Marked by Shadows: MM Paranormal Romance Mystery (A Simply Crafty Paranormal Mystery Book 2)

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Marked by Shadows: MM Paranormal Romance Mystery (A Simply Crafty Paranormal Mystery Book 2) Page 16

by Lissa Kasey


  “Melissa wasn’t even around when it happened. As I said, it was years ago,” I said. “I haven’t spoken to Byrony in over two years.” I shook my head. “I didn’t even know she was going to be here. If I had, I might have found somewhere else to stay.”

  “Because you were so upset with her?”

  “Because,” I corrected, “she has a way of stirring up trouble and making things all about her. Did it at every retreat we had prior, and at least a dozen conventions that I know of. It’s a part of her brand, I believe. Last I heard,” actually MaryAnn had been talking about it while we sewed, “she had a way of starting fights with other vloggers to get more attention. I don’t vlog. I barely cosplay anymore. My focus is my shop and my tours.”

  “But you came for this retreat. The others made it sound like you were getting back into the trade? That would put you at odds again.”

  “I came for a break from work and to go to the textile convention with a few people I know,” I said.

  “You’re not getting back into the trade? Your host indicated she was helping you with some designs,” the detective pushed back.

  “Freya is helping with some designs, but not for cosplay purpose. The stuff I make is to sell in the shop I run. Though we do costumed tours sometimes as well. I currently have no plans to vlog or even blog my current designs.” It was the first time I’d said it out loud. I hadn’t told anyone yet. Not Alex or Lukas or Sky or even Freya that I had no desire to return to the influencer glory days I’d once had. Simply Crafty was my life now. And I really loved that silly little shop. Investing time and emotion into being an online doll for people to mock and shame? That was not anything I wanted to return to.

  “Is this something you’ve discussed with the group? The others seemed to view your return as competition.”

  I waved my hand at the idea of it. “It’s not happening. I don’t want that spotlight anymore. Some of them want it too much. Being in that battle of who’s better because they had more fans was never something I enjoyed. Byrony never understood that. It’s why she kept attacking me. Even joined my Facebook group once, the one I use for my ghost tours. Started crap there. I had to block her and ban her.”

  “Wow, I didn’t know that,” Alex said.

  “It was over a year ago. I tried to ignore her at first. You know I don’t monitor that group a lot. But she had the admins up in arms.”

  “For someone who says he doesn’t know her well, you seem to have a lot of information on her,” the detective pointed out.

  “Superficially. I’ve heard a lot of stories. Not sure they are all true, but plenty I’ve experienced firsthand to know some of them are. Do I know her? No. I didn’t even know her last name was Cartwright. She went by Hayes online. I think she’s from Oklahoma somewhere, but I’m not sure. Didn’t know she was dating anyone. And really never even got introduced to Joe. She wasn’t someone I thought about outside of this group. You know how you cut people out sometimes to focus on other things. That’s what she was to me. Unimportant. Not a part of my life. Like someone you once worked with who always took credit for your work. Once you leave the job it doesn’t matter anymore. She was never close enough to me for me to really put an effort into how we knew each other.” I shook my head. “We had arrived not long before they went out to play games in the woods.”

  “And Melissa Umbridge? How well do you know her?”

  “She’s new to the group. Only been part of the cosplay thing a year or so?” I thought about it. “I honestly couldn’t tell you what she cosplays as I’ve never seen her do it, only seen her name pop up in our online chats sometimes. I met her at a convention or two in the past year. Usually we’d have a group dinner or something as I don’t cosplay much anymore. But other than that, I don’t know much about her.”

  “Have you found them?” Alex asked. “Freya made it sound like the area is pretty small. I know where we were searching, we could still hear the road. So the woods can’t be that big.”

  “They aren’t. A couple acres in each direction before it hits someone’s land or house. They could meander a couple miles by sticking to the woods and zigzagging a bit, but that’s not what people normally do when they are lost. We aren’t positive this is even a missing person’s case yet. We are checking hotels and hospitals,” Detective Manning admitted. “Joseph Dante was from here. So while Ms. Umbridge says Miss Cartwright’s car is here, we have not yet located Mr. Dante’s vehicle. He’s not at home and had the week off.”

  “So they could be anywhere,” Alex said. “Perhaps ditching a friend who wouldn’t give them alone time?”

  “Perhaps,” the detective said, not looking happy about that idea.

  “Ms. Umbridge is very worried,” Alex said.

  “And vocal,” the detective agreed.

  “If something happened to her friends I can understand,” Alex said.

  “True,” Manning said. “The two of you are staying the week?”

  “Yes,” I said. “We are here for the textile convention, which starts tomorrow and runs through the weekend. I’m hoping to secure a few fabric lines for my craft shop.”

  He nodded, seeming to think for a few minutes. He pulled out a card and handed it to Alex. “If you think of anything, see anything unusual, give me a call.”

  “We will,” Alex agreed taking the card and putting it in his pocket. “We’re headed out to get food, but will be back later. Will your people need any help with the search?”

  “We’ve already scoured the woods. They aren’t large enough to miss a lot. So at this time no. Not unless we get another lead to the state park or something. We are checking lots for the missing vehicle.”

  “Let us know if you need help,” Alex said. “We are willing to search if necessary, even though we didn’t know her well. Her friend is very worried. I hope they just did something stupid and didn’t tell anyone where they were going.”

  “You and me both, Mr. Caine,” the detective agreed and let us go.

  I breathed a sigh of relief as we finally got into the car. My heart was pounding. “They think I did something to her?”

  “They are just covering their bases. It makes sense. Talk to anyone who has a history with them. If you’ve had words with her before that would bring up red flags. Our own disappearances probably make us look suspicious too,” Alex said pulling on his seat belt. “Like we have a secret cult we are recruiting for. People who magically disappear and return without explanation.”

  “I’d like out of that cult,” I muttered as I put the key in the ignition but didn’t turn the car on. “You know she’s dead.”

  “Sort of,” Alex said.

  “You saw her ghost. Do people who aren’t dead have ghosts?”

  “Maybe? I mean, yes it looked like her. But maybe it was a trick? Like the thing that took me playing tricks?” He let out a long breath and pulled out his phone. “When I was in the hospital there were a couple people like that. Empty? Soul gone from their body. All that was left was a shell.”

  Hospital. When Alex talked about the hospital it wasn’t his recent short stay after he’d been found. It was his time in the mental ward. “Like their soul had left and all that remained was their body?”

  “Mostly,” Alex shrugged. “I once saw something in the hospital, next to one of those shells, a mass of sort of wriggling images. It was like it was trying to form a person, but couldn’t? Like the person was so broken even the soul couldn’t find its way back together. I don’t know how else to explain it.” He was quiet for another minute. “I never told anyone that before.”

  And it made sense. Alex’s time in the hospital made him think he was crazy. Well, it began with that night in the desert, but expanded as he saw doctors and therapists who all assured him his mind was gone. Except it wasn’t. Alex, for the most part, was solid-footed and common sensed. It was the whole ‘seeing things others couldn’t’ that made people label him crazy. I wondered if that’s how all the prophets got started.
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  “You were afraid that would happen to you?” I asked. “Your soul would abandon your body and not be able to form anything solid?”

  “We don’t know it didn’t happen,” Alex said quietly. “Maybe that’s why I was missing.”

  Was that any less frightening an option than having him used as a puppet by some sort of unknown? Not really. “But you’re here now.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed quietly. “But in the woods, after I saw what I think was Byrony, I saw something like that. One of those rippling masses of images. Like a puzzle with multiple faces and body parts all strewn together.” He shivered. “It was sort of monstrous.”

  “More sad,” I pointed out, “especially if it’s someone who was mentally ill, or broken. Perhaps that’s what really defines the mentally ill. Sometimes their soul is scattered.”

  “Scattered. That’s a kind word for it. I just don’t ever want to be that way.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  “It helps to share, I think. I don’t feel quite so crazy.”

  “I don’t think you’re crazy at all. At least not about the ghost thing.” I wasn’t sure what he saw, but knew he saw something. Like when my skin began to burn with that eerie sensation of spider webs or ants. Instinct on high gear? Something paranormal? I wasn’t sure there was a difference.

  “Thanks for that, at least. I don’t think you’re crazy either.”

  I laughed. “We’ll be crazy together. Ghost cats and whatever.”

  Alex shook his head. “That was for real so weird. I’ve seen some odd stuff, but the way it changed from the cat to something… I’m not sure how to describe it. A mass of pain and anger?” He stared out the window, then sighed as his phone jingled. “Lukas has been blowing up my phone all afternoon. Now I know why.”

  “You think Detective Manning called him?”

  “Oh yeah.” He unlocked his phone and opened his texts. After a moment he snorted out a laugh, then turned the phone my way. There was a picture of Lukas with a “What the Fuck?” expression on his face. Above the picture, the text read: My expression when the police call asking about my little brother. Call me, asshole.

  “Hey it’s better than him screaming and raging, demanding you come home,” I said. “Sky seems to have a calming influence on him.”

  “Maybe,” Alex agreed. He hit dial on the phone and turned it to speaker. Lukas answered after the first ring.

  “Why does it take you all day to call me you piece of shit,” Lukas growled as he picked up the phone.

  “Hey, asshole,” Alex said with humor.

  “Really? Really? Gone like two days and already in trouble with the police?” Lukas snarled through the phone.

  “Love you too, big brother. And no, not in trouble. Don’t know much about the girl or her boyfriend. Only met her once.”

  “Right, because you two aren’t trouble magnets.”

  Alex sighed. “I’m going to hang up on you if you don’t stop being a jerk. We have nothing to do with this.”

  “So you’re going to stay out of the way and let the police do their job?” Lukas demanded.

  “We have been,” Alex agreed. “Shopping and crafting mostly. I can send you a picture of the quilt we’ve been working on all day when we get back from dinner. It’s why I didn’t call. We were bonding through sewing.”

  Lukas groaned. “Can’t you just come home?”

  “Convention starts tomorrow. We get a sneak peek at cool fabrics and stuff. I’m excited. And Micah is all starry-eyed.” Alex looked at me. “I’m not a fan of the tiny house we are staying in. It’s smaller than Micah’s. Sort of feels like if I turn around I’ll bump into a wall and break something. But the rest has been good so far.”

  “Tiny house? I thought you guys were at a B&B.”

  “The B&B has a couple of tiny houses in the backyard for extra private spaces,” I added. “I thought it would be quieter for Alex and me.”

  “Yeah? How’s that quiet working out for you?”

  I heard Sky’s voice in the background but couldn’t make out her words.

  “Fine,” Lukas growled, more away from the phone than at us. “If anything else weird happens, I want you to come home.”

  “Define weird,” I said.

  “We are not in control of weird,” Alex argued. “And weird is a very broad description of lots of things. Weird could be seeing a clown on a street corner or having the BBQ place we’re going to run out of napkins. Doesn’t mean we are leaving.”

  “Why can’t you be the kid brother you used to be?” Lukas demanded.

  “Not sure what you mean,” Alex replied. “I never really did let you boss me around.”

  “You followed me a lot.”

  Until Alex had enlisted and gone off to make his own way. That was when the differences had really arisen. “I don’t need to live in your shadow,” Alex said. “I make my own now.”

  “Fuck,” Lukas cursed.

  “Hey,” Alex interrupted his brother’s cursing, “Micah and I are having fun. That’s important, right?”

  “Are you?”

  “Yes. I discovered the magic of precut fabric squares today. And I am sort of good at this thing called free motion quilting,” Alex said.

  “Was that English?” Lukas asked, sounding a lot like Alex in that moment. “What is that?”

  “It’s the final top stitching to a quilt,” I said. “The part that makes the swirls or lines on the fabric. Ask Sky and she’ll explain it better with one of the ones I’ve made you.”

  “There is this machine in the craft room that is perfect for it,” Alex continued. “It moves like a dream.”

  “It’s a mid-arm machine,” I said. “And Alex is pretty good. Amazing, really. He has a genuine talent for it.”

  Alex looked at me sideways. I knew he still thought the talent wasn’t his. I wasn’t sure that was the truth. Perhaps the skill, with the added years of muscle memory wasn’t his, but the vision, that was. I didn’t think you could gift someone with creativity. Memories perhaps, but not vision.

  “What the fuck is a mid-arm?” Lukas grumbled. I heard Sky again. “A fancy sewing machine, fine. Whatever.” He let out a long breath, a sort of frustrated sigh. “Just be safe, okay?”

  “That’s the plan,” Alex said. “We are in the car right now, but Micah hasn’t even started it. We are going to head out for food, but I wanted to call you first. Everything is okay there? Jet is okay?”

  “The cat is fine. Grumpy as ever.”

  Jet was never grumpy with Lukas. He loved Lukas. “Is he not cuddling with you?” I asked. Was something wrong with my cat?

  “He won’t stop. He’s on my lap or my chest all the time. And the second I come in, he’s crying for my attention. He’s a big attention whore. He has food and water. I don’t know why he’s so clingy.”

  He wasn’t an attention whore, or normally clingy. Not really. Not unless Lukas was there. My cat really liked Lukas. “My cat is crazy about you,” I told him.

  “Your cat is crazy.”

  “Aw,” Alex said, “Jet wuves you.”

  “Asshole,” Lukas said, though he sounded much calmer now than when we had first started the call. “Both of you are assholes. I hate you both.”

  “You don’t,” Alex said.

  “I don’t, but I wish I could sometimes.”

  “Sounds like something you need to talk to your therapist about.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Exactly my point,” Alex grinned into the phone.

  “Stop sounding so damn happy,” Lukas complained. “This was supposed to be a boring trip for you.”

  “Boring how?” Alex wanted to know. “You told me to find a hobby.”

  “Sewing?”

  “Lots of guys sew. Micah sews amazing stuff. A lot of which you own and use.”

  “Micah’s crafty that way.”

  “And I’m not? Didn’t you tell me I was the craftier of the two of us?”

  “Asshole,” L
ukas grumbled again.

  “Stop being so pissy. Go kiss Sky and leave Micah and I to our fun.”

  “You’re really enjoying this?”

  “Fabric shopping is great. Just wait until you see the dragon panel we found.”

  “I don’t even know what that means,” Lukas said. “Dragon what?”

  “I’ll show you when we get home. Just know I miss you. Take care of Sky, and we will call tomorrow. I promise to ramble on about what I see at the convention. It’s the first day which is exclusive?” Alex looked at me.

  “It’s a vendor only day. Not open to the public yet. So the crowds should be smaller,” I said.

  “Sounds great to me,” Alex agreed. “I’m sort of becoming a fabric whore,” he told his brother. “And Micah won’t save me from myself. I’m going to be working for free until the end of the year at least to pay for all the fabric I want.”

  Lukas laughed. “Micah’s been adrift on that boat for years. But I gave you a card. It’s your money. What you get from the Army. Use it. Buy what you want. You could probably buy yourself a fancy machine if you really wanted. If you’re really into this hobby.”

  “I think they are expensive,” Alex said.

  “A couple grand,” I added.

  “Yeah, you have more than enough for that and a bunch of fabric,” Lukas said. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Go. Have fun. Keep me updated. And I better not hear from the police again.”

  “No promises,” Alex said. “But we’re off to get BBQ. Night, big brother!” He hung up before Lukas could reply.

  I stared at him.

  “What?”

  “You’re worried about him.”

  “Lukas? Nah. He has Sky. He’s fine.”

  “Mhmm.” I started the car.

  “I want him to be happy. And not need me so much,” Alex admitted. “So, like if something happens to me. If the shadow takes me back… he’ll be okay.”

  “Yeah? If the shadow takes you back, what about me?” I asked him, pulling the car out of the lot.

  “I try not to think about that,” Alex said in a small voice. “I hope it doesn’t happen, and cling to you in hope of a future. Meanwhile I worry something will happen to me and break your heart. Or even worse, something will take you and leave me alone and crazy.”

 

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