by J. B. Lynn
“We have a schedule to keep,” Matt complained, “and you’ve got the entire street cordoned off.”
Behind him, Suzanne shrugged apologetically.
“A man is dead,” Tom said.
There was no emotion in his tone, but Amanda could sense his frustration mounting.
“And the show must go on,” Matt retorted.
There was such malevolence and anger oozing off the man that Amanda gasped.
Tom looked down at her quickly, concern shadowing his gaze.
“We’ll get out of here,” he said quietly to her. To the baker, he made a shooing motion and said, “Let’s get out of here, we can talk outside.”
Suzanne led the way, with Matt following and Tom taking up the rear. He looked back at Amanda and offered her an encouraging smile. “We’ll figure this out,” he reassured her. He closed the door behind him, and the bell jangled once again. Nutmeg stopped growling.
“Seriously,” Winnie said, rounding on her older sister. “You heard something, and you didn’t wake me up?”
Amanda shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t want to worry you.”
“You could have been the one to end up dead,” Winnie told her, her voice shaking with emotion.
Even though her tone sounded angry, what Amanda felt coming off her was pure terror.
She got to her feet and enveloped her sister in a tight hug. “I won’t do it again.”
Bea limped over to them. “You’d better not,” she said, joining the hug.
There was a polite knock at the door, and then it swung open, the bell jangling. The three Concordia sisters looked up to see Hank peering inside.
“I know the store’s not open today. But did you want me to hang out and guard it?”
“Yes,” all three sisters said simultaneously.
He nodded. “Okay, I’ll be right outside here.” Hank stepped back and opened the door even wider as Harmony bustled in. She carried a large white frosted bowl.
“We have to charge the crystals,” she told them urgently. “You girls need all the help you can get.”
Amanda didn’t disagree with that sentiment; she could feel the sense of urgency coming off of Harmony. The older woman was truly worried about them and genuinely believed in what she was asking them to do.
“Okay,” Amanda said, deciding to lead the way for her sisters. “We can do it tonight.”
“We can’t wait until tonight,” Harmony replied.
“But I thought we had to do them in the moonlight?” Bea asked.
“Ideally, yes,” Harmony said. “But desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“These are pretty desperate times,” Winnie remarked.
Harmony nodded and locked the door of the shop. She turned back to them, eyes wild. “We need salt.”
“Salt?” Winnie asked. “Like, table salt?”
“No. That contains iodine. No table salt,” Harmony insisted. “Kosher, Himalayan, or sea salt.”
The three sisters looked at each other doubtfully.
“We don’t have any of that for sale,” Winnie said.
“And we need Letty’s necklace.”
“That, I can get,” Winnie said. She hurried upstairs toward the apartment. Amanda watched her go.
Letty had bequeathed jewelry to each of her goddaughters, but none of them had inherited her prized fluorite necklace. She wasn’t surprised that Harmony knew about it, though, considering she and Letty had seemed to have been excellent friends.
Bea snapped her fingers. “I think there’s salt in the storeroom,” she said. “I remember seeing it and thinking it was a weird thing to have on hand.”
“Was that before or after we almost burned to death in there?” Amanda asked, starting to move toward the back room. “Were you thinking that at least we’d die well-seasoned?”
Bea held up her hand. “I can do it. I’ll get it. I’m not a complete invalid.” Taking her crutch, she limped quickly toward the storeroom.
Amanda had turned back to face Harmony. “What’s that?” she asked about the frosted bowl.
“It’s a singing bowl,” Harmony said. “The sound it makes will help to cleanse the crystals.”
Amanda nodded like that made perfect sense to her, but she didn’t really understand how any of this worked.
Harmony squinted at her. “What’s changed?”
Amanda’s first reaction was to play dumb, but every time she’d tried that recently, that had backfired. “I can feel what everyone feels,” she said weakly. “I know that sounds crazy…”
Harmony shook her head. “Letty always said you were the empathetic one.”
Winnie jogged down the stairs, and Bea emerged from the storeroom struggling to carry a five-pound bag of salt at the same time, preventing Amanda from asking Harmony what that meant.
Harmony turned around, searching wildly. “We need a vessel.” Her gaze lit up when she saw Peabody’s chamber pot. Taking the bag of salt from Bea, she began to fill it. “Take off your jewelry.”
The sisters all hesitated, looking to each other for guidance.
Slowly, knowing that Harmony meant well, Amanda removed her earrings. The other two followed suit.
“You must all concentrate on being linked with one another,” Harmony instructed. Once she poured the salt from the bag, she held out her hands to the three Concordia sisters and each turned over their jewelry. Amanda gave her rose quartz earrings, Bea her moss agate ring, and Winnie her amethyst bracelet and Letty’s fluorite necklace. Harmony plunged them into the salt, making sure they were all completely covered, then she told the girls to sit on the ground.
Bea eyed her doubtfully. “I’ll never get back up,” she said nervously.
“We’ll get you back up,” Winnie promised.
“And if we can’t,” Amanda teased, “I’m sure Ash is up to the job.”
Carefully, they lowered Bea to the ground, and then Amanda and Winnie took their places near her. Harmony took the chamber pot and stuck it in the middle between them. “Link hands,” she instructed.
The three sisters formed a triangle around the pot, holding each other’s hands.
Harmony pulled out the singing bowl. “Close your eyes. Link hearts,” she instructed. “Link your spirits.”
Even though she felt a little foolish following the instructions, Amanda did as she was told, wondering if her sisters were also complying.
“Concentrate on your love for one another,” Harmony instructed in a singsong trance-like voice.
“Link hearts, link spirits, link love. Link hearts, link spirits, link love.” She continued chanting that as she began to strike the crystal bowl and a melodious note washed over them.
Amanda wasn’t sure how long they spent like that, with Harmony chanting and playing the bowl and the three sisters holding hands around the chamber pot filled with salt and jewelry. But before long, a warm feeling started to fill her. And then she became completely relaxed. She didn’t even know when Harmony stopped chanting and playing the bowl.
Suddenly, she realized that her sisters had let go of her hands and her own had fallen to her lap. She blinked a few times, trying to focus on what was in front of her.
“You’re so close, Amanda,” Letty said to her.
She gasped as her godmother’s ghost floated in front of her.
“You can do this together, you have to do this together,” Letty said, and then she disappeared.
19
“I need the journal,” Bea gasped desperately.
She shook Winnie, who was staring straight ahead as though in a trance, to get her attention.
“What?”
“I need to touch the journal,” Bea said. “Now.”
Nodding, Winnie jumped to her feet and ran upstairs.
Bea saw that Harmony was sitting on the stool behind the cash register tiredly, like the ritual had exhausted her.
Sitting to her left, Amanda had tears streaming down her face.
“What is it?” Bea asked h
er oldest sister. Seeming unable to speak, Amanda shook her head. She tried to wipe away her tears, but they kept flowing.
Winnie came running back down the stairs, waving the journal. “Here it is. I’ve got it. Did you think of something?”
“No,” Bea said. “But I think it’s time for me to get a vision from it.” She extended her hand, and Winnie hesitated before handing it to her.
“Are you sure?”
Bea nodded. “I’m already sitting down, it’s not like I can fall very far.”
Winnie handed over the journal.
The room spun and Bea was transported into a vision.
“What do you see?” she heard Winnie asking her, as though her sister were very far away.
“The beach,” Bea said, trying to focus on the images flashing in her head. “Siesta Key Beach,” she said. “I can see the colored lifeguard stations.”
“What are you doing on the beach?” Winnie prompted.
Bea shook her head. “I’m not on the beach,” she said. “I’m in the gulf. I’m on the water.”
The skull and crossbones of the pirate flag undulated in front of her. And she felt dizzy.
Someone grabbed her shoulder, steadying her. Fearing that they were going to try and take the journal before she got to see everything it was trying to show her, Bea assured them, “I’m okay.”
“What else do you see?” Winnie asked.
“There’s a woman,” Bea said, trying to focus. “Everything’s blurry, she’s blonde, but that’s all I can see. I can’t see her face.”
“She is so sad and afraid,” she heard Amanda say.
She blinked and opened her eyes to see that, while she held the journal, Amanda had wrapped her arms around Bea’s shoulders. Her eyes were closed, and her chin was trembling as she spoke. “So, so sad, and so afraid.”
“Well, of course she’s afraid,” Bea heard Winnie say.
Bea closed her eyes again, trying to get back on the water.
Winnie continued, oblivious of the distraction she was causing. “A body was found outside our door today.”
“Not her,” Amanda said. “The person she’s having the vision about.”
“There’s a dog on the beach, too,” Bea blurted out. She couldn’t make out the dog’s features, but she could tell that it was barking at the woman. But she was too far out at sea to hear the sound.
“We have to do it together,” Amanda said suddenly.
Bea felt her grip on her shoulders shift. It felt as though Amanda was physically straining toward something.
“Come here,” Amanda ordered.
Bea assumed the order was meant for Winnie.
“We have to do it together,” Amanda repeated.
All three sisters piled their hands together.
Bea heard Winnie gasp.
“What is it?” Amanda asked.
Winnie shook her head. “It’s just a physical sensation,” she said, tension straining her voice. “My hand, it feels like it’s on fire.”
“Go draw,” Amanda urged.
Winnie broke their connection and ran upstairs to get her sketchpad.
Bea opened her eyes and saw that she and Amanda were still connected.
“Can you feel anything else?” she asked her oldest sister.
“Nauseous,” Amanda said with a weak laugh.
“Maybe she’s seasick,” Bea suggested. “I get the feeling she’s out on the water. You’ve never been, so you wouldn’t know how that feels.”
Amanda nodded.
Exhausted, Bea laid down the journal. The second she did, she could feel Amanda relax.
“That was weird,” Amanda said.
“That is exactly what you girls are supposed to do,” Harmony said from where she sat. “Letty would be so proud of you.”
She returned to the chamber pot and dug through the salt and pulled out the jewelry one piece at a time. She gave Bea back her ring, and Amanda back her earrings.
Amanda got to her feet and picked up the amethyst bracelet that belonged to Winnie. She quickly carried it upstairs to their middle sister.
Bea watched her go and then turned her attention to the necklace that went unclaimed. “What are we supposed to do with that?”
Harmony shrugged. “When the time comes, I think the three of you will know.”
“I hope so,” Bea said. It had felt strange to feel so connected to her sisters. Strange, but wonderful.
20
Harmony took her singing bowl and left the shop, pausing to talk to Hank on the way out.
Amanda and Bea stared at each other.
“Now what?” Bea asked.
“Now, I’m going to take a nap,” Amanda announced. “I’m exhausted. I got no sleep last night and it’s been a stressful day.”
Bea nodded her understanding. “With Hank outside, I think I’ll go over to Ash’s for a while.”
Amanda nodded her approval. She offered a hand to Bea to try and pull her up, but she was unable to get her upright.
“Winnie,” Amanda yelled. “Come help me for just a second with Bea.”
Winnie, sketchbook locked under her arm and pencil tucked over her ear, rushed down the stairs. Together, the two older Concordia sisters were able to get the youngest on her feet.
“I’m going to Ash’s,” Bea told Winnie. “Amanda wants to take a nap.”
“I’m going to Piper’s,” Winnie said. “I haven’t had enough caffeine or carbs today.”
“You’ll be okay here alone?” Bea asked.
Amanda nodded. “We’ve got Hank out there guarding the place.”
Winnie and Bea left, also pausing to talk to Hank for a moment. Amanda tiredly climbed the stairs, picking up the old book she’d found before tripping over Perkins. She put it on the night table and fell into bed. She wasn’t sure how long she slept, her dreams were vivid and disturbing, centered on the death of her parents. She could see them out on the lake, but no matter how hard she tried to yell and warn them, no sound came out.
She awoke to the sound of her own name being called.
“Amanda,” the voice insisted. “Open your eyes.”
Grudgingly, she did as she was told and opened her eyes to see Rupert hovering inches away from her, watching her worriedly.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Of course, I’m okay,” she said. She sat up and gave him a hard look. “Where did you run off to?”
“I had to think,” he said.
“About how to lie to me?” Amanda asked. She was still very upset with him for not telling her that Peter Perkins had been dead in front of their door when she’d gotten up to investigate the thud during the night.
“I didn’t lie to you.”
“You lied by omission,” she accused. “You knew you should have told me, and you didn’t.”
He hung his head guiltily. “Fine. But I had my reasons.”
“And what were they?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.
“I wanted to follow him. If I’d gotten into a discussion with you, or you’d gotten upset because he was dead, I couldn’t have done that,” Rupert said.
“What do you mean you followed him?” Amanda blinked, confused.
“I followed his ghost,” Rupert revealed. “I thought he might return to whoever killed him. There’s a rumor that that’s what ghosts who met a violent end do.”
“Tom isn’t convinced that he died of foul play,” Amanda told him.
“Oh,” Rupert mocked. “It’s Tom now? No longer Detective Keller?”
“Don’t change the subject,” she warned. “I’m still not sure I’m comfortable with the idea that you lied by omission to me.”
“It was a mistake,” Rupert told her. “I shouldn’t have done it. All he did was drift over to the baker’s and stare in the window. That guy must make some amazing cookies.”
Amanda shrugged. “They’re good, but not the best I’ve ever had. I need you to promise me you won’t lie to me ag
ain.”
“If I can help it.”
“Lying is a conscious choice,” she pointed out to him.
“But I’m dead,” he said. “So, can I do anything consciously or unconsciously?”
Amanda blinked at the riddle, wondering if he had the answer to it.
“Besides,” Rupert said. “In my own way, I was protecting you.”
“You don’t protect somebody by lying to them,” she pointed out.
“What if Perkins had gotten violent?”
“He was dead,” Amanda said. “How violent could he have been?”
Rupert scowled at her for a long moment, and then said, “You really have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“What are you going on about?”
He focused on the book that she’d brought up. “Watch.”
With a flick of his finger, he flipped open the cover.
Amanda gasped. “You can affect things in the world?”
“Who do you think makes the most trouble in this world?” Rupert asked. “It’s not you poor schlubs trying to get through your day-to-day lives. It’s those of us who don’t have day-to-day lives anymore.”
Amanda frowned, trying to imagine what the repercussions of that were.
“Oh yeah,” Rupert added a bit too casually, “I forgot.”
“Forgot what?” Amanda asked suspiciously, not liking his tone.
“About the day-to-day lives thing…” Rupert hesitated. “Don’t freak out.”
Amanda began to pat down her body. “Are you saying that I don’t have a day-to-day life anymore?” Had she died and not even realized it?
“Calm down,” Rupert said. “This is why I didn’t tell you there was a dead guy outside in the middle of the night. You don’t react to things well.”
“I react to things fine,” she told him defensively. “At least, I did until I came to this crazy place.”
“Well, that’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Rupert said. “It’s gotten a little bit crazier.”
“How?”
“Richardson is dead in the shop.”
21
“Not funny,” Amanda told Rupert with a frown.
“Not kidding,” he told her seriously.