Chapter Eighteen

I grabbed my trusty baseball bat from beside the bed, then hefted it over my shoulder and crept from my apartment. The hallway was deserted and I tiptoed to the head of the stairs. I stopped, listening for sounds. All quiet. The stairs creaked once halfway down and I froze, worried I had just lost the element of surprise. I took another cautious step, holding my breath, but nothing moved in the kitchen. I made it to the bottom of the staircase and switched on the overhead florescent lamps, flooding the space with light.

I gave the kitchen a quick check. What is that on the counter? I hurried over, keeping the baseball bat at the ready. A tiny blue velvet jewelry box sat by itself near the sink. Before I touched it, I hurried over to the back door to check the lock. It was unlatched. I was positive I had locked up. Maybe Ivana had come home and forgotten? I quickly set the bat aside and relocked the door, then picked up the velvet box and opened it.

Oh, thank the goddess. My spirit gladdened when the pretty emerald earring came into view. My guilt-laden plea had worked. First thing in the morning, I’d return it to Rosalie. But who had just set it on the counter? I held the box in my hand, touched the earring with my fingers, closed my eyes and waited.

The image that came to mind was murky. Off-kilter. A stranger had held the box last. Someone I hadn’t met yet. Someone whose vibrations were way off the chart. I shivered, a sense of dread creeping down my spine. It was odd, considering Felicity had been the last one I thought had had it. Maybe she’d asked someone else to return it? Did she trust the person enough to take the chance on bringing them into this messy business? I was missing something here. But what? I had more questions than answers.

I closed the box and slipped it into the pocket of my sleep pants and picked up the baseball bat. Back in bed thirty seconds later, I lay against my nest of pillows and gazed upward, hands entwined behind my head, enjoying the view of the florescent stars glittering against the dark ceiling, a project of Star’s from years past. I liked it more than I’d let on at the time.

I awoke with the sun, the hard case of the jewelry box jabbing into my hip. I wasn’t letting the priceless object out of my sight for one second until I handed it over to Rosalie. I grinned from ear to ear. This was going be one fine day. I gave her a quick phone call and left a message when she didn’t pick up.

Hurrying to dress, I jumped on one foot, trying to untangle my pajamas from my leg, then toppled over, the fabric tearing and tripping me up. I hit the floor, knocking the air clean out of me. Oh—oh. This is a bad sign, said my superstitious nature, taking over. Whenever I had trouble early in the day, it always foretold worse disasters to come. Just great. I gritted my teeth and got up. Just let your guard down for one second by hurrying to do something and the repercussions could suck.

A banging on my apartment door made me wince. And here it came. Why, oh why, hadn’t I been more careful? I held up my torn pajama bottoms with disgust and sighed. My last good pair, too. I know it was irrational to think my bad karma had anything to do with events unfolding in the universe, but when it happened enough times, a person had to wonder…

I finished dressing, ignoring the persistent knocking until I was decent. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. Constable Ace Collins as I lived and breathed.

“Morning,” I said. My heart did a little happy dance I made efforts to hide. Pursing my lips, I cocked my head to the side, hoping to charm him. “Come to read me the riot act, Sheriff? And how did you get in here this morning?” He did look perturbed and my spirits dropped when something flickered in his eyes. Yikes. Had he found out who the banishment poppets were in aid of?

“Good morning, Charm.” He touched his big fingers to the brim of his Stetson in that charming way that brought goosebumps to the surface of my skin. “Ivana was kind enough to let me in. Seemed in a hurry to go somewhere. I came to tell you two people are missing. Two stagehands, Sal Colletti and Vinny Taylor, haven’t been seen since yesterday morning. Both were expected at dinner last night. And they were overheard complaining of not feeling well by another stagehand, but neither of them showed up at Emergency. So time is of the essence if they’re out there and need our help.”

The urge to flirt vanished. Two men needed my sleuthing skills. What if they had been infected by ricin? Dread slithered down my spine again. This was bad if they were sick and incapacitated somewhere in the forest. What Charlie and Tom had shared triggered a sudden thought.

“And one had a graying ponytail, I’d bet. And the other wore a ballcap. What can I do?”

Ace nodded. “Vinny has been described as having that type of hair. Captain Duffy is questioning Bryce right now. Your intel is proving useful. But I was really hoping you’d go out to the camp early and set up something for the searchers. You know, water and snacks. We’re going to be asking for any warm body to aid in the search, and it would be helpful if you could be there early.”

“You mean a refreshment station?” No. I wanted to be in the field, leading the charge. I frowned, knowing of course I’d do it, but I wanted a bigger, more important job.

“Yes, if you could swing it? It would be a great place to gather information as well, I’m thinking. Everyone will come by at some point, right? We all need to eat and drink. The department will reimburse you for expenses, of course.”

Yes. Now that was an assignment I could sink my teeth into.

“No need. I like to help out our town.” I waved off his idea of recompense.

“I insist. You can’t always be out of pocket for expenses incurred by others. You’re too generous by half, darlin’.”

“When do you want me to get a new reading on Bryce?” Nice. I liked being thought of as generous to a fault. It rather lined up with my own version of myself most days. Others, such as how I’d like Jennifer Morgan to take a hike, did not. I blushed, hoping he’d never find out about last night’s shenanigans.

“Soon as Captain Duffy’s finished his questioning, I’ll bring him by the set.”

I nodded. “You got time for breakfast before you go?” I asked. “A man big as you needs to keep up his strength.” I managed to refrain from batting my eyelashes. Barely. Ace brought out so many sides of me that sometimes I had to check my head wasn’t spinning.

“Thanks, but I’ll have to take a rain check. Captain Duffy’s wanting this done yesterday.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll see you there. I hope they find those men unharmed.”

Ace’s face tightened with worry. “Me too, darlin’, me too.”

I followed him downstairs and into the kitchen, enjoying the view. Tight buns, wide shoulders and strong thighs. Wow. The guy must work out a lot. And I hadn’t even managed to book a fake spray tan.

A sudden knock at the back door drew both our attentions. Ace strode across the room and opened it. Rosalie.

I hurried over to greet her. Her cheeks were flushed and she was out of breath, but she had a grin from ear to ear.

“I got your message!” she said. “Where is it?”

“Someone dropped it off last night,” I said, pulling the velvet case out of my pants pocket. I handed the earring over, wishing I could have gotten a better reading on it. Was I losing my touch?

Ace gave me a glance, catching my eye. “Who dropped it off?”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “I don’t know. They just left it on the counter after I went to bed.”

“Didn’t you lock up? With a murderer on the loose?” His horrified expression was the perfect example of why I didn’t want to get into it. This guy could go from sexy to annoying in a nanosecond.

“It’s not like I planned it. Someone must have left it unlocked after I went upstairs.”

“You need to find out what happened! To think that you were left unguarded while someone in this town is spreading ricin and bashing people over the head. My god, Charm, when I think of what could have happened…”

I crossed my arms over my chest. I wasn’t lax in any way. I did lock up. I would have a word with Ivana today, see if she forgot. But I could handle my own affairs, thank you very much. “I’m fine. Let’s drop it, okay?

“Fine. But I’m adding you to my rounds. If you hear someone checking the locks at night, you’ll know it’s me.”

“Fine.” I rolled my eyes at Rosalie, who flicked a speculative look back at me.

“Ladies.” He tipped his hat and made his departure.

Rosalie gave a dramatic sigh, placing one hand over her heart. “I wish someone would check my locks at night.”

“Phhht,” I snorted. “Well, I can take care of myself.” How do you spell pain in the butt? A.C.E.

“I can’t thank you enough for finding my earring.” Rosalie clutched the velvet box in her hand, her big blue eyes filled with a sheen of happiness. “Can I help you in any way? Return the favor?”

“Constable Collins just told me about two missing men, so I’m going to need all hands on deck to set up a station for searchers right away at the movie campsite. You can help with that if you want?”

“Sure. Just point me in the right direction.” Rosalie slipped the earring into her pocket and went to the sink to wash up.

The door flew open and in trooped the usual suspects, Granny, Auntie T.J., Tulip, Star, Suzanna and James. A chorus of Good mornings from my crew and my family, then everyone got down to work. When our town called, everyone answered, no questions asked.

In one long assembly line, we went about filling our vehicles with all the food we had to hand. The timing couldn’t have been better for being prepared, but I didn’t like to think of what the call to action was about. Two men’s lives at stake.

“Star, Tulip, could you go and purchase cases of water at the Grab-n-go?” I asked.

They nodded and took off in Auntie T.J.’s old Buick with its huge backseat and trunk. Within the hour, we had a convoy of vehicles filled and we set off like one long segmented caterpillar toward the movie set.