mystic caravan mystery 02 - freaky lies (8 page)

“I’m not having this discussion with you,” Kade warned, his voice low. “She and I have already talked about this. You may be her best friend, but this is none of your business.”

Most people would have the grace to apologize, or at least be embarrassed. Luke is not most people. “My poor Poet,” Luke said, shaking his head. “You’re not just on a dry run, are you? You’re lost in the middle of a desert and the only source of water is surrounded by crocodiles.”

Kade scowled. “Let’s just start asking questions, okay? I think I’ve had just about enough bonding for one afternoon.” He shifted his conflicted eyes to me. “Do you want to come with me or go with Luke?”

It was a pointed question. Unfortunately for him I was still dwelling on Luke’s previous statement. “Why would there be crocodiles in the desert?”

Luke shrugged. “Maybe they like the sun.”

“Oh, good grief,” Kade muttered, grabbing my hand. “We’ll go this way. You go the other way, Luke.”

“Fine,” Luke said, unruffled by Kade’s tone. “Whoever gets the better information wins.”

“It’s not a competition,” Kade snapped.

“Everything is a competition,” Luke countered. “You’re falling behind in the race, man. You might want to figure out a way to catch up … or at least cheat so no one realizes you can’t even finish the race.”

“Thanks,” Kade muttered, gripping my hand as he tugged me away from Luke and toward the fruit and vegetable row. “You go and win your race over there. We’ll win our race over here. I don’t want to see you again for at least a half hour. Do you understand?”

Luke’s face was triumphant when I risked a glance in his direction. “I love winning.”

Kade made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat as he pulled me behind him. I watched him for a moment, loving the way the muscle in his clenched jaw quivered. He was handsome even when mortified. That was an impressive feat. Despite my entertainment level, I decided to help him out. “You need to stop letting him bait you,” I offered. “He’s doing it on purpose because he knows he can get to you.”

Kade shifted his eyes to me, his face unreadable. “He wouldn’t be saying it if he didn’t think it was true.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t believe that,” I said. “He may love me, but his joy in irritating people is boundless. You have to ignore him … or pay him back.”

Kade stilled, intrigued. “How do I pay him back?”

I shrugged. “I’m sure an opportunity will present itself,” I said. “As long as he knows he’s getting to you he’ll keep saying things like that. He can’t help himself.”

“And why are you guys best friends again?”

“Because he’s the most loyal person I know, and no matter what, I never doubt he’ll always be there for me.” I answered simply and honestly, and the sentence was enough to soften Kade’s expression.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” he said. “Let’s check out that vegetable stand. Those women have been gossiping since we got here, and I have a feeling they know everything that happens in this place.”

“Now you’re thinking,” I teased. “Plus, they’re women.”

Kade lifted an eyebrow. “So?”

“Women can’t help themselves from falling all over you,” I replied. “I doubt these women will be the exception to the rule.”

“I am charming.” Kade puffed out his chest. “I’ll schmooze them until they surrender any and all information they have.”

I smirked. “And when that doesn’t work we’ll bring Luke in to finish the job.”

Kade’s mouth tipped down at the corners. “You’re downright obnoxious sometimes. You know that, right?”

“I had a feeling that was why you hadn’t made your move yet.”

“You suck,” Kade muttered, although he didn’t relinquish my hand as we moved toward the women. “I don’t need this abuse.”

“You’ll live.”

7

Seven

^“
T
his looks amazing, ladies.”

Kade flashed his winning smile in the direction of the two women sitting behind the counter as we approached the stand.

“It’s carrots and corn,” one of the women replied dryly. “You must not get out much, huh?”

Kade stilled. “I … um … .”

“He’s sheltered,” I interjected, pasting my best “I’m trustworthy so there’s no need to be suspicious” smile on my face. “He’s from California so he’s used to getting his vegetables in big supermarkets.”

“They have farmers markets in California,” Kade argued, annoyed.

I ignored him. “This looks like a great place,” I said. “I love farmers markets that have permanent locations like this. That proves they’re important to the community.”

“I get the feeling you’re trying to shine me on.” The woman, her short gray curls reminding me of a belligerent poodle, looked me up and down. “You’re with the circus, aren’t you?”

“How could you tell?” Kade asked, grabbing a tomato to check its firmness before adding another ten to a bag. “Do we look like clowns or something?”

“No, but this one looks like she’s Romani,” the woman replied.

I stilled, surprised.

“Annette, there’s no reason to be rude,” the second woman chided. “Ignore her. She thinks she knows everything.”

“What a coincidence,” Kade intoned. “My friend thinks she knows everything, too.”

I fought the urge to smile as I met Annette’s thoughtful gaze. “It’s okay,” I said finally. “Some of my lineage – on my mother’s side – is Romani.” In truth I didn’t know a lot about my own heritage. My parents died when I was a teenager and I was never allowed to speak about my abilities as a child. It was only after they died that I found out my parents knew about them. I never got a chance to ask the important questions, and I was still annoyed by that fact. “I don’t know a lot about my family tree, though.”

“And why is that?” Annette asked.

“Because my parents died when I was young, and then I was moved into the foster care system for a bit,” I replied, opting for honesty. “I didn’t have any other family. Well, I guess that’s not entirely true. I have uncles somewhere, but I haven’t seen them in more than fifteen years.”

“That’s too bad,” Annette said, wrinkling her nose. “It looks like you have strong bloodlines.”

“How can you tell that?” Kade asked, casting a sidelong look in my direction. “She looks like a normal woman to me.”

“Thanks,” I said dryly, rolling my eyes.

Kade balked. “What did I say?”

“No woman wants to hear she’s normal, boy,” Annette said, shaking her head. “You may be a looker, but you’re clearly not a thinker.”

“Hey!” Kade rested his hand on my shoulder. “That’s now what I meant! I happen to think she’s extraordinary.”

“That’s better, but your complimenting skills still need work,” Annette said. “So do your undercover skills, for that matter. What are you really doing here?”

She was sharp. I had to give her that. Instead of continuing the game I decided to be straight with her. “We want to know what gossip is going around about the body found in the cornfield by the circus grounds,” I replied, catching Kade off guard as he widened his eyes. “The cops didn’t give us much information. We figured we could learn a few things and get dinner supplies at the same time.”

“Kill two birds with one stone, so to speak?” Annette asked.

I nodded. “We’re understandably … curious.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you on that front,” Annette said, blowing out an exaggerated sigh. “That’s all anyone has been talking about since the body was found this morning.”

“Do you know anything about the victim?” Kade asked, leaning against the counter. “Do you know who he is?”

“The police around these parts aren’t known for being generous with information,” the second woman said.

“The police around these parts are known for being controlling buttheads, Kathy,” Annette corrected, making a face. “They have leaks in their department, though. And, well, people have been looking for Frank Ryland for days.”

Now we were getting somewhere. “Frank Ryland? Is that the dead man?”

“I don’t think they’ve confirmed it yet,” Annette replied. “I heard the coroner wouldn’t make a positive identification until later today. Frank has been missing, though. The paramedics said the body had tattoos on the chest … and so did Frank. It’s not much of a stretch to realize it’s him.”

Something about Annette’s matter-of-fact delivery didn’t make immediate sense, but I let it slide for the time being.

“What can you tell us about him?” Kade asked.

“Why do you want to know?”

If Kade was surprised by Annette’s question he didn’t show it. “Because we’re understandably curious,” he answered. “We don’t often find eyeless and limbless corpses in cornfields next to where we stay.”

“We’re just trying to find out whether there was a reason for him to be out in the cornfield,” I added. “We were the ones who ran into the field when we heard the girls screaming. We’re kind of … invested.”

“I’m not trying to be difficult,” Annette said. “Don’t get me wrong, I understand why you’re asking questions. From our perspective, though, you’re suspects. It happened right next to you.”

“You’re also circus folk,” Kathy said. “That makes you weird in general. Oh, but … don’t take that personally.”

“Why would I take that personally?” I asked, working overtime to rein in my bubbling snark.

“Because you’re a woman and you can’t help yourself from taking everything personally,” Annette replied, not missing a beat. “That’s why you’re still internally fuming that this one thinks you’re normal, which essentially means you’re average. You don’t want to be average.”

“I am not fuming over that!” Okay, I might be fuming a little. No one has ever called me normal. That’s just about the worst thing you can say to a person, especially one in my position.

“Whatever,” Annette said, rolling her eyes. “Despite the fact that you’re circus folk, you don’t look like murderers. I get feelings about people, and the sense I get when I look at you two is that you’re trustworthy – although you both have secrets you’re keeping from each other.”

Well that was just … crap. “Everyone has secrets,” I said, opting to change tactics. “There are personal things no one wants to share with anyone else.”

“Yeah, well, you’ll both get over that eventually,” Annette said, seemingly unbothered that she’d hit a nerve. Because I’m familiar with magical abilities part of me wondered whether she really had the sight or if this was just a show she put on for farmers market shoppers. “As for Frank, well, he was something of a local legend.”

“What does that mean?” Kade asked. He didn’t seem remotely bothered by Annette’s “secrets” comment. I made a mental note to feel him out about that later. I didn’t want him suspecting me of hiding something – even though I was. I couldn’t help but wonder whether he was hiding something from me, though. What? I’m curious. Sue me.

“Frank is … well … .” Kathy screwed up her face as she decided how to answer.

“He was a big jackass,” Annette supplied, causing Kade to swallow a snort.

“That’s a bit harsh, Annette,” Kathy chided. “She’s not wrong, though. He was a complete and total jerk.”

“Do you want to be more specific?” I asked, curious despite myself.

“Well, let’s see,” Annette said. “How can I put this delicately?” She glanced at Kathy for support.

“Frank fancied himself a ladies man, but the ladies thought he had more in common with the creepy guy on the corner who scratches himself in public when he thinks no one is looking,” Kathy supplied.

Unfortunately, I knew exactly what kind of guy she meant. When you live and work with the circus you see all types. A lot of those types like to feel themselves up in public. What? I don’t do it. I can’t explain why people want to do it. “So … would you say he was aggressive when it came to women?”

“Is that what they’re saying?” Kade asked, wrinkling his nose. “I thought that’s what they were getting at but I wasn’t sure and didn’t want them calling me a jerk, too, if I admitted I didn’t understand.”

“It’s a good thing you’re handsome,” Annette said, shaking her head but winking to let Kade know she was teasing him. “Frank wasn’t a rapist or anything, if that’s what you’re getting at. He also didn’t understand about personal boundaries.”

“Meaning?” Kade prodded.

“Meaning he was the type who would whistle at a woman as she crossed the street – maybe toss in a sexually suggestive comment – but not grab her butt if given the chance,” I offered. “Am I close?”

“Actually, he had no problem squeezing a butt or two,” Annette replied. “He’d apologized afterward and claim it was a mistake.”

“Oh, nice,” Kade said, rolling his eyes. “So you’re saying this Frank guy was a serial groper? I guess we know why he ended up in the cornfield without his hands.”

That was an interesting observation. “It sounds like everyone knew what kind of guy Frank was,” I said. “If that’s the case, cutting his arms off seems a bit of an overreaction.”

“Just for the record, if someone accidentally grabs your butt I’ll probably cut his arms off,” Kade said. “I won’t consider it an overreaction.”

“Does that go for you, too?” Kathy challenged, causing Kade to balk.

“I … .”

I grinned. He was cute when flustered. “Don’t worry. Groping is only a problem if you’re not invited to do it. You’re invited to … touch my butt,” I said, my cheeks burning as I realized what I said. “Wait … that came out wrong.”

“I think it came out perfect,” Luke said, appearing between Kade and me and leaning forward to snag a cucumber. “This stuff looks good. Let’s get the ingredients to make that vinegar salad everyone likes. We haven’t had that in ages.”

“Oh, good, it’s another one,” Annette said, her eyes narrowing as she looked Luke over. “This one is even cuter than the other one.”

“Thank you,” Luke said, raising his chin as he shot a haughty smirk in Kade’s direction. “Did you hear that? I’m cuter than you.”

“She didn’t say that,” Kade argued. “She said ‘the other one.’ That doesn’t mean she was talking about me. She could’ve been talking about Poet.”

“Thanks,” I said, grimacing. “I can’t tell you how great that makes me feel.”

“Nice one,” Annette snorted, causing Kade to blush. “You’re really sticking your foot in it at every turn, aren’t you?”