Chasing Rainbow Read online

  “My beliefs?”

  “Your belief in science, to be precise. It’s as blinding as any other belief, you know.” With that, she turned her golf cart around and drove off.

  Jake realized he was grinning like an idiot, and immediately sobered his face. Miss Mary Todd was a pistol, he thought. He actually hoped he had a chance to get to know her better.

  Inside the police station, he asked the desk sergeant if he could speak to the fraud unit.

  The sergeant, a plump man whose name tag identified him as “F. Parker,” leaned over the high desk, resting on his elbows. “We don’t have a ‘fraud unit, Mr. Carpenter,” he said.

  “Oh.” Jake waited a moment, wondering how the hell everyone seemed to know who he was. He hadn’t identified himself to this man, of that he was sure, but apparently F. Parker wasn’t going to say another word, not even to tell him where he should go next. “Well, who would I see about a psychic who’s trying to defraud people?”

  “Have you been defrauded?”

  “No, not me.”

  “A relative?”

  “No.”

  “Then you don’t have a complaint.”

  Jake restrained his impatience with difficulty. “Look, I’m the president of the Paradise Towers Condominium Association. Just before I was elected to office, the association hired a psychic to look into some reported hauntings.”

  F. Parker pursed his lips. “Why do you think a fraud is involved? Rainbow never defrauded anyone in her life.”

  Jake stared at him. Had he mentioned Rainbow Moonglow? No, of course he hadn’t. This town must have a grapevine AT&T would have envied. “It’s self-evident,” he said.

  “No, it’s not. Rainbow never took money for anything she didn’t do.”

  “She can’t perform the service promised!”

  “Why not?”

  “Because there are no ghosts.”

  F. Parker sighed and shook his head. “Of course there are ghosts. Some good, solid citizens have seen them. And Rainbow would never take the job if she didn’t believe they were there. That’s good enough for me.”

  “Are you saying it’s legal for a huckster to run around swindling elderly people out of their money?”

  “No. But Rainbow isn’t a huckster.” The desk sergeant was beginning to look annoyed. “Look, sir, a great many people believe in mediums. A great many people believe in ghosts. If mediums provide the services promised their clients, they’re doing nothing illegal, any more than a church is doing something illegal by holding out the hope of heaven if you follow its rules.”

  “But this is different.”

  “No, sir, it’s not. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

  “I refuse to accept that. I want to talk to your superior.”

  The sergeant suddenly smiled. “That might be a good idea. Wait here.”

  A couple of minutes later, the sergeant came back and escorted him to a rear office where the name plate announced, “B. Corrigan, Chief of Police.” Parker knocked, then threw open the door and motioned for Jake to enter.

  The chief, a man of about Jake’s age, rose and came around his desk. “Sgt. Parker tells me you have a problem with a fraudulent medium, Mr. Carpenter.”

  “Yes, I do.” At least this guy wasn’t defending Rainbow before he had a chance to speak his piece.

  “Have a seat, Mr. Carpenter, and tell me what’s going on.”

  At last, Jake thought—someone who was actually going to listen to him. “I was just elected president of the Paradise Towers Condominium Association.”

  “Yes, I heard. Congratulations.”

  “Well, right about the time I learned they had elected me, I also learned they had hired a psychic to look for ghosts they think are haunting the building.”

  Corrigan nodded. “Rainbow Moonglow.”

  “You know all about this, then.”

  “I know that you think she’s trying to defraud the residents. Can you tell me why?”

  “Because she claims to be psychic!”

  “Do you have proof that she isn’t?”

  “I don’t need proof! She needs to prove that she is.”

  “Your residents seem to feel she’s already done that. That’s why they hired her.”

  “They’ve been deluded.”

  “I see.” Corrigan tipped his chair back and looked up at the ceiling. “Apparently you don’t know your neighbors very well yet.”

  “What I know is they’re elderly. It’s all too easy for some swindler to take advantage of them.”

  Corrigan’s gaze was disapproving as it fixed on Jake’s face. “Elderly and senile are not synonymous, Mr. Carpenter. Basically you’re telling me that because your neighbors are old, they’re fools.”

  “I don’t believe I said that.”

  “You implied it.”

  Jake wanted to grind his teeth. Was everybody in this town exceptionally obtuse? “Look, Corrigan, these people have started seeing ghosts, and they’ve turned to a psychic for help. That’s grounds enough to question their competence.”

  “In your view, perhaps. Not in mine. What’s more, the psychic they’ve called upon is a well-respected member of the community.”

  “I don’t believe this. What she’s doing ought to be illegal.”

  “But it’s not. Nor is it really your concern. They’re adults, capable of making such decisions for themselves.”

  “But I don’t want to see them hurt.”

  “That’s admirable, but there isn’t anything you can do about it.”

  “And what about these so-called ghosts?”

  “What about them?” Corrigan smiled faintly. “It’s not illegal for a ghost to haunt, the last I heard.”

  “But what if they’re not ghosts? What if someone is trying to scare the residents to get them out of the building? To scare them into selling cheaply?”

  “There are much easier ways to do that than to stage a haunting.”

  “So you’re just going to ignore the possibility?” Jake began to wonder exactly when it was he had stepped off the bus into a different reality. All of this was beginning to take on the proportions of a nightmare.

  “Of course I won’t ignore the possibility. But I’d need some kind of evidence to launch an investigation. Right now all I have is your speculation, and pardon me for saying so, it’s no more credible than the ghost stories. Less, in fact. At least the ghosts have multiple witnesses.”

  Everybody in this town was a lunatic, Jake decided, as he walked back out into the hot Florida sun. They all needed to be locked up for their own safety. Maybe the sun had addled their brains.

  Or maybe it had addled his. Maybe he had suffered heat stroke when he was carrying his belongings into the building yesterday, and he was lost in some comatose dream.

  But the sun felt too hot and real—and Rainbow Moonglow certainly wasn’t a figment of his imagination. Not when he ran into her at the produce section at the grocery store.

  “Don’t buy that tomato,” a woman’s voice said from beside him. “See, it’s been bruised by people squeezing it.”

  He looked over and saw Rainbow, looking good enough to eat in an orange top and lime shorts. She tempted him like a cool, refreshing dessert. “Oh,” he said, sounding stupid enough to make him want to cringe.

  She smiled, a pleasant smile that was totally unexpected, considering the way they had separated last night. “Here, take this one. It’s the right color, and nice and firm. How many do you want?”

  “Three.” He loved tomatoes and hadn’t eaten many in the last couple of years. Before he could say anything more, she had selected three and dropped them into his plastic bag.

  “These are vine-ripened local tomatoes,” she told him. “You’ll enjoy them.” Then, with another devastating smile, she turned away and went back to filling her own cart with lettuce, cucumbers, green peppers, and broccoli.

  Jake stared at her, suddenly feeling as awkward as any fifteen-year-old boy who had been
foolish enough to think he was a grownup. Rainbow Moonglow was a beautiful woman, but it wasn’t only her beauty that was disturbing him.

  He was annoyed that she could be so pleasant to him after what he had said last night. He was annoyed that she looked so beautiful when she by rights ought to look like an old hag. Weren’t fortunetellers always old hags?

  But most of all, he was annoyed that she had gotten the upper hand by the simple expedient of being courteous—while he had lost the high ground by behaving like a boor.

  Forcing himself to ignore her, he finished filling bags with bean sprouts, snow peas, bok choy, ginger root, lettuce, green peppers, and fresh spinach. After only a few days here, he was already beginning to crave the vegetables that had been a large part of his diet the past few years. Hamburgers and fries no longer tasted like heaven to him.

  Unfortunately, when he finished, Rainbow Moonglow was still there, checking out the cantaloupes. Gritting his teeth, he marched his cart past her, managing to say a taut “Thank you” as he passed by.

  “You’re welcome,” she said in a friendly tone.

  He darted around the corner into another aisle and told himself to stop behaving like a jerk. Certainly he’d lived in enough foreign countries that he knew how to live with beliefs he found strange or ridiculous. And certainly he knew enough about being the stranger in town not to go around offending everyone simply because their beliefs were different. Miss Rainbow Moonglow was obviously a well-respected and well-liked member of this little community, and apparently people around here believed in table-knocking, mind-reading, ghost-hunting, ectoplasm-producing mediums. It wouldn’t be wise to start an open war with one before he even knew the lay of the land.

  Cripes, didn’t anybody in this country eat short-grain rice? His eyes scanned three shelves full of rice, all of it long-grain. He preferred the sticky short grain rice served in Asia, which he found more flavorful.

  “Are you having trouble finding something?”

  Damn it, the Moonglow woman was back, looking at him across her cart with that same pleasant smile.

  “Short-grain rice,” he managed to say.

  “Oh, it’s here somewhere.” She came to stand beside him and look at the shelves. “I prefer it myself, but it’s not always in stock, so I buy several packages when I can find it.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Why was he finding it so difficult to be civil? He decided it must have to do with the fact that she was beautiful and she smelled good, and he hadn’t been with a woman in … well, never mind. He didn’t want to think about that. Not now.

  “Oh, look,” she said. “They’ve filled the space for the short-grain rice with long-grain. They’ll never reorder it if the space is full.” She reached out and began moving packages of rice to their proper place. “I’ll be happy to give you some rice,” she continued. “I have four or five bags at home and you’re certainly welcome to one.”

  He didn’t want to accept; he didn’t want to be in her debt. On the other hand, he didn’t want to eat long-grain rice. But pride won out. “I’ll manage with the long-grain.”

  She turned toward him, the hint of a laugh in her eyes and around her soft lips. “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face, Mr. Carpenter. It’s only a seventy-eight-cent bag of rice. I promise not to hold it over your head.”

  “I didn’t mean—” But he couldn’t bring himself to lie.

  “Of course you did.” Her smile never wavered. Returning to her cart, she gave him a little wave and walked down the aisle, disappearing around the corner.

  Left to look with disfavor at the long-grain rice, he knew that was exactly what he deserved for turning down a neighborly offer. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, and wondering why he suddenly seemed unable to relax and go with the flow, the way he usually did in a strange place, he picked up a half-pound bag of rice and made a mental note to speak to the manager.

  He didn’t see Rainbow again in the store, and for some reason that left him feeling even more irritated.

  It had to be jet lag, he decided. There could be no other reason that everything was irritating him so much.

  Rainbow was carrying her groceries into her cottage when Mary Todd drove up in her purple golf cart. Leaning heavily on her cane, Mary climbed out of the cart and grabbed a plastic bag of groceries to carry into the house.

  “It’s all right, Mary,” Rainbow said swiftly. “I can manage.”

  “I know you can,” the older woman said tartly. “But so can I. What did you do, shop for a month? There’s an awful lot here.”

  “My uncle Gene is coming for a visit.”

  Mary followed her into the cool house. “Is that what put the color in your cheeks? I was wondering if it had anything to do with Joe Krebbs’s nephew.”

  “Jake Carpenter?” Rainbow set the bags on the counter and faced Mary, aware that her cheeks were growing pink with the thought of Jake. “He’s a singularly unpleasant man.”

  “He’s a singularly misled young man,” Mary corrected. She placed her bag beside the others and turned for the door. “Come on, come on, you don’t want food sitting in this heat any longer than necessary.”

  Rainbow trotted obediently after her and scooped up another four bags. Mary picked up a package of three rolls of paper towels and followed Rainbow back inside.

  “Would you like something cold to drink?”

  “Iced tea, if you have it,” Mary requested, as she settled on a chair at the dinette in the corner.

  Rainbow poured two glasses and gave one to Mary at the table. Then she started unpacking the groceries and putting them away. “What did you mean, that Jake is misled?”

  “Oh, he believes too much in science and not enough in other things. Do you know what he told me this morning? He thinks someone may be staging the hauntings to scare people.”

  Rainbow faced her, a box of cornstarch in one hand and a bottle of soy sauce in the other. Gene loved her Chinese cooking. “Why would anyone want to do that?”

  “He suggested that someone might be trying to frighten the residents into selling cheaply.” Mary cocked her head, her dark eyes bright and observant. “It’s a possibility, you know.”

  “Yes.” Rainbow returned to putting the food away, moving swiftly to get to the meat, fish, and frozen items. “I was flunking about that this morning. When I went through the complex last night, I didn’t sense anything at all.”

  Mary pursed her lips. “Is that unusual?”

  “I don’t know.” Rainbow gave her a small smile. “This isn’t exactly my forte.”

  “What about calling your mother?”

  “She’s at sea and won’t be back for a couple of weeks.”

  “How unfortunate. Do you think you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?”

  Rainbow shook her head. “Not really. If there’s something there, I’ll sense it. I know that for a fact. What I meant was that I don’t know if it’s possible to feel nothing at all when there’s a haunting.”

  “I suppose if ghosts exist, then perhaps they can come and go as they choose.”

  Rainbow shrugged and joined Mary at the table. Everything that needed refrigeration was put away; she felt the rest could wait. “Apparently there are some hauntings where the ghosts seemed to be trapped, almost as if they can’t move on to their new existences. I hear there are other kinds where the dead merely want to communicate something to someone left behind. In those cases I suppose it’s possible I wouldn’t always sense something. But I really don’t know for certain.”

  “Hmm. What can you do about it?”

  “Well, I’ll go back again tomorrow and see if I can sense anything. If not, I guess I’ll have to try to hold a seance.”

  “That’ll certainly raise Jake Carpenter’s hackles.”

  Rainbow shrugged. “Too bad. He doesn’t really have anything to say about it, as long as the other residents want me to try.”

  Mary chuckled gleefully. “You go, girl!”

 
The slang sounded so odd coming out of Mary’s mouth that Rainbow found herself laughing.

  But Mary had a word of warning. “Don’t let that young man intimidate you. Don’t let him get away with it. He’s sadly in need of a good shaking up.”

  “Then he may get one,” Rainbow said firmly. “I agreed to do this, and I’m not going to let anyone stop me. But how did you hear about it? I asked the residents not to tell anyone what I was doing.”

  Mary assumed a mysterious smile. “Very little in this community escapes me, gal. Very little.”

  And with that, Rainbow had to be content.

  Gene Holder looked like every woman’s dream of the dashing older man, which was undoubtedly why he’d found a second career in Hollywood. Even at sixty, Gene was certainly handsome, with a tall, lean build, gray hair, and a face carved just enough by the wind and elements to look interesting. He was also a rogue.

  Rainbow often wondered how her uncle had ever survived working for a government agency. Nothing about him seemed amenable to being a nameless, faceless, gray-suited clone, or to working undercover. When he came through the gate at Tampa International Airport, he was wearing a straw hat, sunglasses, a T-shirt that proclaimed “I’m the guy your mother warned you about,” and a pair of tennis shorts that showed off an excellent pair of legs.

  Gene was vain about those legs, possibly his only vanity.

  Rainbow threw her arms around him and laughed when he lifted her off her feet and swung her around. “Uncle Gene!” she said with real delight. “Oh, how good it is to see you!”

  “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Rainy. Now get me out of here before the woman in the pink pantsuit finds me again.”

  Rainbow’s eyes sparkled with laughter as she looked up at him. “Another admirer?”

  He put his hand over his heart. “I’m irresistible, I know, but it can be a royal pain in the butt sometimes. She chewed my ear all the way from Los Angeles about her grandchildren, her ex-husband, the divorce settlement, her bursitis, her delicate stomach, and everything that’s wrong with the world.”

  “Poor Uncle Gene.”

  While they walked swiftly down the concourse toward the tram, Gene kept stealing looks over his shoulder. “It didn’t really bother me until she insisted on telling me the details of her gall bladder surgery.” He shook his head. “I’m not squeamish, Rainy. Hell, I’ve had bullets dug out of me with nothing but a couple of shots of whiskey to dull the pain—”