She blinked hard as she obeyed yet again.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or am I going to have to call your mother and ask her?” He threatened.
A tear leaked out of her eye. Shit, he hated tears. He was no good with them. “Sherlock’s dead. Somebody killed him.”
“What!”
She nodded. More silent tears streamed down her face as she blinked rapidly fighting against emotions.
“Did he get out and get hit by a car?” She shook her head no. “Are you sure he was killed then? Was it another animal?”
She bit her lip before taking a deep breath, and with voice shaking said, “someone slit his throat and left him in the backyard.”
Ray sank onto the couch as he tried to digest what she said.
“I don’t think he got out by himself. I checked everything when I was looking for him. I think someone purposefully broke into my house, and killed Sherlock. They left him in the middle of the singed spot where we… ignited our powers. I think someone knows about us.”
He felt like he’d been dealt a blow to his abdomen with a bat. First, how could someone kill an innocent cat? Two, who and why would someone break into Becky Sue’s house? What were they after? And three, who and how had found out about their powers, and what did they intend to do about it?
Becky Sue turned to walk away while his mind reeled to grasp at the sudden change of balance. He reached out a hand to stop her. She had no fight left in her because she stopped. He hated seeing her so vulnerable and weak. This wasn’t his best friend he knew. This wasn’t his Becky Sue.
He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, willing his strength into her. She burst into tears. This time he wasn’t bothered by them. This time he just let her cry.
Chapter 15
The next morning Becky Sue struggled against the sunlight through gritty, puffy eyes. She wanted to bury under the pillow and pretend today didn’t exist. She was in no mood to work. An arm came around her and pulled her close to the thick muscled chest. A gentle pair of lips kissed her neck behind her ear.
“It’s going to be alright. You can make it.” Why did Ray have to always confuse her? One minute he was dragging her through piss ants making her scream, the next he was being all sweet and gooey, cuddling and coddling her like a baby.
“Yeah.” Damn it if she didn’t want to stay curled up to him all day and just hide from the world. But she couldn’t. She threw back the covers and started her day.
It wasn’t until she unconsciously thought about stopping by her house to check on Sherlock that the reality of his being dead hit again. She shook off the looming depression the best she could and threw herself into working at her mom’s house.
While Kate showered, Becky Sue vacuumed, took out the trash, rearranged a stack of magazines, emptied the dishwasher, and was just about to reload it when her mother reappeared.
“You’re awful energetic this morning. Must’ve been a good night, huh?” her tone held a wink, wink, nudge, nudge quality to it.
Becky Sue ignored the connotations. “I slept good, yes, despite what happened yesterday.” She didn’t want to worry her mom with the details of Sherlock’s death, disturbing as they were, but if her mother continued to pester her she was going to say things she didn’t mean. “Anyway, I have a lot do today so I have to go.”
She pecked her mom on the cheek and fled from the house. Slipping in the back door of work, she hoped Cindy wouldn’t appear first thing this morning as she was likely to do. As soon as Cindy found out about Sherlock’s death she was sure a special smelling candle would appear on her counter. Because specially scented candles cured the world. She rolled her eyes.
Going through her morning opening routine was automatic. The sun was shining happily. She pulled out a book of quilt patterns looking for ideas for her next project, but nothing was grabbing at her. Normally, she’d been sitting there making a list of ideas to choose from, but not this time. All she could think about was Sherlock and his little furry bloody body. That’s what she would do. She’d quilt a memorial for Sherlock. A window pattern with a cat silhouette in it.
The bells of the door jangled.
“Good morning Becky Sue.”
“Morning, Cindy.”
“I heard about your kitty so I brought you a little something over.” She produced a small basket of cookies and a candle.
“Thanks, Cindy. I appreciate it.”
“I know he was special to you. I guess whatever was making him act strange the other day when he was in here got to him. Animals have a way of knowing when they’re going to die, you know.”
She nodded. Sure, that sounded good. Whatever got her out of here faster.
“Well, you let me know if you need anything.” She turned to go. “Oh, I was going to tell you, Iris’s cat just had kittens a few days ago. She’ll be happy to let you have one when it’s time.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” She didn’t really want a replacement cat. She wanted Sherlock.
With the same bluster that she came in with, she left. Becky Sue breathed a sigh of relief. She’d just picked up the candle to see what kind of strange scent Cindy had sent her this time when the bells above the door jangled again.
**
Ray followed Becky Sue out of bed. He couldn’t let daylight keep burning. He’d given up on following Jed. He needed to explore other avenues. Today he decided he needed to take a float trip and maybe stop at the site where Amy Drake’s body had been found. He didn’t expect to find any evidence or anything, but maybe he’d get some ideas on where to look.
His first stop was Sam’s to rent a canoe. Before he’d left for the morning he’d packed an extra set of clothes in his truck in case he found himself shape shifting for some unforeseen reason, or if he got tipped into the water. He’d packed a small cooler since he’d planned to be out for a while, which he loaded into the canoe when he set in at Elk Point Landing. As he did, it occurred to him that he would pass Phoenix’s camp. Would he be able to spot it in the daylight? How would Phoenix feel if he just dropped by for a visit? Would it be that obvious he’d followed him the night before last if he did? Phoenix gave him an uneasy feeling already. If he showed up unannounced it might not go over well. Besides it’d probably just piss Becky Sue off when she found out about it too. In the end, he decided against the detour.
He’d started out earlier than the first drop of tourists making him the only on the river. It was quiet. The canoe glided smoothly across the water. The quiet splash of the paddle and drip of the water as it came out again created a gentle rhythm in sync with the nature around. Sunlight danced across the water, reflecting brighter than it felt. The whole scene was calming. He felt at peace and as one with nature.
Floating along, he scanned the riverbanks for anything that might appear unusual. A few birds lingered in the air above him at one point. A fox peeped out of the woods, took one look at him and ducked back into the underbrush. He made a mental note to get out and do this more often. It was doing him good to get out and back to nature.
The rock wall where Phoenix was camped loomed ahead. Ray stared up at the behemoth and again wondered how an outsider had found the cave. If he hadn’t been shown it, he wouldn’t even have known of its existence. Even if Phoenix had been raised in Hurricane Valley, it would’ve taken lots of exploration or someone who already knew about it to find it. What other hideaways did he know about?
Looking up at the cliffs as he passed below gave him no answers. He needed answers. Knowing things was his job.
A couple hours later, he stopped at River Hollow Landing to take a break and grab a snack. He’d forgotten how hungry paddling made a man. People were starting to gather near the water, probably waiting for Sam to bring their canoes. He lingered for a little while, walking around, chatting up the tourists trying to see if he could pick up anything of interest. They all seemed like ordinary folks.
Sam’s canoe truck pulled in with a load of
canoe’s on the trailer. Ray took that as his cue to get ahead of the flock. He’d already seen a couple other floaters pass from further up while he’d been stopped. He didn’t want to get bottle necked at some point.
Ray rounded a bend and watched as a small herd of deer spooked at his sudden appearance. The vegetation in through here was dense allowing the deer an easy cover. On the other side of the river was much the same. A flash of unnatural color caught his attention. He turned to drift over for a better look.
The closer he got the more he felt the sinking in the pit of his stomach.
A body lay face down half in the water not moving. Ray hurriedly pulled up and landed awkwardly on bank, only having about two feet before the land began to rise and fill with thick thorns and bushes. He jumped out and went to the body. He could tell he was dead before he touched him. It was a good size man. A familiar looking man in well worn clothes. He rolled him over.
Jed’s blank eyes and beat up face stared back at him. A slit mark across his neck gave evidence of the cause of death.
“Fuck.” His voice echoed across the water. A whole slew of canoers were due any minute. He didn’t need a bevy of onlookers hanging around and trampling any possible evidence in the area, not to mention he didn’t want any of the kids to see the body.
He quickly dug a small camera out of his pack and took a few pictures to capture the original scene. It was a good thing he lifted often because Jed was not an easy move. He pulled him the rest of the way out of the water, grabbed some loose leaves, branches and ground debris for camouflage until he could send a crime scene unit down here. He took a few more pictures of how he left things and was just getting back in the water when the first canoe came into view.
He pushed off hoping to draw attention away from the bank. Paddling with more vigor now, he pushed ahead of the group meandering downstream. He cast one last glance over his shoulder at Jed’s covered form. The first two canoe’s had passed by. He could only hope the rest would too.
Why had someone gone after Jed? Was it related to the drug ring? He’d just seen Jed yesterday morning and he’d seemed normal Jed, drunk and perverted. Was it a coincidence that Becky Sue’s cat had its throat slit yesterday too? It felt like a little too much throat slitting to be just a coincidence, but how were the two related? How had Jed’s body got where it was? Had someone taken him to that exact spot or had he floated down from upstream somewhere?
He channeled the frustration of so many unanswered questions into his paddling sending him flying down the river like a champion rower. By the time he pulled into Ashburn, he was breathing hard. He hurried to his cabin and put a call in to his chief to send a crime scene crew out. He gave as detailed a description as he could so he wouldn’t have to meet them and risk blowing his cover.
A knock at the door sounded just as he hung up. Who in the hell? He was tempted to ignore it. He had shit to do, but he also needed to get rid of whoever was there so he could shape shift, although he was torn between what he should do first, let Becky Sue know about Jed or go watch over the crime scene.
In a huff he swung open the door, ready to read the intruder their rights. He paused. Benu stood on the other side. She wore black spandex pants and a pink shirt with a zipper neck unzipped giving him a teasing view of her perfect full breasts. Her long black hair was brushed out straight and flowing around her shoulders, her dark eyes round and luminous as she looked up at him in an unassuming way.
“Hi, I hope I didn’t come at a bad time.” She glanced behind him, but he didn’t respond immediately as he was distracted by her body. “I just saw you coming up from the landing and followed you here to ask about being my guide.” She shifted on her feet. Her breast seemed to press into his face. He thought about reaching out to touch them to see if they were real. Somehow he didn’t think she’d mind.
“I’m not being too presumptuous, I hope?” She asked when he didn’t respond because he was too busy wrestling with what he should do and what he wanted at that moment. Those big, innocent, dark eyes that stared up at him held temptation and promise.
**
Phoenix walked through the door. Becky Sue brightened a little. If he was here that meant the other night hadn’t been so awful and bad after all.
“Hi.”
He saw her and smiled back with his dark, malevolent eyes. “Hi. Did you have a good day off yesterday?”
Did she answer that honestly? Yesterday had been rough. The only highlight is that she and Ray had figured out how to work their fire powers after that it’d all gone downhill, fast, topping it off with Sherlock’s death.
“I’m sorry you had a bad day,” he said before she could speak.
“Are you a mind reader or something?”
He smiled softly and lifted her chin with his fingers to look up at him. “No. The look on your face says it all.”
“I look that rough, huh?” Was he going to try to kiss her again? She almost hoped not. Her lungs instantly remembered the last kiss and she was surprisingly in no hurry to repeat it.
“Not rough, sad. You want to tell me about it?”
“Yes and no.” He dropped his hand from her face. “Yes, because you’re so nice and thoughtful. No, because I don’t want to cry right now, especially here at work.” It was inevitable that she would as much as she hated it. Sherlock had been like a part of her family to her.
“What about this then, tonight when you get off work, I’ll pick you up and we can go have a nice dinner together.”
“Where?” She didn’t really want to get dragged out to his camp again. It’d taken so long and she felt so helpless and stranded out there that just thinking about it made her slightly uncomfortable.
“A restaurant.”
“There’s only one here. Claire’s.” She pointed out the window across the square.
“Not here. We’ll go to Harrison. I’ll take you to the city and treat you like a queen. How’s that sound?” The way he said it was dramatic and silly, making it sound fun. For a moment she thought it might be another subtle jibe at her small town back woods ways, but decided it was probably just his way of trying to make things right.
She grinned. “Alright. You got me. Give me thirty minutes to get home and change out of these clothes after I close later.” She wasn’t about to go into the city in her homespun antiquated clothes she wore to the shop.
“So about five thirty?”
“That should work.” If Ray had other plans, that was just too bad. He should’ve told her this morning before she left. She hadn’t left herself enough time to leave Ray a message. She didn’t know the number to the cabin either, not that he’d even be near the phone. He’d just have to deal with it. She had her own life to live. She couldn’t be jumping at his every beck and call.
“You know what. I don’t think I’m going to wait.” Becky Sue looked at Phoenix curiously. “I have a confession to make.”
“Oh?” He was being cagey and weird making her skeptical.
“I like to pilfer through antique and junk shops. Yesterday I was out roaming and I stumbled across something I thought you would like. I was going to wait to give it to you for a few more days until just before I left so you won’t forget me, but since you had such a bad day yesterday I think I’ll give it to you today.”
Her eyebrows rose, curious and intrigued. It’d been years since someone other than Cindy and her mother had given her anything.
“Let me go get it.” He strode out of her shop before she could stop him.
He was back a minute later holding a small paper bag. “Here, I hope you like it.”
Tentatively, unsure what to think, she took the bag from him and peeked inside. Something small, green and shiny was at the bottom. She dumped it out into her hand. The green stone reflected the sunlight streaming through the window turning it a vibrant mixed green.
A pendant about the size of half dollar hung on a chain. Upon closer inspection the pendant had a carving on it. It was a griffin, w
ings spread, mouth open, a snake ensnared in its claws. A small stone of gold, or maybe copper, was held in the griffin’s mouth. The ensnared snake was attempting to fight back, its mouth open, tongue out, to no avail. It was all very intricate.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you. But you shouldn’t have. It looks expensive.”
“I hoped you’d like it. When I saw it I thought of you and your stories. And those little junk shops aren’t really that expensive, but maybe I shouldn’t have told you that.”
Typically she wasn’t an impulsive person, but it’d been such a long time since anyone had been so thoughtful without an underlying motive she reached out and hugged him.
“Will you wear it for me tonight?”
“Absolutely.” She ran her finger over the stone one more time. “What kind of stone is it do you know?”
“Malachite. The lady who sold it to me said that people used to carry malachite stones to get rid of negative energy.”
“Well, just having you around is easing the negative energy around me.” He smiled, his white teeth a perfect contrast to his tanned skin. She didn’t believe in the drivel people made up about rocks and gems carrying certain energy and power. They were just natures little pretties to be appreciated and traded.
She wanted to wear it now, but if anyone caught her with a gift from another man it wouldn’t sit well. As far as the town was concerned, she and Ray were an item and if she accepted a gift from someone else she’d be proclaimed a slut, a gold digger, and a slew of other unpleasantly connotative words. She slid the necklace back in the bag to protect it, and set it on the shelf under her counter until she wore it tonight.
“I better be getting out of here. I was going to squeeze in a hike before tonight. Build up my appetite.” He winked.
“Okay, see you then. And thanks again, the necklace is beautiful.”
Phoenix left. Becky Sue walked back to her work table and started working on her design for her cat quilt.
Legend Of The Sparks Page 16
