Of course, I did. A big one, too.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I’m feeling quite anxious.”
“Me too,” Drew said, looking down at perhaps two dozen sunflowers surrounding his boots.
“About the flowers? Don’t be. They’re harmless, outside of the damage to my pride.”
“Not about that. About a book that was potentially rigged to kill a man. What if someone else had borrowed it?”
I took a few calming breaths and pressed one hand into my midriff. “Going out on a limb, I’d suggest there was a barrier only Angus could pass.”
“And you.”
“By then the bomb, as it were, had detonated.”
“What about the floating books?”
“That I can’t explain.” I could, but I wouldn’t. The secret of the ghost dogs was one I’d hold very close to my heart.
He stood in one place, probably afraid to crush the flowers. “This is the first Wyldwood crime to throw me way off balance. It seems like a significant threat to public safety. Do you feel the same way?”
It hadn’t really crossed my mind until meeting with Tavi. Before that I was focused on the small picture and ignoring the bigger one. Obviously, there was good reason for Minerva’s concern for Ruthann.
“Let me talk to Cousin Liberty about it,” I said. “She’s more experienced in this sort of thing.” I gestured to the flowers. “As you can see, I’m barely beginner level.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. Like most people, he found the Brighton matriarch hard to swallow.
“I wish people were scared of me,” Bixby said. “I need a charmed fox stole like Liberty.”
Drew let the reference to Liberty go and took my hand. The fizzy tingle was not only still there, but stronger. In fact, it was becoming more of a thrum. Maybe it was like what happened with the ghost dogs. Once seen, it flourished. “I like the sunflowers,” he said. “Don’t change that.”
“Oh, I’m changing that. Just as soon as I figure out how.”
I stooped to yank a few out of the carpet. It was faster to burn them but I wasn’t ready to spring my firepower on Drew. After all, it had freaked my own mother out, back in the day.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get them,” he said. “They give up more easily when you’re—”
“Out of range?” I straightened.
“I guess. You should probably go, Janelle. My colleagues will be back in a minute. I sent them on errands.”
“Ah, I wondered why the door was open.”
His smile suggested he’d hoped I’d sneak in. “It was good to see you.”
“Do I smell smolder?” Bixby asked. “There’s never a good time for that, but especially when a police officer is surrounded by evidence a suspect was here.”
The evidence, as it turned out, was vanishing fast. Skye had joined us and briskly snipped off one flower after another. The massive stalk was the first to go. When they were all mowed down, she circled, crouched and ran at them. They blew ahead of her down the row away from Drew.
“What just happened?” he asked.
“Welcome to December in Wyldwood Springs,” I said. “If the cold doesn’t kill you, the wind will.”
As if to make good on my word, Skye circled back through the next row and then charged right through Drew. He shivered and crossed his arms. “Whoa. You’re right. I come from the sunny south.”
“Just the beginning,” I said. “But Christmas is nice.”
“If we live that long,” Mr. Bixby added, cheerfully.
“Be careful out there, Janelle,” Drew called after me as I left.
“I will. Be careful in here, too.” Waving goodbye to Skye, I sent her a message. “Take care of him, if you can.”
The white tuft on the end of her tail told me she’d do her very best.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Iwas driving back to the manor when Mom’s ringtone sounded. Tempting as it was to let the call go to voicemail, I put it on speaker.
“Hey, Mom. Thought I’d hear from you sooner.”
“You did hear from me sooner.” Her voice boomed, as if she were in my head rather than down south with Gran. “I presume you ignored your voicemails and texts.”
I hadn’t checked my phone for hours. “Sorry. Been running around.”
“I’ll bet you have. Liberty gave me the full story. She had to hear it from Renata and Sinda, because you ignored her calls, too.”
“Come to think of it, this day just flew by. One minute I was eating Ren’s pastries at Whimsy, the next a criminal arrived, and then we practically stumbled on his body.”
