Fatal Fairies (Renaissance Faire Mystery Book 8) Read online

  What happened to keeping me out of it? So much for getting close to Chase by being his squire. He’d probably never forgive me if he thought I’d fingered him for Apple Blossom’s killer.

  Chase wasn’t angry when he looked at me again—his dark eyes were betrayed and hurt.

  “I didn’t even know her,” he told Detective Almond. “I can’t tell you anything about her or her death. You’ll have to ask someone else.”

  “Okay. But I think I’ll ask you a few more questions down at the station if that’s okay.” Detective Almond nodded to Grigg. “Another funny coincidence, Mr. Manhattan. The ME thinks whoever killed the fairy was a big, strong man like yourself. I’d say we have plenty to talk about.”

  Chase didn’t offer any resistance to accompanying the police officers to their car. Grigg didn’t put handcuffs on him. Detective Almond instructed Canyon to go through Chase’s personal possessions and his jousting armor to search for anything that went along with the fairy’s death.

  “Yeah,” Canyon complained when the police were gone with Chase. “Almond doesn’t even have a search warrant. Guess who that will land on if Chase decides to press charges.”

  “I’m sure Detective Almond will get a search warrant for you.”

  What was I going to do to help Chase?

  “Why were you up here while all this was going down, Jessie?” Canyon asked.

  “I was on my way to work.” I held up my small bag of clean clothes and didn’t tell him that I was planning to work for Chase. I hoped he’d still have me when he got back. There was no doubt in my mind that the police wouldn’t find anything to hold him.

  “Good idea. I heard Paul was looking for you. The Main Gate will be open soon. In the meantime, I get stuck going through someone else’s drawers.”

  Canyon asked me again about lunch. I turned him down again, though I planned to sneak back to the Dungeon and take a shower while he was busy. Getting naked with him there didn’t sound like a good way to prepare him for our coming breakup.

  Residents of the Village kept stopping me on the way to the Dungeon. They weren’t interested in my love life anymore—they wanted to know if Chase had been arrested and what my part in it had been. I pushed away questions from everyone, including Merlin, who was also secretly the CEO of Adventure Land. He just liked living here.

  I considered there might be some way to use that information to my advantage. Only a handful of people knew Merlin’s true identity. Could I blackmail him into helping Chase?

  A hundred thoughts fluttered through my mind like butterflies. Fairies and fire jugglers smiled at me as I walked by them. Mary, Mary Quite Contrary was selling vegetables from a cart along the way. Wandering minstrels were playing flutes and mandolins in the grass.

  Finally at the Dungeon, I sneaked inside and ran up the stairs to the apartment. I locked both doors and got in the shower.

  I thought about Chase and how we’d met, how we’d fallen in love. There had to be something in that knowledge that I could use.

  It finally came to me. Detective Almond had taken me in for questioning in that other life. Chase and I had been friends but not yet lovers. He’d come to the police station to get me out of trouble.

  Of course, he was a lawyer, if only a patent attorney. But no one had questioned that at the time. They’d believed he was my lawyer, and I’d left the station with him.

  Could I pull that off?

  It wasn’t like Chase had ID that said he was a lawyer, right? He’d just had the panache to get in there when I needed him. I’d known him for a long time. But I hadn’t known until then that he was a lawyer.

  After my quick, hot shower, I rummaged through the drawers until I found my things. I had one good black suit and black heels that I’d always worn back to the university in Columbia when the summer was over. I found a pair of dark-rimmed glasses with only plain glass in them. I didn’t recognize them so they might belong to Canyon. I took them anyway.

  When I was dressed, I made sure my usual fly-away brown hair was under control, slicked back and professional-looking. I used a lot more makeup than I usually did and put the dark glasses on my face.

  Wow. I didn’t even look like myself. Could I convince Detective Almond that I was Chase’s lawyer? I wouldn’t know until I tried.

  Dressed to kill, I walked down the cobblestones uncomfortably in my heels, stumbling every other step, focused on bringing Chase back to the Village.

  I made it out of the Main Gate, going through the small employee’s door on the side as visitors began to pour into the Village. In the parking lot I faced my greatest dilemma—this was the version of me that didn’t have a car.

  My heart sank like a stone in the sea of all my hopes.

  Where was that pesky fairy godmother when I needed her?

  I saw Chase’s silver BMW, and my hopes rose again. Though I couldn’t go to the castle and look for his keys, I knew where he kept a spare.

  Bending carefully so I wouldn’t mess up my skirt, I felt under the trunk, and there was his magnetic key holder. Flushed with success, I unlocked the car and got inside. I didn’t think it would impress anyone at the police station that I was driving an expensive car that could belong to a lawyer, but it might impress Chase that I’d brought it to him.

  Besides, I didn’t want to ride the bus.

  I’d driven the car a few times since we were married. It was simple to start and drive out of the parking lot. At every red light between the Village and the police station, I looked in the mirror and assured myself that I looked like a lawyer.

  I would have Chase out of there in no time. It could be something wonderful as it had been when he’d rescued me and taken me in his arms.

  The police station was in the same place. I parked at the curb, exactly where Chase had parked when he’d come to save me. I took a deep breath and adjusted my glasses. Chase’s briefcase was in the backseat, like always. I picked it up, got out, and locked the door.

  I was going to get my man and bring him home.

  Like many good resolutions, it was easier said than done.

  The desk sergeant wanted to see my ID. I made a show of searching in the briefcase and then pretended to realize I’d left my pocketbook at home. It wasn’t that hard. I was used to being different personalities at the Village. Pretending to be a lawyer wasn’t a big deal. I talked with the woman at the front desk. She was very understanding.

  Besides, if I wasn’t Chase’s lawyer, how would I know he was there?

  In the end, despite a mini interrogation by Detective Almond—who didn’t recognize me—they weren’t going to arrest Chase anyway. When they were finished questioning him, I walked in with the briefcase looking serious and ready to stand my ground.

  It had been different when Chase had come for me. He had ID and dramatically broke into my interview with Detective Almond. They weren’t holding me that day either, but I’d been scared and alone. It had been wonderful to see his friendly face.

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t wearing his friendly face when I walked into the interrogation room. He was gathering his ID and getting ready to leave. I smiled when he looked up.

  He glanced away with a frown. “What do you want, Jessie? Haven’t you done enough damage for today?”

  No pulling me into his arms as his hero or rushing to commend me on how clever I was to find a way to help him.

  “I came to get you out.”

  “They never planned on arresting me. Thanks anyway.” He stared hard at the briefcase. “Is that mine?”

  “Yes. I thought it would add to the effect. I’m supposed to be a lawyer—your lawyer. I knew you needed someone. I was the best person for the job.”

  “Maybe next time it would be better not to incriminate me to the investigating officer in the first place,” he suggested, picking up his briefcase.

  “That’s not what I meant when I talked to him, Chase.”

  “That’s the way he took it, Jessie.”

  He wal
ked out of the room, past the curious stares of the police officers. He was still wearing his tight leather Ren Faire clothes and boots.

  I followed quickly behind him, trying to maintain my persona as his legal defense. The desk sergeant smiled and waved as I walked out the front door. At least I’d made one friend.

  Chase stopped abruptly when he saw his BMW parked outside the station.

  “Did you drive this here?”

  “Yes. I know where you keep your spare key. I’ve driven your car before.”

  He wasn’t impressed. If anything, he was angrier. “How did you know about my key? And what do you mean you’ve driven my car? Are you stalking me? Is that why you want to be my squire?”

  “No. This is getting completely messed up.” I bit my lip, trying to think what I could say to bring him over to my side. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him about driving the car. I just thought he might feel like he could trust me.

  “Did you kill that fairy, and you’re trying to blame it on me? Is this whole thing a setup?” He ran his hand through his long brown hair. “You started this right after the fairy died. Everyone knows how you feel about fairies. It’s no secret.”

  Really? Even in this place everyone knew I hated fairies? I didn’t think I’d started hating them until after Chase and I were together. They were always flitting around him and flirting. I thought that was the beginning. Apparently I was wrong.

  To make matters worse, Princess Isabelle drove up in one of those red mini-cars. Her long black hair was perfectly sleek against her head, and her pale mauve dress was exactly what someone would wear to save their lover who was in jail.

  “Chase!” She left her car in the street and ran up to join us, but she was staring at me as she wound her arms, and her lithe body, around him

  “It’s okay, Isabelle. I’m fine.”

  “Who is she?” Her eyes narrowed on my face like daggers.

  “This is my public defender,” Chase answered to my complete surprise. “She got me out of jail.”

  I smiled, cool and professional, the way I’d practiced in the car mirror on the way to the police station. I held out my hand to her in a totally objective way. “Jessica.”

  “Thank you.” She barely touched her cool white hand to mine before turning back to Chase.

  But that was all that mattered. She’d bought it.

  What I couldn’t figure out was why Chase had helped me sell it to her. It had to be that he didn’t want her to be jealous. I didn’t even sneak a glance at him in case it all fell apart.

  “Isn’t this your car?” Isabelle asked him.

  “Yeah. They let me drive myself here. They aren’t charging me with anything. They just had a few questions.”

  “Well. Good, I guess.” She shrugged. “I wish I’d known. There was no reason for me to come running over here. I guess I’ll see you at home.”

  Chase and I watched her leave. When her cute little car was gone, I realized I was about to get hit with an avalanche of anger from my companion. It was so unfair since he loved me and not Isabelle.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “I’ll drive, if you don’t mind.”

  I handed him the keys. “I’m sorry. I was just trying to make everything right.”

  He walked toward the car. “Don’t worry about it. I know you, Jessie. You wouldn’t have done this on purpose. I’m sorry I said that to you before. I’ve just had a bad day.”

  “Thanks. I’ll make it up to you.”

  “Yes, you will. As my squire, you and I are going to figure out who killed the fairy.”

  Chapter Seven

  The Village was open when we got back. The parking lot was full to overflowing, hundreds more visitors still putting on their costumes as they took them from their cars.

  Our conversation hadn’t been much coming from the police department. Chase spent the whole time explaining to me why we were going to have to find Apple Blossom’s killer. Despite the way he looked (hot) and his job as Bailiff (exciting) he can be more boring than any college professor.

  And I didn’t care. The whole thing had worked out to my benefit. He wanted me to help him figure out who did it. That was exactly what Starshine had said I needed. I was feeling triumphant.

  “I hope you got the right costume from Portia this morning,” he said. “Our joust is in fifteen minutes. Make sure you’re there.”

  “I will.” I closed the car door and walked quickly through the employee’s gate.

  “I’d say you made real progress with Chase.” Starshine ambushed me as I entered the Village. “That was a brilliant plan, Jessie.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered. “I didn’t know if it would work, but we’re okay. At least on the murder investigation part. I’m not sure about being his love interest, but I’m working on that. At least he forgave me for putting him into the middle of the investigation.”

  She giggled and kicked her tiny feet as she buzzed along beside me. Lucky for me that half the people in the Village talked to themselves or some imaginary person most of the time. No one paid any attention.

  “You were right to send me to Chase’s dressing room, even though it was embarrassing. This way I’m his squire, and squires do some pretty intimate stuff for their jousters. I think this could work.”

  “I’m sure it will. Just be careful. Once you and Chase begin asking questions in the Village, you could be in danger. Someone killed Apple Blossom. He or she might come after you.”

  “Thanks. This isn’t my first rodeo. I can handle myself.” I glanced at my watch. “I have to run. Chase needs me at the Field of Honor in a few minutes. I hope I can sneak in and out of the Dungeon without running into Canyon.”

  “I’m sure I can grant that wish.”

  As I blinked my eyes, I was inside the apartment in the Dungeon. I glanced around, getting my bearings after my abrupt move from the parking lot. There was no sign of Canyon. I immediately started changing clothes.

  “Surprise!” Canyon put his hands over my eyes. “We’re both here at the same time. It doesn’t get much better than that. Looks like you were thinking what I was thinking—let’s get naked and have some fun.”

  I pushed him away, but I did it with a smile. “I’m so late for work. I have to go.”

  “Come on, Jessie. You’re always in such a hurry. I know that Paul Samuels fired you today and got another apprentice. You can’t hide the big, important things from me. I’m the Bailiff. I know everything that goes on here.”

  I stripped off my jacket but didn’t dare remove any more unless I wanted to end up in bed with him. “Did you get those reports from Detective Almond?”

  “Yes.” He sighed impatiently. “They’re on the table.”

  I grabbed the few clothes I had there and shoved them into a tote bag with the reports. This time wasn’t real anyway, at least not if I could change it. What difference did it make what else I left behind?

  “How about your search through Chase’s things? How did that go?”

  “Not much. If he killed the fairy, he hid it well. Why are you so interested?” He cocked his head to the side. “You do have a thing for Manhattan, don’t you? You’re dumping me.”

  “I’m sorry, Canyon. I’m sure it’s been fun, although I can’t recall any of it. But yes. I love Chase, and I’m going to work for him as his squire. I’ll get the rest of my stuff later.”

  “You can’t dump me.” He grabbed my arm. “Girls don’t dump me. I dump them.”

  I could see his blue eyes were serious despite his crazy words.

  “If it makes you feel any better, you can dump me. Or at least tell everyone that you dumped me. I don’t care.”

  “What about Princess Isabelle? Chase isn’t gonna leave anyone that fine and lose his place at the castle. You’re dreaming, Jessie. You better wake up before it’s too late.”

  “Thanks for the tip. I’ll see you around.”

  I was quickly out the door, tote in hand. I realized I was faced with the dilemma of where
I could change clothes. I barely had time to make it to the Field of Honor before Chase was ready for the joust. Tony’s place was on the other side of the Village. I wouldn’t make it there and back in time.

  Starshine wasn’t around to wish me into my squire’s clothes and up to the Field of Honor, so I had to run down the cobblestones. It only took a minute for me to realize that my heels weren’t going to make it. I shed them in the trashcan as I went past the tree swing that was between the Dungeon and the privies.

  “Run, Jessie, run!” Merlin encouraged in his star-studded purple robe. He held his wizard’s hat on his head to keep the wind from blowing it away.

  “I wish you were a real wizard,” I said before I realized what the words could mean. “Just kidding. I don’t really wish that at all, if you’re listening. Cross that one out.”

  My feet were sore by the time I’d reached the Field of Honor. I ignored them. My soggy boots were at the Dungeon. I had big feet for a woman, but Chase’s feet were much larger so I couldn’t borrow boots from him. I was going to have to be a shoeless squire.

  He wasn’t in his dressing room when I got there. Huzzah! I immediately stripped down to my underwear and started putting on my britches and shirt.

  “I guess you got here just in time,” he said from behind me.

  What was it with men sneaking up on me? First Canyon and then Chase. Not that I minded Chase seeing me in my pretty pink bra and panties. After all, getting him to notice me was a big part of what I was doing.

  “Sorry. I’ve got clothes. I just needed somewhere to change, and Tony’s place is all the way over on the other side.”

  I purposely put on the blousy white top most people wore in the Village and left it open while I pulled up the britches. The pants were a tight fit—what was Portia thinking? But I got them fastened and was happy to see that Chase was still staring at me. I left the shirt open more than usual.

  “You need your armor.” I fetched it from the spot where he’d left it after the last joust. It hadn’t been cleaned, but it was going to have to do.

  I picked up the breast plate and fastened it on him. He wore light chain mail under it, on top of his shirt. There were many times when the fake jousts got a little too real, and jousters were most vulnerable in the chest area.