“You?” Lilith threw her head back in a fit of laughter. “You barely like wearing makeup much less selling it.”
I gestured toward the kitchen. “I obviously wasn’t meant to take over the diner since I almost burnt it down.” My hands flung in the air.
My mind was getting all confused. I had originally decided to help Mick because he threatened my family and the legality of The Brew. Then I had my worlds collide, which meant he was in my life for a reason and at the start of my life’s journey. My magic didn’t work on him or in the kitchen anymore. I was about at my wits end and I couldn’t get this Mystic Couture thing behind me fast enough and get on with my life.
“I had my Witchy Hour, which hasn’t given me any insight on what I’m supposed to do with my life. So I might as well sell the makeup until I figure this out.” I knew Lilith was too street smart to fall for my reasoning. Granted her street might be a dirt road, but she knew what she was doing.
Chapter Nineteen
After work, I jumped into Vinnie, all ready to go see Mick. Everything Drea told me about Tessa hadn’t set well with me all day.
“SKUL headquarters,” I ordered Vinnie.
“Why?” Vinnie asked.
“Because I said.” Was I really going to have to start answering to him? “I need to see Mick.”
“You can call him.” Vinnie didn’t move. “I think you need to round up some women for this makeup party you are having tonight.”
“Oh crap.” I had forgotten all about that little portion of my conversation with Drea. “Okay. I can take care of that after you take me to SKUL headquarters.”
“I really don’t think that is a good idea, Maggie.” Vinnie still didn’t move.
“I think it’s a great idea.” I flipped Vinnie on manual and put the keys in the ignition. “Did you forget I have all the power here? If you keep ignoring me, I might have to keep you on manual all the time.”
It took me longer than usual to get to the SKUL office. Even though I had the control to drive Vinnie, Vinnie had the control to keep my speed at a steady fifteen miles per hour. But I didn’t let him get on my nerves. I bit my lip and went over the information Drea had told me.
Once in the parking lot, I got out and told Vinnie to behave himself. I knew he was mad when he didn’t talk back to me.
“I need to see Mick Jasper please,” I told the lady at the reception desk.
“Is this a filling or a cleaning?” she asked.
“Don’t worry.” I smiled and pointed to myself. I leaned over and whispered, “I have SKUL clearance.”
“Filling or cleaning?” The receptionist was persistent.
“I could just go right on in because I know where the secret elevator is.” I was losing my patience. After all, I had a Mystic Couture party to throw and no one to make over, yet.
“I’m sorry.” The receptionist drew her finger down the ledger on her desk. “Mr. Jasper doesn’t have any appointments scheduled this afternoon.”
I sucked in a deep breath. It was time. Although I said I wouldn’t. I did.
I lifted my hands in the air, smiled sweetly at the receptionist, and said, “Rowlow, loodon, claster.”
“What?” The woman’s face contorted in all sort of shapes like I was a loony tune.
Deeply I inhaled, taking in as much air in my lungs as I could, then exhaled, blowing a steady stream her way. Small crystals formed above her head, showering down on her in sleepy dust. Her eyes closed.
“Good night.” I brushed my hands together, happy to have given her the right dose of naptime magic before I let myself into the guts of SKUL headquarters.
The elevator took me down to the basement and the doors opened up, letting me off into the office space I had visited with Mick a few days ago.
Everyone seemed to be working on something, except the blonde, who’d hit on Mick when I was there the last time.
“Can I help you?” She leapt out of her cubicle, grabbing me by the arm.
I jerked away. “I’m here to see Burt or Mick.” I continued to walk, but she proved to have some ninja skills. She planted herself between Burt’s door and me.
“I think we should have a little chat.” Her blond hair swished to the side as she gave a little nod.
“What?” I asked, following her to the small conference room down the hall.
She flipped on the light and shut the door behind me. The large window ran the length of the room with a good view of the agents working at their desks.
“I don’t think you get what we do around here.” She jabbed her finger on the conference table. “You can’t just come bringing your little old plain Jane self in here, thinking you can just waltz in.” She made her way back around the conference table, her back facing the window. “We are SKUL. With the government. We have college degrees, not mommy cooking lessons so we could work at a greasy spoon diner. We hurt the bad guys, not feed them.”
My eyes trickled past her shoulder, making contact with Mick. He jumped up out of his chair when he saw me. I knew he was going to come see why I was there, so I let her continue to berate me.
“Hey!” she yelled. “Did you hear me? Mick is off limits to you. He and I have been doing this thing for quite some time and if you think I’m going to let . . .”
“Maggie,” Mick rushed in. “I didn’t know you were here. Sherry, why didn’t you tell me she was here?”
“She broke in.” Sherry put her hand on Mick’s forearm. “I think she needs off the case and I’m going to tell Burt.” She strolled out of the office, but not before glancing back with a twinkle in her eye.
She said what she needed to say and I took note. Mick and she were an item. But I was still on the case.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call first, but I was on my way home and I needed to tell you something about Tawny Fawn. I think Tessa Fawn killed her mom.”
“What?” His rakishly good looks appealed to me more knowing he was off limits. I had to focus.
“Yeah.” I confirmed, looking away, out of the window. “Drea and Dan Philpot came into the diner this morning. Drea had all sorts of information about how Tessa and Tawny didn’t get along, not to mention Tessa didn’t live with her mom as a child and she hates Mystic Couture. I wonder if the company is going to fold since there isn’t anyone to take over?”
“Hold up.” Mick rolled the blinds to closed, forcing me to look back at him. “We aren’t investigating the death of Tawny Fawn. That’s the Louisville Police Department’s job. We are here to find out where the drug smuggling is coming from. So don’t worry with the death thing. Got it?”
“But it could tie together,” I spouted out.
“It could, but we don’t care about that. We have to stop the smuggling. Got it?” he asked again, this time a little more sternly.
“Fine.” I shook my head and followed him out into the hallway.
“Can I ask one question?” I didn’t wait to hear his answer. “How do you know they are smuggling drugs at Mystic Couture?”
“We had gotten a tip from a disgruntled warehouse worker that something bad was going down. We sent in a guy to infiltrate the smugglers, only he didn’t make the cut.”
“He died?” Terror ripped through me. What if someone killed me? The informant, Tawny, and this agent? What was going to keep me safe if they found out I was undercover?
“Unfortunately he did.” Mick’s eyes looked out into the air like he was remembering something. “We waited a couple of months and I made contact with the informant you got the package from. They had agreed for me to be a drug mule. Taking the drugs from the point of entry to the different drug dealers.”
“Let me guess, I got in the way?” I didn’t have to have a witchy sense to know the answer to my own question.
“Sort of.” He let me off the hook easy. He walked me out like a good gentleman.
“How did you get in anyway?” he asked when we reached the receptionist’s desk.
“It was easy.” I pointe
d to the snoring woman who was supposed to keep me and anyone else out. I rubbed my nose and she instantly woke up.
“I. . .” she stammered. “I’m sorry, Agent Jasper. I must’ve dozed off.” She straightened her appearance.
“I’ll talk to you in a minute,” he warned her and walked me out the door.
“Please be gentle on her. I’m sure she has a lot of stress trying to keep you undercover and all.” I didn’t want to see anyone lose a job over a little sleep spell.
“I won’t tell on her. But she can’t be sleeping on the job.” He pointed toward Vinnie. “Have you heard from Mystic Couture?”
“No. But I’m having my first party tonight. Hopefully get a few international sales.” I had no idea how to do that, but in my Welcome to Platinum packet, it said someone would contact me. As of yet, no one had. “Drea Philpot is going to come so I have to go home and beg people to come.”
“It needs to be a lot of people.” Mick ran his hands through his hair. “I can see if Sherry wants to come.”
“No.” I shook my head adamantly. “I’ve got people.”
I didn’t have people, but Auntie Meme and Mom had people.
“Remember, we are here to focus on the international drug ring,” he said again.
“Then why can’t you trace it from the airport?” I asked what seemed to be a logical mortal question.
“We have tried. No one can seem to find the trail. That is why you make a good cover up. Not a cop. Not an agent. A normal, average, everyday gal.” He opened the door to Vinnie. “Let me know what happens with the party and if you get any information on international sales. That is what we need to know.”
Chapter Twenty
That was all he needed to know. I wanted to know more. Something told me there was more to the story and somehow they were connected. But how?
“Did you have a nice visit?” Vinnie asked after I flipped on his switch to auto.
“Very interesting.” I bit my lip and stared out the window, letting Vinnie do the driving. “I need to get people to come over to the house.”
“You should ask your mom for help. She knows a lot of people.” Vinnie made it home in record time. He pulled down the alley and into the garage. Mom was hunched over the bed of herbs plucking away.
“I just might.” I patted Vinnie’s dash before I got out.
“Mom, can I talk to you?” I asked and plopped down next to her, picking the herbs with her. I had picked herbs with her several times in the past, so I knew what to do.
“Sure you can.” Mom rolled her body back, resting her butt on her heels. “Is this about getting your own place? Because I’ve been thinking about that.”
“Sort of.” I hesitated thinking it was a good idea to twist what I was about to say. “You know how I said I have been going to visit with friends?”
“Yes,” she said quietly.
“Actually I have been working as a sales consultant with Mystic Couture.” I plucked a few more herbs trying not to look at her. If I did, she’d know I was lying without doing magic. “It came into my life during my worlds colliding so I’m exploring to see if it’s part of my life’s journey.”
I wasn’t sure if Mom could tell I was lying, but I had to do everything I could to make sure my family secret stayed safe.
Riule ran out from underneath one of Mom’s many plants. Mom picked him up and stroked his fur. He purred happily in her arms. She asked, “Is that why you had that fancy makeup in the house that you and Lilith were fighting over?”
“Yes.” I ran my hands over the green patch, looking for the ripest basil. I came up empty but pulled a handful of plastic daisies up. I put them at my side. “And I’m doing really good at it. But tonight I have to host a party and one of the big consultants is going to come watch me and make sure I’m doing my job.”
“Like a job review?” Mom’s voice perked up.
“Yes. Like that.” I turned my head, looking at her. Her face had a big grin on it.
“This is wonderful news.” Mom ripped the gardening gloves off her hands and clapped them together. She put one hand on my cheek. “You, my dear sweet Maggie, are embracing the mortal side. I’m so thrilled. This is good for two worlds colliding.”
“Unfortunately I don’t have any friends to have a party.” I sighed.
“Don’t you worry.” She stood up and dusted herself off. “I will take care of everything. You just worry about your sales pitch.”
“Mom,” I bit my lip wondering how she was going to take the news about Riule. I picked up the daisies and held them in the air.
“Oh no, Maggie,” Mom gasped.
“Riule!” I shook the daisies at him. “Your cat has been the culprit. I saw him with my own two eyes.”
Rowl! Riule clawed the air, jumping out of Mom’s arms.
“Ouch.” She rubbed her forearm where he’d just used as a launch pad. “Riule, is that true?”
Mom tilted her head. Riule stood at her feet. She muttered a few things I didn’t understand and he growled and groaned. The two communicated in a way that was not familiar to me. They had their own language.
I stuck the daisies on the back porch step and left the two of them alone to hash out their problems.
When it came time for the party, Mom had the entire backyard transformed into a red lava Mystic Couture event exactly how she said she would. It was even grander than the party I had attended at Tawny Fawn’s mansion. There was a big red tent with topiary trees strategically placed around the perimeter with red lights draped all over them. There were heaters lightly blowing the night chill away, keeping it nice and toasty. A refreshment table with all sorts of fall goodies and delicate dishes along with any type of drink you could possibly want from an open bar where Abram, acting as bartender, was nestled in a little cove in the corner of the tent. Even Auntie Meme had her post at the dessert table. Lilith greeted everyone who came through the tent. I had promised her she could have all the makeup from the sample kits she wanted if she helped.
“Mom, who are these people?” I asked of the hundred or so women milling around the Mystic Couture samples.
“Others, dear.” She patted my hand before she darted off to go chitchat with some ladies near the back of the tent. By others, I knew she meant people like us.
“This is a remarkable turnout,” Drea snuck up behind me.
“I’m so glad you could make it.” My nerves shot through my body. I had no idea why I was so nervous she was there. It wasn’t like I needed to impress her; I just needed information. “Do you happen to know how I will get my platinum package?”
The more time that passed, the more I put my family and myself in danger. And the more I knew I didn’t want to be a Mystic Girl. The women clambering over the makeup was something that just wasn’t part of who I was.
I looked over at Lilith. She was completely in her element. She lined women’s lips, found the perfect shade of lipstick, rouge, and foundation for each of them by just looking at them.
“Why don’t I check on that for you? In fact,” her pinky stuck up in the air as she took a drink from the glass of wine in her hand, “I’m mailing some orders off tomorrow. Why don’t I pick you up and take you?”
“I’ll pick you up.” I couldn’t dare get into someone else’s car. Not only would Vinnie kill me, it wasn’t good witchy practice. I might be an undercover agent for SKUL, but my witchiness came first. Always.
“Wonderful.” She plucked a card from her purse. “Here is my business card and my address. Be there around three p.m. That way all my orders will be packed up and ready to go. I can show you where we go at the airport. A lot easier than going to a UPS or something like that.”
Airport? They bypassed the postal system and went straight to the airport? That was how they got drugs out of the country. I made a mental note to let Mick know.
“Who is that?” Drea asked and pointed over to Lilith.
“That is my sister, Lilith,” I said. Lilith was filling s
omeone’s bag with Mystic Couture products, smiling and talking.
“She’s a natural too.” Drea moseyed her way over to Lilith. I stood and watched as they talked, knowing they were both discussing the products.
“What on earth is going on back here?” Mrs. Hubbard and Susie Brown were standing on the back porch step glancing around the backyard. Mrs. Hubbard had the fake daisies in her hand. “I told you! I told you!” Her voice escalated.
“Is this true?” Susie Brown asked Mom when Mom approached them.
“Excuse me,” I pushed my way through the crowd of party goers and over to Mom, Mrs. Hubbard, and Susie Brown.
Susie pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose, and nervously picked at the edges of her short crimson hair. “I asked you if this was true.”
Mom hung her head. I wanted to kick myself in the butt for leaving those flowers there.
“Gladys said you had been sabotaging her this entire time, but I refused to believe it.” Susie’s lips thinned in a line.
“Gladys?” I asked.
“I’m Gladys!” Mrs. Hubbard jabbed her chest with her finger. The curlers from the night before were pulled out, leaving her hair perfectly styled and sprayed in place. She had on her usual black pants, grey cardigan, pearls and crabby smile. “Gladys Hubbard!”
The crowd of women all turned to see what was going on.
“Thank you so much for stopping by.” I grazed my hand over the top of both of their heads. “I’d love to have Lilith show you a wonderful line of makeup.”
I was hoping Mom would’ve resolved this with her own magic. She had probably forgotten or dealt with Riule in her own way, plus the party was on her mind, so I didn’t mind helping her out.
“Makeup?” Mrs. Hubbard’s scowl had changed to a smile. “I love makeup.”
“You two are going to love this new line from Mystic Couture.” I glanced back at Mom.
She put the fake daisies back on the step and brushed her hands over top of them, transforming them into a pile of dust, erasing any and all evidence of them.
“Mrs. Brown. Mrs. Hubbard.” Lilith gave me a sideways look of what the hell. “I’m so happy that you made it. I have the perfect color for you, Mrs. Hubbard. You are going to be even more beautiful than your flowers.”
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