by Ann Charles
He’d burned me before with his slick trick of finagling Aunt Zoe into the deal. I wasn’t going to let him double up on my family members. Not even with the Bitch from Hell.
“We’ll discuss forfeiture penalties if I fail to deliver,” I told him. “Until then, the deal is one chimera in exchange for information on the Slagton resident’s whereabouts, and that’s it.”
His smile gave me the chills. “And when will you be part of a deal, Scharfrichter?”
“You’d regret that deal. I don’t think you can handle me.”
What Dominick hadn’t realized yet is that I couldn’t be within touching distance of him without feeling the need to toss my cookies. Something about him set off my internal alarms. But that was my secret, and I’d rather he not know.
“But trying to corral you would be exciting.”
“Or deadly.”
He sobered. “Possibly. I accept your addendum.” He dropped Susan’s hand, the wolf in sheep’s clothing gone and plain old handsome Dominick back. “Now, back to the reason for my phone call. I need to talk to you about a property in Lead.”
The gears in my brain ground as we shifted back to normality. “Something you want to sell?”
“A piece I want to purchase.”
I pointed at the door. “If we’re going to discuss real estate, we should return to my office and leave Harvey to finish his work here.” I needed to get everyone out of the place before Doc decided to stop in for a book or a file and found out about our little party.
“What of your sister?”
I frowned at Susan, her expression similar to a mannequin I’d seen dressed in a red velvet holiday dress down at the mall. “I’d appreciate it if you’d release her from your hold so she can be on her way.”
“Her will is weak, especially compared to Zoe.”
“I’m not surprised.” I suspected that was because Susan was game to his seduction, whereas Zoe fought him tooth and nail while he held her under his thumb. “Now free her.”
Dominick shrugged.
And in a blink, Susan stumbled backward, her hand moving to her chest. “What did you two do to me?” she asked, her gaze accusing when it landed on me.
I held up my hands. “I’m innocent, I swear.”
She squinted, her face pinching. “You’re up to something.” She turned back to Dominick. “You and your so-called boyfriend. And before you go and tattle to Mom that I’m trying to steal another one of your lovers, you should keep in mind the way he’s been looking at me. It’s immoral.”
Please. As if that word wasn’t tramp-stamped above her ass.
Dominick chuckled, low and velvety. “She thinks I’m your lover.”
“Susan is often easily confused, especially by homonyms and simple fractions.” She’d been too busy in high school mastering the art of flirting and manhandling to focus on her studies. “That’s not Doc,” I told my sister.
“It’s not … but I thought … then who is he?”
Wow. I hadn’t seen Susan flustered like this since she was being arrested for possession of stolen jewelry back before my kids were born.
“Susan, meet Dominick Masterson, an associate of mine.”
“Ohhhhh, you are such a shit!” She shoved past Dominick. “You can’t hide your boyfriend from me forever,” she snapped at me as she yanked open the front door.
She was right. I was going to have to get the introduction over with sooner or later, and the scene needed to happen under my conditions, not hers.
“Good-bye, Susan. Give Mom a hug for me.”
After a parting middle finger, she slammed the door behind her.
“So spirited,” Dominick said. “You share that as well as the shape of your mouth. Shall we?” He ushered me toward the door.
“Give me a minute with Harvey.”
“What shall I do while I wait?”
“Twiddle your thumbs and try not to seduce someone for once.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Dominick stepped over the threshold. “Don’t make me wait long. I have information to acquire and a chimera to name.”
As soon as the door closed, Harvey said, “How in tarnation are ya gonna catch one of those Slagton critters?”
“With your help.”
He cringed. “Coop’s gonna be pissed.”
Harvey’s nephew was in a permanent state of pissed-off-ness. “He should be grateful. I’m going to help him find his informant.”
“But at what cost? Ya should have run this by Doc first.”
Maybe, but he wasn’t here, and I’d been shooting from the hip when the idea hit. “I’ll explain it to him later. Where’s your phone? You need to warn Natalie that Dominick is on his way and she should stay away from him.”
“I already did. She said to tell you she was headin’ home for lunch.”
“Good. What are you doing here, anyway? I thought the front door was locked.” Cornelius only had the key to the back door. “Did Doc send you over?”
“No, I came looking for yer stud, but found ol’ Corny when I knocked on the front door.”
“Where is Cornelius?”
“He’s in the back room playin’ with his expensive ghost toys.” He frowned. “Why are ya tryin’ to get that closet door open, anyway?”
“Cornelius wants to see what’s down in the Hellhole under the building.”
“That’s a downright foolish idea, right up there with catchin’ a sharp-toothed critter. Some holes are better left plugged.”
“I agree, but Cornelius has a plan tonight involving Jane’s ghost.”
“Ya best keep yer nose out of trouble, especially with the way yer luck has been runnin’ these days.”
Right. Avoid trouble. I tried not to scoff too loud. “Listen, if you need to talk to Doc, find out where your nephew is. I think the two of them are together talking about the shit that hit the fan this morning.”
“What shit?”
“I don’t have time to explain right now. I want to get next door before Dominick seduces Mona into having sex on her desk.”
“I’d pay to see that show. The sight of Mona in her sweaters makes my ticker bounce around like a young pup.”
“You and most of the other males in this town.” I remembered Cooper’s visit last night. “Oh, Doc had Cooper drop off his laptop at home yesterday. I think he might be planning to work from Aunt Zoe’s dining room table later. You can wait for him there if you don’t get hold of Cooper.”
Harvey stood, stretching his back. “In that case, I’ll go pay a visit to Zoe and her cookie jar while I wait.”
Dominick knocked on the front window, making me jump. He pointed at his watch.
Jeez, as if he didn’t have several lives’ worth of time to kill.
“Damn, that devil won’t fly away, will he?”
“That’s what scares me about him.” I blew out a breath. “I’ll talk to you later tonight,” I told Harvey and stepped out into the frigid air, closing and locking Doc’s front door behind me.
I kept my distance as I led the way into Calamity Jane’s. “What’s with the urgency on this property, Dominick?”
Mona wasn’t at her desk when I arrived. The light in Jerry’s office was still on, the door half closed. Maybe she was in there trying to convince Jane to open the door for us.
“I’ve recently learned that it has something that I thought I’d lost,” he answered.
“What’s that?” I pulled out my chair.
“A ghost.”
I slid into my seat. “Most of the buildings in Deadwood and Lead are supposedly haunted. What makes this ghost so special?”
“She took something from me a long time ago.” His jaw hardened. “I want it back.”
* * *
I spent the afternoon struggling to play real estate agent while my thoughts bounced around like Mexican jumping beans. Mona was there with me, her nails clacking on her keyboard in between phone calls to several clients.
Jerry called in o
nce to check in on his “favorite girls.” Mona and I gave a brief recount of the day’s slow going, including virtually no foot traffic except for Dominick Masterson and one of Mona’s appointments. Jerry informed me I’d had five more calls thanks to my latest billboard in Spearfish, but only one was actually interested in real estate. I didn’t want to know what the other four had said they wanted from me, but I could hazard a guess based on that stupid pen between my bright red lips up on that dang billboard.
Shortly after Jerry’s call ended, Mona grabbed her purse and told me she was heading out for the day. She planned to drive by a Deadwood residence that she’d heard was going to be available for sale soon—a century-plus old Colonial Revival cottage with rounded canopies over the windows and columns framing the front entrance on upper Main Street. I expected her to question me again about tonight’s get-together here at the office, but she didn’t say a peep before heading out the back door.
An hour later, the outside world had gone dark. I was packing up to head home when my phone chirped. I looked down at the screen as I slipped on my coat.
Doc had texted me: We need to talk.
My chest tightened. He hadn’t used any nickname for me. No Boots, no Killer, no Tiger, not even a Sweetheart. Something was wrong, and I had a feeling it had to do with an ornery ol’ coot squawking about a new deal I’d made with a charming devil.
I texted back: When and where?
Wookie? Doc texted back.
Frickety-frack! My dumbass smartphone had automatically changed the word “where” to “wookie” when I’d hit the send button. What in the hell was wrong with my phone? Harvey thought it was possessed. I was beginning to buy into his theory.
I typed the word: WHERE, using all caps and then added a frowning face emoji.
Now. Come pick me up at my place. Alone.
I grimaced at the last word, but typed: On my way.
I locked up the office, but left Jerry’s office lights on since Cornelius would probably be over soon to set up for tonight’s shindig.
Five minutes later, I pulled into Doc’s drive. He stepped outside several racing heartbeats later, moving more slowly than usual down his porch steps, his upper body stiff. Guilt washed over me again. I didn’t care what he said, those bruised ribs were my fault. I needed to stay focused while hunting, especially if I were going to catch instead of kill next time.
Doc climbed in my SUV, bringing in the scent of fresh air along with the cold, and closed the door with a grunt.
“Hey, Wookie,” he said, settling into the seat.
A nickname. Whew! My shoulders loosened several clicks. I waited for him to fasten his seatbelt before shifting into reverse. “Where to?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t want to be interrupted for a little while.” When I pointed at his house, he added, “Cooper is home catching some shut-eye after a long shift.”
Eek! I agreed—no Cooper in the vicinity. I backed out of the drive.
“Zoe knows we’ll be running late,” he added.
How late? “What about supper for the kids?”
“Harvey’s feeding them.”
I nodded, trying to think of a place for us to sit uninterrupted on a freezing Sunday evening. Both of our offices were out thanks to Cornelius. The Purple Door might have someone hanging out that one of us knew. The library was closed.
I glanced down at my gas gauge. Half a tank. Maybe we could just hole up in my Honda somewhere, but if any of the local cops saw my vehicle idling in a parking lot, they’d come knocking. My reputation preceded me these days, thanks to Detective Hawke’s paranoia.
We needed to get out of town, somewhere I could pull off the main drag and … I knew the perfect place for a dark, cold night. I headed toward Lead, taking a left on US Highway 385 before I started up Strawberry Hill. Snow flurries drifted through the air, swirling around as I drove.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Someplace where we can park without one of Deadwood or Lead’s boys in blue finding us. I have a bit of a reputation for troublemaking around town, you know.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I know.”
Near the top of Strawberry Hill, I took a right on a snowplowed road. It was the same tree-lined gravel road I’d visited months back when I’d found out Rex was back in my life. I’d taken out my frustration on a pine tree branch that day. Not much had changed on that front. I still wanted to beat the hell out of something at the thought of the no-good bastard—preferably knocking around Rex himself.
A short distance off the main road, I pulled off to the side and hit my hazard lights, leaving plenty of room for the local residents to pass.
“I’m surprised they plow this road,” Doc said, staring out into the dark forest.
“Aunt Zoe told me there are a couple of hoity-toity Deadwood business owners with big log homes back here. They pay extra to have one of the plows drive up here and clear the road when it snows.” I killed the headlights, but left the engine idling for heat.
“Enough small talk, Doc. Let me hear it.”
He leaned his head back against the headrest. The glow of the dashboard made his face look rugged, his eyes dark pools. “I believe we have a few complications to address.”
My chest fluttered, like there was a chicken flapping around in there, squawking about the sky crashing down on its head. “I know.” I smiled at him, wanting to lessen the tension in the cab. “Christmas is a little over a week away and I don’t know what to get you.” No lie.
He glanced my way, his gaze lowering. “Yes, you do.”
Sexual innuendos. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? “I’ve already given you that a bunch of times.”
“I always want more from you, Boots.” His focus returned to my face. “Harvey told me about Masterson’s visit.”
“I figured.” The buzzard had no patience anymore, claiming he was too old to wait around for others to spill the beans. “Let me guess, you’re pissed at me for making another deal with Dominick without talking to you first.”
“Pissed? No.” His forehead wrinkled. “You’re a grown woman, Violet. An Executioner, for crissake. I have as much to say about what you do in your arena as you do in mine.”
Did that mean we were still a team or not?
“In case you haven’t noticed,” he continued. “This thing between us is not a normal relationship between a guy and a girl. Mr. Black made that crystal clear this morning.”
“Right. Me, Executioner; you, Oracle.” The wedge between us had been sledgehammered deeper thanks to Mr. Black’s words. My angst from earlier about where Doc and I stood post-enlightenment came flooding back tenfold. “So now what?”
Doc shifted, turning toward me. “I can tell by your tone that your take on what this revelation means is different from mine. Tell me what’s swirling around behind those eyes.”
“You being an Oracle changes things between us,” I said.
“Yes and no.”
“Yes and yes,” I disagreed.
“How do you think it changes things?”
“Do you love me, Doc?” I held my hand up to stop him before he could answer, clarifying with, “I mean me, the single mother of two children who does a rotten job of selling real estate for a living. The woman who can barely get her shit together enough most days to wear matching shoes. The me that spends each day battling jealousy, incompetence, doubt demons, and crazy hair. Not the Executioner you are compelled to help because of your bloodline, but the woman who makes numbskull mistakes that end with an accidental pregnancy and trips to jail. Do you love that version of me?”
Doc stared at me, his expression unreadable. “I don’t like it when you put yourself down.”
I shrugged. “It’s one of the few things at which I excel.”
“That’s not true. You excel in multiple areas of everyday life.”
“Cooper would disagree with you.”
He shook his head. “Coop may not like how you go about your life at
times, but he understands where your strengths lie. He’s even mentioned that.”
“No way. When?”
“Behind your back.”
I snarled. “He’s a butthead.”
Doc looked out the windshield for several beats, the vertical grooves in his forehead returning. “Violet, since the first day I met you, I’ve felt this overwhelming need to protect you.”
“And here I thought you just wanted to get into my pants.”
A smile flitted over his face. “That, too.” He took my hand, meeting my eyes. His smile faded. “There was something different about you from the start. Something compelling that tugged at me. I couldn’t get you out of my head, no matter how hard I tried. Now I understand why.”
“Because you’re an Oracle. It’s in your genes to help others.”
“But it’s not in my genes to fall in love.”
“Maybe you’re blurring the lines.”
“On the contrary, several things have come into focus since this morning’s disclosure. The ghosts, the feeling that I don’t fit in, the ability to see occurrences from the past, the knack of guessing what’s to come.” He lifted my hand to his mouth, brushing his lips over my knuckles. “The inability to retain any measure of control around you.”
I held his gaze. “How can you be sure that you’re not being tricked on some subconscious level into having sex with me?”
He let out a bark of laughter and then flinched, holding his ribs. “Boots, even if I were being tricked, I’m happy as hell to be the recipient of your duplicity.”
When he stilled, I said, “I’m serious, Doc. I don’t want to sound like a needy girlfriend, but I have a shitty history with men.”
“So you’ve said. What are you looking for from me, Violet?”
“Some sort of proof, I guess. That if we stripped away the Executioner and Oracle roles, there’d still be something between us.”
“But those roles are part of who we are, key to our makeup. You have only recently come into your Scharfrichter responsibilities, so I understand why the concept might be harder for you to blend in your head, but I’ve been dealing with this shit for almost four decades. I’ve always been in a hybrid state of mind.”