Zee Town Paranormal Cozy Mystery - Complete Series Omnibus: Books 1 - 6

by K E O'Connor

  “I’m sure whatever you come up with will be amazing.” Jen dug into her fries. “It always is.”

  “We should go for more of a homemade rustic theme anyway,” I said. “Tourist numbers are down, and we’ve got fewer people saying they’ll come to the event. I want to focus on a local theme, like a celebration of Zee Town in all its messy glory.”

  “That’ll be especially appropriate if word gets out about the rabid zombie,” Jen said, her voice lowering.

  “Has Alex told you the latest?” I asked her.

  “The dead animal,” Jen said. “Yes, unfortunately, he has. He spoiled my breakfast with that bit of news.”

  “It seems like we’ve still got a missing zombie to locate.”

  “Alex has been doing door-to-door questioning this morning,” Jen said. “That could turn up something useful.”

  “Let’s hope so. How are things working out between you and Alex? Have you properly moved in yet?”

  “Almost. Most of my stuff is in his house,” Jen said. “It’s a bit strange, especially sharing a bathroom with a man. I’m trying not to yell at him for leaving the seat up. He quite rightly pointed out I always put the seat down and he has to lift it up, so why shouldn’t I do it the other way around?”

  I frowned. “It’s the chivalric thing to do, put the seat down for a lady.”

  Jen smiled. “I’ll try that line on him tonight and see if it works.”

  “Other than the toilet seat drama, it’s going well?”

  Jen’s dimples popped as her smile broadened. “Yes. If that’s all I have to complain about, then I’m happy.”

  “That’s good to know,” I said. “Can you rope Alex into helping out with the decorations as well?”

  “Better not get him involved,” Jen said. “That’s another thing I want to tackle. Alex’s idea of decorating is magnolia paint and posters of Marvel comic heroes. I’m going to introduce him to the wonderful world of color and real wall art.”

  “Fair enough. We can handle the decorations between us,” I said. “And Zara will help out.”

  “It’ll be a great event,” Jen said. “Everything will go to plan. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

  I tucked into my food. There was nothing to worry about, so long as I forgot about the rabid zombie lurking somewhere in Zee Town.

  For now, I had to let Nick lead on that. I had an event to focus on.

  Chapter 18

  I found myself in a heap on the floor of the bowling green, tangled in a haze of pink and yellow bunting I’d just spent half an hour pinning up. With less than a day to go until the Spring Fling began, this wasn’t an ideal situation to find myself in.

  Zara’s face appeared above me. She slowly crouched and pulled the bunting off me.

  “Thanks. I need to use extra ties if this is going to stay up,” I said.

  Jen dashed past me, barely visible because of the balloons surrounding her. Laura marched up to me and stuffed a pastry into my mouth, not seeming to care that I was an undignified mess on the ground. “What do you think?”

  I remained on the floor, chewing on the delicious, still warm pastry, and letting the tang of sweet chili sauce and roasted vegetables calm my nerves. “One of your best creations to date.”

  Laura grabbed my outstretched hand and helped me to my feet. “I’m still not sure the combination of chili and vegetables is right. I’ve been up all night trying to get the food ready for the event tomorrow.”

  “If it’s as good as what you’ve just fed me, everyone will be thrilled.” I squeezed Laura’s hand. “And if the food is this good, they won’t notice my disastrous decorations.” I pointed at the mess of bunting Zara was sorting through.

  “It’ll look lovely when you’re finished,” Laura said. “I’d better go. I’ve got another tray of pastries in the oven and have left the customers to serve themselves coffee.” She hurried away, surrounded by a haze of flour dust.

  I turned to Zara. “Let’s give it another go. We won’t be defeated by bunting.”

  An hour later, the bunting was up, and it looked like it was there to stay. This time, I’d used pins, ties, and double-sided tape. There was no way it was coming down.

  The rest of the bowling green looked pretty good as well. Jen had done a sterling job in getting the balloons up. Between the three of us we’d laid out long tables, covered them in white tablecloths, put bunches of spring flowers everywhere, and set up the scoreboard for the welly throwing contests. It was important to keep accurate records of everybody’s throwing attempts. It could get competitive, and I didn’t want people coming to blows because of shoddy recording.

  Jen walked over to me, a shriveled balloon in one hand. “If any more of these burst, I will know I’m officially the balloon jinx. I only have to look at them and they pop.”

  “We’ve got enough balloons up,” I said. “All that’s left to do is put streamers out the front of the town hall and a couple of our large banners in the main street, so people know which way to go if they’re not familiar with Zee Town.”

  “Need more wellies,” Zara said.

  I looked at the pile of wellies we’d brought from the office. I’d still hadn’t gotten around to finding the extra wellies needed for the competition. Having a rabid zombie on the loose had taken my eye off the ball.

  “We can see about getting those while we’re out,” I said.

  We did a quick tidy of the hall and headed outside to hang the streamers around the town hall entrance.

  “Looks pretty.” Zara stood back and admired the streamers blowing in the gentle spring breeze.

  “On to hang the banners,” I said. “And then we can find more welly boots. After that, I’ll treat us all to a mug of something warm.”

  “Beef broth,” Zara mumbled.

  “Tea,” Jen said with a smile.

  “Hot chocolate for me.” I chose both ends of Harbor Lane to hang the banners, making it easy for people to see the information from whatever direction they came from.

  I had a handy pulley and rope system in place, so it was a simple job of feeding the banners onto the rope and putting your weight behind it and up they went.

  I handed Jen some money. “You and Zara get something from Laura’s diner. She might even let you sample some of the goodies she’s making for tomorrow.”

  “What are you going to do?” Jen asked.

  “Drop in to see Bill,” I said. “He usually has a decent stock of wellies. I’m sure he’ll let me borrow some.”

  “I’ll get you a tea,” Jen said.

  “Make it a takeaway,” I said. “I need to get to the office after this.”

  “Will do.” Jen linked arms with Zara and they walked to the diner.

  I hesitated before walking into Bill Guthrie’s store. Every time I saw him these days, he started apologizing and offering me gifts from his shelves.

  I’d had a run-in with his nephew, Grant, a while back. Bill felt eternally guilty for what Grant had tried to do to me and the zombies. Admittedly, kidnapping zombies and trying to take their supposed supernatural powers was strange. As was the fact that I’d thought Grant was a good guy to date. I didn’t blame Bill for anything that had happened. I just wished he believed that.

  Bill looked up as I entered the store, a nervous smile crossing his broad face. “Cassie, what can I do for you today?”

  “Welly boots,” I said. “Spring Fling is almost upon us. I’m in dire need of extra boots for the competitions. Have you got any in stock?”

  “Absolutely! There are plenty in the back room.” Bill adjusted the red tie that hung loosely around his neck. “And as you can see, I’ve got a display out as well.” He pointed to the row of plain green wellies.

  “Can you spare a dozen pairs? I’ll get them back to you. We won’t be losing any in the sea this year since we’re having the Spring Fling in the town hall.”

  Bill nodded. “I’m more than happy to help. And I heard about the change of venue. I though
t the forecast predicted the weather was set for fair all week.” He glanced over his shoulder at the weather gauge on his wall, the needle pointing to fair and settled conditions.

  “I must have been looking at a different forecast,” I said. “The one I saw predicted icy showers. I thought that would keep people away.”

  “Icy showers that bite?” Bill raised his eyebrows.

  I took a deep breath. Word was clearly getting around about the rabid zombie. “What do you mean?”

  “There’s a worrying rumor in town,” Bill said. “About a zombie attack.”

  “It’s best it stays a rumor, then,” I said. “You don’t want to scare people.”

  Bill looked around the store, making sure the customers couldn’t overhear us. “Is there any truth to it?”

  “How do you expect me to know?” I asked.

  Bill swallowed loudly. “Because of your affinity with them. And you’ve been seen with Nick Morton a lot. He might have told you something.”

  The Zee Town rumor mill was working like a well-oiled machine. “We’re safe enough, but stick to the curfew and try not to go out alone.”

  Bill nodded. “I hope that what I’ve heard isn’t true. This is a lovely place. I would hate to see it changed or closed.”

  “Whatever you’ve heard, try not to worry. Things are in hand, that’s all I can say right now. If I reveal any of Nick’s secrets, he’ll get grumpy. No-one likes a grumpy Nick.” I tried to make my tone light, but from Bill’s worried expression, it didn’t help.

  “Well, I trust you, Cassie,” Bill said after a second of hesitation. He clapped his hands together and straightened. “Right, let’s see what we can do about getting you wellies. We can’t have people going short on the day.”

  “Thanks, Bill.” I was relieved he’d decided not to prod for too much information. Bill knew all about rabid zombies, having lost his wife, Mary, to them during the uprising.

  After a couple of minutes, Bill brought through twenty pairs of wellies from his store room. “These should see you right.”

  “That’s more than enough,” I said. “Are you sure you can spare them all?”

  “Certainly. I shall be trying them out myself tomorrow,” Bill said. “I won’t miss out on a good welly throwing event.”

  “Thanks, they’re perfect.” I kissed Bill on the cheek, bagged the wellies into three sacks, and hauled them to the town hall.

  I’d just made it to the front door when a large warm hand closed over my right shoulder and squeezed.

  My heart beat increased as I turned and looked up into Archer’s eyes. Oh, boy! He was so gorgeous.

  Chapter 19

  “I hope you haven’t got a body in one of those sacks,” Archer said.

  “Not this time around,” I said. “My body dumping takes place on a Tuesday.”

  “Ha! I do mine on the same day.”

  Knowing Archer, that could well be true. “I’m just gathering supplies of wellies.”

  “Any chance I can have another quick practice?” Archer asked. “I was thinking about my technique last night and figured out a way I can improve upon it.”

  I had to smile as an image of Archer lying in bed alone thinking about wellies and how best to throw them passed through my mind. And for the briefest of seconds, I also wondered what Archer wore in bed. I doubted he was a pajama man. Most likely he went commando, given his background.

  “You’ve got ten minutes.” I dismissed my improper thoughts about Archer. “And only if you help me with these wellies.”

  Archer nodded, grabbed all three bags and walked ahead, carrying them as if they weighed only a few ounces. Those muscles came in handy.

  “The place looks good.” He strode into the bowling green and set down the bags. “A definite improvement from the last time we were here.”

  “I’m glad you think so,” I said. “We’ve been working on it all morning.”

  Archer walked over to the competition board and scribbled his name in the first place position. “Might as well put it there, since I’m going to win. Save you the bother.”

  I shook my head and scrubbed his name out. “There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance, you know.”

  “Which side do I fall upon?” He looked at me, a glint in his eyes.

  My gaze dropped under his intense stare. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  Archer grabbed a welly and walked away. “If I twist my hip at the same time as releasing the welly—like I’m hitting a ball on a golf course—I’ll be more accurate with my aim.” He demonstrated what he meant.

  I watched the welly pivot through the air and land on the other side of the bowling green in an upright position. What a show off.

  “I can see how that works,” I said.

  “You come and try.” Archer gestured me toward him.

  “I haven’t got time for more practice,” I said. “I have a dozen things to do before I’m ready to call it a day.”

  “Five minutes,” Archer said.

  “I can’t even take part in the competitions,” I said. “I open the proceedings by throwing a welly, but that’s it. If I entered and won anything, it would look suspicious.”

  “Two minutes.” Archer’s voice lowered and his gaze grew even more intense.

  I could see he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I walked over, welly in hand. “Show me what I need to do.”

  His hands wrapped around my waist and he turned me away from him. “Keep your weight on your back foot and your shoulders back, welly in your right hand. As you’re about to launch, transfer your weight forward and twist your hips, releasing the welly as you do so.”

  “Your hands are really warm.” I only heard half of what he told me. His touch was such a distraction.

  “Do you remember what I said to you about focus?” Archer asked. “Don’t focus on me, focus on the mission.”

  “I would if you take a couple of steps back,” I said. “I’d hate to hit you with the welly.”

  Archer laughed and released his grip on my waist. “Show me what you’ve got.”

  I attempted to follow his instructions, but the welly shot off at a strange angle, landing in an inelegant heap not far from me.

  “Not bad for a first attempt. Want another go?” Archer jogged over and collected the wellies.

  “I’ll stick with my original plan of closing my eyes and throwing as hard as I can,” I said. “It’s worked for me in the past.”

  “I’ll be sure to stand back when you do that.” Archer grinned as he returned the wellies to the pile.

  “Is everything set for the security?” I asked as we left the town hall and I locked up.

  “I’m loaning you Buzzard, Rhino, and Magpie.”

  “Named at birth by particularly cruel parents?” I asked as we walked away from the town hall.

  Archer gave me a sharp smile. “When you meet Rhino, you’ll know why he’s called that. Nothing knocks that man down. Buzzard has the sharpest vision I’ve ever come across, and can’t be beaten in a shooting competition. And you should see Magpie handle a jet fighter. She dive bombs and swoops better than anybody I know.”

  “A jet fighter could be overkill for this event.”

  “Magpie’s also an expert in hand to hand combat and can kill a man in a dozen different ways.”

  “Okay, that could come in handy,” I said.

  “Buzzard will be on the roof. I’m stationing Rhino and Magpie at the main entrance and exit. Nick’s team can cover anything else if needed,” Archer said.

  “I sent you through the details of the running order. You can send your crew over whenever you like tomorrow,” I said.

  “I got the intel,” Archer said. “My people will be here an hour before opening to check the layout and make sure there are no weak points.”

  “It’s only the Spring Fling,” I said. “We aren’t expecting royalty.”

  “I know that,” Archer said. “But we might be expecting a rabid zombie. I don’t
want to clean up a bloodbath because I was slack on security protocols.”

  “Understood. It’s good of you to go to so much effort,” I said.

  “It’s what I’m here for. Besides, I like hanging out with you,” Archer said. “I doubt anyone else would let me fool around with their wellies quite like you do.”

  Although it was an innocent enough comment, I still blushed. “I’ll be here from nine in the morning. Your crew came come by any time after that.”

  “See you tomorrow, Cassie March.” The smile Archer shot me had my toes curling. Hot but dangerous. Hot but dangerous. Never forget that important phrase.

  I dashed to the office to find Jen just leaving, having returned with Zara and my takeout tea. “Did you get the wellies?”

  “Three sacks of them,” I said.

  “If you need anything done at the event tomorrow, I’m happy to help,” Jen said. “The salon isn’t fully booked.”

  “If you’d like to do a shift on the raffle table, you’d be welcome,” I said.

  “Sure. Add me to the rota.”

  “Thanks. I’ve just got to do some updates to our online information, make sure the Council is up-to-date with everything, and check with Laura to ensure she hasn’t disappeared under a mountain of pastries, and everything should be good to go.”

  “I tried five different pastries while we were in the diner. Trust me, the food will be fabulous,” Jen said.

  “Laura never lets us down.” I waved goodbye to Jen and settled behind my desk. It was time to get to work.

  ***

  Two hours later, my eyes were aching from staring at my screen. All the news sites were up-to-date, our social media was buzzing about the Spring Fling, and not a word had slipped out about the rabid zombie.

  A familiar scratching sound came at the front door. I looked over to see Stool outside with a plastic daffodil in his mouth.

  I hopped up and opened the door. “Is that a gift for me?” I extracted the daffodil from him. It was only slightly chewed around the edges.

  Stool limped in and his gaze shifted to the kitchen where he knew the dog biscuits were kept.

  “I guess you deserve a treat since you delivered me a flower.” I went to the kitchen and returned with a handful of biscuits before placing them on the floor.