The group sat down in the lounge. Sage and Sylvia sat in the center. Earlier, Roxy had arranged two chairs on either side of the coffee table for this very purpose. The atmosphere in the room became serious, and as they prepared themselves, a sense of gravity and purpose swept through the lounge like a draft.
Sage whipped a deck of tarot cards from a pocket in her robes and began to shuffle them. She closed her eyes. Nobody said a word as she concentrated. “I have a feeling we need to delve into the past, to bring something to light that needs to be cleared. Then, and only then, will the future be revealed.”
Sylvia gulped. Her eyes flitted around the others sitting around the room. “Okay.”
Roxy leaned forward. “Are you fine with doing this, Sylvia?”
Sylvia sat a little straighter in her seat. “Yes. Yes. It’s no problem.”
Sage spread the cards face down on the table in a long line. Dr. Jack hung back next to Roxy, looking on intently. He was the only one who remained standing. Roxy shivered. She sensed someone looking at her from behind and turned around. There was no one there. Dr. Jack caught her eye and raised one eyebrow.
“Choose three cards,” Sage said, a heavy tone giving her already low voice even more gravitas.
Sylvia reached out tentatively and slid three cards toward her. Sage packed up the rest of the deck and slid it back into her pocket. She laid the three cards out in a row, still face down. With three quick flicks of her wrist, movements so swift everyone jumped, she turned them over.
Sage gasped. “The Three of Swords, a betrayal by a lover. The Justice card in reverse, meaning justice not served, and the Death card, meaning the end of something, or…”
Sylvia burst into tears. “Oh my goodness! This stuff really works!”
Kathy gave Roxy a triumphant nod. “If only that Ada was here to see this,” she whispered.
Roxy didn’t reply. Her heart had dropped. Now one of the influencers was crying. And she was recording! Roxy breathed in deeply and exhaled through her nose. There was nothing she could do so she kept smiling and clasped her hands together tightly in her lap. Her mind wandered to Michael. Where was he?
Sage leaned forward and took Sylvia’s hands. “Let it out, my love. Let it out.”
“I had a horrible, abusive ex-husband.” She shuddered. “And I didn’t leave him. Sometimes, I thought I deserved his abuse. Other times I knew I didn’t, but was too afraid to leave.” She wiped her tears and laughed. “Oh, I shouldn’t get so emotional. It was twenty years ago now. A little more, in fact.”
Sage nodded. “It’s okay to cry. The wound is raw because something about it is not resolved. There is still a healing, still a message for you in this memory. What happened in the end?”
As though the intensity of the moment was too much for her, Sylvia sat back. She dropped Sage’s hands and looked down into her lap.
“I finally found the strength, the courage to leave, and took off to Europe where he couldn’t find me. I had no money. No home. I slept on couches, in hostels, even sometimes under railroad bridges. It wasn’t easy. I felt like ending it all at times. But eventually I came back to the US, to a totally different state, and began my life over. I’ve never seen my ex-husband since.”
Sage nodded slowly. “What is there left to release?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“Maybe there’s a part of the story you haven’t told?” Sage pushed.
Sylvia looked bewildered. “Nothing that I can think of.” She laughed, but to Roxy, it sounded a little forced. “Well, I won’t underestimate a tarot reading in the future, that’s for sure! I thought this was just going to be a little fun.” She looked around at the others in the room, clearly hoping someone would rescue her. Her audience looked hesitant, a little awkward. Elijah was jiggling his foot vigorously. Sam rested his elbows on his knees looking very grave. Dr. Jack looked equally serious. Lily’s expression was impassive, but she had turned her body away from the scene in the center and crossed her legs. Only Kathy looked eager, her eyes shining as she looked at Sylvia.
Roxy stepped in. “Perhaps that’s enough of the cards for now? Maybe we could look at the crystals and talk about them.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Lily Vashchenko in her slow, somber voice. She stood and pulled down her short cream skirt so that it hovered just above her knees and straightened her baby blue t-shirt. She walked over to the velvet-covered trestle table, her champagne glass in her hand. “I really like this one.” She pointed to a crystal grid Sage had set up. “A grid is a configuration of crystals placed in a pattern that amplifies their intention. All crystals are infused with a purpose,” Sage explained. “This grid comprises of peacock colored crystals—deep greens, blues, and purples. They represent healing and well-being.”
“Isn’t it lovely?” said Roxy, keen to raise the energy in the room.
“Hmm, I don’t know.” Kathy pointed at another grid full of oranges and yellow crystals. “This one is much more to my taste.”
“Crystals are about much more than pretty colors,” said Dr. Jack. “Though what you’re drawn to can indicate personal issues you may be struggling with. They can also indicate what you’re comfortable with.” He pointed to Kathy’s choice. “This one is for inviting cheerfulness and joy into your life. Or, conversely, you may be attracted to it if you use cheerfulness and joy too much, to cover up issues or hidden motivations, for instance.”
Roxy felt distinctly awkward, and Kathy gave a laugh devoid of any kind of joy at all. She blinked at him and shook her head ever so slightly. “What on earth do you mean?”
Dr. Jack nodded. “Just like that.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“HUH?” KATHY SAID. She was still smiling, but now she looked like a shark baring its teeth.
“In this society, we’ve become addicted to pleasure and afraid of what is uncomfortable,” said Dr. Jack. “But the wise person knows that beyond discomfort and even downright pain lies truth. There are blessings and strength more than we could ever believe if we travel to journey’s end.”
This was all getting a little intense and complicated for Roxy. Her head was beginning to spin, and she got the impression that the evening wasn’t going so well.
Sage turned to Lily. “Would you like a reading?”
Lily looked at her warily. “Oh, no, no, thank you. In fact, I have some fans in the area. I’m going to go and meet with them, actually. I’ll be back later. See you!” With that, she was out the door. She didn’t even bother with a jacket.
Roxy felt a teeny-tiny bit like doing that herself.
Almost immediately there was a knock on the front door and in stepped Michael. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. He looked a little more like his normal self than he had earlier, very serious, but he held his head high and made eye contact with everyone.
“Kathy,” he said. He nodded politely in her direction.
“How nice to see you, Michael,” she said, returning his gaze only briefly. She spoke like Evangeline’s whiskey and caramel sauce was spread across her teeth.
Sage looked relieved to see him. “Michael, would you like a reading?”
“Absolutely,” he said. His eyes lit up. “And I’d like to know more about these crystals.”
Dr. Jack looked delighted. “I can answer all your questions.”
“Awesome,” Michael said briskly. He took his jacket off. “Let’s do this.”
Michael sat down for his reading. This time Roxy was unwilling to watch, it felt too intrusive, so she struck up a conversation with Sam.
“How’s business going?” she asked.
“Ticking along nicely, as usual,” he said.
“Ticking along?” said Roxy. “I didn’t think you were a ‘ticking along’ sort of guy. I thought you were more about expansion and trying new things. That’s what you’ve been encouraging me to do with the hotel all this time.”
He gave a small smile, a little embarrassed. “Well, I am working on s
omething.”
“Do tell,” Roxy said.
Sam rarely spoke about himself, his goals, his dreams. He seemed to prefer encouraging others. But now he said, “I’m thinking of setting up a program for the homeless.”
“Wow,” Roxy said. “That sounds bold.”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. Sylvia was lucky. She had a way to come back from being down and out, but others aren’t so fortunate. I’d like to offer a path for people who want to get back on their feet.”
“And how would you do that?”
“I’d get them access to good healthcare, teach them skills to enable them to support themselves, employ them in my business to give them experience, and maybe build a network of other businesses for them to work in, that kind of thing.”
“That is bold. Big and bold,” said Roxy. “What a great idea! It could be massive.”
“It should be relatively straightforward,” he said. “I just have to…”
“Straightforward?” Roxy cried, astounded. It sounded complicated and overwhelming to her, but Sam had an easy, can-do, confident, nothing-was-too-difficult attitude. Who was this enigma? How did he get to be like that? And how could she become a little more like him?
“I should probably keep quiet about the idea for a bit,” he said, “until it’s up and running. I have so many ideas. If I talked about them all, I’d seem a huge flake. The vast majority never see the light of day.” He laughed, his broad shoulders shaking a little. “So I keep my hands close to my chest until I know I can play winning cards.”
“I wish I could do that,” said Roxy. “I just tend to be a mess in front of everyone, and then it somehow works out. Or not.”
“You don’t look a mess in front of anyone.”
“I worry about what people would say if I fail.”
“Any undertaking involves risk, and risk requires courage. The only people who criticize others’ failures are those who don't dare to take risks in the first place. They are not worth bothering with.”
Roxy blinked. She hadn’t thought of it that way before. Sam was right. She felt a smidgeon of anxiety leave her, and she steepled her fingers in front of her. She might have grown an inch or so. She certainly felt happier.
Elijah sidled over to them. “Look, Rox. Have you considered speaking to those awful reporters outside? I know there’s not many of them left, and the Lord knows when we were teeming with them, they drank so much coffee and ate so many of my pastries they increased my bottom line no end, but the stragglers are bothering my regulars. They’re costing me business.” He winced. “I thought that perhaps if you spoke to them they might go away.”
“Yeah, I think you should, Roxy,” Sam said. He caught sight of the look Roxy gave him. She might be small and not so brave at times, but she didn’t like being told what to do. He raised his hands. “Okay, okay, give it some thought. Just say something, not much, a short statement, just enough for them to be pacified. It doesn’t help anyone, them being on your doorstep all day.”
Roxy folded her arms. She did not want to do that.
Sam looked over at Michael. The influencer was engrossed in conversation with Dr. Jack and Sage. “He looks all right, thank goodness.”
Roxy wanted to talk to Michael and find out how he was doing—she felt a sort of duty of care toward him—but he was in the midst of what appeared to be an animated discussion. Michael was gesticulating excessively, but his expression was warm. He was enjoying himself. She knew that with Sage and Dr. Jack, Michael would be fine. “He’s in good hands,” she said.
Sam smiled at her. “Indeed. Even if they are a little eccentric.”
Roxy laughed quietly. “Just a little.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE EARLY MORNING sun poured into Roxy’s room and she woke up with a newfound sense of joy. She felt totally and utterly refreshed. It was as if the good energy from the crystals the previous evening had swept away all her cares and worries, leaving confidence and optimism in their place. Nefertiti was sleeping beside her, and Roxy sunk her hands into her soft white fur. The cat woke and blinked at her. She looked as if she might be smiling too.
“Good morning, princess,” Roxy said. “How are you this morning?”
“Meeeooowwww.”
Roxy giggled. “Right! I have the feeling that today is going to be a good day.”
Her mood didn’t even dip when she thought of Dash. She remembered what Sage had said—that Dash was on the other side, watching them. She knew that Michael would honor Dash’s memory in only the best ways and that Dash’s message of the importance of realizing one’s dreams would be spread far and wide.
They still hadn’t heard from the police beyond the initial interviews. Detective Johnson had been very tight-lipped. She didn’t know how the investigation was going or what kind of poison had killed Dash, nor did she know how it had gotten into his bloodstream. All of them in the hotel that night were under suspicion for murder, and there was the still unresolved question of the role her hotel’s food had played in Dash’s death. The forensics team had returned just like Johnson had promised they would. They had taken away samples of food from the kitchen, but Roxy had heard nothing. Even if it were found that her food had nothing to do with Dash’s death, Roxy knew as well as anyone that mud stuck. But even that didn’t matter right then. The sense of calm that pervaded her was too deep to feel any sort of worry at all. Everything would work out. Of course, it would.
After showering and dressing in a canary yellow sundress—something she only felt good wearing when she was feeling just as sunny inside—Roxy headed to the kitchen. There was a wonderful aroma coming from it.
“Morning, Nat!” Roxy said, cheerfully.
Evangeline wasn’t working that morning. Nat had got the hang of making all the breakfast dishes now, and Evangeline liked her lie-ins.
Nat flashed her a grin, looking back from the big pot she was stirring. “Hey, girl.”
“I feel wonderful this morning,” Roxy said. “Like everything’s going to work out. I feel like maybe taking Sylvia and Lily and the rest of them on some kind of tour. A boat trip, maybe?”
“Great idea!” said Nat. “I’d like to come too. I think we could all do with a nice little cocktail cruise to forget our troubles.”
“Cocktails! You’re a genius!” said Roxy. “That sounds like just the remedy. The influencers will be able to take wonderful pictures down the river too.”
Nat nodded. “Glad I could help.”
Roxy grinned mischievously. “So how did you like the tarot reading and crystals last night?” She chuckled. "Get any messages from the other side?” Nat was not into anything spiritual or magical, and Roxy enjoyed teasing her about it.
“Of course not!” Nat said. “I hid in the kitchen all evening, didn’t I? Load of rubbish.” There was a little pause before she said sheepishly, “But I do have to say that I woke up feeling fantastic.”
“Me too!” said Roxy. “It’s like…I don’t know, it’s hard to describe. Maybe like…like the air has glitter in it!”
Nat burst out laughing. “You crazy, girl, but I know exactly what you mean! I got up all excited. Got everything ready so everyone can have a full cooked breakfast if they want one. And I’ve been for a run.” Nat lived in a unit that was situated immediately behind the Funky Cat. “But of course, that has nothing to do with crystals.”
Roxy grinned. “No, nothing at all.”
“How about Dr. Jack, though?” Nat said excitedly. “He’s so wonderfully nuts. When do you think we’ll be invited to his and Sage’s wedding?”
“That’s what I was thinking!” said Roxy. “He’s exactly her type. They’d be wonderful together.”
“Totally! And then Sage would be able to live in a magical supplies store. Wouldn’t that be her dream? He told me he lives in the apartment above it.”
“She would be in heaven,” Roxy said. She let out a happy sigh. “I love living here. Don’t you?”
“Yep,” said Nat. “And it looks like Detective Johnson isn’t focused on me at all, so that’s a plus. I am always really worried around him, but he’s not said anything to me about, you know, my paperwork. I guess he hasn’t noticed, or maybe he doesn’t care. Perhaps murder investigations are his one and only thing. Anything beyond that, and he’s not interested.”
“Probably,” said Roxy. “He does seem very focused. Laser-like. He hasn’t contacted us with any update though, has he?”
Nat laughed. “Thank goodness. No news is good news.”
“Are you going to do anything about your status?” Roxy asked, quietly. “Try to get legal?”
Nat bit her lip. “Well, to be honest, Rox, Sam told me that if I was found out, you could be in trouble too. You know, for hiring me, so I’m going to do something about it. It’s not fair to you for me to stick my head in the sand. I’ll get it sorted out, I promise. Sam said he’d help.”
“I’m sure it will be okay. Can’t you find yourself a handsome Southern gentleman to make an honest woman of you?”
“Oh! Perhaps that’s what Sam meant! Me and Sam, can you imagine?” Nat threw her head back and laughed.
Once again, Roxy felt a little ripple of defensiveness at the mention of Sam. “You need to get out there and mingle, girlfriend.”
“Ugh.” Nat laughed and shuddered. “I hate that word. Mingle.”
Roxy chuckled. “You make me laugh.”
“Hello?” someone called from the dining room.
Roxy hurried out to see Sylvia. “Hi there, Sylvia, good morning. How did you sleep?”
“Great, thank you!” Sylvia said. “I feel so rested. I was just wondering if breakfast had started yet.”
“Nope, but it can start just for you,” said Roxy, gesturing at the table. “Both Nat and I were saying how well we slept too. It sounds a little woo, but I’m wondering if it isn’t the energy of the crystals doing their thing.”
Sylvia sat down. “It really could be. Sage certainly cut right to the chase with me!”
Roxy Reinhardt Mysteries Box Set Page 24
