Black Opal (17 page)

Feeling’s mutual, sister.

Shayne stood at the end of the pier near a clump of saw palmettos, her head tilted at the sky watching me. Had this been all she could do for me? Get me out of my body so I wouldn’t have to be present while Colton bashed in my head and drowned me? Shayne’s exasperated thoughts reached me, still a hiss of unintelligible whispers. I concentrated harder, focusing on the power of the necklace and heard “snake.”

I jerked in midair, looking for the offending creature, worried it might bite me. I felt Shayne trying to get my attention. I glanced her way. She pointed at a spot on the ground next to her. I zeroed in on it and, for the first time, knew what I had to do.

When I got close to the snake, it raised its triangular head and its fat body shifted into a coil. The familiar odor of its musk filled the air. A water moccasin. Even though I didn’t feel my body, I still felt goose bumps rise all over me. The snake flicked its pink tongue out at me and drew back its head to strike. How would I get it over to Colton?

I rushed at the snake and it struck, its jaw unhinging to display that white mouth for which its breed is known.
It can see me.
A second later, it struck again. But, since I was not corporeal at the moment, it hit nothing and tried to crawl away from me, confused. I herded the poor animal down the pier toward Colton and Lisette. I risked having it strike her, but I was out of options. Turned out, Lisette and Colton did the heavy lifting for me.

Lisette saw the snake wriggling toward her. Her eyes widened in terror. Colton, seeing her response directed at something behind him, turned. When he saw the thick, black snake coming at him, he screamed and tried to strike it with the posthole digger. I’d been correct about his level of skill with the thing. The snake dodged the shovel with no problem. Though water moccasins were not aggressive snakes, it was scared, and it struck Colton’s leg.

I don’t know if the fangs connected with his skin that time, but they sure did when Colton reached down to grab the snake and pull it off him. The handsome man threw back his head and screamed, cords standing out on his neck. The snake struck again.

I slid back into my body and leaned away from the post Colton had taped us to with all my might. The tape stretched, pulling against Lisette. She squealed at first, but quickly caught on.

The two of us pulled the tape, using our sit-up muscles. Between the sweat and Colton’s piss poor job of securing us, we loosened it enough to slip from under it. I peeled the duct tape from my face and went to Lisette, peeled off her gag, and picked at the end of the tape binding her hands until I could start it unraveling. From there, it went fast. Soon, her hands were free. She shoved around me, nearly knocking me into water, and took off running, screaming for Dean.

I glanced back at Colton. The snake had crawled off to live another day. Colton lay on his side on the wide part of the pier, shivering. If he didn’t get medical attention soon, I doubted he’d survive the attack. If he died, I’d be responsible. Part of me thought I should help him, but he tried to kill me, dammit. I took off running, broke out of the woods, and almost collapsed with relief.

Dean and Ricky sped across the field in the utility vehicle they’d been using for their work. Nadine sat in the backseat. She stood and pointed, slapping Ricky, who was driving, on the shoulder until he saw Lisette and me straggling toward him. Lisette continued screaming and running until she reached the utility vehicle. I slowed to a walk. The whole thing was done, and I was just about too tired to take another step.

From a short distance away, I watched Lisette throw herself on Dean, sobbing on his shoulder. She glanced at me approaching, her eyes glittering with a mean twinkle I’d learned to recognize over the past couple of days.

“Get the hell away from me.” Dean shoved Lisette off him and ran to me. He hugged me to him, squeezing until I thought my bones would break. Finally, he let me loose and held me where he could look at me. I could have stayed in his arms a little longer.

“How’d she get untied?” He gestured at Lisette who was busy crawling all over Ricky.

“I did it.” I didn’t add that she ran off and left me once I’d helped her, but Dean understood and rolled his eyes as he unwrapped my wrists.

“Where’s Colton? Nadine told me and Ricky you had to be with him when we couldn’t find you.”

“Back there on the pier. He got snake bit.” I paused, trying to figure out how to say the next part. Finally, I just said it. “He killed her, Dean. Colton killed Shayne.”

Dean’s face drained of color. He glanced at Ricky patting Lisette’s back while she wailed. Taking out his cell phone, he called emergency services. His voice trembled as he explained the kind of help we needed. When he finished, I knew I needed to tell him why Colton killed Shayne. It hurt to say the words.

“He killed her because he wanted all the credit for the
Disappearing Culture
books
.
Shayne got angry at the unfairness of it and threatened to blow the whistle on him for selling school property.” Dean and Ricky both stared at me, gape mouthed. “Colton also stole Trey’s coin collection. The coin with Shayne’s body was an attempt to frame Trey.” I didn’t tell them Colton killed Trey because I had no way of explaining how I knew.

Dean wept over the unfairness of it. While I held him, Shayne’s ghost passed us, moving toward the house. She acknowledged me with a nod and a wash of grateful emotion. I watched her walk across the field, expecting her to move on to the next plane of existence, but realized she didn’t want to move on. She would remain in her family home, haunting future generations of Turgeaus.

17

The next morning, Dean and I packed his BMW while the sun was still new and dew sparkled in the grass. An ambulance would bring his father home later that day, and Julienne recommended we leave before then. She said Dean’s father would think of a reason we needed to stay.

My father’s vintage Nova would be restored to its former glory and towed to Gaslight City— a gift from Ricky Turgeau for solving his sister’s murder. He felt terrible for choosing such a creep for a best friend. I just told him, “We all trust the wrong person at one time or another.”

The St. Namadie Parish Sheriff’s Office closed the case the day before. Colton confessed to everything from his hospital bed. Sheriff Braezeale said he suspected Colton would take a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty.

As Dean closed the trunk, his mother hustled out to the car carrying something in her hand. When she got closer, I saw she grasped a linen hanky. I hoped she brought us some of the wonderful blueberry muffins her cook made us for breakfast. To my disappointment, I saw whatever she held was too small to be a muffin.

Speaking to Dean, she said, “Your baby sister wants to play the piano and sing for you before you go.”

After a long look exchanged with his mother, Dean nodded and headed into the house without argument.

What’s this all about?

“I want you to have this.” She handed me the handkerchief.

I took it and opened it. Inside was Fayette’s necklace. The same little buzz of magic I’d always felt from it tickled my hand. I tried to hand it back. “I can’t take this. It belongs in your family.”

“You can. My grandmother left it to me in her will with very specific instructions. She said to enjoy it, but to pass it along to the right person. She said I’d know them when I met them. And I did.” Julienne smiled.

I thought about the way the necklace had followed me around since I arrived here. It might follow me home whether I accepted it or not. And a flutter of intuition told me I might need it sometime.

“Fayette left a note in her will for me to relate to the recipient. Are you ready?”

I nodded.

“It magnifies whatever you are.”

My stomach twisted. I didn’t know quite what to feel about that. It explained my hearing the ghost’s voices when I wore it. Nice to know I could possibly shut them off, too, at least. But I wondered what kind of trouble this necklace could get me into…or out of, for that matter.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you.” I slipped the long chain over my head and had a flash of the woman who’d owned it before me standing right next to Julienne. She disappeared as quickly as she appeared.
I’ll have to be careful with this thing. That’s for sure.

Julienne glanced back at the house and then at me. “If you ever need anything, no matter what happens between you and Dean, know that you can come see me. I will help you any way I can.”

I wasn’t sure how to react, and Julienne didn’t seem to expect me to. She began speaking again, her words hurried.

“My son cares for you. I’d have to be blind and deaf not to recognize that, but I also know how he is, how he needs to save people. I’m not sure you need saving.” She smiled and leaned forward. “Matter of fact, you might end up saving him. Am I right?”

I shrugged and smiled.

“I hope he can get over himself enough to see the treasure he’s got. But, no matter what happens, you are one of us now.”

Emotion swelled in my chest, and tears burned my eyes. Although Colton had been a monster, he’d been right about one thing. This family took in people.
No wonder Lisette kept coming around.
I felt grateful to know them. Julienne and I hugged.

“Before he comes back, can I ask you something?” I glanced at the house’s huge front door, relieved to find it still closed.

Julienne nodded.

“Why is he so uncomfortable with what I am?” I’d made up my mind to accept Dean not loving this part of me. But I needed to understand it, especially after learning of Fayette.

Julienne scrunched up her face while she thought. “Fayette was old and sick by the time Dean knew her. Her judgment of what it is appropriate to tell a little boy, especially one as serious as Dean, had gone bad. Right before she died, she told him no matter how hard he tried to protect his sister, he wouldn’t be able to.”

Cold chills danced over my skin, making me shiver despite the hot morning. No wonder I scared Dean. Where Fayette had the power to tell him things he didn’t want to hear, I could make him see things he didn’t want to see. I didn’t blame Dean for being scared of me. I scared myself, but I wanted to learn to be me comfortably.

Dean and Madeleine came out of the house munching on blueberry muffins. They slapped and kicked at each other as they walked toward us, both of them grinning and giggling. Madeleine pulled me into a tight hug and shoved a croissant into my hand. I wanted to laugh.
This family and their food. They could make a reality show on the dysfunction.

“Come back soon,” she said.

“You come see me in Gaslight City,” I told her. “Meet my grandmother. She’d get a kick out of you.”

Madeleine said she would, and Julienne hugged me one more time. Dean opened the BMW’s door for me, and I slid in. Julienne leaned into the car and kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear, “Come back soon. I can’t wait to get to know you better.”

A dark cloud settled over me despite Julienne’s kindness. Being an honorary member of her family didn’t take away the sting of how little family I had left. Once Memaw died, I’d have nobody who shared my genes. Just an uncle serving life in prison who refused to see me. I wondered again about Memaw’s family, the Gregsons. They shared my ability. Memaw all but forbade me to make contact with them. But I wanted to know them. I wanted a family like this one, one who always opened their arms and loved me just because.

Then I thought about Colton. Unsatisfied with the life he earned, he cheated his way into another one. He stole Shayne’s life. He stole her family. But it caught up with him and destroyed him. I made up my mind to cherish Julienne’s friendship but to never forget where I came from and who I was.

Dean started the car and pulled away from the house. In the rearview mirror it looked like something out of a TV set. But now I knew the truth. Good people lived there who had problems just as bad as mine. Julienne waved to us as we drove up the driveway. We pulled onto the road, and Dean turned on the stereo. Classic rock on a satellite station in a BMW. The clash between the two made me smile.

“Let’s go home.” Dean held out his hand over the console. I took it and twined my fingers through his. We drove down the narrow asphalt road where I first saw Shayne and turned on to the main highway. I leaned back in the seat and relaxed as we sped up. The last three days seemed like an eternity. I felt like I could sleep a week and still feel tired.

Through half-closed eyes, I spotted a figure walking alongside the road. The shaggy blond hair hanging over his collar and the guitar slung over his back reminded me of a friend of mine, one who no longer walked the earth because of decisions I made. We passed the man, and I twisted in my seat to keep him in my sightline. He raised his head. The features were wrong. Face too thin. Lips too full. He was somebody else altogether. That other man was a memory I still held, one difficult to release. I glanced over at Dean.

We didn’t have much history, and he didn’t love everything about me. But he was willing to try hard to make it work. Whatever I did, whatever I chose, it was all on me.

Dean and I sped toward the future. I didn’t think I was ready, but time waits for nobody.

THE END

Extras

Thank you for reading
Black Opal
. Please consider leaving a review wherever you purchased it.
 

Forever Road
is the first book in the Peri Jean Mace Paranormal Mysteries series. If you haven’t read it, get it today and learn all about how Peri and Dean met.
Forever Road
is available at all your favorite e-tailers and in print.

A Peri Jean Mace Short Story titled “Justice” will appear in
Allegories of the Tarot
, which will release on October 31, 2013.

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