by Paula Lester
Sarah beamed. “Don’t you just love gardenias? I used Lucy’s potion on my flowers, and they’re growing like crazy!”
Lucy came around to look at the flower too. “I didn’t know you grew gardenias. I thought you wanted the potion for your vegetables and herbs.”
“I did, but I had some left, and I just couldn’t resist giving the gardenias a little. I love them so much.”
Lucy looked pleased. “I grow gardenias too. I’m so glad my little potion helped yours.”
“You grow them? Did you know they’re edible?”
Lucy nodded. “Oh yes.” She leaned closer to the other two women and spoke more softly. “In fact, gardenia is the secret ingredient in my apple pie.”
After a little more visiting, Paige brought her hands together. “Okay, ladies. The reason I wanted to meet with you is that I think we should try talking to Cash’s ghost.”
Lucy and Sarah both stared at Paige, neither speaking right away.
“Come on, let’s try a séance. There’s too much at stake in this. If Scott and the others get it wrong, Jordan’s life might be ruined. Plus, the real killer will go free.” She held up some papers. “I found a ceremony online. We could try it.”
“Okay,” Lucy said. “If you think it will help, we’ll give it a try.” She clapped three times. “I hereby call to order the second official meeting of the Comfort Cove Coven.”
Sarah turned to Paige. “Maybe you should invite Captain McDougall.”
“I already asked him to talk to Cash, but he couldn’t.”
Lucy moved over to the sitting area and lowered herself into a chair. “Even if he can’t directly contact Cash, his presence could help thin the veil between the living and the dead. Make it easier for us to contact Cash.”
Paige shrugged. “Okay, I’ll run up and get the logbook.” When she arrived upstairs, she opened the leather-bound book and waited for the mist to dissipate. She explained to the pirate ghost that she and the other two coven members were going to hold a séance and attempt to talk with Cash Conway.
“That’s the man killed by the axe, right, lass?”
“Actually, it’s looking more likely that something else killed him. That’s one of the reasons I really want to talk to him. There’s just something that isn’t adding up about this whole thing. We thought maybe you being there could help our séance go better.”
The pirate nodded. “I don’t know what I could be doing to help, but I’ll certainly try.”
Paige carried the open book downstairs, and after the other two had greeted the captain with excitement—Lucy fluffing her hair like mad—they got down to the business of starting the séance.
Paige lit a candle, and they smudged the sitting area with sage. Casper made tiny cat noises and moved from person to person. He was obviously nervous.
Lucy began a slow chant, and the other two women held their hands palms-up on their laps and maintained a low hum. Something was happening. Paige felt the hairs on her arms stand up, and the air felt different—thicker and harder to hear through.
A sudden rap on the front door made all of their eyes pop open. A second, louder knock was followed by muffled words. “Paige? Are you in there? It’s Audrey Lanton—I need to talk to you.”
Audrey had been picked up by the police earlier. Why was she free so soon? Paige blew out the candle, wondering if she should let the woman in or whether it might be dangerous. The woman was a stalker, after all. But it was still light outside and Paige wasn’t alone. She quickly closed the logbook and crossed the floor to let the brown-haired woman in. She was wearing an LA Dodger T-shirt and dark sunglasses even though it was nearly dusk. “Hello,” Paige said. When she turned around, she saw that Sarah and Lucy had grabbed books from the shelf behind them and sat holding them open on their laps. They’d tossed one on Paige’s abandoned chair too.
“Is Jordan here?”
Paige shook her head. “It’s after closing. My friends and I were just . . . having a book club meeting.”
Audrey seemed to notice the other two women for the first time. “Oh, I’m sorry for interrupting.”
“No problem, dear. We’re just reading . . .” Lucy glanced at the book in her hand. “How to Cleanse Your Life of Toxic People in a Month or Less.” She forced a faint smile.
Audrey turned back toward Paige. “It’s probably just as well Jordan’s not here. Can you give him a message for me?”
Paige nodded, feeling a bit uneasy.
“Tell him I’m leaving Comfort Cove, and he shouldn’t expect to hear from or see me ever again. Tell him to lose my number.”
Paige raised her eyebrows. Was Audrey for real or was this a stalker trick? “You’re leaving? Where are you off to?”
Audrey beamed. “Would you believe it? Italy! I hear Marco Vitali is making a movie there. Well, ciao!” She waved at all three women and headed out the door.
Paige locked it behind her. Marco? Her Marco? “I’m calling Scott.”
When her brother answered, she said, “Audrey Lanton was just here. Says she’s going to Italy and won’t be contacting Jordan again.”
“She’d better not,” he said. “The DA offered her a deal. He said he’d let her leave town if she agreed never to bother Jordan again. Otherwise, she’ll be arrested and sent back to LA where they’ll charge her for violating the restraining order. She chose to leave.”
“Do you think she’ll honor the agreement?”
“Yeah, I do. She’s a little out there, but she’s not looking to go to jail.”
“Did you learn anything about Cash Conway from her?”
“Quite a bit, actually. She exonerated Flowers and Rake both.”
Paige was shocked. “For real? How?”
“She followed them that whole evening and sat outside their motel room all night. She took detailed notes about everything they did—like minute-by-minute notes. She provided a totally rock-solid alibi for both of them. I’m not telling either of them until tomorrow, so don’t say anything to Jordan.”
“Wow. I didn’t expect you to say that.” Paige bent down to pet Casper, who was still making small squeaking noises intermittently. She said goodbye to Scott, hung up, and shared the news with Lucy and Sarah.
Both of the women jumped up and bounced excitedly on the balls of their feet.
Sarah’s smile was wider than Paige had ever seen. “Jordan’s cleared! I’m so happy.”
Paige chuckled. “Me too, actually. But that basically leaves us with no good suspects. So, let’s get back to the business at hand, shall we? Oh, and you guys can’t share any of this with anybody. Still an active investigation and all that jazz.”
Lucy and Sarah both nodded, and they sat back down and began the séance ceremony again. Paige opened the logbook and they waited for the captain to appear. Casper meowed from the storeroom doorway, not getting closer. It wasn’t long before Paige felt that odd feeling in the room again. The hairs on her arms stood up, and the air felt different.
“Who are you?” The words made Paige’s eyes snap open. Lucy and Sarah opened theirs too, and they all looked at Captain McDougall. Before Paige could answer, he spoke again, his words slurred. He sounded drunk—not at all like himself. “What’s going on? Where am I?”
Paige tried to maintain her calm exterior, realizing it wasn’t the ghost pirate talking. “Who’s speaking through the ghost of Captain McDougall?”
“Cash Merle Conway.”
All the women’s eyes widened as they looked around at each other. Lucy gained her composure fastest. “We’re trying to solve the mystery of how you died, Mr. Conway. Can you tell us what happened that night?”
There was no immediate answer, and Paige began to wonder if there wouldn’t be one. But finally, McDougall, whose ghostly face looked droopier than usual, slurred with Cash’s voice, “I don’t remember much. I had a fight with Nessa.” There was a long pause. Paige’s heart pounded into her ribcage. The next words were softer but just as slurred. “She f
ound out I was cheating on her.”
Paige released the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. That matched what Jordan had said.
“I went to the beach. Drank a bottle of bourbon. Fell asleep in my car. Or maybe almost to my car. I don’t know. Then someone helped me get up and get to the water. I was thirsty. I needed to get to the water. I thought I’d die if I didn’t have a drink. It was salty, but I kept drinking. Then . . . nothing.”
Lucy asked, “Who helped you to the water? Do you know who was with you?”
“No. I think it was a woman, though. Smelled like a woman. I remember flowers. Gardenias. Maybe it was Nessa’s perfume. Maybe it was the ocean. I was confused. I’m still confused. Where am I?”
Paige and Lucy glanced at Sarah.
“Oops,” she said and took the flower from behind her ear and threw it over the top of one of the bookshelves.
Paige whispered to the other two, “Should we tell him he’s dead?”
But then a loud belch drew their attention back to McDougall. He shook his ethereal head, sending the braids tumbling around. “What was that?” He blinked his hazy eyes. “I was yanked into the Distance for a moment.”
“Cash Conway used your ghostly form to talk to us,” Paige explained. She told him what they’d learned.
The pirate shook his head. “That man is a reckless sot.” He paused. “My mouth is dry. Who’s got some rum?”
“What should we do next?” Lucy asked.
Paige bit her lip while she thought. “I don’t know. Did we learn anything we should tell Scott?”
“I’ll keep talking to him and make sure he doesn’t get off-track,” Sarah said.
“The Hawkes were in today,” Paige said. “They’re the couple who found the treasure. They’re auctioning off the movie role tomorrow. And Cash’s body is going to LA. Maybe the killer will be leaving town after that.”
“If he . . . or she . . . is even still here.” Lucy stood and stretched. “I’d better get myself home. Four in the morning comes early. Don’t forget to meet me at seven. We’re hosting Old Pops and his friends.”
As Paige walked the others to the back door to let them out, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and saw Jordan’s name. Waving to her friends as they left, she answered.
“Didi says she’s going to sue me for breach of contract because I won’t quit my play and go to LA for the interviews she set up for me.” Jordan sounded miserable.
“You’re not supposed to leave town,” Paige reminded him. “And you are committed to the play. She’s probably just trying to bluff you.”
“Maybe. But I can’t risk being sued. What if she wins and I have to pay her a million dollars or something?”
“Stay calm. Let me think on this tonight. I’ll figure something out.”
She hung up and plopped down on a chair in the sitting room, chewing her lip again. Casper jumped into her lap and meowed in her face. “Okay, you didn’t like the séance. I get it. I’m sorry.” The cat looked satisfied and curled up on her legs.
“What’s wrong, lass?”
Paige jumped. She’d forgotten the captain was still out of his book. Then she sighed and settled back into the chair. She told him about Jordan and Didi. “What would you have done about a situation like this back in your day?”
“Threats from a scalawag? Made him walk the plank, of course.”
“Yeah, we really don’t do that anymore.” Paige chuckled.
“Ran him through with my blade?”
Paige shook her head. “Not that either.”
McDougall winced and then relaxed. “Ah, well, neither of those would work for a woman, anyway. For them, I’d use trickery.”
“Now that, I like. What kind of trickery?”
The ghost scratched his beard. “Find out something about her that she’d like to keep to herself. Threaten to tell everyone. You know, blackmail her.”
Paige sat up, excited. “That could work,” she said. “Didi’s a Hollywood agent, a lawyer, and kind of a meanie. I’m fairly sure she’s got skeletons in her closet.”
“She’s a murderess?”
Paige laughed. “That’s not what I meant. I just meant she’s got to have something she’s trying to keep to herself. A secret.”
“Yes, lass. You have the right of it. Go find this Didi’s skeletons.”
Paige wished the captain a goodnight and headed upstairs with the closed logbook. She decided to spend the evening searching for information on Didi Lambert online. Maybe something would come up. She didn’t want to stay up too late, though. The next day might be a full one, with the breakfast, the auction, and who knew what else happening.
As Paige climbed the stairs, a strange thought occurred to her. Why had the Hawkes returned a few dollars’ worth of books to her store if they’d found a twenty-five-thousand-dollar treasure?
She decided to do some searching on the geocaching Pats while she was rooting around for dirt on Didi.
Chapter 18
Paige hit snooze as many times as possible before she absolutely had to get up and head to Just Baked. The realization that she’d have access to pretty much unlimited coffee when she got there finally did the trick, and she dragged herself out of the cozy bed, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
When she got to the bakery, half a dozen people from the Camp were already there, scattered across a few small tables laden with cold breakfast foods, pastries, and juice. She made a beeline for the coffee station Lucy had set up, a table that held a huge coffee dispenser, milk, cream, sugar, and about fourteen types of prepackaged creamers. When she turned around, enjoying the feeling of the first swallow of coffee hitting her system, she waved at Lucy, who sat chatting with Old Pops.
The man looked entirely different than he had the day before. He’d obviously taken the shower he’d promised Lucy and put on the cleanest, least torn-up clothes he probably owned—a pair of blue jean shorts, a faded red short-sleeved knit shirt, and black socks with a worn pair of sneakers. He’d somehow managed to tame the few hairs on his head, and the removal of several layers of grime from his skin gave him a nice, healthy glow.
Gypsy sat at the same table as Old Pops and Lucy. She must have removed the ribbons to shower, and her hair looked shiny and clean, plaited into two neat braids, one hanging over each shoulder. She still wore the pink cowboy boots but had donned a different, cleaner pair of shorts and shirt.
“I thought you might bring more people,” Paige said as she sat down and snatched a croissant from the plate in the center of the table.
Old Pops shook his head and spoke around a bite of bagel. “Too early for most people to want to head into town.” He chewed a few times and then added, “Plus the shower requirement turned some folks away.”
Paige and Lucy exchanged grins.
“This is the most delicious breakfast I’ve ever had.” Pops wiggled his eyebrows at Lucy, who blushed and dipped her head. Her fingers moved automatically to fluff the black curls at the front of her face, but she still had a hairnet on, so she let her hand fall back to the table.
“I shouldn’t have expected anything less,” Pops went on. “Supreme food from a supremely talented and lovely lady.”
Lucy blushed deeper. “Why, Mr. Pops. You flatter me. Let me get some more bagels.”
Gypsy followed Lucy away from the table, heading toward the coffee and then over to a different table to chat with a couple there. As soon as Lucy returned with a towering platter of warm bagels, Paige gave her a look and wiggled her nose a tiny bit. Lucy nodded. Paige turned to Old Pops. “We know you falsely accused Bucky Grant of killing Cash Conway.”
Pops stopped chewing for a second and slid his eyes Paige’s direction before dropping them to his plate.
“Why’d you do it?” Paige asked bluntly.
The homeless man glanced at Lucy, finished chewing, and swallowed before answering. “I needed the money.”
Lucy sniffed and nodded almost imperceptibly. Paige pressed on. “W
hat money?”
Pops sighed and leaned back in his chair, dropping his hands into his lap. “I guess I’d been bragging here and there around town about being the one to find the dead body on the beach,” he explained. “It was fun being a mini-celebrity for a reason other than because I’m a conman for a minute. Anyway, I was working the sidewalk down by all the souvenir shops toward the beach bar when Big Mike comes up to me.”
“Big Mike?”
“He lives out at the Camp. Guy must be seven feet tall, but he’s a gentle giant. Gives kids rides on his shoulders and reaches things on the top shelf at the grocery store for short ladies. He’s big and strong, too, so he does odd jobs for people for money. Anyway, he comes up to me on the sidewalk and tells me there’s a lady who wants to talk to me. ’Course, I figure it’s a cop ’cause they don’t like us hassling the tourists over on souvenir row, so I’m getting ready to take off quick-like. But Mike says it ain’t a cop, it’s just a lady. He shows me how she gave him a twenty and says maybe I can get some more from her. Tells me she’s in a big car in the alley between the kite shop and the T-shirt place.”
Paige nodded encouragingly, her mind racing as she tried to figure out who waited for Pops in the big car.
“I scooted into the alleyway real careful-like. Big Mike said he’d watch my back, so I felt better with him at the end of the alley watching for cops. Anyway, there was a big, shiny black sedan sitting there.”
“What kind of car was it?” Paige leaned forward, her elbows on the table, to make sure she didn’t miss anything the old man said.
He shrugged. “Don’t know. It had a CC Rentals plate on the front, though.”
“Who was inside?”
Pops shrugged again. “A lady with real dark sunglasses. So big they covered the whole top half of her face. She was wearing one of those giant, floppy-brimmed sun hats so many of the lily-white tourist women like to wear. She didn’t want me knowing who she was, that much was obvious, even to an old coot like me.”
Paige nodded, biting her lower lip thoughtfully. “Okay, what did this woman say to you?”
