I craned my head back for a better look at him and stumbled out of the way. “Sorry.”
He pressed through an opening in the counter space and halted on the business side of his register. “I don’t think my meetings with Mr. Weiss are relevant or any of your business, frankly.”
I forced the sound of a dozen mice on running wheels from my head. “I’m not sure if your meetings are relevant. That’s why I’m asking. My grandmother is bereft over his death and she’s my business. I promised her I’d ask a few questions.” I moved closer to the front door and kept my eyes on his hands, in case he kept a weapon behind the counter.
“Did she ask you to wear that getup too?”
“Yes.” Wearing the Queen Guinevere costume to question Orson wasn’t my first choice, but it was a scheduling necessity, and Bree would be at the Faire tonight, which meant I was on a clock.
He moved like ooze behind the counter, slinking with every step. He dropped his hands to his sides.
My heart kicked into overdrive. My mind hurled images of hidden weapons at me. Guns. Baseball bats. Throwing knives. Daggers. I gulped. “Do you keep dead mice here?”
His eyes flicked up to meet my gaze.
“Like for snake food or something?”
His greasy smile speared my gut. “Predators generally prefer to chase their pray.”
The door swung open and a couple with children strode inside. They headed for the turtles, oblivious to my intense relief. He wouldn’t shoot me with witnesses.
I refocused my thoughts on the reason I’d come to the shop. “Mr. Orson, why did you see Dante seven times in the three weeks before he died?”
He took his time deciding to answer. “We were working on a new venture for invisible indoor pet fencing. A way to keep cats off the counters and dogs off furniture. We had to hash out the details and financing.”
“Can anyone substantiate that?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
He trailed the family of shoppers through the store with his gaze. “We met with Project Management Central last Thursday. Someone there can confirm the venture and our plans to move forward.” He pushed the words through gritted teeth. Rage burned in his eyes. “I had no reason to kill him and you have no reason to be here anymore.”
Amen to that. I rushed back to my car and pushed the power lock button ten times once I was inside.
Keith Orson might not have had a reason to kill Dante, but he sure looked like he might have wanted to.
Chapter Twelve
The Ren Faire was in full swing when I arrived. Surprisingly, I wasn’t late. The fast getaway I’d made from Fins, Feathers and Fur, coupled with some hasty driving, had made up the time lost during my brief inquisition. Even in the car, I couldn’t seem to put enough distance between Keith Orson and myself. He’d raised all my internal flags. Beady eyes, smarmy face, entitled disposition. I couldn’t manage any of those things on my best day, definitely not with a ketchup stain on my belly. A shudder rocked across my shoulders. Hopefully it was only a ketchup stain. Poor animals. Surely he wouldn’t harvest his pets for harassment when they were meant for profit? Was he the kind of man who would hurt something so tiny for sport? What about a grown man in anger?
Grandma met me with a toothy grin and an open palm. “Good day.”
“Good day.” I turned my cell phone over to her and curtsied.
I hefted a basket of samples and moseyed magnanimously around the interior of our booth, nodding and delivering the goods to onlookers.
Women dressed as woodland faeries sashayed whimsically through the crowd. Children splashed in water basins, lovingly painted with signs like Cool down ye hot mess! and Wash thy stinkers! A minstrel band entered the nearby meadow, followed by ladies in brightly colored skirts, swaying to the merry tune. All in all, the Enchanted Forest was earning its name.
Unfortunately, Orson’s glass wall of mice habitats haunted me. I started at the sound of jousters colliding in the field beyond the market and nearly dropped my basket. A round of exuberant applause rose into the air. I shook off the panic and located my Zen. I pushed Orson from my thoughts again. He couldn’t reach me here. Here, I was Queen Guinevere of Camelot.
I really wished I hadn’t gone to see him in costume.
Nevertheless, I inhaled the moment and let the yeasty scents of a vendor’s soft pretzels take my worries away.
Grandma eyeballed my wailing abdomen. “Good grief, was that your stomach?”
“No.”
She opened her giant handbag and ladled out a mess of fruit leather and granola pouches. “Here. Eat before you fall over.”
“I’m fine.” I ripped a chunk of fruit leather between my fingertips and shoved it in my face.
“Stop that,” Grandma complained. “All that groaning and sighing will scare the customers.”
I popped my eyes open. When had I closed them? “Sorry.” I shoved another bite in carefully. “Was it scary to accept Marvin’s proposal?”
She pursed her lips. “Yes.”
“But you agreed anyway.”
“It’s shameful to say, but losing Dante changed my ideas about a lot of things. I’m not promised another day of life or health. I’m going to enjoy both while I’ve got them.” She lifted her fist and bumped it to mine. “Right on.”
I laughed. “I guess.”
She perked suddenly and headed to the opposite side of our booth. “Get ready. Here comes the money maker.”
I followed her gaze into the distance. Bree.
“When she’s here, I can’t take shoppers’ money fast enough.” She dashed along the booth’s interior, adjusted displays and hoisted fresh supplies onto the counter. Her long gray braid swung wildly against her backside.
I bit into the fruit leather and watched a body that looked a little like mine, but more and more like a parade float, wobble through the parting crowd. A white satin gown adhered to Bree’s burgeoning belly like a second skin, revealing every secret she’d ever had. The slits on the skirt’s sides stretched to her hips. Delicate golden roping underlined her breasts and hung suggestively under her bump. A thin golden cape floated in the breeze behind her.
“Oh, boy,” I told the fruit leather. “She’s got a new costume.”
“Good day,” Bree said upon arrival. A heartbeat later, her cape flitted to a stop against her back. Her skin was flushed, and her bosom heaved. “May I trouble ye for some water, milady?”
The crowd closed in.
I uncorked a bottle from the hidden cooler and poured it into a glass. “What are you supposed to be dressed as?”
She gulped the water like we were in the Sahara. “I’m fertility.”
“You don’t say.”
She rubbed the back of one wrist across her forehead. “The walk from the gate is awful. Tom dropped me off, but my goodness.”
I looked over her shoulder. “It’s like fifty yards.”
“Try doing it when you’re forty pounds heavier and growing a human being inside you.”
A hush crossed the crowd.
I forced a smile. “Of course. May I get you a seat?”
“No, thank you.” She stretched a hand in my direction. “Would you boost me onto the counter? I’d like to sit up there so I can get a better look at all these glorious faces.”
I placed a stepstool outside the booth and rolled her onto the counter.
She toyed with her skirt and cradled her bump in her hands. “How do I look?”
Like Buddha.
The adoring crowd gazed up at her in anticipation.
Her belly button resembled a popped turkey timer, but she’d threatened me the last time I mentioned that. I arranged her cape over one shoulder and tried to cover her cleavage.
She tosse
d the material off her. “I think my life is actually enchanted. I’ve never been so happy, you know?”
I didn’t answer.
“I look okay?” She fished again for a compliment.
I smiled brightly. “Exactly like Humpty Dumpty.”
Her lips twitched. “And you, milady, are the oldest of all the maidens.”
I curtsied deeply, enjoying the moment of silliness before the dark cloud I stumbled underneath began to rain again. “Yet I am still younger than you.”
“Ha.”
I blew her a kiss and stepped away.
Grandma climbed onto the vacated stool and raised a large basket of Bree’s product overhead. “The Pampered Womb Collection is a complete system for worshipping your blessed maternal skin.”
That was my cue to go anywhere else. I swapped the samples in my basket for ones from Bree’s new line and headed into the crowd. Shoppers dove for me like vultures on a fresh kill. My basket was picked clean in minutes. I wrestled flyaway hairs back into position and straightened my gown. “Good grief.”
Grandma dumped a fresh load into my basket. “Told you.”
Bree finished her portion of the spiel and answered consumer questions while Grandma and I raked in the money. I fought the smile working over my face. Bree drove me completely bananas, but she was pretty great. Even in her weird maternity slave Leia outfit.
My parents arrived at the height of chaos. They fell into position, picking up slack and smoothing the wrinkles in our assembly line until all the shoppers were satiated and Bree was back on her swollen feet.
Mom folded shopping bags and marveled. “That was amazing, Bree. Great job, sweetie.” She kissed her cheek. “I keep expecting the response to mellow out, but it never does.”
“It will when I have the baby,” Bree said, looking slightly disappointed at the notion.
Whether she’d be sorry to see sales drop or her pregnancy end, I couldn’t say. Maybe a little of both.
“I’m hoping Mia can take the torch after that.”
“What torch?” I wiped Bree’s butt print from the counter and stacked our scented soaps in a pyramid.
“Creating the next addition to our family, duh.”
What would I do with a baby human? I killed plants regularly. Goldfish died before I finished paying the clerk. I’d considered a cat once, but there wasn’t room for any more sass and judgment in my life. Stupidly, Jake’s face popped into mind. He was great with kids, and during a rare heart-to-heart before his undercover assignment, he’d admitted to wanting a brood of his own one day. I gave Bree’s burgeoning belly another look and imagined she was a mirror instead of my sister.
“Never mind that.” Grandma flopped a three-ring binder onto the counter and opened it. “Now that you’re all here, we can begin sorting out details for my wedding.”
I peeked around Grandma’s arm. She’d only been engaged for five minutes. Where was this coming from? Her binder was at max capacity. Brochures and printouts poked free from the pockets on both sides, and the little metal rings threatening to pop at any moment. “This must have taken weeks. Did you know Marvin would propose?”
Grandma turned wide eyes on me. “No. Of course not. It was a complete surprise.”
I leaned in at her ear. “Then why’d you ask me to check up on him?”
She blushed. “I was going to ask him to move in with me.”
The flush of her cheeks seemed to seep from one face to the next around our circle, first to Mom, her daughter, and then to me. Grandma had planned to shack up. There would have been premarital sex. Grandma sex.
I lifted my gaze to Bree, who beamed.
I’d rather think about the mice.
Grandma turned to the book’s center. “This section is for the wedding reception. I’d like to make it a black tie event with a black-and-white color scheme. Some punches of red for flavor. Top hat centerpieces filled with red roses, and decks of playing cards on the tables. Magic wands at each setting.”
This was my kind of party. “Where did you find the time to do all this?”
Mom and Bree shot me a warning look.
Grandma turned the page. “I’m not sleeping well. There’s a lot on my mind.”
“Oh.” I mentally kicked myself. She covered her stress so well, I’d forgotten how much she was hurting. “Right. I’m working on it. I promise.”
“I know you are,” Grandma said. “I just wish I knew what he’d wanted from me. Why would he call me out of nowhere like that? He was in huge trouble. Why call me? What could I have done for him? What did he want to say to me?”
I wrapped my arms around her on instinct. I wanted to cover her pain and mend her heart by osmosis until I had the answers she needed to truly heal. “Maybe Dante wanted you to stitch him up?”
She disentangled herself from me. “What?”
“You were a nurse when you met him. Maybe he needed medical help.”
Dad poked his way into the estrogen circle. “You think he was already injured when he called?”
“Maybe.” I was running on pure theory and speculation, but it made sense.
Dad nodded his retired-cop head. “I’d assumed he needed money, but your way makes sense. If he was into some shady business and packed for a fast escape, he wouldn’t have wanted to go to a hospital. Hospitals are required to report violent injuries. Stabbings qualify. It would’ve been hard for Dante to get away once the hospital staff had him in their care, and it would’ve been easy for whoever hurt him to find him. Hospitals are the first place an attacker would have looked.”
A tear dropped from Grandma’s cheek.
My family stopped breathing.
I reached for the big binder and pointed to the magic-themed reception photos. “I love what you’ve put together so far. Marvin is an incredible illusionist and you are a gorgeous assistant, but what about the Faire? Have you considered adding a dash of the Faire here? Some of your personal pizazz?”
She caught a tear on the pad of one thumb and accepted my abrupt subject change. “The Faire was your grandfather’s thing. His and mine. We were married under the willows in full Renaissance regalia. It was who we were then and what I needed raising Gwendolyn.”
“And now?”
Wrinkles gathered around her eyes and lips as her smile grew. “Vegas, baby.”
I laughed.
“What?” Mom yelped. “I thought you’d get married in the church where Bree and I were married.”
“Nope. My work here is done. My family beats the pants off any other family I know. I’ve won at motherhood, grandmotherhood and business ownership.” She opened her arms in evidence.
Mom pulled Bree and I against her sides. “I can’t argue with that.”
Grandma smiled impossibly wider. “Marvin and I have decided we’re making our golden years everything they can be. When we were young and responsible for so much, we had to behave ourselves. Little eyes were watching. We had to lead by example. Now we don’t. We’re going to have fun!”
“Huzzah!” A round of applause went up.
Her speech had gathered a crowd.
I blinked emotion-filled eyes. “Well, good for you. You deserve it. You deserve everything and anything you can dream up.”
Mom released Bree and I. She hugged Grandma’s neck. “That was absolutely wonderful. That’s going in my book.”
Dad groaned. “Not the book.”
I’d forgotten about the book. How insane was my life that I’d forgotten my mother wanted to air the details to anyone with some cash or a search engine?
I loved my life, but I was smart enough to know it was crazy.
* * *
Nate and Fifi picked me up for drinks and pizza after the Faire. Part of me wanted to feel like a third wheel, but I couldn
’t quite manage. I knew them too well. Fifi was fast becoming my best friend, and Nate was like a brother. The three of us were painfully alike in all the best ways. That fact earned us some strange looks after Nate took off his hoodie and we realized we’d accidentally coordinated outfits. Nate had on a T-shirt and cargo shorts. I had a blouse and capris. Fifi wore a halter top and skirt. All light blue tops. All khaki bottoms. We looked like a bizarre prom trio, but less casual and without the leafy corsages. Mostly, people laughed. One guy in a BEER T-shirt asked if Fifi and I were sister-wives. Nate directed him elsewhere before I could answer.
Five hours, four stops, three mega slices of pizza and two drinks later, I was headed home in Nate’s big SUV, music blaring. I’d have felt ten years younger, except ten years ago, I would’ve been at the library, not out with friends. Until Nate, my only friends were classmates with competitive grade point averages who grouped weekly to study and pound espressos.
I stroked the tinted window with my fingertips. “This was fun. I’m so glad you guys came and got me.”
Someone turned down the stereo.
Nate caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “I checked out the changes you made to REIGN.”
My tummy tightened. “And?”
His face split in a wild smile. “They’re fantastic! Are you kidding? I happen to have plenty of valor, so I headed straight for the spring and entered the hidden realm. Players are going to flip when they see the spring, happy to heal their wounds, then boom, they get a whole other level to explore.”
“Did you see the volunteer links?”
“I signed up.” He stopped at a red light and turned to look at my face. “They’re really good, Mia. You did all that in a couple of sleepless nights? Imagine the changes we could make with a full-time project manager.”
I wanted that sentiment to end differently, like, what if you were the full-time project manager? I deflated. “Yeah. I know.” He was right, but the reminder killed my happy buzz. I needed a new subject. “Did I tell you my mom’s writing a book about our family?”
Fifi twisted in her seat. “How’s it going?”
“I don’t know. I forgot until today, then I started watching her. She spent half the evening stage-winking and scribbling in a little notebook.”
A Geek Girl's Guide to Justice (The Geek Girl Mysteries) Page 14