by Rose Pressey
“Are you going to call Ken and Dylan today?” Alice asked.
“Maybe.” I concentrated on sorting through the clothing.
“That’s not the answer we were looking for,” Charlotte said.
I didn’t respond. From the front, the doorbell jingled.
“If you’ll excuse me, ladies, I need to wait on a customer.”
Charlotte stepped in front of me. “Not until you agree to call them.”
Alice stood beside her, looking equally determined.
My mouth dropped. “You two are seriously holding me hostage until I agree to call them?”
“This is for your own good,” Alice said.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right.” I pushed toward the women, and my hands went right through them.
“Oh, don’t do that,” Charlotte said when I walked through their arms.
“Then don’t stand in my way.”
I reached the door and twisted the knob, but nothing happened.
“The door won’t open,” I said. “What did you all do to it?”
Charlotte placed her hands on her hips. “I am offended that you would think I would do such a thing.”
“Well, forgive me, but you just tried to keep me back here until I agreed to do what you want me to do.”
“I am a lady and would never do something like that to you,” she said.
“Then why is it stuck?” I asked.
Alice and Charlotte shrugged.
“Maybe it’s just the humidity,” Alice said.
I supposed it was possible.
“Just push on it harder,” Charlotte said.
I placed my hand on the knob and my shoulder against the door. I twisted and gave it a good shove. Nothing happened. I was starting to panic. What if I was stuck in here?
I shoved again, but I couldn’t get the door open. I wiped my forehead and released a deep breath. I had to calm down. I didn’t like being in small places.
“Don’t panic, Cookie, the door will open. Everything will be just fine,” Alice said.
The bell over the front door jingled again. I wasn’t sure if the customer had left or if another customer had come in, but I couldn’t leave the store unattended for long. Even in Sugar Creek, shoplifting could happen, and my shop was full of valuable items. I would have to get out of there.
I tried to calm down and pushed the door again, but I had the same outcome. I’d never had any problems with this door before. After this, I would never shut it again.
“Hello?” I called out. “I’m back here. I can’t get the door open.”
No one answered. I wasn’t sure if that was because they couldn’t hear me or were afraid to answer. Either way, no one answered or came to help me.
“Okay.” I released a deep breath. “Can you all see who is out there?”
Charlotte and Alice answered in unison, “Of course.”
They floated through the door. Now if I could just figure out a way that they could get the door unstuck for me. I tapped my foot against the floor and fidgeted while I waited for them to return. What were they doing? What were they waiting for? I was freaking out wondering what was happening on the other side of that door.
“Hello?” I called out. “What are you gals doing? Did you forget about me?”
Finally, Charlotte and Alice popped back in. I couldn’t read the looks on their faces.
“Well, what is going on? Is there a customer out there?”
Charlotte shook her head. “No one is out there.”
“Great. I missed a customer. How unprofessional is that?”
“That’s not the worst of the problems,” Charlotte said.
“Okay, now you’re scaring me. What happened?”
“There’s a chair against the door. It’s under the knob. That’s why you can’t get out.”
The color probably drained from my face. Who would have done that? Why had they locked me in this room? Luckily, I remembered that I had my cell phone in my pocket. I pulled it out and dialed Heather. There was no telling how long I would have had to stay in there if I hadn’t had the phone. I prayed that she would pick up because I didn’t want to call 911
After I explained the bizarre situation to Heather, she said she would be right over. I hoped that the person who did this wasn’t still in the store. What if Heather ran into the intruder? Maybe I should have called the police. After all, someone had done this on purpose. It wasn’t an accident. Someone wanted me to stay in that room. What would Dylan say when I told him about this? After a couple minutes, the bell rang again. I hoped it was Heather this time.
“Cookie, I’m here,” she called out.
“Thank goodness,” I said.
The sound of the chair moving away from the door gave me some relief. Heather yanked on the door.
“Are you okay?” she grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room.
“I’m fine.”
Heather looked around the shop. “Who do you think did this?”
I blew the hair out of my eyes. “I honestly don’t know. But I think someone was trying to give me a message. And that message has been received loud and clear.”
Heather scooted the chair away from the door. “What were you doing when it happened?”
“I was in there getting a few pieces of clothing. The ghosts were nagging me about calling Ken and Dylan. I really thought I’d left the door open.”
Heather frowned. “That’s a scary thought.”
“Yes, it is.”
Wind Song was standing beside me, meowing. Heather and I exchanged a look.
“Do you think she saw who did it?” Heather asked.
“Would she be able to tell us if she did?” I asked.
“You should get the Ouija board back out and see,” Alice said.
“We need to use the Ouija board,” Heather said.
Charlotte chimed in, “I agree.”
It was a good thing I agreed, because I would have been outnumbered. Heather and I left the back of the store and went to the counter. I was still trying to figure out who would have locked me in and why.
When I reached the counter, I pulled up a stool. I needed to sit down and recover from my panic.
“What are these cards doing here?” Heather asked, pointing to tarot cards on top of the counter.
Three cards sat on top of the counter. I’d never seen them before.
“They’re not yours?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, I didn’t have them.”
“The cards weren’t there when I went to the back.”
Heather stepped closer and picked up each card, examining them.
“They’re not the cards that Wind Song has been using. And they’re not the cards that I use.”
“Who else would have tarot cards around here?” Alice asked.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I honestly don’t know. There’s no one else who uses the tarot cards that I know.”
“What about Heather? Does she know who uses the cards?” Charlotte asked.
“Charlotte wants to know if anyone else in town uses the tarot cards,” I translated.
“Several people, but they wouldn’t leave them here. These cards look relatively new, as if they hadn’t been purchased long ago.”
“This is certainly strange.” Alice paced across the space in front of the counter.
“So what do the cards mean?” I asked, gesturing toward them.
Heather held each card up, one at a time.
“This card is the justice card. Its meaning is for justice of the universe, not really justice in law or revenge. This card is the fool. Its meaning is for moving forward. And this card is the death card. Its meaning is for transformation, not really death.”
“That combination of cards is definitely trying to send you a message,” Charlotte said.
“Did they leave these cards on purpose?” I asked. “Meaning the message was that I’m a fool and they will get revenge with death?”
“Good thinking,” Alice said.
Heather frowned. “I think so, yes. But this person couldn’t know anything about the tarot cards because he or she would know that these are not the literal meanings.”
“I don’t think that matters to them. They just wanted to threaten me.”
“Well, it worked” Heather placed the cards back on the counter. “We need to use the Ouija board. I’ll be right back.”
As Heather hurried out to retrieve the board, I studied the cards.
“Try not to worry, sugar. I’m sure that everything will be fine,” Charlotte said.
Alice stepped close. “I’m sorry that I got you involved in this.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry, Alice, you were just trying to help Nicole.”
The bell sounded above the door, and I jerked up to look. I was on edge, thinking that the intruder might return. But it was Heather with the board under her arm. Maybe I needed to rethink my policy on not having a Ouija board of my own. It looked as if I was going to need one.
Heather placed the board down on the counter once again. I set the planchette down in the middle, and we all looked toward the cat. Wind Song was still standing guard by the back door.
“It’s okay, sweetie, you can come up here now,” I said.
She licked her paws and stared at us. If she came up, it would be on her own terms.
“Offer her a treat,” Charlotte said.
Before I had a chance to retrieve the bag of treats from under the counter, Wind Song strolled toward us. Just the mention of treats had worked. The cat hopped up on the counter.
“Maybe she doesn’t want to use it,” I said.
Heather shrugged. “I guess we’re about to find out.”
“Or maybe she saw nothing,” Alice added. “Cats can sleep through anything.”
I wished the ghost gals had seen who had been in the store. If only they’d taken a peek out there a little sooner. Wind Song swayed her tail and placed her paw on the planchette.
“I’d say she wants to use it,” Heather said.
The cat pushed the planchette around the board. All eyes were focused on the board. The first letter was H. Wind Song pushed to the second letter, which was U. Then she moved it to the N.
“Hun?” Heather said.
“She’s not finished,” I said.
Wind Song moved to the G and then to the R.
“I think I see where this is going,” I said.
The cat just spelled out that she was hungry.
Charlotte and Alice laughed. “Okay, Wind Song. Message received”
Wind Song pushed the planchette again.
“Do you want to tell me what kind of food now?” I asked.
Alice snickered. Wind Song pushed the planchette to another letter. This time it was the J. Heather and I exchanged a quick glance. Then Wind Song moved it to the E. Next was S followed by another S. The cat was going to spell the name Jessica again.
“Is that who was in here and placed the chair under the door?” I asked.
Wind Song licked her paws and then meowed. I retrieved her food dish from under the counter.
“I don’t think we’ll get another answer from her,” I said.
Heather leaned against the counter. “Probably not.”
Was Wind Song just stuck on the same name, though? Maybe it had nothing to do with what had just happened. I couldn’t know for sure. I placed the dish on the counter and put some gourmet tuna in it. She ate, and I rubbed her head.
“Thanks for the message, Wind Song,” I said.
She hadn’t given me an answer, but it was better than nothing.
“Do you think it was Jessica?” Heather asked.
“It’s possible. Why else would Wind Song give us her name?”
When Wind Song finished the food, she licked her paws and jumped from the counter. She strolled to the front of the store and curled up in her favorite spot in the sun. At least she wasn’t afraid to go back to the front of the store now. She had seemed a little spooked earlier. She probably hadn’t liked that someone had been in the store while I was locked in the back.
“This was the second time Wind Song gave us Jessica’s name,” Heather said.
“Yeah, she may only know that one name,” I said.
“Or the cat knows exactly who did it and just told us.”
I tapped my fingers against the counter.
Heather picked up the board. “I’m putting the board away this time. Every time we use this thing, Dylan stops in. I don’t want him to catch us.”
“You should just tell him about the board and the tarot cards,” Alice said.
I shook my head. “No way. I definitely can’t tell him that the cat uses them and gives me messages.”
“That is a bit far-fetched,” Heather said.
“I wouldn’t know where to begin to explain how the cat communicates with us.”
“So show him. Let the cat use the board and the cards when he’s here,” Alice said.
“She probably wouldn’t do it in front of him,” I said.
“You’re probably right. She’s too shy,” Heather said.
“Well, apart from that, I must tell Dylan about the cards we found and the chair under the doorknob.”
Heather agreed. “It’s best that you do. If someone is messing with you, then he needs to know.”
“It is a little embarrassing to admit that I was locked in the back room.”
Plus, I knew that by keeping anything I’d discovered to myself would give me a chance to solve the crime first. Why didn’t I just leave this to the professionals?
“You had no control over that,” Charlotte said.
“Yes, Cookie, there’s nothing you could have done to stop it,” Alice said.
They were right. I pulled out my phone and dialed Dylan’s number.
“At least she has his number memorized,” Charlotte said.
I frowned, but didn’t respond. When he picked up, I had the sudden urge to hang up. I wondered if I really needed to bother him with this tiny detail. But then I realized it wasn’t a tiny detail. It was important that he know this.
“Dylan, hi, it’s Cookie.”
“So cute that they’re on a first-name basis,” Charlotte said.
I waved my hand to quiet Charlotte. Alice chuckled. I was glad that they thought this was so entertaining. After I told him what had happened, he said he would be over right away.
“He’s on his way,” I said when I hung up the phone.
“You did the right thing,” Heather said.
“I just hope we find who did this. The person needs to be brought to justice,” I said.
“We won’t stop until we do,” Alice said.
Chapter 19
Cookie’s Savvy Vintage Fashion Shopping Tips
You can mix the old with the new.
Don’t be afraid to pair a fifties skirt
with a top you just bought at the mall.
Within minutes, Detective Dylan Valentine walked through the door. He wore dark blue slacks and one of the shirts that he’d bought from my store—the blue one that matched his eyes. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw him.
When he reached the counter, he said, “Hi, Cookie. Hello, Heather. Is everyone okay?”
I nodded. “We’re fine now.”
He glanced down and noticed the tarot cards. “You say someone locked you in the back room? How did that happen?”
I explained the sequence of events.
“How do you know someone locked you in?” he asked. “Maybe the door was just stuck.”
“I thought so at first, but then I called Heather. She came over and discovered the chair was pushed under the knob.”
I had to leave out the part about the ghosts peeking out there and spotting the chair first.
He looked at Heather. “So the chair was under the knob?” His eyebrows pinched together in a frown.
Heather’s eyes were solemn. “Yes, that’s exactly what
happened.”
“You said something about receiving a threatening message? What was that?” he asked.
This was the part I had been dreading telling him about.
I pointed out the cards. “Well, we found these tarot cards on the counter. They’re not mine and they’re not Heather’s. We have no idea where they came from.”
He picked up the cards and studied them. “What do they mean?”
Heather stepped closer. “That is the fool card. That one is the justice card and that one is the death card.”
“What does all this mean?” he asked. “How is it threatening?”
“Well, I figured out that it means I am the fool who will get revenge, meaning death,” I said.
“Yeah, but the person obviously doesn’t know how to read the cards,” Heather said.
“How so?” Dylan asked.
“Because the cards are Justice, Fool, and Death, but those aren’t the true meanings of the cards. So the person who left them wouldn’t have experience in reading cards as far as I can tell,” Heather said.
Dylan ran his hand through his hair. “I see. That makes sense. And you didn’t see anyone near the counter?”
I shook my head. “No, not at all.”
Heather tapped her forehead as a realization struck. “You know, I sold cards like that about a month ago.”
Dylan looked over at her. “Really?”
“I carry a few different styles. I usually sell about four sets a month. Not too many, but they are fairly popular.”
“Do you have any idea who you would have sold a set like this to?” Dylan asked.
I had my fingers crossed that Heather would remember. Alice and Charlotte moved closer.
“I really can’t recall,” she said.
Oh well, at least we had tried.
“Whoever I sold them to wouldn’t have been anyone who was connected to Nicole, though. I would remember anyone from the movie coming into the store.” Heather sounded confident of her words.
