Johanna must have thought the same thing. She looked at Dorian out of the corner of her eye. “As a matter of fact, we have. My girls have already been followed
and
attacked, so we can’t accept your usual rate. This job is much more dangerous.”
“Already attacked? You’re already looking into it, then? I figured you would be.” A smug smile spread across Dorian’s face. “And you were doing that for free.”
Johanna shrugged. “That’s right. So you owe us. I figure a ten percent increase should cover it.”
Dorian frowned. “I don’t know if my bosses will agree to that.”
Johanna’s left brow ticked up. “Well, then maybe we’ll recover the relic and use it for ourselves instead of handing it over to you…”
Dorian held her palms up. “Okay, ten percent, but not a penny more. And the next job goes back to the regular rate.”
Johanna stared at Dorian for a few seconds then stuck out her hand. “Okay. Deal.”
The two women shook hands, then Dorian said, “Tell me about the attack.”
The girls related the events of the day, including the person following them at the Finch farm and the attack behind the museum.
Dorian’s face turned thoughtful as she tapped a red-tipped fingernail on her pursed lips. “So, there
is
more than one party.”
“Yes, but
who
is the other party?” Morgan asked.
"I'm not sure, but I did hear that your old friend Overton has made some friends who possess very interesting paranormal gifts."
"
Sheriff
Overton?" Morgan's eyes widened. Sheriff Overton had been a thorn in the girls’ side since Johanna disappeared. He'd originally come to town to investigate her supposed death and ended up harassing the girls any chance he got. What they’d never realized was that he was one of the 'bad guys'.
Overton had left town mysteriously two years earlier, but the girls had been unfortunate enough to have a recent run-in with him where they'd been forced to barter a meteorite locket that enhanced paranormal abilities for their freedom. If Overton had paranormal associates that were using the locket, there was no telling what he might be up to.
"Do you think he's after the relic?" Fiona asked.
Dorian shrugged. "It's possible, although he seems to be more interested in money than old relics. But if he thinks it will put him in a position of power, then he might want it."
"Great, now we have to watch out for him, too," Jolene muttered.
"True, but he's no match for us," Celeste said.
"I'd be more worried about his associate," Johanna said.
"We don't know for sure that Overton is the other person after the relic." Morgan turned to Dorian. "Any idea who else would be after it?"
“I don’t know. A rogue paranormal, perhaps?” Dorian suggested.
“Do you have anyone in your rogues’ gallery that has a fetish for Black Crow licorice?” Jolene asked.
“Excuse me?”
“We found Black Crow licorice near the body and in the cornerstone. And on the road where the person that was following us had been parked.”
“Interesting.” Dorian shook her head. “But I don’t know of any paranormal that likes licorice. Maybe they are from a new faction we have yet to identify.”
“That’s a big help.” Jolene blurted the words out and was rewarded with a sharp scowl from Dorian.
“So, what do we do now?” Celeste asked, ignoring the adversarial undercurrent between Jolene and Dorian.
Dorian glanced at the slim watch on her wrist. “That’s up to you girls. I gotta run.” She headed out of the kitchen, her heels emitting a staccato clack on the black and white tile floor.
“Don’t forget to send the first payment,” Johanna yelled after her.
“Payment for what?” Mateo appeared in the doorway, loaded up with grocery bags.
“Cripes. This place is like Grand Central Station.” Jolene stared at Mateo. “What are you doing back here again? I thought you left.”
Mateo slid the bags onto the counter next to the fridge. “I’m just loading up for Thanksgiving.”
“Thanksgiving?” Fiona frowned. “We don’t usually do anything for Thanksgiving since Mom die … err … disappeared.”
“Yeah, and now she’s back, so you girls have a big reason to be thankful.” Mateo started unloading the bags onto the counter.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Morgan smiled at Johanna, then got up to help Mateo put the groceries in the fridge. “But where have you been?”
Mateo bent down, his head in the fridge as he put potatoes into the vegetable crisper. His voice came out muffled. “Out and about.”
“We were attacked, you know,” Jolene blurted out. Then grimaced, thinking the statement sounded stupid and wondering why she’d even said it.
Mateo backed out of the fridge and winked at her. “You can take care of yourselves. I can see none of you are hurt.”
Jolene bristled. She wondered why it bothered her so much that Mateo hadn’t been there to come to their rescue. The girls had fought off bad guys without him plenty of times, so why did his absence bother her now?
“Anyway, what was Dorian doing here?” Mateo opened a kitchen cabinet, frowned at the contents and then opened the one next to it.
“She hired us to look for the relic,” Fiona said.
“Uh-huh.” Mateo shoved a can of cream of mushroom soup in the cabinet. “You guys should really clean these cabinets out. They’re so cluttered, I don’t know how you can find anything.”
Jolene rolled her eyes behind his back and Celeste snickered.
“So, where have you been?” Morgan asked. “Did your absence have anything to do with the relic?”
“Not really. I was on a recon mission to see what Bly was up to. He definitely has plans for the relic, so we’d better find it soon. It worries me that there are other groups involved. I can't help but feel something isn’t as it seems.”
Morgan pressed her lips together. “You know, I get the same feeling.”
“So, I guess the cornerstone must have been empty,” Celeste said. “But all three of the groups were looking in there, so was the relic ever in there or did we all follow the wrong clue?”
“Good question,” Morgan said.
“So,
now
what do we do?” Fiona echoed Celeste's earlier question.
Jolene puffed out her cheeks. “I guess we need to keep looking for the relic. We need to revisit the clues.”
“It would be a lot easier to find the darn thing if we knew what it was,” Morgan said.
Johann nodded. “Uh huh. Or who the players were.”
“The break-in at the museum must be related somehow and I’m pretty sure that boat I saw has something to do with this,” Celeste said.
“Right.” Fiona whipped out her cell and started texting. “Where is Jake? He was supposed to look into that.”
“I say we regroup tonight when Luke and Jake are here. We can map out a plan, figure out what to do next and then start fresh tomorrow,” Morgan suggested.
“Yes, but bright and early. I’m sure Bly and the other bad guys are working well into the night to find the relic,” Celeste said.
Johanna’s face turned grim. “One thing’s for sure. Whatever the relic is, you can bet Bly has an evil plan for it.”
Mateo pushed a can of fried onion rings into one of the cabinets, shut the door and turned around to face them. “I’m sure you’re right about Bly. What worries me more is that the
other
guy might be planning something even worse.”
Chapter Nine
Jolene looked over the top of her laptop screen at her sisters and their boyfriends, who were settling in on the overstuffed couches and chairs in the east sitting room. Jolene was just starting to do some research on the mysterious boat Celeste had seen in the cove when Johanna, who had insisted on cleaning up the dinner dishes on her own, finally wheeled herself in.
“Did Mateo leave?” Celeste’s brows mashed together over the rim of her tea cup.
Johanna nodded. “Yes. He had to go off again, but he said he’d be back in a few days.”
“That guy sure is mysterious.” Jake’s brows ticked up over his steely, gray eyes.
“Yeah, are you really sure we can trust him?” Cal Reed, Celeste’s boyfriend and longtime friend of the family asked. Cal had grown up in Noquitt and the Blackmoore sisters had known him since they were little. He was almost like a brother to all of them, but he and Celeste had been particularly close—best friends on a platonic level until the year before, when they’d become more than friends. Jolene smiled at the thought. Cal was a great guy, and she’d always thought he and Celeste were perfect for each other. It was about time the two of them figured out what the whole family had known all along.
Johanna shot Cal a look.
“Of course we can. If it wasn’t for Mateo, we might not have made it out of Fury Rock alive. You know that,” Johanna said, referring to the harrowing events earlier in the year at the secret underground laboratory of Dr. Mortimer Bly—an evil paranormal whose face to the world was that of a scientist searching for alternative energy.
Cal tilted his head in submission. “Yeah, that’s true. He just seems kind of … elusive.”
“It’s part of his charm.” Johanna smiled and slid her eyes to Jolene.
Jolene chose to ignore her mother and focus on the task at hand. Her fingers flew over the keyboard.
She was usually pretty good at hacking into online databases. Computer forensics was her forte and while she usually tried to do things within the law, there were times when she had to step over the line. Too bad the Perkins Cove harbor didn’t keep information online. All they had to go by was the boat registration number, which didn’t seem to come up in any of the state databases.
“Did you find out anything about that boat?” she asked Jake. Jake had hired Jolene earlier in the year to help with his private investigator business. His forte was getting information from people and Jolene knew he’d spent most of the day talking to his various contacts at the cove and around town. The two of them had complementary skills sets and worked great together, although Jolene thought Jake could be a little overprotective of her at times—kind of like an unwanted big brother. She was working on that, but she had to admit that sometimes it did feel kind of nice to have someone watching out for her … as long as it didn’t cramp her style.
Jake twisted his lips. “I did find out something, but I don’t think it helps us much. The boat is registered to a shell company. I can’t track who the owner is.”
“What’s the name of it?” Luke asked.
“
Light of Day Ventures.”
“Could that be a front for Bly?” Luke reached over to help Johanna, who was trying to maneuver the chair so she could transfer herself onto one of the armchairs.
Johanna pushed him away, her face serious with determination. “I can do it myself.”
Jolene watched her mother with amusement. She’d only been fourteen when her mother had disappeared and she hadn’t gotten to know her well as an adult. But now, she realized the woman was a dynamo of determination and grit.
“
Light of Day Ventures
…” Morgan narrowed her eyes thoughtfully as Johanna lifted herself out of the chair, her legs shaking slightly as she stepped sideways and plopped down in the armchair.
“It could be,” Johanna said after she was settled. “Sounds like something he might use. The word ‘light’ could be a reference to energy.”
“Well, we already know he has people here in town. I mean, assuming the bearded Neanderthals that attacked us are with Bly,” Fiona said.
“Speaking of that attack…” Luke’s face turned serious. “I think we’d better tighten up security here at the house. It’s no secret that Bly knows you live here, and clearly there’s a battle going on for this relic so he’ll probably have his minions break in sooner or later.”
Jolene and Morgan rolled their eyes. They knew that tightening up security meant Luke would have men watching the house and probably tailing them. Even though they’d installed a high-tech security system at his insistence, just months ago, Luke didn’t skimp when it came to their safety. To the girls, it felt like a restriction on their freedom. None of them thought they needed Luke’s protection, but they’d learned early on that it was a waste of time arguing with him.
“Do what you must.” Morgan smiled at him affectionately, then turned to Fiona. "But he has a point. We should make sure we are protected. How are you coming with those obsidian amulets?"
Fiona had made protective amulets for them out of a black stone called obsidian earlier in the year. Before they'd been forced to give the meteorite locket to Overton, Fiona had boosted the power of several obsidian stones with the locket and made amulets for each of them. The amulets had the power to deflect negative energy, but they'd been damaged in a fight with Bly's minions. Fiona had already drained the bad energy they'd absorbed by burying them in the earth for several weeks. She was in the middle of doing the rest of the repairs at
Sticks and Stones,
the shop that she and Morgan owned together.
"With all this excitement, I almost forgot about them," Fiona said. "But I'm almost done. Maybe we can stop over and I can finish them after we visit Thaddeus."
"Let's plan on it," Morgan replied.