magical cures 07 - a charming fatality (16 page)

“It looks like you are doing well. Can’t you buy them out?” I asked.

“It’s not Jenny. Tiffany wouldn’t let it happen.” He went over to the rowdy crowd across the bar when they hollered for him.

Across the bar, I noticed Josh talking to someone. It was Pearl. He pointed toward me and she looked over. I gave her a big wave, but she ignored me and took off out the door.

“Pearl!” I tried to sling my bag over my shoulder as I rushed out of Mac’s after her. “Pearl!” I yelled. “Wait!”

“What do you want?” She turned, her eyes conveyed the fury within her.

“I wanted to talk to you about the factory,” I said and noticed the snarl on her face. “Listen, I’m sorry the factory was shut down but it wasn’t because of me.”

“I never said it was and it’s not like we are friends. I met you a couple of times,” she said through gritted teeth.

“I get the feeling there is more to it than that.” I put a hand on her shoulder and got a jolt.

My intuition told me she was having an inner battle with loyalty. Her nerves were standing on end. I sucked in a deep breath and had to use my other hand to physically pull my hand off her.

“I can help you if you are battling something,” I assured her.

“Don’t go and use that voodoo crap on me.” She folded her arms across her chest. I noticed her white shirt had a logo on it.

“I see you got another job.” I pointed.

“What’s it of your concern?” she asked.

“Locust Grove Convalescent Home?” I questioned the logo of the home with a heart in the attic portion of the photo.

“It’s an old folks home. My mom lives there and they just so happened to have an opening in the cleaning crew.” There was bridled anger in her voice. “Did you know that I hate cleaning?”

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t.” I laughed and tried to break the ice between us.

“Listen, I think you are a nice enough person and all, but we come from two different worlds.” She gestured between us. “This is as far as we go. Understand?”

“Understand.” A surge of urgency to agree with her hit me.

She knew a lot more than she wanted me to know. It was exactly what Faith had said about Pearl or Josh knowing something about the break-in. Now I had narrowed it down.

Pearl.

When I got into the Green Machine to head back to Whispering Falls, Mr. Prince Charming was already curled up on the dashboard sound asleep.

He lifted his head, yawned and put his head back down. His eyes focused on me.

“One thing is for sure.” I watched the taillights of Pearl’s car fade off around the curve of the old road in the darkness. “Pearl knows more than she’s letting on and it’s up to me to find out.”

Mr. Prince Charming purred happily as I started the car. I was a little concerned about Amethyst, but before I went out to the dance floor, she’d insisted she wanted to hang out with Ronald a little more.

I glanced over at Mr. Prince Charming and swore he had a smile on his face. He seemed to always be the happiest when we made our way back to Whispering Falls. As did my heart and soul. It was home. A place of protection. And I needed to feel safe with the thief behind bars. And I couldn’t help but think the thief and the murderer were one and the same. My gut told me Pearl held the key.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The phone chirped on my bedside table waking me up from a deep sleep. I grabbed it without looking to see who was calling me in the middle of the night.

“June?” Oscar’s voice questioned from the other end of the line. “Are you okay?”

“Are you okay?” My heart skipped a beat. I bolted up out of bed to find Madame Torres staring at me from her ball as she was sitting on my dresser and Mr. Prince Charming was sitting on the pillow next to me staring.

“Everyone is a little worried since you weren’t there to open the shop so I went ahead and let Faith in before I went to Locust Grove.” His voice was concerned.

“What time is it?” I glanced over at the clock and couldn’t believe it was almost ten in the morning. “Oh no.”

“I was on my way up to your house to check on you around seven a.m., and I passed Amethyst coming down the hill.” He knew.

I closed my eyes and gulped. Oscar was not going to be happy that I had gone to a bar, much less nosed around about the break-in and murder.

“Oh,” I managed not to go into a begging plea.

“And after she said the two of you went out for a drink at Mac’s, I decided to let you sleep.” Oscar fell silent.

“Thank you.” I waited.

“I didn’t realize you liked going to bars,” Oscar said sarcastically. “I mean, if this wedding stuff is really stressing you out, then maybe we shouldn’t get married.”

“No, no, no.” I got out of bed and headed to the kitchen. I grabbed a mug out of the cupboard and poured a cup of coffee, thankful for the timer set every day for my coffee to be ready when I woke. “That’s not it at all.”

“Then what is it?” he asked. “You’ve been acting so weird. Even Sonny said you came into the station. Do you have something you need to tell me?”

“No.” I took a sip and decided to keep the information to myself about the will and the stuff I had felt about Pearl until I could go to the nursing home myself and talk to her again. “Amethyst and I just wanted to have some girl time. Like a bachelorette party.”

I was thankful Amethyst didn’t spill her guts.

“But the wedding is a few months away and don’t those happen a week before the wedding?” Oscar was digging.

I held to my guns. There was nothing pressing to tell him. Burt wasn’t going to come back alive. Whoever broke into my shop stole the only bottle of the wisteria vine oil I had and they had no way of knowing I had made more. Everything in my gut felt safe. . .for now.

“I’ll do that with all the girls. You know Amethyst and I got off on the wrong foot and she’s offered us a honeymoon tree cabin for our wedding night.” I quickly regretted my lie, but thought it was a good idea, so visiting Amethyst to thank her for not telling Oscar the truth while asking her for a room was first on my list. Even before visiting Pearl at the nursing home.

It was true. When Amethyst came to town, I had accused her of some really evil stuff that wasn’t true. She turned out to be a really great spiritualist and last night proved it.

“Did you say Faith was okay with working?” I asked.

“She said she had nothing else to do,” he confirmed. “Hey, why don’t you meet me after my shift tonight and let me take you on a date?”

“Great! I’d love to.” It was the perfect ending to our conversation in what could have turned out bad, if I would have spilled my guts about the real reason I had gone to the bar.

Oscar might be suspicious, and I was okay with that. I’d tell him the truth soon enough.

Chapter Twenty-Three

One would never know the massive structure of Full Moon Treesort, Whispering Falls’ only bed and breakfast, was nestled deep within the woods behind our village. The double-decker A-frame structure was nothing but windows that overlooked the most spectacular views Whispering Falls had to offer.

It wasn’t your typical bed and breakfast where the rooms were in one building. The Full Moon Treesort rooms were scattered among the trees in the forest. Each one had a different theme, a different view, and a different purpose for the customer. Amethyst didn’t let the customer pick the room they wanted. Her gift of Onerirocriticy; dream interpretation, helped her. She told me once that she had a dream of all her clients and knew exactly what they needed from her before they even got there.

I had yet to see any one of her clients walk away not loving the Treesort and not booking another stay. She was filled to the gills and I hoped I wasn’t too late in getting something for my honeymoon.

“Good morning, June!” Her voice called before I made it up the steps of the main lodge.

 The homemade smell of freshly baked blueberry muffins wafted out of the lodge and throughout the woods.

“You are just in time for breakfast.” She held a coffee pot above a couple cups and poured. “Although it is almost time for lunch.”

She hummed happily as I took a seat. Her hair was taken out of the fishtail braid and lay in loose curls around her back. Her eyes were wide awake and alive. Not at all how mine looked. There was a giggle to her upward smile and her dark eyes danced under her perfectly trimmed thick brows.

“You are awfully chipper this morning. Whereas Oscar woke me up with a phone call.” I held the cup up to my nose and took a nice long inhale. The brew was strong and swirled out of the cup and hugged my nose. “I want to thank you for not telling Oscar about last night.”

“It was a lot of fun.” Ronald rounded the corner and gave Amethyst a swift smack on her bottom.

My jaw dropped and I nearly let go of the cup.

Ronald was clean shaven, his hair nicely combed and a fresh set of clothes made him look like a million bucks.

“Yes it was.” Amethyst cocked her right brow, her lip followed. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip. Ronald nipped at her neck. She placed her free hand on his head and let out a little giggle.

My gut dropped. What had I done? Didn’t Amethyst know how hard it was to date a mortal? Someone not from our spiritual world?

“Ronnie, dear.” Amethyst set her cup down. “Why don’t you be a good little boy and take this tray to Dreamy Sleep cabin for me.”

“Roar,” Ronald held his hand up like a claw and growled at her. He took the tray and walked out.

“Are you joking me?” I asked. “I really thought you were putting on an act last night with all the rubbing and touching.”

“I was until I met the animal in him and you know I can’t resist a good animal.” Her grin was evil. “Not to mention I need a date for an upcoming wedding.” She winked.

“Which reminds me,” I was going to ask her about that honeymoon room.

“Of course you can stay in the Lover’s Nest on your honeymoon. My treat.” She drummed her fingers on the counter.

“No, I will pay,” I assured her.

“Not if I get my way with Ronnie.” This time her grin reached her eyes. “He just might be the one.”

“Oh, Amethyst. It’s so hard to be married to a mortal.” I knew it wasn’t my place to beg her to rethink what she was feeling, but I felt like I had to since I had gotten her into this mess.

“He’s handy.” She curled her hand into the air as if she were summoning magic. “He can do things without our little gift and what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Plus wasn’t that how you were brought up?”

“It was, but my dad had died before I knew better.” I bit the inside of my lip. “Do me a favor and ask Eloise how hard it was for my mom to live within the community. Eloise was not part of Whispering Falls. She had to live in the woods because she was a Dark-Sider with a Good-Sider family. She let my mom in on her little secret and they had formed a partnership and friendship.”

Amethyst took in everything I was saying; I just hoped it was sinking in.

“So ask her how my mom felt and dealt with it.” I suggested. It was all I could do.

The love in Amethyst’s heart radiated out of her and she had fallen hard for Ronald. . .um Ronnie. . .in just a few hours.

“I guess you’d be interested in what I got out of him when I promised him some naughty things.” Her face glowed.

“First off, I don’t want to know about any naughty things, but I’m definitely interested if he said something about the factory.” I leaned in.

“He said things started getting real sticky after about a year of marriage between Burt and Tiffany. Burt started to fall into the rich mantraps and lifestyle Tiffany’s company had offered.” She looked over her shoulder. The coast was clear. “He had bought into Mac’s before he married Tiffany. She started going there more and more trying to get these high dollar wines included on the menu, but Mac refused. Ronnie said it was a mess.”

“So Tiffany was controlling the situation?” I asked. It was hard to believe it since I had seen him grab her.

“Up until the deal was made with you.” Her cheeks balled on her face. “Ronnie said that after they came back from here, Tiffany cowed down to Burt on a few occasions, but I’m not sure why because then he sort of passed out.”

“You ladies aren’t gossiping about me are you?” Ronald walked into the large gathering space where the kitchen was. He was followed by a couple of Full Moon’s guests.

“Of course we are.” Amethyst winked and kissed his cheek.

“Thanks for the coffee,” I got up, “and especially for the room.”

My heart felt like it was laughing and dancing within. The thought of spending a romantic night after my wedding with Oscar put me on cloud nine. I put that feeling deep in the back of my heart. I knew I would have to solve this crime before I could enjoy any more wedding plans. With Faith running the shop, I knew my first stop had to be Mac’s.

I had a few questions I needed to ask him.

Chapter Twenty-Four

I probably should’ve gone to check on Faith, but I had left the shop fully stocked and I trusted her completely. Plus she had my cell phone in case she had an emergency in addition to a full village of people who would come to her aid if she needed it.

Mac’s looked a lot different in the daylight and I could see where Tiffany would want to spruce it up a bit.

I pulled up and parked the Green Machine up to the front next to the only other car in the lot. I opened the door of the bar. Mac knew more than he was telling me last night and I wanted to hear the history between him, Burt and Burt’s mother.

“Sorry! We are closed.” Mac, the bartender, was crouched down behind the bar.

The bar top was lined with cardboard boxes.

“Putting away your liquor shipment?” I asked.

He stood up. His eyes were bloodshot.

“Shipment?” He scoffed. “Packing up for good.”

“For good?” I asked.

“Listen, Nancy Drew,” Mac planted his hands on the bar. “Mac’s is closed. Forever.”

“Why?” I questioned.

“Now that Burt is gone, his will was read and I’m no longer the majority share holder, so she shut me down.” He shook his head and grabbed a box, taking it out the door.