I set the chunk of quartz on top of her in my hand. Made of nothing but energy, she passed easily inside. Now I had to make it permanent. Deciding to take no chances, I created a needle and thread and stitched her inside, stabbing her over and over and wrapping the binding thread around the stone. I took my time. I made sure she’d be able to see and hear everything around her, but she wouldn’t be able to use her poltergeist powers, leaving her helpless.
When I decided she wasn’t going anywhere, I wrapped my hand around the stone and sealed the bindings inside. I opened my hand and lifted it up to the level of my eyes.
“Welcome home, Mitzi,” I said. “I don’t know what made you so bitter or mean, but you’re not going to hurt your daughters or niece anymore. If, by some insane chance, you should decide you want to be a helpful ghost, one who guards and protects, I’ll know, and I might just set you free. But I don’t plan to hold my breath. Few people recover from being assholes, though would taking a day or two off have killed you?”
I tossed her into the air and she fastened onto one of the chandeliers where she’d have a good seat to see all that happened in the place. Next I lowered the hovering mass of stuff to the floor and left it in a pile in the middle of the room.
Lindsey still lay on the floor. She writhed and her mouth opened and closed in gasps, her face twisting in pain. She no longer made any coherent sounds. Her eyes had rolled back up into her head, so now they looked eerily white, like a zombie.
I wandered over. “She going to be all right?”
Lorel looked up at me. “This one’s bad. I’m not sure her body can take it.”
“Can I help?”
Rhi shook her head. “Nobody can.”
I looked around at the destruction around us. “Should you move her somewhere more comfortable? How long is she likely to be like this?”
Lindsey herself answered. Her body snapped stiff and straight, her fingers curling into claws. She closed her eyes and her face relaxed. When she lifted her eyelids again, her eyes had rolled back down and appeared normal. She blinked and looked around. Her gaze settled on me.
“Be careful. Something bad is going to happen. It’s coming for you.”
She passed out.
ChapterFive
I foundmyself on the road an hour later and wondering just what kind of trouble was on its way. Lindsey had said it was bad, but that pretty much defined most of my life up until this point. She probably thought the Mitzi situation was bad. I’d come away unscathed, so I considered it an easy day. Of course I didn't know when or if they’d ever be able to have an estate sale with the damage done to all of their inventory, but I told them to call me when they sorted things out.
I’d also told them where they could find Aunt Mitzi, and they'd decided to leave her hanging from the chandelier for the time being. Lorel and Rhi had both apologized for doubting that I was a witch, and both had thanked me profusely for disarming their mother and trapping her. Says a lot when your own kids want you locked up. Lindsey hadn't said much of anything after her proclamation that something was coming for me. She’d pretty much gone catatonic.
Her cousins had helped her outside into a chaise lounge, where they forced her to drink some lemonade before she fell asleep. The cousins predicted she would remain sleeping for at least twenty-four hours, if not several days, waking only to eat, drink, and use the toilet. Not that she’d truly be awake, Lorel explained. Just that her body would recognize its needs and prompt her to care for herself. Her brain would remain off-line, however, until it recovered. Or at least that was their experience.
I set aside all thoughts of the three women and turned my attention to bad possibilities. I really had no idea what could possibly happen. I didn't like imagining bad things, as I didn't want to invite trouble, and I had a feeling that my imagination was worse than reality could muster. I didn't actually care if something happened to me, but the idea of something happening to Stacey, Jen, Lorraine, or Damon, made my stomach knot.
By the time I got back to town, I'd decided not to worry about it. It wasn't productive. I could worry when it happened. Maybe I’d even put it on my calendar.
It was after seven when I returned to Damon's hotel room, after having run a couple errands. I showered and changed into black jeans, black boots, black T-shirt, and a black bra and underwear just to be consistent. Not that anybody was going to see me naked, or even almost naked. Of course I said that several times before, only to be proven wrong. It never hurts to be prepared.
I cleaned the bite Mitzi had given me and covered it with a large bandaid. It had started to bruise. Did I need rabies shots?
I texted the girls to make sure we were still on for the evening. Lorraine’s reply said she couldn't make it, since she had an emergency coming in and expected the surgery to last well into the morning. Apparently, there'd been a collision between a pickup pulling a horse trailer and an RV. Mostly Lorraine dealt with small animals, but several horses had been injured, and there were only two large animal vets in the area. Those were taking the more critical horses, but it was clear the animal Lorraine would be operating on was in nearly as bad condition.
I asked her if she wanted me to be there, but she said no. I'm something of an animal whisperer. For some reason they trust me, even when they're out of their skulls with terror, or in a frenzied rage. I’d never actually worked with horses, but I never met an animal I couldn't calm. Lorraine said she might need me once the horse woke up from its anesthesia, but until then I couldn't be useful.
I texted Jen and Stacey to let them know, and made arrangements to have dinner with Jen and afterward meet Stacey at the club where she worked as a bartender. We were on a mission tonight. One of the waitresses at The Starlight Club had an ex who had a problem letting go and had been giving her all sorts of hell. More than once he'd taken her car and abandoned it somewhere, forcing her to pay towing fees and once pay to get it out the police impound lot. He’d called the cops on her more than once, reporting her for dealing drugs, stealing from him, and vandalizing his house. Of course she had done nothing of the sort, but dealing with the hassle of it all ate her small paycheck and had caused her to lose two other jobs. In his latest move, he'd stolen her cats.
She’d only started working at the club a few weeks ago, but once Stacey learned of her plight, she decided that she needed to do something about it, which meantweneeded to do something about it. We were the sort of friends that if you called one of us to say you'd killed someone, we'd show up with shovels and an alibi and no questions asked.
When the waitress — I think her name was Lydia – showed up one day with bruises, that had been the last straw. Stacey was not one to stand by and watch somebody get abused. None of us were. We decided to rescue the cats, teach the ex a lesson, and make sure he never hurt anybody again. What kind of psychopath steals cats anyway? Or any pets at all? That's ninth circle of hell shit right there.
Lydia, of course, had no idea what we were up to, or she’d try to stop us for fear of backlash. The asshole ex—Carson Flannery—had convinced her she was helpless against him. He’d married her to be a trophy wife, and when she wasn’t the meek, obedient plastic wife he’d thought he’d married, he’d taken to punishing her, and then ruining her life when she left.
He had plenty of money, a slick job, was well connected, and had a stellar reputation amongst the elite of the town, so he could get away with just about anything. I had every intention of ruining all that for him, and turning him into a cautionary tale of what can happen when you act like a dick and karma comes calling.
Just before I left to meet Jen, I got a text from Damon telling me he’d landed safely. That’s it. I stared at the screen for a minute, wondering how to respond. Petty Beck wanted to say something passive aggressive likethanks for the update. Appreciate all that detail. Reasonable Beck actually wanted to say something similar, but I settled forThat’s good. Be safe.
I’ll call you later.
