“What? What assholes! Really? That was their answer?” I was shocked at how they treated the orphaned daughter of a friend and partner.
“Oh yeah. That’s exactly what they said. They informed me because there was never any paperwork done to buy Clyde out all those years ago, I couldn’t prove a damn thing. So Clyde claims he still owns half of Dutch’s Diner. To make things worse, they came up with a phony lien that was filed against my half. Just my half. Because of some old bill my parents owed. They said they’d pay the debt, but I’d have to sign over my share to them. Either way, I lose. It’s all bullshit.”
“Who made a lien against it?”
“I don’t know. Some finance company. But it’s legit. I checked with the clerk of courts for the county. It was filed a few years ago. The woman at the courthouse told me if it didn’t get paid, the lienholder could easily take my half. There’d be nothing I could do. My only other choice would be to have Clyde and Sadie take care of the lien. If you ask me, this lien bullshit was some sneaky scam Clyde and Sadie came up with to grab my share. They’re probably hooked up with the lienholder. Now make them pay. Kill them. Whatever. I really don’t care, as long as they suffer.”
“I don’t know, Morgan…” I understood her predicament, but this seemed like it should be handled in a courtroom, not with black magic. “I think you should contact a good lawyer. Maybe even the district attorney’s office about this.”
“A lawyer? With what? My shitty tips for the week? And the DA? Don’t you get it? The people who run things in this town are all connected. Like most other people here, I’m just another fly in the web. If I had my inheritance, I’d cash in and leave. Start a new life.”
Ezzy listened carefully. “No, Kelly. I think Morgan is right. Let’s get this done.” She picked up the magic staff she used when performing the curse spell. Barney readied his magic balls. We formed a little circle and we were ready.
Ezzy lifted the staff and Barney rubbed the balls. “We call upon the Fates to deliver a curse upon Clyde and Sadie McAdams. This curse shall return to them all of the injustice and pain they have inflicted upon Morgan Shelby. Tenfold! May they suffer for the many crimes they have committed against Morgan.” The antlers glowed with an intensity I hadn’t seen before. Barney noticed it, too. We both took a half step away from Ezzy. The staff itself glowed.
“Wow! There is some serious energy in this place. You can feel it in the air. You can even smell the ozone. And it’s not from my ass getting fried,” Barney said.
“Maybe because I did a little improvisation on the curse. Or it could be because this place has a better connection to the cosmic powers.”
“Improv is right. Tenfold? Ouch,” I replied.
“Hey, check it out, ladies. My balls are both glowing. Now, let’s see what shows on the TV screen.”
What we watched play out on the screen was quite boring. A woman in a drab office, which was illuminated with a few too many fluorescent lights, sorted through stacks of manila folders. There were several old filing cabinets lined against the walls.
“Morgan, do you recognize that horrid place? Or the old lady?” I asked.
“I don’t recognize the old lady. The room is similar to the clerk of court’s office. I can’t tell if that’s what we’re looking at or not…I just don’t know.”
“Fluorescent lights. Now that’s a curse. Of all the inventions I’ve witnessed come to fruition, the fluorescent light was a mistake. It makes life ugly. It actually bathes everything in an ugly light. Damn.”
“Oh come on, Ezzy. They’re not that bad.”
“Have you ever had sex in a room with fluorescent lighting? It ruins it. It’s like being naked in the candy aisle of a convenience store. And I don’t care who you’re with, nobody looks good naked under those awful lights.”
“I suppose you’re right. Hey, the woman stopped to take another look at a folder. She took out some papers and set them aside.”
“Well, well. How much do you want to bet she stumbled upon some inconsistencies with the McAdams’ transaction with your father, Morgan?”
“That would be nice, but I seriously doubt it. And now look. Some men are there in the room. I think this is some sort of audit. Or maybe an investigation? I don’t recognize anyone there. Trust me when I say I recognize someone, because as a waitress at the only diner in twelve miles, I’ve seen every damn person in the county.”
“I’m losing the video.” Barney rapidly swept his hands over the balls, just like a hip hop DJ scratching out dance beats—a little green frog DJ. “Sorry. That scene is gone now. But I’m picking up something else.”
“There they are. That’s Clyde and Sadie.”
I looked at Morgan to see her reaction. “Looks like a pretty good fight going on between those two. Is this normal, Morgan?”
“You know, they’ve always been jerks to each other. But this is really over the top for them.” We watched Sadie throwing things around a kitchen and screaming at Clyde. “I haven’t talked to them in a while, fortunately. Even working at the diner, I don’t have to deal with them. They have some punk relative of Sadie’s managing the place.”
Ezzy leaned in toward the TV. “Ooh. Did you hear that? Now they’re throwing around the D word. Something just happened between them. Some discovery. I heard them accusing each other, saying stuff like ‘I can’t believe you lied’ and ‘you were hiding this all along’ among the screaming and cursing.”
“Divorce is an ugly thing and it’s only going to be worse for Clyde and Sadie. It’s very fitting to see those two tear each other apart,” Morgan gloated. “Could this be part of their Karma?”
Ezzy nodded. “Could be. If it’s something that just came up, then yes. Of course, just prior to this scene we were shown something going on in an office. Paperwork. Records. An investigation perhaps. Together, these are the ingredients for some serious marital drama.”
“Damn, I’m losing it again. This will be a very involved curse. We’ll have to see how it all plays out.” Barney stopped massaging the balls. “These balls are spent. I’ve squeezed the last of it out. That’s all there is for now, ladies.”
I gave Barney a disapproving look. “The double entendres with your balls are getting to be a bit much.”
“Really? Take a good look at me, Kelly. I am a personification of the double entendre. In fact, I am a living metaphor. Someday, you’ll get it.”
“I seriously doubt I’ll be getting it from you.” I winked at him. Two could play that game.
“I really need to be going.” Morgan started to make her way to the door. “It’s been nice meeting all of you. Thanks for the help.”
Ezzy kissed her on the cheek. “Sorry if you didn’t get to witness your enemies being struck by a freight train or something, but perhaps a different sort of train wreck is in the making. You’re welcome here any time, Morgan. I sense many possibilities for you.”
Ezzy walked her to the door and Barney pulled on my hand. “I’ll miss you, Kelly. I think you’re getting replaced.”
“Nah. I think Ezzy just sees another witch in the making.”
Chapter Twenty Three
A Disturbing Evening
Following Morgan’s departure, Ezzy wandered off to the dining room. She returned with a surprise for all of us. “Look what I’ve found!” In one perfectly manicured hand, she held up a bottle of wine. Using the fingers of her other hand like hooks, she held the stems of four wineglasses.
“It’s so nice outside. Why don’t we go out on the stone porch? Maybe get some fresh air?” Gertie suggested.
“Great idea. Maybe another magically hot warden will come by and take me for a stroll in the woods,” Randy quipped as we followed Gertie.
Ezzy poured our drinks and we contently sipped the wine. The telltale sound of a lawnmower came from the narrow road. “That must be Henry. Gabe told me about him. He’s the caretaker for the mill.”
Randy looked at me like I had been conned into buying a
bridge. “Caretaker? Seriously, the only time people use that word is when they’re referring to the guy who cuts the grass in a cemetery or in some cliché loaded horror flick.”
“That’s what Gabe called him.” As Henry drew closer, we got a better look. Sitting high on the seat of the mower, he wore a filthy green ball cap and dark pants with suspenders over a blue checkered shirt. A dump cart with a full load of something brown and lumpy trailed behind the mower.
“I’m just saying it’s an odd choice of a word for Midwestern country folks to use for the maintenance man.”
Henry parked his lawnmower, briskly swinging his legs onto the ground. His appearance was that of a tall, thin, scowling man. He hefted a large burlap sack from the trailer and dragged it toward the corner of the mill. Gertie raised her hand as if she was going to call out to him, but Ezzy pushed her arm down. Her finger pressed to her lips, she shook her head. We were all curious to see what this caretaker was up to.
Randy used his index finger to signal us to huddle closer. He whispered, “See that area over there? Where he’s hauling the sack? When Gertie and I were getting rid of the burnt stuff from the living room, we saw a set of old wooden doors in the foundation of the building, right in the same area. They were locked with a huge chain and padlock. We thought maybe it led to the mill machinery room.”
I sneered at my brother. “Maybe he just keeps his tools in there. I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
“Whoa, sis! Who said I thought it was some big deal? I’m just curious about him. Maybe you’re the one who is worried this old guy is up to something shady.”
“Interesting,” Ezzy commented. “He just opened those doors and went inside.” We waited quietly. Within minutes, he came back out, locked the place up, looked around, and drove away.
Randy yawned. “Big deal. So he put away some grass seed or something. What do you say we head into town this evening, maybe have a look around?”
While we were all agreeing with Randy’s suggestion, Barney hailed us from the living room. “Hey! Come check this out!” Once we gathered inside, Barney pointed to the TV and rubbed the crystal balls. “I’ve been getting more video from the curse you did for the waitress. See?”
On the screen, the video showed a close up of the manila folder that had gotten the attention of the woman and the dark suited men. The label on the folder was clearly marked JLC HOLDINGS, LLC.
Gertie shrugged, asking what we all wondered. “What does this mean?”
Barney spurred my curiosity. “We know it has to do with the argument between Clyde and Sadie. The spell wouldn’t have shown both scenes if they weren’t connected. Perhaps the information in the folder is what the source of the fighting is all about.”
My brother was less than enthusiastic. “Big deal. Why should we even care? After all, this Karma spell is for Morgan. Since when do we get bogged down in everyone else’s drama?”
I didn’t want to say it out loud. There was something about this old mill. From the day Gisele approached us, I knew this was more than just our Karma at work, and I was pretty sure Barney felt the same way. Otherwise, he never would have brought up the video.
Just as dusk fell, Gertie, Randy, and I whisked away on our brooms. Barney and Ezzy opted to stay back at the mill. When we arrived at the statue of the old fur trapper, it became quickly apparent the downside to a small town like Caldron Falls was that all of the shops closed by sunset. The only places still open were Dutch’s Diner and a couple of old bars. The narrow, squeezed-between-other-buildings sorts of places.
Well, we have our choices. Bud’s or Jimmy’s.” I pointed to the bars on opposite sides of the street. Bud’s had a faded old Pabst beer sign hanging out front and Jimmy’s had a Point beer sign that was equally ancient. “Although, neither seem to be particularly inviting.”
Randy looked around and huffed. “People must stay at home or drive to some city for fun. Didn’t you say Gabe was taking you to the movies? That place must be open.”
“I’d rather save the movie for tomorrow night with Gabe. I think I like it here, but I can’t say I even know much about the place. Let’s just walk.”
“You can tell a lot about a town by three things: the parks, the churches, and the cemeteries,” Gertie stated as a matter of fact.
“Do explain,” Randy requested.
“Towns with plenty of parks filled with playground equipment tell you there are a lot of young families with kids. Parks with ponds and benches are for old people who walk their schnauzers in them. Churches tell you how much money people have. The bigger the better. And cemeteries tell you a lot, like who the important families are, or what years were devastating.”
“So educate us, Gertie. What did you notice earlier when you screamed through town, bears on your ass?”
“One park. No swings. A monument to some Davey Crockett looking guy and a Chief. So there aren’t many kids around. They value their history. There wasn’t a single church. Which is very weird. I don’t know what to make of it at all. And cemeteries? Just one little one. This town is odd.”
“Like a frickin’ Hollywood backlot town only used for movies,” Randy lamented.
We continued our walk and as we passed Bud’s bar, we overheard some people talking in the shadows.
An old whiskey throated voice growled, “It’s him. I tell you. It’s that goddamn Jimmy Catania. Ever since he came here and put up that cheese factory, things have gone to hell.”
A second man with a voice like a squeaking hinge replied, “I think you’re right. Things are about to get worse unless we straighten this out. He needs to go away. Or just maybe…you know…the thing…up there at the mill.”
A woman with a heavy accent added, “Don’t say it. The time is coming for it again. Be patient.”
Gertie stepped on an empty cigarette wrapper and the crunching sound silenced our mysterious conversationalists. “Sorry.” I grabbed Randy and Gertie each by the arm and we jogged down to the next corner.
“What…the…fuck? What do you think that was about?” I asked.
“An old cigarette pack. Sorry.”
“No, Gertie! I mean, about what they were saying.”
“Disturbing. Let’s remember we heard some words out of context. Don’t jump to conclusions, Kelly.” Randy was obviously deep in thought. He rubbed his chin and scratched his neck, like he always does when he’s puzzled.
“I’m getting hungry. What do you say we try out that diner?” Gertie suggested.
“We may as well. I have the feeling we are going to be eating there a lot this summer,” I replied.
Within a block, we arrived at Dutch’s Diner. Randy pointed to the hand-painted sign bolted to the front of the building. “Check it out, Kelly.” Randy read the sign out loud. ‘Just like eating at Mom’s’. Now, isn’t that inviting? So, does that mean it includes gratuitous barbs hurled between rival siblings? Perhaps a Chihuahua humping your leg while you listen to yet another condescending lecture from Dad? And topped off with your uncle’s jokes that are as dry as Mom’s brisket? Hell, if I want that, I’ll just go back home.”
We entered through the glass doors, inquisitively glancing over the place, which seemed to be part coffee shop and part lunch counter. Surprisingly, it was large enough to have a separate dedicated dining section housing about twenty tables and a dozen or so booths.
“Isn’t that handy? The sign says to seat yourself,” Gertie pointed out.
We strolled past the very small but curious crowd. When I say curious, I mean the locals were very curious about us. We were the strangers, the out-of-towners, those people from Illinois or as they liked to call us FIBs ‘fucking Illinois bastards’. Nice, Right?
The local uniformed police officer was seated at a table with the only two men in the diner wearing suits. It was pretty obvious to me they were detectives or plainclothes officers from some other police agency. After we walked past, he spoke in a hushed voice to the other men.
&nb
sp; I made a point to select a table as far away from them as possible, since my current company was renowned for saying the absolute worse things at the most unfortunate opportunities.
“I sure am glad to see you!” Morgan stood next to our table and handed out three glossy menu folders. Her face beamed with happiness. “Thank you, so much. I don’t want to know how you did it. Just…thanks.”
“Umm…you’re welcome, I suppose,” Randy replied.
“That depends, Morgan. If you mean the Karma spell, then you are welcome. Otherwise, I don’t know what you are talking about,” I added.
“Meet me in the ladies’ room in five minutes. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Coke for me and my brother and a sweet tea for Gertie.” I knew them well enough to order for them.
We silently looked around at the antique covered walls. An assortment of typical housewares from the 19th century and a handful of old hand tools filled every open space. Morgan arrived with the drinks and nodded to me. She casually walked to the corner of the room near the entrance to the kitchen and entered the ladies’ room. “Gertie, would you and Randy go over to the newspaper rack or someplace by the cash register? Just keep that nosy cop’s attention on you. He seems very interested in us and I don’t know why. For some reason, I think it would look suspicious if he saw me following Morgan into the ladies’ room.”
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