“Maybe he doesn’t like some of the comments you’ve made about me,” I said snidely – then I saw the very real fear in Rafe’s eyes.
“Calm down. He’s just a dog. Here, I’ll introduce you two,” I said, leaning over to pet Hank until his stance became less aggressive.
“Hank, that’s Rafe. Be nice to him,” I said, pointing to where Rafe sat. Hank swung his head between the ghost and me.
“It’s okay. Really,” I insisted, and Hank moved to where Rafe sat, sniffing curiously at the ghost as Rafe crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling, biting his lip. When Hank didn’t lunge at him, but instead sat and cocked his head curiously at Rafe, I smiled.
“See?”
“I can’t believe you keep this animal in your home,” Rafe said, though I saw he was shooting glances at Hank over his shoulder.
“Rafe, didn’t you have any pets? Where are you from anyway?”
“We had a cat once. Before I left for sea,” Rafe admitted.
“Ah, you’re a cat person. Got it,” I smiled down at Hank, offering him a piece of cheese. He took it from me delicately in his teeth and hopped from the couch to eat his snack in the corner.
“I’m not one for forming attachments. You really couldn’t as a pirate,” Rafe said, and I felt sadness wash over me as I thought how lonely that life must have been for him.
“You never knew who you would have to kill,” Rafe finished eagerly.
Yup, sadness all gone.
“Rafe, I’m going to bed. Sleep downstairs, but stay out of the upstairs,” I ordered as I collected my dishes and called for Hank.
“I don’t know if I can sleep,” Rafe wondered.
“Well, go do something useful with your time. But leave me alone.”
Praying that the pirate would find somewhere else to go, I made haste to my bedroom, slamming the door and locking it behind me for good measure. Hank jumped up to his favorite spot on the bed.
“Hank, you’re on ghost patrol.”
And this is what my life has come down to, I thought as I stripped my dress over my head and pulled on a sleep tank. Ordering my dog to warn me about ghosts.
Never a dull moment around here.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE MORNING CAME way too fast for me, and I groaned as I rolled over in my bed, pushing my hair out of my eyes. Hank bellied up towards me on the bed until his nose just touched mine, then gave me a swipe with his rough little tongue.
“Morning, buddy,” I said, reaching out to scratch his tummy when he rolled over for me.
My thoughts were in a jumble this morning, as I tried to work out the impressions from my dreams last night. The most disconcerting one was that I felt like maybe I should have stayed behind to see what the evil thing on the beach was. I sincerely hoped our retreat wouldn’t come back to bite us in the ass. Biting my lower lip, I hurried through my morning routine, pausing after my shower to examine my closet.
If we were leaving straight from work to pick up Miss Elva, I should probably dress for the day. Glancing down at Hank, I realized I would need to come home and let him out anyway, but still decided to grab a purple maxi dress from a hanger. The rich purple color complimented my lavender hair, and small gold sequins were sewn on the bottom half, giving the fabric a fun shimmer. Plus, this dress made me feel powerful – and I suspected I’d need to project confidence when we went to the Pagan festival later in the day.
Mulling over the potential for disaster to strike at the festival, I let out a screech when I rounded the bottom of my steps and ran face-first into Rafe.
“Jesus, Rafe. Don’t do that,” I shouted, holding my hand over my heart.
“What? You said not to come upstairs.”
“So you waited at the exact bottom of the stairs?”
“Well, not all night. I watched some of the people in the box talk. Then I went out and about. But I figured I’d better come back and wait for you this morning, as I didn’t want to miss spending the day with you.”
I leveled a look at him as I crossed the room to open the back door to let Hank outside for his morning potty, leaving it open for him to come back in when he was finished.
“You don’t have to stay with me the whole time, you know,” I said, wanting to encourage separation in our spaces.
“We’re friends. That’s what friends do,” Rafe said easily.
Oh boy.
“Rafe, where are you from? How come you don’t have an accent?” I asked as I moved to where Hank was already doing a happy dance in front of his food bowl.
“I’m from Spain. I don’t really know why I don’t have an accent. You sound strange to me. I don’t know, maybe I picked it up from the people talking in the box,” Rafe said, a puzzled look on his face.
“Weird,” I muttered, gathering my purse and reaching inside Hank’s toy drawer. Today’s toy was a pirate, of all things, and I laughed a little, holding it up to show Rafe. He floated over to me, his brows crinkled in concern.
“What is this item? Is this a voodoo doll?” Rafe breathed, cocking his head to examine the toy’s hat and broadsword.
“Yes, yes it is,” I said solemnly, then laughed when Rafe gasped and moved back from the toy. “Just joking. It’s a toy for Hank,” I explained as I threw it to Hank and he chased it happily across the floor. Soon loud squeaks emanated from the pirate toy’s head and Rafe had a horrified look on his face.
“I knew he was a devil-beast,” Rafe hissed as he slipped out the front door behind me.
“He’s not a devil-beast. Yesterday his toy was a banana. Don’t worry so much,” I said and then stopped short when I noticed a neighbor across the street looking at me oddly.
“Mr. Patterson!” I nodded and waved to him, then spoke through the side of my mouth to Rafe.
“Don’t talk to me in public. People will think I’m crazy.”
“I’m pretty sure you are,” I heard the ghost mutter as he followed me to my bike.
“This contraption is your steed?” Rafe asked quizzically as I threw a leg over my beach cruiser and sat on the seat, putting my purse in the basket in front of me.
“Yes, and a most noble steed it is,” I muttered as I kicked away from the curve, happy that I had pulled my hair back from my face as a low breeze, heavy with humidity, tickled my face.
Deciding that it was an iced coffee morning, I veered my bike from my road and towards the main strip in downtown Tequila. At 8:00 am, it was fairly bustling. Dive boats were pulling out of the harbor, while fishing boats were already long gone into the sea. Rafe chattered over my ear, exclaiming about cars and other things he found to be interesting, but I ignored him, seeing as how I had literally just told him not to talk in public.
I passed Fins, waving at the owner as he swept the porch, and pulled my bike aside to lock it in front of Beanz, the local coffee shop. Painted a pretty coffee bean color with turquoise blue trim, Beanz was the best spot in town for Blue Mountain coffee, straight from Jamaica. Luckily, Rafe kept his mouth shut as he followed me into the shop, the bell above the door tinkling with our arrival.
Wow, this place is packed, I thought, just as my eyes landed on Prudie Whittier holding court by the counter. Even the barista had stopped making coffee, her mouth hanging open in shock as she listened to what Prudie had to say.
“I’m quite certain it was witches. Well, you know the ones. After all, the dead body was found laid out on a pentagram. And we all know that potion shop is probably a bastion of witch activity. Wasn’t that one girl in the paper just a month ago for murder? Lisa something?”
“Luna,” I said loudly, causing a hush to fall over the entire shop as Prudie straightened. Her lips were pressed thin as she surveyed me in disapproval.
“You’re probably involved in this somehow,” she observed and the barista gasped, her eyes darting between the two of us.
“Hey, Katy,” I said, smiling at her as I moved through the room to stand in front of Prudie. “The usual, please.”
“Uh, sure,” Katy said, turning to retrieve the iced coffee from the low refrigerator behind the counter.
Hands on my hips, I moved forward another step, getting into Prudie’s personal space and forcing her to take a step back.
“Now, why don’t you tell me what’s going on, Prudie? Because I’m quite certain I didn’t just hear you accusing my best friend of a crime, as well as calling our business into question. Such an accomplished businesswoman as yourself would understand that’s slander. I hope you know that I have some of the best legal counsel in the state, just a phone call away,” I said sweetly, silently thanking my mother and her high-powered attorneys in my head.
“Well, I would never slander someone. Never,” Prudie gushed, and I held her gaze, waiting for her to drop her eyes first.
“What happened?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. I caught a glimpse of Rafe hovering in the corner, but thank goodness he kept quiet as he took the scene in.
“Well, I just, I never…” Prudie exclaimed, warming up to her topic, “A body was found on the beach this morning, out by that new development. Laid out in the sand on a pentagram.”
Shit.
Prudie looked around and lowered her voice, the effect forcing the ring of people around her to lean in to hear her words.
“And there were holes drilled into his head. With seeds imbedded in his brain. Other holes held little saplings, just sprouting. I heard it looked like he had plants growing from his brain.”
A collective gasp rose from the crowd as people turned away, some covering their mouths, others reaching for their phones to get the gossip chain started. Prudie had chosen her spot well for dropping her gossip bomb. The news would be all over town in under five minutes.
“That’s positively horrific,” I said, and Prudie sniffed, nodding once to agree with me, while she ran her hands nervously over her pearls. I was still in her personal space, after all.
“It was just awful. The paving crew found him this morning. We’re all just horrified, you know. Dead bodies aren’t something we’re used to around here.” Prudie cast her eyes over me as though I was used to dealing with dead bodies.
Okay, so I’ve dealt with one dead body before. One.
“Who was it?” I asked, dread filling my stomach as my thoughts flashed to Beau, Trace, and Cash.
“I guess it was the guy who mixed up the tar? The pavement? Whatever it’s called.” Prudie waved that away. “Kurt something. He makes sure the asphalt is right before they lay it.”
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief wash through me, even though I felt sad for Kurt. He was bound to have had a family, people who cared about him.
“What an awful way to die,” I murmured, nodding my thanks to Katy as she slid me a to-go cup full of iced coffee.
“I’ll add it to your account,” Katy said.
“Add a nice tip too,” I smiled at her and she smiled back, clearly not thinking that I was the one who had committed the murder.
Taking a sip of my coffee, I turned back to Prudie.
“Now, you listen here, Prudie Whittier,” I said, leaning in so close I could have kissed her. Her chest began to rise as she gulped for air, her myopic eyes all but bugging out of her head. The circle of people around us collectively held their breath. “If you so much as mention my or Luna’s name around this murder, I will see to it that you never get to shop at Barney’s again.”
Prudie gasped and covered her mouth.
What can I say? I know how to hit them where it hurts.
“And that goes for the rest of you here. Most of you know Luna and me, and are customers of our store,” I said, “and that includes your son,” I added, turning to glare at Prudie. “We dedicate our lives to helping others. Remember that.”
I pushed through the throng of people as Katy said across the counter to Prudie, “Leave them alone. It was probably the people at the Pagan festival, anyway. Sounds like an offering to the earth or something.”
I would’ve slapped my hand to my forehead if I hadn’t been holding an iced coffee in it.
I had forgotten the Mabon Festival this weekend in the rush of hearing Prudie’s news. Granted, the murder didn’t really seem like something that normal Pagans would do, but I wasn’t so sure about ol’ Horace.
That man screamed crazy.
“Let’s go, Rafe,” I shouted to the ghost, who was still hovering around inside. Startled, he zipped through the window and fluttered behind me as I aimed my bike toward the shop.
And tried not to let the niggling worry that I had forgotten something major eat at my stomach.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I ALMOST SPILLED my coffee all over my dress – I was moving at a dead run as I hit the front door of our shop. I stopped short when I saw Luna was with customers, though she darted a quick glance at me and shook her head once.
“Fine,” I muttered, moving past a table of crystals and pushing the privacy screen aside to go into my shop. Flicking on the lamp on the corner, I patted my skeleton on the head before sitting down at the table and staring at my pack of tarot cards.
There was something I was missing here.
“Did you kill him?” Rafe asked companionably and I jumped in my seat.
“Rafe, you were with us last night. You know I didn’t kill him,” I hissed as the pirate sat in the chair across from me.
He cocked his head at me in confusion. “I know you didn’t kill that one. I meant him,” he said, pointing with his thumb to where my skeleton sat in the corner.
“Ohhh. No, that one’s fake. Made of rubber,” I explained, and Rafe immediately jumped up to go examine the skeleton. My screen moved as the front door chimed and Luna poked her head in.
“What happened? Did Rafe do something he wasn’t supposed to?” Luna said, glaring over at the ghost. Today she wore what she considered color, a soft mint colored skirt that ran in a column to the floor and a white crochet crop-top that revealed a sliver of a tanned tummy. She looked cool, funky, and way more expensive than any outfit that I managed to pull off. See? That’s why I stuck to maxi dresses. Pull it over your head and call it a day.
“No, Rafe’s been minding his manners,” I admitted, and Rafe shot me a grin.
“Yes, she-witch. Stay away from me.”
Luna glared at him again, then crossed her arms over her chest.
“Talk. You all but ran in the door.”
“There was a body – someone was murdered and laid out on the pentagram that we drew in the sand.” The words rushed out, and I watched as Luna’s eyes went huge in her delicate face.
“I’m sorry. Did you just say that a dead body was laid out on our pentagram?”
I nodded vigorously, sucking coffee through my straw with a loud slurping noise.
“I did. And he had seeds drilled into his head, along with saplings.”
“No,” Luna said, backing up a bit.
“You know what that means?”
“It’s an offering. The seeds are meant to grow from the brain, instilling the wisdom of the human into the universal consciousness of the world,” Luna explained.
“How could you possibly know that?” I exclaimed.
Luna held out both hands in front of her.
“You can’t know white magick without learning about dark magick.”
“I told you she’s crazy,” Rafe whispered behind my ear and I flinched, turning to swat him away like an annoying gnat.
“And she also told you that I have power too. So watch it, Rafe,” I said, menace lacing my words.
“This is not good,” Luna said, beginning to pace my shop.
“Captain Understatement over here,” I muttered, picking up my cards and beginning to slide them through my hands to soothe my nerves. The moon card fell out and my hand stilled over it. The picture was of a full moon, overlooking a beach. It took me instantly back to last night, and I shivered as I ignored the message in the card and slid it back into the pile. The moon card signified
illusion and deception, showing that everything is not as it seems. Plus, the picture pretty much outlined where we’d been the night before.
“Death into life,” Luna muttered as she paced, “Earth element.”
Our eyes met.
“Horace.”
The bell signaled a new customer on Luna’s side of the shop, and I already knew.
“Say hi to Chief Thomas for me,” I whispered, and Luna shot me a look before slipping from behind my screen.
“Chief Thomas, I just heard,” Luna exclaimed and I heard a low murmur of voices before Luna poked her head around my screen again. “You’re wanted.”
I shot a glance at Rafe, making a shushing motion, then crossed to Luna’s side of the store. Lavender incense cast a soothing scent and a few candles flickered on a high shelf in front of a whitewashed wall. All was serene here.
“Chief Thomas,” I said, greeting the new sheriff with a smile. He filled out his uniform well, and still radiated a boyish honesty that I found appealing.
“Althea, good to see you again. How have you been since…” his eyes darted between Luna and me, “the incident?”
“Fine. In shock for a few days, if we’re going to be totally honest.”
“And sad about losing the best sandwiches in town,” Luna grumbled, causing a smile to flit across Chief Thomas’s face.
“Yes, I know it’s a quite a loss to the town. Though Beau seems to be fixing the restaurant up nicely,” Chief Thomas said. I could sense that he was stalling.
“I just heard about the murder, down at the coffee shop. From Prudie. Awful woman,” I said with disdain, crossing my arms and leaning back against the counter. Not feeling even the least bit guilty, I took a scan through Chief Thomas’s thoughts.
Shit.
Now I knew what had been bothering me. My freakin’ flip-flops! I’d forgotten them on the beach last night when we’d hightailed it out of there.
“Yes, well, she certainly knows how to get the news out quickly,” Chief said.
“That has to be frustrating. What with you trying to catch the killer and all,” Luna said soothingly, turning up the charm. I side-eyed her, but she refused to look at me, smiling sweetly at Chief Thomas.
Tequila for Two: An Althea Rose Mystery (The Althea Rose Series Book 2) Page 5