“We’re friends. That’s what friends do,” Rafe said easily.
Oh boy.
“Rafe, where are you from? How come you don’t have an accent?” I asked as I moved to where Hank was already doing a happy dance in front of his food bowl.
“I’m from Spain. I don’t really know why I don’t havean accent. You sound strange to me. I don’t know, maybe I picked it up from the people talking in the box,” Rafe said, a puzzled look on his face.
“Weird,” I muttered, gathering my purse and reaching inside Hank’s toy drawer. Today’s toy was a pirate, of all things, and I laughed a little, holding it up to show Rafe. He floated over to me, his brows crinkled in concern.
“What is this item? Is this a voodoo doll?” Rafe breathed, cocking his head to examine the toy’s hat and broadsword.
“Yes, yes it is,” I said solemnly, then laughed when Rafe gasped and moved back from the toy. “Just joking. It’s a toy for Hank,” I explained as I threw it to Hank and he chased it happily across the floor. Soon loud squeaks emanated from the pirate toy’s head and Rafe had a horrified look on his face.
“I knew he was a devil-beast,” Rafe hissed as he slipped out the front door behind me.
“He’s not a devil-beast. Yesterday his toy was a banana. Don’t worry so much,” I said and then stopped short when I noticed a neighbor across the street looking at me oddly.
“Mr. Patterson!” I nodded and waved to him, then spoke through the side of my mouth to Rafe.
“Don’t talk to me in public. People will think I’m crazy.”
“I’m pretty sure you are,” I heard the ghost mutter as he followed me to my bike.
“This contraption is your steed?” Rafe asked quizzically as I threw a leg over my beach cruiser and sat on the seat, putting my purse in the basket in front of me.
“Yes, and a most noble steed it is,” I muttered as I kicked away from the curb, happy that I had pulled my hair back from my face as a low breeze, heavy with humidity, tickled my face.
Deciding that it was an iced coffee morning, I veered my bike from my road and towards the main strip in downtown Tequila. At 8:00 am, it was fairly bustling. Dive boats were pulling out of the harbor, while fishing boats were already long gone into the sea. Rafe chattered over my ear, exclaiming about cars and other things he found to be interesting, but I ignored him, seeing as how I had literallyjusttold him not to talk in public.
I passed Fins, waving at the owner as he swept the porch, and pulled my bike aside to lock it in front of Beanz, the local coffee shop. Painted a pretty coffee bean color with turquoise blue trim, Beanz was the best spot in town for Blue Mountain coffee, straight from Jamaica. Luckily, Rafe kept his mouth shut as he followed me into the shop, the bell above the door tinkling with our arrival.
Wow, this place is packed,I thought, just as my eyes landed on Prudie Whittier holding court by the counter. Even the barista had stopped making coffee, her mouth hanging open in shock as she listened to what Prudie had to say.
“I’m quite certain it was witches. Well, you know the ones. After all, the dead body was found laid out on a pentagram. And we all know that potion shop is probably a bastion of witch activity. Wasn’t that one girl in the paper just a month ago for murder? Lisa something?”
“Luna,” I said loudly, causing a hush to fall over theentire shop as Prudie straightened. Her lips were pressed thin as she surveyed me in disapproval.
“You’re probably involved in this somehow,” she observed and the barista gasped, her eyes darting between the two of us.
“Hey, Katy,” I said, smiling at her as I moved through the room to stand in front of Prudie. “The usual, please.”
“Uh, sure,” Katy said, turning to retrieve the iced coffee from the low refrigerator behind the counter.
Hands on my hips, I moved forward another step, getting into Prudie’s personal space and forcing her to take a step back.
“Now, why don’t you tell me what’s going on, Prudie? Because I’m quite certain I didn’t just hear you accusing my best friend of a crime, as well as calling our business into question. Such an accomplished businesswoman as yourself would understand that’s slander. I hope you know that I have some of the best legal counsel in the state, just a phone call away,” I said sweetly, silently thanking my mother and her high-powered attorneys in my head.
“Well, I would never slander someone. Never,” Prudie gushed, and I held her gaze, waiting for her to drop her eyes first.
“What happened?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. I caught a glimpse of Rafe hovering in the corner, but thank goodness he kept quiet as he took the scene in.
“Well, I just, I never…” Prudie exclaimed, warming up to her topic, “A body was found on the beach this morning, out by that new development. Laid out in the sand on a pentagram.”
Shit.
Prudie looked around and lowered her voice, the effect forcing the ring of people around her to lean in to hear her words.
“And there were holes drilled into his head. With seeds imbedded in his brain. Other holes held little saplings, just sprouting. I heard it looked like he had plants growing from his brain.”
