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“The Butcher? She doesn’t think so. Vampires can evade security alarm systems, for one thing, and if he was after me, he’d show up at the house, not my shop. But who the hell did do this?” I told Bree about the two unhappy customers from the day before. “I wonder if this has anything to do with either one of them.”
“Well, the one thing we know is that the vandal did a damned good job. How much do you think this is going to cost you? Will you run it by your insurance?”
I knew that Bree was just trying to help, but frankly, I was too frantic to think.
“I don’t know. I don’t have any answers. Making a rough estimate…I’d say I lost about four thousand dollars worth of merchandise today. Not to mention what the costs are going to be to disinfect everything. The vandals peed all over the place. I’ll have to call in a hazmat team. Who knows what kind of bacteria’s infecting the floor right now?” I wasn’t a germaphobe, but I also couldn’t stomach letting people tramp through my shop, all the while knowing that someone had pissed on the floorboards.
“We should board up the broken windows for now. I’ll take some pictures for you, first.”
I stared at the panes that were spiderwebbed with fractured glass. “I’m going to call Bran and see if he can help. I’m exhausted, to be honest, and it’s barely noon. Grams will be here at two.” I started to sit down on the stool behind the counter and stopped. The cushion looked wet. Tears welling in my eyes, I motioned for Bree to follow me out into the blustery day. The rain was still holding off and it was overcast and breezy, but dry.
I led the way over to the patio by my house and sat on one of the composite resin benches. Pulling out my phone, I called Bran. He didn’t answer, so I called May.
“Hey there, neighbor,” she said. “What’s up?”
“May, do you know where I can reach Bran? It’s important.”
“He’s in the shower. He spent all morning tilling over the garden beds that are done for the season.” She paused, then said, “You sound like something’s wrong.”
“There is. I wanted to ask if Bran can help me out this afternoon. Last night, someone broke into my shop and destroyed a lot of my merchandise and tore up the store, and peed all over the floor. Daisy’s been here. She and her deputies took what evidence they could find, but there are four windows that need boarded up, and I’m exhausted. Bree and I just finished cleaning up the mess as best as we can for now, but I just want to make sure the shop is secure for now, while I figure out what to do in the immediate future.”
May was silent for a moment, then said, “Bran and I will be over as soon as he’s done. He’ll take care of boarding up the windows, and I’m good for making tea and listening. We’ll be there within half an hour. Meanwhile, go inside and rest. You should be safe while it’s day time.
“Thanks,” I said, grateful for her friendship and reassurance. “We’ll see you when you get here.”
Bree and I went back into the house and—after thoroughly washing our hands, we sat at the kitchen table in silence. Fancypants guided the kittens into the bedroom and I could hear them playing, but they left us alone to think.
* * *
May and Bran showed up twenty-five minutes later. May was carrying a large apple pie, and Bran had his work clothes on. I led them out to the shop and showed them what had happened, along with the trash bin full of debris and the box of broken crystals.
“I can’t understand why anybody would want to do this.” I turned to May, feeling a little lost. “Did you bring your cards? I’m wondering if this has to do with the woman in your last reading.”
“I didn’t, but I can use one of your decks, if you don’t mind,” May said, looking around.
“Whoever it was, they certainly did a number on your shop,” Bran said, looking around. “Do you want all the windows boarded up for now, or just the broken panes? I can tell you that the best glassman in the town is on vacation until Monday, which is five days away. I can find you a different contractor, but they might be booked out for a few weeks.”
“Board them all up for the time being,” I said. “I don’t want anybody coming back to finish destroying the place. If they can’t get in…”
May put her arm around my shoulders. “Do you have any money in here?”
I nodded. “They left it—they didn’t take the money. That alone tells me that this is personal. A group of teen delinquents would have taken the cash. There’s over six hundred dollars in the register.” I opened it and emptied the cash and checks into a bank envelope, then closed the register again.
“Now what?” Bree asked.
“You three go inside while I get to work here,” Bran said, as he headed out to the car to get his tool belt and an electric drill. He fastened the tool belt around his waist, slinging it low on his hips, and as we left him to work, once again I felt gratitude for my friends. I needed them now more than ever.
* * *
Inside, I retrieved one of my spare tarot decks for May. I had a number of decks that I seldom used, mostly bought for their art work.
May, Bree, and I gathered around the kitchen table after putting on the kettle and cutting three pieces of the pie. As May began to shuffle the cards, my phone rang. It was the alarm company. I had left a message earlier.
“Hey, somebody cut the cords on my alarm last night and broke into my shop.” I didn’t feel up to small talk. “I want to know if the cords can be buried so they’re difficult to disarm.”
“Yes, we can, unless there’s some underlying issue as to why not. May I place you on hold while I check your account? What’s your name and PIN?”
The security company made us answer with a personal identification number any time we called so they knew they were talking to the legitimate account holder.
