Page 74 of Obsession

“Somewhere in that ballpark.”

“Shit!” I take a deep breath. “Okay, so pay him back.”

“I can’t. I spent the money on my Costa Rica trip.”

“You spent all of it?” My voice raises several octaves.

She nods sheepishly. “Yes.”

“Good Goddess, inner peace is expensive!” I snatch the letter and read it. Included are copies of bank withdrawal slips with my aunt’s signature on them, and a letter written by Craig in prison to my aunt authorizing her to make certain expenditures on his behalf. Nothing says pay yourself twenty grand to go meditate. Shit again. “They’re threatening to report it to the authorities. Aunt Callie, what the fuck were you thinking?”

“They’re bluffing. Craig’s a felon; he’s not gonna go to the cops.”

“Aunt Callie, you—”

“Look, I didn’t expect him to get an early release,” she says defensively, cutting me off. “I’m hosting a big meditation workshop next month and thought I would make the money. I’d put it back in his account, and no harm, no foul.” She starts crying. “What am I going to do?”

Grabbing a tissue box from under the counter, I hand it to her. “Shit.” That seems to be the only word I can come up with. “That’s why he’s been calling and why he showed up and threatened you.”

She nods, dabbing her eyes with the tissue. “I needed to get away after the whole Eiael disaster. I couldn’t stand to face you or Mama.”

“Aunt Callie, I don’t judge you for what happened,” I say gently.

“You should! My ‘boyfriend’ murdered your best friend,” she says, tears streaming down her cheeks again.

Taking a deep breath, I say, “Call Craig’s lawyer and tell him you’ll have this misunderstanding cleared up with a certified check next week. I need time to move money around.”

“Sweetie, thank you so much,” she says, throwing her arms around my neck.

“I’ll bail you out this time, but you are going to pay me back. I mean it.”

Thinking of my manifest spell and the money I just made from the sale of those stocks, it doesn’t sound like my soundproofed apartment is going to happen any time soon.

The rest of the morning passes without any other bombshells. Aunt Callie leaves to make the big bucks holding a meditation workshop. Dramatic eye roll. Maybe I’ll get that money back in the next life.

Grandma and Elvis join me. “Hey sugar pie, I’m about to pop over to Tunica.”

“Sounds good,” I say, opening a box of essential oils and logging them into the system.

“Anything new going on around here?”

“Nope,” I fib. “It’s been pretty slow. Have a good time.”

“New like a date with a certain sexy detective?”

“Oh my Goddess, there was no date! Where did you even get that idea?”

“Azrael and I keep each other informed.”

“I’m so glad you’ve found your twin flame busybody match. How nice for me.”

Saved from this conversation by the ringing phone, I wave Grandma goodbye. “Memphis Magic, this is Aubry. How may I help you?” Amelia doesn’t bother with pleasantries, instead shooting off a list of items. “Hold up, what has Florence done now?”

“She’s canceled our cruise to Haiti, and with this short a time frame, we’ll lose the deposit!”

“Why did she cancel your cruise?”

“She’s got a new boy toy, and suddenly nothing exists but Nolan. It’s so inconsiderate of her to just cancel our plans without even discussing it with me first!”

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