by Emmy Grace
Her literal hearse.
Regina is curiously absent, although I’m not surprised. She probably passed out when it happened. In fact, I might need to check under the bleachers to make sure she didn’t fall down between the cracks and is still lying under there with the hay while some mischievous straggler boys poke at her with a stick.
I pause to shoot her a text, just to be sure she’s okay.
Me: Did you survive the drama?
She responds almost immediately with a little emoji face that’s green and looks like it’s about to throw up everywhere.
That’s about right, I’d say.
That lightens my mood until I look up again. My eyes go right to Liam. It’s like he’s magnetic or something. If he were a big fridge, I’d be stuck to him, holding up a little girl’s picture of a pony.
Liam looks good, too. As usual. He’s wearing low-slung blue jeans and a pale blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It’s a good look for him, especially since he hasn’t had a hair cut in a while and the wavy, black locks are just brushing his collar.
Dang him and his sex appeal!
Dang him and his kiss!
He ruined everything.
Before I can talk myself out of helping and, instead, turning back to disappear into the night, Liam’s head swivels toward me. Like he could feel me looking at him. Like he knows I’d sorta like to throttle him.
His eyes lock with mine and, for a few seconds, my heart flat out refuses to beat. It just sort of lays in my chest like a useless lump.
And then he frowns.
Not his most foreboding one, but a frown nonetheless, and that I’m used to.
I exhale.
The frown I can work with.
The frown is normal.
The frown I expect.
Maybe, just maybe, my lucky kiss didn’t ruin it for us.
Maybe, just maybe, he’s as immune to that as he seems to be to my lucky charm.
Or maybe he’s a robot.
When Miss Haddy and the others notice me, I plaster on a smile and make my way to their group. I barely glance at Liam.
“Well, I would ask how the circus was, but…”
I gesture behind us to the central ring.
“It was good up until that.” Miss Haddy nods toward the ring, too.
Liam speaks up next. “Clive had Petey cordon it off right away. They were both here and they couldn’t keep the other circus folk out of the way, so...” He doesn’t turn to look at me, and I certainly don’t look at him. We all just stare at the brightly lit area under the apex of the tent.
Chief Sheriff Clive Sally is the Sheriff and the Chief of Police for Salty Springs. His assistant is Petey, the guy we call Ginger Creep. He has red hair, obviously, and just a generally creepy nature. All he needs is a gold tooth and a sketchy van with carpet on the walls to complete the picture.
The two lawmen are standing back, staring at the victim, who I can see very clearly. He’s wearing typical clown makeup and attire—multi-colored wig, face paint, striped onesie, enormous shoes—but he’s not moving a muscle. He’s stretched out on his back on a big sparkling platform, spread eagle. From here he looks like he’s just taking a rest. I guess because his injuries aren’t readily visible. He probably died from damage to his internal organs.
All of them.
“What have they done? Have they questioned anybody?”
“Nope.”
“How long have they been standing there like that?”
“Since about two minutes after it happened. So…too long.”
“Ah. Now I see.”
“They probably won’t get much further than this without our help.”
Our help?
Our help?
Miss Haddy, you devil!
She must’ve enlisted Liam’s assistance, too. Not that he’s not a capable guy. He is. Very capable. He used to work for the FBI for goodness’ sake. He’s far more capable than I could ever be unless I had a brain transplant. And muscle transplant.
Maybe just a whole person transplant.
Bureau material I am not.
But with Miss Haddy it’s more than just ability. She thinks I should marry Liam. She’s as much as said so. Her justification is that he’s the most eligible bachelor with a tragic past, and I’m young and pretty and new in town. I don’t doubt that she asked him to help for more reasons than just solving a murder.
I gulp. My heart patters at the thought of me and Liam being an “us” and giving “our” help. But I don’t show it. I just nod and stare at the people in question, like I’m Hercule Poirot, or Hercule Sparrow as Regina calls me, taking it all in.
I take a deep, shaky breath and finally make myself smile up at Liam. “Guess we’d better go talk to the fire breather then.”
He nods once, sweeping his arm in front of me. “After you.”
“I don’t know where I’m going.”
“Oh. Right. Then follow me.”
Before he moves, I look into his eyes for a fraction longer than I normally would, searching for evidence that he’s crossed over to the dark side. Strangely, I don’t see anything different. No mooning, no swooning, no pining gazes.
Is it possible that Liam Dunning is the one man on the face of the planet (or at least the one man that I’ve met thus far) who is immune to all my charms? Not just my charms, but also my lucky kiss, too?
How could this be?
And why, oh why, does that bother me?
Because, woman, you’re crazier than a June bug.
I’m pondering that as I follow Liam around the main ring to a big opening in the back of the tent. It’s an employee entrance of sorts, big enough to bring an elephant through.
Outside it is a dirt yard surrounded by a ring of smaller tents and air stream trailers. There are people milling around, some in costume, some not. Some with animals, some not. There’s even a low fire burning toward the back of the circle. I feel like I’ve stepped from Salty Springs into a gypsy camp.
Only with stranger residents.
The bearded lady is sitting at a makeshift table with the strong man outside one of the tents. She’s laughing at something he said, stroking her beard. A young man, maybe early twenties, with long, striped pants walks by on stilts. He tips his tall hat at me, looking back admiringly as he follows a tiny older woman. She’s about the size of a twelve-year-old child. The way she’s hurrying him along gives me a maternal vibe, and I wonder if she’s his mother.
Liam heads right, leading me to a group of pens and metal enclosures. The pens house the petting zoo creatures like goats and ponies and chickens, all separated by lengths of fencing. They’re more like petting zoo animals.
As we pass, one of the goats lets out an awful scream that causes me to jump like I’ve been shot. I step back and run right into an actual cage, which causes three monkeys to freak out. They start swinging around in their large enclosure, screaming and howling.
I back away from them and bump into yet another cage, this one big but narrower. And empty.
A pretty younger woman, probably early twenties, with jet-black hair and dark, exotic eyes, steps in front of me. She smiles.
When I see what’s adorning her upper body like a creepy necklace, I understand why the rectangular cage is elevated. And empty. I’m fairly certain its occupant is the fat snake that’s currently draped around her neck.
“You must be Lucky,” she says, holding out her hand. I shake it and give her a tremulous smile. My eyes dart back to the snake. “This is Maximus. If he’s bothering you, I can put him up for the night.”
“No, I…” I gulp. Okay, so hissing things scare me. I don’t know why. It’s a miracle I can have a cat at all. Lucy-fur more growls and meows than hisses, though, so maybe that’s why. At any rate, snakes are a no-go for me. I don’t wish them harm; I just wish them safe passage far, far, far away from wherever I happen to be. “Actually, would you mind? I’ll be quick.”
“Not at all.” I
watch her gently unwrap the muscular body of the snake from around her neck and shoulders, and place him back in the open cage. When the door is in place and the latch is closed tight (please God, let it be closed tight), I let out the breath I’d been holding.
“You must be Allanda.”
“I am. Thank you for coming to talk to me. Miss Haddy said you two are the best.” She slides her eyes up to Liam, who is hovering at my back. In my preoccupation with the snake, I’d forgotten he was back there.
But I’m reminded now.
The way this girl is looking at him says, “Liam—he’s what’s for dinner.”
I can’t say I’m in love with that, but I refuse to wonder about it. I have to get Liam Dunning and all these strange and uncomfortable feelings off my mind.
“Well, we try,” I say flippantly. “So, Miss Haddy said you don’t think this was an accident.”
Allanda swallows hard and her face starts to crumble. “No, I don’t. Lola is our elephant, and she would never hurt anybody. She’s been with us since she was a baby. But she’s never had a trainer who could get her to do these kinds of things either. I think…I think Pike made her do it.”
“Pike?”
Allanda nods. “We…we sort of saw each other when he first came on with Fancy’s. Rodney and I were split at the time.”
“Rodney is the vic— clown?”
She nods. “See? I totally wasn’t cheating.” She pauses. “But…”
“But?”
“But Rodney never saw it that way. He hated Pike. Gave him a hard time at first.”
“At first? Does that mean he stopped? That they eventually made up?”
“No. I don’t think Rodney ever really got over it. But Pike didn’t seem to care. Not until…”
What is it with the pausing? Getting answers is like pulling teeth.
“Not until?”
“Not until Rodney backed up over Pike’s motorcycle and killed his pet rat, Oren. Rodney was moving our camper and I guess he didn’t see Pike’s bike. We had just gotten to our stop in Statesville, North Carolina. None of us had unpacked yet. And Pike always strapped Oren to the back seat of his motorcycle, so he was still on there when…when…” She hurries to add, “But it was an accident. I swear.”
First of all, a pet rat?
I’m an animal lover and all, but rats kinda give me the willies. I think it’s their strange tails. It looks like something that should be sprouting from some lady’s head at that weird bar in Star Wars.
Secondly, would this be ratricide?
I hold back a giggle. I’ll have to tell Regina about that one later. She’ll get a kick out of it. She’s the only person alive who understands my humor.
“I suppose Pike didn’t believe it was an accident?”
Allanda shakes her head, tears glistening in her eyes. “No. And I couldn’t make him understand that Rodney would never do that on purpose. Rodney loved animals as much as I do. He would never!”
“What was Pike’s reaction?”
“He told Rodney he’d pay. It…it got ugly.”
“And this was how long ago?”
“A couple of weeks.”
“And had Pike done anything to Rodney?”
“No, but that’s when he started working with Lola on her new trick.”
“New trick? Like sitting, for instance?”
Allanda nods. “I can’t imagine Pike doing something like this, but… I can’t swear he wouldn’t either. He was so upset.”
“Where is this Pike now?” Liam pipes up from over my shoulder. His voice is low and deep. As velvety as the night.
Velvety?
Annabelle Boucher, what on earth is wrong with you?
“He left.”
“Where did he go?”
Allanda shrugs. “I don’t know. He was gone when the cops put out that tape.”
“He fled,” I breathe.
That doesn’t look very good.
3
“What can you tell us about Pike?” Liam asks.
“He’s tall and has blond hair that he wears in a ponytail. He has sleeves on both arms.” She indicates her own tattoo-covered shoulder so that I know what kind of sleeves she means. “Um, let’s see. He’s twenty-six. He has a silver bar through his right eyebrow and some other piercings. Oh, yeah, and he drives an old Chevy truck now. He bought it before we left Statesville.”
Liam gets a description of it, too. I glance behind me and he’s not writing any of this down. I hope his brain is functioning better than mine is right now. I’m hopelessly distracted.
“Was it common knowledge that he was training her to sit?” Allanda nods. “So the command he used wasn’t a secret?”
“No, I think everyone knew.”
That spurs a question from me. “How hard would it be for someone else to give her the command to do it?”
“During a show like that, it would be harder. I mean, it was live and there was an audience. There were witnesses everywhere. That’s why I think…”
That’s why she thinks Pike did it.
“But why would he risk it for those same reasons? There were dozens of witnesses.”
“Because he could use that to say that it was an accident. He would say that he’s not dumb enough to do it in front of an audience.”
“Would say? Is that what he did say?”
“No. He didn’t say much of anything. He just…took off.”
Leaving after a co-worker was murdered? That sounds very suspicious, but it’s probably not smart to belabor the Pike point right now. We already know he’s a suspect.
“What about the others? Anybody else have a problem with Rodney? Despite the timing, since the command wasn’t hard to come by, that opens up our pool of suspects.”
That sounded so professional, I even impressed myself. Now all I need is a cool and dramatic musical segue, and maybe an awesome pair of sunglasses, a la David Caruso.
“Rodney… He, uh, wasn’t exactly the most popular guy around here. Anyone who watched Pike train Lola could’ve given her the command.”
“Why was Rodney so unpopular?”
Although I’m the one who asked the question, Allanda directs her answer to Liam. She smiles and looks up at him from beneath her lashes. “Not to be vain or anything, but because he was with me.”
Liam doesn’t reply, just snaps his brows together in question. Allanda is very happy to oblige him and brag on her attributes.
“Look at me. I’m young and pretty with a good body.” She trails a hand down her side as if to emphasize her curves. “I still have my…stamina. I mean I’m only twenty-two. The youngest of all the girls here except Nila, the wolf girl. She’s only twelve. And she’s hairy.”
“And how old was Rodney?”
“Forty four.”
Yikes.
“And Pike?”
“Twenty-six.”
Liam’s brows twitch up in surprise this time. "That’s quite an age gap between you and Rodney.”
“Age doesn’t matter. As long as we connect, I don’t care. I love older men.” She practically purrs the last.
I don’t know if Liam sees it, but Allanda is totally hitting on him. She’s practically offering herself up to him like a slab of lamb on a platter. Five minutes ago, I thought she was pretty and nice and I liked her Xena outfit, but now I just think she’s a trashy cosplayer with daddy issues.
“Interesting,” is all he says.
My voice is stern when I speak next. “So who else specifically might’ve had reason to hurt Rodney, Allanda?”
I want to snap, Stop your flirting and get to the point, woman! I just want to get this part over with and get out of here. This girl is single-handedly ruining my love of le cirque, not to mention that if she doesn’t stuff her cleavage back in her costume, I’m liable to push her down and step on her face.
I follow that line of thinking. Just for a second. It gives me more pleasure than is probably healthy.
I can’t tel
l Regina I daydreamed about stomping on another woman’s face, of course. She’ll swear it’s because I’m carrying a torch for Liam, the grouch, which I absolutely am not doing.
There is no fire.
There is no torch.
I’m torch-less.
“You might want to talk to George. He’s the strong man. He went to high school with Rodney.”
“Were they enemies?”
“Pretty much. Rodney bullied George mercilessly from what I hear, but that was a long time ago. Like twenty-five years or something. Longer than I’ve even been alive.”
“Rodney, the clown bullied George, the strong man?”
That doesn’t sound right. What is this, bizarre-o circus?
“That’s why George got strong. That’s why Rodney doesn’t bother him anymore. Didn’t. Didn’t bother him anymore,” she corrects with a sad sniff.
“Sounds like Rodney was a real winner.” My tone is caustic.
I see Liam’s head jerk toward me. He doesn’t say a word. But, then again, he doesn’t really have to. I’m fully aware how out of character that was for me. Not to mention heartless and inappropriate.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s like my inner Poison Ivy grew ten feet overnight.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
“It’s okay,” she says in a small voice that makes me feel even worse, even though I still want to throat punch her for being young and pretty and flirty with Liam.
“We’ll need to talk to Pike and to George.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Living and working the circus is like living in a different world. It’s almost like a big family. And if you aren’t one of us… Well, we don’t talk to outsiders. We take care of our own, and that includes our problems.”
“Even murder?”
Hesitantly, she nods. “That’s why I called Miss Haddy. So she could help us keep the cops out of it. Well, at least not get them involved any more than they already are.”
And that’s why Miss Haddy called me.
That gets stern Liam all in a twirl. “We’re not helping you cover up a murder, if that’s what you’re thinking.”