by Krista Davis
“Aunt Sophie!” wailed Jen. “Heather just texted Blake and said she figured out a way to get even with you.”
I was being threatened by a twelve-year-old? What next? “I’m so worried,” I said sarcastically. “Come on, we don’t have much time left.”
I hustled everyone through the other rooms to be sure we hadn’t forgotten anything major, locked up, and we trooped down to the outdoor patio of Brews and Bones. When the kids, Nina, Humphrey, and Bernie had settled down and Daisy lay at my feet, I took the opportunity to review everyone’s jobs for the tours. Humphrey would be the pale grave digger in tattered clothing and a top hat who would remain motionless among the tombstones and come to life when he thought it most frightening.
Bernie had kindly offered to fill in as the vampire, but Blake insisted on that job, maintaining he had a vampire costume at home. I already knew he had the teeth.
Nina had agreed to pull the fishing lines that would animate the spiders, as well as drag a chain across the floor and flick moving eyes in a portrait upstairs.
Bernie would act as the axe murderer, and June offered to wear a witch’s outfit and help hand out candied apples and treat bags. Jesse, Vegas, and Jen would lead small groups on tours through the house. I hoped we had enough adults stationed at strategic points in case pranksters visited.
I relaxed a little bit when our pulled pork lunches arrived. Most of the kids opted for the sweet tomato-based barbecue sauce, but I preferred the tangy vinegar sauce of Eastern Carolina barbecue. I had just eaten a forkful when a man with neatly trimmed hair and soft, delicate skin like a baby’s stopped at our table and looked down at me with a self-satisfied smirk. He seemed vaguely familiar. It took a moment to register that I had seen him in Maggie’s Hummer earlier in the day.
“Sophie Winston?” he asked.
My mouth full, I couldn’t do much more than nod my head.
“The town council has cancelled the haunted house.”
ELEVEN
Dear Sophie,
My daughter spotted a gorgeous witch’s hat that carries a comparably gorgeous price. We can manage the rest of her witch’s costume, but I’m stumped on how to make a hat, especially now that she’s seen the best.
—Sabrina’s Mom in Witch Lake, Michigan
Dear Sabrina’s Mom,
Buy an inexpensive hat and dress it up. Use a glue gun to adhere sequins or adhesive crystals in the shape of a moon or a cat. Add inexpensive black lace or veil fabric to the back, and you’ll have a one-of-a-kind hat that can’t be beat!
—Sophie
Howls of protest went up around the table, and I nearly choked on my pulled pork.
The man turned to the boys. “Blake, come with me. I’ll take you home.”
I stood up, not that I could intimidate anyone with my short stature. “Just a minute. I know everyone on the town council. Who are you?” He wore a navy blue crew neck sweater and, except for the patronizing smile on his face, looked like an overgrown choirboy. Since I was an event planner, I’d met a lot of people in Old Town, but I couldn’t recall ever seeing him at functions before.
“Karl Corbin.”
“Heather’s father,” hissed Blake.
The wicked smile and demand to shut down the haunted house began to make sense. So this was how the little vixen planned to cause me trouble. “Nonsense, I’m not shutting down anything. You don’t represent the town council. How dare you pretend to have any authority? Blake, sit down and finish your lunch.”
I couldn’t help noticing Bernie trying to hide a grin. Good! I knew I had an ally in him. Humphrey, on the other hand, sputtered and blinked as though he’d just come out of a dead faint.
“That little witch,” Vegas raised her voice, no doubt to be sure Karl heard her. “Heather’s just jealous.”
“Shh.” Jen nudged her. “She’s mad because she got in trouble last night.”
Karl held out his hand. “I’d like the key to the building. You’re not going to frighten any more children like you did my daughter. You might have thought it was a harmless prank, but she’s traumatized, and I’m going to see to it that you’re not allowed to scare any other children.”
I coughed, my throat tight. “I didn’t do anything to your daughter!” I swallowed a huge gulp of unsweetened iced tea. “You don’t own the building, nor are you the person who gave me the key. Therefore, I will not be handing it over to you. And you are not Blake’s parent. Unless I hear from his mother or father, you will not be taking him anywhere.” In fact, now that I thought about it, I wondered if this was what Maggie meant when she asked me to watch out for Blake. Maybe not; Karl had been in her car, so they must be friends . . . “If you don’t mind, we’d like to finish our lunch.”
“You clearly don’t realize who you’re dealing with.” Unlike Patrick, he didn’t point his finger or raise his voice, but the threat was implicit. He grinned at me like I was a naive child. “I have connections in this town.”
By nature, I’m not a big fighter, but I was tired after the events of the previous night. We had worked hard on the haunted house, and if there was one thing I detested, it was people who thought they were superior to everyone else. “I really don’t care who you think you are. You don’t have the authority to close the haunted house or take Blake with you. Now, if you’ll please excuse us.”
Nina rose slowly, fixated on something. I thought she might slug Karl.
“Nina! It’s okay.”
She never even looked at me. She stepped sideways, moving like a panther. “Across the street. It’s the black cat.”
I followed her line of sight. A fat black cat sat between two pumpkins amid witches and ghosts outside a florist shop. “Are you sure he’s real? He looks too perfect.”
“It’s him all right. Pack my lunch in a doggy bag. I’ll see you back at the haunted house.” She casually walked to the end of the block and crossed the street. When she was ten feet from the cat, he stretched to his full feline length and darted in the other direction. Nina sprinted after him.
The smug smile never left Karl’s face. He continued to look down at me like he was endlessly amused. “Natasha told me that you’re a difficult person. It’s not as though you didn’t know this was coming. Frank Hart warned you to close down the haunted house.”
“Frank? He ran out of there like a rabbit being chased by a dog.”
“It’s not safe. I’m concerned about the children.”
“And what, exactly, do you think will happen to them?”
His expression never changed. “Aside from your bad influence on the children, there are malicious spirits in that house. There’s no telling what they might do.”
It was all I could do not to break into hysterical laughter. Somehow, I felt that would only exacerbate the situation. Honestly, why didn’t the guy bug off already? “Thank you for the warning. We’ll take care to watch out for the spirits.”
Still wearing the same condescending grin, he said, “You won’t be going back into that building.” With that, he finally strode away.
June placed a reassuring hand over top of mine. “Beware of that man. He looks like an innocent, but a darkness lurks within him.”
“Do you know him?” I asked Bernie and Humphrey.
“He comes into the bar,” said Bernie. “He’s never been an unpleasant customer. I don’t know what he does for a living.”
“He manages a local delivery service.” Blake picked up a french fry.
“Who told you that? Heather?” Vegas’s tone left no question about her displeasure.
Blake didn’t seem to notice. “I think my dad told me. Karl’s family used to own the car dealership that my folks own now. My dad says he’s a self-aggrandizing malcontent.”
That was a good reminder to be careful what I said around the kids. I bet Blake’s father never thought that would be repeated in public. If Karl continued to pose a problem, we might have to call on Blake’s dad. I put Karl and his nonsense out of my mind, pa
id the check, and sent everyone home to change into their costumes. Vegas, Jen, June, and I walked in the direction of my house.
June lagged a bit. I thought it was her age, until she whispered, “I don’t know if the children should hear this, Sophie. There’s something you should know about your haunted house.”
We strolled on, but I watched her out of the corner of my eye.
“I didn’t want to say anything until I was certain, but now there’s just no doubt about it. The Bubble and Trouble really was a boardinghouse once. It was the Widow Nagle’s pension.”
I stopped midstep. “You mean the boardinghouse where Viktor Luca lived?”
“Not only did he live there, dear, he roomed in the very bedroom on the second floor that you’ve set up as a vampire’s lodging.”
I laughed aloud. “You should definitely tell the kids. They’ll lap that up.”
“It doesn’t worry you?”
“Why should it? It makes for a great spooky story.” I grinned at her. “This is where you turn off, isn’t it? You’ll be at the Widow Nagle’s at three o’clock?”
She promised to be there and headed east. I watched her for a few minutes. What a lovely person she was. If only all mothers-in-law could be as warm. I caught up to the girls, who gossiped endlessly about wicked Heather.
When we reached my front door, much to my surprise, Frank Hart was waiting on the stoop. I unlocked the door and told the girls to change their clothes.
I greeted Mochie and invited Frank into the kitchen. “I’d love to offer you something, but I don’t have much time. I could put on some tea.”
He waved a hand as though declining the tea. “This isn’t a social call. I came by because my wife and I are horrified and confused. I cannot believe you took Gabriel because I quit the haunted house.”
It was official. I was not having a good day. “Didn’t you talk with Officer Wong? I did not kidnap Gabriel. He showed up at my door, Frank. I was doing you a favor by not letting him run loose on the streets.”
“That’s not what Heather said. According to her, you banged on our doors and tried to scare her by asking questions about whether Gabriel was in bed.”
“Officer Wong saw right through Heather. Next time, use a different babysitter. One who won’t lose the baby.”
He mashed his lips together and grasped the arms of the chair. “For your information, Heather is my wife’s niece. She’s very responsible. Besides, we were just across the way at Natasha and Mars’s party. What I can’t understand is how you got into my house.”
I plopped into one of the chairs by the fireplace, exasperated with him. Mochie sprang into my lap. “What? A flaw in Heather’s story? A detail she didn’t work out?”
“You needn’t be sarcastic. My wife is beside herself that you tried to steal Gabriel. We didn’t sleep all night.”
I watched him—in awe of his irrationality. He couldn’t see through Heather’s ridiculous lies because she was family? “Karl Corbin is your brother-in-law?”
“I can’t imagine why the police don’t want to pursue this. Karl says that’s what happens when half the police force is in love with you.”
Apparently vast exaggerations were a family trait. “Let’s think this through. Let’s say Heather forgot to lock the door, and I snuck into your house and stole Gabriel. Then what? You live one block down. Like you were never going to notice that Gabriel was living here?”
“You could have sold him.”
“Ohhh, right. I forgot all about that stolen baby ring that I run. Do you hear how crazy you sound?”
Frank perched on the edge of his chair. “But why would Heather make that up? Why would she claim you kidnapped him?”
“Frank, she’s twelve. I would guess she didn’t have the courage to admit that he got away from her. How do you tell parents that you lost their child?”
Frank hadn’t bothered to shave, and he ran a hand over the stubble. “I’m sorry, Sophie. What have I done? That little minx was so convincing. She said you were in the backyard making noises and trying to frighten her. Then she called the police and they found you were hiding him at your house.”
“Didn’t Officer Wong set you straight?”
“Heather said Wong was lying to protect you. That she was a friend of Wolf’s. Can you imagine how we felt? First Patrick’s death, and then we came home to find a police officer in our house and Heather claiming our child had been kidnapped.”
“It’s okay. Forget about it.” I sat back and listened to Mochie purr.
“It’s not okay, Sophie. You found Patrick’s body, didn’t you? You must have had a terrible night, too. I can’t imagine that kind of shock.”
I winced. “It’s worse for the girls. They’re terrified of vampires now. I hope Gabriel is too young to understand what was going on.”
Frank rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his face. “What a night. Sophie, I’m sorry. Oh, no! Heather and her dad were so upset that I’m afraid I overreacted. Heather wanted to shut down the haunted house, and I stupidly helped her by calling a member of the town council. They’re going to try to prevent you from opening this afternoon.”
“Frank! Then you’d better go with us and retract whatever you said. Everyone worked so hard on it—I’m not closing it. No way!”
“I can’t believe I fell for Heather’s lies. Someone could have snatched Gabriel, or he could have been hit by a car! I wonder if Karl knows what a devious daughter he has.”
I was about to make a crack about apples that didn’t fall far from the tree when Jen returned in a saucy green and black witch’s costume. The bodice was green, but a long black vest hung over it and laced in the front. She wore adorable green and black horizontally striped tights and a black hat with a green and black harlequin band around it. “I thought you were going to be a cat, not a witch.”
Frank applauded. “Great costume, Jen.”
She took a bow. “I’m not a witch, Aunt Sophie, I’m a sorceress.”
“Pardon me.”
Vegas made her entrance next and swirled around to show off her costume. She wore a wedding dress that had been carefully tattered. The bottom half appeared dirty and merged into black where it trailed on the floor. A faux bloody gash had been carefully applied to her bare shoulder. She’d used white makeup to create the illusion of pallor, and her eyes were smudged with impressive black eyeliner.
Frank applauded again.
“Wow. What are you?” I asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m a zombie bride.”
“Of course! Silly me.” I didn’t have half the imagination they did. I asked them to take Daisy out while I changed, and returned in minutes dressed all in black as a witch. The color helped hide my extra pounds, and I liked the sweeping cut of the skirt that came to my ankles. I’d bought an inexpensive hat and added crystals in wild swirls for fun.
With Mochie and Daisy safely in the house, Frank, the girls, and I locked the door and left. Nina caught up with us on the sidewalk. She had also dressed in black, but she looked more like a cat burglar.
Worried about a cluster of people protesting and trying to close us down, I held my breath as we rounded the corner to the haunted house. To my complete shock, a crowd had gathered and blocked the sidewalk. Heather and her father waited in front of the building, carrying signs that read, “Danger,” “Do Not Enter,” and “Enter at Risk of Peril.”
Frank laughed aloud. “What an idiot. That’s like free advertising.”
“Shh,” I cautioned him. “Don’t tell them that!”
A pungent wave of garlic overcame me when I brushed past Heather. She must have caught me sniffing because she immediately said, “I had garlic bread for lunch.”
Maybe she had, but I was willing to bet she was wearing garlic, too.
I stiffened when I saw Councilman Williams. He’d been enthusiastic about the haunted house when it was proposed. Surely he hadn’t changed his tune because of Karl. He glad-handed his way up the line
, working the crowd. Ray stepped out of his shop and had a word with him. Frank rushed at them. I hoped he was pleading our case.
I was about to join them, ready to argue the merits of keeping the haunted house open, when Councilman Williams approached me with a huge smile. “I hear you’ve put together something very spooky! It’s the talk of the town. Businesses up and down the street are delighted with the turnout. Carry on, Ms. Winston!” He clapped me on the back and returned to the crowd.
Karl chased after him. My stress melted away, and I felt like collapsing on the sidewalk, but there was no time for that. I ignored Heather and Karl entirely and unlocked the front door.
“Showing your true grimy self today, Vegas?” said Heather. Her outfit of preppy green and pink plaid trousers and a matching pink sweater trimmed in the same plaid might have been considered a costume by some.
Vegas stuck out her tongue, but the banter didn’t escalate because they both caught sight of Blake sweeping along the sidewalk in a vampire cape.
Nina nudged me. “Is he one of your kids?”
“He’s so sexy!” Vegas breathed to Jen.
But Jen was fixated on Blake’s companion, shorter and thoroughly disguised in jeans, a flannel shirt, hairy hands, and an amazing werewolf mask that covered his entire head. The front featured a long snout and bared teeth, and the back was covered in fur.
The zombie bride and the prep in pink and green rushed at Blake. Heather swooned like an obsessed fan meeting a rock star, and Vegas tried to muscle her way closer to him. Blake looked miserable.
I called to him, hoping to get him inside quickly, but Karl stopped him. “You’re not going in there, son.”
I was about to walk out to them and intercede, but Blake faced Karl dead-on and showed no fear. “You’re not the boss of me.” He’d been brave, but I noticed that he ran into the house.
Frank waved to me from the sidewalk.
“You’re not coming in?” I asked.
