“You don’t think it’s a little generic, Suzie Q?” he asked, fanning himself with his hand.
“I think generic is good, Atlanta, especially for this case. Did you bring hairspray with you?” I asked.
“I did. It’s in the car. Why? Do you want some?” he asked, dead serious.
Gotta love them city boys.
“No, I don’t need any of that poison in a can, but you might, your hair is starting to deflate,” I told him, pointing at his hair.
“I don't believe you, my hair always looks awesome as do I,” he said, cocking up his eyebrow and fiddling with his tie.
He wasn't lying; his hair was always perfectly styled. I would never admit it, though.
“Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel good,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Spotting the large black tent that read "Landry’s Funeral Home" in big white letters, I walked toward it. Pushing my way through the large crowds, I saw Allison’s mother, Jamie Talbot, talking to all of the attendees. Allison’s mother never liked me much because she didn’t like my family and I knew she wouldn’t be thrilled to see me, but I had to pay my respects.
“Hi, Mrs. Talbot. How are you holding up?” I asked.
She gave me a look that could have killed me on the spot.
“My only daughter is dead. How do you think I’m holding up?” she asked, pursing her surgically enhanced lips.
I wanted to tell her that it looked like she was holding up fine. She was wearing ten thousand pounds of makeup complete with fire engine red lipstick, and her hair was almost touching the top of the tent. She looked like an eighties prom queen, but I bit my tongue because she was burying her daughter.
I should have known she was going to wear red lipstick and red nail polish because they were her signature colors, but I just thought for a funeral she would have toned it down. I was wrong.
“You have another daughter, remember?” I asked, bringing up Sutton.
“Why are you here anyway? Aren’t you trying to let my daughter’s murder go free?” she asked, sticking her nose up so high that a bug could have taken up residence inside. And oh, how I wished it would have.
I wanted to conjure one up but decided against making a scene at a funeral. It would have been in poor taste, and everyone in the town already thought I was strange.
Instead of calling her out for not shedding a tear, I walked back to Daniel’s car and stood by it.
“Keep your eyes open,” Allison’s voice whispered, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Looking around the graveyard, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary until I saw Mrs. Talbot talking to a young man and it looked heated.
Creeping closer, I hid behind a tree and saw that she was talking to Aaron Golden. She didn’t want him there. I could tell that by her body language.
Waving my hands over my ears, I enhanced my hearing.
“You shouldn’t be here. Have you lost your mind?” she asked him, gritting her teeth.
“I had to come here to pay my respects. I loved her,” he said, defensively.
“Are you saying that I don’t love her?” she asked, scoffing and placing her hand over her heart.
I wasn’t sure how she pulled that from what Aaron said.
“No, you said that not me. I just said that I loved her,” he said, scratching his head in confusion.
It was official not only was Mrs. Talbot mean, she was crazy too.
“She wasn’t yours to love, Golden. You should have stayed away from her,” she said, poking her long red finger nail into his chest.
“I didn’t know she was your daughter,” he said coldly, not elaborating and I needed him to elaborate. I needed more information than this, and I planned on getting it.
How did Julie know Aaron? They were from two very different walks of life. Their paths should have never crossed.
“Suzie Q, why are you behind a tree? Wait a minute let me guess; you're one of those tree huggers aren't you?” Daniel asked, leaning against the tree and getting a leaf stuck in his hair.
I should have told him, but I didn’t. He didn’t deserve for me to. Waving my hands over my ears again, I felt my hearing return to normal.
“I need to see Mason. Will you drive me?” I asked, pulling my heels out of the dirt they had sunk into and started toward Daniel's car.
“Only if you say please,” he said, following me.
I wasn’t going to beg him to drive me. I would have rather walked in heels all the way across town to the county jail if I had to.
“Fine, I’ll just walk,” I said, bypassing his car and making my way to the road.
After walking for a few minutes, I saw a black car driving slowly beside me. Looking over, I saw Daniel smirking at me. “Why are you smiling at me? Stop it. I like you even less when you smile,” I said, balling my fists at my side and trying to walk a little faster. I don’t know why I thought I could out walk a Mercedes Benz, but I did.
“That’s just mean. Get in the car, Suzie Q. If you try to walk you’re either going to break your ankle or die of a heatstroke. I have the air conditioning on full blast,” he said in a sing-song voice.
The cool air was too tempting. “I’ll only get in under one condition.”
“What? I’m all ears,” he said, turning off the radio giving me his undivided attention.
He didn't do that a lot, but I had to admit I was pleasantly surprised. He usually pretended to listen while he looked at himself in the mirror and nodded when the conversation called for it.
“You quit calling me Suzie Q,” I said, sticking my head in the open window. The air felt like Heaven against my sweating face.
“I can’t do that,” he said, waving his finger at me.
The air felt too good to give up, so I reevaluated my terms. “How about you tell me why you insist on calling me Suzie Q?” I asked, crossing my fingers that he agreed to that so that I could get in the car with a little bit of my pride still intact.
He tapped his finger against his chin as he thought about my new offer.
“Okay, get in, and I’ll tell you,” he said, unlocking the car door.
Opening the door, I jumped in and laid my head back to let the air cool me down.
“I call you Suzie Q because it's better than your name. They call you Malady, and that literally means something horrible. You're not horrible, Suzie Q. You might be a pain, but you're not horrible. So I won't call you that."
“And the Grinch’s heart grew to three times its regular size,” I said, looking at Daniel in amazement.
I thought to myself that he was a decent person and he was just hiding it behind the super-jerk exterior. Then something else he said hit me.
“Wait, why did you google my name?” I asked, leaning as far away from him as the door and my seatbelt would allow.
“I google everyone’s name, Suzie Q. You’re not special,” he said, focusing on the road.
“Doesn’t make it any less creepy,” I told him, mentally telling the smile tugging at my lips to go away.
It didn’t want to listen, but it did.
19
“Dale, I need to see Mason. It’s an emergency,” I told him, running into the jail like a crazy woman.
He looked up from his computer at me, and I saw powdered sugar all over his face and uniform. Even his badge was dusted with it. I didn't even have to ask where he got the powdered sugar-covered doughnuts. Agnes made them for him.
She stayed up all night making sure they were perfect. Sadie even offered to make them for her, but she wanted to make them herself because they were for Dale.
Those two had danced around their feelings for years.
“Oh, hi, Malady, who drove you here?” he asked, looking behind me.
He was constantly on the lookout for Agnes and every time he found out she wasn’t with me he made a sour expression. Dale really knew how to make a girl feel special.
“Daniel. He’s parking. Can you lead me to Mason now
?” I asked, swatting at the powdered sugar in the air. It was going to cling to my black dress that was inevitable, but I was going to try to keep it away.
“Yeah, but just to let you know he has a visitor back there with him right now,” he said, getting up from his desk and placing his hand on his black pants leaving two white handprints.
I guessed that it was Mrs. Blanchard visiting her son, but I was way off. “Who?” I asked.
“Sutton Talbot,” he said, disbelief evident in his tone.
Sutton was Allison's older sister. She left Cat's Cradle four years before her mother disowned her. After that, Mrs. Talbot pretended like she only had one daughter. I highly doubted that Sutton had lost any sleep over it because her mother always put Allison on a pedestal while Sutton watched.
“When did Sutton get back in town?” I asked Dale, holding onto the strap of my purse. It was a force of habit when I was inside of the prison. I knew the inmates couldn't get to me and steal my purse, but still. There were some scary dudes in there especially the bald one who was completely covered in tattoos. I'm talking the intricate ink everywhere. All you could see was his eyes. And as if that wasn't enough, he growled every time someone walked by. That day he was feeling extra saucy because he licked the bar of his cell too.
Awesome.
“Simmer down, Killer. He’s a strange one,” Dale said, narrowing his eyes at that scary inmate, “She said she got in yesterday for her sister’s funeral.”
That would have made perfect sense, but she didn't show up at her sister's funeral. So, why was she back in town?
“Of course, Allison’s funeral,” I replied, watching Dale try the key to the visitor room. Trying was the key word because that had to be the heaviest keyring in the world. Finding the right key, he unlocked the door and held the door open to let me in.
“Here ya go, Malady. Press the button when you’re ready to leave,” he said with his signature goofy grin, “Do you want me to send Daniel in?”
I needed to tell Mason everything I had found, and that meant Daniel couldn’t hear it.
“No, please keep him out there,” I begged, clasping my hands together.
“I won’t let him back,” he promised, going in for a hug.
I just about hugged him when I remember that he was covered in powder sugar. “Oh no. I doubt I could pull off that powdered sugar as well as you do,” I said, deciding to pat him on the shoulder instead.”
“Oh right, sorry, Malady,” he said, looking down at his hands.
He turned to walk away, and I saw the sugar handprints all over his pants. That’s when a lightbulb went on.
“Dale?” I called after him.
“Yeah?” he asked, turning around.
“Do me a favor?” I asked.
“As long as it isn't illegal,” he said, puffing out his chest so that I could get a better look at his badge.
“It isn't illegal, Howdy Doodie. When you see Daniel give him a big ole pat on the back for me will ya?” I asked.
He looked me as if I had lost my mind. “Um, yeah sure.”
That boy was a dumb as light post. We had just had a conversation about the powdered sugar all over his hands. He should have been able to put two and two together and figure out why I asked him to do that.
I was surrounded by idiots.
Shaking my head, I walked into the visitor room. Mason spotted me and smiled. That caused Sutton to whip her head around to see who was there.
“Malady Norwood, on my word. I think you’ve gotten prettier,” she said, getting up from her seat and hugging me.
Sutton Talbot’s demeanor was sugary sweet unlike her sister’s sour attitude, but I always thought Sutton was too sweet. It seemed like behind her kind eyes lay a girl even meaner than her sister, if that was even possible.
“Oh well, thank you, Sutton. I didn’t know you were back in town,” I told her, taking part in the most awkward hug in the history of hugs.
“I couldn't miss my sister's funeral,” she said, and I could have sworn that a tiny smile danced on her lips before being replaced with a frown.
I knew it was crazy, but she was giving me the feeling that she was happy her sister was dead. “I just came from your sister’s funeral, and it’s funny I didn’t see you there,” I said, tilting my head to the side as I waited for her answer.
She pressed her mouth into a thin hard line. “You must have missed me because I was there,” she said, small beads of sweat forming on her forehead around her hairline.
Looking down at her clothing, I saw that she was wearing yoga pants, a tank, and tennis shoes. “Did you wear that?” I asked, pointing at her get up.
The lawyer in me is getting suspicious at the sight of her. She was too put together, and I thought I knew why.
“I changed and ran here,” she said, avoiding eye contact with me, “Well, I’ve got to jet. See ya, Mason. Bye, Malady.”
With that, she ran out of the door.
“What did she want?” I asked Mason, sitting down on the empty chair across from him. “I have no idea. She just said she wanted to check on me and to let me know that she always cared about me. She said she still does,” he said, drawing his eyebrows together.
That was odd.
“She lied about being at Allison’s funeral. She wasn’t there,” I told him, pulling the letter I found at Aaron’s house for him to read, “Do you know anyone named Aaron Golden?” I asked.
“No, should I?” he asked.
So, he didn’t know that his fiancée had a boyfriend. That was going to go over well. “Aaron Golden was in a relationship with Allison at the same time as you,” I told him, closing my eyes waiting for him to blow up, but he didn’t. He just sat there waiting for me to say something else.
“Did you know she was having an affair?” I asked.
“No,” he answered simply.
I expected for him to be steaming from the ears upon learning his fiancée's secret, but he didn’t care. Not even a little bit. That struck me as odd, but maybe I didn’t know everything about their relationship. Maybe, like my own, their romance had been much more complicated than it seemed.
“I found this letter with some of the help from my friends in Cold Creek,” I said, sliding the letter across the table for him to read. “You have friends in Cold Creek?” he asked, looking at me as if I was lying to him.
“Why is that hard to believe? I’m a friendly person.”
It was true; I was a friendly person most of the time.
“You’re not really a people person, Mal. But, what I meant is no one here from Cat’s Cradle has friends from Cold Creek.”
He didn’t know how wrong he was, but I was about to inform him. “Allison had a friend from Cold Creek. Just read the letter, Mason.”
Sighing, he picked up the folded piece of paper and read the whole thing what seemed like five times. It was like he was studying for a major test and he really wanted to ace it. “Allison wrote this?” he asked, holding the letter up.
“Yep, it’s her handwriting. See the little heart by her name? You know she signs everything like that. Even checks. So, are you angry finding out that she felt like something was forcing her to be with you?” I asked, digging through my junk-filled purse that was doubling as my briefcase those days. Finding Grandma Misty’s spell book, I waved my hands over it until it was the page I wanted.
“No, I'm not mad at all because she described how I felt as well. It was like I had to be with her no matter what. I wasn't happy, Mal, but I couldn't leave her. We danced together at prom, and it was like from that moment I had the constant urge to be around her. My friends made fun of me and my parents had tests run on my brain. They thought I had a tumor that was clouding my judgment,” he said, sitting the letter on the table.
“I need to tell you something, and I don’t want you to think I’m crazy,” I said, folding my hands on top of the book.
“Mal, you’ve already told me you’re a witch. Do you really think that a
nything you could tell me would make me think you’re crazy?” he asked, smiling at me.
He had me there. If finding out, I was a witch didn't make him run for the hills then I guess nothing would. “Allison's ghost keeps visiting me, and she's giving me clues to solve her murder,” I told him, only opening one eye to watch his reaction.
“I was wrong, that makes me question your sanity,” he said, nodding his head.
I knew I sounded like I needed to be thrown in the loony bin … I really did, but I was telling the truth. “Just hear me out, okay?” I asked, turning the book around
He nodded in response. “After Agnes and I found a symbol etched into Mrs. Abernathy's attic wall, Allison showed up. I searched for the symbol until I discovered that it was connected to the Blackwater coven in Cold Creek. When I got there, I found out that the symbol was a love spell and then Allison led me to the letter. She wanted me to find it, Mason. Wait a minute, do you know what this means?” I asked, slamming my hands down on the table.
I hadn’t pieced it together until I said it all out loud.
“No idea,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Someone put a love spell on your relationship, Mason,” I told him, realizing I was one step closer to getting him out of that shoebox they called a cell.
“A love spell? You think?” he asked.
“I know it was a love spell. Now, I've just got to figure out who put a spell on you,” I said, tapping my finger on my chin.
I was one step closer to unraveling the mystery.
20
“Who’re our top suspects?” Daniel asked, looking through all of our files we had accumulated over the course of the case.
“First we have the jilted ex-boyfriend, Aaron Golden. His motive pretty much speaks for itself. Next, we have one Mrs. Jamie Talbot,” I started before being rudely interrupted by Daniel for like the millionth time that day.
“Wait, wait. Why on earth do you think Allison’s mother would want to murder her own daughter?” he asked, leaning back in his chair.
Cursed at First Sight: A Witchy Cozy Mystery (Cursed Coven Cozies Book 1) Page 11