Death Rides a Pony, page 7
Her heart skipped a beat. Almost involuntarily, she started to move toward him.
‘Hope—’ Dylan’s voice was husky.
There was a loud grinding noise, punctuated by a series of high-pitched screeches. Then came one giant metallic clank, followed by silence. The music was gone, and the yellow glow had dimmed once more.
Hope frowned. ‘That didn’t sound good.’
‘It certainly didn’t,’ Dylan agreed. ‘I’m no expert on the inner workings of carousels, but it’s pretty clear that something broke.’
‘I hope not. Or least I hope it’s something that can be easily fixed. The carousel is one of the main attractions of the festival. Your dad is going to be awfully upset. He was counting on it for good ticket sales.’
‘Well, I think he’s going to have to start counting on something else instead.’ It was Dylan’s turn to chuckle. ‘Luckily, Madam Bailey, Fortune Teller appeared to be drawing in keen ticketholders like the proverbial moths to the flame – or, in this case, crystal ball.’
Hope’s frown deepened.
‘How’s that crystal ball working out for you, by the way? Larkin told me that she got it from—’
‘And you can tell Larkin that she can take it right back,’ Hope snapped. With considerable annoyance, she turned away and began walking briskly in the opposite direction.
‘Wait!’ Dylan called. ‘Where are you going?’
‘I’m going to check on the carousel. You and Larkin can make all the cute little fortune-telling jokes that you want, but I actually care about the success of the festival. It means a great deal to your father and Gram, so it means a great deal to me.’
She thought that her rebuke would irritate him, but to her surprise and further annoyance, when he caught up to her, Dylan was smiling.
‘Has anyone ever told you that you’re sweet?’ he said.
Hope scowled at him.
‘And sexy when you’re mad.’
She spun around. ‘What!’
The smile became a rakish grin. ‘Yup, damn sexy.’
A tetchy response bubbled on her tongue, but in the same moment, Megan came wandering up the row toward them.
‘Oh, I’m so glad that I found you, Hope. Somewhere along the way, I got turned about, and then I couldn’t figure out what direction the booth was in—’ She stopped abruptly when she noticed Dylan. ‘This is a surprise. Since when are you back from California?’
‘Since this morning. And, whoa! You weren’t kidding, Hope. That is some dress you’re wearing, Megan.’
‘Don’t you dare laugh,’ Megan warned him. ‘It’s been a wretchedly long and hot evening, and I’m about one minute away from peeling this miserable thing off and walking around naked.’
‘Naked, did you say?’ The grin resurfaced. ‘Go right ahead. Don’t let me stop you.’
Megan rolled her eyes at him, then she turned back to Hope. ‘I have nothing to report. No scarf and no Davis. I didn’t run into anybody at all, so it didn’t matter that I don’t actually know what Davis looks like.’
‘We didn’t run into anybody, either,’ Hope told her. ‘But did you hear those noises that came from the carousel a little while ago? At least, I think they were from the carousel, based on the lights and music that went with them.’
Megan nodded. ‘The carousel was my guess, too. When I couldn’t find the way back to the booth, I figured that I should head toward the carousel to see what was causing all the commotion.’
Hope nodded back at her, and they once more turned in the direction of the dim yellow glow. Dylan went with them. At first, they had to tread carefully in the dark, trying to avoid stumbling over loose corners of plastic sheeting on the ground and power cables running between booths, but the closer they got to the carousel and its accompanying illumination, the easier their journey became. Although they heard an occasional voice off in the distance, they saw no one.
‘How quickly things can change,’ Dylan said. ‘When I first came here this afternoon, the place was jammed to the gills, with barely enough space to lift an elbow, and now only a few hours later, it’s as empty as a graveyard.’
‘That shows how little you know,’ Megan remarked.
He looked at her questioningly.
‘Graveyards aren’t empty,’ Hope said. ‘You just can’t see the inhabitants.’
Dylan raised an amused eyebrow. ‘Can you see them?’
Hope didn’t answer. They had reached the carousel. It was shut down for the night. The main lights were dark. The yellow glow came from the decorative row of bulbs that lined the platform on which the animals stood. There was no sign of movement. As far as Hope could tell, they were alone.
‘How odd,’ she mused. ‘I could have sworn that this was where those noises came from. It sounded as though the carousel was running and then malfunctioned. Shouldn’t there be somebody here? Who turned it on and off?’
Dylan chortled. ‘Maybe it was your graveyard ghosts.’
A tetchy response once again bubbled on Hope’s tongue, but it faded almost as quickly as it had arisen. Her attention was concentrated on the carousel, and she began to circle slowly around it, looking for any indication that it might be broken. At first glance, nothing appeared to be wrong. But she was no more of an expert on the inner workings of carousels than Dylan, and if some part of the mechanism had failed – as the grinding and screeching and metallic clank suggested – Hope realized that she probably wouldn’t be able to see it. She deliberated whether to report the incident to Morris that evening or wait until the morning. She didn’t like to bother him so late, but if it turned out that a repair was necessary, he would want to be aware of it as soon as possible.
‘I keep asking but not getting an answer,’ Dylan said, as he and Megan trailed after Hope. ‘Who is Davis?’
Megan shook her head. ‘I don’t know much more than you do. From what I understand, he is Rosemarie’s newest love interest.’ She laughed lightly. ‘Was that a sigh of relief, Dylan? Were you concerned that a wolf other than yourself was prowling at Hope’s door?’
Hope didn’t hear his reply. Her feet had stopped, and her eyes were staring in horror.
‘Dylan …’
Although it came out as no more than a ragged whisper, Dylan was next to her in an instant.
‘What is it, Hope? What’s wrong?’
She struggled to speak. ‘That … That is …’ She pointed toward a body on the carousel. ‘That is Davis.’
SEVEN
Davis was lying beside an ivory pony with a flaming orange mane and a gilded saddle. He was twisted on his back, one leg partially bent and the other stretched out straight as though he had been kicking. Both of his arms were raised, with his hands directed toward his throat. There was something wrapped around his neck that he appeared to have been clutching at. His eyes were wide and bulging, and his mouth was gaping open, leaving his distended tongue dangling. It was a gruesome sight.
In one swift movement, Dylan hurdled the short protective fence that surrounded the carousel and sprang up on to the platform. He hastened toward Davis to check for signs of life, but Hope didn’t need him to confirm what was appallingly obvious: Davis was dead.
‘I’ll contact the police,’ Dylan said.
The words he spoke into his phone were a jumble to Hope. Her ears didn’t hear. Her mind didn’t focus. Her eyes didn’t blink. They just continued to stare in horror at the grotesque figure before her.
There was a moan and a rustle close by.
‘Hope!’ Dylan shouted. ‘Watch out for Megan! She’s about to—’
In a muddled sort of slow motion, Hope turned and found Megan in her petal-pink ball gown swooning beside her. She reached over and caught hold of Megan’s shoulders just as she began tumbling to the ground.
Megan gazed at her in confusion for a moment, then her senses steadied and her feet firmed.
‘Oh, thanks, Hope. Sorry for almost collapsing on you. A combination of the heat and this dress, I guess. I couldn’t catch my breath. I saw that man, and …’ Megan’s hands went to her throat, the same as Davis. ‘There was no air.’
‘Everybody all right?’ Dylan called to them.
Hope responded with a nod. She was having difficulty catching her own breath.
Still conversing with someone on his phone, Dylan knelt next to Davis for a closer examination. The person on the other end was asking questions, and Dylan was answering. Hope caught snippets of him explaining the noises they had heard earlier and how exactly they had discovered the body.
When Dylan stood back up, he turned to Hope. ‘Nate wants to know what Davis’s surname is.’
Startled, it took Hope a second to reply. ‘It’s Scott. Davis Scott. You called Nate? Detective Nate?’
‘Of course. He’s the only cop I know in this city.’
Apparently, Nate heard the exchange and said something humorous, because Dylan laughed heartily into the phone.
Megan was thoughtful. ‘Is Detective Nate the one who used to make goo-goo eyes at Summer?’
It was Hope’s turn to laugh, albeit somewhat shakily. She was still unsettled by the sight of Davis. ‘Yes. When they first met, Nate seemed pretty keen on Summer.’
‘What happened?’
‘Nothing. That’s the problem. Nate is a bit shy, I think. And Summer has had too much of Shifty Gary on her plate with the pending divorce and the sale of their house—’ Hope stopped herself with a groan. ‘And now it will happen all over again.’
‘What will?’
‘Nate was giving Summer some time and space to deal with her separation from Gary. When he finds out that Davis is connected to Gary, he’ll just keep doing it. Nate will politely step back and stay out of the way when what Summer really needs is for him to step forward and get smack dab in her way.’
Nodding, Megan was about to respond, but Dylan – who had finished his phone call – spoke before she could.
‘How is Davis connected to Gary?’ he asked.
‘Davis is supposedly our realtor,’ Summer answered, walking toward them across an open stretch of grass. ‘Don’t be taken in by him, Dylan. If you’re in the market for a property in Asheville, sign up with any agent other than Davis Scott. The man is a slippery fish.’
There was an awkward silence from the group, but Summer didn’t seem to notice.
‘I thought that we were supposed to meet back at the booth,’ she said to Hope and Megan, spreading her hands questioningly. ‘I was there, and I waited for an eternity, but no one else ever returned. Finally, I went in search of you. Why are you over here?’
The awkward silence continued. Hope cleared her throat, trying to figure out a delicate way of pointing out the body on the carousel.
At the sound of a twig cracking under a shoe, they all turned to find another person heading across the grass in their direction.
‘Who is …’ Summer began, squinting at the approaching figure. There was a little gasp. ‘Good lord, is that Nate?’
Detective Nate Phillips recognized Summer at just about the same instant that she recognized him. His steps slowed as he rubbed his hands self-consciously over his brown hair, even though it was so closely cropped that there wasn’t much to be smoothed. He also made an effort to straighten his white button-down shirt. Both the shirt and his tan slacks were heavily wrinkled from a long day’s work. Nate had evidently not yet gone home that evening.
Hope and Megan exchanged a glance. Detective Nate might be keeping his distance from Summer, but he was clearly still interested in making a good impression on her.
Dylan was the first to speak, hailing Nate and remarking on the speed of his arrival.
‘You caught me at my desk,’ Nate explained, ‘so I got here sooner than I otherwise would have. I was staying late at the station to finish up reports.’
‘I do the same thing myself when I’m at the hospital,’ Dylan said. ‘My view has always been that it’s better to work into Friday evening than having to slog through it over the weekend – or, worse yet, carry it into next week.’
‘Exactly,’ Nate agreed. ‘And it looks as though I made the right choice, because now I’m going to have this on my hands.’
Dylan nodded. ‘No question about that. If you come up here, I’ll show you what we’ve got. I hopped the fence and then jumped up on to the platform, but there’s a gate around the opposite side that opens for the public – with a set of stairs – if you prefer.’
‘I’ll jump. Not a problem.’ As Nate approached the carousel, he genially greeted Hope, then Megan, and finally Summer, lingering on her with his warm, chocolate-brown eyes.
Hope and Megan exchanged another glance, this time adding a smile.
‘I don’t understand,’ Summer said to Nate, her hazel eyes lingering in return. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Dylan called me to report the dead man they found.’ He hurdled the fence. ‘Your sister said his name was Davis Scott.’
There was another gasp from Summer. This one was so loud that it nearly caused Nate to trip and fall on his way up to the platform.
Summer’s gaze snapped to Hope for confirmation. ‘Davis is dead? Where is he?’
Hope got no further than motioning toward the ivory pony with the flaming orange mane and gilded saddle. Summer instantly spun around and began hurrying toward it. There was no misreading her intention. She planned on joining Nate and Dylan on the carousel.
‘No, no, no!’ Nate shouted.
‘Stop her, Hope,’ Dylan enjoined.
Hope succeeded in grabbing Summer’s arm just before she tried to leap over the fence. It was probably a lucky thing, too. Nate – who wasn’t as tall as Dylan – hadn’t cleared it all that easily. Had Summer continued, she might have ended up both injured and embarrassed by the attempt.
‘You can’t come up here,’ Nate directed sharply.
The hazel eyes now glowered rather than lingered on him.
His tone lost some of its brusqueness. ‘It’s for your own safety,’ he told Summer. ‘And to protect the potential crime scene.’
‘Crime scene?’ she exclaimed.
Once more, Summer’s gaze snapped to Hope, but this time her sister could offer no confirmation, because she was equally startled by Nate’s remark.
‘Every unexplained death is always a potential crime scene,’ he expounded matter-of-factly, before turning his focus to Dylan and the body in front of them.
‘I don’t want to overstep,’ Dylan began to Nate. ‘This is your arena, not mine. But look at this spot where …’
As the two men bent down to examine whatever it was that Dylan had noticed, their voices fell to an inaudible level. Both Hope and Summer leaned against the fence, trying to get closer and hear the conversation, without success.
After a long minute, Megan gave a doleful sigh. ‘Looking back on it, I wish that we hadn’t been so dismissive of Rosemarie’s concerns. She told us that she had a bad feeling; clearly, she was right.’
Hope nodded in agreement. ‘Maybe we should have reported Davis as missing to the police. Maybe we could have prevented this.’
‘We couldn’t have prevented this,’ Summer said.
She spoke with such certainty that Hope and Megan turned to her with surprise.
‘We couldn’t have prevented it,’ she reiterated. ‘It wasn’t only Rosemarie who was right. You were right, too, Hope.’
‘I was?’
‘Yes. Remember when the Five of Coins came up in the reading at the boutique? You said that something about it didn’t feel right to you, as though it was pointing in another direction. We didn’t understand it at the time, but you were absolutely correct. Now it’s clear. The card was pointing toward the carousel. It was pointing toward Davis.’
Hope frowned.
‘It fits together perfectly,’ Summer continued with vigor. ‘Davis was entering the shop just as you were drawing the cards, so they easily could have been intended for him rather than me. And then there’s the number. The Five of Coins and five tickets required for the carousel. They match! Don’t say that it’s simply a coincidence, Hope, because you know that I don’t believe in coincidences.’
‘All right, but allow me to point out that our booth also requires five tickets.’
Although Hope offered it as evidence against her sister’s argument, Summer took it as further proof in support of her position.
‘Exactly! Three examples of five. It’s no secret the spiritual world loves things in triplicate. The universal power of three and all that.’
The frown deepened.
‘You told me,’ Summer went on, unabated, ‘that the Five of Coins indicates loss and despair, eviction and homelessness.’
‘Potential eviction and potential homelessness,’ Hope corrected her. ‘And it’s a pretty broad generalization—’
‘It’s not a generalization when it comes to Davis,’ Summer cut her off. ‘He’s a real estate agent. Or was a real estate agent,’ she amended. ‘Apartments and houses were his bread and butter, and the dark side of that is eviction and homelessness. There is no better card in the Tarot to represent Davis Scott and his slippery-fish ways than the Five of Coins.’
Hope wasn’t sure how to respond. She felt that she should continue to dispute her sister’s conclusions, but some of what Summer was saying was beginning to sound disturbingly accurate.
‘Which brings us to the second card that came up in the reading.’ Summer’s voice rose in triumph. ‘If the Five of Coins wasn’t meant for me, then neither was Death. Death was meant for Davis!’
Silence followed. Too much silence. Slowly and with some trepidation, Hope turned toward the carousel. She winced as she saw Dylan and Nate. They were no longer leaning over Davis’s body, engaged in examination and earnest discussion. They were now standing upright on the platform, gazing curiously at her and Summer. How much exactly they had heard – and comprehended – of the conversation wasn’t clear, but they had certainly caught enough to grab their attention.
‘Death was meant for Davis?’ Nate echoed after a moment.
‘Are you suggesting that you knew the man was going to die?’ Dylan said, his tone incredulous.
