by N. M. Howell
“What? Don’t tell me you forgot something at home,” Rory said from the driver’s seat.
“No,” I sighed again. “I told Jordan I’d go for dinner with him tonight. I totally forgot.”
“Ouuu, so, are you guys officially dating now?” Bailey asked.
I shook my head. “No. Not really. I dunno.” I took my phone out of my bag and stared at it for a long minute, trying to figure out what I would say to Jordan.
“River and Officer O’Riley,” Bailey sang. “River and O’Riley. It’s catchy!”
“OH!” Rory screeched. “We can call you guys RiRi. It’s perfect”
The girls all laughed and I suppressed a groan.
“Isn’t that a Kardashian or something?” I asked.
Rory rolled her eyes. “Honestly, River. It’s Rihanna.”
I laughed. “What’s the difference?”
“What’s the difference?” Rory gasped. “You can’t be serious.”
Bailey and Jane were in hysterics in the back seat.
I shrugged and brought up the messages app on my phone.
“We’ll forgive you this once,” Bailey said. “But only if you invite your sexy cop over to the house for dinner.”
“Does he have any hot cop friends?” Rory asked.
“First of all, he’s not a cop anymore,” I said. “Second, I’m not bringing him anywhere near you psychos.”
“Should have asked him to come on the girl’s trip,” Jane teased. “We could have braided that beautiful long blonde hair of his.”
I rolled my eyes, then began texting a lengthy apology to Jordan about our date.
After a few minutes, my phone buzzed back as he replied to my message. I sighed in relief as I read his text. He understood, of course, and said he had stuff to do tonight, anyway.
“You tell him why we’re going?” Bailey asked.
I shook my head again. “No, best keep that to ourselves for now.”
“Good idea,” Rory agreed. “Keep it between the bitches.”
I nudged her with my elbow. “Hey.”
She chuckled. “I mean witches.” I laughed, then turned up the volume on the stereo. I didn’t recognize half the music that was playing, but Rory insisted they were all modern hits. A song same on drawling on about something to do with bling and some sort of a hotline, and I turned the stereo back down.
“What is that crap?” I asked, completely not believing her that this stuff was popular.
Rory rolled her eyes. “That’s Drake. Learn to love it.”
“Fat chance.”
“Isn’t he dating RiRi?” Bailey said.
“Who?”
“Okay, seriously, River,” Rory said. “We just talked about this. Get with the times!”
“Nah, I’m good,” I laughed.
We chatted and listened to music the rest of the ride down, and after stopping—once for a snack and gas break—we reached the city a little past seven.
“Where are we staying?” I asked as the skyscrapers of New York City appeared in the distance.
After a few long moments of silence, Rory shrugged. “We were hoping you would know somewhere.”
“Seriously? You guys didn’t plan for a place to stay?” I laughed.
“We can just drop into a bed and breakfast or something, can’t we?” Bailey asked.
I turned to look at the girls in the back seat. “This isn’t Brimstone Bay. Have you guys even been to New York before?”
Both girls looked at each other, then shook their heads.
I sighed. “I’ll make some calls.”
I spent the last leg of the trip calling everyone I still knew in the city. Finally, I got through to Emily, Grace’s younger sister, and she agreed to let us come stay with her in her apartment downtown. Luckily, it was pretty close to the shop we were going to, so things couldn’t have worked out much better. I’m was glad I was going to get the chance to see Emily, as it would give us a chance to talk about Grace. I really hoped she was doing okay.
“Emily has got a small apartment just outside of Chinatown,” I said. I reached for Rory’s phone and input the address into her GPS.
New York City was an expensive city to live in, and the apartments weren’t known to be spacious. It would be a tight fit, but I was looking forward to a night of just hanging out. It felt good to be going back to the city.
It took us a while to find parking after arriving in Manhattan. We ended up finding a sketchy parking lot on a corner about six blocks away, and had to lug our bags through the busy streets all the way back to Emily’s apartment.
Luckily, after not even a minute of breathing in the New York air, my city aggression flooded back in and I led the way, plowing through the busy streets like no body’s business. It felt like a renewed sense of confidence. I was definitely ready to tackle whatever surprises this trip has to throw at us.
Emily was waiting for us at the front door of her apartment building and eagerly led us up the five flights of stairs to her tiny apartment.
After settling in, she handed each of us a beer and we climbed up to the rooftop patio. The building was only ten stories, so the view didn’t go very far, but the city sounds reverberating off the surrounding buildings electrified the atmosphere. I smiled to myself at the familiar sounds: honking cab horns, a thousand muffled conversations, echoing music from the surrounding clubs and restaurants. It was great to be back, but it didn’t take long to feel glad that I had found a more peaceful place to live. I loved the bustle of the city, but it sure was nice to be somewhere quiet for once.
“So, what brings you guys to New York?” Emily asked as we each made our own make-shift seats with stuff that was scattered around the roof. It wasn’t an official patio up here, but you could tell it was heavily used. A few potted plants were scattered around the perimeter of the roof, and there were a few broken chairs and crates lying around.
“We came to find, er…” Rory began. “We came to find someone.”
“It’s okay,” I told her. “Emily knows all about the witch stuff. You’ll find it’s a lot more open here in the city.”
Emily beamed. “I actually just got a job at Shine. One of the underground paranormal bars just down the street. I’m surrounded by magic users every day, pretty much, so, you don’t have to worry about keeping any secrets from me.”
“That’s amazing!” I said. “I love that place. Grace must be super jealous.” Grace had spent nearly every weekend in that club when I lived in New York. In the past few years, I think she had managed to date at least half of the regulars who came through, and pretty much all of the staff. That girl liked her shifter men.
“Yeah, she came to see me last night.”
I raised my eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? So, she’s back in New York, then. How is she doing?”
Emily sighed. “She just stopped by on her way out of town. She’s having a really hard time. She booked herself into a widow’s grief retreat for counselling. She’ll never admit that to you, though. She’s putting on a brave face. You know how she is. I hope the counselling helps her get through this.”
“It’s so tragic,” Bailey said. “I can’t imagine losing someone you love at such a young age. They had their whole lives ahead of them.”
“It has completely shocked all of us. The whole family is heartbroken. We all loved Trey like a brother. He was such a great guy.”
Emily wiped away the tears that had welled up in her eyes. “And I have no idea what Grace plans to do with the restaurants now. She has no hope in running them all on her own. Trey was the one who managed all of that stuff. She’s lost without him.”
“She’s a smart girl, she’ll figure it out,” I smiled. As far as I understood, Trey had been wanting to scale down the business for a while. With any luck, he may have already started the process and Grace would only have to worry about her own restaurant here in New York.
“So, what did you guys say you were doing here?”
“We’re hoping
to get more information about who or what killed Trey,” I said.
Emily nodded and regained her composure. “Do you have any leads?”
“Some,” I nodded. “We’re going to check out a shop tomorrow. Then, hopefully, we’ll have what we need and can head back home afterward.”
“Well, then, might as well enjoy tonight as much as we can before you get down to business tomorrow!” Emily was basically bouncing on her heals, she looked so excited. I was glad to be able to offer her a distraction through this hard time for her family, at least.
“What do you have in mind?” Bailey asked. She was barely able to contain the excitement growing on her face as well. Bailey often talked about going to New York, but, as far as I knew, she had never even left Maine.
“Do you guys want to go to Shine?”
I glanced at my housemates, then back to Emily. “We didn’t bring anything fancy to wear.”
Emily shrugged. “It’s okay, it’s a Monday night. It’s more of a bar on weeknights. You’ll be fine in what you’re wearing.”
Bailey, Jane, and Rory looked like they were about to explode, they were so excited. We didn’t even have a night club in town, let alone one that catered to paranormals.
“Alright, looks like we’re going to Shine,” I laughed.
After finishing our beers, Emily lent us some jewelry and we all headed out for a night on the town.
The club was only a few blocks away, and it was about nine o'clock by the time we got there. The club itself was underground and we had to take a set of stairs in the back alley behind a butcher shop to get there. They did a good job of keeping the club off the radar of normal people walking by. It seemed really sketchy from the outside, and I could tell the girls were nervous about going in, but the club itself inside was actually really nice and the girls were pleasantly surprised.
The music wasn't too loud, and the atmosphere was actually quite relaxed. It wasn't a typical night club you go out to the dance like crazy on the weekends. It really did have a bar-like vibe to it, and most people were sitting around the bar chatting. I’d only been here on weekends before, and much preferred it like this.
We found a table near the bar and ordered a round of drinks, and Emily started chatting with the girls and they all started to get to know each other.
There was something nagging the back of my mind, and I excused myself from the table to go make a phone call in the back room. On normal weekends, the back rooms were reserved for parties, but, as it was Monday night, they were empty. I brought out my phone and dialed Jordan’s number. I was relieved when he answered after the first ring.
I couldn't stop thinking about seeing Grace's name flashing on Zack’s phone back in the office. I'm sure it was nothing, but I really wanted to get to the bottom of it.
"I just wanted to say sorry again for bailing on dinner tonight," I told him.
"It’s okay, River, I understand. You busy with your housemates?”
“Actually, we’re in New York. Surprise girl’s trip.”
“That’s fun. You having a good time?”
"Yeah, I am. It’s nice being back in the city." I paused for a moment. "Hey, look, there’s something I wanted to ask you."
"What's that?"
“Can you think of any reason why Grace would be calling Zack?”
He didn’t say anything for a minute, obviously expecting my question to be something else. “The guy you work with?” he finally asked.
“Yeah.”
“Uh… Well, he called the shop a few times. Had some questions about the restaurant and other things. Grace was probably just returning a call. Why?”
“No reason,” I said, blowing out a sigh. “Something was just nagging me.”
“River, I know you work at the paper and all, but you really shouldn’t stress yourself out by getting involved in all of this. Just let the cops do their thing.” I knew he was trying to help, but he really didn’t seem to understand why I needed to get involved. After I didn’t answer, he went on. “Have you seen Grace?”
I shook my head, then remembered he couldn’t see me. “No, but we’re staying with her sister. Sounds like Grace just wants to be alone right now. I don’t blame her.” I left out the bit about the counselling retreat, as I figured it wasn’t our business.
“Me neither. I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now.”
“Yeah. What are you going to do with your place now that Trey’s gone?”
“My plans haven’t changed. I get the impression Grace doesn’t want anything to do with the restaurant, being stuck in a small town, and all that. When she’s settled down a bit, I’ll have to talk to her about our plan going forward. As his wife, she technically owns his restaurants now.”
“Yeah, I guess she does. Poor girl’s going to have a lot to deal with.”
“She will, indeed. Hey, River, just focus on having fun in the city, okay? Please don’t worry about any of this. I know Trey wouldn’t want any of us to ruin our lives over this.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said. I didn’t want him to worry about me. “We’ll probably head home tomorrow. Can we reschedule dinner for then?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I felt butterflies in my stomach as I hung up the phone. Not that I wanted to admit it to myself, but that man really had an effect on me. A strong one. And I felt like a giddy schoolgirl whenever I talked to him. Good thing he wasn’t around to see me blush this time. It was strange. We’ve kissed, and that seemed completely normal and comfortable, yet I can’t bring up the courage to actually ask him out officially.
I lingered in the back room for a few minutes, trying to subside the nagging in my mind about Grace’s phone call. Could Zack be trying to talk to her for reasons that go beyond his article?
I felt a knot tighten in my stomach at the thought that he might be trying to dig for information as a way to cover something up. Zack was an ass, but I wasn’t sure he was capable of murder. I thought back to seeing Grace’s name on his phone. People do seem capable of doing terrible things for love. I pondered that thought for a moment, but was brought out of my trance by Emily calling from the other room.
“River!” Emily yelled. “Get your cute little but back here!”
I came back to the table to a pint of Guinness waiting for me.
“With a shot of vanilla vodka,” Emily said as I reached for the glass. “Remember how we had them that night in our junior year?”
“Don’t remember much of that night,” I laughed. I took a sip and it tasted sweet and familiar, like toasted marshmallows and something smoky. “This is delicious.”
“I’m getting one,” Bailey said after I nearly inhaled half the pint in one go.
“Me, too,” Rory said.
“So am I,” Jane agreed.
I laughed at the girls as they went to the bar to order more drinks. They hadn’t even finished what they had on the table.
We spent the rest of the evening chatting in the bar, and Rory and Jane even got some good dancing time in.
Bailey hung out at the bar most of the evening, flirting with the bartender. I hadn’t seen that look in her eye since her infatuation with Ryan Bramley. It was nice seeing her move on to someone else, finally.
“That’s Miles,” Emily said as we watched Bailey work her moves at the bar. “He’s a cat shifter. Just started working here last month.”
Miles was tall and handsome, with messy deep orange-brown hair and freckles. He had a tattoo on his upper arm that wrapped up part-way around his neck. I found it hard not to swoon as we watched him flirt back with Bailey.
“Nice catch, Bails,” I said to Emily. She nodded and sipped her beer, neither of us wanting to look away from the outrageously handsome man.
Jane and Rory finally joined us back at the table once they had exhausted all of their dance moves.
It was a nice, low-key evening, and was just exactly what I needed. I even forgot the reason why we had come to
New York for a while, and easily fell back into the rhythm of my old life for the evening.
It was nearly midnight when we headed back to Emily’s apartment, which, for a Monday night, was pretty impressive for us. I’d gotten into the routine of waking up early, and being in bed by nine o’clock wasn’t out of the ordinary for me lately.
Emily had set up cots for us to sleep in the living room, and the three of us nearly covered her entire floor. She had a pretty neat apartment, but it was barely bigger than my bedroom back at the house.
As we settled in for the night, we made plans to wake up early to visit the building we traced the spell to before the streets got too busy. We didn’t chat for long, as we all crashed pretty hard.
Between the long drive, the multiple drinks, and the overly stressful week, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
10
The sun woke us earlier than my alarm, as the light reflecting off a neighboring building glared right into the living room where we slept.
I was glad for the earlier wake-up time as we had a big day ahead of us, and I had to mentally prepare for whatever interaction we might have when we arrived.
We had only managed to trace the spell to a certain building in Chinatown, but we didn’t know how many units there would be, or even if it were shops or apartment.
With any luck, it would be a single shop, which would make our visit a lot easier. It would be a lot harder to make our way into a stranger’s apartment. Not that we really planned on doing that.
Emily had ended the night with a double tequila shot, so we let her sleep in as we left quietly in the morning. Emily’s apartment was only a few blocks from where we were headed, and it didn’t take us long to walk. It was still early and most of the shops were closed, but the sun was up and city life was starting to pick up despite the early hour. We passed a few early risers on their way to work or to grab coffee or whatever their morning routine was.
As we approached the intersection near our destination, I noticed a flashing open sign on the front door of what appeared to be the only unit in the building we had come to see. Through the large windows, I could see that it was a laundromat, and a handful of people were inside doing laundry. I checked my phone and saw that it was still only six fifty-five. I realized I really took our in-house laundry for granted.
