The Final Catch: Book 1: See Jane Charm (A Tarot Sorceress Series) (5 page)

I had the strongest urge to retrieve that phone number Devon gave me and give him a call.  Where was he? If he was in the bathroom, in the shop, I’d hear his ringing phone.  I retrieved his number and time fast forwarded on me. I pulled out my phone, typed in his number, held it to my ear, listened to it ring and after the third ring, I thought,
wait a minute, what am I doing?
I put the phone down on the table, too late.

“Jane? ”

I stared at my phone as if it was a rat. “Oh, eff off.” Again, the sound of a flushing toilet came from behind a closet door. This rather rude noise snapped me back to reality. I heard a door quietly close, and I expected to see the shop owner appear from the small washroom in back, instead, Devon walked out.

“Here I am,” he said holding out his arms.

I looked from the phone to him; he was actually in the room and not in the phone. He wore a white ribbed wife-beater undershirt. His chest tattoos seemed alive and vivid with color. He looked in great shape. His pipes were well worked out, so much so, that the veins in his biceps popped. Before I uttered another word Devon joined me at the table, took my hand, and turned it as if to read my palm; he traced a few lines with his finger then lifted my fingers to his mouth and sensually sucked on one.
I loved it
!

Devon made crazy love to my fingers, hand and arm. He worked his way up to my shoulder, and face until he loomed over me, as if he wanted to make out with me right then and there. I raised my free hand to stop his seduction, but once again, I seemed trapped in his spell.

I stood and attempted to leave, then hesitated and sat back down, feeling conflicted.

I barely managed to maintain control of myself; I was so thrilled by his touch and yet, strangely offended by his brashness.   In that moment, I found myself slipping my free hand around his neck, and pulling him to me. I kissed him passionately. His lip ring clacked gently against my teeth. At the same time I
didn’t want
to kiss him, yet, I couldn’t stop myself. 

“Where’s Sia?” I asked through the passionate kisses.

“All in good time, Jane,” he growled.  

The next thing I knew we were into it. Kissing heavily, licking faces like ice-cream cones. His five o’clock shadow scratched me as I rubbed against it. His cologne, subtle and warm went straight to my brain, making me want more of him. I don’t know how he managed to lean across the table and pull my sweater from my shoulders. In moments he’d found my bra and slipped my arm free of one strap. Then I tore his wife-beater away from his torso, exposing his six-pack and that little line of hair that dives below the belt. Meanwhile, the table, wobbled between us. He stared deeply into my eyes, into my heart and I felt him inside my head and in my soul! I froze as Devon probed me with his dark, hot thoughts of lust. Then we were on the table; it wobbled dangerously as he pushed against me.

The cards and votive hung dangerously near the edge.

This was impossible!

The table wouldn’t hold us.

But he seemed unconcerned, focused on absorbing my very being. I frantically waved one arm. In an attempt to balance us, I frantically waved my one free arm but waving couldn’t keep us balanced on the shaky table.

The inevitable happened.

The rattling and clanking of the table, while Devon ground his gears and made sparks, should have warned us that the table was about to fold like it had the knees of a camel.  My phone went spinning away, and I heard it beep and make a random call, or at least I heard the voice of a female, but that wasn’t my concern at that moment.

Someone else had stepped into the room.

Caught in this position
—
with Devon!

A female hand retrieved the deck of cards and the votive candle moments before they met their gravitational fate.

She cleared her throat. I swear I heard her say, “What fun!”

But Devon’s body lay across me, blocking a full view.

“AAAAhhh.”

The table began wilder, violent wibbles and wobbles as it hit the floor.  In an incredibly athletic move Devon leaped up like he was snapped to his feet by a rope on his back.  He stood there looking down at a disarrayed me. I lay there like a turtle on its back. He offered me a hand. 

I took his warm, strong grasp and let him pull me up.

The woman who’d entered the room looked older, maybe in her late fifties. Her dark hair was laced with fine strands of silver. It hung a smidgen below her jaw line. Her hair cut didn’t look bad, very classy actually, even if her hair looked a little thin, although she herself looked well fed. This woman gave me a welcoming stare that reminded me of the aboriginal women I’d met at the weekly farmers’ market. Like them, she had dark almond shaped eyes, so dark they looked black and shiny. She was very pretty in a mature kind of way. Her attire was slightly odd because she wore a long navy blue skirt that brushed the floor. The skirt flowed and ebbed when she moved, silk, perhaps a silk blend.

The top she wore was embroidered with gold thread which made it glimmer under the halogens and looked more like a light jacket with a bit of military pomp to it, like a toned down majorette’s jacket. The three of us stood staring at one another. Behind me Devon started laughing. I turned and gave him my best, 
screw you
 look.

I found my lost shoes under a low chair, but I couldn’t reach them. I didn’t worry too much. They weren’t designer.  I found my hairbrush in my purse and gave myself a couple of quick brushes; all the while I studied this strange woman’s jacket. I got a real vibe from it. There seemed to be something moving around in one of the large pockets that wanted out, but if I stared too hard the movement stopped. I figured the woman must be wearing a version of a stage magician’s jacket. That was the only thing that made sense to me.

“I’m Maisie Price,” the woman said, and she held out a hand for me to shake, which I did. Then I caught her glance toward Devon and she gave him an approving look, as if she was satisfied with me! I turned to Devon and he winked at Maisie.

I was monkey-in-the-middle here.

These two seemed to know each other. The woman then reached into her large jacket pocket and unceremoniously pulled out Sia.

“Sia!”

But I missed my opportunity to grab the cat. As I stepped toward the kitten, my hands were pre-occupied with re-buttoning my blouse and tucking it into my skirt. No sooner did I reach for my kitten then the woman returned Sia to her large gold embroidered pocket. I thought she was playing with me, so I impulsively reached inside her pockets, but Sia wasn’t there.

I wanted to pat the woman down, but she stopped me and reached for one of the buttons I’d missed on my blouse and did it up. “Uh, thanks, I think,” I said. She nodded. When I looked again to Devon, he’d vanished! I quickly turned back to Maisie, afraid that she too might vanish. “My cat? Sia?” I queried. Maisie raised an eyebrow at me. 

“What about her?” she asked in a very relaxed manner.

“I’d like to have her back.”

“I don’t really have her.”

“I saw you put her in that pocket!”

Maisie moved to the collapsed table, picked it up and straightened it out. She replaced her table cloth, tarot cards and votive candle. She realigned the sprawled chairs and made everything look right. Maisie sat at the table her hands on the deck spreading the cards fan-like across the table top.

“Did I dream that?”  I asked.

She looked up at me and gave me a little smile. “No. Devon ain't no dream,” she said.

“I mean Sia, and your pocket.” I pointed to her pocket.  She stared at me, like she was trying to read me.

 “I was like you, once. All rattle and roll.”

I shook my head slowly at her.  I had no idea what she meant. I’d had enough of this scene. As hard as it was for me to do, I tried to return the brick of money Devon dropped at my feet to Maisie.  I hoped that it would convince her to give me back Theodosia.

“I only want to return this money,” I said. I pulled the money from my purse, and gave the cash to the woman. “I think he stole it, like he did my cat. Maybe an exchange?" Maisie reached under her table. She pulled out a cash box, that I hadn’t noticed earlier and opened it. She dropped the brick of money inside with no mention of the kitten!

“He wanted you to have the cash, but it will pay for your reading.”

“That's some expensive reading.”

She looked at me again. Her kind face changed and took on a more sinister shade. “I'm more than worth it, lady,” she said. She scared me. So, I nodded in agreement, and so she wouldn’t fly off the handle.  I really only wanted to get Sia and get the hell out of there. Maisie gestured to the tarot cards, but I refused, again. Normally, I’d go for a card reading in a second, but something about Maisie’s demeanor made me hesitate.  “Turn your card,” she insisted.

I continued to straighten my clothing. Then I walked around the room looking for Devon.  
He must be hiding
.  I retrieved my phone from the floor. The cell screen displayed 911!
Shit
.

 “If you’re looking for Devon, you won’t find him back there,” Maisie said.

“I don’t care about him. Tell me where Sia is and I'll turn the card,” I said smartly. She looked at the chair across from her, indicating that I should sit.

“The cards will tell you what you need to know,” she said evenly.

I finally gave in. At least I can ask the cards about Sia.

Something about her voice and manner made me relax. I reached for the cards and noticed that the polish on my nails began to sparkle more brightly than usual. My fingers looked lovely. The minute I touched a card, the design on the back of it began again to slowly spin and glow in a magical way. The card felt warm and sent a pleasant vibration up my hand. I closed my eyes a moment to enjoy the feeling.  Somewhere far away in the back of my mind I heard Maisie’s voice “Look! Look at it. Turn it! Turn the card.” She demanded. 

I did.

Lovers.

The silhouettes of two people holding hands came up, and they moved! They walked slowly along a beach. The background was filled with warm colors and sky, but the two people remained silhouettes. I brought the card closer. Looking at the card was like watching a movie. I wanted to get an idea of how it was doing these great special effects. I felt the breeze blow out at me from inside the card, heard the birds, smelled the ocean and smelled the roses in her arms.  I looked to Maisie for an explanation, but she looked frightened. 

Maisie stared at something behind me.

I turned, quickly.

Devon, back with his paper bag. He cast a large shadow. He stood in the threshold between the front and back of the shop.  He appeared fresh, warm and electric. He wore a fedora, a pair of jeans and a dress shirt. He pulled something out of his pocket “Reach for the sky, baby.”  He seemed to be pointing a gun; it didn’t look like a serious gun; a squirt gun to be exact. Devon didn’t hesitate to step right in, kick over the card table and grab the money box he found underneath. I guess Maisie hadn’t fastened the lid because the box fell open. Money spilled out.

I reached out to grab his wrist, instead Devon grabbed mine. He gave me a kind of weird and crazed grin. “Me Tarzan, you Jane,” he said then he kissed me hard and sparks literally flew. His kiss was deliciously disorienting. He copped a feel of my breast. He locked lips with me again, and I was uncontrollably attracted to him.

  Devon pushed me away and stuffed the money from the box into his paper bag, closed the lid on the box and grabbed me. He grinned lewdly at me, as if he read my thoughts.

He growled at me and said, “Lingerie.”

Against my will I grappled around for the naughties I’d purchased earlier. When I found them I pulled out the panties and threw them at him, hoping he’d take them and be gone. He winked at me, rammed the panties into his paper bag then grabbed my purse, spilling its contents.

In the distance, outside the shop, I heard sirens, but I assumed it was me hearing the high pitched pulse of blood in my ears. But the sirens grew so loud they snapped me out of my lusty brainwash for Devon, and I grabbed the nearest thing at hand and threw it at the escaping man.

Maisie's box of tarot cards flew toward him like a bullet.

The cards hit him in his perfect little butt.

Devon half turned and he and I and Maisie watched as the box of tarot cards bounced off of Devon’s backside and flew upward. The lid to the box flew sideways releasing the cards from the deck like birds set free. The cards transformed becoming bright, gossamer apparitions in human like forms moving like a Japanese bullet train away from the scattered and fallen cardboard. The specters of the major arcana flew free and became like streaks of lightening; orange, green, yellow. With no warning, as quickly as they flew apart, they came back, shot together for an instant to form a large ball of radiant and shimmering  light --  crackled , split, no shattered, and zoomed off in different directions, through the walls, out of the shop and away.

But one of those balls of energy flew at me and hit me like a pillow swung by a sumo wrestler and knocked me on my ass, taking my breath away for a couple of heart beats. Maisie locked eyes with me; it looked like she blamed 
me
 for the mess!

I waited for an explanation of what we’d all witnessed, but she didn’t offer one. I wanted desperately to get out of the shop. I groped around for the spilled contents of my purse. She helped me gather my things, and I took them from her, returning each item; lip gloss, nail file, wallet, tissue, gum… all to their appropriate pocket within my Alexander Wang, Jane bag. I don’t normally keep it zipped up and that’s why everything fell out!

Devon left the shop again. It was my turn to help Maisie collect her cards. “Take this,” she said, in an urgent tone. I figured I wasn’t moving fast enough for her. She’d handed me a tarot card,
The Star
tarot card. I stared at the card for an instant when the next thing I knew an electrical buzz and shock wave went through my fingers and arm. I froze, really froze. I couldn’t move. I wondered if I’d had a stroke.

The Star card fell from my fingers to the floor.

I watched it fall, like it was a snowflake in a dream, and I was in a land far, far away.

I watched myself drop the card, but at the same time I was 
inside
 the card.

Inside the Star tarot card
!