Tequila for Two: An Althea Rose Mystery (The Althea Rose Series Book 2)

by Tricia O'Malley

  The tape came off easily in one piece. There wasn’t even a mark on Luna’s face.

  “Damn, yo. You should sell that,” I said to Miss Elva before leaning over to hug Luna.

  “I was so scared,” I whispered into her hair, holding her tightly. Luna was more than just a best friend, she was like a sister to me. Imagining my life without her –well, I just couldn’t go there right now. Luna’s body began to shake in the aftermath and I ran my hands down her arms, sending a little soothing energy into her. She smiled her thanks at me.

  “I was scared too. I honestly never would have thought the killer was the hippie environmentalist dude,” Luna said, casting a look over at the beach.

  “You’re telling me.”

  We all watched as Chief Thomas read Darius his rights. Beau and Cash turned away once they saw that everything was kosher with Chief Thomas, and raced across the sand to us.

  “Luna!” Beau said, dropping to his knees in the sand and hugging her.

  “Sure, don’t mind me, I’m fine too,” I grumbled at Beau, then gasped as I was scooped off the ground and pressed to Cash’s muscular chest.

  Can we pause to appreciate the strength of a man who can lift a grown woman from the ground?

  His lips found mine, and everything just fell away for a while. I sighed into his mouth, snuggling into his warmth and solidness, wanting to stay there just a moment longer.

  A throat cleared behind us and Cash broke his kiss, though he didn’t turn.

  “Please don’t do that to me again. I don’t know if my heart can take it,” Cash said seriously, his grey eyes clouded with concern.

  “Yes, I’d ideally not want to go through something like that again,” I agreed, before Cash let my feet down and I slid down his body.

  His muscular hard body.

  Shaking my head to focus, I peeked around Cash’s arm to see Dylan standing there.

  “Sorry, Dylan. I know this wasn’t what you were expecting to do today,” I said.

  “No problem, just glad to see everyone is okay,” Dylan said, coming to stand by Beau and lending a hand to pull Luna to a standing position.

  “We’ve got to go back on the boat to get to our car. Are you guys okay to leave from here?” Cash asked. I turned to look out at where Trace idled the boat in front of the beach. I could just barely make him out in the glow from Miss Elva’s charm, and I waved to him, wanting to thank him for his help. When I saw his hand shoot up in response, I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I just don’t understand,” I heard Dylan saying as he walked around, trying to figure out the source of the light. Beau clapped him on the shoulder and shook his head.

  “Best not to ask too many questions. You’ll learn that pretty quickly if you come down here more often.”

  And wasn’t that just the truth of it?

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “I CAN’T BELIEVE the environmentalist was the killer,” Luna said. All of us girls were in the car, heading back towards downtown Tequila. I’d agreed to drop Miss Elva and Luna off at Lucky’s, while I was going to stop at home and meet up with Cash for our promised date.

  “I could have told you that,” Rafe’s voice was filled with scorn, and we all whipped our heads around to look at where he sat in the back seat.

  “What do you mean, you could have told us that?” I asked, annoyance lacing my tone.

  “I knew he was the killer,” Rafe said slowly, like it was no big deal.

  “Well, why didn’t you say something then?” Luna protested.

  Rafe shrugged.

  “Nobody asked me.”

  And there you have it, folks. Apparently ghosts take everything literally and you have to be very specific with them.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me, Rafe. What did you think we were doing all this time?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t around half the time you were hunting for the killer. I thought you wanted me to find Horace, anyway.”

  “That’s all right, sweetie. We’ll just know to clarify things with you in the future,” Miss Elva soothed and Rafe looked at her, his expression dripping in adoration and love.

  “Gag me,” I muttered.

  “Now, no need to be angry, child. All’s well that ends well. We’re all safe. You’ve got your man, life is good,” Miss Elva scolded me as I pulled to a stop by Lucky’s.

  “Yeah, well, I don’t really know if I’ve got my man. He seemed to pretty shaken up by all this magick stuff. And his brother is certainly going to have a story to tell his whole family too,” I said wearily.

  Luna squeezed my shoulder sympathetically as she got out of the car.

  “Cash is a good guy. Just talk to him about this stuff. Don’t keep him in the dark. I’m sure he’ll be fine with all of it.”

  “Thanks, friend. I’m just happy nothing worse happened to you.”

  “I’m good. It was scary when dude kidnapped me, but I’m okay now. Just a bump on the head. Now, I just really want some food,” Luna said.

  Miss Elva looked at me for a moment from the front seat.

  “Don’t you hide yourself from that man. If he doesn’t know what he’s got, that’s his own damn fault,” she said before heaving herself out of the front seat and onto the side of the road.

  Tough to argue with that. I suppose a lot of things in life and love come down to showing people your true colors. And learning to understand that you can’t control how they will respond to you. That’s what makes love such a tricky thing. You both rip open those doors to your insides and show each other your goods, like you’re peddling your wares. Sure you shine it up real nice, but we all know that a frying pan is a frying pan. We just need to find the person who is looking for a new frying pan, is all.

  I shook my head as I parked the car, surprised to feel a wave of melancholy wash over me as I trudged up the steps. Perhaps being deeply introspective about life wasn’t the best thing for me to do at the moment. Didn’t we all just want to be loved and accepted?

  My thoughts distracted me from the fact that Hank’s ears weren’t poking over the edge of the windowsill.

  I opened the door and immediately crouched down to pet Hank.

  Except there was no Hank to be seen.

  What the heck?

  “Hank?”

  Worry ratcheted through me as my eyes darted around the room, looking for Hank.

  Finally I saw him. His body was stretched out flat and his nose was pressed to the window, his hackles raised. A low growl emitted from his throat and he didn’t even look away to glance back at me.

  So, you know, not a typical welcome home.

  My backyard was dark and the switch for the light was right next to the back door. If I crossed the room and turned it on, I would reveal myself to whatever Hank was growling at.

  See, here’s the part about me not being so great in emergencies. What I probably should have done was gone back outside and called Cash. Instead, I strode right across the living room and flashed the backyard lights on.

  And shrieked when they illuminated Horace, standing a foot away from the glass sliding doors, the ram horns still on his head and his eyes seething with rage.

  Yeah, okay, I could see why Hank had been growling now.

  I froze.

  The only thing that came to my mind was my white bubble and I surrounded myself with it right before Horace reached out and slid the door open.

  You’d think a girl would’ve checked the locks to all of her doors when a murderer was on the loose, wouldn’t you?

  Deciding to take the offensive, I stepped out onto the porch, forcing Horace to take a step back in surprise. I’d seen too many horror movies where the girl gets cornered in her house and flees upstairs. At least this way, I’d be out in the open and my neighbors would hear me scream.

  I circled around Horace forcing him to follow me a little further out into the yard, while Hank paced beside me. I really hated that Hank was with me. I didn’t care if I got hurt, but
I’d lose it if Hank got hurt.

  “Horace, lovely to see you again. May I ask why you’re hanging out in my backyard?” I asked, easily, keeping my eyes trained on his as I worked to keep the protective bubble intact.

  “You left quite suddenly the other night,” Horace said slowly, his voice sounding different, more guttural almost, as if he’d smoked six packs of cigarettes and then screamed at a football game all day. I tilted my head and looked at him oddly. Curious now, I reached out and brushed against his mind.

  Whoops, probably shouldn’t do that. I winced as what sounded like the screams of a thousand people filled my ears and flashes of serpents and flames filled my thoughts. I couldn’t decide if this was better or worse than the emptiness that had greeted me the last time I took a little dip into Horace’s thoughts.

  “Yes, well, things went a little downhill during your ‘draw down the moon’ ceremony thing, if you’ll remember,” I said, keeping my distance from Horace but not really sure what do.

  “I’d argue that, and say things actually went exactly the way they were supposed to have gone,” Horace said softly.

  Frustrated, I shrugged.

  “What’s your point, Horace? Why are you here creeping in my backyard? You could’ve called, you know. Super rude,” I said.

  So about that whole self-preservation thing…

  “I like that you have some spunk to you. Your powers benefit from it. It’s just too bad I’ll need to take them from you.”

  I held up my hands in front of me to pause him as I circled, not sure what I was going to do about this little tidbit of information.

  “Why do you keep trying to take my power from me? You’re clearly so much stronger than I am. What do you need with mine?” Flatter the crazy man. At least I was trying to be smart here.

  “Because you’re the easiest mark,” Horace shook his head at me and sighed, putting his hands on his loincloth. I couldn’t help but look down, and yup, Horace seemed to be really excited about stealing my power. The thought grossed me out even more and I gagged a little in my mouth.

  “I resent the implication that I’m an easy mark,” I argued, continuing to move, forcing Horace away from the house in order to follow me.

  “The white witch has a solid wall of protection. I really wanted the Voodoo priestess’s power, but it’s going to take me a while to get hers. She’s a crafty one though. I’ll enjoy taking her down,” Horace mused.

  “Oh, so you’re picking on the weak one of the bunch then? Is that it? Then you’ll grow stronger with each person you steal power from?”

  “Pretty much,” Horace said, “It’s just like with all my followers. Stupid minons really. It wasn’t hard to put a little spell on them to come follow my ways. I’ve been draining their life energy all year. Last night was supposed to be the moment that I would take all of it.”

  My mouth dropped open.

  “You were going to murder them all?”

  “They would have simply vanished. Nobody would’ve been the wiser,” Horace shrugged, no big deal, right?

  “Um, their families probably would’ve noticed,” I pointed out, stepping further away from.

  “I tried to pick people that were outliers or who didn’t have much family. Either way, what do I care? I was going to be the most powerful one of all. But you and you ruined that, didn’t you Althea? You and your little troop of magickal friends,” Horace spit before smiling manically at me as he raised his arms over his head, his horns thrown backwards.

  Hank darted forward, a savage growl ripping from his furry body, as he sunk his teeth into Horace’s ankle. I saw Horace’s eyes fly open in pain and surprise.

  “Hank, come!” I screeched and surprisingly, Hank listened. He darted back to my side as I reached into my bra and threw the pouch I had tucked there for safekeeping. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was out of ideas and Miss Elva’s pouches had worked in the past.

  A flash of heat, so powerful that it caused Hank and I to stumble backwards, raced into our faces. I scooped Hank into my arms and ran for the beach, terrified we were about to be burned alive.

  Knowing I would have to look, I turned to see what had happened, Hank’s fuzzy body warm against my chest.

  A ring of fire, perfectly formed, surrounded Horace as he beat against an invisible wall.

  “What the…” I swore, turning fully and stepping closer so I could see what was happening.

  It was like Horace had been enclosed in a cylinder of fire. He beat his fists against the invisible wall, but nothing would shake them. As the flames licked higher into the sky, Horace raised his arms to the sky and screamed.

  And in a flash of light – he was gone.

  Like, gone, gone. Not a dead body on my lawn with a raging fire around him. Just…gone.

  The fire disappeared in an instant, and I ran over to look at my battered grass. A small thin circle was all that remained to remind me of what had happened. I blew out a breath, sweat trickling down my face, and pressed my lips into Hank’s furry head. Relief coursed through me as I began to shake, delayed shock setting in.

  “What the hell?”

  I looked up to see Cash’s angry face standing in the door to my house. It was the last thing I saw before I went down.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  A WET TONGUE against my face brought me out of it and I looked up at the sky to see Cash’s head hovering worriedly over me while Hank licked my face.

  “Hank, stop,” I protested.

  For the second time that night, Cash put his arms beneath my body and lifted me from the ground. It was enough to almost make me faint again.

  I looked up at Cash to see his lips pressed together in a tight line. I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know he was pissed.

  Cash walked inside the door, turning to pull it closed and locking it, and then proceeded to drop me unceremoniously on the couch.

  “Hey,” I protested, pushing myself up on the cushions. Wasn’t I the victim here?

  I watched as Cash began to pace the room, his arms swinging in anger.

  “Of all the…” he began, and then stopped himself, blowing out a breath.

  Hank hopped up on the couch and shoved his nose in my face before moving in next to me to watch the show. His furry body was a comfort to me and I reached out to stroke his back, incredibly grateful he hadn’t been hurt by Horace.

  “You did a good job, buddy,” I whispered to Hank, and he turned and licked my hand, his sandpaper tongue tickling my palm.

  “What?” Cash asked, so caught up in his anger that he hadn’t heard me.

  “Um, nothing. Just telling Hank he was a good boy.”

  I waited for Cash to speak. I may be stupid sometimes, but I’m not stupid enough to pull the pin on a grenade. And Cash was one big grenade of emotions about to go off over there.

  “I come over here to see some madman in horns being eaten by fire, is that correct?” Cash’s words came out clipped.

  I considered them carefully and then nodded, still not willing to speak.

  “Would you care to enlighten me?”

  I thought about what Miss Elva had said about not hiding things from the people you love. I didn’t know if I loved Cash or not, but I did know there was a lot of potential there. Which meant I couldn’t start our relationship based on lies. Gently, I reached out a hand and patted the sofa cushion next to me.

  “Why don’t you come sit down?”

  Cash blew out a breath and ran his hand through his closely cropped hair, causing little pieces to stick up haphazardly.

  “Got any beer?”

  That sounded excellent right now.

  “Yes, and could you get me a glass of wine too?” What? I could play the victim if I wanted.

  When Cash finally settled in next to me and I had a cool glass of white wine to soothe my throat, I began to tell him about Horace.

  “Wait, he summoned an evil spirit?” Cash’s beer was disappearing at an alarming rate as he took in
my story.

  “So it seems. Now, listen, you have to know this is not what Pagans are or do. He was just a fanatic,” I explained, sipping my wine. I didn’t want him to hear Luna talk about doing something Pagan-related in the future and have him fly off the deep end.

  “Between Horace and the murderer, I’ve seen more magickal things in 12 hours of being back in Tequila Key than I have in my whole life,” Cash said carefully, leveling his eyes at me.

  “That you know of,” I corrected him, enjoying the cool brush of wine that soothed my throat.

  “What do you mean, that I know of?”

  “Well, if you aren’t in tune with or expecting to see magick, you oftentimes won’t see the magick,” I shrugged.

  Cash blew out a breath as he contemplated my words.

  “So what happened to that guy?”

  “I don’t know. That was Miss Elva’s magick. I should probably call her,” I said, realizing I might need to notify her in case Horace came back.

  Cash reached into his pocket and handed me my phone.

  “Hey, how’d you get this?”

  “You dropped it on the beach.”

  “My hero,” I sang out, delighted that he’d found it. What? Nobody wants to pay those stupid deductibles on the insurance for replacing a lost phone. Plus having to restore all those numbers? I shuddered at the thought.

  “Miss Elva,” I said, when she answered the call. I could hear Jimmy Buffett in the background and voices laughing.

  “You okay, girl?”

  “Horace was just here. I used your pouch on him,” I said briefly and I heard her quick intake of breath.

  “What happened?”

  “A cylinder of fire and then he disappeared,” I said.

  Miss Elva was silent for a moment and I waited.

  “Then that was the right one to give you. That’s the devil’s work, right there. The pouch was meant to match his power so whatever he had going on was reflected at him tenfold.”