‘That’s fair,’ Mare said, watching both of them with melancholy interest. ‘But you should have told us what Xan said.’
Lizzie nodded. ‘Or if it’s dangerous, you should have gotten rid of it years ago.’
Dee sat back, clearly upset. ‘I tried. I even threw it in the Pacific Ocean one year. It just kept ending up back in the jewelry box.’
‘Well, if that’s where it’s supposed to be, then it will be there.’ Lizzie sat at the opposite end of the table. ‘Somebody tried to steal it yesterday, too, and that didn’t work, either. Maxine even tried to take it for some fund, but it’s still with me. It belongs with me.’
‘Maxine was collecting for charity?’ Mare said. ‘What is the world coming to? But the signs are clear. The amethyst belongs to Liz.’
Lizzie looked at Dee. Are you going to call the meeting to order?’
Dee looked uncertain. It wasn’t an expression Lizzie was used to seeing on her practical older sister’s face, as if Dee’s entire universe had shifted unexpectedly. Just as Lizzie’s had.
‘Let me just get the jewelry box…’ Dee said.
‘Dee, don’t bother,’ Mare said tiredly. ‘It’s a waste of time. Just call the vote and get it over with.’
Dee sat down. ‘Well, Xan has found us. I’m afraid it’s time to leave. I’m sorry but I vote yes, we go.’
Mare nodded, all fight gone. ‘As long as I’m in Salem’s Fork, I’ll never get over Crash. I vote yes, we go.’
Dee looked over at her. ‘No Italy?’ she asked gently.
‘Nope.’
Dee patted her hand. ‘Lizzie?’
They both turned to look at her, only a formality, since sweet, spacey Lizzie avoided conflict like the plague.
But sweet, spacey Lizzie had changed. She felt the amethyst throb against her heart, and she lifted her head to look at them squarely.
‘I vote no.’
Lizzie could feel her sisters’ amazement, but she wasn’t about to back down. ‘I’m tired of running,’ she said. ‘I’m not a frightened child anymore. I like it here, and I’m not going to let anyone drive me away.’
Mare blinked at her. ‘Lizzie?’
Lizzie stared back at her, implacable.
Mare looked at Dee. ‘We’re not leaving Lizzie.’
‘Listen to me,’ Dee said to Lizzie. ‘We cannot stay here. We don’t even have a plan!’
‘Then we’ll come up with one,’ Lizzie said, and her voice didn’t waver.
Mare tilted her head at Lizzie. ‘Something’s new.’
Dee put her hands on the table. ‘You’re damn right something’s new. We’re in danger. There’s something about this time that’s different. Worse.’
Lizzie folded her arms, unmoving.
Dee took a deep breath. ‘Okay, we’re not leaving. Let’s think this through. Xan sent Danny James, and we know she deals in men and sex so he’s probably not the only one. Who else is new in town besides Danny?’
Mare put her chin in her hand. ‘Jude the VP from Value Video!! I already have my suspicions about him, but he’s dumb as pond scum, so I don’t see him as a major threat. And Crash, but I can’t see Crash and Xan plotting together. She’d hate the motorcycle.’
Lizzie felt Dee’s bright green eyes turn in her direction. ‘Lizzie?’
She couldn’t lie about Elric. Not now, not to her sisters. But she had no intention of sitting there and having them pepper her with a thousand questions about him, particularly when she had no answers, particularly after she’d just called the shots in her family for the first time in twenty-six years, something that would have made her giddy with power if the responsibility hadn’t been so terrifying.
‘What about Charles?’ Dee said.
‘It can’t be Charles,’ Mare said. ‘He’s gone.’
‘Gone?’ Lizzie echoed, astonished.
‘Pauline said he decided to move to Alaska. Quit his job yesterday afternoon and took off. And nobody has missed him.’
‘Well, hallelujah,’ Dee muttered into her coffee cup.
Lizzie knew who she could thank for Charles’s unexpected disappearance. One more thing her mysterious visitor would have to answer for. Who the hell did he think he was, sending the man she loved… no, she didn’t really love him, but the man she was going to marry… no, she wasn’t going to marry him, either. And this way she didn’t have to tell Charles anything, which was a blessing. He’d dumped her for a magic spell and Alaska.
‘Maybe we need to talk about Elric,’ Mare said, with her usual tact.
‘Who the heck is Elric?’ Dee said.
Lizzie stood up. ‘Someone I need to have a little talk with. And that’s all I’m saying. You two should probably talk to your… whatever they are. And don’t overlook Crash -there’s more to him than you might expect. We could come back, pool our information, and see what we can come up with. Find a way to fight back.’
‘Fight back?’ Mare said, interested. ‘You’re going to fight back? Go, Lizzie!’
‘But-’ Dee said, for the first time outmaneuvered by her younger sisters.
‘It’s a plan, Dee,’ Lizzie said firmly. ‘We’ll meet for lunch and compare notes.’
‘I’ll ask Crash why he picked now to come to Salem’s Fork,’ Mare said as she stood up. ‘And I will beat some answers out of that little toad Jude, but then I’m taking an early lunch break at Mother’s Tattoos. I’ll meet you there.’
She headed for the stairs and Dee called after her, ‘You get any more tattoos, you’re gonna look like a biker!’
‘What’s wrong with bikers?’ Lizzie said.
Dee didn’t look happy. ‘I guess I’m going to find out. Where are you going?’
‘I’m staying put.’
‘But you haven’t told me about this Elric person…’
‘He’ll come to me,’ Lizzie said in a dangerous voice. ‘And he’s going to wish he hadn’t.’