Miss Frost Ices The Imp: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 2) (29 page)

He shrugged. “Sorry.”

“I have one wish left, correct?”

He nodded, which moved his entire body up and down.

“Okay, I’m going to make that wish now. It’s kind of detailed, so here goes.”

Francine strained to get free. “You can’t do this.”

“Watch me.” Speaking of, I glanced at Greyson. “We good?”

He nodded.

I went back to Blueberry. “Tell you what, Blueberry. You give me two more wishes and I’ll find you a better place to live than this box, so long as you promise not to pull any more tricks on anyone.”

He nodded again, this time making a little trilling noise. He smiled at me, showing off a sharky grin of pointed teeth. Then he held his hand out with two fingers up. “Two,” he chirped.

“Excellent. My first wish is that I want you to cast a truth spell over Francine here. This truth spell has to last for…” I thought it over. “How about the rest of her life?”

Greyson snorted.

I looked at him. “You think that’s too much?”

Francine hissed out a curse and jerked against the restraints, causing the chair’s feet to clatter on the concrete floor. “You can’t do this. You’re going to ruin me.”

Greyson smiled. “I think it’s perfect.”

I nodded to Blueberry. “Make it permanent. Can you do that?”

He gave me a thumbs-up, then swooped down toward Francine and flew around her head three times. A trail of green sparkles followed him like the tail of a comet. After the third trip, he rejoined me, coming to light on my shoulder.

“Thank you, Blueberry. I’ll get to my second wish in a second.” Then I faced Francine, smiling grimly. “What were your plans for the imp?”

Her mouth contorted like she was trying to fight the urge to speak. “I…was…going to send it to my ex-husband with a note that the box contained a rare Olmec war amulet.”

“I don’t know what that is, but obviously it would have guaranteed that he’d open the box, right?” She nodded as I crossed my arms. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Blueberry cross his too. “And what were you going to have Blueberry do when your ex-husband let him out?”

She grimaced again but finally got the words out. “Kill him. And erase all traces of his existence.”

I recoiled. “You’re an awful person. Why would you want to kill your ex?”

She groaned. “He ruined my life, took my business away from me and now he’s about to publish a book using my research on magical artifacts. I hate him,” she screeched. “I hate him and I want him dead.” She dropped her head and fell into a fit of weeping.

It was sad, but she would have killed a man. And that was much worse. I backed up until I was next to Greyson. “You get all that?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Excellent.” I turned so I could see Blueberry. “Ready for wish number two?”

He hopped into the air, hovering with excitement. “Ready.”

“It’s a big one.”

He shivered and gave me that pointy grin again. “I can do it.”

“Good, because I want you to make right all the tricks you played on the town. No more Dr Pepper pouring over the falls, no more black wedding dresses, no more fishy smell, nothing. Put it all back to the way you found it.”

His little shoulders drooped.

“Blueberry, that’s my wish. Then we’ll see about your new home. I just need to make a couple calls.”

That perked him up a bit. He flew into the center of the room and started spinning. He went faster and faster until there was nothing but a bright, green blur in the air. Then there was a loud pop and a small explosion of green, sparkly dust.

He flew back to me, smiling. “All better.”

I nudged Greyson. “Check that out, will you?”

He pulled his phone out. “On it.”

“Good. And while you do that, I’ll get a hold of someone to take care of Francine.”

Didn’t take long for the right people to show up, and it didn’t surprise me that Cooper was among those who arrived at Francine’s.

I greeted him in the yard. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He glanced at Blueberry, who’d refused to go back in the box and was now napping on my shoulder. “Should I even ask about that or…?”

“Long story short, Blueberry is about to be a free imp.”

“Blueberry?”

“Yep.”

“Is that why everything in town is back to normal?”

“No, it’s because that’s what I used my last wish on.”

Cooper nodded appreciatively. “Considering all the other things you could have used it for, that was pretty nice of you.”

I snorted. “You really think I was going to let all that craziness stand?”

“No, you’re not that kind of person.”

“That’s what I told Francine.”

The sheriff and Hugh Ellingham walked up to us. Sheriff Merrow spoke to me first. “We’re going to need you to give us a statement, Miss Frost, so don’t leave until we’re done.”

“You got it, Sheriff.”

Hugh Ellingham smiled. “I can’t wait to hear this one. See you inside.”

“We’ll be in,” Cooper said.

Sheriff Merrow eyed Blueberry. “Going to want to talk to that one too.”

“He’ll be along with us,” I promised.

The Sheriff and Hugh nodded at us and went on to the house.

I watched them until they were inside. Greyson would be showing them the video any minute. I turned back to Cooper. “She would have killed me.”

Shock registered on his face. “I’m very glad she didn’t.”

“Greyson was responsible for that. His being a vampire is what saved us.”

Cooper sighed. “Look, he’s never going to be the best man when you and I get married, but for his part in keeping you safe, I owe him.”

“That’s very nice of you to say.” I ignored the married comment. “What’s going to happen to Francine?”

“I’m not entirely sure. But there’ll be some kind of punishment. Especially if her ex-husband wants to press charges. Technically, his ability to read objects makes him a supernatural, and all this business with the imp puts a supernatural bend on things, so most likely, that’s the court that will hear this case. Even though she’s human.”

“It’s not like any of this would make sense in a human court anyway.”

He shook his head. “No, it wouldn’t.” Then he exhaled, his expression turning worried. “You didn’t call me.”

I jerked my thumb toward the house. “I was a little busy.”

He frowned. “What I meant is you called Greyson.”

“Oh. To do this, you mean.”

His frown stayed put.

“Would you have said yes?” I shook my head. “Cooper, I didn’t want to put you in a situation that could have caused you trouble. Or made you lose your job. Or made you turn me in.”

He stared past me at the house. “I appreciate that. But it makes me feel like you’ve sided with him. Is that what’s happened? Are you about to make a choice?”

“No, I absolutely am not.” I leaned in and kissed him, partly to appease him and partly because I needed the reassurance of that intimate contact. Having your life threatened can do that to you. “Can you honestly say I was wrong in my assessment of what your reaction to all this would have been?”

He hesitated. “I wouldn’t have turned you in.”

“But?”

He rolled his eyes, and a half smile bent his mouth. “I probably would have tried to talk you out of it.”

“See?” I poked him in the ribs. “And that’s what I love about you. You’re a solid, upstanding citizen.”

“I’m glad you love something about me.” The half-smile turned into a smirk. “That implies Greyson is not, you know.”

“Not what?”

“A solid, upstanding citizen.”

“Now don’t go putting words in my mouth.” I tipped my head. “We good?”

“We’re good.”

“All right. Let’s go inside and get the paperwork over with. I still have this imp to take care of.”

He laced his fingers with mine as we started walking. He shook his head and laughed softly.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing. Just you being you.”

I was about to say something when a familiar voice called out my name.

We both turned to see Birdie dashing across Francine’s lawn.

Cooper snorted. “And just when I thought the night couldn’t get any more interesting.”

Birdie caught up to us. “Princess Jayne, are you all right? Is Greyson all right? I just heard on the scanner that something was going on over here. Is Francine dead?”

I blinked at her. “No, Francine is not dead. And yes, Greyson and I are both fine.”

She suddenly gasped. “Hold still, Princess. The imp is on your shoulder.”

Cooper rolled his lips in like he was trying not to laugh.

“I know, Birdie. Blueberry is sleeping. He’s had a big night.”

Her penciled-in brows scrunched up. “Blueberry?”

I looped my arm through hers. “Walk with us and I’ll explain.”

As early as possible the next morning, Delaney had Stanhill drive us out to see Matilda Sharpe once again. Rising that early wasn’t easy given how late I was up taking care of all the details involved with Francine’s nonsense. I’d also called my dad on the globe so he’d know all was well before he read something in the Tombstone, which he now subscribed to. But the early start was important. I wanted to fulfill my promise to Blueberry as soon as I could, lest he think it was all a ruse and get up to mischief again.

Mattie had graciously offered to give Blueberry a home, and he seemed thrilled to be offered the job of guardian of the bees. Especially since he was so fond of their honey.

The handover went smoothly, and when we got back to the warehouse, I invited Delaney up before I got out of the car. “Come on. I want to introduce you to someone.”

She gave me a curious look. “What have you got up your sleeve?”

“Nothing, I swear. But I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

She leaned forward to speak to Stanhill. “I’ll be right back.”

We got out and rode the elevator up. Spider greeted us with a full front shot of his belly on display from the couch. “Don’t mind my cat. I haven’t taught him to wear pants yet.”

Delaney went right over and gave him some tummy rubs, which secured her place as Spider’s new best friend, I’m sure. “Oh, he’s such a sweet baby! And so little. My cat Captain is a beast. Stanhill sneaks him bacon every chance he gets.”

“Spider doesn’t seem that interested in people food. Fortunately.” I picked up the globe from the side table and gave it a shake.

Didn’t take long for my dad to answer. “Hi, sweetheart. All set?”

“Hi, Dad. All set.”

He gave me a wink, then disappeared off-globe.

Delaney came and stood at my side, most likely curious about what I was up to. It wasn’t every day you saw someone using a snow globe as a communication device.

My aunt appeared in the glass. “Hello, darling.” She waved at me. “Is that your little vampire friend?”

I laughed. “Yes, Aunt Martha. This is Delaney Ellingham.” I turned to Delaney. “This is my aunt Martha, maker of the fudge you like so much.”

Delaney let out a soft squeal. “That fudge is genius. You’re a genius. It’s the best thing ever. Did Jayne tell you that I’m just dying to sell it in my shop?”

Aunt Martha beamed with pride. “She did. And I wanted to let you know that I’m willing to work something out with you. I can’t give you the recipe, of course, but I think a few batches of fudge a week would be doable.”

More squealing. Then Delaney hugged me. “You’re awesome.” She grinned at my aunt. “You’re even awesomer. Thank you so much.”

“You’re very welcome, dear. And congratulations on your little one.”

Delaney put her hand on her belly. “Thank you. I’m due the end of October, so my staff will be handling things at the shop for a few months after that, but I assure you the fudge will be in good hands.”

My aunt nodded. “Jayne has told me all about you and your shop. I have no worries.”

“Aunt Martha, I’ll call you back later tonight and we can work out the details, okay?”