2 Lady Luck Runs Out

by Shannon Esposito

  I chewed as I read the flyer. "A ghost tour?"

  "Yeah, it'll be fun."

  I shrugged. "All right. If that's what you want to do. How long are you staying anyway?" I figured eventually I'd get an answer to that question.

  Something flashed in her eyes. Worry? Fear? "Until I buy a return ticket home."

  Fabulous.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Around eight o'clock that night we joined a group of about a dozen other ghost seekers inside Hooker Tea Company. Heavens, it smelled good in there; sweet and spicy with undercurrents of ginger, peaches, peppermint and jasmine. Someone walked by with a cup of fresh mango black. That was it. I had to order a cup.

  "You want something?" I asked Mallory.

  She took a seat in one of their paisley armchairs. "Whatever you're having."

  Our guide came in while we were happily sipping our tea and chatting with a couple from Canada. The guide was a woman in her fifties, dressed in black and carrying a lantern. She had warm brown eyes and a calm spirit. I liked her immediately. She introduced herself as Mary.

  "Welcome, everyone! It's a gorgeous night for spotting ghosts." After she urged us all to introduce ourselves and say where we were from, she smiled. "Okay, let's go ahead and get started."

  The traffic broke for us as we followed Mary and her lantern across the street to North Straub Park. The park trees sparkled with white lights strung through their branches. The Vinoy Resort lit up the far edge of the park to the north. The air held the scent of the Bay waters. I soaked it all in.

  Everyone crowded around Mary in the muted darkness as she rattled off a few ghost stories about the area and encouraged us to snap random pictures.

  "You never know what... or who... you'll capture."

  It was a star-filled, clear night and had only dropped down to the mid sixties. Still, I pulled my sweater tighter around me and smiled as I watched Mallory eagerly snap photos with her phone. It really was good to see her. I had missed her particular brand of enthusiasm. It was contagious.

  "Hey, my camera froze up!" A petite lady, who had introduced herself earlier as Bobbie from Michigan, said excitedly.

  "That happens a lot." Mary nodded knowingly. "The theory is the spirits drain the energy from our batteries and electronics to use for things like manifesting and communicating. Look back through your photos. Anyone catch anything?"

  "Look at this, I think I got somethin'!" Brynn, a coltish teenage girl with a pixie cut, called out. Everyone migrated toward her on the lawn, taking turns peering at her phone screen.

  "Looks like an orb," Bobbie exclaimed.

  Mallory took her turn and shrugged. "Looks like dust to me."

  "All right, time to move on to our next spot." Mary led us back across Beach Drive, down a dark sidewalk, to a gray house that had been worn from the elements and time. Boards crisscrossed the bottom floor windows but the second story sported curtains. I strained through the darkness for any sign of fluttering or movement. Mallory held her phone up and snapped a couple photos. We took turns peering in the front porch windows and listening to the story of the woman who died there, apparently a murder that went unsolved. More photos. More orbs. Mallory shifted beside me, messing with the tendrils of hair on her neck that had escaped her hair tie. She was getting antsy.

  Our next stop was the Traveler's Palm Inn: a lime-green hotel, built in the fifties and rumored to be haunted by three male ghosts who had died violently there. We all filed into the conference room on the bottom floor.

  Mary moved to the side of the door. "Now be warned, we've had women get their hair and clothes tugged on in here. We're going to go ahead and turn the lights off. We seem to get more activity that way."

  A flick of Mary's hand threw the room into semi-darkness. The left wall held three windows that let in enough moonlight to see shadows and shapes. Short bursts of flash began to occur as people ventured deeper into the conference room.

  After a few minutes, a voice broke the silence. "I saw something in the corner over there! A shadow."

  "Oh please," Mallory whispered beside me. "Shadows, orbs, blah, blah, blah." I turned to her, planning on telling her not to ruin these people's fun but she had no intention of doing that. In fact, she planned on enhancing their ghost busting experience.

  I wasn't sure what she was doing at first and then, as a motorcycle passed by the window and lit us enough for me to see her hands working, I grabbed her arm. "No, Mal!"

  But it was too late. A tiny ball of energy shot from her palm and ping ponged around the room.

  A few squeals and gasps precluded a frenzy of flashing as the ghost hunters tried to capture it on film.

  "Everyone stay calm!" Mary called into the room. "Be mindful of the people around you."

  Suddenly, a dark figure leapt from of the shadows. A large black cat had apparently been startled from its hiding place by the flying orb.

  It bound toward us and Mallory shrieked as it pounced on her, digging its claws into her back as it tried to balance on her shoulder. "Ow, ow! What in heaven...? Darwin, help!"

  I grabbed the cat around its soft middle, intending to pry its claws gently from my sister's back, but as soon as my palms touched it, I got zapped. Hard.

  Energy rushed through me like a tidal wave, flooding me with sounds, smells and a few clear images.

  A shadow person dressed in a black jacket and hood, creeping up to a lanai screen in the dark. A horrible whiff of something dank and sour. A tearing sound. A hissing as a large snake slithered on the ground then, lifting its head, flicked its tongue right at me.

  I fell back, releasing my grip on the cat and landing hard on my bottom.

  "Darwin? You okay?" Mallory yelled over the other excited voices. The cat still clung stubbornly to her shoulder so she supported its butt with one hand to keep it from digging into her skin for leverage.

  I pushed myself off the floor, trembling. Every cell in my body hummed as the energy surged through me, building in intensity until it settled into a steady throbbing behind my eyes.

  Had... to... disperse... it.

  "Fine." I pushed out between frantic jumping jacks. "Just saw..." I switched to running in place. "... something." My legs tingled like they had fallen asleep. Heat pulsed around my organs and through my blood. Poor kitty. This was a bad one.

  Zing! I sagged in relief as the energy finally broke free from the confines of my body. My temperature began to drop back to normal. I began to shiver in the air-conditioned room.

  Mary flicked on the lights. My eyes widened. Oh, good grief. The energy I had expelled headed straight for the orb.

  It sought out the ball of light Mallory had created, joined it and expanded it like a balloon until it was the size of a car tire. People stopped taking pictures and started screaming, stumbling over each other trying to get out the door. Mallory and I scrambled to move of the way so we didn't get knocked down.

  Within a few seconds, we were the only ones left in the room. Mallory stood there in shock with the black cat still quivering and clinging to her. I stood beside her, trembling and going over the vision I had received from the traumatized cat.

  I reached out and stroked the soft, black fur. Glowing eyes peered at me from beneath Mallory's hair. "You poor thing. It's all right, you're safe now."

  We stayed in the room until the orb burned itself out, and then made our exit out into the hotel lobby. Our group was huddled by the front doors, comparing photos they had captured and chatting excitedly. Mary made her way over to us, her black cape askew, her face flushed.

  "Are you gals okay?" She spotted the ball of fur clinging to Mallory. "Oh my! I see you found a stowaway."

  "More like it found me." Mallory lightly patted the cat's rump above its flicking tail. Cats have always been attracted to Mallory. Luckily, the feeling was mutual.

  "Looks well taken care of. I don't think it's a stray." I reached over and flipped the little metal tag over on its diamond studded collar. "Says her name's L
ady Luck. There's an address." I glanced at Mary. "I hope you don't think us rude, but we're going to cut out of the ghost tour early, see if we can't return this girl back to her owner." In truth, I was feeling nervous. If that snake was in the house with the cat, it might still be in the house with the owner. Which meant the owner could be in danger.

  "Not at all..." Mary assured us with a wave. "I'm sure somebody is worried sick about this pretty gal. Besides, I think that was about as much excitement as you're gonna get on a tour."

  "Thanks." I smiled. We made our way through the knot of excited people and out onto the sidewalk. Mallory plugged the address into the map on her phone and we set off to find Lady Luck's owner.

  We'd been walking in silence for about twenty minutes, being extra careful at each street crossing after we had witnessed a minor accident between two cars, both of which thought they had the right of way.

  "Holy Moly, this girl is getting heavy," Mallory breathed, readjusting the mass of fur on her shoulder. "Maybe we should fetch a cab."

  I checked the display on her phone. "We only have two blocks to go." I had already tried to take Lady Luck off my sister's hands, but she was having none of it. She just dug her claws in deeper.

  "So, what did you see anyway?" Mallory huffed beside me.

  The vision came back to me and my stomach clenched. "A snake."

  "A snake? What kind of snake?"

  "I don't know. A big one."

  "Huh," Mallory responded. "So this cat had a run in with a snake? No wonder she's so freaked."

  "Yeah, but that's not the worst part. I think her owner might be in danger. The run-in wasn't outdoors. Over there." I motioned across the street to the back lawn of a small golf course. "The condos are behind there, let's cut across."

  We trekked over the soft terrain and rolling hills toward the row of lights indicating the back yards of Golf Gate Estates. Once there, we followed the GPS directions down one the paved streets. Each gray stucco building held four condos with white trim and perfectly manicured bushes. "Look for number 457. It should be here on the right somewhere."

  "There." Mallory pointed with her chin.

  It was an end unit. We approached the door and mashed the door bell. No answer. I knocked. We waited. I stared down at the cat. Her round glowing eyes stared back at me. She looked hopeful but I had a sinking feeling this wasn't going to be her lucky night. I knocked again, harder.

  "Not home?"

  I glanced at Mallory, my stomach tightening. Not home or not able to answer the door? "Come on, let's check around back. Stay behind me." I picked my way carefully through the thick, damp grass, watching for any sign of slithery movement. Alligator calls from the golf course lakes echoed through the night air. A few bat silhouettes fluttered in the sky above. Florida at nighttime seemed to be just as active as Florida in the daytime.

  We reached the backyard without any reptile run-ins. The back of the condo units had attached screened lanais and this one had the porch light burning bright. I tugged at the door. Locked from the inside.

  "Ow, ow, ow," Mallory whispered. I looked behind me to see the cat clawing its way back onto Mallory's shoulder to hide under her mass of red hair.

  "That's not good," I whispered. "She can probably smell the snake if it's still here."

  "The snake can probably smell her, too," Mallory shot back. "It was probably looking for a meal."

  I walked the parameter of the lanai. A plant stand had been knocked over. A broken pot lay on the tile, its contents of dark dirt and pale plant strewn across the floor. I brought back the images from the vision. How exactly did the snake get in and Lady Luck get out? I crouched down and activated Malloy's phone, shining the light across the bottom of the screen. There! Crab walking to my right, I stuck my hand beneath the part of the screen at the bottom that was fluttering slightly in the breeze and lifted it. "Big enough for a cat to run out."

  "So, she spotted the snake and tore through the screen?" Mallory asked.

  I shook my head. "I think it was already torn open."

  "By the snake?"

  I ignored her sarcasm. "Something like that." Maybe a snake of the human variety.

  This just didn't seem right. Lady Luck witnessed a man-sized shadow in front of the screen before the snake slithered in. Did that person cut the screen and let the snake in? Why would someone do that? I snapped a picture of the ripped screen. It was time to call Will. Using Mallory's cell phone, I dialed his number.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The breeze held a chill. I was glad I had worn a sweater as we sat, huddled on the curb. Lucky seemed content in Mallory's lap but her whiskers and ears kept flicking nervously. I couldn't even imagine what the poor thing was thinking right now. So close to her home, yet she couldn't go in. Someone was grilling. The smell of charred beef wafted through the night air.

  Will's sedan rolled around the circle, its headlights raking us before he pulled up and shut them off. I suddenly remembered I hadn't told Mallory about Will. Oops. Too late now.

  We stood up as he approached. "Hey." He slipped his hand easily behind my neck and gave me a quick hello kiss. "What's going on?"

  "Yeah, sis, what's going on?" Mallory's eyes narrowed as she adjusted Lucky in her arms and gave Will the once over.

  Here we go. "Will." I held out my hand. "Meet my sister, Mallory. Mallory...Will."

  They shook hands over the cat. Mallory shoved her tongue in her cheek. "And you are Darwin's—"

  "Friend." I cut her off. Our relationship was awkward enough without my sister trying to define it. I had fallen for Will hard but had to slow things down or let him in on our family secrets. I wasn't ready to do that. He was way too skeptical of all things supernatural. Why risk losing him? Things were good the way they were. "We found this lost cat tonight and this is the address on her collar." I pointed to the end condo. "But, no one is answering the door."

  "Well, I'm not sure there's anything I can do here." Will stroked the cat, his clear blue eyes full of unasked questions. "You'll probably just have to wait until they come home."

  "But, the cat was traumatized by the sn—"

  "Scenario." I jumped in, cutting Mallory off again. "Yeah, some scenario that happened inside has her really freaked out. You should check it out. I think there's something really wrong in there." I snuck a glance at Mallory. She was shaking her head at me. I pleaded with her silently to keep quiet about my snake vision.

  Will glanced from me to Mallory and then, sighing, marched up and knocked on the door. No answer. We followed him around back and I showed him the rip in the screen and the knocked over plant.

  "All right. Let me talk to the neighbors, see if they've seen the residents around lately."

  I knew he was just indulging me, but at this point, I'd take it. We stood behind him as he knocked next door. A large woman answered, her body draped in a flowered nightgown and rollers in her silver hair. Two small Yorkshire terriers circled her feet and yapped at us. She gave Will an appreciate smile as she looked him over and then spotted the black cat in my sister's arms.

  "Oh!" She stepped outside, shooing the dogs back in and closing the door on the barking. "Is that Lucky?" she motioned at the black cat, confusion pulling at her gray eyes.

  Will glanced at us.

  Lucky? I shrugged and nodded.

  He turned back to the woman. "Yes, ma'am, seems so." Will held up his badge. "I'm sorry to bother you at this hour, but I'm Detective Blake. We were wondering if you've seen your neighbor lately. These ladies tried to return this lost cat but there's no answer."

  "Huh. That's odd." She turned to look at the silent residence. "Well, there's only one woman who lives there, Rose Faraday. I haven't seen her since Sunday. Which is kind of strange." She stared at the cat thoughtfully. "She wouldn't have let Lucky outside the lanai. She must have escaped somehow and Rose would'a been tearing up this town lookin' for her." She folded fleshy arms over her chest. "I'll tell you what I do know, though. I've been complaini
ng to my husband about a foul odor today. It seems to be coming from her side of the wall. She must be doing some kind of weird mumbo jumbo over there."

  I noticed Will stiffen. "Okay, thank you, ma'am. We'll check it out."

  We had to hustle to keep up with Will as he strode back to his car and radioed dispatch for backup.

  "That's bad, right?" I asked. "The foul odor?"

  He stepped back out of the car and stared at Rose Faraday's front door. "Can be, yeah." He turned his attention back on us. I saw the concern now fully manifested in the crinkles around his eyes. "Why don't you go on home. I'll give you a call when we know something."

  Oh my stars. Now what? I couldn't let Will and the other officers go in there without knowing there may be a poisonous snake on the loose. I couldn't say, "Hey, watch out for the poisonous snake either". I had really gotten myself in a pickle this time.

  "All right," I said, buying time. "We'll leave when the other officers get here." I glanced at Mallory. She tilted her head and grinned at me. Obviously enjoying the little predicament my refusal to let Will in on my secret had gotten me into. I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at her. I couldn't let Will see me acting like a five year old. Why does my family bring out the child in me?

  It only took two units a few minutes to arrive. I watched them roll up and groaned. I hadn't had time to come up with a plan yet. They parked behind Will's sedan and four officers joined Will in the small square of front yard. As Will filled them in, Mallory leaned over and whispered to me.

  "You're not going to let your boyfriend go in there with a poisonous snake possibly on the loose, are you?"

  "He's not my boyfriend, Mal and... I'm thinking." Was he my boyfriend? My stomach flopped. No, I couldn't call him my boyfriend with the big secret I was hiding from him. We were just dating. Enjoying each other's company. My guilt receded slightly. I shook those thoughts off. I had to focus on the snake issue.

  Will gave me a thumbs up as they headed in. I waved back, panic starting to tickle my insides. I had to think fast. "Give me Lucky." I hefted the cat into my arms, holding her tight so her protesting squirming didn't make me drop her. I crept up the driveway as they worked on opening the door.