“That sounds like trouble.”
“You’re telling me.” Carlos had once arrested my father for a crime he didn’t commit, either... but still, he could tell good old Dad was bad news.
“Really, Carlos, I’ve been racking my brain ever since Dupree came to Aunt Cora’s Closet, but I barely knew him.”
“And yet he arrived on the Lufthansa flight into SFO yesterday morning, dropped his bags at the hotel, and then headed to your shop to demand you return something you’d stolen from him fifteen years ago?”
“Are you sure he came directly to Aunt Cora’s Closet?”
“We’re working on the timeline. The hotel says he left about forty minutes before I saw him at your place, so it’s possible he stopped somewhere else. I’m not sure how much it matters. Have you figured out what he wanted from you?”
“Not yet.” I thought I heard the box thump next to me. The bar was noisy, though, so it was probably my imagination.
I played with the ring on my finger. The crystals sparkled in the dim light of the bar, casting minuscule rainbows about us. Comforting me.
What beag had Tristan been after—and what was its significance?
“Nice ring,” said Carlos. “Unusual.”
“It’s called a druzy. Sailor gave it to me for...” My voice caught. I cleared my throat. “It’s our engagement ring.”
He nodded slowly, holding my gaze. “I heard about that through the grapevine. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” I was embarrassed that I hadn’t reached out to tell Carlos that Sailor and I had gotten engaged. But it had felt awkward to pick up the phone and call him to deliver the news out of the blue. After all, usually I called him about murder. Although I liked to think of Carlos as a friend, the truth was that ours was not a typical friendship. Also, although their relationship had progressed a little, he still wasn’t wild about Sailor. “I guess it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”
He nodded.
“Speaking of engagements,” I continued, “my grandmother and her friends are set to arrive any day now. I’m not sure how long they’ll stay, so we’ve sort of moved up the wedding timetable. We’re having a handfasting in two weeks, in Bolinas.”
“What’s a handfasting?”
“It’s a traditional witchy wedding, usually held outside, in a natural setting. We’re not certain if Bronwyn will get her certification to officiate in time, so we might have to do the legal ceremony later. But the handfasting will be therealceremony, the one that counts. I would love it if you would join us.”
His mouth kicked up on one side. I imagined he was thinking,What if Sailor is still in jail?I decided to cross that bridge if and when we came to it.
“I would be honored, Lily,” said Carlos. But there was something else in his eyes, something I couldn’t put my finger on. Sailor always insisted that reading minds wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, but I thought it would make my life a lot easier if I could do it.
“All right.” Carlos finished off his Irish coffee and wiped a little cream from his lips with a cocktail napkin. “So, a man you haven’t seen or heard from in fifteen years, whom you barely knew in the first place, arrived in town yesterday, stopped by your shop and threatened you, then got dead at the hands of someone who looks like your fiancé, walks like your fiancé, and talks like your fiancé but who is not, in fact, your fiancé. Is that about the size of it?”
I nodded.
“You know, Lily, if anyone else told me this story, I’d say they were full of it.”
“But you believe me?”
“I don’tnotbelieve you. Did Dupree have any enemies in town that you know about?”
“I have no idea. But I’m going to find out, sure as shootin’.”
If only I knew how to get started.
Chapter 7
First things first: I wanted to see Sailor. I pleaded with Carlos. Cajoled. Threatened, even—politely, of course.
Carlos was unmoved. “Do you know what time it is? Visiting hours are over, Lily. You can see him in the morning, and that’s final. I’m sure you remember the basic rules: no head coverings, bare midriff, miniskirts, gang-related clothing, orange clothing that resembles inmate clothing, or anything that reveals undergarments.”
“You don’t know the regulations for visitation by heart?”
