by Amy Boyles
“Good,” he murmured. “That means we can check her house, see if the phone is there.”
My eyes widened. “You really are good at this.”
Red dotted his cheeks again, and he glanced away. “As I said, it seems that I have some sort of experience in this.”
“Apparently you do.”
We were about to cross the street when a dark limousine came to a rocking halt in front of us.
I stepped away from the curb to let whoever was inside out. Wait a minute—what was a limousine doing in Peachwood? This wasn’t exactly the sort of town where limos rolled down the street.
The door swung open, and a young man with a chubby, cherubic face and dark curly hair appeared. He looked to be sixteen. “Get in,” he commanded.
I glanced at Rufus, thinking that clearly this was about him. The wizard had probably tried to steal this guy’s powers, too.
I gestured to Rufus. “You heard the man. He wants you inside.”
Rufus looked at me, surprised. “Oh no, I’m fairly certain that you’re the one he wants. He was pointing to you.”
“No, he wasn’t.”
“Yes, he was.”
The man jabbed a finger at me, and before I could say another word, my legs were acting on their own, moving me toward the vehicle.
“Hey,” I shouted.
“Quiet,” the man, who I had decided at this point was a kid, said.
“I don’t like being forced into things,” I growled. “You won’t like me if you keep doing that.”
The guy lowered his hand. The spell on me stopped and he sighed. “Look, I was only trying to get you to come with me. It makes all this a lot easier. The boss wants to see you.”
I shot a confused look to Rufus.
“You know that I have no idea what he’s talking about,” he said.
“It was worth a try,” I replied. To the kid, I said, “What boss?”
“The one Sadie knew.”
At the mention of her name, I jumped in the limo and motioned for Rufus to join me. “Well come on, don’t just stand there.”
He sighed and made no move to enter.
“Look, you’ll feel responsible if I disappear in a limo and never return.”
“You’ve got a point.” He slid in beside me and closed the door.
The kid sat in the middle of the seat across from us, behind the driver’s glass partition. He tapped the glass, and the driver veered off.
“Where are we going?” I asked. “And what huge gonads you have for working magic in a non-magical town.”
The kid laughed. “I do what I’m told. I was told to pick you up, and I picked you up.”
The inside of the limo was dark. Blue LED lights outlined the seats and the walls, casting a cold halo on the interior.
“Where are you taking us?” Rufus asked.
“I’m not taking you anywhere,” the kid said. “Just for a drive.”
Cold dread washed through my body. Whenever anyone in a movie went for a drive, they wound up dead. I rubbed my arm against my thigh, working up my magic like static electricity, prepared to hit this kid with it if I had to. Rufus’s brow twitched as his gaze slid to the corner of his eye.
I hated to tell him, but I would not be protecting him against any magic this kid might throw at us. Rufus would be on his own.
“Relax,” the kid said. “Why don’t I let the boss explain it?” He picked up a phone that sat beside him. He didn’t dial a number, just started talking. “Yeah, I got her. Got some friend of hers, too.” A pause while whoever was on the other end asked a question. “Some guy. No, I don’t recognize him.” He hung up. “The boss’ll be here in a second.”
I squinted. “What do you mean?”
Next thing I knew, the fat kid moved over as another figure materialized beside him. This man had blond hair smoothed back against his skull, cold blue eyes and was thinner than a bean pole.
“I do declare that you have done well, Georgie,” the man said in a deep Southern drawl, “by finding Miss Cooke.”
Georgie beamed. “I did my best, Boss.”
The boss patted his shoulder. “Good job.”
The boss straightened his tie and turned to me. “How do you do, Miss Cooke? My name is Sykes Laffoon.”
I gestured to Rufus. “This is John.”
Sykes pinned his gaze on Rufus. “No last name?”
Rufus shook his head. “I suffer, unfortunately, from amnesia.”
“Fascinating,” Sykes said. He opened his palm, revealing a silver case holding several long brown cigarettes. “Would either of you like one?”
Where had he been for the past twenty years? Smoking kills.
“No, thank you,” I said. “Apparently I’m at a disadvantage. You know about me, but I know nothing of you. And you also know, er, knew Sadie?”
Just the mention of her name and tears pricked my eyes. I forced them back down because this man held a certain sort of menace that set me on edge. Sykes Laffoon was not my friend.
Sykes lit his cigarette and I expected the acrid smell of smoke to fill the cabin, but much to my surprise I smelled nothing.
He must’ve read the shock on my face, because Sykes said, “Magic. You should try using yours sometime.”
I winced. “In case you hadn’t noticed, this is a non-magical town. I prefer to live low-key.”
Laughter danced in his eyes. “Is that right? Well, perhaps you should let others know that.”
Not understanding what he meant, I chose to press forward. “Listen, I appreciate y’all giving us a ride in the limo, but I don’t have all day to be driven around. I’ve got work to do, so I would appreciate it if you would stop with the innuendos and side comments and just tell me what the heck you want.”
Sykes laughed. “Men in my business generally don’t have to tell anyone what we want. You should already know. But seeing as how your associate apparently did not inform you of her habits, I will explain.”
“What are you talking about?”
Georgie glanced down at his watch. “Ten minutes, Boss.”
Sykes nodded slightly. “Your friend, if you still wish to call her that after I tell you this, owed me money.”
I scoffed. “You and me both.” If this guy could see my bank account, he’d know what I meant.
His lips formed a thin line. “You don’t seem to understand. She owed me a sum and put your business up against it.”
Sweat sprouted on my forehead. “She put the business against it?”
Sykes nodded. “That’s correct. She was late paying. My associates and I do not like it when bills become overdue.”
Then it started to click. This guy, when he talked about his associates, was really referencing a type of organization. Heck, he must’ve been some sort of wizard mafia or something. Was that even a thing, wizard mafia?
And what had Sadie been doing getting involved in them?
“So,” I said slowly, “what are you saying?”
“I believe the gentleman wants his money,” Rufus offered.
“That is correct, John,” Sykes said, laughter hiding in the recesses of his voice. “That’s exactly what I want.” He spoke to me. “You see, Sadie had been making payments, but as of two days ago, she owed us a large sum. If we don’t receive our money, then we will act on the collateral that Sadie had offered to us—your business.”
My heart fell to the floor. “Magical Renovations? You can’t take my business.”
Sykes pulled a folded slip of paper from his breast pocket. “I’m afraid that I can.” He opened it and showed me where Sadie had signed her name. The page reminded me of a contract with the devil, one so unbinding there was no way out.
I sucked my teeth. “So let me get this straight—Sadie borrowed money from you and your…associates, and now she’s dead and you’re coming to me explaining that if you don’t get your money, you’re going to take my business. Do I have that right?”
Sykes slapped his knee. “Well,
I do believe we have a winner. Yes, that’s exactly right. You got it!”
I relaxed in the seat, wedging my back into the cushion. Oh, I had it all right. I had this whole thing figured out. “I have a few questions.”
“Oh no,” Rufus whispered.
I stared at him, shocked. “What does that mean?”
“It means your questions might get us into trouble.”
Frustration flowed through my veins. “Are you kidding me right now? Georgie over there forced us into the limo, and Sykes is saying that he’s going to steal my business.”
“Legally,” Sykes reminded me in a singsong voice.
I about rolled my eyes and punched him at the same time. But instead I directed my words back to Rufus. “Given all of that, yes, I have a few questions.”
“Ask on,” Sykes said. “I’ll answer whatever I can.”
Georgie tapped his watch. “Five minutes, Boss.”
Sykes nodded but said nothing, and I wondered what happened in five minutes. Did the world explode? It better not; I had this crap to sort out about Sadie first.
“Okay,” I said, smoothing my hands down my thighs. Suddenly I was very, very sweaty. The limo, though big, felt cramped, and of course I was nervous—too nervous. “My first question is, what was Sadie doing with all the money that she borrowed from y’all?”
“Our policy is not to ask what the loans are for. She came to us needing money, and we gave it. She made some payments, like I said, but the sum she owed was much more.”
I nibbled my bottom lip. “She wouldn’t have happened to pay by credit card, would she?”
It seemed ridiculous, that Sadie would pay a debt by credit card, but so did the entire idea of a wizard mafia. That made even less sense than the former.
The corners of Sykes’s eyes tightened and I explained. “I found several payments to a place named Frank’s. As far as I know, we’ve never bought supplies from there before.”
Sykes exhaled a line of smoke. “That’s us. We accept all forms of payment—cash, credit and debit.”
I hiked a brow. “Seems to me in your line of business that you wouldn’t want a paper trail.”
He steepled his fingers. “Let’s just say that in my line of business, as you call it, we have ways of moving money.”
So they were the mafia.
“One minute, Boss,” Georgie said.
“We have to wrap this up.” Sykes studied me. I felt like an eel crawled over my flesh, it was so creepy. “Do you have any more questions?”
It was risky, but I had to ask, so I leaned forward and narrowed my eyes. “It seems to me awfully coincidental that Sadie died after she was late with her payment.”
“Twenty grand to be exact,” Sykes said.
I felt Rufus’s fingers brush my shoulder. The electric jolt that rushed through me made my muscles tighten. He was trying to stop me from spilling my next words, but I had to know.
“Well, don’t you think it’s strange that she wound up dead?”
Sykes smiled at me, but no warmth touched his eyes. “You want me to say that we had her offed, is that it?”
“I didn’t think you’d admit it outright,” I muttered.
“Thirty seconds,” Georgie said.
I exploded. “Okay, what’s with all the time calling? What happens in thirty seconds?”
Sykes tapped on the partition, and the limo slowed to a stop. “What happens, my dear, is that it’s break time. Georgie and I have worked for two hours, and every two hours we get a twenty-minute break.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “What are you, union or something?”
He pulled the handle, and the door flung open. “Of course we’re union. You don’t think I’d spend my day collecting money from delinquent payers without being protected in some way, do you? Before we unionized, we had to work all hours of the night without breaks. Sometimes I didn’t even eat dinner. I’d be expected to rough someone up on an empty stomach. None of that anymore.”
“Time’s up,” Georgie said.
Sykes offered his hand to me, and dumb and numb from his strange explanation, I took it. “Clementine, it’s been wonderful meeting you. You have one week to bring me a sum of twenty thousand dollars. If you’re unable, I’m afraid I’ll have to take your company.”
Rufus took me by the arm and gently tugged me from the limo. When I stood outside in the bright sunshine, Sykes waved.
“Bye-bye, now. And don’t forget—one week.”
Without another word, the limo door slammed shut and they drove away.
Chapter 12
I stared at the limo as it pulled away, dumbfounded. Twenty thousand dollars. Somehow I had to find twenty grand or the unionized wizard mafia would take my business away from me.
It was so ridiculous that I started to laugh, a real belly laugh that had me doubling over.
“You’re in shock,” Rufus murmured.
“You’re still here?” I said. “I thought maybe with all the insanity that you were a figment of my imagination same as Sadie dying, my business being taken away and…heck, I don’t know what else, but give me a few minutes and I’m sure I can figure something out.”
Before he could answer, my phone rang. I wiped tears of frustration from my eyes and sniffed. “I wonder who this is? Dancing penguins calling to say that they’re repossessing the truck I paid for?”
He opened his palm. “Would you prefer that I take the call?”
“No thanks.” I pulled the phone from my purse. Liam’s name lit up the screen, and I immediately felt bad. He should have been the first person I called this morning, to see how he was doing.
I answered. “Hey, how’re you holding up?”
By the way his voice cracked when he spoke, I knew the answer was not good. “I just can’t deal with anything right now, Clem. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep.”
“Oh, Liam, I understand exactly what you mean. I’m so sorry.”
He sniffled. “Yeah, I talked to Sadie’s mother last night.”
“You did?”
“She’s coming today. We’re going over to the funeral home together to work out arrangements.”
Of course. Sadie still had to be buried. “I’ll help however I can. What time do you want me at the home?”
I felt like I should be there. After all, she had been my best friend.
“We’ll be there around two p.m.”
“Okay.” Then it hit me about the wages that I owed Liam. There was no money to pay. “Liam, this is a strange question, but did Sadie happen to give you any money this week or last week?”
“What?” He sounded confused. “No. Payday’s not until today.”
“Oh, about that…well, I hate to say it, but I’m afraid that I don’t have any money in the bank to write the check. Um”—this was so embarrassing—“it seems like Sadie took all the money out of the account.”
“For what?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but honestly there’s nothing, and me personally, I’ve been putting every extra dollar back into the business. I don’t have much in savings.”
Liam inhaled. “You think Dooley would pay ahead some?”
“Are you crazy? Dooley wouldn’t part with a hangnail.”
Liam laughed bitterly. “I suppose that’s true. I can pay the guys; don’t worry about it. But I gave them the day off.”
Just then my phone dinged. I glanced at it and saw a text come through from Dooley.
I don’t know about this renovation anymore. That dead body gives me the creeps. No one’s here working. Y’all must be thinking the same thing.
Oh crap. I could not afford for Dooley to back out now.
Sadie’s body had been removed last night, but that also meant the foundation would have to be fixed. My stomach tightened. My entire life was going up in flames and fast.
“Liam, I’ll see you at the funeral home this afternoon. Call me if you need anything.”
“Will do, Clem. And thanks.”
We hung up, and my phone immediately rang again; this time it was Dooley.
I groaned and grimaced.
“Who is it?” Rufus asked.
“The man whose barn I’m supposed to be renovating. He’s upset about the body, and he’s also upset about the fact that no one’s there today.”
I glanced up into Rufus’s eyes and realized that my worst enemy was the one person I had to lean on.
He opened his palm. “Give me the phone.”
My fingers tightened around it. “Are you kidding? No way. I can’t have anyone making this worse.”
“Trust me. I won’t make it worse.”
I scowled at him. “Hey, Dooley,” I said, answering.
“Clem, I just don’t know about all this,” Dooley said, sounding like his mouth was full of chewing tobacco. “I’m sorry about Sadie and all, but the fact that y’all found her in the foundation gives me the heebie-jeebies. I can’t be living in no house where a dead body was found.”
“Dooley, didn’t your mother pass away in your own home?”
He paused. “Yeah, but that was different. She died in bed.”
“Exactly how is that different?”
“It just is,” he said smartly.
“What? Are you afraid of ghosts?”
If there was a rule in the South, it was do not ask a Southern man if he was afraid of anything, because the answer always came back, heck no.
I couldn’t see ghosts, but I knew if anything, Sadie wouldn’t be haunting Dooley. She’d be haunting one of the finishing stores. My dead friend had a love for kitchen tile that you wouldn’t believe.
“No, I ain’t afraid of nothin’,” he practically hollered. “Anyway, aren’t y’all supposed to be on a deadline?”
So we had moved from one area of frustration to another. “Liam’s in mourning, Dooley. He told his men to take the day off.”
“Well, nobody takes the day off at the peach farm. I can’t tell you the last time that I took a day off. Ain’t never heard of such a thing. I’m telling you right now that if you don’t get moving on my renovation, I ain’t gonna be forking over any more money—not for lumber, not for nothin’.”
“Okay,” I said quickly, “I’m heading out to the barn now to keep things moving.”