Page 45 of Fresh Old Bounties

“Why would you have a goldfish’s ghost in your pipes?”

“It’s… It’s a long story.” I stared at the sink for a few blank moments, my heart ricocheting inside my chest, then something inside me snapped into action. I grabbed one of my cutting knives from the cutlery drawer and hurried to Dru’s side. Crouching behind her, I began working on the ziptie.

“Explain. Now,” she demanded, sounding a lot more like herself.

Thank the Mother.

I told her about the ghost in the bathtub, not caring she’d already heard this part, then about Bagley coming back to haunt the shop, and the noises in the pipes, and the small hints of shadow I’d seen come out of the faucet ever since I’d done the spell.

The moment her hands were free, Dru shot to her feet, rubbing her wrists. She snatched the gun off the floor, checked the safety, and slipped it into the waist of her jeans. Then she gave the man a kick in the side and rounded on me.

“Bagley’s been a ghost in the shop this whole time?” she whispered. “And you didn’t tell me?”

I looked at the man, alarmed. “Uh…”

“What?” She kicked him again. For good measure, I expect.

“Nothing.”

“Why didn't you tell me there is a dark magic witch haunting the shop?” She hunched, looking around. “Is she here?”

“No, she can’t go beyond the first room.”

And maybe I should’ve lied because her glower returned to me, upped by about a thousand. “Explain yourself. Why didn’t you tell me?”

I smiled weakly. “It didn’t come up in conversation?”

Her hands went to her hips. “Try again.”

“I was going to tell you, but Bagley’s always quiet when people are around, and I didn’t want her to bug you if she discovered you knew of her existence.”

Dru huffed. “Sure, Hope.” She pointed at me with a finger. “This conversation is not over. Don’t,” she added in warning as I took on a kicked puppy expression.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, rearranging my features back to normal. “What do we do with him?” I gestured at the man.

“Tie him up.”

“Do you think he needs medical attention?” I’d read if you fell unconscious from a hit to the head, you likely had a concussion.

Dru kicked him again. Gleefully. “Does it look like I care?”

Fair. I rummaged through the cupboards for some packing rope, then tied his hands tight behind his back. At least he wasn’t bleeding all over my kitchen floor. That was good.

Blood is hard to wash off grout.

Dru cut some more rope and got to work on tying up his ankles. I left her to that task and retrieved my phone from the sink.

Time to call for reinforcements.

TWELVE

Ian picked up after a few rings.

“Hello, Hope.”

His voice was warm and a little sinful and made my toes curl and wish I was calling for any other reason other than…

“Hi, Ian. Someone tried to rob us at the shop. Well, me.”

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