Sinful Suspense Box Set (28 page)

Charli adjusted the snake’s body on her shoulders. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on. I know a place that has music on Saturday night.” I held out my hands. “I’ll behave. Give me a chance to redeem myself.”

She twisted her plump pink lips in consideration but still looked at me skeptically. “Why me when you’ve got so many women dying to step out with Jackson Jarrett? Or is it just the built in security of knowing that I’ll be out of here in six weeks? An easy way out and all.”

“I’m trying not to think about the fact that you’ll be leaving here once the show is done. That’s why I’m putting on my best pleading look. Time’s short, and I don’t want to lose out on one minute of getting to know you. And as for your first question, why you? Heck, where do I start? Of course, there’s the obvious reason— that you are exceptionally beautiful. You grew up here in this unusual, unstable world, and yet, your feet seem to be planted firmly on the ground. You’re funny. And you’re extremely plain-spoken. Almost painfully so, but I like it. Maybe I need someone like you to help me keep my own feet on the ground.” I tilted my head toward the snake. “Obviously, you’re also fearless. You’re not like any other woman I’ve ever met, Charli.” The pink blush on her golden skin deepened with each word. “And when you blush it puts even the most perfect rose to shame.”

She dropped her gaze, and long, dark lashes shaded her soft cheeks. I stepped closer and touched the snake’s side. It was surprisingly warm and dry.

She peered up at me, looking half lonely little girl and half world-wise woman.

“
And
you have a truly awful opinion of me, which I want to change . . . desperately.”

She paused for a long moment, and I was sure she’d refuse me again.

“We’re opening on Saturday. I have to work,” she said.

“What time are you free?”

“Charli,” a small woman called from across the way. The snake lifted its head.

“That’s Rusty’s owner. Now that he’s heard her, he’ll want to get back home.” She started walking away but took only a few steps. “I’m off at closing. Ten o’clock.”

“Great. I’ll meet you here.” I headed back toward the car but then stopped and turned back. “Charli,” I called.

It wasn’t easy with her unwieldy friend on her shoulders, but she stopped and looked back at me. “Yes?”

“Wear a different scarf.”

Chapter  7

Jackson

It was opening
day, and the crowds had come. I parked along the side of the road and walked half a mile to the carnival. I’d dropped off Bodhi and Noah at the carnival at noon and then gone on to finish some business in Georgetown. Gideon had worked on the new truck all afternoon. He’d made plans to drive out to the carnival with a friend. With the way he’d been staring at the dancer, Rose, I was sure he’d gone straight to the burlesque show. Although, even if he hadn’t met her, he more than likely would have headed straight there.

It was only two hours from closing, but people were still lined up at the ticket wagon. An elderly man was perched on a stool at the entrance. I handed him my free pass. “If you want a seat for the Death Sphere show, you’d better hurry. The benches are filling up fast,” he said.

“Thanks for the tip.”

Twinkling lights had been strung from tent to tent casting a wavering yellow glow over the half-deserted midway. Some of the food carts were dark with sold out signs pasted across their posters. The steam whistles of the giant, ornate calliope had quieted for the evening. The only music was the faint sound of a fiddle, being expertly played, somewhere in the distance. Charli was nowhere in sight, and I wondered what creature they’d put her in charge of tonight. I’d been thinking about our date all day. She’d already formed a pretty crummy opinion of me, and I couldn’t blame her. I only hoped I could flip that opinion in my favor. I wasn’t completely sure why it was so important to me. There was just something about Charli that made her well worth the effort.

Voices and laughter rumbled from the back of the carnival where everyone seemed to be congregating for the big event, the motorcycle stunt show.

A man in a bright green top hat and yellow striped shirt held out a paper tray. “My last hot dog of the night, sir. You look hungry.”

“I am.” I pulled out my coins and traded the man for a hot dog that looked as if it had been overcooked more than once. I squeezed on some mustard and kept walking.

A good third of the east side of the midway was lined with games, darts, crossbow shoot and ring toss, all the games that were usually rigged in one way or another to ensure few winners. Apparently, my brother had figured a way around the trickery. Bodhi and Noah were weighted down with kewpie dolls and colorful walking sticks as they trudged toward me.

“Christ, Bodhi, have you spent all your money already?” I asked.

“Heck no. I was in the shooting gallery. Kept winning.”

“He’s been banned. The carnie told him he needed to leave some prizes for the others,” Noah said.

Bodhi held up a doll with oversized blue eyes, black hair and red lips. “Thought you could use these dolls as little thank you gifts— you know— for all the girls you invite into the backseat of the Ford.” He grinned up at me.

“Better watch yourself, little brother. You can keep your dolls and give them to your girlfriend here.” I inclined my head toward Noah.

Bodhi threw the dolls on the ground. “Fuck you, Jackson,” he snarled and stomped off. Noah stared down at the ground.

“Shit. What’s eating him?” I asked. “I was only kidding around.”

“You know, Jacks, sometimes you can be a real asshole.” Noah ran to catch up to Bodhi.

“Jackson?” Megan’s slightly shrill tone came from behind. “I thought that was you.” She stepped in front of me and stared in confusion down at the carnival prizes littering the dirt. “Why are you standing here in a pile of dolls?”

“I’m wondering the same thing.” I took a bite of the hot dog. It tasted like charred rubber.

“Are you going over to watch The Enchantress? They say this is her first big show after a nasty fall a few months back. Snapped her arm in two,” Megan talked about it with enthusiasm.

“I guess half the people sitting over there are waiting for some nice gory ending to the evening,” I said.

“No, that’s not true, but the possibility of injury or death makes for good entertainment, I suppose. I mean the poster says Death Sphere. She goes upside down and everything. Don’t know what kind of girl would be riding a motorcycle around a metal cage.” She laughed. “I suppose the same kind of girl who’d be living out of a tent and traveling trunk. They call her The Enchantress, but I’ll bet she’s one of those big, burly women with heavy eyebrows and facial hair.” She laughed again, obviously pleased with her prediction.

Megan had blonde curls and bow shaped pink lips. Her hat matched her lipstick color. She always caked on face powder to cover freckles. I preferred the freckles, but Megan was the type of girl to spend all day in the mirror fretting about a curl out of place or a lost eyelash. She loved to neck, which happened to be one of my favorite past times as well. Unfortunately, that was the only thing we had in common.

“Let’s go get a seat. I don’t want to miss the show. Afterward, you can take me dancing.” She took hold of my arm as if we’d come to the carnival as a couple.

“I’ve already got plans tonight, Megan.”

She dropped her arm. “You are such an ass, Jackson.”

“Yep, I’m getting that a lot tonight, and I’ve only been here five minutes.” I leaned down and picked up a doll that had blonde hair and the same bow shaped lips as Megan. “Kewpie doll?”

She scowled and smacked it out of my hand. Then she smiled. “You know I can’t ever stay mad at you, Jackson Jarrett. Walk me over to the show. By the end of it, I’ll make sure you’ve changed your plans for tonight.”

Gideon whistled from across the way. “Jacks, let’s go. We saved you a seat.”

I crossed the midway. Megan followed. Gideon had dated Megan briefly, right after he got back from France. After stopping a bullet with his calf, he’d come back with a fairly pronounced limp. Megan couldn’t deal with the fact that they could never go out dancing, and she took up with someone else. Gideon’s leg eventually grew stronger, and the limp disappeared. He never forgave Megan. He ignored her as she walked up and said hello.

“The show’s about to start. Ricky is saving us seats.” He glanced over at Megan. “Seats for Jackson and me, that is.”

She waved her hand. “I’m small. I don’t take up much room.” She was a persistent little thing.

The frenzied conversations of people enthusiastically waiting for a dangerous stunt show rumbled around the portable stands. Three tiered risers were set up around the wire mesh sphere. The globe towered high above the crowd and was secured in place by long metal poles braced against it on all sides.

Gideon’s friend, Rick, scooted closer to the woman sitting next to him. I slid onto the bench next to Gideon. Megan squeezed in between me and a man who didn’t look all that upset about having a cute blonde tucked in snugly next to him.

A musician, who looked as if one of his legs was shorter than the other, stood next to the sphere playing a fiddle. The massive mesh ball dwarfed him, but the music pillowed up like a giant cloud. It was the music I’d heard earlier, and it sounded even better up close. His eyes were closed, and he looked lost in his own melody as he ran the bow across the strings. It wasn’t his legs, I soon realized. It was his back. It was contorted so that one shoulder was lower than the other. It certainly had no effect on his amazing skill with the fiddle.

I pulled out my pocket watch.

“What time is it?” Gideon asked.

“Half past eight.”

“I’ll need the car when this is over. I’m heading to Breakers after this,” he said. “I’ve got a date.”

“Really? I was going that direction too.”

Megan grabbed my hand. “Great, we can all go together.”

“I told you, Megan. I’ve already got plans.” I turned to Gideon. “Who are you taking out?”

Rick leaned forward with a grin. “Giddy is stepping out with one of the burlesque dancers.”

Megan grunted her disapproval. It was hard to ignore someone when she was almost sitting in your lap.

I looked at Gideon. He wasn’t denying it. “You work fast,” I said. “I’m impressed.”

Gideon stared straight ahead. “You think you’re the only Jarrett who can sweet talk a woman?”

“Never said that.”

Gideon elbowed me and lifted his chin to direct my attention across the way. “There’s Griggs and a couple of his lackeys.” Griggs and two of his men sat down on the risers. The other spectators scooted away. Gideon laughed. “Heck, you’d think Griggs and those two toadies had used skunk spray instead of aftershave with the way people moved out of their space.”

“Think it has more to do with the Colt jewelry they’ve got tucked in their holsters than the smell of their cologne.” I scanned the crowd for other familiar faces, wondering if Charli was allowed to take time to watch the show. It was dark and there were so many faces, it would have been hard to spot one, even a particularly beautiful one, in the sea of people.

Conversations quieted as Buck waded into the center of the show area with a megaphone at his side. He was clad in a bright red ringmaster style coat that matched the color of his beard. Two gold buttons strained the fabric of the coat that crossed his big belly. The fiddle player was so taken with his own music, Buck had to nudge him, none too gently, to get his attention. The man looked up almost wide-eyed with surprise as if he hadn’t noticed the hundreds of people sitting in the stands around him. He scuttled off with his tilted posture and his magical instrument.

“Oh, that poor, pathetic creature.” Megan’s nose turned up as she watched the musician waddle away. “Still, thank goodness that racket is over.”

I stared at her. “You must be joking. That man could play in a symphony.”

She huffed at my comment. Megan was good at huffing at anything she didn’t agree with or understand. She huffed a lot. “I’ve heard that a jazz band is coming in from New York to play at Breakers tonight. It’ll be standing room only, if they even let us in the door.” She was also extremely practiced at ignoring things she didn’t want to hear. I didn’t bother to correct her again about the evening’s plans. I would have been wasting my breath.

I turned my attention back to Gideon. “Griggs told me he’d keep a table in the back open for us tonight. Otherwise, it’s going to be a sardine can in there. I’m meeting my date here.”

Gideon opened his mouth to ask something but was cut off by Buck’s booming voice, made even more thunderous by the megaphone. “Welcome, friends, to the Starfield Traveling Show. Are you all having a good time?”

The crowd cheered loud enough to shake the rickety stands.

Buck laughed into the speaker, causing another rumble in the stands. “Well, the evening isn’t over. Now for our star attraction.” He lifted his hand to point out the massive sphere. Not that it needed pointing out. “This is the Starfield Death Sphere.”

Another round of cheers.

Buck’s voice lowered to a grim tone. “And, sadly, it has indeed claimed a life once before.”

A hush fell over the crowd. As much as the prospect of an accident lent a certain spark of anticipation to the event, in reality, no one wanted to witness someone’s death. Especially not in the midst of a rambunctious day of fun at the carnival.

Buck’s melancholy tone was shut off like a valve, and he was back to pumping up the excitement. “But, tonight, I promise thrilling stunts performed by the talented and beautiful Enchantress. Guaranteed to take your breath away.”

Another rousing cheer, the trepidation from seconds before washed away by Buck’s new enthusiasm. He cupped his thick hand to his ear. “Quiet down now. You can hear the roar of the motorcycle behind me.” Buck turned around and lifted the megaphone to his mouth again. “Enchantress, we are ready.”

Small lights had been strung on lines above the stands. They dropped a shadowy, uneven glow on the center yard. A motorcycle burst out from behind one of the parked box trucks sending off a few birds who’d come to roost for the night under the canvas signs. Gold sequins and polished red metal sparkled beneath the dangling lights. The rider raced to the end past the stands and nearly out of view before she turned around. The buzz of the motorcycle grew in intensity as she returned. Her tiny metallic costume bared her shoulders, her legs and most of her midriff. A gold headband circled her forehead and kept secure her long, wavy hair. She wore no helmet or gloves. The only thoughts to safety were the short black boots on her feet. The bike roared past at a good thirty miles per hour as she leaned down lower over the handlebars to coax more speed out of her machine.

Megan huffed loud enough that her breathy protest could be heard over the rattling motor of the bike. “Looks as if they’ve moved that naughty burlesque show outside. She’s half naked.”

My eyes stayed on the stunt rider as I spoke. “So, the possibility of injury or death is good entertainment, but a beautiful, scantily clad girl is wrong?”

“That’s right.” Megan crossed her arms in disgust. Apparently, she was all huffed out.

Gideon peered sideways at me. “Did you come with her?”

“No, she just latched on,” I said from the side of my mouth. The rider circled wider now, rolling along the outer rim of the show area and just a few feet in front of the stands. She started on the opposite side. A clamor of cheers and a flurry of flapping arms started on that side and rolled along with her like a giant human wave. As she turned the bend and came down our side, I got a better look at The Enchantress.

“Jeeezus,” I muttered under my breath.

Gideon had to yell over the noise of the crowd. “Isn’t that the girl with the snake?”

“Yep.” My chin nearly reached my chest as I watched Charli ride past on her motorcycle. The smart talking, sweet smiled girl I’d shared a ginger ale with was gone, replaced by an experienced, confident performer. She hadn’t even entered the Death Sphere yet, but she had the crowd mesmerized. A beautiful, exotically dressed woman on a motorcycle was unusual enough, but knowing that she would soon ride the bike upside down, defying the logical order of the world and space was not like anything anybody in Harper’s Cross had ever seen. Myself included.

Two workers came out and opened up one panel of the sphere, and Charli, the girl whose fearlessness once again had me speechless, rode confidently inside. Her petite, boot clad feet pushed the pedals around like a bicycle, increasing speed and momentum with each turn. Her sleek, golden thighs were completely exposed, and I couldn’t drag my gaze away from them. A wonder-filled hush fell over the stands. It seemed even the creatures of the night, the owls and bats and raccoons, had stopped their chatter to hold their breath in anticipation. I looked briefly around. Every face in the crowd was glued to the girl in the wire mesh globe. The name Enchantress suited her. Although, she’d already caught my fascination long before she’d ridden out on a motorcycle.

The bike looped up the side, higher and higher with each pass. The crowd was wound tight with anticipation and wonder. I hadn’t noticed I’d been holding my breath until Gideon elbowed me. “She is something else, eh? What I wouldn’t give to have those thighs wrapped around—”

“Shut up and watch,” I said.

I felt his angry glare on the side of my face but ignored it.

Charli looped the bike three quarters of the way up the wall of the sphere and then dropped down the side again, gaining speed with each turn. People sat along the long stretches of wood seats, wound tight and silent with tension as they watched the rider loop closer to the top of the circle. And then, with just as much casual ease as she’d worn the massive snake around her shoulders, she swept the bright red Indian in a complete circle. For a brief moment of time she was completely upside down, ignoring gravity and everything else that kept us humans anchored to the ground. She flipped around five times and then slowed the bike, rocking back and forth up the sides a few times until the bike stopped in the middle.

The audience jumped to their feet. Gideon and Rick blew whistles that snapped sharply in the night air, but I was too busy watching the girl in the center of the mesh ball. She was costumed and wearing heavy makeup, but the smile was there. The smile that I’d started to think about even when she wasn’t around. Her copper hair glistened beneath the shiny headband and strings of lights as she waved to her fans.