Audra followed Yolanda down the poorly lit alley towards the thumping music emanating from the back door of the hole-in-the-wall known as The Scoop. The bouncer looked them over from head to toe twice before stepping aside and letting them in.
Audra was amazed to see that the club was cram-packed with people, most of whom she'd never seen before. She spotted Amanda Stuart seated on the stage next to a twenty-something grunge band that provided the thumping pulse for patrons crowding the dance floor.
Yolanda made her way to the bar and pointed to the sign that indicated it was ladies' night, which explained why there was no cover at the door. The bartender made eye contact with Yolanda who coolly indicated for him to come her way.
"Two Long Islands!" she shouted over the music.
The bartender nodded, moving up and down the bar with two plastic cups before producing them for Yolanda. She took the drinks and he indicated the tip jar.
"Next go around!" she promised as she handed Audra one cup and led the way to an empty table. "Go easy on the Long Island," she said to Audra, as if she were the young girl out on the town for the first time.
Audra nodded and threw it back with a wink. "Do you see Magic?" she asked.
"No, but it's still about five to midnight. I'm sure once the band winds down she'll be out to show us her talent," Yolanda remarked.
Audra relaxed in her seat and took a look around the poorly lit club. She saw that the walls were lined with booths that contained aging gentlemen and glammed up girls in various stages of public foreplay. Audra swallowed her embarrassment and continued to take in the scene. The couples and groups on the floor seemed to move in a rhythmic cadence that Audra assumed helped them throw off the cares of the workweek, which they were sure to find again on Monday morning.
Audra turned back to the table to find Yolanda's gaze intent on her.
"Trouble in paradise?" she asked.
Audra lifted an eyebrow of respect for how quickly Yolanda picked up on that.
"Long story," Audra shot back. "I'm going for a refill."
Audra stood and made her way to the bar. The bartender lifted an eye to her then turned back to the young woman in front of him. Audra sniffed and rolled her eyes. Knowing it could take some time to get the bartender to pay attention to her unless she dropped a tip, she reached into her purse and pulled out a five-dollar bill, waving it over the tip jar.
The bartender noticed but, before he could move to take her order, a specter appeared in between them and made his way over to Audra.
"Agent Wheeler, what's your poison?" He was an older gentleman specter with years of experience manifesting, Audra could tell, as he appeared completely human and had mastered his otherworldly voice. He had a distinguished look with dark hair that was slightly gray at the temples and a salt-and-pepper goatee. He was black, with midnight velvety skin and eyes that seemed familiar to her.
"Do we know each other?" Audra asked, picking up on his New York accent.
"Not yet, but you met my grandbaby, Mackenzie, at the Daylight Candle Shop," he informed her.
Audra nodded as she took note that his eyes were very similar to hers. She also remembered that he was the romantic specter who'd spent Gwyn's last evening relieving her dry spell. She felt herself blush as she replaced her five spot in her purse.
"Surprise me," she said with a brave smile.
He put on a show for her and the other bar mongers as he spun and stirred, strained and spritzed.
"My interpretation of a lady's martini," he informed her as he handed over a martini glass with a scoop of pomegranate on the bottom.
"Cheers," Audra said as she brought the drink to her lips and took a sip. The music began to die down and she smiled her approval. "It's delicious."
"The name is Marcus," he said and phased out with a wink.
She turned and made her way back to Yolanda, who was rudely trying to tell a guy to take a hike.
"She's with me," Audra said and the scruffy guy looked up. He nodded as if it finally made sense why Yolanda wasn't interested and moved onto another table of ladies.
"Her show should be starting soon," Yolanda said and tilted her head. "Our boys are at eight o'clock."
Audra nodded, as she knew without looking that Cordero had sent Eric Neil and Joshua Kane to keep an eye on them. The lights in the already dim house went down even further as the band exited the stage and a spotlight focused in on the curtain.
"Are you ready for some blue magic?" Magic's voice filled the air. There was a weak response. "I said, are you ready for some blue magic?" Magic repeated with force and attitude.
The crowd responded properly and the recorded music started up. The curtain opened and Magic stood in all her leggy, blue sequined glory in the middle of an entourage of young beefcake men and glamorous women.
"Here I am," she announced and began her show with fierce enthusiasm that had Audra impressed. The routine lasted just under forty-five minutes but ended with absolutely everyone on stage, except Magic, completely naked.
"And there you have it!" Magic announced.
The curtain fell and Audra tore her eyes from the stage to see that the petting activity of the club had heightened. She took note of a slight exodus of the men from the booths with glammed up girls and several couples from the floor. The lights didn't come back up but the recorded music continued as couples that were not ready to call it a night stayed at tables, in booths, or on the dance floor.
"We should see if we can get backstage," Yolanda said, hopping up as if the show were just business as usual.
"Right," Audra said, clearing her throat as she followed Yolanda across the dance floor and up a short stack of steps that led to a curtain that let them onto the back of the stage. The dancers from the show were in various stages of redressing. Magic spotted them and squinted in uncertainty as she moved closer to them.
"Agent Wheeler?" she asked in pleased shock. "You clean up good, girl!"
"Thanks," Agent Wheeler said.
"Come on, bring your little girlfriend back to the dressing room."
They followed Magic through the dark labyrinth of backstage rigging, until they made it to a door bedazzled with Magic's name on it. She opened the door to a fairly modest dressing room that was neatly organized with a few dresses hanging near the wall and a lounging chaise to the side of the dressing table. Audra and Yolanda took a seat on the chair as Magic sat in front of the dressing table and began to remove her make up, beginning with her false eyelashes.
"So, I got the feeling earlier that you wanted to talk a little bit more about Candy Reign," Audra began.
Magic made a production of heaving a heavy sigh.
"Yes," she confirmed. "A few months before Abigail's murder Candy told me that she and Abigail were going to run off together with two of them Shelley boys."
"Which two?" Audra asked, exchanging a surprised glance with Yolanda.
"Which ever two wasn't the doctor," Magic said matter of fact.
"Do you know where they were going to run to?" Audra asked.
"The way Candy told it, they were supposed to go on some overseas journey. They was each gonna marry one of them boys, then come back and move into that mansion up there." Magic waved her hand in no particular direction. "Big Mama Shelley caught wind of it and had Candy arrested on some trumped up charges of armed robbery, said she came to the mansion waving a pistol and talking crazy. Abigail bailed her out and they had some kind of fight. They didn't talk for a good little while. Then Abigail's baby came due and it turned out the police couldn't pursue the case since the time of the supposed robbery occurred when Candy was on the stage in front of a crowd.
"Anyway, Mama Shelley's damage had been done." Magic shook her head. "The Shelley boys made it clear they didn't want nothing to do with two strippers, but Candy told me she and Abigail were still gonna get out of this place together. They was gonna take that baby somewhere and just start over."
A tear fell from Magic's eye and she swiped up a Kleenex to wipe it away.
"The day that baby was born Candy was so proud, you would have thought that child was hers. The next day, with the news of Abigail's murder, Candy went insane. She pointed the finger at them Shelley boys and their Grandmother. But, small towns being what they are, with no evidence, nothing was done. Sheriff Miller tried to inquire. That Deputy he had… wet behind the ears. They couldn't stand up to the Shelleys, not then, and I'm sure not now. Money can buy damned near anything.
"Candy fell more into the bottle and drugs after that. Her looks and her spirit were gone years before she died. Every now and then she would mutter about what she'd planned to do with Abigail and how evil the Shelleys were."
Magic concluded her story and began to wipe the make up from her face.
"What do you remember about the sailor that Abigail ran away with?" Audra asked.
"That hot little Indian pepper?" Magic laughed. "Cute as a button, but clueless as hell. Good to look at and I'm sure he was good in bed but, when Abigail came back without him, I wasn't surprised. The boy couldn't hold a conversation; his English wasn't all that great. But he had money and benefits from what I hear. After he died, Abigail got government money that helped her out."
Audra nodded realizing that both Renee Stevens and Magic were under the impression that Abigail's husband had died.
"I thank you for being candid and opening up to us," Audra said.
"You know, for a long time I was just scared about knowing that stuff. But I'm fifty-five years old and now that I know I can come back as a specter… let them do their worst."
"Them?" Audra asked.
"Them damned Shelleys," she said boldly.
When Yolanda pulled into the parking lot of the B&B, Audra got out of the car still processing what Magic had told them about Abigail, Candy, and the two non-doctor Shelley boys. She remembered the photo albums and letters still in her car and stopped off to get them out before heading to her room. As she rounded the corner she saw Margret sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall near her door.
"Margret," Audra said as she got closer, "what's wrong?"
Audra felt something indeed had to be terribly wrong for Ethan's ex-girlfriend to come find her and then wait in the hall for her to return at nearly two in the morning.
"I talked to my family," Margret said as she stood up. "They confirmed that I'm Abigail's daughter. They adopted me because they couldn't have children of their own and since the boys were grown, they thought it would be sweet to raise a little girl."
"Okay?" Audra shifted the photo albums in her grip, still confused about why Margret was there.
"They didn't know about my twin," Margret said. "I know it's late and maybe extremely inappropriate, but I couldn't sleep. I know things with you and Ethan are… what they are, and I'll be fine with that. But, I wanted to know if you could tell me about my twin. Your parents adopted her, right?"
Audra fought the short war of the right versus the wrong thing to do at nearly two o'clock in the morning in the hallway of the B&B. She shoved whatever business she had with Ethan into the furthest corner of her mind and realized that her sister's sister was asking her for a clue about her family.
"Come on in," Audra said, letting the woman into her room.