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  “She’s not who she seems.” With that, a motorcycle revved, and Damond scratched off.

  Dang. So much for an easy case. I’d found him, but I’d gained nothing.

  Worse, I would have to deliver the bad news to my client.

  Chapter Three

  I awakened in my chair, alone in my kitchen with a pair of ratty suspenders in my hand. My mouth was so dry I wished I’d left a glass of water on the table for myself. Something stirred at my cold feet. Crazy thoughts of gigantic boa constrictors filled my head. I shook them off and glanced down.

  Elvis.

  The little Chihuahua barked at me and raced laps around the kitchen. I glanced at the clock. A few minutes before Larissa’s bus. Where was Cipriona? I called her name and got no answer.

  On shaky legs, I made it to the sink for water. I drank greedily, then wiped my mouth. No jalopy in the backyard. My client had left? How odd. People who requested news from the dead always stuck around to hear what I’d seen or heard.

  I reached for my phone, found the last number that called me, and hit redial. Cipriona didn’t pick up so I left a message at the beep. “I found your father, but he wasn’t helpful. I’m sorry that I don’t have better news for you or your granny. Please let me know what you want to do with these suspenders.”

  I pocketed my phone and tried to figure out why I felt so disoriented. I didn’t like Damond Marsden at all and I believed Cipriona was right. Her granny had done the world a favor by taking out Damond. The air still smelled of the herbs Cipriona wore about her neck. I opened the back door to let fresh air in and then went up to release all the pets. The simple actions of walking around and doing normal things helped restore my equilibrium. I took a moment to sit on the back steps and watch the dogs romp in the yard.

  My phone rang, and I didn’t recognize the number. Since my cell doubled as a business phone for my landscaping and pet care services, I answered accordingly. “Pets and Plants, this is Baxley Powell.”

  “Mom! The school bus got stuck. Can you come get me?”

  Larissa. My daughter. The urgency in her voice propelled me to my feet. “What? Are you all right?”

  “Yes. I’ll tell you all about it when you get here. We’re just past the twisty- turny part of the road, where that new bike path is going in.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  * * *

  Sure enough, the school bus was stuck in the sand. Deputies Virg and Ronnie directed traffic, and they motioned me through. I drove past the bus, did a three-point turn to reverse course, and parked my truck. Inside the bus, Larissa tugged on the bus driver’s sleeve. Mrs. Rowe looked my way and nodded. My ten-year-old daughter darted along the sandy shoulder and climbed in with me.

  Like me, Larissa wore a ball cap, though hers was pink and mine was green. Her long, honey-colored hair was still neatly confined in a braid down her back, while my shoulder-length locks were mostly clubbed in a ponytail. Her emerald-green eyes, so like her father’s, sparkled with excitement.

  “Did you see them?” Larissa asked, cuddling Elvis, whom I’d brought along for the ride.

  I pulled out and headed home. “See what?”

  “The fire trucks. Three of them passed the bus. That’s when we got stuck, when we pulled over in the fresh sand.”

  “I didn’t see or hear any fire trucks, but I just finished a client dreamwalk. Nothing’s on fire between our house and here.”

  “Must be a big fire somewhere. Can we go see it?”

  “How long ago did they drive by?”

  “About twenty minutes. I had to wait my turn to use the bus driver’s phone.”

  Twenty minutes. I’d been dreamwalking. Did hearing the fire engines cause Cipriona to bolt?

  I scanned the horizon. Nothing remarkable in the sky. “I don’t see a column of smoke.”

  “The fire has to be nearby. If it was more than five miles past our place, the city trucks would’ve taken the highway instead of this state road.”

  Good point. Probably not a car fire if three trucks from the city had been dispatched to the county. But to merit that many trucks, it had to be a forest fire, except the sky wasn’t smoky. I couldn’t smell smoke either.

  What did that leave? A house fire? A boat fire?

  “Mom? Can we find the fire? I’m sure it would be educational.”

  “Ha! Trying to manipulate me, are you?”

  She grinned. “Is it working?”

  “I’ll do you one better.” I reached for the phone and hit the third number on my speed dial list. “I’ll find out where the fire is, and if it’s safe for us to go.”

  Tamika answered the dispatch line at the sheriff ’s office. After I asked her about the callout, she said, “No biggie. Just a house fire in the woods. Wayne sent a unit out there and determined the fire department didn’t need our guys for traffic control. Good thing, since we’ve got two crews of deputies trying to get that school bus unstuck.”

  Made sense, but something nagged at me. “Should I be concerned about the fire spreading? My house is surrounded by woods. So is my parents’ place.”

  “It’s a good four miles from your home as the crow flies, a bit longer by road,” Tamika said. “You and your parents should be safe. The sheriff said the doublewide is a total loss, but they have enough fire trucks out there to hold the line.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Bartow Road. Wayne says don’t go sticking your nose in the fire. He’s got plans this evening.”

  I had plans this evening too. Two upstate deputies were coming to camp out in my yard. I’d been cleaning the yard, porch, and house for a few days now. It dawned on me I hadn’t sprayed off the outside chairs by the fire pit. A thick layer of dust, pollen, and mold coated the outdoor furniture.

  “Thanks for the info.”

  I ended the call and turned to Larissa. “We can visit the location after they’ve put the fire out, tomorrow or the next day. Bartow Road is so narrow, we’d be in the way today. They’ll be having a time getting those fire trucks turned around. On the other hand, I forgot to hose off the chairs by the fire pit. What about some hose fun?”

  Larissa’s hopeful expression wavered. “Okay.”

  Not quite a ringing endorsement, but this was better for both of us. It would be safer. So why did I feel like a heel?

  A few more miles and we were home. My best friend’s trusty sedan was parked in the drive. I pulled up beside it. “Look who’s here.”

  Larissa glanced around and pointed to the brightly colored lump on our steps. “Something’s wrong with Aunt Charlotte.”

  Chapter Four

  Her sobs reached me inside the truck. Charlotte was crying as if her heart had been ripped in two. What had happened? We rushed to her side.

  “Charlotte, what’s the matter?” I asked.

  She lifted her head and stretched out her arms toward me. Larissa glommed onto Charlotte as well. “I can’t do it,” my friend managed between sobs.

  Tears dotted the inside of Charlotte’s glasses and streamed down her cheeks. Her lower lip trembled, a narrow ribbon of pink in a wan face.

  “What on earth?” I searched her face and smoothed her hair away from her brow.

  Charlotte keened through her sobbing, “I’m a fraud, and he’ll know.”

  Was this about Duncan, her new boyfriend? “Whatever has you upset, we can fix it. I promise.”

  She yanked off her glasses and used broad arm gestures to underscore her words. “I lead a boring life. He’ll see that I’m the small-town newspaper reporter everyone takes for granted. He’ll see I’m the invisible woman around here, and it will change everything. He’ll wake up from the romantic dream that I never want to end.”

  Definitely about Toby Duncan. I gently stroked her back. “I know you two have been talking every night. He wouldn’t call you if he didn’t like talking to you.”

  She sniffed in several ragged breaths. “I can’t hide who I am here,” she said. “He’ll see th
e real me, not vacation me.”

  I glanced over at Elvis. He’d finished doing his business in the flowerbed and was headed our way. Seemed like Charlotte needed to hug a therapy dog right about now.

  “It’s okay, Aunt Charlotte,” Larissa said, scooping up Elvis and handing him to her honorary aunt as if she’d read my mind. “He likes you. You like him. The attraction goes both ways.”

  Charlotte set her glasses beside her on the steps and buried her face in the dog’s short fur. Elvis slinked around and licked Charlotte’s wet face. “I’m a hot mess. I tried cleaning my house, but it’s no use. There’s too much stuff to put away, and I can’t part with anything. What people say about me is right, Baxley. I am a hoarder.” Her voice sounded less desperate, more resigned.

  “It doesn’t matter, Char. You are who you are. If Duncan doesn’t appreciate you, he doesn’t deserve your time and attention.”

  “Easy for you to say.” Charlotte yanked off her glasses and wiped her face on her magenta sleeve. “You’ve always had guys chasing you. I’ve never been so lucky. Duncan may be the only man who ever shows an interest. If I blow this, I lose my chance at being a couple. I lose my chance of having kids. I should leave town and not answer my phone all weekend.”

  She shrugged us off and lumbered to her feet. “That’s what I’ll do. You tell Duncan I got called out of town on an assignment.”

  I tugged on her arm. “Sit down. I’ll do no such thing. You have every right to a relationship and a family. If this guy doesn’t work out, you’ll easily attract another. There’s plenty more where he came from.”

  “I don’t want anyone else.” Charlotte plucked an invisible piece of lint from her royal-blue shorts. Though it was September, the temperature registered in the eighties. “I want Duncan.”

  “Then stay and fight for him. Don’t let fear make you stupid. That’s not your style. Treat this weekend like a story you’ve been chasing for a while. Be yourself. That’s what’s important.”

  “I’m embarrassed for him to see where I live. Can I stay here?”

  “You’re welcome to stay.”

  “Great. I could tell him I’m having some work done on my place.”

  Her sudden gaiety struck a false note. Duncan was a cop. If he was any good, he had a nose for the truth. Poor Charlotte. I wanted her to be happy. “Better not to lie.”

  “I’ll figure something out.”

  “Do you need to zip home and get your things?”

  “Nope. I have a bag in the car.” She managed a shaky smile. “I was pretty sure you’d talk me off the ledge. If not, I was heading over to St. Simons to hole up at the beach until the guys left.”

  We hauled Charlotte’s gear inside and moved her car. We’d just started hosing the furniture when a horn beeped.

  They were here.

  Chapter Five

  Before the truck pulling the RV came to a complete stop, Toby Duncan leapt out of the passenger side and bounded toward Charlotte. Though their romance had a supernatural start a few weeks ago, it seemed to be a real thing.

  I deposited the chair I’d been carrying next to the others Charlotte was hosing down. My friend turned and gasped when she heard him call her name, soaking me with the hose in the process. I shrieked like a girl, but I retreated to give them privacy. What a romantic guy! Duncan swept Charlotte into an embrace worthy of the big screen.

  The hose fell to the ground, so I turned off the valve at the side of the house. Joy and happiness radiated in waves from the reunited couple, making me glow by virtue of proximity. Charlotte was finally getting her shot at love. Lucky duck. The screen door behind me banged open, and Larissa streamed out with all three dogs.

  Sam Mayes stepped out of his truck, lifted his dark glasses. He looked good in my yard. A silly thought for sure, but he definitely seemed at ease. We were both five feet six, but he was built warrior-solid while I tended to look lanky. His Native American heritage showed in his high cheekbones and strong nose. As was his custom, he’d worn his long hair tied back in a low ponytail.

  Our gazes locked, and the air around me became supercharged with electricity. Even at this distance, I felt his virtual hug. It enfolded me like a cozy blanket straight out of the dryer. Shamelessly, I relished the sensation of such exquisite caring and basked in the heat of his desire.

  Then my daughter careened into Mayes, and he tore his gaze from mine and engaged her in conversation. We’d met and parted as friends, Mayes and I, but everyone knew he wanted more. He’d promised he wouldn’t push, that I could set the pace and terms for our relationship.

  Instantly, the memory of the virtual kiss we’d shared under a waterfall flashed into my thoughts. Maybe it was the wet clothes that triggered the memory. Maybe Mayes was thinking about it. Maybe it was me.

  Life with Sam Mayes would be sensual and rich in ways I’d never experienced. At times, he could read my thoughts, and if I allowed myself, I could tap into his. But I still saw myself as married, even though the military had declared my husband dead.

  I couldn’t.

  I shouldn’t.

  “Mom!” Larissa shouted.

  I snapped out of my reverie to find Mayes standing before me, a question in his glittering, dark-brown eyes. As I drank in the sight of his chiseled body, I extended my hand in greeting.

  He took it and drew me into a bear hug. Despite my best intentions to keep our relationship platonic, I was caught off guard by the emotions swirling through me. A gulping sob escaped. I’d missed seeing him. Holding him. Sensing him.

  “Shh,” he said, stroking my head and back. “I’ve got you.” And he did.

  I held on for a few more precious moments, indulging my need for physical touch. Heat built, and moisture steamed from my clothes.

  “Love the wet T-shirt look, Powell,” he murmured in my ear. “Very sexy.” Restraint surfaced, and I pulled away to gather myself. “Welcome to the Georgia coast.”

  “Thanks. I love the scenery.” He bent down to calm the dogs clamoring for his attention, petting Maddy the black lab, Muffin the Shih-Poo, and Elvis the Chihuahua. He surprised me by picking up Elvis. Darn if the little dog didn’t nestle under the man’s chin and moan contentedly.

  Larissa tugged on Mayes’ arm. “Are you a dog whisperer like my mom?”

  “No one’s like your mom,” Mayes answered, standing. “But this little guy is one of us. He seemed concerned about something, so I offered him comfort.”

  “He does seem more relaxed now,” I added, wishing I’d scrubbed the wry note from my voice.

  Mayes mouthed a silent question. “Jealous?”

  I glared at him. Nothing good could come of examining my gut reaction to his presence. I needed to set some boundaries and make sure he realized this was a friendship, not a courtship visit. Holding hands and sneaking off like Duncan and Charlotte just had wasn’t in our near future.

  “Let’s get the camper slotted behind the greenhouse so the driveway’s free for vehicles to come and go,” I said. “Y’all want to see the local highlights this evening, or would you rather take it easy?”

  Mayes rolled his neck and handed Elvis to my daughter. “I’d just a-soon relax after that long drive. This is a sweet place you’ve got here, Powell. Feels good.”

  “Wait till you visit Mama Lacey and Pap’s place in the woods,” Larissa said as she accepted the Chihuahua from him.

  “I’m sure it’s nice, but this place has everything I’m looking for.” He pointed at the greenhouse. “Show me where you want the camper. I’d hate to run over any of your beautiful plants.”

  He thought my plants were beautiful? My eyes went a little misty. “If you don’t mind, Larissa will show you the area while I finish hosing the chairs. We’ll figure out supper next.”

  “Oh.” He hesitated. “I brought plenty of steaks for the grill. I hope that’s all right. I forgot to ask if you ate steaks.”

  “We do, and thanks.”

  As we got our visitors settled, my though
ts went haywire. Mayes was here. Larissa liked him. The dogs approved. Elvis adored him. There had to be a downside. Oh, yeah. I was married.

  * * *

  After a delicious home-cooked dinner, Mayes and I relaxed at the campfire. Duncan and Charlotte left to check out her place, a huge step for her. I suspected, given that they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, they’d spend the night over there.

  As twilight deepened, Larissa and the dogs went inside to watch her favorite TV program. So she said. I had a feeling she was matchmaking.

  “You working a case now?” Mayes asked.

  “It’s been quiet here. No murders, no petty theft. I had a routine dreamwalk today for a client concerned about her granny in prison. What about you?”

  “No open cases on my plate right now either, though Dr. B’s after me to form a cold case team of people like us.”

  Dr. B was Dr. Gail Bergeron, the state archaeologist, and I’d worked with her on several cases. She’d been calling me as well. Though she meant well, her arrogant and demanding nature made dealing with her a series of skirmishes. I’d ignored her calls. “How many of us are there?”

  “You and I are the only ones I know of in law enforcement. My sheriff tried working with several psychics over the years, but it never worked out. Old-fashioned police work solved those cases, not charlatans.”

  “Given her negative experience, it’s a wonder your boss wanted my help on the energetic vampire case.”

  A slow smile filled his face. “As I said earlier, you’re in a league of your own.”

  I blushed at the compliment, hoping the heat of the fire would hide the evidence of my discomfiture. “It’s not like I sought this vocation out. You make my abilities sound focused and professional. I’m neither, and except for the last six months of my life, I’ve blocked my paranormal senses. If the dreamwalker job hadn’t been literally killing my dad, I wouldn’t have accepted the responsibility.”

  “But you did. Accept it.”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “That took guts.” The fire crackled for a bit. Lightning bugs danced at the edge of the woods. “You don’t seem like a novice. You seem very tuned in to your extra senses.”