Pumpkin Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Book 14) Read online

  According to Leo, they were diabolical adversaries, for sure.

  Not that I would ever say or think such a thought with Leo around, but I’m pretty sure he never wanted the squirrelpocalypse to culminate. He enjoyed the so-called hunt, but there was never, ever, ever any bloodshed.

  “You look all cozy and warm,” Heidi muttered as she glanced down at her brown and cream sweater dress with a frown. She was also wearing high heels, but those never seemed to be a problem for her. I preferred my broomstick skirts, turtlenecks, and knee-high boots whenever possible. Working for myself, I got to wear them every single day. “I’m going to go change into a pair of jeans and a warm sweater. I won’t be long.”

  Heidi had purchased a house just inside one of the neighborhoods that wasn’t far from here. As a matter of fact, she lived right down the street from Mr. Jenkins.

  “Would you please check Mr. Jenkins’ petunia bushes on your way by his house?” I asked, locking my car up tight. It was force of habit from my life in the Big Apple. Locks kept honest people honest. Truthfully, hardly any of the rather ordinary crime that took place in a big city rarely happened in small towns such as Paramour Bay. Well, if you discounted the carnage left behind by Leo in his bid to win the so-called squirrelpocalypse. “I want to make sure that I’m not going to get a phone call this weekend.”

  “I will,” Heidi promised she called out, walking toward her office where she’d left her vehicle. “I’ll meet you by the caramel apple stand!”

  The twenty minutes that I’d just been given would allow me to have a talk with Liam. I’d tell him what Heidi discovered about the three local pumpkin patches competing in an annual contest at the state level, wondering if such information could help solve his case.

  For all I knew, he may have already solved the mystery.

  I glanced across the street to see if any lights were on at the police station. Besides the lone light that Eileen always left on at her desk, it didn’t appear that anyone was inside. The dispatcher usually called it an evening around five o’clock, but Liam would sometimes work late if there was any paperwork left to do from the day’s events.

  As I’d already mentioned, Paramour Bay wasn’t a hotbed of crime. The total opposite, if one discounted the occasional supernatural incidents that took place.

  It didn’t take me long to reach town square.

  I was glad to see that all the booths were open for business and the cute games were already underway with loads of children lined up to bob for apples, the dunk tank, and pin the stem on the pumpkin. There was even a huge piñata in the form of a ghost just waiting to be whacked by sticks, but that was probably going to happen later in the evening.

  Of course, the lighting of the jack-o-lantern was supposed to have been the grand finale.

  Let’s just say that the platform was completely devoid of any sort of pumpkin.

  It didn’t take me long to locate Liam. He and Otis, the former sheriff, were having what appeared to be a serious conversation with the mayor. I didn’t have to be a genius to figure out that the town’s prized pumpkin was still missing.

  Liam had caught sight of me and quietly excused himself from the discussion.

  “I heard you’ve had quite the afternoon,” I said, lifting my face for a welcoming kiss. “It was all anyone could talk about over at the diner.”

  “Beau and Virgil are retracing their steps, hoping that the pumpkin somehow fell harmlessly out of the bed of their truck,” Liam shared, although his tone indicated he didn’t think that was the case at all. “Raven, there’s something else.”

  The palm of my hand began to coil with warmth, and I had no doubt that Leo could sense my anxiety from wherever he’d gone to in order to get one up on Skippy. I expected him to materialize out of thin air within moments.

  I shared with Liam what had happened to me when I’d closed up the shop, and he didn’t seem in the least bit surprised.

  “Gertie was sitting out on the front porch of the inn,” Liam shared, glancing over his shoulder to where the old Victorian home sat quite a few blocks away from town square. “I’m pretty sure that I convinced her otherwise, but she claims that when she was watching the strings being strung and the booths being set up that…well, the jack-o-lantern that was in the bed of Virgil’s truck simply vanished.”

  “As in—poof?” I asked, waving my hand in the air to indicate that the pumpkin evaporated into thin air.

  “Pretty much,” Liam replied reluctantly, shifting so that he was standing at my side so that he could keep an eye on Otis and the mayor. “By the time I got done explaining that the inn was quite a few blocks away and that her eyesight wasn’t entirely what it used to be, Gertie was in complete agreement that the pumpkin couldn’t just up and disappear. One crisis averted, but I’m relatively sure that we have a bigger problem on our hands.”

  The only crisis that I know of right now is that you two bumble brains are attempting to cast a bad light on the supernatural. Not everything bad that happens in this town has to do with witches, ghosts, and goblins.

  “Leo, pumpkins also don’t just disappear into thin air,” I countered, looking around the area to see where he was sitting. “I don’t believe my tendency to sense when the aura around us is off kilter is that off the mark with this one. It’s been pretty reliable when you think back on all of the mysteries that we’ve solved.”

  “Woah,” Liam muttered when he finally caught sight of Leo. Sure enough and as predicted, he’d come waltzing around one of the haystacks. His left eye was still swollen shut, but it honestly didn’t look as bad as it had earlier today. “What happened to you, big guy?”

  Don’t you dare say that I got this shiner from tripping over the old geezer’s hoarding habit.

  “It’s a long story,” I replied, much to the relief of Leo and his pride. “Getting back to your case, are you investigating this as a simple theft?”

  “Yes, and I’d like to keep it like that.” Liam gestured toward the inn once more. “I took care of the Gertie situation, but Virgil still thinks that someone stole his pumpkin because he didn’t carve a toothy smile in the one from a few years ago.”

  See? The good ol’ sheriff has things covered, and he doesn’t need our assistance. Ignore your defective palm, eat some caramel apples, and don’t wait up for me. I’ve got a hot date.

  It didn’t come as a surprise that Virgil would think his creation was stolen, especially when most of the residents had been pretty vocal about their dislike of the creepy theme years before. It sounded as if he’d gone that route again, regardless of popular opinion.

  “Did you know that there is a big state fair competition that starts right after our festival?” I asked, inhaling deeply when I caught the delicious aroma of funnel cakes. “Two other local family-owned growers usually take part in it, as well.”

  I’d made sure to only have a cup of chili at the diner instead of a huge bowl, just so that I’d have room for all the treats that I planned to sample throughout the evening in the junk food alley. Even though the odds were slim, I was still hoping that the current case had nothing to do with the supernatural. Maybe Gertie hadn’t seen what she thought she saw, after all. I mean, she was getting on in years.

  Why didn’t you say that earlier? Case closed. I only have a few minutes of twilight left, and that means that Skippy’s ninja minions are going to be heading toward their winter supply of acorns.

  “You’re referring to the rivalry with the Ackermans and the Fletchers,” Liam said, dismissing that angle with a shake of his head. “I know both families, Raven. I’ll pay them a visit tomorrow, but I highly doubt that either side would resort to theft. They are upstanding folks who give back to their respective towns. Besides, I spoke with everyone who was in town square this afternoon, and no one saw anyone or anything that might have been out of place.”

  “How can I help?” I asked, noticing that the mayor seemed pretty agitated as he finished his discussion with Otis. “I can’t do a
locator spell, because that requires the use of an item that was owned by whoever it is that I’m trying to find. I might be able to use a piece of stem from the vine or maybe some of the remains from the carving if it were fresh enough, but…honestly, I doubt it would work.”

  “Is there any way that you can figure out if the jack-o-lantern was stolen by something other than a human?” Liam asked, dropping the last part of his question into barely a whisper. “Maybe detect a bit of supernatural involvement?”

  I’m not getting back to my battle plan for the squirrelpocalypse, am I?

  I should probably explain that not everyone in town knew about the supernatural. Technically, only Liam and Heidi knew that I was a witch. No one else was aware of the supernatural realm as a reality. It was actually a coven rule, but I couldn’t fathom being with someone as sweet as Liam and withholding a major part of who I am.

  If that’s the case, maybe the good ol’ sheriff should have to be the one around you after you’ve eaten those beans that—

  “Leo, go find Rye,” I directed, already knowing that Leo had a hard time accepting the fact that I’d shared my abilities with Liam and Heidi. With that said, I would make the same choice all over again. “See if he’s seen or heard anything. I know that he was a part of the committee stringing the lights and putting up the booths. And since we’re being so awkwardly truthful, you might want to tell him that those new glasses he got last week shows the reflection of his cards—”

  Touché, Raven. Touché.

  Liam chuckled, having figured out at least part of the conversation that I was having with Leo. Rye and Leo both took part in the weekly supernatural poker game that was hosted by the grim reaper over at the cemetery every Wednesday night. It was safe to say that Leo took advantage of any of their shortcomings as much as he could on any given week.

  Rye was important to this case, though.

  You see, he was a warlock and a pretty powerful one at that.

  I’m not even sure that he realized his true potential, but Aunt Rowena certainly had seen his promise long ago. She’d taken him into her home when he’d had no place to go in his younger years on the street. They had a mother and son relationship more than anything else, and she’d done her best to protect him from the coven when they suspected that he might be more of value to them than they’d originally thought.

  My mother and I might have hard feelings regarding my great aunt over how she treated our Nan, but Aunt Rowena had done the right thing in the end and made sure that Rye was safe here in Paramour Bay close to family.

  “Liam, I wasn’t in the vicinity of where the jack-o-lantern was stolen,” I explained regretfully, wishing that I could be of more help. That didn’t mean I couldn’t contribute in the aftermath. “I didn’t sense any change in the energy around us at the shop, but that really doesn’t mean anything. Not to change the subject, but why does the mayor seem so upset? Can’t we just replace the pumpkin?”

  Liam gave himself one of those telling neck rubs, and I didn’t have to be a witch to know that something else was bothering him.

  “Otis wants to be deputized for this case, but the mayor doesn’t want to pay him for his time.” Liam waved his hand in dismissal, telling me the situation was in control. “I think Otis and Karen have been having a bit of financial problems, and I’m sure that I can figure something out with the budget if he needs a day or two of pay. I just need to pull the mayor aside and tell him what I have in mind. It also doesn’t help that Otis and I are still trying to figure out where the funding went for the CCTV security cameras that the town was supposed to get from last year’s budget. That’s what we’re talking about now, trying to press home that we would already know who took the prized pumpkin if the cameras had been installed like they were supposed to be. Anyway, I should get over there before Otis says something or makes an accusation that he can’t take back. You know how passionate he can get about the safety of this town, especially when politics get in the way. Let me know if you find that this theft is in any way related to…any funny business.”

  Liam wiggled his fingers to indicate magic before kissing me on the cheek and heading back to the two older gentlemen who were still in deep conversation. Elsie and Wilma hadn’t said a word about Otis and his wife having financial difficulties, but I’d imagine that the former sheriff would want to keep something like that under wraps.

  “I’ll let you know what we find,” I promised before Liam walked away, leaving me to look around town square for Leo.

  The festival committee had really done an outstanding job with the decorations.

  Now that the sun had pretty much set, the orange lights that had been strung on the large oak and maple trees were simply stunning. The lanterns that had been strung from lamppost to lamppost swung gently with the coastal breeze. There were quite a few families milling about, and their conversations and laughter filled the air as they played games, ate the delicious food, and enjoyed what had been salvaged of the evening.

  Unfortunately, there was a big empty space on stage where the town’s prized jack-o-lantern was supposed to have been displayed and lighted for the main event.

  Hey, Raven?

  “Yeah,” I whispered in response to Leo’s call. I turned around to find that he’d hopped up on one of the bundles of hay that had been stacked behind me. We were actually at eye level, and I could see that the swelling on the left side of his face had actually diminished quite a lot. At least something was going our way this evening. “Did you locate Rye?”

  Nope, but you don’t need to worry. Mr. Leo is on the case. Rest assured, we will find the town’s prized pumpkin for all these little kiddos who had their hearts set on seeing a big ol’ scary face light up this weekend.

  “Okay, now I know that we’re in big trouble,” I murmured, goosebumps making their way up my forearms. “Leo, what has gotten into you? You never, ever want to dive headfirst into a mystery. As a matter of fact, you were complaining not ten minutes ago about becoming involved. What gives, and you better answer before I decide that you’ve been possessed or something.”

  What is wrong with you, Raven? You know better than to use the big P word around All Hallows’ Eve. The veil between us and the afterlife is too thin for my liking, and any spirit looking for a host will see me as a perfect specimen.

  “I know that I’m going to regret this, but why would you think that?” I asked, catching sight of Heidi walking toward us. “If you didn’t locate Rye, then what did you find that makes you want to help with the case so badly?”

  Leo mumbled something underneath his breath that I couldn’t quite catch.

  “What was that?” I asked warily, motioning for Heidi to hurry up. She’d changed into jeans, a pair of brown boots, and one of her favorite lightweight leather jackets that matched the rest of her outfit. “I couldn’t hear you, Leo.”

  Crushed acorns.

  “What does crushed acorns have to do our missing prized pumpkin?”

  Everything! Don’t you see? That prized pumpkin must have something to do with the squirrelpocalypse. It’s the only thing that makes sense. And if that’s the case, then I need to be one step ahead of this thief. Raven, it looks as if I’m joining the mystery of the missing prized pumpkin parade! Hey, say that three times fast!

  Chapter Three

  “It’s a little crooked,” Heidi declared, leaning in and adjusting the eyepatch that she’d brought Leo.

  Her attempt to get him to wear a costume last year hadn’t gone over very well, and I was a little surprised that she’d been able to get him into one now. The eyepatch with the adorable little pirate vest and a swashbuckler’s trifold hat was usually something that he would have scrambled away from upon first sight.

  I was now officially worried.

  “Leo, did you find something else around the place where Virgil had his truck parked?” I inquired, hoping that Heidi was finally done fiddling with the eyepatch. I must say that it did cover up the fact that he still
had some swelling around his left eye. “I mean, besides crushed acorns that was most likely because of excessive foot traffic near the festival and nothing to do with the squirrelpocalypse.”

  I’ll have you know that this pirate outfit will keep any restless spirits that might have crossed through the veil from using me as a convenient parking spot. No, siree. This roguish body is off limits to those floaters!

  Now I completely understood why he was currently so docile when it came to dressing up for Halloween. It also helped when some of the passersby oohed and awed over him, telling him how handsome he looked as a pirate.

  “What did I miss?” Heidi asked, stepping back and smiling at her creative sense of style. “Leo, you look simply dashing.”

  If my former soulmate isn’t careful, I’m going to fall for her all over again. Of course, that wouldn’t be fair to my perfect mate. Anyway, my former soulmate has no idea how she just saved me from being an unwilling vessel to the free roaming spirits that are no doubt walking among us at this very moment. This eyepatch covers my injury, which serves as a vulnerability, and now I can go search for clues as to who is trying to one up me in the squirrelpocalypse.

  “You didn’t miss much,” I shared wryly with Heidi, gesturing that I wanted to walk to the other side of town square. I wanted to see for myself if there were any clues left near where Virgil had his truck parked next to the curb. The caramel apple booth was over that way, anyway. “I take that back. Liam did say that Gertie saw the prized pumpkin disappear into thin air. He convinced her that she was too far away to really see something like that, and she apparently concluded that he was right.”

  Leo had hopped down from the haystack and was leading the way through the throngs of people, though he didn’t seem to notice that his costume was garnering quite a bit of attention from the locals. I’m pretty sure that was the opposite of what he’d wanted, but I wasn’t going to risk his good mood over helping find out who’d stolen the jack-o-lantern.

  “Are you saying that this case has to do with the supernatural?” Heidi asked, slipping her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. She’d whispered the last word so that no one would overhear her, but her blue eyes were now filled with even more curiosity than before. “I’ve been practicing some of those spells that you and your mom have been teaching me, and I’m really pretty good at the locator spell. I mean, I can’t get really accurate results like you, but I can definitely get the pendant in the general area of the map.”