Practically Angels

by Melanie James

  Chapter Ten

  We ended up being swamped with customers the Saturday of our grand opening, and happily so. I felt so satisfied to also have helped some people by creating a dozen poultices for aches and pains, a potion for finding a lost cat and even a charm to cure insomnia. And that was all by midday.

  The jingling bells announced another customer, and his voice was familiar. “Is Emmy around?”

  “That depends,” I heard Jade reply.

  “On?”

  “On whether you’re here for official business or for pleasure. And since it’s my duty to look out for my friend, I’m not so sure either one of those is in her best interests,” she said, obviously giving him a hard time.

  It’s Daryl. This is good stuff! I was enjoying the entertainment.

  “Yeah. Does she need to have an attorney present?” Chloe chimed in. “I’ve read about this sort of thing. Perjury traps, coerced confessions and all that.”

  “I’m not even in uniform,” he pleaded.

  “So what? You could be undercover.” Chloe was having a bit of fun with him.

  “What? How could I be undercover if you know who I am?” he deadpanned.

  “Yeah, but maybe you aren’t who we think you are. A double fake identity. I’ve read about that sort of thing too.”

  “Well, we don’t get that fancy here in Angel Bay. So, is Emmy here or not?” he asked, bringing an end to their sparring.

  “Emmy!” Jade shouted. “There’s a super-secret double identity cop who wants to get under the covers with you. Or something like that.”

  “Hey, Daryl,” I said, stepping out of the storeroom.

  “You joke around, but it could happen. Just read Dark Beasts, Book Nine, Undercover Lovers,” Chloe mumbled.

  “I finally get to see what you look like without your uniform on.”

  Damn it! Again with the word vomit.

  Chloe and Jade immediately started snickering like cats with their noses full of catnip and scurried to the back of the store.

  “I know this is short notice, but I’m off today and I was wondering…if you were free. We barely got to talk the other night, and I just thought…”

  “We don’t close for a few hours, maybe after?” I shrugged.

  “We’ll watch the store and close up, Emmy! Go ahead!” Chloe shouted from the back. The spies had been eavesdropping. For once, I didn’t care.

  “Isn’t that a coincidence! Just like that, my hours have been unexpectedly cut. So, what do you have in mind?”

  “Grab a sweater,” he said, smiling.

  “Sweat…sweater?” I babbled. Again, with the Mandarin Chinese lessons.

  What could I say? Oh, I’m from Heaven, where the weather is perfectly comfortable every single day. Why would I own sweaters or coats?

  Jade fast walked to the front of the store, handing me a rolled-up bundle of plaid flannel.

  Seriously? Zane’s shirt. What was that girl thinking?

  “Here, Emmy, take mine.” Grinning like an opossum, she ran off before I could refuse it.

  I did my best to hide the shirt as we crossed the street and walked over to the park. I’m not sure why, but I know I was nervously glancing around as we approached the sailboat which I’d seen docked the night before. I suppose I felt awkward or embarrassed because I was going out to do something with Daryl, while carrying Zane’s shirt. Or, at least, I’d feel weird if Zane spotted me with his shirt.

  That’s stupid. It’s just a shirt. So what? It wasn’t like he loaned it to me with specific conditions for crying out loud.

  Surprisingly, Daryl stepped onto the sailboat. “Welcome aboard!” he said. Reaching out, he politely took my hand in his and helped me step aboard.

  I’d never been on any kind of boat, but it was hardly the fun and carefree experience magazine advertising would lead you to believe.

  Once we set sail, I quickly learned that sailboats came with a whole new vocabulary and a whole new set of rules. Don’t touch the thingamajig, watch your head when the whatchamacallit swings, be careful of the doohickeys. It’s not that I couldn’t understand the technical nature of it, I just found all the work involved overwhelmed the fun and left the experience uninteresting. I felt guilty for feeling bored half the time and scared out of my wits the other half. Seriously, with every wave, I worried the boat was about to flip over.

  But I politely listened to Daryl drone on and on, espousing his vast knowledge about sailing trivia. I swear to God I tried getting into it all, but I’d rather talk about the colors of the waves, or the music made by the wind whistling through the ropes instead of the chemical composition of marine varnishes. I know this sounds totally shallow, but at least he was nice to look at. So, I nodded and smiled while he rattled on.

  Catching a sudden chill, I wrapped myself in Zane’s shirt. I pulled the collar up around my neck to the point of it covering my mouth and the tip of my nearly frozen nose. In the background, Daryl had moved onto the elasticity of fibers in various types of ropes, but his voice faded. I picked up a faint trace of Zane’s lingering scent and I swear I could practically hear the rumbling engine of his motorcycle. Briefly closing my eyes, I remembered the way Zane had looked at me, and how he’d been so completely confident that I’d be eager and willing to do whatever he wanted with me.

  Why would he think that? Do I look so gullible that I could be easily tricked into doing what he wanted? That I would be nothing but putty in his big, strong hands? Or did he know the power of that smoldering hot stare of his and the appeal of those thick muscular arms?

  I felt something in the breast pocket of the shirt. It was a slip of paper. Unfolding it, I quickly scanned the words.

  I know you’re still thinking about me. Meet me at the fountain in the town square tomorrow night at 10.

  I gasped and smiled at the same time.

  The gall of him to assume that I was thinking about him, even if I was. Or that I’m going to run down to the town square at ten just because he wanted me to. Even though I’d had every intention of doing it.

  “So, Emmy. You haven’t told me what you think of it all.”

  “About?”

  “If you think the new Kevlar ropes will be the end of the nylon rope industry.”

  “I’m sorry, but I try to avoid politics. I’m going to have to stay neutral on this explosive topic.”

  I knew I might as well change the subject. “So…how is your investigation going?”

  “Investigation?”

  “Yeah. With what happened to Midge.”

  “I have no idea. State investigators told me it’s case closed and not my problem.” He shrugged. “Hey, less work for me.”

  Ding, ding, ding! An alarm bell was ringing in my brain. What the heck?

  “What’s going on, Daryl? You told me last night you were still investigating what happened to Midge.”

  “I did? You must have misheard me. Honestly, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, smiling like a dufus.

  I could tell he was speaking the truth. At least, the truth as he knew it.

  Okay, happy sailing time over. Clearly, he was suffering from a head injury, selective amnesia or a good brain washing. In that case, I didn’t want to be out alone on a sailboat with him.

  “Sometimes, the simplest theory is the right theory. Midge accidentally drowned. Sad, sure. But that’s what it was. Just like Charles Nelson last night.”

  “Mr. Nelson? He was just in our store the other day.” I was completely shocked. The face of our balding customer flashed in my mind. The guy who we made a charm to turn around his unrequited love for Susan McDermott was now dead. “What happened?”

  “That brush fire that someone called in last night turned out to be much bigger. It was Nelson’s house. The firefighters found his charred remains in the basement. Accidents happen. Fires happen.” Daryl shrugged.

  I was convinced Daryl was the least curious cop on the planet or someone dropped a piano on his head.
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br />   “Never mind me. All this sailing is making me seasick. Can we head back now? I think I need to go home and lay down for a bit.” I felt it was a lie of necessity.

  Chapter Eleven

  Returning to the shop, I found that Chloe and Jade had already closed up for the day. They were in the back room browsing the angelic recipe books.

  “Ahoy, sailor!” Jade shouted. “We saw you heading out on a sailboat. How did that go?”

  “Meh. Boring. Daryl’s a very polite, nice, cute guy and he is a sailing trivia master but there just isn’t any spark between us. Zero.”

  “Maybe I should take a crack at him,” Chloe said, pantomiming snapping a bull whip.

  “Not so fast. Something is up. Remember, last night, he told me he was investigating Midge’s death? Now, today, he said the state told him the case has been closed for a while, and he’s convinced of it. It’s like he has amnesia or something. He didn’t remember our conversation at all.”

  “That’s pretty disturbing and coupled with the fact that I still can’t reach Mrs. Portobello or Natasha, it’s not good. I don’t like it. Not one bit,” Jade said, chewing her bottom lip. “I just know there is more to Midge’s story than what we’ve heard. There has to be. It doesn’t make any sense. Not with the way Daryl is acting. I think it’s time we investigate this ourselves.” She opened her ever present notebook.

  “I’ve read tons of detective books, so we can use what I’ve learned in those to help with our investigation,” Chloe said. “You’re going to want to write this stuff down. Who was Midge? What happened to her? What were the circumstances of her death? Did she die of natural causes or was it a brutal murder? Did she have any enemies? What was Officer Daryl looking into before his brain was erased. What is the internet and how do we use it?”

  “Murder? Nobody said anything about a murder, Chloe.” I nearly choked on the words.

  “We’ll just have to see about that.”

  “There’s more to the story than just Midge. Our customer, Charles Nelson, died last night. Apparently, his house burned down, and he was in it.”

  It broke my heart to think about the portly gentlemen who had such high hopes for his love life just days ago.

  “The elephant—love charm guy?” Jade asked.

  “One in the same. Daryl told me they’ve already declared it an accidental death even though it just happened last night.”

  “Without a thorough investigation? What kind of town is this?” Jade threw her hands up in the air. Evidently, she was just as frustrated as I was.

  “Well, we are going to get to the bottom of these deaths.” Chloe pounded her tiny fist on the table. The result was less than dramatic.

  I took a deep breath. “Can we start our investigation tomorrow? I could use your help.”

  Just like that, I’d managed to change the subject and gain their interest.

  “Let’s say you were going to meet a mysterious, smoking hot biker guy in the town square tonight. What would you wear to slightly intimidate him with your confidence?” I tossed Zane’s note onto the table.

  “What the hell? This cocky bastard has some nerve,” Chloe said.

  “I’m pretty sure he’s got more than nerve.” Jade arched an eyebrow when she read the note. “Come with me.”

  Minutes later, we found ourselves knocking at the door of the shop right beside ours.

  “We’re desperate!” Jade squealed when the woman opened the door.

  “Come on in, girls. What do you need?”

  “Our friend, Emmy here, needs some new clothes, desperately. Something to meet a hot young biker guy in. But she needs to throw him for a loop. You know, make her look so confident that it takes him down a notch. What do you have?”

  With her closed hand resting on her chin and her foot tapping, she appeared to be deep in analytical thought. “Biker. Hmmm. Aha. Bikers like leather. I think I have just the thing!” she said, excited to help out.

  Zipping between the clothing racks like a hummingbird among the flowers, she quickly picked out what she was looking for.

  “I sell a lot of this stuff around Halloween.” She handed me a black leather miniskirt and a pair of shiny black knee-high boots. Next was a beautiful scarlet silk scarf to go with a blouse that had one of the most dramatic plunging necklines I’d ever seen. She topped off the outfit with a tiny, black leather jacket.

  “Are you sure?” I asked, my voice feeble and unsure but I relented and changed in the dressing room. When I emerged, I realized I’d never worn a skirt so short in my life.

  “Please. Kill me now,” I squeaked.

  “No. You look so fricking hot! It’s perfect! Just wait until he lays his eyes on you,” Jade said.

  “But look at me. Hey there, Zane. I just got done with an eight-hour prostitution shift on the corner. What do you say we get ice cream sundaes at the candy shop? Ugh.”

  After a debate, which was only slightly longer than the mini skirt, we headed out the door. They’d managed to talk me into keeping the skimpy, leather outfit.

  God help me.

  Just as I was about to thank Mary for helping us out, an idea popped into my head and I immediately acted on it.

  “Mary, what ever happened to Midge anyway?”

  She shook her head. “It was tragic, really. She just disappeared—out of the blue. A week later, some of her belongings started showing up. Way out in the bay. The coroner ruled that it was an accidental drowning but there has been a lot of talk, just rumors really, about what might have happened. People have become suspicious of each other. It’s not normal for Angel Bay. Some of the citizens are blaming a rogue tourist, some blame that motorcycle gang, some people are even accusing the herb farmer, Eve. I’ll guarantee someone even blames the preacher. But as for me, I think it was a tragic accident. Why else would they find her personal items out there?”

  “Personal items?” I asked.

  “Yes. Her purse, which had her ID cards and credit cards. Her shoes. All of it washed up on Strawberry Shoal. It’s an outcropping of rocks way out in the bay. Anyway, it must have been enough evidence for the coroner to determine she drowned. Who am I to second guess the law?” She shrugged.

  “And her body? It’s still missing?”

  “Yep. They never found poor Midge. It’s very sad. It would be nice to have given her a proper burial. She was such a nice woman.”

  “Didn’t anyone find it strange that her body was never found?” I asked.

  “Dear, with all the unpredictable currents out into the big lake, it happens way too often around here. As beautiful as the water is, it has a long history of keeping its dead and its secrets. It’s why they call this place Door County because of what the French explorers named this place; La Porte de Morte.”

  “Death’s Door,” Jade whispered. Her ominous words gave me goosebumps—and not the good kind.

  Or the goosebumps could have been because I felt like my ass cheeks were partially exposed.

  Chapter Twelve

  I gave up on the idea of wearing such an outrageous outfit. It just wasn’t me. Not because I wasn’t comfortable with my body, I was. I just didn’t like feeling so exposed. Honestly, part of me also worried about scaring Zane off.

  Thankfully, Jade was more than happy to take the ass-baring outfit off my hands. Still, it was worth the time to visit Mary. She turned out to be a treasure trove of information regarding Midge, which combined with Daryl’s strange behavior made it certain; there was a mystery at hand. One we were determined to solve.

  The girls wished me luck and I headed off for the short walk to the town square. My mind buzzed like a hive of angry bees. I had so many questions and so little time to figure things out. The main thoughts floating around my head centered around my impending date with Zane. I couldn’t figure out, for the life of me, why I was even going. Or why I was so worried about what I was wearing. Or if I’d actually lost my mind. Was that the reason I couldn’t seem to say no to the guy?

 
By the time I’d walked to the square, I’d found plenty of answers and most of them turned out to be rated R or worse.

  I spotted Zane from a distance. He was leaning against a lamppost with his arms crossed in front of his chest and his motorcycle parked nearby. And while he still looked like a biker, he’d gone from sleeveless vest to nice shirt.

  Taking a deep breath, I closed in. With a half closed-lip smile, he nodded and acknowledged my presence.

  “You don’t look surprised,” I said.

  “I’m not surprised. I knew you’d show up.”

  “Ha. Look at you trying to be cool. You just didn’t know I had it in me to be so confident and daring to act on your silly note.”

  “I thought I spotted you earlier, dodging between the trees. But then I noticed it was your roommate, Jade, dressed in a hooker Halloween costume.”

  “Oh.” Damn it, Jade! She really needed to stop with the spying thing.

  “Wild and crazy girls, that’s us. I think she has a costume party or something to go to.” I added a fake little laugh. I didn’t want to admit that truth was stranger than fiction in this case.

  Time to change the subject.

  “Since you asked me to meet you here, I’m pretty sure you didn’t think I’d come. And that you didn’t want to get stood up in public. Am I right?”

  Smiling, he rolled his eyes. “All right. I thought the odds were about sixty-forty you wouldn’t show, that’s why I brought my bike. Come on, I want to take you somewhere I know you’ll love.”

  “What are the odds on that?” I just had to ask.

  “Truthfully? They’re probably fifty-fifty, but I think I’m on a winning streak with you so far.” He walked to the bike and handed me a helmet.

  Realizing I had to get on the seat behind him, I put on the helmet and leaned away from him, undecided if having my knees on either side of him was a little too intimate.

  “Don’t lean too far back, I wouldn’t want you to fall off. You might want to consider wrapping your arms around me and hanging on,” he instructed with the sexiest smirk I’d ever seen.