Chapter 19
I had never been shot before. I didn’t know what to expect.
I didn’t expect time to still.
Or for the darkness around me to thicken as if a thousand nights had fallen beneath a million more.
There was no ticking forward. There was no ticking backward.
Time simply held. Hovering.
I was standing (was I?) paused in the threshold between Now, Then, Before. I was anchored (barely, slipping, slipping) in this moment as the only moment, the only space that existed.
I needed to hold here on this slippery slope between the tick and the tock. To reach (stretch, lean), not very far, not very long, just the distance of my fingers (fingertips, fingernails) into the past.
Time, the god (gods?) of Time noticed.
Uh-oh.
I felt him (her? them?) swivel molten gazes, heartless power searching for what had caused this pause (interruption, outrage).
I could feel them (her? him?) lock onto me, lock onto my position in the flow of time, like I was a rock wedged in the gear of a monumental machine.
I could feel them coming my way, (a tsunami, a mountain, a roar) to unstick me, to remove me like a bug from their cosmic windshield.
But I didn’t have time to worry about the god (gods? monsters?) of Time.
I had my eye on one single Past.
I strained, close, closer, my fingertips brushing against, then catching purchase on that single slippery possibility. (Was this real? Or was I dreaming? Shot, bleeding, dead?)
I grabbed the past I wanted, anchoring (chaining, welding) it to me.
This is real, this has to be real
This the past that has always been real
This one thing has always happened.
In this one Past, I talk to Buzz in the kitchen. He offers me the keys and instead of taking them, I tell him if I need them, I know where to get them.
That means when the lights go out, I don’t have the keys to turn on the generator.
That means everything that has happened since, has happened in complete, utter, endless darkness.
And just like that, the world (the real world) plunged into darkness.
Aggie pointed her gun my way, but she couldn’t see me to aim—
I threw myself down—
—the gun fired, a slash of heat and violence, off target, way off target and still way too close—
—I was on my feet, running. Not away, not to the locked door, not to the kitchen with Vandre, not to the land line phone—
—I bulldozed straight into Aggie.
We collided, went down, yelled in pain and outrage, the gun clattering away in the darkness.
I wasn’t a fighter, but there was no way I was going to let Aggie get that gun before I got it.
We scrambled and lunged for it, tripping up, and tripping over each other.
I couldn’t see the gun, couldn’t see anything. But neither could she.
I shoved up to my feet and felt around until my hands landed on a chair.
Aggie stood too, I could hear her panting, she was right in front of me. I swung the chair in a wild arc with everything I had.
“Ow!” The sound of a body hitting the ground with a woof of air leaving her lungs filled the space.
I held the chair over my shoulder. “Stay down or I’ll do it again.”
If I could find her again.
“Fine!” she snarled. “I’ll put my hands up here where you can see—”
“Freeze, both of you.”
Vandre (who didn’t sound woozy) beamed a light our way. I yelped at the brightness and half covered my eyes.
He was near the kitchen, his palm flat on the wall. The pressure from him leaning on the future made my ears want to pop.
“Keep those hands up, Aggie. Piper, step back slowly.”
I took a couple steps back.
“Can you keep her there?” I asked him.
“Yes.”
That “yes” sounded more like “probably,” so I made it quick.
The land line was my only hope. I fumbled with the flashlight on my phone and ran into the kitchen.
Instead of going to the phone, I dug in the drawer, pulled out a roll of plastic wrap, and took it back out into the dining room.
“What are you doing?” Vandre asked. “I said not to get close—Oh. Yes. Good idea.”
I pulled Aggie’s hands behind her back and tied her wrists together. Then just because I didn’t know what other kinds of power she had, I tied her ankles together.
“I thought you wanted to be friends!” she yelled as I dashed back into the kitchen.
“We could have been,” I told her honestly, “but you wanted money and power more than you wanted friendship.”
I picked up the phone receiver and almost sobbed in relief when I heard the dial tone.
I quickly dialed 911.
“Nine-one-one emergency, this is Chief Delaney.”
“Delaney, it’s Piper. I’m at the Blue Owl.
The murderer is here, but don’t worry, she’s tied up.
I’m here with Vandre, I mean Detective Vandre, you know him?
Myra says you know him. And Gail and a man named Charles are here and they might need an ambulance—but they’re breathing so I think they’re okay.
“Oh, and we have no power, but I’ll wake up Buzz and get the generator going.”
Futures flashed:
Delaney driving out here still talking to me on the phone…
Delaney driving too fast and getting in an accident…
Me hanging up the phone and waking up Buzz (and Delaney arriving safe and sound.)
“See you soon!” I said. “Drive safe!”
I hung up the phone then dashed back to Buzz’s office to wake him up and get those keys for the generator.
* * *
“She thought you had Pandora’s box?” Delaney asked me. Again. She really was thorough about getting all the details multiple times.
I set my tea on the table and yawned. The storm had blown itself out hours ago. Morning was a smudge of grey in the unrepentant sky.
“That’s what she said. She said she saw the futures and in them I had the box.”
Delaney tipped her head in question.
“No. I don’t have it. I don’t know where it is. It’s possible someone planted it on me, but I don’t know who could have had it or who would have been close enough to give it to me. Hugo was dead, maybe Gail or Kenny? But I wasn’t around them long enough for them to…”
Futures sparkled and flashed:
I was in my car, I went home…
I was in my car, I went to the Rookery…
I walked out to my car and looked in the back seat…
That last future shone like a lighthouse in a storm.
“Back seat,” I said. “I think we need to look in the back seat of my car.”
“What’s in the back seat of your car?” She stood and glanced out the diner’s door.
I laughed. “I don’t know, let’s go find out.”
Aggie had remained stubbornly silent on the floor while we waited for the police to arrive.
Delaney and Myra had been the first through the door, followed by Hatter, Shoe, and Sage and Page who had brought the ambulance.
The vampire EMTs had headed back to Gail and Charles who were awake but still disoriented. A clunk on the back of the head would do that to a person.
Buzz had closed the restaurant for the day and the rest of us had stayed behind.
He had given his statement (several times) and was now out in the parking lot, chatting with people who drove in, letting them know we’d be up and running by tomorrow, and giving them suggestions for other restaurants they could find on their route.
Vandre was still here, too, sitting in what I was starting to think of as his booth by the door, drinking coffee and being questioned by Myra.
He caught my gaze as I started toward the door, and the smile he gave me was encouraging.
What did he know that I didn’t know?
I walked into the fresh air and took a deep breath. My car was right where I’d left it what felt like days ago. I started toward it.
“Aggie’s confession will clear Jean’s name, right?” I asked.
Delaney nodded. “Both you and Vandre heard Aggie’s confession.
Aggie wants an attorney present before she talks to us, but I’m sure we’ll be able to track the timeline—both the one she manipulated and the actual timeline—to prove she killed Hugo and Kenny, though I don’t like it that she could get into Ordinary and kill Kenny without me knowing. ”
“You’ve been worried. Distracted,” I said. “She knew you would be and used it to her advantage. And I think she used brute force, not magic to kill him. But Jean being cleared of the crime is wonderful. I know it’s been hard. Hard on her and hard on you.”
“It has been. But I never doubted the truth would come out. I just thought I’d find it first. Or if not me, Hatter or Shoe. I didn’t expect you to be so involved, Piper.”
“Jean’s my friend. We seers have to stick together.”
I patted my pockets for keys, then opened the car. “Here we go! One back seat coming up!”
I bent and looked in.
All my usual travel gear was there: a lap blanket, a spare pair of sneakers, an extra coat, and the little lunch tote that had a granola bar and water in it.
But I spotted something else, there, on the floor.
Something old.
Something fuzzy.
The broken talking teddy bear.
“No,” I said with chuckle. “Not you!”
I reached under the seat and pulled out the bear I had absently tossed back there after I’d found Kenny dead in his store.
“That’s it?” Delaney asked.
“Maybe? I think it must be. Aggie said she was looking for a cursed bear, but maybe she was looking for what was in it. You check.” I handed her the bear.
She studied it for a moment, then squished the bear’s belly, really digging in. She shifted her grip and smooshed the bear’s head.
I could see the change in her expression.
“Something’s in the head.”
“The mechanical stuff that makes the bear talk?”
“I don’t think so. Well, it could be. But it feels square.”
“Like a box?”
“Mmm-hmm. I’m not going to open this here in an unprotected space outside of Ordinary. Too risky.”
“Smart.”
“Okay, this is evidence. I’ll bag it up.” She reached into her jacket pocket, produced a bag, and dropped the bear into it.
“Do you want to check anything else in my car?”
“Is there something I should check?”
“Not that I know of. I was the one who chucked the bear into the back seat. Back when I was taking it to Kenny for repair.”
She nodded. “Okay, go ahead and open the trunk and all the doors, I’ll take a quick look just in case.”
I was happy to do so. I was done being the target of a crime I did not do, done being the target of a woman who would use anyone and anything to get what she wanted: more power.
Hugo might have been a thief and a jerk who hid the stolen box in the bear, and well, Kenny might have been both those things, too, but neither of them deserved to be killed because a person more powerful than they were wanted what they had.
Delaney took her time searching my car, pulled out her phone and snapped pictures, then told me I could lock it up.
“Is that it then?” I asked. “Can I go home, get a shower, sleep for a week?”
I mean, I was still super curious about the bear and Pandora’s box, but I was also exhausted. It had been a long night, and a long several days before that.
Messing with time (I couldn’t believe I’d really done that!) had taken it out of me.
Even one hour of sleep sounded like pure luxury.
“Yes, that’s it. Piper, I’m really sorry this happened. I know how much you love the Blue Owl, and I know how much of a shock it can be to have something so traumatic happen in a place you love. If you need anything—if I can help you in any way—please come to me.”
The emotions—gratitude, belonging, acceptance—were overwhelming.
“Thank you. You and your sisters have always been so kind. If I need something, I’ll let you know.”
She pressed her hand briefly on my arm, then started toward her Jeep to deal with the bear.
Buzz was walking my way.
“Heck of a night, eh, Pipes?”
“You can say that again. At least it stopped raining.”
He chuckled. We were facing the Blue Owl, the sign (which was, of course, a Blue Owl) towering cheerfully over the top of it.
“You know what I think?” he asked after a moment.
“That the roof is going to need some repair?”
“Yeah, that. But I think I’m getting too old for all of this. Not some of it, but, yeah, all of it.”
“Are you talking the restaurant or the murders?”
He stuffed his hands in his front pockets and shrugged. “Both. Same. But I’ve got an idea.”
“Uh-oh.”
“About what you said, the experience you have with running a restaurant.”
I didn’t dare look into the future, didn’t look into the past. I didn’t want to influence Buzz’s decision. Not when the outcome could mean so much to me.
“Plus, I’m not getting any sleep,” he said.
“Not enough,” I agreed.
“And Delaney told me you’re one of us. Magical.”
“Oh?”
“You see the future?”
There wasn’t any reason for me to deny it. “Yes. I see the future.”
“Well then, you’ll fit right in. I have a little magic too. A gift for making food. But that doesn’t mean I can handle the business on my own twenty-four-seven. What do you think about becoming a partner in this venture?”
Yes, I was tired. Yes, it had been a hard few days, and yes, just like Delaney had pointed out, a lot of bad stuff had happened in a place I loved.
But I did love this place. I wanted to make sure that a lot more good stuff happened here from now on.
I wanted to fully claim it as mine too.
“I’d love that,” I said. “How about we talk after we both get some sleep? How’s tomorrow around 4:30 sound?”
“Dark and early? Perfect. See ya’ then, Pipes!” He pivoted and started toward the next car rolling cautiously into the parking lot.
I gave the place one last look—happy, really happy—then got in my car and drove home.