“Your aura is dull and sad looking.”
I roll my eyes. “You know I don’t believe in all that.”
“Does it have something to do with Deacon’s text about that lawyer?”
Drawing my legs in close, I wrap my arms around them. “Kinda. Yeah.” I’m sure I’ll end up telling her the whole story at some point, but right now I don’t feel like getting into it again.
Serenity curls her lip. “Tried to hire him not long ago. Called his office and left a message. Wanted to see if he would take my case. But no one ever called me back.” Her head tilts back as she stares at the night sky.
“What case?” She had some legal issues a while back, but I didn’t know she had any active charges.
“Shoplifting.”
“Oh.” I leave it at that even though I’m kind of dying to know what she stole.
“I know that snotty wife of his, though. She’s a real piece of work,” Serenity adds.
There’s no stopping the startled cry that flies out of my mouth. “How…how do you know…her? The wife?”
“She came to my yoga class Monday night.” I wait for more. But that seems to be all she plans to say.
Was this the “research” Camille was alluding to? “How was she snotty?”
She looks at me, takes another long drag, then blows the smoke outslowly. For a few seconds, she’s hidden behind the white cloud. “I get a lot of women who come to my class once and never come back. Same ones who have the expensive mats and the fancy water bottles and the high-dollar yoga clothes. My classes aren’t the classes they’re looking for.”
“What do you mean?”
“They want the yoga body but not the yoga mind.” Her eyes close and she leans her head back again, the lit joint forgotten in her hand. It continues to burn, inching closer and closer to her fingers, so I snag it before she burns herself, then gently put it out, making sure to salvage the tiny bit that’s left.
Serenity teaches at a place called Goddess Divine, not far from the bar. It’s an old house turned into a business that sells everything from crystals to incense to chakra beads and offers not only yoga classes but also palm reading and massages. By the way Camille was dressed tonight, I would think she’d stick out there. Goddess Divine would not be her scene.
Don’t get me wrong, Serenity is probably an amazing teacher, but she’s unconventional. She’s a free spirit who doesn’t care what anyone else thinks and will let you know it. It wouldn’t surprise me if part of her class involves beating drums and writing down your intentions before lighting them on fire. Based on my impression of Camille Bayliss, Serenity’s classes seem like they would be too hippie for someone like her, who would be dressed in head-to-toe Lululemon.
Just when I think Serenity’s completely passed out and I’ll have to wait for the rest of this story, she says, “But she came back yesterday even though I know she hated being there. It was all over her snotty face.”
There are a million questions on the tip of my tongue, but I can tell Serenity is done for the night when a quiet snore slips past her lips.
I stare at her for several minutes, trying to fit this new information into what I learned.
Ben Bayliss had my personal information on a bar napkin and his wife is searching for answers despite being terrified he’ll find out.
She said he’s been here. At our house.
Even if all this is about Paul in some way, Ben Bayliss should never have come here.
Chapter 8
Hank
AFTER THE ALIBI
Sunday, October 11
By the time I finally leave the Bayliss house, the sun has set. I’m tired. I’m hungry. I’m confused. And grieving my friend and partner.
Camille’s brother, Silas Everett, and his wife, Margaret, showed up not long after Camille fished those receipts out of her purse and handed them over to Sullivan. Sullivan allowed her to take the bags she had packed from the weekend out of her car but wouldn’t let her back in the house. I’m not sure she would have gone in given the option.
Until the police are done with her house, she’ll stay with her parents in Corbeau, a small town that’s only about twenty minutes from St. Francisville, the town she just returned from. Silas put her in his truck, nearly taking out half the paps when he peeled out of here. Margaret followed behind in Camille’s car, so she’d have it there.
