Read The Final Catch: Book 1: See Jane Charm (A Tarot Sorceress Series) for Free Online

her collar. Instead of answering me the insolent man started to wobble in a strange way, as if he was about to faint dead away. He slowly got lower and lower as his legs gave out from under him, like a slow motion limbo. When I realized what he was actually doing it was too late.
    His descent to the ground stopped at my girly area.  He made lewd gestures with his long tongue, which I won’t describe. While I was in shock at his display, he reached down with one hand and gathered up the money he’d dropped there. With remarkable dexterity and flexibility he scooped those bundles of cash right back into that paper bag.
      Furious, I put my foot on his money bag.
    “Move it, bitch.”
    “Excuse me?”  I hardly breathed out the words. By now he’d quit his lewd behavior. I wanted to drag this guy to the police! But even with my foot on the bag of cash, he concentrated on getting all that money back into the brown paper bag. Once secured, he pushed my foot off of the bag, kissed the top of it, glanced up at me one last time and had the audacity to hand me a slip of paper. Then he did an acrobatic leap backward and ran down Lovers’ Lane, around the corner and out of sight.
    Slowly I became more aware of the slip of paper in my hand -- a phone number and a few words.
    "THERE’S MORE WHERE THIS CAME FROM.  CALL ME. DEVON RAKER." 
    Then I noticed some forgotten cash at my feet. An entire bundle.
    I scooped it and flipped through the bills. 
    Hundreds.
    They had to be fake.
    I hurried from the lane with the bundle of cash in hand.  I needed to get to the bottom of this, so I pushed the slip of paper with his phone number deep into my pocket and ran after him. After all, he had Sia.
    Maybe buying her back was a possibility.

Chapter 7 of Wands
A struggle in the Curio
    When I ran out onto the main street of Meadowvale after spending time in Lovers’ Lane, it was like stepping into another dimension.  The sun shone, happy people shopped and ate ice cream at the sidewalk cafes. According to the village clock, it was just past noon, but I didn’t feel hungry, only determined.  I looked up and then down the street for Devon.
    I held the bundle of cash out in front of me like a dead fish.   I really wanted to drop it straight into my purse and go shopping, but I didn’t. I figured finding Devon was like finding a needle in a hay stack, yet no sooner did I have the thought then  I glimpsed Devon's shadowy form as he entered a nearby shop. “Hey,” I yelled, “Devon, you forgot something!” He looked backed and waved at me, he taunted me to follow.
    The shop he slipped into was next door to a bakery which had just started to bake its bread. The delicious waft of sweet, rising dough made my mouth water and my tummy grumble.  A few feet away a sidewalk sandwich board read: MAISIE THE PSYCHIC IS IN TODAY.
    I stood outside Maisie’s Curio wondering what business he had in a place like hers. The Curio shop looked respectable, and I remembered passing it many times and thinking one day I’d go inside and check it out. Maybe even get a tarot card reading.
    Now seemed as a good a time as any.
    Through the gift shop’s window I saw that every corner was filled with large scented candles that stood like sentries beside skinny sticks of incense; sparkling crystals, rocks and crystal ware, as well as hand blown glass balls, silk scarves and other beautiful, gifty things which attracted me. Not one, but two security cameras protected the shop inside, and I’d noticed one outside, too.
    In the back the shadowy movement of Devon caught my eye.   He looked so scruffy and out of place that I wondered if he planned to rob Maisie’s, maybe that’s how he got his money.  I couldn’t see anyone else in there, but I decided to go in and confront the creeper with his brick of money.
    A series of soft door chimes sounding very much like the trickle of water, announced my arrival.  Once inside, my dread and concern melted away.