A Taste for Magic (Familiar Kitten Mysteries Book 5) Page 5

  “Of course. Everyone in Coventry is welcome. You should stop in over at the Brew Station for a coffee and the daily lunch special. If you tell Viv I sent you, you get the first meal free,” I said.

  “Same business strategy as drug dealers. Sorry, I don’t mean to offend,” he said when my expression soured. “It is an excellent business strategy, and I will take you up on the offer. Thank you, Kinsley.”

  After that, I left him to do whatever it was he was going to do. As I was walking around the corner back to the entrance to my shop, Reggie was standing at the door with her phone out. Probably about to call me.

  “Sorry,” I said and rushed over to her. “I was upstairs checking out the apartment.”

  “Why did you walk around the building?” she asked as I unlocked the front door and we stepped inside. “I understand why you did it when there was a fire, but why now?”

  “Because the shop doesn’t have a back door. The only way to access the stairs to the second floor is to walk around,” I said with a shrug, but I couldn’t figure out why she didn’t know that.

  “Are you okay, Kinsley?” Reggie asked.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You realize that the building probably wouldn’t pass the fire code if the bottom floor didn’t have a back door right? I mean, other than the fact that it’s right there between the shelves and you can see it whenever you go back there. We’ve used it to take the trash out a gazillion times,” Reggie said.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  She answered by taking my hand and dragging me to the back of the shop. “You see.” She waved her hand in front of a door that was very obviously there. “There’s a door there, Kinsley.”

  “There is indeed a door there,” I said.

  I felt a strong flutter in my belly. The baby wanted me to pay particular attention to the door. I didn’t know why until I stepped forward and looked closely at the doorframe.

  “There are sigils here,” I said and ran my hand over them to deactivate their power. I could do that because they were mine. I had painted sigils on the door to make it invisible to me.

  “Probably something you did while that crazy book had its hooks in you,” Reggie said. “Good thing you figured it out before there was an actual fire.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed, but I wasn’t entirely sure if she was correct. I couldn’t remember how long they had been there.

  “Find anything interesting upstairs?” Reggie asked.

  “Dorian Black,” I said.

  “Who?”

  “His name is Dorian Black.” I went on to explain to her who he was and that he was renting the space above our shop.

  “Does he know you live at Hangman’s House?” Reggie asked, completely glossing over the fact that he was potentially the ghost’s son and that he’d been at the scene last night when Paul was nearly killed.

  “Maybe… He hasn’t mentioned it,” I answered.

  “I’m sure he’ll be on your doorstep wanting a tour soon enough,” she said.

  “Did you hear the part about him being at the scene last night when Paul was almost killed?” I asked.

  “Almost killed? Come on Kinsley, he had a heart attack brought on my stress. You’re not getting involved in it, are you?”

  “If someone tried to kill him, we need to know that, Reggie. Because they didn’t succeed, so they will try again,” I said indignantly. “I thought you’d be supportive of this.”

  “I got word this morning that Jeremy will be home in two days,” she said. “I can’t… I can’t get involved in this with you.”

  “That’s great news!” I said and hugged her. “You don’t need to feel bad.”

  “It’s just that I don’t know if I’ll be available to hang out for a while. I don’t want you to think I ditched you. He’ll be going back to work next week, and we’ll still see each other here until he does, right?” Reggie was babbling.

  “I understand you wanting to spend all of your free time with him, Reggie. You don’t owe me an explanation. I know you’ve got a lot on your plate with your grandma too.”

  She hugged me, and I almost brought the thing about Paul up again. I figured we could at least discuss it while we were at work, but I knew her mind was on other things. I let it go. In between customers, I listened as Reggie told me all about her plans once Jeremy returned. It was good to see my friend happy.

  Chapter Four

  After work, Reggie left for the nursing home. She had a lot to get squared away over the next couple of days.

  I, on the other hand, needed to figure out what happened to Paul. The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach wouldn’t go away, and I truly was afraid that whoever had tried to kill him would try again.

  So, I got in my car and headed to the hospital. Coventry didn’t have its own, but there was a regional hospital between it and the next town. Technically it was inside the limits of the next small city over, but it really was kind of out in a cornfield. It was a brand new, sparkling facility they’d opened after closing the older one. It wasn’t just Coventry that was growing. The entire region had seen an uptick in population.

  I pulled into the visitor parking lot and Meri hopped into my purse. It was probably against the rules to take a kitten into the hospital, but no one would know he was there.

  The gleaming white stone façade of the new building was nearly blinding in the late afternoon sun. I walked inside and over to the volunteer desk where a smiling, elderly man greeted me.

  “How can I help you today?” he asked me as I leaned slightly against the granite counter of the volunteer desk. “Are you here for an appointment or to visit?”

  “I’m here to visit Paul Fraser,” I said.

  He started typing something into his computer. “Do you know his room number?”

  I did not.

  “Uh…”

  He leaned forward and I did too. “He’s in room 303, Kinsley,” he whispered and then winked at me.

  “Uncle Gwydion?” I asked as I suddenly recognized the man before me.

  “Well, I’m not exactly your uncle anymore since Lilith dumped me,” he said with a hearty chuckle. “But we’ll always be family in my opinion.”

  “I haven’t seen you since I was a little girl,” I said remembering him fondly.

  “You’ve grown into quite the young woman,” he said. “I’m sure Lilith is so proud of you. How is she?”

  “Lilith is… well, she’s Lilith,” I said with my own laugh. “She’ll never change. But she’s well.”

  “Maybe I’ll give her a call. It’s been a long time. Perhaps she’s no longer bored of me.” He winked again as two more people came through the doors behind me.

  “You should. Lilith is always up for hearing from old friends. Thank you, Uncle Gwydion. Have a good day.”

  “You too, Kinsley.”

  I walked down the hall toward the sign that said “elevators.” After pushing the up button, I looked around. To my left was a huge bank of windows that overlooked cornfields. I noticed there was digging and construction equipment parked near the road. I had to wonder if they were left over from building the hospital, or if someone was getting ready to build something new.

  The elevator dinged and the doors opened. A tall man with strawberry blond hair wearing a deep navy suit stepped out. He looked like a lawyer. While he looked vaguely familiar, I couldn’t place him. Once he was out of the way, I walked into the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor.

  As I was getting out, I almost ran into Rebecca Fraser. She looked at me like she knew me, but then just shook her head and got on the elevator. I looked back as I was making my way down the hall and saw that she was holding the elevator door open watching me.

  She had to let it close and didn’t see me standing in front of her husband’s room. Paul’s door was standing halfway open, and I paused there. I hadn’t thought that far ahead, and I didn’t know if I should just walk right in or knock first. Ultimately, I d
ecided it was better to knock.

  “Come in,” Paul’s voice called out from inside the private hospital room.

  I walked in to find him sitting in bed wearing gray pajamas and reading the most recent James Patterson novel. There was a bottle of Coke and a half-eaten cheeseburger in a yellow wrapper sitting on the overbed table.

  “I hope I’m not bothering you,” I said as I walked into the room.

  “You’re not a nurse,” Paul responded. “And you’re definitely not my wife.”

  “My name is Kinsley,” I said.

  “You’re the woman from the restaurant.” Paul put the book down on the table and sat up straighter. “Your table was next to mine at Bella Vita.”

  He seemed suddenly nervous. Did he know that someone was trying to kill him? Did he think it was me, and I’d come back to finish the job?

  “I am,” I said, but I stayed back so that I didn’t spook him more.

  “You got engaged,” Paul relaxed a little. “Sorry if I ruined your night.”

  “You didn’t,” I said too quickly. “I mean, what happened to you sucks, and you shouldn’t be worried about my evening. How are you?”

  “How did you know what room I was in?” Paul stiffened up again. Once again, at least in his mind, I was the prime suspect in what had happened to him. “Have you ever worked in the restaurant industry?”

  It was a weird question, but I reasoned he believed he knew me from somewhere else. “I haven’t, and I know what room you’re in because I live in Coventry. Word travels fast in a town like ours.”

  “Probably my wife flapping her jaw,” Paul said and settled back into his pillows again. “You’d think someone who has to keep as many secrets as she does would be able to keep mine.”

  “I don’t know anything about that,” I said because I wasn’t sure what to say.

  “My wife is a psychiatrist. There aren’t many in the county, but she’s one of them. The most expensive one too,” Paul said.

  “Well, that’s a good job,” I said awkwardly as I tried to think of a way to steer the conversation where I wanted.

  “I’m a food purchaser,” Paul said. “In case the rumor mill hadn’t gotten that far.”

  “Food purchaser?” I asked.

  “I’m like a wholesaler and a middleman. I’ve got a warehouse outside of Coventry. I buy food and the restaurants buy it from me. I have trucks that deliver it to a three-county area.”

  “Why wouldn’t the restaurants buy the food directly?” I genuinely was curious.

  “Foremost is quality. They don’t have to worry about the quality of the food they purchase from me or ever getting a bad shipment. I handle all of that. So it’s kind of a buying with confidence thing. There are also some food providers who refuse to work with smaller restaurants. It’s just too much of a hassle, so I make sure those smaller places get what they want instead of having to settle.”

  “That is interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that before,” I said.

  “Most people haven’t. A big part of my business now is acquiring fresh, organic produce. I also purchase from sustainable local farms. Eco is big. It has been for a while, but it’s almost a must now. But buying local means it’s a pain for restaurants to get their eggs from one farm and their pork shoulder from another.”

  “I can see that,” I said.

  “Anyway, are you starting a restaurant? Is that why you’re here?” Paul asked.

  “I don’t know a good way to say this without seeming like a weirdo, so I’ll just come out and say it. I’m here because I’m concerned and curious about what happened to you at Bella Vita.”

  “Oh, good,” Paul said with an uncomfortable chuckle. “The way you led into that, I thought you were about to tell me you had a crush on me or something. You do look a little old to be one of my students, though. No offense. I don’t mean it like that.”

  “Um… One of your students? I thought you just said you were a food purchaser.” I decided to skirt over the fact that he’d just assumed I had a crush on him and made sure to inform me I looked too old to be a college student. It was true that I was in my thirties but thanks to my family… magic, I looked like I was in my early twenties. Paul was kind of a jerk.

  “I’m also getting a PhD. I’m a graduate assistant part-time, and I help a professor with some of his master’s students.” Paul said.

  “Oh, so do you know Hollie Ellis?” I asked.

  “I do. She’s one of my students. Hollie is a special girl.” Paul said with more fondness than I expected. Or maybe not. What had I expected?

  I went back over the scene the night before with Hollie waiting on Paul and his wife. Rebecca had left in anger, but perhaps she hadn’t been angry about just Paul. The old professor-student affair thing was cliché, but it was a cliché for a reason. Hollie had been angry and not herself earlier in the day. Did she have something to do with this? First, I had to figure out what this was.

  “So, about last night. Sheriff Wilson seemed to think you might have had heart problems or some other medical emergency. I wasn’t so sure about that.”

  “Ha!” Paul let out a strangled laugh. “I feel like I’m going crazy because the doctors here are telling me I had a panic attack. A panic attack. Can you believe that? I was unconscious. I was not having a panic attack, but by the time I got here, I was fairly okay. My blood pressure was still high, and I guess some of my other vitals bothered the ER doc. But, it wasn’t a heart attack or stroke. Not that I thought it would be anyway. I love good food, but I don’t overindulge in it. I run six days a week and play golf on Sundays. I hit the weights four days a week too. I guess I’m saying I take care of myself and my heart is as heathy as it gets.”

  “That all sounds like it could be stressful on top of running your business and getting a PhD,” I offered.

  “Except it’s not. I love the exercise, and it’s a stress reliever for me.”

  Something occurred to me. “So, if they think it was just a panic attack, then why are you still here? Are they just observing you?”

  He wasn’t on the psych floor, so I couldn’t fathom why someone who was as healthy as a horse would still be in the hospital. I doubted the hospital would even keep someone overnight for that. Insurance certainly wouldn’t cover it. Unless Paul was paying for it out of pocket? But why?

  “Well, that’s an interesting story. Whatever happened to me at Bella Vita might have actually saved my life,” he said.

  “Come again?”

  “When they tried to tell me that I had just had a panic attack, I told them they were completely nuts. I have never in my life had any panic attacks or any mental health issues. Ask my wife. So, I insisted they run more tests. Lots more tests. I got pushback at first because my insurance wouldn’t cover them. There was no reason, in the doctor’s opinion, to run them, so insurance wouldn’t pay. I said I’d pay for them myself. Well, it turned out that there’s a spot on my liver. I tiny bit of cancer. Doc said thanks to my insistence, we caught it early. So, that’s why I’m still here. A quick surgery to remove the offending little bugger, and then I’m out the door.”

  He had cancer. I must have healed most of it when I was trying to heal him in the bathroom, but I hadn’t gotten it all. That made me feel guilty for some reason.

  I did something I knew I probably shouldn’t do, but I couldn’t just leave him like that. Not after I’d almost given him a second chance. Sure, surgery and chemo might have done the trick, but I never could have lived with myself if they didn’t.

  “Thank you for talking with me,” I said as he accepted my outstretched hand.

  Even healing that little bit of cancer on his liver left me feeling exhausted. I was going to need to go straight home and have some food as well as rest on the sofa.

  Paul looked at me for a moment like he could tell that something had happened. He had no idea what, though, and no one would ever believe him. Most likely, the official story would be that the scans and tests were
wrong. A speck of dust on the machine. A clumsy lab technician. Even without the veil of magic that protected Coventry, the hospital would find a way to explain it all away.

  “Thank you for calling the ambulance. That was you, right?” Paul asked.

  “Well, I found you and yelled for someone to call an ambulance. Okay, it was actually an older man who found you, and maybe he said to call 911. I gave you CPR, though.”

  “Ha! And they say it was a panic attack. Oh, well, there’s no sense in trying to convince them. They’ll just say you gave me CPR when I didn’t need it or something. Anyway, thank you for saving me.”

  As I was leaving, I ran into Paul’s wife, Rebecca. I was about halfway to the elevator when she saw me and said, “hey,” to get my attention.