by Tonya Kappes
Faith’s line was almost out the door.
“Hi, I’m June.” I shook hands down the line. I grabbed one of the hand lotions that made hands look and feel younger. I offered the customers a free squirt. “Isn’t the smell wonderful?”
All the women in line sniffed the back of their hand where I had put a dot of the lotion. A few of them asked if I wouldn’t mind getting them a bottle. Of course I didn’t mind.
Faith and I worked like a good team. She would ring them up and I’d package their cures or add a special touch if I needed to. Luckily, most were straight sales. When the line had died down to a few, I disappeared behind the counter with my bag and carefully took out the book and the vine.
“Vrurock, micho, drimoid. Extract the oil from hence the from.” I held the tendril over the boiling cauldron. Just as the Magical Cures Book had written it would do, the tendril split into fours, dripping oil into the cauldron. The lotion I had made earlier glowed from the bottle. It was ready to be combined. I uncorked the top and let the lotion slide into the thick frothy liquid, turning into a jade potion. It swirled, cooked, and glowed before the cauldron turned off, letting me know it was finished and the potion was done.
I took a vial from the shelf and let the rest of the oil drip into it from the vine for future use and stuck it in my bag. I knew it would be safe there until we found out who had broken into the shop. Something on the page jumped out at me. I looked down and there were highlighted words. I read it out loud, “Use the true oil for life and death.” I reread the words over in my head wondering why it was highlighted.
I turned back to the cauldron where it was filled with the lotion that included the final ingredient I needed to complete the stress free potion that was stolen from me. Using the ladle, the liquid was easily transferred back into the intended bottle.
“Is everything okay?” I poked my head out from behind the partition.
Mr. Prince Charming had found his way back to the shop and sat on the chair behind the counter. Faith was petting him. I swear he had a grin.
Chapter Twenty-One
Faith was kind enough to close the shop for me after I told her a lame lie about me having to go to Locust Grove to pick out some wedding things. It was a good excuse to get away without anyone suspecting anything. If I would have told her I was going to Mac’s in Locust Grove, she would’ve told the world.
I had to find out who broke into my shop. And why. And if Pearl and Josh knew something. Sonny said he had heard a lot of employees go there. From what I remember, Tiffany did say she had met Burt there.
“What on earth am I going to wear to a bar?” I asked Mr. Prince Charming who was sitting on my bed watching me throw clothes out of my closet.
My clothes were pretty basic and I never really went too many places to need anything else. I had a couple of black dresses that might be okay. I pulled one hanger off the rod and held it up. It was a bit short for a bar and perfect for a date with Oscar but it was the only thing I really had.
Within minutes, I had the dress on with a pair of black flats, and with a swipe of lipstick was out the door.
“No,” I pointed my finger when Mr. Prince Charming appeared next to me by the Green Machine. “I thought I left you inside.” My eyes narrowed and my lips pursed.
Rowl! Mr. Prince Charming let out a disgruntled groan and darted down the hill toward Whispering Falls.
On the way to the bar, I had time to go over all of the questions I might have for anyone who might be there. Plus I was on the lookout for someone with long fingernails, like the shadowy figure in a fight with Burt hours before he died. Surely if Mac’s was where the employees hung out, they were around Burt much longer and more than I ever was and I’d seen his bad side within eight hours of being around him.
The asphalt parking lot at Mac’s had more holes than it did asphalt. The old building had been an old barn that the owner, Mac, had turned into a bar. I recalled when it had come to town and the local news station had done an exposé on how he had rehabbed the old barn instead of tearing it down, but since I wasn’t a big bar hopper or drinker, I never had gone to the place, so it was a good night to check it out.
“June, June,” the night wind whispered my name causing me to jump.
“Hello?” I called into the darkness around me. Mac sure could use some outside lighting besides the large barn light above the loft door that I had to bet was there for pure aesthetics.
“Psst.” The voice called, “Over here.”
My eyes squinted as I glanced around the dark to see. At the corner of the barn I saw a white furry tail swaying in the darkness.
“Mr. Prince Charming?” I asked and he ran over to me.
Amethyst Plum walked around the corner of the barn where my ornery cat had appeared. Her black hair was braided in a fishtail and ran down her back. Her thick brows, dark eyes, and long lashes were covered in the smoky eye look. She wore a pair of black pencil thin pants, tapered at the ankle, a grey ruffle sleeveless blouse and a pair of grey flats.
“You naughty cat.” I picked him up to reprimand him for getting Amethyst to come to Mac’s.
“He insisted,” Amethyst said and met me halfway. “Not only that, but I had a really bad dream about an old lady and it has to do with you.”
“Old lady.” I knew she had to be talking about Jenny Rossen because she was the only old lady associated with everything going on in my life that seemed to be the glue to all this Head To Toe Works mess.
“There is danger around her and when Mr. Prince Charming came to Full Moon tonight, I knew something was wrong and followed him here.” She glanced sharply around, her eyes ablaze. “There is deep-seated evil around here and I’m worried.”
“We will be fine.” The last thing I needed was a bit of fear to bring down the confidence I had built up on the way over here.
“And the Marys were looking for you.” Her eyes darted about the darkness.
The light streaming out of the front door of Mac’s caused us both to look when it opened and a couple drunks stumbled out.
“I have to go in there.” I dragged the toe of my flat along a chipped piece of asphalt. “I know someone from Head To Toe Works broke into my shop and stole Darla’s last homeopathic cure I owned. I also know they are the sole reason my product was pulled out of the company. I promised the Village Council they could have part of the money from the sales and I want to make good on my promise.”
“Sometimes we can’t help if things go wrong. Just because we are of the spiritual world, it doesn’t mean we can fix things that shouldn’t be fixed or we can change the course of the universe.” Amethyst always had wise words.
“I understand my product might not be meant for the world to use because of our real gift, but that still doesn’t mean someone has the right to steal from me either.” I completely understood what Amethyst was saying, but it was the last real cure I had from Darla and it was something I cherished.
“Then we will figure out who took the cure from your store, but as for the murder, I think you need to leave that up to Oscar and the police because something very evil lurks there.” The look in her eyes caused me to pause.
Though I didn’t agree, I didn’t disagree either.
The door swung open again with more people spilling out into the parking lot, laughing and telling stories. Honky-tonk music blared from within and I could see some line dancing in the back of the bar.
“I’m going in. You are more than welcome to come with me,” I invited Amethyst but didn’t wait to see if she was coming.
There was a lot of hooting and hollering coming from the dance floor. None other than Josh and a few other faces I had recognized but not talked to from Head To Toe Works were leading the boot-scootin’ crowd.
“Now what?” Amethyst’s brows rose.
“There.” I pointed to the two empty barstools that happened to be next to Ronald, the security guard who had given me such a hard time on my first day of work at the factory
.
We moseyed up and took a seat like we knew what we were doing. My stomach knotted, sending my intuition on high alert.
“It’s you,” Ronald’s face contorted when he saw me.
The frost from his mug dripped, leaving a puddle on the wooden bar. His tired eyes bore into me and there was stubble around his jaw line.
“I’ve never seen you here before.” The lines around his eyes creased even deeper making him look much older than he really was.
“I had heard everyone from work comes here so me and my friend,” I gestured to Amethyst next to me, “thought we might stop in for a drink.”
“What’ll you have?” he asked and downed what was left in his mug.
He sat it down in the puddle and lifted his finger in the air. The bartender came over, picked up the mug, tossing it in the steamy water behind the bar.
“Another one.” Ronald said when the bartender wiped down the counter in front of him. “And whatever they are drinking.”
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” The bartender paid no attention to me. “You’ve been here all day.”
“You either want my money or not,” Ronald growled and glared at the man.
“What do you ladies want?” The bartender threw cocktail napkins in front of us.
“I’ll have a Coke.” Amethyst smiled.
“I’ll have the same.” I smiled.
“You come to a bar and have a Coke?” Ronald’s words were biting. He chuckled nastily. “You could’ve gone to McDonald’s for that.” His head swung around my way. “What is it you really want?”
“You see, my friend June,” Amethyst got off her stool and stood in the small space between me and Ronald. “Really wanted to sell her product through the company and we just don’t know why it folded. We thought maybe a big guy like you could give us a little insight.”
Starting from his shoulder, Amethyst dragged her long nail down his arm and stopped at his big hands. She tapped this wrist.
“You sure have nice strong hands.” She grinned. Inwardly I groaned and I rolled my eyes.
Ronald seemed to be taken by it as his eyes watched Amethyst’s finger make small circles across his hand.
“Darlin’, you don’t know the half of it.” His lips curled at the edges.
“Then why don’t you tell me,” she whispered in his ear loud enough for me to hear.
If I’d known Amethyst was this good with guys, I would’ve included her a long time ago. My gut told me Mr. Prince Charming knew what he was doing when he went to the Treesort to get her tonight. Good fairy-god cat, my insides smiled.
“I don’t know why someone would kill Burt. He was a good guy. Always was.” Ronald’s voice broke. “I’ve known him all my life. He met Tiffany right over there.” He pointed across the bar to a group of college age kids who were enjoying a round of shots. Their laughter filled the bar. “She woo’ed him right out of his momma’s house. Bless her heart.”
“His momma?” I pushed Amethyst out of the way to probe for more. “Sorry, Amethyst.”
“Yeah, sweetie.” Amethyst winked at him. Her long lashes drew down and back up. I could practically hear his heart palpitation from her flirting with him. “What about his momma?”
“She is a good woman. She loves her son so much and was naturally leery when Tiffany came around throwing her money in Burt’s face.” Ronald had an awe-shucks look on his face. “He had never been married or had kids, but he had a promising career with a large marketing firm up in Lexington. Tiffany talked him right out of it and right in her bed.”
“And that’s bad?” Amethyst was really playing the part as she rubbed her hand on his back.
“When your momma who has loved you and taken care of you all your life is left out in the cold because of a few romps in the bed, I’d say that qualifies for bad.” Ronald reached around and patted Amethyst’s hand. She drew it back from him and placed it on his leg.
“Do you think his momma would’ve been angry enough with her son to kill him?” Amethyst went for the throat with her words.
Her frankness didn’t seem to bother Ronald because she leaned way over the bar, her ruffles falling to the side to give him a good look at her chest. She grabbed her Coke and took a nice long seductive drink, her eyes never leaving Ronald’s.
“Ahhh. . .” she sighed, licking her lips.
“Um. . .” Ronald babbled.
Again, I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, would she kill him?” I interrupted.
“Nah.” He shook his head and took another sip of his beer. “Though there was a time when Burt went to see his momma because Tiffany was going to make him. . .”
“Hey! I thought that was you!” Josh stumbled up between us and practically knocked Ronald out of the way.
“Josh, you are interrupting.” I tried to shove him back. I had to hear what Ronald was going to say. It could have been a big piece of information about why Jenny might have a motive.
“Hey old man.” Josh smacked Ronald on the back. He grabbed my hand. “Let’s dance. You probably need practice before that big day of yours.”
There was no protesting because his tattooed hand dragged me out on the dance floor in the middle of the dancers twirling, whirling, stepping to each side before shimmying down to the ground. It was like they had all taken the same dance class.
“Watch it!” Someone shoved me when I bumped into them.
“Hey!” The person on the other side of me screamed after I stepped on their toe when I didn’t shuffle to the right with the rest of the crowd.
I shimmied the best I could as my eyes watched Ronald and Amethyst in the distance leaving the bar. She sure was a good friend; I knew she was going to pump him for information about Jenny and Tiffany. One of them had to have broken into my shop.
While she did that, I knew I could sneak around and ask about the murder.
With a break in the music, I hurried my way off the dance floor while Josh was talking to another group of people and sat back down on my stool.
“Another Coke?” the bartender asked.
“No thanks.” I waved him off.
“So, you and your friend seem to be asking a lot of questions about Burt Rossen.” His face colored with uneasiness. “I don’t want no trouble here. Like I told the cops, the Rossens might have bought this bar out from under me, but I’m not ratting them out.”
“They own this bar?” I asked.
He nodded. “I was having some financial difficulty about five years ago and sought out a marketing firm in Lexington to help me. Burt came in and he had the best ideas. Only I couldn’t make his business plan a reality because of the cost in doing so. He wheeled his momma in here one day and she took a look around and they offered to be partners. They own the majority, which I guess Tiffany and Jenny do now, and I keep running the place.”
“It looks like you are doing well. Can’t you buy them out?” I asked.
“It’s not Jenny. Tiffany wouldn’t let it happen.” He went over to the rowdy crowd across the bar when they hollered for him.
Across the bar, I noticed Josh talking to someone. It was Pearl. He pointed toward me and she looked over. I gave her a big wave, but she ignored me and took off out the door.
“Pearl!” I tried to sling my bag over my shoulder as I rushed out of Mac’s after her. “Pearl!” I yelled. “Wait!”
“What do you want?” She turned, her eyes conveyed the fury within her.
“I wanted to talk to you about the factory,” I said and noticed the snarl on her face. “Listen, I’m sorry the factory was shut down but it wasn’t because of me.”
“I never said it was and it’s not like we are friends. I met you a couple of times,” she said through gritted teeth.
“I get the feeling there is more to it than that.” I put a hand on her shoulder and got a jolt.
My intuition told me she was having an inner battle with loyalty. Her nerves were standing on end. I sucked in a deep breath and had t
o use my other hand to physically pull my hand off her.
“I can help you if you are battling something,” I assured her.
“Don’t go and use that voodoo crap on me.” She folded her arms across her chest. I noticed her white shirt had a logo on it.
“I see you got another job.” I pointed.
“What’s it of your concern?” she asked.
“Locust Grove Convalescent Home?” I questioned the logo of the home with a heart in the attic portion of the photo.
“It’s an old folks home. My mom lives there and they just so happened to have an opening in the cleaning crew.” There was bridled anger in her voice. “Did you know that I hate cleaning?”
“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t.” I laughed and tried to break the ice between us.
“Listen, I think you are a nice enough person and all, but we come from two different worlds.” She gestured between us. “This is as far as we go. Understand?”
“Understand.” A surge of urgency to agree with her hit me.
She knew a lot more than she wanted me to know. It was exactly what Faith had said about Pearl or Josh knowing something about the break-in. Now I had narrowed it down.
Pearl.
When I got into the Green Machine to head back to Whispering Falls, Mr. Prince Charming was already curled up on the dashboard sound asleep.
He lifted his head, yawned and put his head back down. His eyes focused on me.
“One thing is for sure.” I watched the taillights of Pearl’s car fade off around the curve of the old road in the darkness. “Pearl knows more than she’s letting on and it’s up to me to find out.”
Mr. Prince Charming purred happily as I started the car. I was a little concerned about Amethyst, but before I went out to the dance floor, she’d insisted she wanted to hang out with Ronald a little more.
I glanced over at Mr. Prince Charming and swore he had a smile on his face. He seemed to always be the happiest when we made our way back to Whispering Falls. As did my heart and soul. It was home. A place of protection. And I needed to feel safe with the thief behind bars. And I couldn’t help but think the thief and the murderer were one and the same. My gut told me Pearl held the key.
