Hold of the Bone (5 page)

“A gift certificate from Alexandria.”

Always on duty, Frank keeps an eye on the street outside the window. She sips her coffee, asking, “What's that?”

“The bookstore? By Cham's?”

Frank knows the Korean restaurant but doesn't remember a bookstore nearby. “As long as you're in the neighborhood, why don't you spend the night?”

“On a Sunday?”

The waiter lays steaming plates in front of them. As he leaves, Frank says, “Finish what we started last night.”

Forking a bite of omelet, Caroline teases, “I didn't think you were interested.”

“A girl can change her mind, can't she?”

She winks at Caroline and tucks into her enchilada, admitting, “I didn't sleep so well. Sorry I was cranky this morning.”

“Why didn't you sleep?”

Though open-minded and tolerant, Caroline is surprisingly orthodox regarding spiritual matters, and Frank is having enough trouble processing Marguerite's information without adding Caroline's skepticism. She withholds mentioning last night's dreams of wildfires and twilit mountains.

“I don't know. Just stuff. Work.”

“Are you still thinking about turning your papers in?”

“Every day.”

“Then why don't you just do it?”

Frank stretches a string of cheese from plate to fork. “It's not that easy.”

“Well, if you're not happy . . .”

“It's not that I'm not happy. I'm not unhappy either. But it always comes back to what would I do if I wasn't working?”

“What do you want to do?”

“That's the thing.” Frank picks up her mug and gazes out the window. “I don't know. I've never bothered to make life outside work.”

Caroline dabs her mouth with a napkin. “Then wait until you do know.”

“You sound like Mary.”

“That's a compliment. Have you talked to her lately?”

Frank wonders if that's Caroline's backhanded way of asking if she's been working with her sponsor. “Yesterday.”

“How is she?”

“Good. Feisty.”

“Did you run any of this by her?”

Frank answers with a nod and gets Caroline talking about movies. Cleaning her plate with a tortilla, she pretends interest but is trying
to figure what the hell is wrong with her; it's a fresh Sunday morning, she hasn't been called out yet, she has a full meal in her belly and a lovely woman in front of her, yet she feels like she's missing something, something important, and she has no clue what it might be.

After breakfast they stop at Caroline's to pack an overnight bag. Frank calls Lewis, finds out the coroner has the body, and that nothing else was found in the area.

“So, I reckon,” Lewis tells her, “I'm stuck with a body colder 'an a crackhead's heart.”

“Got an estimate how old?”

“Nah. Coroner say they might get to it by tomorrow. He figured at least twenty years, probably more.”

“Alright. You get any sleep?”

“Some.”

Frank nods, familiar with the feeling. “See you in the morning.”

“Ten-four, LT.”

Caroline smiles brightly. “Ready?”

Frank slides the phone into her pocket and cups Caroline's face. “You're beautiful, you know that?”

“Stop,” Caroline says but accepts Frank's kiss.

“Come on.” Frank tugs her toward the bedroom. “The present can wait.”

“The present is all we have,” Caroline quips. “And no, it cannot. With our luck, one of us will get called out.”

She pulls Frank toward the door but Frank stands her ground. “All the more reason to seize the moment.
Carpe diem
and all that.”

“All the more reason to get that present while we can. And if you'd taken me up on my offer this morning . . .”

Frank gathers Caroline close. “How about a recap of what I missed?”

“A recap?” Caroline murmurs against her lips. “Or a preview of coming attractions?”

“Oh, I like that better.”

They neck until Caroline pushes away. “Come on, lover girl. Save some for later.”

Frank grins and follows, but already her desire is slipping away.

Chapter 7

Caroline finds parking on Shopper's Lane and as they stroll down the sidewalk she swings Frank's hand. Frank smiles at her, appreciating that Caroline is very out. Caroline drops her hand to open the door into the bookstore. Prayer flags drape the entrance and inside they are assailed by tinkling spa music and the singular smell of mingled incenses.

“How come I've never seen this place before?”

Turning to answer, Caroline runs into a large, blowsy woman in scuffed cowboy boots and frayed bell-bottoms. “I'm so sorry.”

The woman laughs. “No worries.”

She is taller than Frank and wears a collection of scarves over a tie-dyed blouse. When she pushes sun-streaked hair from an unmade-up face, her arm rattles with silver bangles.

“We're offering free tarot readings today. Would you like one?”

Frank is about to speak when Caroline answers for them. “No, thanks.”

“Some other time, then.”

The woman starts to turn away, but Frank asks, “They're free?”

She looks back with a broad smile. “They are.”

“I'd like one.”

“Then follow me.”

Frank starts toward her, but Caroline tugs her sleeve whispering, “I thought you hated this kind of stuff.”

“I don't hate it. And it's free. Why not try it?”

Showing them into a small room off the main floor, the woman introduces herself, and asks if they'd like the reading “together or separate?”

Frank answers, “Together.”

Caroline says, “Separate.”

The woman chuckles. She motions Frank to a chair. “How about we start with you and go from there?”

Frank sits, with a grin for Caroline. Her lover frowns and gives a short shake of her head. The woman must see, because she leans toward Caroline and promises, “I won't bite.” She gives Frank a worn tarot deck, instructing her to shuffle as long as she likes. The cards are bigger than gaming cards and Frank mixes them awkwardly, dropping a half dozen on the table.

“No worries,” the woman says. “Just put them back in.”

Frank does and after a few more shuffles lays the pack on the table.

The woman nods. “Pick ten.”

Frank picks up the deck and cuts it a couple times. She is surprised how drawn she is to certain cards and quickly stacks her choices into a pile. The woman takes the cards and flips them upright into a spread.

“That,” she says, forefinger circling the first three cards, “is very interesting. You dropped these ones. It's not unusual for the right cards to jump out at you. This first one, the Elder of Fire, tells me you are intimate with death and its many faces. It feels like you work in a death-related field, that death has always been very clinical, very objective to you.”

Frank thinks it's a lucky guess and wonders if she still smells from her last visit to the morgue.

“But that's passed. Now it seems like you're about to explore the transformational aspects of death, to work with it on a whole new level, a much deeper level, focusing on the spirit of death, maybe the idea of transformation from one form to another. Your background with the clinical aspect of death has created a solid platform for this new work. A launch pad for a much deeper, more intimate journey. You're well prepared for this journey even though it's new terrain for you.”

The hairs lift on the back of Frank's neck as the woman moves on to the second card.

“The challenge will be in letting go of old notions and preconceived ideas, rules and regulations, tangible facts. Like I said, this is new
terrain for you, much of it unknown, and the more you cling to old ideas and habits, the harder the going will be. You have to put logical thinking aside and trust where the road leads. In trusting that you don't know, the way will become clear.”

Caroline touches Frank's arm. “Are you alright?”

The fortune-teller looks up. “You're very pale. Should I stop?”

Frank shakes her head. “Go on.”

“Alright. Number three is the Lovers.” The fortune-teller frowns. “It's reversed, yet I'm picking up a lot of love around you. I think a pairing, like a conventional coupling, isn't for you right now. It will hinder the journey you're facing and hold you back. Again, it's not to say there isn't love in your life, there's a lot. I just don't see marriage or settling down with a permanent partner.

She taps the card. “The upcoming journey is the focus of your life, not romantic relationships.”

Caroline smiles with an “oh well” shrug.

The woman smiles at her. “You two are close.”

She states it as a fact and moves on to the next card.

“You've spent most of your life looking for approval in a very male-dominated field, but that's behind you now. You have learned a lot and succeeded, but it's time to move beyond traditional or conventionally accepted fields. You'll take what you've learned and incorporate it on a much deeper, more fluid level. A much more integrated level.”

“Card number five is your immediate future. It's telling me you will have many guides on your journey. You will never be alone.”

She smiles reassuringly. “You'll find help from the least likeliest places. Natural sources. Places in nature. Animals, even. Also, this would be a good time to accept gifts from strangers. Your guides are going to work often through them. You have a very powerful support system. In fact, you have many guides around you right now.”

“Around me?” Frank can't help glancing about.

“Uh-huh,” the woman murmurs, concentrating on The Emperor. “Don't forget your biggest hurdles will be reason and logic, trying to do things the old, established way. They were crucial for past successes, but now they're only going to slow you down and maybe even stall
you out. You have to abandon your head and learn to listen here.” The woman touches her chest. “With your heart.”

“Okay, that's enough.” Frank stands so fast she knocks her chair over.

Caroline and the woman are speechless.

“Sorry,” Frank says righting her chair. “I'm done.”

She stalks through the store. Caroline is fast behind her and when they are outside in the bright, clear light she asks, “What was that all about?”

Frank paces a tight circle. “Go get your present. I'll wait here.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing. Go get your present.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Go on.”

“Okay. I'll be right back.”

Frank wishes she had a cigarette, which she figures is better than wishing she had a drink. The door to the store opens and Frank looks up, hoping it's Caroline. But the tarot lady walks toward her.

“Are you okay?”

“I'm fine.”

“Is there anything you'd like to talk about? I didn't mean to upset you.”

“I know. It's just what you said is an awful lot like what somebody else told me. It's kind of disconcerting, hearing it back to back like that.”

The woman smiles. “Well, then, it must be true. It was a very powerful spread, very optimistic, if that's what you were worried about.” She holds out a paper bag. “I'd like you to have this. I wrote the spread down for you. You can look the cards up on your own, or if you want I'd be happy to go over them with you. My number's in there.”

Frank peeks in the bag.

“It's a Rider-Waite deck. We were using the Gaia deck, but this is one of the easier decks to read.”

“Thanks, I don't think so.” Frank tries to return the gift, but the woman backs toward the store with her palms in front of her.

“Keep them. Throw them away. Do with them what you will.”

Caroline comes through the door and holds it for her.

Frank catches the look between them. She lifts the bag. “Did you tell her to give me this?”

“Not at all. She asked if you had a deck and I told her I sincerely doubted it. She said your first one should be a gift. And didn't she just say this would be a good time to accept gifts from strangers?”

Frank sighs and turns to watch the cars snaking down the boulevard. She flinches when Caroline puts a hand on her arm.

“What got you so upset in there?”

“Want to split a shake?”

Caroline narrows her eyes. “Chocolate or strawberry?”