Meatballs, Mistletoe and Murder Read online

“Thanks for picking me up.” Paige shifted in the passenger seat of her car. She felt much better after the long, sedative-induced sleep, a hot shower, and a hearty breakfast at the hospital. “Scott couldn’t get away from work, and Sarah’s at the salon helping get it cleaned up to reopen tomorrow, so I appreciate you taking me home.”

  Marco reached over to squeeze her hand. “I would not wish to be any other place, bella. I still wish I’d been on the beach with you. I would have thrown my head in front of yours to take the lightning bolt. Now that I’m with you, I want to surround you with my love and protection against electricity.”

  She giggled. “Thanks, sweetie. That’s . . . well, sweet. But I’m fine. The lightning strike was a fluke and my own fault for being on the beach during a storm. Nothing like that will happen again. I just want to change my clothes and get to the bookshop.”

  Marco pulled the car into the driveway, hopped out, and raced around to open Paige’s door. He offered a hand and then didn’t let hers go as they walked up to the house.

  When they went in, a ten-pound ball of white fur barreled into Paige’s calves, winding a figure eight around her ankles. Casper stopped purring long enough to look up and say, “Hi!”

  Paige dropped to a crouch to scratch behind Casper’s ears and look him over. She thought perhaps the lightning had struck him first and then went through her and out her foot. There were no signs of an injury, which was a relief but also a mystery. “Hi, cat. Sorry. I had to stay at the hospital overnight.” Then she blinked. What had just happened? Did Casper speak? She shook her head to clear it. That sedative must not be as cleared from her system as she thought it was. Her brain was interpreting cat sounds as human words.

  She lowered herself the rest of the way to the floor and let the kitty climb into her lap. Paige rubbed her cheek on the top of his head. “Did you come downtown to the shop yesterday? Hmm? How’d you do that, naughty boy?”

  Casper meowed and blinked at her, an innocent expression on his feline face. Then he said, “No.”

  Paige’s eyes popped wide, and she craned her neck toward Marco. “Did you hear that?”

  “Hear what, my love?”

  She pointed at the cat in her lap and squeaked, “He just answered my question.”

  Marco crouched to look into Paige’s face. “You shouldn’t go to the shop right now. Lie down instead. Take a rest in your cozy bed. You’re still exhausted.”

  Paige shook her head. She didn’t feel a bit tired or fuzzy. Redirecting her attention to Casper, she asked, “Did anyone come check on you last night while I was gone?”

  “Two ladies.” His features crunched up, as though he were hissing at something without the sound.

  Paige squealed and bounced so hard Casper jumped off her lap. “You heard that, right?”

  Confusion registered in Marco’s expression, and he shook his head. “I only heard the cat mew a bit.”

  “He’s talking to me.” She scrambled to her feet with Marco’s help. “He’s saying things, and I can understand him!”

  They watched Casper saunter across the room and lower his head to drink out of a water bowl.

  Marco said, “Is it a witch thing?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. It’s never happened before.” An exciting thought jumped into her mind. “Do you think I can hear animals talk now?”

  Marco didn’t answer. He just stared back at her, looking befuddled and more than a bit skeptical.

  Paige grabbed his hand. “Come on!” She tore out the front door and hurried down the sidewalk past the Carpenters’ house to the next one down. The German shepherd in their side yard always barked from behind its fence when Paige went for walks around the neighborhood. Sure enough, the dog was there, and he lunged to his feet when he caught sight of Paige and Marco, barking like they were murderers instead of neighbors. “Hi, buddy. How are you today?” She spoke soothingly.

  The dog cocked his head, studied Paige while she spoke, and as soon as she stopped, began barking like crazy again. Paige frowned. “It’s okay, boy. You can just talk to me. What’s your name?”

  More cacophonous woofing, now mixed with some snarling, erupted from the huge black and brown dog’s muzzle. He tore toward the chain-link fence, leaped on it with his front paws, and made it rattle.

  Marco took two giant steps backward, pulling Paige with him. “What’s he saying?”

  She shook her head. “I only hear barking and snarling. Maybe he’s just too mad. Come on.” Paige took off in the other direction, passing the Carpenters’ house and her own.

  Several houses down, they arrived at the Miller place. The family had a small pasture with two horses on the acreage behind their home. Paige scooted along beside the house to the back of the property. She clucked her tongue to gain the attention of the two brown and white horses that stood under an apple tree. They sauntered over, stretching their necks over the fence and working their soft lips. Paige patted her pockets, cursing herself for not bringing something horses like to eat. “Hi, guys.”

  One of the horses whinnied and shook its head. The other snorted, and snot flew out of its nose. Neither of them said human words.

  Paige tried again, using a singsong tone. “How’s your day going, pretty horsies?”

  Clearly deciding they had no use for humans without snacks, the horses stamped their feet, snorted, shook their heads, and wandered off. They made plenty of noise, but none of it was discernable as English.

  Paige couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. For one exciting moment, she’d had visions of Dr. Dolittle in her mind. She and Marco made their way back to the sidewalk and turned toward Paige’s house.

  As they walked, a tabby cat eyed them from a yard across the street. Paige brightened. Maybe her ability to understand animals was species-specific. Perhaps it only applied to cats. “Hi, there!” She waved at the tabby, who stood and arched its back but didn’t answer. “Um. How are you, kitty?” Paige’s eyes darted around. For the first time since she and Marco had been outside, it occurred to her how it would look if anyone passing by saw her talking to the neighborhood animals as though expecting them to answer back. Still, she had to try one more time. After she’d checked the immediate area and didn’t see anyone, she pinned the tabby cat with her gaze again. “Can you speak to me?”

  The cat meowed loudly and sat down again, giving her a disdainful look.

  Paige sighed. “Okay. Apparently, I can only understand Casper.” They walked back toward the house, Paige racking her brain. Why could she suddenly understand the cat when previously he’d only sounded like a plain old cat? The only unusual thing that had happened since the last time she’d seen Casper was that she’d been struck by lightning. Which was a pretty big deal. Did that have something to do with her newfound ability to hear him?

  “Oh!” she cried, stopping suddenly.

  Marco jumped and reached out toward her, as though he thought she was having some sort of episode. “What’s wrong?”

  She patted his hand. “Sorry. I just remembered something. Yesterday, while I was at the hospital, I could have sworn I saw Peggy Jenkins walk past my bed in the ER.”

  “Peggy Jenkins is the woman who was stabbed in Sarah’s salon, no?”

  They started walking again. Paige nodded. “Yep. That’s her.”

  “What does that mean? Have you seen ghosts before?” Marco opened the door and they both went inside.

  “Only Captain McDougall.” She thought about how she’d asked the captain to try and find Peggy the day before. If she had time, she should open the logbook and see if he’d had any luck.

  Marco’s expression was filled with worry. “Maybe you should take that rest now. I’ll stay and make sure you don’t need anything.”

  But Paige shook her head. “The food festival is starting up downtown today. The shop might be busy, and I don’t want to leave Emma alone all day.” She smiled at her boyfriend. “I’ll be fine.” She turned to head upstairs, but his soft voi
ce stopped her.

  “You are always in such a hurry, bella. Why don’t you stop to smell the rose bushes?” Marco ran his fingers through thick dark hair.

  “I have a business to run. I can smell the bushes on Sunday when we’re closed.” She started back up the stairs.

  “I know a place where you could relax. Have you decided about going to Italy with me?”

  She winced but put on a pleasant expression before turning back to face him. “I’m sorry, but I haven’t had time to think about it really. There’s just been so much going on.”

  Marco nodded. “Yes, murderings and lightnings are a lot to deal with.” He chuckled. “I understand. But I only have a couple more weeks to be here. I want to spend that time with you. Let’s take a little trip—can you close the bookstore for a few days?”

  Paige chewed her lip and thought about it. A trip together, just the two of them, did sound nice. But she’d promised to help Scott and Sarah, and that wouldn’t wait until she got back.

  “I’ll think about it,” she promised. “But it won’t be for at least a few days.” When Marco’s face fell, Paige hurried back down the steps to him. “I’m sorry. But if I don’t help Scott figure out who killed Peggy, Sarah could be in big trouble. I promise I’ll spend as much time with you as I can, okay?”

  His face brightened, and he gave her a tight hug. “I’ll check on you later. Be careful today. Stay out of the rain.” He winked and headed out.

  As Paige changed her clothes, she thought about her ability to understand Casper. She had a strong urge to talk to Lucy and see if she knew anything about that type of power and whether it could be related to the lightning strike.

  But when she arrived at Just Baked, the place was crawling with people. She caught Lucy’s eye for a second, but the baker just waved and continued taking orders. Paige would have to try again later. She went out the front door and scooted down to Beachside Books.

  Emma sat on the sofa in the reading nook with a magazine on her lap. She jumped up and hurried over to Paige. “How are you feeling? Are you sure you should be back at work? Lucy came by earlier and told me what happened. I can handle things here if you need to stay home.”

  Paige waved away the concern. “I’m fine. Just a little tired. How’s business this morning?”

  Emma held up the magazine she’d been leafing through. “Dead. I ran out of things to clean and straighten.”

  Paige frowned. “Sheesh. I thought we might be busy because of the food festival. Just Baked is hopping. What, do foodies not read?”

  Emma chuckled. “I guess they’re too busy stuffing themselves. Maybe they’ll all show up later when they’re too full to eat more.”

  “Maybe. Why don’t you take your lunch break? Thanks for minding the place alone this morning.” Paige headed toward the glass case as Emma left through the back door. Once she had the logbook in hand, she put the Be Right Back sign in the door, locked it, and went upstairs.

  The little attic room was sort of musty. Since Paige had moved out of it, they hadn’t used it too much. But she didn’t want to close all the blinds downstairs and make the place look deserted, so it would be safer to summon the captain up there.

  As soon as the disgusting green mist cleared, McDougall started talking. “Something strange has happened, lass. I’ve seen the ghosts of the past three Caspers.”

  Paige’s eyebrows shot up. She knew he was talking about the cats Aunt Nora had kept in the bookstore previously. For some reason, she’d always named her shop cats Casper, and they’d all been white. According to the captain, some of them had been smarter than others, and the current version was especially dull-witted.

  “When?” she asked.

  “It started after I talked to you yesterday.” His voice was troubled. “Before that, I hadn’t seen them since they departed.”

  It snapped into clarity then. Paige must have seen one of the cats’ ghosts on the beach during the storm, not the current Casper. “Did one of them happen to have a dark spot, like a burn, on him?”

  “Indeed, but how did you know?”

  Paige explained the lightning strike and trip to the hospital.

  “I have more news,” the pirate said. “Someone wants to see you.” He twisted his hips and raised an arm invitingly. And just like that, a second figure shimmered into existence next to him. Instead of the seaweed-scented mist the captain always brought with him, Paige caught a whiff of chemicals. It smelled the same as when she’d gotten an ill-advised perm in her teen years.

  At first, the figure was just an outline, but it became more solid until Paige was able to make out Peggy Jenkins’s brown hair and long skirt. The sensible shoes were missing, as her image cut off below the knees.

  Paige swallowed hard. It was slightly jarring to face the ghost of a woman who had been alive so recently and been killed so violently. Paige tried hard to ignore the gaping hole at the ghost’s neck, which appeared to ooze thick goo. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to be a ghost.

  It didn’t take long to determine that what Peggy felt was mostly anger. She crossed her arms and jutted out her chin. “There you are. I tried to track you down at the hospital. I managed to find my way out of the morgue, but that place is a maze, and I’m just figuring out how to get around in this new form.” She opened her arms and glanced down at herself, wincing.

  “So, I did see you at the hospital.”

  Peggy looked up sharply. “You saw me? Rats. I must have gone right by you.”

  Not knowing how long she’d have to talk to the ghost, Paige decided she’d better get down to business. “Do you know who killed you?” She swallowed again. Her mouth felt dry, and there was a strange taste in it suddenly. Like she’d sucked on a pine-scented air freshener. Or drank some gin.

  Peggy shook her ephemeral head. “No, but I need to find out.” Her tone softened. “You know, it isn’t so much that I mind being dead—it seems like it could be a lot less stressful than being alive. No bills or standing on my feet all day trying to make small talk with beauty shop clients. But I can’t rest in peace until I know who killed me.” She paused, and her features hardened. “I bet it was Donna. She wasn’t very nice to me, remember?” Her body bounced a bit. “You were there when she yelled at me.”

  Paige nodded. “I was. But the cops think Sarah Murphy killed you. She’s under investigation for your murder.”

  The ghost scoffed. “Sarah? Why would she do that?”

  “She wouldn’t.” Paige tried to use a reassuring tone. She didn’t want Peggy to be stuck in death, unable to rest for the worry that her killer might go free. “It’s okay. My brother, Scott, is an ace detective. He and I are going to do our own side investigation. I’ll check Donna out thoroughly.” Paige decided to leave out the part about Wally Burns doing the official investigation and perhaps being an inept hack.

  The hairstylist’s ghostly shoulders appeared to relax. She nodded as her features became more peaceful and less defined. In the next instant, she was gone, thankfully taking the strong peroxide smell with her.

  Paige moved her tongue around as the pine needle taste faded. How strange. “Thank you for bringing her to talk to me.”

  Captain McDougall shook his head. “I didn’t find her, lass. She found me.”

  As she closed the logbook and started down the staircase, her mind was reeling over the conversation with Peggy. The ghost had confirmed that Paige hadn’t been hallucinating when she saw the apparition in the hospital.

  Did that mean Paige had developed the ability to see ghosts as well as talk to Casper?

  Chapter 6

  The bells over the door rang, announcing Lucy’s arrival. Her hairnet was askew, and she still wore an apron, which was uncharacteristically disheveled and stained. The baker slumped into a chair in the bookstore’s sitting area and kicked her feet onto the coffee table. “Shew! That was a busy morning.” She laid her head back. “If it wasn’t for Roberta, I couldn’t have kept up.”
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br />   Paige sat on the couch across from her friend. “I’m glad to hear she’s working out, since Betsy . . . didn’t.”

  Lucy chuckled. “At least Betsy won’t have to do any of the cleaning she disliked so much for a while. A prison cell is probably pretty easy to keep tidy.” She snickered and then studied Paige’s face. “How are you feeling?”

  “Pretty much fine. I mean, I wouldn’t turn down a nap, but really, for being hit by lightning, I’m doing great.” She leaned forward, speaking softer and keeping an eye on the lady browsing through used books at the front of the store. “Maybe a little too great, actually. I know you probably just want to rest here for a few minutes, but I need to talk to you about something kind of . . . delicate. Can you come to the back room with me?”

  Lucy perked up immediately, nodded, and then followed Paige to the back of the shop. Her head swiveled both directions as she walked, and when they arrived in the storeroom, she said, “Where’s Casper? I’m sure I saw him through the window on my way into the shop.” She pulled out a cookie from her apron pocket. “I brought a tuna fish crisp for him. You know, I swear I’ve been selling almost as many pet treats as human ones lately. That was a fantastic idea my Candy had.” Motherly pride radiated out of Lucy’s plump face.

  “Casper’s at my house,” Paige said. “Are you sure you saw him?”

  “I thought so,” Lucy said and bit into the cookie.

  “Hmm. He’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Yesterday, before the lightning strike, I saw Casper on the beach. That’s why I went out there—to rescue the little guy. Only it wasn’t him.”

  Lucy’s mouth sat slightly agape as she listened raptly. “It wasn’t? Was it that mangy stray that gets in the dumpster and makes a mess?”

  Paige shook her head. “I talked to Captain McDougall.” She glanced over Lucy’s shoulder toward the front of the store to make sure no one was listening. “He said he’s seen three of Aunt Nora’s old Caspers since last night. Their ghosts, I mean.”

  “Oh! I’d almost forgotten about her other Caspers. Sweet Nora.” Lucy narrowed her eyes. “You saw a Casper’s ghost? Like, clear as day?”