Whether I believed in the cards or not didn’t matter. My mother did and she was obviously in distress. I glanced around for our waiter. If ever Amazing Althea needed a shot of Jim Beam, it was now. As I searched the room, my gaze fell upon a familiar figure seated at the bar.
I’d only met him once, but I remembered the average-looking man from our pitch session at the book festival. It was T. J. West, the author whose proposal I’d read and responded to earlier in the day. I studied his plain countenance and steel-rimmed glasses, the tidiness of his short hair, blue button-down shirt, and brown slacks. He seemed to fit Tilly’s brief description of the man she kept seeing around Dunston. Then again, hundreds of men could qualify as dressing “neatly” and looking “nice enough.”
And yet, West had mentioned a teddy bear in his synopsis. He’d written about a murdered mother and placed a teddy bear next to her dead body. Was that truly coincidental or had West known Melissa Plume? Was it possible that he was now stalking Tilly?
With a shudder, I suddenly recalled how the cozy writer wouldn’t tell me his real name, referring to himself only by his pseudonym. That was definitely strange. I probably would have pushed the point had the ceiling not started leaking in the middle of his pitch.
Having seen me craning my neck, our waiter headed over to the table, successfully distracting me from a host of confusing thoughts. I ordered a whiskey for my mother and then decided to go and say hello to T. J. West. I leaned in toward her and told her that someone I knew was sitting at the bar. “Do you mind if I talk to him for a second? It’s important.”
My mother gave me a wan smile. “Of course not, shug. I’m gonna eat this meal if it kills me. You know how I can’t stand to see food go to waste.”
“And I’m taking what you said about the cards to heart,” I quickly assured her. “Perhaps there’s more I can do to help catch Melissa’s killer. And you’re right about Trey. It’s high time we put our heads together and find out what exactly is going on at the co-op. I’ve been worried about that boy, but if you sense real danger, then I’ve got to do more than worry. I’ve got to act.”
Because my mother was satisfied that I was responding to her warning instead of ignoring it, she encouraged me to go speak with West. I cast a quick glance toward the bar again and saw that he was gone.
When I didn’t move, my mother looked at me quizzically. “Did he slip away while we were gabbin’?”
I tried to conceal the alarm I felt over his sudden disappearance. From my vantage point, I could see that West hadn’t finished either his beer or his cheeseburger but had deposited cash next to a crumpled napkin. His barstool hadn’t been pushed in and his fork and knife had been tossed unceremoniously on his plate. All these signs indicated that he’d been in a rush to leave.
Picking at my own sandwich, I tried to concentrate on my mother’s plan to lure Trey away from the co-op by sending him on a tour of Europe. She offered me a big chunk of her savings to make this happen, and though I was deeply touched by the offer, I shook my head in refusal.
“He has to give up Red Fox Mountain voluntarily,” I insisted. “And there’s no argument for him to do that until we discover what’s amiss. However, I have an idea of how to address this issue. It will require Trey’s involvement, so the decision will ultimately be his.”
I put forth a scheme to infiltrate the co-op by hiring one of Trey’s former high school classmates. I’d give this boy money to pay for a meditation session with Jasper, and he could then report back to us about what really went on inside the restricted building.
My mother wasn’t pleased. Her mouth formed a severe frown. “Lila, we could be sendin’ that boy into a precarious situation. Would you want Trey to agree to such a crazy plan? I doubt it.”
Her comment gave me pause. I’d certainly be upset if a strange woman hired my son to investigate a potentially unstable commune leader. On the other hand, our actions might prevent other college students from falling victim to Jasper’s power. I didn’t know how he was attracting these kids, but he was doing something to encourage them to skip class, hike up the mountain, and pay an exorbitant fee for a few minutes of reflection.
“I wouldn’t want an adult in a position of authority to take advantage of Trey, either, and that’s what Jasper is doing. I’m certain of it. Think of all the kids that have been funneling into Inspiration Valley. If you can think of anything else I can do to protect them, I’m open to ideas.”
But she couldn’t come up with an alternative and we agreed that I should talk strategy with Trey first thing in the morning.