Rose and Helena Save Christmas: a novella (7 page)

“Hasn’t that horse already left the barn?” Helena asked.

Taylor glanced at Helena and frowned. “There’s something else. I wasn’t sure about it before so I didn’t say anything, but I have to tell you now.”

“Oh, dear. What is it?” Rose asked, her apprehension clear.

Taylor gave Neely Kate an apologetic look. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but I don’t think you have a paranormal gift.”

Neely Kate looked at Helena, then back at Taylor, putting her hands on her hips. “How can you say that? I can see ghosts. Helena’s standing there plain as day and Rose can’t see her.”

“No, you see
a
ghost. Helena. And there’s some history that goes along with seeing Helena.”

“What does
that
mean?” Neely Kate asked, her eyebrows pinching together.

“Aside from me, Helena is only visible to people who are in mortal danger.”

“Oh, crappy doodles!” Rose sucked in a breath and covered her mouth with her hand.

Even Neely Kate looked a tiny bit less excited than she had before. “Surely there’s gotta be another explanation.”

Taylor shook her head.

“Well, who was the last person to see her before me?” Neely Kate asked.

Taylor took in a deep breath and blew it out. “Madame Serafine.”

Chapter Eight

Taylor waited for her words to sink in. Neely Kate’s expression went from disbelief to confusion, and finally a tiny sliver of fear crept in.
 

“Oh, Rose!” Neely Kate exclaimed. “Ronnie’s gonna be madder than a hornet if I end up dead and don’t have a chance to explain why I put all that baby furniture on layaway after he told me not to.”

“He might be so upset about you dying that he won’t get mad about the layaway,” Helena pointed out.

Rose patted Neely Kate’s arm. “Stop that nonsense. Nobody’s dyin’.”

Taylor stared. Unbelievable. The woman’s life was in danger and she was more concerned that her husband might be angry about her putting furniture on layaway. “I have an idea.”

“Good,” Neely Kate said, “because Ronnie expressly told me not to decorate the nursery until we found out if we were having a boy or girl and since Rose won’t force a vision to tell me, that means he thinks I’m waitin’.” A guilty look crossed her face. “Especially since I promised him I wouldn’t.”

Rose gave her a hopeful smile. “Technically, you haven’t decorated the nursery, so I think you’ll get off on a technicality.”

Neely Kate nodded, looking happier. “Oh. That’s true.”

“But some bad guy is still trying to kill her,” Helena reminded them.
 

“How are you gonna fix all of this?” Rose asked, turning her attention back to Taylor. “I can usually see a way out when there’s trouble, but this is a huge mess.”

“I don’t know how to fix it all,” Taylor said, “but I have an idea that might get Neely Kate out of the killer’s sights.”

“Okay,” Rose said. “That’s a good start. What’s the plan?”

“The killer didn’t find the bag in your room, so he tried to steal your purse, right?” Taylor asked.
 

Rose and Neely Kate nodded.

“He’s out there,” Taylor said. “Somewhere in front of the hotel. I could feel him watching me when I went to my car.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “He’s watchin’ us now?”

“Yes. So I want you to go shopping.”

Rose put her hands on her hips. “Well, that’s the most ridiculous plan I’ve ever heard.”

“You
did
wanna buy a new dress for tonight,” Neely Kate said.

Rose glared at her friend. “That was before we knew someone was tryin’ to kill you over diamonds you’re not smugglin’. Between dead psychics, lazy cops, and thievin’ ghosts, I’m about done with this so-called vacation. This city is worse than Henryetta.”

“She’s got a point,” Helena said.

Taylor held a hand up. “Let me explain. I want you to go shopping and let him steal your purse this time.”

“No way!” Neely Kate said. “I love that purse.”

“It’s not even a good fake,” Helena argued.
 

Neely Kate glared at her. “Keep it up and I’ll unfriend you.”

“I’m just saying,” Helena grumbled.

Rose scrunched her brow. “Why would you want Neely Kate to let them steal her purse?”

“Simple,” Taylor said. “We put the gris-gris bag that Madame Serafine gave you back together and put it in your purse. The smuggler steals it, realizes it’s not the bag of diamonds, and hopefully starts looking somewhere else for his merchandise.”

“Oh!” Rose perked up. “That
is
a good idea.”

“That’s just the first part,” Taylor said. “For the second part of the plan, Helena and I will tail you from some distance—close enough to keep eyes on you but far enough away that the smuggler doesn’t notice me. When he steals the purse, I’ll get pictures and we’ll go after him.”

“I’m not going after him,” Helena said. “Not in this outfit.”

“Then take off the three-sizes-too-small naughty Santa suit and get in decent clothes,” Taylor said. “
And
shoes. If I see those Gene Simmons dragon boots one more time, I’m going to shoot you.”

Rose cringed. “For the record, I’m glad I can’t see her.”

“Fine,” Helena said and flapped her arms around for a couple of seconds. “What about this?”

Sweat pants and tennis shoes would have been optimal, but at least the camo gear complete with black face paint was something Taylor had seen before. And it had the added advantage of containing no spandex.

“Oh, that’s great,” Neely Kate said. “I sure wish I could change outfits and makeup like that. Think of all the time it would save.”

“She’s dead,” Rose said. “I don’t think she has to worry about time.”

Neely Kate sighed. “Someone is going to owe me a new purse when this is over…unless I could keep one of those.” She stared wistfully at the glistening diamonds.
 

“Neely Kate!” Rose rolled her eyes. “A woman was killed over those pieces of rock, and besides, what are you gonna do with it? It’s not like you can wear a ten-carat diamond in Henryetta. No one’s gonna believe it’s real.”

Neely Kate pouted. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“I’m more worried this will blow up in our faces and we’ll be stuck here instead of being home for Christmas. Aren’t you supposed to take one of your new
Chopped
gourmet dishes to your granny’s for Christmas dinner? You said you planned to introduce them to culture.”

Neely Kate’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought about that. Oh no! We have to fix this or Christmas is gonna be ruined.”

“No one is going to ruin Christmas,” Taylor said, “especially a criminal.”

“What about her wallet?” Rose asked. “If he steals her ID and credit cards, that creates a whole other problem.”

Taylor’s mind whirled for a couple seconds, then she latched onto a solution. “Hit a few clothes shops, keeping the purse close. Stop at the nearest coffee shop with outdoor seating. Pull your wallet out to go order and leave the purse in the chair across from Rose.”

“You’re sure he’ll take it, even if I’m sitting there?” Rose asked.

“He tried to wrestle it from me before,” Neely Kate said. “If he can run by and grab it that would be easier than what he tried the first time.”

“Look,” Taylor said, “maybe it won’t work. But it’s worth a try to get the target off of Neely Kate.”

Rose nodded. “Then we go shopping. Neely Kate, you better take everything out of that purse that you can’t replace.”

Neely Kate grabbed her purse and pulled out her cell phone, which she slipped into her pants pocket. “The rest is okay—ChapStick, lotion, aspirin, a pen, a can of Vienna sausage, and two packets of crackers—that sounds normal enough, right?”

“For a pregnant woman, yeah,” Taylor said as she tied Neely Kate’s gris-gris bag back up with the string. “Put this gris-gris bag in there and let’s get this show on the road.

“What about this?” Rose waved her hand at the trashed room. “If this was an ordinary circumstance, we would have reported this to the hotel manager and called the police. But after this morning, I wasn’t looking for more socializing with the police.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Taylor said. “Let’s just get out of here. Take the Do Not Disturb sign off your door, and housekeeping will find it and report it while you’re gone. You won’t be here to deal with any of it. If the smuggler steals your purse, then you can come back here and report both at the same time.”

“Won’t the police check the security cameras and see we came back?”

“Yes,” Taylor said, “but I know someone who can handle that end of things. I’ll make the call as soon as we get outside.”

Rose grabbed her purse and pulled it over her shoulder. “Then I guess it’s time to go get robbed. Which seems so wrong after all the time I spend trying to keep it from happening back home.” She shook her head as she walked out the door.

“Helena and I will go out the side door,” Taylor said, “but don’t worry, we will be watching.”

“We got this,” Neely Kate said, her enthusiasm back in full force. “Cheer up, Rose. We’re gonna catch a bad guy.”

“If we don’t get ourselves killed first,” Rose said as they piled into the elevator. “But if we do, maybe you can hang out with Helena.”

Chapter Nine

The girls had already shopped earlier, but Neely Kate’s short nap in the restaurant had invigorated her for a second round.

They found a clothing store, but Rose had a hard time distracting Neely Kate long enough to tuck several black dresses in the small dressing room. Shopping was limited in Henryetta, and she knew she’d need the dresses soon enough, even if she wasn’t ready to tell Neely Kate why.
 

Neely Kate said she was hungry for beignets, so they walked to Café du Monde, and during the entire stroll, the hair on the back of Rose’s neck stood on end. Taylor had said she felt as though she was being watched, and Rose felt the same way. But she kept her concerns to herself

Rose and Neely Kate picked an outdoor table, next to the wrought iron railing separating the restaurant seating from the sidewalk.

Neely Kate sat in a chair across from Rose, but looked uncertain. “This place has waitresses, so there goes Taylor’s plan for me to go inside and order. Do you think we should go somewhere else?”

“No, I think whoever wants the gris-gris bag is close. How about you go inside and go to the bathroom? I think that’ll work.”

“Okay,” the blonde said, digging her wallet out of her purse and handing it to Rose under the table. “Take this. I know our original plan was for me to carry it inside, but it’ll look strange if I take my wallet to the bathroom.”

“Good point.”

Neely Kate put her purse on the table, giving the bag a look of longing. “I still say someone’s gonna owe me for this.”

Rose leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. “Focus, Neely Kate. Christmas. Incarceration.”

She sighed. “Yeah. You’re right. If the waitress comes, get me a double order.”

“Okay.”

Neely Kate went inside to the restroom, and Rose became the nervous one. It seemed strange to encourage someone to steal Neely Kate’s purse, but if she was part of this crazy plan, she might as well help it along. She suspected the potential thief would be more likely to enact his crime if she wasn’t paying attention to the bag. She needed to check to see if she had any calls from Bruce Wayne, her business partner in her recently split-off landscaping business. He’d gotten another lead on some landscaping equipment and had planned to check it out. She pulled out her phone and gave it her attention, trying not to watch Neely Kate’s bag out of the corner of her eye.
 

She didn’t have to wait long. Within less than a minute, a man in a dark hooded sweatshirt ran up, reaching over the short wrought iron wall. He snatched the purse and took off before Rose had a chance to realize what was happening.
 

Another figure ran past seconds behind the purse-snatcher, chasing him down the crowded sidewalks. Rose jumped out of her seat and watched Taylor fight her way through the tourists and shoppers. Neely Kate hurried over. “Did he steal it?”

“Yeah. And Taylor took off after him.”

“I hope she catches him. I really like that purse.”

“I hope she catches him so we can figure out who killed Madame Serafine.”

Neely Kate scowled. “Well, that
too
. Obviously.”

The waitress came over to take their order and Rose didn’t see any sign of Taylor.
 

“Let’s order your beignets to go and wait to see if Taylor comes back with your purse as well as some answers.”

The two women sat down and placed their order. Rose became anxious when Taylor hadn’t returned in ten minutes.
 

“Maybe we should call her,” Neely Kate said, licking powdered sugar off her fingers.

“We should save that as a last resort. What if she followed him and she’s hiding to see what he does? We don’t want to tip them off that she’s there with a ringin’ or a vibratin’ phone.”