by Zoe Arden
"A necklace that lets you read people's minds?" Lucy shrieked, delighted. "That sounds like something out of a fairytale or a legend or something."
"Yeah, I know. The trouble is, from what I can tell, it might as well stay a legend. We've looked everywhere and still don't have a clue where it could be." I sneezed and reached for a tissue.
"You ought to see Dr. Dunne. I bet he could prescribe you an elixir that'll get rid of your cold in two seconds."
"It's not a cold," I told her. "It's allergies. The rain stirs things up and my hay fever wires get crossed or something." I sneezed again.
"I bet he's got an elixir for uncrossing your hay fever wires, too," she said, and I smiled. "So, what do we know for sure?" Lucy asked, getting back to business.
"For sure?" I said. I leaned back in my chair. "For sure we know that Mack had a necklace that allowed him to read people's minds. It looks like a silver ball on a silver chain."
"What else?" She leaned back in her chair now, too.
"We know that Colt was wrong about my dad; he couldn't have killed Mack or tried to run Natalie over because he was with Sadie when all that happened. We also know that Bill was at Mack's Bar the day Mack was killed, probably the very time he was being murdered, because he wanted to confront him about his relationship with Natalie."
"Do you think they were having an affair?" Lucy asked.
I shook my head. "No. Natalie was telling the truth when she said she hadn't seen Mack until that day he asked her for help."
"How do you know?"
I paused, thinking about it for a second. How did I know? "Because her guilt is real. Mack wanted her to meet him again but she never did, and it's eating her up inside. You can see it. She also loves Bill, for all his faults." I laughed. "And Bill is just a jealous nut. I never realized that about him before."
"Okay, so that crosses off Bill, your dad, Sadie, and Natalie. None of them could have killed Mack."
"Agreed."
"What about someone at Mack's Bar? Like that cousin of his or another employee or maybe even a regular customer who might've figured out he had that necklace?"
"I guess it's possible," I said. "Not Von though. He wasn't even on Heavenly Haven when it happened."
"Are you sure he's not just saying that?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah. I searched for his name on the Internet the other night. There's a photo of him at a concert in Orlando. It made the Internet search because he's holding a chair over his head and brandishing it at some poor teenagers who dared to ask him to stop cussing."
"Oh, dear..."
"Yep. I think Mack might've had good reason not to like his cousin."
"What about this mysterious person Von said Mack left the bar to? You think they could've killed him?"
I scrunched my brow. "I don't know. Maybe. The bar does well enough, but I don't think it makes so much money that someone would be willing to kill for it."
"You never know," Lucy said.
"That's true. You never know."
There was a smack of lightning that lit up the entire shop like a rocket had just exploded outside. "I guess I should go before it gets any worse," I said. "Oh, I almost forgot. I need some drinks to go."
"A Brass Monkey?" she asked, smiling.
"You know my family so well. I also need a pumpkin spice and a white chocolate caramel."
"Coming right up," she said and went to go make the drinks. She let Ben continue to sit with his girlfriend. They were still holding hands. The rest of the coffee shop emptied out. The two women who'd been on their laptops packed up and got their umbrellas ready. The guy with the funny pages packed up as well and exited just before Lucy handed me a cup holder with my drink order.
I cringed at the storm as I made my way outside. I wished I'd brought an umbrella, but no such luck. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I was still under the awning, which extended from Coffee Cove down through the next three stores. I fished my phone out of my pocket as I started walking, then dropped it almost immediately. It bounced out from under the awning.
"For witch's sake!" I muttered and bent down to pick it up. I felt a gush of air whiz past my head and when I stood up, a dagger was sticking out of the wall. The handle wiggled at me and I watched as, slowly, it disappeared. I blinked and looked around.
"What the...?" I muttered as a second dagger came sailing right at my head. I screamed and jumped out of the way, spilling the coffee all over myself and the sidewalk.
I fell to the ground and looked up just in time to see a figure retreat into the rainy shadows on the opposite side of the street. Dean Lampton's face was a mask of hatred. I could almost feel it coming off of him in waves.
I didn't wait to find out if he was going to throw a third dagger. Chances were slim that he'd miss me again. I ran.
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CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
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"Back so soon?" Lucy asked when I got inside.
She took one look at my coffee-stained clothes and pale face and knew something was wrong. "Melbourne!" she screamed and he came running out of his office in a flash.
Lucy came around the counter and put one arm around my shoulder, leading me to a chair. I was shaking. Melbourne hurried over and looked at me, examining me like a doctor. He stared into my eyes and took hold of my wrist. It took me a minute to realize he was taking my pulse.
"I'm okay," I finally managed to tell them.
Lucy sighed, happy that I was speaking again.
"What happened?" Melbourne asked.
"Dean Lampton just tried to kill me," I said.
No one said anything for a full minute. He and Lucy exchanged a look.
"I'm serious," I told them. "I saw it with my own eyes."
"You saw what, precisely?" Melbourne asked.
I let out an exasperated sigh. "I saw Dean Lampton throwing daggers at me!" I screeched. Why were they looking at me like I was nuts? I knew that Dean was the head of COMHA, but so what? Everyone knew he was as ruthless as they came.
"I better call Sheriff Knoxx," Lucy said, getting up.
"Finally, someone here is making sense," I snapped.
Melbourne stopped her. "Why don't I call Colt instead? If this concerns Dean, then he should know about it."
Lucy looked at me as if asking if that was all right. I didn't care who they called as long as it was someone with the power to arrest Dean Lampton.
By the time Colt showed up, I'd calmed down a bit. Lucy had given me a clean shirt to put on that she had in her locker, and Melbourne had made me a special cup of his coffee cocoa, which turned out to be delicious.
"Are you okay?" Colt asked, walking into the Cove. I nodded.
He put his arms around me and pulled me into a hug, and I immediately felt better. When he let go, he gave me a quick kiss then said hello to Lucy before turning to Melbourne and shaking his hand. They stepped off to the side, conversing together in low tones before he asked if I was ready to go.
"Yes," I told him. I loved Lucy but I was dying to get out of there and go home. He opened the door to his car for me and I slid inside, grateful now that he insisted on driving everywhere. It was still raining, though it had lightened up considerably. I'd gotten wet enough for one day already, though, and I was simply out of energy. Walking home was not an option.
Colt was unusually quiet as we drove along.
"Thanks for coming down," I said, assuming that he was thinking about Dean. Arresting the head of COMHA couldn't be easy.
"Of course," Colt said. His brow formed a deep V. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. I spilled some coffee on myself, but Trixie's ice cold Brass Monkey canceled out the heat from the other drinks. I didn't even burn myself."
"That's good," he said, still lost in his thoughts. "So, tell me exactly what happened."
I told him, just as I'd told Melbourne and Lucy.
/> "And you actually saw Dean throw the daggers at you?" he asked.
I looked at him. There was a tone in his voice that I didn't care for.
"You believe me, right?" I asked.
"Of course," he said a little too quickly. "It's just... Dean is the head of COMHA."
"Yeah, I know. That's probably why he's gotten away with this until now. He thought he couldn't get caught."
"Right, but I mean, you saw the dagger in his hand, right?"
I hesitated. "No." I saw Colt's expression change like I had just confirmed something for him. "But I saw the daggers go flying by my head and when I looked up, Dean was standing right there. In fact, he was the only person standing there. It had to be him."
"I'm not saying it wasn't," Colt said.
"Then what are you saying?" I couldn't believe he was acting like this. He couldn't stand Dean Lampton. Why was he defending him all of a sudden?
"Ava, please, just listen to me a minute." His windshield wipers squeaked against the glass with each swipe.
"I'm listening."
He licked his lips. "Maybe there were extenuating circumstances. Things going on that you don't know about. Dean might have been outside Coffee Cove, but that doesn't mean he was trying to kill you."
"Then who was?" I demanded and felt triumphant when he had no other answer to offer me.
We turned a corner onto a more open street. It was still just two lanes, but instead of shops, it was lined with houses. Mine was a few blocks down.
Out of nowhere, Colt's car lurched as if something had just hit us.
"What was that?" I asked, looking out the window.
Colt's face was pale.
"Is your seatbelt fastened?"
"Yeah, why?"
Then I saw it. A brown sedan tailgating us. There was barely an inch of space between his front bumper and our back bumper.
"Oh, my roses," I said. "It's the same car that tried to run Natalie over." My heart started pounding in my chest.
"It's okay," Colt said. "Just stay buckled up."
He stepped on the gas pedal and we increased the distance between him and us by about a foot.
"Who is he?" I asked. "Is it Dean?"
"I don't know. I can't see his face."
I turned for another look and realized that his front windshield was tinted. He could see out, but we couldn't see in.
"I thought window tints like that were illegal," I said.
"I'm not sure this guy cares about legal or illegal," Colt said. "Hold on."
He pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor and we jumped ahead of the sedan, but our gain didn't last for long. The sedan must've had a souped-up engine or something because it sped like a rocket ship. It caught up to us faster than I could have snapped my fingers.
"Colt," I said, finding it hard to breathe as his bumper tapped ours for the second time. The car jerked but only slightly. "Colt, we have to get out of here."
"I'm trying," Colt said. "I can't go any faster. We're already doing a hundred; that's as fast I can go."
I quickly muttered a speed spell, wondering why I hadn't done that sooner. We picked up some speed but so did the sedan. It seemed glued to us. Whatever maneuver we made, it made the same one. If we picked up speed, it picked up speed. We were driving in circles now, going around the same block, zigging and zagging then turning the next corner at breakneck speed. We just couldn't drop this guy off our tail, no matter what we tried.
Suddenly, the sedan pulled into the left lane as if it was trying to pass us.
"What's he doing?" I screamed.
"I don't know," Colt said.
It looked like he was done with us. Like he was just going to pass us up and go on his way as if this had all been one big joke. For half a second, I breathed a sigh of relief. Then the sedan slammed on his brakes, swerved into our lane, and plowed into our side.
I screamed as Colt's car went spinning out of control.
* * *
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
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We sat in Colt's car for what felt like minutes, though I knew it was probably more like seconds. My heart was racing; I could hear Colt's heart pounding in his chest.
"Are you okay?" Colt asked me for what felt like the millionth time today.
"Yeah," I said, breathing heavily. It felt like my heart was going to burst right out of my chest it was beating so fast. "You?"
"Yeah," he said.
We looked around for the brown sedan, but it was gone. Colt's car had come to a stop just a few houses down from my own. Trixie, Eleanor, and my father came running out, as did a few neighbors.
"Are you two all right?" one of the neighbors called.
I nodded, unable to speak. I could hardly catch my breath, let alone talk. My father must've sensed this, and instead of asking me anything, he swept me into a giant hug. Eleanor and Trixie took hold of Colt and hugged him until his face turned purple. Then everyone switched. My dad hugged Colt, and Eleanor and Trixie each hugged me.
"We're okay," I told them. I felt something at my feet and looked down to see Snowball nuzzling her head against me. I picked her up and stroked her soft, white fur. "It's okay," I told her. "Mama's all right."
She purred loudly and rubbed her nose against my face.
Eleanor and Trixie ushered us into the house. My dad said he would take care of the car and get it out of the ditch. It was unnerving to see Colt shaken up so much. Normally, he was a pillar of strength. That almost freaked me out even more than getting run off the road.
"I've already called Zane," Eleanor said. "He should be here any minute."
Trixie put on a pot of coffee and a minute later, my dad came back in. Snowball was over by her food dish. For once, though, she was eating what was in it and not asking for tuna.
"Did you guys see what happened?" I asked. "Did you see the sedan?"
"We all saw it," Eleanor said. "I heard a noise and went to look out the window and saw that driver knock into you." She shuddered. "For a minute I thought..." Her eyes welled with tears, then she shook them away. "But it doesn't matter now. You're both all right."
"When Eleanor screamed," Trixie said, "your dad and I ran to the window and looked out. We saw just enough to know what had happened. That sedan took off right after you guys went spinning out of control. I tried to get his license plate, but I don't think he had one."
"It was the same car that tried to run Natalie over," I told them.
"Are you sure?" Eleanor asked.
"Yes." I waited a beat. "And I know who was driving."
They all looked at me, even Colt.
"Who?" Trixie asked.
"Dean Lampton."
Colt groaned. "Not that again."
"I know what I saw."
My father and aunts were looking at us, perplexed. I quickly explained what had happened at Coffee Cove just an hour before, and they all looked shocked.
"Dean Lampton," Eleanor muttered to herself.
"Figures," Trixie said. "He's always struck me as a vile sort of man."
"I don't know," my dad said, and I was annoyed to hear him side with Colt.
"You don't believe me?" I asked my dad.
"Oh, I believe you," my dad said. "I'm just wondering whether or not the man you saw was really Dean, or someone pretending to be Dean. After all, you said it was rainy and cloudy, right? The sky was overcast. How good of a look did you really get at him? Is it possible it was someone wearing a mask?"
I bit my bottom lip. "I hadn't thought of that." I paused a moment, considering the idea. "I suppose it's possible. But it would've had to have been a really good mask."
Colt kept quiet throughout this exchange, which was probably a good idea unless he wanted to start fighting with me all over again.
Sheriff Knoxx showed up with Deputy Elwin Muster, and they began taking our statements. My dad said
that Colt's car was okay, more or less. It was running fine, though the side of it was a little dinged up.
"It's a twenty-year-old Toyota. I care more about how it runs than how it looks," Colt said and went outside to check it out. It had finally stopped raining, but now it was well into evening and the sun wouldn't be back until tomorrow.
I let Eleanor take the lead in explaining the journal and the necklace to Colt and Sheriff Knoxx, the latter of which was angry she hadn't told him sooner.
"I was planning to tell you tonight," she said. He puffed out his chest like he was in charge and she'd do best to remember that, but his face grew all pouty. Colt asked a few questions, but only a few. He was just as tired as I was, and there was a lot of information to process.
Sheriff Knoxx finished with us and gave Eleanor a ride home. I skipped dinner, still too nervous to be hungry. Colt went back to his apartment and promised me he'd look into Dean's whereabouts this afternoon and evening. I decided to be grateful he was doing even that much since he clearly didn't think Dean had anything to do with what had happened today. My dad's theory of some masked murderer was an interesting one, though doubtful. At least to me.
The next morning, I got up surprisingly early. Snowball was curled up at my side sleeping so soundly she was almost snoring. No one else was awake yet. I crept downstairs and started to put on a pot of coffee before deciding I'd rather go to the bakery and get some work in on my new extract.
Eleanor had come up with a winning combination of apple and vanilla to go with my blemish buster, but I was hoping to improve upon it a bit more so that I could sell it as a moisturizing extract as well. With a little tweaking, I thought we might be able to have a chocolate hydrating cake by the end of the week. Besides, it would help to take my mind off of things.
I'd spent a restless night tossing and turning, trying to sleep. I'd gone to bed exhausted, certain that I would sleep soundly, only to realize before darkness had overtaken me completely that something had changed in the killer's attacks as of today. Natalie wasn't anywhere near me when the attacks had taken place.
