mystic caravan mystery 01 - freaky days

by Amanda M. Lee

  This couldn’t be good. “I was about to make my rounds.”

  “I’ll make them with you.”

  Well, great. “Okay.” We fell into step together, the morning mostly quiet except for the chorus of birds regaling us from the nearby trees. Finally, I couldn’t take his stifling silence another second. “Did you need something?”

  “I want to apologize for last night,” Kade said. “It’s none of my business what you and Luke do. I was surprised you weren’t at dinner. I was a little worried, in fact. I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything.”

  It was a nice apology and I didn’t believe a word of it. Well, actually, I believed he was sorry because he hurt my feelings. Nothing more. “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “We’re still feeling each other out here. It’s okay. You’re not used to us and we’re not used to you. It will take time.”

  Kade studied me, his expression thoughtful. “You seemed upset when I questioned you on your whereabouts last night.”

  “I was tired,” I countered. “I’m a bear when I’m tired – not literally, of course.” Whoops. That was a joke for a different crowd.

  “Don’t worry, I didn’t think you turned into an actual bear,” Kade said, chuckling.

  I don’t. Rodrigo does, though. Kade probably didn’t want to hear that. I knew I wasn’t the one who should break that gossipy tidbit. “I was crabby last night,” I said, choosing a different tactic. “Luke wore me down and … I was tired. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

  “Luke seems to wear you down a lot.”

  “He knows exactly what buttons to push to make my head fly off my shoulders,” I agreed.

  “I … never mind. It’s none of my business.”

  Now I was curious. “What’s none of your business?”

  “Your relationship with Luke,” Kade said. “Sometimes I think you’re just friends. Other times, though, I can’t help but wonder if something else is going on.”

  “I’m not sure why you care.” For some reason, my heart started beating faster.

  “I’m not sure why I do either,” Kade admitted. “You’re intriguing, in a really mean way. I asked around about your relationship with Luke last night and everyone said you were just friends, but I think you’re too close for that. What I don’t understand is why you’re hiding it from everyone.”

  He’d convinced himself I was involved with Luke, but we were on the down low. I had no idea if that was good or bad. Actually, in my head, I knew it was good. My heart wanted to argue. Okay, maybe not my heart. Something a little lower wanted to argue.

  “We all live in a close-knit community,” I said. “We’re all up in each other’s business. We’re close. We are … unbelievably close, in fact. Most of us get along. That doesn’t mean we share everything. People want privacy, no matter how they choose to live their lives.”

  “I get that,” Kade said. “I would think you’d want to parade your love around, though.”

  “I don’t hide my love for Luke,” I said. It’s simply not the kind of love you think it is, I added silently. “We don’t need to know everything about one another, though. We know so much as it is. You’re new. In time, you’re going to see that too much information is … well … too much.”

  “You’re probably right,” Kade said. “When I was in the Marines, I never wanted my private life broadcast to the guys I served with. I don’t know why I expected this place to be different.”

  “This place is different,” I said. “It’s also … not so different.”

  Kade nodded. “Max wants a meeting with everyone before the gates open. Is that normal, or is it for my benefit?”

  “That’s normal. We have a meeting every Thursday. Get used to that.”

  “Good,” Kade said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t want to think it was for my benefit alone.”

  “Don’t worry about tonight,” I said. “You’ll be surprised how well this place runs. You’ll have some things to do, but it’s not nearly the chaos you’re probably imagining.”

  “That’s a relief. I’m imagining out-of-control clowns and animals breaking free and eating people.”

  “I can guarantee the animals won’t break free and eat people,” I said.

  “What about the clowns?”

  “It depends on their mood,” I replied.

  “Okay, well, we’re good, right?”

  “We’re good.”

  “I need to get going,” Kade said. “I promised Raven I would let her show me around the House of Mirrors.”

  Correction: We were good. “I … well … have fun with Raven.”

  Kade smirked. “You really don’t like her, do you?”

  “I like her fine,” I said. “I think she’s a good worker.”

  “But?”

  “But sometimes I want to punch her in the boob for no good reason,” I admitted, causing Kade to break out in raucous laughter.

  “I’ve never heard that expression before,” he said once he got control of himself.

  “What can I say? Raven rubs me the wrong way.”

  Now I just had to hope she didn’t rub Kade the right way.

  Nine

  The weekly meeting was always held in the camp’s kitchen area. Max was hit or miss when it came to sharing meals with the troupe. I think he preferred avoiding the immaturity that followed us at almost every turn. Still, he came down at least once a week – and always on Thursdays before show time. This week was no different.

  “Everything is set, right?” Max was more serious than usual as he sat at a picnic table with Luke and me.

  “We’re good,” I said.

  Max glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening. With Raven – and her low-cut dress – at another table regaling Kade, I figured he was safe. “Those two seem to be getting along,” Max mused.

  The comment set my teeth on edge. “They do.”

  “I think they’ll be loading the clown in the cannon pretty soon if Poet doesn’t get her act together,” Luke said, gracing me with a playful wink.

  “Stop with the sex euphemisms,” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose to ward off an imminent Luke headache.

  “Loading the clown in the cannon?” Max looked confused. It took him a second, but when he finally got the joke, he chuckled heartily. “You make me laugh, boy.”

  “I aim to please.” Luke is always giddy on a show night. Because he was scheduled to perform his trapeze act tonight, he was especially happy.

  “And you always miss,” I muttered.

  “I love you, too.” Luke blew me a boisterous air kiss, which I ignored.

  “I never asked whether the dreamcatcher was set,” Max said. “I assumed everything worked out all right, because I didn’t hear otherwise.”

  “It was operational within the hour,” I replied. “You know we can’t shuffle Kade into a private meeting every Monday so we can put up the dreamcatcher, right?”

  “I know,” Max said, glancing over his shoulder again. “He’ll be suspicious after a few times. It’s in his nature. I … wow … Raven’s boobs are really big tonight.”

  “It’s called a pushup bra,” Luke said sagely.

  “It’s called a glamour,” I corrected. “Raven can change her appearance. Did we all forget that? She can make those … .”

  “Helium balloons?” Luke suggested.

  “That’s not what I was going to say.”

  “Funbags?”

  “I will kill you, Luke!” I barked the words louder than I intended and a number of prying eyes shifted in our direction, including Kade’s.

  “Nice, you big mouth,” Luke said. “You’re going to get the Marine over here if you’re not careful. Or, wait, is that what you want?”

  I reached for Luke’s arm, intending to twist it until he started crying, but Max stilled me with a stern look.

  “You two need to stop this … showboating,” Max said.

  “Showboating?”

  “You k
now what I mean,” Max said. “You’re acting like children.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Luke said, popping an herb-roasted potato into his mouth. It was Rodrigo’s turn to cook, and he was a whiz with the grill. No one ever left dinner unsatisfied when Rodrigo was in charge.

  “Tell me about the dead man, and do it quickly,” Max said. “I have a feeling Kade is going to come over here any second and I don’t want him to hear how you two dumped a body in the lake on our third night in town.”

  “He was a rapist,” I protested.

  “He saw Poet at Walmart,” Luke supplied. “He found her in the pasta aisle and followed her to the peanut butter. If you ask me, it sounds like he wanted to slip her a little pickle tickle and … .”

  “If you finish that sentence I will smother you in your sleep,” I threatened.

  “That doesn’t sound like the pants-off, dance-off I want,” Luke said.

  Max snorted. “Okay, it’s funny, but I need you to stop for a few minutes,” he said. “We have a few things to discuss and a limited amount of time to do it.”

  Luke instantly sobered. “I honestly didn’t get a ‘killer’ vibe from the guy in the store,” he said. “If I had I would’ve paid more attention when we were driving back. I think Poet knew there was something wrong with him, though.” He cast me a sidelong look. “Did you read his mind and see what he was then?”

  I shook my head. “I heard one of his thoughts, and only because it was so powerful. It was harmless. He thought I was pretty.”

  “Your looks drove another man to distraction,” Luke teased, patting my hand. “It’s a powerful weapon. You should decide better how to wield it.”

  “Do you think he followed you from the store?” Max asked.

  “I don’t see how else he found us,” I said. “I wasn’t wearing anything that advertised the circus, and we both know Luke can’t wear non-organic clothing blends. I never said where I worked. In fact, when he asked me where home was, I was purposely vague.”

  “That would seem to indicate he’d fixated on you before leaving the store,” Max mused, rubbing his chin. “What do you think he was doing on the access road?”

  “I think it was his best way to spy on us,” I answered. “I think running into us out there was luck on his part. Although, well, he wasn’t feeling lucky at the end.”

  “Did he attack you?”

  “He planned to. I stopped him before he got close enough. Then I read his past and followed the trail of his future. Neither was pretty.”

  “You did the right thing,” Max said. “I’ve been monitoring the news. I don’t think they’ve found his body.”

  “We can’t risk tipping the police off,” Luke said. “If they somehow manage to trace the call here, we’re cooked.”

  “I agree,” Max said. “Someone will eventually find the truck and body. It would be better for us if it was found after we left.”

  “Our biggest problem now is keeping Naida out of the lake,” I interjected. “She’s desperate for some water time, but we can’t risk her being out there if the cops show up.”

  “Yes, explaining a naked pixie swimming around a dead body in a truck has ‘uncomfortable’ written all over it,” Luke said.

  “We can’t do anything about the body,” Max said. “I’m not sure it wouldn’t have been better to have Nixie shrink him and then add the husk to her collection. She’s always looking for voodoo dolls to sell to customers. Why didn’t you do that?”

  “The police are looking for a suspect,” I replied. “If this guy disappears they’ll waste manpower looking for him and the victims’ families will never know any peace.”

  “You have a good heart,” Max said, reaching over and squeezing my hand. “It’s put us in a pickle, though, and not the pickle Luke is dying to make a joke about.”

  “We also had the truck to deal with,” Luke said. “It was parked right by the grounds. It was out of sight, but it was only a matter of time until someone stumbled upon it. Eventually, someone is going to be looking for this guy. Even if he doesn’t have family, he has bills.

  “We could have driven the truck to the city and dumped it, but if someone saw us we would never be able to explain that,” he continued. “By doing it this way, we made sure that George was with his truck and the police had a plausible reason to think he killed himself. We made the decision on the fly. We can’t second guess it now.”

  “I hadn’t considered that,” Max said. “That’s a very good point. Okay, I rescind my previous opinion. You did the best thing possible. A murderer is off the street and we’re not likely suspects in his death.”

  “I don’t want to be the downer here, but we have another problem,” I said. “The dreamcatcher is in place. Most paranormals don’t hit on nights when it’s just us. They wait until the place is full and then make their move. That offers us the chance to do our job amidst distraction.”

  “Thanks for the newsflash, Poet,” Luke deadpanned.

  I scorched him with a look. “Kade is walking the circus tonight,” I reminded him. “He’s going to be everywhere. He’s very gung-ho about doing his job. He wants to be good at it. That means he’s going to pop up when we least expect it.”

  “He’s a very dedicated worker,” Max said, gazing at Kade with a fond expression. “He’ll be good at this. I can feel it.”

  “That’s the least of our worries,” I countered, Max’s expression causing me to wonder about his relationship with Mystic Caravan’s newest employee for about the fiftieth time in five days. “If a vampire attacks, how are we going to explain staking him? What about a gryphon? Do you think Kade is going to understand us tossing lighter fluid on a guy who looks normal and then lighting a match?”

  “I barely understand that,” Max grumbled. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Everyone will have to be careful. We’ve done it before.”

  “Not to this level,” I argued. “Kade is suspicious of us. He’s already been asking about seeing the animals.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “That he had to be licensed for insurance reasons,” I replied. “That’s not an explanation he’s going to accept forever. I mean, if he was more focused on what was going on he’d notice that we never order big hunks of meat to feed these supposed animals.”

  “Wow, way to go, Sherlock,” Luke said. “You solved the case of the missing porterhouses.”

  “She has a point,” Max said, shooting Luke a warning look. “I had never considered that. When the inspectors show up, everyone shifts and acts as if it’s business as usual. We never cover ourselves on some of the more mundane stuff.”

  “He’s eventually going to start asking hard questions,” I said. “We can’t keep the truth from him forever. Even if nothing attacks us tonight, we all know the inevitability of something evil walking into this camp. The secret is going to come out.”

  “It doesn’t have to come out now,” Max said. “We can wait. We can’t keep the secret forever, but it has to be protected for now.”

  And there was my opening. “Why?”

  Max balked. “What do you mean?”

  “Why is it so important that we keep this secret now? Why did you hire someone who has no idea about our world? Why didn’t you ever tell us – me especially – that you took on another man’s family so you could be this guy’s favorite uncle?”

  “Funny uncle,” Luke corrected.

  “Kade is good at what he does,” Max said. “He’s a strong man. He’s a good man. My personal business and my ties to his family are none of your concern, young lady.”

  I was stunned at Max’s words. He never shut me out. Even when he tried to keep a secret from me he never lasted for more than a few days. “I … .”

  “I’m sorry if my words hurt you,” Max said, his expression softening. “I don’t mean for them to. My life isn’t open for chatter, though. You’re the closest thing I have to a daughter, Poet. That doesn’t mean you’re entitled
to my private information when you demand it.”

  “I didn’t mean to … upset you,” I said. “I need to understand. You’re dead set on Kade staying here. Fine. He needs to know the truth about us if we’re to do our jobs properly, though.

  “You always said we were champions for the cause first and circus performers second,” I continued. “We can’t do our first duty if we’re constantly looking over our shoulders in an attempt to keep the big secret under wraps.”

  “I understand what you’re saying,” Max said, choosing his words carefully. “I don’t disagree with you. I’m not asking you to hide this forever. I’m asking you to do your best to carry out your duties without drawing attention to our secret for a little while longer. I don’t think I’m asking too much.”

  Max was an honest man. He’d plucked me from a life of crime and given me a purpose. There was nothing he could ask that I would ever deny him. I still didn’t understand what was going on. I’d never ignore a request if he made it. “We’ll do our duty.”

  “We will,” Luke agreed. “If the truth comes out accidentally, though, you need to be ready for it.”

  “I will be ready,” Max said. “I need more time. The boy isn’t ready yet.”

  “Will he ever be ready?”

  “He has to be,” Max said, turning his attention back to Kade. “He doesn’t have a choice in the matter.”

  If that was meant to be an explanation, Max failed miserably. Now I had more questions, and there was no one willing to answer them for me.

  Ten

  As luck would have it, our Thursday night show went off without a hitch. Kade walked the circus grounds so many times I lost count. He seemed to be everywhere, and the evil that often plagued us appeared to be nowhere close. Still, no one exhaled a sigh of relief until Kade retired for the night, exhaustion finally getting the better of him despite his protests to the contrary. Even then we prowled and patrolled. Nothing attacked, though, and we eventually gave in to our own weariness.

  We were up with the dawn the next morning. Fridays and Saturdays are full days. They’re our biggest days. We had matinee performances at noon and evening performances at six. Between shows the midway was full and the guests were happy to wander around munching on elephant ears and ice cream. We all had to be on our toes, though. The pitfalls of a circus are many and varied.