mystic caravan mystery 02 - freaky lies (29 page)

“You’re probably right.” Kade gave me another kiss. “Still, it’s something to look forward to.”

“It is indeed.”

I WAS
on my fourth reading of the day and starting to feel at ease when things shifted. An unexpected breeze blew through the tent, causing me to lift my head and glance around. I was alone, waiting for my next client, and the pedestal fan I plugged in and pointed in my direction to stave off the sweltering heat was the only noise in the stillness of the tent.

There was nothing there. I didn’t feel anyone watching me or an evil presence. It was only a breeze that had no business whipping through the tent. I considered poking my head out the flap and taking a look around to further convince myself things were fine when the entryway filled with two big bodies – and I just happened to recognize one of them.

“Hi, Burt,” I said, hoping my voice sounded more enthusiastic than irritated. “I heard you were coming to visit today. I’m glad you made it out.”

“Yeah, that Luke made a big deal out of it when he stopped by,” Burt said. “He said he would get us passes and stuff, and he seemed so excited I didn’t want to disappoint him. He’s got a weird thing about tractors I’m not sure about, but … well … he doesn’t take no for an answer. I wasn’t sure he’d actually come through, but he showed back up with the passes and all, and … well … Mama always wanted to visit the circus.”

“So here you are,” I said, forcing a smile for the robust blond woman standing next to Burt. For his part, he’d opted to leave the overalls at home and dressed in simple jeans and a white T-shirt that had seen better days – and that was if you didn’t take the pit stains I could practically smell from five feet away into consideration. I couldn’t hold that against Burt, given the heat, though.

Mama, on the other hand, was a different story. She was dressed in what looked to be her Sunday best, a blue cotton dress with a fully buttoned collar. She paired it with white canvas shoes, though, so I couldn’t help but wonder if that was her attempt at shaking things up.

“You must be Mama,” I said. “Welcome. Have a seat and I’ll give you a reading.”

“My real name is June,” the woman said, sitting in the seat on the left and studying me with inquisitive eyes. “Burt is the only one who calls me ‘Mama.’”

“Does that bother you?” It would certainly bother me.

“I don’t really think about it,” June replied. “You know, Burt told me about running into you in the field the other day, and he seemed thankful to escape with his arms and eyes. You don’t look nothing like no Satanist to me, though.”

I stilled, unsure how to respond. It didn’t surprise me that Burt described me in that manner. It did surprise me that June was so forthcoming. I expected a meek woman who looked to her husband for permission to speak. I guess I let my judgmental nature come out to play – just like Burt. “That’s possibly very flattering,” I said, glancing at Burt. “Did you tell her I was a Satanist?”

“I told her you looked like you were in tune with the dark arts,” Burt replied, unruffled about being called on the carpet for his snap judgment. “You do look like you could be evil. I don’t mean no offense when I say that.”

Of course he didn’t. Being told you look like a Satanist is a compliment really. Right? “So, what can I do for you today?” I asked, shuffling my tarot cards. “Do you want to know your future? Maybe how many kids you’ll have or whether the corn crop will be good this year?”

“I want to know who killed Frank,” June said, leaning forward with intense eyes. “Burt says he thinks it could be you guys, but that don’t make no sense to me, so I want to know who did it. I’m afraid to walk around after dark as long as a killer is out there. He might try to … molest me … or something.”

That was an interesting way of looking at things. “Who do you think did it?”

June made a face so outrageous I had to swallow three times in quick succession to hold off my laughter. “If I knew that I wouldn’t be coming to you, would I?”

“Probably not,” I conceded, shifting my eyes to Burt as I extended the cards in June’s direction. “Cut the cards,” I instructed. “Who do you think is doing it, Burt?”

“I still haven’t ruled out you and your friends,” Burt answered. “Although Mama pointed out that it would be pretty stupid for you to send someone ahead to kill Frank in your back yard and then call the police to report it.”

“That would be pretty stupid,” I agreed, doling the cards out. “Have the police said anything to you since that first day?”

“I’ve called a couple of times, but they haven’t been no help,” Burt said. “They said they’re looking into it and all, but I don’t think they really are. Now there are two other bodies, and that poor Jeanette Simpson was just out having a good time last night when she was killed in your parking lot.”

“What can you tell me about her?” I asked, lifting my eyes so they could lock with June’s clear orbs. I hadn’t heard the name of last night’s victim yet. It probably didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things – the victims looked to be picked at random and killed for convenience – but you could never be too sure. “I saw her, but … the police didn’t give us any information.”

“She was fairly young,” June said. “She was in her mid-twenties. She was one of those … hot-to-trot girls,” she added, bringing her voice down to a near whisper.

I frowned. “I’m not sure what that means.”

“It means that she didn’t get married right out of high school, so everyone assumed she was off doing the nasty with all of the local farmhands,” Burt supplied. “Mama don’t like that.”

“A proper woman gets married as soon as she’s out of high school,” June sniffed, crossing her arms over her ample bosom. “Look at this poor girl. You think she’s a Satanist, and I will just bet that wouldn’t have been your first inclination if she were married.”

Wow. This conversation was taking a turn for the absurd faster than I could follow it. “Go back to Jeanette,” I prompted. “She wasn’t married, so did she come here on a date last night?”

“I heard down at the farmers market that she was supposed to meet some friends. But when she didn’t show up they just went on with their night without her,” June replied. “She’s known for being popular with men, so they figured she found someone to entertain her.”

“So that means she never made it on the circus grounds,” I mused, running the scenario through my head.

“Is that important?” Burt asked.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “Her body was shoved under a truck to hide it. That makes me believe that whoever killed her didn’t cross over into the fairgrounds.” The dreamcatcher would’ve alerted to a foreign presence. The timing and location seemed to indicate whatever was out there was not only aware of the dreamcatcher, it was purposely avoiding it. “The woman who was killed at the rest stop never visited the circus, as far as I can tell.”

“No, but you could easily walk to that rest stop,” Burt pointed out. “Everyone in town thinks the cops are looking at you. Someone said they were out here twice yesterday.”

“Yes, but one of those times was to pick up a dead body,” I said. “The cops don’t think we’re suspects, because we have no motive. You don’t really have a motive either, unless you’re conducting weird rituals in your fields when no one is looking.”

“Is that like a Devil thing?” June asked, her forehead crinkling. “I don’t like Devil talk.”

“It’s not a Devil thing,” I said, rolling my neck until it cracked. There were so many pieces to the puzzle right in front of me, but none of them seemed to fit together. “What about Mary and Grace? Have you talked to them? They might know something.”

“Who are Mary and Grace?” Burt asked, exchanging a quick look with June. “Are they circus folk, too?”

I stilled. “No, they’re your neighbors,” I replied. “They’re the little girls who found the body in your field. I think they belong to whoever lives on the parcel adjacent to yours.”

“That would be the Rubens farm,” Burt said. “Frank and Glenda have been dead for going on two years, though. That farmhouse is in bad shape, and the land isn’t worth much in its current state because the irrigation is all messed up. It would cost a fortune to go in there and update it. That’s why it’s still empty.”

“But … .” I narrowed my eyes. “What about on the other side of you?”

“That’s all state land.”

“Then where did Mary and Grace come from?” I pressed. “They were playing in your field. They couldn’t have wandered out here if they didn’t live close. The cops took them home to talk to their parents that afternoon. I heard Detective Brewer order one of his officers to take the girls home and question their parents.”

“The cops said two girls were playing in the field, but I thought they had something to do with you,” Burt said. “I thought they were your kids. Er, well, not yours personally but you know what I mean.”

“We don’t travel with kids.”

“Well I don’t know what to tell you, but we don’t have neighbors with kids, and we know all of the farmers in the area who have kids,” June said. “The school system isn’t big out here. Everyone knows everyone. I don’t know any kids named Mary and Grace.”

Well … crap!

27

Twenty-Seven

I
was in a hurry when I left my tent, taking just enough time to put a “be back in fifteen minutes” sign on the flap before leaving to avoid people complaining that I was gone.

I scoured the row in hope of discovering Kade, but wherever he was on his rounds it wasn’t in my general vicinity. I headed for the midway, figuring Kade would spend most of his time there because that’s where most of the fights break out when people don’t win prizes after plunking down piles of money for a five-dollar stuffed animal.

I had no idea what to make of Burt’s information about Mary and Grace, but something told me that I had the final key to solving the puzzle. Now I just needed help putting it together.

I pulled up short when I rounded the ticket booth and careened into Melissa. She seemed to be expecting me, so her hands were raised, and she grabbed my shoulders so I wouldn’t bounce off her and lose my balance.

“You!” I narrowed my eyes. Of course she would pick now to reappear. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s a circus,” Melissa replied evasively. “I’m enjoying my day.” She looked me up and down. “I really like your outfit and makeup today. You look … fancy.”

Was that code for something? If so, I wasn’t in the mood to crack it. “Why are you really here? Did you have another vision of me dying or something?”

Melissa cautiously glanced around to see whether anyone overheard what I said, and when she shifted back to me she looked irritated. “Why would you say something like that? I’m just a local enjoying the circus.”

“You’re also a bad liar,” I snapped, jerking my arm away from her. “I don’t have time for games. If you don’t want to tell me what you’re doing here … .”

“I already told you what I’m doing here,” Melissa shot back, her short ponytail bobbing as she tilted her head back and forth as a sign of frustration. “Why don’t you believe me?”

“Because you warned me of danger last night and then we found a body in the parking lot,” I replied. “In some weird twist, the dead woman looked a lot like me. Now everyone here is on edge because they think I’m going to die.”

“But … why would they think that?” Melissa asked.

“Because a seer can’t prognosticate her own death,” I answered. “I think deep down you must know that. That’s why you came to me in the first place. Either that or you think I’m a fraud and need protection. I can’t quite decide which it is.”

“I … don’t know anything about that,” Melissa admitted, licking her lips. “I’m not even sure what it is.”

I sucked in a calming breath. She was a young woman, I reminded myself. She was barely an adult. If she didn’t know what she was – as I didn’t when I was barely younger than she looked to be – then she was trying to do the best she could without tipping her hand. She needed help … and guidance. Unfortunately I was short on time.

“I’m willing to help you, but you’ve got to stop playing games,” I said, keeping my voice low. “I don’t have time right this second to mess around and give you a tutorial on the sight.”

Melissa’s face, so open and hopeful only a second before, closed down. “I don’t need help.”

She reminded me so much of my younger self it almost hurt to look at her. “I think you do, but I also think I’m in a jam. I promise you that we can talk and I can help you figure this out, but we have bigger worries right now.”

Melissa’s eyes widened. “Did you see it, too?”

Well, this was new. “Did I see what?”

Melissa was hesitant as she licked her lips and twisted her fingers together. “I had a dream last night,” she said. “There was a warning attached.”

That was the closest she’d come to admitting she had the sight. That was a big step for her. “I had a dream, too,” I said. “I don’t believe it was a prophetic dream, though. It was a warning. It involved a scarecrow with a big mouth.”

“And scary red eyes?”

I stilled. “How could you know that?” I asked, surprised. “Can you dream walk?” That was another gift I’d read that some possessed. Raven claimed she could do it, but I’d yet to see her prove it. She also claimed she could see the future, change the past and time travel if she got the right potion ingredients. I didn’t believe those claims either.

“What’s dream walking?” Melissa asked, intrigued.

I definitely didn’t have time for this. “It’s a special gift some Romani possess,” I replied, looking her over. Some of her coloring and facial features seemed to suggest she might share at least a dollop of my ancestral blood, not that I knew a lot about the culture. “Were you in my dream or did you have one of your own that just happened to involve a scarecrow?”

“I was in my own dream,” Melissa replied. “I was walking in a cornfield – although I had no idea what I was doing there – and then the scarecrow popped up and told me there would be death at the circus tonight.”

“Did he say who was going to die?”

“No. He only said that there would be death.”