The Diva Haunts the House (22 page)

Maybe it had. Ray told me he had put out the word that no one should do business with Patrick. Had Patrick threatened Ray? Had their argument escalated to the point where Ray had done Patrick in?

I glanced over at Blake, who must have gotten a gene for calmness in the face of crisis from Dash. He certainly hadn’t received it from Maggie.

“Everybody hated Patrick. I don’t know why my mom kept him around. My dad didn’t like Patrick, either. He said Patrick was a moocher, a leach who would latch onto somebody and suck them dry.”

I guessed Dash’s ears must be ringing by now. Blake apparently had no filter regarding what he repeated.

He studied his hands. “Did you know that I’m a suspect?”

Yikes!
I chose my words carefully. “You didn’t make your hatred of Patrick a secret.”

“You can hate a person without killing him. I hate a kid on the tennis team who thinks he’s better than the rest of us, but I wouldn’t kill him.” He snorted. “I might put itching powder in his shorts, but he wouldn’t be worth going to jail for.”

I hadn’t spent much time getting to know Blake. Maybe Jen and the others were right about him. For a young teen, he seemed fairly levelheaded.

I slowed as we cruised into Old Town and the number of pedestrians increased. We drove by Hart Wine, and I hit the brakes in shock.

NINETEEN

A life-sized vampire with a skull for a face stood in the show window of Hart Wine. Above him hung a banner that read “
A Taste of Immortality
.” Bottles of wine surrounded him, stacked on boxes. I had a hunch they were Vampire wines.

“Pretty cool, huh?” said Blake. “Everybody is talking about it.”

Blake might have been impressed, but to me it meant Frank had access to a vampire costume. “When did he put it up?”

“I don’t know. Around the beginning of the month, I think.”

The person in the car behind me honked. I had stopped traffic. Reluctantly, I pressed the gas pedal and my SUV rolled on, but Frank still dominated my thoughts. So many people had suggested that the killer left a vampire bite on Patrick’s neck for publicity. I’d thought it ridiculous. What kind of person would kill for publicity? Frank’s chilling Taste of Immortality promotion forced me to reconsider. Frank had attended the party, clearly placing him at the scene of the crime. Natasha or Leon would know if he’d dressed as a vampire.

I dropped Blake off in front of the haunted house. To my amazement, a line of eager people had already formed even though the scheduled opening time wasn’t for another forty-five minutes. When Blake was safely inside, I drove toward my own house, looking for a parking place on the street. Fortunately, I was able to find a spot close to home.

Mindful of the time, I hurried along the brick sidewalk, feeling very witchy in my costume. Pumpkins and elegant fall wreaths decorated the old homes I passed, and dry leaves crunched under my boots.

I seemed to be making a lot of noise in my rush. I paused for a second and heard footsteps behind me. The horror of my attack overwhelmed me, and I ran like the devil pursued me.

My breath came heavy and a burning sensation hit my chest. I stopped, bent over to catch my breath, and looked back. I didn’t see anyone who appeared to be following me. Straightening up, I noted that a nearby service gate swung as though someone had just gone through it. Was someone hiding behind it?

Across the street, people walked along, enjoying the weather and historical ambiance of Old Town. Their relaxed demeanor made me chide myself for overreacting. Those old gates swung in breezes all the time. And the cracking leaves I’d heard were probably just rustling in the wind.

I turned and continued on my way, but I did jaywalk across the street to be closer to the calm tourists. In spite of myself, I looked over my shoulder every few minutes. When I saw a figure on the other side of the street dodge behind a delivery van, I no longer thought my panic ridiculous. I sprinted ahead, winding my way between people who strolled and paused to examine store windows.

Unfortunately, to reach the haunted house, I had to cross the street again, which would put me closer to my stalker. In case he had followed me to the other side, I jogged between cars in slow-moving traffic. When I reached the corner, I fled for the haunted house, flung open the door, and slammed it shut behind me.

Wanda, seated at her fortune-telling table, frowned at me.

Mars emerged from the lair dressed in his Gomez Addams outfit. “There you are! Everything okay? You’re out of breath.”

“He’s following me,” I croaked.

“Where? Did you see him? I’ll nab him.” He reached for the doorknob.

“I didn’t get a good look.”

“Soph! Should I man the front door, so I can watch who comes and goes?” He winked at me and pretended to kiss my arm from fingers to shoulder, but it didn’t feel like he was pretending.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have thought a thing about it, but after our moment last night, I forced myself to pull away and straighten my witch costume. Putting on a smile, I pretended to be fine, took a deep breath, and entered the lair.

June had already replenished the caramel apples and treat bags. An ominous cloud wafted from the cauldron.

“Thanks for taking care of all this, June.”

“My pleasure. I hear Blake’s mother will recover?”

I drew the gauzy window covering aside to see if my stalker was watching. “She’ll be . . .”

Two vampires tapped the window and flashed their fangs. I screeched.

June ran to my aid. “A little Halloween scare. Are you all right, dear?”

What could I say? No matter how much I wanted to deny it, my nerves were frayed.

The vampires high-fived and waved at us.

June smiled and waved back at them. “Isn’t it marvelous that men in their early twenties would dress in heavily ruffled white shirts and black leather jackets cut in a style that would have pleased George Washington? And in his old stomping grounds at that.”

Fighting my fear, I looked out the window again. Detective Kenner walked by. Where had he been when I was being followed?

People waited patiently for us to open the doors. Adorable three-foot-tall princesses and a short frog, several superheroes, ghouls, and rock stars waited among the vampires. Many had removed masks and some only wore makeup, but the ones with masks that pulled over their heads, completely concealing their identities, worried me.

“Lovely,” I choked. I dashed to the kitchen and searched the closet for a leftover piece of cardboard and a marker. There wasn’t time to fashion anything cute, so I simply wrote in block letters, “
PLEASE REMOVE ALL MASKS BEFORE ENTERING.
” That should do the trick. At least we would be able to see who toured the house.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Surrounded by friends, I would be safe. It was time to open the haunted house and let the fun begin.

When I opened the door to post the sign, Jesse rushed in with his mom, Dana. Humphrey followed behind them.

“So sorry we’re late.” Dana grimaced. “This was Jesse’s idea. I hope it’s okay.” She wore a pink 1950s poodle skirt with a demure black top and apron. She’d used white makeup all over her face and drawn black circles around her eyes, a black triangle on her nose, and garish grinning teeth over her lips, giving her pretty face the look of a skull.

“Isn’t it cool?” asked Jesse. “She can pretend to be cooking in the kitchen and then when she turns around—whammo—she’s a skeleton!”

Dana giggled. “This is fun, even for adults. You’ve got quite a crowd out there.”

Upstairs, someone screamed. A shiver-down-to-your-toes scream.

“Wow,” said Dana. “Is that a recording? It’s very effective.”

We’d listened to all our spooky CDs repeatedly the day before. “That was real.” I cautioned myself not to overreact since it was probably one of the kids scaring another one.

A door slammed and we heard the scream again. I rushed to the foot of the stairs. Natasha stood at the top, clutching her heart as though she was about to collapse.

“You okay?” I asked.

“You could have told me there’s a body in the coffin!” She gripped the stair rail for support.

I had a strong hunch that someone was playing a trick on her, but I hastened up the stairs with Mars right behind me. I opened the door carefully, but nothing appeared to be amiss.

Mars lifted the lid on the casket. “Trying to get us in the spirit, Nat?”

One hand still on her chest, she inched over to look inside. “There was somebody in there. Really. He had fangs! And . . . and a vampire cape folded over him. His hands were crossed over his chest.”

“It wasn’t me,” said Blake. “I was with Vegas. Right?”

Vegas blushed. Her black lipstick had smeared. A hundred and one adults in the house, and we still couldn’t stop them from smooching.

“Sophie, the window in Viktor’s room was open again when I got here this morning.” Blake spoke earnestly. I didn’t think he meant to pull my leg.

“Did anyone open it?” I asked.

We all looked around at each other, but if the prankster was present, he didn’t speak up.

“Who cares about a window? There was a vampire in that casket!”

I didn’t want to embarrass Natasha in front of the kids. “Great prank, Natasha! You had us all going. Everybody back to your stations.”

They filed out, a lucky thing because Natasha grew stormy. “He was there! I am not making this up. You’re acting like I’m pretending.”

Mars placed a reassuring hand on Natasha’s arm. “It’s Halloween. I’m sure someone was playing a prank.”

She yanked her arm away from him. “Perhaps you didn’t notice that the door slammed behind me. How did that prankster get out of the room?”

“He probably slipped out right behind you. What are you doing here anyway?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why shouldn’t I be here? You, Vegas, my mom—our entire household is here.”

“Why don’t you join the first group going through the house?” I suggested. “I bet you’d enjoy it.”

“To hear that ridiculous story about a vampire that June told my mother? Honestly, June shouldn’t be walking around on the streets anymore. She’s delusional.”

Just yesterday Natasha had talked as though she believed in vampires. We’d been through this before with her. I couldn’t grasp why she thought it normal for her own mother to believe in the supernatural, but she couldn’t deal with that sort of behavior from June. I turned slowly, hoping no one, and especially not June, had heard Natasha.

June stood in the doorway, her face flushed, her lips drawn into bitter lines. She huffed and retreated down the stairs.

Mars massaged his forehead. “Don’t start that again, Natasha. Now, go home. All you’ve done is cause a ruckus.”

She drew herself erect and glided past me on her way out. “There was a vampire in that casket—I’m telling you.”

I didn’t envy Mars. He had two women on his hands who were undoubtedly angry with one another and would put him in the middle.

“Are we ready?” Jen’s voice echoed up the stairs.

Blake hustled in to take his place as the vampire. I was relieved I didn’t have to deal with Natasha and her issues at the moment. I ducked down the back stairs and the show was under way.

Dash arrived two hours later wrapped like a mummy. Blake had begged him not to hang out in the vampire’s bedroom, so he’d agreed to float from room to room to graveyard. If I hadn’t recognized his voice, I wouldn’t have known who was wrapped in those shreds.

“How’s Maggie?” I asked.

“Worried about you!”

We could hear a group coming through the kitchen. They shrieked, no doubt at Dana. Dash raised his arms and held them out like a sleepwalker. He marched to the kitchen like a stiff mummy and the gleeful screams rang out again.

I smiled for the first time in hours. Patrick’s killer had placed a curse on Maggie and me. I hoped I wasn’t quite as nervous as Maggie yet, but I was certain I’d been followed to the haunted house.

A soft touch on my shoulder made me swing around, fists clenched. Bernie raised his hands as though I held a gun. “Mars just told me about the killer attacking you and the plan to sleep over. I’m going to trade off with Mars and Humphrey. Dash says that Maggie has friends lined up to stay with her. We can do the same for you.”

It was a lovely thought, but I hated feeling so needy. “I am not san-guin-vor-iphobic or whatever it’s called.”

“Of course you’re not. But under the costume there was a live, breathing killer, and for some reason, he wants to exact his vengeance on you. We’re not going to give him the opportunity.”

I had mixed feelings. What wonderful friends I had. They were willing to give up the comforts of their own homes just to watch over me. On the other hand, I
hated
imposing on them. Reaching out, I hugged Bernie. “Thank you.”

He returned to his house-haunting duties, and June waltzed over to me. “Such a lovely boy. I don’t understand why he’s not married. Your generation is a mystery to me.”

I hadn’t given Bernie’s marital status much thought. “I guess he’s busy running the restaurant. He probably doesn’t have much time to date.”