Dom shushed the both of them. Lady sighed. “I followed that salamander into the woods. I’m… I’m next to that old bait shop. Do you know where that is?”

  “Of course I know where that is.” Dom sounded exasperated. “Can’t Destiny lead you back?”

  “I’m alone.”

  “You’re—” Dom groaned. “All right.” He hung up.

  Lady stared at her phone for a few seconds before putting it back in her pocket. She hoped that meant he was coming to get her. Her battery was getting low, so she didn’t much want to call him back and bug him about it.

  ***

  Dom came. When he did, he came alone. Most likely he had left the others behind to keep watch in case something happened. Lady had hoped he would bring someone along who might be more sympathetic. He was going to give her a hard time for getting lost. She was sure of it.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Dom asked, stepping out of the woods and onto the asphalt. He crossed his arms over his chest.

  Well, that hadn’t taken long. Lady directed her attention to Lion while she spoke, petting him idly. “We were out here waiting for something, right? I saw something and pursued it. Wasn’t that what I was supposed to do?”

  “You couldn’t wake up Destiny?” Dom wasn’t swayed. “I had to get her up on the way over here. She had no idea where you went.”

  “It all happened really fast.”

  “I thought you couldn’t see out here? You couldn’t see and you ran… well, through the woods, I assume.” He looked her up and down with a frown. She had sustained a skinned knee. She was fairly certain there would be a bruise there in an hour or so as well.

  “Like I said, it all happened really fast.” Lady was getting impatient. “Look, don’t you want to know what I saw?”

  Dom kept his arms crossed. It was hard to read his expression in the dark, but Lady doubted it was kind. “What did you see?” he asked, sounding almost disinterested.

  “There was a police cruiser. A ghostly one.” She shifted Lion into one arm and pointed to where it had been. “I think it was Lawrence’s. There was someone in the backseat, and then… Then someone ran up to it. I couldn’t tell who it was.”

  “Was it Lawrence?”

  “I just said I couldn’t tell who it was. Maybe it was Lawrence.” She turned to where the spectral car had been. “It vanished right after that. It wasn’t there for long, but… I was led here. It seems like something I was meant to see, right? What do you think it means?”

  “What do you think it means?” Dom prompted. “You’re the one who saw it.”

  “I think it means that we’re on the right track. Chad was murdered. I think he was dead before he got to that boat. I think…” Lady had considered the facts while she was waiting for Dom. She put some of them together now. “I think that he died of heat exhaustion, but I don’t think it happened on the boat.” It was unpleasant even to think about. “I think he was locked in the back of Lawrence’s cruiser. I think… I think he died there.”

  In the darkness, Lady saw Dom nod. It seemed he agreed with her. “Have any idea why?”

  “Not a clue,” Lady admitted. “But… I figure we need to tell someone about all this.” It wasn’t information she could just go to anyone with. It wasn’t anything solid. It wasn’t exactly proof of anything. That meant there was only one person she could go to. “I think we need to pay Conners a visit… But tomorrow. It’s kind of late right now. I should probably get home before Ms. Poole throws all my stuff out on the curb and changes the locks on the inn.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” Crispin asked as he pulled up to the curb in front of the Fisherman’s Inn. He seemed to be asking Lady specifically. Otsuya would be fine. She was a guest there, and Doyle hadn’t needed her tonight. She would have known if he did.

  No, Lady was the one in trouble here. She hadn’t told Ms. Poole she would be out so late, nor had she done regular check-ins. Worse than all that, she hadn’t even done the shopping she had promised to do.

  Crispin knew better than most how Ms. Poole could be when she was disappointed in someone. He was related to her. No doubt he had disappointed her once or twice.

  “I’ll be fine,” Lady said with a hand wave that expressed more confidence than she currently felt.

  “I can come with you and explain,” Crispin offered.

  “She’ll be fine,” Dom said, answering for her. “She said it herself. It’s late. Let’s get home.”

  “She’s probably not even awake,” said Otsuya. She was already getting out of the car.

  “It’ll be okay.” Lady still wasn’t sure she believed that, but she opened the car door and stepped out anyway. “See you tomorrow.”

  Crispin nodded. They had plans to go talk to Conners the next day. “I’ll text you when I’m on my way.”

  “Sounds good. ’Night, guys.” She shut the car door before she could change her mind about wanting some company. She walked to the front door of the inn without so much as a glance back.

  “Tonight went well, didn’t it?” Otsuya said with a smile. She still didn’t look the least bit concerned about what they might find when they opened the door.

  “We found out a lot, I guess,” Lady agreed distractedly. She could hear the car pulling away behind them. She stopped a few feet from the door. Already she could picture Ms. Poole waiting inside for her the way people waited up in movies. She would be sitting in a darkened corner and switch on a lamp just as Lady passed by her.

  Otsuya opened the door without hesitation. She headed inside and Lady followed. The interior was dark save for a lamp on the counter. Lady looked around. There was no sign of Ms. Poole that she could see. Of course, she wouldn’t be waiting up for her in here. If anything, she would be in the sitting room.

  The empty room was proof enough for Otsuya. “See?” she smiled back at Lady. “I’m going to bed. Goodnight.” She headed up the stairs, leaving Lady alone in the dark lobby.

  Lady looked toward the door to her room. It wasn’t far. She could head in there and go straight to bed, hoping Ms. Poole had just retired early and would never know she had come in late. That seemed unlikely.

  Lion kicked in Lady’s arms, forcing her to put him down. She dropped him to the floor and watched as he trotted off toward the dining room. Well, that made up Lady’s mind for her. She at least needed to check.

  Lady followed after Lion. She thought he was trying to keep her honest, but she had read a little too deeply into his behavior. He had just gone into the dining room to get to his food and water bowl.

  Lady sighed. She had already made up her mind. She continued on to the door of the sitting room and peered in.

  She released the breath she had been holding. No one was in there. She wouldn’t have to make excuses to Ms. Poole until the morning. That would give her time to perfect her story, at least. Maybe she could mitigate some of the trouble she was in.

  “Come on Lion,” Lady whispered as she passed him on her way back to the lobby.

  It was then that Ms. Poole cleared her throat.

  Lady stopped dead in her tracks and looked toward the source of the noise. Ms. Poole was indeed there. She was standing beside the front counter, wearing a black housecoat. She had the front pulled shut with her hands over what looked to be an ankle-length nightgown. Lady could see the coarse gray hem of it swaying a few inches below the bottom of the robe.

  “Hey,” said Lady, forcing a smile. She had second thoughts about the smile as soon as she did it. She was trying to feign innocence, and Ms. Poole wasn’t one to be taken in by that sort of thing. If anything, it was likely to only annoy her further.

  Ms. Poole didn’t say anything. Lady had expected a tongue lashing. This was worse somehow. She stood there very still, staring at Lady with those dark, impassive eyes of hers.

  “I was doing a ritual with my friends. It was about everything that happened at the library. He was definitely murdered. We found that out tonight. Well, I specifically found out that piece of information. It took longer than I thought it would, is all. It paid off, though! It definitely paid off.” Lady tried to really sell how much had been accomplished tonight and play up her part in it.

  Ms. Poole said nothing. She kept staring at Lady.

  “I didn’t have the chance to get to the store.” Lady sagged a bit where she stood, growing more and more self-conscious. “I’m sorry about that. Like, really sorry. I lost track of time, and… I’ll go tomorrow. I’ll definitely go tomorrow. I have to go down to the police station with Crispin, so…” Lady trailed off. Maybe she should have left out that last part. This wasn’t the time to spring that on her. The best time probably would have been in the morning, after she’d had time to sleep off some of her initial anger. She swallowed. “I’m sorry,” she amended, at a loss.

  Ms. Poole still said nothing. She stared a few seconds longer then abruptly turned on her heel and walked in the direction of her room. Lady stood where she was until she heard a door close. Ms. Poole had gone back to bed.

  Lady took a deep breath. She had stopped breathing for a little while there, apparently. “That went okay, right?” she asked quietly, looking down at Lion. “She’s not all that mad, right?”

  Of course, Lion didn’t have any answers for her. He headed for their own room. Lady sighed and followed, opening the door for him. She was exhausted, but she would be lucky if she got any sleep at all that night. Ms. Poole giving her the silent treatment was nerve-wracking. She felt like she was waiting for some kind of sucker punch. She wasn’t sure when it was coming, but she couldn’t have been more certain that it was.

  ***

  Lady did fall asleep. She was tired enough that it overrode her anxiety, apparently. She didn’t have any dreams, however, a fact that frustrated her. She was used to answers coming to her in dreams. “Seriously?” she asked Lion upon waking. “You’re not going to help me out here? Isn’t it about time for that?”

  Lion stretched and hopped out of bed. He left the room without a backwards glance at her, probably continuing on to the kitchen for some breakfast.

  Lady went ahead and got dressed for the day. Crispin had sent her a text, but it would still be about fifteen minutes before he arrived. It felt wrong to hole up in her room until then. She took a deep breath and proceeded to the kitchen. Ms. Poole was almost certainly up and cooking by now.

  The familiar smells and sounds of breakfast meat frying on the stovetop met Lady before she even turned the corner into the kitchen. Ms. Poole was indeed standing over the stove, a spatula in hand. She didn’t look up when Lady entered, but she saw her jaw set. She knew she was there.

  “I really am sorry that I didn’t check in. I didn’t mean to worry you or anything.” Lady meant it, though she wasn’t sure she would have was she not in trouble for it. To be fair, she had never been so apologetic to any of her foster parents. She respected Ms. Poole. She really did. It was just that her well of respect wasn’t particularly deep.

  “I wasn’t worried,” Ms. Poole said plainly. She turned to face Lady, frowning. “You’re my employee,” she reminded her. “I expect a certain level of professionalism from you. Coming in late without calling ahead is unacceptable behavior. Never mind that you also shirked your duties.”

  “Oh.” Lady swallowed and glanced away. Her chest felt tighter all of a sudden. She felt silly for just assuming Ms. Poole had been worried about her. She wasn’t a new foster parent, she reminded herself. She was a grown woman, and Ms. Poole was her boss. She might also be a mentor of sorts, but that didn’t mean their relationship was anything more than a professional one. “I’m sorry,” she said again, looking at the floor.

  Lady didn’t look up at Ms. Poole, but she heard her exhale slowly through her nose. After several long moments, she spoke. “Don’t let it happen again.”

  “I won’t.” Lady wasn’t sure she could make that kind of promise, but she did anyway. She raised her head. Ms. Poole had turned back to the stove. “I’m going to the police station with Crispin today… if that’s all right. I mentioned it last night.”

  “I remember.” Ms. Poole turned the sausages before continuing. It felt like she was purposely making this conversation as tense as she possibly could. “It sounds like you’re close to wrapping this up, and I assume Crispin is already on his way.”

  “He is.”

  “Then you should go with him. Get this all taken care of. We’ll decide what should be done after that.”

  Those words sounded a bit like a threat, like Ms. Poole was still thinking up a good punishment for yesterday. There would be consequences, but she was waiting until she was done with this before metering them out. “Thanks,” said Lady, in hopes that being gracious and facing everything head on would somehow get her in Ms. Poole’s good graces before the punishment came down on her. “I’ll go to the store today,” she swore. “I’ll do it on my way home. And I’ll call you! I’ll call you as soon as I’m out of the police station.”

  Ms. Poole didn’t say anything. She sort of hummed in response, like she had expected Lady to do all that anyway.

  “Well… I guess I should go see if Otsuya is ready.”

  “She isn’t,” Ms. Poole said before Lady could leave the room. “She has business with Doyle today. You and Crispin are on your own.”

  Lady was happier than she should have been to hear that. She immediately felt a pang of guilt. Otsuya was her friend, maybe her best friend. She should want to spend time with her. Still, she couldn’t help but be glad for some time alone with Crispin. It was obvious that Otsuya still had issues with their relationship. The knowledge that she wouldn’t be there today was… Well, it was a relief.

  ***

  Crispin showed up right on time. Lady received some resistance from Lion on her way out the door. She wanted today to go quickly, and that wouldn’t happen if she had Lion with her. She needed to go in a police station and in a store. Neither locales were thrilled about the presence of a cat. “I’ll be back soon,” she assured him. “Go bother Ms. Poole. I’m sure she’ll give you a treat.”

  She would be more nervous about sending Lion in Ms. Poole’s direction, but she knew her boss had a soft spot for the cat. Fortunately, Lion didn’t try to slip out the door behind her. With an offended meow, he headed for the kitchen.

  “Did everything go all right?” Crispin asked as soon as she climbed in.

  Lady shrugged. “I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

  “I take that to mean it didn’t go great then.”

  “Not really.”

  “I figured.”

  Lady sighed and looked out the window as he pulled away from the curb. “I’m not sure Ms. Poole likes me all that much.”

  “She does,” Crispin said immediately. “You can’t seriously think that.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” Lady didn’t know how he could think that. “She doesn’t act like she likes me very much.”

  “She doesn’t act like she likes anyone very much,” Crispin countered. “You’ve lived with her for a while now. You must have noticed that she’s not the most… outwardly affectionate person.”

  “She’s definitely not.”

  “But that doesn’t mean she completely lacks the capacity for affection. She just doesn’t show it the same way most people do.”

  “So you’re saying that I should know she likes me because she tolerates me?”

  “That’s pretty much exactly what I’m saying, yes.”

  Lady’s instinct was to argue with him or, at the very least, laugh scornfully. She found she could do neither. He had a point. Ms. Poole hadn’t kicked her out yet. That alone spoke volumes. “I guess that’s true,” she admitted before turning back to the window.

  Crispin didn’t say anything for several moments. She could feel his eyes on her as he glanced in her direction a few times. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “I’m just tired.” Lady flashed him a smile. It felt like a weary one, and she wasn’t sure how convincing it was. “I told you that you were right. Thanks for that, by the way.”

  Crispin frowned thoughtfully at her. He kept having to turn his attention back to the road. It was obvious that she was distracting him, though. “No,” he said. “Something is still wrong. What is it?”

  Lady didn’t know what he was talking about at first. But something was still bothering her, she realized. Could he read her that well or was she just that obvious? Regardless, she shook her head. “It’s stupid.”

  “Tell me.”

  “No, it’s silly. Seriously, don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

  But Crispin didn’t look convinced. “You can tell me,” he said and he sounded completely earnest. “I want to know. Don’t worry about whether it’s silly or not. If it’s bothering you, it’s worth talking about. You can’t think I’m going to laugh at you or something.”

  That didn’t make what was bothering her any less embarrassing. Still, Crispin had a point. Again. He was a nice guy. She couldn’t imagine him laughing at her or even silently judging her. And he seemed genuinely concerned.

  “It’s stupid,” she said again, but this time she continued. “I’m just… I don’t know how to explain. I guess… I guess I’m worried that I like Ms. Poole more than she likes me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Lady sighed. She wasn’t sure how to word everything without sounding pathetic. “I just… I never really had any kind of parental figure growing up, you know? Not the kind other people seem to have. I went from foster home to foster home. The people I was with last… I don’t know. They wanted me out of the house as soon as I was eighteen and don’t have any interest in keeping in touch. I thought maybe Ms. Poole… I don’t know. Like I said, it’s stupid.”

  “It’s not stupid.” Crispin was quiet for a little while. Lady was beginning to think he was going to leave it there, that the conversation had grown awkward and he was trying to end it. “You know, my parents didn’t like me a whole lot either.”

  “Really?” Lady looked over to Crispin. He had turned back to the road. She could see his face in profile. He was frowning, thoughtful. “You never really talk about your family much.” Lady wasn’t one to pry into things like that. She had her own baggage when it came to family. She didn’t like forcing people to unload theirs. She didn’t care for hearing about happy families either. Easier to just mind her own business, let people open up to her if they wanted to. “I know that Ms. Poole is your aunt, but… That’s about it.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17