Authors: Maggie Toussaint
“Deal or no deal?” Lisa giggled. “I sound like that deal-making TV program.”
After my experience with Joe, I knew better. I sighed. “No deal.”
She shrugged. “Your loss. Maybe you’ll change your mind. Tell Dyani that I love her. That the moons of love and hate are one, but love prevails.”
I had no plans to visit Wetumpka, but life took many turns and twists. “I will, if I see her.”
“She will come to you. I’m sure of that.”
Lisa faded from view, and I floated on the shore of many dreams. Throughout them all was a tall figure cloaked in shadows, watching.
Waiting.
“You all right?” the sheriff asked when I entered his office two days later.
“Doing good. I’ll be even better when you pay me for my work.”
“Gotcha covered, sweetheart.” He handed me a bulging white envelope.
Surprised he paid without a skirmish, I noticed his payment method was somewhat unorthodox. “You’re paying me in cash?”
“I’m paying you with the proceeds of the auctioned items we confiscated from drug dealers. This works better for me, and you won’t have to report your income to the IRS.”
My head popped back. “That’s illegal.”
“It’s the way of the world, hon.” He grinned. “Only illegal if you get caught.”
“But I need to deposit this money. To pay my bills.”
“Pay your bills in cash. Find a safe place for the rest until you need it.”
“This feels wrong.”
“I’ll be glad to take the money back, in that case. You can work for free.”
“Wait. I want to get paid. I expected a paper trail. W-2s at the end of a year, health insurance, that sort of thing.”
“This is what I have to offer. Take it or leave it.”
“I’m taking it.” I stuffed the envelope in my back pocket, hoping that didn’t make me a hypocrite. “Where do we stand on Carolina Byrd?”
“She’s locked up in jail. The judge refused bail, says she’s a flight risk. She won’t see daylight for a long time. Count on that.”
“What about her husband? Judson. Was he poisoned?”
“Still working that angle. We’ve obtained Buster’s video where she admits all kinds of stuff. It would take a team of brilliant lawyers to get her acquitted.”
“She can afford two teams of them. What about Buster and Duke? What happens to them?”
“Duke’s out on bail. He’ll serve time for the felony, though. Putting poisonous snakes in your truck will land him in prison eventually.”
“And Buster?”
“Buster may walk. He cooperated with us, and our prosecutor gave him immunity. Carolina’s attorneys may come after him. They’ll want to discredit Buster and his video.”
I pondered that for a minute. I’d still have to face Buster and Duke in the community. But at least they weren’t murderers. Just screw-ups. “What about Dr. Sugar? What will happen to him?”
“Dr. Sugar is tending bar at the Fiddler’s Hole.”
“No chance of him being reinstated as coroner?”
“Nope. Tab’s got the job now. Frankly, it was time for a change.”
“I’m not sure I like Daddy being the coroner.”
“You’re even then, because he tried to get me to stop using you for future cases.”
I smiled. I’d always be Daddy’s little girl. “Is the Ice Queen gone?”
Wayne nodded to the right. “She’s packing up. She wants to talk to you.”
“Oh, goody.”
“Now, don’t take that attitude. Hear her out.”
Air huffed out of my lungs. “Fine. I’ll listen to her.”
“She’s been real good to your dad. Don’t let her lack of personality cloud your good judgment.”
“I promise to be as open-minded as you are.”
He laughed. “It’s going to be fun having you around here.”
“Let me know when you have another case for me.” I headed down the wide hallway, wishing I didn’t have to speak to Gail Bergeron. But I was an adult. I could contain my distaste for her and be professional. Or at least I hoped I could.
Cardboard boxes were stacked in the office chairs and on top of a utilitarian desk. Gail looked up when I knocked on her open door. In her crisp navy skirt, white blouse, and blue paisley silk scarf, she reminded me of an airline attendant.
“There you are. I wanted to talk with you before I left.”
My smile held. “Here I am.”
“First, let me apologize. I didn’t realize my long-term friendship with Carolina would put anyone in danger. I had no idea she had killed anyone. I’m truly sorry.”
I blinked in surprise. She was apologizing? To me?
Gail continued, “I’ve been reprimanded by my superiors and recalled to Atlanta. But I wanted to explore an idea or two with you.”
She’d apologized and gotten into trouble with her superiors. That was a good start at balancing the scales of justice. Carolina had invited Gail here to study the remains of the bodies I’d found, hoping for inside information. She’d gotten it all right. And I’d almost been killed.
She was watching me closely. I should say something. “Like what?”
“Like psychic detecting at archaeological sites. You interested?”
Drat. I was interested. But I wasn’t desperate for work.
Landscaping and pet-sitting jobs would come along. Dream-walking paid in veggies, while police work paid in untraceable bills. I wouldn’t starve. “It would depend on the time frame. My daughter’s in school. I can’t commit to tearing off at a moment’s notice.”
“Wayne tells me you will continue on in your advisory role here,” Gail said.
“That’s correct.”
“Our paths will cross again. Mind you, I’m not giving up on obtaining your services. I am impressed with your conduct and accuracy. A lot of people claim to be psychic. You, my dear, are the real deal.”
“I don’t make any promises about the information I receive. Some of it helps, some of it does not.”
“Even so, you dial it in correctly. That bit you did with Lisa’s watch was superb.”
“Listen, I don’t want to make a big deal about this. I want to lead a normal life. To be another single parent raising her kid in coastal Georgia.”
“We share the same goal. I don’t want word of your abilities to get out either. If you’re swamped with work, you won’t have time for me.”
I didn’t know what to say. She was being nice. And she wanted to hire me. I didn’t like her very much, but I didn’t have to like her. She’d be gone tomorrow. But Daddy had said kind things about her. I could talk to her about that.
“Thanks for training my father. He’s excited about his role as coroner.”
“He’ll be fine, and light years better than that lecherous drunk who used to have that job.”
“Dr. Sugar is an institution around here.”
Her lips puckered. “You’re better off without him. The world would be better off without that notorious womanizer.”
I managed a weak smile. “Have a safe trip.”
On my way home, I made stops at the power company and the phone company, prepaying my bills. I opened a savings account for Larissa’s college tuition. I plunked in two hundred dollars, and I’d add to it whenever I could. The rest of the money I took home with me and stashed in Grandmother’s Bible.
With the money Wayne had paid me, I would have a couple of months of not having to worry about finances. The dogs danced around my feet as I checked my messages. One landscaping estimate request and two pet-sitting jobs were mine for the asking. Hallelujah!
The moldavite pendant at my neck warmed. I’d certainly given it a workout lately. This gift from Roland had come at a time when I hadn’t revealed my extrasensory abilities to him. How did he know I needed it? How much did he know about my talents?
And where was he?
Parked vehicles lined the shoulder of Misery Road as far as the eye could see, many sporting Native American dream catchers dangling from their rearview mirrors. The temperature on this late winter day was mild, the mosquitoes hungry.
Larissa and I were coated in insect repellant, so we weren’t slapping at the bugs as many of the out-of-towners were. I wore sunglasses to protect my eyes, but my striped hair still defied hats. I got a whopping migraine the minute I tried to put a hat on, so I’d stopped trying.
Not many people pointed at my strange hair anymore. I was old news, and I liked it that way. Especially in a crowd this size.
Daddy was here.
As the new county coroner, it was his duty to oversee the reinterment of the centuries-old bones. For the occasion, he’d put on a new tie-dyed T-shirt, clean jeans, and his trademark flip-flops. His gray hair was clubbed back in a ponytail and covered with a ball cap.
Lucky him.
Though Carolina Byrd was under lock and key, her lawyer had given us permission to bury the settlers’ bones at the entrance to Mallow. The new grave site was closer to the road than the original site. If someone else landscaped the entry fence, they wouldn’t hit bodies next time. And the historical society planned to erect a marker to commemorate the graves.
Mama finished her conversation with Beulah Woodward and strolled over to join us. Mama’s new shirt color exactly matched Daddy’s, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d dyed them herself, using natural products. Her nut-brown jumper and her olive complexion contrasted strikingly with her thick gray braid. All in all, she looked darned good for a woman approaching sixty.
She slipped several small objects into my hand. My fingers closed reflexively around them, and a sense of peace flowed through me. I looked at the handful of amethysts. “Thanks.”
“When this is over, I need to recharge your other crystals,” Mama said. “You’ve worked them hard.”
“Thank you for knowing about this stuff. I probably don’t say it enough. I appreciate all that you do and are.”
“You’re welcome, dear.” Mama hugged me. “You seem happier these days, less anxious.”
I thought about that as I returned the hug. “You’re right. There are still things I don’t understand, questions I can’t answer, but the world keeps turning anyway. No reason for me to bang my head into the wall for answers that won’t come.”
“The answers will come, dear, in their own time, and maybe not the answers you seek.”
“Prophetic and obscure.” I grinned at her. “Are you sure you’re not a philosophizer?”
Larissa tapped my arm and pointed behind me. “Look, Mom, Charlotte is talking to the TV people.”
Looking like an orange sherbet–tinted mushroom in her peachy slacks suit, matching floppy hat, and taupe pumps, Charlotte’s bright face beamed. I’d never seen her so happy. The reporter fired questions at her, and she fired the answers right back.
Thatta girl. Reach for that brass ring. Show the world what a star you truly are.
As if she heard my thoughts, my friend glanced my way and cut her interview short. She hurried to where we stood and linked her arm in mine.
“I might ruin your professional image,” I warned.
She waved off my concern, sunlight bouncing off her glasses, warming the freckles across her nose and cheeks. “Who the heck cares what Savannah television reporters think? I’m standing here with my brilliant friend who risked her life to put another killer behind bars. You’re my best friend. This is right where I should be.”
Her loyalty filled me with a sense of connection. A connection I’d longed for all my life, a connection that had been here all along.
Drums began to beat, and conversations quieted. As Running Wolf and evangelist Bubba Paxton prayed for the cleansing of the land, I opened my senses to the communal coffin before us. The spirits of a woman holding her infant and clutching the hand of her small daughter beamed at me.
“Thank you for bringing us home,” Selena Munro mouthed from the veil.
The wind sighed through the pine trees, gusting around us, sending Charlotte’s hat tumbling down the road. Larissa ran after it, clutching Muffin to her chest. She’d barely let the dog have a moment of peace since his lingering recovery and had insisted he come here today.
We’d brought Precious along, too. She sat docilely at my feet, sniffing the air. The flat-coated lab had had an easier time recovering from the sedative Carolina had administered, but she was still over-anxious about being left alone.
Running Wolf’s melodic voice flowed through me. The land was indeed being cleansed. I slipped away from the crowd on the pretext of walking the dog. We ducked under the gate across the driveway. My senses resonated so clear, so true, it was almost as if I was being summoned. The elevated two-story house came into view, a grand edifice that now had no clear purpose.
I stopped and, though Precious tugged at the leash, walked no farther. Opening my senses full throttle once again, I sensed the timeless pulse of the land, the ebb and flow of generations over this beautiful spot. Lisa was there, as I knew she would be.
“You’ve brought me peace.” Today she looked more like a sex kitten than a single mom, with her tousled hair caressing her shoulders, a sheer flowing robe, and bare feet. “Thank you for believing in me. Did you see my son?”
“Yes, and Dyani, too. They are standing beside Gentle Dove back at the ceremony.”
“I am pleased to see them both looking so well.”
Her smugness irritated me. Why was she still haunting me? “Don’t you see a light or something? Don’t you want to go be with Judson?”
“I’ll get to that. But for now, my interest lies here, with my son.”
“Your mom will take good care of him.”
Lisa shrugged. “Perhaps. But she will do better with me whispering in her ear.”
Who was I to give a spirit advice? “Suit yourself.”
“I usually do. Someone is coming.” She turned her head and faded from sight.
I blinked against the dappled sunlight in the grove of ancient oaks. The landscaping around the mansion looked great, except for the missing shrub. Now that I wasn’t destitute, I could be generous. The
Podocarpus
in my greenhouse belonged here.
Sheriff Wayne Thompson swaggered up with Precious on the leash. His gold badge gleamed on his belted twill trousers. “Lose something?”
My mind, most likely. Heat rose up my neck, warming my cheeks. “I guess so. I had the dog a moment ago. She must have tugged free while I was, um, thinking.”