[Mystic Caravan Mystery 05.0] Freaky Places

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Do we know anything about her mother?”

  “No.”

  “Witch lines run through women, just like psychic lines. I’m guessing her mother isn’t around any longer. That’s probably why she isn’t trained.”

  “She seems to have latched onto Melissa,” I pointed out. “Maybe she’s simply playing dumb. I mean … Melissa is powerful. Maybe Paige sees something in her she likes.”

  “Melissa may be powerful, but she’s young and dumb,” Raven countered. “She would be a prime mark if Paige were playing that game. The thing is, I don’t think Paige is any smarter than Melissa. They’ve become best buddies because there’s no one else in their age group. It’s not power calling them together, it’s a lack of options.”

  I scratched the side of my nose as I regarded her. “You have an unbelievably sunny attitude. Has anyone ever told you that?”

  “No one I care to spend time with.” Raven was blasé. “It’s the truth. Melissa is surrounded by older people. It might not seem like a large age difference, but in this line of work it can feel overwhelming. She’ll survive. In fact, I think Kade is probably beating the resistance out of her even as we speak.”

  That was a sobering thought. “I think our best bet is to put Naida into the water after dark. She might be able to sniff something out. If she can’t, we’ll have to figure something else out.”

  Raven cast a final glance in Bates’ direction. “Yeah. I’m still going to watch him.”

  “Do you believe he’s involved?”

  “He’s involved in something. Odds are it’s not this. Still … he’s more than he seems.”

  “Then we’ll both watch him.”

  “Won’t that be fun?”

  15

  Fifteen

  I found Kade in the House of Mirrors, more specifically in Raven’s office. He looked as if he was enjoying his tenure as circus hard ass. He leaned back in Raven’s chair, his feet propped on her desk, flipping through a magazine. At first I thought he was alone. Then I heard the whining.

  “This is so gross!” Melissa complained.

  I couldn’t see her, but her screeching was coming through just fine.

  “That’s why it needs to be cleaned,” Kade said dryly. “Raven left a list of things that need to be done, by the way. You still have two left when you’re finished with that closet.”

  Closet? I turned myself at an angle, remaining in the hallway while peering inside, and found an open door. I couldn’t see the contents, but the grunts and groans Melissa emitted were enough to make me bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.

  “It’s almost dinner,” Melissa groused. “You can’t expect me to work through dinner.”

  “You’d already be done if you hadn’t spent two hours crying as if I stole your favorite Barbie doll.” Kade didn’t look up from the magazine. “Perhaps we should consider having you attend some efficiency classes.”

  Melissa’s expression was murderous when she poked her head out of the closet. “You’re getting off on this, aren’t you? You can’t make me work through dinner. It’s inhumane.”

  “Ah, but that’s a child’s way of thinking,” Kade countered. “You’re an adult. Adults often work through dinner.”

  “Not you,” Melissa spat. “Why am I working while you’re sitting there reading a magazine?”

  “I’m supervising.” Kade was blasé. “Now … back to it. That closet won’t clean itself.”

  “I could quit,” Melissa warned. “No one would blame me.”

  My heart rolled at the words and I opened my mouth to say something, although I had no idea what words I could use to better the situation. I didn’t get the chance.

  “I’d blame you,” Kade said. “I’d blame you a lot. More importantly, I think you’d blame yourself once the dust settles. You might be able to muster some righteous indignation for a few days – maybe even a week – but afterward you’d realize you’d made a mistake.

  “The thing is, you know you’re acting like a complete and total idiot, but you can’t seem to stop yourself,” he continued. “You know that Poet went out of her way to help you, give you a job, make you part of our community. The fact that you’re so ungrateful might be new, but you’re not dumb enough to pretend it’s acceptable.”

  I leaned against the wall, arms folded, and listened intently. Melissa couldn’t see me from her position, and Kade wasn’t looking. Eavesdropping was often frowned upon in our circle, but I didn’t care. I wanted to hear Melissa’s response.

  “I’m not ungrateful,” Melissa sputtered. “I’m … I’m not ungrateful.”

  “You’re certainly not thankful for the opportunity you’ve been given,” Kade countered, flipping a magazine page. “You’ve been nothing but mean and surly since we stopped here. Is that because of your new friend?”

  Melissa balked. “I’m not some idiot teenager who gets bowled over by peer pressure.”

  “Huh.”

  “Why did you say ‘huh’ in that tone of voice?”

  “Because I’m not sure what else to say. You claim you’re not an idiotic teenager, but that’s exactly how you’ve been acting the past few days. You claim you’re not easily manipulated, but you weren’t this way before we arrived, and the only difference here is that you’ve been spending all your time with Paige. I’m not sure how you want me to react.”

  “I’m really starting to not like you,” Melissa groused.

  “I’m fine with that.” Kade flicked his eyes from the magazine and found me watching him. “I don’t need to be liked.”

  “All you care about is Poet liking you,” Melissa added.

  “That is my top concern,” Kade agreed, smiling. “Speaking of Poet … how was your day, darling?”

  I had no choice but to step into the room. Melissa’s eyebrows flew up her forehead when she saw me. “Long and somewhat interesting,” I answered.

  “Thank the Maker you’re here,” Melissa said. “He’s been working me like a slave all day. You need to force him to cut me loose.”

  I pursed my lips. “Why would I want to do that?”

  “Because he’s being unreasonable.”

  “I think you’re the unreasonable one,” I countered. “Clean your closet. I need to talk to Kade.” I sauntered across the room, internally crowing about Melissa’s unhappy expression. She looked downright furious … and surprised. It was the surprise I relished. She expected me to be a pushover, and when I refused she was forced to regroup. The entire endeavor was entertaining.

  “Have a seat.” Kade patted his lap and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “I believe I have a spot right here for you.”

  That seemed a dangerous prospect when we had an audience, so instead I sat on the edge of the desk and faced him. “How was your day?”

  Kade briefly shifted his eyes toward the closet before moving them back to me. “You know how we weren’t crazy about having a teenager this morning?”

  I nodded.

  “That still stands.”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. “I see. I guess that means you’ve been having fun being the boss all day, huh?”

  “I’ve had better days,” Kade said dryly. “I missed you. What did you do?”

  I told him about our meeting with Desdemona, not leaving anything out. When I was done, Kade was impressed.

  “You and Raven have spent the past month getting along – at least when you don’t invite yourself into her trailer and interrupt weird clown games, that is,” he said. “It’s kind of nice when you guys aren’t fighting.”

  I shot him a “whatever” eye roll. “We’re both working toward a common goal. I hardly think we’re going to start braiding each other’s hair and having sleepovers.”

  “That’s too bad. My dreams will never be the same again.”

  “Ha, ha.” I poked his stomach before sobering. “This is big. There are a lot of missing girls. We need to figure out what’s going on here.”

>   “I don’t disagree with you. How do you intend to do that?”

  “We’re sending Naida into the water tonight.”

  Whatever response he expected, that wasn’t it. “Excuse me?”

  “The water,” I repeated. “Raven and I stopped by the crafts fair after we were done at the beach. She heard … whispers … for lack of a better term. She doesn’t think all the girls are dead.”

  Melissa poked her head out of the closet. “Have you ever considered that you’re exaggerating and none of them are dead?”

  “They’ve found three bodies,” Kade reminded her. “Obviously some of them are dead.”

  “Yes, but Poet thinks there are, like, a hundred missing girls out there.” Melissa’s disdain was evident. “That’s just ridiculous. There’s no way one-hundred girls could go missing without it hitting the news.”

  “There is if the police are being forced to keep it quiet,” I countered. “Most of the girls have been listed as runaways because the mayor doesn’t want to incite a panic. That’s probably going to come back and bite him before it’s all said and done, but I get the feeling that this festival is very important to the city’s bottom line. That’s all he can see right now.”

  “I still don’t buy it.”

  “You don’t have to buy it.” I forced my attention from Melissa and back to Kade. “Raven said the whispers were weird and disjointed. She almost felt as if something was … muting … the girls’ feelings. That could be drugs or something else. We simply don’t know.”

  “And how does Naida fit into this?” Kade asked. “I don’t understand what you’re planning.”

  “Katie was found in the water. The other bodies were, too. Naida might be able to find something if she looks … like a trail to a house or something. I’m not guaranteeing it will work, but we won’t know unless we try.”

  “Fair enough.” Kade slipped a strand of hair behind my ear. “What if it doesn’t work? What if we have no idea where to search next?”

  “Then we’ll have to get creative.”

  “Do I even want to know what that means?”

  “Probably not.”

  Kade heaved out a sigh. “That’s what I was afraid of.” He focused on Melissa. “Start working faster. I’m hungry and you’re infringing on my dinner hour.”

  “Why can’t I just finish tomorrow?” Melissa asked, petulant. “Why can’t I be done?”

  “Because the circus opens tomorrow and you’ll be busy with other stuff.” Kade stretched his back as he stood. “Oh, and because I said so.” He extended his hand to me. “How does dinner sound?”

  I shifted an uncertain look to Melissa. “What about … ?”

  “She’ll be fine.” Kade was firm. “Melissa, I left the list you have to finish on the desk. Try not to take all night.”

  Melissa’s expression was murderous. “You think this is funny, don’t you?”

  “Not really.” Kade’s expression was hard to read. “That doesn’t mean I haven’t found portions of this afternoon enjoyable. Hopefully you’ve learned something. If so, this won’t have been a wasted effort.”

  Melissa rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  Kade refused to sink to her level. “Give it some thought. I’ll be checking to make sure you finished your chores before going to bed. If you don’t … you’re fired.”

  “I’m really starting to dislike you,” Melissa hissed.

  “I’m fine with that.” Kade squeezed my hand. “Shall we? I’m still not done stuffing your face after last night. I’m thinking another trip to the food trucks is in order.”

  I beamed. “You read my mind.”

  THE ENTIRE MYSTIC CARAVAN CREW – sans Melissa, of course – opted to eat at the food trucks. The circus opened the following day, so we had to be up early. No one wanted to cook a heavy dinner, and because we had so many options within easy walking distance, the mood was jovial.

  “What did you do today?” Luke asked as he grabbed an onion ring from my plate. “Did you miss me?”

  “More than life itself,” I said dryly, shaking my head. “What did you do today?”

  “We went to the woods,” Seth volunteered. “We spent the entire afternoon out there.”

  I furrowed my brow. “Doing what?”

  “We shifted,” Luke answered, taking me by surprise.

  “You shifted this close to people?” Kade was beside himself.

  “Why don’t you say it a little louder,” Luke drawled. “I don’t think the teenagers in the corner heard you. Oh, wait, they’re looking in this direction. I guess they did hear you after all.”

  Kade scowled. “Sorry. It’s just … what were you thinking?”

  “They were thinking that their noses were better in animal form,” Nellie supplied. “We were hopeful they’d pick up the scent of the girls – or at least someone who wasn’t supposed to be out there – and maybe we could help.”

  “Oh.” I scratched my cheek, guilt rolling through my stomach. “Did you find anything?”

  “No, but … the whole thing was weird,” Luke replied. “It’s almost as if someone cast a spell so we wouldn’t scent anything.”

  That was an interesting take. “Why would you say that?”

  “Because we couldn’t scent anything,” Seth replied. “I mean … nothing. No rabbits. No deer. No bears. The entire woods were somehow … empty. That’s the only word I can think to describe it.”

  “Huh.” I cut into my coney dog. “What would do that?” I turned to Raven for answers.

  “I don’t know.” Raven, Percival smiling happily as he ate a salad with lemon juice dressing at her side, tilted her head. “That sounds almost like a witch thing.”

  “You’ve mentioned witches several times,” Kade noted. “Are they dangerous?”

  “Not usually,” I replied. “Most self-identified witches are really Wiccans. That basically means they don’t have legitimate power and are essentially militant environmentalists. They love nature … and occasionally dance naked in it. They’re not often dangerous.

  “Real witches are a different story,” I continued. “Some lines are born with actual power. There’s a family in Michigan, for example, that is supposed to be ridiculously powerful … even though, apparently, they spend most of their time cursing each other rather than evil-doers.

  “Most witches are active members of covens and, by design, covens are supposed to promote sisterhood and peace,” I said. “There are a few that go the opposite way.”

  “Did she just explain something?” Nellie asked, his agitation evident.

  I ignored him. “Evil covens have been known to do a lot of damage. If we are dealing with a coven … members would be capable of casting a spell to cover up scents in the woods. That’s not beyond their scope.”

  “But why?” Dolph challenged. “Why try to cover up the scent?”

  “Perhaps they knew shifters would come looking for them,” Kade suggested.

  “But how would they know that?”

  “Because they probably knew we were coming,” I supplied. “No, think about it. We’re famous in certain circles. Humans don’t know exactly what we’re capable of, but the paranormal population lives in fear of our visits. It’s entirely possible a coven found out we were coming and cast the spell just in case.”

  “Then what are we supposed to do?” Luke asked. “There are too many girls missing to ignore this. We only have a few more days in this location. We can’t simply leave before this is sorted out.”

  “I don’t disagree with you. That’s why we’re sending Naida into the water.”

  Naida, who sat between Dolph and Nellie, happily ate her vegetarian pita.

  “How is that going to work?” Nellie asked curiously.

  “All three bodies were dumped in the water,” Raven supplied. “If we’re lucky, Naida should be able to figure out which direction the killer was coming from when he or she dumped the bodies. At the very least we should get a more accurate location for
where the bodies were dumped.”

  “And then what?”

  Raven shrugged. “We don’t have all the answers yet. We might have to put our heads – and magic – together to create a trail. If we are dealing with a coven powerful enough to remove scents from the woods it could be an interesting couple of days. Of course, no matter how strong they are, we’re stronger.”

  “You sound awfully sure about that,” Nellie said. “I want to believe you, but you weren’t in the woods. The entire place felt … empty. Like everything was gone.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” I admitted. “We can only tackle one problem at a time, though. Tonight we’re sending Naida into the water. We’ll figure out a way to handle the woods after that.”

  “And how will you get Naida into the water without anyone noticing?” Luke asked. “This area is thick with people and they’re all interested in us. I don’t think it’ll be as easy as you think.”

  “We’ve taken all that into consideration,” I supplied. “It’s under control.”

  “Did anyone else just feel a tremor in the Force?” Luke asked. “I’m pretty sure the Dark Side is coming to smite us.”

  I flicked his ear. “You’re ticking me off.”

  Luke flicked me back. “Right back at you.”

  “Don’t make me wrestle you down,” I warned.

  “I’m fine if you want to try. It’s been a long time since anyone has cursed my coven. That will be the most action I’ve seen this month.”

  “How sad for you,” Raven said dryly.

  “It is,” Luke agreed. “I’m thinking of getting some chaps to liven up my social life, though. I hear they’re all the rage.”

  Raven narrowed her eyes to murderous gray slits. “You’re going to want to tread carefully.”

  Luke refused to adjust his cheerful demeanor. “That sounds nothing like me.”

  “I can make you tread carefully … and beg for reprieve before it’s all said and done,” Raven warned.

  “Bring it on.”