by Ashlyn Chase
“Thank God! Can I pick you up at the ferry dock?”
“Do you think your rust bucket will make it all the way to Portsmouth?”
“Maybe. If not, Nick said he’s good with cars…”
Angie rose. “Oh no. You’re not bringing him along, are you?”
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone.
“Brandee, you and I need to talk alone first. Maybe you, me, and Anthony.” She strolled away from the kids, who had stopped to study a tide pool. They probably had parents nearby watching them. She lowered her voice. “Does Claudia know about the bar?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Sheesh, are you sure? She’s been there for what…four years?”
“At least. She waitressed to put herself through BU’s business school,” Brandee reminded her.
“I wonder if she would have stayed if she’d known…”
“Probably. I think she has a crush on Anthony.”
“Uh-oh…”
“Don’t even think about it, Ange.”
“Think about what?”
“Telling her.”
Angie set a hand on her hip and huffed. “I told you I wouldn’t tell.”
“Promise?”
Angie crossed her fingers behind her back, as if her friend could see her. “I promise.”
Chapter 20
About five hours later, Angie showed up at the bar. Brandee spotted her from across the room and rushed over. She threw her arms around her friend, not knowing whether to hug her or hit her. Hugging seemed like the safer option. She squeezed a little harder than necessary, though.
“Angie! I’m so glad you’re back.”
“Then don’t squeeze the life out of me.”
Brandee let go and Angie glanced over at the bar.
“I see Kathie is filling in for me.”
“Yeah, Claudia called her in. We were lucky she was available because she usually has classes in the afternoon.”
Claudia approached the pair with an unreadable expression. “Angie. We need to talk.” She tipped her head toward the office and Angie followed. Angie glanced over her shoulder at Brandee, biting her lower lip.
“Would you like me to come too?” Brandee called. Robin would be able to handle being the only waitress on duty for a while. She was a bit of a ditzy blond, but she could always knock if she needed help.
Claudia just said, “Nope,” and kept walking.
Brandee wished she could tell her friend it would be all right, but she didn’t know what was going through Claudia’s mind. She hoped Angie would receive no more than a stern talking-to. That much she deserved.
Brandee went back to work without giving it much more thought. She wiped down a table and was about to get Sadie another drink when the office door burst open.
Claudia appeared shaken. “Emergency staff meeting,” she called.
Emergency staff meeting? When had they ever had one of those? Brandee had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Sadie aimed a concerned frown at the office but continued to shuffle her cards.
Shit. What did Angie tell her?
“Kathie, can you hold the fort for a few?” Claudia asked the part-time bartender.
“Sure.”
That meant Brandee and Robin were the “staff” needed in the meeting. As if her feet had just met a bad alchemist and turned to lead, Brandee took her time getting to her destination.
Kurt slid off his bar stool as she passed. “I’ll watch the place, kiddo,” he whispered.
“Now, Brandee,” Claudia snapped.
Shit.
She made it into the room and shut the door behind her. Angie stood with her back to them, hugging herself.
Brandee hated that her best-case scenario was only Claudia calling them in to say Angie had been fired for taking off without notice. Somehow she knew it was more than that. Waaay more.
“Ange?” When she didn’t turn around, Brandee went to her friend and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Angie shook her head, then looked away.
“Uh-oh,” Robin said. “We’re not all getting raises, are we?”
Claudia let out a deep breath. “This is serious. Everyone have a seat.”
Brandee took the chair closest to the door just in case her worst fear came true and she had to barricade everyone inside. How the hell she’d accomplish that, and what she’d do afterward, was anyone’s guess.
“Angie, do you want to tell everyone what you told me?”
“No,” she said in a small voice.
“Uh, that wasn’t exactly a request,” Claudia said.
When Angie didn’t follow through, Claudia sighed. “Okay. First off, everybody, don’t say anything to Malcolm and Wendy about this when they come in. I’ll need to consult Anthony when he gets here, but I’d like both of you to tell me what you know.”
Oh, no. Please say anything but, “Paranormals are running around the city and calling Boston Uncommon home.” As calmly as Brandee could, she asked. “Know about what?”
“Angie?” Claudia waited until Angie folded her arms and turned away. “Oh, for the love of…Angie seems to think our bar is full of what she calls ‘paranormals,’ in other words, vampires, werewolves, and—”
Robin leaped to her feet. She screamed and bolted before Brandee could get up and block the door.
“Oh, crap! Angie, how could you?” Brandee couldn’t wait around to hear her answer. She ran after the frightened waitress.
Kurt grabbed Robin around the waist and lifted her off the ground.
She thrashed in his arms. “Let me go! There are vampires and werewolves after us.” She tried kicking him. “Let. Me. Go!”
The dozen or so customers seemed stunned. A few rose and moved toward the door.
“Stop,” Sadie yelled above the din.
Everyone froze and gave the fortune-teller their rapt attention.
Sadie laughed. “You can’t honestly believe there are such things as vampires and werewolves. I don’t see anyone ‘after us,’ do you?” She held out her arms and swiveled from side to side. “Everyone, take your seats and finish your drinks. I’m sure when the poor girl calms down, she’ll realize there’s been some kind of crazy misunderstanding. Maybe someone’s playing a joke on her.”
Most of the patrons joined her in an amused chuckle.
Brandee took advantage of the momentary distraction to call Nick. She tucked herself in the ladies’ room, making sure she was alone.
“Wolfensen Investigations.”
“Where are you?” she whispered.
“Not far from Boston Uncommon. The mayor’s office. Why?”
“Angie told.”
“Fuck—I mean, shit. I mean—I’ll be there in five minutes.”
The line went dead and Brandee returned to the bar, hoping Nick would know what to do.
***
Nick ran inside Boston Uncommon, half expecting to find total pandemonium. What he didn’t expect was a bar full of frozen bodies, but that’s what he saw. Humans in various poses, most of them staring in one direction.
“Jesus, it’s about time you got here,” Kurt said.
Nick followed Kurt’s voice and found him in the center of the action, holding a frozen waitress.
“What the…”
“Sorry. It was the only thing I could do. Claudia over here…” Kurt tipped his head to point to the manager, who had her hands on her hips and was leaning forward with a frown on her face, “was demanding I let Robin go. But she was the one screaming ‘vampire’ and ‘werewolf’ and trying to run for the door.”
“So you froze time?”
“Not so much time as physics. I created kind of a slow loop, but only in the bar. As far as these folks know, they’re still having a
good time, just laughing and drinking with their friends. Interrupting the time-space continuum has far-reaching consequences. Never mind. Wizard stuff. Would probably make your head explode.”
Nick’s back straightened. “Are you calling me stupid?”
“No, not at all. Look, I barely understand it myself. Just help me! I’ve been holding this chick for several minutes, and my arms are starting to shake under her deadweight.”
Nick grabbed Robin under her arms, which allowed Kurt to step away.
“Why didn’t you just put her down?”
“Do you see the position she’s in?”
Nick chuckled. Her arms were shooting out in front of her and her legs looked like she was in a roadrunner cartoon. Kurt pulled an empty chair away from one of the tables and Nick lowered her into it. She doesn’t look natural sitting there, but at least she won’t fall on the floor when she, uh, thaws?
“So, now what?” Nick asked.
“I don’t know. We can’t leave everyone like this until Anthony gets here. It’s a couple hours to sundown, and people will probably be missed in that amount of time. I don’t want nosy cops coming down here to investigate. No offense.”
“None taken.”
“But what else can we do? The patrons and staff need Anthony’s mesmerism to have their minds wiped.”
“You can’t do that?”
“No. Wizards and witches aren’t allowed to do certain kinds of mind control. A suggestion or a bit of influence is okay, but we can’t obliterate a person’s free will. This snafu is apt to take more than influence. We need memories totally erased. Nothing can be left to chance.”
“We need a vampire,” Nick said.
“Exactly. But how do we keep everyone out until Anthony gets here?”
“I know someone.” Nick grabbed his cell phone. Morgaine answered after one ring.
“Uh, hi, Morgaine. Is Sly there?”
“He’s upstairs babysitting his grandson.”
Shit. “Is there any way you can take over for him? I need his help. It’s an emergency.”
“Of course. He can be with you in a few minutes.”
“The sooner the better,” Nick said.
“Where are you? I’ll send him as soon as I get upstairs.”
“Boston Uncommon.”
“He’ll be there in about five minutes.”
Sly was there in three. Nick heard the door rattle, made sure it was Sly, then unlocked it and let him in.
Sly didn’t need to ask what was wrong. He gaped at the frozen bodies everywhere and asked, “What can I do?”
Nick let out a deep breath. “Thanks for getting here so quickly. The bar’s real identity came out, and a waitress was about to run into the streets screaming it to the world. Kurt’s a wizard and managed to stop her—and everyone else.”
Sly slapped a hand over his eyes. “Crap. This all happened because of what Morgaine told your girlfriend, and we’re responsible, aren’t we?”
“No. Brandee didn’t do this. But she and I were talking where her roommate overheard us. Now, my girlfriend is cool with everything, but her roommate freaked out and told the manager. The manager told the rest of the employees and this one,” he pointed to Robin, “was just about to spread the alarm, Paul Revere style.”
Sly chuckled. “Good thing you had a wizard handy.”
“Daytime watch over the paranormals is sort of my unofficial job,” Kurt said.
Nick smirked. “You mean you’re not an alcoholic? I thought you spent every day here because you liked to drink.”
“Well, there’s that too.”
Sly circulated around the bodies. “So which ones actually know?”
Kurt took a deep breath. “All of them heard the waitress screaming about vampires and werewolves. The psychic over there,” he pointed to Sadie with his thumb, “told everyone the waitress had misunderstood something or lost her mind. One or the other.”
Nick spoke up. “Sadie knows about the bar, but she’s always been fine with it. She’s related to Anthony. I don’t want her memory wiped. Same with Brandee’s.” He had already located Brandee in the back hall to be sure she was there and okay, but upon closer inspection, he saw the horrified look on her face and thought, Oh, hell. I’ll deal with that later.
Kurt shook his head. “This is a logistical nightmare.”
Sly held up a hand. “Not to worry. I like a challenge. Now, can you both take Sadie and Brandee out back? Kurt, as soon as you unfreeze them—or whatever you do—Nick can explain to them what happened. I’ll need you back inside to help me unfreeze one person at a time.”
“But won’t each one I unfreeze and you mesmerize see it happen to the next one?”
“Nope. I have a plan.”
“While you’re out there, I’ll get the problem waitress here all straightened out, so you might as well unfreeze her now.”
Kurt waved a hand at Robin and she slumped into the chair. A moment later she looked up, startled. Before she could say anything or look around, Sly caught her eye. Her jaw went slack and she stared at him without blinking.
“That’s a good girl,” he said softly, as if speaking to a frightened child.
While Sly did his thing, Nick lifted Sadie as if she were a sack of grain and carried her out back. Kurt acted as lookout, and fortunately, no one was around. Then Nick went back for Brandee.
Kurt waved a hand over both women and slipped back inside.
Sadie and Brandee moved gingerly at first, stretching and groaning, as if they had arthritic joints trying to function first thing in the morning.
“What happened?” Brandee asked. She glanced back and forth. “And what are we doing outside?”
“Kurt had to freeze the action.”
Brandee set a hand on her hip. “Oh, terrific. Another paranormal. What is he? The wizard?”
Nick was about to say she’d have to ask him, but Sadie jumped in.
“Yes, dear. Kurt is a wizard. He hangs around for just such occasions as this one. I’m very glad he was here. Even if…” She stretched her shoulder and something popped. “Ow.”
“Oh, my Oz. So what’s going on in there now, Nick? And you never said why we’re out here.”
“Because Sly is mesmerizing each person one at a time and erasing their memories of what happened. Because you both can be trusted, he’s not wiping your memories.”
Brandee smiled. “You finally trust me?”
He tipped up her chin and looked into her eyes. “Absolutely.”
He was about to kiss her when she asked, “Where’s Angie?”
He sighed. “Getting her memory reset with the rest of them.”
“Good,” she and Sadie said in unison.
Relieved, Nick smiled at his mate. “I’ll be back before closing time, sweetheart. Can I take you to my place after that?”
“I guess so. Will Angie be all right?”
“We’ll make sure she is.” He glanced over at Sadie. “You should probably tell Anthony what happened so Kurt can continue to keep eyes on the place.”
“I will. I’d also like to know why your vampire friend Sly is out and about during the day. If there’s a trick to it that he can share, Anthony could really use that information.”
Nick shrugged. “You can ask. In my experience, vampires are pretty secretive, but Sly seems very different from most vampires.”
Without wasting any more time, Nick grasped Brandee’s shoulders and gave her a quick kiss. “Stay here until Kurt says it’s time for you to go back in. I have to get back to the mayor. He must be wondering why I took off.”
“You didn’t explain?” she asked.
“Nope. If you say you need my help, I’ll be there as fast as possible. I’d say as fast as humanly possible, but…”
“Got it. All is well.” Brand
ee slapped his butt. “Now get going.”
Chapter 21
A few minutes later, Kurt poked his head out the back door. “It’s safe for you ladies to come in again.”
Brandee looked at him in a whole new way. He had never seemed that different from the other regulars. He was ex-military—at least he said he was—and looked the part. Tall, muscular, with a buzz cut, clean shaven, and tattooed with the words “Semper Fi.” Now she wondered who he was semper fi’d to. Anthony? Maybe they had one of those “You saved my life; now I owe you my faithful service forever” stories.
Sadie let Brandee lead the way. She followed Kurt through the short corridor past the restrooms and glided around the bar. Everything appeared normal. Folks were drinking and chatting. Robin was happily waiting on tables, and Claudia watched Kathie mix a margarita. Angie was nowhere to be seen, however.
Claudia caught sight of Brandee and strode over to her. “There you are. When did you take up smoking?”
“Huh? I don’t smoke.”
“Oh, Kurt said you must have gone out back for a cigarette.”
“That’s my fault,” Sadie piped up. “I needed to ask her something privately.”
“Oh. Well, it’s starting to get busy. That table by the window has been waiting a while.”
“I guess I’d better get back to work then,” Brandee said with forced cheerfulness. “Do you know where Angie is?”
“Angie?” Claudia glanced around. “No. I haven’t seen her.”
Wow. That mind-wipe thing really works.
Sadie shot her a smile and returned to her booth where her tarot cards sat in a neat pile.
On her way toward the table of thirsty customers, Brandee caught sight of the front door opening. When she saw who it was, she froze.
Darryl walked in, looking as perfectly put together as he always did. He could make business casual look formal.
He strolled over to Brandee. “There you are. Angie told me I’d find you here.”
“Angie?” Duh. Talk, mouth. Ask him what he wants in a tone of voice that means “as if I care.”
“Yeah, Angie. Your roommate? I tried dropping in on you at home first.”
Leave it to Darryl to try to make her feel stupid. Nick would never talk to her like that.