Witch of Christmas Past (7 page)

The rest of the evening passed agonizingly slow; at least it did until I saw Zane Dupree making his way through the crowd. My heart skipped a beat when I realized he was headed in my direction.

He looked just as hot as usual.

The wind played with his blond hair, reminding me of how much I wanted to run my fingers through those silky locks of his.

Since the night that the sea monster nearly killed Uncle Aaron, I’d found myself somewhat obsessed with the idea of getting closer to Zane. I was fighting tooth and nail to not think about him, but it wasn’t working too well.

Stop it, Izzy! You’re just asking for trouble.

As much as I wanted to silence that voice in my head, I just couldn’t. My entire life I had been ignoring the
man advice
I’d get from that little voice, and the result had always been disastrous.

And no matter how hot he was I couldn’t ignore the fact that Zane Dupree was a walking neon sign that spelled trouble.

Plus he was a vampire. I couldn’t forget that little problem either.

“Well if it isn’t my favorite angel.” A devilish look came into his spellbinding blue eyes.

“Hello, Zane.” I smiled, hoping I didn’t look too thrilled to see him, although I was.

“Where have you been hiding, angel?”

“Just been busy … what about you? We haven’t seen you around town lately.” I purposely kept my voice very casual, so he wouldn’t get the impression that I was overly concerned by his lack of attention over the last month.

“I’ve been busy as well.” He broke into a leisurely smile. “There’s always something to be done at Misty Haven … and I’ve been in the middle of some important negotiations.”

So he was one of
those
kinds of guys. If business came up, it came first.

“I see. Well, good luck with your negotiations. Hopefully they have been successful,” I said, my voice a little tighter than it had been a moment before.

“They are coming along nicely … thanks.”

“That’s good. Well … I have to find Ayden and see what’s up for tonight. It was nice talking with you again.”

Zane nodded. “I’m sure we’ll be running into each other again tonight.”

The laughter I saw in his eyes was rubbing me the wrong way.

“But maybe not,” I retorted.

Spinning on my heels, I left before he could respond. A girl could only take so much in one night.

I found Tim and Ayden talking with Santa, AKA Councilman Breakfield and the charity coordinator for the city.

For decades, Ted Breakfield was a fisherman, but one day he just up and quit. He even sold his boat. According to Mrs. Breakfield, he came home one day and refused to get back in the water.

I couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with Missy, the sea monster. Perhaps he’d had a sea monster sighting?

“Hello Councilman,” I greeted the slightly too tall Santa.

I was pretty sure that Santa was supposed to be short. But on the bright side, at least his white beard and twinkling blue eyes were real.

“Izzy! I haven’t seen you for ages! Ho ho ho!”

Okay, he could have left out the, ho ho part.

“How are you doing tonight?” I asked Santa Breakfield.

“Just happy as can be! So glad your office decided to donate time to help raise money. It’s so important this time of year … with winter coming on!”

“My pleasure.” I took the hand he offered.

Turning to Ayden, I asked, “Did you have any luck locating my uncle yet?”

His expression grew serious. “He seems to have vanished. Is there a chance he left the island … perhaps went to visit relatives on the mainland?”

I shook my head. “I doubt it. The Osbornes don’t have family on the mainland. Really, the only time he leaves the island is for a concert … and he hasn’t been in the concert mood lately.”

“Let’s get this done and I’ll talk to the sheriff about putting a search party together.”

Santa left the two of us alone to discuss business, which was a good thing considering what I had to tell my boss. “I am going to need to be gone a day or two.”

“Right now?” He was shocked, which wasn’t easy to do.

I quickly explained what Delia and I had planned. By the time I was done, Ayden looked as if he were on the verge of having a seizure.

“Your uncle is missing … your sister is … God knows what … and we have someone getting off on stealing bodies … not to mention the fact that you have a ride-along starting tomorrow, and you want to take off?”

“You know I have to do this, and besides Uncle Aaron is hiding out somewhere because of what he did with the radio broadcast, and Annabelle … there won’t be any saving her once she wakes up from whatever spell she is under.” I draped an arm around his shoulders, hoping it would help calm him.”

He let out a tired sigh. “I know … but why do you always have to get involved in things like this. It’s dangerous.”

“I work for the FBI. Danger lurks behind every corner,” I reminded him. “Also, all we need to do is delay my ride-along for a couple days.”

Instead of continuing the argument, Ayden pursed his lips into a thin white line. Not a good sign.

“I’ll get back here as soon as I can. That’s a promise!”

“I know. You being away from work is not the problem. It’s just the prospect of how dangerous this could be. It isn’t like you are going to Portland for a few days.”

I hated the fact that rescuing Granny was going to cause anguish to others I loved, but I had to do it.

“Hey look! They’re getting ready to light the tree.” I pointed toward the huge thirty-foot Christmas tree in the middle of the park.

A moment later, the tree and the entire park was transformed into a Christmas Wonderland with hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights.

I’d forgotten how beautiful my little hometown was at Christmas. Even Pier Alley was ablaze with colored lights.

The Sunnyside residents and the children from the Seahorse Corral Preschool gathered on the stage.

Suddenly, the night was filled with the sounds of Christmas, in the form of
Holly Jolly Christmas
.

When they started into another song, I decided it was a good time to make my rounds through the park. Nothing seemed to be amiss, but you never could tell.

I was prepared to run into a lot of people I knew, but I wasn’t ready to literally collide with Mister Grim.

He was very tall and had a complexion that I can only describe as sickly pale. I had no idea what color his hair was or if he even had any. His head was covered by one of those tall, black top hats that were popular during the Victorian era. The suit he was wearing was just as antique.

“Miss Cooper,” he said with a nod.

My mouth was hanging open, but I couldn’t utter a sound.

“I hope you are having a nice evening.” He smiled, revealing a set of teeth that kind of reminded me of a grinning skull. In fact, everything about his face reminded me of a skull. His cheeks were so sunken; he really did seem to look like death.

“Why?” I finally managed to choke out that single word.

“Because it is a time for happiness.”

“So … you’re not here to take me?” I asked, swallowing hard.

“Oh, not yet Miss Cooper. Just remember death is always close … to everyone,” he added.

With another nod, he stepped around me and started walking away.

Close to everyone?

What did he mean by that?

“Oh no!” I swung around to follow him. “You can’t just say that and walk away!”

But he’d disappeared in the crowd and was gone.

Damn! He was almost as infuriating as Julius.

Whatever he’d meant by his departing words, I was fairly sure it wasn’t good. Where was Julius when I needed to ask him stuff?

Thinking of Julius reminded me that I hadn’t seen him much the last couple days. That wasn’t all that unusual. He sometimes disappeared for days, but this time his absence left me with a nagging feeling.

My patrol around the park went as expected. Everyone was having too much fun getting into the Christmas spirit to bother with being naughty, with the exception of one person. There was obviously someone who liked playing in cemeteries and didn’t mind being on Santa’s naughty list.

I spent the next hour fidgeting and restless. Few things could have ruined my evening like a visit from the Angel of Death.

For some time after my encounter with Mister Grim, I tried to decipher what he’d meant about death being close to everyone, but then I remembered what happened at the Halloween Carnival. That was the last time Mister Grim had shown up at a public event. Unfortunately, the mayor hadn’t survived the night.

Could the Angel of Death have come to collect a soul?

The thought sent a chill down my spine.

Being the good friend he is, Tim helped me take my mind off Mister Grim by grabbing my arm and pulling me toward the stage.

“It’s time to go up for auction,” he informed me.

I struggled, but only a little. “Can’t I just donate money or maybe food?”

Tim shook his head. “Sorry … we’re already scheduled.”

I stood on the stage between Ayden and Tim, doing my best to pretend there weren’t hundreds of people staring at me.

With a microphone in one gloved hand, Santa joined us on the stage. “Now a special treat brought to you by our friends working with the ACMU of the FBI. Special Agent Fontaine, Special Agent Cooper, and Special Agent Lehman have agreed to auction some of their time in an effort to raise money for the needy this holiday season.”

The roar of applause was deafening.

I’d had no idea there were so many people interested in what we did. Hopefully, the FBI wouldn’t be too upset that our top-secret status was totally blown, thanks to the auction. This was going to be all on Ayden, which actually surprised me. He was one for going totally by the book.

“First up is Special Agent Fontaine! Bidding starts at fifty dollars!” Santa Breakfield spoke loudly into the microphone.

The bidding started right away. By the time it closed, Ayden had brought in five hundred dollars, and I was stunned when I heard Santa call out the winner’s name.

Delia stood in the crowd, smiling from ear to ear.

Wow! I hadn’t even known she liked Ayden.

I was shocked, but something told me Delia might actually have a hidden motive for bidding. From past experience, I knew she had a particular interest in our work. It was possible she was thinking of becoming an agent herself. In that case, a ride-along with the boss made sense.

Now it was my turn, and bidding for my ride-along started out at fifty dollars, same as it had for the boss man.

Several of the local fishermen started bidding. Suddenly, I was bombarded by thoughts of Lady Luck being filled with the aroma of beer and fish. I couldn’t help but shudder.

I was so busy putting together all the different disastrous scenarios that might occur on my ride along, that I didn’t notice Zane Dupree had entered the bidding. By the time I did take notice, the bid was already up to a thousand dollars.

Every time some guy would bid, Zane would outdo him with a higher bid. It was no surprise when the bidding closed at fifteen hundred dollars, with Zane the winner.

Part of me was relieved, but another part of me quaked at the prospect of hanging out with Zane during the ride-along.

Leaving the stage, I joined Zane near the giant Christmas tree.

“What are you up to?” I asked, suspicion ringing in my voice.

Shrugging his wide shoulders, he grabbed my hand. “I just thought this would be a good way for us to spend some time together … maybe get to know each other a little better.”

I wasn’t convinced but didn’t feel in the interrogating mood.

“My ride-along is going to be delayed for a couple days. I’m kind of going out of town,” I informed him.

Lifting one brow, he gave me a questioning look. “Are you trying to ditch me, Izzy Cooper?”

I shook my head. “No, it isn’t that.”

“Then what is it?” he asked.

Before I could answer, I heard Santa announce there was a winner for the Tim Lehman ride along.

There was the usual applause, but then a long stretch of silence. Finally, Santa Breakfield cleared his throat and continued.

“The winner of this auction is not present. He sent in a bid earlier … indicating he would pay whatever it took to outbid the high bidder. The winner is Julius Randall.”

I was stunned, and judging by the look on Tim’s face, so was he.

What was Julius up to?

There was no way Julius had six hundred dollars to pay for his bid unless he used some kind of demon trickery. I figured demon trickery was probably a good bet.

“Izzy.” Zane snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Are you still with me?”

“Sorry.” I gave him a weak smile. “Can we go somewhere so we can talk privately?”

“Sure.” He linked his arm with mine.

In spite of the fact that I’d been the one to ask for privacy, I hesitated.

I’d spent time with Zane over the last few months, but I also had to remember that he was a vampire. Not only that, but Zane was still full of mysteries that I hadn’t been able to figure out yet, such as his ability to disappear, and his link with the Black Moon Witches.

“We can always go to the Bayside Grill. There, we will have a little more privacy … and it’s safe,” he added, obviously sensing my hesitation.

I shrugged. “Okay.”

After all, he was spending fifteen hundred dollars for his ride-along. I figured the least I could do was explain to him why it would need to be delayed.

I barely tasted my cheeseburger, let alone notice all the curious looks we was getting. How could I be bothered with food and curious people when I had much bigger problems?

My thoughts kept jumping between my upcoming trek through time and Julius’s strange behavior.

“So are you going to sit there and stare into your soda all night, or are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“Everything is wrong.” I scowled.

A tolerant smile touched his lips. “Care to be a little more specific?”

“Well, the reason I can’t do the ride-along now is because I am going on a trip through time … to the 1800s,” I informed him.

When he looked at me as if I were crazy, I decided to elaborate further. I told him about Granny’s letter, and Delia’s spell to send me back.

“Why shouldn’t I accompany you? It could be part of my ride-along time,” he suggested.

“It’s too dangerous.” I shook my head. “What happens if Delia can’t bring us back?”

“Danger isn’t a problem … and I am a vampire, remember? I have lots of time.”

“But what would happen to Misty Haven if you didn’t come back?”

Zane shrugged. “My business manager is also a vampire. He would handle it until time caught up.”

On one hand, it wasn’t right of me to risk anyone else on this rescue mission, but on the other hand, I’d sure be glad not to go alone.

Finally, the needy part of me won out. I figured since he was a vampire, he was probably the best person to accompany on my journey. After all, it wasn’t as if he could be killed,
at least not very easily, and he sure wasn’t short on time.

“Okay.” I nodded. “But we leave tonight. I have to be at the lighthouse before midnight.”

Smiling, Zane lifted his glass and tapped it against mine. “Then I guess we better get going.”