by Cate Conte
What did all this mean?
“What?” she asked, alarmed by my silence.
I shook my head. “Just concentrating. It’s how this works. I’m going to get you some stones, okay?”
She sat back, still clearly uncomfortable, while I got up and did my thing. My hands went automatically to three stones: Rose quartz. Hematite. Agate.
Three of the four stones I’d given to Rain. I wasn’t much for coincidence.
I brought them over to Syd, along with a small velvet pouch. “Okay,” I said, beaming a smile at her. “This is what we have.” I explained the healing properties and how to use them. “You can keep them in here if you don’t want to wear them. Also, you can put them under your pillow at night to help cleanse your energy.”
She examined them a bit doubtfully. “And these are going to fix things?”
“They’re going to help your energy, and they’ll help with any blocks you have.” I pulled my chair closer to her and squeezed her hand. “Let me know if I can help. If you want to talk. Okay?”
Syd nodded and slid off her chair. “I will. Thanks, Vi.” She blew me a kiss, looking a little more like herself. “I gotta go. See you later?” Without waiting for a reply, she unlocked the front door and slipped out.
I watched her go, frustrated that I hadn’t gotten any real answers. But there had to be something to the matching stones. And I knew exactly who would know—Josie.
CHAPTER 41
After Syd left, I flipped my sign back to open and looked outside, wishing for Josie to materialize. Although I couldn’t blame her if she didn’t. I hadn’t reacted well yesterday. I didn’t want there to be bad blood between us. I’d be lost without her. The last couple of days had been so off, and without my regular confidants I’d felt even more untethered.
I forced myself to get back to work, convinced she’d show. And less than fifteen minutes later, she did. I sprang up to greet her with a hug as soon as she stepped through the door. She looked surprised, but hugged me back. She held on for a moment longer than necessary, then pulled back and studied me. I opened my mouth, but she shook her head. “No need,” she said. “We can talk when you’re ready.”
“Thanks, Jos,” I said, but she waved me off.
“Now. What’s on the list for today? By the way, you missed Natalie yesterday.”
I winced. “Was she okay?”
“She seemed distracted.” Josie grabbed some paper towels and glass cleaner and began wiping down cases. “I think she’s worried about her husband being so close to this murder. And what it could mean for their income. By the way, I heard that Carla’s funeral will be private.”
“Really?” I wondered if it was because of Rain.
Josie nodded. “Very quick and hush-hush. Her almost-ex flew back, and they’re doing the service tomorrow.”
I mulled that over. “Did Natalie say anything about Andrew? I went to see him yesterday.”
Josie paused midspray. “You did? Why?”
“I don’t know. I wanted to talk to him about Carla. See if there was anyone he could think of who was upset with her and maybe unstable enough to do this.”
“And?”
“And nothing. He didn’t want to talk about it.” I took a deep breath. “But he was talking to Rain.”
“The protest guy?” Josie asked.
I nodded.
“Hmm,” Josie said, going back to her wiping.
I couldn’t hold back any longer. “Josie. Do you know who Rain really is?”
She looked up at me, something darkening her eyes. “Who?”
“He’s Carla’s son.”
That got her attention. Her movements stilled. “So that’s what I was feeling when I saw him,” she said, almost to herself. “But he doesn’t seem like he’s upset at all.”
“I think they were estranged.” I told her what I’d gleaned from Gabe.
“There’s something else,” I said after a moment. I didn’t usually discuss my clients’ specific troubles or requests with anyone, but this was an extenuating circumstance. “Syd came in this morning.”
“In here?” Josie asked.
I nodded. “She wanted crystals. Said she wasn’t feeling well and had a lot of things on her mind. Have you seen her?”
Josie shook her head. “Not since Monday. That was the last time I watched Presley. She didn’t need me yesterday.”
“I went to her store yesterday to wait for her. I saw a Facebook message. From Carla.”
Josie turned slowly, her eyes sharp. “Go on.”
“From the day she died.” I told her what it said, as well as how far back the messages went. “And Sydney hated Carla. Well, hate is a strong word, I guess.”
“No, she hated her,” Josie said. “I tried a few times to tell her that wasn’t going to get her anywhere but she couldn’t see past it. You don’t think, Vi . . .” She let the thought trail off.
“Maybe there’s a deeper reason for Syd to hate her than any of us know. I think there’s something going on. With Syd and Rain. And Carla didn’t like it. There’s another thing,” I said. “The crystals I gave her. The prescription was nearly identical to what I gave Rain when he came in yesterday.”
Josie frowned. I could see her trying to fit these pieces together and coming up short.
“It fits, but I’m missing a piece,” I said. “I saw Syd with him in the alley near the police station. The night Carla was killed. She denied knowing him, said he asked her for directions, but I knew she was lying. So does it mean anything, when two people get the exact same stones?”
“Definitely,” Josie said. “It’s a personal connection, for sure. I’ve seen it many times. Husbands and wives, mothers and daughters. You think they’re dating?”
“I don’t know. Why would Carla care if she’d effectively disowned her son?”
When it hit me, I gasped out loud. “What if Syd’s pregnant? And Carla thought they were going to try to get money from her?”
Was that what the meeting was about? And what if that meeting had gone terribly wrong? “What if Carla tried to hurt Syd,” I whispered. “And she had to defend herself ?”
CHAPTER 42
By the time two thirty rolled around, the shop had hit a lull. I didn’t feel bad about leaving.
“You okay if I head out? I want to put in an appearance at the park,” I said to Josie.
“Of course. I got it.”
“Were you planning on going?” I asked.
“No. I think there’s enough conflict right now without adding fuel to the fire,” she said with a small smile. “You go ahead.”
I shrugged into my coat, wrapped my scarf around my neck, and adjusted my new slouchy hat on my head. “I’ll let you know if I find out . . . anything.” We’d both stopped trying on theories about Syd and Carla, because neither of us liked what we were coming up with.
I hurried outside and down toward the bridge, which would lead me over the river and into the park. I could already see the protesters gathering. There was quite a crowd, and I could see hats like Rain’s bobbing off a lot of heads.
Something told me this was going to be a long, cold afternoon.
But the food trucks were lining up. Winter was hard for them, and they seized on every opportunity to get some business. Of course they’d be all over this. I scanned the offerings as I got closer. Potatoes from Heaven was front and center. I hoped I had enough appetite after this to get some fries.
I’d just arrived at the park entrance when Zoe literally materialized right next to me. “Hey, sis. Figured I’d join you,” she said.
I pressed a hand to my pounding heart. “You need to stop doing that. People will see.”
Zoe threw her head back and laughed, her long black hair falling down her back. “And they’ll do what? Stone me?”
Despite myself, I had to laugh. I kind of hated to admit it, but I liked her. She was sassy and willful and didn’t seem to care what anyone thought. Complete opposite of me.
“Not at all. Help yourself,” I said dryly.
“Thanks!” She beamed. “So are we gonna chain ourselves to something?” She nodded in the direction of a line of protesters holding lengths of rope and apparently trying to work out some kind of mathematical problem about where they could tie themselves.
“No idea.” I scanned the crowd and paused when I saw a shock of platinum hair streaked with green and blue. Mazzy. “I’ll be right back.”
“Sure,” Zoe said. “I’m gonna get some fries. I’ve been hearing amazing things about them.”
“Great. Have fun.” I slipped into the crowd, trying to keep my eye on her, and in the process I bumped right into Sergeant Haliburton.
“Sorry,” I began, then realized who it was and flushed. “Oh. Sergeant.”
He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Ms. Mooney. You’re against the bridge project?”
“I, uh, yeah, I guess so,” I stammered.
He arched his eyebrows. “That didn’t sound very convincing.”
I shrugged. “I just wanted to see what was going on. Are you against it?”
He smiled. “I’m here in a public servant capacity. My opinions don’t matter. I just want to make sure everyone stays civil and safe.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I remained silent.
“Quite a crowd,” he remarked, looking around.
“It is.” I tried to slip past him, but he stopped me. “Ms. Mooney. Did you happen to see your friend Sydney Santangelo the night Ms. Fernandez was killed?”
I stopped dead and turned to stare at him, hoping the dread wasn’t apparent on my face. “Syd? Yes. Why?”
“Do you remember where and when?”
“She was home,” I said. “Her daughter was sick.”
“What time did you see her?”
“I don’t recall offhand,” I said. “But I believe she was home most of the night.”
“She left work around”—he pulled out a notebook and scanned through some pages—“four. Any idea where she went from there?”
I shook my head. I wished I knew.
“Okay. Thank you very much. Enjoy the protest,” he said, and walked away.
I huffed out a breath and started moving again in the direction I’d last seen Mazzy, but I couldn’t pinpoint her hair anymore. “Damn,” I muttered, looking around. I couldn’t see her.
But I saw Andrew Mann, down by the water, speaking with Rain. Again. And Rain looked like he was running out of patience. Rain had a megaphone in his hand, like he was ready to start the proceedings. But Andrew was doing a lot of talking, while Rain kept looking around, as if he was bored or trying to get away. So what were they talking about? More financials?
“Vi!” I turned as Natalie made her way to me. “You seen Andrew?”
“Hey, Nat. Yeah, he’s right there.” I pointed at where he stood with Rain, still talking urgently.
She folded her arms and watched, not saying anything. But she didn’t look happy about it. She seemed tightly wound as it was, which wasn’t like her.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Me?” She glanced at me then back at Andrew. “I’m fine. Just needed Andrew for something.”
“Okay. Sorry I couldn’t be there yesterday, but did you and Josie get everything else done for the circle?”
Natalie nodded, but I could tell she wasn’t really paying attention to me. “Yeah, I think we’re good. I’ll talk to you later, Vi.” She squeezed my shoulder and walked away in Andrew’s direction.
I watched. He saw her coming, turned back to Rain, and said one more thing. Rain regarded him with an insolent smirk, then turned away and walked back toward his line of protesters, who dutifully waited for him to start the show. Natalie said something to Andrew. He didn’t look happy. And he didn’t answer her, just shook his head and walked away, leaving her staring after him. I watched her swipe at her eye and felt helpless for my friend. I wondered what was up with those two. Natalie was usually so happy, but today she looked downright miserable.
Meanwhile, Rain was starting the show.
“Hello, North Harbor!” he shouted into his megaphone. “Thanks for coming out on this chilly day, and I’m sorry we’re starting late. But hey, hopefully you had a chance to eat some awesome food from the food trucks! How about those fries? Let’s hear it for Potatoes from Heaven!”
A cheer went up from the crowd. Rain went on for a few more minutes about the protest, the project, how bad it was for the environment, how he dedicated his life to making sure the planet was taken care of because it was the only one we had, etc., etc.
As he talked, I let my gaze travel around the crowd. I’d lost sight of Zoe earlier and didn’t see her anywhere. I wondered if she’d stuck around. I caught sight of Ginny Reinhardt, one of Todd’s waitresses. She waved and made her way over to me. My heart sped up a bit. I’d been meaning to talk to Ginny, try to get some info about Todd, but I wasn’t sure this was the place or time.
“Hey, Vi.” She gave me a hug when she reached my side. Ginny was a hugger. Didn’t matter if you’d seen her five minutes ago or five days ago, she gave you a hug like it was the first time in a long time. “Having fun?”
“Not really,” I said. “It’s too cold to have fun out here.”
“For freakin’ sure. I just figured I’d pop in between shifts.” Ginny worked at the deli in the morning, doing the breakfast shift, then at Todd’s in the afternoon/evening. “This guy is something, huh?” She motioned toward Rain, who was now tying people together in some sort of convoluted knot.
“Yeah,” I said.
“I can’t believe he’s still doing all this after what happened. You’d think he’d stop out of respect.” Ginny shook her head. “I don’t get along with my mother that much either, but I’d definitely stop flaunting that if she died.”
My head whipped around. “You know who he is too?”
Ginny laughed. “Doesn’t everyone? It’s the worst kept secret in town. Carla thought no one knew since he looks so different now, but a lot of people remember him.”
“So she didn’t like that he was home?”
Ginny shook her head. “Not from what I gathered. She complained a lot about it in the bar.”
I frowned. “Carla came into Todd’s bar?”
“Oh yeah. You didn’t know that? She was a regular. Both her and Andrew. They had a lot of business meetings there.”
Something else my boyfriend had never mentioned. Not that it would’ve been newsworthy before she’d zeroed in on me.
“Hey, I gotta go,” Ginny said suddenly, squeezing my arm. “We’ll talk later?” Without waiting for an answer, she headed across the park.
I lost sight of her when she went behind a crowd of people. When I saw her again, she was huddled next to a tree. Talking to . . . Mazzy?
CHAPTER 43
I stayed at the protest until I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore, which was about an hour. People had slowly started leaving anyway. And after Mazzy and Ginny had finished their conversation—another shock to my system—I think Mazzy had left, because I hadn’t seen her again.
I reached my shop, grateful to be back, and shoved at my door. Locked. What the heck? I thought Josie was going to be here. I cupped my hands around my eyes and peered inside. Didn’t see her. With a sigh, I dug my keys out of my purse. I hoped everything was okay. It wasn’t like Josie to just bail like that.
I pushed open the door and stepped in, turning lights on. And immediately was hit by a stench so disgusting my stomach actually turned. Pinching my nose, I tried to breathe through my mouth and figure out where it was coming from. Was this related to the smell from Monday? Had the guy next door screwed up some other recipe and I was paying for it again? Was this why she’d closed? I wondered why she
hadn’t texted me.
I pulled out my phone and tried calling her. Straight to voice mail. “Crap!” I disconnected and shoved the phone in my pocket. “Like I need this,” I muttered, venturing deeper into the store, trying to figure out where the smell was the strongest. “I can’t open with the place smelling like this.” But what the heck was it? I’d honestly never smelled anything like it. It didn’t smell like anything that would come out of a kitchen, even as a mistake.
I Googled What does it smell like if something died in your walls?
While I waited for the page to load, I peered behind the cases in the middle of the store. Nothing. I walked to the far end and sniffed. Definitely didn’t smell better, but it didn’t seem like ground zero either. I glanced at the webpage, which wasn’t helpful at all, giving me examples of smells ranging from rotten eggs to “the rotting stench of death.” I was about to throw my phone. If I knew what the rotting stench of death smelled like, I wouldn’t have to ask.
I turned to go out back, a little apprehensive of what I might find, when I saw something sticking out from behind my counter. Holding my phone like a weapon, I moved closer.
And saw a black leather motorcycle boot lying on its side. I crept closer and realized it was attached to a leg.
I moved around for the full view and stared in horror. I wasn’t sure if something was wrong with my eyes, or if I was suddenly seeing things with a witch filter on them, or what the heck was happening, but there on the floor behind my counter was Mazzy. Sort of. I mean, I could see her, but I could see her in almost a holographic form. The outline of her. The hair. The clothes.
But she looked dead. And there was a giant sticky mess on the floor that reminded me of the slime from the Ghostbusters classic.
Jumping back, I tried not to drop my phone due to the violent shaking of my hands. I had no idea who to call. Todd? I wasn’t sure he’d answer. Sydney? No, she had her own problems. And what would I tell either of them—that I had kind of a dead body in my shop? And some unidentified slime?