“It’s not." Jolene rejoined them. “In fact things are starting to look up for us.”
“Really?” Celeste’s eyebrows flew up. “How so?”
“That was Skinner’s brother. He wants to meet us over at Skinner’s house. He said he has some of Skinner’s notes and a poetry book that has to do with our case.”
Chapter Seventeen
Reinhardt Skinner’s house was an old fashioned 1940s farmhouse that sat on a tree lined street. The four sisters parked across from it and approached from the front walkway.
“Does anyone else think it’s strange that the door is open?” Celeste’s stomach tightened as she pointed to the front door that was slightly ajar.
“Maybe he left it open to air out the house?” Jolene suggested. “He did say he was cleaning it out and it’s been closed up for a few days.
“Maybe.” Morgan’s lips were pressed in a thin line. “But I have a feeling this might not be what we were hoping.”
The girls walked toward the door cautiously. Jolene first, with Celeste, Morgan and Fiona close behind.
Jolene knocked on the door. “Mr. Skinner?”
No one answered.
Celeste’s stomach tightened even more.
Jolene pushed the door open slightly, the hinge creaking like a sound effect from a bad horror movie.
“Hello?” Jolene said into the house.
No one answered.
Jolene looked back at Celeste. Celeste shrugged. Jolene turned back around, pushed the door wide and stepped into the house.
“Anyone home?” Jolene ventured.
Still no response.
She crept further into the house. Celeste, Morgan and Fiona came in behind her to stand in the small living room. The room was sparse with a sofa, television and recliner. An open can of soda sat on the coffee table and a few boxes were stacked in the corner. A bookshelf next to the sofa stood empty—evidence that Skinner’s brother had already started packing. Dust motes floated in the air.
“Something’s not right. He said he’d be here.” Jolene turned to head down a hallway to the left when they heard a noise from the back of the house.
Celeste saw Morgan’s eyes narrow as she put her finger up to her lips, cocking her ear in the direction of the noise.
Jolene wasn’t as cautious as Morgan and she took off toward the back of the house.
“Jolene, no!” Morgan tried to grab for her but she was already out of reach, halfway through the dining room and closing in on the room the noise had come from.
Celeste sprinted up behind her and the two of them got to the opening that led into what must have been Skinner’s study at the same time.
Celeste’s heart jolted. Two beefy men with long scraggly hair and beards appeared to be ransacking the office. Desk drawers were pulled open, their contents spilled on the floor. The filing cabinet’s oak drawers gaped and the bookshelf had been relieved of most of its books which now lay strewn in a heap. She knew they weren’t looking for valuables—an expensive bronze bust sat untouched on top of an oak side table. But the most alarming sight was the body slumped over the desk in a pool of blood—Skinner’s brother, Celeste assumed.
The two men’s heads jerked up, their eyes narrowing at the sisters. Before Celeste could react, they threw down the papers they were holding and lunged toward her.
Celeste instinctively crouched into a defensive karate stance. Beside her she could see Jolene casting about for a weapon. Behind her, she could hear the sharp intake of breath as Morgan and Fiona joined them in time to see the two large men lunging in their direction.
She barely had time to register any of this when the largest of the men was practically on top of her. She thrust her palm out and up taking advantage of his forward momentum to maximize the impact of the heel of her palm to his nose. She heard a crunch and he jerked back, clutching his nose with a skull and cross bone tattooed hand while issuing a string of curses.
Beside her, the second man had tossed Jolene aside like she was a rag doll. Jolene teetered in the corner but Morgan and Fiona were on him—Morgan sending him stumbling with a jab of her elbow into his gut and Fiona jumping on his back. He spun this way and that, his arms flailing behind him, his bicep bulging and distorting the mermaid tattooed in the center as he tried to dislodge her.
The first man had recovered from the blow to his nose which was leaking blood and already starting to swell. From the look on his face, he was beyond mad. Panic clutched at Celeste’s chest as she saw his huge hands reaching for her throat. She tried to back away but wasn’t quick enough.
Her throat burned as he picked her up in the air, his hands squeezing. She could hear Jolene yelling at him to let go as her vision started to blur. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jolene pick up a heavy paperweight from the desk and bash it into the side of the man’s head.
He let go and turned on Jolene. Celeste dropped to the floor, sputtering and rubbing her neck. She saw Jolene put up her forearm to ward the guy off. Behind her, Celeste could see the guy with the mermaid tattoo had shaken Fiona off his back and was turning on her. Celeste’s eyes grew wide as she saw the green stone pendant on Fiona’s neck start to glow, softly at first and then brighter and brighter until it was almost pulsating. It must have surprised the attacker too because he was just standing there staring at the pendant when it exploded into pieces, one of which embedded itself in his eye.
Celeste felt the glow of satisfaction as the guy went down on one knee shrieking like a girl and holding his eye, blood seeping out from between his fingers. She didn’t have long to revel in it though, because old skull and crossbones had Jolene by the hair and looked like he was about to smash her face into the wall.
Celeste looked around for something hard to hit him with.
Where was that paperweight?
Her hands fumbled for it as she kept one eye on Jolene who was squirming and twisting, somehow managing to wiggle around and bash the man across the face with her fist. A spark of electricity arced out of Jolene’s hand and seared a jagged line into the man’s skin. He jumped back, his hands flying protectively up to his face.
Celeste’s fingers found a heavy vase and she raised it above her head, daring the men to come after her. Their injuries had slowed them down, but they still seemed hell bent on fighting with her and her sisters. Mermaid tattoo had stopped screaming was starting to advance on her when something in the corner by the closet caught her eye. A swirly white mist that looked an awful lot like Reinhardt Skinner. It seemed agitated, jumping up and down and pointing to the closet floor.
The distraction proved to be unfortunate. Mermaid tattoo rammed into her knocking her to the floor. She dropped the vase, shooting her arm out to break the fall and heard a sickening crunch as lightening hot pain shot up her arm.
She glanced over at Skinner’s ghost who was still hopping up and down and pointing. He looked a little peeved that she wasn’t paying enough attention to him. Couldn’t he see that she was kind of busy?
Her heart crunched as the guy with the mermaid tattoo loomed above her. She tried to stand but with only one arm, all she managed to do was wobble around on the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the other guy recovering from being branded by Jolene—he was a mess with a bloody nose and shiny scar. Judging by the roar he gave out before he lunged at Jolene he must have been pissed.
Celeste sat there on the floor helplessly cradling her arm, leaning against the oak side table and watching as the man launched himself at her sister. She saw Jolene put her hand out to ward him off, then heard a sharp crackle like lightning and saw a bright light right before the bronze bust toppled off the side table, cracking her skull and turning everything black.
Chapter Eighteen
Celeste’s head felt like it had been dumped inside a cement mixer and her eyelids seemed to be glued shut. Her throat burned, her tongue felt thick and dry. She tried to move, her skin rasping against crisp linen sheets.
A warm han
d covered hers.
“Celeste?”
Was that Cal?
Her heart swelled and she struggled to open her eyes. She was surprised to discover how relieved she felt to hear his voice. She didn’t realize how hurt she’d been when he’d left the night before without even saying good-bye. Which made her wonder if she’d made a mistake in pushing him away.
She was starting to realize she had feelings for him that went beyond the friendship they’d shared for decades. That scared her—she’d learned early on never to depend on anyone but herself and her sisters. Even though Cal had always been there for her, he wasn’t known for his long-term relationship skills. Would getting involved with him only end up in her getting hurt and the end of their friendship?
“You’re okay. You’re in the hospital.” His voice ripped her out of her thoughts.
Hospital? Why would she be in the hospital?
Then the memory of the fight with the tattooed pirates came flooding back and she jerked her eyes open searching the room for her sisters.
“Are my sisters okay?” She bolted upright in the bed causing a wave of nausea and dizziness.
Cal pushed her back down. “They’re fine. They just went to the cafeteria.”
She accepted the cup of water he handed her, sucking it down in one gulp which made her throat burn a little less and her tongue return to its normal size. The headache, on the other hand, was probably going to require something stronger.
For the first time she noticed her lower arm was in a cast.
“What the heck?” She held it up raising her eyebrows at Cal.
“You broke your wrist and got a nasty bang on the head. No concussion though, thankfully.”
“Oh, I remember now.”
“Your sisters told me you guys had quite a brawl.”
Celeste laughed. “Yeah, I think we beat the crap out of those guys too.”
The concern in Cal’s eyes melted her heart. “Well, let’s hope you guys don’t make a habit out of it … even though some of you seem to have some special skills in that department.”
Celeste chewed on her bottom lip remembering how Fiona’s necklace had exploded and Jolene’s strange power—talk about lightning reflexes.
Cal’s phone made a dinging noise and he released her hand to answer it. From where she lay in the bed she could see the name of the caller—Camilla. Her heart sank. She never used to mind when girls called him before—her feelings were getting so complicated now.
“I have to take this.” He stood and walked over to the window.
She felt a warm tingle as she studied his face silhouetted against the window. She’d always thought he was attractive in a brotherly sort of way … but now, what she was feeling was anything but sisterly.
He snapped the phone shut and came over to the bed. “I’ve got to go. I just wanted to stop in and make sure you were okay.”
“Thanks for stopping by.” She managed a weak smile.
“Okay, see you later.” He turned and then disappeared out the door without even a peck on the cheek.
Celeste felt a hot poker stab her heart. He hadn’t been his usual friendly self … and now he was running off to see Camilla. Her gut wrenched. Had she made the biggest mistake of her life by pushing him away after he’d kissed her?
“You’re up!” Fiona breezed into the room, a paper cup of coffee in her hand. “Are you in pain? You look upset.”
“No." Celeste forced a smile. “I feel good. If you consider feeling like you drank a bottle of one-fifty-one, got run over by a dump truck and slept in a barn good.”
Fiona laughed. “Well you did get a nasty bump … You must have a whopper of a headache.”
“Yeah. What happened back there?” Celeste smiled at Morgan and Jolene who joined them with their own paper cups. “And where’s my coffee?”
“No coffee for you.” Morgan handed her a bottle of orange juice. “You’re recovering.”
Celeste sipped the juice while she listened to her sisters recount what happened after she got knocked out. Apparently their attackers had been so freaked after the lightning bolt, they fled. Jolene had called 911, an ambulance came for Celeste and the police came for Skinner’s brother. They did take the opportunity in between the bad guys leaving and the police arriving to search Skinner’s office, but they didn’t find anything … which was weird because the pirates left empty handed.
“I’m surprised Overton didn’t arrest one of you for the murder,” Celeste said.
“Well, he did give us a hard time but it almost seemed like his heart wasn’t in it,” Morgan answered.
“He was probably too excited about giving the map to Goldlinger,” Fiona whispered over the rim of her cup.
Celeste stared at the malachite shard hanging from her sister’s necklace. Fiona’s hand flew up to the shard and the sisters shared an uneasy look.
“That pendant was malachite, the same as the stone that shattered in your bracelet, right?” Celeste asked.
Fiona nodded.
“I’d be careful about wearing malachite if I were you,” Jolene joked.
“Yeah, well I’ll take your advice since I don’t want to get on your bad side. I hear you pack an electrifying punch,” Fiona replied.
The sisters laughed uneasily, then Celeste said, “Now I know what grandma meant the other day.”
“What do you mean?” Morgan asked.
“She said that we, meaning the four of us." Celeste waved her good hand around the room, “were stronger than we know and that we had skills to fight the evil forces that were coming. I think she was referring to our special … umm … gifts.”
“Yeah, weird gifts." Jolene looked at her hand. “I just wish I knew more about it and how to control it.”
“Yeah, me too." Fiona fiddled with the broken pendant on her necklace. “I don’t even know what my gift is.”
“Well, you seem to have some power with crystals and gemstones. It’s no wonder you chose to be a gemologist,” Celeste said, then turned to Morgan. “Morgan has some kind of intuition … we’ve seen it a couple of times now and Grandma even said for her to trust her gut instincts. Jolene has some sort of special energy and I talk to dead people. I guess we just need to focus on honing our skills, so to speak.”
“The same as you would to develop any skill, like learning to be good at tennis or drawing?” Jolene asked.
“I think so." Morgan tossed her cup in the trash. “So far we’ve been ignoring our gifts or powers or whatever you want to call them. I guess it’s time we started paying more attention and seeing how we can put them to good use.”
“Speaking of which,” Celeste pushed the sheets aside and dangled her legs off the side of the bed, “I saw Skinner’s ghost in that study when we were fighting those pirates. He seemed to be indicating that he wanted us to look at something on the bottom of the closet.”
She slid her feet onto the floor, standing cautiously, holding onto the bed railings. Fiona rushed over and took her elbow to help steady her.
“Are you sure you should be getting out of bed?” Jolene’s forehead wrinkled with concern.
“Sure, I only have a broken wrist. Besides I have to get out of here ASAP so we can get over to Skinner’s and find what it was his ghost wants us to find.”
“But how can we do that? His brother was murdered so I’m sure it’s all closed off as a crime scene,” Morgan said.
“Oh don’t worry about that." Jolene’s eyes sparkled. “I know just what we can do to get inside Skinner’s house without the police ever knowing we were there.”
***
Cal glanced back up at the hospital as he walked across the parking lot. He’d had to come and see for himself that Celeste was okay. Folding himself into his car, he shoved the key in the ignition cursing the heavy weight dragging down his heart. He wasn’t used to feeling this way.
He’d hated leaving without saying anything to Celeste the night before, but he’d been hurt when she’d pushed him awa
y … which was strange because plenty of girls had turned him down and it never really bothered him before.
Why had he even kissed her in the first place? Celeste was his oldest and best friend. He’d known the Blackmoore sisters since they were kids. Even though they were all like sisters to him, he was closest to Celeste. Except lately, the way he felt about her had taken a whole different turn.
Last night, kissing her had seemed natural, he’d wanted to badly but, apparently she didn’t feel the same way. For some reason, that crushed him. And Cal wasn’t used to it. Most women were very receptive to his kisses, but with the few that hadn’t he’d just shrugged and moved on.
He couldn’t do that with Celeste though. She was more than just a casual fling. She was important. She mattered to him, probably more than any other person in his life.
He drove out of the parking lot, pulling in a deep breath as he glanced back at the hospital in his rear view mirror. Celeste had been a big part of his life since he was a boy. Anytime he had anything serious to discuss, he called Celeste. They’d celebrated all their life’s high points … and commiserated the low points together. And they always had fun when they were together.
Why hadn’t he recognized his feelings for her sooner? Maybe he just hadn’t been ready until now. But the worst part was he didn’t know if he could go back to just being friends with Celeste now that he knew what his true feelings for her were.
He pointed his car toward The Bull and Claw where he was meeting Camilla—not for a date like Camilla was probably hoping. He was going to break it off with her.
Cal could feel his care-free bachelor days coming to an end. Camilla was fun and all, but she wasn’t anyone he’d want to spend the rest of his life with. Not like Celeste. Somehow he didn’t have the heart for playing the field anymore—casual dating had lost its appeal.
His gut was telling him he should just forget about Celeste—steer clear of her and his feelings would subside. Out of sight, out of mind. Except he couldn’t just abandon the Blackmoore’s. They needed him to help decipher the journal. He had to help them. Hopefully he could do what needed to be done and keep his contact with Celeste to a minimum. He just hoped his heart would survive.
Dead Tide (Blackmoore Sisters Romantic Cozy Mystery Series) Page 10
