mystic caravan mystery 02 - freaky lies (17 page)

“Fine,” Nellie said, dragging himself away from Dakota. “You owe me, though.”

“I’ll cook a steak for you, too.”

“It’s going to be a good night,” Nellie said, grinning as he hopped up the stairs leading to my trailer. “I want a potato, too.”

“You got it.”

“I DON’T
understand what happened.”

Detective Lance Brewer didn’t look happy to be back at the circus. Given the lateness of the hour – and the way Luke kept smiling at him as he ate his steak and potatoes – I could understand his frustration.

“I already told you what happened,” I said. “I gave this … man … a reading earlier. He didn’t like what I had to say and stormed out. I came back here to cook dinner while everyone else was closing up shop and he attacked me.”

Dakota, his arms cuffed behind his back, looked mildly dazed as a paramedic worked on his chest. He sat at a nearby picnic table and stared into nothingness. I might’ve dosed him a bit too much with the memory mojo, but it’s not as though he didn’t have it coming.

“And you stabbed him with a potato peeler?” Brewer asked, wrinkling his nose. “How did that happen?”

“He took me by surprise and I just reacted.”

“Uh-huh.” Brewer obviously wasn’t convinced. He shifted his eyes to Nellie, raising his eyebrows as the dwarf gnawed on his steak bone. Ever the gentleman, Nellie affixed a napkin to the front of his dress before eating. “And you saw all of this?”

“Most of it,” Nellie replied, using his fingernail to dig between his teeth. He stared at whatever he found for a moment and then popped it back into his mouth, earning a disgusted glare from Brewer. “I didn’t see his initial approach but I heard him screaming and saw him jump at Poet. I was on my way to help when she stabbed him. I helped her wrestle him down, and we called you.”

“And then ate steaks while you waited for us to arrive?” Brewer prodded, glancing at the empty plates.

“They were good steaks,” I said, earning a dark look and curt shake of the head from Kade. He was angry when he found Nellie and me holding a future murder suspect captive. He was even angrier when I explained about the potato peeler and having to modify Dakota’s mind. I was pretty sure he hadn’t put together the part of the story where I knew there would be an attack before it occurred. When that happened he would pop a vein or something.

“We did everything right,” Kade said, wiping the corners of his mouth with his napkin. “It’s not our fault this guy attacked Poet. He was obviously stalking her. He waited until she was alone to approach.”

“I understand that,” Brewer said. “It’s just … does he seem stoned to anyone else?”

“It’s probably the loss of blood,” Luke replied smoothly, winking at Brewer. He has a thing for cops – and a recurring dream in which he can convert a straight one if he puts a little effort into the seduction. Unfortunately for Brewer, Luke’s dream world was about to collide with his real world if he wasn’t careful. “That always makes people wonky.”

“Are you around people who lose blood often?” Brewer asked, tilting his head to the side.

Luke realized his mistake too late. “No, but I watch a lot of television. Everything you need to know about life you can learn from watching
Grey’s Anatomy
.”

That was a good answer. He made me proud with that one.

“I especially like the hot doctors who can’t keep their shirts on but manscape a lot,” Luke added. “I’ve learned that no matter how bad the plot is, it’s worth it to keep watching for that alone.”

Ah, pride is fleeting at times. “We only restrained him long enough for you to get here,” I said, drawing Brewer’s attention from Luke and fixing it on me. “Did we do something wrong?”

“I … no,” Brewer replied. “It just seems coincidental that there would be an attack out here so soon after a body was discovered.”

“That’s why we called you right away,” I said, flashing my best “I’m cute and you have to believe me no matter what” smile in his direction. “He could be a murderer.” I knew that wasn’t true, but if Brewer believed I was a histrionic female that could only work in our favor.

“Oh,” Brewer intoned, realization dawning. “Of course you would think that. That didn’t even occur to me.”

“He took me by surprise and terrified me,” I said, adopting a little girl voice. “I probably won’t sleep tonight.”

“You need a massage,” Luke said sagely, winking at Kade. “It’s a good thing you cooked a big dinner for your boy toy. Now he has no choice but to rub you down and make you purr.”

Brewer looked horrified by the suggestion. “Okay, well … we’re going to take the suspect to the station and process him. If you could write up what you saw and email it into our office tomorrow this will probably be pretty cut and dry.”

“That won’t be a problem.”

“Great,” Brewer said, inclining his chin in Dakota’s direction to indicate that one of the uniformed officers should collect him. “Out of curiosity’s sake, what about the reading upset him enough to come back and attack you?”

Crap on a flattened clown. I was hoping I could gloss over that part of the story. Because I had no idea where Debbie was, or how she’d react, I couldn’t risk lying. I might not be able to get to her in time to modify her memory. I had no choice but to tell the truth.

“I told Debbie that marrying Dakota would be a mistake because he would hurt her,” I explained, choosing my words carefully. “I could see that he wasn’t a nice man by the way he interacted with her. He talked down to her and she seemed frightened of him.

“She said her mother insisted she see a psychic before agreeing to marry anyone, so she came to me,” I continued. “I didn’t like what I saw when I looked at him, and that’s exactly what I told Debbie.”

That wasn’t technically a lie. It also wasn’t entirely the truth. Brewer didn’t need to know that, though.

“Okay,” Brewer said, pressing his lips together as his gaze bounced from face to face. “If I have further questions I’ll stop by tomorrow.”

“We can’t wait,” Nellie said, licking his bone to make sure he’d sucked the last bit of meaty goodness from it. “Who wants s’mores?”

I ignored the question and remained in my seat until I was sure Brewer was out of earshot. Then I slapped Nellie’s bare knee as hard as I could. “You eat like a pig.”

“You also flashed your underwear, and once Brewer realized what he was looking at he couldn’t avoid staring at you,” Kade said, chuckling. “That was a great story, by the way. Do you think he’s going to buy it?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Dakota won’t break. His memory is modified forever. I planted a suggestion that he admit to murdering the cat in about two hours. I figured it was a little too obvious if he did it here.”

“Assault and animal cruelty are going to get him only a few years,” Kade pointed out. “If he really is a murderer, shouldn’t we do something else to stop him?”

“He’ll never go to trial,” I answered. “He’s going to get shivved in county lockup. He’s weird in normal circles, but he’s going to be downright hated in criminal ones. He won’t fit in, and they’ll kill him for being different. He’ll spend a few weeks in lockup before that happens.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m sorry to hear that after what you told me,” Kade said. “You’re lucky to be alive. You know that, right?”

It wasn’t luck. “I know,” I said, shifting my attention to the table. “I cooked. I think it’s only fair you guys clean up.”

Kade lifted an eyebrow. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

I shook my head. “I’m going to take a bath while you do that. I’ll meet you in bed for my massage in a half hour.”

Kade sighed. I could tell he had a hundred questions – and maybe a few comments regarding what happened – but he wisely let both go. “I’ll be there with lotion and my magic fingers.”

“That sounds great,” I said, hopping to my feet.

“That sounds dirty,” Luke corrected. “We all know you’re not getting dirty yet, though, so ultimately the entire thing becomes boring.”

“You make me tired,” Kade muttered, grabbing Luke’s plate. “You know that, right?”

Luke bobbed his head up and down. “I do know that,” he said. “I also know you won’t risk being mean to me as long as I have the cheerleading photos.”

“You’ve got me there,” Kade conceded.

Crap. I was going to need an extra-long massage to eradicate this ridiculous day.

16

Sixteen

^“
Y
ou’re up early.”

I struggled to a sitting position the next morning, taking a moment to clear the crusties from my eyes and focus on Kade as he handed me a bag of McDonald’s breakfast takeout.

“I didn’t want to wake you,” Kade replied, dropping his shorts (but unfortunately leaving his boxers in place) before climbing back into bed with me. “I thought I would surprise you with breakfast after your traumatic night.”

We hadn’t talked about it. Not really, at least. I knew he wanted to get everything out in the open, but thankfully he refrained from pressing me on the issue the last night. The light of a new day was a different story.

“Thank you,” I said, accepting the steak and egg bagel from him as I scanned his face for signs of anger. If he was truly upset I figured he wouldn’t climb back into bed with me. Sure, nothing ever happened in the bed but sleep when we were together, but I still took it as a good sign. “If you want to yell … .”

“I’m not going to yell,” Kade said, retrieving his own breakfast sandwich from the bag and handing me a hash brown. “I am curious about why you didn’t tell me what was going to happen when you saw me on the midway before heading to your trailer, though.”

I wondered when that would come up. “I wasn’t sure you’d figured that part out yet,” I admitted ruefully. “I … knew he was coming. I also knew he wasn’t a threat. I didn’t want to risk a big crowd in case he didn’t approach me.”

“Listen, I don’t want to tell you how to live your life because that doesn’t seem fair, but … I hate worrying about you.”

His admission touched me, and caused discomfort to roll through my stomach. He was kind and sweet, and I was keeping a big secret from him. “Had I thought Dakota was going to be a threat I would’ve taken backup,” I said, licking my lips. “I knew he wasn’t a threat. I don’t have a death wish, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m not worried about a death wish,” Kade said. “I’m worried that you’re so used to taking care of yourself that there are times you forget you have someone to help you, and that may result in you getting hurt.”

“He never got close to me.”

“No, but I’ve already seen you get hurt and I don’t want to see it again,” Kade said. “Whatever you’re thinking, I’m not angry. I think you handled yourself pretty well. You’re tough and strong. Heck, you’re pretty amazing.”

He couldn’t have said anything better. “Thank you.”

“I absolutely love the fact that you stabbed him with a peeler,” Kade added, grinning. “I’m just sorry I missed it.”

“Yeah, well, hopefully you’ll be able to see it when it happens a second time.” It was a lame joke but it had the intended effect because Kade chuckled.

“I’m looking forward to that,” he said. “Now, eat your breakfast. You need your fuel.”

“Oh, yeah? What are we doing today?” I asked, unwrapping my breakfast sandwich. “You’ve clearly got a plan.”

“I wouldn’t call it a plan,” Kade clarified. “We are going to take a walk, though.”

“On the wild side?”

Kade snorted. “You’re in a playful mood this morning,” he said. “I would like to take advantage of it – and shut Luke up – but we have other things to worry about.”

His words sent a little thrill through me. That’s when I realized he was just as nervous and worked up over the situation as I was. We were living under a microscope with everyone watching our every move. It was a lot of pressure. “I’m not worried about that,” I said, surprised to find I really meant it. “You were right. We don’t need to rush things. I’m happy with breakfast in bed.”

“That’s good,” Kade said, pressing a quick kiss to my cheek before focusing on his sandwich. “After breakfast, though, we’re heading into the corn.”

“I … why?”

“Because the scarecrow is back,” Kade replied grimly. “I saw it when I parked.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to think of his scarecrow theory, but he was right. We had to check it out. It would be a lot less scary to do during daylight hours. “I guess we should eat up then, huh? We have a lot going on today.”

“We certainly do,” Kade agreed. “We have to check on a possibly evil scarecrow, run the circus, dodge curious undercover cops who I’m sure will be checking us out, and then I need to see those photographs Luke has of you in the cheerleading uniform.”

Crud. I should’ve known he wouldn’t let that go. “I’ll wow you right now if you forget about those photographs,” I offered.

“I love the sound of bribery in the morning. It won’t work, though.”

“I figured it wouldn’t,” I grumbled. “I had to try.”

“Eat up,” Kade said, patting my bare knee. “You have a really long day ahead of you.”

That didn’t sound good.

“IT LOOKS
like a normal scarecrow.”

I studied the straw man with detached interested while Kade got unnaturally close so he could give the purported murdering monster a thorough once over. He was intent on his task, his hands insistent as they roamed the black pants, flannel shirt and burlap bag covering the scarecrow’s head. He reminded me of a noir-ish private detective. All he lacked was the fedora and well-gnawed toothpick.

“You’re pretty cute.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized how sappy they sounded.

Kade shifted his eyes to me, surprised. “Where did that come from?”

“I thought it, so I said it,” I replied. “I don’t have much of a filter sometimes. Don’t let it go to your head.”

“That’s what I like about you,” Kade said, sighing as he tugged on the scarecrow’s shirt. “You’re right, though. This is just a scarecrow. It can’t be what chased you the other night.”

“It is weird that it went missing, though,” I said, glancing around. “I wonder why.”