Not Quite Right (A Lowcountry Mystery) (Lowcountry Mysteries Book 6) Read Free

already taken, are going to screw with the cosmos and destroy the future of the world, even if it does save my family in the process.
    I don’t care. Right now, I want out of Mama Lottie’s presence and away from Drayton Hall. If I never see either again in my entire life it will be too soon.
    Greed twists her expression into a terrible mask of manic glee as she stares at the jar. The strands of hair I pulled from that shower drain in Savannah are all she needs to complete her curse on my boyfriend’s family. Ex-boyfriend? I don’t even know, but after this, it’s not hard to guess which way we’ll end up.
    I shouldn’t do this. I know it, feel it deep down in my bones, but as hard as we’ve tried, there are no alternatives. I’ve learned nothing about Mama Lottie that I can use to deter her from her evil mission. No way to convince her to simply give up the ghost—literally—and move on from this place of hatred.
    Tears burn in my eyes. Thoughts of everything my family has suffered, the deaths of children, generation after generation, do a macabre dance in my mind. Memories of what Amelia has been through trying to bring baby Jack into the world knock the wind out of me, and the knowledge that I’m doing that to another family threatens to push tears from my eyes.
    “Please,” I try, unable to stop myself. “Please don’t do this. You can change your mind. The Draytons are good people. They cared for you.”
    The malevolence that leaps out of her is so black I can see it. It reminds me of the shadows inside the terrible house I visited with Daria, the ones that made me feel as though I’d never be warm again. They fly at me along the riverside, and the ensuing touch against my cheeks is as bad as the caress of any ghost.
    “Do not dare defend them to me. Do not dare.” She’s gone still again. Terror grabs hold of me, begging me to run. “You know nothing of my life, of my sacrifices. You could never. You will never, because of the circumstances of your birth, have such a precious thing as your life stolen from you.”
    I stare at her, frozen. Words form in my mind but my mouth remains still, locked open by the force of her hatred. It’s created the black creatures that surround me, and they hold any action at bay. Maybe there are no words, no response, because she’s not wrong. Not about this, anyway.
    “Get out of my sight, you wretch.” She steps forward, the malice coloring her face enough to convince me she would be only too happy to curse me again, if only she could. My heart squeezes, desperate to obtain her promise that she’ll fulfill her end of the bargain, and the disgust that curls up her lips in a smile says she reads it. “I’ll help you remove the curse on Anne Bonny’s maternal line. Come back in three days. Do not be late.”
    With that, she’s gone. The creatures evaporate with her, dumping me onto my hands and knees in the muddy grass. Only the snakes remain, watching me through slitted, glassy eyes and encouraging me to my feet. I beat a hasty retreat the way I came, trying to be thankful that the curse is almost over. I’ve delivered what she wants, I haven’t been arrested, and I’m still alive.
    Things could always be worse, I remind myself as I climb into my car and bend over the steering wheel, trying and failing to hold back tears. It must be true, but no matter how hard I try to come up with how, nothing comes to mind.  

Chapter Two

    T he drive back to Heron Creek takes longer than it should. My car slides off the muddy roads around the plantation not once, but twice, slowing me further. The first time, I’m able to get it back on the road with nothing but patience and well-timed curses, but the second, I have to hunt for wood to jam in front of my tires so that they can spin their way out of the muck.
    I think about calling someone while I’m on my knees caked in filth, but I’m tired of inconveniencing people. Tired of thinking about the fact that Beau’s