Mandy M. Roth - Magic Under Fire (Over a Dozen Tales of Urban Fantasy)

by Unknown

  Jimmy finished the last of his coffee and glanced up with a grin when Becka headed over to refill it. Abbie let out a breath. "Will you two please stop acting like it's tea at Downton Abbey and at least pretend to be concerned for me?"

  "Did you really pay a hundred and fifteen dollars for a door mat?" Jimmy asked after stirring creamer into this coffee. "That's crazy."

  "I know right?" Becka exclaimed and scurried away when Abbie gave her a death threat look.

  "Fourteen ninety-five of it was for shipping. It was ninety-nine dollars, so technically I paid one hundred and thirteen ninety-five."

  Jimmy shook his head. "That's a lot of money for a mat. Almost asking for someone to take it."

  "I don't think there are that many people with the initials AAA, and besides only people that came to my doorstep could spot it." She crossed her arms. "I have a right to put an expensive door mat out."

  Jimmy burst out laughing, “I would go check the Alcoholics Anonymous place, maybe they got it set out.”

  "Or the travel office, it has a triple AAA desk," Becka added and both chuckled.

  "I'm going to the committee meeting and speaking to the major." She glared at Jimmy and pushed her index finger into his chest hating how hard it was. "I am not going out with you and I'm complaining to the mayor about your lack of professionalism."

  "Oh shit, is it ten already?" Jimmy got up ignoring her threats. "I'll walk with you."

  "No you won't." Abbie went to her office and grabbed her canvas tote. "I am not speaking to you."

  Jimmy walked along side as she hurried the two blocks to the library. It was easy to ignore him as she peeked between buildings and down side streets hoping to spot the ugly terrier. Mrs. Grundy sat on a bench, her walker beside her. When she spotted them she glared. "Wasting your time at the committee meeting. They’re all a bunch of idiots."

  "Good morning Mrs. Grundy," Abbie said waving at the woman. "Made a new scone recipe you may want to try."

  "The last one gave me gas," Mrs. Grundy replied already reaching for her walker.

  ABBIE HATED TO ADMIT IT, but Mrs. Grundy was right, the meeting was a colossal waste of time. It seemed everyone was on edge. Instead of acting like a mayor and head of the committee, Clark kept clearing his throat and fidgeting in his chair. He flushed red and loosened his tie. "Does it feel hot to anyone else in here?" he asked and everyone shook their head.

  "Maybe you're getting sick," Julie Milton the librarian leaned over and touched his forehead. "You do feel a bit warm."

  "I have something to bring up," Abbie interrupted before they began CPR on the man who was obviously either hung-over or just stupid. "I'm the latest victim of the random thief." She waited allowing her words to sink in. Jimmy cleared his throat and she elbowed him.

  "Ouch."

  Mrs. Polanski was the only one who seemed concerned. "Oh dear. What did they take? Thankfully you don't have any pets, so you are spared from the pain the loss of it can cause. I haven't slept since Polly and Peter were taken. Everyday, Mr. Polanski goes outside with a handful of their favorite crackers hoping that by some miracle they are back." She continued on to tell them of the many feats Polly and Peter had done in their short five years of life, while everyone gave Abbie "now you did it" looks.

  Finally when Mrs. Polanski paused for breath Abbie jumped in. "My welcome mat and door wreath are gone."

  Compared to the obviously monumental achievements of two parakeets, her loss now seemed inconsequential. Abbie let out a sigh. "Anyway, I hope he's stopped before more people loose things they treasure."

  "Yes of course. " Clark finally seemed to snap out of his hot flash to speak. "It's all very troublesome." He looked to Jimmy. "Any progress in the investigation?"

  "Nope." Jimmy eloquent as always replied and pulled out his pad. "I'll talk to Abbie's neighbors today."

  "Well if that's it. I have a full day," Clark jumped to his feet and everyone else remained seating. He looked at Cissie who had a soft smile on her lips. "Did you find Beauregard?"

  Cissie pouted. "Not yet. But one of my neighbors said she saw Becka at my house. I'm going to go see if she stopped by and saw him."

  Abbie's eyes rounded and she coughed when spit went down the wrong pipe. Jimmy pounded her back until she shoved him away. "Becka and I were driving by your house the other day. But we didn't see Fug...Beauregard. We are looking at potential yards to start a yard of the month competition."

  "What a grand idea!" Mrs. Polanski said, suddenly brightening. "That will sure bring spirits up."

  Finally everyone walked out of the small conference room. Jimmy stood in the hallway and Abbie went directly to him. "Let me know what you find out from the neighbors. Melanie Withers across the street is always looking out the window, I bet she saw something."

  "Maybe it's just a jealous neighbor. You did get the last coveted Whisper Day wreath," Julie Milton's voice seemed to hold a bit of bitterness.

  Abbie narrowed her eyes at the usually meek woman. "I'm sure that's not it."

  "I can't believe people were spending over a hundred dollars for a wreath," Clark interjected, his eyes widening when Abbie glared at him. "But they are nice." He finished weakly.

  "Anyway," Abbie said to no one in particular. "I'll be on my way. Glad to see everything is ready for the festival next weekend."

  "I'll pick you up tomorrow evening," Jimmy said.

  "No you won't. I cancelled remember." She adjusted the strap to her canvas tote and strode outside pretending not to hear him say. "You know you can't resist hot wings and beer at Grady's."

  Damn him, he was right.

  6

  G rady's was just as she remembered. Dim, dingy and smelled like heaven. She and Jimmy settled into a booth and were immediately the center of attention. Eyes shifted to them and heads came together to whisper. "Are they together?" or "Do you see who's with who?"

  Of course Jimmy was oblivious, he stared at the menu with glee and ordered for both of them when a server approached. The young guy obviously recognized Jimmy and kept calling him sir, which made Abbie feel old. Well older...

  "So..." she struggled with what to say to a man who she'd dated in High School and slept with on and off through college. Somehow this date was different. He more mature and she...well not feeling anywhere past twenty by the sweaty palms and lack of thought pattern. "Did you find out anything from my neighbors."

  "Nope." Mr. Wordsmith took her hand and brought it up to his lips. Her insides did funny things. His eyes met hers and Abbie felt hers widen. "They pretty much all said the same thing. The huge magnolia trees in your front yard blocks their view of your house."

  "They could see clear as day when they signed the petition for me to repaint my door," Abbie snapped and pulled her hand away before he kissed it again and she yanked him over the table.

  "It was a pretty wild shade of pink," he said grinning when the server placed two mugs of beer in front of them.

  "Flamingo pink is beautiful." Abbie sulked and drank the icy cold beverage. She had to admit after two swallows, she felt much better.

  They played darts and laughed when Abbie stepped on Jimmy's toes when they danced. All in all, as far as dates went, she had to give it a high score. The night went smoothly, both enjoying the easy rapport that came from knowing each other for years.

  When Jimmy followed her to the front door, she unlocked it and turned to look past him across the street. Of course the woman who claimed to be blinded by the trees suddenly had a clear line of vision, her blinds shifted one way and then another while her familiar, an ugly gray cat leaned to the side and followed their progress.

  She'd send Jimmy away of course. The last thing she needed was tongues wagging about her...again. Mr. Oblivious leaned down to kiss her.

  It was perfect, not too hard or too soft, his lips just right over hers. She took a step back and the door gave way. Without a choice, she grabbed Jimmy's shirt and both stumbled backwards into her house.

  It
was fate it seemed this happened and who was she to go against the goddess’ wishes for her? Besides she'd not seen Jimmy's body since he'd bulked up.

  They left a trail of clothes all the way to her bedroom door. Once there, there was nothing left to take off.

  "HOLY SHIT," Becka exclaimed over the rim of her cup. She blew on it and took a hesitant sip. "You slept with Jimmy?"

  Giddiness fought for dominance over nerves. "Yep. And now I have to figure out what to do about it."

  "You have a date with hunky vet tonight," Becka said with a smile. "You go girl."

  "I don't have to tell Jimmy do I?"

  Becka shook her head. "Nah, I think it was a one night stand. I'm sure Jimmy is not going to tell you if he goes out with Fast Fay again."

  "I can't stand that woman," Abbie suppressed the urge to call Jimmy and find out if he was still going out with Fast Fay. Unlike Abbie, Fast Fay earned her slut reputation after high school. Her husband Ronald dumped her publicly during the Whisper Sorceress Day parade. The man claimed he'd caught his "fast" wife sleeping with not one, but two men in one day. The short balding accountant commandeered the Channel 12 News' microphone and announced that Fay had sex on the float with the guy who drove it. Then said he'd followed her to a motel where she'd slept with Ahmed Thomas, the five hundred pound owner of Sultan Sands Motel just outside town. Ahmed made more money telling fortunes than with the motel, but it was a landmark, so that counted for something. After everyone exclaimed "Ew", Fast Fay climbed down from the float and slapped Roger, who dropped the microphone with a loud thump.

  To be fair, Fast Fay was cute as a button and she'd probably not slept with Ahmed. But the driver of the float, a hunky trucker, now that was believable.

  "I think you should enjoy the single years, especially while you're still pretty. After forty it all goes downhill. By the time you're fifty, you'll have to pay gigolos."

  "Nah, I'll be married by then and some poor sop will have to do his duty." Abbie hoped so anyway. She didn't want to spend her old woman gambling tour money on a male prostitute.

  "Did you hear that?" Becka said looking to the back door. "Scratching." She held up her flour-smudged hands. Better go see if the UPS guy can't knock cause his arms are full.

  Abbie headed to the door. "What do you think he'd use to scratch? His toenails?"

  Fugly trotted in and went directly to sit behind Becka and looked expectantly up at the tray of scones.

  "Oh my! Get his ugly little ass out of here before they close us down!" Becka screeched.

  Abbie grabbed the dog and snatched a scone as she headed to the office. "You don't have to scare it. He could have run off again." She patted the dog's head with the side of her hand. It reached around her palm and bit into the scone. "I'll call Cissie, she'll be excited to hear he's alive."

  "I doubt it. Thought she was putting him up for adoption. He's probably going to be in the pound this afternoon. Won't nobody adopt him." Becka stretched and peered through the doorway at the dog that sat contently on a rug and ate the scone. "Maybe you should give him a better chance at life and put him back outside."

  The little dog was ugly, but he was cute in an ugly kind of way. Abbie sighed closing the door behind her. "I'm getting it some water and a towel to sleep on. Then I'm calling Cissie to come get him." Of course no one would adopt the dog. Cissie must have gotten him when he was a puppy and cuter. But who knew, there was a kind-hearted person somewhere who'd love him. A sensation traveled through her.

  “No.” She turned to the dog. “You are not my familiar. I would know by now if you were.”

  Fugly cocked its head and yapped twice. “Yes I am.”

  “Ugh.” Abbie decided to ignore the raspy little voice in her head.

  She left Cissie a message and then began to mix teas. They had a special order for twenty-five small tins of tea for a bridal shower. The aroma of Earl Grey and vanilla filled the shop, both relaxing and energizing in different waves.

  The bell jingled and Clark walked in. He gave her a strange look then looked around to see who else was at the tables. "Abbie, Becka, I need to speak to you in private please."

  "Sure," Abbie replied as she and Becka exchanged questioning looks. "We can talk here, it's pretty private."

  "Okay." He looked at Becka and let out a long breath. "Jimmy is going to have questions for you, but as your friend I wanted to warn you first."

  "What happened?" Both she and Becka asked at once.

  He looked directly at Abbie. "You were seen peeking in Logan Porter's windows. You two were also seen skulking around Cissie's house before the dog disappeared. Also, Mrs. Grundy said she saw you both driving past the Smith's the day their mailbox disappeared."

  Becka huffed. "That's bullshit and you know it. Everyone drives pasts the Smith's their house is on the main street into town."

  "She said it was before dawn."

  Abbie rolled her eyes. "Mrs. Grundy can't see well enough to pass her driver's test."

  "I don't want to believe it." Clark moved closer to the counter and pointed at a chocolate chip scone. "Can I get one of those."

  "How about the fact that my stuff got stolen too," Abbie said, holding out a hand to block Becka from giving him the scone. "I told you why we went out looking at yards."

  "Yard of the month," Becka piped up and waved the scone. "We are trying to do something nice for the community."

  Bark! Bark! Of course Fugly decided it was the perfect time to bark.

  Clark looked to the office door. "You have a dog in there?" The man was a genius.

  "Yes," Abbie replied. "We found him starving in the alleyway behind the bakery and brought him in and fed it."

  Clark narrowed his eyes and Becka waved the scone in front of his face. "Here you go."

  He ignored them and went to the office. They watched frozen in place as he opened the door and picked up Fugly. In slow motion he turned to them. "This is Cissie's dog. He was taken from her house."

  "Really?" Abbie said

  "No way." Becka exclaimed.

  Clark backed toward the door holding a now struggling dog. "I'm taking Beauregard to his rightful owner and then calling Jimmy. Don't leave town."

  "Well that went strangely bad." Abbie rolled her eyes. "Stupid dog."

  7

  T hey closed at four that afternoon and Jimmy had yet to show up. Abbie stopped jumping every time the bell over the door jingled. They groaned when the mayor's wife walked in. Belinda Carter could talk paint off a wall, her visits were rarely short. Tanned and svelte, she walked into the teashop and pulled her sunglasses up using them as a headband. "Hello lovelies." She flashed them an artificially whitened smile. "How have things been in boring little Whisper?"

  "Not as exciting as Aruba I'm sure," replied Abbie. "Scone?"

  "No thank you, I avoid carbs."

  Becka turned toward Abbie and muttered. "She avoids food."

  Belinda moved to the window. "Have you ladies seen Clark? I got back early this morning and haven't seen hide or hair of the man." She didn't seem particularly upset, as she flipped through her cell phone.

  "Err...yes, he was heading to return a lost dog last time we saw him," Abbie told her. "He's doing the usual mayor thing, whatever that is. You know accusing innocent people of crimes. That kind of stuff."

  Belinda shrugged and dropped her phone into her Kate Spade purse. "Oh okay. Well if you see him tell him I'm going to meet friends for dinner. I texted him." She waved and left.

  "They are such a loving couple," Becka said.

  Abbie locked the door and turned off the "Open" sign. "Never mind her. What are we going to do? Jimmy might arrest us tomorrow."

  "He can't arrest us without proof. We don't have the crap, cause we didn't steal it," Becka boxed the leftover scones and lifted it. "Give these to Logan tonight."

  "Logan?"

  "You have a date remember."

  "Oh damn. I should cancel." Abbie rushed to retrieve her tote and find Logan's number.
“I am not in the right frame of mind to go on a date." She continued to dig frantically through her bag, finally giving up and dumping the contents onto the counter. "It has to be in here."

  Becka's eyebrows lifted. "Just go, it will distract you. Have sex."

  "I can't sleep with him. I just slept with Jimmy. That would be...ummm...I don't know slutty?" She finished weakly.

  "Normally it would be a horrible idea, but if we end up in the slammer, you'll have to settle for sex with either a woman or vegetables."

  "You're stupid," Abbie burst out laughing. "We are not going to jail. I have no choice but to go to this dinner. You're going too right"

  Becka nodded. "Yep got a new dress."

  "Let’s investigate while we’re there. It will be the perfect time to ask questions and investigate the random thefts. Clear our name."

  LOGAN SHOWED up right on time. Dressed in tan slacks and a navy blue blazer, he looked incredible. He hugged her when she opened the door, his spicy cologne making her head fuzzy.

  "You look great," his hazel eyes appraised her. "Blue is your color."

  "Thank you." She almost twirled in a circle, but figured it would be silly. "Ready?"

  He held the door open for her and she climbed into his car. At once in the car, she thought of the night before. When in Jimmy's truck she'd been giddy and excited about the date. Tonight it was different. When he started the engine, he flashed her a smile and she considered, maybe the butterflies were late and would show up later.

  The drive was short, but she was glad when they arrived and didn't have to try to make conversation. As soon as they entered the pretty decorated outdoor eating area, she scoured the crowd for Becka. "She's there!" Abbie grabbed Logan's arm and pulled him to where Becka and Gary stood.

  Logan and Gary shook hands and Abbie relaxed. Becka gave her a strange look. "Why do you have that creepy smile on your face."

  "I don't," her face hurt from smiling. "Oh I am aren't I? I can't stop it." She hiccupped which sounded more like a burp and both men turned to her. "I need a drink. Logan would you like something?"