No Charm Intended

by Mollie Cox Bryan

  Cora helped Liv stand up. She was still a bit woozy and was going to have a shiner where she had been struck.

  “Pat him down, Cora,” Sheila said. “He probably has other weapons.”

  Cora’s hand searched the man’s flabby body. She found a blade tucked into his boot.

  “Good call,” Cora said, holding up the blade.

  She held it to the man’s side and Sheila lifted the gun to his other side. Slowly they guided him into the clearing where Paul stood, Liv trailing behind him.

  “Let him go,” Sheila said, forcefully, as the group of men turned to look at them.

  Cora was in awe of the way Sheila took control of the situation. Her own heart was racing, even though she had swallowed a pill just a few hours ago. Was it wearing off? Or was this just a normal reaction?

  “Let him go or we blow his head off,” Sheila said.

  Whoa! This little woman of a scrapbooker is one quick-thinking, tough cookie of a woman, thought Cora.

  “Please,” one of the men holding Paul said, sneering. “Do you really expect us to believe that?”

  “Cora!” Paul said. “What are you doing here?” As pale as the cottony-white clouds in the morning sky, Paul appeared as if he were going collapse any minute.

  “Later,” she said.

  “There will be no later for any of you,” a female voice said from behind them.

  Cora turned to find a woman almost completely naked. Burlap and leaves covered her breasts, and a burlap skirt covered her behind. Her flesh was covered in something—what was it? Red needle marks. Scabs. Everywhere. She was holding a semiautomatic rifle in her hands. Cora’s throat caught. Could this possibly be Gracie? She resembled Grace, but at the same time she looked like some wild goddess-like creature of the forest.

  “Gracie?” Paul said. “Gracie! I found you!”

  Chapter 57

  They all stood, as if time were standing still. They were in the center of a fake forest, but surrounded by the beauty of the real forest. The two men held Paul, and Sheila and Cora held another man by the arms. Liv stood behind him. And Gracie stood surveying them all.

  She was higher than anybody Cora had ever seen in her life. And that was saying something. She was full of drugs. But what kind? How much of Gracie was left inside the husk of her needle-marked body?

  “Gracie,” Cora said slowly, calmly. She didn’t want to startle her. “I’m a friend of Jane and London. Do you remember London?” She was trying to stall for time, trying to reach Gracie, and perhaps shift her awareness to something other than this bizarre, frightful situation. Cora didn’t want to see anybody get hurt.

  Cora thought she glimpsed a twitch bordering on a smile on the woman’s face.

  “Jesus,” one of the men said. “Gracie, put the gun down. You’re going to hurt someone.”

  “Shut up!” she said, moving toward him. “Let Paul go or I’ll let you have it. I’m telling you!”

  “Fine,” he said, and moved away from Paul. The other man followed his lead.

  “Now,” she said, flinging the gun around as if it were a stick and not a powerful weapon. “Get in your car and leave. You got no business here anymore,” she said.

  “Gracie, c’mon. You know we can’t do that,” the same man said.

  “I mean it!” she screamed, and fired a shot at his feet. The two men didn’t need further convincing; at the sound of the shot they slowly backed into the woods. Cora hoped they really did leave. But she had a feeling they wouldn’t.

  Who were they? Criminals or cops?

  The car they had seen in the parking lot screamed “undercover police” to Cora, but they could have been counting on that. She couldn’t trust them.

  Cora gripped the arm of their hostage even tighter. She didn’t want to stab him, but she held the blade so it poked into his side.

  She wondered about Detective Brodsky. So much for Liv’s app, which claimed Paul was being followed by the cops. Unless the two men who had just left really were the cops?

  Then who was the guy she was holding? Cop? Criminal?

  A cop wouldn’t have smacked Liv, she told herself. Would he?

  Paul stood watching Gracie, who was now standing just a few feet in front of him. His face held a mix of emotions. Relief. Love. Confusion. Fear.

  “Gracie?” he said, opening his arms.

  She dropped her gun on the ground and fell into him.

  The couple stood on the Yellow Brick Road, with the fake trees surrounding them, and seemed to melt into one image as the sun beamed from behind them.

  Cora shivered. Just what exactly was going on?

  Did she want to know?

  “You can let him go now,” came a voice from behind them.

  Brodsky. Finally.

  “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” he muttered to Cora.

  “So do you,” Cora said back to him, as she noticed the two men with him. They were the same men who had held Paul.

  “This is our guy,” one of them said. “I don’t know who you ladies are, but great work.”

  “Don’t tell them that,” Brodsky said tersely. “It only encourages them.”

  The men cuffed the guy and read him his rights as Liv and Sheila both edged closer to Cora. They watched Paul and Gracie, who stood still, their arms wrapped around one another.

  “Look at them,” Liv said. “Now that’s true love.”

  Paul never gave up hope. Had always believed in his and Gracie’s love. He also had always believed she was alive.

  Cora remembered the determined look on his face as he said he knew she was still alive. “I’d feel it if she were gone.”

  But as she took in the scene and considered Gracie, she wondered if the young woman could ever be the same. Cora didn’t know what exactly had happened to her. But she was certain whatever it was, was devastating. A traumatic event could affect your whole life. She’d seen it time and again. Gracie would carry the scars—both physical and emotional—for years to come.

  “Can they overcome this?” Sheila asked.

  “If anybody can . . .” Liv said.

  Cora chose to believe that.

  “We’re going to need a statement from you all,” Brodsky said. “So, how about following us to the station?”

  “Whatever you say,” Cora replied.

  “If only,” he said, and turned away from her.

  Paul and Gracie slowly followed the police as well. She was now wearing Paul’s jacket over her burlap and leaf outfit. Her eyes never left him. But she was still as high as could be and was babbling incoherently.

  Gracie’s confused babbling matched Cora’s own confused thoughts. None of this made any sense to her yet. She couldn’t wait for the story to unfold.

  Chapter 58

  When Cora, Sheila, and Liv returned to Kildare House, they were met by some worried and angry people.

  Donna ran to her mother and almost knocked Sheila over. “Mom, what were you thinking? I could shake you!” But instead she hugged her.

  “Cora!” Jane said with her arms crossed. “You have a lot of explaining to do!”

  “I imagine,” Cora said.

  “Why don’t we all sit down and we can fill you in,” Cora said.

  “It’s pretty convoluted and mind-blowing, I have to warn you,” Sheila said as they followed Cora into the living room. Obviously this is where the three of them had camped out while they were gone. A pot of coffee, donuts, cell phones, and computers were scattered around the room.

  They all took seats as Jane said, “Where’s Paul?”

  “He’s with Gracie,” Cora answered.

  “Or what’s left of Gracie,” Liv said gloomily.

  “What?” Jane asked.

  “She’s been drugged,” Cora said. “A lot. The police and doctors have no idea what is flowing through her system, but maybe crack, among other things.”

  “So she was abducted and drugged?” Jane asked.

  Cora nodded.

  �
��How did this happen?” Donna said.

  “Well, as far as they police have been able to tell, the man who took her was enamored with her because of the way she played the system. He knew her from school and was impressed with how she played the game they were all obsessed with.”

  “The game?” Jane said. “How can you have a relationship with a game?”

  “Oh boy, Jane. We need to talk,” Liv said, and grinned. “It’s not a real relationship for most players, but some of these guys have nothing or nobody else. It’s sad.”

  “To complicate matters, the police have been watching this game for a while now because they suspected it was really a front for a drug operation,” Sheila said.

  “I don’t get it,” Donna said. “The game was on the Darknet. It’s supposed to be anonymous. That’s the whole point of the Darknet.”

  “True,” Cora said. “But the cops went in undercover as players.”

  “Turns out the game was not a front for anything, as far as they could tell,” Liv said. “But this business with Gracie? They thought it was all linked.”

  “It turned out they thought Gracie was involved with the drug operation. But there was no operation. It was just this one crazy, but brilliant guy who hacked into the system and had everybody chasing their tails,” Cora said.

  “Including you,” Jane said. “He’s the one who sent the text message on your phone about the kidnapping, right?”

  Cora nodded.

  “In any case,” Cora said. “This guy was getting off on confusing everybody, including the cops. He thinks he’s a wizard. He thinks Gracie is Dorothy.”

  “Warped,” Donna said.

  “Indeed,” Cora said, nodding her head.

  “But what about Henry?” Jane asked.

  Cora took a deep breath.

  “We still don’t know what happened there. Gracie is confused about Henry. But she is completely and utterly stoned out of her mind. Even if she confessed to killing him right now, it wouldn’t be admissible in court,” she said. “But, it turns out that the man who abducted Gracie also despised Henry, hated him enough to lure him to the park. Brodsky mentioned that he’d not be surprised if he set Gracie up for the murder. She can’t really piece it together for us, yet.”

  “Is she that bad?” Jane said with her voice wavering.

  Cora nodded, feeling a wave of weariness overcome her. She couldn’t get Gracie’s haunted eyes and the expression on her face out of her mind.

  “I had been seeing the guy who had Gracie, Ted Brice. He also probably killed Henry. His name was linked to theirs. We just overlooked it. He was the poet who wrote a letter to the editor. It was right in front of our faces the whole time.”

  “Are you okay?” Jane asked.

  “I’ll be fine. I just need some rest,” Cora replied.

  “It’s been quite a morning,” Sheila said. “Why don’t you take a nap?”

  “I’ll fix lunch,” Jane said. “You go and lie down.”

  Lunch! Cora just remembered she was supposed to be at Adrian’s house for lunch. She glanced at the clock. She was already late.

  “I was supposed to meet Adrian,” she groaned.

  “I’ll call him,” Jane said. “Now, off to bed with you. In fact, I think you could all use some rest.”

  * * *

  Jane made her way to the kitchen and invaded the cupboards and refrigerator, searching for lunch.

  Soon, Adrian came to the back door, with flowers in his hands. “Is she okay?” he asked.

  “She’ll be fine. She just needed some rest and food will do her good,” Jane said. Adrian sat the flowers down on the table.

  “Can I help?” he asked.

  “Why don’t you slice the loaf of bread over there?” Jane said.

  Adrian set the flowers on the table and started to work.

  “Hey there,” Ruby said as she entered the back door. “I’ve seen a good bit of commotion over here and thought I’d come and see what’s going on.”

  Jane filled her in and Ruby just stood and shook her head. “Yes, Cora needs some food. Good move.”

  Just then the doorbell rang.

  “That must be Cashel,” Ruby said. “I bet he’s looking for me,” she said as she went to answer the door.

  Cashel? Oh, that’s just what they needed now, thought Jane. She peeled the shells off of two more hardboiled eggs. If there was food involved, Cashel would stick around. Jane was mixing the egg salad when Cashel walked into the kitchen.

  “Where’s Cora? I want the scoop.”

  “You can get the scoop from me,” Jane said, lifting the bowl of egg salad and taking it into the dining room.

  “Is that soup I smell?” he said as he followed her into the dining room.

  “Yes,” she replied. “Veggie soup is on the stove.”

  “So what happened today?” he said with his voice lowered.

  She told him everything. He stood with his mouth agape.

  “They could have been killed,” he said. “What were they thinking?”

  “You have to understand,” Jane said. “Cora felt responsible for Paul. And she thought he was heading for danger.”

  “So she wasn’t thinking,” Cashel said. “She was feeling.”

  “I guess you could say that,” Jane said.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever known anybody like her,” he said, looking off.

  Jane thought she detected a note of longing in his voice. She felt a little uncomfortable.

  “Um, I can guarantee you’ve never known anybody like her—and you probably never will.”

  “What do you know about this Adrian character?” he said in a lowered voice, as Adrian was around the corner in the kitchen.

  “Nice guy,” she said, and shrugged. “Cora likes him, which is all I need to know.”

  She left the dining room and entered the kitchen. “What does everybody want to drink?”

  “I’ve got drinks covered,” Adrian said. “Maybe you better go check on Cora.”

  She climbed the stairs to Cora’s place and knocked on the door. No answer.

  “Cora?” she said.

  “Jane, is that you?”

  “Yep,” she said.

  “Come on in,” she replied.

  Jane was astounded when she entered the apartment.

  “What are you doing? I thought you were resting.”

  “I am,” she said.

  Jane sat down next to Cora, sitting in the middle of the living room floor, preening over her charms.

  “A friend sent me this polymer clay and I’ve been working with it,” she said. “So much fun. You see, it came with stamps. I’ve gotten a ton done and just pulled out a batch from the oven. This clay is done in like fifteen minutes.”

  “Why didn’t you catch some sleep?” Jane asked.

  “Every time I close my eyes, I see Gracie,” Cora said. She set down a charm she worked into a cross-like design. “This is Brigid’s cross,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about Brigid. And you see it’s different than a regular cross. It’s even. Each one of the arms is the same size.”

  “I like this one,” Jane said. She held it up and saw the word LOVE sketched into it.

  “She had needle marks all over her.”

  “Gracie?” Jane said.

  “Yes, the guy who abducted her drugged her as well.”

  “Creepy,” Jane said.

  They sat in silence a minute or two.

  “Lunch is ready,” Jane said gently.

  Cora fidgeted with her charm. “This is my favorite I think. It’s the Tree of Life.”

  “Adrian is downstairs, you know,” Jane said.

  “He is?” Cora brightened.

  “Yeah, when I called he took it all in stride, then asked if he could come for lunch.”

  “Nice,” Cora said, then sighed. “I suppose I should put some lipstick on. Or something.”

  “You should. You’re looking a little wasted, friend,” Jane said, and smiled.


  “I bet,” Cora said. She took a deep breath. “I guess life goes on.”

  Chapter 59

  When Cora and Jane entered the light-filled dining room, Cora was taken aback by all the people there—Sheila, Donna, Ruby, Cashel, Liv, and Adrian.

  “Quite a party going on, I see,” Cora said.

  Adrian stood and kissed her cheek. “Good to see you,” he said quietly.

  She felt a blush creeping onto her face. She sat next to him.

  Cora spooned steaming veggie soup into her bowl. It might be just what she needed. She glanced across the table at Cashel and caught him looking at her. What was his deal? She turned back to Adrian. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make our lunch date.”

  “I understand,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Where did you learn your moves, Cora?” Sheila asked after a few minutes.

  “Moves?” Cora asked.

  “Yeah, the way you took down that guy,” Sheila said.

  Cora laughed. “Oh yes. I learned self-defense at my last job.”

  “I couldn’t believe it,” Liv said.

  “The Krav Maga does you well again,” Jane said.

  “I think I surprised him,” Cora said, grinning.

  “You always do,” Jane replied. “Nobody expects a pixie like you to kick ass.”

  The people around the table laughed.

  “That’s my secret weapon,” Cora said, laughing. Then she turned to Sheila. “But you’re no slouch, lady.”

  Sheila’s face reddened. “I don’t know what came over me. I’ve never done anything like that in my life.”

  Donna appeared confused. “What?”

  “When I knocked the guy down, your mother jumped on him and grabbed his gun.”

  “Jesus, mom!” Donna said. “What were you thinking?”

  Cora slurped her soup and tried not to laugh. They chatted, ate, and laughed. Cora was beginning to feel better. A part of her felt like the events of the day weren’t real, like she’d been having a nightmare, or stepped into another realm. But eating, drinking, and chatting with friends, along with making the charms, seemed to be undoing whatever spell she was under. Intellectually, she knew it was probably a form of shock, but it would take some time to sort through it emotionally.