Witches and Waterways, page 3
Bea texted back right away.
So its your rival
AJ couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the misspelling. Her sister always dictated her texts, then never went back to correct anything. It had made for some hilarious misunderstandings over the years.
It is. She’s never going to believe me if I warn her.
It was a few moments before Bea replied.
I know. But you are still going to worn her, right?
AJ sighed. She knew she had to. It still wasn’t going to be fun.
Yeah, I am. Wish me luck.
Several emojis of a four-leaf clover were the reply.
AJ pulled open the door. A waft of overly sweet air enveloped her. Jeez, she was going to get a sugar-high just by being in here.
She walked determinedly up the stairs. Walls and ceiling were painted beige, and the carpet was dark brown. Did the landlord consider it easier to clean? Or had he or she recently repainted? There weren’t any marks on the walls, so it was a possibility.
The stairs weren’t too steep. What did Carla do for her clients who couldn’t walk up these? Was there an elevator someplace? Or did she make house calls?
The smell of cheap patchouli incense smothered the smell of the candy about halfway up the stairs. AJ shook her head, wrinkling her nose and resisting the urge to sneeze.
Did Carla burn the incense to get rid of the sugar smells? If so, AJ didn’t consider it an improvement.
Carla had decorated the outside of her rooms more since the first time AJ had been there. Tacky purple-and-black material now covered the walls around the door. She stopped and took a closer look. The background of the material was purple, with black witches hats and spooky cats done as black cutouts.
Plastic chairs now lined the hallway, giving the appearance of a dentist’s waiting room. Except that they all had matching pumpkin pillows on them. So maybe a waiting room at Halloween.
Did Carla regularly have that many clients? All waiting for her?
The poster for the upcoming Valentine’s Day special was on the door, a bit enlarged. AJ studied it for a moment. She didn’t see a green crystal antenna on the radio. Then again, the radio itself wasn’t identical to the one she’d seen in her vision.
She knew she was procrastinating. She honestly wasn’t looking forward to trying to warn Carla.
As a responsible psychic, though, AJ felt it was her duty.
After a few more moments gathering up her courage, AJ raised her hand and knocked.
“Come in!” came the reply immediately.
AJ shook her head, opened the door, and stepped into the lion’s den.
Chapter Five
“Oh. It’s you,” Carla said when she saw it was AJ.
“Love what you’ve done with the place,” AJ said, trying but not succeeding at keeping the sarcastic tone out of her voice.
It looked like a cheap Halloween store had thrown up all over the front room. AJ had remembered seeing a few things in the room before, like the string of lights that were all pumpkin heads that lined the far window, the orange and black tinsel hanging on the wall, along with the prominent skull sitting on the desk in the corner.
Now, the lights had been dimmed considerably and all she saw was junk: a plushy black cat with an arched back; strings of gold coins like what a belly dancer might wear, hanging from the wall; mad-eyed creatures staring at her from the corner; and stuffed ravens hanging from the ceiling.
It took AJ’s eyes a moment to adjust, for her to make out the large old-fashioned radio sitting on a table behind Carla. While it wasn’t identical to the one in her vision—the front was more ordinary, not a carved flower—it did have a bright green crystal antenna attached to the side of it.
There was something about that radio, something that caught at AJ’s attention. Was it because it was so similar to what she’d seen in her vision? Was it the antenna, which seemed so out of place with the rest of it? Or was it something else?
Carla glared at AJ as she took in the rest of the room.
“Why are you here?” Carla said angrily.
AJ looked at her rival. Carla stayed where she was, seated behind her desk. She wore her blonde hair up that day, braided and pinned so it looked like a crown. Dark eyeshadow colored her eyelids—an exaggeration of what should have been a “smoky eye.” Bright red lipstick overemphasized her mouth, making her look like a predator.
Yet at the same time, Carla’s orange-and-black dress was large and flowing, dwarfing the girl, making her appear smaller than she was.
The message seemed mixed to AJ—both brash as well as shy.
“I had a vision,” AJ said, figuring she could start with that.
“Sure you did,” Carla said, the eyeroll more implied than given.
AJ explained the vision, about the old-fashioned radio being lost out at sea, becoming swamped by deep waters before finally being drown after being struck by lightning.
For the briefest moment, AJ thought Carla looked curious about her vision. Maybe even open enough to ask a question about it.
Then the barriers slammed shut, as if Carla suddenly remembered where she was and who she was talking with.
“So you’re threatening me,” was her cool response.
“No! No! Not at all!” AJ said, horrified. “I would never do that.”
“Right,” Carla sneered. “You just told me a vision you had about me being drowned.”
“No,” AJ said. “I saw an old-fashioned radio being drowned. That radio may or may not represent you. As it’s just a symbol, there’s a chance that the vision won’t come true.”
“Interesting take on it,” Carla said. “So if you talk in symbols, that means it’s more iffy of a prognostication. I like it,” she said. “But you don’t fool me. You’re out to get me. Aren’t you?”
“Why would I be out to get you?” AJ said, bewildered. “I don’t know you.”
“Because I’m taking your clients and eating your lunch,” Carla said airily.
AJ snorted. “As if. My clients know the real thing when they see it.”
“Yeah, right,” Carla said. She paused a moment. “Is that it? Is that all you got?”
AJ stiffened, the words echoing in her head, reminding her of the chant that she’d used the night before.
“I’m not threatening you,” AJ assured Carla again. “I’m just warning you to be careful of being on the water. That’s all.”
She knew it was possible that Carla’s death might not come from drowning. It might be, though. That was, if the old-fashioned radio represented Carla.
There was a slight chance that it might not.
The eyeroll that Carla gave her was impressive, and AJ had grown up with a younger sister who excelled at such responses.
“Right. You’re just telling me not to hold the séance tonight as part of the coastal cruise,” Carla said.
“You’re holding a séance on a cruise?” AJ said, surprised.
That sounded like a really good opportunity as a psychic. Maybe she should consider offering her services to one of the local tour boats. It would mean spending time out on the water, which was her element. As well as potentially expanding her client base.
Huh.
“It’s on all the posters,” Carla said, waving to one that was displayed prominently behind her desk.
AJ shook her head. She hadn’t read all the details about the séance because the font was so bad. “I didn’t know you were doing a cruise,” she said truthfully.
“Several of them,” Carla said. “Something that if you’d had any desire to succeed, you would have already set up.”
AJ shrugged. She’d inherited Ursula’s business, so she hadn’t gone looking for additional opportunities.
Something she was going to have to remedy.
“So here’s my warning for you, then, if you want to take it that way,” Carla said, standing. “Stay out of my way, as well as my business. We are not colleagues, friends, or even acquaintances. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and I’m a much meaner pooch than you’ll ever be.”
AJ felt her smile grow sharp and bitter. “I used to work in software, little girl,” she said softly. “The old boys’ club. You got nothing I’m afraid of.”
They stared at each other for a few moments, silent and icy, before AJ turned and walked out the door.
Her steps as she stomped down the stairs echoed the words repeated again and again in her head.
Bring it.
Chapter Six
Of course, the news Sunday morning on the Milltown app was all about how Carla Lowenstein had disappeared after the séance on the coastal cruise Saturday night, before the boat had reached shore.
AJ’s heart ached. She’d warned the girl, had tried to tell her to stay away from the water. Maybe her death hadn’t been as avoidable as AJ had thought.
They hadn’t found her body, but the search was still on.
Seemed Carla’s business manager, Seamus of Top Talents, Inc., had been on the cruise as well. He claimed that it had to have been foul play, that someone must have gotten to Carla while she was on the boat, thrown her overboard.
But who?
Seamus was also calling for AJ’s head. Carla had told him about her “threats.”
She could already hear Bea’s comment about how no good deed ever goes unpunished.
It didn’t surprise AJ when a knock came on her door just as she finished her tea.
“Good morning Officer Naomi, Officer Brendan,” AJ said when she saw the pair of them standing there. “Won’t you come in?”
Though AJ thought it was weird to invite cops into her home, she knew that Bea would fuss at her a lot (A LOT) if she didn’t. Besides, the police here in Milltown bore no resemblance to the officers in the Seattle Police Department whatsoever.
“Thank you,” Officer Naomi said as she walked in. She was tall—a little over AJ’s five foot ten inches—though she wasn’t slim. Instead, she was broad and all muscles. Her red hair was cut short in a very androgenous style. The usual reddish freckles sprinkled across her nose had faded with the winter.
“Thank you,” Officer Brendan said as well, though he sounded as if he meant it and also shot her a grin.
AJ had met both of the officers in their unofficial capacity a few times, such as at the Christmas festival that the inn had hosted, and the New Year’s Eve bash that one of the local bars had put on.
Naomi was somewhat reserved even in public, possibly even a little shy. Her girlfriend/partner Iris, on the other hand, was warm and outgoing. It was obvious that they were completely in love with each other.
Brendan, on the other hand, was a complete and utter goofball with a loud laugh and a love of life. He was always interested in whatever everyone was doing, asking loads of questions, listening and remembering. He seemed to genuinely care about people. His perfectly round head gave him an innocent look, along with dark brown eyes that always held a spark of mischief.
While the officers might be a little intimidating because they were the police, she also knew them as people. So she would invite them into her home with little fuss.
In addition, they knew her.
“Can I get you something to drink? Tea? I might be able to rustle up some coffee…” AJ said as she glanced back at her kitchen. Coffee beans had been on her grocery list and she tended to do her shopping on Sunday afternoons. She might have a few left, enough for one cup…
“No, we’re fine,” Officer Naomi said.
Officer Brendan sighed, as if he would have really liked something to drink, but had to follow his partner’s lead.
“I suppose you’ve seen the news,” Officer Naomi said, coming to the point faster than AJ would have imagined.
“Yeah, I did. Poor girl,” AJ said.
“Why do you say that?” Officer Naomi said.
AJ pressed her lips together. Until they found the body, Carla would be considered among the living.
However, AJ knew, knew, that she’d drowned. They would never find her alive.
So AJ tried to play it dumb. “She drowned, didn’t she?” She knew that was what some of the other people on the Milltown app had been claiming.
“We don’t know that for certain,” Officer Brendan said.
“Oh, okay,” AJ said. “So how can I help? Have you come to see me in an official capacity? As a psychic?”
While Officer Naomi made a face at that, Officer Brendan looked intrigued.
“No, we have not,” Officer Naomi said before Officer Brendan could ask AJ about it.
AJ nodded and continued to wait. She knew that it was always better to let the police ask the questions rather than volunteer anything. Or at least that was what the cop shows always said.
“We heard that you went to visit Carla yesterday,” Officer Naomi said.
“That’s right,” AJ said, nodding and smiling.
“What did you talk about?” Officer Naomi finally asked.
AJ knew she couldn’t lie, particularly not since Seamus, Carla’s business manager, had already been accusing her of threats.
“I had a vision which may or may not have been about her,” AJ said. She explained how she’d seen the old radio drowned.
Both officers looked confused by that.
“That’s it?” Officer Naomi said after a few moments.
“Yes, that’s it,” AJ said. Though she wanted to defend herself, to say that she hadn’t threatened Carla or anything else, she kept her mouth shut.
The two officers looked at each other, then back at AJ.
“Did you say anything else?” Officer Naomi said.
“No,” AJ said, shaking her head.
“Did Carla believe you?” Officer Brendan asked.
“No,” AJ said. Though the following silence was slightly uncomfortable, AJ held her ground.
“Did Carla accuse you of threatening her?” Officer Naomi finally asked.
“She did,” AJ admitted. “But I wasn’t. I only told her about the vision. I was trying to warn her to stay away from the water. I wasn’t threatening her.”
The two officers looked at each other, then back at AJ, their faces a mask. She had no idea what they were thinking. It must not have been good, though.
“Where were you last night between the hours of six PM and midnight?” Officer Naomi asked.
AJ sighed. “I was here. Alone. Took the night off. So I didn’t have any readings or any clients come in.”
“Do you normally have clients on a Saturday night?” Officer Brendan said.
“I do,” AJ said. “But as two of them had already canceled, I went ahead and canceled my third, so I could have an entire night off.” She had to wonder if the two who’d canceled had gone on the séance cruise instead. She wouldn’t ask them directly, but she knew it wouldn’t be that difficult to find out, particularly since Carla had gone missing. Most of the people who’d been on the cruise were also on the Milltown app, and had been chatting about their experiences.
“So, no alibi,” Officer Naomi said pointedly.
“That’s correct, officer,” AJ said. “Is there anything else?”
The two officers looked at each other, then back at AJ. “Do you have any plans to leave Milltown in the near future?” Officer Naomi asked.
“I do not,” AJ said. She figured going to dinner up the coast didn’t count.
“I would advise that you stay in town until this gets solved,” Officer Naomi warned.
“I will,” AJ said.
The officers left soon after that. AJ shut the door, then let her forehead drop on it. She wasn’t actually going to pound her head against the wood, though she did consider it for a brief moment.
She hadn’t killed Carla. However, she wasn’t certain how much that was going to matter, at least to the police. Would other people in town believe her? Or was she going to have to prove it to them as well?
Though a part of her wanted to step aside, stay back, let the police handle this, AJ suspected that she was going to have to solve this mystery herself.
If for nothing else, to clear her name sooner rather than later.
Chapter Seven
AJ had just finished putting her groceries away Sunday afternoon when she heard another knock on her door.
She wasn’t expecting any clients. Hopefully it wasn’t the police, come back to arrest her. Maybe Roland had decided to stop by? Except that no, Roland was out of town that weekend, visiting friends up in Seattle. Had he come back early?
Maybe it was whoever was behind the cards she’d found stuck to her doorframe. The one that day had arrived while she’d been out shopping.
AJ walked over and opened the door, determined to remember this time to get some sort of peephole for it.
Bea stood there—the last person AJ had expected to see.
“What are you doing here?” AJ said as she ushered her little sister into the front entranceway of her house. The rain had started up again, and Bea was soaked through.
With a wave of her hand, AJ dispersed the water so Bea no longer looked like a bedraggled puppy, her blonde hair suddenly poofy and dry. She wore a cute teal-colored raincoat that had a somber pink lining. Under that was an off-white blouse with reddish-pink stripes made out of dots, jeans, and waterproof hiking shoes. She looked more practical than usual, but then again, it was raining.
Bea shivered as AJ finished her magic, then she gave AJ a smile and a huge hug, holding her close for a few moments. “Man, if you could only bottle that somehow…”
“It is convenient,” AJ admitted, returning the hug, then letting go. It still weirded her out that she sometimes hugged her sister now, as their family wasn’t necessarily tactile. “But again, what are you doing here?” she asked as she turned and walked toward the kitchen, automatically reaching for the teapot.
“I’m here to support my stubborn older sister, particularly after she’s been accused of killing her rival,” Bea said. She walked over and opened the refrigerator, making herself at home as she pulled out a packet of cheese and some butter, as well as grabbing the loaf of bread sitting on the counter.
