Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
“Thanks!” He examined the pralines eagerly. “These are my favorite.”
“You’re welcome.” I ushered him through the small back apartment and let him out. “Be careful!” I called to him as he looked around cautiously before running down the side street.
He threw a wave back at me but didn’t say anything. I watched him disappear in the early morning crowd of tourists and then shut the door and double checked the lock. I didn’t blame the boy for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he had certainly brought a whole heap of trouble to my door that I really didn’t need.
I wondered how long it would take for Carlo to show up again. Now that he had remembered me, I was very much afraid he wasn’t going to leave me alone.
3
WILLOW
The day dragged on but at least my ex didn’t come back. Neither did the tourists, though. I only had two or three people duck their heads in and nobody bought anything.
At the end of the day, I found myself looking through the books and feeling extremely worried. There was no way I was going to be able to make rent on the shop at the end of this month if things didn’t pick up considerably. How had my Grandfather managed all those years?
Pop-pop had never had trouble paying the rent or any of the bills for that matter. For some reason, he was always solvent, even when business was bad.
I wished I knew his secret! If things kept on like this, I didn’t see how I would keep Madam Callahan’s Magic Supply open even one more month. But closing it would kill me—it had been Pop-pop’s pride and joy and it was all I had to remember him by. Well, besides Miss Sassy, who was currently snoozing on one end of the counter, completely unworried about our financial situation.
Just as I was closing up for the evening, two strange men walked through the door. They weren’t police and they weren’t tourists—they might be locals but both of them were dressed in nice suits, like they were going to church.
“Er, can I help you, gentlemen?” I asked, lifting my eyebrows at them.
“Yes, ma’am, you can,” the first one said in a soft, Cajun accent. “Our boss wants to meet with you.”
“Who’s your boss?” I asked, frowning. “And what does he want to meet me about?”
“You ever heard of Big Nicky?” the second man asked, raising his eyebrows. “Nicky Valentino?”
I felt a shiver go down my back. I certainly had heard of Nicky Valentino—I’d listened to Carlo talk about him more times than I could count when we were still married.
I don’t think most people realize that Organized Crime is still a real problem in the US—especially in port cities like New Orleans. The Mob takes a bite out of everything that comes through Port NOLA and Big Nicky Valentino was all the way at the top of the food chain, taking the biggest bite of all.
He was protected too—the police couldn’t touch him because he had several senators, bought and paid for, in his pocket. Which was one reason my ex was always bitching about him and how the police couldn’t stop his illegal activities.
“Er…no,” I said, since it didn’t seem wise to admit that I knew their boss was the head of the local Mob. “Never heard of him. Does he need some magical supplies?”
“Magical supplies?” The second man frowned at me.
“I mean, is he a practitioner?” I nodded at the display of crystals behind me. “We have everything you could want.”
“A practitioner of what?” the second man demanded.
“She wants to know if Big Nicky is into Voodoo,” the first man said and laughed. “No, chère—that’s not why he wants to see you,” he said to me.
“Well then, why?” I demanded, beginning to get nervous. “Is there some kind of problem or…?”
“No problem, sweetie,” a new voice said. I looked up and saw an older man—almost the age Pop-pop had been, standing in the doorway. Somehow he had kept the bell from jingling and alerting me to his presence.
The new man was wearing an extremely expensive looking dove gray silk suit that was probably hand-tailored. He had salt and pepper hair and lots of wrinkles around his sharp brown eyes. A neatly trimmed goatee made him look both charming and slightly devilish. So this was Big Nicky Valentino.
“Er…hello?” I nodded at him uncertainly. “Can I help you?”
“You can,” he said nodding as he walked into the shop. “You can help me talk to my dear departed mother.”
“Oh, I’m afraid I don’t do Tarot readings or Channeling or anything like that,” I said quickly. “That was my Grandfather’s business, but I’ve never had The Gift—”
“Yes, I knew your Grandfather well,” Big Nicky interrupted me smoothly. “He helped me speak to my mother every year on my birthday—which happens to be today,” he added. “And in return, I helped him stay solvent. Ricardo!” he said to one of his guards and snapped his fingers.