“At least one of us had a good night,” Starla said as she went into the kitchen to start the pancakes.
“What’s wrong, Starla?” Blossom asked. Her shoulders slumped and her whole demeanor shifted as if Starla had let all the air out of her. “It’s not Orion is it? I’ll kick my little brother’s butt if he’s not being good to you.”
“It’s not Kane. He’s great,” she said, and offered Blossom a half-hearted smile. “It’s worse. We’re going to need to get Damek and Kane here tonight for a witch meeting.”
“What’s going on?”
Starla filled Blossom in on her dream and on what she knew about the murder while she prepared breakfast. The color drained from Blossom’s face.
“Another dead person on the island and we can’t use our magic? That sucks.”
“It does.”
“So, are we going to try and solve the murder?”
“Blossom.”
“Starla.”
“There isn’t much to go on.” Starla had resigned herself to Blossom’s inability to let go. Besides, what else were they going to do?
“Well, if we could use magic, then there are a few places we could start. But since we can’t, I guess we’ll just have to go to the crime scene and have a look.”
“I’m sure the beach where we found the body is swarmed with tourists. I don’t think we’ll find much there.”
“It never hurts to try. Do you have any other ideas?”
Starla didn’t. Blossom was right that a little bit of magic could help send them in the right direction, but that was a terrible idea.
So after they ate breakfast, the pair set off for the spot on the beach where the sleaze had been found the night before. Starla found an old leash and harness in the closet before they left, so Presto was able to go too.
He wished he’d never said anything about being bored.
Word must have traveled around the island that a body had shown up on the beach the night before because there was an even bigger crowd gathered around where the crime scene had been.
Tourists were taking photos in the murder spot, and Starla wondered if the darkness hadn’t already started to permeate the air. It was so macabre and strange.
But they did find their first person to interview. There was a short, balding man in board shorts and a shirt covered in a pineapple pattern there, telling stories about the dead guy.
When he saw Starla approaching, he excused himself and attempted to flee. Fortunately, his short, thick legs and open-toed sandals were not ideal for escape.
“Not so fast,” Starla said in an official tone. “My partner and I have some questions for you.”
“What are you doing?” Blossom whispered, but there was an excited smile on her face.
Chapter Four
“You’re not cops,” the man said nervously.
“You’re right,” Starla said. “We’re not, but I’m very close to the sheriff.”
“And I’m his sister,” Blossom added. “So you might want to consider having a chat with us. You were out here running your mouth about the dead guy, after all.”
“He’s charging for it too,” a voice came out of the crowd.
Starla looked to see who had said it. The crowd parted a little as no one else wanted to be associated with the man’s tattle.
“Gotcha,” Blossom said, and Starla realized her friend had taken a picture of the tattletale with her phone. “We’ll get to you later.”
“You’re charging to tell stories about the deceased?” Starla asked. “Like, you’re some sort of death tour guide for the island?” She wanted to be mad at the guy, but given everything going on, it wasn’t a terrible idea. At least, it wouldn’t have been if she’d thought of it first. “Do you have a permit for that?”
“Do I need a permit?” the man asked sincerely.
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” she said. “Now, let’s try this again. I’m Starla Shadowend. My friend, Blossom, and I would like to have a little chat with you.”
By then, the crowd was dispersing, and the man looked a little defeated. “I’m Gary Bryant. I’ll talk to you, but only if you’re buying the churro donuts.”
“Oh, that sounds amazing,” Blossom said.
“Blossom, we just ate,” Starla stated. “But fine. Yes, I will buy the churro donuts and coffee.”
The three made their way down the beach a little way to Dan’s Donuts. The place was packed with tourists and local patrons, but it was the only shop on the island that had churro donuts. Starla didn’t think Gary would want to go down the boardwalk to Hen’s Diner instead. Hen’s had incredible strawberries and cream French toast, but they didn’t have churro anything.
They stood around for a few minutes and waited for a table to open up. When it did, Blossom and Gary sat down while Starla went to the counter to order the coffee and donuts.
When she returned, Damek was sitting at the table next to Blossom, shooting daggers into Gary with his eyes. Starla wondered if it was jealousy, which would be laughable given how devastatingly handsome Damek was, or if Damek was getting a bad vibe from Gary.
Starla set the coffee and donuts down on the table. “Damek, I didn’t know you were coming. Can I go back and get you anything?”
“I’m fine; thank you.”
Starla slid into her seat. She took a drink of the coffee and began picking at the cinnamon topping on the donut.
“So, Gary. Was anything you were telling those people about the dead man true?” Starla asked.
Gary looked at Starla, and then to Blossom. His eyes bounced back and forth and eventually turned to Damek. Seeing the scowl on Damek’s face made Gary’s bottom lip begin to quiver.
“I mean, I hang around at the beach a lot, okay?” Gary began. He kept crinkling his napkin up and letting it unfold. “That guy, the dead one, he’d been hanging around a lot the last three days. He kept staring at women from behind garbage cans and stuff. A few times, he actually stood over their towels while they sunbathed and leered at them.”
Before Starla could ask Gary why he hadn’t called the sheriff about the sleazy man’s behavior, someone caught her eye. A group of older women had gotten up from their table, and it gave Starla a view of the very back corner booth. Seated there was a man in a dark hoodie.
Her pulse quickened, and she felt her stomach sour. Starla couldn’t really see his face because of the shadow from his hood. It seemed odd, though, to have someone sitting inside with their sweatshirt hood pulled over their head in a restaurant. On a tropical island.
“Starla, are you okay?” Blossom asked.
“Yeah, I’m alright. Do you see that man sitting in the back corner booth?”
“What man?” Gary asked.
“That one.” Starla turned around to point him out, but there was no one there. Hanging from the booth was an out of order sign. One of the seats was cracked and the table looked as if a stiff breeze would knock it over. “Never mind,” she said and shook her head. “I’m seeing things.”
Concern darkened Blossom and Damek’s faces, but Starla turned back to Gary. “So, what do you know about the man who died?”
Starla, Damek, and Blossom stood outside of Dan’s Donuts under a palm tree. The interview with Gary Bryant had been a bust. The man didn’t know anything about the dead guy except his name.
Kenneth Price.
Starla figured that information was better than nothing. She’d hoped that Kane would’ve told her more about the case the night before, but he kept his work close to the vest most of the time. He’d say things like “If only you were a deputy.”
She wondered if he’d ever put the pieces together and ask her to be a deputy. A couple of times, she’d almost brought it up herself, but Starla wasn’t quite sure if she wanted the job.
“What do we do next?” Blossom asked. She sipped on a huge ice mocha with whipped cream and sprinkles. Starla had laughed at her for buying the sugary monstrosity, but then she wished she had o
ne.
“I’m going back into Dan’s to get one of those,” Starla said and retreated into the donut shop.
When she returned, Blossom and Damek were having a heated discussion in hushed whispers. They both fell silent and looked at Starla as she exited the shop with her crème brûlée coffee drink.
“Starla, you’ve got to tell him he can’t use magic,” Blossom said. “He won’t listen to me.” Her words were followed with an eye roll, and Damek followed that up with a playful smack to Blossom’s bottom.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me.” His words had a serious edge for a moment, but then Damek cracked a smile. Starla was about to confirm that he couldn’t use magic, but like some sort of tidal force, Damek and Blossom’s lips found each other.
Starla gave them a few moments before clearing her throat. Blossom blushed, and Damek smiled even harder. But they both turned their attention back to Starla.
She filled Damek in on the dream she’d had. He looked troubled but nodded his head in affirmation of what she’d said.
“I wish they would have told me what they were planning,” Damek said. “I could have told the Elders that they were making a mistake.”
“Do you think they would have listened?” Starla asked.
“Probably not.”
“What now?” Blossom asked again. “I mean what now that you’ve got your coffee.”
Starla was about to answer when a woman approached them from the beach. She smiled at the group shyly and walked up to a spot a few feet away from the three witches. It appeared to Starla that she was waiting for permission to approach.
“Hi,” Starla said. “I’m Starla.”
The woman walked the rest of the way to the group and stood next to Blossom. “I’m Kalinda. I’m sorry to bother you, but I saw you guys talking to that tour guide guy on the beach. You were asking about the dead man.”
“We were,” Starla said cautiously. “My friends and I were trying to get a better idea of what happened. We’re locals, and we don’t like the idea of the island getting a bad reputation.”
“The only person who had a bad reputation was that freak who died on the beach,” the woman practically snarled. “If you ask me, he got what he had coming.”
Starla kept her cool. “Are you one of the people he bothered?”
“I’d say that it was more than bothering,” Kalinda said. “I’ll tell you what I know about him, okay?”
“Did you know him?” Starla asked hopefully.
“He cornered me once,” Kalinda said. “Now do you want the information I have or not?” she asked curtly.
“Please go on,” Starla said.
“So, the guy’s name was Kenneth Price, but I’m assuming you already knew that much?”
“We did,” Blossom agreed.
“He was here on vacation, so not a local like ya’ll. He wasn’t staying at the resort. I think he said he had a room at the Conch Shell Motel. He really liked the food at that Hen’s Diner place up the street a bit. I know that because he invited me to eat there with him. I turned him down, of course.”
“Of course,” Starla said.
“I don’t suppose he invited you to his room at the Conch, did he?” Blossom asked.
“Actually, he did. Room 207,” Kalinda said. “I didn’t go. Of course.”
“Of course,” Damek said, but that time it was his turn to roll his eyes. Fortunately, Kalinda didn’t see him, but Blossom did. She elbowed her new paramour in the ribs.
“Anything else?” Starla asked as she studied the woman.
She wished she could take a picture of Kalinda, but that would be entirely too obvious. So she tried to commit the woman’s features to her memory. Their informant had long brunette hair that looked like it was straightened. Her olive skin was almost burned by the island sun, telling Starla that Kalinda spent a lot of time on the beach during her stay on Clownfish Cay. She had a pinched nose that sat perched above full lips. Her dark eyes were set just a hint too far apart. She wasn’t an ugly woman, but her features were just off enough that she wasn’t classically beautiful either. Still, Starla found her appearance quite intriguing. Kalinda had a face that people would remember, and she hoped she could remember it too.
“Something wrong with my face?” Kalinda asked and took a step back.
Starla hadn’t realized how intently she’d been staring. “No, sorry. I just dazed out for a moment. Here’s my number.” She handed Kalinda one of the business cards she’d whipped up for her new business. “Call me if you think of anything else.”
“Why were you staring at her like that?” Blossom asked when Kalinda had walked away. “What did you see?”
“Oh, I was just trying to memorize her face. I wanted to take a picture of her, but that would have been too obvious.”
“It would have been too obvious for you,” Blossom said with a wink, “but I got a pic while she was talking to you. I guess we know where we’re going next.”
“Where is that?” Starla asked without thinking.
“The Conch Shell Motel, silly. We’re going to go investigate room 207.”
Chapter Five
Damek had left the witches to do some research on the whole ‘darkness building on the island’ thing. Starla had given him the incantation he needed to get past her protective wards and begged him to leave them intact.
“I already feel bad using magic to do the wards in the first place,” she said. “I’d hate to have to put them up again.”
“I’ll be careful,” he’d promised and set off to her house to use her laptop.
When Blossom and Starla got to the motel, Kane and Deputy Vancura were in room 207, investigating. “Crap,” Starla said.
“We’ll just give them a little while and come back,” Blossom reasoned.
“I just wanted to get here before they did,” Starla mused. “They’re going to take all the evidence.”
“Well, they are the police,” Blossom said with a chuckle.
“I know, but I kinda wanted to solve this one. I mean, I didn’t at first, but now that we’re involved, I wanted to be the one to crack this nut wide open.”
“Me too,” Blossom offered. “But maybe we still will. It’s not like my brother and his two deputies have a ton of time to investigate.”
“It would be easier if we could use magic. We could find things they can’t.”
It hit Starla that Kane could use magic while he investigated, but would he? She hadn’t had time to tell him that he shouldn’t. It probably wouldn’t be a huge issue this time around because she doubted Kane was confident enough to use magic on his own yet.
She was wrong.
Starla and Blossom walked over to the motel’s vending machine area to grab a soda and a bag of chips while they waited. Blossom groused because she wanted a real meal.
“There’s a really good taco truck down the block from here,” Blossom commented.
“Let’s give it a few minutes. The chips can hold us over. If they aren’t gone in fifteen, we’ll get tacos.”
Moments later, a stream of curses the likes of which Starla had never heard before issued forth from room 207. She and Blossom ran out to the center of the motel’s parking area and looked up at the room.
Purple smoke poured out of the room, and Deputy Vancura came running out coughing. The two witches held their breath waiting for Kane to appear. All concern that he would see them there was lost.
“Crap,” Blossom grumbled. “What did he do?”
“We should go up there,” Starla said as she started for the stairs.
“No, wait. Give it a minute. If he knows we’re here, he’ll know we’re trying to investigate. If he’s gotten himself in over his head, he’ll call.”
“I think it’s obvious he’s gotten himself in over his head,” Starla said.
“If you want to blow it, let’s go blow it,” Disappointment dripped from her voice, but she followed her best friend anyway.
The two of them rushed u
p the staircase and into the motel room. Inside the room, every item that wasn’t bolted to the floor floated in midair.
Kane spun in confused circles, trying to pull the room’s furnishings out of the air. “Come on,” he said through gritted teeth. “Get down.”
The items dipped, but they did not fall back to the floor. Kane’s eyes flashed with relief and confusion when he saw Starla and Blossom enter the room.
“What are you guys doing here?” Kane asked as he tugged on the wooden leg of a floating chair.
“Saving your butt,” Blossom said. “It looks like you need it. Unless you want us to go?”
Starla began to wave her hands through the air and cancel out the magic. She didn’t want to use another spell to counteract this one, so instead she just sucked all the magic out of the room slowly. It worked like a charm.
The room’s furnishings and other objects settled back into place quietly. She turned her attention next to the purple mist. Starla puckered her lips and blew it away back into the nether.
“Please tell me the two of you weren’t waiting outside for me to leave so you could go poking around in here?” Kane asked.
“You don’t seem very appreciative of the fact that we saved your butt,” Blossom retorted.
“I had it under control. I could have figured it out,” Kane said petulantly.
“I don’t think so,” Blossom shot back.
“Hey, you two. Can it,” Starla said. “There are more important issues right now.”
“Yeah, like how you two were about to stick your noses in an active investigation,” Kane said. “Again.”
“We were going for tacos,” Blossom huffed.
“You are the worst liar,” Kane said. “But we can worry about that later. Right now, thank you.”
“Thank you for what?” Blossom asked with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Thank you for saving my butt.”
“What about Deputy Vancura? What did he see?” Starla asked.
“I’m not sure. I don’t know exactly when he ran out. I did the incantation in the bathroom, so I know he didn’t hear that part. Perhaps he doesn’t know the issue was magic.”
Sleaze on the Beach Page 3
