Out of Mind

Willow looked at the phone blankly, then stared at her office manager. “Why would Mrs. Leopold talk to me as if I were a criminal?”

“Can’t think of any reason,” Zinnia said, putting the tea in front of Willow, who remembered the phone and did set it down. “And if a cop comes in here anytime soon, I won’t be able to think of a reason, either.”

“Neither will I,” Fabio bellowed, his English heavily accented. “I won’t know why the Smiths quit, either.” He claimed to be Italian, blond because he was from the north, but the accent sometimes slipped. According to his own reports, he attracted women like mosquitoes to standing water in hot weather.

“Put a sock in it,” Zinnia said over her shoulder. “Not another word out of you until the coast is clear. Got that?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Fabio said. “I could always lock the door and we’ll pretend we aren’t here.”

“Quiet,” Zinnia snapped.

Willow drank some of Zinnia’s green ginger tea, breathed in the delicious aroma, then had an insane urge to laugh, until a knock came at that door Fabio had wanted to lock.

“Open it right up,” she said. “Don’t look guilty, either of you.”

Zinnia gave an uncharacteristic wink and sauntered to let in the expected member of the police force.

“Didn’t want to scare you by walking in,” Rock U. said. He strutted past Zinnia and jerked his head to indicate she should close the door again.

Predictably, it slammed.

“That guy wasn’t the sharpest needle in the box,” Rock U. said. He had a thing about using the word needle frequently. Said it took the sting out of people’s fear of them if they were mentioned casually.

“The cop?” Zinnia asked.

Rock U. turned his back on her and addressed only Willow. “Did I imagine it, or was that man who drove you here Benedict Fortune?”

Puzzled, Willow said, “Yes.”

“Thought so. He’s supposed to be a wizard, isn’t he? Word around the Quarter has it you two were an item.”

“They surely were,” Fabio said. “Mamma mia, and what a hot item, if I may say so, boss? The air around you two sizzled—bet it still does. And make that, he is a wizard.”

Why hadn’t she followed Sykes’s advice, kept her office door and bought a smaller desk? “Ben’s a good friend of mine,” she told Rock U. “Cut the gossip, Fabio.”

“He’s back in town?” Zinnia said, her eyes all but crossed in ecstasy. “That man is a major stud. When he walks down the street, it’s like the parting of the Red Sea. All the people get out of his way and stare. Is that black hair still long finger food?”

Willow ignored her. “What did the police want, Rock U.?”

“I could hardly get a word out of him. He told me he’d be parking outside until he’s relieved by another cruiser. Then he said he hadn’t been told we did tattoos, as well. What else does he think I do?”

“He’s watching us,” Fabio said. “We are under surveillance.” He sounded excited.

“I’m worried about Chris,” Willow said. “What if something horrible has happened to him?”

“Probably heard all the fuss and ducked out,” Fabio said. “He likes to do his own thing—without an audience.”

Without warning, Mario climbed from Willow’s lap onto the desk and sat facing the bigger room.

Rock U. frowned at the dog. “He’s giving me the evil eye,” he said, taking a step backward. “Where d’you get that thing?”

“He’s my dog,” Willow said shortly. “He’s a very good watchdog, and he’ll be with me all the time now. With everything going the way it is, I need someone fearlessly loyal around.”

“I’m fearlessly loyal,” Rock U. said, still eyeing Mario.

Willow heard a low growl, but chose to ignore it.

“The cop made a mistake about tattoos because you won’t put a name on your place,” Fabio said. “He thinks it’s part of the stuff we do.”

“I got a sign,” Rock U. said, sounding aggrieved. “It lights up and says Tattoos. What else do I need? And you don’t have a sign, either. You been here weeks longer than me.”

Fabio was enjoying himself too much. “Didn’t you ask him why he’s sitting out there?” he said.

“What d’you think?” Rock U. asked him. “I asked and he said he was checking around the area. Something about a missing person.” Mario got another glare.

Getting up slowly and stretching, Willow’s new pet walked across the desk and sat on the very edge—like a sentry.

“Will you stop it!” Willow said. “All of you. Tell me one thing, Zinnia. Did the Smiths say anything about why they were canceling?”

“Said you’d know why, that we all would, and they can’t believe it of us, but don’t have a choice and won’t take a chance. That was the whole enchilada.”

“I’m going over to the Smiths,” Willow said. “Calling Mrs. Leopold first was a mistake. If I just show up at the Smiths, they’ll get over any hang-ups they have.”

“What hang-ups?” Rock U. asked. When he frowned, heavy brows half covered his eyes.

“What you were talking about when I came in,” Willow said, exasperated. “You said we were all over the news.”

“Oh, that.” His eyebrows shot up again. “I just thought it was pretty good advertising. All I was asking you was how you managed to get the name out in front of news cameras. I was thinking I might try and do the same with mine.”

“You don’t have a name, remember,” Fabio said, sniffing sharply through his slender nose. “It’s too expensive to come up with a moniker and get it painted out front.”

“Details,” Rock U. said. “Now they’re talkin’ about bats.”

Zinnia made an ugly face.

“What about them?” Willow asked.

“They think they’re moving into the city—like a plague.”

The phone rang and Willow picked it up. “It’s Sykes.” Her brother used his tough voice. “Ben and I want to pick you up in about an hour.”

“Nope,” she told him. “I just got here and I’m up to my ears. Bye.”

“Just be careful until we get there,” Sykes said.

Then Ben came on. “Do not go outside, Willow. Promise me you won’t. Go on, say it now.”

“Later, you two.”

“Say it!” That was as close to shouting as she’d ever heard from Ben.

“Thanks,” Willow said in a reasonable voice that cost her control. “I appreciate the warning.”

She clicked off and said, “Now. What about these bats? You’re kidding, right?”

“He’s kidding,” Fabio said. “Thinks he’s a funny guy.”

Rock U. hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “I just heard it on the cop’s radio. Reports of bats scaring people. They’ve been seen—the bats have. Today.”

“It’s not a good thing to see bats in the daytime,” Zinnia said seriously. “Usually means they’ve got rabies.”

Willow shuddered. Her back straightened and a creepy cold climbed her spine. Her brain buzzed.

She touched her forehead, then her neck. “Please give me some time to think,” she said. “Please. I need to be alone.” Could a bat have touched her?

Oh, sure—several times and without her seeing it? And she didn’t think bats went in for the kind of touching she’d felt in the Brandts’ garden.

Yet again the phone rang and Willow picked up. “Yes,” she said, as evenly as she could.

“Promise me,” Ben said. “I’ve got to deal with something, then I’ll be over for you.”

“I’m fine, Ben,” she said, touched despite her mixed-up feelings. “Thank you for caring. Nothing’s changed.”