From Herring to Eternity Read Online Free Page B

is she?”
    “Ginnifer Boone,” Thom said. She stood with her back to the table, and not just to muffle our conversation. I got the feeling she didn’t want to look back. “I’ve known her since elementary school. Ginnifer was booted from our church eight, nine years ago for selling spell-casting paraphernalia on eBay. I was the only one who spoke up for her at a meeting of the board of trustees. I said we could only redeem her if she was a member of the congregation, but they were afraid she’d pollute the younger, impressionable members and expelled her.”
    “If she was a Wiccan, why was she even a member of your church? That’s some pretty heavy Christianity you’ve got there.”
    “Her family’s been devout since the eighteenth century. Their roots go back to Kentucky and Daniel Boone.”
    “You mean the Daniel Boone? ‘Daniel Boone was a man, yes a big man—’?”
    “Stop right there. And, yes, the frontiersman. Ginnifer was always a little odd and I think she wanted to sever her relationship with the church for a while. This was her way of doing it. It was also her way of coming out to her family as a Wiccan.”
    “How’d that go over.”
    “Poorly. That’s why she moved to Atlanta to live with some devil worshiper.”
    “What happened to her eye?” I asked.
    “I don’t exactly know,” Thom said. “There was a malpractice suit of some kind.”
    “Did you know she was friends with Mad?”
    Thom shook her head. “I should’ve made the connection, though. Ginnifer got those eyeball tattoos right before she left. It’s part of some local sect she belonged to—Mad, too, I guess. I never found out much about it.”
    “So you don’t know if they’re good witches or bad witches.”
    “Ain’t no such thing as a good witch,” Thom said. “It’s all voodoo and black arts. The whole time I was standing there just now, I heard Jesus whispering in my ear, Get thee from me Satan! ”
    I didn’t tell Thom I found that a little creepy, too. I also didn’t argue about how there’s bad in every religion, from the Inquisition to the jihad. I did wonder, though, whether Ginnifer being here was really as innocent as just coming for a visit. Mad was upset about the earth being out of whack. Maybe Ginnifer was here to try and help set things right—whatever that might entail.
    Luke pinged that Ginnifer’s order was ready. I took it to the table and left the check with a smile. As I turned to go, Ginnifer grabbed my hand. I didn’t wrench it away but gave her a look.
    Before I could say anything, Ginnifer placed a business card in my hand and let me go. I looked down at the card. There was a cell phone number printed on it, but no name. Beneath, written with what looked like a fork tine dipped in dried ketchup, was a time: 7:30 p.m. from your office .
    “What’s this?” I asked.
    “Please call,” Ginnifer said.
    “Why?”
    Mad said as she walked past, “The earth wishes it.”

Chapter 3

    I don’t know what the earth wished, but I wasn’t thrilled by the arrival of coral-lipped reporter Candy Sommerton and her news crew from WSMV Channel 4. She entered solo, her too-high heels clacking on the tiles. She strode in as I was headed back to the office.
    “Ms. Katz!” she said, waving after me.
    I stopped, sighed. The blonde and I hadn’t had any contact since our altercation over the last murder that happened around here. That had ended with me destroying TV equipment, apologizing later, and writing a check for nearly two grand. Which was worth it.
    “Hello, Candy,” I said, turning slowly.
    “Hi-hi. I understand that this was the last stop Lippy Montgomery made before his tragic demise.”
    “That’s correct,” I told her.
    “Would you mind coming outside and telling us what he was like when he left here?”
    “He was full,” I replied.
    Sommerton smiled sweetly and took a deep breath—a celebration of the power of twelve-weight thread, given the size of her chest and the