Authors: Maggie Toussaint
“Why stand around in here guessing? Let’s ask Wayne.”
She released my arm to wave dismissively. “Pooh. You’re no fun. Much too serious.”
“You’d be serious, too, if you were me. Things are changing in my life. Things I can’t control. I have no idea if this roller-coaster ride will stay on the tracks or shoot off on an unknown tangent.”
“Whatever.” Charlotte rushed ahead and spoke into the microphone to the receptionist. “Tamika, buzz us in.”
She did, brightening when she saw me. “Hey, it’s our living legend. Quick. What am I thinking?”
“I’m thinking I’d like to brain Bernard Rivers for writing a story about me.” I shook my head. “I don’t read minds, sorry.”
Wayne rounded the corner. Edgy emotion rolled off him. He pointed at me. “You. In my interrogation room. Now.”
Charlotte and I exchanged a sobering glance and started forward. I could say this wasn’t my fault, except I didn’t know what was wrong. But if there was one thing I’d learned from being married to a take-charge man, it was to hold my peace. He’d tell me what was wrong in no uncertain terms.
To my chagrin, he put Charlotte in one interview room and me in the other one. Great. The old divide and conquer method of interrogation. I shifted in my seat uneasily. Then I stood. No point in giving him the advantage.
Wayne entered, shoulders squared for battle. He tossed the newspaper down on the table. “This is not good.”
Thankfully, I’d already scanned the piece so I kept my cool. “I didn’t agree to this article, and I’m as surprised as you are. Bernard stole Charlotte’s notes, pitched the story idea to Kip, and the rest is history.”
“All releases regarding law enforcement personnel must be pre-approved. I do not like to be surprised.”
My brows shot up. “Am I on the payroll now? I thought I was a murder suspect.”
“I can’t rule you out, but you aren’t my top suspect.”
His admission surprised me. Curiosity plagued my thoughts. “From the dark looks Carolina Byrd and her realtor shot us, I’m guessing they are currently your top suspects.”
“Yeah. I rubbed both their noses in it. I like Buster for it, though. Never did like the slippery little bastard. Now he’s flashing rolls of cash around the county. Something ain’t right there.”
I considered his remark. Either one of them could’ve shot Lisa/Angel. Maybe they did it together. That brought a smile to my face. “Who else is a suspect?”
“You pretty much nailed my list the first time you were here: the realtor, the property owner, the builder, and the landscaper.”
I ignored his landscaper jab. “My money’s on the builder. You arrest Duke Quigley for trying to kill me with snakes?”
Wayne’s lips tightened. “He’s in the wind. But I’ll catch him. Only so many places for a cockroach like him to hide.”
“He’s a cockroach now? Not your good buddy, Dairy Queen?”
“Duke made a mistake. He’ll pay for it. For your information, Bubba Paxton filed an incident report charging Duke with theft of church property. We have a warrant out for Duke’s arrest. Virg and Ronnie will track him down.”
“When you find him, Duke owes me a new tire and body work to fix the floor of my truck.”
“I’ll make a note of that,” the sheriff said.
I drew in a deep breath. Duke Quigley would pay for messing with me. That was good. But it didn’t get us closer to solving the murder case. “What about Running Wolf? How’s he figure into all of this?”
“I don’t have the Native American angle figured out yet. But Running Wolf isn’t a person of interest for the homicide.”
With this exchange I felt like I was part of the sheriff’s team. Not once had he come on to me or suggested inappropriate coworker behavior. It wouldn’t hurt to bring him up to speed on my progress. “I have new information. I spoke to the dead woman in a dream last night. Her baby is in Wetumpka.”
“What the hell is that?”
“It’s a town in Alabama and Oklahoma. The word is an old Indian name. I looked it up online at the library this morning. Due to its proximity to Georgia, the Alabama town is a surer bet.”
“How does a baby fit into this thing?”
“I don’t know. Except that she’s terrified the baby will be discovered. It’s a big secret.”
“You get her last name yet?”
“Nope. She won’t tell me her name. She’s trying to protect the baby. I looked through the online missing persons lists in Alabama. I couldn’t find her.”
Wayne started, then shook his head. “I keep forgetting you know what she looks like. You need to look at our missing persons lists here. They’re kept up to date. Someone will report her missing sooner or later.”
He was divulging privileged information to me and suggesting avenues to pursue. Time to find out what my services were worth. I cleared my throat gently. “What does a psychic consultant get paid?”
A muscle in his lean cheek twitched. “Nothing if she’s a suspect.”
“Don’t joke with me about this. I’ve got a stack of unpaid bills on my kitchen counter and months until people start thinking about landscaping again.”
“I’ve used consultants for cases in the past.” Wayne named a rate.
I was in the driver’s seat for negotiating, only I had no idea what other psychic consultants got paid. But even if I never walked another dog or planted another shrub, with regular casework, at the rate he quoted, I’d be able to pay my current bills and then some. “Sold. Do we sign a contract?”
“Not yet. Your salary is contingent on me solving the case. If we don’t solve it, the deal’s off.”
I let that sink in. “How does this work? Do we touch base each day? Do I follow you around?”
Heat flared briefly in his eyes, but he ramped it down. “Touching base is a good idea.”
“What if I have more thoughts about the case?”
“I want to know whatever leads you find.”
My fingers curled into my palms. Now that I had a more prominent role, responsibility weighed heavily on my shoulders. “What if I’m wrong?”
“You think all leads pan out? No way. I’ll use your info same as I would that of my deputies.”
“You believe in my abilities that much?”
He made a palms-up gesture. “The paper says you’re a living legend.”
“What about—” I stopped myself from saying the Ice Queen in the nick of time. I didn’t know if Gail was watching through the glass. “The coroner?”
“Ol’ Bo Seavey is in a pile of trouble. He won’t be getting his job back. Fortunately, we have someone else who wants to take the job.”
“Who?” Please don’t let it be Gail, I silently wished. I did not want to have an extended working relationship with her.
“We’re keeping it all in the family. Last night the county commissioners appointed your dad the interim coroner. Gail’s going to train him before she heads back to Atlanta.”
I grabbed the edge of the table and held on tight as the world spun faster and faster.
I drove over to my parents’ house so fast, it was a wonder there was any rubber left on my truck tires. Daddy was sitting on the bench outside, as if he knew I was coming. He waved me over.
I checked him out as I approached. He was dressed in his usual garb of faded jeans, old T-shirt, and flip-flops. His long gray hair was pulled back in its customary ponytail. A tendril of Spanish moss hooked over the near edge of the bench. Two calico cats sunned in a nearby pool of light.
Nothing seemed out of place.
Nothing but my anxious stomach.
“What’s this about you being the coroner?” I slid in beside him. The old wood creaked under the added weight.
He glanced my way with a friendly smile. “As it happens, I was in the market for a new job.”
I couldn’t imagine my father pronouncing people dead. “Why that job? Couldn’t you work at the bank or the grocery store or the hardware store?”
“I have some familiarity with the dead.” He waggled his snowy eyebrows. “Thought this might be a good fit.”
I studied him, aghast at his playful attitude. Couldn’t he see this job had broken Bo Seavey? I wanted him to enjoy watching Larissa grow up. Couldn’t he see that for someone in questionable health being on-call all hours of the day and night was a bad choice?
Except Daddy looked suspiciously healthy. The pallor that had become his normal color was gone. The deep creases on his face had melted away. Plus, he was smiling and joking around. I couldn’t remember a time in recent history when he’d looked so relaxed.
Hmmm.
I hit back with the only other weapon in my arsenal. “What’s Mama say about all this?”
“She’s warming to the idea.”
“But if you have to work hard to convince folks this is the right thing, is it really right for you?”
“I understand your concern. Understand and register it. But I’m certain this is right. And the opportunity opened up when I needed a job. If that isn’t fate, I don’t know what is. But let’s not waste this visit with worries. Tell me about your dreamwalk. Did you help Verbena?”
“You know about that?”
He smiled. “This is a small town.”
I frowned. “I had no trouble crossing over, no spatial disorientation at all. It seemed effortless after doing it with Running Wolf. But there were so many spirits. I couldn’t find her granny. Maybe if I’d had something of her granny’s to hold, I could have had better success.”
“If that helps you, ask folks to bring you a personal item.”
“I might be successful if I touched the requester during the dreamwalk. I’m not sure. I felt insignificant in the spirit world. Like I was a tiny bit of marsh grass adrift in a sea of spirits. I wanted to help Verbena. I really did. If it weren’t for Joe, I would have felt like I’d completely struck out.”
“Joe?” Daddy leaned toward me. “What’s this about a Joe?”
“He was a guide or something. Very helpful. He offered to take a message to Verbena’s granny.”
“You said no, right?” Daddy’s voice sharpened.
“I said yes. I didn’t have all day to thread through throngs of spirits.”
Air whistled through Daddy’s teeth. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
My stomach knotted, but I plunged on. “I don’t see the harm. Joe volunteered to be of assistance.”
“Did you recognize Joe?”
“No. He reminded me a bit of the Chamberlain boy. Exuded goodwill and all that.”
“We’ve got to fix this.” Daddy stood. “I hope we’re not too late.”
I rose too. “Why?”
“Joe isn’t who you think he is. He’s an unclean spirit. He may have followed you back and entered Verbena.”
“They can do that?” My heart sunk as we hurried toward my clean truck. Daddy climbed in the passenger side while I buckled myself in the driver’s seat.
“They can do a lot. You can’t give them an opening like that. Unless you personally know a spirit and trust it implicitly, don’t talk to any of them.”
My lower lip jutted like a petulant child. “You talked to them.”
“I know a bunch of spirits after doing this for so many years.”
I cranked the motor and hurried away. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
The Clip ’N Curl was a ten-minute drive, less if I sped. Daddy grabbed hold of the armrest as I accelerated onto the highway. “I thought you knew.”
“You guessed wrong. What else don’t I know?”
“Dreamwalking isn’t an exact science. The rules are different for each situation. I can’t cover every eventuality before it happens.”
“Seems like an odd way to operate,” I said.
He didn’t respond. Soon we were at Verbena’s hair salon. The front door was wide open. I heard her yelling from the parking lot.
“I told you, and I told you,” Verbena hollered. “Don’t fold my towels thattaway. Go half and then half again.”
“Yes’m,” came the barely audible response.
“You over there. Schalinda. Girl, get yo’ scrawny butt over here in my chair.”
I glanced over at Daddy. “We’d better hurry. That doesn’t sound like Verbena.”
Daddy nodded in agreement. We entered the shop, and all commotion ceased. Verbena glared at us, fiery eyed.
She shook her finger at me. “You got no appointment. You ain’t getting your hair cut today.”
Daddy sidled up to her right and gestured me around to the left. “We need to have a word with you in private.”
Verbena shook her head. “Can’t you see I got customers stacked up in here? I ain’t taking no time off to chitchat. I got work to do.”
Daddy whispered something in her ear, and she acquiesced. “We’ll be right back,” he announced to the five customers waiting for hair service.
I had no idea what came next. All I knew was that Verbena was acting strange, and Daddy knew what to do. I trusted that was enough.
We stopped outside under a broad-canopied oak. Strands of moss ribboned down in plump cascades. Daddy stopped beside the tree. “Do as I do.” Mirroring him, I placed my hand on Verbena’s rounded shoulder and the other hand on the rough-barked tree. Verbena felt cold to the touch. My heart thumped in my ears, in my throat. What had I done to Verbena?
Daddy’s voice turned to a low roar. “Get out!”
I said it, too, with as much authority as I could muster. “Get out!”
Verbena twitched and jerked. Her eyes rolled back in her head.
“With all that is within me, I command you to come out of this woman,” Daddy ordered, giving Verbena’s shoulder a rough shake. “Unclean spirit, be gone!”
I repeated his words and actions, feeling warmth flowing through my hands.
Verbena blinked, and her tensed facial features relaxed. She gazed at us in wonderment. “What am I doing out here?”
“You’re taking a break,” Daddy said. “Baxley wanted to try to reach your granny again. Have you got anything of hers in the shop?”
“No. I don’t. Wait a minute.” She nodded her head. “That little picture over my waiting chairs. That used to be Granny’s.”
“May we borrow it?” I asked.
“Sure. Just a second.”
She returned with it a few moments later. Verbena smiled at us. “I don’t know what you two just did, but my heart feels so light and happy. Thank you.”
“We’ll be a few minutes with this,” I announced.
“No problem.” Verbena jerked a thumb toward her shop. “I’ll be tending to my customers. I can’t imagine how I got so backed up today.”