The Scargill Cove Case Files: An Arcane Society Story Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Case # 1 - Death in a Bookstore

  Epilogue

  Teaser for In Too Deep

  Teaser for Copper Beach

  Titles by Jayne Ann Krentz

  Copper Beach

  In Too Deep

  Fired Up

  Running Hot

  Sizzle and Burn

  White Lies

  All Night Long

  Falling Awake

  Truth or Dare

  Light in Shadow

  Summer in Eclipse Bay

  Together in Eclipse Bay

  Smoke in Mirrors

  Lost & Found

  Dawn in Eclipse Bay

  Soft Focus

  Eclipse Bay

  Eye of the Beholder

  Flash

  Sharp Edges

  Deep Waters

  Absolutely, Positively

  Trust Me

  Grand Passion

  Hidden Talents

  Wildest Hearts

  Family Man

  Perfect Partners

  Sweet Fortune

  Silver Linings

  The Golden Chance

  Titles by Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Amanda Quick

  Quicksilver

  Burning Lamp

  The Perfect Poison

  The Third Circle

  The River Knows

  Second Sight

  Lie By Moonlight

  The Paid Companion

  Wait Until Midnight

  Late for the Wedding

  Don’t Look Back

  Slightly Shady

  Wicked Widow

  I Thee Wed

  With This Ring

  Affair

  Mischief

  Mystique

  Mistress

  Deception

  Desire

  Dangerous

  Reckless

  Ravished

  Rendezvous

  Scandal

  Surrender

  Seduction

  Titles by Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Jayne Castle

  Canyons of Night

  Midnight Crystal

  Obsidian Prey

  Dark Light

  Silver Master

  Ghost Hunter

  After Glow

  Harmony

  After Dark

  Amaryllis

  Zinnia

  Orchid

  eSpecials

  The Scargill Cove Case Files

  Anthologies

  Charmed

  (with Julie Beard, Lori Foster, and Eileen Wilks)

  Titles written by Jayne Ann Krentz and Jayne Castle

  No Going Back

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

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  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have control over and does not have any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  THE SCARGILL COVE CASE FILES

  A Jove eSpecial / published by arrangement with the author

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Jove eSpecial / December 2011

  Copyright © 2011 by Jayne Ann Krentz.

  Excerpt from In Too Deep copyright © by Jayne Ann Krentz.

  Excerpt from Copper Beach copyright © by Jayne Ann Krentz.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate

  in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

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  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  ISBN : 978-1-101-53880-7

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  MEMO

  FROM: Fallon Jones, Director of the West Coast office of Jones & Jones.

  SUBJECT: Scargill Cove Case Files

  CLASSIFICATION: Top Secret. Authorized Eyes Only.

  NOTE FROM FALLON JONES: These are my private notes, the confidential records of the cases handled by J&J here in Scargill Cove. The Cove is a small town and the local cases are small, too. Definitely not the sort that attract attention from the outside world or the media. Hell, the outside world and the media couldn’t even find the Cove on a map of Northern California. As far as GPS is concerned, the town doesn’t exist. That is exactly why I decided to establish the West Coast office of J&J here. I like my privacy.

  Most of the cases handled here won’t ever make it into the official files of the Arcane Society. But it turns out people get murdered in small towns just like they do in big cities. The Cove being a paranormal nexus, however, nothing is ever normal here—including murder. In this town there are no coincidences.

  Case # 1

  Death in a Bookstore

  (Timeframe: Just before the incidents in In Too Deep)

  July 6

  Got a walk-in client today. Named Fitch. Guess it’s what I get for being the only psychic detective agency in town.

  Fitch just bought the bookstore, which sells mostly books on vegan cooking and metaphysics. Don’t think he knows much about either.

  Fitch says he thinks something bad happened in the bookstore, like maybe someone got killed there. Wants me to investigate.

  I told Fitch I don’t do ghosts. I’m a real psychic, not one of those phonies who claims to speak to the dead. Can’t waste my time.

  Fitch said he’s not hiring me to get rid of a ghost. Just wants to know what happened.

  Something about Fitch. May be a low-grade sensitive who really is picking up on some bad energy.

  Still digging my way out from under the Hawaii case but told Fitch I’d take the job. Probably a mistake.

  This is a small town. If I refused the Fitch case, people would talk. Fitch might bring in an outside investigator. Not good.

  July 15

  Up all
night again. Probably can’t go on like this indefinitely. Maybe I do need an assistant.

  Getting low on coffee. Got to remember to pick up some more soon.

  Another report of a body found near a campground. Same MO. J&J agent says it’s a rogue. Like I needed a psychic serial killer problem.

  J&J will have to deal with the rogue. Regular law enforcement doesn’t stand a chance against guys like that.

  Regular law enforcement won’t even admit there is such a thing as the paranormal, let alone killers with psychic talents.

  July 17

  Crashed last night. Fell asleep at the computer in the middle of reading the new classified report on the Nightshade case.

  Promised Fitch I’d stop by his bookstore today. Don’t have time for this. Should focus on Nightshade and the rogue.

  Need more agents. Like that’s gonna happen. J&J isn’t the CIA or the FBI. Don’t have unlimited resources.

  The rogue struck again. Another campground, another body. I’ll call the illusion-talent in Seattle. Guy gives me chills but he gets the job done. Sometimes it takes a killer to catch a killer.

  Went to see Fitch. Pretty sure now that he’s got some talent. Probably doesn’t know it yet, himself. He’s right. Bad vibes in that store.

  Back in the office with a cup of coffee. Thinking about Fitch. No such thing as ghosts but violence always leaves a psychic stain.

  Illusion-talent took the job. Same arrangement as last time. He deals with the rogue and I don’t ask any questions. Works for us.

  It’s raining but I’m going to take a walk on the beach. Need to clear my head.

  Only enough coffee left for one more pot. Got to remember to pick up some at the store.

  July 20

  Just got off the phone with Zack. Knew he’d be a problem once they made him Master of the Society. Always demanding status reports.

  Should focus on Nightshade but I keep coming back to the Fitch case. Need to do some research on the former owner of the bookstore.

  Ran out of coffee. Going across the street to the Sunshine Café. Lousy coffee but it’s not like there’s a lot of choice in this burg.

  Marge at the Sunshine says Jenny the waitress just quit. Marge is looking for new counter help.

  Marge and I talked about how to find reliable help in a small town like Scargill Cove. Neither of us had any good ideas.

  Marge and I also talked about Fitch. She says she doesn’t think he’s been in the book business very long. Something about the guy.

  I asked Marge what she knew about Hooker, the guy who used to own the bookstore. Marge didn’t know much.

  The thing about Scargill Cove is that it’s one of those edge-of-the-coast towns filled with folks who don’t fit in anywhere else. Like me.

  In places like Scargill Cove you don’t ask questions about peoples’ pasts. Bad manners. Also dangerous.

  All Marge could tell me was that Hooker had arrived in town ten years ago and opened the bookstore. A loner.

  I’ve been in town for a while now, and I went into the bookstore only twice. Don’t know any more about Hooker than Marge did.

  Went online and checked out Hooker. Got nothing, which is always interesting. Guy had no past but paid taxes on time. Uh huh.

  So now I’m curious. Who was Hooker, and why did he suddenly sell up and leave town? Or did he do either?

  Looks like Hooker handled the sale privately. No real estate agent involved. Deed recorded properly. All taxes paid.

  July 21

  Asked Fitch how he found out that Hooker wanted to sell the bookstore. Fitch said he drove through town one day. Bought a book.

  Fitch says he got to talking to Hooker, who said he was ready to move on. Fitch was retired and looking for something to do.

  Fitch says the idea of running a bookstore appealed to him so he and Hooker did a deal. Doesn’t know where Hooker went.

  Definitely bad energy in that store. Told Fitch I wanted to walk through the place, including the basement, soak up the vibes.

  Fitch says the basement is stacked wall to wall with old junk. Says he hasn’t had time to clean it out.

  Turns out the place used to be a bank. Old vault in the basement hidden behind a pile of crates. Fitch looks surprised. Maybe he is.

  Vault is locked. New, high-tech lock, not the original. What are the odds that we’re going to find out what happened to Hooker?

  July 22

  Got a crypto-talent in from Oakland to open the vault. Hooker’s body’s inside. Not a pretty sight. Smell almost knocks us out.

  Scratch marks on the vault door. Looks like the guy tried to claw his way out. Probably went mad before he ran out of air.

  Local doc is the coroner and ME. Calls it natural causes. Guy goes into a vault, door slams shut, locking him inside. Accidents happen.

  Sure, accidents like this used to happen with old, abandoned refrigerators. But an old vault? In Scargill Cove? What are the odds?

  Hooker sold the shop to Fitch and left town. So what was he doing sneaking back into his old basement vault? Forget something?

  County sheriff agrees with the doc. Hooker died as the result of an accident. No evidence of foul play, no motive. Nothing.

  I told Fitch that the investigation was finished. He was right. Something bad did happen to Hooker. Case closed.

  Fitch asks me if I believe that Hooker’s death was an accident. I tell him no. I remind him this is Northern California. He gets it.

  Scargill Cove is in the heart of the Emerald Triangle. Marijuana country. Major cash crop. Lot of money involved.

  Combine an illegal substance with big profits and you get violence. Odds are good Hooker was in the drug business.

  If that theory is right, then Hooker may have been the loser in a quarrel with one of his business associates.

  But I can’t shake two questions about Hooker. Why did he come back after moving out of town? What did he keep in the vault?

  July 24

  Illusion-talent decides to check in. Says he picked up the trail of the rogue. I hang up and think about the scratch marks in the vault.

  I shouldn’t care how and why Hooker died. Hardly knew the guy and he probably had it coming if he was in the marijuana trade. Still.

  It occurs to me that I need to do something about the Hooker murder because it happened here on my turf. This is my town.

  When did I develop a sense of civic responsibility? When did Scargill Cove become home? Weird feeling.

  If Hooker used the vault to store bundles of marijuana there should be some traces of the stuff.

  Got to go out for coffee, anyway, so might as well stop by Fitch’s shop and take another look at the vault. I grab a flashlight.

  Fitch seems glad to see me. We go downstairs and take a look around the vault. No visible residue of marijuana.

  I examine the scratches on the vault door. Random marks left by a dying man? I go hot and raise my psychic talent for a closer look.

  Within Arcane, there’s a formal name for my kind of paranormal vision: chaos theory–talent.

  There are other, informal, less polite terms for people like me: paranoid conspiracy theorist, obsessive, eccentric. Nice resume.

  Probably doomed to take over J&J. Couldn’t get any other kind of job. Can’t get a date, either. But that’s another issue.

  People tell me that I see patterns where others see only chaos. And sure enough, I can see a pattern in the scratch marks on the door.

  Hooker didn’t try to claw his way out of the vault. He knew that was impossible. So he left a message. In code. For me.