Sweet Tea and Sass Read online

  "Hit it again," she said.

  "What? No," I replied, and the dealer gave me an odd look.

  "What do you want to do?" he asked, waiting with his hand on the deck.

  "Do it," Cheri Lynn said. "Trust me."

  "Hit me," I told him, hoping she was right. I was about out of my allotted funds for the night.

  Sure enough, he dropped a deuce on top of my ten.

  "Blackjack!" he said, then shoved a pile of chips my way.

  "Told you," Cheri Lynn said.

  Glad I'd gone with her hunch, I pushed a couple chips out for the next hand. She coached me through a few hands, and I won every one. I was starting to get the hairy eyeball from the dealer, so when Cheri Lynn told me to hold, I told him to hit me. I went bust, and gave him the self-deprecating, what are you gonna do shrug, then pretended to think about whether or not I wanted back in for a second before I stacked a couple more chips up for the buy-in.

  I played a couple more hands following her "hunches," then started to get even more suspicious than the dealer. I couldn't say anything to her, so after winning a couple more hands then going against her advice and losing one, I pulled my chips toward me and left the table. It was time; I felt sure from the looks he was giving me that I was running short on time before he decided I was cheating somehow.

  "How did you do that?" I asked, trying not to move my lips as we walked from the table to the bathroom.

  She shrugged. "I don't know. It just all gathers in my head, and I know what's been played. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it because he's using more than one deck, but it got easier the closer he got to the bottom."

  I gave her a look of disbelief. I thought maybe she'd just been using a little of her psychic granny's juju. "You were counting cards?"

  Lifting a shoulder, she said, "Sort of, I guess. It's not like I did it on purpose. I've always been extra good with math and numbers, and my mind sorta kept track without me even trying."

  Yeah, it was definitely time to get away from the table. Though a couple hands at another table might not hurt. After all, it was for a good cause. I had a teenage sister to raise. And boots to buy.

  We played six more hands at the next table. Since it took Cheri a couple hands to get in the groove, I won the first by my own gut, then lost the second and third, so it didn't look quite so fishy when we won the next four. I decided it was time to quit while I was substantially ahead and try my luck at the one-armed bandits. There was no way for me to rig those in my favor, so I figured I'd lose a little in them just because I'd won more than enough to call the night a success.

  "You sure you don't want to play a little more?" Cheri Lynn asked with a longing glance back at the blackjack tables.

  "Nah," I said, thinking back to my earlier fears of seeing Coralee hauled into the back room. "We better not. Is Rupert still hangin' out with Coralee?"

  "Yeah," she said. "I'm glad. It's good to see him interacting with people who aren't dead. And I'm glad he's getting along with her."

  I glanced at her and she blushed a little. "You really like him, don't you?"

  She smiled that goofy, new-relationship smile. "I do. He's not like other guys I've been with. He's polite and treats me like I'm special."

  My heart melted. "Aw, Cheri Lynn. You deserve that. They all should have treated you that way, because you are. That just speaks to what creeps they were. It has nothin' to do with you. You know that, right?"

  She sighed. "In my head, I do, but it's hard to get my heart to believe it. He's convincing me, though."

  "Is he interested in going back to Keyhole Lake?" I hated to see her get attached just to have him break it off when the ship pulled back into port.

  "I don't know," she replied. "We haven't really talked about it. But I'm learning that distance isn't as big an issue for us as it is for you folks still wearing a body. We can pretty much close our eyes and go wherever we want to."

  "Seriously?" I said, surprised. "I didn't know that."

  "Me either," she said. "Not 'til Rupert and the rest of the crew explained it to me. It's how they go back and visit their families and friends whenever they want."

  Well that was handy. "You'll have to explain that to Addy and Belle," I said.

  "Addy already knows. She's been practicing all afternoon. She went home and checked on Shelby and Earl."

  "No way," I said. "Is everybody doin' okay?"

  "Of course. She said Shelby's doin' a fine job helpin' out, and Earl's trainin' an assistant. That's not goin' so well, but knowin' Earl, that's not really a shocker. Nobody'll ever be up to snuff on that grill as far as he’s concerned."

  The casino was stuffy. Even with the AC going, there were so many bodies that the air felt heavy. There was a wide deck right outside, so I decided to go get some air.

  "Look!" Cheri Lynn cried, excited, after we’d been at the railing for a few minutes. "Did you see that?"

  I squinted and looked in the direction she was pointing. The moon was full, so it was easy to see. It took a few seconds of scanning the water before I caught movement. A fin sliced through the surface of the water, then a few feet further on, two dolphins jumped.

  "Wow!" I said. "I wish I could catch that on film."

  "Yeah," Cheri Lynn agreed. "You know, we really do need to do this more often."

  "I wish," I said. "I could get used to this."

  We stood in companionable silence for a few minutes, watching the water and admiring the stars. Without urban light, it seemed like there were a million of them, and they all seemed much closer than they did at home. The moon was huge, too. I knew it was just an illusion, but with the breeze ruffling my hair and drying the sweat from the back of my neck, I figured it was about as close to perfect as a night could get.

  I thought of a pair of broad shoulders and laughing green eyes. The handsome new sheriff sure was a looker, and I figured I wouldn't mind if he was there with me. Of course, Cheri Lynn was good company too, and I was glad she'd decided to come with us. Maybe she'd finally found her own little slice of happiness.

  The rough sound of a male voice barking orders at somebody shattered the moment, and I was irritated by the disruption.

  "I don't care what you have to do," the voice said, condescension lacing his tone. "Do what I paid you to do; take care of it."

  The man argued back and forth a couple times, and I peeked around the corner of the deck to make sure it was who I thought. Sure enough, Gerard was pacing, his tie askew and his hair rumpled. "I have to have that money when I get back. No excuses. My plan here fell through when a bunch of white-trash rednecks stuck their noses in."

  Cheri Lynn's brows slammed together and she narrowed her eyes at him. She was uber defensive of all of us since we'd taken her under our wings. "He better not be talkin' about us," she said. He won't like me if he is."

  She swooped over so she could hear him better, but she was wasting her time. His voice was clear as a bell when he said, "Kill him if you have to. I don't care. Just get it done."

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  I TOOK SEVERAL STEPS back in the direction I'd come and pressed my back against the wall so he wouldn't be able to see me unless he walked all the way around to my side.

  He'd gone silent after those words, but I didn't want to chance him finding out I'd overheard him. "Is he gone?" I hissed at Cheri Lynn, who was still peering around the corner.

  She shook her head. "No. He's just standing against the railing, looking at the water. C'mon though. I love you, but I sure don't want you to join me on this side. You need to go back into the casino."

  There was no way I was disagreeing with that, but I was still quite a distance from the doors. He could still come around and see me, and as soon as I'd thought it, that was exactly what happened. He curled his lip at me. It was a shame he was so ugly inside, because he was a handsome man. A bit of a paunch, but nothing too major. I bet before he'd gone to seed, he'd been a real looker.

  "What are you doing
here?" he demanded.

  "It's a free country," I said, trying to pretend I hadn’t just heard him order a man killed. "I'm not rich like you, but I can still afford to pay for that view." I waved a hand toward the ocean. "And I'm gonna enjoy it wherever and whenever I want.”

  I should have stopped at that and gone back inside, but of course my big mouth wouldn’t close once I’d opened it. “You just think you're all that. Get over yourself. You know as well as I do, you're the one who tossed that jewelry overboard. I'm guessing for the insurance money. I don't get it, seeing as you have more money than God almighty himself. And you know how much those pearls mean to April. Shame on you."

  "Yeah," he snarled, all pretense of the niceties gone. "And I know how much they're worth to me if the insurance would have paid out on them like it was supposed to."

  "So you admit you're the one that tossed them overboard?" I said. That wasn't good. Usually when the bad guy let the good guys in on the plan, it was because he was about to kill them. I backed away from him, drawing magic into my hands just in case.

  He tilted his head and stared at me for a second, his face expressionless. When his face wasn't twisted in loathing or anger, I could see what April saw in him. Then a smirk slid into place and he turned one corner of his mouth up.

  "Prove it," he said, then straightened his tie, smoothed his hair, and went back into the casino.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  I LET OUT A BREATH I hadn't even realized I'd been holding.

  "Can you believe he just said that?" Cheri Lynn said, doing a quick swoop toward the door he'd gone through. "He just confessed."

  "Yeah," I said, "but he's right. I can't prove a thing. They have Kevin in their sites, and if Gerry Boy hollers loud enough, Kevin's toast."

  "We can't let that happen." She continued to stare through the door after him.

  "Let's get the rest of the girls and go back to the suite," I said. "We need to think of something."

  "Should we tell April?"

  I thought about it for a second. The guy I'd just been facing had sent shivers down my spine, and I didn't scare easily. "I don't think it's a good idea. She already has her suspicions, but if she confronts him, she may be what gets tossed overboard next."

  She went and got Coralee, who was still hanging out with Rupert. They'd moved from the poker tables to the Texas hold ’em area. I tracked down Anna Mae and Bobbie Sue, who'd taken over two of the one-armed bandits and were cheering each other on. I called to Raeann through the psychic link we shared and gave her a rundown. She met us halfway across the floor and we all walked back to the room together. Given the circumstances, I thought it was best we moved as a group.

  Once we were back in the room, I called for Addy. When she popped in, I explained to them what had happened.

  "Are you kiddin' me?" Bobbie Sue said, a mixture of anger and surprise in her tone. "He actually admitted it?"

  "He sure did."

  "Then dared you to prove it," Coralee said, shaking her head. "That takes the cake."

  "It does," I said, "but he's right. We can't prove it. Even if the security tapes show him leaving his room in the middle of the night, he can just say he went for air."

  "I'd like to give him some air for threatening you," Addy growled. "Like the kind he'd get dangling over the keel by his ankles."

  Rupert had been quiet, but when the chatter died down, he spoke up. "Are you talking about the chap that dined with you tonight?"

  Cheri Lynn nodded. "Yup, that's him."

  "And the issue you're discussing took place last night?"

  "Far as we can tell," Bobbie Sue said. "We're not positive, but that's what makes the most sense."

  "Follow me," he said. "I think I may have just what you need."

  He led us all the way back to where we'd found the jewelry. "This is where it happened?"

  "It is," I answered. "But I don't see what good that will do."

  "Bear with me for just one moment." He swooped toward the railing and examined it, looking around the posts. "There," he said, motioning toward the outer side of one of the rails.

  I leaned over, and there was a piece of fabric hooked on a screw. I wasn’t sure how we’d missed it before, other than we hadn’t been looking at the top railings. "What's that?" I asked, wondering how on earth it could be relevant.

  "I love this deck because it's high enough to see all the good stuff,” he said, “but not so high you don't have a good view of the water. Just like you, I love watching the dolphins." He smiled. "I've been doing it for thirty years now. You'd think I'd get tired of it, but it never gets old." His smile faded. "Plus, when you die, a lot of things go through your head, and sometimes it's nice to have a quiet spot to think. This is one of the places I like to come to do that."

  "That's all well and good, but what's it have to do with Gerard throwing the jewels overboard?" Bobbie Sue asked, then rolled her fingers. "Get to it if you have a point."

  "I do," Rupert replied, and I felt sort of bad for him since he wasn't exactly seeing us at our best right then. "That is a scrap from Gerard King's night shirt. I was up here watching the water, and he came rushing out from that passage, looking left and right as if he didn't want to be seen. He leaned over the railing, tossed something overboard, then when he pulled his arm back, the sleeve of his shirt got snagged on that nail."

  "But he can just say he was out for a walk, just like we said earlier," I told him, disappointed that we still couldn't connect the dots.

  "Au contraire. We can connect him straight to it," he said, then motioned us over to the railing and pointed toward the stern of the ship. "See that camera all the way up toward the stern?"

  I squinted, but didn't see anything at first. Then the ship rocked a little and moonlight glinted off the lens. "I see it."

  "Well," he said, looking smug. "That camera is to monitor the lifeboats and give the captain a view down the outside of the ship. But as far as Mr. King leaned out to drop the jewelry—I assume that's what I saw him dump—the camera surely caught his arms and hands, and the jewelry."

  "Then all we have to do is make the connection between the arms in the video, and the pajamas, which should have a tear in them, and we've got him," Raeann said, smiling. "Rupert, you sure do know how to make a good first impression."

  He blushed scarlet, then took Cheri Lynn's hand. "I'm trying, because if I get my wish, you're all going to be seeing a lot of me."

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  I PUSHED ASIDE THE umbrella in my Mai Tai and took a long pull through the bright-pink bendy straw, then set it down and leaned back into my lounge chair. The sun felt amazing on my face, and the cool ocean breeze tickled across my skin. Some guy playing a steel guitar on the other side of the pool started in on the first few bars of "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," and I smiled.

  The girls, including April, all lounged around me, and we all joined in when the guy started singing, belting out the lyrics like nobody else was listening, because as far as we were concerned, they weren't.

  We'd gone straight to the captain first thing that morning, and it hadn't taken him twenty minutes to connect the dots. They'd skipped the whole need for a search warrant because April had gladly handed over the pajamas. Once they'd cuffed him, she'd given him a sound cuff of her own on the head for tossing her pearls overboard, then called her attorney and filed for divorce as soon as they'd hauled him away.

  I pulled my sunglasses back down, adjusted the towel I was lying on, and closed my eyes. "So what are you gonna do now?" I asked her.

  "I don't know," she said from the chair beside me. "I do know we're in financial trouble, so I guess I'm gonna have to figure that out before I can do much movin' forward. That’s why he was tryin’ to collect the insurance money."

  "At least you won't be dealin' with The King while you're tryin' to clean up the mess," Anna Mae said. "Trust me, that makes everything easier. Course, mine died and yours is just in prison, but I'm guessin' it'll be a similar proces
s. He ain't getting out any time soon."

  "No," April replied. "He won't. Three counts of insurance fraud totaling over eight mil, and a count each of embezzling, kidnapping, and attempted murder when one of his guys figured it out and threatened to turn him in? Nope, he's out of the way for a good long while, if not forever."

  "You know you always have a place with us," Bobbie Sue said from a couple chairs down.

  "I do," April said, "And that means a lot. You all don't know how fortunate you are, having each other through thick and thin, no matter what."

  The thing was, I knew exactly how fortunate I was. The sun was shining, Buffett was playing in the background, and I was on a luxury ship in the Caribbean with six of the best women I knew.

  My luck couldn’t get any better than that.

  <<<<>>>>

  Witching for a Miracle

  By Tegan Maher

  WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN you combine magic and teenage attitude? A witch stuck in a snow globe, that’s what. Shelby Flynn’s tired of being treated like a kid and when she finds herself in trouble for yet another simple mistake, she wishes for a perfect life.

  Unfortunately, she has a lot to learn about perfection and finds out the hard way that growing up has nothing to do with age, and being independent doesn’t mean that you don’t occasionally need a little help.

  Now it’s going to take a miracle to get her home to the ones she loves so she can prove she’s the witch they know she can be. Lucky for her, that’s what Christmas is all about.

  This novella is set in the Witches of Keyhole Lake series and should be read at any point prior to book 4, Murder and Mayhem.