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“Then what did you burn in there? What did you use exactly?” Carmen pressed, a surge of anger and shame and confusion making her pulse pump in her ears, distorting the sound of squawking birds.

Fortune’s ethereal energy dropped, her gaze jumping from them to Bamford. She was getting nervous. “All I can say is that everything I use is legal. I cannot divulge my proprietary—”

“See? Fucking drugs. I knew it,” Lola snapped.

“No!”

“Fortune, what did you use? Just tell the girls so we can resolve this misunderstanding,” Bamford said with open impatience.

“The mountains cannot impede the river’s flow to the sea,” she replied like she was reading from a fortune cookie. “Release resistance and transformation will come.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Lola cried.

“Tell us what you used,” Carmen pressed.

“Fortune,” Bamford snapped.

“It was just drug store incense and essential oils and corn starch, okay?” Fortune’s voice dropped an octave and betrayed the trace of a Pacific Northwest accent before she gathered herself.

Bamford’s eyes narrowed, her placid exterior cracking. “You told me you used rare herbs gathered by Peruvian shamans under a new moon. That the smoke carried sacred energies to open the mind.”

Fortune held up her hands imploringly. “Dearest Sky,” she said with her voice back to normal, “people must hear what they need to hear for the message to land. You required an origin story imbued with mystery to receive my guidance.”

“So you’re not a criminal. You’re a fraud,” Lola interrupted with a sarcastic laugh.

Fortune shook her head. “The tools are meaningless, only intention matters. With focus and purpose, ordinary items become extraordinary vehicles for positive transformation.” Looking between them earnestly, Fortune said, “I saw how heavy the bad blood flowed between these two, poisoning them both. Drastic measures were needed to shift their chi and restore balance.”

“We should have known it was all an act.” Carmen crossed her arms over her chest. “And you expect us to believe that there wasn’t something in what you used. We wouldn’t have—”

She turned to Carmen and Lola, the silver bracelets tinkling. “You may doubt me, but surely you see that change has already begun? The river has overflowed its banks, destined now for new lands. Search your hearts. Has something within not also been set free?”

“Cut the shit,” Lola snapped. “We know you don’t talk like this, so drop it.”

“Sky,” Fortune turned to look at Bamford. “We’ve been together for years. Haven’t I helped—”

“Get out,” Bamford replied with enviable calm.

“Sky—”

“Everyone told me what you were,” she said so coldly that Carmen felt her words like a chill up her spine. “And I stupidly refused to believe. You have admitted to being a charlatan. Admitted to lying and betraying my foolish trust.” Bamford shifted toward Carmen and Lola. “Ladies, I’m sorry. I thought I had put you in trustworthy hands.”

Taken aback by the apology, Carmen didn’t immediately respond.

Lola, on the other hand, was genetically programmed to be incapable of shutting the fuck up. “That’s all nice, but what about her drugging us?”

“I didn’t—”

“I will take care of that as well. I will get to the bottom of it.”

Carmen glanced at Lola, signaling for her to take it. Whatever power Bamford had, it was going to be more far-reaching than the police department. There was only one more thing Carmen wanted. “And to be clear, our rental agreements—”

“Are very well intact,” Bamford promised with a tip of her head.

Carmen knew when to exit. She turned on her heels, pebbles skittering under her shoe.

“What exactly do you plan—”

Carmen cut Lola off with a hand on her wrist again, but this time she gave her a yank toward her. “Ms. Bamford has assured us that she’ll handle it,” she said in her best lawyer voice, despite her annoyance at Lola’s inability to let things go. “We have to trust her to do that.”