Night Shift
Page 9

“I had a twitch on the thread,” he said, and after a second, she understood. Manfred had a strong psychic ability, which was unreliable but undeniable. He’d felt that he had to prevent a disaster, and he’d obeyed his instinct. “This woman coming up behind you must be your sister?” he said. “There’s a resemblance.”
“Damn, forgot about her,” Fiji said. “Brace yourself.”
“What the hell?” said Kiki, from behind Fiji’s back.
“Manfred Bernardo, this is my sister Waikiki Ransom,” Fiji said. “Mostly known as Kiki.”
“Your parents had a thing about islands and beaches,” he said.
“I’m lucky I wasn’t named Capri,” Kiki said. “So, what happened to the crazy woman? Didn’t look like she got hit, thanks to Speedy Gonzales here, so what’s up with her?”
“Your sister put a spell on her,” Manfred said, pushing slowly to his feet. “If this lasts as long as the last time she used this one, the woman will be out for maybe five more minutes. So what do we do with her?”
Fiji stood, too, with considerably more effort. She glanced up at the window of the pawnshop to see Bobo staring out at them. He opened his hands, wordlessly asking if he should come help.
The last thing Fiji wanted was another encounter with him. She shook her head vehemently.
“Oooooh, who’s that?” asked Kiki. “He’s cute!”
Fiji stood and turned to face her sister. “Don’t go there,” she said, in a deadly voice. “Just. Don’t. Go there.”
Kiki nodded, her eyes wide. She took a step back.
“Manfred,” Fiji said, wheeling back to the psychic. She wanted to make it clear the subject had changed. “We need to get this lady in her car and get her out of town. Lest she wake up and try to kill herself all over again.”
“So you think this was a deliberate . . . ?”
“Sure,” Fiji said. “In the next few seconds she would’ve stabbed herself right at the intersection. With the knife she bought from me. Dammit.”
Kiki said, “I guess you’re going to explain this to me later?”
Grimly, Fiji said, “I guess I will.”
“Seems like all we do is haul unconscious women around,” Manfred said, getting to his feet. “This is beginning to seem weird.”
“I agree,” Fiji said. “But I don’t know what else we can do. Wait . . . let’s get her into the shop!”
Diederik made a timely appearance just then. If Kiki had been smitten with lust at the sight of Bobo, Diederik made her mouth fall open. But even Kiki had to be mindful of how young Diederik was, though she could never have guessed quite how young. Diederik said, “Miss Fiji, can I be of help?”
“Yes, you certainly can,” she said. “We’re going to pull this lady upright and see if we can get her into my place. I’m hoping she can wake up there naturally.”
It took the three of them (Kiki stood a distance away and offered verbal supervision) to get poor Francine Owens in an upright position. They managed to sort of lift her and move her a few feet, then a few more, until they got her up the porch steps and into The Inquiring Mind.
“Shall we just lay her on the floor?” Diederik said brightly.
“Yeah, I think so.” Fiji got a cushion from one of the chairs and put it under Ms. Owens’s head, and put a light throw over her legs. “Now she looks cared for,” she said, checking the effect. “Kiki, would you get a glass of water?” Fiji had chased down the store bag with the receipt still in it, and now she placed it and the athame behind the counter where they could not be seen. She put the purchase price of the athame back in Francine Owens’s purse.
Fiji was actually a little surprised when Kiki returned with the water. But she accepted the glass without comment, and when Francine opened her eyes, Fiji was squatting beside her looking solicitous.
“Oh my goodness,” Francine Owens said. “What happened?”
“Do you know where you are?” Manfred said, his voice gentle.
“Why, no, I don’t believe I do.” She looked terrified, even more so after she gave a second glance at Manfred’s glinting silver piercings and spiky platinum hair.
“You’re in Midnight, in a store called The Inquiring Mind,” Fiji said. “You came in to look around, and I think you fainted.”
“But I’ve never done that before,” Ms. Owens protested weakly. “My gosh, I must have scared you to death! You . . . haven’t called the ambulance or anything, have you?”
“We were just going to,” Fiji said. “You’ve only been out for a few seconds. Maybe you’d feel better if you got checked out?”
“Oh, please don’t call,” Ms. Owens said. “The fuss . . . and all over nothing, I’m sure.”
Fiji felt like the lowest form of life possible.
“Really? Because we’d be glad to.”
“I’m absolutely sure. Here, help me sit up. If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course not.” Fiji took one arm, and Manfred the other, and in a jiffy Ms. Owens was sitting up and smiling with relief.
“That’s better. I feel just fine. I’m sure I can get myself home.”
“No, ma’am,” Manfred said firmly. “One of us will drive you in your car, and one of us will follow to take the driver home.”
“Thanks for taking such good care of me,” Ms. Owens said, genuinely surprised. “Though . . .” She looked hard at Fiji. “I feel like we’ve met before. I mean, recently.”
“I felt just the same way when you came in,” Fiji said. “But for the life of me, I can’t recall where. Have a drink.” She handed the glass of water to Ms. Owens, who took a long gulp and handed it back.
“Thanks. If you wouldn’t mind, I know I’d feel even better at home,” she said.
“All right, we’ll get you up then,” said Manfred, and he signaled for Diederik to take Fiji’s place at Ms. Owens’s side. She was up on her feet before she had time to worry about the procedure.
Fiji asked Diederik to help customers if any came in while she was gone, and then she grabbed her keys and purse so she could follow Manfred to Ms. Owens’s house in Davy.