Our job was done when we determined Rye wasn’t involved, and our reputation in the afterlife remains intact. The sheriff captured the non-supernatural killer. Let him finish up the job on his own.
“Did you see the new caramel apples they have for sale?” Liam asked, resting his hand on my lower back as we continued to walk through the throngs of people enjoying their brisk spring evening. The carnival was in full swing, and everyone seemed to be having a great time playing games and riding the various stomach-churning rides. “Instead of an apple on a stick, the apple is cut up into wedges in a Styrofoam bowl with warm caramel sauce drizzled over the smaller slices. We’ll have to try some after we’re done riding the Ferris wheel. First up on our agenda is that funnel cake you’ve talked about all week.”
Raven, our part of the case is solved. The bad guy is behind bars. Can you go stuff your face in peace while I see what Skippy is up to? He’s been awfully quiet today. Too quiet, if you know what I mean. He must be preparing for a surprise attack.
There was no reason that I shouldn’t enjoy this night with Liam, with the exception that the tingling sensation in the palm of my right hand had yet to subside. Was it because a confession hadn’t been obtained yet?
Yes. Does that answer your question? I’m off to confront my time-honored nemesis. I know this is a rather big favor to ask, but please don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone.
“How about that stuffed animal you promised me?” I all but dared Liam with a little shoulder bump, taking Leo’s advice. There were a million reasons why the energy around me hadn’t settled, one of them being my mother gallivanting around the carnival with Beetle in tow. We hadn’t run into them yet, but I’m sure it was just a matter of time. “Isn’t that the shooting game you were boasting about?”
“No pressure, right?” Liam asked with a laugh, seemingly forgetting all about what had been said in the truck. Heidi had immediately veered off when we’d walked through the entrance of the carnival, allowing me and Liam to enjoy some time alone. “What are we aiming for? The unicorn, the teddy bear, or the lion?”
“The classic teddy bear, of course. He can even ride the Ferris wheel with us.” Even though the annoying pricks and piercing pain dancing inside my palm remained unabated, I could feel the tension leaving my shoulders as we walked up to the game booth. “I call middle seat, though.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Liam replied, stealing a kiss before reaching into the back pocket of his jeans for his wallet. He looked up at the woman who was running the game. “What’s the damage going to be?”
“Three dollars, sir,” the redhead said with a smile. She had a sprinkling of freckles over the bridge of her red-tinted nose and cheeks, reminding me of that cowgirl in Toy Story. “If you can knock down one metal target, you can have your choice of the small stuffed animals. If you can take out two, you can choose from the medium sized inventory. If you manage to strike all three, you’ll win the mega-sized stuffed animal of your choice.”
Liam rolled his shoulders after handing over a five-dollar bill. He began rolling up the sleeves to his black dress shirt. He must have headed home to change after the drug sting and the resulting arrests, and I was very appreciative as I inhaled deeply to capture the intoxicating scent of his aftershave. He wasn’t one to overdo it with his cologne, either. Truthfully, it was just the right amount on both counts.
“You mean business,” I laughed, realizing that I’d never been a recipient of a stuffed animal before. “I’m going to name my teddy bear Ferris, so don’t let me down.”
“Never.” Liam flashed me another smile before picking up the undersized toy pellet gun. It looked so tiny in his hands, but he still settled the butt of the weapon against his shoulder as if it was the most natural thing in the world to him. He leaned down on the wooden counter to steady his aim. I almost took a step back to enjoy the view, but I didn’t want to be too obvious. He certainly knew how to wear a pair of denim jeans. “Let’s win you that bear.”
By this time, some of the local children who knew Liam to be the sheriff had come over to see just how good he was at hitting the target. One boy’s eyes had widened to the point that he reminded me of Leo.
“Not to put any more pressure on you, but Dee Fairuza’s nephew is standing off to the side with idolization written all over his face,” I whispered, leaning down so that only Liam could hear me. His chuckle told me that he knew exactly who was watching in our immediate area. “No pressure, though.”
Liam’s shoulders had been lifting in laughter, but he finally settled as he evened out his breathing. I realized he was doing that counting thing he’d mentioned before, and after thirty to forty seconds had passed, Liam ever so slowly squeezed the trigger.
Tink!
A round of cheers erupted from the boys and girls, whose group had grown exponentially. I had to admit that my heart swelled at the thought of carrying around an oversized teddy bear that had been won by someone so special.
Tink!
Another wave of encouragement had me just as excited, and I held my breath in anticipation for the third shot. True to Liam’s word, he must have been counting those seconds he’d timed before ever handing over his money. Twenty seconds had passed this time, and the small pellet was finally discharged from the barrel…hitting the metal target directly in the middle and knocking it down.
Tink!
It was impossible not to jump up and down with the group of children who’d gathered around to watch, all of us clapping and laughing when the carnival worker handed me the oversized teddy bear that I’d pointed to mid-leap the moment Liam had succeeded in knocking down all three targets.
“Liam, that was amazing!” I gushed, squeezing the light brown teddy bear whose head was five times the size of mine. “I’m pretty sure your performance was the final nudge Dee’s nephew needed to confirm his future career.”
Liam was modest as he brushed away the compliment, turning the conversation back to funnel cakes as if he hadn’t been the first person to win the big prize at that particular game booth all weekend. Granted, the festivities had closed early last night, but it was still a huge accomplishment.
“Extra sugar?” Liam asked, getting in line with five other tourists and locals who’d had the same craving for funnel cakes as we had tonight. Who am I kidding? I’d been hankering for them since yesterday. “Why don’t you grab us a picnic table? Ferris can share your seat.”
I lugged the teddy bear over to a table that a family had just vacated, setting Ferris down and propping him up at the table with his oversized arms. I then sat on the end of the bench seat and looked around, having always enjoyed people watching.
“…hear about George? I knew something fishy was going on, but drugs?”
I barely caught the conversation between two of the workers behind me at the popcorn stand. A young girl was the cashier, while a middle-aged woman was serving tubs of the buttery snack. They’d stopped gossiping to serve a group of people.
The palm of my hand began to swell with a smidge more energy. Nothing seemed amiss around me, so the conversation behind me had to be the reason for my added unease. A squeal of delight pulled my focus, and I was greeted by the sight of Buttons making a toddler screech with delight when a yellow balloon quickly turned into a giraffe.
By this time, Liam had managed to move up to the second position in line at the funnel cake stand.
I scanned the area carefully, wondering if my mother or Beetle was somewhere in the crowd. There was no sign of them, but I did catch a glimpse of Clara. She was manning the balloon game, even though I could see her eyes were still bloodshot from crying all day. Truthfully, I was surprised she was even working. Then again, the carnival had to be short-staffed with George, Olive, and the man responsible for murdering Kevin Paul currently in custody.
“…think George had something to do with Kevin’s murder?”
“I don’t know. I did find it odd that George fired Elroy like t
hat, out of the blue.”
“Kevin had nothing to do with that, though. It was…”
I’d been so caught up in the conversation behind me that I startled when Liam suddenly materialized before me with a funnel cake in hand. True to his word, there was extra powdered sugar on top.
“Are you okay?” Liam asked, a half grin on his face when he saw that I’d placed my hand over my heart. He lifted a denim clad leg over the bench seat across from me, setting the paper plate down between us with a pile of napkins. “This should make up for me startling you while you were stargazing.”
“What this is going to do is add a pound to my hips,” I teased, trying to shake off the apprehension that I’d missed something important in the exchange between the two women at the popcorn stand. Liam had already torn off a small piece of funnel cake and held it up for me to take the first bite. I leaned forward and ended up closing my eyes as the sweet white sugar literally melted on my tongue. “Hmmmm. Oh, that’s good. That’s really good and totally worth the extra mile on the treadmill.”
I’d lifted my lashes to find that Liam’s brown eyes had darkened with desire. He silently reached forward and brushed my bottom lip with his thumb. Heat immediately spread over my body in a way that had nothing to do with Mother Nature or the supernatural. I’d been falling for this man ever since he’d come into the tea shop after I’d dialed 911. I’m pretty sure this was the beautiful moment I would look back on and realize that he was the one.
“Your hips are perfect just the way they are, Raven. I’m glad we got to spend some time together tonight,” Liam said softly, leaning back ever so slightly so that he could also taste the funnel cake without disrupting our moment. “Otis and Karen invited me over to dinner next weekend. Would you like to join us?”
“I’d like that very much,” I replied, knowing how important Otis and Karen were to Liam. The former sheriff and his wife had taken in Liam and his sister when they were in their teens. “Please let me know what I can bring. Maybe a dessert? I don’t think I can make a funnel cake this good, but I do make a great pineapple upside down cake with cherries to boot.”
Liam and I spent the next five minutes in deep conversation about everything and anything that popped into our heads. I’d been swept up in the intimacy we’d created at our picnic table, and it was as if everyone else had dropped off the face of the planet. I hadn’t even given a second thought to the two women in the popcorn booth until one of them walked by, probably to take her break.
“Something wrong?” Liam asked, glancing over his shoulder in concern to where my gaze had followed the younger woman.
There were those times in life when a person was given a choice to make. I was presented with one now. I’m not talking about revealing my life as a witch, but I could definitely be more truthful and honest with the man who I wanted to take our relationship to the next level with in the very near future.
“I overheard that young girl talking with the other woman working the popcorn stand,” I revealed without hesitation as I wiped my fingers on one of the napkins. “They said that Kevin wasn’t responsible for getting Elroy Simpson fired.”
Wow, it felt amazing to share what I’d found out about the case with Liam. Maybe he’d be able to call Jack so that he could use that bit of information in his interrogation.
“Really?” Liam grabbed a napkin, as well. He regarded the popcorn stand carefully before making a decision. “One of the men arrested tonight, Seymour Lincoln, made it sound as if Kevin had orchestrated the entire scenario of obtaining a job here at the carnival. Could you give me a minute? I’d like to ask the young lady a couple of questions.”
It was good to know that Seymour had been the third individual who’d been taken into custody. He was the one Heidi and I suspected of having a combover. Maybe my hand still had a slight warmth to it due to the loose ends that still needed to be cleared up. Liam stood from the picnic table, but he came around my side and leaned down to steal a kiss before making his way over to the popcorn stand.
“There you are!” Heidi exclaimed from out of nowhere, quickly taking Liam’s place across from me. “I have some news you’re not going to like. Where’s Liam?”
The night had been going so well, too. Hopefully, she was referring to something my mother had done, like use magic to get the ring around the neck of a bottle to win a prize. I was in the process of updating Heidi on the fact that Seymour Lincoln had been arrested and that we had nothing more to worry about when something to the right of the picnic table caught our attention.
Come back here, Skippy! I know it was you who threw that acorn at me, and I’m not going to stand for any more of your underhanded abuse!
We saw a squirrel bouncing across the grass in between the funnel cake booth and the Dippin’ Dots trailer, with Leo doing his best to keep up with him on those short stubby legs of his. His hind end was wiggling back and forth as fast as he could make it, his green eyes glued to the quickly escaping squirrel.
The next sequence of events could have been straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon. Skippy launched himself into the air, landing on top of a garbage can that had one of those oversized lids. Leo didn’t quite make the jump, but his comical attempt and subsequent headlong crash into the side of the barrel had Skippy scampering off the lid and right onto Button’s wig.
Ouch.
If you thought that things had already gone south, it was nothing compared to the fuzzy red wig being caught in Skippy’s claws and somehow trailing behind him as he ran off into the dark beyond the reach of the artificial lights. He’d left Leo in his dust and Buttons without a wig.
I might have a concussion. Raven, is that you over there?
“Uh, Raven?”
“I know,” I whispered, stunned to see the combover I’d seen after casting the spell a few hours earlier. “Buttons killed Kevin Paul.”
Leo was walking a bit sideways toward us when he heard me utter my conclusion. He blinked twice before slowly adjusting his focus on Lyle Gafney, a.k.a. Buttons.
It’s always the freaking clown. Always.
“Raven,” Liam called out, his rich voice taking Button’s focus off the squirrel that had stolen his wig. “I hate to do this, but I’m going to have to—”
Buttons slowly stood, somehow realizing that we were all staring at him…and it had nothing to do with his combover. Whatever the worker at the popcorn stand had said to Liam, it had obviously pointed him in Button’s direction. As for Heidi and I, well, we already knew the truth.
Run for your lives!
Chapter Fifteen
Liam had ordered Heidi and I to stay put as he took off running after Buttons. It was rather difficult to think of the man as Lyle. We’d shared a meal with him, watched as he’d created animals out of balloons for children, and felt bad over the loss of his friend. He’d tricked all of us.
He’s a clown, Raven. That alone should say it all. Not everyone was fooled.
“I should go after them,” I whispered to Heidi, glancing around at everyone who’d witnessed Liam chasing off after Buttons. The two had disappeared around the back of the funnel cake stand in mere seconds. “I can…”
I wiggled my fingers to indicate witchcraft so that Heidi understood what I was saying. What if Buttons had some type of gun that didn’t just shoot out a flag that said BANG? What if he knew of some hiding places where he could lie in wait and attack Liam when he wasn’t expecting it?
Isn’t this exactly what the good ol’ sheriff is trained to do? Well, I doubt he was trained to deal with clowns. Those mentally disturbed individuals are a special breed. Nevertheless, what you should be focused on is the fact that I might have bent my last straight whisker helping Skippy uncover the killer. Skippy one, Leo zero. Until next time, you furry rat!
Heidi had quickly scooped Leo up into her arms, cradling him to her chest while she dug into the small purse that was strapped over the front of her. It wasn’t an easy feat, considering he weighed at least thir
ty pounds, but she managed to find her cell phone.
Twenty-nine pounds, Raven. Twenty-nine. Premium organic catnip helps with weight issues, you know.
“I’ll call Jack.” Heidi sat back down at the picnic table with Leo in her lap. “He—”
“There is one of the officers now,” I exclaimed, pointing over to where one of the uniformed men must have seen Liam take off after Buttons. “I still think that—”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” my mother muttered, sidling up against me as she grabbed ahold of my arm so I couldn’t move from my spot. Beetle was a few yards back, his blue gaze glued to the last place Liam and Buttons had been seen. Well, he could join the club. “Focus. Tell me what you feel.”
A badly bent whisker.
My mother’s directive had caught me off guard, but it was long enough for me to notice the gathering energy around us. I did a double take and met her knowing stare.
Someone was using magic.
Now that’s a novel idea. Raven, this whisker wasn’t bent by using black magic. We can fix it when we get home. I’m sure there’s a spell in the grimoire somewhere.
“My, oh my!” Beetle exclaimed, finally joining the rest of us at the picnic table. His white hair practically glowed underneath the artificial lights. “Did you see that? Why, Liam went after that clown without a second’s hesitation. No hesitation whatsoever! What do you think that was all about?”
I’ve been thinking about my whisker. Maybe we should let your mother cast the spell. Let’s face it, you still lack a certain finesse that she’s already mastered.
With Beetle standing right in front of me, I contained my reaction to Leo’s insult. It wasn’t even so much the actual insult that dumbfounded me. It was the fact that there was only one other person who could have been using magic if my mother was standing by my side…and that was Rye.
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