheart with a rumpled mustache and a perpetual smile) was bustling along beside his wife, eagerly filling a basket with peaches. Uncle Denny doesn’t have any superpowers, unless you count whatever it is that makes his wife and kid adore him.

  But where the heck was Cade?

  “Summer! Hi!” hissed a woman in my ear.

  “Elaine!” I answered, startled, but with a friendliness that wasn’t entirely fake. “I see you’re quite the peach enthusiast.”

  “I already picked myself a whole baskets two! I mean, two baskets!” she said. She held up her baskets with open glee.

  I felt a twinge that I’d ever thought this fairly goofy woman could be a murderer. She couldn’t even keep her hair under control. Who knew? Maybe one day we’d even be friends.

  Elaine wasn’t picking alone. She had a whole cluster with her: Natisha, and Frannie, and even the distinguished Ambrose James. All three ladies had purchased lots from Grandma along the orchard’s edge, and they were discussing their exciting plans to expand their stores.

  Frannie favored me with a greeting that was particularly warm. We’d been getting along much better these days, and I couldn’t figure out whether this was because she no longer had to deal with me as an employee, or if she was just being nice to everybody because she and Ambrose were tentatively hanging out. I mean, they weren’t holding hands or anything, but they seemed to be standing closer than mere friends really needed to, and whenever Frannie laughed (and yes, my stingy ex-boss does have a generous, infectious laugh), the old lawyer’s eyes behind his glasses would shine.

  I turned to Natisha. “Hey,” I said. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen Cade?”

  “Hmmm,” she said, with a knowing smile and a glance at the others, as if Cade and I were still some kind of secret. “He’s not hard to find, sweetheart. Most of these tourists are women… just look for the largest crowd.” She nodded over my shoulder.

  I followed her look, and I sighed. Good call, Natisha.

  At the center of a loose swarm of happy, chatting older women whom I mostly didn’t recognize, Cade was deep in conversation. Despite the crowd, he was only actually talking to one person: a heavier lady, in her sixties or seventies, who was bent and clutching his hand as she spoke with vigor.

  Beside them stood Tina. She caught my eye and nodded at me to come over, quick.

  I hustled over, weaving my way through the cloud of ladies in orbit around Cade. As I approached, I could make out what the woman was saying.

  “I keep trying to go off the pain meds,” she said. “But back pain can strike at any time. I can barely stand it right now, to tell you the truth. But I wouldn’t have missed this opening for all the tea in China.”

  “Thank you so much,” Cade said. He was clasping her hand, and he laid his other hand on hers as well, like a friendly extended handshake. He was smiling, and you had to be very familiar with his face to note the subtle signs of strain.

  Behind him, Tina slipped a hand beneath his shirt onto his back.

  “I hope you feel better,” Cade said, his voice a bit tight. “Maybe walking around… a bit of sun… might loosen you up?”

  “I’m afraid not, young man,” she said, impatient. “If it were all that simple, I’d walk ten miles every day. But even right now, while I’m talking to you…”

  She frowned, and she stood straighter.

  It was astonishing how much healthier she looked, just being able to stand at her full height. Like a crooked tree rising straight.

  She pulled her hand away from Cade and felt her back. “Oh my word,” she said. “Oh my word.” Her face was soft and bewildered with wonder.

  “Oh, God,” I whispered. Tears bit my eyes… seriously, this crying thing…

  But I wasn’t only thinking of that lady. Here we all were, gathered in peace and gathering the bounty that was literally sprouting from the branches of the trees. We were surrounded, engulfed in abundance. Earth, sky, trees, companions… enough was always a glance away.

  “The pain!” the woman exclaimed. “It’s gone! How is that possible?”

  “Summer!” Tina said, urgent.

  “Right,” I said. I slipped in between Cade and the surprised woman. “Hi! I’m Summer! So nice to meet you—”

  And I took her hand.

  I didn’t zap her unconscious, of course. Just a light, gentle touch.

  She swayed, and I put a hand on her sleeved shoulder and guided her away from Cade and Tina. She looked dazed at first, but as her eyes cleared, she joined right in with my chatter about the new orchard and Wonder Springs. I got her back to her friends before she realized that she was walking straighter than she probably had in ten years. Then I slipped away.

  Yeah… my new job here was pretty much going to be the best. For now, anyway.

  “Hey,” I said to Cade, when I found him and Tina in the shade, resting on a bench. “You want a break?”

  “You mean, take a break from all this sitting and get up and walk around some more?” he said.

  “Exactly.”

  He made a slightly theatrical sigh, but then he smiled and hopped up.

  Behind his back, Tina winced, clearly picking up my hidden tension. She cocked her head at me, mystified.

  I gave her as reassuring a glance as I could muster.

  At first, Cade and I walked in silence, drifting toward the quiet rows of apple trees. No one else was here, because the small, unripe apples weren’t yet in season. (Once, I’d taken a bite from an apple way too soon; the sourness bit back, and I couldn’t get the coating off my tongue.)

  “What’s on your mind?” Cade said. “Y
ou seem edgy.”

  “Big day,” I said.

  “That it is,” he said. “And this orchard would never have gone public if you hadn’t fried that will. So, thanks.”

  “What?” I said, totally caught off guard. “What are you talking about? If you’d had all that money—”

  “If I’d had all that money, I’d still be hiding away, safe and secret, with all these trees to myself,” Cade said. “And all these people wouldn’t even know what they were missing.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “So… you don’t even want to be rich?”

  Cade shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind. Eventually. I’m just glad it didn’t wreck my life. And if all those millions were the price for knowing you, well…”

  “Okay, okay, stop,” I said, halting beside a gnarled old apple and waving him to stop walking too. A flush of pleasure at the compliment was heating up my cheeks, and right now, I really needed to stay calm. If I didn’t, this whole surprise I had for him might totally backfire.

  “Summer?” Cade said. “What is it?”

  “It’s fine, listen… you know how I’ve been training with my aunt and uncle? Helen and Barnaby?”

  “Um, a little,” he said. He was standing close, closer than he usually let himself. The leaves of the old apple were dappling him with shade, and the air smelled sweet with apple and sun-drenched earth. “But you don’t really say much about it.”

  “They don’t want me to,” I said. “Even to you. But the thing is, I’ve made a lot of progress. It’s all about my power. Controlling it. Staying calm.”

  I could feel the heat breathing off his face, his chest. I took a tiny step toward him, and I lifted my hand.

  “Summer,” he murmured, almost a whisper. “Wait.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I promise.”

  And for the first time ever, I finally took his hand.

  The touch was warm, and smooth, and delicious… I wondered if this was what any woman would feel, touching her man.

  His eyes shone with surprise and happiness. I had never seen him so transcendent.