by Amy Boyles
“So that’s the real power of the thing. To be able to enter any animal?”
“Yes. Peaches said people wanted the holder and Mr. Albod’s knowledge.” I rested my palms on the slick kitchen counter and gritted my teeth. “But you can’t kidnap someone indefinitely. And now people know I have the critterling. If Mr. Albod was alive, wouldn’t someone kill him? They don’t need him anymore to help them find it.”
Axel wagged a finger. “But they don’t know how to use it. That’s the crux of the situation, isn’t it?”
I nibbled my lip. “Right.”
Axel was correct. Maybe there was some truth to Peaches’s theory after all. I peeled my hands from the counter.
“So you think that someone would keep Mr. Albod alive in order to find out answers? Even if it was months later?”
“Wouldn’t you?”
I tipped my head toward him and scowled. “I’m not a criminal.”
“Pretend you are.”
“That’s not in my DNA.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “You’re right, it’s not. But this is possible. Plus, we’re talking about witches and wizards. They wouldn’t necessarily have to keep Mr. Albod tied up to kidnap him. All they’d need is a little bit of an influencing spell and he’d stay.”
“But if they could influence him to stay, couldn’t they influence him to simply give up the critterling?”
Axel rapped his knuckles on the counter. He rounded the corner and pulled a couple of glasses from the cabinet and filled them with water.
“You’re doing a lot of thinking,” I mentioned.
“I’m considering all the possibilities.” He slid a glass over to me. “The best theory I’ve got is that there’s a spell on the figurine that kept him from revealing its location. If Mr. Albod was smart enough to know folks wanted it, he would’ve taken precautions to keep it safe.”
I traced a finger over the rim of the glass. “So now we just have to figure out if it’s true that someone’s got Albod. Peaches has no idea who any suspects are, so it’s up to us.”
Axel tapped the heel of his hand onto the table. “I say we start at the most obvious place.”
“Which is?”
“The folks in the familiar society.” He hitched a dark brow. “Don’t they seem overly interested in the familiar vessel?”
“They sure do.”
“And wasn’t Willow Dean murdered outside one of the member’s homes?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a no-brainer. We begin there.”
“But in the meantime…” I said.
Axel leaned his forearms on the table and lowered himself until we were eye level. “In the meantime?”
“Willow Dean said I would be targeted next.”
“I’m aware of that. Do you need twenty-four-hour bodyguard services?”
I swatted him. “No, I don’t need that. I don’t think.” I frowned. “Do I? Are you offering to be my bodyguard?”
“I’m offering whatever you need. If what Peaches says is true, you’re in danger, Pepper. I’m not going to risk anything happening to you.”
He opened his palm. “Why don’t you give me the vessel? Make a big show about how I’ve got it now and that you’re letting me keep it.”
I jabbed my toe onto the tile floor. “I don’t know. I’m not sure how that will affect Peaches.”
Axel rolled his eyes. “We’re talking about a ghost-cat. He should be fine.”
I hesitated. “For now, I think I should keep it.”
“Promise that you’ll be careful. First sign of a problem and it’s mine.”
“Promise,” I said, crossing my fingers behind my back. I hated to say it, but I felt like I needed to keep the critterling in my possession no matter what.
His lips coiled into a smile, and he quickly shrugged off the serious tone of our conversation. “That makes me feel better.”
My lips tipped into a weak smile. “Me, too.”
Axel stretched across the counter and kissed me. “Everything I do, I do it for you.”
I quirked a brow. “Isn’t that a love ballad?”
Axel chuckled. He leaned in again but stopped when someone pounded on the front door.
Axel shot to attention. His gaze cut to me. I rose. He flared out his hand. “Stay here, Pepper.”
The pounding loudened.
“Who is it?” Axel called.
The pounding slowed. “I need to speak to Pepper Dunn! It’s an emergency!”
Axel shot me a dark look. “I’m going to open the door, but I want you to be ready for anything.”
I fisted my hands and nodded. “Open it. I’m ready.”
TEN
Axel opened the door, and CJ spilled onto the floor. He quickly gathered himself, straightened his collar and brushed off his clothes.
“Miss Dunn! I have been looking everywhere for you.”
I shot Axel an expression that said, Don’t look at me. I have no idea what this was about.
“Why are you looking for me?”
“Better question”—Axel’s voice was filled with warning—“is why are you pounding on my door? If I didn’t have magic, I would’ve greeted you with a shotgun.”
I tapped his shoulder. “Betty does have magic, and she still greeted you with a shotgun.”
At least she used to—when we had first started dating.
He sniffed. “That’s a moot point.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Anyway…” Axel folded his arms. His brow furrowed, and I could almost see the werewolf sliding underneath his skin, just dying to leap out and take over his body. “Why are you here?”
“Oh, that. Well…” CJ smoothed the back of his hair as if embarrassed. “I wanted to make sure Miss Dunn is okay. You know, a lot has gone on. A lot. What with Willow Dean Gar being murdered and Willow Dean saying Miss Dunn is going to die.”
“You said it was an emergency.” My voice dripped with skepticism. “Why’s that?”
“Your safety is an emergency. Do I have to remind you that there’s been a murder?” he said, flabbergasted. “Other than the fact that I wanted to make sure you are okay, I also wanted to know if you had given any more thought to selling the critterling?”
It took all my will not to shoot Axel a frantic look. I wanted to jump up and down and point at CJ and yell, Suspect! Suspect!
But clearly Axel was already on to that.
“CJ…” Axel squeezed CJ’s shoulder and guided him into the living room. “I’m sure all of this has been draining on you.”
“You don’t even know, Mr. Reign.”
“Did it all start with Mr. Albod’s death?”
Axel gently pushed CJ onto the couch. I sprang into action. “CJ, can I get you some water? Tea?”
“Aw shucks, you don’t have to go to any trouble.”
“It’s no trouble.” I smiled brightly. “Now, tell me what I can get for you.”
“Hot chocolate would be perfect, Miss Dunn.”
I arched a questioning brow to Axel. Would Mr. Muscles have that?
He thumbed toward the cabinets. “Right next to your jelly beans. I never know what you’re going to drink with those things.”
I laughed and headed into the kitchen to get the kettle bubbling and a packet of hot chocolate poured. While I worked, I peeked in on them, listening to their conversation.
“Were you very close to Mr. Albod?” Axel said.
CJ scratched the back of his neck. “Yes, we were, Mr. Reign. Very close. I wept when he died.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
CJ sliced the air with his hand. “That is okay. We all have to go one day or another. It happens to the best of us. I only hope that when he passed, it was peaceful.” CJ quickly added, “I heard it was. I wasn’t present at the time, you understand.”
“I do understand.” Axel scrubbed a hand over his razor-sharp jaw. “Did Mr. Albod ever confess that he was afraid for his life?”
<
br /> “What?” CJ shot up from the couch. “Why, who in heaven’s name would hurt Mr. Albod? He was the kindest, sweetest man I’d ever known.”
I entered from the kitchen with a steaming cup of cocoa. I squeezed CJ’s shoulder, and he calmed down, sitting on the couch.
I gave him an encouraging smile. “We have reason to believe Mr. Albod thought his life was in danger.”
“But why?”
I tipped my head and shrugged.
CJ blew into the mug. Steam curled off the swirling white skin that covered the brown liquid.
CJ’s expression brightened as if God himself had zapped a lightbulb in his brain. “Oh, you mean about the familiar vessel. You think someone wanted to kill Mr. Albod for it?” He shook his head emphatically. “No, ma’am, there is no way anyone would’ve harmed Mr. Albod over that.”
“Someone killed Willow Dean Gar,” Axel reminded him.
“That’s true, but Willow Dean was a nasty creature, if I may be so blunt,” CJ said in the genteelest of voices. “Mr. Albod didn’t have any enemies.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Axel folded his arms. “So he never confided any fears to you.”
CJ’s cocoa had cooled enough to drink. He took a small sip. “This is mighty fine hot chocolate, Miss Dunn. I thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome.”
CJ smiled back. Axel cleared his throat. “Was Mr. Albod afraid?”
“Not that I know of. He was very close to Jerome Puryear in the familiar society. He could tell you more. I was hired by the children to sell the house because I’m good with estates, but I can promise you right now I don’t know anything about any animosities Mr. Albod might’ve been suffering with anyone.”
“Thank you for telling us what you could,” I said.
CJ drained the rest of his cup and rose. “That was wonderful. Now that I know Miss Dunn is safe and sound, I feel better.” He pointed to Axel. “And knowing she’s in such capable hands means I don’t have to worry about her.”
I pressed my fingers to my chest. “You were worried about me?” How touching and how suspicious.
“Of course. So much drama going on. It’s in me to worry, you see. I worry about so many things.”
“You don’t need to worry about Pepper,” Axel said sharply.
I threw Axel a look full of fiery arrows. There was no need to be rude to poor CJ.
Axel rolled his eyes in response.
CJ cleared his throat. My gaze darted to him, and I realized he’d been studying the two of us. “I’ve got to get going. Mother’s going to need some dinner soon.”
“Oh? You live with your mother?” I said. “She wasn’t at the meeting.”
“Mother doesn’t like to come out and socialize.” He placed the back of his hand beside his mouth the way you relay a secret. “She’s a bit on the ornery side.”
“Oh,” I said, curious that CJ hadn’t mentioned his mother before now.
CJ snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot. You should really talk to one of Mr. Albod’s children if you’re interested in knowing more.”
“Yes, please.” Axel opened the door for CJ. “Who are they?”
“The one who lives in town is Della.”
I blinked in surprise. “Della? Who was at the familiar society?”
CJ nodded. “One and the same. She’s who hired me to sell the house.”
We thanked him and CJ left. I turned to Axel and frowned. “You were rude.”
“He was flirting,” Axel said gruffly.
“You don’t think he likes me? He’s a little too, um, soft, I think. I’m not his type, Axel.”
Axel moved from the door to the kitchen. “Right. You’re not his type. That whole way he talks is just an act.”
My jaw dropped. “What makes you say that?”
“Because no one speaks like that.”
“CJ does,” I said smartly, “and Della has a thing for him. I know for a fact.”
Axel rubbed his hands together. “Good. Let’s go tell her we’ll set his hair on fire unless she spills any beans she has.”
I wrapped my arms around Axel’s neck and inhaled his familiar scent. “What? Are you saying you’re jealous?”
“No. I’m not jealous.”
But he stiffened, and if there was one thing I knew, it was that when Axel reacted like that, he was hiding something.
“You are,” I teased. “You’re jealous of CJ Hix, of all people. Come on. At least be jealous of Tom Brady or someone like that.”
“Are you attracted to Tom Brady?” he said defensively.
I kissed the scruff on his cheek. “No. I’m not. But anyway, it sounds like we’ve got someone else to speak to. Are you coming?”
Axel ground out the next words. “Yes, but I get the feeling CJ is full of more bull than we can even imagine. Starting with that fake personality.”
Della Frost wasn’t hard to track down. We discovered quickly enough where she lived, but I had a feeling we might need backup.
“What if we bring Peaches along?” I said. “He should be able to help. After all, someone’s voice might trigger a memory in him.”
“Yes, let’s bring the ghost-cat along,” Axel said dryly.
I folded my arms and sulked. “You don’t like that idea.”
The Land Rover jostled as we drove over a speed bump. “It’s not that I don’t like it, but you’re already listening to the cat.” His jaw tightened. “Never mind.”
“You think I’m crazy to listen to a dead cat, don’t you?”
“A little, yes.”
“But he speaks and I’ve listened to living animals plenty of times. Pleeeeenty. Why not give him a fair shot as well?”
“It’s just…we don’t know anything about him. Mr. Albod was kidnapped? Even I’m having a hard time swallowing that one.”
“He’s not lying.”
“I hope not,” Axel murmured.
“Are you going to help me with this, anyway?”
“Of course.” He shot me a thousand-watt smile that made me tingle from my head to my toes. “I love helping you. It’s what I live for.”
“No need to be sarcastic.”
“I’m not.”
We swung onto Bubbling Cauldron. “Look, there’s Betty.”
My grandmother tiptoed down the street. Her gaze was pinpointed on something. I couldn’t figure out what until the man walking in front of her stopped and glanced into a shop window.
Betty froze. She whipped away to stare at the window she stood in front of, rocking back and forth on her heels nonchalantly.
“What is she doing?” I whispered.
Then it hit me.
“Good night.” The man picked up the pace again, and Betty tiptoed after him. My chest tightened. “She’s going to get herself arrested for stalking.”
“What are you talking about?”
I motioned to the sidewalk. “Pull over.”
“Why?”
I whirled on him. “Betty’s secret admirer. She doesn’t know who he is.” I pointed to the wizard she was currently following. “My grandmother has decided to take matters into her own hands. She’s following that man to figure out if he’s the one.”
Axel stared at me blankly. His mouth opened, and he shut it, shaking his head. He opened it again to say something, but did the same thing.
“What?” I demanded. “Will you just spit it out?”
His face pinched in confusion. “But why does Betty have a secret admirer?”
“Beats the heck out of me.” I shrugged. “But she’s about to get herself thrown into jail unless I get in there and stop her.”
Axel’s eyes widened. “Go. Stop her.”
He braked the vehicle to a stop. I hopped out and skirted toward Betty. I didn’t want to shout her name for fear the man would hear and see us, so I launched myself at her, throwing myself in her path.
“Hey!” she yelped.
I flared my arms. “What are you doing?”
; She peered around me. “What does it look like?”
“Something bordering on illegal.”
Betty grunted. “I’m only trying to mark eligible men off my list. Narrow down the pool.”
“The pool?” I said, astounded. “When is this a pool? If your admirer wants you to know who he is, trust me, he’ll tell you.”
Betty chewed invisible food with her mouth shut. “What if I want to figure it out for myself?”
I hooked my hand through her arm and aimed her in the opposite direction.
“It’s better if you let him reveal it to you.”
Betty struggled to turn around, but I held her tight. “Would you let me go?”
“No, not until you promise you won’t stalk random old wizards in town.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“Then I’m not letting you go.”
Betty yanked her arm from my hold. She whirled on me and narrowed her eyes to slitty wedges of death.
“That look won’t kill me.” I folded my arms and glared right back.
“It might not kill, but I’m hoping to intimidate you enough that you back off.”
“I will not.” I gestured toward the street. “You can’t go around tagging after men and questioning them about being your secret admirer.”
“I didn’t question him.”
I pinched my fingers together. “You were this close to doing it. Don’t deny it.”
“And what if I was?” She sniffed the air, annoyed with me. “What’s the big deal? It’s not like I was going to hurt anybody.”
“No, but you were following that man. It might’ve led to a wrong encounter.”
“What kind of wrong encounter?”
Oh jeez. I didn’t know. “The kind that ends up going wrong,” I said, flustered. Heck, I couldn’t see the future, but I didn’t have to in order to know that Betty stalking random men couldn’t lead to anything good.
I snapped my fingers. “First of all, if you confronted him, then you’d be forced to admit you have a secret admirer.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “And what’s wrong with that?”
“Don’t you see? Then the whole town would know, and guess what.”
“What?”
Boy, I was really winging it now, but I felt a rush of endorphins. I had this. I could convince Betty of anything. Was this magic?
