Voodoo and Vodka: An Antiques and Drinks Mystery Book 2 by KC Bellinger

Author:KC Bellinger [Bellinger, KC]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

Ch. 16

Love and Murder

At three o’clock I started pacing in front of the shop, waiting for Brandy. I was anxious to ask her about her brother and what he looked like. Could Alexander actually be him? I absently picked items I wanted to mark down, until Brandy threw the door open, rattling the bell on its hinges.

“How’d school go?” I asked, setting brass candlesticks on the sale table. By any luck, I’d have most of the items gone this weekend.

“Fine!” She stormed past me into the kitchenette, causing the wooden door to flail.

Tom strolled in behind her. He was kind enough to offer her a ride home since he was wrapping up the break-in at the high school.

“Not good?’ I asked.

“Got me. She hasn’t said two words since she got into the squad car.”

“Thanks for bringing her home.” I wanted Tom to stay, but I had to make sure Brandy was okay. “Have a seat. I’ll grab you a cinnamon roll.”

“Sounds perfect.” His chocolate gaze caught mine.

It was one of those moments where you didn’t want to pull away. Two weeks, I told myself. Only two more weeks, and we won’t have anyone to distract us for the entire weekend.

I broke eye contact, steadied myself for what Brandy would say, and walked into the little kitchen.

“Talk to me, Brandy,” I said in my friendliest parental voice.

“They don’t like me,” she said into a juice glass. “They made fun of how I talk.”

I barely noticed her accent anymore. I guess I’d just gotten used to it.

“I’m sorry. What did they say?” I put two fat cinnamon rolls into the toaster oven.

She refilled her glass with orange juice. “They told me to go back to where I came from.”

Uh-oh.

“What did you say?” I asked gingerly.

“I told them the truth. I don’t live in a bottle anymore,” she said, gulping down the entire glass.

That was what I was afraid of.

“And then ...” I cringed at what the kids might’ve said.

“And then, nothing.” She sat her glass in the sink, then turned to me. “The bell rang and everyone went to their class.”

“No one said anything about living in a bottle?”

“No one understood me.” She threw her arms into the air. “They probably thought it was a small island off Asia or something.”

“I’m sorry.” I remembered reading somewhere that talking to kids about positive things was a healthy way of dealing with bad situations. I would have dived into a tub of ice cream in my day, but that was frowned upon now. “Did anything good happen to you today?”

“Actually, something good did happen to me today.” Brandy smiled. “I received a personal invite to Ms. Wu’s class.”

Why was I not surprised?

“Did you know she grew up in New Orleans with her father while her mother traveled the world? That’s probably why her parents got divorced.”

I could think of many reasons someone would want to divorce Mary Wu, and they weren’t because she was a world traveler.

“Anyway, I get to take her class. I wanted to ask her about my brother’s bottle, but I never got the chance.

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