Rose Pressey - Chase Charley 02 - Seems Like Old Crimes (16 page)

The simple act of walking down the street had changed for me recently. I never knew when a weird person would show up. I kept thinking if I waited the strange guy out, he would get bored with me. He’d followed me, given me the notes, phone calls, and tried to kill me by running me over, so it didn’t seem as if he would tire of me any time soon. I didn’t want to find out.

I almost walked into a man, I was so lost in my thoughts. Just a short distance and I would be home for the night. With each step, I thought about the comfortable surroundings of my home.

I’d been in my own world, but I heard a voice.

“Excuse me,” a woman called out from behind me.

I didn’t want to look back, but she called out again. I wasn’t sure I should turn around. She was persistent though. Soon she was right next to me. I stopped and looked over at her. Her face was red and her dark hair clung to her face.

“Yes?” I asked.

I hoped I didn’t seem too rude, but I never knew when that guy would appear again.

“I thought you wouldn’t stop,” she said. She shoved a little doll toward me. “Here, you dropped this doll.”

Why didn’t this woman just leave the thing on the sidewalk? I supposed she was just trying to be nice.

I glanced down at the voodoo doll and back up at her. The doll had a drawing tied to the front. Oddly enough, it did look a bit like me. The same shaped face and color hair. It was just an odd coincidence, right? Because of that I knew I would never convince her that the doll wasn’t mine. Nonetheless, I would give it a try.

“Oh, that’s not mine,” I said with a wave of my hand.

“I saw it fall out of your bag,” she said.

I frowned and glanced down at my bag. Did she see it fall from my bag or see it fall from someone else’s and just think it was mine?

She shoved it toward me again. “I don’t know what to tell you. I saw the thing fall from your purse.”

Now she sounded irritated with me. Of course I knew that I didn’t have a doll in my purse. Could someone have put the doll in my purse? If so, then who? I supposed I had no choice but to take the thing. Apparently, she was convinced that it was mine.

I sighed and reached out for the thing. I took it from her outstretched hand. She acted as if she was glad to get rid of the thing. She hurried away and didn’t look back at me.

I looked down at the doll. Now what was I supposed to do with this thing? I certainly didn’t want it. I didn’t like messing with the things. 

Since I had a voodoo doll in my possession, I knew I had to take it to Courtney. I still had no idea how it had gotten into my bag, if what the woman claimed was true—it could have been anyone’s. I could have tossed it in the trashcan, but I’d known my cousin long enough to know she would freak out if I did that.

After a short walk, I reached Courtney’s shop. I clutched my bag to my chest. I wanted her to see this thing.

I pulled out the doll from the bottom of my purse. “Look what I have.”

She stepped back and her eyes widened. “Why do you have a voodoo doll that looks like you?”

My mouth dropped open a little. “What do you mean? Do you really think it looks like me?” I knew the answer to that. I just didn’t want to admit it. 

She placed her hands on her hips. “Can’t you see that the thing looks just like you?”

I stared at the doll for a second. “Well, I suppose you could say that it looks a tad like me.”

“A tad? It looks a lot like you,” she said.

That was not what I had wanted to hear.

“Well, we have to find out where it came from. Why are you convinced that it is mine?”

She gestured toward the doll. “Considering it has your name sewn onto the front of it, I think it’s a safe bet.”

I pointed at the spot with my name on it. “That only says Chase.”

She smirked. “Not exactly a common name.”

I sighed. “Okay, maybe it isn’t. Why would anyone want to give me a doll?”

She shrugged. “Lots of reasons. You have had a lot of stuff going on lately. The investigation, Anthony practicing voodoo, a stalker, scam artists that you uncovered… should I go on?”

“I can’t argue with that.” I shoved the doll toward her.

“Just get rid of the thing, okay?” She waved her hand.

“Even if it is mine, what do we do with it? How do I get rid of it?” I asked.

“We’ll do what I had you do the last time you came into contact with voodoo. We’ll bind the thing up in a cloth and get rid of it,” she said.

“Is it as easy as that?” I asked.

She paused and I took that as not a good sign. “That is the best way, yes. It should do the trick.”

“You don’t sound all that confident,” I said.

“No, I am confident.” She forced a smile on her face.

“I should call Haley and ask if she has received a doll.” I pulled the phone out of my bag and dialed her number.

After several rings, Haley picked up.

“Haley, sorry to bother you, but I have a quick question.”

“Sure, I’m glad you called. Have you found out anything new?”

My stomach sank when she asked. I felt bad that I didn’t have anything to tell her. “I’m sorry. I don’t have anything really, but I am working on leads,” I said. “What I wanted to ask was if you’d ever gotten a voodoo doll?”

“Have I ever bought one?” she asked.

“I mean has anyone made a doll in your likeness and left it for you to see?” 

“No, I never got one,” she said. “Why? Did you get a doll?”

“I think so. At least I don’t know when someone put it in my bag.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Thank goodness I haven’t received one yet.”

Lucky for her, but unlucky for me. “Okay, let me know if anything strange happens,” I said.

“Yes, of course I will,” she said.

That was the best that I could hope for at this point. I hung up with more questions than answers. I’d thought for sure that Haley would have gotten one too. Maybe this had nothing to do with Haley. But the guy who had worked for her, Anthony, was into the voodoo doll thing.

“No one that I know of is into the dolls,” I said.

She pointed. “Maybe they’re into it and you just don’t know it yet.”

That sounded kind of ominous. I knew what she was saying was true though. Now I had to figure out who would do something like this. I had the list of my usual suspects.

“Come on.” Courtney motioned over her shoulder. “We have to get rid of it.” She grabbed her purse and keys and headed toward the door.

I shoved the doll back into my bag and followed her to the door. The next thing I knew, we were in her car and headed toward the river. Why did this kind of stuff keep happening? I hated having to deal with this craziness.

Courtney navigated through traffic as if we were headed to an important meeting. “What’s the hurry?” I asked as I held on to the side of the door.

“Do you want to keep that thing or do you want to get rid of it as soon as possible?” she asked.

“I want to get rid of it as soon as possible,” I said.

“Well, let’s go.” Courtney wheeled into the parking lot.

Her driving skills had left me feeling as if I’d been on the Tilt-A-Whirl at the county fair. She opened her door and motioned for me to follow. After a short walk over to the water, I peered down.

Courtney pointed at the water. “Now toss it in.”

I released a deep breath and then tossed it over the edge. “When are we going to stop littering?”

“It’s not littering if it’s a life-or-death matter.”

I stepped back and looked at her. “What do you mean death?”

“Okay, I didn’t mean to say that.”

“But you did say it, so what does it mean?” I asked.

“If you believe then this doll can cause all kinds of trouble, that’s all.”

“But I don’t believe in this stuff.”

“Well, then you have nothing to worry about.”

If that was true, then why didn’t she just let me throw it in the trash can?

As we walked back to the car, she said, “Now you have to go home and take a bath.”

“I usually take a shower,” I said.

She shook her head. “You have to take a bath to cleanse away anything the doll may have attached to you.”

“It has attached something to me?” I asked.

She frowned. “Yes, it can attach negative things to you. That’s why people make the dolls.”

I supposed that made sense. “I’m just glad that it’s gone.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” I said as we walked away from the water.

Courtney and I made the short drive back to my place.

“Don’t forget the bath,” she warned as I hopped out of her car.

I waved over my shoulder. There was no way I was going to bother to take a bath right now. I’d do it later.

As soon as I walked inside my apartment, I kicked off my shoes. After falling onto the sofa, I flicked on the TV. It felt good to be home. I wasn’t going to do anything for the rest of the night. For once, I wasn’t going to worry about any of my problems. I wanted to clear my mind.

I glanced at the time and realized I had missed the airing of my segment and Dangerfield’s too. At least I’d remembered to record them. I liked to watch my program back and look for ways that I could improve. I poured myself a glass of wine and took a sip.

As I zoned out in front of the television, the phone rang. I looked at the screen and saw Courtney’s number. Uh-oh. I was in trouble now. If I didn’t answer she would come over here, and then she would be mad.

I picked up the phone. “Yes?”

“You’d better be in the bathtub,” she said.

“Well, I was planning on doing it later,” I said.

“No, you can’t plan on doing it later. You have to do it now. Do you understand me, Chase?” she asked in an irritated voice.

“Yes, I understand. What happened to ‘you’ll be safe if you don’t believe?’”

“Better safe than sorry,” she said.

She was just telling me that. Courtney explained the method to her cleansing ritual again.

“Got it,” I said.

“I’ll be checking on you,” Courtney said and then clicked off the phone.

After setting my phone on the table, I marched into the bathroom and turned on the water. As I waited for the tub to fill, I poured in the bath salts like she said and then tested the water to make sure it was the right temperature. I still thought it was ridiculous that she wanted me to do this. At least I would get a relaxing bath out of this deal.

After climbing out of the tub, I went straight to bed. It didn’t take long until I had drifted off to dreamland. If only I hadn’t been thinking about Dangerfield and Marc.

A knock sounded on my door. I recognized the rap, rap, rap against the wood. Courtney had a distinct way of knocking. I hadn’t expected her to show up this early in the morning and she hadn’t even called first. When I opened the door she was standing in front of me with a frazzled look on her face.

“What are you doing here so early?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t come for breakfast,” she said.

“I’m not liking the sound of this,” I said.

She frowned. “It’s probably worse than you think.”

I opened the door wider and stepped out of the way. “Come in and tell me what’s wrong.”

Courtney trudged inside my place. I stepped back from the door so that she could enter.

She pulled the doll from her purse. “Does this look familiar?”

My eyes widened. “Where did you get that?”

“It looks like the same doll we got rid of, but it’s not,” she said.

“It’s not the same doll?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nope, not the same one. This one is me.”

“You’re kidding,” I said.

“Have a look for yourself.”

“Does it have the same face?” I asked, looking down at the doll in her hands.

“It has mine.” She tapped the doll’s face.

Since we looked alike it was hard to tell the difference.

“Who would do something like this?”

Courtney flopped down on my sofa and released a deep breath. She clutched the doll in her hands. I didn’t even want to look at the thing.

I sat down beside her. “Where did you find it?”

“It was in front of my door this morning. Unfortunately, I have a feeling it’s because they’ve seen me with you.”

I knew she was probably right about that. “I’m sorry if I’ve gotten you involved in this.”

“Don’t say that,” she said. “It’s not your fault that this person is deranged.”

“Nonetheless, I still feel bad.” 

My cell rang and I picked it up to see who was calling. Dangerfield’s number was displayed on the screen.

“Chase Charley,” I said as if I didn’t know who was on the other end of the line.

“Good morning. How are you?” he asked.

I released a deep breath. “Actually, I’ve been better.”

“Does this have to do with a voodoo doll?” he asked.

I released a little gasp. “How did you know?”

“I got a doll in front of my door today. It looks like me.”

Now that was something I would really like to see. “Courtney got a doll in front of her door this morning too. I had one in my purse last night,” I said.

Would Courtney make Dangerfield take the cleansing bath too? Probably yes.

“You’re kidding,” he said.

“I’m completely serious.”

“Do you know who did this?” he asked.

“Not really, no,” I said. “That’s what we’re discussing. We’re trying to figure it out.”

Courtney was staring at me. “Dangerfield got a doll too,” I whispered.

“Why don’t you two come to my place and we’ll figure out what to do.”

“Okay, we’ll be there soon.” After getting off the call, I grabbed my purse. “We’re going to Dangerfield’s place.”

Courtney followed me out the door. Anxiety had a tight grip on me as we hurried to my car.

“Are you okay to drive?” Courtney asked.

“We’ll find out,” I said, as I opened the car door.

Within a short time, we pulled up in front of his place. This was the first time I’d been to his house, except for the time I’d snuck up to his front door uninvited. Courtney and I hurried up the three flights of stairs to his place. We stopped in front of his door and I knocked.

After a couple seconds, he answered. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.