A Charming Crime (5 page)

“Man? No. If you
are looking for a man, you’ve come to the wrong village.” She tapped her
temple. “Though I do think there is a romance village with a matchmaker, this
is not
that
village.” She giggled. “If you are looking for answers you
seek while getting those horrid fingernails of yours manicured, you’ve come to
the right place.” She gestured toward the little pink cottage, and put her hand
out.

I thought she
was going to shake it, but she flipped it over, palm up, and drew on her reader
glasses that hung around her neck on to the bridge of her nose.

“I’m Chandra
Shango. I own the shop next door.” A flash of humor crossed her face when she dropped
my hand, and then looked at her store. “Cleansing Spirit Spa.”

“I sure could
use a good massage right now.” I could feel my shoulders knotting up from
confusion. My nerves were fried. Where had the man gone?

I noticed two
large window boxes held a few of the herb plants I had been looking for.

“Drowsy Daisies
and Moonflowers.” My mouth dropped opened when I saw the flowers perked up,
standing at attention. All this time I had been searching the internet to find
the ingredients in Darla’s recipe book, when I could’ve traveled twenty minutes
south of Locust Grove.

“Darla planted
those. It hasn’t been the same since Darla’s been gone.” Chandra had perfectly
manicured fingernails. They were painted sky blue with a tiny star in the
middle of each one. She looked to be around fifty, with soft hazel eyes and
short raspberry hair. “Did you know Darla Heal?”

“Da. . .,” I
stammered. “Did you say Darla Heal?”

Dizzy again, I
was sure I was going to faint.

The tapping of
heels caused us to look down the street. Isadora was running as fast as she
could in her pointed-heeled boots. Ann was right behind her, her short legs
trying to keep up with Isadora, which was virtually impossible.

“You hoo!”
Isadora’s skirt flew up all over the place, her long blonde hair flowing behind
her. Her arms flailed in the air. “Chandra, I see you met June. She’s a
homeopathic from Locust Grove.”

Isadora’s chest
heaved in and out as she tried to catch her breath. She sat down on the bench
beneath the tattered sign.

“You just might
need a pedicure after that run.” Chandra cackled, clasping her hands together.

Ann finally
caught up. Her face contorted like an old cow as she rubbed her lower back.

“Leave it to you
to spill the beans.” Ann snarled at Chandra. “Izzy had it all planned out and
you ruin it.”

“That’s enough.”
Isadora stood up and put her hand out for Ann to be quiet. Her eyes were dark
and as powerful as her words. “Chandra did no such thing. You are walking a
thin line.”

Chandra shielded
her smile with her hands. There was a state of shock in her expression.

“I told you this
was going to blow up.” Ann threw her hands in the air. “But no. You had to be
all secretive and go behind everyone’s back trying to find Darla’s daughter
when Darla didn’t want her to be found.”

“I said enough!”
Izzy’s eyes narrowed.

“And the shed!”
Ann stomped. “Do you know how many ingredients I tried before the darn thing
would explode?”

I felt the blood
drain from my face. Slowly I took a seat on the bench, trying to wrap my head
around Ann’s words.

My shed? She
blew up my shed?

“Look at her.
She’s definitely nothing like Darla.” Ann tapped my foot with her shoe. “Weak,
just like her dad. But she did see something in one of the crystal balls.”

“Crystal balls?”
I asked. I stood up, keeping one hand on the bench to make sure I was stable
enough to balance. This bunch was crazy. Crystal balls were for those psychic
types. I walked around in a complete circle, carefully looking at each shop and
the people milling around. Sure there were some strange shops with some very
weird names, and some of the people wore turbans, cloaks, pointy-toed shoes,
and other weird getups, but who was I to pass judgment?

“Is Madame
Torres in the crystal ball?” I asked.

“Yes,” Ann said.

“You’ve said
enough!” Isadora slapped Ann across the face just as a clap of thunder was
heard in the bright blue sky.

Ann cowed down.
She rubbed her face while she straightened her turban. Her eyes pierced my
soul.

“Who blew up my
shed?” The question flooded my head and drained out my mouth. My eyes darted back
and forth between them. “Are evil spirits really after me?”

“I’m sorry. So
sorry.” Chandra fumbled with her words, worry evident in her eyes. “I had no
clue. I really shouldn’t have mentioned your mother.”

Flashbacks of
the old wooden door came flooding back. Faint memories of what lurked inside
the cottage began to emerge from deep in my mind. The richness of Darla’s
bottles that held her homeopathic remedies glistened inside the shop so long
ago. The smell of cinnamon, sage, dill, and thyme entangled and wrapped around
me as if I were five years old again. Darla’s laughter filled the inside of my
head as though she was standing there helping someone with a bad case of gout.

“I’ve got just
the cure for what ails you,” she’d say and then grab a couple bottles,
combining them into one without even looking at a book or her journal.

Was I expected
to move here and take over Darla’s old shop? Was this why I had become so good
at making remedies? I eased myself onto the bench again.

Stunned, I just
sat there while everyone around me yelled. There were so many questions to be
answered. But one stuck out in my head. Why did Darla keep this from me?

“Are you
beginning to remember, June?” Isadora kneeled down between my legs. “June,
dear?”

“I told you she
was weak,” Ann spoke with a voice full of hatred and her fat finger jabbed at
me.

“Shut up!” I
jumped to my feet and pushed Isadora out of the way. I shoved Ann so hard, she fell
into the wisteria vine and the purple petals fell around her. “And you blew up
my shed! You could’ve killed me!”

“If I wanted to
kill you, I would have!” She brushed the fallen flowers off her clothes. “Go
home. You don’t belong here.”

I should go
home, but now I questioned where that was. Deep down, I knew I belonged
here
.
Even if it was just to find out why Darla had kept Whispering Falls a secret. And
what knew about my dad. But I drew back my fist anyway. This woman was going to
get
  it. “I’ll show you the meaning of hurt!”

The slamming of
car doors wasn’t going to stop me from opening a can of whoop ass on Ann.

“June?” Jordan and
Oscar Park had gone unnoticed when they pulled up behind the Green Machine and
stood next to Ann. “Are you okay?”

Turning at the
sound of their voices, I took my fist out of the air and put it back down to my
side where it belonged.

“I want to press
charges!” Ann stomped her foot like a child. “She harassed me. She even
threatened me!”

“Of course you
do.” Chandra stood nose to nose with Ann. “You want to sue anyone and everyone
that crosses you. I was a witness,
you
harassed
her
first!”

“That is enough!”
Isadora’s voice boomed over everyone. Then she said in a softer voice to Jordan
and Oscar, “Everything is fine. Go on back to the shop, Ann.”

She shooed Ann
back down the street toward Mystic Lights, and pointed Chandra back to A
Cleansing Spirit Spa, leaving us alone with Oscar and his uncle.

Jaw clenched, Oscar
didn’t take his eyes off me. He knew something was wrong. There was a magical
bond between us. We each knew when the other one was in trouble, and this was
one of those times.

I was glad he
showed up. He was the only thing in my life that
did
make sense. My
entire existence was questionable. I’d even go as far as saying that Mr. Prince
Charming was questionable—he was far from a normal cat.

“Izzy, this is
my uncle, Jordan Parks.” Oscar turned the attention away from me. He was good
at doing that when I got myself in hot water, and I’d say that
me
about
to punch Ann was dipping my toe in hot water. “I was telling him about the
position you offered me.”

“I wanted to see
for myself.” Jordan planted his hand on his holster and looked around. He
didn’t seem too impressed with the unique village. “I think we should talk
about putting Whispering Falls under the protection umbrella of Locust Grove since
you are such a small community.”

“That wouldn’t
work.” She was on a mission and it showed. “Oscar will have to live in Whispering
Falls if he takes the job. He’s a big boy, Mr. Park. I think he can decide for
himself.”

There was an
undeniable tension brewing between them. A gate rattled in the distance catching
my attention. A top hat peeked out of the Gathering Grove Tea Shop, but quickly
slipped back behind the door as it shut.

What had been
crystal blue skies had darkened to a dull grey.

Jordan shrugged,
and walked back to his cruiser. He called over his shoulder, “Let’s go, Oscar.”

Oscar looked at
Izzy. “I’ll take the job.”

“What?” Jordan
stopped dead in his tracks. “We need to talk about this.”

“I’m not ten
years old anymore. Izzy is right.” Oscar’s determination didn’t falter. “I can
decide for myself. I like it here.”

“Wonderful news.”
Isadora clasped her hands together. The grey clouds parted to make way for the
brightest sun I’d ever seen.

Chapter
Five

The closer I got
to Locust Grove, the more I wanted to turn around and go back to explore
Whispering Falls. Granted, nothing went right while I was there, but Madam
Torres got my wheels turning with all her “someone’s out to get you” talk, and
memories that were flooding back. I was on a mission to find out what they knew
about Darla and what nasty, mean-spirited Ann knew about my dad. Not to
mention, those Karima sisters. I felt my head and I didn’t seem feverish, so I
couldn’t be hallucinating. Plus I remembered! I had been there before, but
when? And why did Darla never take me back? Did it have something to do with my
dad? Or his death?

As far as I
knew, my father and Jordan Park were partners on the police force, and during a
traffic stop gone horribly wrong. Jordan and my father had gotten shot. Jordan’s
crazy looking scar on his abdomen proved it.

Meow, meow
. Mr. Prince
Charming tapped my hand with his nose. He tried everything he could to get me
to pet him while I drove, but I kept my hands on the steering wheel instead.
Deep in thought, I tried to figure out the parts of my life I thought I knew.

He finally gave
up and batted at the turtle charm.

What did Gerald
mean by the turtle charm meaning “
protection?”

“Have you been
protecting me all these years?” Reaching over, I gave him a good scratch under
his chin, one of his favorite spots. He didn’t answer in his usual cat way.

Not a moment too
soon, we pulled into my driveway.

Seeing Oscar’s
car parked in front of my house was a welcome sight. There were a lot of
questions that needed to be answered. I never gave Isadora a definitive answer
about me moving to Whispering Falls. According to Oscar, we were.

Since when did
we
become a package deal?

“Didn’t you love
Whispering Falls?” Oscar had already made it up to the Green Machine before I
had gotten out. “Right up your alley.”

“No! And that
woman burned down my shed.” Only ashes remained from my poor burnt down
chemical shop.

“What woman?”
His eyes bore with questions.

“Ann. She
admitted it.” That was another reason for me to go back and snoop around
Whispering Falls. Why in the world would they want to burn down my shed? Were
they desperate to get me there or did they want Darla’s remedies so bad they
would stop at nothing to get them?

“June, you were
in the shed mixing stuff when it blew up.” He crossed his arms. “You are saying
she hooked it up and blew it up?”

“No.” I shook my
head. Was it impossible for him to believe me? “The ingredients I was mixing
should not have exploded. And she admitted it. I don’t know how she did it, but
she did.” I stomped up to the porch.

Mr. McGurtle
cleared his throat from next door.

“Stop
eavesdropping!” I yelled across my herb garden. Although I couldn’t see him, he
was there. He was
always
there. I gestured to Oscar. “Come on.”

Mr. Prince
Charming jumped out of the car and run up the steps, ignoring the family of
possums that had taken residency under them.

“Really?” Oscar
shook his head, referring to the cat. “What good is he?”

“Mr. Prince
Charming doesn’t have killer instincts like most cats.” Holding the screen door
open with my foot, I unlocked the front door.