Silence Is Golden (A Pet Psychic Mystery No. 3) (14 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Will arrived looking exhausted, with dark half-moons under his eyes and a sallow complexion. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him bury his face in my shoulder. We just stood like that until Goldie's panting and circling made us laugh and separate so Will could give her a proper hello.

He scratched her under her ears with both hands as her tongue lolled to the side. "I think she's actually smiling."

"Yeah, she's starting to act a little happier lately." I slipped my hand in his and led him to the table. "Come sit down. I know you haven't eaten all day."

"You know me too well." Will squeezed my hand. "Something does smell good."

"Five cheese eggplant lasagna." I called over my shoulder on the way to the kitchen. "It's my mom's recipe. Family comfort food."

"Could use some of that." Will pulled out a chair. "Speaking of family... is your sister here? Do I finally get to meet her?"

"Oh, no, sorry. She wanted to spend some time at the Pinellas Point Mound tonight," I said, as I retrieved the salad and checked the timer on the oven. "You'll meet her soon. Fifteen minutes. We'll start with this." I placed the bowl on the table as Will poured the white wine into our glasses. I glanced at his water glass. He hadn't touched it yet.

I held up my wine glass. "To the memory of your dad, who will always live in your heart."

Will's eyes deepened with sadness and a wave of grief almost made me cry out. I concentrated on steady breathing and blinking back the tears until it passed.

"Cheers." He clinked my glass and squeezed my hand.

After a sip of the citrusy wine, I spooned the salad into our bowls. "So, how was it? The funeral?"

"As good as funerals get, I suppose. He had a lot of friends. That was nice to see." I let the silence fall between us as he chewed a bite of salad in case he needed to talk more. He did, but he seemed to be talking to the salad. "The burial was hard. Brought up memories of burying my brother. And mom. They're all together now." He choked on a lump in his throat and reached for the water.

As his lips touched it, I felt a twinge of panic.
What if he reacted like Goldie did? What if I was doing something wrong?
No going back now. I grabbed my wine as his adam's apple bobbed up and down with the swallows of water.

"So," my voice squeaked. "Dinner should be about ready. Let me go check on that." I hit the table with my knee as I was getting up and winced.

"You okay?" Will asked, his eyes moving from my knee to my face.

"Yep," my voice squeaked. "Hunky dory." I limped away from the table and immediately tripped over Goldie who had taken up her position lying between me and Will. "Oh, sorry!" I felt on the verge of hysterics as she looked up at me with knowing eyes.
Don't judge me
.
It's for his own good
. I pursed my lips and practically ran into the kitchen and hid behind the refrigerator.

"Just be a sec," I called out. My heart was racing and the back of my neck felt damp under my hairline.
Calm down, Darwin
. I took a deep breath. This was ridiculous. All I wanted to do was help the man I loved feel better, for heaven's sake. I didn't think all this guilt would come with a good deed. I talked myself down from the ledge and removed the pan of eggplant lasagna from the oven. Plastering a smile on my face, I carried our plates to the table, being extra mindful of anything I could trip over.

"Here we go." I couldn't look at Will as I gave him his food.

"Smells really good, Darwin." I could tell he was staring at me. "You all right? You seem a little flustered."

I waved his concern off, "I'm fine," and quickly changed the subject, trying not to stare at his half-empty water glass or him for any signs of magick working. "So, how did the interviews go before you left?"

He nodded and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "The girl at the car rental company remembered the person they rented the black car to. Only because the person, a woman with dark hair and ball cap, was acting nervous and didn't remove her sunglasses."

I stopped chewing. "Do you think it was Josie?"

Will nodded. "She's definitely a person of interest. Now that it seems it wasn't just a random drunk driving incident. Especially since you'll never guess whose credit card was used to rent the car."

I made a hurry up motion with my hand. "Don't keep me in suspense."

Will chuckled. "One Miss Victoria Desoto-Roth."

My mouth dropped open. "Huh?" I shook my head. "She rented the car that ran her over?"

"Or someone stole her credit card. I had someone look into Josie and she's got an arrest record. For theft."

"I guess she does have motive, if she really wanted her dad's house." I mulled that over with a bite of food. "And the repair shop?"

"Same. Woman with dark hair, sunglasses. Paid cash there, though."

"Well, it could've also been Tara Scarpetta. She could have just as easily stolen Victoria's card at a show and she has motive... and no alibi for that night."

"True, but," Will put his fork down, turned in his seat and grabbed my hand. "Enough shop talk. I missed you." His eyes were sparkling, his face flushed as he lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a warm kiss on my knuckles. I would have enjoyed it immensely if I wasn't noticing his abrupt mood shift... upwards.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have lift-off.

I placed my other hand on top of his. "How are you feeling?"

Will's face broke out into a grin. "I'm not hungry anymore." He pulled me up from the table. "At least, not for food," he growled as he swept me off my feet and carried me to the sofa.

Oh heavens. I couldn't reap rewards from my own deception. He held me tight in his arms, one hand palming my face as he kissed me... or rather melted me. He pressed his forehead against mine and moaned. "I feel like all the troubles in the world go away when I'm with you. How do you do that?"

I pulled back. A nervous giggle escaped my lips. That's it. I couldn't lie to him. Life would have been much easier if I could have. If I could've just enjoyed his happiness. But I couldn't live with the secret between us. "Funny you should ask that." I could hear the nervousness in my voice and I hated it. "Will, I need to tell you something."

He wrapped his fingers in mine and smiled. "Yes, you do. You need to tell me that you love me." He leaned down and kissed my forehead, my cheek, my neck. "And that I make you feel good, too."

It took every ounce of will power, and probably some borrowed from the universe, for me to not say exactly that. "Will, you know how I have that special gift?"

"With animals, yeah," he mumbled, his lips on my collarbone.

"Mmmm..." I squeezed my eyes closed.
Be strong. Do the right thing
. "There's more to it than that."

"Yeah?" He pulled back a bit, but brought my wrist with him, planting a kiss there as his eyes met mine. My heart did a funny little somersault.

"I... I also have this special gift with water. I can add properties to it to make it... medicinal. And the water you drank tonight, well, it was this medicinal water. That's why you're feeling so much better. Emotionally." I didn't dare blink as I watched his flushed face for a reaction.

His lips contorted to the side. "I don't understand. You put something in my water?"

"Yes and no." Now I wasn't sure how to explain it. "Nothing physical. It's just water. But I infused feelings of love and happiness into it. So you wouldn't feel such heavy grief. It was just hard to watch you suffer when I could do something about it."

"Oh, feelings of love," Will's mouth turned up in a seductive grin. "Okay, whatever you say, darling Darwin."

Crap on a cracker. He doesn't believe me.

"Will..." I took his face in my hands and made him look into my eyes. "I'm not joking. It's Elemental magick. It's part of... who I am."

Will's face fell, and he sat up straighter on the sofa. I let my hands fall into my lap and waited, feeling the anxiety coiling in my belly. He turned to stare out the French doors. There was only darkness beyond them, so I knew he was thinking.

Finally, he turned back to me. "If you believe you did this, I'm not sure how to feel. Because I should be angry with you for manipulating me. It's like someone giving their date ecstasy, right?"

I didn't answer.
He was kind of right but it was for a different reason. That makes a difference, right?
I was afraid to move so I just sat there and watched the confusion distort his handsome face, hoping he would come to a conclusion with a happy ending.
After all, that's all I wanted in the first place.

"But, if it was possible for you to do this, would I even be able to feel angry at you?" He looked at me then. Right in my eyes, searching for an answer.

 "I don't know," I whispered. "Will, I just wanted you to be happy."

"I was happy. With you." He dropped his head. "Grief couldn't touch that." He looked at me. "But this... this could, I think."

I started to shake my head no. He got up slowly from the couch and went to the door and turned. "Did you ever stop to think maybe I want to be sad?  That this grief is the only connection to my dad I have left, and I'm not ready to let that go?"

I could only stare at him, a painful lump forming in my throat.
He was right.

His jaw twitched. "We'll talk about this when I have a clear head, Darwin. Good night."

He was gone.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered to the empty room.

I just stood there until Goldie nudged my hand with her nose. Unable to hold back the tears, I collapsed on the floor and held onto her for dear life. She sat there patiently, letting me use her as a Kleenex until my sobs turned into hiccups. I stroked her ears. "Thanks, girl."

Then began the process of clearing our dishes from the table. I felt like a zombie as I removed all evidence of the botched evening.

Goldie started scratching at the French doors.

"If you have to go out, girl, we've gotta go out the front."

She sat down, looked back at me and whined. "All right. Chase lizards it is." I opened the doors and stepped out onto the balcony. The air was chilly and filled with fragrance from my table full of flowers. I went to the edge and gazed at the Bay beyond the park as Goldie sniffed around the table for her prey.

The sounds of traffic and music rolled beneath me. There was a rhythm to nightlife in St. Pete that I normally found comfort in. Sure, it might be a new night, different couples, a different band, but the energy was the same. Carefree, enjoying the fruits of life. Tonight, it just made me feel lonelier.

Suddenly the hairs stood up on my arms. A figure stepped out of the shadows of the park's large banyan tree and moved to the edge of the street. I froze.

Is that...? Zach?
I hadn't seen him since that night at the airport. I didn't even know if he stayed at his mom's condo or left town. In fact, I made it a point not to know. If that was him, why was he standing around in the park?

Goldie nudged my leg with her nose. I glanced down. When I glanced back up, he was gone. I scanned the park and the street. Too dark. I shivered.

"Come on, girl. Let's go in."

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

"How'd it go?" Willow asked, coming home and peeking at the barely touched food on the kitchen counter.

"Don't ask." I sighed. "Tell me about your night. Any activity at the Mound?"

"Yeah. I met a Native American lady named Jade and her daughter, Kimi. Real nice folks. They were there performing some kind of ceremony over a new hole, just finishing up when I got there. I fixed it after they left." She grabbed a water out of the fridge and came to stretch out on the sofa.

"Yeah, I've met them there before. Jade recognized Goldie, told me Victoria was like a daughter to her, too. Did they have any ideas about who might be disturbing the place?" I made a cup of mint tea and joined her.

"No, but they did give me a little more history behind the Mound. Apparently it was a part of a large Tocobago Indian village until the Spanish explorers arrived. The balance of power shifted between the different tribes in the Tampa Bay area, depending on who the Spanish were backing at the time. Oh, and by the wealth of treasures they were scavenging from the Spanish shipwrecks. Eventually they were defeated by the Spanish attacks and the new infectious diseases the Spanish brought with them."

"Sad," I said.

"Yeah. It's nice the remaining people of the tribe still hold on to their heritage. They still hold the same things sacred as their ancestors; keep their culture and beliefs alive. That is true immortality."

"Cultural immortality?" I mused.

"I suppose." Willow stared at me. "So, you really don't want to talk about it?"

I groaned. "Let's just say Will did not jump up and down and thank me when I told him what I did."

"Why did you have to tell him? Mallory said he has a closed mind, so did you really think he would understand?"

My first reaction was to be mad at Mallory. But, I let that go because she was right. Will did have a closed mind, but it wasn't his fault. That's just how he's built. He believes in facts, things he can see, touch and prove. That's also what makes him a great detective. I closed my eyes. "I know. I know." I rubbed my forehead between my eyes. "I think I'm going to hit the sack. Tomorrow's a new day, right?"

"Always," Willow said softly.

That night, Goldie and I were both restless. She kept rising and circling the bed until she finally hopped down and stretched out on the floor. I was probably bothering her with all my flailing human limbs and sheet-wrestling matches (which I lost). Eventually, I fell into a fitful sleep. That's when "the dream" happened.

The air shimmered around me like a desert mirage. Sugary sand warmed my bare feet, water circled me. Large white caps rose beyond the sandy shore, moving toward me and crashing at my feet. They lulled me, and I felt my body swaying as if responding to some beat I couldn't hear. What I could hear, over and above the crashing sea, was a rumbling. I could also feel it beneath the sand. I squinted through the gauzy air toward the looming mountain, gaining more detail as I stared. Like a sudden fireworks display, fluorescent red spewed from the mountain, igniting the air.