Bay cocked her head, intrigued. “I never asked, which feels stupid now, but I kind of want to know. How did you end up in the circus?”
This was hardly the first time I’d been asked the question. Bay was so sincerely curious, though, that I was caught off guard.
“Well ... my parents died when I was a kid and I was put into foster care. It didn’t go well. I ended up on the street, where I learned to do lifts and live in parks. And then I ran into Max and tried to pick his pocket. The rest is ... a rather long tale.”
Bay widened her eyes. “You were on the street?”
“It’s not as bad as it sounds.”
“I don’t think I could’ve survived that.” She was earnest. “I’m glad you did. Thank the goddess for Max, huh?”
I’d thought that so many times over the years I’d lost count. “He saved me.”
“No.” Bay shook her head, firm. “You saved yourself. I’ve watched you, and I’m in awe. You made yourself. He might have helped, given you a nudge, but you’re a self-made woman.”
“So are you.”
“No. I’m a product of my environment. All the women in my family had a hand in molding me.”
“I think you’re being too hard on yourself.” I opted for honesty. “If you were simply a product of your environment, you would have your own whistle.”
She snorted. “I guess.”
“We’re all the sums and parts of our environment,” I pointed out. “Your environment was vastly different from mine, yet we ended up in much the same place. Sure, your boyfriend has pretty hair that I’m fairly certain isn’t allowed in the FBI no matter what he says, and mine looks like he’s fresh out of the military, but they’re both good men.
“I have a loud best friend who says whatever comes to his mind ... and you have Thistle,” I continued. “You have a father, but you’re obviously close to your father figure. That’s how I am with Max. Sure, it complicates things that he’s Kade’s father, but not so much that it matters.
“We have a cross-dressing dwarf and you have a great-aunt who likes to carry around a gun,” I said. “I haven’t yet met your mother and aunts, but I’m willing to bet they’re unique, too. We have very different parts making up the whole, yet we live in the midst of powerful families that are largely interchangeable.
“I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
Bay’s features lightened as she smiled. “That was almost poetic.”
“How do you think I got my name?”
She chuckled. “I ... .” She trailed off when something occurred to her, swiveling quickly. It was too late. Tillie was already inside the inn. She’d disappeared from view while we were talking. “Oh, geez. This won’t end well.”
I was mildly curious to see if that were true. “We should find her, right?”
“Definitely. She’ll give my father an aneurysm if we don’t head her off.”
THE DRAGONFLY WAS BEAUTIFUL.
Whoever decorated the inn took a lot of time and great care in selecting every item. The lobby was cute and inviting, and the parlor looked like a place to spend a lot of time thanks to the comfy couch, endless bookshelves and quaint fireplace.
The only thing the inn didn’t appear to have was Tillie, which I found odd.
“Where would she go?” I asked, glancing around.
“Wherever she thinks she can cause the most mayhem,” Bay replied, grim. “Come on.” She motioned with her hand. “I’ve got twenty bucks that says she’s in the kitchen.”
“Why would she be there?”
“Because she’s a busybody who likes to poke, and breakfast probably wrapped up ten minutes ago.”
“Ah. You know best.”
“If that were true I would’ve left her at The Overlook this morning.”
Bay practically stomped through the inn, not stopping until she let herself through the swinging door that led to the kitchen. There, three men worked cleaning the counters and dishes while Tillie waxed poetic about ... well, actually, I had no idea what she was talking about.
“You really should spend more time joining in community events, Jack,” Tillie said as she leaned against the counter and smiled as an annoyed-looking man tried to slide around her. “If you did, you wouldn’t be so surprised when we stop in for visits because you would recognize when the schedule warrants it.”
The man, who I assumed was Jack because of the way he glowered at Bay, merely shook his head. “Oh, so you are here.”
Bay plastered a smile on her face. “I am,” she agreed. “How are you, Dad?”
Jack remained grim for a long beat, and then he dissolved in a smile as he moved in front of her to exchange a hug. “I was in a great mood until your aunt showed up to explain we were doing dishes wrong.”
“You need to scrub the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher,” Tillie explained. “Everybody knows that’s important.”
Bay pressed her lips together, annoyance obvious. “I’m sorry. I was talking to Poet in the driveway and Aunt Tillie got away from me. I shouldn’t have let it happen, but ... you know how she is.”
“Oh, we know.” One of the other men patted Tillie on the head as he passed. “We’re just waiting for news that you’ve finally put her in a home.”
“I heard that, Warren!” Tillie snapped. “You’ll be in a home long before me.”
“Not that I’m not happy to see you — and I’m always happy to see you, so don’t go getting weird or anything — but what are you doing here, Bay?” Jack asked. “I was under the impression you were slammed for the entire week because of the festival. We scheduled dinner for next week, right?”
“We did.” Bay nodded. “It’s just ... are you aware of what’s going on in town?”
“Yeah. Thousands of witches are descending to cast curses in the square and revere Tillie for being the head witch.”
“There is no such thing as a head witch,” Tillie countered. “But ... that’s not a bad idea. Maybe I should suggest making someone the head witch. That might be fun.”
“Oh, geez.” Jack rubbed his forehead. “Why are you here again? And, more importantly, why did you bring Tillie?”
“She insisted on coming,” Bay replied. “We have a bit of a situation.”
“There’s always a bit of a situation where you’re concerned,” Jack said. “What situation are we dealing with today?”
“Two people have been murdered downtown. One was a local. One was with the circus that’s here for the festival.”
“I suggest looking at the circus troupe,” Jack supplied. “Those people are always strange.”
I managed to keep from shouting at him, but just barely. This was technically Bay’s show.
“Poet is with the circus,” Bay said tightly. “She’s perfectly normal.”
“Oh.” Jack had the grace to be abashed. “Sorry about the circus crack.”
“I’m used to it.” I waved off his apology. “That’s hardly the worst thing I’ve heard since joining Mystic Caravan.”
“If it’s any consolation, I would much prefer you to Tillie. In fact, can you take her with you when you leave?”
“I heard that!” Tillie glared at Jack. “Do you want to be on my list? It’s pretty full these days thanks to Thistle and Margaret, but I can always make room for you.”
“I think I’ll pass,” Jack said dryly. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.”
“We need to speak with one of your guests,” Bay said. “Emily Wilde. My understanding is that she checked in early Sunday, before anyone else showed up.”
Jack’s expression turned thoughtful as he nodded. “I know who you’re talking about. She came with two other women.”
“Jamie Blake and Madison Connor,” I volunteered.
He nodded again. “Yeah. They split two rooms. They didn’t seem thrilled to be here. It was almost as if they were on a business trip instead of vacation.”
“Maybe that’s because they had plans of
a different sort,” Bay mused. “I don’t suppose you could tell us what room they’re in?” She adopted a wheedling tone as she batted her eyes at her father.
He sighed. “I shouldn’t tell you that because of privacy rules, but it doesn’t matter. They checked out first thing this morning. They’re gone.”
I stilled. “Gone? The festival doesn’t start until today.”
“That’s why I was surprised when they came downstairs with their suitcases packed. They said an emergency came up and they understood their credit cards would be charged for the entire stay even though they were leaving early. They seemed eager to get out of here.”
“I wonder why,” Bay muttered, shaking her head. “Crap. We missed them.”
“And now they look even more suspicious than before,” I added. “Why would they run like that?”
“I have no idea.” Bay held her hands palms out. “But I intend to find out.”
23
Twenty-Three
We had a problem.
The disappearance of Madison, Jamie and Emily left us with a host of questions, and absolutely no answers.
Did they leave because they really had a crisis that necessitated returning home?
Did they leave because they worried we were on to them and thought it best to flee?
Did they leave because they’d finished what they started, whatever that was, and had no reason to stay?
Or, and this was the most worrisome scenario of all, did they only pretend to leave?
Tillie, of course, assumed they were still around and in need of smiting. She thought that word a lot. Smiting. She seemed keen to smite someone. I had no idea if she’d ever really done it, but the dark look on Bay’s face whenever Tillie mentioned it made me think there was a real possibility she was capable of carrying it off.
The other problem was a bit more urgent. The circus was opening today, and no matter how badly I wanted to track potentially evil witches I had a job to do. That meant returning to the fairgrounds, changing into my performance outfit and focusing on actual work.
That didn’t sit well with Tillie, who was determined to smite someone before the day was out. Bay was more gracious. She understood ... and she had a plan.
“So, basically you’re saying that Tillie and Bay are going to be running around the circus the entire time we’re trying to work today,” Kade drawled as he watched me tie a scarf over my dark hair. It seemed ridiculous to wear a costume when telling fortunes, but the guests appreciated it and I learned long ago not to mess with expectations when it came to making money.
“Not just Tillie and Bay,” I responded, patting away some of the shine on my face with pressed powder. “Thistle and Clove will be in and out, too. They have their shop to run — and someone has to be there the entire time because this will be a big day for them — but they’re going to try to schedule some time to act as lookouts, too.”
“Well, great.”
I cast him a sidelong look. His tone said he was feeling something other than great. “If you don’t want them here I guess I can track down Bay before the gates open and tell her to abort the plan.”
“You’re obviously not keen with that suggestion.”
“I’m not,” I agreed. “We’re going to be busy today. They have extra eyes and understand the potential stakes.”
“And what are the stakes?” Kade wasn’t ready to back down. “We don’t know these women have anything to do with what happened. They could be innocent.”
“They disappeared.”
“Maybe they really did have an emergency. They could be halfway to Pittsburgh right now for all you know.”
He wasn’t wrong. “Bay saw one of them watching us from the trees.”
“I hate to break it to you, but circus folk have been the subject of fascination for hundreds of years. Maybe she was just curious. Maybe she decided she was hot for me and was trying to spy to see if I was single.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m guessing you’d like that.”
His lips curved, amusement obvious. “Actually, I have a girlfriend. You might know her. She’s a sexy Romani with a laugh that makes me go warm all over and a smile that makes my stomach do somersaults.”
Ugh. That was disgustingly sweet, and he knew it. “Behold the king of schmaltz,” I teased, gesturing toward him.
He nodded without hesitation. “You make me schmaltzy. There’s no getting around that. If you’re uncomfortable about the possibility of her watching me, then we’ll change it up. Maybe she was watching Luke and they left because they realized he didn’t play for the right team.”
I tilted my head to the side, considering. Finally, I shook it. “No. That doesn’t fit. There’s something wrong with the way they bolted out of town with so little notice. People with a legitimate emergency would try to get their money back on the room. These women simply ceded thousands of dollars.”
“Thousands of dollars?” Kade knit his eyebrows. “How do you figure that?”
“The festival,” I replied simply. “The closest rooms are going at a premium. Bay said the rooms at her mother’s inn are going for a grand a night because of the demand.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” He was dumbfounded. I didn’t blame him. “Wow! Maybe we’re in the wrong line of work. Have you ever considered opening an inn in a witch town? We might be good at it.”
I chuckled. “I don’t know that you and Luke could run a business together.”
“I didn’t invite Luke to play house with us.”
My expression softened. “Is that what you want? To play house, I mean.”
“I want you. I’m fine playing house in the trailer right now. Where we’ll end up, I have no idea. I do know we’ll be together for all of it, though.”
The words were comforting. “I love you.”
He grinned. “I’m still ahead in that competition.”
“Yeah, well ... I’ve been distracted. That will change once we figure out who’s killing people.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait to see.” He strolled closer and tapped my chin to get me to lift it. “I want you to be careful today regardless. I know you trust Bay — and I see no reason not to trust her — but if she’s as powerful as you say ... .” He left it hanging because the idea of finishing the statement was too much for him to bear.
“She’s definitely powerful.” I knew that without a doubt. “She’s not a threat. She wants to solve this as much as we do.”
“You put a lot of faith in her, especially since you just met.”
“Perhaps I think we’re kindred souls.”
He sighed. “And because I love your soul, I should be comfortable with her. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
I shook my head. “You need to feel what you feel. That’s only fair. It would be helpful if you didn’t attack her, though. You’re just getting the hang of your powers, and she can order ghosts to attack. She’d kick your ass.”
He smirked. “Fair enough. I’ll keep my eyes open for the witches and try not to get in their way while making my rounds. Does that make you happy?”
I nodded. “Also, I guess her mother and aunts are coming. I’m not sure what they look like, but according to Bay, they’re likely to act oddly, too.”
“Well, great. A whole circus full of witches. What could possibly go wrong?”
“I’M READY FOR MY FORTUNE.”
Margaret was the first person to enter my tent. I couldn’t decide if I was surprised or should’ve expected her. She was dressed in an expensive suit — seriously, she must’ve spent a thousand dollars on the pink monstrosity — and the hat she wore was straight out of a Kentucky Derby fashion faux pas show.
“Um ... hi.” I plastered a fake smile on my face. “I didn’t realize you would be here so early.”
“But you were expecting me?” Margaret was prim and proper as she sat in the chair across the table.
“I definitely expected you.” I reached for my tarot cards. “What
kind of reading do you want?”
“Well ...,” she licked her lips. “I’m not sure. What are my options?”
“I can tell you about your future or help you with a problem from the past. It merely helps with the outcome to focus on what I’m trying to ascertain.”
“Oh, well ... .” Margaret’s smile was tight. “Surprise me.”
The answer was off-putting, but I merely smiled. “Sure. I’ll surprise you.” I dropped the cards on the table and extended my hands. “Give me the hand you were born with.”
“I believe I was born with both of them.”
“Your right.”
She acquiesced. “What’s the difference?”
I merely smiled. “Your non-dominant hand signifies your potential. Your dominant hand will tell me what you’re doing with that potential.”
“Oh.” She preened. “I’m doing a lot with my potential.”
I had my doubts. “Well ... let’s see about that, shall we?”
I wrapped both my hands over Margaret’s and closed my eyes. Almost instantly, I was transported to another time. I recognized the players right away.
“What’s the problem?”
Tillie might have been younger, but she had the same challenging tone. “They’re kids. They’ve lost their home right before Christmas. Why wouldn’t we want to help?”
“They’re not kids,” Margaret shot back. “They’re … hoodlums!”
I noticed they were standing in a room full of people. A few of the women sitting close to the front nodded as they bent their heads together, a low murmur going through the crowd.
“I still don’t understand,” Tillie pressed. “They’re kids.”
“They’re kids who have been arrested.”
“Not for violent crimes, though, right?” Tillie looked to Terry for confirmation.
Terry nodded. “The kids who are in that facility are there because most of them come from troubled homes,” he said. “They’ve gotten into general mischief and the like – some vandalism and maybe a stolen car here or there – but that’s not the reason they’re in the home. They’re in the home because their parents either couldn’t or wouldn’t take care of them. I don’t think calling them ‘hoodlums’ is exactly fair.”
Freaky Witches (A Mystic Caravan Mystery Book 7) Page 22
