“Who do you work for?” I glanced at the pocket where she’d shoved her badge earlier.
“The Dallas office of the DEA.”
I let that sink in. For a moment, I considered whether I ought to call Annie. One of the first things I always advised my clients was to never talk to the cops, no matter what flavor of cop they might be, without an attorney present. Still, she hadn’t Mirandized me. More importantly, Miss Serena trusted her and, if I was going to accomplish whatever it was Mom sent me here to do, I needed to trust Miss Serena. For the moment, at least, that meant ignoring the paranoid ramblings of the defense attorney that lived in my mind.
They listened as I recounted what happened. Neither said a word. They didn’t have to. Quinn’s anger to hear how the truck had bumped my rear tire filled the room. The energies around her built and the temperature began to inch higher. It didn’t surprise me to see Miss Serena reach over and lightly rest a hand on Quinn’s arm, calming her and reminding her to maintain control. When I glanced at her hands, I caught the flickering of a small flame and smiled slightly. No wonder the room felt warmer. She could, and did, call fire.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Don’t.” I held out my left hand and smiled as lightning danced in my palm. “Anger makes it harder to control the elements, doesn’t it?”
Quinn grinned, and I had a feeling I’d just made not only an ally but a friend. For her part, Miss Serena sighed and shook her head at the two of us. Before she could say anything, Quinn straightened and signaled the dogs.
“I need to get back to work, but you call me if you need anything, Meg.” She produced a business card and handed it to me. Then she bent and once again lightly kissed Miss Serena’s cheek. “Ali and I will be here this weekend for our lesson, I promise. And I’ll call Annie and let her know what’s going on. I’ve had half a dozen texts from her wanting an update.”
“Thanks.” I meant it.
“My pleasure. I’ll warn you, however, that she’s on the warpath. Don’t be surprised if she makes it her personal mission to find the driver and make sure they pay for what they did.”
“That makes two of us.” Even if I didn’t understand why Annie felt that way. After all, we’d just met.
Quinn nodded and, with the dogs at her heels, left the room. As the door closed behind her, Miss Serena gently touched my arm. I looked up, surprised by the appreciation reflected in her eyes.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what? I should be the one thanking you.”
“No.” She smiled and shook her head. “Quinn’s dear to me for a number of reasons. But, as I said, she came into her gifts a short time ago and occasionally she still feels uncomfortable about them. You handled her slip of control very well and said what she needed to hear.”
I lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “It was only the truth.” One I knew all too well since my own control tended to slip if I let my emotions get the better of me.
“I still thank you.” She gave me another smile and then stood. “Are you hungry?”
As if in response, my stomach growled loudly. I felt my cheeks color and I nodded.
“Lie back and rest. I won’t be long.”
She placed a gentle kiss on the top of my head and left the room.
A few minutes later, the door opened once again. This time, Miss Serena entered, followed closely by a woman I guessed to be a year or two older them me. She wore jeans and a TCU tee shirt. Her blonde hair had been pulled back in a loose tail. In her hands, she carried a tray. My mouth instantly began to water as the smell of bacon filled the room. Mom always said everything was better with bacon and I agreed.
“Meg, this is my granddaughter Amy,” Miss Serena said as the blonde settled the tray across my lap.
“You look like you’re feeling better,” Amy commented.
I gasped softly when she gently rested a hand on my forehead, as if checking for fever. The moment she did, I felt the power in her. I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them, I focused on the energy patterns in the room. Greens and golds danced around Amy, merging with the deeper greens and blues that centered on her grandmother. For a moment, I almost forgot how to breathe. It seemed impossible, but Amy was almost as strong as Miss Serena. Was this why my mother sent me here? If so, what was she trying to say?
“Are you all right?” Concern filled Amy’s voice and darkened her eyes.
“Sorry.” I reached for the bottle of water on the tray and drank. “I feel like I’ve stepped into a reality I’m not prepared for.”
To my surprise, Amy chuckled. “Welcome to Mossy Creek. I keep telling everyone the town motto needs to be changed. It ought to say, Welcome to Mossy Creek where the strange is common place and normal is nowhere to be found.”
Considering what I’d seen so far, I had to agree with her.
“Leave her be, Amy,” Miss Serena chided good-naturedly. “And you eat up,” she told me.
“Yes, ma’am,” we answered in unison and then smiled at one another.
Twenty minutes later, Miss Serena set the tray to one side and helped me lie back. With gentle hands, she checked my injuries. I swallowed hard to see the abrasions covering my left arm and leg. Ugly as they were, they had scabbed over and looked to be days, not hours, old. Bruises and cuts marked the rest of my body. But they, like the road rash, looked several days old. Seeing it, my stomach churned and then settled. I’d been lucky, very lucky. More than that, whatever Miss Serena might be, she was a strong healer and for that I was grateful.
Feeling better after Miss Serena once again cleaned and bandaged several of my more serious scrapes and cuts, I sat up. My head felt clearer than it had. That should have relieved me. Instead, as the memory of the crash returned, I swallowed hard. Someone had run me off the road. Worse, they hadn’t stopped to check on me. Nor had they reported what happened. That led to only one possible conclusion. The accident had been anything but. The driver of the pickup meant to hit me.
But why?
“Miss Serena, did the deputy find my saddlebags?” I remembered the paperwork Annie had given me. Paperwork I’d secured in the saddlebags. Could that be why the truck hit me or was there something else at play here?
“Drew brought them with him when they brought you here.” Before I could ask, she continued. “And, no, he didn’t look inside.” Even so, amusement lit her expression and I knew what she was about to say. “Not that he didn’t try. It seems that when he removed the bags from the back of your Harley, he got quite a shock. But that was nothing compared to the one he received when he tried to open them.”
I smiled and ducked my head. Thank you, Mom. Your protections worked. Hopefully, that meant no one else had been able to get into the bags.
“Speaking of whom, he is waiting downstairs to talk with you, Meg. If you feel up to it, he needs to talk with you about what happened.”
For a moment, I considered putting it off but, if I did, I lost the chance to find out what he could tell me about the investigation. Hell, I probably wanted to talk to him as badly as he wanted to talk to me. Besides, experience taught me cops didn’t take well to being told to wait.
“I’ll talk to him.”
“Let’s get you a robe first then, child.” Miss Serena moved to the foot of the bed and paused, her head cocked to one side as she studied me. “We managed to save your jacket, but your pants had to be cut off. I’m sorry.”
I nodded. I’d expected as much. Still, I hated it. I’d loved those leathers and they weren’t cheap. But the alternative was worse.
“Don’t worry about it. I appreciate all you’ve done. I don’t know how I’ll repay you.”
“None of that talk now, you hear me?” Her eyes flashed and I nodded once. “I’ll get you a robe and then I’ll send Drew up.”
A few minutes later, Miss Serena returned with the deputy. One look at him and I knew he and Annie had to be related. They had the same red hair and blue eyes. More than that, the rese
mblance between them was uncanny. Twins, unless I missed my guess. Then, remembering Miss Serena calling him “Drew”, I began to chuckle. It might not have been the best way to start off the interview, especially considering the blush that colored his cheeks, but I couldn’t help it. No wonder Annie sounded long-suffering when talking about her mother. Who in their right minds would name their redheaded children Annie and, unless I was very wrong, Andrew? I could just hear the kids at school teasing them with “Raggedy Anne and Andy.”
“Sorry.” I managed, barely, not to laugh out loud.
“Don’t.” He shook his head, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “At least you didn’t laugh in my face.”
True, but it had been close. Not that he needed to know it, especially when I saw the humor dancing in Miss Serena’s eyes.
“What can you tell me about the accident?” he asked as he sat next to the bed and produced a pad and pen.
“Andrew” Miss Serena looked at him, her expression a mix of disapproval and warning.
“Sorry.” He ducked his head and ran a hand over his head before looking up. “Deputy Drew Grissom, ma’am. Do you feel up to telling me about your accident?”
“First, it wasn’t an accident.”
Miss Serena stiffened and quickly moved around the bed to stand opposite Deputy Grissom. The moment her hand rested on my shoulder, I felt calmer. More than that, I felt safe. It wasn’t that she tried to bespell me. I would have sensed the energies needed for that. No, it was much like when Mom did the same thing when I was younger. For whatever reason, Miss Serena had accepted me as one of her own and she would do whatever it took to protect me. I might not understand it or even understand why she’d done it, but I wasn’t going to refuse it. Not now. Not when I didn’t understand what was going on.
“What do you mean?”
Even as he asked, I could tell he wasn’t surprised by my comment. Good. That meant he had taken a hard look at the scene and had correctly interpreted the evidence, whatever it might be.
As I’d done with Quinn, I described what happened. No, I hadn’t paid that much attention to the truck until I realized it was closing in on me. The best I could tell him was it had been either black or dark blue. No, it wasn’t new and I’d only seen it in my mirror, so I didn’t know if there was anything special about it that would help them identify it.
“Surely you saw something,” he pressed.
“I saw a truck bearing down on me and then I was too busy trying to not become roadkill,” I countered, temper rising. “If you want something to look for, you might check local garages for trucks with front end damage.”
“Look—”
“No, you look, deputy. I was focused on finding my way here. In case it’s slipped your mind, I’m not familiar with the roads around town. It never dawned on me there might be someone who dislikes motorcyclists, or maybe just those of us who ride Harleys, enough to run me down. When I realized what was happening, I was too busy trying to stay alive to take notes.”
He didn’t say anything. For a long moment, he simply looked at me. Then he nodded and his expression softened.
“Sorry. It’s no excuse but I’ve already had my butt chewed on pretty good by my sister. I took it out on you and I apologize.”
“No problem.” At least I hoped it wouldn’t be.
“And I’ll say this. It’s clear you’re an experienced rider, Ms. Sheridan. By laying your bike down, you probably saved your life.”
I nodded. “It was the only thing I could think to do.”
“Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt you?”
“Here?”
He nodded.
“Not a clue. I just got into town this morning. I’ve never been here before. Far as I know, there’s no reason for anyone here to want to hurt me.” Of course, it was a different story back in Maxon’s Mill. “Folks might not always like me, deputy, but it usually takes more than an hour or two for them to want to kill me.
Even though it was a weak attempt at humor, he laughed softly. “My sister wouldn’t tell me why you’d been to her office.” It wasn’t a question, not quite at any rate. “Will you?”
I chuckled and then winced in pain. Until then, I hadn’t realized how sore the left side of my ribcage was. Damn, if I hurt this badly, what would it have been like without Miss Serena’s healing?
“Since all you need to do is go by the café, I might as well.”
It didn’t take long to tell him about Mom’s death and the letter her attorney gave me after the funeral. No, I didn’t know why she wanted me to come here. No, she had never mentioned Mossy Creek before, at least not that I remembered.
“And your visit to my sister?”
For a moment, I hesitated. The attorney in me screamed about attorney-client privilege. I pushed it down. It was a valid question and there was no reason not to answer.
“Judge Caldwell suggested I stop by and see if Annie had anything on file about my mother. It was possible that your grandfather had represented her while she lived here. Since I am operating without knowing anything about Mom’s life here, I decided that was a good place to start.”
“Did she find anything?”
“She did.” I held up a hand before he could ask anything more. “And, no, I don’t know what. She gave me copies and I was going to look at them after I met with Miss Serena.” I didn’t mention the letter Mom sent her. For all I knew, Miss Serena had already informed him about it but something told me she hadn’t.
“Is there any chance whatever’s in those papers could be behind what happened?”
“I don’t see how. First—” I ticked off the point on a finger— “no one could have known what, if anything, she gave me. Second, whatever the paperwork is about, it’s decades old. I simply don’t see how anyone could care about what those pages might say.”
“Ms. Sheridan, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know what you find after you’ve had a chance to review the documents.”
“Of course.” Let him interpret that however he wanted. I wasn’t going to commit, one way or the other, without more information.
He glanced at me and I knew he recognized how I’d sidestepped his question. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he climbed to his feet and closed his notebook. As he slid it into his pocket, he stepped closer to the bed.
“I am glad you weren’t more seriously hurt. If you’ll accept some advice, listen to Miss Serena and let her keep working her healing magic. Trust me, it’s much better than anything a doctor can do for you.”
I looked at him in surprise because he said it so easily and without any irony. So far, Mossy Creek was definitely turning out to be very different from what I was used to. Whether that was good or not had yet to be seen.
“I’ll be in touch later. You take care of yourself and call if you think of anything that might help with the investigation.”
I nodded and reached out to shake his hand. The moment out fingers touched, a shock arced up my arm. Drew’s gasp of surprise echoed my own. It was as if we’d been standing in the center of an electrical storm and, as we shook hands, lightning struck. But it was Miss Serena’s chuckle that had me swallowing hard. This was not good. I didn’t know why it wasn’t good. I just knew something fundamental had changed and I did not like surprises. Not that anyone seemed to think twice about springing as many surprises as possible on me of late.
Chapter 5
“Hey,” Amy said from the doorway. “Grandma wanted to know if you feel like coming downstairs for a bit.”
I sat up and motioned her inside. As I did, I glanced at the clock next to the bed. One thirty. I must have dozed after Drew left. Now I felt rested and the aches and pains from the accident, while still there, had lessened even more. The thought of getting up and finally seeing what Mom’s second letter said had me nodding in response.
“How are you feeling?” Amy asked a few moments later as she helped me with the short terrycloth robe I’d w
orn earlier.
“Better.” When I didn’t expand, she tilted her head and looked me in the eye. I recognized her expression and knew I’d better come clean. “I hurt, especially my left side. But it’s better than earlier and certainly better than it would be had I gone to the hospital.” I looked at her, allowing myself to see her energies for the first time. “Do I have you to thank as well as your grandmother?”
Her brows lifted in surprise. “How did you know?”
“Your aura is very much like hers. The colors are a bit different and, if I had to guess, I’d say your gifts tend more toward healing than hers do.”
A smile touched Amy’s lips. “You’re good. Grandma’s going to be pleased.”
“I don’t understand.”
And that was putting it mildly.
“Sit and I’ll give you a quick family history.” She patted the edge of the bed and waited until I complied. “Grandma’s pretty much raised me my whole life. My folks divorced when I was little. Dad couldn’t wait to get away from here. He’s got a new family now. We don’t see each other much.” She gave a shrug, but I could see it hurt. “And my mother’s – well, let’s just say that she loves me, but she realized pretty soon after I was born that she’s not the maternal type. To be honest, she makes Annie’s mom look like mother-of-the-year. Fortunately for me, Grandma’s not only the motherly type, but she was happy to step in when Mom decided she needed time to find herself.” She made air quotes as she said the last three words.
I felt for her. I’d been lucky. Mom had never shirked her duties as a mother and I’d always known she loved me more than life itself. Since I’d never known who my father was, I’d never really worried about him having another family. Mom had been enough to make up for the lack of a father-figure in my life. “You’re lucky, Amy. One look at you and your grandmother and no one could doubt you love one another.”
“I know. I don’t even blame my mother any more. It was hard as a kid but now I know she did the best thing she could for me and for her.” She waved a hand as if brushing away those long ago hurts. I noticed she didn’t mention her father again, not that I blamed her. It’s one thing for a parent to realize they weren’t up to raising a child and it was something completely different to simply walk away from one child and start another family without a backward glance. “Anyway, Grandma trained me all my life and, yes, my gifts do tend more toward healing. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m impressed you saw that much so quickly. We’re both very serious about our shielding.”
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