The Diva Haunts the House (13 page)

Nina hurried along the sidewalk and joined us, distracting me from Kenner.

June smiled at her. “That hearse with the skeleton driving it is wonderful! What fun!”

She stepped inside and accompanied us up the stairs. The kids chattered nonstop, but I noticed that June remained very quiet.

When we reached the vampire’s bedroom, Jesse pounced on a silver cigarette case that lay on a table under the window. “I don’t remember this.”

Neither did I.
I looked to Humphrey and Bernie, but they seemed as perplexed as I was.

June took the thin case and turned it over. “My old eyes can’t see like they used to. This looks like it’s sterling. Jen, can you see markings on it anywhere?”

Jen dutifully studied it, with Vegas looking over her shoulder. When she turned it over, they both screamed, and Jen dropped the case as though it burned her hands. “That’s not funny, Blake.” Her hands trembled and she refused to pick it up.

“What? I didn’t do anything.” Blake seemed genuinely perplexed.

I picked up the cigarette case. On an oval in the middle of the sterling silver case were the fancy engraved initials
VL
.

“Viktor Luca.” June’s breathy voice was barely audible.

“Oh, come on,” I protested.

“What else could
VL
stand for?” asked Vegas.

“Maybe Vegas Lafferty? Or Vincent Lachen? Or Vera Luchese?” I placed the cigarette case near the martini glasses. “It’s certainly elegant—wherever it came from.”

I urged them to move on, but June pressed an ice-cold hand against mine. “There’s something you should know.”

A howl went up in the hallway, and we rushed out.

Blake held his cell phone in his hands, and the girls stood on either side of him, clearly perturbed.

“Aunt Sophie!” wailed Jen. “Heather just texted Blake and said she figured out a way to get even with you.”

I was being threatened by a twelve-year-old? What next?
“I’m so worried,” I said sarcastically. “Come on, we don’t have much time left.”

I hustled everyone through the other rooms to be sure we hadn’t forgotten anything major, locked up, and we trooped down to the outdoor patio of Brews and Bones. When the kids, Nina, Humphrey, and Bernie had settled down and Daisy lay at my feet, I took the opportunity to review everyone’s jobs for the tours. Humphrey would be the pale grave digger in tattered clothing and a top hat who would remain motionless among the tombstones and come to life when he thought it most frightening.

Bernie had kindly offered to fill in as the vampire, but Blake insisted on that job, maintaining he had a vampire costume at home. I already knew he had the teeth.

Nina had agreed to pull the fishing lines that would animate the spiders, as well as drag a chain across the floor and flick moving eyes in a portrait upstairs.

Bernie would act as the axe murderer, and June offered to wear a witch’s outfit and help hand out candied apples and treat bags. Jesse, Vegas, and Jen would lead small groups on tours through the house. I hoped we had enough adults stationed at strategic points in case pranksters visited.

I relaxed a little bit when our pulled pork lunches arrived. Most of the kids opted for the sweet tomato-based barbecue sauce, but I preferred the tangy vinegar sauce of Eastern Carolina barbecue. I had just eaten a forkful when a man with neatly trimmed hair and soft, delicate skin like a baby’s stopped at our table and looked down at me with a self-satisfied smirk. He seemed vaguely familiar. It took a moment to register that I had seen him in Maggie’s Hummer earlier in the day.

“Sophie Winston?” he asked.

My mouth full, I couldn’t do much more than nod my head.

“The town council has cancelled the haunted house.”

ELEVEN

Howls of protest went up around the table, and I nearly choked on my pulled pork.

The man turned to the boys. “Blake, come with me. I’ll take you home.”

I stood up, not that I could intimidate anyone with my short stature. “Just a minute. I know everyone on the town council. Who
are
you?” He wore a navy blue crew neck sweater and, except for the patronizing smile on his face, looked like an overgrown choirboy. Since I was an event planner, I’d met a lot of people in Old Town, but I couldn’t recall ever seeing him at functions before.

“Karl Corbin.”

“Heather’s father,” hissed Blake.

The wicked smile and demand to shut down the haunted house began to make sense. So this was how the little vixen planned to cause me trouble. “Nonsense, I’m not shutting down anything. You don’t represent the town council. How dare you pretend to have any authority? Blake, sit down and finish your lunch.”

I couldn’t help noticing Bernie trying to hide a grin.
Good!
I knew I had an ally in him. Humphrey, on the other hand, sputtered and blinked as though he’d just come out of a dead faint.

“That little witch,” Vegas raised her voice, no doubt to be sure Karl heard her. “Heather’s just jealous.”

“Shh.” Jen nudged her. “She’s mad because she got in trouble last night.”

Karl held out his hand. “I’d like the key to the building. You’re not going to frighten any more children like you did my daughter. You might have thought it was a harmless prank, but she’s traumatized, and I’m going to see to it that you’re not allowed to scare any other children.”

I coughed, my throat tight. “I didn’t do anything to your daughter!” I swallowed a huge gulp of unsweetened iced tea. “You don’t own the building, nor are you the person who gave me the key. Therefore, I will not be handing it over to you. And you are not Blake’s parent. Unless I hear from his mother or father, you will not be taking him anywhere.” In fact, now that I thought about it, I wondered if this was what Maggie meant when she asked me to watch out for Blake. Maybe not; Karl had been in her car, so they must be friends . . . “If you don’t mind, we’d like to finish our lunch.”

“You clearly don’t realize who you’re dealing with.” Unlike Patrick, he didn’t point his finger or raise his voice, but the threat was implicit. He grinned at me like I was a naive child. “I have connections in this town.”

By nature, I’m not a big fighter, but I was tired after the events of the previous night. We had worked hard on the haunted house, and if there was one thing I detested, it was people who thought they were superior to everyone else. “I really don’t care who you think you are. You don’t have the authority to close the haunted house or take Blake with you. Now, if you’ll please excuse us.”

Nina rose slowly, fixated on something. I thought she might slug Karl.

“Nina! It’s okay.”

She never even looked at me. She stepped sideways, moving like a panther. “Across the street. It’s the black cat.”

I followed her line of sight. A fat black cat sat between two pumpkins amid witches and ghosts outside a florist shop. “Are you sure he’s real? He looks too perfect.”

“It’s him all right. Pack my lunch in a doggy bag. I’ll see you back at the haunted house.” She casually walked to the end of the block and crossed the street. When she was ten feet from the cat, he stretched to his full feline length and darted in the other direction. Nina sprinted after him.

The smug smile never left Karl’s face. He continued to look down at me like he was endlessly amused. “Natasha told me that you’re a difficult person. It’s not as though you didn’t know this was coming. Frank Hart warned you to close down the haunted house.”

“Frank? He ran out of there like a rabbit being chased by a dog.”

“It’s not safe. I’m concerned about the children.”

“And what, exactly, do you think will happen to them?”

His expression never changed. “Aside from your bad influence on the children, there are malicious spirits in that house. There’s no telling what they might do.”

It was all
I
could do not to break into hysterical laughter. Somehow, I felt that would only exacerbate the situation. Honestly, why didn’t the guy bug off already? “Thank you for the warning. We’ll take care to watch out for the spirits.”

Still wearing the same condescending grin, he said, “You won’t be going back into that building.” With that, he finally strode away.

June placed a reassuring hand over top of mine. “Beware of that man. He looks like an innocent, but a darkness lurks within him.”

“Do you know him?” I asked Bernie and Humphrey.

“He comes into the bar,” said Bernie. “He’s never been an unpleasant customer. I don’t know what he does for a living.”

“He manages a local delivery service.” Blake picked up a french fry.

“Who told you that? Heather?” Vegas’s tone left no question about her displeasure.

Blake didn’t seem to notice. “I think my dad told me. Karl’s family used to own the car dealership that my folks own now. My dad says he’s a self-aggrandizing malcontent.”

That was a good reminder to be careful what I said around the kids. I bet Blake’s father never thought
that
would be repeated in public. If Karl continued to pose a problem, we might have to call on Blake’s dad. I put Karl and his nonsense out of my mind, paid the check, and sent everyone home to change into their costumes. Vegas, Jen, June, and I walked in the direction of my house.

June lagged a bit. I thought it was her age, until she whispered, “I don’t know if the children should hear this, Sophie. There’s something you should know about your haunted house.”

We strolled on, but I watched her out of the corner of my eye.

“I didn’t want to say anything until I was certain, but now there’s just no doubt about it. The Bubble and Trouble really was a boardinghouse once. It was the Widow Nagle’s pension.”

I stopped midstep. “You mean the boardinghouse where Viktor Luca lived?”

“Not only did he live there, dear, he roomed in the very bedroom on the second floor that you’ve set up as a vampire’s lodging.”

I laughed aloud. “You should definitely tell the kids. They’ll lap that up.”

“It doesn’t worry you?”

“Why should it? It makes for a great spooky story.” I grinned at her. “This is where you turn off, isn’t it? You’ll be at the Widow Nagle’s at three o’clock?”

She promised to be there and headed east. I watched her for a few minutes. What a lovely person she was. If only all mothers-in-law could be as warm. I caught up to the girls, who gossiped endlessly about wicked Heather.

When we reached my front door, much to my surprise, Frank Hart was waiting on the stoop. I unlocked the door and told the girls to change their clothes.

I greeted Mochie and invited Frank into the kitchen. “I’d love to offer you something, but I don’t have much time. I could put on some tea.”

He waved a hand as though declining the tea. “This isn’t a social call. I came by because my wife and I are horrified and confused. I cannot believe you took Gabriel because I quit the haunted house.”

It was official. I was
not
having a good day. “Didn’t you talk with Officer Wong? I did
not
kidnap Gabriel. He showed up at my door, Frank. I was doing you a favor by not letting him run loose on the streets.”

“That’s not what Heather said. According to her, you banged on our doors and tried to scare her by asking questions about whether Gabriel was in bed.”

“Officer Wong saw right through Heather. Next time, use a different babysitter. One who won’t lose the baby.”

He mashed his lips together and grasped the arms of the chair. “For your information, Heather is my wife’s niece. She’s very responsible. Besides, we were just across the way at Natasha and Mars’s party. What I can’t understand is how you got into my house.”

I plopped into one of the chairs by the fireplace, exasperated with him. Mochie sprang into my lap. “What? A flaw in Heather’s story? A detail she didn’t work out?”

“You needn’t be sarcastic. My wife is beside herself that you tried to steal Gabriel. We didn’t sleep all night.”

I watched him—in awe of his irrationality. He couldn’t see through Heather’s ridiculous lies because she was family? “Karl Corbin is your brother-in-law?”

“I can’t imagine why the police don’t want to pursue this. Karl says that’s what happens when half the police force is in love with you.”

Apparently vast exaggerations were a family trait. “Let’s think this through. Let’s say Heather forgot to lock the door, and I snuck into your house and stole Gabriel. Then what? You live one block down. Like you were never going to notice that Gabriel was living here?”

“You could have sold him.”

“Ohhh, right. I forgot all about that stolen baby ring that I run. Do you hear how crazy you sound?”

Frank perched on the edge of his chair. “But why would Heather make that up? Why would she claim you kidnapped him?”

“Frank, she’s twelve. I would guess she didn’t have the courage to admit that he got away from her. How do you tell parents that you lost their child?”

Frank hadn’t bothered to shave, and he ran a hand over the stubble. “I’m sorry, Sophie. What have I done? That little minx was so convincing. She said you were in the backyard making noises and trying to frighten her. Then she called the police and they found you were hiding him at your house.”