Last Dance

by Linda Joy Singleton

  The connection worsened and I had to strain to listen. “I had to—found your number in—” Her voice flickered in and out. “—trying to contact you—your grandmother.”

  “What about her?” I demanded, gripping the phone tightly.

  “I’m afraid I—bad news.”

  “About Nona?” My world jolted to a numb stop. “Is she all right?”

  “There’s been a car accident—” Static interrupted again, garbling her words so all I could make out were, “injuries—come to—hospital.”

  “Ohmygod! Nona!”

  “—intensive care—emergency—not much time—”

  “Not much time for what?” I cried. “Speak louder! Tell me what’s happened!”

  But the static buzzed louder, then a sharp click and a droning dial tone.

  The connection went dead.

  Arms encircled my shoulders and I was faintly aware of someone prying the phone out of my shaking hand. Blinking away tears, I looked up into Mrs. Matthews’s concerned face.

  “It’s going to be all right,” she said softly.

  “Nona … in the hospital.” I shook my head, the horrible reality sinking in. “A car accident! I have to go to her!”

  “Of course you do, honey. What hospital is she in?”

  “I don’t know. I got disconnected before I could find out. But it has to be Valley Central, that’s the one closest to Nona’s house.” Hot tears tasted salty on my lips. “Oh, Nona! She has to be okay.”

  “She will be. You go pack, honey.”

  Ten minutes later, our suitcases were in the jeep and Thorn was hugging her aunt good-bye. “Tell Uncle Charles good-bye for me,” she added.

  “I will, honey. You drive carefully and call me when you get there.”

  Thorn nodded, while I stood there limply, my eyes stinging as I fought to stay in control. Nona needed me to be strong. I couldn’t let her down.

  “She’s going to be all right,” Mrs. Matthews assured as she waved from the doorstep.

  “I hope so,” I said through a fog.

  “You’re welcome to come back here anytime. We’ve loved having you visit.”

  “Thank you … thanks for everything.” My voice broke and I turned away.

  The jeep roared to life with a jolt and I grabbed the armrest. But I still felt off-balance, my heart racing faster than the jeep. I glanced at my watch, calculating how long it would take to get home. Too long—not fast enough. Oh, Nona, I’m coming.

  Thorn reached over to squeeze my hand. “Take it easy, Sabine.”

  “This is all my fault. I never should have left her.”

  “She’s a grown woman. You’re not her babysitter.”

  “But I should have known something bad would happen.”

  “Why?” Thorn asked, her eyes widening. “Did you have a premonition?”

  “No. I almost never get them for people close to me. And all this Chloe drama confuses things. But I’ve had a bad feeling. Nona hasn’t answered the phone and I’ve worried about her memory problems. And now—now she’s hurt—maybe dying.” The sick pit of fear in my gut hurt so badly, I could hardly breathe. If anything bad happened to my grandmother, I’d never forgive myself. Never.

  “She’s going to be fine,” Thorn assured. “Think positively.”

  “Yeah.” But the image that flashed through my head was of Nona, pale and stiff in a hospital bed. Was this a premonition or just my own fears?

  Thorn slowed as the long private road ended at the main highway. She flipped on her left blinker and waited for an opening in the busy traffic. I stared numbly out the window. The sky was blue and serene, opposite of the dark and stormy fears rushing through me.

  Someone started honking and Thorn raised her fist toward the rearview mirror. “What’s that idiot doing?” she exclaimed angrily.

  “Huh? What?” I asked numbly.

  “Some jerk just zoomed by, then spun a U-ie and is now honking at us.”

  I lifted my head and glanced over my shoulder. My vision was blurry and I vaguely made out a white truck. The honking grew louder, more insistent. There wasn’t anything unusual about it, yet something made me sit up straight and look closer.

  “I’ll show that creep he can’t mess with us,” Thorn raged. “That beat-up metal monster can’t keep up with me. Get ready to eat my dust!”

  “No, Thorn!” I shook my head urgently. “Pull over!”

  “What? I’m not stopping for that jerk.”

  “He’s not a jerk—well, at least not all the time.” I pointed out the window. “It’s Dominic.”

  *

  Dominic wore dark jeans, a brown shirt, and grass-stained work boots. A breeze blew his sandy-brown hair and his tanned, muscular arms were taut with energy as he slammed his truck door and strode over. “Took you long enough to stop,” he said, scowling. “I drive all this way to help you search and then see you driving—hey, what’s wrong?”

  “Don’t you know?” My voice broke off.

  “Know what?”

  “About the accident!”

  “What accident? Are you okay?” he asked with a sudden shift from rough to gentle that broke something in me and tears clouded my eyes.

  “Not me—it’s Nona.”

  I turned away so he wouldn’t see me cry. I hated myself for losing it, even though I knew Dominic would understand because he cared about Nona, too. While I fought to hold myself together, Thorn quickly filled Dominic in on the phone call from the hospital.

  “So we’re headed there now,” Thorn added. “You can follow us.”

  “I don’t think so,” he said with a stubborn jut of his jaw.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I just talked to Nona on the phone.”

  I stared at him. “Impossible!”

  “There was no car accident.” He shook his head gravely. “Whoever called you was lying.”

  At first I didn’t believe Dominic. Then when he pulled out a cell phone, I nearly fell over at the sound of Nona’s voice, strong and well! I wasn’t sure whether I was more shocked to find out she was fine or discover that loner Dominic had his own cell phone.

  “Hi, honey,” Nona said calmly. “How are you doing?”

  “How am I doing? You want to know how I’m doing!” I started laughing and crying at the same time.

  “Sabine, what’s wrong?” her voice rose with alarm. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

  “Not me. But I thought you were. I tried to call and no one answered and then the line was busy. Why couldn’t I get through?”

  “You know how bad the lines get when it rains, and the phone was out all yesterday.”

  “All day?” I rubbed my aching head.

  “It’s still out. I’ve had a devil of a time running my business with only this cell phone I borrowed from Penny-Love. Thank goodness for her! She truly is a love and offered the use of her laptop. She had such clever ideas for getting new clients that I may offer her a part-time job.”

  I shook my head, trying to make sense of everything. But I was so overwhelmed with relief that I could hardly think. Thank God Nona was okay! Imagining her hurt or worse had been a nightmare. I never wanted to go through that again. I couldn’t stand to lose her. And I’d do anything, no matter what it took, to find the missing remedy book.

  When I finished talking to Nona, I handed the phone back to Dominic. “Thanks,” I told him, only dimly aware of cars whizzing past as we stood on the side of the road.

  “No problem.” He shrugged.

  “If you hadn’t stopped us, we’d still be on our way to the hospital.” I shuddered. “How did you know?”

  “I didn’t. But I was on my way to see you and recognized the yellow jeep.”

  “No one can miss it,” Thorn said wryly. “I better call my aunt and uncle to let them know your grandmother is okay.”

  “Here. Use this.” Dominic offered his phone.

  When Thorn stepped away to make her call, Dominic turned to me with a
puzzled arch of his dark brows. “What’s with her new look?” he asked, gesturing toward Thorn.

  I wrinkled my brow, then smiled when I realized what he meant. “Oh, her hair and clothes. She’s taking a Goth break.”

  He frowned. “Too bad.”

  “Why? You prefer the dark, diva look?”

  “On her I do. It’s honest.”

  “You think she’s more honest when she’s wearing chains and a wig?”

  “It’s who she is. Deep, dark, and complex.”

  “And what about me?” I wanted to slap myself the moment I asked this. What was I thinking? I sounded like one of those phony flirts who played guys, fishing for compliments and acting all superficial. Yet when he didn’t answer right away, I felt anxious. What did he think of me? And why did I even care?

  “I don’t know about you—yet,” Dominic finally said, leaning so close that my breath caught. The way he added “yet” was part threat, part promise. He reached out and lightly touched the black streak flowing in my blond hair.

  For a moment, our eyes met. I could hardly breathe. Emotions flowed over me, hot and volatile, like I was standing still under a volcano. The intensity scared me, and quickly I turned away to see if Thorn was finished with her call. Nope. Still talking.

  When I found the courage to glance back at Dominic, he had slipped on his sunglasses, hiding behind dark lenses.

  “So how goes the investigation?” he asked in a casual tone.

  “Slow.” Deep breath. Act normal. “We went to see Eleanor Baskers yesterday—she’s a descendent of the woman who took care of Agnes’s daughters. So there’s a chance she knows what happened to the sisters and the charms. But when we went to see her, she wasn’t there. Thorn and I were getting ready to try again today—until we got that call about Nona.”

  “Any idea who called?”

  “None.” Nervously, I rattled on, “I guess I could have heard wrong. It was a bad connection with a lot of static. But I’m sure she said that Nona had been in a car accident. Maybe she had me mixed up with someone else.”

  “Doubtful.”

  “Yeah, she knew my name,” I remembered. “She said she was a nurse … yeah, Nurse Eloch.”

  “From what hospital?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. If she told me, I couldn’t hear. The connection kept breaking up. But Nona is fine, so I guess it doesn’t matter now.”

  “It matters,” he said with a fierce expression. “Making a call like that is criminal.”

  “It has to be a mistake.”

  “Or a deliberate attempt to stop you from seeing Eleanor Baskers.”

  “You can’t be serious! That’s crazy.”

  “There are a lot of crazies out there.”

  I nodded, thinking of Chloe and her obsessed fans. “Still, why would anyone want to stop me from helping my grandmother? That’s just cruel.”

  “People are cruel,” he said bluntly.

  “Maybe it’s not about Nona—but the missing charms. Is it possible someone else is searching for them, too?”

  “Anything’s possible.”

  “Well no one is going to stop me from finding them,” I said with growing determination. “Thorn and I will go right to Peaceful Pines Resort.”

  “So will I.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. “See you there.”

  Without asking if we minded his going, he climbed into his truck and the door shut with a sharp bang. His engine roared and the stench of diesel gas made my nose scrunch. Gravel spurted with dust as he roared away.

  “Where’s he off to?” Thorn asked, rushing over to my side and cupping her hand over her eyes as she gazed after him. “He didn’t wait to get his cell phone.”

  “You’ll see him soon enough anyway. He’s headed for Peaceful Pines.”

  “Ahead of us?” Thorn complained. “Come on, let’s get moving.”

  We hurried into the yellow jeep and headed for Peaceful Pines. Unfortunately that meant going through Pine Peaks. As we neared town, cars increased and traffic slowed to a turtle’s crawl. The banner announcing the Chloe Celebration waved cheerfully overhead as we inched into downtown.

  “Not again.” Thorn slapped her palm against the steering wheel. “I hate traffic jams.”

  “Look on the bright side. If we’re stuck, so is Dominic.”

  “Good point. Still, traffic sucks. It’ll take an hour to drive five miles at this rate.” Thorn pressed on her horn and gave an impatient beep. “Hey, move it already gray car.”

  “There’s a line of cars in front of him,” I told her. “Be patient.”

  “But I’m not patient. I will be so glad to get home where I can be myself again.”

  “Put on your black wig if it’ll make you feel better.”

  “And risk Mrs. Snope or some other nosy friend of my aunt’s ratting on me? I can put up with this look for a few more hours.” Then she blasted the horn again.

  My gaze wandered out the window and I noticed a TV crew. My first impulse was to duck down low in case the camera focused on the traffic. But when I noticed the slim older woman being interviewed by Heidi, I watched curiously.

  “Hey, Thorn.” I nudged her in mid-honk. “That’s Cathy, the cotton-candy-haired woman I met yesterday.”

  “The ghost’s best friend?”

  “Yeah. She’s probably telling Heidi the same story she told me.”

  “Getting her fifteen minutes of fame,” Thorn said with a snort.

  “I bet she gets more than fifteen minutes. She told me they used to call her and Chloe the ‘Stormy C’s’ because they were so wild.”

  “Everything’s wild in a town that celebrates a ghost.” Thorn pointed across the street. “Check out that guy wearing a tin-foil hat.”

  “Major weird,” I said, swiveling to look. “But he’s got it all wrong. Foil hats ward off aliens, not ghosts.”

  “Did your grandmother tell you about aliens, too?”

  “No,” I said with a laugh. “I saw it on a Mel Gibson movie.”

  Amazingly, traffic started to move and minutes later we turned on the rural road leading to Peaceful Pines. It was bumpier than before, rutted with muddy puddles.

  The sun had vanished; gray clouds swirled with gusty winds as we pulled into Peaceful Pines’s parking lot. I spotted Dominic’s truck, only he wasn’t in it. When I looked over at the office, I saw the door closing behind him.

  “Good!” I said with satisfaction. “While he’s with the manager, we can get to Eleanor first. He’ll have to wait for Mrs. Fontaine’s dog to stop barking before he can find out which cottage is Eleanor’s. But we already know.”

  I shut the jeep door behind me, then led Thorn through the parking lot and beyond the clubhouse. We followed the path to the cozy, white cottages, each separated by a small yard and neatly manicured patch of lawn. I read cottage numbers until I came to Number 261.

  But the building was dark and no one answered the door.

  “Knock louder,” Thorn suggested. “Mrs. Baskers could be hard of hearing or in the shower.”

  “Or still in Florida,” came a sarcastic voice behind me and I turned to find Dominic standing there with an amused smile.

  “How do you know?”

  “The manager told me there’s a hurricane warning so the plane was delayed again.”

  “Are you sure?” I said with sinking discouragement. “If that dog was yapping the whole time, you might have heard wrong.”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Dominic replied. “And the dog only yaps because he hates prissy haircuts.”

  Thorn tilted her head at him. “So you’re a dog expert?”

  “No,” he replied with a closed expression.

  “He has a special way with animals,” I said vaguely. I knew about Dominic’s ability to communicate with animals, but had promised to keep it a secret. So I ignored Thorn’s questioning gaze and turned back to Dominic. “Did the manager say when Mrs. Baskers would return?”

  “She hopes t
o catch a flight out in the morning.”

  “Which means she won’t be here until tomorrow night! But I can’t stay that long.” I groaned, thinking of my plans to help Penny-Love decorate for the dance and my date with Josh.

  “You go back home and I’ll finish up here,” Dominic said. I knew I should be grateful for his offer, but I wasn’t ready to leave yet.

  I didn’t say much as we left the cottage, instead I argued back and forth with my conscience. I’d been looking forward to this dance, eager to show off my decorating creativity. Also, there was Josh, who was so hot other girls envied me for dating him. This would be our first appearance as a couple and I couldn’t wait to dance with him.

  But then I thought of my grandmother. She trusted me to find the remedy. There would be other dances, but there was only one Nona.

  I was about to tell Thorn my decision to stay, but as we returned to the parking lot, she suddenly screamed. Horror played on her face and she ran forward.

  Dominic and I exchanged a surprised look, then raced after her. We caught up with Thorn by her yellow jeep. With her mouth open in shock, she pointed to her jeep.

  The canvas top was cut to ribbons, the tires were slashed, and the windshield was cracked. As we ran up for a closer look, I saw a sheet of paper on the seatback of the driver’s seat.

  It was held in place with a huge knife.

  Dominic pulled a rag from his pocket and carefully pried the knife out of the seat. With a solemn nod, he handed the note to Thorn.

  She took one look, went a shade paler, and then handed it to me. The message was short, printed in thick black ink: “Leave town or die.”

  “Who would do such a thing?” I exclaimed, my hands shaking as I read the note again.

  Thorn shook her head.

  “I don’t get it,” I said in a feeble attempt to act calm and not panic. Still, it was hard to ignore a death threat. “Why would anyone want us to leave? Is this some sick joke?”

  “Nothing funny about that knife,” Thorn said with a shudder.

  “Or this note,” Dominic said solemnly. “Any idea who left it?”

  “None,” I answered. “First the phone call and now this. It’s more than a coincidence. Someone is trying to scare us away.”

  “A note doesn’t scare me, but my mother does.” Thorn rubbed her forehead. “When she sees her jeep, she’s gonna kill me.”