Indeed it was. And there was actually a face in it. Just for a few seconds, but enough for Georgie to register who it was: one of the presenters from Dancing with the Stars. Immediately, her mind filled with images of an auditorium filled with people, an auburn-haired dancer being lifted high into the air by her partner, a standing ovation, the judges’ panel smiling… until the whole scene gradually went dim, and then winked out, leaving a heavy sense of what might have been.
It was one of the clearest premonitions Georgie had ever had, and she instinctively knew what it all meant.
Dancing with the Stars was in Jaxx’s future, but only as a probability. It was a future that would never happen, unless the threat to her was eliminated.
Jaxx’s voice brought her back to reality. “Georgie?”
She looked up, to find Jaxx looking at her expectantly.
Georgie seized upon the only thing that she could share. “Have you ever been approached about going on Dancing with the Stars?”
The involuntary gasp from Lilli Chin Lee, standing behind her, told her she had hit pay dirt.
Opposite her, Jaxx straightened up, her eyes wide with surprise and pleasure. “Is that what you saw?”
“Yes. No doubt about it.”
“Did you see me actually performing?” Jaxx did the hair-flick thing again, preening. “Or did you just hear the name of the show? Was it words or pictures?”
“I saw the presenter, and images of people dancing, as though I was above, looking down. The woman had hair the same color as yours.”
“I’ve been trying to decide whether I can handle the commitments of the show with my schedule,” Jaxx confided, with a wide-eyed glance at the camera, and then went on eagerly, “What else can you tell me?”
There was a slight blip in Georgie’s mind, as though she was being tuned into a different channel, and more information came trickling in.
“Your sister will be phoning you with some good news soon,” she said, automatically passing on whatever came through. This was small stuff; safe and familiar—she recognized the feeling from dozens of light-hearted readings for people. “Something to do with your nephew—he’s quite intelligent, I think? He’s just won an award, or a scholarship, something like that.”
Jaxx nodded, her smile showing that there was a good chance this might happen.
“You should schedule a trip to the dentist soon—don’t keep putting it off; it won’t get any better.” The image of a book came into her mind, with the other woman’s smiling face on the cover; behind her an acorn resting under a tree; the show’s logo. “You’ll either be writing a book about your show, or someone will approach you about having a book written. If they haven’t already.”
She rattled off several more insights, the information flowing steadily into her mind, until she sensed that it was time to finish.
“That’s about it.” The mist in the crystal ball gradually dissipated, and Georgie covered it up.
“And CUT.” Seth did something to the camera, and then stabbed at buttons while he stared at a small screen. He nodded and gave the thumbs up sign to Jaxx. “All good. Some pure gold there.”
“That was amazing.” Jaxx beamed at her. “We should do a show just on you. Georgie the Gypsy Fortune Teller.”
“I don’t think a donations-only business fits the profile for your show,” Georgie pointed out.
“Tell me, do you think I’m actually going to win Dancing With the Stars?”
Yes, Georgie thought instantly, but that was immediately followed by: If you survive.
“I sense that you’ll be a finalist,” she said. “As for whether you’ll win… wouldn’t you like a little mystery in your life?”
Jaxx gave her sexy throaty chuckle. “I’d like a mystery man in my life, but you didn’t tell me anything about that.”
“No sign of that just at the moment, I’m afraid.”
“Well, it looks like I’m just going to have to give them a call at Dancing with the Stars and tell them that I’m in. Now that I know I’m going to be a finalist.”
“We could do that on camera,” Lilli suggested.
“Sure. Pass me my phone.”
Lilli looked at the screen as she handed it over. “Jaxx, you have a missed call from your sister.”
“No.” Jaxx was delighted. “This is too good to be true. I’ll phone her back first.”
In the next fifteen minutes, the camera caught all the action while Jaxx phoned first her sister and then the producer at Dancing with the Stars, and then they did the wrap with Jaxx talking excitedly about how blown away she was to have her fortune told by an eighth-generation gypsy, and wow, she couldn’t believe how accurate it all was—and yes, Jaxx had accepted the invitation to go on Dancing with the Stars, and her clever nephew had scored an invitation to a prestigious science summer school!
At last it was all over, and Jaxx headed off somewhere to have lunch, leaving Seth and Lilli to pack up and tote everything to the car.
Georgie stood at the top of the steps of her gypsy caravan, watching Jaxx’s low-slung red hatchback turn out of the gate and on to the road.
A red car, a house on a cliff, and someone in pursuit.
How was she going to warn Jaxx about all that without it appearing on film? And what, exactly, was Jaxx supposed to do about it?
Chapter 3
Layla and Tammy spotted Georgie standing in the doorway, and made a beeline for her trailer.
“How’d it go?” Tammy grinned up at her. “Ready to swat the annoying Ms. Saxby yet?”
“She wasn’t too bad.” Georgie walked down the steps to meet them. “I’m in her good books: she was thrilled that I foretold her success on Dancing with the Stars. More fame and fortune.”
“Georgie.” Seth stuck his head out of the doorway, the earphones casually slung around his neck. “I’m going to do a few background shots, OK? The candle, the crystal ball, close-ups of some of the interior. Would you prefer to be present while I do it?”
Georgie grinned up at him. She liked Seth, with his tumble of sandy hair and his startling black eyelashes and eyebrows. And he had a permanent twinkle in his eye: she was always partial to people who found the world amusing. “No, I trust you. Besides, one peek in my crystal ball and I’ll know what you get up to.”
He winked and disappeared.
Layla moved a little to one side, peering over Georgie’s shoulder so she could see watch him at work. “Now there’s a tasty morsel. What’s his name?”
“Seth.” Georgie tilted her head on one side and regarded her friend quizzically. “Should I warn him you’re on the hunt?”
“I can make my own advances, thank you.” Layla edged closer to watch him work, bending over to adjust the crystal ball and candle, and lowered her voice. “Which I may well do quite soon. He’s got a nice butt, had you noticed?”
“Layla, that’s extremely sexist,” Tammy said reprovingly. “Don’t you know that you shouldn’t treat men as playthings?”
“Oops,” Layla said. “My bad.”
She and Tammy looked at each other and cracked up.
Georgie had to laugh in spite of herself. “You two are hopeless.”
“Better check that he’s not already taken,” Tammy advised. “On the road all the time with Jaxx, he’s probably got a girl in every town. And speaking of Jaxx, did you know she’s got her eye on Jerry?”
“Jerry?” Georgie blinked. “My brother Jerry?”
“Of course your brother Jerry. The fact that he’s almost my fiancé doesn’t seem to concern her.”
“It’s probably the ‘almost’ part that has something to do with that,” Layla told her. “If you’d just say ‘yes’, he’d have that ring on your finger in a nanosecond. Incontrovertible proof.”
Tammy smiled conspiratorially. “It’s more fun keeping him on the hop. Anyway, it’s all rather amusing. Yesterday I caught her curled around him like a cat.”
Georgie and Layla both stared at her.
&
nbsp; Georgie shook her head, incredulous. Her brother just kept on doing dumb things. He had a girlfriend like Tammy—the girl generally known in vintage trailer circles as the ‘Rockabilly Princess’—yet still responded to Jaxx Saxby’s advances?
“I saw them disappear into Jerry’s RV.” Tammy inspected her fingernails, a small smile on her face. “So I hung about outside and eavesdropped. She asked him to show her how the music system worked, and then suggested that he stream some Latin music…specifically, the tango.”
“Nooooo…” Georgie and Layla said at the same time.
“Yup. And then she asked him if he knew how to dance the tango, and he said yes, and so I gave them a couple of minutes and then joined them.” She snapped her fingers. “Bingo. Jerry and Jaxx, caught close enough so you couldn’t fit a piece of paper between them.”
“And…?”
“Jerry carried it off with a laugh and some wisecracks, and Jaxx looked daggers at me, and I just smiled.”
Georgie knew that smile of Tammy’s. Jerry knew it well too. He could joke and charm his way out of most things, but once Tammy looked at him with that certain smile he rapidly unraveled.
“And then?”
“And then I suggested that Jerry and I demonstrate our special tango for Ms. Saxby. Which we did.” Tammy smiled her special smile again. “It got quite heated, and she left before we finished.”
“Well played,” Georgie said with respect. “I love it. Hurry up and say ‘yes’. You’ll make the best sister-in-law.” She gave Tammy a hug. “Jerry has met his match at last.”
“So has Ms. Saxby. I’ll let her play with him for a while, and watch him squirm because he knows I’m watching. But…” Tammy’s special smile crossed her face. “If she gets too friendly, I’ll squash her like a bug.”
“Anyway,” Georgie said, “About Jaxx.” She glanced back into her caravan, where Seth was moving his tripod around to capture the stained glass inserts. He wasn’t really close enough to hear, but she didn’t want to take any risks. “Let’s go over to your trailer, Tammy. We need to talk.”
Tammy and Layla exchanged glances, and Tammy’s eyes lit up. “More gossip?”
“No,” Georgie said. “More—”
She was interrupted by Seth poking his head out of the door again. “Georgie, if you’re leaving, I’ll just get that mic from you.” He laid his headphones on the table and started down the steps.
Georgie glanced down at the mic, still clipped on to her lacy shawl. “Oh, right.” She unclipped it, took the power pack out of the deep pocket on her skirt and wound the cord around the pack before handing it to Seth. “Here you go.”
“Let me show you something.” He turned the power pack slightly so she could see a tiny button on the side. “See, it’s switched to ‘on’? That means I’m still getting audio. It’s best to switch it off when you finish a take. That preserves the battery life.”
“I’ll remember that,” Georgie said. “Not that it matters, I probably won’t be doing much more.”
“We still have the family interview to go, and I think Jaxx wants to do a take with you and your great-grandmother.” Seth grinned at her, and then looked directly at Layla, his eyes gleaming, and nodded. “Give me a call any time. Georgie has a list of contacts for the film crew.”
He sketched a wave and disappeared inside the caravan again.
“No,” Layla said, turning red. “No, no, no, no, NO. Tell me he didn’t hear all that.”
“I’m afraid he did.” Georgie tried to remember. “Quick, what did we say?”
“Nothing too bad,” Tammy said. “Just Layla’s comments about Seth’s butt, and that Jaxx was annoying, but he’d have to already know that.” She grinned. “And he heard all about her tango with Jerry.”
“Aagh, total embarrassment. I’m going to kill myself.” Layla smacked herself on the forehead and headed off at a rapid pace.
“Come on,” Georgie said to Tammy, following Layla. “I have more to tell you. I’ll see if Scott’s there so he can hear too, and then come over to your trailer.” She looked back and caught a glimpse of Seth, grinning after them as he detached his camera and collapsed the tripod.
She just hoped he wasn’t secretly a Jaxx flunky, running to her with everything he heard.
~~~
Tammy had prepared some wraps stuffed with cheese salad and nuts, and had a cheerful polka-dot teapot with Earl Grey tea steeping for Georgie and Layla plus herbal teabags for herself. They sat outside in her camp chairs, which had red and white polka dot covers to match the china.
“Here, Scott. Coffee for you.” She placed a cup in front of him, delivered with a kiss on the cheek. She and Scott had become closer since a recent close call with a bunch of prepper extremists.
“And that’s why I love coming to Tammy’s for lunch,” he said, selecting a wrap and taking a bite. “I get spoiled.”
Georgie took another look at what Layla and Tammy were wearing: identical pedal-pushers and tie-waist shirts in different colors. Both were wearing bandanas; both had Victory curls. “Why are you two dressed the same? Is it vintage twins week or something?”
“New line of clothes from Mags.” Layla carefully cut a wrap in half. “She wants us to test them for comfort. Mine are a bit tight, so I’m going on a diet.”
“Just buy a larger size,” Georgie advised, scanning Layla’s trim figure. “You’re fine as you are.”
“She’s man-hunting,” Tammy told Scott. “Seth the cameraman. Who now knows she has him in her sights.”
“Don’t,” Layla said mournfully. “I’m trying to forget that he overheard.”
“What have I missed?” Scott settled back comfortably to listen, grinning at them all, while Layla filled him in on the forgotten microphone. Georgie sometimes got the feeling that he treated Tammy and Layla as he would his sisters, tolerantly amused by the ups and downs of their love life.
Luckily, he didn’t treat Georgie anything like a sister.
Georgie wrenched her mind back to the case in hand.
“Now that we’re all here,” she said, “I am officially calling a meeting of the CBI team.”
“Ah,” Scott said. He turned his full attention on her.
“Hooray!” Layla wriggled with anticipation. “The Crystal Ball Investigation Team rides again! It’s been nearly two months. I was beginning to think that Jerry’s abduction might have been our last case.”
“It came all too close,” said Georgie feelingly, “for all the wrong reasons. But anyway…I’ve just done a reading for Jaxx. Since it was on camera, I haven’t told Jaxx all that I picked up. We need to decide what to do.”
She filled them in on her visions of the figure being pursued, the house on the cliff, the red car and Jaxx staring into the lake. “After that, it changed,” she said. “I picked up on Jaxx taking part in Dancing With the Stars…and then it all faded, and I got this horrible feeling that this was only a possible future. That if I didn’t figure out what the first stuff meant, then Jaxx would never make it as far as winning any dancing trophy.” She drew in a deep breath. “I wish I wasn’t quite so sure about that.”
“Hmm. So that’s where the tango dancing thing came from,” said Tammy.
“I think so. She was tossing up whether she had time. Now she knows she’d get through to the finals, she’s keen.” Georgie sat back, and threw her arms open wide. “So there you have it, guys. The usual sorts of clues that come from a crystal ball reading—a few vague hints; nothing much we can actually use. So where do we start?”
Chapter 4
The burning question was whether they should tell Jaxx. She was such a wild card—she was just as likely to grab Seth and turn it all into a dramatic piece to camera, which might simply result in whoever was after her biding their time until the heat was off. In the end, they decided it would be best to watch her like a hawk and follow the clues.
The only thing that had made any sense so far was the red car. The image that had flicked through
Georgie’s mind looked very much like the bullet-shaped hatchback that Jaxx was driving now.
“The good news is that we’ve all got an excellent way of keeping an eye on her,” Georgie pointed out. “We’re all featured in various segments of the show, so one of us could be around her most of the time. And even if we’re not, I can plan to be in the background when she’s interviewing other members of the family—just showing interest. The bad news is that there are only a few days left of the shoot. We need to figure this out quickly.” She looked at Scott. “When are you due to start that job in Virginia?”
“I’ll have to head off at the weekend.”
“So you’ll be around until the film crew depart,” Georgie said, pleased. She always felt better when Scott was close at hand. “Let’s hope we can figure out what’s going on by then.”
Tammy spoke up. “Should we tell Jerry? Then he can stay on the alert when she’s shooting the wrap-up segment with him.”
“That’s a good idea.” Not so far in the past, Georgie would have said a firm ‘no’ to that idea, but after having to be rescued himself, Jerry was no longer skeptical about crystal ball readings. “If there’s one thing that Jerry’s good at, it’s keeping things close to his chest. Nobody would realize that he’s doing anything but performing for the cameras. He doesn’t miss much.”
“I’ll hang around when she’s filming Jerry,” Tammy said, grinning. “The jealous almost-fiancée. I can play that one perfectly.”
“I have another idea.” Layla twisted one curl around her finger, looking slightly pink. “Um, the cameraman. Seth. Now that he has invited me to contact him…I could follow up on that. You know, act like a kind of groupie and hang around wherever he’s filming. I mean, I’ve embarrassed myself enough already, so I might as well act like a total fool…at least he’ll be gone a few days.”
“Only one thing wrong with that,” Tammy said. “What if he’s really nice and you don’t want him to think you’re an idiot?”
“After we’ve solved it I could come clean,” Layla pointed out. “Tell him I was undercover. Then he’ll be impressed by my cleverness and he’ll be in hot pursuit.”
In Good Hands: Book 5 Georgie B. Goode Gypsy Caravan Cozy Mystery Page 2