A Southern Charms Cozy Potluck Box Set

by Bella Falls

  “Oh my stars.” Alison Kate covered her mouth.

  “What did you do that for?” demanded Lee.

  Blythe knocked him upside the head. “Can’t you connect the dots? Tipper drank some of your special moonshine. And shortly after that, he was no longer alive. You know. Gone home. Passed away. Dead, you moron.”

  The ghost of my meeting with my great-uncle haunted my memory. If my current suspicions turned out to be true, then maybe I had a chance at solving things and breaking the curse.

  I pointed at my surprised friend. “Lee, you can’t let anyone touch the moonshine. And you can’t get rid of any of it. Not until it’s been tested.”

  Ben closed his eyes. “Do I need to leave?”

  “Why?” Lee asked.

  “Because I’m both a lawyer and an advocate. If you’re about to reveal something illegal, you’re gonna have to hire me to earn client privilege. Or keep your behind out of jail.”

  Panic filled Lee’s face. “But I’m not the one who makes it. It’s just my Pappy’s still.”

  “And your magic,” I observed.

  “Oh. Right.” Lee kicked a piece of shattered glass on the floor.

  “Who’s the unnamed partner you’re talking about?” Blythe crossed her arms.

  “Um, not sure I should say.” His eyes bounced between Ben and me.

  “Spit it out,” Blythe pushed. “We’ll claim friendship first, and Ben can pretend he’s not a high fallootin’ advocate for two seconds until we decide what to do. Together. Now, who is it, Junior?”

  With a sheepish glance at me, Lee frowned. “It’s Dash.”

  That wolf shifter’s secrets ran deep. Not that I’d had a whole lot of time to mine them from him in the first place. But now, if I went to Mason with my new suspicions about the tainted moonshine, it could jeopardize both Lee and Dash.

  All of us could vouch for my old friend, but who would stand for the wolf outsider? And the last thing I wanted was to pit the detective against a man he barely tolerated.

  Still, the blasted tingling demanded me to follow the current clue to its end. If I wanted a chance to break the curse, I had to take the next step.

  “You really are a Doozy,” I muttered, rubbing my arm and hatching a plan.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What in the world do you think you’re doing, Charli?” Ben watched me from outside the shed door.

  Using the light of the lantern, I scanned the entire space of the other hut. The smell of fermenting mash and strong alcohol filled my nose. Careful not to disturb too much, I searched the place for random stuff lying around, picking up small objects to test them. A book of matches, an old newspaper…nothing possessed the right flavor.

  “If you told me what you were looking for, maybe I could help you,” Lee offered.

  “You need to stay right where you are. You’re in enough hot water as it is,” Ben advised. His volume raised. “And someone else should really get out of there before she disturbs a potential crime scene.”

  “Crime scene?” protested Lee. A heated debate followed, and I shut them out, spotting an item of interest on the floor.

  An old red bandana lay scrunched up and trapped under a wooden crate, long forgotten. Picking it up, I willed my magic to test it. A brief image of the tall and mysterious wolf shifter appeared in my mind. “Gotcha.” I crumpled it up and stuffed it in my pocket.

  Stepping back into the night air, I hid my intentions. “Well, nothing obvious here to incriminate you, Lee. At least from what I could see.” Not that I knew what might be there to be seen in the light of day.

  Lee replaced the chain and lock around the door, and we walked through the woods. Once back at the cars, Ben convinced Lee to go with him to the warden station to establish his side of things first. Lavender insisted that Lily should accompany them for solidarity, flashing her cousin an insistent glare. Alison Kate looked torn, the keys to her car shaking in her hand.

  “I can drive it if you want to go with him, Ali Kat. I’ll drop off Lavender and Blythe first, and then park your car at your place.” And with the use of her vehicle, I could confront the person whose face burned in my brain.

  When I took the keys, Alison Kate thanked me and told me to drive it to her place in the morning. Ben helped Blythe get her bike into the trunk as she jumped in the front seat while Lavender climbed in the back seat.

  Ben ran his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath. “Can’t say I was prepared for things to go so sideways as soon as I returned to Honeysuckle.”

  I smirked. “Join the club. You think he’ll be okay?”

  “I don’t know for sure. But I’ll do my best to facilitate what I can tonight, and we’ll go from there.” He pulled me in for a quick hug. As he turned to head back to his car, he called out. “Oh, hey, Charli. I almost forgot that I need to talk to you. Can I come by your Nana’s place tomorrow?”

  “Sure.” I furrowed my brow. “Why?”

  He waved at me, eager to get in his car. “I’ll fill you in in the morning.”

  We followed the tail lights of Ben’s car back into town, slowing down to wave at them as they turned into the warden station. My nerves tightened again with worry for my friend, with curiosity if I’d found the key to solving Tipper’s murder, and with burning questions for a wolf shifter.

  Lavender yawned. “Not to diminish what Lee’s gonna go through tonight, but I kind of hope that he and Ben figure out that they’ve got dates to the dance.”

  “I don’t know why everyone’s so concerned about pairing off.” Blythe stared out the window.

  “Right? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with going with friends.” I nudged her to get her out of the quiet mood settling over her.

  Leaning forward, Lavender tapped me. “Oh, I don’t know. I think you might be able to get not one but two dates.”

  I allowed myself the temporary distraction, my stomach twisting with hope and dread. She couldn’t be right. But if she were, which would I prefer to ask me? Or maybe I shouldn’t think about it since there were more important things to figure out. Like how to end the curse and give me a chance to find a date for next year’s dance.

  After dropping off Lavender, we drove in silence to Blythe’s house. When we pulled up to it, I helped her struggle to get her bike out of the trunk.

  “B, you’ve got to learn to drive, sweetie. You shouldn’t have ridden all the way out there on your own,” I scolded.

  She rang the bike’s bell. “It’s got a light on it. Plus, me and mechanical things equal a lot of trouble. What do you expect me to do, ride a broom?”

  “Do you think you on a flying object would be a good combo? I have no desire to scrape you off the ground like common road kill.” My attempt at making her laugh failed.

  Blythe gripped the handlebars and regarded me, her face souring. “I’d like to believe that everything’s gonna turn out fine. But for the life of me, I can’t pull that hope from anywhere.” She dropped her bicycle and grabbed me around my neck, crushing me in tight. Her sobs racked both our bodies.

  I patted her back, swallowing down the lump of sorrow rising in my throat. “Hey, you’re the strong one out of all of us. You can’t break.”

  She buried her face on my shoulder. “Frosted fairy wings, my best friend’s got a curse that might kill her. You can’t expect me to be stone.” She backed away and wiped the back of her hand under her nose.

  “Something named Doozy has no chance at taking me down.” I summoned up all my strength to remain positive.

  Blythe sniffed. “Doozy. Right. So what’s our next move?”

  I straightened. “Well, there’s not much we can do for Lee tonight. He’s got the rest of the gang there to help him, and I know that Ben will do what he can to keep things from getting bad. Best thing to do is for both of us to go to bed and get some sleep. And that’s about as far ahead as I can plan.”

  Blythe narrowed her eyes. “So you’re heading home?”

  “Yes.”
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  “Straight there?” She tipped her head in suspicion.

  I hugged her and turned to the car. “Yes, Mom. I’m gonna head straight home.” If there were no curves in the road on the way, then technically, I was telling the truth.

  “We’re gonna discuss more tomorrow.” Her bike clicked as she walked it towards her house. “Night, Charli.”

  From the driver’s seat, I made sure she made it inside okay. Peaches climbed out from underneath and jumped up beside me in the passenger seat.

  “Buckle up, Peaches. This might get bumpy tonight.” I pulled out the dirty bandana and held it tight in my hand.

  It had never been easy for me to describe how my magic worked to those who didn’t possess the same skills. I’d gotten called things like bloodhound or divining rod all my life. Dad liked to call it Charli Bird doggin’, but for the most part, I didn’t have an official name for it. Those who I’d found in my travels for the past year had different terms. Tracker. Finder. Hunter. But they were not easy to locate because those who had talents to find things seemed to know the best ways to hide themselves.

  Concentrating, I pushed magic to the fabric. “I want to find Dash.”

  A tingle buzzed inside me for a second, and an image of him flashed in my mind. But the connection fizzled when my arm throbbed. Stupid Doozy. This might take a little extra rhyme to focus me.

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, giving my brain a chance to compose on the fly. “Come on, bandana, I want to find Dash. But do me a favor and don’t let me crash.”

  I switched the object to my left hand and tried again. A general sense that I should head straight in front of me tugged on me. Starting the car, I drove off down the road with slow deliberation. If I missed a turn, the direction of the connection jerked at me to turn around. Although I was stronger in finding objects rather than people, I managed to roll the car to a stop in front of a house isolated from other properties. A perfect place for someone who didn’t want to be found.

  I rolled down the window and checked out the house. Dark windows. Grass that needed mowing. No lawn decorations to personalize the place. The only mark of a tenant came from the music floating in the air and light streaming from a structure behind the house.

  “Stay here, Peaches,” I whispered.

  She squeaked a defiant mew and followed me out my open door, her fuzzy behind circling my feet. I placed her back in the car again, but she zoomed past me and sat on her haunches in the middle of the driveway.

  “Fine, but stay close,” I commanded. She cocked her head and waited for me to follow her.

  When I caught up with her, she turned and trotted toward the light, her tail swishing in the air. We rounded the back corner of the house and found the source of the glow streaming out of the open garage doors. Inside, a black, shiny motorcycle sat parked next to another one in pieces with parts strewn all about it. One that had a tank very similar to…

  “Old Joe,” I cried out.

  “You suck at being a spy, you know,” a gruff voice startled me from behind.

  I straightened my back and turned to face him, ignoring the heat in my cheeks. “Wasn’t trying to sneak up on you. I intended to come see you, Dash.”

  His left eyebrow quirked up. “Really? That sounds promising.” He looked down at my feet, where Peaches jumped around, trying to swat a moth out of the air. “Looks like you brought me a snack.”

  I whipped my orange kitty into my arms. “Hey, don’t talk about Peaches like that. She might take you seriously.”

  “She’s named after fruit. Sounds like food to me.”

  “Talk about eating my precious girl one more time, and…” I looked around, trying to find something to threaten him with. I walked over to the pristine motorcycle. “And I’ll kick your motorcycle.”

  A growl rumbled in his chest. “Touch my bike, and you might not make it out of here alive.”

  Peaches didn’t take kindly to the threat. She clawed out of my hold and worked her way to my shoulder. From under my hair, she poked her little orange head through and hissed at Dash.

  The scary man smiled despite himself. “Feisty thing.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Which one of us?”

  “Both.” He held up his hands in surrender. “So what can I help you with tonight? Did you come to help me fix that old wreck?” Dash pointed at Old Joe.

  “I didn’t even know you had it. Come to think of it, why do you?”

  He walked over to survey all the pieces laid out on the floor of the garage. “Lee asked me to help him out with it. They don’t work on bikes that often at his dad’s place. If I can get it back in general mechanical working order, then those two can work on all the woo-woo magic stuff. Wanna beer?”

  “What? No. Stop distracting me.”

  “Distracting you from what?” Dash took a long swig from his drink, and his muscles underneath his tank top flexed. When he finished the bottle, he licked his lips.

  “Hmm?” There used to be a reason why standing in such close proximity to the beast of a man had been a good idea. A flirty Dash was a distraction I couldn’t afford.

  “Why. Are. You. Here. Charli?” He waved his hand in front of my face.

  “Ow, you little tiger.” Tiny kitten claws dug into my skin, bringing me back to the here and now. “Oh, right.” I set Peaches down. “I wanted to ask you some questions.”

  He frowned. “Like what?”

  “Like, how long have you lived in Honeysuckle?”

  “Long enough.”

  I did the math from my absence. “It’s been at least a year or less. And where were you before you came here?”

  His flirtatious nature evaporated. He squared off with me. “In different places.”

  Secrets, secrets, and more secrets. His evasiveness meant he still didn’t trust me, and I needed at least a kernel of faith in me to complete tonight’s mission. But that might take time, and we didn’t have much of that.

  “How long have you been in the moonshine business?”

  The atmosphere around us changed in a split second. The grumpy, standoffish Dash returned. “Why do you care?”

  “Answer my question.” I pushed. “How long have you and Lee had your set up?”

  “For about six months. And again, why do you care?”

  “I have my reasons.” I rubbed my arm. “How did the two of you become partners?”

  He frowned. “You make it sound like some sort of formal business thing. I overheard him talking about his grandfather’s moonshine one night at Lucky’s bar.”

  “The Rainbow’s End.”

  “Is there another bar in town?” he sneered.

  “Less sarcasm and more explanation, please.” I crossed my arms.

  He mimicked my stance, not backing down. “When he left the bar, I approached him about starting it all back up again. I have some connections on the outside that pay good money for the stuff.”

  “Legal connections?”

  His eyes flashed, and he spit on the ground. “I’m not answering anything else until you tell me why it matters to you.”

  Unable to come up with a quick explanation that didn’t give too much away, I stammered. “Be-because.”

  He stepped forward, closing the distance between us. “That’s not an answer.” Another inch closer.

  “It’s all I’m giving at the moment. So, did anyone other than you and Lee go out to the shed in the woods?” I swallowed hard as the air pressure around me thickened.

  “How do you know about the shed?”

  I chuckled. “Because I grew up here. Everyone knew about it. Didn’t Lee tell you anything?”

  Dash’s face grew thoughtful. “He’s told me some. But I don’t ask a whole lot of questions. Unlike some. And to answer your last one, just me, Lee, and occasionally Tipper were in that place. Only Lee and I have a key to get in.”

  He confirmed Lee’s information, which was both good and bad. It meant that he’d probably told me the truth.
But it also had a substantial consequence.

  Time to take a chance. “Listen, you could be in real trouble. I need you to come down to the warden station with me. Now.”

  At the mere mention of the word warden, he snarled at me. “What are you talking about?”

  “Lee is down there right now telling them what he knows. You need to get ahead of this before it becomes a bigger problem.”

  Before I could say anything more, he picked up a wrench from the floor and flung it against the wall. The alarming crash and loud swearing scared Peaches, who scurried back to me. I picked her up and protected her from his wrath.

  “The night that Tipper died. He’d been drinking,” I called out over the cacophony he made while he threw things, flinching at every thunderous noise.

  Dash stopped for a second. “So what?” His voice sounded more animal than human. He hid his face from me.

  “It occurred to me that he’d offered to spike my drink. By using what he had in his flask. He poured the contents into his drink right in front of me.”

  Another enraged roar, and Dash proceeded to fling anything not nailed down into the walls. When he picked up the tank to Old Joe, I yelled at him to stop, but he ignored me in his rage. The crash of the beloved pieces of metal broke my heart. Maybe I should let this uncontrolled man fight his own battles.

  He ran his hands down his face and growled with great force, “How could I be so stupid? Why didn’t I see it?”

  His whole frame shook with tension, and his back flexed with quick pants. Power crackled in the air close to him, and I backed out of the garage with unsteady steps.

  Dash bowed his head in my direction, still hiding his face and clenching his fists. “You smell like fear. I swear, Charli, you don’t have to be afraid of me. Ever.” Although he sounded gruff, his words matched the man I’d been getting to know before.

  “I’m not afraid.” I didn’t know which one of us needed convincing more. Despite his assurances, I still didn’t trust the wolf in him. My feet widened the distance between us. “Listen, I didn’t connect the dots, either. But the line from point A to B is clear enough that you’ve got to go to the station on your own. Talk to Mason and get ahead of things.”