La Chusa was Iddy’s latest experiment in animal communication. Psy had turned out to be a little too smart and independent for her cousin’s purposes. Ravens were less self-involved and more trainable than cats. Evie tickled behind Psy’s ear, and the Siamese smacked her fingers.
“If our target isn’t at the café when you get there,” Evie told her cousin, “he’ll probably be over here with a lampshade on his head.” She hung up, leaving Iddy chuckling.
Evie ran over her mental checklist of relatives again, looking for moreteammembers. She’d rather not call on her aunts, if it could be avoided. They’d only annoy Mavis, and then there really would be turbulence in Afterthought. Flying cats and voodoo dolls and bonfires at midnight were not conducive to rational action. Sibling rivalry could be a fearsome thing, which was why she wasn’t adding Gracie to her team, although she did phone her sister to say Mavis had gone to the bank and might not make lunch. Gracie’s telekinesis wasn’t any more useful than their mother’s clairvoyance in this case.
Telepathy¸though, would be extremely convenient. She left a voice message for her cousin Priscilla. Pris was impossible to reach most of the time, but eventually, she came through.
Unable to read crystal balls, Evie sat on the sill of the big front window and watched until she saw the tall, skinny figure of Bill Wright working his way around the cupola of the bank. She didn’t know how diffident Bill would talk a nervous child off the roof, but she hoped Loretta was smart enough to know when she was cornered.
Sure enough, a moment later, the pair walked hand in hand through the doorway to the stairs. If Jackson was chowing down at the café counter, he wouldn’t notice.
Wishing she had a ghost-busting vacuum like in the movies, Evie continued sitting in the window, opening herself up to the universe, and scanning the street outside with her third eye.
No apparitions appeared. Her sensitivities didn’t tingle.
Damn. She’d have to tackle the ghosts the traditional way, which meant bringing Loretta and Jax together. Damn and double damn.
Six
Glancing impatiently at his watch,Jax felt someone take a seat to his right. He glanced up just as a lanky, raven-haired female took a seat two stools down. She carried a crow on her shoulder.
If he were a betting man, he’d wager this was another of Evie’s con artist relations. Or the entire town was nuts.
Crow Woman had a classic Roman profile and a bronzed complexion. She was almost as tall as he was, and in another time and place, he might be interested. But the orange-haired firecracker had his attention. Jax swilled his coffee and waited.
The gnarled, cotton-haired old lady waiting the counter slid a saucer of water and a bowl of cereal and fruit in front of the new arrival. Crow Woman held the water saucer up to the bird on her shoulder and placed her to-go order while the bird drank. The crow bobbed a little to the oldies tune the sound system cranked out, then glared at Jax through beady eyes.
His phone beeped with a text that Roark had arrived and was setting up his equipment. His team should have been in Savannah, an hour away, but they were spooky at the best of times. They’d traced the kid for him and had probably tracked Jax just to prove they could.
He clicked his ear phone. “Start with the known addresses and spread out from there.”
Apparently unwilling to wait for his treat to be offered, the crow hopped down to the cereal dish, tilting the bowl with its weight, and slopping the contents across the counter. It began pecking at the loose grains, approaching Jax’s hamburger.
“E-mailed your report,” Roark told him.
“Just give me the highlights.” Jax picked up his burger before the bird considered it prey.
“Whole family is nuts,” Roark reported, not confirming anything Jax hadn’t already ascertained. “Perpetually bankrupt. Lived there since shortly after the Salem witchcraft trials if I’m reading in between the lines right. They’ve been sued as frauds—get this—forcenturies. And they’ve never once been convicted.Never. Your Evangeline Serena Malcolm Carstairs has a spotty juvenile record, mostly pranks and complaints. Bit of a hothead, it seems.”
Jax heard frank admiration in Roark’s usually noncommittal voice. Thepranksmust have been of the rebellion-against-authority sort. His investigator had a penchant for organized anarchy, and Jax couldn’t see Evie as a shoplifter. Definitely graffiti-on-the-water-tower type. Jump-on-the-bad-guy type, too. Huh, maybedump the water from the tower on the bad guyif he thought about it.
He might need to pay a little more attention to his adversary.
“Red hair,” Jax offered in explanation. “Let me know when you’re set up.” He clicked off.
Crow Woman leaned over to gather the scattered cereal and return it to the bowl. “If that’s your friends in the utility truck, they’re in the mayor’s favorite parking spot. If you want to stay on his good side, you’d better have them move to the paid parking lot around the corner.”
Jax didn’t bother asking how she knew what vehicle his team drove. No mystery there. This was a small town. Everyone knew each other’s vehicles. He nodded at the bird. “Health department doesn’t mind crows?”
“Raven. They’re a lot larger than crows.” She held out her palm for the bird to pick at the cereal. “Watch his tail feathers when he flies off. They’re shaped like a fan. A crow’s is straight.” She paid for her order, picked up the bag, and opened the door. Holding the bird on her wrist like a falcon, she commanded, “Tell Evie what we saw,” and flung it skyward.
Evie. Evangeline. Jax’s shoulders itched.
Now that he was facing the window, he watchedRavenWoman wave to a familiar sturdy, gray-haired figure near the bank building across the road. The raven wasn’t to be seen and neither of the women spoke. The black-haired beauty swayed on down the street in the opposite direction of the new age shop.
His phone beeped again.Roark. Impatiently, Jax clicked his headset. “What?”
“Reuben’s been hijacked by a striped space cadet outside the perp’s house. His eyes are crossing. What do you want me to do with her?”