Whiskey Witches, F.J. Blooding [ap literature book list .TXT] 📗
- Author: F.J. Blooding
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“You can’t suspect Mike.”
“Let me guess. You’ve known him since kindergarten.” She didn’t understand how anyone could be so blind. She nearly kicked herself when she reminded herself of what her blind trust had led her to.
“No.” White took in a deep breath. “College.”
Paige clawed her hands. The small town had made him soft.
“The suspicion is there.” Dexx paced. “What are we going to do to prove this guy’s innocent?”
White sent Dexx a half-smile of appreciation. “Or his guilt.”
“Yeah.”
“Meet me at the station in a half hour. No. An hour and a half.”
Paige tipped her head to the side, question all over her face.
“And be prepared.” White narrowed his eyes. “I’m going to give him the opportunity to interrogate you. I hope you’re wrong about this.”
“Well,” Paige said dryly, “that should be fun.”
Paige and Dexx decided to get some prime stakeout time logged. They chose Paige’s rental since the silver sedan was a bit more low-key than Dexx’s. And it was far more comfortable. They needed a good long road trip with Jackie. Paige’s silver sedan paled in comparison. She couldn’t even recall what kind, but it looked like all the other silver sedans on the street, which were a few. Silver was a very popular color for rental cars.
They parked down the block from Malika’s magick shop, in downtown St. Francisville. Not much to see.
The shops exuded an old town flare. People milled around as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Perhaps they didn’t. She envied them a little. and maybe more than a little. That was the kind of life to raise a child in. Not the one she offered. The sun rose to its zenith, bringing the heat.
“Are we going to talk about what we’re not talking about?”
“There’s been a lot of talking, Dexx.” An older woman with blonde hair entered the magick store. “What are you referring to?”
“Me telling the chief about the paranormal side of our investigation.”
“Huh.” She didn’t have much to say, other than don’t do it ever again. Truth of the matter, though, it’d turned out to be the right call. So, maybe she had it wrong.
“Look, he read like a sensible guy. I went with my instincts.”
“What’s the one thing we never do?”
“Tell flakes about what we really do.”
She noted his word choice, the tip of her tongue pressed hard against the roof of her mouth. An older gentlemen followed his bow-legged dog past the café.
“The chief? He seems on the up and up.” Dexx’s tone rose. “He didn’t flake. He wasn’t incredibly solid the entire time, he nearly broke when you did some demony thing back in the room, but when I met him at the precinct, he was professional.”
She didn’t remember being possessed, and that bugged her. If Lucius Kane was a human being, then how had he possessed her, and why couldn’t she remember it?
“Do you have any idea how rare he is? The practicality of accepting magick things at face value?”
“I do.” So much so, she wished she could call him “boss” for real. But he didn’t work in Denver. She cringed, thinking of the stories she’d have to tell again now that she knew everything. She recalled all the lies she’d told her captain in Dallas. Look how that’d turned out.
But she wasn’t moving to Louisiana. The heat. Dear, God, the heat.
“So, are we doing the mad thing?”
“No.” They weren’t doing the mad thing, because she wasn’t five. Besides, too much warred inside her head to invest in the emotional drama he offered. She needed to concentrate on the case.
Was Lieutenant Mike Jones capable of all this? She’d have her chance to find out soon enough.
“Nothing’s happening. Let’s just go to the station and wait there.”
Paige turned her unimpressed gaze to Dexx. “How can you call yourself a hunter when you can’t even survive ten minutes inside a car?”
He dropped his head back against the gray headrest. “Come on. The most exciting moment occurred when the old man’s dog whizzed on the cat.”
“This is how stakeouts work. How do you survive in this world?”
“I wait for others to do the sitting and watching for me, then I come in, guns blazing—” He made guns with his fingers and shot off one round each, making “pew-pew” sounds. “—and save the day.”
Men. “I want to meet Malika face to face. Get a read on her.”
Dexx sat up in his seat. “Great idea. Let’s go.”
Really, she didn’t need an escort or a partner on this one. She was going into a store. No biggie. She nearly told Dexx to stay in the car, but then thought better of it. When was the last time she’d had a partner? A real partner she could rely on in paranormal situations?
Never.
“Fine, but play it cool. No crazy backstories. If she really is involved in the case, she knows who I am. Does Jones know about you?”
“Jones?” Dexx frowned. “Oh, right. Mike. You know, civilians use this little thing called first names. There are so many Jones out there, can’t tell which one you’re talking about.”
Paige sent him a look that said she really didn’t care, then got out of the car, leaving her jacket behind. It was too damned hot, no matter the fact it hid her gun and her out-of-jurisdiction badge. She locked the car, and crossed the semi-busy street.
People actually drove the speed limit here. Amazing.
She quietly slipped inside the shop. Nothing out of the ordinary. Candles, incense, pentacles, books. There was a book about deciphering dreams using the messages of angels on display at the counter.
“How may I—oh, Detective Whiskey.” A lithe woman with clear brown skin stepped up behind the counter and sent her a warm smile. “I’d heard you were in town.”
“I didn’t realize anyone would be talking about me,” Paige baited.
The other woman’s large brown eyes lit up. Her full hair spilled over her shoulders in tight, dark brown waves. “It’s a small town. Everyone’s talking about your arrival. Are you okay? I heard you were poisoned at the crime scene.”
Paige raised her chin, a smile on her lips. Reason number one why she didn’t want to live in a small town. Everyone knew when she’d messed up. “I’m fine.”
“We were all worried. Fanny said you sounded possessed. What kind of poison was it?”
Malika was nosy, but Paige had been warned Fanny was the town gossip, so that wasn’t cause for alarm. She needed something more. “We’re still waiting on the toxicology report.”
“And you were able to counter it without knowing what it was first?” Malika’s smile tightened, bringing out her sharp cheekbones. “That doesn’t make much sense.”
Malika’s smile was a little too tight. Was that her tell? “We got lucky. I guess I threw most of it up.”
“It’s a good thing you brought your own doctor, then.”
Paige held the other woman’s gaze a long moment. “Indeed.”
Malika released an uncomfortable breath and looked over Paige’s shoulder. “Is this him?”
Paige turned.
Dexx took a step forward, careful not to bring down the glass shelf of crystal balls. “Tight in here. Dexx Colt.”
“Doctor Colt?”
Dexx cocked a grin to the side, taking the hand she offered.
“Well.” She turned his hand over, exposing the palm. “Let me see what your hand has to tell me.”
Dexx kept his expression pleasant as he waited. He glanced at Paige, but returned his attention to the top of Malika’s head.
“You are a very driven man, Doctor Colt,” Malika said, her voice soft and silky.
“I do have a nice car.” Dexx turned a smile to Malika
“Love is about to enter your life. As well as a new position at work.”
He raised an eyebrow, pulling the corners of his lips down through his smile. He took his hand back. “It didn’t say who the lucky woman was, did it?”
Malika beamed at him. “No. Tell me you’re looking for something. We have a wide array of candles that just came
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