mystic caravan mystery 02 - freaky lies (30 page)

Well, that was encouraging. If she wasn’t getting visions of my immediate death I could breathe a little easier. An idea occurred to me. “Do you know most of the people who live in this area pretty well?”

Melissa shrugged. “I’ve lived here my whole life,” she said. “I live with my aunt, and she’s a real pill and doesn’t want me to leave the house alone because I’m not married, but I know quite a few people.”

“What is it with the people around here wanting everyone to get married?”

“It’s the societal norm,” Melissa replied. “It’s not what I want. I want to travel … like you.”

Oh, well, great. Now she was identifying with me in an entirely different way. I didn’t have time for that either. “Do you know two little girls named Mary and Grace?”

“I think Amy Bishop has a daughter named Mary,” Melissa answered, tapping her chin as she thought. “She’s about twelve.”

I immediately shook my head. “This girl would be younger, like nine-ish. She’s blond and wears homemade clothing. She also has a sister almost the same age and just as blond.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen any girls who fit that description.”

I knew Mary and Grace existed. I talked to them … twice. Heck, I felt sorry for them and gave them passes. They were supposed to be hanging around at the circus right now. “I need you to do something for me,” I said, craning my neck as I scanned the midway. Nothing jumped out at me and I didn’t see either girl. “I need you to look around for two girls together who fit that description. If you discover them, I need you to find me. Do you understand?”

Melissa bobbed her head. “Sure, but … why?”

“Because I think they’re somehow involved,” I replied. “I don’t know whether it’s voluntary or if they even realize what they’re doing, but I think they’re important to figuring out what’s going on here, and I need to talk to them.”

“Okay,” Melissa said, unbothered by the task. “I’ll find them and bring them to you.”

I instinctively grabbed her hand, sucking in a sharp breath when I felt a small jolt of magic. She was definitely powerful. I had a feeling she didn’t know how much magic she possessed. “Don’t talk to them,” I cautioned. “They might be dangerous.”

“You just said they were children.”

“No, I said they looked like children,” I clarified. “They might be something else.”

“Like what?”

I honestly had no idea, but I didn’t admit that to Melissa. “It doesn’t matter right this second,” I said. “Just see if you can find them, and then track me down. I won’t be far. I need to find my friends Kade and Luke. They need all of the information before it’s too late.”

IT TOOK
me another ten minutes to convince Melissa that I wasn’t off my rocker and that doing what I said – exactly as I explained – was in her best interests. Once I was finished, I returned to my Kade search, keeping one eye open for Mary and Grace while focusing on finding my errant boyfriend.

“So much for watching my every move,” I muttered to myself, frustrated. An hour earlier I couldn’t get rid of him, and now he was nowhere to be found. Then I remembered the computer search. Kade was trying to dig up dirt on Percival – a task I was convinced was fruitless but which he refused to abandon – and he’d left his computer running in his trailer. I changed directions and headed toward trailer row, giving my tent a wide berth in case someone saw me and asked why I wasn’t giving readings.

Kade was standing in front of his trailer when I arrived. Relief washed over me at having found him, until I realized he wasn’t alone. Luke stood next to him and they seemed to be having an intense conversation. In my head I knew eavesdropping was wrong. In my heart I figured I could spare five minutes to hear what they talked about when they thought I couldn’t overhear them.

“I can’t believe you let her talk you into leaving her alone,” Luke chided. “She could be in danger.”

“I didn’t want to leave her, but I didn’t have a choice,” Kade said. “If I stayed, she would’ve gotten progressively more irritated and picked a fight so she could kick me out of her tent. You know it as well as I do.”

“I do know that,” Luke confirmed. “I’m surprised you figured it out so fast, though. She doesn’t like feeling weighed down. That’s why I was fine letting you babysit her. I thought she’d put up with it for two hours and then freak out and come looking for me. I could be the big hero who kept her safe while listening to her bitch. That was my plan anyway. How did you figure it out?”

“She’s not as hard to read as she likes to pretend,” Kade said. “She’s kind of an open book if you take the time to study all of the illustrations.”

“Don’t ever tell her you prefer picture books to those with actual words,” Luke said, making a face. “That will drive her crazy.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Luke asked. “Is your search on Percival done?”

“No, and I’m starting to get frustrated,” Kade said. “I haven’t seen the internet this slow since I got here. It’s as if someone is purposely slowing it down.”

“Maybe it’s Percival,” Luke suggested.

“You’re joking, but I have considered that,” Kade said. “He doesn’t seem up on technology, though, and delaying my search is only a stopgap, so I don’t know why he would do that.”

“Do you really think it’s him?” Luke looked as dubious as I felt. “I mean, I don’t like the guy and think he’s a big pain in the rear, but I can’t see how joining the circus to hide the fact that he’s killing people and then pointing the bodies in the direction of the circus is going to help his master plan if he’s really the guilty party.”

“I don’t know whether it’s him,” Kade said. “The timing of his arrival is suspect … and that accent is just annoying.”

“I think you’re jealous of the women falling at his feet,” Luke said. “They were falling at your feet until he showed up.”

“I don’t care about that,” Kade scoffed, causing Luke to arch a dubious eyebrow. “Fine. I only care about Poet falling at his feet. The rest of them can do whatever they want. You don’t think she thinks he’s better looking than I am, do you?”

For some reason, the simple fact that Kade was mildly insecure and a little bit jealous made me happy. What? I’m petty. Sue me.

“I don’t think Poet has eyes for anyone but you, and that’s kind of a miracle if you ask me,” Luke said. “She might think the accent is nice, but she’s only interested in you.”

“Really?” Kade looked hopeful.

“Did you doubt that?” Luke asked, tickled. “She spends every waking minute she can with you. Personally, I find it annoying. She hardly spends any time with me these days, and I don’t like it.”

“I know she likes me … or, at least I think I know,” Kade said. “She seems distant sometimes, though. I can’t put my finger on it, but I think she’s hiding something from me.”

The pressure in my chest built to the point where I finally had to take a breath. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the admission, but I was. I thought I was keeping a tight lid on my emotions. Kade obviously saw it differently.

“I think she’s hiding something, too,” Luke said. “It makes me nervous because she never keeps anything from me. That means it’s big.”

“What do you think she’s hiding?”

“I don’t know,” Luke answered. “Whatever it is, though, it’s eating her up. She’s going to explode soon.”

“I wish she would just tell me,” Kade said. “The longer she drags it out the more painful it is. We can’t move forward as long as she’s holding back.”

“Is that why you haven’t pinned the tail on the donkey yet?”

Wait … was I the donkey in that scenario? I was going to beat the crap out of my supposed best friend when I got him alone later.

“I don’t want to rush things,” Kade said. “I wasn’t lying when I said that. It might seem … odd … but I really like her and I don’t want to do something just to get it over with. I like spending time with her and want to get to know her.

“This place is a community and family, but because of the way we live everything is on a weekly timetable, and that makes things hard to work around,” he continued. “I’m not going to rush her. I’m interested in more than sex.”

“You are interested in having sex with her, though, right?” Luke asked. “If you don’t swing that way, she has a right to know.”

“Of course I’m interested,” Kade snapped, lightly cuffing the back of Luke’s head. “But I don’t see the need to hurry things. It sucks that we can’t move at the pace we want without everyone watching us, but that’s the world we live in.”

“Well, I think the men are watching you with suspicion because you haven’t closed the deal yet,” Luke said. “Poet is beautiful, and every guy here has tried to make headway with her … and failed. She didn’t show any interest in anyone until you arrived.

“As for the women, well, they’re still hopeful that they can steal you away somehow,” he continued. “Raven knows the second you finally cross that final line she’ll be out in the cold for good. She’s not ready to give you up, and that’s only partly because she’s legitimately interested in you.”

“She wants to beat Poet, doesn’t she?” Kade asked. “That’s the sense I get from her.”

“She can’t seem to help herself,” Luke said. “As long as you go slow, Raven will think she has a chance.”

“She doesn’t have a chance.”

“Well, then make a move,” Luke said. “Whatever is bothering Poet won’t disappear until she talks about it. She’s not going to talk about it until she’s ready. You can’t force her on things like this. If that’s what’s holding you back … .”

“The only thing holding me back is keeping her alive,” Kade said. “We need to get through tonight and out of this place. I don’t think I’ll be able to relax and … do that … until I know she won’t be ripped away from me.”

Luke studied Kade for a moment, his expression thoughtful. “You’re a good guy. I didn’t think anyone would ever deserve her, but you might prove me wrong.”

“I will prove you wrong,” Kade said. “We just have to keep her safe. I have this feeling of … dread … I can’t explain. Something bad is going to happen tonight.”

“I feel it, too,” Luke acknowledged. “If we feel it, that means Poet feels it even more. We have to stick close to her no matter what she says.”

“Agreed.”

It looked as if their serious discussion was over so I decided to make my presence known. I smoothed the front of my blouse, sucked in a breath and then hurried around the corner, pulling up short when their eyes landed on me.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. You’re not great bodyguards. You know that, right?”

What? A little guilt never hurt anyone. A lot of guilt, on the other hand … well … that was a soul killer.

28

Twenty-Eight

^“
W
hat are you doing running around?” Kade asked, frustrated. He took a step in my direction, his face murderous as I closed the distance. “You promised to stay close to your tent.”

“That was before I ran into Burt and June,” I replied. “I got information from them that I needed to share with you, but you weren’t around. Don’t blame this on me.”

Kade faltered. “Who is June?”

“That’s Mama’s real name,” I replied. “She’s a piece of work. You should have a chat with her if you get the chance. She’s not a big fan of unmarried women, although she doesn’t think I’m a Satanist, so I’ve got that going for me.”

“I’m sorry I missed her,” Luke lamented. “Where are they? Did Burt mention the tractor? He’d better not change his mind on that. I’ll be crushed.”

“We have bigger worries,” I said, flicking his shoulder and shaking my head in warning. “I think we might have a larger problem than we initially envisioned.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Kade intoned. “That’s exactly why I wanted you to stick close to your tent. You broke your promise.”

“Hey! I didn’t promise to do anything,” I countered, wagging an irritated finger in his face. “I said I would try to stick close to my tent but I had information to share. That’s on you.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Kade asked. “That finger doesn’t look broken to me.”

Crud. I hadn’t even thought of that. My phone was in the inside pocket of my skirt. I could’ve easily called or texted and he would’ve come running. “I … um … .”

“Oh, look, she’s speechless,” Luke cooed. “That almost never happens.”

“Shut up,” I grumbled, the earlier “pin the tail on the donkey” comment pushing to the forefront of my brain. I couldn’t bring that up now or they’d know I was eavesdropping. “Doesn’t anyone want to know what I found out?”

“Not until you apologize for running around like a moron,” Kade replied.

A moron? If he thought that was going to go unnoticed he had another thing coming. “I didn’t think of calling you because it slipped my mind,” I snapped. “I’m not an idiot.”

“No, you’re not,” Kade agreed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You do moronic things at times, though.”

“Name one.”

“You left me sleeping alone the other night and walked into a cornfield where a killer is probably hanging around and almost got yourself killed.” Kade didn’t even have to think for two seconds before whipping that one out. “You’re also wandering around alone now even though you’ve been warned that you’re in danger.”

“Oh, well, great,” I muttered. “I knew you would bring that up.”

“Let’s move past how moronic Poet is,” Luke suggested. “I’m dying to hear your big news. Have you figured out who the murderer is?”

“No, but I did get an interesting tidbit from Burt and June that leaves us with more questions than answers,” I said.

“How is that a good thing?” Kade was irritated. “It certainly doesn’t sound like a good enough reason to run around without someone watching your back.”

“Because it gives us a place to look,” I said.

“Oh, well, what is it?” Kade had the grace to appear abashed. “We could definitely use a place to focus our efforts.”

“Mary and Grace.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Kade said, glancing at Luke. “Did she just explain something?”

“The little girls from the field that day,” I said.

“I remember them, but I’m not sure how they fit into this,” Kade said. “They were traumatized, and the cops took them home to their parents. We haven’t seen them since.”