Silence Is Golden (A Pet Psychic Mystery No. 3) (20 page)

He moved his gaze to me in slow motion. "How'd you say you knew 'er again?"

I shrugged slightly. He was still pretty sharp for having downed six drinks. "I'm taking care of Victoria's dog, Goldie." I had told him this before, but I didn't think he could access those brain cells in his current state. "Josie came into my boutique to visit her and we just sort of became friends. She had problems, of course, I could tell that, but she also had a good heart. Such a shame her life was cut short like that." I watched him closely. He had his head down, staring into his glass. His hand was clutching the glass tightly, like a life raft.

"Yeah. Goldie. Victoria loved that dog. I remember the joy coming off that woman when they won their first show. First time I saw her really happy."

Okay, we've moved on to Victoria.
"That family's seen a lot of tragedy lately. Eugene doesn't seem to be handling it well."

He snorted and downed the rest of his drink in one violent motion. His face darkened at the mention of his friend's name.

"I mean, with the way he attacked you just for coming to Josie's funeral. That just wasn't right." I took a deep breath.
Now or never.
"Oh, or was it something else y'all were fighting about?"

He glanced at me with a storm brewing in those gray eyes. "Why would you ask that?"

"I'm just saying, I would understand." I held his gaze, even though it was making my insides feel like Jell-O. "I was in your shop one day looking for the restroom and overheard y'all fighting in the office. He accused you of being in love with Victoria." I softened my voice to make sure it was sympathetic and not accusatory. "It must have been hard on you, too, if you were... her death."

I sat as still as a rabbit as he stared at me, his jaw working back and forth. Was he deciding if he could trust me, or trying to figure out how he could get rid of me?

Finally, he laughed. Not a happy laugh, but the kind of chuckle that starts as a need for release, way deep down in your gut. I saw tears spring to his eyes, and he broke the staring contest.

"Yeah, I loved her." His voice was full of sadness and whiskey. "She was a great gal. Deserved better."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and fought the urge to glance out at the table. I knew the gang was watching closely. "Eugene didn't treat her good?"

"He didn't beat her or anything like that. He's just selfish. Always has been. It's all about him."

I sipped my wine as I waited for him to say more. When he didn't, I scrambled for a question to keep him talking. "How did he figure it out now? That you were in love with her?"

He shook his head and motioned for the bartender. "He didn't. Not really. But, he thinks he did. He had the nerve to think bad of her."

"I don't understand," I said after he'd got a refill on his drink.

He sighed, his shoulders slumping. He was getting tired, and I knew my bringing up Victoria was wearing him out emotionally. I strained to hear his next words over the football game playing on three TV's above the bar and the drone of conversations. I think he was actually talking to himself at this point.

"Thinks Victoria shared something with me cause we had a thing. But she didn't. I was just there. At Renny's house. Stopped by to help her out with cleaning out the attic after he died. And to spend time with her. I found a letter he wrote to Jade. Kept it. Something Eugene wants. Maybe we're both selfish bastards. Starting to think it's wrong."

He was slurring bad now. I spotted Frankie heading towards us. Perfect timing, I knew my time was up. Standing up, I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "So, Victoria didn't know. That you were in love with her or that you took something out of Renny's house?" It wasn't really a question. I already knew the answer.

He rolled his head back and forth.

As Frankie approached I said, "You should probably go home now, Barnie. I'm going to call you a cab."

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Friday afternoon, I took the opportunity of a cake delivery close by to give Goldie some exercise. Retrieving my bike from upstairs, I put the boxed cake in the basket and snapped on Goldie's leash.

"Charlie should be in soon," I said to Willow as she helped a customer. "I shouldn't be more than a half hour."

It felt good to stretch my legs, and I could tell Goldie was enjoying the jog. Her head and tail were high in the air as she kept pace with the bike.

We were almost to our destination when, from out of the blue, a white truck with tinted windows crossed two lanes and headed straight for us. I swerved off the sidewalk into someone's yard as I felt the truck skim my leg. I tumbled off the bike, landing hard on my knee, but I made sure I held on to Goldie's leash and yanked her with me off the sidewalk.

"Goldie, here girl," I gasped, as the truck screeched to a halt a few feet away. Goldie ran over and licked my face as I watched an arm pop out of the window and chuck something our way. The truck tires squealed as it took off again. 

"Hey, you all right?" A lady was rushing off her porch toward us.

"Yeah, I think so." I winced as I tried to stand. I leaned on Goldie for support and then saw the cake upside down in the grass.
Great.
"More than I can say for Sugar Bear's birthday cake." I pulled out my cell phone to let the client know the cake would be late.

"Crazy drivers around here," the woman said, helping pick my bike up. "Gonna get somebody killed."

I limped over to the object the driver had tossed out the window. It was a brick with a piece of paper held by a rubber band. Unwrapping it, I saw four words in bold type:

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

 I limped back over to take my bike from the concerned woman. "Well, at least no one got killed today."

*     *     *

"What about Tara? Didn't she just get released from jail?"

Willow and I were sitting out on the balcony in the dark, icing my knee and trying to figure out whose hackles I had gotten up.

"Yeah. Could have been her or her married boyfriend, I guess." I winced as I readjusted the icepack. "You know what? I don't want to spend your last bit of time here on this negative stuff." I waggled my eyebrows at her. "Let's talk about our trip to the DMV in the morning."  I couldn't believe I was actually going to try to get a driver's license, and that I was more nervous about it than just about anything else I had ever done.

"I guess that's a worthwhile topic." She laughed. "You're not nervous are you?"

"A little."

"You'll do fine."

I pushed my bottom lip out. "Do you really have to leave on Sunday? It's so soon."

"Yes. As exciting as it is here, I need to get back home before mom stresses herself out."

"Well, is there anything else you want to do tomorrow? We have some great museums here."

"No. Maybe visit the Mound one more time. That's more of a museum to me." She smiled. "I need to find a good going away offering. Maybe we can swing by Big Barnie's shop."

"All right, but you're not going alone. Goldie and I are coming with you." I reached down and stroked Goldie's head. "You're a good guard dog, right girl?"

"Yeah right. She'd lick them to death." Willow chuckled and stretched out her legs. "I wish they would catch whoever's digging up the Mound before I leave. I won't be able to fix it from Savannah."

*     *     *  

"Do you want to drive?" Willow grinned and wiggled her keys at me as we exited the DMV after a three-hour ordeal. It felt like leaving a crowded prison.

I was staring at my shiny new Florida driver's license with a mixture of fear and elation.

"Oh my heavens, I can't believe I did it," I squealed, then accepted the keys from Willow and gave her a big hug. "Thanks, Sis. This is seriously the best gift ever! Wait." I dug through my straw bag as we approached her car, finding my cell phone. I snapped a photo of the license and texted it to Will and Frankie with the caption, "I did it!"

Willow glanced at my license photo as she put her seatbelt on. "Could you have grinned any bigger?"

I slipped it into my wallet and started the car. "Nope. I messed up the parallel parking thing the first time, but he let me try again and I did it. And having a sore knee didn't help, but I think the adrenalin overrode the pain. One of the best days of my life." I sighed and checked the mirror as I put the car in reverse.  "Where to?"

"For food. Worrying about you makes me hungry."

We spent the afternoon having lunch, shopping and chatting. By the time the light began to change, I felt closer to Willow than I ever had, and I was thanking my guardian stars for this time with her. I was really going to miss her.

"I'm going to go by and pick up Goldie before we head to the Mound. I'm sure she's ready to get out of the house." The light turned green. The traffic still made me nervous, so I accelerated slowly, both hands on the wheel.

"She's probably been sleeping on your bed all day with Gator." Willow laughed.

I decided I really loved driving. The freedom. The control. I couldn't wait to pick out my own car.

As I turned onto the dark street Willow said, "Looks like a party."

 There were a dozen cars parked up and down the street. Balloons had been tied to the mailbox across from the Mound. "We'll just have to park down a little ways."

Willow's cell phone buzzed. She glanced at it and shot me a concerned glance. "It's Mallory." She connected the call. "Hey, everything all right?"

I found an open spot along the grass and turned the car off, turning to Willow.

"Oh, okay." She shook her head to let me know everything was fine. "Yeah, I'll tell you all about it. We just got to the Mound. I'm going to visit one last time. You want to talk to Darwin?"

She handed me the phone with a smirk. "She's bored. I'm going to go on up."

I nodded as she picked up the bag with her offering. "Take your time."

"Hey, Mal," I said, grabbing Goldie's leash. She was breathing all over the window, ready for a walk. "I'm glad you called. I wanted to thank you for bringing my chalice when you visited. It's really made a difference in my practice."

"Oh, we're practicing now, are we?" she teased. "Grandma Winters will be happy to hear that."

"Yeah, well. I may have screwed up my relationship with Will with it, but that's a longer story I don't want to get into right now." I opened the back door and clipped on Goldie's leash, letting her jump out of the car.  "Oh, hey, guess what I got today?"

"What?"

"My driver's license."

"No way! You too? Did Willow teach you?"

"Yep."

"Well, tell her I'm next when she gets back. Did she tell you mom had a fit about Grandma Winters teaching her?"

"Yeah, she did. You know mom, she's just overprotective." Goldie sniffed at some weeds on the side of the road. I glanced back as headlights swooped over us and then shut off. Back down at the corner of the street, another car had pulled in. "Do you think you can come visit in August? Sylvia and Landon are getting married, and she wanted to invite you and Willow."

"Yeah sure, I wouldn't miss it. That's so great they're getting married."

"It is, and I'm excited about helping her plan. She asked me to be her maid of honor." I squinted at the woman who got out of the car. It was too dark to see anything but her shape as she took something large, like a piece of equipment out of the trunk and headed to the Mound. Her shape and... her long ponytail.

 "Hey, Mal, let me call you back in a bit." The hair stood up on my arms as I dialed Will's number and left a message for him where we were and who just showed up.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

I hurried Goldie back to the car, rolled the windows halfway down for her and quietly made my way back to warn Willow.

Weaving through the wooden entrance gate, I limped along the large privacy fence to the right that separated the Mound from the house next to it. I had to step carefully. It wasn't easy staying quiet while navigating a bed of crushed shells and leaves. When I reached the large banyan tree, I paused, listening over the sounds of nearby traffic and voices drifting in from the party across the street.
Was that beeping coming from on top the Mound?
I had to get closer. There was no way I could climb the hill silently. Plus the leaves were slippery and I had an injured knee. I'd have to take the long way, the path around the Mound and back up. I shooed some gnats away from my face.
Where was Willow?
Creeping through the darkness, I wondered if she had spotted the woman and hid herself.

As I made the slow climb up the slippery, damp backside of the Mound, I definitely heard a metallic beeping. The woman was up there using whatever she had pulled from her trunk.
Is this the mystery woman Eugene is seeing?
If so, she was probably dangerous.
Oh please, Willow, please be hiding.

 My muscles were locking up. Forcing my legs forward a little faster, I ducked behind a large Sabal Palm. I tried to slow my breathing and heart rate. When I got that under control, I peered around the tree.  She was here. The machine she swept back and forth emitted high pitched beeping and whining sounds.
Was that a metal detector? Had to be.
I knew any artifacts here were probably pottery or arrowheads made from stone. Nothing a metal detector could pick up. Did she lose something valuable up here then?

My eyes swept the area. Willow was nowhere in sight, though I caught the scent of recently burned sage. Good, she must be staying quiet. I tried to rationalize away my worry.  Willow's magick was strong, and she could move the ground beneath this woman's feet if we needed a quick getaway. I squinted, trying to get a better look. She appeared to be taller and thinner than Kimi.
Was it Tara?
Shoot. I couldn't tell. But I didn't think so. This had to be the mystery woman I saw in Eugene's house.

Okay, what now?
Should I just pop out and catch her off guard? Or play dumb and act interested in what she's doing? Or should I sneak back to the car and call the police? I wasn't sure she was actually doing anything wrong
.
My curiosity won. I was about to step out from behind the tree when I heard the shells crunching below. Someone else was coming, and they weren't worried about being quiet. Maybe it was the ghost hunting team? They would have their video camera and could record this woman. That would be a lucky break.