All Dressed Up and No Place to Haunt (3 page)

Chapter 4

I'd parked my Buick in the large parking lot in front of the plantation. I recognized the other vehicles involved with the film crew. There had been reports in our local paper, the
Sugar Creek Gazette
, of adding additional parking by buying adjacent land. I wondered if the purchase of that land involved Vera Lemon. For the sake of the people trying to acquire it, I hoped not.

My car stood out from all the others. It was a red 1948 Buick convertible. My grandfather had left it to me, and it was probably my favorite thing in the whole world. I loved it even more than I loved chocolate, and that was saying a lot.

I opened my car door and slipped behind the wheel. I smiled every time I looked at the fuzzy dice dangling from the rearview mirror.

“Wow, this is a nice set of wheels,” Alice remarked from the passenger seat.

“Thanks,” I said as I cranked the engine.

After my dealings with Charlotte Meadows, it no longer surprised me that ghosts could bypass the use of doors. Alice was sitting on the front seat of my car like a teenager who was about to meet her crush for a date.

She ran her hand across the soft white leather. “I knew someone who had a car just like this one. Oh, the memories we had in that car.” She giggled.

I lifted an eyebrow. “Maybe you can just keep those details to yourself.”

Traffic was light as we headed back to the historic section of Sugar Creek. I couldn't wait to get back to town to share the events of the day with my best friend, Heather Sweet. She owned an occult shop right next door to my vintage-clothing boutique. She'd been the one who introduced my cat Wind Song to the Ouija board and tarot cards. But more on that later.

The historic section had brick buildings that housed a variety of stores, antique shops, and cozy cafés. Brick and stone buildings dating from the 1700s lined the streets. Sugar Creek's economy thrived, thanks to the tourists who came to enjoy the quaint downtown and the whiskey distilleries on the edge of town.

A courthouse sat in the middle of the town square. My shop was nearby, on the edge of Main Street. I liked it because I was in close walking distance to so many things. I had to admit I looked at the old moss-covered cemetery down the street a little differently now that I was on a first-name basis with not one but two ghosts. Every time I walked past, I looked for a spirit to pop out. So far none had, thank goodness.

I pulled the Buick up in front of my store and cut the engine. Alice had been quiet on the ride there. I think she'd been daydreaming about her time spent with a special someone in a Buick just like mine.

“Nice shop,” Alice said as she peered up at the sign above the door. “Is it yours?”

I nodded with a smile of pride. “Yes, she's all mine.”

My store was painted a soft shade of lavender on the outside. It was made of siding, with a little porch on the front. The building looked different from the surrounding brick affairs, but it was just as old.

A pretty sign that read I
T'S
V
INTAGE
, Y'
ALL
hung above the door. My mother had dreamed up the name. She wasn't into fashion, but she tried to contribute all she could. Usually she tried to help by giving me the latest health food she'd found. Her idea of fashion was buying a new pair of Birkenstocks. Oh well, to each her own.

I walked down the sidewalk and past my store.

“Where are you going?” Alice asked as she matched my pace. “Is there a back entrance?”

“I have to see my friend next door,” I said.

When I reached Heather's store, I pushed on the door. It didn't open. Below the M
AGIC
M
ARKETPLACE
sign was a cardboard square that said B
E
B
ACK
S
OON
. Heather's shop was on the ground floor of a mid-nineteenth-century brick building. Three additional businesses shared the space on the other floors. The inside of her place looked its age with original hardwood floors that had the dents and scratches to prove it. The walls were painted in a watered-down shade of chocolate, and mysterious-looking bottles of what I assumed were potions lined the shelves.

“Looks like your friend stood you up,” Alice said.

Heather had a tendency to forget things if they weren't written down. She'd probably remember me soon and show up, so I decided to head back to my shop.

As I walked down the sidewalk, I dialed her number. The call went straight to her voice mail. Heather was constantly neglecting to charge her cell phone. Sometimes I wondered why she even had the thing. I opened the door to my shop and flipped the little sign in the window to OPEN. I'd planned on staying closed all day, but after what had happened, I needed to work to keep my mind off the tragedy I'd witnessed. Working with the vintage clothing always soothed me. I had a few recently acquired items to tag and place on the racks. While I waited on Heather to show up, I'd finish that project.

Alice followed me back to the counter. “This is a nice place. I love the lavender color of the walls.”

“Thank you,” I said as I placed my purse on the counter.

Wind Song jumped on the counter. She tapped my hand with her paw. I'd recently become friends with a long-haired white cat. After looking for her previous companion with no luck, I was starting to think we would be friends forever. This was no ordinary feline though. I had discovered her unusual talents purely by accident.

When Heather had discovered that the ghost of Charlotte Meadows had followed me home, she wanted to try out the Ouija board. Once Wind Song got near the thing, she'd started using her little paw to move the planchette. I know it sounds crazy, but that was exactly how it had happened. Heather took it one step further and brought the tarot cards. The cat actually pulled out cards that were relevant to the situation. I still hadn't figured out how she did it.

I took a can of food from under the counter and emptied it into the dish. Wind Song wasted little time chowing down. She was finicky though; she would only eat certain types of food. She'd even spelled out with the Ouija board that she hated the cheap stuff that I'd bought. So now I was buying the gourmet brand.

Alice bounced around the store, checking out all the items. “What are we doing now? Hey, are there any good places to go dancing? I'm really good at doing the Charleston.”

My mouth dropped open. “You want to go dancing?”

“Yes, now that I have someone to talk to I figure we should have some fun. A girls' night out.”

“I think I've had enough fun for one day. Maybe some other time,” I said. “Plus, we're waiting for my friend Heather to get here, remember?”

Alice tried on a wide-brimmed hat and checked herself in the mirror. “Oh yes. Maybe she will want to have a girls' night out.”

I stared at Alice. “Yeah, maybe.”

Wind Song had finished the food and was licking her paws. As I placed the dish back under the counter, the bell over my door jingled. I popped up from behind the counter.

Heather confirmed my suspicions by saying, “I know, I know. I forgot to charge my phone again. Why are you looking at me like that? It isn't that big of a deal. You know I always forget to charge my phone.”

Heather wore designer jeans today with a white peasant blouse. She had on brown flip-flops with big white flowers attached to the top. Her bangs were pulled back with a large butterfly barrette, and the back of her blond-brown hair flowed past her shoulders. Gold bangles covered both of her wrists. Heather never wore much makeup, but she always had a natural glow. Today she had just a little pink lip gloss on her lips and maybe a dab of mascara. She looked as if she had been somewhere special. I'd have to find out more about that later.

I motioned with a tilt of my head toward Alice. Of course Heather couldn't see my ghostly companion. Despite the fact that Heather advertised psychic readings, she'd recently admitted that she had no sixth sense. All this time I thought she was the one who could talk to ghosts, but it turned out to be me.

“Charlotte's still here?” Heather scanned the room.

Charlotte Meadows still made appearances even after I'd found her murderer. I guess she just wasn't ready to move on yet. Now I had another ghost hanging around. Lucky me.

“No, it's not Charlotte,” I said.

Heather's eyes widened.

“Is this your friend? She's pretty.” Alice walked a circle around Heather.

I repeated the comment. At least Alice would be off to a good start with Heather by paying her compliments.

“You're not going to believe what happened today. You're going to regret not charging your phone.”

Heather closed the distance between us. “You're starting to freak me out. What is going on?”

“Someone drowned at the film set,” I said.

Heather's hand flew to her mouth. “Where? When?”

“You've scared the poor girl to death.” Alice shrugged. “No pun intended.”

“It happened at Fairtree Plantation.”

“Tell me everything.” Heather sat on the velvet settee beside the counter.

“It was Nicole Silver. She fell in the pond, I guess.”

“What do you mean, you guess?” Heather asked.

Alice gestured. “Tell her what we really think happened.”

“We don't know that for sure,” I said.

Heather made a time-out signal with her hands. “Okay, who are you talking to? Nicole's spirit?”

I shook my head. “No, this is Alice.”

Alice sat on the settee next to Heather, though, of course, Heather wasn't aware of her presence. “You know,” Alice said, “I have a really good feeling about the two of you. I think we're all going to be great friends.”

I sighed.

“Who is Alice?” Heather sat up a little straighter.

“Alice is a ghost who is attached to some of the clothing that I got for the movie. She's sitting next to you.”

“Whoa.” Heather jumped up and looked around. “This is crazy. It's just like with Charlotte.”

“Who is Charlotte?” Alice asked as she played with the cat. Wind Song apparently could see the ghost and enjoyed the game.

Heather watched as Wind Song batted at the air.

“All I know is I was looking around the plantation before I left the set. Preston and Nicole were arguing, and then a little later when I got to the pond, Nicole was floating on the top.”

Alice placed a hand over her heart. “Such a tragedy.”

“They were arguing?” Heather asked. “Oh, this will be in all the tabloids.”

“Tell her the rest,” Alice urged.

“Okay, I'm telling her. So now I have this other ghost.” I pointed in Alice's direction. “Her name is Alice. She doesn't look her age though. She's pretty and dressed in an awesome outfit, I might add.”

Alice laughed. “Why, thank you.”

“Why is she here though?” Heather looked in Alice's direction.

I cast a glance at Alice. “That's a good question. Why are you here?”

“I want to help you find Nicole's killer.”

“But you were around before Nicole was dead.” I eyed Alice.

Alice fidgeted her hands.

“Oh, maybe she's one of those bad spirits who is just pretending to be nice. I should get one of my spell books and see if we can get rid of her,” Heather said.

Alice frowned. “I am not one of those bad spirits.” She placed her hands on her hips.

“Uh-oh, now you're making her upset. She said she is not bad.”

Heather wasn't convinced. “Well, better safe than sorry.”

Movement on my right caught my attention. “Oh no.”

“Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, there's another ghost here. Cookie, is that any way to greet an old friend?” Charlotte Meadows asked.

Chapter 5

I motioned with a tilt of my head. “Charlotte is here.”

Alice stared at Charlotte. “So you're the ghost I've heard so much about.”

Charlotte had big ebony eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. Her makeup and hair were always flawless. Today she wore a floor-length tan jersey skirt, a loose white tank, and a black sash around her waist. Her shoes were tan-colored flats, and gold jewelry adorned her wrists and ears. Charlotte was every inch the fashionista.

Charlotte marched around to the front of the counter. “What in the Sam Hill is going on in this shop? I leave for a day and all heck breaks loose.”

Wind Song meowed in agreement.

“There are too many ghosts in here now.” I rubbed my temples.

“Oh, don't be ridiculous. There's only the two of us.” Charlotte studied her red-polished fingernails.

“Exactly my point. There are two of you.”

Alice and Charlotte looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.

“I'm not going anywhere, are you?” Charlotte asked Alice.

“No, I'm not leaving either,” Alice said.

“What did they say?” Heather asked.

“For some reason neither one of them wants to go away.”

Heather leaned back on the settee. “I guess they like you.”

“How did I get so lucky,” I said.

Alice folded her arms across her chest. “I can tell you that I don't want to be second ghost though.”

Charlotte sniffed. “You're already second. There's nothing you can do about it. I was here first.”

Alice sighed, but didn't respond. It was hard to argue with Charlotte's logic.

“There's room for both of us, right, Cookie?” Charlotte asked.

“Sure. Two is the same as one.”

“I think you're being sarcastic,” Alice said.

“Don't forget to show your Southern hospitality to ghosts too,” Charlotte warned.

“That's true,” Alice agreed.

I threw my hands up. “Too much talking.”

Heather looked confused because she wasn't privy to the conversation. Wind Song pawed at Alice.

“What's wrong with the cat?” Heather asked.

“I think she likes the new ghost.”

“Better than the old ghost.” Heather grinned.

Charlotte scowled. “Don't you have a magic potion to stir?”

Somehow Heather and Charlotte argued, but Heather never heard most of Charlotte's quips because I didn't want to fuel their bickering by repeating them. Maybe Heather was more psychic than she realized.

Heather jumped from the settee. “Oh, we should use the Ouija board to see what Wind Song has to say about the new ghost.”

“The new ghost has a name, young lady.” Alice shook her finger.

“I don't think that's such a good idea,” I called out after Heather.

Heather had already made it to the door before I'd finished the sentence.

“You girls are such fun,” Alice said with smile.

“Cookie is a sweetheart,” Charlotte said.

Okay, now they were making me feel guilty for wanting them to leave. It wasn't that I didn't like them. I didn't even know Alice, but it wasn't fun waking up to a ghost sitting on your bed demanding attention or trying to shower with a ghost standing outside the shower curtain yammering away.

Heather bounced back through the door with the Ouija board under her arm.

“Wait until you see this,” Charlotte said to Alice.

Heather pulled out the Ouija board and placed the planchette on top. Wind Song pushed her way to a prime spot in front of the board.

“Look, she loves this thing,” Heather said.

It did appear that the cat was looking forward to giving us a message.

“What do we ask her?” I moved closer to the board.

“How about asking if the new ghost is nice?” Heather said.

“It's Alice. And the new ghost is nice,” she said in frustration.

“The ghost wants you to call her Alice,” I said.

Heather looked in the general direction where Alice stood. “Right, Alice. Okay. Wind Song, what do you think of our new guest, Alice?”

Wind Song reached her paws forward and placed them on the planchette. Alice released a little gasp.

“I can't believe she is actually doing it,” Alice said.

“It gets better.” Charlotte motioned for Alice to watch more.

Wind Song slowly pushed the guide around the board until it finally came to rest on the letter
W.

“W,” Heather repeated out loud.

“We can read it, dear,” Charlotte said.

As if adding
dear
on the end wouldn't upset Heather as much. Good thing Heather hadn't heard the remark. Wind Song continued her mission of delivering a message to us. The next letter was an
A,
and then she followed that with a
T.
By the time she was finished, her first word was
Watch.

Wind Song paused as if thinking carefully about her next word.

“
Watch,
what do you think that means? What does she want us to watch?” Heather pushed hair out of her eyes. “Maybe she wants you to watch Alice.”

Charlotte shrugged as Alice released a sound of disapproval. Wind Song moved the planchette across the board again. The next words she spelled were
Out
and then
For.

“Watch out for,” Heather said almost under her breath.

“Watch out for what?” Alarm sounded in Alice's voice.

Wind Song didn't stop. She continued to move her paw around the wood. The next word was
The,
followed by
Water.

“Watch out for the water,” Heather said.

My eyes widened.

“Was that a warning about Nicole?” Alice asked.

“It's a little late for that,” Charlotte said.

“How did you know about what happened to Nicole?” I asked.

Charlotte stood beside Alice. “I was eavesdropping at the back of the store.”

“Well, I should have known. Charlotte is right,” I said. “It is a little late for that warning.”

Now Heather would want to use the Ouija board all the time. I was trying to discourage that as much as possible. We stared at the cat, waiting for another message. When Wind Song hopped down and took her favorite spot in the sunshine by the window, I figured her communication for the day was over.

“I can't believe the cat used the Ouija board.” Alice looked at the cat in admiration.

The bell over the door jingled, drawing our attention away from the board. The only problem was the door was always open before the bell actually made a noise. Now Detective Dylan Valentine was walking toward us. Had he heard any of the conversation? The board was still on the counter, and I didn't want him to see what we'd been doing. I grabbed a couple shirts I had in a stack nearby and tossed them over the board. My expression probably looked like the cat's when he'd eaten the canary.

Heather had the same look on her face. I supposed I could have just blamed the board on Heather. After all, it was hers.

“Hello, ladies, did I interrupt anything?” He glanced over at the cat.

I tried to look nonchalant. “No, we were just discussing what happened today.”

He pushed the door shut behind him, and the bell rang again. “I was just coming by to check on you.”

“How sweet is that?” Alice said.

“He is a doll,” Charlotte offered her opinion as she inched closer to Dylan. She'd been known to pinch him in the rear end—without his knowledge, of course, but to my great embarrassment.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

Dylan closed the distance between us. He stopped in front of the counter and looked over my shoulder toward the covered Ouija board. Nothing ever got past him.

“I swear he knows there's something hidden under the shirts,” Charlotte said.

Well, that wasn't such a shock because I'd done a poor job of hiding the evidence. Dylan definitely acted suspicious.

“I'm afraid I have bad news,” Dylan said. “I thought I'd tell you before you heard the rumor.”

Charlotte laughed. “Yeah, right, he just wanted an excuse to see you.”

If Charlotte wasn't careful, she would make me blush.

“What happened?” I asked.

Dylan's eyes saddened. “There were signs of trauma on Nicole's body. Specifically, her neck.”

Heather gasped. “What does that mean?”

“Just as we thought, Cookie, it wasn't an accident,” Alice said.

A lump formed in my throat, and a pit of fear opened in my stomach. Who would have killed Nicole? Sorrow had fallen over the room.

“Was it the boyfriend?” I asked.

Dylan shook his head. “I can't give any other information, but I wanted to thank you for sharing what you knew earlier.”

I swallowed. “Of course.”

Dylan stepped to the side as if he wanted to get a better look at what was behind me. I moved to my left to block his view.

“If you're sure you're okay?” he asked again.

“Yes, yes. I'll be fine.”

“Okay then, I'd better get back to the office. Call me if you think of anything else.”

“You should think of something else even if you have to make it up.” Alice eyed Dylan.

“I like the way you think,” Charlotte said.

“It was nice seeing you again, Heather.” Dylan smiled and then turned away toward the door.

I didn't blame him for being suspicious.