Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
Nic’s security team found Fred out beyond the gatehouse, where he’d been smoking. His car keys were gone as was the black SUV that I’d almost gotten into a few minutes ago. He was alive but had been knocked unconscious.
Nic was on his phone, ordering a new car and driver for me. And he started the team tracking the stolen vehicle. When he came back into the den, he pulled Bubba aside.
“Nope, you need to do this in front of everyone. We need to understand what happened,” I called out to my brother’s back. I think he would have kept walking except Bubba turned around and nodded.
“Eddie’s right. Everyone needs to be kept updated. Every time something like this happens. Otherwise, we’ll be flying blind.” Bubba crossed his hands in front of him and stood his ground.
“You’re probably right. From what I’ve learned, Fred stepped away from the group to smoke.
He’s the only one who still smokes so he didn’t want to be rude.
The rest of the drivers were all in their cars, waiting, when they saw him come back and get into his car.
A few minutes later, Bubba came out to wave the car forward.
He leaned into the door, then jerked back.
A few seconds after that, he walked into the house to get you both,” Nic looked at me and Lilac.
“Then you pulled everyone back into the house. What did you see?”
“It wasn’t so much what I saw but what I felt.
I knew it wasn’t Fred in the driver’s seat.
I could see his hair under his hat. He’s a blond, this guy wasn’t.
It all felt wrong. I told Bubba and Lilac that I’d forgotten to grab more potion.
Bubba seemed out of it.” I walked over and touched his cheek.
He was pale and hot. “Annamae? Can you check him?”
She walked over and led Bubba to a chair, then used her senses to reach out to him. She closed her eyes, then they popped open. “He was sprayed with a potion. Go get me a wet rag. And Eddie, go wash your hands, now.”
When I got back to the den, Bubba looked better.
I felt the same. So maybe the potion hadn’t been on the part of his cheek that I’d touched, or it had already dispersed.
Potions are tricky to dispense in a spray.
Sometimes, the intended target didn’t get the full effect of the mist before it disappeared into the air.
“Your new car and driver, George, is out front. Are you ready to go or do you want to stay over?” Nic moved closer to me.
“I want to go home. Like Alexander said, my place is as warded as yours. Besides, Dexter and Fluffy are there. They’re probably thinking we abandoned them.” I met Bubba’s gaze and he nodded. He was fine. Or as fine as he could be after being hit by a magical potion.
So not only was this guy kidnapping and killing mediums, he also had some magical talent and skills.
And I was on his list. I shivered as we headed outside again.
George was standing by the back door of the SUV, waiting to open it for me.
I’d met him several times when he’d been assigned to drive me around when I first arrived back in New Orleans. He was a kind man.
I hated putting him in harm’s way.
The next morning, George was waiting to take us into town and the shop. We were gathered around the breakfast table sipping coffee and not talking about what had happened last night.
“Did you refill your potion bottle?” Bubba asked, not looking up from his phone where I knew he was going over the sports scores from last night. Why there were so many professional sports teams baffled me. I guess a non-reader would ask why there were so many books.
I held up the Captain Marvel bottle I’d taken out of the cabinet this morning.
Lilac loved female superheroes and was always complaining about their treatment by the major film studios.
Apparently most were dealt with by male writers with a romantic marriage and retirement from crime fighting, had a terminal illness, or turned evil due to an emotional breakdown.
I thought it was par for the course as far as the way women were seen.
But I didn’t want to break the young woman’s bubble about how much the world hadn’t really changed for women.
I thought with the things going on now, the seventies never existed.
Soon, the powers that be would be rolling us all back into the fifties.
And I’d be given away in an arranged marriage.
In some ways, at least it would be easier. I’d never have to deal with the pain of having my heart broken.
“Earth to Eddie.” Bubba snapped his fingers. “Are you ready to go?”
I must have been deep in thought because I hadn’t heard the question before. “Sure, I’m ready. After we check in at the shop, I want to go talk to Catherine at the hospital. See how she’s doing.”
“I’ll let George know to hang around.” Bubba stood and tucked his phone into his jeans. Bubba used to wear a suit but since now he worked for Goldstein’s Antiques, I told him he could dress more casual. That way, I didn’t feel guilty asking him to move furniture in his suit.
Lilac had grabbed her backpack. “Next week is my orientation at Tulane. Am I going to have to be escorted? And if so, can you get someone young, hot and cute that I can say is my boyfriend?”
“Do you want to have a boyfriend going into freshman year? It might limit your opportunities to have a full campus experience.” Bubba asked as he locked the back door.
“Oh, I’ll break up with him before school starts. Then if I still need an escort, I’ll tell everyone my dad’s wanted by an art gallery mafia.” She scrunched up her nose. “I’ll have a better explanation if that time comes. I don’t want to support violence. Am I going to Annamae’s?”
“You’re a nut and yes, I’d feel better with you there.
Even though we had that incident last night,” I said as we stepped out into the yard.
George had the car parked in the driveway, close to the house.
He had the door open and was waving to us to get under cover.
Just in case. I took a quick glance at the other side of the condo.
Alexander was standing in a window, watching us leave.
At least someone would know we were out and about.
I shivered as I hurried to the safety of the car.
As we headed to the shop, Bubba turned to me. “We don’t have to go anywhere if you’re not ready. Yesterday was a lot. We can just go home and play board games and eat nachos.”
“I can make soup,” Lilac added, not looking up from her phone.
“I wasn’t kidnapped,” I said as I thought about our close call. “Okay, maybe I was targeted but they missed me. You two are just going to have to watch my back. I trust you.”
Lilac looked up and then put her phone away in her backpack.
“I think I should go with you instead of going to the compound. Where do you want me? At the shop or being your assistant today? I don’t think Mel expected me to be back from college hunting yet.
I don’t need to be on campus for this orientation until Monday.
It’s still okay for me to stay at the condo and commute, right? ”
“Sure, of course. Unless you don’t want to.
Living on campus gives you a different viewpoint of college and life.
” I knew that Lilac had lived on her own for a while, but that was on the street as a runaway.
She’d never had the experience in a contained setting where she could hopefully feel safe.
“The cost will be covered either choice you make. I don’t know about the escort yet.
If this maniac has put his sights on me, you might need a bodyguard until we find him. ”
“Honestly, I’m scared enough to let you set one up,” Lilac smiled at me. “Somehow this guy got to Fred and messed with Bubba here. I’m just a gnat compared to those guys.”
“A gnat with a talent.” Bubba reminded her. “You need someone next week at least. And you need to use this talent of yours. Can’t the ghosts warn you of danger? That one was upset with Alexander and told you not to trust him last year.”
I tapped my finger on my lips. I turned to Lilac. “It’s not a bad idea. I wonder if Tessa wants to go to college with you.”
“Tessa would be too busy fantasizing about the frat boys and not helping out.” Lilac leaned back in her chair.
“Harry would be appalled at the clothes the girls wore. And I don’t know Forrest well enough.
Maybe I have someone who’d like to go to school, if you can afford another scholarship. Let me talk to him.”
“I’d pay for someone to go with you if that’s what you want.
If we used a friendly ghost, we might have problems with their energy levels.
But if they could warn you or at worst, come tell me, we’d have at least an early warning alert on you.
” I wondered if Nic could use this method in his shops.
Have each reader find someone they could trust on the other side.
They had to have enough power to warn someone else, but it would be like an old-fashioned phone tree.
And hopefully, keep the readers safe. “I need to talk to Esmerelda and Rory when we get to the shop.”
“Nic said they’re heading our way and to make sure there’s coffee made.” Bubba held up his phone. “He was updating me on Fred’s condition. He was treated and released at the ER last night. Someone hit him on the head. Your villain is being physical.”