by Erin Johnson
The shorter lady with curly brown hair to her left lifted her chin. “Yeah—Peyton’s got nothing to hide.”
Another one of the gaggle nodded. “She’s like a mother and a best friend to me.”
A third chimed in. “She should be running the company!”
I kept my eyes on the tall cocktail table they stood around and pointed at a plate with a few squares of cheese. “Anybody going to finish that?”
All eyes swiveled my way, expressions varying from disgust to confusion to who’s this witch? I ignored it all and raised my brows. “So that’s a no?”
I reached across the woman closest to me and scooped it up, plunking a bite of soft brie in my mouth. Hey—I wasn’t happy about struggling to eat again, but this was where we were.
Peter, who looked more concerned than judgy, turned back to Peyton. His scroll, full of lines of notes, and his feathered quill appeared beside his head. “Alright, Ms. Thornsbury, can you tell me about your involvement in the company?”
She lifted her chin. “Potent Potions is my entire life. I was floundering until it came along.” She threw an arm around the short brunette beside her and pulled her against her side in a tight hug. “These ladies are my family and best friends, and this business is my livelihood.”
The blond chimed in. “Peyton’s the only Vice Premier Witch from our neighborhood. She knows what it’s like to dream of a better life for your family and to get it.” She raised her martini glass, and the other ladies, except for Peyton, saluted with their own drinks.
Peyton leveled a smug look at Peter, which, though he and I were on the outs, I found extremely irritating.
I talked around the bite of pepperjack in my mouth. “Then why would someone high up have told us you had a grudge against Pearl?”
The women around us grew silent, mouths half open. The brunette smashed against Peyton’s side shook her head, curls bouncing. “No way!” She jabbed a finger at me. “That’s an outright lie from someone who’s just jealous of her success.”
I smirked at Peyton. “So you had nothing against Pearl or the company then?”
The woman’s throat bobbed, and she shifted on her sandaled feet. “No.”
Daisy let out a low, menacing growl. Lie.
I held up a finger. “Oop! That means you’re lying.” I popped another piece of cheese in my mouth.
Peyton set her jaw and released the brunette at her side.
Peter gestured toward the side of the room. “Perhaps you’d like to speak in private now?”
Peyton glared at us but tried for a light tone that came out strained. “Don’t worry, ladies, these people are simply confused. I’ll be right back.”
Daisy growled again, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. As much as the mutt annoyed me, she came in handy every now and then.
We slid through the dense crowd, passing a few other officers busy taking statements, and gathered near one of the doors to the auditorium. Peyton, her back to the wall, crossed her arms and glowered as Peter, Daisy, and I huddled in close.
She let out a heavy sigh. “Fine, okay? So this business has been my whole life, that much is true.” She swept a tendril of red hair from her face, her charm bracelet jingling on her wrist. “But a few weeks ago, Pearl and Ralph announced out of nowhere that they’re changing the bonus structure.” She raised her brows at us.
I swallowed my last cheese cube. “Are we supposed to know what that means?”
She shifted on her feet as she gazed around the room, then lowered her voice. “Basically, it made it a lot harder to earn money. Half my downline has quit—half!” She shook her head. “I’m losing money like I’ve sprung a leak, so yeah, I’m a little upset.”
I raised a brow and didn’t bother to hide my smirk. “Yeah, but you’re one of the company’s top sellers. Surely you can handle a setback like this?”
She glared down at me. “I wish. But Pearl and Ralph pressure everyone to live large and lavish. They say it’ll attract more people to join the company if they see what a good life Potent Potions consultants live.” Her shoulders sagged. “I’ve spent all my money, as fast—” She shook her head. “Faster than it’s come in. They promised me that my business would grow every month. And it did.” The bags under her eyes suddenly looked darker as her face fell. “Until last month. After the policy change, my numbers have been in a nosedive, with no signs that it’ll get better anytime soon.”
Peter looked around, then spoke in a hushed voice. “Did you express your concerns to anyone?”
Peyton nodded, the corners of her mouth sagging. “Yeah. I brought it up with Pearl herself. She told me to stop panicking—that it was just an adjustment period and that I had to set a good example for my downline. That if they were leaving, it was because they could sense that I was freaking out.” Her wide eyes searched our faces. “But what was I supposed to do? I wasn’t able to pay my mortgage—I might lose my house!”
Daisy wagged her tail. Truth.
I frowned—this lady was in a bad situation. I found it ironic that their top seller was barely making enough to get by, yet everyone here acted like they were on the road to riches. I chewed the inside of my cheek. I’d need to have a serious word with Heidi about what she’d gotten involved in—I didn’t want to see my friend lose it all too.
Peter scratched at the stubble on his chin. “I understand that you were upset—enough to kill Pearl over it?”
Peyton snorted. “What would that get me? I need the business to pick back up again. With Pearl dead and the company in turmoil, who’s going to want to sign up under me to sell potions now? And my downline is where I make all the money!”
Daisy whined. Truth.
Guess Peyton wasn’t our killer, but this meant there were plenty of consultants who were likely hemorrhaging money and might have killed out of anger.
She pressed her eyes shut for a moment before opening them and looking around. “I need a drink.”
“One more question.” Peter licked his lips. “Do you know anyone else who’d want to hurt Pearl?”
Peyton let out a humorless laugh. “Look around you—there’s a couple thousand right here. The policy change rubbed a lot of people's scales the wrong way.”
I crossed my arms. “Then how come yours is the only name we were given?”
She shrugged. “I was the only one brave enough to speak up to Pearl.” She seemed to deflate. “Or stupid enough. Lots of women are afraid to come forward or challenge leadership.”
Peter edged closer. “Why would they be afraid?”
Peyton grew grim. “This community? It’s tough. You’re either in or you’re out. And when it’s your whole life—your job, your family, your best friends—getting ostracized is like losing everything.”
13
Peter and Jolene
Peter, Daisy, and I jogged down the steps away from the hotel toward the winding path that led through the lush landscaping. Finally. It felt good to get out of the stuffy lobby and back in the cool night, with the sea breeze rustling the leaves.
We stopped at the bottom of the steps and stood in silence. I waited for him to speak, but as the moment stretched on, I darted a quick look at Peter. As he looked up at me, I looked away, toward the hotel, not quite able to meet his gaze.
It was quiet now outside. I jerked my chin toward the hotel. “Protestors are gone.”
“Hm?”
I turned toward Peter and waved a hand. “There were a bunch of ladies protesting Potent Potions before—former consultants, I think, from some of their signs. Hotel security must have escorted them from the premises.”
I frowned, and our eyes locked as we no doubt had the same thought—a disgruntled former consultant would definitely have had a motive for murder. We both turned away.
“I’ll have our people look into it.” Peter’s voice came out flat.
I nodded as I kicked a smooth rock away.
“You can go home for the night. I’ll stick around and help get sta
tements.”
I nodded and swallowed against the lump in my throat. The tension between us pained me. I’d felt so close to Peter before—now we seemed an ocean apart.
“Okay.” I spun to go. “‘Night.”
“Jolene.”
I froze, took a deep breath—my heart hammering in my chest—and slowly turned to face Peter. Daisy sat beside him, her long nose pointed to the sky, looking up at her partner.
Peter shoved his hands in his blue trousers and shrugged. “I’m not going to tell anyone your secret.”
I gritted my jaw and held very still. So he hadn’t told everyone at the station. I guess I’d already figured that, since the new chief had wanted me on the job and Bon hadn’t protested much. But I had been wondering if Peter would take action to get me kicked off the case.
I nodded, my tone wry as I said, “Thanks.”
His eyes grew hard. “As long as it doesn’t interfere with how you do your job.” He shifted on his feet and squared his shoulders. “I’ll have Daisy to alert me, you know.”
Hot anger flared to life in my chest, and I balled my hands into fists. I really, really didn’t want to fight with Peter. I needed this job to pay the bills, and from a practical standpoint, it’d be easier to just suck it up and do my job.
But on a personal level, I couldn’t believe he was treating me like this. Hadn’t I proven, on our last case, that I was willing to break “shifter code” to do what was right? I’d risked a lot, too.
I was still waiting for some retaliation from Ludolf Caterwaul. Shell, the mob boss of the shifters had almost killed me the last time I saw him. Peter had no idea what I’d risked to be honest with him.
I gave a jerky nod, my whole body a tight bundle of buzzing anger. “Oh. So it’s like that, huh?”
He shook his head, eyes heavy. “You should have told me soon—”
“Oh!” I barked out a mirthless laugh. “So you could react like this?”
Anger flashed behind his eyes. “You know, you’re acting like—”
A loud murmur of voices sounded, and we both glanced up toward the hotel. Bon and the new chief strode out the double doors of the hotel entrance, the noise from the lobby briefly filtering out into the otherwise quiet night.
Chief McCray waved an arm in greeting, and she and Bon headed toward the white marble steps.
I leveled Peter with a weary look. “I’m going home. See you tomorrow.”
Peter nodded, then turned to greet his superiors. I was too angry and wrung out on tough emotions to handle the exuberant McCray or grumpy Bon at the moment. I booked it into the tree-lined path out of there and wound my way down the island mountain of Bijou Mer back to my little neighborhood in the Darkmoon Nightmarket.
14
The Clinic
“Oh, hey, Jolene.” Heidi held the nondescript door to Will’s vet clinic open for me, and I stepped out of the dark alley into the fluorescently bright waiting room. She turned back to face Will, who slumped in one of the hard chairs lined up along the wall.
“Even if it is a pyramid scheme—which it’s not—I’m already in. I’ve got to make this work—I need more money.”
Will tipped his head back and barked out a laugh. He crossed his arms tight, his white lab coat billowing out onto the seats beside him. “You and me both, sister. For the twentieth time, I can’t give you a raise.”
She threw her hands up, her nails brightly colored. “Then don’t come at me for trying to better myself. If you can’t give me a raise, I have to be my own boss.” She tossed her head, and her side pony flew over her shoulder.
I raised my brows. “Hi, guys.” I gave an exaggerated circle wave. “Great to see you, too.”
They both spared me cursory glances and mumbled their hellos. I rolled my eyes and threw myself into a chair on the other side of the L shape from Will, a table strewn with outdated magazines and editions of The Conch between us.
“Alright, what are you fighting about?”
“I’m not fighting about anything.” Will’s bushy brows were raised nearly to his hairline. “I’m just trying to talk some sense into our young friend here.”
Heidi rolled her eyes. “I’m not a child.” She clicked her tongue and turned to face me. “Besides—if you two want me to act like an adult, then why are you throwing water over my deck? My friend Alayah wants me to get a place with her, and I am dying to move out of my parents’ house, but how am I supposed to do that without any merkles?” She threw her hands up again.
Will crossed his legs and frantically bounced his foot. “Can’t help you, sister. Between what I’m paying Ludolf for rent and ‘protection’”—he made air quotes with his long fingers—“and what I pay you, I can barely afford to live myself.”
I sighed. “I feel your pain, guys. With Peter ghosting me, everything I’ve made from consulting has just about dried up. I don’t know what I’m going to do when this job is over.”
Heidi’s expression softened, and she turned to me, lip curled. “He’s not over it, huh?”
I sank lower in my chair and shook my head.
“Sorry.” She grimaced. “Maybe he’ll come around?”
Will snorted. “Not in my experience.” He shot me a side-eye look. “Sorry,” he added.
I nodded, then shot Heidi a half smile. “Not everyone’s as open-minded and sweet as you are.”
Her cheeks flushed pink, and she waved it off. “I honestly don’t get the whole antishifter thing.” She shrugged.
I gave her a small grin. “You’re one of the good ones, Heidi.”
She straightened and threw her shoulders back. “Thank you. And you know, my success is in my own two hands. With Potent Potions, I can make my own schedule and I decide how much money I make—I just have to work tirelessly and not be afraid of sacrificing some hard work, time, and relationships.” A little crease appeared between her brows as if even she wasn’t sure of her words.
Will cocked his head. “Did they tell you that?”
“Well…” Heidi shifted on her feet. “Yeah.” She scrunched up her face. “Listen, what happened tonight, with Mama Pearl dead? It’s got me shaken, too. Don’t tell anyone I said this, but I’m starting to think using my entire savings to buy in might not have been a good idea.”
Will sucked in a mock gasp and pressed an enormous hand to his chest, eyes wide. “No!”
Heidi answered him with a flat look.
I cleared my throat. “So… the company’s still going on, huh?”
“Even though they cut off the head of the gorgon?” Will chimed in.
Heidi nodded. “Mama Pearl would’ve wanted us to continue on with her legacy.”
“They told you to say that, too?”
She rolled her eyes but gave a grudging nod to Will, who chuckled. “Oh, this just gets better and better.”
She tossed her hair again. “Whatever, I’ve got all this inventory now that I’ve got to sell to make my money back. The company better go on, or I’ll lose everything.” Her chest heaved. “It’s fine, though.”
Will and I exchanged looks. Was it?
She nodded, and I couldn’t tell if she was trying to convince us more, or herself. “Soon, I’ll make all that back and then some, and I won’t even need my night job anymore.”
Will lifted a brow.
“Well—after a little while. My upline said the thing to do for the first few months is to keep reinvesting everything I make in more merchandise.”
I heaved a weary sigh. “Of course they did.” Poor girl. She didn’t get it yet, but she was not only an employee of Potent Potions, but their best customer. I suspected that no one bought more tiny vials of potions than their own consultants—the definition of a pyramid scheme. But she’d already put her life savings into it, and I hoped, for her sake, that she’d be one of the few to walk away having at least broken even. Unfortunately, broke as I was, I couldn’t really help her with that.
Heidi spun to face me. “Sorry. Enough about me. Te
ll us what happened with Peter?”
Will nodded. “And the case. Have you figured out who offed Mama Pearl?” He smirked. “Was it the pig?”
I smirked back. “Nah. I think the pig’s clean.” I filled them in on Papa Ralph seeming like a slimy dude, one of the top sellers having a motive due to the recent policy change, and the slightly too-innocent-looking assistant.
I shrugged. “Add to that a sister who might have been tired of living in Pearl’s shadow, angry protestors, and literally thousands of employees who might all have been scammed by the company, and our problem is actually having too many suspects.”
Heidi dragged herself over and slumped into the chair next to me. “They changed the bonus structure? My upline didn’t tell me about that.”
I threw an arm around her. “Sorry, girl.”
She leaned her head against my shoulder. Looked like it’d been a tough night for all of us.
“You know…” Heidi sat back up and spun to face me. “I overheard some of the other consultants talking about the leader of that protest. I think a lot of them knew her—it sounded like she was a pretty active seller here in the Darkmoon for a while.”
I quirked my lips to the side. “You know her name?”
Heidi shook her head. “No… but my upline does.” Her dark eyes widened. “You didn’t hear that from me, though, I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Pff. Upline—these terms are so corny.” Will shook his head, perusing a magazine.
I frowned as I looked closer. “Is that the Potent Potions catalog?”
He shrugged nonchalantly, though his cheeks flushed red like I’d caught him at something. “I’ve already read all the other magazines we have.”
“Mm-hm.” Oh, snakes, was he buying in, too? I turned back to Heidi. “Can you get me in touch with your upline?”
She dropped her eyes, lost in thought for a moment, then brightened. “She’s having a Potent Potions party tomorrow night at her house.”