Be Careful What You Witch For (A Family Fortune Mystery) (5 page)

8

Diana and I flew out her front door and got in the Jeep.

“I thought we had to be there by ten. I got up early. . . .” Seth let his complaints trail off when he saw our faces.

“We lost track of time,” I said.

“We’re really late,” Diana said.

Seth slumped in the backseat and plugged in his earbuds.

“Bethany is freaking out,” Diana said. “She says it feels like the whole festival is at the booth. Most of them are asking about Rafe and whether it’s true that he was murdered. The few real customers are getting irritated at the long line.” Diana chewed on her thumbnail. She was a consummate professional, but the weeks leading up to the festival had taxed her organizational skills. I knew she was mentally beating herself up for leaving Bethany to fend for herself. I also knew better than to point out that the festival had been fantastic, with the highest attendance in ten years.

“What about your other assistant?”

“Skye hasn’t shown up and Bethany can’t reach her by phone.”

I focused on the road and drove as fast as I could.

When we arrived, I had barely stopped the Jeep before Diana jumped out and made her way to her booth. Seth and I followed with the dogs.

Bethany had not been exaggerating. The line leading up to Diana’s booth snaked past several other tables selling everything from pumpkin pies to wands to corn husk dolls. She pushed her way through the crowd to where Bethany, a blonde, plump, twenty-something, stood, trying to placate a customer and get the line to move along.

Diana stepped in and took over. I told Seth we should spread out along the table and gestured at the next in line to move forward.

“Dude, I just got here last night. I don’t know anything about Rafe Godwin,” Seth said to the fourth person who had quizzed him. He handed the man his bag and said, “That’ll be twelve dollars.”

After about half an hour of all four of us taking orders and sending the merely curious on their way, the line had died down to just a couple of people who were still deciding on their purchases.

“Bethany, I’m so sorry you were dealing with that all alone.” Diana pushed a handful of curls off her forehead.

“No prob. They were here when I came to open up—it would have been crazy no matter what. I just got worried when you didn’t show up on time. You’re never late.” Bethany made change for a lady who bought a lapis bracelet.

Seth sidled down to our end of the table. “I think you should take this one,” he said, his face reddening.

Diana nodded and slid down to the middle-aged woman.

“What’s up?” I said to Seth, and nodded at the customer.

“Nothing,” he said. He leaned toward me and whispered, “She wants something to stabilize her hormones.” He scrunched his nose. “I don’t want to know about her hormones.”

I looked away so he wouldn’t see my smile.

After the menopausal customer left, Diana and I straightened up the booth, which looked like a windstorm had blown through. We went to the back of the stall to get more stock.

“Hi. Can I help you?” Seth’s voice sounded deeper and I turned to see who had caused the modulation.

“I work here. I’m late.” The girl brushed past him to put her bag under the table.

Seth’s mouth hung open. I tried to think of a subtle signal to tell him to shut it before he started drooling, when the girl stood up and turned toward him. He clamped his jaw shut.

“I’m Skye,” she said.

Seth nodded and pretended to be interested in the crystal balls on the table.

“I’m Seth.”

Skye spotted Diana and me and came to the back of the booth. When she approached, I realized what had Seth so tongue-tied. She had bright blue eyes in a delicately perfect face framed by dark wavy hair. She was mesmerizing—I couldn’t stop staring.

“Diana, I’m so sorry I’m late. My mom insisted I go to church with her.” Her words came out in a rush. “She’s been acting like a lunatic since Rafe died. She hopes I’ll leave the coven now.” I was surprised when, rather than scolding her for leaving everyone in the lurch, Diana pulled her into a hug.

“These past couple of days must have been awful for you. I’m sorry I didn’t call.” Diana patted her back and released her.

“Clyde, this is Skye. You might have met her the night Rafe . . .”

I put out my hand to shake hers. I remembered her now, but meeting her in the woods in the dark had not prepared me to see her during the day. A quick glance at Seth showed a person not ready to meet her under any circumstances.

Seth turned reluctantly away when a customer tapped him on the shoulder.

“Diana, since Seth and Skye are here to help Bethany, maybe we can wander the festival for a few minutes?”

She cocked her head at me and seemed to understand immediately what I wanted to do.

“Good idea. Let’s go.” Diana turned to Bethany and said, “Call me if it gets crazy again. We won’t go far.”

I glanced at Seth, who seemed to be standing very tall.

Once we got a few booths away, I said, “What’s up with Skye?”

Diana nodded and sighed. “I hired her for the festival because Rafe recommended her. She’s been working on some sort of project with him and she’s a computer expert. Do you remember meeting her mother at the ceremony? Bea? She’s short, thin, and always wears her hair in a bun?”

I slowly nodded as I ran the ceremony through my mind. “She didn’t seem very happy to be there that night. Sort of the way my mother would act if I had forced her to come.”

“That’s not too far off. Bea doesn’t approve of Skye’s choice but came to the ceremony as a show of support or interest. Anyway, the fact that someone died right in the middle of the ceremony hasn’t made matters any better.”

“Is Skye old enough to join a coven? I thought you had to be eighteen?”

“She turned eighteen a few months ago. Her parents weren’t happy when her first act as a legal adult was to leave their church and join the coven. They blamed Rafe and things got pretty ugly for a while there. When Bea asked if she could come to the ceremony I thought it was a good sign, that maybe she had developed an open mind.”

“Sounds like maybe you were wrong.”

Diana nodded and chewed on her thumb. I knew she worried about Rafe’s coven and some of the accusations that had been swirling over the years. Rafe liked to run things his own way and some in the Wiccan community felt he was too heavy-handed. Even within his coven there were detractors. Now that he was dead, the group would have to figure out if it would stay together or split up. Diana had avoided covens because she didn’t like the politics and she didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize her business. She would never admit it but she was just too independent to join a group that would dictate how she should practice her religion.

“We need to pick up some gossip,” I said. “This is the last day of the festival and then our chance disappears to find out what people are saying about Rafe.”

Diana nodded. “I doubt I’ll pick up any useful tidbits. Everyone here knows how close we were.”

“I think we should split up,” I said. “You ask around and see what people saw at the ceremony. You know everyone who was there. I’ll try to find out what stories are circulating. I never thought I would say this, but we sort of need Aunt Vi.”

“I’ll start with Ember and Bronwyn. They’re from Traverse City area. They don’t have any connections to the drama in Grand Rapids.”

I took a deep breath. “I’ll go find Lucan Reed. If he was arguing with Dylan, he might be more likely to talk to me than you.”

“See you back here in an hour?”

I nodded and watched her melt into the crowd.

9

I found Lucan at his booth. He made masks and costumes for rituals and ceremonies, as well as cauldrons and wands. There was a large red head with black horns growing out of it that would have terrified me if I didn’t know that it was used during Beltane to symbolize the god of fertility. I had seen pictures in Diana’s books. There were more scary-looking masks and some robes as well as metal cauldrons and wands.

He stood when I approached, rising in front of me like a Highland warrior. He was well over six feet tall and very broad. His hair was wild, long, and dark red. He had it tied back in a piece of rawhide string. His full beard obscured most of his face. I felt myself flinch when his hand shot out. Realizing what he wanted, I took it and shook.

“You’re Diana’s friend,” he said in a deep rumble.

“Yes, we met the other night at the ceremony in the woods.”

His face pulled down and he looked away. “What a nightmare that was.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. You and Rafe were close?”

He shook his head. “Not as close as you might think. We worked together, but that was it. Still, it’s hard to watch someone die like that and not be able to help.”

“Did you know he was allergic to peanuts?”

“I’d have to be living under a rock not to know he was allergic. Every time he put something in his mouth he announced he couldn’t eat peanuts.”

“Have you heard anything more about what might have happened?”

He picked up a small knife and a long piece of wood and began to work on what would probably become a wand. “Aren’t you dating that cop?”

I felt my face get hot. How did he know? If he knew, then lots of people knew. I hesitated.

“Excuse me?”

“That lanky cop. The young one.” He examined my face, and I found myself wanting to defend my right to date anyone I wanted.

I was too relieved, however, to argue with him. “That’s Tom Andrews. We’re friends. Not dating.”

His eyebrows quirked upward. “Well, Tom Andrews has already been sniffing around, asking if I saw anything.”

“Well, did you? Hear or see anything?”

Lucan set the wand and the small knife on the table. “I don’t want any trouble with cops or their girlfriends. Why should I talk to you?”

I chose to ignore the girlfriend comment. “Because I’m Diana’s friend and if you knew Rafe at all, you’ll know how close they were. She’s devastated and needs some answers so she can deal with this.”

He let out a breath of air, and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I like Diana. She’s a great person. Maybe not the best judge of character, but she’s great.”

“Whose character?” I didn’t know why this guy was getting under my skin but I found myself annoyed by his assumptions, and I sensed he was hiding something.

“You just said she was close to Rafe. She’s either a terrible judge of character or he was a much better actor than I gave him credit for.” Lucan had picked up the wand again. If he kept on with his whittling, he’d end up with a toothpick.

I took a deep breath and waited. Lucan cleared his throat. He set his knife down again. “Rafe had alienated quite a few people in the coven. He ran it like he was our fearless leader and we should all just do whatever he said. Wiccans tend to like to do things their own way.” Lucan grinned. “We aren’t exactly conformists.”

“You aren’t saying that anyone in the coven would want him dead, are you?”

“All I’m saying is Rafe had an inflated idea of his own place in this world. He said he was descended from five generations of Wiccans and since no one else had that kind of heritage, we should all listen to him. That alone was debatable since many people say Wicca only began in the 1950s. He acted like some kind of chosen one, and that can get on a person’s nerves after a while. I would imagine he acted like that with other people as well. Has Diana talked to her brother?”

“I think she’s pretty aware of how her brother feels,” I said.

Lucan shook his head and laughed. “I doubt it.”

“I could really use your help if you know something.”

His mouth drew into a thin line behind his mustache. “Talk to Skye Paxton and Morgan Lavelle. They both knew Rafe pretty well. And tell Diana to listen to her brother.” Lucan turned away as a customer approached the booth. He made a big show of telling them about all of his merchandise. I took the hint and nodded at him as I walked away.

*   *   *

Lucan’s comment about
Diana listening to her brother reminded me I needed to talk to my own sibling. I walked to the parking lot for some privacy. The rustling and chattering of squirrels and chipmunks gathering food for winter, and the exuberant color beginning to fade as I crunched through the leaves made me smile and I wondered how I’d stayed away from Crystal Haven for so many years. I steeled myself for the task at hand. I couldn’t go any longer without talking to Grace. She was expecting Seth to return on the train that evening. I took a few deep breaths, turned on my phone, and scrolled to her name.

“Grace Proffit.” Her voice was crisp, businesslike.

“Grace, it’s Clyde.”

“Clyde? Hi. Your number came through as private. How are you?”

“I’m fine. I’m calling about Seth. . . .”

“Don’t you have his number? He’s out of town right now. He’ll be home tonight if you want me to give him a message.” I heard honking in the background, and Grace’s voice faded in and out.

“Are you at home?” I raised my voice and put my hand to my other ear as if that would improve the connection.

“No, I’m walking to an appointment uptown, I don’t have much time.”

“Listen, Grace, Seth is here. With me.”

“What? I thought you said Seth was with you. Wait. I’m ducking into a coffee shop, it’ll be quieter.”

For once not jealous of Grace, I leaned against my Jeep fender and listened to the few remaining leaves whispering in the trees.

“What did you say?” The connection was clear now with no background noise.

“Seth is here with me. He and Tuffy showed up on my doorstep last night.”

The line was silent.

“Grace?”

She cleared her throat. “Is he okay?” Her voice cracked.

“Yes, he’s fine.”

“He’s supposed to be upstate with friends. What’s he doing there?”

I shrugged even though she couldn’t see me. “He showed up after hitching a ride with friends and taking a bus. I haven’t pieced it all together yet. He’s working at Diana’s booth at the fall festival right now and flirting with the prettiest girl in town.”

“I knew something was bothering him but I’ve been so busy with these disasters at work. It’s not a good time to be working for an investment company. . . .” I imagined her with her hand to the bridge of her nose, her classic stressed-out posture.

“Grace, I don’t think anything is
wrong,
but something is up and I think I can get it out of him. He’s welcome to stay for a while, if you and Paul are okay with that. Maybe he can stay for a week or so until we get it figured out.”

“I would normally hop on a plane and drag him back home, but something’s been bothering him lately. Ever since he came home from the summer, actually.”

Since she’d
never
hopped on a plane to come to Crystal Haven, I saw this for the empty threat it was.

“Why don’t you let me figure out what’s going on? If you can deal with his school, we’ll take it from there.”

“Yeah, okay. I know he trusts you, Clyde. Maybe he’ll open up to you. But let me know if he needs anything.”

“I’ll call you in a couple of days.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to him tonight when I get home from work. And, Clyde, thank you.”

I clicked
END CALL
and took another deep breath. That had gone way better than I expected. I was surprised she was letting him stay. Either she was really distracted by whatever was happening at work or she was very worried about him.