Hearing a loud thump as two bodies crashed into the ground, this prompted her to open her eyes again. Blaine, realizing what Zach had done, tackled him and forced him down on his stomach. Shouting at him, Blaine demanded him to drop the weapon immediately. All of his yelling eventually led him to knock the weapon clean out of Zach’s hands, sliding it far away from his reach.
“W-Wait! I-I’m sorry!” Zach stammered, finding it hard to breathe with the weight pressing into his back. “I didn’t mean to–”
“Save it,” Blaine interjected curtly, reaching into his back pocket to pull out a pair of handcuffs. “You’ve done enough today.”
“Hold on! This is just a misunderstanding!” Zach continued to plead, but it was falling on deaf ears. “I wasn’t going to shoot her, I swear! I was just trying to–”
“Officer, come here!” Blaine called out to a nearby policeman, who placed his weapon back in his holster and hurried over to help. “Take him back to the police station. We found our killer.”
“B-But I–”
“Shut up already,” he mumbled, hoisting him up on his two feet and passing him to the awaiting officer.
He watched as they took him away, almost dragging him along as Zach’s legs were giving out on him.
Once he was gone, Blaine looked back at Thea. She was still seated on the ground, watching him from a distance away. He was grateful that things went as well as they did. If something would have happened to her...
He shook his head. He didn’t want to entertain that thought.
Making his way over, Blaine helped her to her feet and assisted her in dusting herself off. She grimaced, realizing that she had scraped up the palms of her hands during the fall.
“Are you okay?” he whispered out, looking into her eyes.
She nodded. “Of course.”
Without warning, Blaine wrapped his arms around Thea to embrace her tightly. He was so much bigger than she was, but that didn’t stop her from returning the hug. Whenever he was around her, she felt so much safer. With the way he enveloped her, she knew that he continued to validate that feeling time and time again.
Chapter 30
The rest of the night passed in a blur of motion and light. Thea watched as Zach was led into the back of a police cruiser, buckled in, and driven away. He had a far-off look in his eye, slightly dazed, like he’d been knocked over the head.
Blaine was, of course, kept busy with the other police who had arrived, processing the scene and taking statements. He had another deputy, a kind-faced woman, take Thea’s statement. Then the deputy asked whether there was anyone who could come get Thea.
“Oh,” Thea answered. “I brought my car.”
The deputy shook her head. “Honey, no, I don’t think you should be driving right now.”
Only then did Thea realize how shaken she felt. She must have looked pretty bad, to be eliciting that soft-eyed look from the deputy.
“My grandmother,” she offered, digging out her phone and pulling up Granny’s contact information.
The deputy held out her hand to make the call. Thea considered resisting, but the truth was she didn’t mind being taken care of just now.
She looked sidelong at where Blaine was standing, over by the gazebo. He looked away quickly, but not quickly enough to hide the face that he had been watching her.
WHEN GRANNY ARRIVED she wrapped Thea in a tight hug and then hustled her into the car without hesitation.
“Let’s get you home,” Granny said. “Get some hot tea in you.”
As soon as they were heading away from the crime scene, Thea found herself feeling better, more relaxed. By the time they made it home she could finally breathe normally.
Granny got the story from her while she brewed up some tea in the kitchen.
“Killed just for being what she is,” Granny said, a long frown crossing her face. “Isn’t that just the saddest thing you’ve ever heard?”
“Tomorrow they’re going to paint the new gazebo,” Thea remarked. “Open it up to the public. Soon people won’t even remember her. It’ll be like it never happened.”
“Oh, I’m sure it won’t be like that.” Granny shook her head. “This town has a long memory.”
Thea looked up at Granny, curious and suddenly more alert than she’d felt since Zach’s arrest.
Granny inclined her head, once. Then, she let out a long, low sigh.
“I know you wanted to know why your parents weren’t recorded as dead in the papers you found in the library.”
Thea nodded.
Granny gave off the impression that the next words were incredibly difficult to speak. “Well... the truth is, they weren’t recorded as dead because... no one knows where they are.”
Thea blinked, silent, not sure what to say. Not sure what Granny was saying.
Granny reached across the table and took both Thea’s hands in her own. Granny’s hands were soft as ever, and smelled faintly of wildflowers from the hand cream she swore by, the same one she’d used ever since Thea was a little girl.
When she’d come to live with Granny because her parents were dead.
Granny squeezed Thea’s fingers in gentle reassurance.
“Your mother and father... they both disappeared without a trace one night. You were only five. Suddenly they weren’t around to take care of you, and no matter how we looked, we couldn’t find them, had no idea what happened to them. So you came to stay here. It was only supposed to be temporary, but when months and months passed and there was no word....”
“You told me they died,” Thea whispered.
“It’s what we assume did happen,” Granny said. “Eventually, it had been so long and they hadn’t come back. I knew that there wasn’t anything but death that would have kept them from you, anyway. They loved you so much. You were the light of their life, you know that? I didn’t want you to think they abandoned you.”
Thea felt tears rising. In the comforting grip of Granny’s hands, she knew she didn’t need to hold them back.
“Then, as you got older... well, there was never a good time to explain. I suppose I got settled into it, the way things have been. It hurts me too, to think about how I’ll never know what happened to my daughter. But having you around has been such a help to me, sometimes I allow myself to forget about all of it.”
Granny looked almost nervous that Thea would be angry with her.
Thea smiled and wiped her eyes. “I understand. I don’t like being kept in the dark, but... I get why you did it. And I know that all of this has to have been hard for you, too.”
Granny let out a relieved sigh and gave Thea a grateful smile. “Good. Now, if I’m not mistaken, there’s someone at the door.”
Thea cocked her head, not quite sure what Granny meant. But a second later, the doorbell rang.
Granny popped up from the table, amazingly spry, and gave Thea a wink and a yawn. “I think I’m heading off to bed. You can deal with the visitor, can’t you?”
Bemused, Thea went to the door.
Blaine was waiting on the other side, looking tired.
“Are you all right?” he asked her, concerned, when he saw her.
She wiped her cheeks, which were still a little wet from tears. “Yeah, I’m fine. What’s going on? Do you need to come in?”
“No,” he said.
He didn’t speak again for a minute, and Thea started to feel awkward in the doorway. So she stepped out onto the stoop. The bricks under her bare feet were chilly in the fall night air.
After a moment, Blaine cleared his throat.
“I’m impressed with your detective work,” he said. “Even if you weren’t strictly supposed to be doing it.”
Thea smiled. “And I’m grateful to you for swooping in for the save, just when I needed you.”
Blaine chuckled. “I’m sure you would have managed on your own. Something tells me you have all sorts of tricks I’ve never seen.”
For some reason, the comment made Thea flush ple
asantly.
“Listen, you know the Fall Festival that’s coming up?” Blaine asked. “Would you like to join me? Opening night?”
Thea cocked an eyebrow. “Is this a friend thing? Or a... date thing?”
“Yes,” Blaine said. “To both.”
Thea’s heart kicked in her chest, but she managed to reply with a calm she didn’t feel.
“Oh in that case... yes, I’d love to.”
Don’t miss the next book in the Tabby Kitten Witch Mystery Series:
Creature Magic
Thanks for Reading
I hope you enjoyed the book and it would mean so much to me if you could leave a review. Reviews help authors gain more exposure and keep us writing your favorite stories.
YOU CAN FIND ALL OF my books by visiting my Author Page.
SIGN UP FOR CONSTANCE Barker’s New Releases Newsletter where you can find out when my next book is coming out and for special discounted pricing.
I NEVER SHARE OR SELL your email.
Visit me on Facebook and give me feedback on the characters and their stories.
Catalog of Books
Tabby Kitten Witch Mystery Series
Familiar Magic
Creature Magic
Adventure Magic
Ivy’s Botanical Shop Cozy Witch Mystery Series
Brewing Up Trouble
Brewing the Midnight Oil
A Storm is Brewing
Back to the Brewing Board
Brewing Up the Wrong Tree
Brewing Down the Hatches
WITCHES BE CRAZY COZY Witch Mystery Series
Down the Hatch
Down But Not Dead
Down and Out
Down and Dirty
Down in Flames
Down for the Count
THE HOCUS POCUS COZY Witch Mystery Series
Spooks and Spells
Freaks and Felons
Crooks and Crystals
Graves and Goons
Brooms and Brains
Moons and Magic
THE HAPPY BLENDINGS Cozy Witch Mystery Series
The Potion Commotion
A Pumpkin Potion Explosion
A Drop in the Potion
A Notion of a Potion
A Deceptive Potion
A Formidable Potion
A Risky Potion
CALAMITY CORNERS COZY Witch Mystery Series
Calm Before the Witch Storm
The Witch is in the Details
Better the Witch You Know
A Witch Axe to Grind
A Cauldron of Witch Tricks
TRIPLET WITCH SISTERS Mystery Series
Two’s Company, Three’s a Coven
Resting Witch Face
Bewitched and Bewildered
Triple Toil and Trouble
THE WITCH SISTERS OF Stillwater
Hoodoo and Just Desserts
A Shade of Murder
That Ol’ Black Magic
A Whole Lotta Witchin Goin On
The Beast Cometh
Secrets and Sorcery
Familiar Magic (Tabby Kitten Mystery Series Book 1) Page 11
