“Thanks,” I said, my tone just slightly tinged with sarcasm. “I guess I’ll go by the cops and see if I can get some help there.”
He stopped me with a hand on my arm. His hand felt unusually cool and I glanced at it. His fingers were long and elegant and somehow old-fashioned. The quick thought I had was that a Chopin or a Paderewski must have had hands like that. Artistic. That was it.
“Hey, don’t get me wrong,” he was insisting earnestly. “I’m going to help you. It’s just going to take time. I’ll prepare some paperwork for you to file. Come back tomorrow and I’ll have it ready to go.”
I looked at him and realized that so far, he was my only port in the storm. I knew I would probably need legal counsel to get any action from the cops. Reluctantly, I nodded.
“Thanks.” I turned to leave, but he was looking up into a tall pine tree behind me. He wiggled his eyebrows toward where the raven was sitting, watching and listening.
“Hey,” he said softly. “Who’s that?”
I glared up at the tree. Was this animal meant to haunt my life forever?
“It’s just a bird,” I said defensively.
“Just a bird.” He rolled his eyes, obviously mocking me. “Oh yeah. You haven’t been back long though, have you? I don’t think you understand the changes that have been made around here.”
His words made my heart twist. I’d known from the first there was something wrong about that bird—maybe even something evil. And now Bentley St. Ames, Attorney at Law, was echoing that same opinion. That didn’t give me a lot of comfort.
“What changes? What are you talking about?”
He laughed at me, and for the first time, I noticed how sharp and pointy his beautiful white teeth were. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
I didn’t press him. Actually, I didn’t really want to know. My imagination was working overtime and I was thinking, “Long, white and excessively cool hands. Sharp, pointy teeth. A look in his eyes that seemed to see into another dimension. What was this guy? A vampire?”
No. That was just absurd. There was no such thing as vampires. Even though I hardly knew my own name, I did know that. I calmed my raging flights of fancy and cleared my throat.
“Okay. I want to thank you for taking on my case,” I said a little stiffly. “I’ll be back tomorrow.” I hesitated, but he seemed like the best person to ask. “What’s the best place near here for me to get a room?” I said.
He thought for a moment. “Moonhaven Motel, I suppose,” he said. “You should be safe there.”
“Safe?” I asked in surprise. “Are you implying I ought to be watching my back?”
“Of course.” He didn’t smile this time, and his dark eyes seemed to deepen with meaning. “Always.”
But I could tell he meant more than a casual reminder. He was warning me. Warning me about what?
“See you later, alligator,” I thought to myself as I took off. Then I grinned, glad I hadn’t said it out loud. How silly would I have felt if he’d heard that? Still, it did seem to be a saying that came naturally to me. And right now it seemed emblematic of how I felt—surrounded by predators with big teeth. Yikes.
Chapter Three
I was starving. I found the town coffee joint, Grounds for Taste, quickly enough. It was three doors down from the lawyer’s place and had a lot of the same drinks you find at Starbucks.
I ordered an iced latte and along with a chunky looking brownie and was just picking up my bounty when a cute little red-headed barista from down the counter spotted me and came sailing over, squealing with delight.
“Haley! My gosh, it’s so good to see you. I heard such awful things. I’m so glad they weren’t true.”
My first thought was, “Uh-oh.” I’d forgotten people were going to think they knew me all over this town. I was going to have to be careful. Cutting someone dead who thought we’d once been best buds would not be politic. Could I start a rumor that I was just a moody person, trying to recover from a broken heart or something? Some people will excuse you for anything as long as they can think you’ve been recently been cruelly dumped.
But I hadn’t had time to lay the groundwork for something like that. So I gave her a smile and nodded and said, “Yeah, me too.”
“Did you know Shane is back in town? Ohmigosh. It’s just like old times! So cool!”
Okay, that was twice now that someone had assumed I would be interested in news of Shane. Once I came face to face with that guy, I was going to have to really watch my step.
“Hey, great seeing you,” I said, turning with a wave.
And left as quickly as I could. I hadn’t gone three steps before someone else stopped me.
“Hey Haley, it’s good to see you back.”
I flashed him a wary look and realized I’d seen him when I first walked into the Bar and Grill. He was the one who’d been leaving at the time. Beyond that, I didn’t recognize him. But then, I didn’t recognize anyone, did I? I gave him a half smile.
“Thanks,” I said.
His smile got a little more impertinent and he moved closer. “Remember that last night up at the river, skinny-dipping in the hot springs?” he said softly, making my skin crawl.
So I’m a skinny-dipper. Huh. He made it sound like it had been just him and me but I had a feeling we had been with a bunch of kids at the time. End of summer madness sort of stuff. He was definitely handsome but he just didn’t seem like my type at all.
I hesitated long enough to let him know I didn’t remember a thing.
“Yeah, sure,” I muttered. “Good times.”
I turned away but he grabbed my arm.
“Hey,” he began, but I twisted away and glared at him.
“No touching,” I said, and he backed away, his hands held high as though to prove he hadn’t meant anything by it.
“Okay, okay. Look, I was at the Bar and Grill when you came in to see Scotty. I just wanted to let you know, I work with the mayor’s office these days. If you need anything, let me know. I might be able to give you some help getting your bar back.”
Okay, I was going to have to watch my initial reaction to things—and people. This just proved it. My first thought had been to get as far away from this guy as possible, that he was bad news. But now it seemed that would be a stupid thing to do. I didn’t need to make enemies. And if someone with pull with the city wanted to help me, I’d better smile and listen.
“Gee, thanks,” I said. “I do remember you. What’s your name again?”
He looked shocked. “Haley, we were buds in Kindergarten. How could you forget my name?”
I shook my head. “Situational amnesia,” I made up on the spot. “I was in a bad car accident and I’ve got some empty spots in my memories.”
Wow. I was pretty proud of that one. I might be able to use that excuse in any number of ways.
And he was nodding gravely. “Yeah, we all heard about the accident. The word was that you…that you hadn’t made it through that. I’m glad to see you’re okay.”
“I’m doing fine,” I lied. “But you still haven’t told me your name.”
“Crocker Harris.”
“Oh, sure. Now it’s coming back to me.”
He grinned at me. “A good thing, too. You just go ahead and use my name at City Hall, you hear? It could open a few doors.”
“Thanks Crocker. I’ll do that.”
I turned with a wave and took off as fast as I could, heading out into the town square. There were wood picnic tables placed strategically near adorable water features. I wondered if this was all part of the effort to attract tourists. And why not? It had already attracted me.
I sat at a table that overlooked a koi pond, sipping my latte as I watched white, black and golden fish flash by in beautiful rhythm, hiding under lily pads, then shooting out to brave the small waterfall. I loved it.
But I wasn’t there to enjoy nature—and man’s manipulation of the same. I had to think things through and get a handle on what I
was doing and what I needed to plan to do in the future. Like, this afternoon.
I tried. But somehow my mind kept shying away from the reality of the situation. I mean—here I was, not sure of my own identity, not sure of where I belonged or what I’d done here in the past, of who my friends were and who had always been my enemies, and I was supposed to be making plans? How could I do that without some frame of reference to go by? If I thought too hard and tried to catalogue all the things I didn’t know, I would probably end up in the local mental ward.
Well, that was an idea. Maybe that would work. I could try to check myself into the local hospital and tell them I needed to regain my memory. Would they help me? Only if they believed me. And I had a feeling that would only happen if they diagnosed the problem themselves. Doctors didn’t like it when you came in with your own preconceived ideas.
But it was the truth. I had no memories. What could have happened to me? Why? And how could I get them back?
I closed my eyes and tried to fight back the feelings of nausea this was bringing on. I really couldn’t think about this too deeply. If I did, I had a feeling I would probably pass out.
Nuts to that. Passed out, you were vulnerable. I knew instinctively that was something I didn’t want to be. I was going to have to tough this whole thing out until I got some answers.
There was a rustling in the brush nearby. I turned to look at where the sound had come from. Leaves were shaking and branches wiggling, and then there was a gruff little bark. I frowned, staring harder, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was. Rising from my bench, I went around the koi pond and headed for a planting thick with hostas on the other side. Sure enough, it looked like two furry animals tussling in the thick growth, one brown and one grey. As I got closer, I saw a dog’s head rise out from the greenery, his mouth full of baby bunny.
“No!” I cried out, horrified. “Drop that bunny!”
The little dog gaped at me in surprise, dropping the bunny involuntarily, and staring from under bushy eyebrows as though shocked that I would get involved at all. I could almost hear him saying, “And what business is this of yours, pray tell?”
But I’d made it my business. “You leave that bunny alone,” I warned him.
The bunny staggered a bit, then took off into the underbrush. I hesitated, but after yelling at the dog to “Stay!”, I was running after it. Okay, I knew at the time that this was a bit silly, that the poor little animal would think I was just another predator, but I couldn’t just leave it to the mercy of Mother Nature at this point. I had to be sure it wasn’t hurt, and that it didn’t need protection from the next meat eater that came along. I hadn’t seen any blood, but I hadn’t seen anything very clearly. I would never forgive myself if the little furry beast got hurt when I could have prevented it.
We were taking a winding path and it felt as though we were turning back toward the koi pond, but I began to realize that wasn’t what was happening. We were climbing. Funny. I hadn’t noticed a hill. The park had looked perfectly flat except for some large oak trees and water features, but now I was on what looked like a mountain trail, and it was climbing higher and higher and narrowing as it went. And all the time the bunny kept disappearing into new patches of brush just a little bit ahead.
“Oh bother,” I muttered, then frowned, wondering why that seemed to ring a bell in my mind. Was I actually remembering something? Hard to tell.
There was a steep drop off to my left as I climbed, and the trail was getting rockier. Looking down over the edge, all I saw was fog below. I couldn’t make out the bottom of the drop. Icy shivers were beginning to make my shoulders tremble a bit. What the heck was going on here?
Suddenly, I realized I’d lost sight of the bunny. In fact, I didn’t see any evidence of him at all anymore. Had I walked right past him? I turned to look back, and at the same moment, I heard someone call out to me.
“Hey!”
I whirled and there was that Scotty person who claimed to own my café. He was coming fast down the trail toward me.
“Listen, you,” he yelled as he came, kicking dirt and rocks before him, “I know exactly what your game is and I’m not going to play along. You stay away from my property. You got that?”
I turned, not sure if I wanted to run down the trail or stand my ground and confront him here and now, and before I could make up my mind, he was right in front of me, shaking with rage. His eyes were wild and his teeth bared. He looked so inappropriately upset, I had one thought. Was he drunk? And if so, was he even more dangerous than he looked? He was certainly loud.
“You and your grandmother think you can rule this town! Not going to happen. We’re too strong now. We can fight you!”
He reached out to grab my arm and I twisted away, and the next thing I knew, he was falling over the edge of the cliff, out into the empty air, his voice crying out in anger all the way down.
“No!” I cried, surging toward the edge myself, and just barely keeping from going over after him. “Oh no!”
My hand covered my mouth in horror. I couldn’t see what had happened to him, the fog below was too thick. But the fall he’d taken must have been a good 30-40 foot drop, at least. Could he survive a fall like that?
“Oh no!”
My cell phone! I should call for help. But my pocket was empty and I remembered I’d left it back down on the bench with my other things. I had to get help!
My hand still over my mouth, I began to run down the trail, feeling like my heart was about to explode. Had I done that? Was this my fault? Had I just sent a man over the cliff to certain death?
I was gasping for air, wishing with all my heart that I could turn back time and do those last few minutes again. This couldn’t be happening. No, no, no!
I reached the bottom and saw the koi pond ahead of me. And I also saw a tall, uniformed man standing with his arms folded over his chest as he watched me coming toward him.
For some reason I was pretty sure I knew who this was before I even got close enough to see his badge or read his nameplate. This had to be Shane.
“Help!” I called out to him as I got close enough to be heard. “Scotty just fell from up on the mountain trail. I…I don’t know if I pushed him exactly but he was reaching for me and I turned and the next thing I knew, he was gone. Over the edge. Falling. It was awful!”
He stared at me from startlingly bright blue eyes rimmed with long black lashes. “Haley Greco,” he said softly. “What are you doing back here?”
I caught my breath and stared right back at him. “Shane McAllister,” I read off his nameplate. “I might ask you the same thing.”
His mouth quirked. “You might. But it wouldn’t do you any good.”
“Likewise I’m sure,” I said snarkily. But my temper flared at his tone and his general attitude. There was an important accident that had just happened and he wanted to play word games?
He grimaced. “I thought you were never coming back. Once you were out of here, the whole world was going to be your oyster. You were going to make it work for you. What happened to that?”
I shook my head. Hadn’t he heard what I’d told him?
“Listen, are you a public servant or what? I just told you, Scotty fell off the cliff. He probably needs a paramedic, at the very least. We have to go see if he’s okay or what. Don’t we?”
He blinked those incredible eyes. “The cliff?” he said, looking slightly annoyed. “What cliff?”
“That one.” I pointed back toward where I’d been, then turned and looked. “On the mountain,” I said feebly. Because there was no mountain. There was no cliff. In fact, the park was flat as a desert savanah again. I blinked and looked around.
“There was a mountain,” I said, my voice shaking. “Right back there. What happened to it?”
He didn’t say a thing, just raised a skeptical eyebrow.
I closed my eyes and opened them again, looking harder. “I was up on a mountain,” I said softly. “I swear I was. And Scotty ca
me running down the mountain trail toward me, shouting and then he went over the cliff. I swear. I….”
My voice broke. Oh boy, I wasn’t going to cry, was I? I couldn’t stand to cry, not in front of this large and supremely attractive man who thought he knew me. Not when he looked at me with that skeptical twist to his mouth, those doubts in his eyes.
“But Scotty fell,” I repeated. “I…we have to find him and get help for him. He’s got to be hurt. We can’t just ignore that.”
His stance widened and his folded arms looked even more distancing. His uniform was crisp and clean and his sleeves set off his biceps in a way that made you pull in your breath a little. But he was cold, an authority figure in his own mind. Not a friend. His eyes told me that. He might well remember me, but I had the feeling that he didn’t like me very much—then or now.
“Okay Haley, start from the beginning. Tell me what happened.”
I looked back at the direction where I’d been a moment before and shook my head, filled with frustration. I knew we had to get help to Scotty fast, and here Shane was asking for a travelogue. I looked back at him and started quickly, telling him about how I’d been drinking my latte and the dog had caught the bunny and I’d followed the bunny and ended up on the mountain, and to his credit, he did listen carefully to everything I said.
“Is that the dog?” he asked.
I turned and saw the little fellow with the huge eyebrows coming across the grass. “Yes!” I said, so glad at least part of my experience had some actual proof of existence.
“And how about him?” he asked.
I looked where he was pointing. The raven again, sitting on a nearby branch. I shivered and glared at it.
“He wasn’t involved,” I said tersely.
Shane’s eyebrows rose. “That’s what you think,” he said with a half grin that never quite reached his eyes and faded quickly.
I looked at him, knowing it was going to be tough to get him to believe me, but also knowing I’d seen what I’d seen. Scotty fell off a mountain trail into a fog-drenched valley. He had to be hurt. We had to get him some help as soon as we possibly could. Why couldn’t he understand that? Or did he think I was making it up?
Even Witches Get the Blues (Wicked in Moonhaven~A Paranormal Cozy Book 1) Page 3
