2 Lady Luck Runs Out (2 page)

She shrugged and leaned down to scope out the dog treats in the glass case. "You make these?"

"Yes." Now I was getting irritated. She always was good at evading questioning.

"Cool." She straightened up and sighed. "Mom thought it would be a good idea to send me here and make sure you were okay since we hadn't heard from you." She folded her arms. "And plus, you left a few things behind we thought you might need."

I saw the gold sparks flash in her green eyes. Yeah, she was still angry with me for leaving. I forced a smile. What I had left behind, I left behind on purpose. But, I wasn't going to get into that discussion with her right now. "Thanks. That was thoughtful." Also, I wasn't going to get into the fact that I wasn't the one not returning calls.

Customers began to trickle through the door. After I greeted them, I gave Mallory my gate card to the townhouse above the boutique and instructions on how to get to it. I was renting the two story "city home" from Sylvia, who purchased it with her grandfather's inheritance money. The oversized million dollar place was a bit overkill for one person, but I couldn't beat the location. "Go put your bags away and make yourself at home. I'll come up and take you to lunch around one o'clock, okay?" I gave her a hug. "It really is good to see you."

CHAPTER TWO

I came home to find the leather bound books and chalice I had left behind in Savannah staring accusingly at me from the kitchen bar. Perfect. I decided to just ignore them for now.

"Mallory?" Her bags were still by the door. "Where are you?"

"Out here."

Moving into the living room, I saw the French doors were wide open. I found her in a peach bikini top and shorts, recharging her batteries on the balcony. She gets energy from the sun like I get it from water. Her guitar sat at her feet. My heart ached at the common sight, and I realized how much I had missed her. How much I missed my family and all their idiosyncrasies.

"Ready for lunch?"

"Yep." She slipped a t-shirt on over her bikini top. "Just soakin' in some of this delicious Florida sunshine. Is it always this nice in October?"

"Not sure." I shrugged. This was my first fall in Florida, but she knew that. I wasn't about to remind her. "This is going to have to be a short lunch. The boutique is slammed today so I can't be gone long. Sylvia's holding down the fort but her next appointment will be there in half an hour." I led her back down the elevator, through the garden gate and out to the busy Beach Drive sidewalk. "We'll just hop over to Hooker Tea Company. They have quick service."

A young couple was just getting up from the table outside that held a special place in my heart. I snagged it and sat Mallory down. "Wait here. I'll get us lunch."

I emerged ten minutes later with sandwiches and iced tea. "Here we go." Sliding into the seat under the umbrella, I felt her staring at me over her food.

"So," she said. "Is being away from us all that you thought it would be?"

Ouch. And so the jabs begin
. I glanced up at her as she bit into her tuna sandwich.

"That's not fair, Mallory. You know I didn't leave to be away from you or Willow or Mom. I just wanted a fresh start, where nobody knows our family." I mentally smacked myself. I knew when I said it she would take it wrong, oh she-of-quick-temper. I wasn't disappointed.

Her eyes blazed. "So, you're ashamed of us?"

I took a bite of my red pepper and hummus sandwich and counted to ten.  I could have reminded her of the disastrous eighth grade sleepover or the hurtful article that appeared in our local paper after a reporter took Willow out on a ruse date. What's not to be ashamed of? Instead I swallowed and said, "You know that's not what I meant. I just want to be able to make friends without wondering what their motivations are or wondering what they've heard about us."

She sipped the iced tea and leaned back. "So, have you... made friends?"

My heart squeezed. "Yeah, I have."

Her brow shot up. "Friends that don't know the real you?"

Heavens, she knew how to hit where it hurt. I silently took another bite and swallowed the lump in my throat with it. No way to answer that. She was right.

"Sylvia seems nice." She picked at some lettuce, her tone softening. "Have you made any guy friends?"

I nodded and decided to tell her about Mad Dog. I wasn't ready to tell her about Will. I felt protective of him and didn't want her opinion of our relationship. "The first friend I had when I moved here was a homeless guy named Mad Dog." I watched her pause midway through a sip of tea. Holding up a hand I continued, "I know what you're thinking, but he was a good guy. Had a good heart. Just a rough life. Unfortunately, he was killed." Mallory sat back in her chair and stared at me, wide-eyed. I kept going. "He had this big sweet, slobbery lug of a mastiff named Karma. Long story short, Karma helped me... you know, find out who killed Mad Dog." I whispered this last part.

"He was murdered? So, you've been here a few months and already solved a murder?" Her eyes now lit up with the excitement of adventure. "I can't wait to hear this story."

 I checked my watch. "It'll have to wait until later. Five minute warning."

Disappointed, Mallory bit into her sandwich and picked up a flyer that was left on the table. "Hey, let's do this tonight!"

I chewed as I read the flyer. "A ghost tour?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun."

I shrugged. "All right. If that's what you want to do. How long are you staying anyway?" I figured eventually I'd get an answer to that question.

Something flashed in her eyes. Worry? Fear? "Until I buy a return ticket home."

Fabulous.

CHAPTER THREE

Around eight o'clock that night we joined a group of about a dozen other ghost seekers inside Hooker Tea Company. Heavens, it smelled good in there; sweet and spicy with undercurrents of ginger, peaches, peppermint and jasmine. Someone walked by with a cup of fresh mango black. That was it. I had to order a cup.

"You want something?" I asked Mallory.

She took a seat in one of their paisley armchairs. "Whatever you're having."

Our guide came in while we were happily sipping our tea and chatting with a couple from Canada. The guide was a woman in her fifties, dressed in black and carrying a lantern. She had warm brown eyes and a calm spirit. I liked her immediately. She introduced herself as Mary.

"Welcome, everyone! It's a gorgeous night for spotting ghosts." After she urged us all to introduce ourselves and say where we were from, she smiled. "Okay, let's go ahead and get started."

The traffic broke for us as we followed Mary and her lantern across the street to North Straub Park. The park trees sparkled with white lights strung through their branches. The Vinoy Resort lit up the far edge of the park to the north. The air held the scent of the Bay waters. I soaked it all in.

Everyone crowded around Mary in the muted darkness as she rattled off a few ghost stories about the area and encouraged us to snap random pictures.

"You never know what... or who... you'll capture."

It was a star-filled, clear night and had only dropped down to the mid sixties. Still, I pulled my sweater tighter around me and smiled as I watched Mallory eagerly snap photos with her phone. It really was good to see her. I had missed her particular brand of enthusiasm. It was contagious.

"Hey, my camera froze up!" A petite lady, who had introduced herself earlier as Bobbie from Michigan, said excitedly.

"That happens a lot." Mary nodded knowingly. "The theory is the spirits drain the energy from our batteries and electronics to use for things like manifesting and communicating. Look back through your photos. Anyone catch anything?"

"Look at this, I think I got somethin'!" Brynn, a coltish teenage girl with a pixie cut, called out. Everyone migrated toward her on the lawn, taking turns peering at her phone screen.

"Looks like an orb," Bobbie exclaimed.

Mallory took her turn and shrugged. "Looks like dust to me."

"All right, time to move on to our next spot." Mary led us back across Beach Drive, down a dark sidewalk, to a gray house that had been worn from the elements and time. Boards crisscrossed the bottom floor windows but the second story sported curtains. I strained through the darkness for any sign of fluttering or movement. Mallory held her phone up and snapped a couple photos. We took turns peering in the front porch windows and listening to the story of the woman who died there, apparently a murder that went unsolved. More photos. More orbs. Mallory shifted beside me, messing with the tendrils of hair on her neck that had escaped her hair tie. She was getting antsy.

Our next stop was the Traveler's Palm Inn: a lime-green hotel, built in the fifties and rumored to be haunted by three male ghosts who had died violently there. We all filed into the conference room on the bottom floor.

Mary moved to the side of the door. "Now be warned, we've had women get their hair and clothes tugged on in here. We're going to go ahead and turn the lights off. We seem to get more activity that way."

A flick of Mary's hand threw the room into semi-darkness. The left wall held three windows that let in enough moonlight to see shadows and shapes. Short bursts of flash began to occur as people ventured deeper into the conference room.  

After a few minutes, a voice broke the silence. "I saw something in the corner over there! A shadow."

"Oh please," Mallory whispered beside me. "Shadows, orbs, blah, blah, blah." I turned to her, planning on telling her not to ruin these people's fun but she had no intention of doing that. In fact, she planned on enhancing their ghost busting experience.

I wasn't sure what she was doing at first and then, as a motorcycle passed by the window and lit us enough for me to see her hands working, I grabbed her arm. "No, Mal!"

But it was too late. A tiny ball of energy shot from her palm and ping ponged around the room.

A few squeals and gasps precluded a frenzy of flashing as the ghost hunters tried to capture it on film.

"Everyone stay calm!" Mary called into the room. "Be mindful of the people around you."

 Suddenly, a dark figure leapt from of the shadows. A large black cat had apparently been startled from its hiding place by the flying orb.

It bound toward us and Mallory shrieked as it pounced on her, digging its claws into her back as it tried to balance on her shoulder. "Ow, ow! What in heaven...? Darwin, help!"

I grabbed the cat around its soft middle, intending to pry its claws gently from my sister's back, but as soon as my palms touched it, I got zapped. Hard.

 Energy rushed through me like a tidal wave, flooding me with sounds, smells and a few clear images.

A shadow person dressed in a black jacket and hood, creeping up to a lanai screen in the dark. A horrible whiff of something dank and sour. A tearing sound. A hissing as a large snake slithered on the ground then, lifting its head, flicked its tongue right at me.

I fell back, releasing my grip on the cat and landing hard on my bottom.

"Darwin? You okay?" Mallory yelled over the other excited voices. The cat still clung stubbornly to her shoulder so she supported its butt with one hand to keep it from digging into her skin for leverage.

I pushed myself off the floor, trembling. Every cell in my body hummed as the energy surged through me, building in intensity until it settled into a steady throbbing behind my eyes.

Had... to... disperse... it.

"Fine." I pushed out between frantic jumping jacks. "Just saw..." I switched to running in place. "... something." My legs tingled like they had fallen asleep. Heat pulsed around my organs and through my blood.
Poor kitty. This was a bad one.

 
Zing!
I sagged in relief as the energy finally broke free from the confines of my body. My temperature began to drop back to normal. I began to shiver in the air-conditioned room.

 Mary flicked on the lights. My eyes widened. Oh, good grief. The energy I had expelled headed straight for the orb.

It sought out the ball of light Mallory had created, joined it and expanded it like a balloon until it was the size of a car tire. People stopped taking pictures and started screaming, stumbling over each other trying to get out the door. Mallory and I scrambled to move of the way so we didn't get knocked down.

Within a few seconds, we were the only ones left in the room. Mallory stood there in shock with the black cat still quivering and clinging to her. I stood beside her, trembling and going over the vision I had received from the traumatized cat.

I reached out and stroked the soft, black fur. Glowing eyes peered at me from beneath Mallory's hair. "You poor thing. It's all right, you're safe now."

We stayed in the room until the orb burned itself out, and then made our exit out into the hotel lobby. Our group was huddled by the front doors, comparing photos they had captured and chatting excitedly. Mary made her way over to us, her black cape askew, her face flushed.

"Are you gals okay?" She spotted the ball of fur clinging to Mallory. "Oh my! I see you found a stowaway."

"More like it found me." Mallory lightly patted the cat's rump above its flicking tail. Cats have always been attracted to Mallory. Luckily, the feeling was mutual.

"Looks well taken care of. I don't think it's a stray." I reached over and flipped the little metal tag over on its diamond studded collar. "Says her name's Lady Luck. There's an address." I glanced at Mary. "I hope you don't think us rude, but we're going to cut out of the ghost tour early, see if we can't return this girl back to her owner." In truth, I was feeling nervous. If that snake was in the house with the cat, it might still be in the house with the owner. Which meant the owner could be in danger.

"Not at all..." Mary assured us with a wave. "I'm sure somebody is worried sick about this pretty gal. Besides, I think that was about as much excitement as you're gonna get on a tour."