*Copyright: All Rights Reserved, Stephanie Myrick, 2024. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*
Maverick parked down the street from the store and looked up the photographer. She worked out of her home, judging by the location on the GPS. Not wanting to show up at her home randomly, he called and asked her if she would meet with him about taking some pictures for a wedding and set up an appointment for the next morning. A little annoyed that he was going to have to wait to move forward in his investigation, he checked his messages and saw Levi had messaged back and agreed to meet him, telling Maverick that his band was setting up at a nearby club all afternoon and he could stop by whenever.
Deciding to head there after he was done with Jynx, Maverick put Watson's vest on him and headed into the store. He stopped and looked around when he got inside. It had changed a lot since the last time he'd been inside, and not just because it doubled in size. Directly in front of the doors was the check-out desk with a register on each end. To the left was the clothing store, divided into two, with the Raven line on one side and the Jynx line on the other. The right was the Wiccan supplies. Built-in shelving lined the back wall, which had probably been full of books, statues and figurines but was pretty empty at the moment. At the far end were refrigerators that he assumed were for fresh herbs and other fresh ingredients, he assumed because they were empty and turned off. To his immediate right was a large glass cabinet that held a few large crystals and pieces of jewelry that hadn't sold yet and a mostly empty bin that held smaller tumbled stones. Other shelving held teapots and mugs, packets of tea, boxes of tarot and other cards.
All the shelving and racks were practically empty, so the sale must have been an enormous success. There were still quite a few people in the store buying up what was left, though, so he was positive they would be closing the store earlier than they intended. Spotting Jynx standing with Antonia and Raven near the back, he made his way over to them. Antonia saw him first and immediately went from laughing about something to looking anxious.
"What did you find out?"
"Nothing about him... having extracurricular activities, sorry. I have a meeting with the photographer tomorrow morning. She works out of her home, so I thought it would be better to meet somewhere public. I did find someone he cheated with though." He smiled apologetically as Raven crouched to greet Watson.
"Rosalie Coleman." Antonia folded her arms. "I knew there was something weird there. She avoided both of us at the calendar's launch party to the point that it was rude."
"She hasn't been in the store in like a year either." Jynx put her hands on her hips and drew herself up to her full height, her lips in a hard line. "And she won't be allowed back." Raven nodded in agreement as she stood up, brushing Watson's fur from her pants.
"Isn't she married to Vinnie Coleman?" she asked, pulling out her phone and opening her social media. "With like six kids?"
"Two kids, it just seems like more because they constantly have large groups of friends over." Jynx leaned over Raven's shoulder. "Do we have any proof we can send to her husband?"
"No, just what she told me." Maverick shook his head. "They haven't been together since she realized he was with Antonia and confronted him. He threatened to destroy her career."
"That is his go-to threat," Antonia sighed as she looked around the store, rubbing her upper arms nervously. "But of course, he's managed to do it to the people who tried to stand up to him before, so I can see why people would be scared."
"Yeah, but the difference here is you're getting proof before you confront him, and he doesn't know you're aware of anything yet, so he can't start his campaign of terror," Maverick reassured her. The more he learned about Dallas and his tactics, the more he thought Antonia was right to get as much proof as possible before she ended things. "I'm meeting Levi to get his side of the story later this afternoon." He looked at Jynx expectantly. "Do you still want to go over your plans for my office with me?" Both Raven and Jynx were taking haunting Nola pretty seriously and were out most evenings, either doing that or with Eric and Keanna, so they hadn't spent a lot of time together. Jynx looked at Antonia and Raven.
"Yeah, go ahead, we got it out here."
"Come on." Jynx led him over to a bookcase and pressed up on one of the shelves, revealing a hidden door to a hallway with two doors on the right, a door at the end, and one door on the left. Jynx gestured vaguely at the two doors on the left. "Staff room, Toni's office, stockroom," She pushed open the second door on the right. "And mine and Ravens." The office was large, with one wall done in chalkboard paint that had various designs on it, another wall with box shelving filled with bolts of fabric, a long, narrow desk with two laptops along the far wall from the door with corkboard above it covered in more designs, the last wall had a cabinet about halfway up and peg board above it with different sewing tools on it. There was a table in the middle of the room with a sewing machine at each end and a cutting mat in the center. Several mannequins and sewing forms were tucked in various crevices, draped with fabric. She gestured to a chair, and Maverick sat down.
"So, I have several ideas for your office; you can pick the one you like best." She smiled brightly at him, and he sighed.
"I like my office the way it is." He stretched out his leg, and Watson curled up under his knee.
"It looks terrible." She shook her head and pulled out a notebook and passed it to him. He flicked through it in surprise; there were drawings, pictures she had printed from websites and fabric swatches. "You are a professional, and you need a professional space."
To his surprise, he found a design he actually really liked, with sleek, modern wooden and black furniture, black walls and lots of plants. He passed it over to her, and she nodded, clapping her hands happily. He pulled out his credit card so she could order what she needed to order, and she turned to her laptop. "How's Toni doing?"
"I think she had a mini breakdown this morning about Dallas having a kid he abandoned. Which is good because she's been pretty emotionless, and I've been getting worried this was another you or her mom situation."
"What do you mean?"
"After everything with you and her mom, she just shut down. She doesn't get upset or cry; she doesn't get angry or excited or anything. She says she feels sad, hurt, and happy, but it's all very... diluted." She stopped what she was doing and spun her chair to face him. "She's never been the most expressive with her emotions, but she's even less so now. I asked her about it, and she gave me an interesting answer."
"Which was..." Maverick waved his hand to get her to continue.
"She compared her emotions to weak alcoholic drinks. She knows the alcohol is in there, but she can't really taste it." She turned back to her computer and got back to work on ordering stuff for his office. Maverick felt his stomach twist with guilt and Jynx must have noticed the look on his face because she reached out and absently patted his knee. "It was just bad timing on your part. Her mother really messed her up toward the end of her life."
"She told me about what her mother did." Maverick frowned and leaned back in his chair. Music had always been Antonia's outlet; having her cello sold on her probably hurt her more than anything else. "Hey, Jynx." He sat up straight as an idea hit him. "Do you know who her mother sold her cello to?"
"No, but it would be in Dad's files. He tried to buy it back."
"I thought he tried to buy it from her mom." Maverick was surprised his father went so far for Antonia. He was a stringent and regimented man who didn't show his emotions to his children, let alone their friends.
"He did, but when he saw how upset Toni was, he went to ask if he could buy it back. The guy who bought it was the son of someone who played with her grandfather in the orchestra, something like that, wouldn't give it up." She glanced at him again. "He might have been emotionally constipated, but he knew Toni was talented, and he liked to listen to her play. He used to go to her performances, you know."
"I never once saw him at any of her performances." Maverick shook his head in disbelief.
"He'd come in and stand at the back. After her solo, he'd leave again."
Maverick sat and digested that for a minute. His father, for all his faults, would always show up to his track meets and Raven and Jynx's shoots and shows; it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise he showed up to Antonia's performances. He stood up. "I've gotta go do some digging and meet with Levi. Don't make any personal purchases on that credit card; it's my business one. Come on, Watson."
After saying goodbye to Raven and Antonia, he went back to the house and down into the basement to dig through his father's notes. Luckily the boxes were all organized by year, so he pulled out ones marked 2011 and 2012 and started going through them.
He was almost ready to give up when he came across a cancelled check to a Barry Mickey for five grand. There was nothing on the notes line, but a quick search into the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra during the time Antonia's grandfather would have played with them found a Richard Mickey. He looked into Barry and found out he was Richard Mickey's son from his obituary. He also found out from the obituary that Barry Mickey had a daughter named Jenna. He found her on social media and was able to figure out that Jenna was still living in Salem. She was an avid social media user, and he was quickly able to figure out where she lived from her pictures and where she worked from her profile. Maybe after he had a conversation with her about the cello, he'd tell her she should set her profile to private.
*Copyright: All Rights Reserved, Stephanie Myrick, 2024. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*