Twisted: Paranormal Penny Mysteries, #7

By Sarah Hualde

Ditching her big crush…

She struggles to save him…

Only to find Death is one step ahead. 

 

Penny Nicols is heartbroken. She's also desperate. Her "gift" has claimed more of her family and friends than she cares to admit. Though it hurts, running may be the only way she can keep them safe from the omen of death, aka the Raven.

 

Can she outsmart the bird?

With the Raven is it even possible?

Penny begins to think so as she makes a new friend.

 

Jade has a "special gift" all her own, not including her killer baking skills. She instantly befriends the wandering Penny and her snarky cat Spades.

Will Jade's gift keep her safe from the death omens?

Or will it make her their primary target?

You'll love this Paranormal Penny Mystery because Penny and Jade are the paranormal book besties you've been searching for. 

 

Get it now.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Indie Christian Writers
• Release date: Jan 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9781736756669

Sarah Hualde

Sarah lives in California, in a home that brings her happiness and hay fever. She loves God, loves her family, and loves freshly brewed coffee. She has a husband who cooks, a son who stop animates, a daughter who loves animals, a dog that follows her everywhere, and a turtle who scowls at her condescendingly. Her mother raised her on Mary Higgins Clark, Dianne Mott Davidson, and Remington Steele. Her grandmother shared True Crime stories with her as they plotted how to get away with the perfect murder. It's no surprise that Sarah became an award-winning spinner of suspenseful tales brimming with quirky characters. Mysteries are in her blood. Not that she could survive one of her own stories. She confesses, "I'd be snuffed out by Chapter two." Join Sarah's Super Sleuth Squad and follow her on YouTube for behind-the-scenes insider info. Super Squad Newsletter ----> https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/g1k6r0 YouTube-----> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9ywmqk_2k-mEssZMkEvBQ

Book preview

Chapter 2

Jade led the way. Yowling echoed from Godzilla as we drew closer. Spades smooshed his face against the driver's window and swatted toward me.

Yours? Jade asked.

That’s Ace of Spades. Spades for short.

Nell skipped closer to the van, agitating Spades and causing him to scratch wildly at the glass. Whoops. Nell slowed before taking a tiny step backward. I guess he doesn’t like strangers.

Jade snorted. No one enjoys being rushed, least of all a cat. She turned to me. Would you and your feline friend like to come inside our shop for warm and wonderful treats?

Creepy much? Now it was Nell’s turn to snort.

That didn’t come out right.

Not even close. Nell skipped around Godzilla and called to her sister and me. Grab your cat and come inside for a snack.

I hesitated, unable to find an excuse to refuse. I don’t talk to strangers didn’t sound like a polite response to a kind gesture of gratitude.

Are you sure? I faltered as I dug for my keys. Spades can be a bit much, and I have too much baggage to explain.

That’s even more intriguing. Jade paused and looked deeply into my eyes, as if trying to read my thoughts. Chills scurried across my neck. Jade blinked as if she felt my discomfort. Get your goofy cat, and we’ll get to know one another.

Sure, it couldn’t hurt.

I’d spent all my resolve sending away my farewell letter to Titus. The squirrel was a sign that the Raven was letting go of his control over my life. I could hope, couldn’t I? Perhaps disintegrating my love life was enough of murder for him—for now. I could handle his cronies. They're a strange brand of pranks gone wrong. No one had died from one of their attacks. The Raven was the opposite. Almost everyone who crossed his path met their end.

That’s not the most encouraging response I’ve received, but it’s not the worst.

Jade waited as I released Spades from his vehicular playpen and followed her into the tattoo shop. The coincidence of crashing into the owners of the place I was heading wasn’t lost on me. Titus would’ve called it fate or Providence. I smelled a rat and then a hint of cinnamon.

The overpowering call of baked goods enveloped me like a hug. I nearly cried as I stepped into its warmth. It took little to make me cry these days. I collected myself.

Jade must have mistaken my awkwardness for hesitation because she hurried to fill in the silence. Don’t let the shop confuse you, she said while shutting the door behind me and Spades. She nodded toward the innards of Twisted Sisters. This floor is solely for skin art. Upstairs is where the magic happens.

Again, Nell groaned behind the counter. With the creepy. Penny doesn’t know us well enough yet to understand your strange sense of humor or lack thereof. Give her a moment, or she’ll think she has stepped into a B movie.

You don’t think we’re psycho killers, right, Penny?

Jade’s eyes peered into me again, making me wonder if I was safe. Or if I was being lured into a nefarious situation. Nope, Jade chimed. Don’t let yourself go there.

I blinked. Where?

The dark side, Jade continued, leading me through the shop. It’s tempting, but it never quite lets you go. Trust me, I know. One day, maybe I’ll tell you my sob story. For today, you and your cheeky cat will have to make do with one of my amazing buns.

Buns was an awkward choice of noun, given the moment. Jade’s word choices were a tad off-putting. Nell was used to them. I shot a glance toward Nell, who rolled her eyes.

Upstairs, the delectable cinnamon scent multiplied. Nell opened the door to a large apartment as her sister escorted Spades and me inside.

Sit anywhere. Jade gestured to the living room.

The recliner is probably best, Nell suggested as she took my elbow and released her sister to go about her business.

Jade flitted to the kitchen area. From the other side of a breakfast bar, Jade watched as her sister led me to an oversized recliner. Prop up that ankle, she ordered.

I know, I know, Nell grumbled.

My backside hit the leather chair and sunk into a comfortable groove in the padding. Instantly, exhaustion rolled over me as it nestled me in comfort. Then Nell kicked the comfy up a notch by tossing a teal and lemon yellow afghan over my legs. Spades snarled at the sudden weight, then claimed the blanket as his own. He circled in my lap before lying down and closing his eyes.

Feel better? Nell asked.

I feel amazing. My ankle throbbed at my words. I winced. Except for that. I pointed toward my ankle.

Do you need a doctor? Nell bent closer to my foot, examining it.

I hoped my Converses weren’t sending green waves of stench in her direction. Road life had an odor all its own. I kept myself and my space tidy, but since I didn’t hang out with anyone but Spades, who knew how well my deodorant worked.

It doesn’t appear to be swelling, Nell concluded before backing away.

She rolled it, Jade stated with cool assurance before tossing an ice pack at her sister.

Nell caught it and placed the bag on my foot. After the chills scattered along my skin, the pain's intensity waned. Thanks.

Not a problem. Nell straightened and dusted herself off. I’ve got to get ready for the next round of ink heads.

Ink heads?

Jade cruised over to the living room carrying two chunky bowls. Customers, she explained, handing me a bowl. Of our shop.

Your family business? I wiped a small rivulet of drool from my chin after looking into the dish of loveliness.

Twisted Sisters, Nell stated. The tattoo shop.

Jade perched on the couch across from me. Eat, she snarled, nodding to the gooey cinnamon roll she’d offered. My sweets are a remedy for the blues.

I snorted. The blues?

Or, as Holly Golightly calls them, the mean reds. Nell checked her makeup in the mirror on the wall beside the front door. She swiped on a coat of cherry red lip gloss.

I shoveled a spoonful of delicious distraction into my mouth to swallow the lump of sadness that was dying to pour from it. These strangers didn’t need my drama. One of them had already survived a Raven cronies attack. I didn’t want to impose more than that on the overly friendly, if odd, sisters.

Jade continued to watch me with eagle eyes. I pretended not to notice and instead continued talking to her sister. I thought you didn’t open until sunset?

Jade chuckled. That’s us being over dramatic. We open at seven or before the day's first appointment. Whichever comes first.

Nell pulled keys out of her pocket and spun them between her fingers. And tonight it's Lola One and Lola Two.

Two customers?

Jade explained in between bites. They’re best friends. Every time they get in a fight, they come in and get a make-up tattoo.

Do they fight a lot?

Nell chuckled. Going on a year of best friends, and they’re finishing half sleeves tonight.

Jade leaned in closer. That means yes.

At least they chose a design with multiple pieces. Nell clicked her heels. If Pax and I did that— She sniffled and then shook off the feeling.

You’d both have face and neck tattoos already, Jade teased.

We’re not that bad.

Jade shook her fork at Nell. You don’t have time to waste arguing. The Lolas will be there any minute.

You’re right, Nell said. Thanks again for saving me, Penny. Come down to the shop later if you feel like it.

Get going! Jade snorted.

I’m going. I’m going, Nell said as she stepped into the hall.

Don’t mind her. Jade grinned as she spoke. My sister is a tad on the theatrical side.

She seems shaken about her boyfriend, I answered. Being broken, I didn’t think it was cute to mock someone else’s hurt.

Jade blew a raspberry. Pax Smith and Joanelle Morris have been on again and off again since the tenth grade. They should get married and end the sitcom. It’s getting old.

Would you want her to marry someone who can’t stay committed to her or that she can’t stay committed to? I asked though it was none of my business. Still talking about Nell stopped the conversation from turning toward me.

Committed is the right word. I should book them into the nearest looney bin. By this time tomorrow morning, they’ll be together as if nothing had ever happened. Pax will send Nell flowers or some such nonsense, and all will be right with their world.

If only, I thought. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the sunrise healed every broken heart or life? Though I doubted even the most glorious dawn would erase the damage my Raven-infested life caused.

Another wave of sorrow flooded me. A strangled squeak escaped before I could fake a sniffle and silence it.

That’s what I thought, Jade said.

I swiped at my eyes. Thought what?

You, she started. You’re more shattered than any of us. My breath caught. Don’t worry, Jade said before taking another bite of her roll. I won’t make you tell me your life story. Not tonight. This evening is for settling in and becoming acquainted. Later, you’ll spill.

Fear fluxed through me as I looked into her eyes. I wanted to argue, but the confidence building there told me I needn’t bother. If I let her, Jade Morris would coax my life story from me. It wasn’t a threat. Her mischievous half-smile told me that this strange woman with killer baking skills was determined to be my friend. I wondered what the Raven would say about that.

Chapter 3

Sure as sugar, things worked out as Jade said. The following day, I spied Pax Smith cruising into Twisted Sisters with purple roses in a black vase.

Seven a.m., I commented to Spades. I doubt the sisters are up.

I’d spent the evening nursing my ankle and watching Nell and Jade work. Nell was an artist. Carving caricatures and still life into her client’s skin with equal skill and delight. It was mesmerizing to behold.

Jade was in charge of piercings. She crunched holes into lobes, lips, tongues, and brows for appointments only. She had much more free time than Nell. The younger sister was always in demand but seemed to love it. Her energy increased with each customer. By the time the shop closed at 1 am, she was buzzing and bouncing.

Jade, however, was a different story. Her last client was at eleven p.m. She shoved an industrial ear rod through the cartilage of a woman celebrating her thirtieth birthday with friends. Then after a swift cleaning of her station and checking off her calendar, she settled onto the waiting room couch beside me. Her battery ran dry while her sister’s never seemed to slow.

Nell was the star of the shop. People craved her attention. Clients and companions alike lingered after their session ended, making Nell continually late for her next clients.

If Nell was the floor show, Jade was the bouncer. Or maybe a handler would be a better term. She was a force to be reckoned with.

Can we do anything for you? Jade asked a beefy man with a buzz cut. He stood over us, arms crossed and peering around the shop. His quiet judgment gave me the willies.

I’m looking for my girlfriend, he said.

Jade rose to her full height, which I guessed to be around five-nine. However, in her thick-soled grunge boots, she was at least two inches taller than that. She stared eye to eye with the man. Her black-winged eyeliner fluttered as she squinted at the man’s face.

Who’s your girlfriend?

Tina, he answered too fast. He struggled to pull free of Jade’s tractor-beam attention.

Hey, Nell! she called to her sister, who was currently sticking a stenciled outline of a dragon to a woman’s thigh. Do you have a Tina back there?

Nell stuck her head out of her station and frowned. I haven’t had a Tina all day.

No Tina here.

The man bristled and shuffled in his stance. She may have told me the wrong time.

Jade shook her head. See, what I think, she began. I think you saw that beautiful woman and followed her in here. The stranger’s Adam's apple bobbed. He took one step backward. Maybe you were hoping to do a little innocent flirting. That’s not the feeling you're exuding.

Exuding? he asked. I couldn’t imagine being reprimanded by Jade was fun.

You know, the vibe you're throwing.

The big man blinked.

Jade was undeterred. I think you’re doing a wee bit of stalking. I’m also guessing you’re the reason my sister’s client kept checking over her shoulder as she was waiting her turn. Perhaps you followed her from work?

I don’t know where she—

Jade raised her palm to the man’s face. Let me stop you, Trevor, she said.

My name is not Trevor, the man snarled.

Nell hollered. Trevor’s what she calls all the creeps that come in here! She’s weird like that.

I stifled a snicker. Scrubb, Titus’s right-hand man, had the first name Trevor. He’d be blown back if he knew his handle was used to label stalkers. I made a mental note to tease him about it before I remembered I wouldn’t be talking to him again. My silenced laughter stung my throat as it turned to sorrow. I shook free from the feeling by tuning into the scene unfolding beside me.

Creep?

Jade nodded. Here’s the deal. You can leave, or I can call security. You can accept you’re thwarted, leave quietly, and go home and contemplate your poor decisions.

That sounds like the best plan, Nell added.

Who are you—

Jade shushed the sizable man. A vein in his thick neck pulsed at being shut down. Jade was tall but thin. My guess is she could get scrappy if needed. However, Muscles could carry her down the street if he wanted. I doubt he’d even break a sweat. Something else was intimidating him.

She’s a human lie detector, Nell explained.

I looked toward her consultation cubicle. The woman who’d unabashedly showed us her thighs moments before was nowhere to be seen. Nell was sheltering her inside the cubby space, literally standing between her and Trevor.

I hate when you call me that! Jade called to her sister.

That doesn’t mean it’s not true.

Jade cocked her head to the side in reluctant acceptance. Are you going to take my sister’s advice and go home and pray? Or do we need to make a phone call?

Trevor fumed. He took short angry paces, as if deciding whether he should charge around the shop like an enraged bull. A moment later, he jerked open the front door, exited, and slammed it behind him.

Once he was fully out of sight, Jade slumped and shuffled to my side. She dropped into the booth beside me.

Way to go, Sis! Nell cheered.

How’d you know he was stalking me? Nell’s client asked.

Nell answered, Human lie detector! Jade knows a good one from a bad one on sight.

I turned to face Jade. She rolled her eyes.

You know, the woman said, they say Jade is lucky.

Jade knocked her elbow with mine playfully. So are pennies. My skin prickled.

After listening to the woman’s story and arranging her safe escort home, the night only ramped up. Louder, more animated customers filled the shop with banter. Jade shut down a couple more arguments while stabbing willing victims with jewelry and carrying a tray of her signature cookies down from her apartment. She kept the energy balanced with her constant overseeing and management.

No wonder she was exhausted by the time they stilled the tattoo guns. When she opened the door for Pax, it shocked me to see her moving. Jade sported the same retro bob she wore the day before and an apron covered with limes and lemons. Flour powdered her cheeks.

Pax grumbled too low for me to hear before Jade allowed him to enter the shop. She shut the door behind him. Why did he knock on the shop door? I wondered. Wasn’t there another entrance to the Morris flat than the tattoo parlor?

Spades yowled behind me, where he luxuriated on top of my pillow. Breakfast, I know. I hustled to appease the king of the bus.

Bent over, shaking remnants of fancy feline food into a ceramic bowl, I nearly jumped from my skin when knocking rattled through Godzilla. My heart sambaed in my throat.

Penny? It was Jade’s voice. Penny, is that you?

Spades snorted at the interruption. I thanked the cosmos that my clothes were on, and I was ready for company. I slid open the door and gave my best easy-going salutation a try.

Good morning, I chimed. My over-exuberant chatter made my stomach flip as its tone didn’t match my mood.

Jade shot me one of her appraising looks. Though I’d gotten used to them the previous night, they were fresh and in force that morning.

What are you doing back so soon?

Back? I mumbled and fumbled for an explanation.

With the twisted ankle, the cinnamon bun interrogations, and the tattoo shop shenanigans, I failed to mention that Godzilla wasn’t merely my transport. He was my home.

Would the sisters be angry I’d slept in front of their business? Did the town have laws against overnight vehicles? Before I took advantage of my spot, I hadn't remembered to ask. I was tired and tumbled into bed without another thought—other than a bemoaning weep over Titus Church, but that had become ordinary. I didn’t count it as odd behavior for me. Not anymore.

You slept here? Jade asked. She folded her arms across her chest as she peered around me. You live in your van. Her voice held worried judgment. It wasn’t abnormal for people to grow concerned when they learned I lived in a VW Bus.

I opened the door wider. It’s not as bad as you think.

Jade’s eyes widened as she peered inside. I expected a mattress and an ice chest. This is almost swanky.

My heart beamed with pride. I loved my home and vehicle. Thanks. Spades and I love it. Want to come in and take a closer look? Overwhelmed with momentary hospitality, I stepped aside, glad that besides getting dressed in shoes, I’d also completed my morning housekeeping duties.

"Normally, that offer would demand a hard pass. I