by Ani Gonzalez
Or fear. Gavin noted the clumsiness of Tristan's gait and the paleness of his face. In Gavin's experience, people who appealed to the authorities usually belonged to two camps—the angry or the afraid.
Tristan was definitely in the second camp.
"She hit me," Tristan said, his voice shaky. "She's gone nuts. I think she attacked Stella as well."
Gavin peered into the crowd. The person Zach was arguing with stepped forward, and Gavin's heart sank as he recognized Leslie.
The altercation seemed to be over, and Olivia was now dispersing the crowd, which was not an easy task given that most of them were waiting to get their scavenger hunt selfies.
Clean-up notwithstanding, the emergency seemed to be over. Gavin relaxed, the adrenaline rush receding like an ocean wave.
"What happened?" Sean asked Tristan, assessing that the situation was no longer dangerous. "Are you all right?"
Gavin inspected Tristan discreetly, but apart from rumpled clothes and what appeared to be a tender jaw, he didn't seem injured. Leslie, Gavin recalled, had a mean right hook, and she'd had cause to use it once or twice while waitressing at the Mangy Owl.
A right hook that, aimed at Stella's head, could very well have hurt, perhaps even killed, the fortune-teller.
"She's crazy," Tristan said. "She said something about a candle and some herbs, and how she had destroyed Hexalife." He shook his head. "I told her that was nonsense. Bella's theft had destroyed Hexalife and nothing else."
Sean's brows went up. "Bella's theft?"
Tristan nodded. "She was stealing money, embezzling large sums. We were slowly figuring it out, and that was making her nervous. That's why she tried to commit suicide."
"Suicide?" Sean asked, his voice studiously neutral.
As well it might have been. Gavin knew perfectly well that the Banshee Creek Sheriff had discarded the suicide theory.
"Well," Tristan said, rubbing his sore jaw. "That's what I assumed, but I guess Leslie was right, and I was wrong."
Gavin kept a neutral facade, but his mind was racing. Leslie?
"Was that why Leslie attacked you?" Sean asked, seemingly sharing Gavin's confusion.
Tristan frowned. "What?" He glanced back at the dwindling crowd. Olivia was now talking to someone, legs apart and shoulders hunched in the tell-tale 'this is a suspect' stance. "No, Leslie didn't attack me."
Gavin stared in shock as the crowd fully dissipated, revealing who Olivia had detained.
It was Flora.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
FIONA'S HEART stopped. "Flora's been what?"
Leslie paused to recover her breath, hand splayed over her chest. She'd just rushed through the door, all wild eyes and windblown hair, and so angry her hands shook, her metal cuffs tinkling in the stillness of the candle store.
"Arrested," Leslie gasped. "They took her a few minutes ago." She leaned over the counter to take Fiona's hand. "I'm so sorry."
Luanne put her arm around Fiona's shoulders, but she barely felt the contact. She was having trouble processing the news.
They had arrested her ingenue cousin? How was that possible?
"But they can't think she's to blame for everything," Leslie moaned. "Flora was in the car with Viola and Bella. How could she be responsible for the crash?" She shook her head. "And why? She could have been hurt."
Fiona's numbness receded, but her surprise was giving way to rising panic.
"They must think she had an accomplice," she whispered.
She remembered Flora's abrupt departure from the library. Could Flora know someone else in Banshee Creek?
"Oh, surely they don't think you had anything to do with it," Leslie said.
Flora frowned. Why would Leslie think—?
Understanding dawned. Fiona was Flora's cousin, she lived in Banshee Creek, and she knew PRoVE pretty well. She'd delivered plenty of candles for their events and seances, and she could have taken Gus's van.
Like her cousin, she was an obvious suspect. Luckily, she had an alibi. She'd been with Gavin at the time of the accident.
"Of course, they don't." Luanne glared at Leslie. "And Flora couldn't possibly have done it herself, so this will all be cleared up in no time at all." She aimed a sympathetic glance at Fiona. "I have to go to the hospital to check on Stella, but I don't want to leave you alone. I can drop you off at the fire station."
Fiona shook that thought out of her head. Gavin had a job, for goodness' sake. She had to handle this herself.
And she could handle this. She couldn't fail Flora. She was family.
And family took care of family.
"I'll be fine," she said, straightening. "Gavin will come for me after work. In the meantime, I'll see what I can do to help Flora."
Luanne did not look convinced.
"You should find her a good lawyer," Leslie said.
Luanne's jaw dropped.
But Fiona just laughed. "You don't mince words, do you, Les?" She took a deep breath. "But you're right. I should find a lawyer." She sighed. "I wish I knew of one. I had a lawyer in McLean who did my store paperwork, but she's not a criminal attorney, and she moved to Minnesota."
Luanne cleared her throat. "Actually, the website of the Diviners' Association has a list of criminal lawyers they recommend." She dug into her purse and took out her smartphone.
Leslie stared at her in surprise. "Why do fortune-tellers need lawyers?"
Luanne's brows went up. "Oh, you'd be amazed. Our members get into trouble all the time," Luanne said as she rolled her eyes. "Stella, for one, has asked for bail money several times." She peered at the phone screen. "Let's see, do we have anyone for Northern Virginia?" She smiled at Fiona. "Yes, we do. I'm texting you some names."
"Thanks," Fiona said. "You are a lifesaver."
"I know," Luanne said, nodding as she put the phone back in her purse. "Don't worry. It will be fine."
"Really?" Fiona asked, feeling weirdly reassured.
Luanne's talent could be misinterpreted, so it was unwise to rely on it too much. Still, Fiona appreciated the reassurance. In fact, Luanne had been right about Flora's disappearing act. That had not ended well at all. Maybe she was right about this as well.
"I'm off to the hospital," Luanne said, her brow furrowed. "I don't think things will go well for Stella."
Fiona felt a pang of sympathy. No wonder Luanne was in a hurry to get to her fellow fortune-teller.
"I hate to leave you," Luanne said. "It's just I have a feeling something really bad could happen."
Fiona gave her an understanding smile. They were all used to Luanne having quirky reasons for doing things. "I just hope your friend is okay."
Luanne winced. "I doubt..." Her voice trailed off, and she frowned. "Never mind, it's all confused now." She sighed, shook her head, and then headed out the door.
"Good luck," Fiona said, but Luanne had already left, the door slamming behind her with an empty, echoing sound.
"She seems freaked out," Leslie said, inspecting the candles on the counter and looking as if she did not intend to go anywhere.
"That's just her way," Fiona explained, trying to think of a way to let Leslie know it was time to go. She should have put the Hexalife candles away because Leslie seemed fascinated by them.
Fiona gave her tablet a meaningful glance. "Gee, I should start calling lawyers."
But Leslie didn't seem to notice. Instead, she walked to the shelves and picked up the hideous leprechaun pillow.
"Luanne had this in her fortune-telling alcove, didn't she?"
"Maybe," Fiona said. "Kat hated it, so she gave it to me. Wow, it's getting late—"
"Luanne said something cryptic to Caine last summer," Leslie said, stroking the pillow like a cat. "Something about an upcoming cruise and mirrors. Caine couldn't make heads or tails out of it, so he just ignored it."
"That's what most people do," Fiona said, picking up her tablet and waiting for Leslie to take the hint.
But Leslie didn't get the
message. Instead, she turned, put the pillow on the counter, and reached for a match. "But then he got some news that seemed to fit Luanne's premonition precisely. He's a believer now."
She struck the match and lit the green candle. Fiona winced. Her guest did not seem in a hurry to leave.
"Luanne is often spot on," Fiona said. "And I really hope she's right about these lawyers, but I won't know that unless I start making calls." She tapped her tablet for emphasis.
But Leslie stared at the smoke rising out of the candle. Unlike the oleander candle, this Hexalife one had an unpleasant smell, acrid and irritating.
"Oh, she's right about a lot of things," Leslie said. She pursed her lips and blew at the candle. The flame grew, and the smoke spread through the air.
Fiona coughed. She waved her hand in front of her face to deflect the smoke. "Um, Les, you should snuff out that candle. I'm not sure those are—" She coughed again. "Safe."
Leslie laughed. "It's just a little smoke. What harm can it do?" She grinned strangely. "Where did you get these? I thought they'd been discontinued."
"Discontinued?" Fiona asked, her voice hoarse. "Why?"
"Flora messed up the recipes," Leslie said. "That's why she has been so nervous all this time. We got complaints. A child had to be hospitalized."
Fiona's eyes widened, which was a mistake because they immediately started tearing up from the smoke.
This really was a horrible candle. It was supposed to be made with sumac, a harmless herb thought to relieve menstrual cramps. However, it smelled rancid.
"Flora picked poison sumac instead," Leslie explained, as if guessing Fiona's thoughts. "And Poison ivy. They both contain urushiol, which causes lung irritation when burnt, which is not what you want with an asthmatic boy in the room. Violet never told your cousin because she didn't want her to freak out. Violet just quietly recalled the products." Leslie's face hardened as she stared at the candle's flame. "That's what gave them the idea."
"That's horrible," Fiona said between coughs.
No wonder Flora had been so concerned about the anonymous letters. Even if Violet didn't tell her what happened, Flora must have suspected. That's why she was consumed by guilt, and why she believed the accusations were aimed at her.
"Is the child okay?" Fiona asked, dreading the answer.
The letters had been pure vitriol, so the tragedy that motivated them must have been equally dark. The writer wanted revenge for a grievous wrong.
And it had been Flora's fault. The thought made Fiona nauseous...or maybe it was the fetid poison sumac smoke. She couldn't tell at this point.
"The kid is fine," Leslie said, giving her a scornful look. "He spent a day at the hospital and then went home."
"But the letters," Fiona said as she struggled to make sense of Leslie's words. "Wait, what idea did the candles give them?"
Leslie's eyes narrowed. "The idea for the letters, of course."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
"IT WAS a scam from the start," Olivia said, slamming her fist on the conference table for emphasis. "They just didn't know about it until recently."
Gavin winced at the sound. Olivia could get a little dramatic when wanted to get her point across.
Sean held out his hands, palms out. "Calm down and start from the beginning."
They were in the sheriff's department's nondescript interrogation room. Flora was still in custody, but she maintained her innocence and refused to answer questions without a lawyer. Smart girl.
Sean and Olivia had obtained statements from the witnesses, and were now trying to make sense of them. They'd called in Gavin to help. He was trying, but the facts were complicated.
"What was the scam?" Sean asked.
"All of it," Olivia said, eyes flashing. "Hexalife was never meant to be a profitable retail business. It was, well, a pyramid scheme. You signed-up to sell the products, paid for your inventory, then brought-in new members. That was the structure Berenice set up."
"And they paid you from the money provided by the newbies you brought in?" Gavin asked.
"Exactly." Olivia checked her notes. "With Violet and Bella making the most money, because they were the only original founders left after they expelled Berenice."
"What about Stella and Flora?" Sean asked.
"They were freelancers and were paid—or not paid, as was often the case—separately." Olivia pointed to a stack of papers. "According to Bella's notes, she and Violet were taking money out of the company and not paying the suppliers or the members."
Gavin raised a hand. "Wait, how did you find those notes? I thought they were missing from Bella's room."
"They were," Sean explained. "Tristan had them."
Gavin's brow raised. "And how did he get them?"
"He says they were left in his hotel room," Olivia said. "Claims he found them after the Hexalife meeting and has no idea how they got there. He assumed Bella left them for him."
Gavin began to see the pieces coming together. "That's why he thought she had attempted suicide. He thought she left the notes behind as a confession."
"Exactly," Olivia said. "He'd suspected it was a scam for a while, but now he had proof. He texted the other members and asked them to meet at the pizzeria to discuss it." She checked her notes again. "Stella told him she was leaving town, so he met her at the library. Apparently, she knew more than he gave her credit for, and she set him straight about a couple of things."
Gavin frowned. "But Stella wasn't attacked in the library."
"No," Olivia agreed. "Holly says Stella had a heated, but non-violent conversation with Tristan there. Tristan claims he tried to convince Stella to go to the pizzeria meeting and tell the members what she knew, but she refused. He got pretty angry about that."
"Careful, Deputy," Sean cautioned. "Holly's statement is that Stella left the library in good health."
"I know," Olivia said as she heaved a sigh of disappointment. "But good-looking Tristan is such a fantastic suspect. He's tall and strong and he resented Stella for holding out on him."
"Maybe," Sean said. "But several witnesses support his statement that he was in front of the pizzeria, waiting to take his scavenger hunt selfie."
Gavin raised a hand to slow down the wave of information before he got too lost. "What was Stella holding out on?"
"She thought the threatening letters were fake," Olivia explained. "But it was all a hoax to explain the company going under without paying out profits. They were going to blame it all on Flora's faulty recipes and the nonexistent vengeful family that was supposedly sending the threats. It was a hoax to cover a hoax."
Gavin frowned. "But what about the car crash? That wasn't fake."
A cough sounded behind him.
"I'm afraid it was," a familiar baritone intoned.
Gavin turned to see Caine and Gus enter the room, followed by a distraught Gemma.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone," Gemma said. "I tried to do what Violet told me, but I think I was going too fast."
Caine's eyes were ice-cold. "Gemma borrowed the van from Gus. She was supposed to graze the SUV and scare the passengers."
"I didn't know," Gus blurted out. "I thought Gemma needed to transport inventory for their meeting."
Gemma took in a shaky breath. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Violet said there would be an insurance payout that would save the company."
"Insurance fraud?" Caine snorted. "That's supposed to make this better? Gemma, you should stop talking and wait for your lawyer to get here."
Gemma's eyes teared up. "I just did what I was told." A sob caught in her throat. "It was bad enough that Violet was hurt, then I saw Bella—" Another sob. "Tristan said she'd done it herself because of the money problems, but then Stella was attacked." She heaved a breath and tried to control herself. "I knew I had to come in when I heard Flora was arrested. I couldn't let her be blamed for this. She was already so worried about her candle mistake, even though we told her they were pulled before they could hurt any
one."
"That's enough," Caine said. "You got Flora off the hook, now wait for the lawyer." He glanced at Gus. "Take her away."
"Gemma and Gus, wait outside for the lawyer, but don't leave the station," Sean said.
"Don't worry, they won't," Caine said, and then followed Gus and Gemma out of the room, which fell silent. There was a lot of information to digest.
"Well, that takes care of the crash," Sean said after a few minutes. "But about Bella? That was no suicide."
"Maybe Gemma did that also?" Olivia raised. "Caine took her away real fast. Perhaps he knows or thinks there is more she could say."
Sean frowned. "But I don't see why Gemma would hurt Bella if the accident was just to help Violet and Bella 'fix' the fraud." He made air quotes with his fingers. "With the fake letters and the vehicular attack, they would have the perfect narrative to close down Hexalife."
Olivia shrugged. "Maybe she was trying to cover up her participation in the crash. With both Bella and Violet gone, no one would ever know Gemma was driving the van."
Gavin shook his head. "But Gemma had no connection to PRoVE. She had no access to the building, so she had to ask Gus to loan her the van. She couldn't have reached the basement or taken out the samples from the box."
"Gus could have done it for her," Sean noted. "Which is probably why Caine is calling lawyers."
"Caine's no dummy," Olivia said. "But it still sounds unlikely. I can see Gus loaning out a van that gets loaned out on a regular basis to every Tom, Dick, and Harry in town, but I can't see him stealing from PRoVE. I think Gus is trying to protect Gemma, maybe has feelings for her. He lied for her regarding her use of the van."
"Flora is still a suspect then," Gavin said.
Sean nodded. "It's hard to take her off the list, given the toxicology results on Bella."
Gavin took care not to react to that. "What did she take? A supplement that had gone bad?"
That seemed likely, given that the box in the PRoVE basement included a bunch of discontinued candles. Caine had managed to gather an impressive collection of potentially dangerous Hexalife products.
