How much later? And why not now? I rolled my eyes at myself. Apparently, I was twenty-seven going on sixteen with a bunch of hormones clogging up my brain.
I’m not going anywhere.I eyed the words and shrugged. He could handle the truth, and if he did call later and I didn’t have my phone to answer, he might worry. I tapped out another couple of sentences.Except maybe jail. Wish me luck.
Jenand I sat in the back corner of the club where Stacey worked. I’d cast a little bubble to dull the sound of the pounding dance music, so that we could talk without shouting ourselves hoarse. Before meeting her, I’d dropped Ajax off with Lorraine. If we got arrested, I wanted to know he was safe. He hadn’t been happy about my desertion, but he liked Lorraine and had finally agreed to stay.
Jen and I were dressed nearly identically, except she looked badass, while I looked like I’d failed goth class. Jen always reminded me of an Amazon. Sure, she looked the part with her six foot height, waist-length, black-coffee hair, and her naturally tanned skin, but what made her Amazonian in my head was the way she always seemed in control of every situation. Nothing surprised her and nobody scared her, even when she should be. She’s tough as proverbial nails and that’s why I made sure she never knew what Aunty Mommy was up to, and why I did my best to keep them separated. In a fair fight, I’d have bet on Jen, but Aunty Mommy never played fair, and she was both sadistic and a witch. It still terrifies me to think what she might have done.
Earlier, we’d opted not to eat dinner, but take a walk along the river. Instead, we’d ordered fried dill pickles, onion rings, and deep fried cheese sticks, all of which were now gone, and now sipped our drinks. Iced tea for me, soda for her. I’d run over the events in Sutton earlier in the day, and the warning that Lindsey had given me.
“The ghostbityou?”
I grimaced and pointed at the bandage. “Yep.”
“That’s fucked up bizarro. Is that a ghost thing or just a bitch thing??”
“Don’t know about the ghost, but definitely yes on the bitch,” I replied. “I might have to have Lorraine give me a rabies shot.”
Jen shook her head in silent disbelief. “Biting aside, I don’t like how vague that warning is about something bad’s coming for you,” she said, drumming her fingers on the table. “That leaves a lot of open territory. And what’s the definition of bad? Your fake mom was serial killer bad. Is that better or worse than what your psychic friend saw?”
I shrugged. “Good questions. I have no idea. For all I know, it means I’m going to get a speeding ticket, or maybe a giant zit on the end of my nose.”
“On the other hand, given our plans for tonight, it could mean something a lot more serious.”
“True. It could also have nothing to do with tonight, and whatever bad thing she’s talking about might not happen for twenty more years.”
Jen nodded with a grimace.
“Annoying to know something’s coming but not when, where, how, or why, or how bad. There are a billion possibilities.”
I nodded, stirring the ice in my tea with my straw.
“Are you going to go see Lindsey again? See if she knows anything else?”
“Rhi and Lorel said it could take days for her to recover. I’ll probably call next week to see how she’s doing and go from there.”
“You think they’ve got enough left to have a sale?”
“Doubt it. There may be some things left I could do on consignment, but really most of the stock is trashed, and I doubt that Mitzi’s apartment will offer much to the high-end buyer. They’ll be better selling on Craigslist or Ebay, or maybe having a garage sale. Maybe hiring a different sales company. Chandeliers could be valuable. I’d need to take a closer look. And there’s potential in the psychic reading room.”
“At least you took their wicked witch out of the equation,” Jen said. She lifted her glass in a silent toast. “Maybe you should add that to your services.”
“I’m guessing hit-woman-for-hire is more up your alley than mine.”
“Can’t argue. Though I’m more of a hacker-hitter. Stacey, now, she could shiv a guy in the heart while fucking him.Andshe’d get an orgasm or two in first.”
“But that would mean taking on targets worth fucking,” I pointed out. “Can you make a living killing only handsome, muscular men?”
“Too bad she’s not bi. That would extend her potential revenue quite a bit.”
“Yeah, except she wouldn’t murder people who didn’t deserve it, and how do you even advertise that kind of business?”
Jen shrugged. “I could set her up on the dark web. Wouldn’t be that hard. Wouldn’t have to kill everybody, either. She could offer maiming and torturing services. Her motto could be: Go ahead and get mad, and then get even. Revenge for hire.”
I grinned. “That totally sounds like her. She’ll be so excited to hear we’ve planned her new career path.”
“Uh oh,” Jen said, her gaze sliding past me. “Look what the cat dragged in.”
I turned to look.
