Sweet Dreams, Irene

She studied me for a moment. “There’s nothing worse than being fairly certain someone is guilty and not being able to nail them. Sorry, Irene.”

“I guess I’ll just have to put it out of my mind. Shall we go?”

But before we could leave, the phone rang again. It was Jacob.

“You remember Zoe – the lady at Rhia

“Yes.”

“Well, I went in there the other day to give her some of Sammy’s things. Mrs. Riley gave them to me to give to Sammy’s parents, but I didn’t think they would want the witch stuff. Anyway, I was talking to Zoe about Sammy and about you, and she said she’d like to talk to you. I’ve got her phone number if you want it.”

“Thanks.” I wrote the number down.

“She’s kind of goofy, but she’s nice.”

“You probably tell people the same thing about me.”

“No, I don’t,” he said, taking me far too seriously. “I mean, I don’t tell them you’re goofy.”

“Well, thanks again, Jacob. Come by and visit sometime soon.”

We hung up and I had a smile on my face.

“He’s a good kid,” Rachel said.

“That he is,” I said, feeling my spirits rise a little. I dialed the number for Zoe.

“Rhia

“Hi, Zoe. Irene. Jacob said you wanted to talk to me.”

“Oh, Irene, yes! I have something for you.”

“What?”

“Oh, let it be a surprise. A little gift from me to you.”

That in itself surprised me, but I said, “I’ll be coming that way a little later on. Maybe I can talk my ride into stopping by.”

“Wonderful! And don’t let that Leo’s pride of yours keep you away.”

RACHEL WAS WILLING to stop by Rhia

We went to a store called Nobody Out. It’s in a shopping district in downtown Las Piernas, where the sidewalks tend to be fairly crowded, so there were plenty of eyes on me. Rachel parked her rental car as close to the store as she could manage, about a block away. I found out that there was actually a certain amount of amusement to be had in watching people react to me. Wide-eyed and slack-jawed faces are fairly comical. I couldn’t move very quickly, even using the cane, but I only got jostled once. After that, Rachel managed to block for me.

By the time we got to the store, I had worked off some of the disappointment I had been feeling about Ga

I had chosen to go to Nobody Out because I buy most of my sports clothes there, and that proved to be of help. Helen, a college student who works there part-time, knows me fairly well, and didn’t fuss over the injuries.

“You ski into a tree, Irene?” she asked lightly.

“No, but that’s a good story to have on hand.”

When I didn’t offer any further explanation, she said, “What can I do for you?”

I gave her an idea of what kinds of things were easiest to put on and take off. She went to work, and Rachel looked like a pack animal by the time we left.

As we were walking and hobbling back to the car, something made me turn around – a sensation of being watched.

A black limousine was pulling up alongside us.

I let the cane clatter to the sidewalk and grabbed on to Rachel so hard she dropped the packages. As she saw what had startled me, she said softly but firmly, “I’m here, Irene. I’ll protect you. We’re out on the street in broad daylight with people everywhere. He can’t do anything to you.”

I looked at her. She had left the packages on the ground and had taken a no-nonsense stance next to me. She looked so strong and determined that I relaxed a little.

I watched our mirrored reflections roll down as a rear window was lowered. A tall, silver-haired man looked out at us and smiled. Under other circumstances, I would have said he was dignified and handsome, looking like a pillar of the community. But that same smile could have been seen on the face that led Little Red Riding Hood to say, “My, but what big teeth you have, Grandma.”

“How nice to see you out and about, Miss Kelly,” he said. “I’m Malcolm Ga

“I know,” I managed. Please don’t let him see how scared I am, I thought.

“No need to be frightened, Miss Kelly.”

Well, shit. But I grew angry, so my prayer was answered. “What exactly do you want, Mr. Ga

“I wondered the same about you, Miss Kelly. Remarkable reports have reached my ears. Your friend – well, really more than a friend, isn’t he? Your lover? Your-”

“Say what you have to say,” Rachel said in a low, commanding voice.

He looked over at her. “Miss Giocopazzi, isn’t it? Che piacere.”

“So you’ve been to Berlitz. Glad one of us finds it a pleasure. Now, why don’t you leave Miss Kelly alone?”

“I wonder why Miss Kelly won’t leave me alone? Really, Miss Kelly. A search warrant? You wouldn’t have found anything on the Long Shot. I guarantee it.” That hungry wolf look again.

I said nothing.

“No use bothering by now, is there?” Rachel said. “I imagine you’ve made sure everything is just shipshape.”

“Tell me, Miss Giocopazzi, how do you find time to act as nursemaid and chauffeur to Miss Kelly? Perhaps Detective Baird is less than fascinating company?”

Rachel’s smile was cold enough to skate on. “You can find trouble without begging so hard for it.”

“Miss Kelly-” he began, attempting to ignore Rachel.

“Leave Miss Kelly alone,” she interrupted. “Go on home. I’ll even give you something to look up in your Italian dictionary: Va’ a fare una bella cacata! Ti sentirai meglio.”

She turned to pick up the packages, and not wanting to be left staring at him, I turned to help her.

I heard him mutter something to our backs, then the car drove off. I was trembling. I collected the cane from where I had dropped it. Straightening, I fought off the urge to cry.

“Irene. Don’t let him get to you. He’s just trying to scare you.”

“I wasn’t one-tenth as scared as I would have been if you weren’t here. Thanks for sticking up for me.” We slowly made our way to her car. “By the way, what was that last thing you said to him in Italian?”

She laughed. “I told him, ‘Take a good shit, you’ll feel better.’”

I GAVE HER DIRECTIONS to Rhia

“You’re going in there?”

“Want to come along?”

“And have some old strega put the malocchio on me?” She held up her index and little finger on one hand like horns and spat three times between them.

I laughed and made my way into the store. The idea of Zoe putting an evil eye on someone amused me to no end.

“Zoe, do you do hexes?” I asked by way of greeting. I found I was begi

“Hello, Irene! As a general rule, no. The main tenet of Wicca is ‘Harm no one and do as thou wilt.’ Hexes are not to be taken lightly.” She had her back to me and was spreading some powder on the window sills of the shop. She turned and saw me, and took in my injuries with a quick glance. “You have a very strong spirit, Irene, which has served you well. I’m sorry you were hurt.”

“I’m healing,” I said. “What are you doing?”

“Oh,” she said, smiling. “Putting out protection powder – an ancient herbal recipe for protection from thieves.”

“Have you had problems with break-ins?”

“No, but I dreamed that someone broke in and stole an athalme.”

I searched my memory. “A knife?”

“A ritual knife. Come into the back, I’ll show you.”