Chapter 17

BeforeI could sneak away,Alex noticed me and his grin broadened. “Boss!”

Prestonturned toward me, his bright teeth on display in a calculated show of greeting. “MissAvery.”

Rearrangingmy surprise—and deep, deep suspicion—into a cool and collected expression, I approached the pair.

“Cool makeup,” Alex said.

“Thank you,” I said primly. “How come you’re here?”

“One of my buddies volunteers for the walk,” he said easily, not a trace of guilt or suspicious motives to be seen or heard. “I was going to talk to him for a bit when I met Preston.”

“You two know each other?” I narrowed my eyes in Preston’s direction.

“Sure,” Alex went on. “He’s come to the cemetery before.”

“He’s what?” I choked out.

“He wants to hire us to work on his new house,” Alex said, all excitement.

Druwas going to love that. “Ian hasn’t told me anything.”

“Oh, the boss doesn’t know yet.”

“Cavalier wasn’t in when I visited,” Preston said. “Alex here convinced me to allow him to pitch the renovations.”

“You did?”

Alexseemed to grow taller at Preston’s words. “I want to pitch the project to the boss. Show him the numbers and everything and ask to be lead.”

Ilet out a low whistle. “That’s a big step.”

“Yep. Preston agreed to the idea.” And judging from his expression, Preston had now joined Alex’s private pantheon.

“That was generous of you,” I told Preston. Not that I believed it for a moment. The man was up to something, I was sure.

Prestonshrugged. “Alex was very convincing.”

Inarrowed my eyes, trying to peer into his brain. Alas, no magic spell for that. “I’m sure.”

Hesimply smiled wider. Hmph.

“I didn’t know you liked to do the zombie walk, boss,” Alex said, completely unaware of my and Preston’s private war.

“I don’t usually.” I looked down at my mummy-wrapped wrists and forearms. “I’m investigating the pentagrams issue,” I added, watching Preston closely for any reaction.

“Pentagrams?” he asked with polite curiosity.

“Someone’s been messing with people’s walls,” Alex explained. He sent me a wink while Preston was focused on me, letting me know that he might be excited about getting his first renovation project, but he wasn’t about to spill his guts about Crane and his early—literal—grave.

Ismiled back, something settling inside of me. Yes, Alex might act like an empty-brained guy sometimes, but he was made of sterner stuff.

“The culprit might be a witch, so I was called in to investigate,” I said like it was no big deal, barely stopping myself from flicking imaginary dust off my jacket.

“I hope you catch them,” Preston said politely.

Andsince he was too tall to be my UNSUB, I showed them the webcam screenshot on my phone. “Have you seen this person around?”

“Did they paint the pentagrams?” Alex asked, taking a closer look at the picture.

“Possibly.” I turned the phone toward Preston. “Seen them around?”

Prestonscowled at the screen. “Hard to tell. It could be anyone.”

“Have you seen someone in a hoodie walk by right before I got here?” I asked.

Theyshook their heads.

Ithanked them and left them to continue their conversation, wondering if I should tell Ian about Alex’s plan. Ultimately, though, this was Alex’s time to shine, and I shouldn’t undermine him, no matter how suspicious I was about Preston. Ian wasn’t dumb, he’d know to watch out for his stray.

Givingup on my quest to find the hoodie-wearing person, I decided to return to the shop. The sight I found there left me thunderstruck, and not because Brimstone and Destruction was anywhere near.

Therewas a line of people outside my shop.

Myshop. Not the closed art gallery to-be nor the closed seasonal restaurant.

No, these people were waiting to get inside the TeaCauldron.

Unableto stop gaping, I lifted my phone and recorded the moment for posterity.

Aline outside my shop.

Alittle dazed, I went around the block and came in through the back in time to see a woman leave the bathroom, send me a shy smile, then go back inside the shop.

Ifollowed, still unbelieving that this was my new reality.

Butit was! The two tables were full, all the stools at the counter occupied, a couple simply stood at the counter, chatting animatedly over their teas and muffins, and three people waited at the counter for their orders.

“Oh, look, someone killed you before I got to you, and you still managed to stick around,” Dru commented sarcastically the moment she spotted me.

Someof the customers studied me with curiosity, but I could only nod numbly, still coming to terms with what was happening.

“Hello there, boss,” Mark the berserker said as he went behind the counter with a couple of mugs and an empty plate in his hands.

Thatsnapped me back to reality.

Isqueezed myself past Mark and whispered, “What’s he doing here?” Again.

“Helping out, boss,” Mark said gleefully.

“Sincesomeone wasn’t here to help,” Dru added with a fake smile. Without taking her gaze off me, she plopped a muffin and a steaming paper cup in front of the first person waiting at the counter.

“I was busy with the thing,” I whispered, willing her to understand and not quit again.

“Busy.” She encompassed my face with a circle of her finger. “Sure.”

Heatcrept up my cheeks. “It was necessary.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I think it looks good on you,” Mark said. “Green and all that.”

“Thank you, Mark,” I said politely.

Hegrinned and started pouring coffee into another paper cup as Dru took another order. Had she told him about Crane? I hoped not. Didn’t the murderers like to return to the scene of the crime? Mark had been here yesterday. What better way to case the shop than to pretend to help out?

“What are you supposed to be?” a customer at the counter asked.

“A zombie mummy.”

“Cool.” She didn’t sound impressed, which made me slip into the back and bring out my witch hat headband and secure it on top of my head.

Theyoung woman nodded somberly when I reappeared. “Much better.”

“Did you learn anything?” Dru whispered as she traded spots with Mark in front of the water urn.

Itwas definitely too crowded to talk about Crane, so I told her I’d been showing the photo of the possible graffiti troublemaker, but nobody had recognized them.

Drusnorted. “ShowMark. Maybe he’ll recognize them from the Crawler.”

Ihated to admit it, but she had a point. I gestured for Mark to come closer, and after he squeezed by Dru, I showed him the screenshot.

Hestudied the photo for a few moments, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Could be anyone.”

Hisresponse wasn’t exactly unexpected, but my shoulders slumped all the same. My one hint for the UNSUB was getting me nowhere, and neither was my investigation into Crane. To think I’d had such hopes last night…

Withany luck, Ian would be able to uncover something on his end, but judging how the day was going, I had my doubts.

“Hope,” Dru called out.

“Yes?”

“Do we have any sweets in the back?”

Asmall boy was all but hanging on the counter, watching Mark with wide eyes. A woman who must’ve been his mother stood behind him, staring at the paper cup of coffee in Dru’s hand like it was mana from heaven.

“Let me check.”

Iwent into the storage room and peeked inside the box of candy bars I’d ordered a couple of weeks back.

Tomy horror, there were only a few bars left. How could we have run out of candy so fast? I checked the other boxes, but no, this was the only one we had at hand. Halloween was tomorrow! This couldn’t stand.

Ireturned to the shop with the last candy bars and gave one to the boy. He squealed with joy and ran to the door.

“Arthur,” her mother yelled, paying with alacrity. “Wait for me!”

Asthe woman left in a hurry, and a couple took her spot at the counter, studying the list of teas with intense concentration, I went into the back and placed a call to Key.

“Hi, Key,” I said when she picked up. “Are you busy with the tour, or can you spare a couple of hours?”

“You need my help?” she asked eagerly.

“At the TeaCauldron, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind.” Although her enthusiasm had dimmed somewhat.

“I’ll tell you all I’ve learned about the pentagrams after,” I promised.

“Great.”

“Can you bring Bee-Bee with you?”

“Sure. You need me right now?”

“As soon as possible.”

Ireturned to the shop and pitched in until Key came in, breathless and eager to help, then I told DruI had to go on a candy run and escaped before she could strangle me.

Ihated having to leave the shop when it was this busy, but some things had to come first: pentagram inquiries, murder investigations, and candy for Halloween.