Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
The morning came way too fast for me, and I groaned as I rolled over in my bed, pushing my hair out of my eyes. Hank bellied up towards me on the bed until his nose just touched mine, then gave me a swipe with his rough little tongue.
“Morning, buddy,” I said, reaching out to scratch his tummy when he rolled over for me.
My thoughts were in a jumble this morning, as I tried to work out the impressions from my dreams last night.
The most disconcerting one was that I felt like maybe I should have stayed behind to see what the evil thing on the beach was.
I sincerely hoped our retreat wouldn’t come back to bite us in the ass.
Biting my lower lip, I hurried through my morning routine, pausing after my shower to examine my closet.
If we were leaving straight from work to pick up Miss Elva, I should probably dress for the day.
Glancing down at Hank, I realized I would need to come home and let him out anyway, but still decided to grab a purple maxi dress from a hanger.
The rich purple color complemented my lavender hair, and small gold sequins were sewn on the bottom half, giving the fabric a fun shimmer.
Plus, this dress made me feel powerful – and I suspected I’d need to project confidence when we went to the Pagan festival later in the day.
Mulling over the potential for disaster to strike at the festival, I let out a screech when I rounded the bottom of my steps and ran face-first into Rafe.
“Jesus, Rafe. Don’t do that,” I shouted, holding my hand over my heart.
“What? You said not to come upstairs.”
“So you waited at the exact bottom of the stairs?”
“Well, not all night. I watched some of the people in the box talk. Then I went out and about. But I figured I’d better come back and wait for you this morning, as I didn’t want to miss spending the day with you.”
I leveled a look at him as I crossed the room to open the back door to let Hank outside for his morning potty, leaving it open for him to come back in when he was finished.
“You don’t have to stay with me the whole time, you know,” I said, wanting to encourage separation in our spaces.
“We’re friends. That’s what friends do,” Rafe said easily.
Oh boy.
“Rafe, where are you from? How come you don’t have an accent?” I asked as I moved to where Hank was already doing a happy dance in front of his food bowl.
“I’m from Spain. I don’t really know why I don’t have an accent. You sound strange to me. I don’t know, maybe I picked it up from the people talking in the box,” Rafe said, a puzzled look on his face.
“Weird,” I muttered, gathering my purse and reaching inside Hank’s toy drawer. Today’s toy was a pirate, of all things, and I laughed a little, holding it up to show Rafe. He floated over to me, his brows crinkled in concern.
“What is this item? Is this a voodoo doll?” Rafe breathed, cocking his head to examine the toy’s hat and broadsword.
“Yes, yes it is,” I said solemnly, then laughed when Rafe gasped and moved back from the toy.
“Just joking. It’s a toy for Hank,” I explained as I threw it to Hank and he chased it happily across the floor.
Soon loud squeaks emanated from the pirate toy’s head and Rafe had a horrified look on his face.
“I knew he was a devil-beast,” Rafe hissed as he slipped out the front door behind me.
“He’s not a devil-beast. Yesterday his toy was a banana. Don’t worry so much,” I said and then stopped short when I noticed a neighbor across the street looking at me oddly.
“Mr. Patterson!” I nodded and waved to him, then spoke through the side of my mouth to Rafe.
“Don’t talk to me in public. People will think I’m crazy.”
“I’m pretty sure you are,” I heard the ghost mutter as he followed me to my bike.
“This contraption is your steed?” Rafe asked quizzically as I threw a leg over my beach cruiser and sat on the seat, putting my purse in the basket in front of me.
“Yes, and a most noble steed it is,” I muttered as I kicked away from the curb, happy that I had pulled my hair back from my face as a low breeze, heavy with humidity, tickled my face.
Deciding that it was an iced coffee morning, I veered my bike from my road and towards the main strip in downtown Tequila.
At 8:00 am, it was fairly bustling. Dive boats were pulling out of the harbor, while fishing boats were already long gone into the sea.
Rafe chattered over my ear, exclaiming about cars and other things he found to be interesting, but I ignored him, seeing as how I had literally just told him not to talk in public.
I passed Fins, waving at the owner as he swept the porch, and pulled my bike aside to lock it in front of Beanz, the local coffee shop.
Painted a pretty coffee bean color with turquoise blue trim, Beanz was the best spot in town for Blue Mountain coffee, straight from Jamaica.
Luckily, Rafe kept his mouth shut as he followed me into the shop, the bell above the door tinkling with our arrival.
Wow, this place is packed, I thought, just as my eyes landed on Prudie Whittier holding court by the counter. Even the barista had stopped making coffee, her mouth hanging open in shock as she listened to what Prudie had to say.
“I’m quite certain it was witches. Well, you know the ones. After all, the dead body was found laid out on a pentagram. And we all know that potion shop is probably a bastion of witch activity. Wasn’t that one girl in the paper just a month ago for murder? Lisa something?”
“Luna,” I said loudly, causing a hush to fall over the entire shop as Prudie straightened. Her lips were pressed thin as she surveyed me in disapproval.
“You’re probably involved in this somehow,” she observed and the barista gasped, her eyes darting between the two of us.
“Hey, Katy,” I said, smiling at her as I moved through the room to stand in front of Prudie. “The usual, please.”
“Uh, sure,” Katy said, turning to retrieve the iced coffee from the low refrigerator behind the counter.
Hands on my hips, I moved forward another step, getting into Prudie’s personal space and forcing her to take a step back.
“Now, why don’t you tell me what’s going on, Prudie?
Because I’m quite certain I didn’t just hear you accusing my best friend of a crime, as well as calling our business into question.
Such an accomplished businesswoman as yourself would understand that’s slander.
I hope you know that I have some of the best legal counsel in the state, just a phone call away,” I said sweetly, silently thanking my mother and her high-powered attorneys in my head.
“Well, I would never slander someone. Never,” Prudie gushed, and I held her gaze, waiting for her to drop her eyes first.
“What happened?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. I caught a glimpse of Rafe hovering in the corner, but thank goodness he kept quiet as he took the scene in.
“Well, I just, I never…” Prudie exclaimed, warming up to her topic, “A body was found on the beach this morning, out by that new development. Laid out in the sand on a pentagram.”
Shit.
Prudie looked around and lowered her voice, the effect forcing the ring of people around her to lean in to hear her words.
“And there were holes drilled into his head. With seeds imbedded in his brain. Other holes held little saplings, just sprouting. I heard it looked like he had plants growing from his brain.”
A collective gasp rose from the crowd as people turned away, some covering their mouths, others reaching for their phones to get the gossip chain started. Prudie had chosen her spot well for dropping her gossip bomb. The news would be all over town in under five minutes.
“That’s positively horrific,” I said, and Prudie sniffed, nodding once to agree with me, while she ran her hands nervously over her pearls. I was still in her personal space, after all.
“It was just awful. The paving crew found him this morning. We’re all just horrified, you know. Dead bodies aren’t something we’re used to around here.” Prudie cast her eyes over me as though I was used to dealing with dead bodies.
Okay, so I’ve dealt with one dead body before. One.
“Who was it?” I asked, dread filling my stomach as my thoughts flashed to Beau, Trace, and Cash.
“I guess it was the guy who mixed up the tar? The pavement? Whatever it’s called.” Prudie waved that away. “Kurt something. He makes sure the asphalt is right before they lay it.”
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief wash through me, even though I felt sad for Kurt. He was bound to have had a family, people who cared about him.
“What an awful way to die,” I murmured, nodding my thanks to Katy as she slid me a to-go cup full of iced coffee.
“I’ll add it to your account,” Katy said.
“Add a nice tip too,” I smiled at her and she smiled back, clearly not thinking that I was the one who had committed the murder.
Taking a sip of my coffee, I turned back to Prudie.
“Now, you listen here, Prudie Whittier,” I said, leaning in so close I could have kissed her.
Her chest began to rise as she gulped for air, her myopic eyes all but bugging out of her head.
The circle of people around us collectively held their breath.
“If you so much as mention my or Luna’s name around this murder, I will see to it that you never get to shop at Barney’s again. ”
Prudie gasped and covered her mouth.
What can I say? I know how to hit them where it hurts.
“And that goes for the rest of you here. Most of you know Luna and me, and are customers of our store,” I said, “and that includes your son,” I added, turning to glare at Prudie. “We dedicate our lives to helping others. Remember that.”
I pushed through the throng of people as Katy said across the counter to Prudie, “Leave them alone. It was probably the people at the Pagan festival, anyway. Sounds like an offering to the earth or something.”
I would’ve slapped my hand to my forehead if I hadn’t been holding an iced coffee in it.
I had forgotten the Mabon Festival this weekend in the rush of hearing Prudie’s news. Granted, the murder didn’t really seem like something that normal Pagans would do, but I wasn’t so sure about ol’ Horace.
That man screamed crazy.
“Let’s go, Rafe,” I shouted to the ghost, who was still hovering around inside. Startled, he zipped through the window and fluttered behind me as I aimed my bike toward the shop.
And tried not to let the niggling worry that I had forgotten something major eat at my stomach.