by Cat Adams
Wow. So Vicki had foreseen even this? Damn, she was good. But who was the next guest? I didn’t even expect half the people already here.
The door at the far end of the room opened and a slightly disheveled brunette woman stepped in the door. I’d seen her around the office before, so I presumed she was Becky. She held open the door and waved someone inside, then brought me a large thermal mug filled with what smelled like French onion soup.
The young man she’d ushered in had skin that was pale, and freckles stood out in sharp relief under a shock of carrot orange hair. Mr. Arons stood and held out his hand across the table. “Mr. Murphy? Barney Arons. We spoke on the phone last month. Thank you for coming. I hope you had a comfortable trip. Is your hotel satisfactory?”
I’d never seen him before in my life and apparently nobody else in the room had, either. Jason and Cassandra were exchanging confused glances, as were Alex and Sybil.
“Yessir. I’ve never flown in a private jet before and Molly and the girls are loving the hotel room. But you really didn’t have to put us up in a suite. A regular room would have been just fine.” He had a light southern drawl but with a sophisticated edge. I couldn’t quite place the location.
“Not at all. Ms. Cooper was very clear in her wishes for your stay here. You were to have the best of everything, with no expenses spared. So, please . . . enjoy it.” He waved toward a seat between Cassandra and Jason. “If you’d have a seat? We’re ready to start.”
Mr. Murphy stopped in his tracks, jaw dropping when he actually got a look at the people he would be sitting next to. I watched him swallow hard and pull himself together enough that he wouldn’t act starstruck and embarrass himself in front of everyone.
Arons had said five new people. So, Creede, Gran, Dr. Scott, and Mr. Murphy. Was Vicki the fifth, or was there someone yet to arrive? I put down my soup to ask, “Didn’t you say five people, Mr. Arons?”
He nodded. “Vicki was the fifth. Oh, that reminds me—” He turned to Mr. Murphy. “Mr. Murphy, do you have any problem with ghosts? Or vampires, mages, or psychics?”
Yeah, that was probably a good thing to find out. We had sort of a weird bunch here today.
“Well . . . I’ve got a cousin who’s a mage and my grandma stayed in the house for a bit after she died, until we found her Will. But I’m not a fan of bats, and psychics sort of creep me out. Why?”
“Ah. I see. Let me make formal introductions, for those who don’t know each other.” Arons took a moment to identify each person gathered at the table and ended with, “Finally, if you’ll direct your attention to the ceiling, you’ll see a sparkling formation.” We all dutifully looked up. The gaseous cloud that was Vicki’s normal state in this realm sparkled in the remaining cool air. “The deceased has elected to attend this reading. I hope that doesn’t bother anyone.”
Mr. Murphy eyed the cloud with an odd look but finally shrugged. “I suppose there’s not much to be done about that, is there? Ghosts do what they will. But if she starts throwin’ stuff, you’ll find me somewhere between here and the hotel. Try to keep up if you want to talk.”
Laughter erupted from nearly everyone. It was just what we needed.
Arons checked his watch again. “Excellent. We’re right on schedule. Let’s begin.” He picked up a remote control and pointed it toward the wall. The lights dimmed and the blinds turned to block out the sunlight.
With a press of a key on his laptop, the big screen in front of the windows flickered to life. I couldn’t help but smile as Vicki looked out at us. She was sitting in a comfortable-looking chair in front of a bookcase filled with legal volumes, so probably she’d taped this somewhere in these offices. She looked directly at me and smiled, as though she knew right where I was sitting. Then she turned her gaze to each person in turn, ending on Alex, with a wink and a blown kiss. Alex burst into tears anew.
Seeing the screen was a little tricky, so I moved my chair until I had a clearer view.
“My family, friends, and guests,” Vicki began. “Thank you all for coming. And thank you, Barney, for going to all the trouble to gather everyone together. I know it wasn’t easy in some cases.”
Arons looked up at the ceiling rather than the screen. “That’s our job. We’re here to serve.”
The Vicki on the screen smiled. “Yes, but you do go above and beyond the call. Thank you.”
Whoa. That sounded like a direct response to what he said. The revelation caused me to lean forward so I could see the screen more closely. Vampire vision was good for a few things, and seeing in the dark was one. Yep, just as I suspected, Vicki’s eyes were glazed over slightly. She had been having a vision during the filming. She really was seeing us here, in this time, and was going to actually “talk” to us. Just to clue in the rest of the confused-looking people, I asked, “You’re really here right now, aren’t you, Vick? You’re seeing all of us, in the future, while you tape this?”
Her head turned and she looked at me—not where I had been sitting a minute earlier, but where I was now. “You always were one of the smartest people I knew, Celia. Yes, I’m here but in the past. If you look at the file for this recording, you’ll see it was taped at least a year ago. I say ‘at least’ because I’m not really sure what year I die. That’s the trick with this gift. You don’t always see your own life with any clarity. But I can see each of you sitting in front of me.” She sighed. “I’m really sorry that Dawna couldn’t be here. But it’s more important she get well.” She turned her head again, looking past Alex. “I like what you’ve done with your hair, Sybil. It’s a good look on you.”
My friend’s former body double gasped and put a hand up to her hair. “Um . . . thank you?”
Vicki’s eyes sparkled. The cameraperson must have thought she was nuts. Or not, since it was no secret that Vicki was clairvoyant. “Now, Barney has the full document each of you will be given a copy of. But I wanted to tell you the terms in my own way.” She turned to face David and Inez. “I don’t know if you two knew how special you were to me. Even after I moved to Birchwoods, you kept my house feeling like a home whenever I was there. I could think of only one way to express my appreciation for your years of hard work.”
“Pshaw,” David said under his breath. “We’d have done it for free . . . it’s a beautiful place.”
“I know you would have,” she interrupted, causing him to stare at the screen openmouthed. “And that’s exactly what you’re going to get to do for as long as you want to. David. Inez. Cooper Manor is yours. Take care of it. And yes, Inez, your mother is welcome. Please bring her home to live with you. I know you’ve been worried about her.”
Now it was Inez who burst into tears. She stared up at the screen with shining eyes that probably only I could see. “Miss Vicki, no. We can’t. It’s too much. That house . . . it’s so expensive.”
Vicki snorted and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “And it does me what good now? I can float on the ceiling almost anywhere. Inez, please . . . accept this small token. Really, it is small in the scheme of things. And just so you know, I’m also leaving you enough money to take care of the taxes and such for as long as you live there.”
“This is ridiculous!” Cassandra apparently had had enough. She stood up and slammed a fist down on the table. “I will not watch my daughter leave a multimillion dollar home to a servant.”
“Mother, shut up.” Vicki’s voice was cutting as she half-stood from her seat. “It is not my fault that you could never make amends with Grandma, nor is it my fault that her estate was left to me. You’ve made your own way and I’m very proud of you and Daddy. But this is my money and my property and I will damned well leave it to whomever I choose. I already know you’re going to challenge this Will and have made appropriate arrangements to defend it. Just so you know, I win. Now . . . sit down!”
I couldn’t help but smirk. Vicki was finally able to do in death what she’d always wanted to do in life. “You go, girl,” I whispered. Gran elbowed me in the a
rm. But Cassandra wouldn’t be able to see my smile in the dark.
“Ms. Meadows,” said Arons, “you really do need to sit down.”
With a light growl, she threw herself back into her chair so hard the springs squeaked.
“Thank you.” Vicki sat back down and returned to looking at Inez and David. “Now, no more arguments. Plan for the house to be yours. Until the lawsuit is over, you’ll be renting it from the estate. Barney has papers for you to sign before you leave. It’ll cost you a dollar a year. No telling how long the suit will last, but the lease is ironclad, so don’t have any fear you’ll have to leave. Oh,” she continued, and pointed to me. “There’s one exception. I’ve asked Barney to hire a surveyor. The guesthouse is going to be split off from the main house into a separate parcel. That property will be yours, Celia. That’s surprise number one.”
Holy crap! She was giving me the guesthouse? “Um, wow. Thanks, Vick.”
“You need to live near the ocean. You just do. So the beach is going to go with the guesthouse. I hope you don’t mind, David.”
He shrugged and looked my way. “Nah. Never did go there anyway. I’ve got the pool if I want to swim.”
“Now, as for the rest of my real estate . . . Celia, did you know that I own a holding company called C and S Enterprises?” She stared at me, smiling, waiting for me to get whatever I was supposed to get. It rang a bell, but I couldn’t place the name. I shrugged helplessly and she finally sighed. “Okay, I’ll give you a hint. One of the properties is an old Victorian with a big old palm tree out front.”
The penny dropped with a bang. “You own my office?”
Vicki threw up her hands in joy. “Yay! You got it in one. Surprise! The office is also yours. You’re the new landlord. Promise me I get to be there, at least in spirit, when you tell Ron.”
I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help it. God, he was going to hate that. “What does ‘C and S’ stand for, anyway?”
She grinned and tipped her head. “ ‘Chips and Salsa.’ In honor of all those late nights at La Cocina with you, Emma, and Dawna. I’m also giving Emma’s apartment building to her. But I knew she wouldn’t be able to be here today, so Barney will send her a letter to let her in on the secret. Now, don’t spoil my surprise and tell her early. She won’t believe it without the official letterhead. Dawna’s getting a surprise, too, but I’m not telling you what, so don’t ask.” She winked at me.
How well she knew us. She was absolutely right about Emma Landingham. Everything had to be by the book with her. And wow . . . I knew how much our nights at the cantina meant to me. Apparently they’d been just as important to Vicki. “You are . . . were an amazing woman, Victoria Cooper.”
She gave a little bow at the waist. “Yes. Yes, I was.”
I heard Jason chuckle. His face was entranced at seeing his daughter like this, so animated and happy. Maybe he’d never really known what an awesome person she was. He hadn’t spent much time around her. More’s the pity.
“So, that’s all my real estate. Now comes what Barney calls the residue. I’ve split my estate into four parts . . . well, technically, five. Sadly, it’s going to take a fifth of my total estate to fight my mother’s lawsuit. Pity. But there’s no helping it. I know you won’t be able to step back from this and let it go, Mom, so, I’ve planned for it.”
“I cannot believe you think so little of me.” There was no hurt in Cassandra’s voice, only rage.
“I don’t think little of you, Mom. I actually think quite highly of you. You’re a shrewd businesswoman and a talented actress. But today, here, anything you show us is just that—an act. You can’t help it and I can’t blame you for it. I pray you’ll stop before you completely drive Daddy away, but that future is unclear even to me. It’s all about choices. Celia was right. If you can just see past your anger and your hurt, you’ll know that what Grandma did she did for you. Denying you the inheritance money forced you to go out and earn it. She knew it would spur you on. She might not have been a clairvoyant, but she was smarter than you and me put together. And she knew that my talent had helped her earn a good part of her fortune, as much as you hate to admit it.”
I wished Vicki hadn’t invoked my name, because it turned Cassandra’s attention back to me. “I knew it! I knew you were the one who poisoned my daughter against me. You influenced her, manipulated her. Bitch, I swear you won’t see a dime of the money.”
Why wasn’t I surprised?
Vicki interrupted. “Celia had nothing to do with my decisions, Mom. This is all me. Just me, and if you’d only listened when I tried to tell you, Celia . . .” She paused and looked my way and panic was suddenly etched in her voice. “No! Celia! John, do something!”
I turned to Creede and saw a bright flash of red light. Creede flung one arm toward me and I flew across the room, hit the wall, and slid down to the floor. His other hand was thrust in the opposite direction. I heard glass breaking and the sound of a rifle shot far in the distance.
The lights came up abruptly and hanging in the air where I had been sitting was a copper-jacketed bullet, a Glaser round that expanded on impact. They’re used by the police when they don’t want stray bullets going through walls to kill innocents in the next room and by bodyguards everywhere who want to make sure that a shot into a bad guy doesn’t kill their client. Vicki’s ghost zoomed down from the ceiling to hover around me protectively. I wasn’t sure cold gas could do much, but it was a nice thought. Gran was likewise by my side in seconds.
I could feel the pulse of incredibly powerful magic sealing the entire length of the windows. The second and third bullets never made it through, just hovered in the air, not quite touching the glass, outside the window. The magic raised the hairs on my skin, more a caress than a sting. The sensation was soft and electric, close to erotic, and pulled at parts of my body that shouldn’t be excited by a near assassination. I really didn’t want my body equating nearly dying with sex, so I refused to look at Creede to see if it was intentional or not.
I didn’t know many mages who could pull off a shield this powerful just with raw power and no prior spell. Even Bruno might struggle with that. There was a box of tissues sitting on the table; Creede took one and used it to keep his fingerprints off the bullet as he plucked the bullet out of the air. “The police will want this.” He looked up at the screen. “Any idea where it came from?”
Vicki shook her head, looking actually shaken from the experience. “No idea. Sorry. I only saw the red light. It looked like a laser sight on a gun. Apparently, this is why I invite you to the party. I’ll definitely have to spend some time to figure out how to get you here, since you’re working for my parents right about now. Hmmm—”
She dropped into her own thoughts while everybody watched me struggle to my feet. The slam against the wall hadn’t done my back any good, for which Creede at least seemed a little embarrassed. But I waved off the apology that was about to escape from his mouth, even though I still couldn’t look him full in the face while my body struggled to shake off the effects of his magic. “No apologies. I’ll be fine in a few minutes. Great thing, vampire metabolism. And nice job with the window. Can you keep that up for the rest of this, or should we get the heck out of here until they find the shooter?”
Barney Arons was busy typing on his laptop while Vicki mulled on the screen. “No, we’ll stay here. I’ve just activated the emergency shields for this floor and have e-mailed Becky to call the police. Nothing, not even a bullet or a bomb, can get in or out of this room for the next hour. So please sit down. I’d frankly forgotten about this part of the event after a year or I would have put up better shields. I should have watched the tape before the appointment.”
“And yet, Vicki knew you wouldn’t. So she made alternate plans.”
“An amazing woman.” He shook his head in renewed awe. “Mr. Creede, you may release your shields whenever you feel appropriate.”
“I’ll leave them up until someone flies up to collect the bullets
. I wouldn’t want them disappearing.”
“Again I thank you for the compliment.” Vicki was back with us. “Now, this reminds me. Celia, I know you distrust most people. Sadly, you have reason. But let me assure you now that John Creede, even if he can be an ass occasionally, is being honest with you. About what, I don’t know. But you can trust him. Trust me. You’ll need him soon, so please know you can rely on his skill and his courage.”
This time, it was John who let out a snort. “Even if I can be an ass occasionally. There’s a ringing endorsement.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I picked up the chair, righted it, and settled painfully down. “That’s about the best you’ll get from Vicki. She was nothing if not a realist.”
“Now,” she said, right on cue, “let’s finish up quickly before anything else happens. Sybil, I’m leaving you my clothes, jewelry, furs, and Cadillac convertible. I’m sorry you got sucked into the middle of my life. It was bad enough for one of us to live it. At least you can sell the furs and buy some new clothes.” She turned her head. “I mean, really, Mom. Her clothes? You took back her clothes? For what? What could possibly be the purpose in that?”
My jaw dropped. I knew Cassandra Meadows could be a bitch, but that was ridiculous! I agreed with Vicki.
“They weren’t hers. I bought them. I paid for them. They were just a uniform and I had every right to take them back when the job ended.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” The outraged voice belonged to Jason. “Cass, when you said you’d retrieved ‘our belongings’ from Ms. Jones, you didn’t say anything about clothing. Good god, hon. That makes no sense.”
Cassandra’s mouth was tight-lipped, so it was Sybil who spoke up. “The people who showed up at the door were from one of the local charities. They were very nice about it and I probably wouldn’t have minded much if I’d had warning. But it was a surprise.”
