2 Lady Luck Runs Out (16 page)

Zach relaxed back into the chair and folded his hands in his lap with a little shrug. "Just want to compare notes. Find out any new information this weekend?"

"Yes. You?"

"Yes."

I blinked at him over my tea cup. I still didn't trust him. "Well?"

He seemed amused suddenly. "I followed Bernard Grayson and his woman friend to Albert Whitted Airport yesterday morning. I couldn't get through the gate, but my contact there told me they were headed to Brazil."

"Well, nothing surprising about that. That's where he buys his snakes." But, seriously, how many snakes did one man need? "Was Sammy Harris the pilot?"

"That I don't know," Zach answered. "But most likely."

I bit the inside of my cheek, thinking. "We had dinner with Sammy Friday night. He's sort of dating my sister. He got an emergency call and had to leave. So maybe someone else flew them. Mallory hasn't heard from him yet."

"Anything is possible." Zach let his gaze wander to the window and then back to me. "Did you find something out at this dinner?"

I sipped my tea and nodded.  "Sammy mentioned the rattler that killed your mother probably came from a man named Jet Jamison. Apparently he captures them in the wild. His story was one got loose after he brought it back to St. Pete. That would explain why it was so close to civilization but not microchipped." I shook my head. "But still doesn't explain why Jamison said it got loose when someone actually slipped it into her lanai in the middle of the night."

I realized my mistake too late. My face flushed.

Zach's attention shifted back to me with laser precision. His eyes darkened. "It's time for full disclosure, Darwin. What do you know about that night that you aren't telling me?"

I was about to deny knowing anything more when I realized that the idea of actually being honest with someone about my gift was very appealing. And Zach already knew more than anyone else about me, besides my family. He seemed to know about my father. Plus his mother was a psychic. If there was ever anyone I could confide it, it was probably him.

I sat my cup down and looked him square in the eyes. "Okay." Deep breath. "When we found Lucky that night and I touched her..." I repositioned myself in the chair and tucked a short wave of hair behind my ear.
What's the simplest way to explain this?
"Well, if an animal has experienced recent trauma and I touch them, I get visions of whatever it is that hurt them or scared them. Pictures, feelings or sometimes smells. So when I touched Lucky, I saw a person in a dark hooded jacket putting the rattler on the lanai through a cut in the screen. Lucky apparently ran through that same hole to escape the snake. That's how she got out." I pressed my lips together and waited for him to respond.

Zach stared at me for a long moment. "And you have not shared this with your homicide detective boyfriend?"

I blinked, squirming under the heap of guilt that question buried me in. "No, I have not."

His mouth twitched, but it wasn't a smirk. "You don't think he would believe you?"

I sighed, suddenly tired. "Either way, it wouldn't work out in my favor. He would either not believe me and think I was a crazy person, or he would believe me and know I was a crazy person. I know it's a selfish reason." I glanced up at him. "But, you believe me?"

"Of course," he said. "You are part Elemental." The casual way he said this lifted something off my heart. It was so nice hearing someone, outside of my family, believe me and accept who I was. All of me. The human part and the secret part.

Tears sprang to my eyes. I blinked them back.
Get a grip, Darwin
. "Thank you," I whispered. "And I'm sorry for not telling Will. If I had, he might be looking for your mother's killer right now."

"If he actually believed you. Which is unlikely." Zach leaned forward and rested a hand on mine. It felt like a heat lamp had just switched on. I should have pulled away, but frankly it felt comforting. "We will find some hard evidence to take to him. No need for him to think of you as a crazy person."

I fought the urge to hug him and then I remembered last night. "Oh, also Frankie and I staked out Nova Diaz's place last night. That woman definitely isn't who she appears to be. She was sitting on her sofa messing with a gun. And she looked like she knew what she was doing." I didn't mention her warning to me and him. I figured the gun thing was enough. Why make him worry more?

Zach's brows raised and then he frowned. "You put yourself in danger." He leaned back in the chair. "Can I ask why you care to help find my mother's killer? You didn't even know her."

I blinked, not expecting that question. "Why? Because I'm the only one who knows it wasn't a freak accident. I couldn't live with myself if I just let it go, let someone get away with murder."

Zach shook his head and rubbed his hands on his jeans. "Okay. I'm staying in my mother's condo." He stood up, fished a card out of his wallet and dropped it on the table. "Well, I guess it's my condo now. If you find out anything else, you can contact me there or call me." He slipped his hand in mine and pulled me up to stand with him. "Or if you just want some company." His eyes held mine. Too close. I couldn't take in a full breath. I felt like a rabbit, frozen, trying to stay invisible to the fox. I managed a nod. Mercifully he backed away. "I'll let myself out."

I watched him out the window as he disappeared down the sidewalk. My insides were swirling with a mixture of relief he was gone, guilt for confiding in him and a strange feeling of happiness that he knew who I was and didn't judge me. I shook it off and flipped the Open sign over.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Wednesday was All Hallows Eve. This was the first year I was actually enjoying Halloween and not dreading the tomatoes that would be thrown at our house in Savannah, or all the kids who would dare each other to ring our doorbell and, when we'd open the door to give them candy, run screaming back through the yard. Mallory had always spent Halloween crying in her room, though she would never admit it. Willow didn't seem to care one way or the other.

 Halloween in St. Pete was fun. People were in good spirits, already walking around in costumes, toting around kids with painted faces during the day. We gave a treat to every pet that came in and had a bucket of candy for the humans, too.

I was in good spirits, too. Will had called me last night and apologized for not calling sooner. He was wrapping up a case and would be free tonight. We were going to have dinner and talk. I wasn't sure what I was going to say to him, but I was leaning more and more toward the truth. At least about how I knew Rose was murdered. The thought of that conversation made my palms sweat.

Mallory brought an armful of organic cat food to the counter, a small man trailing behind her. "Mr. Boseman needs something to stop Elizabeth Taylor from pulling hair out of her tail."

"Oh, poor kitty." I winked at Mallory. "The cherry plum and chicory mix should help."

"Be right back." She patted Mr. Boseman on the arm. "Darwin will ring you up."

I eyed the elderly man thoughtfully. "Have you moved or changed anything in Elizabeth Taylor's environment that would cause her stress, Mr. Boseman?"

His watery Basset Hound eyes blinked at me. "My son helped me move my living room furniture around a few weeks back. That's about all that's changed for us in ten years."

I smiled. "Well, that could be enough to cause her to over-groom from anxiety, but you might want to have your vet check her over just to be sure y'all aren't dealing with a skin disease."

"Here we are." Mallory handed me the brown bottle to wrap up, plucked a tootsie pop from the bowl of candy on the counter and handed it to him. "And Happy Halloween!"

I watched her bop over to another customer and smiled to myself. She was on cloud nine. Sammy had finally called her last night. They were going out tonight. She promised she would stay in a public place and begged me to let them go out alone. I caved. Truth be told, I wanted to spend time alone with Will, too. I did make her promise to text me every hour and let me know she was safe and to be home by 11:00. She had rolled her eyes but agreed.

After we closed up the pet boutique, we raced upstairs to the townhouse to shower and change. I had settled on a peach sundress and slipped into it as Lucky moved from my pillow to curl up on the pile of rejected clothes on the bed.

I clipped my white-blonde bangs back with a gold barrette and swooped my eyelashes with some mascara. "Don't get comfy on there, Lucky." I threw on a cream sweater over the dress and scratched her behind the ear. She squinted at me and stretched out on the pile. "Fine, stay there. Gives me a good excuse not to hang them back up right now." I grabbed a pair of gold hoop earrings off the dresser and padded down the stairs for my bag and flip-flops.

"You look very pretty, Mal." I said, meeting her in the kitchen. "Where are you two off to?"

"You, too." She smiled and hugged me. "Dinner and then movie. They're playing Halloween in Straub Park on a giant screen at 10:00. Thanks for not chaperoning, by the way." She smoothed my hair behind my ear like Mom used to do. "Come clean with him, Sis."

I sighed. "When did you get so grown up?"

A smile lit up her face. I scooted her out of the kitchen. "Have fun. Be safe. Don't forget to text me."

I checked the clock after she left. Half an hour until I met Will. The townhouse felt suddenly too quiet and my own self-doubt was beginning to talk. Time to skedaddle.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The walkways and streets were packed. The air held just a hint of a chill. The sky was a clear, wide open canvas for all the stars. I took in a deep breath as I made my way through the crowds next door to the Parkshore Grill. It would be a great night to sit outside and people watch. As I neared their outdoor tables with the blue umbrellas, my heart skipped. Will must have had the same idea. He had arrived early and was already seated outside, waiting for me.

"Hi." The word got stuck in my throat as I greeted him. He stood and stared down at me, drinking in my face like he hadn't seen me for a year. I bit my bottom lip. No one had ever looked at me like that before. His blue eyes swelled with emotion. I suddenly felt so guilty for causing him pain. I wanted to blurt out everything. I didn't want my secrets to be the wall between us anymore. I had to fix this.

"Hi," he whispered, trying to smile. It didn't reach his eyes.

"Will, I'm so sorry—" His mouth on mine halted the words. His lips were warm and gentle. I slipped my arms around his waist as he deepened the kiss. The muscles in his back were hard and tense beneath a cotton polo shirt. When he finally pulled away and rested his forehead on mine, my legs were trembling.

"God I've missed you." He cleared the emotion from his throat, slipped his hand in mine and motioned to the chair.

We sat down, but still held hands, neither one of us willing to let go. That is, until two waiters arrived, one with a bottle of wine and one with a tray of steaming, mouth watering appetizers.

Our hands slid apart to make room for the food.

"Thank you," Will said to the waiters as they arranged the offerings on the table. To me he said, "I got here a bit early so I ordered us something to start with. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." My stomach rumbled. "Mmm, is that goat cheese spinach dip?" I unrolled my napkin and found my weapon of choice. A fork. "And blue crab cake? Oh, yum." I slid a crab cake onto my plate and dug into it. "You do know how to get to a girl's heart, Detective Blake. Delicious."

"And a nice Ca Bolani Pinot." The lanky waiter smiled down at us as he uncorked the bottle. "I'll be back in a bit to take your dinner orders. Enjoy."

Will lifted his glass and invited me with his eyes to do the same. I swallowed and lifted my glass. "To new beginnings."

We clinked glasses. "New beginnings," I repeated. We locked eyes over our wine glasses. When we put them down, Will sighed.

"Look, Darwin. I've been doing a lot of soul searching lately. I know that my failed marriage and my ex-wife leaving me the way she did has caused issues for me. Trust issues, for one. But it's not fair of me to shut down and push you away just because you don't fully disclose everything in your life to me." I tried to butt in but he held up his hand. "Let me get this out. I'll admit, I was jealous when you told me you were going out with Mr. Faraday and that was a new emotion for me." He shook his head like he was still trying to wrap his mind around it. "And then when you told me about your little conspiracy theory that you two shared about his mother actually being murdered... well, that just pushed me over the edge."

I stiffened at his use of the words "conspiracy theory" but I kept silent and let him go on.

"I realized that you'll share things with me as you feel closer to me and trust me. That's the way this thing works, right? And I just have to be patient and not so quick to think you're keeping things from me on purpose. And we never agreed not to date other people, so I had no right getting upset."

Oh, heaven on a cracker. The cogs on my guilt wheels were really churning now. I squirmed and offered him a small smile.

He seemed to sense my discomfort and reached across to take my hand. His touch sent tiny vibrations through me that filled me with peace, like when two waves are in sync and hum together at perfect pitch. I felt my body relax as I lost myself in his eyes. Being with him, here in this moment, made me feel like I do when I'm immersed in water. Completely at home. In my element.

"But..." He pulled his hand away.

I started to panic.
But? No, no buts!

"I don't have much room in my life for anything but work, and I've liked it that way. Until now." He slipped a tiny black velvet box out from its hiding place under his napkin. "Because of you. And I don't want to share you with anyone." He popped open the box. Nestled in the silk lining sat a silver ring with a small, square dark purple amethyst. It was gorgeous. "I know it might seem kind of high-schoolish, but this is a promise ring. I want to give it to you as a reminder of this promise. I promise to keep my heart open and be patient." He removed the ring and sat the box on the table. "And make our relationship exclusive." His smile was warm and soft as he shook his head and rubbed my ring finger. "This ring reminded me of your eyes. What do you say?"