Deadly Intentions (2 page)

The sisters ran
Sticks and Stones
from an old cottage located just outside the main part of town. They sold herbal remedies and healing crystals. It was no surprise that business was booming. The healing herbs and stones the girls made were more powerful than any ordinary herbs and stones because Morgan and Fiona had a special way with energy that enhanced the power of the herbs and stones. And they weren’t the only ones in the family who had special powers.

All four of the girls had discovered they had what they called ‘gifts’ over the past two years. It had come on slowly at first, but over time, they had developed them so they could control them better.

Jolene frowned slightly. Was it strange the four sisters shared paranormal powers? Maybe it was a family trait like the ice-blue eyes that each of them had in common? Had their mother had special ‘gifts’, too? Jolene didn’t remember anything like that, but then again most people with ‘gifts’ didn’t talk about them much. She knew she and her sisters tried to keep their odd powers a secret. Maybe her mother had, too.

“Anyway, I’m glad I caught you all home tonight,” Morgan reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a piece of lavender-colored paper. “I got this letter in the mail today. It’s from Aunt Eliza.”

“Aunt Eliza?” Fiona’s long red curls fell over her shoulder as she leaned over the arm of the chair to take the paper from Morgan. “Jeez, I barely remember her.”

“I don’t remember her at all.” Jolene eyed the letter Fiona was reading. The thick paper looked expensive. The writing was neat and orderly. “Who sends letters these days, anyway?”

“You were just a baby the last time we saw her.” Fiona passed the letter over to Celeste. “She was Dad’s younger sister, but I think there was some sort of falling out and they stopped talking to each other.”

“It says here she’s coming to Noquitt for a visit.” Celeste tapped the paper.

“I know,” Morgan said. “I was thinking we should invite her to stay here. After all, this was her home, once.”

“Oh, yeah,” Celeste passed the letter to Jolene. “I guess I forgot that Dad’s family lived here before we did.”

The centuries old house had been home to generations of Blackmoore’s. Originally built by Isaiah Blackmoore three-hundred years earlier, it sat on a point of land situated at the mouth of Perkins Cove with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the channel leading to the cove on the other.
 

The house had been modified and added to over the years, but a Blackmoore family had always lived there, including Jolene’s family along with their grandmother, who had passed away years ago.
 

And now it was just her and her sisters.
 

It was hard to imagine her father as a little boy, running around the big mansion with his sister, not to mention the countless other generations that had lived there before them. If the house could only talk, Jolene was sure it would have some stories to tell.

She looked down at the letter in her hand. A chocolate brown curl fell in front of her face and she brushed it away absently as she studied the words in dark purple ink that looked almost like they had come from a fountain pen. The scent of lavender wafted up from the paper.
 

She got the distinct impression that even though she didn’t remember Eliza Blackmoore from her youth, the woman was going to be someone she would never forget.

“So, what do you guys say?” Morgan prompted. “Should we ask her to stay with us?”

“Sure,” Fiona said. “As long as no one else objects, I don’t see why not.”

“Yeah, it could be fun getting to know her better. I mean we really didn’t know her well as kids. She was a lot younger than Dad, wasn’t she?” Celeste asked.

“Yes, as I recall she was. I think she’s only in her early forties. We have so few relatives now that I think it will be fun to have another Blackmoore to connect with.” Morgan turned to Jolene who was still staring down at the letter. “Don’t you agree, Jolene?”

“Huh?” Jolene looked up. “Oh, yes, of course. Invite her here for as long as she wants to stay. I don’t see any phone number or email address to contact her, though. Did the envelope have a return address?”

“No,” Morgan frowned. “That’s the strange thing. It wasn’t even postmarked. I just opened the mailbox and there it was.”

“So how will we let her know she can stay here?” Fiona asked. “I wouldn’t want her to book a hotel and lose her deposit.”

Morgan shrugged. “I guess the only way is to tell her when she gets here.”

“And when is that?” Celeste asked.

“Tomorrow.”
 

“Meow!” Belladonna wailed just as a blinding flash of light lit up the sky outside the widow. Two seconds later, the thunderous boom had them all jumping out of their seats. The lights flickered, but stayed on.

Jolene’s heart thudded in her chest as the four sisters exchanged nervous looks. It was early summer and thunderstorms certainly weren’t unusual. The girls had weathered plenty of them in this house before. Jolene just hoped
this
storm wasn’t a harbinger of things to come.

Chapter Two

Celeste Blackmoore woke to the warm rays of the sun on her face. She squinted one eye open and looked directly out her window at the glowing yellow ball rising out of the ocean. Last night’s storm had passed and it looked like today was going to be a beauty.

She kicked the covers off, slid out of bed and stretched her slim, muscular body. Turning toward her closet, she rooted around in the pile of clothes on the floor for a pair of yoga pants she could wear down to the kitchen for her morning wheat grass drink before showering and heading off to the studio where she taught yoga and meditation.

“Looks like it’s going to be a corker today.”

Celeste’s heart leaped into her throat. She whirled toward the voice, then relaxed as she recognized the misty figure swirling in the corner. She should be used to this by now.

“Morning, Grandma,” Celeste said.

The mist swirled around and then manifested into a see-through version of Celeste’s grandmother.
 

“Morning, dear.” She turned to the window. “I do so miss these summer sunrises.”

“Sorry.”

“Oh nothing to be sorry about.” Grandma turned from the window, a big smile on her face. “It’s much nicer on the other side, anyway.”

“Well, I’m in no hurry to find
that
out.”

“No doubt. I hear you’ll be having a visitor.”

“You mean Aunt Eliza?”
 

“Yes.” Grandma’s face took on a pinched look. “My youngest. She was a surprise, you know. Always so headstrong. I never forgave myself for the falling out we had. She took off and that was the last I saw of her.”

“I’m sorry. I never thought about it that way.” Celeste felt a pang of sorrow for both her grandmother and her aunt. “She never contacted you or my father over all those years?”

“No, but don’t let that color your perception of her. You’ll like her. You have a lot in common.”

“You mean she sees ghosts?”

Grandma laughed. “No. You’re the only Blackmoore whose gifts manifest themselves in that way, as far as I know. I just think you girls will get along with her and I’m glad you’re inviting her to stay here.”

“Well, it is her house, too, I guess.”

“That’s the spirit! Oh, and one last thing … the key is in the locket.”

“Key? What key?” Celeste narrowed her eyes at her grandmother.

“Well, that’s enough chit chat … I really must be going.” Grandma’s ghost waved her hand dismissively, the charms on her bracelet swaying to and fro as she evaporated, leaving Celeste staring at an errant swirl of condensation drifting to the floor.

Leave it to Grandma to be so vague
, Celeste shrugged, then turned back to the pile. Like her sisters, Celeste had been blessed with paranormal abilities. Her ‘gift’ was that she saw ghosts. She was used to her grandmother and sometimes other ghosts appearing and talking in vague terms, so she couldn’t put too much stock in what her grandmother had said. But she did have empathy for the way the woman was obviously sad about what happened between her and Eliza.
 

Celeste felt a pang of sadness for Eliza, too. She didn’t know what had happened to drive her from the family, but she imagined the woman must have been lonely all these years. Maybe Celeste and her sisters could make up for some of that.
 

Slipping on her yoga pants, Celeste ruffled her blonde hair so it spiked up on her head and headed down to the kitchen, vowing to do her best to make Eliza feel like a welcome part of the family.

***

Jolene stared into the mug of black coffee while she waited for the caffeine to wake up her brain.
 

“Morning, sleepyhead!” Celeste’s chipper voice grated on her from the kitchen door.

“Mornin’,” Jolene grumbled.

She watched as Celeste practically skipped over to the fridge, taking out some spinach, an avocado and coconut milk, then trotting it over to the counter where some green grass was growing in a container. Snipping off a large section of the grass, she threw everything enthusiastically into the blender.
 

Jolene took another sip of coffee and tried not to gag at the sight of the thick green goo swirling around in the blender. She hoped Celeste didn’t spill any on the white marble counters—marble was porous and that goop would leave a stain.

“I talked to grandma this morning,” Celeste chirped.

“Oh, really?” Jolene never knew what to say to that. Should she ask how their grandmother was, or was that inappropriate when it came to ghosts?
 

Celeste switched off the blender and poured the goo into a glass. “It seemed like she was really sad about the way things ended with Eliza and I got to thinking how lonely things must have been for our aunt … you know, not seeing the family and all.”

Jolene took another sip of coffee. She hadn’t thought about it, but Celeste had a point.
 

“So I was thinking we should do our best to make her feel like family,” Celeste continued.

“Okay. Sure. I mean I guess we would do that anyway, right?” Jolene asked.

“Yeah, but I was just thinking we could all make an extra effort.” Celeste gulped down the juice. “Where is everyone else?”

“Morgan’s out in the herb garden,” Jolene thrust her chin in the direction of the window where Morgan could be seen bent over a row of seedlings she’d planted a few weeks ago. “Fiona must still be asleep. I haven’t seen her yet this morning.”

“Late night out with Jake?” Celeste wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

Jolene laughed—a sure sign the caffeine was kicking in. “Probably. Which reminds me. I’d better get going and work on that case before he fires me.”
 

She sucked down the rest of her coffee, then slipped off the stool and put the coffee mug in the dishwasher before heading out the front door.

***

Jolene and Jake’s office was a stuffy two-room suite on the second floor of a one-hundred-and-fifty year-old house that had been converted for commercial use. The first floor held the
Bagel Cafe
. As usual, the smell of fresh baked bagels made Jolene’s stomach grumble, so she stopped there first.
 

Then, armed with a bag of bagels and two coffees, she climbed the creaky narrow stairs to the second floor. At the top, an oak door announced their office. ‘Cooper Investigations’ was stenciled on the frosted glass window in old fashioned gold and black lettering. She balanced the coffees, bagels and her large tote as she pushed the door open.

The outer room was empty. Jake was optimistic that a receptionist might sit out there one day. Jolene had a sneaking suspicion he had originally planned for her to do the receptionist tasks, but she had nipped that in the bud early on. She was a good investigator and her talents were better put to use in the field.

There were two desks in the inner room, which, thankfully, was quite large. Jake sat behind one of them, a large antique mahogany piece they’d liberated from Jolene’s attic.
 

He looked up at her, his face freshly shaven and a twinkle in his gray eyes. Probably put there by Fiona, Jolene thought. He made a show of glancing at his watch.
 

“Thanks for coming to work today,” he teased. They had a great relationship and even though Jake had only been her sister’s boyfriend for a couple of years, he was like a big brother to her.
 

Jolene put one of the coffees on his desk and slid it toward him.
 

“Looks like you just got in yourself. Late night with my sister?” she teased him back, stifling a giggle when she saw a blush creep up his neck. Jake was a good guy. Fiona could do a lot worse.
 

She smiled, remembering how he had helped the sisters out when he first came to town. Morgan had been accused of murder, and Jake, who had just joined the Noquitt Police force after a career as a detective in Boston, had gone against Sheriff Overton to help them prove her innocence.

Going against Overton hadn’t helped his standing down at the police station and Jake had eventually resigned from the force to start the private investigation business and taken Jolene under his wing.
 

The two of them had been pretty successful at it, too. Of course, her photographic memory and special gift of reading people’s auras didn’t hurt.

Jake peeled back the plastic tab on his coffee and took a sip.

“Did you bring me breakfast?” he asked, eyeing the
Bagel Cafe
bag.

“Yep. Your favorite.” She opened the bag and angled it toward him, revealing a plump pumpernickel bagel on top.
 

Jake grabbed the bagel along with one of the small cream cheese containers. “Thanks.”

“Welcome. Jeez, it’s stuffy in here.” That was one thing about the second floor of an old house; it got mighty hot, especially in summer. Jolene pushed open the old wooden window to let in some air.
 

From the second floor, she could see a tiny sliver of the ocean a quarter of a mile away. A cool breeze, fresh with salty sea air, wafted in through the window. Jolene could hear the cry of seagulls as she slid behind the green metal teacher’s desk they’d gotten for free after the school renovation.