Chapter Seventeen
Casey pushed open her office door and placed her briefcase on top of the desk. Before she could switch on the overhead lights, Raven walked in and settled into one of the leather chairs.
“Why aren’t the lights on?” Raven asked.
“I was juggling too many things in my hands,” Casey replied before taking a sip of her coffee. She walked over and snapped the switch, illuminating the room. “What’s going on?”
“Besides opening night this weekend?” Raven let out an exaggerated sigh.
“You’ll be great. I’ve been watching the dress rehearsals, and the play is fabulous.” Casey twisted the blind’s wand to angle the slats upward, allowing the morning sunlight to stream into the room.
“I know I’ll be great, I’m not too sure about the others though.”
Casey smiled. “It’s normal to have opening-night jitters. Take it from someone who is detached from the play. Everyone is spot on. I think this is one of the best productions the theatre has put on since I’ve been here.”
Raven tilted her head to the side. “You’re always reassuring me. Maybe you can make me feel better about going over to Curtis’s mother’s house. I can’t stand that woman.”
“Curtis has a mother?” Casey asked, then laughed when she saw Raven’s eyes widen. “I know that was a dumb question. Of course, he has a mother. Everyone does.” I just never pictured him having anything normal in his life.
“I wish he didn’t. His mother’s a bitch. She’s never liked me.”
“How come?”
“Because she’s a bitch. I’ve gone out of my way to be kind and understanding with her, but she’s not a pleasant person at all.” Raven leaned back in the chair.
“What does Curtis have to say about it? I hope he stands up for you,” Casey said.
“He does, but he doesn’t get along with his mom either. The only one he gets along with is his sister. He and his brother haven’t spoken in years.”
Casey wanted to ask if his family was as creepy and strange as he was but didn’t think it would go over too well with Raven. “A lot of families don’t get along,” she said as memories of her mom flickered through her mind.
“I know. I’m on the outs with my youngest sister right now, so I get it. It’s just that my mother-in-law’s personality is vile. The only one she treats well is Lenora, Curtis’s sister.”
“Is she the youngest in the family?” Casey asked.
“Yes. She was born premature, so she went through a lot as a child. She still has some issues with her speech, but Curtis always said she was the only one who got any positive attention from his mother.”
“Does he get along well with her?”
“He adores her and then he hates her. I mean, he likes her as a person, but gets mad when his mom favors her. It’s messed up. I prefer to stay away from the lot of them.”
“I never heard you talk about his family. Where’s his dad?”
“He died when Curtis was thirteen years old.”
“I can imagine how hard it is to lose a parent when you’re young.”
“Yeah, but he’s never talked about it. Anyway, with Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, Curtis’s mom wants me to host the dinner.” Raven threw up her hands. “Like I have the time to do that!”
“Why don’t you just order the dinner from Petrie Market? Their food is fabulous. I sometimes pick up their prepared meals and they’re delicious.”
“That’s an idea. I’m sure the bitch wants me to cook, but I don’t have time to do it. Hell, I don’t even know how to make a turkey, and I don’t want to learn.”
Casey laughed. “It sounds like Petrie’s is going to be your best friend this Thanksgiving.”
A soft knock drew their attention to the door.
“Come in,” Casey said.
Clara smiled as she stepped inside. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“You’re not. I’m just ranting about my mother-in-law,” Raven said, looking at Clara. “Stay single for as long as you can.”
A pink flush tinged Clara’s cheeks as she smiled. “At the rate I’m going, I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”
“What’re you talking about? You’re a beautiful and smart woman,” Raven said. “You should have no problem finding the right man to adore you.”
“Raven’s right,” Casey added.
“Oh, I don’t have a problem getting dates, it’s just when the guys find out my brother is in the Insurgents, it all goes to hell. They run off before anything can get started,” Clara said.
“Then they’re not worth having in your life. If a man’s interested, he’ll face anything to be with you,” Raven said.
“You haven’t met my brother. He can be intimidating and scary. He loves doing that to the guys who come around.”
Casey bit the inside of her cheek to keep from asking how Rags was doing. She hadn’t heard from him since their date night five days ago.
“What’s going on with Simon?” Raven asked.
Clara’s pink cheeks turned red. “Uh… I don’t know.” She glanced at Casey, desperation in her eyes.
“Did you bring me the marketing invoices?” Casey asked, pointing to the folder in Clara’s hand.
“Yes! Here you go.” Clara handed the file to Casey, relief washing over her face. “I better get going. I promised Jacob I’d help him with some things. I can’t wait until opening night. This is so exciting.”
“It is.” Casey smiled. Clara embodied excitement, positivity, and an openness to new opportunities.
In many respects, she reminded Casey of her younger self when she was on the cusp of her burgeoning career.
There was no doubt Clara would conquer what she set out to do, and with the support of her family, she would go far.
“See you later,” Clara said as she stepped into the hallway.
Raven sighed. “Oh, to be young again.” She waved a hand dramatically in the air. “Don’t you wish you could go back in time knowing what you know now?”
Casey shrugged. “I don’t know if I’d do anything differently except not getting married to the first man who made me feel loved.”
“I would’ve moved to New York and pushed my way onto Broadway instead of marrying so young. I mean, Curtis is good to me, but I regret that I didn’t give my career a real chance.”
“I guess everybody would do something different if they could change things,” Casey said as she picked up her briefcase and set it on the floor.
A cloth-covered book sat on the corner of her desk. “What’s this?” she asked out loud.
Raven leaned closer. “The book?”
“Yeah. I wonder where it came from,” she said, opening the cover and thumbing through the pages. “There’s no inscription. That’s strange.”
“What’s it about?” Raven asked.
“Unsolved murders of the early twentieth century,” Casey replied, looking at the inside cover.
“That’s gruesome, especially with the killings that have been happening in town.” Raven visibly shuddered.
“Isn’t it? I also read about murders in that book you gave me, Ghosts of the High Country.
A large portion of the book is devoted to a string of murders in 1903.
The victims were all dark-haired women who were strangled and then posed in certain ways.
When I read about it, it eerily fit the profile of the women who’ve been murdered here in the last couple of months. ”
“That’s strange as hell. The murders were in that book I gave you? I thought the book was about ghosts. So, the victims are haunting the area?”
“The narrative tied in some ghostly apparitions with the victims, but what struck me was how similar the murders were to the current ones. It couldn’t be the same person. Those killings were over a hundred years ago, but maybe it’s someone who read about them and got the idea?”
“Or a crazed descendant of the murderer,” Raven said. “But who gave you this book?”
“I don’t know. I wonder if Devin found it and brought it over.
” Casey flipped through the first few pages but didn’t see a museum stamp.
“I mentioned it to him when we had dinner at Ruthie’s one night.
He said he never heard of it. But when we went for coffee last week, he told me he looked up the newspaper coverage of the killings in the archives.
I haven’t had a chance to check those yet, but maybe he found a book, too. ”
“It could be, because he knows you’re a history buff like he is, but why wouldn’t he leave a note?”
“I don’t know, but it has to be him. Who else would give me the book?” Curtis’s face ran through her mind. “Anyway, I’ll ask Devin when I see him.”
“Sounds like you two are getting pretty friendly,” Raven teased.
“We’re just friends who like history, café lattes, and diners.” Casey laughed.
“What about Jacob? Are you just friends with him, too?”
“Of course. We go back several years. I met him when I first started with the Denver theatre company.”
“I don’t think he regards you as much as a friend as you do. He’s interested in you. You must know that.”
“I do. I guess I always knew it, but I kept our friendship at a bit of an arm’s distance. Since I started working here, we see each other all the time, and I think he’s grown more enamored. I wish he’d find a nice woman. He’s a good guy, but I just don’t have those feelings for him.”
“Only for the biker?” A sly smile spread across Raven’s face.
“Biker?”
“Don’t play innocent with me. Curtis told me you and one of the outlaw guys were pretty chummy.” She laughed.
“Curtis? How would he know?”
“He had a booth at the festival.”
“I know. Zoe and I went over to see if you were helping out. It looked like he was on his own.”
“He was.”
“Then how would he know what I was doing?” Unless he shut down the booth and followed me. A thin shiver wove through her.
“I guess he saw you guys together. So, who’s this guy? Curtis said you’re crazy to give attention to one of those outlaws.”
“Those outlaws are the ones who put on the festival to raise money for children.”
Raven held up her hands. “Whoa, I was quoting Curtis. I don’t think anything like that. If I wasn’t married, I’d be looking over one of those sexy guys. When they walk down the street, or enter a room, or ride by on their big Harleys, they command respect. It’s totally wild and sexy.”
“It can be,” Casey said.