Phantom Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Book 12)

by Kennedy Layne

  Phantom Blend

  A Paramour Bay Mystery

  Book Twelve

  KENNEDY LAYNE

  PHANTOM BLEND

  Copyright © 2020 by Kennedy Layne

  Kindle Edition

  Cover Designer: Sweet ’N Spicy Designs

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  Dedication

  Jeffrey—A druid was perfect!

  Cole—We are beyond proud of your accomplishments!

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  About the Book

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  About Batty Blend

  Books by Kennedy Layne

  About the Author

  Mirrors and mischief might not be the best combination in this delightful tale of the Paramour Bay Mysteries by USA Today Bestselling Author Kennedy Layne…

  The quaint coastal town of Paramour Bay is once again hosting their annual garage sale, and Raven Marigold is happily participating for the first time with two tables of gently used items and select pieces of clothing. She’s taken special care to ensure that no magical auras remain on the items that she’s included for sale, and she is quite confident that her first time joining in on the sale will go off without a hitch.

  Raven hadn’t counted on her familiar taking his annual battle with the local squirrel population to a new level, resulting in a collapsed table, a broken mirror, and a trapped phantom who leads Raven and the gang onto their next murder mystery that might not reveal the fairest of them all.

  You’ll want to put down your trusty dustpan and broom for this enchanting whodunit that might or might not result in seven years of bad luck for the residents of Paramour Bay!

  Chapter One

  The quaint coastal town of Paramour Bay, Connecticut was having the town-wide, two-day annual garage sale, and the warm weather couldn’t have been more cooperative. The Saturday morning sun was shining brightly, a gentle cool breeze was coming in off the bay, and the residents were all out in force with their wallets and change purses ready to capture new treasures.

  The picturesque neighborhoods were currently filled with townsfolk making their way from one driveway to the next, hoping to purchase some novel, gently used items that they could brag about during tonight’s fish fry. The free all-you-can-eat community dinner was being hosted by none other than our current mayor himself in hopes of being reelected for office this year.

  Mayor Sanders didn’t see it as buying votes as much as giving back to the community that he loved. Any other opponent might have said otherwise, but that was unlikely since he was currently running unopposed. Even so, he still made an effort to mingle with the residents to keep in their good graces.

  “Raven, I’m going inside for some more coffee,” Heidi Connolly called out from across the driveway. She had her blonde hair secured in a ponytail that had been threaded through the back of a pink baseball cap, and she was carrying one of those insulated travel mugs with the metal straw. “Do you want some?”

  “Yes, please. Black is fine!” I called out before placing the ten dollars that Monty had given me into the small metal box that Heidi had set on the table for the cash that we’d hopefully make off our items today. “Monty, I hope you enjoy that set of Homemaker’s Pantry pans. I don’t think Nan ever used them.”

  “I usually don’t say this, but are you sure that I can’t give you more money for them?” Monty asked, the local hardware store owner already hoisting up his find into his arms before I could change my mind. “Then again, it is a garage sale. Nice doing business with you, Raven.”

  I laughed as Monty walked away with his newly discovered prize, very happy that I could participate in this year’s annual garage sale. Having lived in Paramour Bay for close to a year and a half, I’d finally accumulated enough items to have my own table. It had also helped to search the cottage that I’d inherited from my grandmother for little odds and ends that had just been collecting dust.

  “Have a good day, Monty!”

  I closed the lid on the metal box and sat back in my chair to enjoy the scene before me. I loved to people-watch, especially when there were so many smiles on the faces of those perusing the tables. I planned on joining the crowd later today, holding out hope that not everything would be too picked over. We still had tomorrow to get through too, and some of the residents purposefully kept a second wave of gently used items and trinkets in their garage to resupply their table for tomorrow morning.

  The older patrons who frequented the teashop aptly titled Tea, Leaves, & Eves that I’d also inherited from my grandmother were out and about today, as well. Elsie and Wilma, the town’s two biggest gossip queens, were a few houses down trying to buy a woman out of all her knitting needles for their newly acquired hobby. I wouldn’t be surprised if they came into the store next week to ask if they could use one of the high-top tables to sell some of their creations.

  Candy, the local hairdresser, had purposefully not scheduled any customers this weekend for the sole purpose of finding bargain basement prices on various knick-knacks for the new sunroom that she’d had added onto her house this spring. She’d said just the other day that she was hoping for a nautical theme.

  Then there was Pearl with her purple hair. She’d had a brief moment when it was blue, but the purple dye that she’d thought was grey was her absolute favorite. Everyone just went along with it as if it were a perfectly normal shade to sport around on a daily basis.

  Thinking back to when the mishap of dyes occurred had me pondering over the coven war. Being a witch certainly had its hardships, but I wouldn’t change a single thing in my happy life. My grandmother had bequeathed me everything that my heart desired, and my only regret was that I hadn’t known about our lineage sooner. I hadn’t gotten a chance to know my Nan in the way a granddaughter should.

  I blamed my mother for that, but that was a story for another time.

  Unfortunately, Nan had passed away almost a year and a half ago.

  The quaint teashop that she’d owned was basically a front for selling various magical blends of herbal teas. She’d done it under the guise of what some would consider holistic medicine, but she’d utilized actual magic spells to create tea blends for arthritis, insomnia, the common cold, and pretty much every other annoying ailment one would find in a medical journal.

  Her goal had been to help the residents of Paramour Bay in any way she could, and I continued to honor her legacy. I had a tendency to be a bit accident prone, though. Although there had certainly been some mishaps with some spells and potions along the way, I was getting better and better at casting them without mishap each and every day.

  The eerie-looking cottage on the edge of town had also bee
n a part of Nan’s estate. The exterior resembled a spooky haunted house that I was relatively sure had been her creative intent. The interior was to die for though, with all modern appliances and splashes of color here and there.

  I hadn’t really seen or spent time with my grandmother since around the time I was eighteen years old, but basically stepping into her shoes allowed me to learn about her life firsthand. It was quite the honor, even though next to no one in town knew of our family legacy.

  I might not be part of the coven of witches that was currently at war, but there were quite a few time-tested rules that needed to be followed for the protection of our kind. No one who lived in this region of the country was going to forget about the witch trials of the mid-1600s. Normal, everyday people would never understand nor condone having witches among them.

  The fear of the unknown was just too strong.

  Anyway, Nan had created a secretive life here in Paramour Bay, giving me the ability to live mine the same way—under the safety guise of a teashop owner who dabbled in holistic medicine. I would never take her gift for granted.

  I raised my face to the morning sun, soaking up the warmth of this beautiful spring day.

  Like my best friend, I had pulled my hair back to get through the hotter part of the afternoon. My long black strands were a lot thicker than Heidi’s blonde locks, so I’d had to use a scrunchie to secure my hair at the base of my neck. The noon hour would be here before we knew it, and the sun’s rays would bounce right off the asphalt and give us all a taste of what summer would be like this season.

  The birds were relishing the lovely weather, as well. They were chirping merrily in the tree, almost as if they were creating their own melody.

  I was about to hum along when the faintest sounds of utter chaos reached my ears.

  “Oh, no,” I moaned underneath my breath, pulling my head forward and peering through my lashes in dread. Sure enough, my inherited familiar was jumping on and off tables as he quickly as he could scurry, doing his best to escape the clutches of at least three angry squirrels in hot pursuit. “Leo! Don’t you dare—”

  Before the rest of the warning fell off my lips, Leo jumped and landed full force on my table. The fact that he was overweight played a fairly obvious part in why the legs all but collapsed and sent every item on the surface crashing to the ground. In my attempt not to be part of the muddled mess, I’d inadvertently tilted my chair a little too far back.

  You can imagine what happened next.

  One minute I was sitting upright while enjoying the beautiful day, and the next I was staring up at the cloudless sky as I struggled to draw breath back into my depleted lungs. Leo’s heavy body happened to land directly on my chest, so the additional pounds of his haunches didn’t help in my necessary endeavor to breathe.

  My weight? Really, Raven? You’re focused on my love handles when I’m about to be attacked by a band of Skippy’s most loyal ninja cretins? Get your priorities straight!

  I wish I could have answered him or responded in kind, but I was still having a bit of trouble sucking in the required amount of air. There were even tiny flashes of lights that began to appear in my peripheral vision.

  “Shoo, now!” a high-pitched voice rang out. “Skedaddle, you rodents! You heard me!”

  Mrs. Salazar isn’t such an old biddy, after all. She knows how to come to a cat’s rescue, Raven. You should take notes.

  I saw the shadow of something swinging down toward me before I actually saw the broom itself. I wasn’t sure how my eardrum hadn’t burst from the blow. How the worn bristles missed my head was beyond me, but I was just grateful that I didn’t have to move quite yet.

  “Leo,” I croaked out, trying to move him off me without having his extended claws take out chunks of skin on my chest. “Off.”

  With a final push, I was able to shove Leo into the grass.

  My folding chair had been close enough to the strip of lawn in between Heidi’s house and that of the Mr. and Mrs. Salazar’s home that their lush grass had somewhat softened my blow when I’d crashed to the ground. The couple were in their late sixties and had just started their retirement years, so their recent care and maintenance of their landscape was much appreciated.

  So much for your self-preservation energy balls, Raven. Are you still malfunctioning?

  “What on earth happened?” Heidi exclaimed as she quickly made her way over to us, having replaced the shadow that had been in the form of Mrs. Salazar. “Leo, were you antagonizing the local squirrel population again?”

  Antagonizing? You tell my soulmate that I’m risking my hind end to make sure she doesn’t end up a casualty in the squirrelpocalypse. I was this close to finding out the location of their headquarters. This close, Raven!

  Heidi handed both travel mugs to Mrs. Salazar, who’d tucked the broomstick underneath her arm in order to take them into her hands. I managed to lift my arm and wiggle my fingers to indicate that I was ready to be helped off the ground, but I should have known better.

  I was second fiddle to Leo.

  My best friend betrayed me by kneeling down and rubbing Leo from head to toe to make sure that he hadn’t been hurt in his altercation with the local wildlife.

  I love her with every strand of fur on my oversized body, Raven.

  “Thanks for helping,” I said wryly, letting my arm drop beside me. Along with my accident-prone tendencies, I also wasn’t the most graceful woman in town. It took me a minute to roll over and collect my bearings. “Mrs. Salazar, I appreciate your help. The warm weather always seems to make Leo and the squirrels a little rambunctious this time of year.”

  “Those hairy tailed rodents were the ones chasing Leo,” Mrs. Salazar exclaimed with a huff of annoyance, much to Leo’s delight. I could actually hear his long-extended purrs. Then again, Heidi was still petting him. “You should see what those critters have done to my bird feeders in back. I’ve got to send Robert to the pet store this afternoon to get a replacement for one of them.”

  See, Raven? This is all Skippy’s doing. He sent those crazy ninja misfits after me without any provocation whatsoever. I haven’t even had time to plan his demise this year. I believe this was just a preemptive strike to begin the squirrelpocalypse earlier than previously anticipated.

  I raised an eyebrow at Leo’s claim of innocence and impending doom. Everyone in town knew of Leo’s annual battle with the local squirrels, and the fact that he usually instigated the battles first.

  As I’d mentioned before, what the residents didn’t know was that I was a witch or that Leo was a familiar, with the exception of Heidi and Liam—my best friend and the man who had swept me off my feet.

  You’re making a hairball want to come up, Raven. Enough of the sappy stuff. It appears that my attempt at a feigned friendship in order to slip inside the ninja squirrel platoon to find their headquarters was a bust. It’s back to the drawing board.

  “Isn’t that terrible, Raven?” Heidi asked me, nudging me back to the conversation. Her tone indicated that she’d directed the question at me more than once. “It’s just a travesty what the squirrels have done to Mrs. Salazar’s bird feeders. They’re out of control.”

  “It is,” I agreed heartily, managing to stand while brushing off the lingering blades of grass that had clung to my skirt. Leo and I were connected in such a way that he could read my thoughts, but it was habit to talk aloud with him. Heidi usually covered for me. “Thank you for your help, Mrs. Salazar.”

  “No problem, dear,” she said with a returning smile, handing off the travel mugs to me while she palmed the handle of her broom. “Let me go inside for a dustpan. Be careful where you step until I get back. There are shards of glass everywhere from that…rather interesting vase you were trying to sell. It also looks as if you might have lost that hand mirror. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

  Upon hearing about the devastation that had been left in the wake of Leo’s morning battle with the squirrels, I hesitantly looked down at all the items
that had been on the table.

  No one was going to buy that vase anyway, Raven. I’ve never seen a putrid green like that before in my two lives.

  Sure enough, the scene before me was like the aftermath of a tornado.

  Knickknacks and other odds and ends were scattered everywhere, the putrid green vase in question had all but been destroyed, and a mirror encased in a brass intricate frame with matching handle had a crack right through middle. I’m relatively sure that the only thing that had saved it from completely shattering into a million pieces was the stack of potholders that had dainty ladybugs printed on both sides.

  We all agree that this catastrophe was the ninja squirrels’ doing, right? I mean, breaking a mirror results in seven years bad luck. I’m pretty good at math, so that would add seven years to my good luck. Seven years where I might have the ability to finally win the squirrelpocalypse. Now that I think about it, this morning hasn’t been all that bad.

  “I’m okay,” I called out when a few of the residents had begun to crowd around Heidi’s driveway in an attempt to help clean up the mess. “It won’t take long to get things sorted out. We’ve got this covered.”

  Are you talking to me?

  “Yes, I am,” I muttered, passing Leo as he continued to look down at the mirror and clearly marvel at his rationale. I didn’t have the heart to break it to him that he was the one who had crashed into me, which had resulted in the cracked mirror. The last thing he needed was seven years of bad luck. I’m relatively sure that it would rub off on me. “Heidi, can you help me clear what landed on the table? Once we do that, we can set it back up on its legs.”

  “What a mess,” Heidi exclaimed, setting down her travel mug to help lift the table.

  Is that your way of calling me ugly?

  “Leo, she didn’t call you ugly,” I denied, wondering if the seven-year superstition thing was even remotely true. I might be a witch, but I only really became superstitious when someone jinxed me. It was usually Leo or me who did the jinxing, but we’d gotten by relatively unscathed these last few months. I should have known the peace wouldn’t last. “Heidi was talking about how much clean-up we have to do. Mrs. Salazar should be back with the dustpan soon. Whatever you do, Leo, don’t cut yourself on that mirror.”