2 Yule Be the Death of Me (12 page)

Joshua
explained the situation as best he could to the night officer, but even he was
at a loss for words to explain exactly what could be going on. He finally just
asked for a favor and left it at that. He hung up the phone and sat down next
to Vivienne. “It would be so much easier if they just knew about your powers as
a witch.” He spoke softly.

“Or yours as a
werewolf?” She asked him.

“Right.” He
nodded. “That would not be good.”

Vivienne began
to feel the much needed warmth return to her body. “That’s the price of magic.”
She added. “We have the power to change things, but we have to work harder than
anyone else to explain how we did it in a way that makes sense and keeps us out
of psychiatric wards.”

“What were you
doing up so late anyway?”

She pointed to
the computer desk. “Research.”

“On Eddie’s
case?”

“It started
out with him, but then it lead to something else that concerns the entire
town.” Vivienne replied. “It involves the
Rothwell
mansion.”

“Your
gingerbread entry?” He looked at her with a puzzled look.

“The real
thing.” Vivienne went on to explain the carbolic acid poisoning of the entire
family and several other cases within that two year span.

“Do you think
it’s something in the water here?” Joshua asked. “Perhaps the fracking for
natural gas pockets has ruptured some old industrial waste site and
contaminated the water supply?”

“They use well
water out at the trailer park, don’t they?”

Joshua nodded.
“Yes, town services cut out just before the old cemetery.”

“But how does
that explain what I’ve seen tonight?” Vivienne wondered. “Or the author of the
Bad Santa notes?”

“I have no
idea.” Joshua replied as his phone rang. He answered it and then thanked the
caller. “Jerry Parsons just took a cruise out to the Tall Pine Grove trailer
court and everything is quiet. No trouble at all.”

“What about
Sally Rollins?”

Joshua shook
his head. “He’s not going to go knock on her door at one in the morning on a
hunch.”

“I know.”
Vivienne sighed.

“If there was
a problem, he would have seen it immediately.” Joshua reminded her. “Now, it’s
time to come back to bed.”

“You’re
right.” Vivienne pulled the blanket off herself and tossed it to the side of
the loveseat. “Thanks for checking for me.”

“I know better
than to ignore your hunches.” Joshua reminded her as he pulled her
up .
“Let’s get some sleep.”

She held his
hand as they walked back into the bedroom, safe and sound inside her warm home.
For the moment, she could rest. With the Sweet Dreams Bakery closed on Sundays,
she would actually get to sleep in.

Sunday, December 8th

Vivienne
wanted desperately to return to the dream world as the shrill ring of the phone
startled her awake. She couldn’t recall all the details, but it involved her
sitting on a lovely white sand beach as turquoise-tinged waves lapped the
shoreline. As she opened one eye in the weak early morning light, she pulled
the soft pillow over her head with a groan. The phone rang two more times
before she felt Joshua’s weight shift the mattress to his side of the bed as he
finally answered the call.

“Say that
again?” Joshua asked the early morning caller.

Vivienne’s
mind refused to allow her to drift back to the comfort of sleep. She pulled one
end of the pillow up and gazed at Joshua who kept his voice low. “What’s going
on?”

He pulled the
phone away from his face. “It’s Bill Collins. He decided to swing by Sally’s
trailer one more time before his shift ended.”

Vivienne
tucked her elbows behind her and pushed herself back against the pillows. “Did
he find something?”

Joshua put the
phone back to his ear. “Yeah, I’m still here.  Thanks for keeping me
posted, Bill.” He hung up the phone and turned to face her. “You were right.”

“I don’t want
to be right about these things.” Vivienne sighed. “It’s never a good thing.”

Joshua pulled
the covers up to his chest. “Bill said that when he drove by Sally’s trailer
this morning he noticed her car had a fairly large dent near the front hood on
the passenger’s side.”

Vivienne shook
her head. “They think she was the driver who hit Eunice the other night?”

“He called it
in and they’re sending a few guys to comb it over for any evidence.” Joshua
replied.

“Why would she
do something like that?” Vivienne asked. “Did they even know each other?”

“I don’t
know.” Joshua snuggled closer to Vivienne. “If they find anything, she’ll be
brought in for questioning soon.”

“This doesn’t
feel right to me.” Vivienne squirmed in the sheets, wrapping her legs around
the soft flannel as if she were a caterpillar spinning a cocoon.

“Nothing feels
right with everything that’s been going on here lately.” Joshua reminded her.
“Cayuga Cove is supposed to be a quiet town. People are supposed to be good
hearted here.”

“Nana Mary
warned me that something has changed ever since Missy communed with dark
magic.” Vivienne said with a little sigh. “I don’t know if it will ever go back
to the way it was.”

“Let’s not
focus on that.” Joshua pulled her close to him and gave her a kiss on the
cheek.

She welcomed
his warm touch and nestled back against the pillows. “So we can still sleep in
for a little bit?”

“We’ve earned
it.” He smiled and then reclined back, pulling her closer against his body.
“Something tells me quiet mornings are going to be rare.”

Despite the
early morning call, they managed to sneak in another hour and a half of sleep
before Joshua kissed her goodbye as he went in for the noon to midnight shift.

After opening
a can of Tuna Delight only to have Tommy turn his nose up in disgust, she knew
she had to get out of the house and accomplish something. “Two options, bud.
Take it or leave it.” She shook her index finger at Tommy who continued to
stare at the plate of cat food with dismay. “You seem to forget how not too
long ago you were eating out of dumpsters.”

He gave her a
half-hearted meow and batted a plastic ball with a bell inside. He went
bounding away, claws scraping against the kitchen floor as he chased his prey.

After her own
shower and depositing a load of towels into the washer, she pulled on a pair of
comfortable jeans, a
  cozy
yet faded grey
sweatshirt, and a pair of faux-leather snow boots that she had found on
clearance at the outlets last spring.  

She decided it
was a good day to finish off her shopping for holiday gifts, especially for
Joshua as he usually followed her like a lost puppy through retail stores.

Bundled in her
winter coat, she was pleased to see that the cold spell appeared to have broken
as the temperature felt like it was in the upper forties. Even the overcast
clouds were breaking up, allowing some much needed sunshine to brighten the
morning. She unzipped her jacket and took in the fresh air. There was nothing
like a free weekend day with an open agenda.  She picked up the newspaper
that was lying folded up on her steps and tossed it into the house. She didn’t
have time to clip coupons or scan sales flyers.  This might be one of her
last chances to shop before the holiday frenzy went into full swing.

As she zipped
down Main Street, she was dismayed to see that none of the merchants had
decided it was worth the time to start earlier Sunday hours yet. Store after
store was dark and deserted, which left either a trip south to Ithaca or head
north toward the outlets near Waterloo.  She wasn’t in the mood to drive
either distance, but she had a feeling she’d find more of what she was looking
for at the outlets. With the roads nearly empty, she turned onto
Weyer
Place to head north and spied Miss Octavia standing
outside of her shop, Mother Earth Mercantile. The large display window was
shattered into several sharp pieces and it looked as if someone had taken a
baseball bat to the shelves and destroyed quite a bit of merchandise.

Vivienne
pulled into a spot across the street and hurried over. “What happened?”

Miss Octavia
seemed to be in shock. She just stared blankly at her shop, holding a broken
goddess statue in her hands.

“Miss Octavia?
Are you okay?” Vivienne waved her hands in front of her face.

This seemed to
rouse Octavia from her trance. “I was asking for justice to smite whoever has
done this.”

Vivienne
surveyed the scene with dismay. “I don’t believe this.”

“I was a fool
to believe that things could be any different here than in a bigger city.”
Octavia sniffed back some tears. “Cities are full of criminals and mischief
makers, they said. Small towns are safer, they said.”

Vivienne put
her arm around Octavia’s shoulder. “Have you called the police?”

She nodded. “I
was going to have an alarm installed next week.”

“They should
have someone coming any minute now.”

Octavia
glanced at Vivienne. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t have insurance to replace all
that has been destroyed.”

“When they
catch whoever did this, I’m sure you’ll be able to file a lawsuit for damages.”
Vivienne tried to cheer her up.

“All that I
had was tied up in this business. I cannot afford a lawyer.” She carefully set
the broken goddess statue down on the sidewalk.

Vivienne could
hear the siren of the approaching police vehicle. “We’ll figure something out,
Miss Octavia. I promise.”

“It’s hard to
be optimistic when everything you worked so hard for is broken in pieces all
over the sidewalk.”

As the police
vehicle pulled next to them, the officer stepped out carefully and approached.
Vivienne recognized him as Kevin Lovell, one of the younger recruits added to
the force and fresh out of college. “Which one of you called in the report?”

Miss Octavia
raised her hand. “That would be me, the business owner.”

Vivienne
stepped aside as the officer approached Octavia. “Just answer with as much
detail as you can.” Vivienne encouraged. “It will help with the investigation
greatly.”

“Did you see
the crime as it was happening?” Kevin asked.

Octavia shook
her head. “I had just arrived to finish building a display for the tarot cards
when I came upon this mess.”

“Miss Finch.”
Officer Lovell stood ready with his notepad in hand. “How are you involved?”

“I’m not.”
Vivienne excused herself. “I was driving by on my way to the outlets when I
came upon Miss Octavia standing on the sidewalk and stopped to see if she
needed help.”

He scribbled
something down on his notepad. “You didn’t see anyone fleeing the scene?”

“It had
already happened before I arrived.” Vivienne explained. “I wish I could be more
help.”

“Thank you Miss
Finch. You’re free to leave.” Officer Lovell gave her a little smile.

Vivienne
reached out and gave Octavia’s hands a squeeze. “Give me a few hours and I’m
going to round up some friends to help you clean up the store. We’ll get this
fixed up.”

“Thank you.”
Octavia’s voice quivered.

Not wanting to
involve herself in any more police business, Vivienne turned to leave when a
business card fluttered in the breeze and landed on her boot. She reached down
to pick it up and noticed the emblem of a white cross with a foil-embossed fire
behind it. ‘Order of the Righteous Ministries, Pastor Seamus Kilpatrick’.
Vivienne turned the card over and gasped. Printed in tiny lettering was a bible
verse. ‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums or
spiritists
to prostitute themselves by following them, and
I will cut them off from their people. – Leviticus 20:6’.

Vivienne
considered showing her find to the officer Lovell, but thought differently.
Once again, she felt as if she were being spoon-fed clues and it was starting
to get on her nerves. She would not give whoever it was stalking her the
satisfaction of helping to spread more panic and chaos. She tucked the card
into one of her purse’s many pockets and walked back to her car.

She had no
sooner pulled out of her parking spot when her cell phone went off with another
call. Thankfully, Joshua had upgraded her radio system with a hands free phone
option so she could answer calls while driving. “Hello?”

“Oh my God, where
are you?” Kathy’s voice asked through her car speakers.

“I was on my
way to the outlets this morning but then I got sidetracked.” Vivienne answered.

“There are
more Bad Santa notes this morning.” Kathy spoke hurriedly.

“About Miss
Octavia?” Vivienne filled in the blank confidently. “I was already over there.”

“No.” Kathy’s
voice went flat. “What happened to Miss Octavia?”

“Someone
vandalized her store. Smashed the front window and destroyed lots of her goods.
I’m going to organize a group of our Main Street business owners to help her
clean up and donate some cash to get her back on her feet.”

“I don’t
believe it.” Kathy was quick to reply. “But count me in to help out.”

“I know
it’s
short notice, but I was hoping we could get started in
about two or three hours.”

“Sure, I think
I can make some calls and get some more people to help out.”

Vivienne
smiled. ”That would be a huge help.”

“So, don’t you
want to know what the note says?”

“I was just
downtown and I didn’t see any notes floating about.” Vivienne tapped her
fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.

“It was tucked
inside this morning’s newspaper.”

“I didn’t even
open mine.” Vivienne felt foolish for not doing so. “Who are they targeting?”

“Tristan and
Nathaniel.” Kathy lowered her voice. “Oh Vivienne, it’s very salacious. I feel
terrible for them if it’s true.”

“Read it for
me, word for word. Don’t leave anything out.” Vivienne replied as she turned a
corner and headed for Main Street.

Kathy cleared
her throat. “Sure thing.
You better not pout!
” She paused for a moment.
“Our mysterious letter writer seems to think they’re cute using the lyrics to
that old chestnut.”

“Kathy,
normally I’d love your commentary but time could be of the essence here.”
Vivienne found herself making the ‘speed it up’ motion with her hand, a habit
she tried often to break but somehow it always remained with her.

“Oh, fine.”
Kathy cleared her throat once again and continued where she had left off. “
You
seem the perfect couple, the very model of how love should be. Yet, one of you
harbors a secret lover while the
other turns a blind eye in the hopes it
could turn into something more accommodating for three. Santa has been watching
and is quite fed up with your hypocrisy. It’s quite apparent your value in this
town is decreasing. Clearly, you both are the lowest bidders when it comes to
morality. Sincerely, Santa Claus
.”

“This is
getting out of hand. The whole town is going to be at each other’s throats if
this keeps up.” Vivienne reasoned.

“It’s
definitely sucked the joy out of the holiday season around here.” Kathy agreed.
“So do you think the break-in at Miss Octavia’s is connected to this?”

“I don’t think
so.” Vivienne spoke as she parked her car in front of Carriage House
Antiques.  She saw a hand pull back a curtain that was drawn across the
main storefront window. “I’ve got an errand to run and then I’ll call you back
in a little bit.”

“Are you
investigating again?” Kathy asked with more than a hint of encouragement in her
voice.

“I’m searching
for the truth.” Vivienne quickly answered. “You can quote me on that should the
police ask you questions.”

Kathy
chuckled. “Talk to you later.”

Vivienne
stepped up to the door of Tristan and Nathaniel’s business, which also served
as their home, and rang the doorbell.

The door
opened a sliver. “I’m sorry, Vivienne. We’re not up for company today.”
Nathaniel’s voice was soft and sullen.

“I know about
the note and I’m here to help you fix things.” Vivienne spoke up. “Please let
me in.”

There was a pause
and then the door swung open to reveal Nathaniel, dressed in a robe and opera
slippers. His ginger hair was disheveled and he looked even more pale than
usual. “Come in.”

She scooted
inside as he shut the door rather forcefully and leaned against it. “How can
you fix this?” He asked.