by Bella Falls
We’d made excuses about needing more time to do the job right but insisted on taking the sewing machine and its cabinet back with us to do a thorough examination of its condition to set the right price. I didn’t doubt that our strange behavior tipped Ms. Robin off to something not being quite right, but she hadn’t put up a fight. We let her have a moment with the machine before we removed it, waiting until we got it out in the truck before covering it up with neutralizing fabric.
It sat in the middle of the living room at the big house with the three of us standing around while Granny Jo drifted around it. “It’s got a fair amount of power if you know what you’re looking for. You say she bought this at a flea market?” she asked me.
I told her about the hidden messages, waiting with impatience for her to confirm my biggest suspicions.
“Sounds to me like she was able to cast some harmless spells, even though she’s mortal.” My ghostly granny admired the condition of the object. “Combining her intent with the energy from the machine created the magic. Thank goodness she’s a good person with a kind heart, as you said. In the wrong hands, a lot of damage could be done.”
“Like spellbinding another person?” I blurted out, too exhilarated to hold in my idea. “Listen, if I stitch all of the small pieces together, I think I’m right when I accuse Tara of being the witch who spellbound Gloria.”
Granny Jo hovered in place. “You’ve got pretty good instincts, Ruby Mae. But what evidence do you have?”
I ticked off my list with my fingers. “She was acting funny about Harrison. She was the one who created Gloria’s dress, and Ms. Robin said she’d caught her re-stitching the hem of it right before the wedding. And why would Tara turn on the boss she clearly admired and attack her for not wanting to sell her the sewing machine?”
The room fell silent while they considered my theory. Dad tapped his finger to the corner of his mouth. “All good points, but it’s still speculation. You’re lacking concrete evidence.”
“I agree,” murmured my uncle. “Maybe you should get your coven leader involved and see if she thinks it’s worth proposing the idea to that warden woman.”
I pulled my spell phone out of my pocket but hesitated before pulling up Ebonee’s contact number. Although I didn’t know all of the coven rules, I would bet there would be consequences if I accused a fellow member of a crime and then was wrong. Plus, I didn’t want to make a fool out of myself and go back to being out of favor with Ebonee again.
“Granny, what’s the best way to spellbind someone? Just by being near the person?” I asked.
My great-grandmother stopped inspecting the sewing machine. “If the spell caster is strong enough, maybe. But most of the stories I heard involved an object that the victim would have on his or her person. Like jewelry.”
“Or a dress,” I exclaimed, jumping when my phone rang in my hand. Annoyed at the interruption, I answered it. “Hey, Wesley.”
“Hey, do you still have Glo’s car at your place?” he asked without hesitation.
With everything going on, I hadn’t made the effort to get her car back to her garage yet. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
He blew out a breath. “No, I’m actually glad that you do. I’m at her place right now, waiting for the police. Someone broke in here and tore it apart. I think you have what they were looking for in her car.”
Granny Jo hovered close by so she could listen in. I moved away from her spectral presence. “What would that be?”
“The dress she wore for the wedding. I guess she had it with her when she took off and showed up at your place.” A siren sounded in the background. “Listen, I don’t know why Glo wanted me to get it. But I thought you should know in case it was there with you. I gotta go.”
Ignoring my family’s curiosity, I darted out of the house and ran as fast as possible toward my cottage. Rex attempted to chase me when I approached the barn, but I bolted past him, listening to his disappointed clucks disappear behind me.
Out of breath but energized with purpose, I made it my place in less time than it would have taken to have my dad drive me here. Bursting through the front door, I found the keys to Gloria’s car and used them to unlock the trunk. A garment bag with Ms. Robin’s logo on it lay inside.
I yanked it out and brought it into my living room. Unzipping the bag, I pulled out the dress, fanning it out over the couch. With careful fingers, I checked the bottom hem and felt a familiar buzz of energy.
“If they want proof, now I got it,” I announced, rushing off to find some scissors.
Chapter Twenty-One
I crouched down behind a car parked on the same side of the road as Ms. Robin’s shop. There had to be at least a good handful of wardens watching the store and waiting to catch Tara in the trap I’d helped plan. Despite my begging, I’d been told to let the professionals handle things. But I wanted the satisfaction of that sweet moment when she realized I was the one who took her down.
Picking the mailbox as my next target, I scampered over to duck down again. My hand fingered the key in my pocket that Ms. Robin had given my father so that we’d have access to her storeroom whenever we needed it. I might be pushing my family’s personal code a little bit, but the payoff would make the future scolding worthwhile.
I stood up, prepared to sneak to the trash can attached to a light pole, and jumped at the voice behind me. “I thought I told you not to get involved,” Lieutenant Alwin reprimanded. She spoke into her radio. “Not the suspect. Repeat. Not the suspect. Hold your positions.”
“I should be there for the moment she gets caught and you know it,” I protested. “I think I’ve earned it.”
Grabbing me by my arm, she escorted me across the street by an unmarked car, forcing me to duck down with her. “I compliment you on your cleverness, Ms. Jewell. Especially figuring out that the lyrics to the country song triggered Gloria into action. Between that and the other handwriting samples you collected, you pretty much handed us everything we needed to take her down.”
Pride swelled in my chest and my cheeks heated. “Thank you.”
“You might even make a decent warden candidate if I thought you could follow orders,” she joked.
“I’ve got a good job, thank you.” A little pride from her compliment dampened my frustration. “After what we’ve surmised about the sewing machine and its part in all of this, I think what we do is pretty important.”
The lieutenant regarded me for an extra beat. “You’re probably right. But you need to go home right now before—”
“Are you seriously involving a civilian in your operation, Lieutenant Alwin?” A flashlight shone in our faces, and Deputy Sheriff Caine approached the two of us.
“Caine, I don’t have time for your nonsense right now.” The lieutenant spoke into her radio. “And turn off that light.”
With a click of a button, he obeyed but continued to rant. “I told the Sheriff you were up to something. I’ll be filing a full report on involving someone outside of law enforcement. Ms. Jewell is the last person you want involved.”
I didn’t get a word of defense out before the lieutenant tore into him. “You are not the ranking officer here, Deputy. I’m aware of your constant surveillance of me, the things you’ve been saying to our colleagues, and your basic hounding over this entire case. If you want to move up in the organization, do it off your own merits, not by trying to tear me down.”
His mustache twitched, but he wisely remained silent.
The lieutenant continued. “Furthermore, this is a sanctioned cooperative operation between multiple city enforcement. Your exclusion from it should be quite obvious.”
The radio she carried crackled once. “Uh, Lieutenant. A car just pulled up to the backdoor of the building.”
“Maintain your positions. We want her to go inside so there’s less of a chance for her to get away,” Lieutenant Alwin instructed. She pointed at the deputy. “Caine, I need you to leave.”
“I have more right than h
er to be here, but I’m the one being ordered to go,” he complained. “One more thing to go on my report.”
“We don’t have time for this.” Without warning, the lieutenant flourished her hand and cast a spell on Deputy Caine. He slumped down against the side of the car, unconscious.
I gawked at her, a little impressed at her actions and a whole lot afraid of what she might do to me. “Didn’t you just break a whole lot of rules?”
“There’s precedence for this, although it’s not encouraged to knock a fellow mortal officer out.” She grunted with the effort to move him into a seated position. “It’s better to try and put together teams of other wardens when it comes to magical enforcement. Now, we’ll have to waste time, effort, and resources dealing with the added problem of adjusting memories.”
“Remind me not to tick you off,” I muttered, scooting back a few inches and considering whether or not witnessing Tara get caught was worth the risk.
The lights flicked on inside the store, and someone in plain clothes opened the front door. “We’ve got her, Lieutenant,” the warden called out.
I pleaded with my eyes to be allowed to go with her but braced myself for the order to leave. She regarded me for a long moment, then hung her head and shook it. “I guess if I’m already pressing the limits of my warden abilities, you might as well tag along. Like you said, your exceptional work kind of earned you the right to witness the conclusion.”
The entire front of the store with all of the merchandise was untouched. A few wardens milled about outside of Ms. Robin’s private room, waiting. A couple of them that I recognized from the coven dipped their heads in respect. Entering the smaller room, the lieutenant and I found Tara sitting on a stool next to the decoy sewing machine my family and I had scrounged up to trap her.
“What’s she doing here?” the girl hissed, squirming in her seat.
Her hands were bound behind her. The soft glow of the lights in the room lit up her sallow features. In such a short time, her appearance had changed, and I’m not sure I would have recognized her if we’d passed each other on the street in broad daylight.
“You’re looking phenomenal, Tara. What’s wrong? Been losing a lot of sleep?” I taunted.
“I said you could accompany me, not torture her,” the lieutenant warned. “Let me do all the talking.”
Shutting up so I could stay, I still managed to rile the girl up with a wink.
“I saw you there. At Harrison’s house,” Tara continued, aiming her venom at me. “It didn’t take long for him to cheat on his wife. She was never good enough for him. Neither are you.”
“And you are?” I muttered under my breath, shrugging an apology when the lieutenant glared at me.
“Miss Langston, have you been advised of your rights that anything you say can be used against you?” she asked.
Tara ignored the question, still talking only to me. “I’ve been his guardian all these years. Yes, he’s been with a lot of women, but he was always going to choose me in the long run. Until that girl got in the way. And I had to play nice whenever she would come in for dress fittings.” She paused and struggled against her restraints, causing a ruckus with the wardens.
“It seems she’s only responding to you,” Lieutenant Alwin turned around and spoke low enough for me to hear. “Before she wises up and stops talking, I’d like for you to ask as many helpful questions as possible.”
Given the green light, my heart raced with anticipation. Once Tara settled back down, I drilled her without mercy. “When did you first figure things out about the sewing machine.”
She stuck her nose in the air. “Not that long after I began working here.”
I doubted the truth behind her bravado, but I waited for her to continue.
“At first, I thought no harm could be done with those stupid little notes Robin would sew into her dresses. In fact, I didn’t report it to the coven because it was an idea I intended to continue when she gave me the machine to start my own business someday.” She cast her eyes to the floor. “I’d been waiting so patiently and acting like I cared about my job.”
“Had Ms. Robin really promised you she would give it to you?” I pressed.
Tara’s attention returned to me. “I would have convinced her in the long run. Good plans take time to execute.”
A little pity fractured my fury at her. How long had she been pining for Harrison and making plans for a fantasy that could never come true? I’d bet good money he didn’t even know who she was, and yet she’d been leaving him notes and building her delusion for far too long.
“I don’t think you took your time when you made your plan to use Gloria,” I said, wanting to get to the heart of it all.
An eerie smile slithered across her lips. “Yes and no. I’d spent ages at the coven library, trying to discover a way to make Harrison mine. I lied to that stupid ghost that I wanted to learn all about how thread and weaving have been used in magic throughout history.”
“What, you thought you could find the recipe to some love potion that would make him forget Azalea and finally see you?” The depths of her insanity revealed itself piece by piece.
She ignored my taunt. “I didn’t even think about the possibility of spellbinding someone until Harrison brought Azalea her purse during one of her fittings. I tried talking to him, but he dismissed me with polite chit chat instead of really seeing me right there next to him.”
“He hurt you. I get that.” I attempted a little compassion to keep her speaking.
Tara slumped on the stool. “Nobody sees me. I’m always in the background. The assistant. The one people don’t think to invite.”
For a brief second, I considered how difficult it might be to go through life feeling dismissed. But nothing excused her hurting other people. “If you loved Harrison, why did you spellbind Gloria to hurt him?”
“Because I couldn’t bring myself to do it,” Tara replied, a fat tear rolling down her face. “I’d been so happy to hear all the trouble about her parents and how many fights it started between them. I hoped it would break them apart, but it just brought them closer.”
It still made no sense to me why she would go after the person she wanted, but I was thankful she hadn’t tried to harm Azalea.
“You wanted to stop your pain,” the lieutenant interjected. “That’s why the groom was your intended target. And Gloria was just the vehicle to carry out your wishes.”
“I didn’t care if she got hurt in the process,” Tara spit out with a grimace of disgust. “I knew every single thing about the wedding. So, I stitched in the spell with the lyrics from that song using the sewing machine into Gloria’s dress. All I had to do was make sure the band played it, and everything would be taken care of.”
She’d written the lyrics of the song onto a white strip of fabric much like Ms. Robin did with her well wishes. When I’d torn apart Gloria’s dress, I found the prophetic words chosen with alarming purpose written in cursive across the long strip.
You should have plunged a knife into my breast
Carved my heart out of my chest
For all the pain you made me feel
I shoulda known better.
“Were you happy when Gloria didn’t actually kill him? Or were you afraid you’d get caught?” I asked, no longer able to find even a shred of pity for her. “Or maybe both?”
The tears stopped falling, and she sat up a little straighter. “I think I’m done talking.”
The lieutenant instructed her team to take Tara to the nearest warden station for processing. She also asked two of the guys to collect Deputy Sheriff Caine and take him as well since he’d have to undergo some spell modifications.
I followed her into the front of the store where she stopped with her hands on her hips, gazing at all of the beautiful dresses. “It’s a lot harder to get that happy ending than the fairy tales make it out to be.”
“There definitely aren’t any clear pathways nor any shortcuts,” I added. “My family i
nstilled in me that anything worth getting is worth the hard work and made so much sweeter by the journey.”
She escorted me out of the store, allowing other wardens to lock up behind us. “Sounds like good advice. Thanks for your assistance in there. I think we picked up more than enough.”
“I appreciate the opportunity.” I drew in a long breath and let it out. “I think it might have killed me not to confront her.”
The lieutenant stuck out her hand. “I still say you’d make a fine warden, but I think you’re exactly where you need to be. Good luck, Miss Jewell.”
We parted ways, and I took a few private moments to replay the conversation with Tara in my head. I might never understand all her reasons behind what she did. Trying to figure her out might drive me crazy, and I didn’t need to waste another second on her.
Once in the truck, I knew I should make a few calls or gather my friends to give them the news. But I needed to blow off a little steam first and clear my head. Turning on the radio, I flipped channels until I found the right song. There was very little in this world that a little Dolly couldn’t solve.
Aiming the truck in the direction of the beach, I let the music and the wind wash over me and sang my way back to my normal life and my home.
Epilogue
Dad tugged at the tie around his neck. “I don’t understand why we needed to dress up fancy.”
“If I have to wear a dress, you have to at least wear a nice jacket and tie,” I countered, straightening the striped necktie back into place.
“Whoever it is that’s showing up, they’re going to have to take me as I am.” Uncle Jo wore a clean button-down shirt but refused to take off his trucker hat with Ellie’s Diner logo embroidered on it. Since it was brand new from a recent meal there, he insisted it was his best one.
Granny Jo inspected each of us. “It’s not often that we have an agent from the International Magic Patrol come to our house, and I want each of you looking your absolute best.”
