swirled up around her in the middle of that ceremony last night?
Calista’s cell phone rang, and she looked at the caller ID, then pressed the answer button.
“You said you would meet me,” Jillian Hargrave said.
“I got hung up here. Eugenia and that Rafe Gascon guy came over with some gris-gris someone had left on her doorstep.”
The woman on the end of the phone line caught her breath. “Did you make it?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“I have no idea.”
“Are we in danger” Jillian asked.
“No. But I don’t like the way Cumberland showed up right after Eugenia and Gascon. I think it’s better if we don’t meet. We don’t want anyone seeing us together and wondering why.”
“I’m frightened.”
“Hang tight.”
“I’m trying.”
oOo
When Eugenia turned toward the door, Rafe put a hand on her arm.
“Sorry. I’ve got to keep my mind where it belongs.”
“Which is where?” she asked in a barely audible voice.
“You hired Decorah Security to do a job—and they sent me to do it. And it’s turned into something neither one of us expected.”
He was talking about the case, but he could just as well have been talking about the two of them—about the feelings that had sprung back to life when they’d laid eyes on each other.
She flopped back into her seat. “Was it a coincidence that they sent you?”
He thought about the answer. “I’ve come to believe that nothing Frank Decorah does is a coincidence.”
“You mentioned him to Cumberland.”
“Yeah. There’s something about Frank that sets him apart.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s hard to explain, but once you start working for him, you know you don’t want to be the agent who screws up an assignment.” He kept his gaze on her. “But it’s not just about Frank. You won’t be safe until we figure out what’s going on. Not just the muggings. We need to understand what happened to Villars—and why that voodoo charm showed up on your doorstep.”
She dragged in a breath and let it out. “You’re right.”
Some of the tension eased out of him. “I don’t like leaving you, but it should be okay during the day.”
“Where are you going?”
“To do some more poking around.”
“And you’re not going to share your plans with me?”
“Routine stuff that has to be taken care of.” He gave her his cell number. “If anything unusual happens, call me immediately.”
She promised to do that, and they separated.
oOo
Although Rafe could have worked on his computer at Eugenia’s house, he figured it was better to put some distance between them.
He’d said he was going to work, but he decided that a couple hours sleep wouldn’t be a bad idea.
The sleep helped clear his brain, and when he touched the back of his head, the lump he’d gotten the night before was almost gone.
Feeling better, he put on his dark robe and practiced some martial arts moves in the hotel room to get his circulation going. Then he straightened the covers, plumped up the pillows, and grabbed his laptop. First he wrote out a report for Frank Decorah of what had happened so far. Then he switched to research. But Eugenia kept invading his thoughts.
Ordering himself to stick to business, he plowed through a bunch of background investigations, including on the man Pete had told him about, Sam Gunderson, the rival who’d fought Villars to buy a boutique hotel. There was an online article showing pictures of the hotel and talking about its excellent reputation. Apparently Villars’ slander hadn’t done the place any harm.
Rafe went back to trying to draw connections between the people who had been at the voodoo ceremony.
He started by focusing on Wilma Saxon, the woman who had come to some of the ceremonies and then died.
She’d been ninety-two and had apparently died of a stroke. Too bad they still didn’t have the cause of death for Villars.
Wilma had been married to a man who had left her well off when he’d died twenty-five
Calista’s cell phone rang, and she looked at the caller ID, then pressed the answer button.
“You said you would meet me,” Jillian Hargrave said.
“I got hung up here. Eugenia and that Rafe Gascon guy came over with some gris-gris someone had left on her doorstep.”
The woman on the end of the phone line caught her breath. “Did you make it?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“I have no idea.”
“Are we in danger” Jillian asked.
“No. But I don’t like the way Cumberland showed up right after Eugenia and Gascon. I think it’s better if we don’t meet. We don’t want anyone seeing us together and wondering why.”
“I’m frightened.”
“Hang tight.”
“I’m trying.”
oOo
When Eugenia turned toward the door, Rafe put a hand on her arm.
“Sorry. I’ve got to keep my mind where it belongs.”
“Which is where?” she asked in a barely audible voice.
“You hired Decorah Security to do a job—and they sent me to do it. And it’s turned into something neither one of us expected.”
He was talking about the case, but he could just as well have been talking about the two of them—about the feelings that had sprung back to life when they’d laid eyes on each other.
She flopped back into her seat. “Was it a coincidence that they sent you?”
He thought about the answer. “I’ve come to believe that nothing Frank Decorah does is a coincidence.”
“You mentioned him to Cumberland.”
“Yeah. There’s something about Frank that sets him apart.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s hard to explain, but once you start working for him, you know you don’t want to be the agent who screws up an assignment.” He kept his gaze on her. “But it’s not just about Frank. You won’t be safe until we figure out what’s going on. Not just the muggings. We need to understand what happened to Villars—and why that voodoo charm showed up on your doorstep.”
She dragged in a breath and let it out. “You’re right.”
Some of the tension eased out of him. “I don’t like leaving you, but it should be okay during the day.”
“Where are you going?”
“To do some more poking around.”
“And you’re not going to share your plans with me?”
“Routine stuff that has to be taken care of.” He gave her his cell number. “If anything unusual happens, call me immediately.”
She promised to do that, and they separated.
oOo
Although Rafe could have worked on his computer at Eugenia’s house, he figured it was better to put some distance between them.
He’d said he was going to work, but he decided that a couple hours sleep wouldn’t be a bad idea.
The sleep helped clear his brain, and when he touched the back of his head, the lump he’d gotten the night before was almost gone.
Feeling better, he put on his dark robe and practiced some martial arts moves in the hotel room to get his circulation going. Then he straightened the covers, plumped up the pillows, and grabbed his laptop. First he wrote out a report for Frank Decorah of what had happened so far. Then he switched to research. But Eugenia kept invading his thoughts.
Ordering himself to stick to business, he plowed through a bunch of background investigations, including on the man Pete had told him about, Sam Gunderson, the rival who’d fought Villars to buy a boutique hotel. There was an online article showing pictures of the hotel and talking about its excellent reputation. Apparently Villars’ slander hadn’t done the place any harm.
Rafe went back to trying to draw connections between the people who had been at the voodoo ceremony.
He started by focusing on Wilma Saxon, the woman who had come to some of the ceremonies and then died.
She’d been ninety-two and had apparently died of a stroke. Too bad they still didn’t have the cause of death for Villars.
Wilma had been married to a man who had left her well off when he’d died twenty-five
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