by Fiona Roarke
“Who is asking?” she returned warily, not lifting a hand to shake his.
“Oh. I’m Milo Vandervere.” He pushed his hand closer and Ruby shook it lightly. He didn’t seem to notice her lackluster handshake. Was that why her final payment had been so quick to deposit in her account? Because Uncle Milo was here in Nocturne Falls? Fascinating. Was he here to see Max?
“Mind if I come in and talk to you for a bit?”
Ruby looked over her shoulder. Max was staying hidden. Either he hadn’t heard who was knocking or didn’t want to be found by his uncle yet.
“Technically, I’m closed. I was just about to leave for the evening.”
“This won’t take long, I promise.” His earnest expression didn’t look in anyway nefarious.
“Okay. I’ll give you two minutes. Then I have to go. I have another appointment tonight.”
“Dandy. Two minutes is all I need.”
When he walked past her into her front office, Ruby realized that he reminded her of Max. Must be a family resemblance, although it wasn’t true in her case. She didn’t look like anyone in her family. Not really.
Once she closed the door, Milo said, “I wanted to thank you so much for agreeing to look for my nephew here in Nocturne Falls. I’ve wanted to get in touch, but wasn’t certain how to go about it. I was grateful to discover your detective business here in town.”
Ruby had sent the response message this morning. Had he not received it? The open sign-in book at the Pinehurst Inn suddenly flashed in her brain. The person with M starting his name had gotten here yesterday. Before she sent the message. Had it been forwarded to him?
“I was wondering if you had any news.”
Ruby frowned. “I sent a response this morning.”
The man looked flabbergasted. “Really? I didn’t get it.”
“The second half of the payment came back to me by lunchtime, too.”
Milo snapped his fingers. “Of course. I had my valet Hayward deal with the actual correspondence. I haven’t spoken to him yet. He probably has it waiting for me.” Valet? Really?
“Why are you here, then, if not because of my correspondence?”
“Oh, I’m sort of a wild spirit. I love to visit new places. I only stayed for the minimum required time in Alienn, Arkansas before heading here to see what Nocturne Falls was all about once I heard where Max had likely landed.
“By the way, are there any hunting or big-game sport clubs in town? Ones that aren’t exclusive, where I could maybe get a guest membership to and tromp around in the local woods while I’m here?” His zeal to hunt seemed enthusiastic. More so than his desire to discover if she’d found Max.
“No. I don’t think so.” There were absolutely no big-game sports clubs nearby. “At least none that I know of. But I could try to find out.”
“Dandy.” He pulled a cell phone out of his inner front jacket pocket, handling it like a toddler with a new toy and unsure of how it worked. “Got one of these newfangled cell phones back in Arkansas.” He handed the phone to her. It was a very high-end smartphone. “Can you get my number off it and put yours in there so we can contact each other more easily?”
Ruby nodded. He didn’t have a lock on his phone, but she declined to say anything, simply sending a text from his number to hers to get his number and adding her cell phone to his contact list, which only had one other number. She assumed it was his valet, Hayward, as the number only had the letter H next to it. She quickly sent herself another text including H’s number to check later.
She handed Milo his phone and showed him the contact list with her name and cell number.
“Dandy,” he said again, seeming genuinely delighted.
Ruby pointedly looked at the clock on her wall. “I hate to shoo you out of here, but…”
“No, no. Not a problem. Not at all. Thank you for talking to me.” He started to head to the door, but turned back, bunching his hat between his beefy fingers. “Would it take too long to tell me if you found Max?”
She inhaled, suddenly realizing that was likely what he’d wanted to know from the start but was afraid to discover Max didn’t want to talk to him.
“I did find him.” She wondered if Max would appear, but he remained hidden. That was fine. Not a big surprise for someone who’d been so maligned by his family. It would be difficult for him to give anyone his trust quite yet.
“Is he okay?” Milo seemed to hold his breath, as if waiting for terrible news.
“In my personal opinion, yes, he’s fine.”
Milo stared into her eyes for a slow five count before he blinked, nodded and looked down at the floor. “I’m glad. Really glad that I sent you…to find him. Thank you.”
She sensed more than heard Max enter the front reception area behind her. “Did you mean what you said in your letter?” he asked.
Milo’s mouth dropped open in shock, but he rebounded quickly with a wide grin. “Which part?”
“The part where you said you’d help me if I needed it.”
He cleared his throat. “Yes. I did mean that, of course I did. What do you need? How can I help?”
“I need to find out who is trying to frame me. Is it you? Is that why you wanted to find me here on Earth? Did you want to finish the job that you started on Alpha-Prime?”
<^><^><^>
Max had listened to Ruby and his uncle Milo chatting only a few feet from his spot in the hallway out of sight. He fidgeted in place like he had ants in his pants—a phrase he’d learned from Aunt Dixie Lou Grey back at the Cosmos Café in Arkansas.
Should he go out there? Should he wait to be on home turf, as Ruby initially advised? Did Ruby’s office count as home turf, or did he have to invite Uncle Milo to his apartment? No, he simply couldn’t wait that long to get some answers.
Milo’s eyes widened in shock at his accusation. “No! Of course I didn’t frame you. Why would I?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that an Alpha is most likely involved. And whoever framed me on Alpha-Prime seems to be using the same tactics here in Nocturne Falls. And then, out of the blue, suddenly here you are trying to find your long-lost nephew. I’ve learned to be wary during my short stint with the United Galactic Gulag folks.”
His uncle, who looked very much like his father with the exception of the color of his hair, ducked his head. “I can certainly understand why you feel that way.”
“And?”
Milo straightened, looked straight at Max and said very clearly, “And I pledge to you on my honor that I didn’t have anything to do with framing you on Alpha-Prime or here in Nocturne Falls. Further, I’ll do whatever is needed to ensure you are found innocent of any and all crimes.”
Ruby perked up. “Should we show him the video?”
“Video? What Video?” Milo asked.
“Of the person committing the crime,” Ruby offered. “Do you have the ability to shift into other forms?”
Milo’s eyes widened further. “What?! Shift? Into other forms? What are you talking about?” He sounded sincere, but Max’s wariness increased. He didn’t know this man.
Ruby crossed her arms and faced Milo as if preparing to interrogate him. “The person we are seeking has red hair. I have a theory that when he shifts into someone else’s form, he isn’t able to change his hair color for some reason, so he has to hide it or wear a wig. Do you have any wigs? Did you sneak into the Black and Orange Ball?”
Milo took a step backward. “What’s a Black and Orange Ball?” He suddenly brightened. “Oh, wait. Is it a basketball? I watched a basketball game in Alienn, Arkansas. Very fast paced. Very entertaining.” His attention span had all the focus of a little kid’s. Max wasn’t sure he believed his “uncle” Milo’s wide-eyed, aw shucks routine.
“No. Not even close.” Max moved into the room away from the doorway to the hall.
The smile shaping Milo’s mouth fell away. “I’m not your enemy, Max.”
“How did you know I changed my name?”
“Why did you hire her if you were just going to come here anyway?”
Milo shrugged. “I wanted to speed things along so that once I got here, I’d maybe have a head start.”
Max shrugged. “Okay. She found me. We sent a message this morning.”
His uncle nodded. “Yes. Well, I haven’t received that yet. I have some other news, Max.”
“What news?”
“About your father.”
“What about him?”
A solemn expression crossed Milo’s mobile face. “There was an accident on Alpha-Prime shortly before I left to come here. He was hurt very badly.”
A pang of regret crossed Max’s heart. He and his father hadn’t been on the best of terms right before he’d come to Earth, but the man was his sire. “Will he live?”
Milo nodded. “Yes. He asked for you.”
“How do you know?”
“I got to Alpha-Prime a few days after you came to the Earth colony. But I didn’t know where you’d gone. I have a, well, I guess you’d call him an old friend, working in my brother’s household. When my brother found out through my contact that I was on Alpha-Prime, he invited me over and we talked about a number of things, including what had happened to you. He has regrets.”
“Does he? Well, that’s going around.”
“I guess I was hoping that I’d be able to bring you back home for a family reunion and possibly you two could mend the rift between you.”
Ruby’s cheeks went pale. “Oh, sorry. Max can’t leave Earth.”
“Why not?” Milo’s eyebrows scrunched in puzzlement.
“I vouched for him to get him out of jail earlier tonight. He promised me he wouldn’t leave until we figured out who is trying to frame him.” Ruby leaned back, seating herself on the edge of the reception desk. Her arms were still crossed. She looked like a fierce warrior. Max was in love with her, with or without a spell, he was certain. Surely removing the spell wouldn’t take away his feelings.
“But Max, if something happens to your father, you’re next in line to inherit—”
“Stop right there. I don’t care about any of that and I don’t want any money. Not yours and certainly not his. And I truly don’t have any desire to go back and run a company I was summarily thrown out of even after being proven innocent.”
“But you should at the very least go and make peace with him. Believe me, I’m sorry I never made the effort to do that with my parents before they were gone. I hope you’ll at least think about it. Your father isn’t the only one with regrets, but mine can’t be relieved. Yours can.”
“If I go back,” Max stated.
“Well, yes. And given what happened to your father, sooner would be better than later.”
“I’ll think about it. No promises.”
Milo nodded. “That’s all I can ask.”
Ruby looked pointedly up at the clock and Max followed her gaze. They’d have to hurry to get to Matilda and Helen’s place on time.
Max hesitated and considered canceling the appointment. Looking at his fierce warrior girlfriend, he wasn’t certain he wanted the love spell removed. What if he wasn’t compelled to tell her repeatedly that he loved her and wanted to marry her? Would that loss of persuasion make him change his mind about going back to Alpha-Prime for closure? Would he choose mending the rift with his parents over staying with her? Suddenly he was very unsure he wanted to lose the compelling voice in his head that kept him with Ruby.
“Why don’t you come with us to the Sheriff’s office?” To Ruby, he said, “We can drop off Milo there, he can look at the video and see if he recognizes the redheaded guy while we go on to our appointment. We can return for him after we’re finished or he can meet us somewhere later on.”
“Okay.”
“We’d better get going or else we’ll be late.”
The three of them exited the front door of Ruby’s workplace into the very tall center atrium hall of the mercantile building. The receptionist at Bubba’s Psychic Readings across the atrium waved at them as they walked by. Luckily, she didn’t motion Max over and try to put him to work.
They left Uncle Milo at the Sheriff’s office in the capable if zany hands of Birdie, who promised to show him all the video of their suspect. Milo told them he’d wait for their return.
Max read in Birdie’s mind that if she didn’t already have an amazing boyfriend in Jack Van Zant that his uncle Milo might be a contender, as she found him ruggedly handsome. Max stopped reading her mind when she started thinking about all her single friends who might also consider his uncle Milo premium dating material.
Ruby led Max to what she called a gingerbread gothic mansion tucked away on a quiet street a few blocks from Main Street and downtown Nocturne Falls.
“I know the outside of this place looks a little like the witch’s gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel, but trust me, it’s very nice on the inside.”
“I trust you, Ruby. And—”
“I know, you also love me and want to marry me.” She smiled, but the mirth didn’t reach her eyes. Maybe she was thinking the same thing he was.
“Are you afraid I won’t feel the same way about you after they take the spells off?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
Max bent to kiss her, right in public on the street and everything. She didn’t fight him off, but the kiss, while lovely, seemed like she was saying goodbye. He didn’t want to lose her. At least not yet. Not while his will was not his own.
Ruby opened the white picket fence gate and strolled along a brick pathway to a large porch with all manner of fancy wood decorations carved into the frame and design. It was busy. He didn’t hate it, but his tastes ran more to clean lines and less fussy decor.
Ruby knocked on the front door.
It swung open, and the short witch named Matilda beamed at them. “There you are.”
“Sorry we’re running late,” Ruby said. “It was my fault. I had a client show up unexpectedly at my office.”
Nice of her to take the blame, since it was Max’s uncle who’d slowed them down.
“No worries, dearie. Come on in.” She looked at Max. “You do look familiar.”
Max narrowed his gaze and said, “Well, I should. You put a spell on me at the Black and Orange Ball.”
“Did I? Are you certain it was me?” She grinned and two dimples showed up in her cheeks.
“Yes, I’m certain. But you weren’t alone.”
The taller witch strolled into the entryway. “He does look very familiar, doesn’t he, Matilda?”
“I was just telling him the very same thing, Helen. He says we each put a spell on him at the ball. Do you remember that?”
“Vaguely,” Helen said. “This year’s Black and Orange Ball is a bit fuzzy in my recollection. I didn’t really wake up until they booted us out because of the fire in the bathroom.” She gestured for Ruby and Max to follow her into what looked like a tiny fancy parlor.
Once they were all seated, Helen asked, “Do you remember any part of the spell?”
“Oh, yes. Good idea,” Matilda said enthusiastically. “That might help us remember.”
Max pointed to Helen. “You whispered words I couldn’t hear, but ended with ‘Poof.’ And then you,” he pointed to Matilda, “whispered more words I couldn’t hear and ended with ‘Shazam.’ That’s it. That’s all I heard.”
The moment he said Shazam, they both giggled. Matilda leaned forward. “I said shazam.” She giggled some more.
“Listen, I don’t find this as amusing as the two of you obviously do,” Max said. He sounded curt when he was only fearful of losing Ruby or his ardent love for her.
Matilda sobered. “All right. I’m sorry. Let us think a minute.” They put their heads together and whispered between them, using lots of hand gestures.
“What’s wrong?” Ruby whispered.
“Maybe…” He stopped to
consider his words.
“Tell me.”
“Maybe I don’t want them to take away my love for you or my desire to marry you.”
Ruby’s eyes glistened and she sniffled. “Well, if you don’t love me or want to marry me anymore, maybe we should have a signal once they remove the spell.”
“A signal?”
“Yes. You could wink at me once if you still want to date me after the spell is removed.”
“Wink? Is that one eye closed or two?”
“One.”
“Okay. I’ll wink at you once if I still love you and want to marry you even without a spell on me.”
“Good.”
“But even if the spell is gone, we should make a date.”
“A date?”
“You know, maybe we could still see each other and date like humans do and eventually fall in love with each other and want to get married one day. We could do that, couldn’t we?”
Ruby’s eyes shone as if she was about to shed a tear. She patted his hand and said, “I agree. Let’s meet tomorrow for lunch at Howler’s for our date, okay?”
“Perfect. You know I love that place.”
Max stared at his love, Ruby. He peeked inside her head to see if she was thinking the same thing he was. It was still very difficult to get a glimpse, but what he did see surprised him. She was thinking about a large black bird. Interesting. He was about to ask her if she had a large pet raven, but Matilda and Helen had come to some sort of consensus. Matilda rolled a yellowish, crinkly piece of paper into a tube.
“Okay, you two. I believe we have it.”
“We’ll say our reverse spell and then you must go into the bathroom and look into the mirror and say the words we’ve written on this parchment. Then you must close your eyes for ten minutes. When you open them, the spells should be gone.”
Max took the rolled note and started to open it.
“No! Don’t open it yet. Not until you are looking at yourself in the mirror. And don’t forget, ten minutes with your eyes closed.”
He looked at Ruby with disbelief. She merely shrugged. “Go ahead. Follow their instructions exactly. You don’t want to get turned into a toad or something.”
“Okay.”
