What the Hex? (A Paranormal P.I. Mystery Book 1) (8 page)

I blew the hair out of my eyes. “Yeah, I guess I can see why.”

“We’ll be in contact,” he said.

When he walked away, I said, “So that’s it?”

“Apparently so,” Derek said.

“What now?” I asked.

“I guess we’ll leave. How about dinner?” he asked.

Part of me wanted to just go home and crawl under the covers. But Derek got me with that sad look all the time, so I said, “Sure, I could eat something.”

We went to the little diner down the street. I was more than a little paranoid. For heaven’s sakes, I’d just been shot at and no one could tell me who’d done it. I was one of Elvis’ biggest fans, but now I might have nightmares about Elvis killing me.

Wait until my mother found out what happened. She would be so jealous. She’d probably love to say she’d been shot at by an Elvis impersonator.

Derek held the door for me and we walked inside. Surprisingly, the place was pretty much empty. I cringed when I heard an Elvis song playing over the speakers.

“Bad timing,” Derek said.

We slid into the booth at the back of the restaurant. My back was facing the wall. I wanted to be able to see if anyone was coming toward me. I was anxious to discuss this with Derek.

“Maybe we can figure out who would want us dead.”

I picked up the menu. “Okay, which Elvis impersonator did you make mad?”

The waitress brought over glasses of water. “Are you ready to order?”

“I’ll have a burger and fries,” I said. “And a Vanilla Coke.”

“I’ll take the same.” Derek handed her the menus. 

When she walked away, I said, “It’s a natural assumption that you would be the cause of this. Were you dating one of their girlfriends?”

“Cece, I’m offended.” He stared me in the eyes.

“Oh, please. Nothing offends you.” I took a drink of water.

A sweet little smile tilted the corner of his mouth. “Okay, you’re right, but honestly, I did nothing wrong.”

“So the only other thing is the fake Elvis we were talking to. That would mean he’s involved in Amber’s murder and wanted to get rid of us too.”

“Bobby Carroll? The police found no evidence that he’d fired at us.”

The waitress brought over our food. I grabbed the bottle of ketchup at the same time Derek reached for it. For a moment our fingers touched. My stomach danced. I refused to let this affect me.

“You go ahead and use the ketchup first,” I said, giving him the bottle.

“No, ladies first.” He stared at me with those sexy blue eyes.

Averting my eyes, I took the ketchup.

“So what’s next?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I suppose we’ll have to do more research on this guy,” Derek said.

“I intend to,” I said, stabbing my French fry into the mound of ketchup.

“See, working with me isn’t so bad after all,” he said.

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

After finishing our food, we headed back out to the parking lot. I had my hand near my side so I could easily reach for the gun in my purse.

“Cece, I’m a little worried about you.” Derek’s tone remained teasing, so I didn’t know if he was serious.

I slipped behind the wheel. “Don’t be worried about me. I have protection.”

We pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the Strip. Sometimes the flashing lights and crowds made me wonder if I should just head back home… back to my family and friends in Savannah. That would be quitting though, and I’d never been a quitter. There would be time to go home later.

“What are you thinking about?” Derek asked.

Worry took hold of my thoughts. I didn’t want to tell Derek that I had doubts about all of this… reservations about whether I could pull this off.  I’d keep the feelings to myself.

“Just watching the traffic,” I said.

“Hey, I know a great club we can check out,” Derek said with too much enthusiasm.

I glanced over at him. “You can’t be serious.”

He frowned. “Of course I’m serious. What’s the problem?”

“We’ve been shot at. Don’t you think it’s time to go home?” I made the next left.

“You’re absolutely right. We can go back to your place. Maybe watch a movie. Or catch
The Walking Dead
on Netflix.”

I rolled my eyes. “You never stop.”

“There’ll be plenty of time to stop when I’m dead.”

“And if you’re not careful that will be very soon.” I pulled up to his car and shoved it into park.

“You’re sure you don’t want to watch Netflix?”

I grinned. “I’m positive.”

He opened the car door. “Call if you change your mind.” Before shutting the door, he turned to me. “By the way, I hope you’ll be ready at seven in the morning.”

“What in the heck would I be ready for at seven in the morning?”

“We’re going to the gym, why else? Be ready. I’ll pick you up,” he said with a click of his tongue.

“Derek, don’t you dare show up at my house that earl—”

He cut my sentence off by closing the door.

We needed to find out more about Steve. As much as I hated the idea of going back to that gym, I knew it was necessary. I enjoyed working out, but I’d never liked having to do it in a gym. Maybe it brought back memories of school days when I’d had gym class. I was always the worst at every event. Of course the other students had made fun of me. This wasn’t school though and I was an adult now. If anyone at the gym made fun of me I’d give them a piece of my mind.

I crammed myself into a pair of black yoga pants. Whose idea were these pants anyway? I wasn’t sure I liked walking around in them. I grabbed a long shirt and pulled it over my head. I studied my reflection. The shirt came down to my butt. That was better. Derek didn’t need any encouragement and workout clothes would only bring out comments that he thought were witty.

The doorbell rang. Speak of the devil. I pulled on my sneakers and ran to the door. Why was I nervous? There was nothing to worry about.

When I answered the door, Derek smiled at me. “Very pretty.”

For a moment I stared at him. That was it? That was all he would say? No little witty comment? Something must be up.

He wore black shorts that came to just above his knees and a red t-shirt, just tight enough to show all of his muscles. He smiled as if he knew I was thinking about his muscles. Making sure that there were no witchcraft items ready to fall out of my bag, I zipped it and then draped it over my shoulder.

As we headed to the gym, I asked, “How much working out are you really going to do? We’ll be questioning Steve, right?”

“Sure, but we have to look the part,” Derek said.

He needed to stop being right about some many things. That made it hard for me to label Derek as a screw-up.

After I convinced Derek that coffee was a necessity, he whipped through a drive-thru and ordered me the biggest on the menu. He figured that would make me less crabby. 

Next, we pulled into the parking lot and found a spot at the edge of the lot. I hoped we didn’t have another debacle where both of us asked the same questions at the same time. Now that I knew a killer might have it out for me, I’d shoved my gun into my bag. As I scanned the area, I knew that paranoia had officially set in. Being shot at would do that to a person.

The gym was packed when we walked through the door. This time there was actually someone at the front desk. The young blond looked as if he could be on the cover of a magazine. He smiled widely, as if he was in a commercial for the place. “May I help you?” he asked.

I supposed we did have that clueless look, something that happened to my face every time I stepped into the gym.

I took the lead. “We’re here to see Steve Rowe. He’s going to show us some workouts.”

Somehow I’d made us sound even more clueless. The young guy didn’t seem to mind though. The smile was still on his face. “Steve’s not here right now, but I’d be happy to show you around.”

This was not what I wanted to hear. “Oh. We really wanted to work with Steve. No offense.”

His smile slipped a little. I couldn’t tell if he was offended because we didn’t want to work with him or if he was surprised we actually wanted to work with Steve. I’d be shocked if anyone wanted to work with Steve.

“I’m not sure how long he’ll be away this morning. I’m a certified trainer though.” The smile appeared on his face again.

How could he be so perky this early in the morning? My coffee hadn’t even kicked in yet. The poor guy was still trying to convince us.

“Steve hired me to be part-time manager. He’s got a great place here.”

Derek and I exchanged a look. Apparently Steve had decided to make all the business decisions while Morgan was gone. Though perhaps he’d been in contact with her and wasn’t telling us that information.

Derek glanced over his shoulder. “What about Tabitha? She works here.”

The guy frowned this time. He was clearly not happy that he hadn’t been able to get through to us. Maybe we should just let him train us so he’d be happy.

“She’s not here right now either. She has a fitness competition today. I can tell her you stopped by though.” He avoided eye contact as if he just wanted us to leave.

Uh-oh. Now we’d made him mad. I knew we had to find Tabitha and ask her a few more questions. “Where’s the competition? Is it in Vegas?” I asked.

That question caught his attention. He frowned, but finally answered, “It’s at the Cashman Center.”

I knew where that was over on Las Vegas Boulevard. “Okay, thanks for all your help,” I said. “Maybe we can come back to work out later. I just remembered I have an appointment.”

Derek glared at me. Okay, so it did sound a little made up. This guy would probably be suspicious of us. He’d also probably tell Steve that we’d been there asking questions. If I was going to successfully solve this case, I needed to be a little more subtle.

“Yeah, sure,” he mumbled.

He wasn’t as perky any more. Derek and I hurried out the door.

“Look what you did to that guy. He’s practically the Grumpy Cat now that you got a hold of him,” Derek said.

I quirked an eyebrow. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous. He’ll snap out of it as soon as he gets a protein shake.”

Derek and I hurried across the parking lot toward the car. I was still on alert for bullets heading my way. I wouldn’t feel safe again until this case was solved. But what if the shots hadn’t even been about the case?

No, they had to be. I wouldn’t even think differently. After getting into Derek’s car, I pulled out of the parking lot.

“Turn left at this street. I know a short cut,” Derek said.

“You’re going to get us lost.” I yanked on the steering wheel and made a sharp turn.

Now that we knew about the fitness competition I had to go there. I wanted to speak with Tabitha when she wasn’t at the gym. Maybe now Steve wouldn’t be able to convince Tabitha not to speak to us. With any luck she would talk more freely without him hovering over her shoulder.

Derek glanced at me. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing,” I said.

“You’re never thinking of nothing. Planning your questions for Tabitha?” he asked.

“I like to be prepared.” I tapped my fingers against the car’s leather seat. “What about you?”

“I’ll follow your lead.” He smiled.

“Yeah, right.” 

We pulled into the convention center parking lot and parked.

“You ready for this?” Derek asked.

I unbuckled my seatbelt. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Derek and I hurried toward the building. Once inside the lobby, we found signs leading to the fitness competition. Now that I thought about it, I had no idea how we would find her. It would probably be impossible to spot her in the crowd. Derek and I hurried down the hallway. The next sign pointed to the last door on the right. When we reached the door, Derek opened it and motioned for me to go first. Normally this would be sweet, but after being shot at, I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to walk into a room first.

As soon as I stepped into the room I was overwhelmed by the number of people. I’d had no idea there would be this many. Now I knew there was no way I would be able to find her. The room was full of women in bikinis and men with huge muscles wearing their Speedos. Wow. All the witchcraft in the world could never get me that ripped. That was okay though. I was okay with my body.

“Stick your eyes back in and let’s see if we can find her,” I said.

“I’m here as a professional, Cece, give me some credit.”

The first person I came to was practically running past as I asked, “Do you know where I can find Tabitha Gibson?”

Of course the brunette looked at me as if I was crazy. “Sorry, never heard of her.” She walked away in a hurry.

Up ahead I spotted a man holding a clipboard.

“He has to know where we can find her. It looks like he’s in charge.” I pointed.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Derek said.

We weaved through the ripped bodies over to the man wearing a suit. He was the only other one in the room wearing clothing. Though when I looked back, it appeared that other people were ready to watch the competition.

The man stared down at his clipboard. “Excuse me,” I said when we reached him. “I’m looking for Tabitha.”

He snapped to attention and stared at me without uttering a word.

Finally, I said, “I’m looking for Tabitha.”

He looked down at the paper. “She’s probably in the back getting ready for competition. You should be getting ready too.”

I was pretty sure Derek laughed. The man walked away, leaving me to deal with Derek. 

Derek eyed me up and down. “He must think you’re hiding muscles under that big t-shirt.”

I glared at him. “We’re here for business. Stop goofing off.”

He scanned the room. “It looks like that’s the door for backstage.” Derek took off toward the door. “We’ll go find her.”

I grabbed his arm. “They’re not going to let us back there.”

“Just tell them you’re in the competition. That guy already thought you were part of it.”

There was no way I was removing a stitch of my clothing. In spite of my reluctance, Derek and I made our way over to the door and paused.

“I’ll sneak in, but I am not pretending to be in this competition.”

“Don’t worry. It was probably a fluke that he thought you were in it anyway.”

“Keep pushing my buttons, Derek North, and you’ll see what happens.” I wiggled my index finger at him.

An impish grin slid across his face. “You promise? I like pushing your buttons.”

I opened the door and peeked in. The area was full of bodybuilders with little to no clothing on. They were lifting weights and spray-tanning their bodies.

I looked at Derek. “I don’t want to go in there.”

He grabbed my hand and guided me into the room. I didn’t know where to go. People moved around us like ants at a picnic. I spotted women who looked as if they would be in the competition with Tabitha. “They probably know where to find her.”

Derek followed my pointing finger. “Let’s talk to them.”

As we moved across the room, somehow I got stuck between a couple of huge bodybuilders. I moved to my left, but bumped into the oily chest of one of the men. My face was smashed against his hard pecs. Suddenly, I was pulled away.

“Cece, this is hardly time to flirt,” Derek said.

I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t leave me like that.”

Finally, we reached the woman. She looked us up and down.

“Excuse me,” I said, feeling slightly awkward. “I’m looking for Tabitha Gibson. Do you know her?”

For a second, she looked as if I’d asked her where the nearest Martian was. “Oh, yeah. She’s in that room there.”

“Thanks,” I said.

Derek and I hurried over to the room. The faster I found Tabitha, the faster I could get out of there. We eased into the room and found more of the same. When I looked to my right, I spotted her.

“There she is,” I said.

Now if only she would talk to us. I hadn’t even thought about what excuse I would give for being there. I had only worried about what questions to ask her. As Derek and I approached, she looked up and spotted us. For a moment, she frowned as if she was trying to remember who we were.

“Tabitha. Sorry to bother you. We wondered if we could ask you a few questions.”

Of course this would totally blow our cover as actual gym members.

“Are you all following me?” she asked.

I knew she’d be suspicious. She probably thought it was because she’d hit my car. Thank goodness she didn’t remember us.

“We’re here covering the event for the newspaper,” Derek said.

I stared at him. What was he doing? If she remembered us we’d be in trouble. Now how would we go back to the gym? I hoped she didn’t ask which newspaper. I couldn’t wait to see how he managed to work the murder questions into the conversation. I wanted to tape Derek’s mouth shut.

She frowned for a second. “And you want to interview me?”

“Well, we’re interviewing quite a few people,” I added.

Derek smiled as if he was proud of me for following along.

Her frown was replaced by a smile. “What would you like to know?”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Go ahead and ask her, Derek.”

He cleared his throat. “Well, we’ve asked the usual questions of the other contestants. You know, training schedule, what made you want to compete, that sort of thing.”

She stared at him with her big brown eyes.

He continued, “So where do you work?”

Oh, dear. This wasn’t going to end well.

She frowned. “You know I work at Vegas Fit Club.”

“Of course. Where have I heard something about that gym lately?” He scrunched his brow as if in concentration. 

She shrugged.

“Oh, yeah,” Derek said. “The woman who owns the gym is missing. Morgan Stewart. Hasn’t she been accused of murdering someone? Amber Barrett?”