CALL ME CRAZY, BUT THE SIGN OVER THE FRONT DOOR didn’t exactly inspire confidence that the person inside could help us solve a murder.
It was purple and silver. There was a cute-as-a-button, smiling angel in one corner and loopy cursive across the rest.
Angel Emporium.
When Eve reached for the brass doorknob, I tugged her back. “I don’t know,” I said. “It doesn’t look-”
“What?” She wrinkled her nose the way she always did when she was impatient. “I thought you said you wanted to investigate. I told you, Annie, this lady can help us.”
I pressed my nose to the front window, but it was hard to see anything beyond the crystals that hung just beyond it, catching the afternoon light and shooting it back at us in a million, colorful pieces.
“We need a poison expert to figure out what’s in that vial you stole from Beyla,” I reminded Eve. “Not someone to put us in touch with our higher selves.”
Her shoulders stiffened. “I didn’t steal it. I borrowed it,” she said, firmly ignoring my objection. “And besides, it was all in the line of duty. This vial…” She reached into her purse and pulled it out for me to see. “This vial is a major breakthrough in our case. We would have been crazy to ignore the opportunity to appropriate it.”
I didn’t point out that her use of the wordwe wasn’t exactly accurate. I also didn’t mention that the simple fact that Eve had even used a word likeappropriate meant that she had been spending far too many hours in front ofCourt TV. One of us had to stay levelheaded. And even though I’d made the decision to continue with our sleuthing, I knew that one-now and always-had to be me.
“Major breakthrough or not, we have to find out what’s in the vial before we move forward,” I reminded her. “Maybe a doctor would be able to help us. Or the police. I’ll bet the police know plenty about poison.”
Eve’s upper lip curled. “You want us to go to Tyler and ask him for help? You’ll have to boil me in oil before I’ll do that. Or make me wear polyester. It’s not going to happen, Annie. Not in this lifetime.”
“OK, I get it. I agree, no police. But the Angel Emporium?” I could just about feelcute ooze out of the shop and wrap around us where we stood at the front door. “Are you sure?”
Eve nodded. “You said we needed an expert, right? That’s why we’re here. I know Rainbow can help us.”
If I was going to buy into this scenario-and at this point,if was a pretty crucial word-my confidence evaporated right then and there. “Rainbow? That’s not her name, is it? You haven’t brought us all the way here and made us parallel park just so we can talk to someone named Rainbow?”
Bless Eve for not knowing sarcasm when she heard it. As always, she took my questions at face value. “Rainbow DayGlow. Is that a great name or what? You’ll really like her. Come on.”
Because she knew I wasn’t going to budge without a little more urging, she opened the door and stepped into the Angel Emporium. I followed her inside.
No sooner had the door closed behind me and the little angel-topped wind chime above us announced our presence than I was overwhelmed by the mingled smells of incense and scented candles. There was a fountain to our right, and the sounds of trickling water provided a liquid counterpoint to the New Age music playing softly in the background.
“Blessed be!” a woman’s voice called to us from somewhere beyond the beaded curtain that partitioned the main part of the store from what was probably a storeroom or office. “I’ll be there in just a moment. Look around, why don’t you.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice. I was already checking out the place.
The wall next to the gurgling fountain was stacked floor to ceiling with candles that had names like Morning Prayer and Angel’s Kiss. The counter to my left was filled with beaded jewelry, incense that made my nose itch, and angels of all shapes and sizes. Angels graced everything from buttons to brooches. Angels perched on scrunchies and were emblazoned across the fronts of T-shirts and night-gowns and tank tops. Straight ahead was a huge quilt filled with brightly colored fabric angels, all of them pink-cheeked, bright-eyed, and as cute as… well… as cute as little angels.
Did I mention that I was losing confidence in Eve’s plan?
My level of trust dipped a little more when the owner of the chirpy voice that had greeted us stepped out from behind the brightly colored beaded curtain. Rainbow DayGlow was middle-aged, as short as I am, and twice as round. She had a head of springy red curls and wore a flowing tie-dyed skirt that touched her ankles. Her matching top, though it was loose and wide, did not disguise the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra. She smelled like patchouli (or was it sandalwood?). Her feet were bare; her toenails were painted purple.
“Blessed be!” She caught sight of me and smiled in an angelic sort of way. What else had I expected? “Can I help you with-” Rainbow’s gaze moved past me to where Eve was checking out the display of books with titles likeGetting in Touch with Your Angel Guides andTalk to Your Angels and They’ll Talk Back. “Eve! Hey, girlfriend, what’s shakin’?”
Eve stepped forward. She was still holding the vial of herbs, and she used it to point my way. “This is my friend, Annie,” she said. “We need your help.”
“Help?” Rainbow looked around the shop. Outside, Old Town was wall to wall with tourists, but right now, it appeared that none of them was in need of heavenly guidance; we were the only ones in the shop. “You mean-”
“You got that right.” Eve hurried toward the beaded curtain, and because I wasn’t sure what else I was supposed to do, I marched after her. Rainbow got there before either of us. She held the curtain and stepped aside to allow us into the back room ahead of her.
Did I sayroom?
OK, let me correct that right here and now. The place we walked into was less like a room and more like a cave. Dark walls. Dark ceiling. Dark floor.
In fact, the only light in the place was the single black candle burning in the center of a pentagram painted on the floor in the same silver paint that had been used on the smiling angel on the sign up front.
I screeched to a stop just inside the doorway and plucked at Eve’s sleeve. “Are you sure you-”
Rainbow was right behind me, and she prodded me forward, one hand on the small of my back. “The only magic going on here is the white kind. You don’t have a thing to worry about.”
“But how-?” I gathered my thoughts and my composure. Whatever I had expected when I looked inside the Angel Emporium, it sure wasn’t this. “Eve, how do you know about this place?”
It was too dark in there to be certain, but I swear Eve blushed. Since it’s not something she does often, I was more curious than ever. Rainbow spared her the effort of an explanation.
“I’ve known Eve for years,” she said. “We took belly dancing classes together back in ’95. Remember that, Eve?” Rainbow laughed and did a couple of quick moves that made her hips sway in dizzying ways. Even after she stopped, they kept shaking. “Since then, I’ve been able to help her a time or two. As a matter of fact, Eve, I’ve been wondering how that latest spell worked out for you.”
The color in Eve’s cheeks deepened. She gave me a sheepish grin, and I knew right then and there that I didn’t have to ask what kind of spell Rainbow was talking about. Or who that spell was intended to bewitch.
“You’ve used love spells? On Tyler?” My voice cracked over the words. “Eve, I can’t believe you. Why didn’t I know about this? How could you even begin to think that this kind of nonsense-”
“Now, now, don’t knock it until you try it.” Rainbow moved past me and flicked on a light, and for the first time, I saw that the room wasn’t as bare as I thought. The wall just behind where she stood was covered with shelves. Each shelf held glass containers on it, and each and every container was filled with some kind of dried herb or powder. Rainbow gave me a knowing grin. “If I’m not mistaken, you look like you might be in the market for a love spell yourself.” She reached for one of the jars and held it out to me. “Eye of newt?”