Sapphire Nights (Crystal Magic Book 1)(35)

“Pretend you do so I can get us both out of here. The sheriff has his homicide team up there and doesn’t need me. I’m supposed to be covering my rounds or giving assistance to the locals. You’re the local. I’m assisting. We’re getting off this mountain now, before Carmel rains fire and brimstone on our heads.”

Even as he said it, he saw Kurt Kennedy crossing the parking lot and Aaron Townsend jogging up the trail, headed his way.

“We can take Miss Moon down to the ER,” Kurt said with concern. “This happened on lodge property, and I’d like to see that she’s unhurt.”

“I’m unhurt,” Samantha shouted. “And I’m not going anywhere with potential murderers.”

Kurt’s dark eyebrows shot up. Aaron looked amused. Walker kept walking.

“She’s impaired,” Walker said grumpily. “The Lucys probably put pot on the fire.”

“We did not,” Aaron protested. “We released the spirit of the man who passed this mortal coil last night. Miss Moon was not prepared for the impact. And I wish everyone would quit calling us Lucys. I am not female, nor is Harvey.”

“We could call you Looneys,” Kurt offered, following Walker across the gravel lot.

Aaron was a big man, almost as large as Kurt. If they squared off. . .

Samantha yanked one of Walker’s fingers and pulled it back almost far enough to break it. In retaliation, he dropped her. She had to grab his arm to steady herself once she was on her feet again, but she had everyone’s attention. “I am not going anywhere with any of you. I’m going back to town to play in dirt.”

“Not with emergency vehicles flying up that drive, you’re not.” Walker caught her arm and kept marching her to his Ford. “I’ll take you down.”

“I can go with one of the others.” She tried to shake him off, but he wasn’t allowing that finger trick again.

“We offered rides,” Kurt reminded them. He crossed his arms and watched Walker open his door and fling Sam in. “Are you arresting her?”

“Maybe. I’m thinking about it.” He slammed the door. When she opened it again, he removed his cuffs from his belt. “You stay put or I’ll lock you in.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Her eyes were a challenging, long-lashed azure, and Walker could almost feel her ire cutting out his heart.

“I don’t respond to zanies anymore,” he told her. “Stay there or I’ll haul you in with cuffs.” He glared at Aaron and Kurt, who were looking belligerent. “She needs help. Stay out of this.”

“Zanies, nice,” she repeated in a fulminating tone that might well lead to explosion.

Walker checked to see that his gun was still in place.

Mariah popped up like an evil genie, her hair braided with trinkets, making her look more a lunatic than any of the Lucys. “Find out about Cass,” she commanded. “That was her with us just now.”

Even Sam stopped protesting to stare.

Mariah shrugged. “If you can’t tell, I can’t explain. Just go. She shouldn’t be on the astral plane this long.”

Walker climbed in, shoved his sunglasses on, and turned the ignition. “Are you sure you want to stay with the Looney Tunes?”

Sam remained silent long enough for him to send the car rolling down the drive and away from their audience.

“I understood what she meant,” she finally said in a small voice.

“About the astral plane?” He almost ground his teeth. His late wife had always sounded perfectly rational when she’d talked about the voices in her head. He’d never known when Tess was referring to characters in the novels she wrote or the demons that controlled her.

“No, I know nothing of astral planes. But I felt another presence that wasn’t me, unless I really am crazy. I need to dig some plants, do something constructive.”

“You need grounding,” he almost said in relief. People who realized they were thinking crazy weren’t really crazy, were they?

She smiled weakly. “Right. Grounding. But I remember what Cass looks like now.”

He almost slammed the brake. Instead, he drove straight through town, aiming for the main highway. “Describe her.”

“Tall and thin, like me. Classic roman nose, no makeup, blue eyes, silver hair pulled back tightly from Katharine Hepburn cheekbones.” She fell silent, as if waiting for his approval.

It was only as he recognized the description that he realized what she was really waiting for. “She resembles you. That’s why the Lucys took to you.”

“You said she’s in her sixties. She couldn’t be my mother unless she had me in her forties.” Her voice trembled.

“What do you mean, your mother? Your mother is Jade Moon. Her name is on all your records.” He’d been hoping against hope that she was sane and it was the town that was nuts, but none of this computed.

“You didn’t look up my parents, did you?” She gazed out at the passing landscape. “You’d understand if you’d seen their photos.”

“My phone should start working when we pass the gas station.” He handed it to her. “Call up the images you saw.”

She poked at icons as if she knew what she was doing. “Jade appears to be Chinese, Wolf, Native American. Neither of them look anything like me. And they must have looked horribly out of place in Provo. I researched the town where I grew up too. It couldn’t be any more white if it had been bleached.”