Words of Wisdom

by D E Dennis

  “That’s not true,” Kali replied.

  “Isn’t it? Are you saying you liked leaving your entire life behind to move out here? You like having to give up your place in the company to stay out here?”

  I saw Kali shake her head in the dim light. “I miss South Koruna and my friends and family. But our family comes to visit twice a month and I see my friends during every vacation. I’m still a part of my community, but even if I wasn’t, I don’t have to live in South Koruna to take over the company. I admit I was ready to do so. Daddy raised me to become the next head of VerX and I was going to go right along with his plan for me, but then you came, and then you left! I realized I could figure out my own plan. I could have my own life.”

  Kellan nodded. “What she said.”

  Kali snorted. “I mean, when I think about the responsibility the original Amari Moon has placed on your shoulders and the strength it takes to say no to her every time. Refusing to take over the multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company that our family has been running for generations is cake.” She gestured at Kellan. “Especially, when I can make it his problem.”

  “Hey,” Kellan cried.

  We giggled. I nudged his shoulder. “Want to take my responsibility off my hands too?”

  “Nope,” he said. “That one is all yours.”

  We chuckled some more, but abruptly snapped our mouths shut when my bedroom door swung open. The original Amari Moon emerged with curlers, a muumuu, and a frown. “Why are the three of you still awake?” she hissed. “You stop making all that noise and go to sleep!”

  “Yes, Grandma,” we mumbled and we flipped over and went to bed.

  THE NEXT DAY, I WAVED goodbye to my last client of the morning, then turned my attention to my phone. As promised, Monique had sent me the names and addresses of the three employees who had been able to escape the fire. It might be a waste of time, because no doubt if they had anything useful on Mayor Breyfogle, he would have already been hauled in, but I still had to try. They were the only ones there the day that the mayor killed his wife and those poor people trapped inside the store. Maybe they knew some small detail they hadn’t thought was important at the time. Perhaps, like Sandy, they saw the woman in black.

  I typed the addresses into the computer and waited for them to spit out the directions. Yuri Stevens was a half-hour drive away. Timothy Cobb was twenty-seven minutes and Petra Wilson was five. Petra Wilson it is.

  I grabbed my phone and bag then headed out the door. I hopped into my car and made the short drive to Petra’s house. It was a tiny little house at the end of a tree-lined street. The house had one story, with peeling white paint, and a raised front porch with nothing on it but an upended broken rocking chair.

  I knocked twice and waited. It was a few minutes before I heard shuffling behind the door. It swung open and a small round face squinted up at me.

  “Who are you?” she asked in a trembling voice.

  “Hello,” I said gently. “My name is Amari Moon. I’m sorry to disturb you, but I was hoping to speak to you about the fire.”

  She frowned. “You’re another blasted reporter! I told you; I don’t want to be interviewed. Just leave me alone.” She tried to slam the door in my face, but I shoved my foot in the jamb.

  “I’m not a reporter,” I said quickly. “I’m a psychic.”

  She snorted. “And I’m a shape-shifting guinea pig. Go away!” She pushed harder on the door.

  “Miss Wilson,” I cried. “If you’d stop trying to crush my foot and listen, I could tell you I’m working with the police.”

  She paused. “Really? They work with psychics?”

  Is everyone going to ask that? “Yes,” I said aloud. “I run a legitimate business and Detective Arnold Davis of the ZSPD and Chief Arson Investigator, Monique Bauer, can vouch for me. I’d be happy to wait here while you call and confirm.”

  “Oh, I―” She hesitated. “No, that’s okay.” She stepped back and held open the door for me. “Sorry about before. It’s been...rough.”

  My eyes fell on her bandaged arm. “I’m sure it has and I don’t want to make it any harder. I only want to find the person who did this to you and your co-workers.”

  She nodded, absentmindedly rubbing her arm the way I sometimes did the scar on my abdomen. “Please come in,” she said softly.

  I stepped inside and she pointed to the couch. I took a seat and she sat on the chair across from me. Now that I had revealed myself to be friend instead of foe, all the fight had gone out of her. She suddenly looked older than the wrinkles around her eyes would suggest. She was swimming in a t-shirt three times too big for her and her bony fingers were laced together and turning white from being clenched.

  “So what can I do for you, Miss...?”

  “Moon,” I supplied. I gestured at the space next to me. “And actually, before we begin I’d like to ask permission to psychically read you while we talk. Would you mind moving―”

  “No,” she said firmly. “I don’t believe in that stuff and I just want to get this over with.”

  I nodded. “Okay, I understand.” I rested my purse at my feet. “By now you know the fire was set intentionally.” She nodded once, stiff as a board. “The arson investigators discovered that the fire was started in your boss’s office, Veronica Breyfogle. Can you think of any reason someone would want to hurt her? To hurt any of you?”

  She shook her head. “No. Best Foot Forward is...was...a great place to work. We were like family and Veronica was the best boss. She’d surprise us with cake on our birthdays, and let us play music while we were on the floor. She was so nice and I tried―” Her face crumpled. “I tried to...to s-save her. To save my f-friends...” She trailed off into sobs. There was a small box of tissues on the side table next to me and I knelt down to offer them to her.

  She took a couple and blew her nose. “I’m sorry.”

  I shook my head, retaking my seat. “Don’t be. Just take it slow and when you’re ready, you can tell me about that morning,” I said soothingly.

  She nodded and after a few minutes, she was calm enough to keep going. “On Saturdays, we do inventory and sort through donations,” she said to her lap. “That’s why so many of us were there. Tim, Yuri, and I were on the floor, and Marquavius, Daniella, Cooper, Sloane, and Maria were in the stock room. Veronica was in her office.”

  Her eyes glazed over. “The room was suddenly filled with smoke. It was pouring out from under the door by the time the fire alarm finally went off. Yuri immediately ran off and Tim grabbed me and tried to pull me out, but I couldn’t leave them behind. I went in back screaming for Veronica and my friends. The smoke was so thick and stinging my eyes, I could barely see anything.”

  She hugged herself. “I shoved open the door to Veronica’s office and the fire roared out. I covered my face with my arm and got this.” She rubbed her bandaged arm. “I couldn’t go any further into the room, but I could make out Veronica, head down and slumped over her desk. I kept screaming,” she said through bloodless lips, “but she didn’t move.” She wiped a stray tear away. “Eventually Tim came back for me and got me out.” She sniffed. “So yeah, anything else you want to know?”

  I gave her a minute to collect herself. “Did anyone suspicious come by the store?”

  She shrugged. “We cater to a certain group of people. The average nervous housewife would clutch their purse and run across the street if they ran into a few of our customers, but that said, they’re all good people. None of them have a grudge against any one of us.”

  I chewed my lip, thinking. “The fire was started in Veronica’s office. Did anyone come to see her that day? Did she have a meeting? Maybe a visit from her husband?” I slipped in slyly.

  But she shook her head no. “No one came in to see Veronica. Well,” she amended, “not through the front door anyway. Someone could have come in through the back.”

  I shifted, crossing my legs. “Speaking of which, there’s a witness who said she saw someone
hanging around behind Best Foot Forward. She said she was wearing a black dress, a big tote bag, large glasses, and a scarf covering her head. Did you see anyone like that?”

  “I didn’t, no.” She slumped. “I’m not really much help, am I? I spent the whole morning at the register and didn’t see a thing. And while I was just standing there some piece of—” She broke off, trembling.

  “You’ve been a huge help, Miss Wilson,” I said softly. I stood. “I won’t take up any more of your time.” I bent down and picked up my purse. After some rifling around, I found what I was looking for. “This is my number, in case you think of anything else or just want to talk.”

  “Thank you.” She took the card from my outstretched hand and slipped it into her jeans pocket. She got up, went to the front door, and held it open for me.

  I stepped out onto the porch, but something made me stop and turn back. “The man who did this,” I said lowly, “will pay for it. I promise.”

  At first, she appeared startled by the intensity in my voice, but after a minute her eyes hardened. She nodded once, she then slowly closed the door.

  I SPENT MORE TIME WITH Petra Wilson than I planned to and ended up having no time to grab lunch. Luckily, my family was still in town until tomorrow, so I texted Kellan to bring me a sandwich at 1:45 when I had a short break between clients.

  I got back to the office and unlocked the door just as my client pulled up. Nadia parked on the street and barely had a chance to throw the car in park before she tumbled out of it.

  “Madame Moon!” she wailed. Her eyes were puffy. She was wearing no makeup and her nose looked painfully red and sore from constant wiping and blowing. “It’s Veronica! My poor Veronica!”

  I held out my hands and she collapsed into them, weeping. “I know.” I patted her back and led her inside. “I know what happened to Mrs. Breyfogle and I’m so sorry.”

  We went through into my reading room; I let her sit at the table while I went back out and quickly made her a cup of tea. I came back and handed it to her.

  She accepted it with a soft thank you. “I just don’t understand why anyone would do something like this.”

  I took my seat across from her.

  Her hands tightened around the cup. “I guess the sicko wasn’t satisfied burning down old warehouses and thought a charity full of innocent people would be a bigger thrill,” she spat.

  “You believe the arsonist did this?”

  Nadia blinked at me. “Of course. Who else could it be?”

  I reached out and nudged her hand. “Drink,” I insisted. “It’s chamomile. It will help.”

  She obediently took a few more sips before asking again. “Doesn’t this have to be the arsonist’s doing?”

  I shook my head. “It could be,” I said carefully. “Or it could be someone who wants everyone to think it was their doing?”

  Nadia sucked in a shocked breath. “You’ve seen it, haven’t you? Psychically. Someone else is behind it. Who?” she demanded, but I shook my head.

  “I had the chance to give Veronica a reading before she died and I found out that she had enemies. This was from her own lips.” Nadia’s eyes widened. “But now that she has been taken from us, I can’t find out from her who those enemies were. Maybe you can help with that, Nadia.”

  She blinked. “I can? I mean, yes! I can. Just tell me what to do.”

  I reached out for her hand and she grasped mine immediately. “You were her friend. She must have confided in you. Did she tell you about anyone who might have had a grudge against her or wanted to hurt her?” I paused. “I sensed trouble at home. Was she fighting with her husband?”

  Nadia drained her cup and then pushed it aside. She thought carefully. “She never said anything about someone threatening her or wanting to hurt her. She did get a nasty email from a former employee when she fired them for helping themselves to the donations, but other than that everyone loved her.”

  “What about the issues at home?” I pressed. “I sensed it very strongly. Was she and Tad having problems?”

  She shook her head. “No, they were the perfect couple. Tad still surprised her with flowers when he came home and took her out for date night. Things were great between them but...” She drifted off.

  “But what, Nadia?”

  She hesitated. “But things weren’t as great with Gwen and Ollie.” She sighed. “That was the trouble you were sensing, Madame. Ollie’s been causing a lot of issues at school and he’s in danger of being expelled in his senior year, and Gwen is...Gwen is um...Gwen,” she finished awkwardly; having met the woman myself I needed no further explanation. “She and the kids have gotten into a few screaming matches over the last few weeks, but they would never do this,” she said quickly. “Gwen isn’t capable of hurting anyone and Ollie is still a child.”

  She said that, but I couldn’t help taking note of the tiny bit of fear hiding behind her self-assured tone.

  “I’m sure they didn’t hurt their mother,” I said, “but they might be able to lead us to who did.” I clicked my tongue. “If only I could speak to them. Give them a reading. It would help me get closer to the truth.”

  “Well, I can help you with that, Madame Moon,” Nadia said, just like I hoped she would. “There’s a small wake being held for Veronica tomorrow night. Not the best time, but Tad will understand when we explain everything to him. We all just want the monster who did this behind bars.”

  I smiled at her, but shook my head. “Nadia, I couldn’t impose. That’s a time for family and friends to grieve and remember Veronica. It wouldn’t be right for me to―”

  “Madame, please”—she squeezed my hand tightly— “if you’re right then a grave injustice is about to be committed. Veronica’s real killer will get away scot-free while the police chase after the arsonist. There’s no time to waste. Come to the wake and speak to Gwen, Ollie, and Tad. They’ll be eager to help you when they know the truth.”

  I nodded gravely. “You’re right, Nadia. Thank you.”

  She shook her head. “No, thank you, Madame Moon,” she insisted.

  I inclined my head, accepting her thanks. “Now, how would you like to proceed with the session?”

  “Oh, Madame.” Her face crumpled. “She was my best friend. She was going to be my maid of honor. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  I took slow, deep breaths as waves of despair washed over me.

  Time to get to work.

  I WALKED NADIA TO HER car, when our session was over, and then went back inside to tidy up the Reading Room. The bell chimed not a minute later.

  “Thanks, Kellan,” I shouted over my shoulder. “Just leave it on my desk.”

  “Amari?” That voice did not belong to Kellan. “Come out here.”

  I dropped the cushion and stepped out of the Reading Room. “Hello, Grandma.”

  “Hello,” she said. She held up a plate bearing my Reuben sandwich. “I’ve brought your lunch, precious girl, come and sit with me.”

  “I have less than fifteen minutes before my next session.”

  “Then spend it with your grandmother,” she came right back.

  We sat down on my waiting room chairs. Grandma handed me my sandwich and I picked it up and chomped down. I was ravenous.

  “Why did you miss lunch, Mari?”

  “I was busy,” I said between bites. “Lost track of time.”

  “There’s something you’re not telling me,” she accused.

  I thought about lying to her, but sitting this close she’d feel my guilt and call me out on it. “Yes,” I said instead. “I am holding something back, but it’s because I don’t want to upset you.”

  Her gaze softened. “You can tell me anything. You know that, don’t you?”

  I looked up at her, meeting her eyes. “I know, Grandma.” And I meant it. My namesake was tough and didn’t have time for foolishness, but I knew she loved and would do anything for me.

  I lowered my head. “I want to tell you, but I’m still
figuring things out. The last few days have left my head wrecked.”

  She patted my arm. “I understand, dear. When I was your age, I was a young wife and mother. I was trying to sort out how to be a good wife to your grandfather, how to be the best mother I could be to your father, and how to be there for my people. I was pulled in so many directions, trying to adapt to so many roles that it was easy to lose sight of who I was. Just me. Amari Moon.”

  She gently cupped my cheek. “And now here you are caught between two loves. Estranged from your mother. Separated from your community and trying to find your place in the world with this psychic nonsense. I understand why you keep fighting me on moving back to South Koruna. You’ve lost sight of who you are in the face of so much change and unspeakable tragedy.” I swallowed thickly. “But you will find your way back, precious one, and I will be here for you along the way.” She stroked my cheek. “Okay?”

  I just nodded.

  She put her arms around me and I leaned into her embrace, resting my head on her shoulder. We were quiet as I sat there eating my sandwich.

  I WAS STANDING IN FRONT of my office closing up for the day, when Arnie called.

  “Hey, babe.”

  “Hi, Arnie. How’s it going??”

  “Not very exciting,” he replied. “I wish someone told me earlier becoming a detective was less car chases and more paper cuts.”

  I giggled.

  “How was yours?” he asked.

  I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me. “Pretty low-key. Saw a couple clients. Hung out with Grandma.”

  “How long is your family in town?”

  “They leave tomorrow.”

  “In that case, how about we go out for dinner tomorrow night?”

  “I’d love to,” I began.