“The sale might still go through.”
“There, there, dear,” Hazel soothed. “I’m sure you’ll land on your feet. You’re a cat shifter after all.”
“Will you try to fight it?” Avery asked.
“Nope. When I first came here, I loved this place, but my dealings with Janis and Roy have soured it for me. I’m ready to move on. I have my eye on a few places. And you can bet I won’t be leasing anything from Janis again.” Kim smiled smugly. “I don’t care what it’ll take to break my lease. I can’t wait to let her know she won’t see another penny from me. I told the police the same thing when they came around to ask me about my relationship with Roy. May the asshole rest in peace.”
Considering my own plans to sign a lease with Janis, that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I really needed someone knowledgeable to review whatever contract she offered me.
“You would move?” I asked. “Just like that?”
“Absolutely. Besides, as lovely as it usually is out here, being in town would be better for business. People hate driving out here in the winter,” Kim said. Then she turned to Avery and whispered, “And after everything that’s happened, I’m so happy I didn’t commission those hexes from you.”
“Jinxes,” Avery corrected.
“Yes, yes, those. But, just think, with Roy dying like that, I might have been a suspect. Can you imagine?” She laughed. “I wouldn’t have had you do anything too bad, but I’d come up with some great ideas after a few glasses of Chardonnay the other night. Passing along my perimenopause symptoms was at the top of the list. Or giving him an itch he couldn’t reach might be fun. Oh, I had a whole page of ideas.”
I tried to laugh with her and the others; except she wasn’t wrong about being a suspect.
“But enough about that. Why don’t you find a spot? We’ll be startin’ soon. And don’t forget to select your favorite brew.” She waved toward a bar area that’d been set up along the back wall. I’d missed it when we walked in, too distracted by the view. Then Kim wandered off to greet some other new arrivals.
After I unrolled the yoga mat I’d borrowed from Avery, I snapped a couple of pictures of the view to post on social media. Wait… why were two people walking around outside at the brewery? I enlarged the picture I took, but I couldn’t make out who it was; they weren't wearing police uniforms.
Licorice cawed as she swooped toward the brewery. My heart caught in my throat. What if those people were the murderers? They had no reason to suspect Licorice wasn’t an ordinary raven, but they’d already shown a distinct lack of respect for someone else’s life. Who knew what they might be capable of?
"Come on, Licorice. Come back,"I thought as I stared at her, willing her to listen to me. And, more importantly, begging her to be careful. "They might be dangerous."
Then something flickered over my eyes. It was like an old double-exposed photo where I was seeing what was in front of me, but I was also seeing something else superimposed over it.
Gradually, the second image became cleaner and… holy crap.
Was this an astral projection? Because I swore it was like I was looking down on two people: Fletcher and one of the other brewers–Donny, if I remembered correctly. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but Fletcher’s face was bright red, making his nose appear even more prominent, and he was waving his arms around. Donny was sneering. Like a viper, the younger, bigger man’s hand snapped out to grab Fletcher by the collar and hold him still. Donny stabbed his finger into the other man’s chest.
“Declan?” Avery jostled my arm.
The vision broke, and it was like I snapped back to the yoga studio. I wavered on my feet, disoriented for a moment. A caw shot across the landscape as Licorice flew toward me. That was when I understood what’d happened. It hadn’t been an astral projection. Nope. Licorice had somehow let me see what she was seeing.
That was… wow.
As much as I’d daydreamed about something like that, I hadn’t reallybelievedit could happen. Things like that belonged in books and movies, not real life.
“Are you feeling okay? No one will think poorly of you if you skip the beer.” Hazel pressed the back of her hand to my forehead.
In the few minutes since I’d been connected with Licorice, Hazel had lost the puffy skirt she’d worn over her shorts to hide her spider legs while we’d been traveling here. I tried not to shudder as one of her gigantic spider legs brushed my knee.
Someday, I was sure, I’d be more comfortable with all the monstrous things about the misfit monsters, and Hazel in particular, but I was still a work in progress.
She was right. I probably shouldn’t drink, but this had been one hell of an afternoon. I wanted to celebrate my amazingly stellar interrogation skills, my connection with Licorice, blocking Josh, and the fact that I hadn’t screamed when Hazel’s leg touched mine.
“Let’s see what they have.”
Chapter Twenty
A Leopard and Its Spots
Gideon
Thursday afternoon at The Den was the kind of day I enjoyed. Good conversation, steady orders, and the perfect level of busy where I could work the bar without having to manage anything more complicated than keeping up with the drinks.
