Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
I come bearing coffee
Gideon
My mind had been hard at work all night trying to figure out what was going on in Ravenstone, so I’d barely slept a wink. Eventually, I gave up, dragged myself down the stairs, and put on a pot of coffee. It seemed Declan was wearing off on me.
At least Winston’s death had made sense in a way.
He was a difficult man to deal with, and he had his fair share of enemies, but Jim?
Everyone liked him. He was having money problems, sure, but that was mostly Winston’s fault.
His crew all knew that and didn’t seem to blame him for it, so there was no motive there.
I couldn’t find any logical connection between the two murders, but the two had a history and were both killed in the same place, so they had to be connected. But how?
By the time Perry came down the stairs, I’d already had three cups of coffee and was no closer to an answer than I had been before I went to bed the night before.
“Morning, Perry. Want a cup of coffee?”
He glanced nervously around the room until he saw we were alone. “Sure, coffee sounds good.”
I poured him a cup, and he gave me a small smile as he took it. “You’re up early. I didn’t expect anyone to be down here this morning.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep. There was another murder last night.”
“Really?” He shook his head. “Who was it?”
“A human contractor named Jim. I don’t know if you know him.”
“He was the one who was remodeling the building up the street, right?”
“Yeah, that’s him. Did you know him?”
“Nah, but he came into The Hearth and Griddle and ate breakfast a lot. Denise said he hadn’t been in much lately because he was having money problems.”
“Yeah, that’s what we’ve been hearing. Are you on your way to work?” He didn’t normally go in this early, and he wasn’t dressed in his normal work clothes.
“No, I’m off today, so I wanted to spend some time in the woods.”
Bigfoot, like other shifters, didn’t do well if they didn’t spend time in their natural element.
Even I needed that to keep my wolf happy, whether I could shift or not, so I was glad to hear he was taking care of himself.
“Sounds good, but be careful out there. This is festival weekend, so there’ll be a bunch of strangers in town, and some of them could be out hiking. ”
“Don’t worry, I’m good at hiding.”
I watched him go and then decided to take a walk of my own. I wasn’t worried about the tourists who’d be in town for the festival, but especially after finding Jim last night, I needed to see for myself that everyone was okay today.
I walked across the street, turned to the left, and walked down in front of the market that wasn’t open yet, then passed by The Witch’s Brew coffee shop.
It was open, but no one was inside other than Lily, who was standing behind the counter looking forlorn.
I quickened my step, so I’d make it by her before she saw me, because the last thing I wanted today was a cup of her horrible coffee.
From there, I passed Leon’s antique store and Mei’s craft store.
Everything appeared to be in order along Main Street.
I crossed over to the square where the festival was set up. A young wolf named Lewis saw me and headed my way. I stopped and waited for him to reach me.
“Morning, Lewis.”
He bowed his head slightly before taking a deep breath. “Morning, Alph—Gideon.”
I ignored the slip. I knew my alpha energy was confusing. It was strong enough that no other alpha would consider making Ravenstone their home, but not enough for me to claim the title.
“Everything okay here at the festival grounds?”
“They are. It’s been a fairly peaceful night. I had to run off a couple of teenagers who were trying to sneak onto the rides, but other than that, I haven’t seen a soul until you.”
“Good. I just wanted to check in.”
“Is it true that Jim Walton is dead?”
“It is.” I wasn’t sure how people had already heard about his death, but that was small towns for you.
“That’s a shame. A couple of my cousins worked for him. They’d said he was struggling, but still they liked their job.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear some of his family had worked for Jim. Shifters often worked in jobs like construction. Their supernatural strength made them a real asset in that type of work.
“I think most people liked working for him—at least they did until he couldn’t pay them.” I was fishing here, hoping maybe he’d heard of someone who hadn’t been quite so understanding about not being paid.
“Oh, even then, Trip said the guys all understood. They all hated Winston, and they were glad he was dead, but none of them blamed Jim.”
Oh well, so much for that theory. So far, I hadn’t found anyone who blamed Jim for their troubles.
“Okay, well, I’ll let you get back to work. People will be arriving soon to set up their booths.”
He looked at the sun and nodded. “Yep, my shift is almost over, and then I’m going to head back home, get some sleep.”
Looked like Lewis had everything at the festival under control, so I crossed the street and headed back down the other side.
Avery was inside her flower shop getting ready to open for the day, and she waved at me as I went by.
I walked by the empty store where both bodies had been found, but from the outside, you’d never guess so much violence had taken place there.
I met Tulip at the front door of the Menagerie.
She was coming from the direction of the pond.
She was dressed in a simple sundress and sported a strong enough glamor to almost look human.
She seldom bothered with such things, and I nearly asked her what the occasion was, but then I remembered she was running the shop for Elwood during the festival.
My guess was that she didn’t want to waste half her day dealing with humans’ nosy questions by pretending she wore a costume or had some bizarre skin disorder that affected the color of her skin.
“You ready for a day of selling crystals, potions, and spells?” I asked.
“I am, but after a day of dealing with tourists, I’m going to need to hibernate in my underwater cave. I don’t know how Elwood does it every day.”
We walked into the shop, Tulip to work and me to find Declan and take him for a cup of coffee. I was a little earlier than I’d planned, but in the short time I’d known Declan, I’d learned that coffee was the key to waking up his brain.
He and Elwood came in from the back, and sure enough, I could tell by the half-awake look in his eyes that he desperately needed his pick-me-up juice.
“You’re early,” he said, giving me his best grumpy look, but he was simply too sweet to pull off grumpy, so it came off as more of a pout.
“I am. I thought we could go get some coffee before we headed to the festival.”
“Yes, please, coffee sounds wonderful.” He turned back to Elwood. “Are you sure you don’t need help at your booth?”
“I’m sure. You and Gideon have more important things to do than stand around my booth selling trinkets. You have to take pictures for the town’s social media, and you have a murder to solve.”
“Two of them,” I grumbled.
Elwood nodded. “True, but if you solve the first one, I feel certain you’ll solve both.”
“Okay, then we’ll get going, but we’ll stop by to check on you later.”
“Like I didn’t manage just fine before you got here,” the old witch mumbled. I didn’t think it was loud enough for Declan to hear, but if he did, he ignored it.
“Coffee,” he said, like maybe I’d forgotten that was the mission.
“Coffee,” I agreed.
It had taken longer than normal for us to get coffee from the Thistle Café because the town was already filling with out-of-towners who were here for the festival. Leon might be annoying, but he was right. Events like this helped support the local economy.
Once we got our coffees, we started the walk back to the festival. He was looking into the windows of Leon’s shop when someone walking toward us on the sidewalk almost ran into him. I grabbed him by the arm and gently moved him to the side, out of their way, saving both my shirt and his coffee.
“Thanks,” he said. “I didn’t expect this many people to be here this early.”
“I didn’t either, to be honest, but I’m glad the festival’s looking to be a huge success.”
The closer we got to the square, the louder the festival grew—music drifting on the air, the steady hum of voices, and the occasional shriek of laughter when someone won a game or got dunked in the tank.
The smell of fried dough, roasting corn, and way too many kinds of candied nuts all mingled together.
Declan slowed beside me, eyes going wide as he took it all in. He turned in a slow circle, gaze snagging on everything—the booths bright with patchwork quilts and charms, the musicians setting up on the corner stage, the tables covered in various treats and things for sale.
“This is…” His gaze caught on a group of pixies who’d dropped their glamor for the festival.
Their bright-colored hair and pointy ears shone in the morning sun.
If any humans took notice, they’d assume they were kids dressed up for the festivities, not full-grown members of the fair folk community.
“Magical. I mean—literally magical, isn’t it? ”
I smirked. “Welcome to Ravenstone, Declan. Where magic is pretty much everywhere.”
His laughter bubbled out, easing some of the tension that had been riding him since the sheriff took Elwood in and he’d learned that magic was indeed real. It was a good sound, and the pull to keep him here—not just in Ravenstone, but here with me—was sharper than I wanted to admit.
Declan stopped in front of a booth where quilts hung fluttering in the morning breeze, patterns so intricate they almost seemed to shift when the light caught them. “Are they… moving?” he asked.
“Enchanted thread,” I said. “Mrs. Bloomgarden’s work. Each one’s got a charm stitched in—luck, warmth, protection, whatever you need. People swear by them.”