2 Lady Luck Runs Out

by Shannon Esposito

  "Okay." We ate in silence for a moment and then I couldn't help myself. "Hey, there's a woman who lives in those condos who's in pretty tight with the local snake collectors. In fact, she's Bernard Grayson's girlfriend. Her name is Nova Diaz. You might want to check her out."

  Will suddenly started choking and coughing, grabbing for his water. I jumped up and patted his back. "Are you okay? Will? Say something!" I had heard someone with a blocked airway wouldn't be able to speak so you should make sure they can talk to you.

  He held up his hand and squeaked out an, "I'm okay." I sat back down warily as he cleared his throat. He didn't look okay. His eyes were watering. His face was blotchy. He took a deep breath, stared at me and then drained his wine glass. Then stared at me again.

  I was starting to feel like I did something wrong. "Will? What's wrong?"

  He stood up, retrieved the wine bottle, filled his glass and topped mine off. My stomach was beginning to knot up. I played with a piece of lettuce in my bowl. "Did I do something wrong?"

  He took a long swig from his glass and then turned in the chair so he was facing me. "No. You just... surprised me, Darwin. How did you know her?"

  "Nova Diaz?" He nodded. "I met her at Bernard Grayson's house the night I went to the Masquerade Ball with Zach. Though, she seemed off somehow. There are some things about her that don't add up." Should I tell him about the gun? Or about her threatening me and Zach?

  His brows furrowed. "Listen, I've been thinking about this whole psychic thing with you and I have a theory. I think that you are just hyper observant. You know, like you unconsciously pick up on all these clues about people and it feels like a sixth sense."

  My heart sank. He really couldn't accept the truth about me. "Right. A sixth sense based on observed facts." Facts were king in his world. It wasn't his fault, really. He'd held a certain belief all his life about psychics. I couldn't expect him to change that belief overnight. Just for me. "You're probably right." Better he thought this about me than think I was a freak. Only I was a freak. So I was back to hiding who I am from him.

  "Hey." He reached out and took both my hands. "You look like I just ran over your dog. I'm trying to understand, Darwin. I mean, this is a compliment. Detectives would kill to have your observational abilities. What you picked up about... Nova Diaz, that's spot on."

  I was busy trying to keep the tears at bay so I couldn't respond. Which made Will feel like he needed to keep trying to make me feel better. Which was just making me feel worse.

  "Okay, I'm going to share some information with you that I shouldn't. You cannot let it this leave the room. Promise?"

  I nodded half-heartedly. "Sure. Promise."

  "Okay. You were right about Nova Diaz. She was hiding something. That wasn't her real name. Her real name was Alba Balderas." He paused and let that sink in.

  "Alba? But," I gasped, "then it was Nova... I mean, the woman I knew as Nova... who was bitten and died?"

  "Yes."

  "Holy..." It was my turn to take a large swig of wine. I thought about the last time I saw Nova... er, Alba, sitting there cleaning her gun in her sundress. She was dead? Oh, heavens. Well, I could take her off the suspect list. Small comfort. "This can't be a coincidence, Will." I shook my head. "A second snake bite victim in St. Pete in a month?"

  I wondered how Bernard had taken the news. He must be devastated. No matter how shady the guy may be, he was definitely smitten with her. I couldn't imagine him being involved in her death. Did someone who had access to his snake house steal a Jararaca from him? Or were they trying to frame him by using the same type of poisonous snake he owned?

  "There's something else," Will said. "She wasn't just a snake collector. She was a special agent with the U.S. fish and wildlife service."

  "What?!" You could have knocked me out of my chair with a feather. My mind was reeling with the implications of this news. "Why?" Well, that would explain her having a gun. So, she was one of the good guys? Her warning to be careful wasn't a threat at all, then. She really was telling me and Zach to be careful. My head was spinning. "Why was she using a different name?"

  "She was working undercover. Her meeting Bernard Grayson was a set-up from the beginning to investigate an anonymous tip Fish and Wildlife received about him, and some illegal reptile dealings. They got a search warrant for Grayson's home last night but found nothing. All his snakes were legal and properly labeled and chipped." He shook his head. "You see why I know she didn't just get careless with securing the container? Something is fishy here. There's no evidence. Short of a taped confession, I don’t know how we’re going to prove someone besides the snake was responsible for her death." He smiled wryly at me. "And that wasn't a challenge for you to get involved in this."

  I knew he was only trying to lighten the mood, but I was already involved. He just refused to accept why. "So, how did Bernard take the news that his girlfriend was an undercover agent?"

  "Apparently he was devastated and very cooperative."

  I thought about how happy he seemed with her. I couldn't believe she was gone. So sad. "When I was at his house, he told me he had one of those snakes, the Jararaca."

  Will nodded. "Okay, I'll check the reports from last night and see if that snake was still accounted for."

  "There's another person you might want to talk to. His name's Jet Jamison. He apparently caught a few wild rattlesnakes and one supposedly got loose right before Rose Faraday was killed."

  "Where did you get that information?"

  "From Sammy Harris. I was trying to figure out how the rattler that bit Rose was so close to a neighborhood. Then I talked to Jet Jamison and he wouldn't confirm or deny it having a rattler get loose. Just kind of threatened us to leave it alone."

  Will sighed. "Us?"

  I cringed inwardly. "Me and Zach."

  "You're not very good at leaving the investigating to the investigators, are you?"

  Ouch. "Well, no one was investigating Rose's death and Zach deserves to find out what really happened to his mother."

  "It was considered an accidental death."

  "But now that Nova, I mean, Alba has died the same way, you will investigate Rose's death as murder, right?"

  "Can't really interrogate a rattlesnake, Darwin."

  He was frustrated. I could see that, but I couldn't tell if it was with the case or me. "But you can interrogate the person who cut the lanai screen and slipped the snake into Rose's condo."

  His eyes narrowed. "Did you see something that night you're not telling me about?"

  Oh heavens, I did it again. "Yes." I shook my head. "I mean no. Not see the way you mean. I told you, I get visions from animals and the night we found Lucky, when I touched her, I saw a person in a black hooded jacket slipping the snake into the lanai." There, full disclosure. What he did with the information was up to him. "Maybe you could check out Jet Jamison's alibi for that night?"

  Will ran a hand roughly through his hair and blew out a long sigh. "You know what? I've discussed too much with you already. You shouldn't be involved and..." He pushed his chair back. "I don't know what you want me to say. I mean, if you weren't physically there to see a person in a black jacket by her lanai that night, then it's just fantasy, Darwin. It's not evidence. I can't go accusing people of murder if I don't have real evidence."

  I saw him wince when the words came out, instantly regretted them. Still, they stung. I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned away.

  I felt his frustration like a desert heat wave. "I'm sorry," he offered. "I shouldn't have said that. I should go."

  I stood up with him, carrying our bowls to the kitchen just to have something to do. I felt numb. Lucky stared up at me from the back of the sofa as I passed with a look that bordered on pity. I put the dishes in the sink and then rooted through my straw bag as Will went to the door.

  "It's okay." I swiped at a warm tear that had escaped as I approached him. "Better I know now how you feel." I put the ring box in his hand. "It shouldn
't be this hard, right?"

  He closed his fist around the box, his eyes shut. Mallory came home at that moment. When she saw my face, her smile faded and she moved quietly to the kitchen.

  "Darwin..." Will's voice was husky with emotion.

  I shook my head. "It's okay. You should go."

  His eyes fell to the floor, he nodded and then left.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  I stood on the porch where it had all begun. Rose's condo. I had to marvel for a moment at the serendipity of life. If my sister hadn't shown up and decided she wanted to take the ghost tour, we would never have found Lucky. Or, more accurately, she wouldn't have found us. I wouldn't have had the vision of the person in the black jacket slipping the rattlesnake into Rose's lanai, and Rose's death would have been just an unfortunate accident. And the murderer would have forever gone free. A part of me wished that's the way it had happened. But, it didn't. So, here I was.

  I shook my head and raised my hand to knock. The door opened before I could touch it. Zach—or more accurately, his tall frame and broad shoulders—took up the bulk of the doorway, his dark hair wet and glistening, like his eyes. His shirt was unbuttoned and a towel was slung over his shoulder.

  "Sorry," I stammered, mentally kicking myself for letting my gaze slip down his bare chest to the tattoo across his ribcage: symbols with dark, slashing lines that looked like a word in a foreign language. "Bad time? I can come back."

  He stepped back, an amused smile pulling at his mouth. "Never a bad time for you. Come in."

  I followed him into the living room, clutching my straw bag close to my body as I took in the condo. The walls had been painted a dark green satin finish; thick burgundy curtains with tassels adorned the windows; a gold chandelier and spun gold tapestry hung heavy in the room. The fireplace mantel held a myriad of photos in ornate frames and various statues, and the place was saturated with the scent of jasmine. Goosebumps formed on my arms. The air conditioner was on full blast, and it was freezing.

  As I sat down on the edge of the leather sofa, I noted curiously that it didn't match the rest of the cream velour furniture. Zach tossed aside a satin plum throw pillow and lowered himself onto the loveseat across from me, thankfully buttoning up his shirt.

  "So," I began, clearing my throat, "I talked to Will last night and I have some new information for you."

  "Go on."

  I had thought long and hard on the way over here about whether I should tell Zach about this. After all, I had promised Will this information wouldn't leave my townhouse. But, in the end, this was bigger than me and Will's relationship and bigger than one person's promise. This was about stopping a murderer. I just hoped I could live with the guilt.

  I took a deep breath. Now or never. "So, it turns out that Nova Diaz was the woman who died from the snakebite in the Beachside parking lot. Her real name was Alba Balderas and she was an undercover agent for U.S. Fish and Wildlife."

  Zach stared at me for a moment as the information sank in. "Really?" He finally shifted in his seat. "U.S. Fish and Wildlife? So, she was investigating Bernard Grayson, I assume?"

  I nodded. "Apparently there was an anonymous tip about illegal reptile dealings. But, Will said they searched his place last night and didn't find anything."

  "Seems a bit extreme, putting in an undercover agent just because of one anonymous tip." Zach rubbed his hair with the towel. "I didn't even know they had undercover agents."

  I stared at the crystal ball on the coffee table. I wondered if Zach used it. "You're right. Will probably just didn't give me the whole story." That thought made me flush. It hadn't occurred to me until that moment. I felt the distance between me and Will expand. I guess he was right in not trusting me with more information. After all, I did just betray his confidence. What kind of person was I turning into? When I glanced up, Zach was staring at me thoughtfully.

  "You told Will about your vision of the person slipping the rattler onto the lanai?"

  Was I that transparent? I sighed. "Yes."

  "And he didn't take it seriously?"

  "No. He thinks I'm just hyper observant or something. Oh, and the fact that I wasn't physically there to see the person slip the snake into the lanai, that makes it a fantasy."

  "Ouch," Zach said. "Well, he may just need time to process, Darwin. Humans are...well, human. They don't like their beliefs about how the world works shaken up."

  I smiled at his attempt to cheer me up. "Thanks. I hope you're right. But, in the meantime, it's up to us to come up with some hard evidence against your mother's and Alba's murderer. Any ideas?"

  He stared behind me for a moment. "Well, Bernard is sounding more and more like our guy, especially if he was being investigated by the authorities. And now that he knows he's being investigated, we don't have much time."

  "Except for one thing. Bernard wasn't in town the night your mother was murdered. Neither was Sammy. You confirmed that with your contact at the airport, right?"

  "Yes." He sighed. "They were in Brazil. Which doesn't leave us much to run with, either."

  "Especially because I really think Bernard was in love with Alba. I don't think he'd harm her. Maybe someone killed her to hurt Bernard? Send a message or warning to him?"

  Zach nodded. "That's possible. But who?"

  "What about Jet Jamison? He actually catches wild rattlesnakes and Sammy said he had one get away. But, what if it didn't get away? What if he just told Sammy that it did?"

  "He did seem defensive but what motive would he have? He'd have to really have something against Bernard to resort to murder."

  "I don't know. I think we should try to find out what Mr. Jamison was doing the night your mother was killed. If he doesn't have an alibi, then we can work on motive."

  "Agreed. Anyone else?"

  "Maybe Jack. He had motive, though he doesn't own snakes. I can see if Frankie knows where he was that night."

  "Okay. I'll work on Jamison. You work on Jack," Zach said.

  I stood to go, sliding my bag on my shoulder. The crystal ball caught my eye again. "That yours?" I nodded toward it.

  "My mother's. I haven't had the heart to pack away her things yet."

  That surprised me. He must have cared about her on some level he wasn't willing to admit. "Do you scry?"

  "No." He shook his head. "Scrying is more about getting information through focus of the conscious mind, allowing the subconscious to present to it knowledge from the Whole. I never learned to do this because I get information from touch." He stood and suddenly we were too close again.

  I wanted to ask him what he was, but my need to move away from him was stronger than my curiosity. "Okay." I moved around the other side of the coffee table. "I'll contact you when I find out about Jack."

  "Darwin?"

  I turned back to him. "Yes?"

  "Thank you.... for your help. I will repay you one day."

  I shook my head. "Not necessary. I'm doing it for Rose."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Saturday, we were just about to close up when Sammy came through the door with a bouquet of red roses partially covering his face.

  "Mal!" I called to her. "Sammy's here."

  "Hey." I looked up from rubber-banding the checks together and got a better look at him. "Heavens! What happened to your eye?"

  "Oh," he chuckled, putting the roses on the counter, "Jet Jamison was a little sore with me for ratting him out about the rattlesnake getting loose."

  My hand flew to my mouth. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know he'd figure out who told us."

  "No biggie." He smiled as Mallory came towards him. "He hits like a girl."

  "Whoa." Mallory cupped his face. "What happened?"

  "Just a little argument. But," he lifted the roses and handed them to her, "don't you worry yourself about such things." He then pulled two tickets out of his pocket. "I have dinner theatre tickets, front and center tonight."

  Mallory lifted her nose from the sweet velvety petals. "I do believe
you're trying to spoil me." She laughed.

  "Trying my best." He kissed her cheek.

  She blushed and turned to me. "All right if I don't help you close up tonight?"

  "Sure," I said. "Go on. Have fun."

  "Thanks, Sis." She gave me a quick hug and then left with Sammy.

  I still felt bad that my questioning Jamison had gotten Sammy hurt. Jamison seemed like a pretty violent guy. Maybe we were on the right track with our suspicions of him. I'd call Zach after closing and see if he had found out anything.

  Turned out I didn't have to call him. He was waiting for me when I stepped out of the boutique.

  "Hi," I said, surprised.

  "Jamison has a girlfriend named Sandy. I spoke to her and she said they were supposed to go out the night my mother was killed but Jamison cancelled on her. Said he was sick. She remembered the date because she thought he was cheating on her."

  Right to the point, as always. Where did this man get his social skills? Or lack of them was more like it. "Hello, Darwin, how are you? I'm just dandy, Zach, thanks for asking," I teased him.

  "Sorry," he said, and actually seemed to mean it.

  I waved off his apology. "So Jamison doesn't have an alibi for that night?"

  "Doesn't appear to."

  "So the next question is, does he have a motive?"

  "Or was he hired to kill my mother?"

  "Right. That's a possibility. Money's as good a motivation as any," I said. "Well, turns out Frankie went with Jack to Bernard's party, the night your mother was there telling fortunes. She didn't notice anything odd that night. But, the next weekend she didn't see Jack. She said it wasn't unusual for them to not talk for a week or so but still, she couldn't give him an alibi for the night your mother was killed."

  "So, they both stay on the suspect list."

  "Looks that way." I watched an elderly couple stroll by, their hands entangled. I fought of the thought of Will and the sadness that came with that thought. "So, where do we go from here?"

  Zach had his hands resting on his hips. He shrugged. "Dinner?"