“Sure.” Jean said. Gladys scooped what appeared to be potpourri into two muffin liners.
Jean handed me mine. I eyed it a little warily. I still wasn’t hungry.
“You okay, Chief?” Gladys started filling our popcorn order. “You look a little under the weather.”
Oh, I’m fine. I’ve just been chomped on by an angry, ancient vampire who kidnapped my friend and wants to kill as many people as possible to force Old Rossi to give up a book of dark magic that could destroy the world. No big deal.
“I’m good, thanks.”
She made a polite noise that really meant she didn’t believe me and glanced over our shoulders at the door to make sure we were alone.
“I heard about Jame and Ben. Is Jame out of the hospital yet? Have you found Ben?”
News traveled fast in a small town. Staying up to the second on your neighbor’s business was pretty much our Olympic sport and we took gold every year. It wasn’t every day, or actuallyeverin our history, that a vampire was kidnapped right out from under Old Rossi’s nose.
“Jame’s recovering but isn’t stable enough to go home,” Jean said. “We haven’t found Ben yet.”
“Do you know what has him?” Gladys spun the extra-large clear bags of popcorn, deftly wrapping twist ties on the ends to keep them fresh.
“We’re pretty sure we know.” Jean said.
“Is it a human male?”
I knew what she was offering. She was a siren after all. Could lure men toward anything she wanted, from novelty snack foods to their deaths. But her special skills weren’t going to work in this case.
“It’s a vampire,” Jean said. “So, no luck there.”
Gladys swiped the back of her hand over her temple, pushing back thick gold waves of hair. “You’re right. Vampires are a little out of my range. But if you think it would help, I’d be happy to try.”
“Thanks,” I said. “We’ll call on you if it comes to that. Say hi to Cordova for us.”
“Will do.” She gave a finger wave, flashing what looked like a woven bracelet on her right wrist. It was blue and green, the colors of a summer ocean with little flecks of ragged beads caught here and there. It was pretty, and just unusual enough, I knew it was handmade. Maybe knitted.
A group of eight people laughed up to the door, and we did that crowded elevator thing to get out of the shop so they could squeeze in.
Which put us right in front of the brass bell. There was a little note on the wall beside it encouraging customers to ring it for luck.
And yes, the bell had been fashioned by a leprechaun who had lost a bet. The bell gave each person a tiny boost in the luck department. Maybe not enough to win the lottery, but enough to notice the glob of gum on the sidewalk before they stepped on it.
But we didn’t need a little luck. We needed a damn miracle if we were going to kill the ancient vampire we still didn’t have a good plan to find, much less stop, while somehow rescuing Ben.
If Ben was even still alive.
“Make a wish,” Jean bumped me with her shoulder once we were on the other side. “Ring the bell.”
I held my breath, made a wish, and rang the bell.
Let Ben be alive. Let us find him in time.
Jean closed her eyes a second and then rang the bell after me. I didn’t have to ask what she wished for. I knew, even if she didn’t, that her heart was full of Hogan.
Chapter 2
“Tell him.”
The bench was positioned on a jut of sidewalk that curved out toward the ocean. A couple of sharp-eyed seagulls landed on the gray stone wall in front of us, laser-focused on the popcorn bags.
We stared down the birds as Jean carefully handed me the caramel corn. The kernels were warm. I popped several in my mouth, chewing slowly, letting the sweet and salt linger.
