A Charming Hex (Magical Cures Mystery Series Book 9) (10 page)

Oscar did exactly what he was good at. He meandered around the tent and talked to everyone. I enjoyed watching him laughing and enjoying the time off from the reality of where we came from. He was going to do the night snorkeling with the others.

I was tired and bed was calling my name. I dismissed myself from the group and took the beach all the way around for the scenic route. I walked the water’s edge and let my toes feel the warmth of the Caribbean Sea tickle them.

“It is a lovely evening.” Mr. Victor stood on the beach. “Hello, June. I hope you are having a wonderful visit to our little slice of paradise.”

“I am, thank you.” I walked up the beach to greet him. “Oscar is really having a great time and that makes me happy.”

“We hope that you are having a renewal of spirit. It’s time for you take care of you and your soul.” He pointed to my core.

“Thank you, Mr. Victor. I enjoy seeing Oscar happy. That fills my soul.” There was something about Mr. Victor and how he wanted me to pour my soul to him that made me uncomfortable. I’m sure he wanted people to feel the magic of the island and get the most out of it. “I think I’ll do the spa tomorrow before the wedding.”

“Good call.” He rocked back on his heels. “Ah, you know my good friend, Peter.” He did a quick intro when Peter walked up.

“Hi again, Peter.” I gave a slight wave. “How was treasure hunting?” I asked to make some conversation.

“Good night, Ms. Heal.” Mr. Victor dismissed me, telling me it was time for me to go. He took Peter by the elbow and pulled him a little closer to him.

“Good night.” I nodded and got on my way, but not without thinking that Mr. Victor’s behavior was a tad bit strange.

A little way down the beach, I turned and looked over my shoulder. The party was still going strong under the tent and Mr. Victor was still standing where I’d left him, staring at me. When the moonlight hit his eyes just right, a spark flew from his eyes before his eyes became the shape of a diamond.

I hurried back to the villa and slipped into my nightgown before I got into the bed. I laid on my belly and put Madame Torres on the bed in front of me. I ran my palm over her ball.

“And just how are you enjoying yourself?” she asked in a silky voice.

“It’s fine. I’m still a bit on edge about my nightmare, but so far so good.” I smiled at her. “I’m glad you are here because I need some girlfriend time.”

“You mean Oscar isn’t all he’s cracked up to be?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“He’s everything and more.” I rested my chin on the back of my clasped hands. “But girlfriends are good too. Besides, can’t you take a compliment that I like you?”

“I like you too.” Her voice was crisp and clear. Small hearts floated around her ball.

“Cute.” I giggled and tapped the ball with my finger thinking of Mr. Prince Charming.

“Him again?” She groaned and let her ball go to Whispering Falls where Mr. Prince Charming was still sitting next to The Gathering Rock.

“What is he doing?” I was starting to get concerned since he hadn’t moved since we last looked there.

“Who knows? Crazy cat.” Madame Torres voice was uncompromising yet gentle. “I’m sure he misses you as much as you miss him. Neither of you have been without the other since he showed up on your doorstep.”

She was right. She and I didn’t have the special bond that me and my fairy-god cat had. He probably felt like I had abandoned him.

“Here handsome.” Petunia came into view of the glass ball. Mr. Prince Charming walked up to her after she sat cross-legged next to the rock. She was feeding him snacks. He looked happy. He loved her and he especially loved it when she brushed him.

I watched as Petunia rubbed and loved on him, falling asleep in the process.

The shells. The voice that dug deep in my soul floated around me as the swirling orange water curled around me. My skin crawled as if there were spiders all over me as the swirl started at my legs and wrapped around my core until it stopped tight at my neck.

“Help me,” the voice called, followed by a sharp bright light. My eyes slid over and across the light until it ended, in the eyes of . . .Patrick.

“No!” I sat straight up in the bed. The wind whipped around the curtains of the open villa. In the distance lightning cracked the sky before it opened up and water poured down.

Sweat poured off of my head. My breathing was shallow. My heart thumped deep inside of me. I put a hand on Oscar’s side of the bed, happy he was there.

“Patrick,” I whispered. I had to get to him. I had to put a protection spell on him.

The suitcase was unzipped making it easy for me to open it and grab the small potion bottle and Magical Cures Book I’d brought with me. Without thinking, or changing out of my long white, flowing nightgown, I ran out into the pouring rain.

The lightning cracking over my head didn’t help matters. I ran as fast as I could with the ingredients tucked under my arm. My bare feet smacked the battened down wet sand. The angry sea crashed along the shore with a fierce push toward the land.

“I will not!” The woman’s voice screamed above the thunder. “He loves me!” Her voice was rough with anxiety.

Abruptly I stopped and turned away from the roaring sea to see Mr. Victor staring at me as a figure in a billowy dress ran away from him toward the resort. His eyes were icy and unresponsive.

A blood-curdling scream broke the tension between us just as the rain suddenly stopped. I looked down the beach where the moonlight had Juliette in its grasp. She was standing over Patrick’s body that looked as though it had washed up on the beach.

“No, no.” Juliette shook in disbelief as the coroner from the mainland placed Patrick on the gurney to carry him to the Coast Guard’s chopper to take his body to the morgue.

There was a blanket draped around her and her friends gripped the edges so it wouldn’t fall off of her. Peter sat on the beach, hugging his knees as he rocked himself back and forth. The remaining two men were in a huddle shaking their heads and trying to come up with what had happened.

“We went snorkeling and it was fine.” One of the men from the wedding party told the police officer. “Violet brought us back on the boat after we snorkeled. We all said goodnight and the next thing I know; I’m woken up by Juliette’s scream.”

The groomsmen told the same story as Oscar. They were all staying together in one of the larger villas and Gene was able to confirm their alibis since he’d brought them more drinks.

“Patrick was going to join us for a drink because it was his last night of freedom before the wedding, but when he didn’t show up, we figured he and Juliette had made other plans,” his voice trailed off as he watched the helicopter lift off the beach and propel itself up in the air.

“Are you okay?” Oscar asked.

“No. I’m not.” The chilly tone swept across my lips. “I knew that this was going to happen. I knew it before we got here. I knew it when we got here.”

“June, this is not magic. This is not for us to be concerned with.” Oscar had put his cop hat right back on his head as though we were in Whispering Falls.

“What happened?” I asked. No matter how much I tried to ignore my intuition, I couldn’t ignore the tug in my stomach for a Ding Dong.

“We went snorkeling. We had a good time. When we pulled back to shore, he said that he was going to go see Juliette before he joined us for drinks.” Oscar chewed the side of his cheek. I could tell he was pondering what might’ve really happened.

“Then take me home. I want to leave now.” There was no denying my feelings. I didn’t want to be here. “I can see the look on your face. You are telling me to stay out of it, but your gut is talking to you and you won’t be able to stay out of it either.”

“Good evening.” The officer came over and interrupted us. “I understand that you are a law enforcement officer in Kentucky.”

“Officer Oscar Park.” Oscar and the cop shook hands. “Do you have an initial cause of death?”

“It was a drowning.  According to everyone here, he was a good swimmer, but you know, the tide can turn on a good swimmer at any moment.” We all looked out to the sea that was as calm as could be.

It was as though the storm came to claim Patrick’s life and once it had it, the storm left.

“But I never rule anything out.” He gestured to the wedding group. “The fiancée said that she had fallen asleep and when she woke up she thought he should’ve been back from his bachelor get together but he wasn’t. So she came down to the beach to see if he’d fallen asleep down here and that’s when she found him.”

“Let me know if there is anything I can do.” Oscar’s jaw tensed. I could see all the relaxation the island had given him was no longer visible.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” The officer looked at Oscar. “I’d like you to poke around, see what you can come up with. I have a hunch this was no accident.”

“Why is that?” Oscar asked.

“According to Mr. Victor, Patrick knew this island almost as well as he did since he’d been coming here for years.” He looked over at me. His eyes gleaned like a glassy volcanic rock. “If that’s the case, Patrick knew how to swim with the undercurrent. He knew the pattern of the sea and the island.”

Oscar put his hands on his hips and stood with his legs apart. His eyes skimmed the sea before he peered down at me.

“I’d be happy to take a look around.” He held out his hand and they shook again.

“I’ll be in touch.” The officer walked away and over to the wedding group.

“Did you think I wouldn’t see the Magical Cures Book?” Oscar asked in a harsh, raw voice.

“I had another nightmare and it was Patrick’s face that came into view. I knew I had to do something but it was too late.” I gulped back the tears. My emotions were running high from the death of Patrick and the disappointment I could see on Oscar’s face.

“I asked you no magic. You agreed. You promised me.” The bitterness spilled over into his voice. “Me and you. Oscar and June. No magic.”

He walked off in the opposite direction of the investigation. I ran alongside him.

“Sometimes I hate our spiritual life,” his voice grated harshly. “I loved June Heal. The June Heal that blew up her mom’s shed a few times until it totally exploded. The June Heal that chowed down on Ding Dongs under the oak tree in my front yard.”

“That June grew up,” I stated matter-of-factly. “I, we, followed our fate. We didn’t have a choice.”

He walked faster and faster.

“You were into moving to Whispering Falls as much as me. If I recall,” my voice hardened ruthlessly, “you were the one who told me to give it a try and that you were moving to take the job there. It was you who changed our fate. Not me!”

I stopped and let him stalk off into the villa. I was sure my words hurt him, but his words hurt me. It wasn’t like I could turn my gift off and on like it was not part of me.

“Oh my God.” I gulped. “It is who I am.”

For the first time, it was as though I had fully accepted who I was.

The realization washed over me like the waves washing over the sandy beach. My old life was like the sand. The more the magic washed over me on a daily basis, the old me was washed away. The old June from Locust Grove was gone.

A spark flew from the tip of my finger. My eyes sharpened as they pierced the sea. As soon as a vision of an old trunk popped into my head, a bolt of lightning shot from the sky, knocking my world into darkness.

“Maid!” The woman’s voice woke me up. “Maid service!”

I ignored the woman, glanced over at Oscar’s side of the bed and found a note. He’d already gotten up to go do some investigative work. He was going to have breakfast with Officer Teabody. He also wrote that he loved me and would catch up with me.

The small flip phone Mr. Victor had given me rang.

“Hello,” I asked in a low composed tone even though my insides were frozen.

“This is the maid. Can you please open up so we can clean?” The voice was more demanding than asking. The maid hung up the phone before I could protest. The sun was shining and the sea was calm as if nothing had happened last night. A deep secret was held underneath the surface. Madame Torres’s globe swirled along with the waves as though she were on vacation.

Only I knew we weren’t. There were clues in my dreams and if Oscar was helping out, maybe I could uncover those clues.

The maid knocked on the door louder and louder.

“I’m coming.” I groaned and stalked over to the door. I flung it open and asked, “What kind of resort is this if I have to get up?”

Mr. Prince Charming darted into the room, immediately doing figure eights around my ankles. I grabbed him and snugged him to me.

“Patience?” Shock and awe blanketed me. Then a sigh of relief escaped me. Not that if I had a choice I’d chose Patience, but seeing just about anyone from home made me happy.

“Happy to see you too.” Her voice was flat and condescending. “I didn’t have a choice. The Order of Elders made me and sister come since we didn’t have any live ones at the funeral home.”  She giggled and said, “Or should I say dead ones?”

“Get in here.” I tucked Mr. Prince Charming under one arm and pulled her in with another one.

“The Order doesn’t understand why death follows you wherever you go. And they expect me to clean you up?” Patience tsked and waddled past me. “Now I have to pretend to be a maid in order for me to help you help Oscar so you can go home on time.”

“What do you mean?” I thought no matter what, we’d be leaving in a few days like we had planned.

“Wizard By-Laws state that if there is a crime committed and a spiritualist is present, the crime has to be solved before the spiritualist can go back to the life before, meaning. . .” She eased down into the chair; her housedress crept up along her shins, exposing her knee-highs rolled down to her ankles.

“Meaning we have to stay here until we figure out who murdered Patrick,” my voice trailed off. “Murdered.”

“Yes, he was murdered.” Patience confirmed what I already knew but didn’t want to say until the coroner had confirmed my suspicions or even my nightmare. “And I’m not a beach person, so we need to get to it.”