A Wild Fright in Deadwood (Deadwood Humorous Mystery Book 7) (52 page)

“Try to see the upside, Mr. Glass-Is-Half-Empty,” I snapped back at him. “I eliminated the one who killed Jane Grimes, Helen Tarragon, Wanda Carhart, Katrina King, and Lord only knows how many others over the years. There will be no more bodies on your case board thanks to Caly’s handiwork.”

“I know that and you know that,” he glared at me, “but how in the hell am I going to convince Hawke and the Chief and everyone else that we got our killer?”

“I found yer pot o’ gold, Coop,” Harvey said from the doorway. He stood in profile with Bessie held at waist level, her double barrels aimed at something outside the door.

“What are you talking about, Uncle Willis?” Cooper sounded tired, defeated.

Harvey stepped back. “You first,” he said toward the steps.

Doc moved in front of me, shielding me.

I heard the old wooden floorboards creak by the door. My stomach cramped, the sudden churning making me clutch my side and swallow fast.

“No fucking way,” I heard Cooper say. “Where in the hell have
you
been?”

Who had Harvey found outside? Another albino? The juggernaut’s twin? Swallowing down the nausea crawling up my throat, I peeked around Doc.

Holy cheeseballs!

Dominick Masterson stood in the doorway with Harvey’s shotgun pointed at his back.

His gaze zeroed in on me. “Hello, Violet,” he said in that whiskey smooth voice of his. “It looks like you’ve been busy.”

* * *

Wednesday, November 21st

I slept like the dead. The non-ghost kind of dead, anyway.

When I woke the next morning, I was alone in my bed and for the life of me couldn’t remember how I’d ended up there. I lay in my warm flannel sheets, replaying the pieces I remembered from the night prior.

After Dominick had arrived, Cooper had wanted to send Harvey, Doc, and me off in the pickup, leaving him to interrogate Dominick without me there to interfere. Cooper hadn’t minced words on that. He was still pissy about my removing Caly from the picture.

I’d hesitated to leave him, expressing concern that Dominick had another wall-breaking trick up his sleeve, only this time he might break Cooper, but the stubborn detective assured me he had it under control.

So, while the control freak was busy giving instructions to his uncle and Doc, Dominick had waved me over to where he stood next to one of the windows.

Something about Masterson made me nauseated when I stood too close, so I kept a few feet between us.

“I won’t hurt the lawman,
Scharfrichter
,” he said quietly.

Aunt Zoe was right. There’d be no hiding who I really was anymore. My enemies knew I was in town and why—probably more than I did. “Why did you return, Dominick?”

“I had no choice.”

“Because of Caly’s latest murder spree?”

He smirked, at least I thought it was a smirk. In the orange light, the half of his face that wasn’t hidden in shadows looked more ghoulish than usual. “She used to be so obedient. Then Katrina and the others started putting ideas into her head.”

“Like killing Jane?”

He nodded. “And Helen.”

So, Katrina had been behind those two murders? “Why? What did they do to her?”

“They did nothing.” His dark gaze swung my way. “Katrina wanted me, but I refused to take her as a lover. Helen, however, intrigued me. When Katrina learned of my interest in Helen, she ordered Caly to eliminate her. Jane was working as Katrina’s agent at the time, helping her negotiate for the purchase of this building from me even though I’d repeatedly refused to sell. She overheard the order to have Helen killed, so Caly murdered Jane on the spot.” He sighed and turned back to the window. “All of this death for what? Jealousy? Lust? Humans can be so juvenile.”

“Katrina told me she wanted to be immortal. Could you have made her one of you?”

He scoffed. “There is no immortality for humans, nor my kind for that matter.”

“So you came back because of Caly and Katrina?”

“No.” He wrote something on the window with his fingertip, a symbol of some sort that burned deep orange before fading. “I came back because of you.”

“Me?”

“We need you.”

There was that
we
again. “For what? And if you say you need to impregnate me with a demon’s spawn, I’m going to tell you to go blow a goat-pig, or whatever that thing is on the tattoo Katrina and Lila had.”

“Caper-sus.”

“Come again.”

“It’s a form of Latin. The creature’s name. It originally symbolized a mixture of spiritual ambition and power or strength, but Katrina’s group has given it a much darker meaning.” He glanced behind me. I followed his gaze. Doc was watching us, his eyes narrowed and his mouth tight as he looked at Dominick.

“You’ve assembled a team.” He smiled at me, his white teeth reflecting the orange coming through the window. “You’re smarter than most expected. That will work to your benefit when the hunters come.”

Who were these hunters Caly and now Dominick spoke of? Executioner hunters? Bounty hunters?

Before I could ask, Dominick continued. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“Who’s your enemy?”

“You are,
Scharfrichter
. I’ve been ordered to come back and help you.”

“Parker!” Cooper stalked over to us with a face full of surly scowls. “Get out of here before you kill another key witness.”

“Caly wasn’t a witness,” I corrected him. “She was a murderer.”

Cooper turned to Doc, who walked up behind him. “Get her out of here, Nyce, before I arrest her for pissing off an officer of the law.”

“That’s sweet,” I said to Cooper as Doc took my hand and began to lead me away. “This is the thanks I get for saving your life. Next time, I’ll let any crazy psycho bitches in the area slice you in half.”

“Good,” he snapped back. “Then I’d be out of my fucking misery instead of neck deep in another one of your messes.”

I hissed at him, taking a card from Caly’s deck. “That man needs counseling,” I told Doc.

“His stress level is out the window,” Doc said. “Remember, he’s only recently come to see the paranormal world. That’s tough on someone who’s used to seeing things in black and white.”

“Coop may have his horns out at the moment, but he’s as smart as a bunkhouse rat,” Harvey said. “If he wants you out of here, it’s because he is tryin’ to save yer bacon.” He held open the door for Doc and me. “So let’s vamoose before any other badge-toters show up fer the party.”

Harvey had dropped me off at home where Aunt Zoe waited for me. Doc wanted to go home, shower, and crash. With Caly no longer in the game, there were no worries about playing night guard on the couch for me and the kids, so I sent him on his way along with Harvey.

Aunt Zoe listened to my tale between my yawns, then I must have fallen asleep on the table. I had a hazy memory of her walking me up the stairs but nothing else.

Now with the morning sunlight peeking through my window, I felt renewed and ready to face a day full of Jerry, Mona, and Ben. Hell, even the séance to kick Wilda from Cornelius’s life tomorrow night didn’t dampen my outlook since the weight of Caly’s threats had been removed from my world.

I checked on the kids and headed to the shower. I took my time, enjoying the hot water until it began to turn cold. When I returned to my bedroom, my phone chirped. Someone had sent me a message.

I picked up my phone expecting Doc, maybe even Jerry, hoping it wasn’t Cooper with a first thing in the morning ass chewing. Or worse, Hawke.

The sight of Tiffany’s name made me frown. I tapped on the message to read the whole thing:
If you’re under the delusion that Doc is your Prince Charming, ready to rescue you and your children with his castle and money, think again, Cinderella. He will see soon enough that the glass slipper is too big for you.

Due to a lack of caffeine after a freak-filled night, I had to read her message two more times before it sank into my foggy brain. Then I threw my phone on the bed and covered it with my pillow, pretending it was Tiffany I was suffocating.

Criminy. Why couldn’t Doc have had sport sex with a non-demented chick with droopy boobs and a flabby ass?

I dropped onto the side of my bed, sitting with my head between my knees until the blood started pounding in my temples for a reason other than rage.

If I showed Doc the message, how would he react? Would he believe her?

I had been pretty pathetic when we’d met with barely any money in my bank account and not a sale to be found. As Tiffany had said, he’d stepped in and played Prince Charming, buying his house from me and keeping me from losing my job. But then I’d gone on to sell the hotel to Cornelius without Doc stepping in to help. If anything, Mona was playing the heroine in my world, helping me land sales and sharing commissions with me. Doc was more often there to pick me up emotionally and dust me off, giving me someone to lust over … and someone to love who didn’t share my bloodline.

A clucking sound came from my closet. I lifted my head, looking over at my closet door as it inched open. Elvis’s beak pushed out, then one wing, nudging the door open further until she could slip through the opening. Ignoring me completely, she strutted past me all the while clucking to herself and exited through the crack I’d left in my bedroom door.

I stood and walked over to my closet, opening the door wide. Inside, she’d left me an egg on the floor between my purple cowboy boots, which were slightly crushed and dusted with tiny white down feathers.

I bent down and picked up the egg. It was still warm.

Palming Elvis’s parting gift, I stared down at the boots, my heart picking up speed in my chest.

I knew what I needed to do.

I grabbed my boots.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Picklemobile was in the parking lot when I arrived at Calamity Jane Realty. Instead of heading into the office, I veered and stepped inside Doc’s back door.

“Doc?” I called out, giving him a heads up that I was there.

“Out front.”

I could smell his woodsy aftershave when I passed by the open restroom door. He must have hit the gym this morning. And here I’d thought just making it to the shower had been an accomplishment after our go around with Caly last night.

I found Doc sitting behind his desk in the front room. Papers were spread out across the desktop next to his open laptop. His green, long sleeve T-shirt and faded blue jeans were all about comfort, not impressing clients. His hair still looked damp from the shower.

I set my tote on the floor next to his desk without saying a word and walked straight to his door, flipping the Open sign to Closed and twisted the lock.

“Am I closing up shop?” he asked.

I didn’t answer. Instead, I lowered the blinds covering the door and the front windows, shutting out the world. When I turned around, he was leaning back in his chair, watching me intently in the darkened room.

“We need to talk,” I told him, returning to stand across the desk from him. I turned on his desk lamp to shine some light on our situation.

One of his eyebrows rose. “Is this about last night?”

“Nope.” I pulled my phone from my pocket, selecting Tiffany’s latest message, and held it out for him to see.

The other eyebrow lifted. “Did Cooper text you already this morning?”

“Not Cooper.”

He took the phone and looked down at it. The room was silent except for the old heat radiator ticking by the window as he read Tiffany’s message. When he finished, he lowered my phone to his desk. His jaw was rigid. Frown lines fanned from the corners of his eyes. I hoped that anger was meant for Tiffany, but I wasn’t going to play any guessing games this time. No more dancing around the truth.

“Before you say anything,” I started, swallowing the fluttering sensation that was inching up my throat. “I have something I need to say.”

I wiped my sweaty palms on my dark blue corduroy skirt and straightened my purple sweater, dredging up some courage as I squirmed.

He watched me, his gaze guarded.

“Tiffany thinks I’m in this relationship for your money.” My heart pounded in my chest, making my voice vibrate slightly. Oh man, I was going to bungle this if I didn’t get a grip.

“Violet, you know Tiffany—”

I stopped him with my raised hand. “I’m not done yet.”

He frowned but held his tongue.

“Tiffany is wrong.” I thought about the commission check I’d received for Doc’s house. “Sort of.”

He leaned back in his chair, his focus one hundred percent locked on me.

“You see, I’ve gone and screwed things up a few times when it comes to you and me. With us. I mean in regard to our relationship.”

Hells bells!
This was why I had decided years ago to stick to sex with no strings. This deep, emotional shit was for the birds.

I swallowed in spite of the dry patches in the back of my throat that were making my voice sound raspy. “But I need to make it clear here and now that I don’t expect you to play Prince Charming and rescue me and my kids.” As much as I wanted to look down at my boots, up at the ceiling, anywhere other than into his dark brown eyes, I held course. “We’ve bumbled along for almost a decade now, and I expect that we’ll continue to bounce and rattle our way through the next decade.”

His forehead wrinkled.

I licked my lips. “But that doesn’t mean I’d object if you wanted to bounce and rattle with us for however long you’d like. I just don’t want you to ever feel obligated when it comes to us.”

“Violet,” he started again, but I shook my head.

“Give me a minute. I’m almost to the reason I’ve come here this morning.” I pressed my palms together and held my hands up to my lips, praying to Aphrodite that I didn’t botch this up royally. “I don’t want your money, Doc. It’s true that I’ve had my fair share of financial struggles, and I expect to brave those rough waters again from time to time in the future, but for now the kids and I are doing okay.” Thanks to him, Cornelius, and Wanda, of course.

Lowering my hands to his desk, I continued with my bumbling message. “The reason I came here today and showed you Tiffany’s latest text is not to have you give me a hug and reassure me that you and I are doing ‘fine’ as a couple. You have made it clear over the last four months that you find me attractive and enjoy my company.”