“Thanks for helping. I don’t know where else to turn.”
Ember gasped. That voice was Tom, April’s biological father and the man who had strangled Cassandra. Even though Ember thought Tom was a victim of circumstance, there still remained the fact he’d killed a woman. That made her view him with some degree of trepidation.
Ash didn’t seem bothered. “April’s a good kid who's been through a lot. Just because she’s drawing pictures and speaking in weird voices doesn’t mean she’s possessed.”
Tom’s past effigy shook its translucent head. “It’s hard to convey what it’s like when the, um, the entity takes control. It’s like I’m not looking into my daughter’s eyes anymore. There’s an intelligence, and an, an age there.”
Ash cocked an eyebrow. “Careful. The more you discuss a supernatural entity, the stronger it gets.”
Ember frowned. That was generally true, but only because some entities siphoned off the latent psychic energies of their haunting victims. Ash didn’t want Tom speculating. Or maybe she was tired of the sound of his voice.
“I wasn’t sure where to go. Most people in town won’t even talk to me.”
“You killed someone, Tom.” Ash sighed. “She was a bad person, but you still killed her.”
“I was her prisoner. She kept me hypnotized by her love spell.”
“Which is why you’re not in prison or on death row. Now calm down.” Ash looked about worriedly. “You’re not the only one dealing with—”
Tom cried out, his hands going to the sides of his face. A twisted, strangled howl erupted from his froth-flecked lips.
“Oh great,” Ash said with a sigh. She grabbed a vial of liquid and flung some at Tom. “I bid thee flee this mortal vessel and return to the realm beyond.”
The banishment charm didn’t work. Whatever possessed Tom proved too strong. Tom staggered forward and grabbed Ash by the shirt. He flung her across the kitchen counter, dislodging the candy dish with her body.
Ash hit the floor at the same time as the dish. She cut her palm on the spilled glass but paid it no heed. Arcane words spilled from Ash’s lips as she tried a more powerful banishing spell. Tom fell to his knees, a keening moan erupting from his throat. He fell face down on the floor and shivered.
“Tom? You back in control of yourself?”
Tom lifted his head and looked up at Ash. “I think so. What was that?”
“Don’t talk about it or it may come back. Come on, let’s go take a look at your daughter.”
Ash and Tom’s effigies moved down the stairs to the street. Ember followed, watching the two of them get into Ash’s truck.
Beulah let go of the spell, and the translucent shadow play ended. She slumped against the brick wall behind her, sighing in relief.
“Thank you, Beulah,” Ember said. “I owe you one.”
“Yeah, you do. And I’ll collect at some point, don’t doubt that.” Beulah stood up and walked away. “I hope you find your sister, Ember. But you’ll excuse me if I don’t feel much like hanging out with the lawman who lets my sister’s killer walk around loose.”
Ember sighed, unable or perhaps unwilling to explain—again—that the court system was responsible for Tom’s freedom, and not her Sheriff husband.
Cedric put his hands on his hips and stared at the space where Ash’s car had been parked.
“Tom again. He seems to get involved in an awful lot of shenanigans.”
“He’s not the swiftest bulb in the box, and therefore susceptible to magic more than most.”
“I think it’s time we had a chat with Tom,” Cedric said.
“Agreed. As far as we can tell…” Ember stared off down the street, the direction the time effigies had taken before the spell faded “…Tom was one of the last people to see Ash before she vanished.”
Ten
Thicker clouds smothered the moon as Cedric drove them along the winding roads to Tom’s shack in the swamp.
“I thought Tom had to spend his nights and weekends in the mental health facility?”
“Budget cuts means they need the bed. They released Tom but he has an ankle monitor. He’s supposed to be home whenever he’s not looking for work or engaging in supervised visits with his daughter.”
“Then how was he able to get out to see Ash the other night?”
“Good question.” Cedric’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not real wild with Tom living way out on the edge of town like this. He’s supposed to be where he can be supervised if necessary.”
“Do you really think Tom’s a killer? I mean…” Ember sighed. “I know he killed Cassandra, but that was because of her love enchantment, right?”
“Fighting against her love enchantment may have been the catalyst which set him on that pattern of behavior, but I’m not sure we can lay the blame squarely at Cassandra’s feet for her own demise.”
Ember frowned. “Explain that, please.”
Cedric slowed as they passed through a dip in the gravel road. “I’m not trying to say Tom’s a bad person, I’m really not. But he could have done a lot of things to protect April from Cassandra. Leaving comes to mind right away. Instead, he chose to strangle her with a wire and then fake her death. That’s a premeditated homicide, even if it may—or may not—have been justified. Covering it up definitely isn’t justified.”
“So, you think Tom may have some hidden darkness of his own? Some violent streak that could be rearing its ugly head now?”
Cedric sighed. “Spinning a yarn about his daughter having a demonic possession issue would be a great way to lure your sister into his clutches.”
“When did Tom move out this way?” Ember saw a gator lounging beside a much encrusted pond. “This is barely civilization any longer.”
“He had to have a place of residence, and since Cassandra’s place got burned down in that weird fire, he moved into a shack his grandfather bequeathed him. No indoor toilet but he has satellite wifi. Go figure.”
Ember grunted. “Not to mention he has an ankle monitor.”
“Yeah, I’m most curious to find out how he’s been circumventing that.”
They pulled off onto a pothole-ridden drive leading to Tom’s shack. Ember felt a stab of sympathy at him for living in such a modest dwelling. The trailers and RVS the wrestlers lived out of seemed spacious by comparison.
Tom opened the lone door, revealing a space not much larger than a one car garage. A kitchen area, featuring an old-fashioned wooden stove, a military issue cot, and a beat up love seat were his sole furnishings.
“Oh, hey, Sheriff,” Tom said, tucking his leg back behind the door frame. “What brings you out here?”
“You can quit trying to hide the fact you removed your ankle monitor, Tom,” Cedric growled. “That’s not even why I’m here.”
Tom pushed the door open all the way. “Is this about Ash?”
Ember took a step forward. “What about her?”
Tom swallowed. “I uh, heard she was missing.”
“How’d you hear that, living way out here?” Cedric cocked an eyebrow. “You been slipping the anklet off a lot? Taking a lot of trips into town…and elsewhere?”
“Hey, don’t tell them I’m doing this, Sheriff, come on,” Tom said. “They’ll lock me back up for sure if you do.”
“Tom, I can’t help you if you don’t let me. How did you find out about Ash being missing?”
“I have the internet, you know. And it’s all over town. The witches on AllMagicMatters.com are having a field day with Beulah casting a spell for law enforcement.
“AllMagicMatters?” Blair asked with a frown.
“Where have you been? It’s all over social media.”
“We have lives, Tom. Real lives. We don’t have time for that nonsense.”
Tom swallowed, nodding at Cedric. “Oh. Well, it’s a support group for witches who think that they’ve been unfairly targeted by authorities because they practice, in their words, non-hearthstone magics.”
“Dark
Magic, they mean?” Cedric shook his head and sighed. “Why does everyone want to be an exploited minority these days?”
“I don’t know. I’m hardly a supporter of dark witches.”
Ember snorted. “Yeah, you’ve killed one.”
Tom grimaced, his face turning red. “Yes, and I’m paying for it, all right? I know it wasn’t right. You think I haven’t thought that maybe I just should have grabbed my kid and ran? But it’s like…when you’re fighting a mind spell, you don’t come all out of it at once like leaving a swimming pool. More like once in a while you can stick your face above the surface for a few lucid breaths and then you’re back under.”
“You felt you had to act before you lost the will to do so,” Cedric said, arching his brows.
“Yeah, exactly. Look, I’m sorry Ash is missing, but I had nothing to do with it. She was fine the last time I saw her.”
“When was that?”
“The day before yesterday, around nine o’clock, I guess. She examined April and said the kid was just going through a tough time, not possessed.”
Cedric frowned. “Where did this exam take place?”
“At Rose’s place, my ex’s house.” Tom swallowed hard. “Say, Sheriff, you think there’s a chance April could come stay with me? I hate to think of her being with a stranger after her mother’s death.”
“Not my department, Tom,” Cedric said, shaking his head. “Did Ash happen to say where she was going?”
“No, but she seemed in a big hurry. She took off back toward town, and that’s the last I’ve seen or heard from her. I swear.”
“You know I have to ask where you were when Rose died, Tom, right?”
Tom heaved a heavy sigh. “I know. I was here, with my ankle monitor off…I don’t have an alibi.”
Cedric stood up. “Tom, you’re going to call the monitoring company and tell them what you’ve done. It’s up to them if they inform the correctional board. In any event, I expect to know where you are at all times from now on. Here or in a jail cell is up to you.”
Tom nodded swiftly. “I’ll call them, Sheriff. I swear.”
Ember and Cedric took their leave. Ember cocked her eyebrow at her husband as they got into the squad car.
“Do you believe him? About Ash?”
Cedric shook his head. “I’m not sure. I do know he’s holding something back.”
Ember nodded. “I thought so, too. But what?”
Cedric’s radio crackled. “Sheriff Jamison, are you reading this? Over.”
Cedric grabbed the microphone receiver and held it to his mouth. “This is Jamison. Sorry, I was away from my squad car. What’s going on?”
“I know it’s getting late, Sheriff, but I’ve got bad news. UPS man just called the station. They just found another body in town.”
Eleven
The squad car bounced along the rough road, sending the high beams lancing crazily through the swamp. Ember glanced over at Cedric; his face drawn into a grim glower.
“First Rose, and now Keven Whitman. Do you think the deaths could be related?”
“Too early to speculate,” Cedric said. “It does seem like bodies keep turning up, though, doesn’t it?”
“But is it related to Rose’s case, though?”
Cedric shook his head. “Possibly. Kevin was a survivalist prepper nutjob, though. Who knows what he had out here on his property?”
“Like what?”
“Poisons, explosives, chemicals to create weapons or preserve food. Any number of things may have done him in. Men like him are also huge suicide risks.”
Ember cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes, he fits the bill. He’s in his forties but single, aggressively conservative in his views of government, and spends much of his time online speaking to people as inflammatory as he is.”
“You really think he’d kill himself?”
“Maybe, maybe not. I’m just saying we should remain open to the possibility Kevin Whitman’s death is completely unrelated to either your sister’s disappearance or Rose’s demise.”
Ember nodded firmly. “Right. We don’t want to prejudice ourselves. Still, I’ve got a bad feeling it’s all twisted together.”
Cedric pulled around a bend and Whitman’s property line fence appeared in the headlights.
“Me, too. We’d best stay on our toes.”
Cedric slowed as they approached the ten-foot-high cyclonic fence crowned with razor wire. Nearby, a brown delivery truck sat caddy corner from the gate entrance, the driver looking at them in misery as they exited the squad car.
“I—I didn’t touch nothing,” the driver said. He dropped out to the ground, proving to be a tall, lanky fellow with an unruly beard contrasting with his shaven head. “I saw him laying there, and I called the station.”
Cedric approached the driver while Ember squinted through the fence to see Kevin Whitman’s pudgy form laying face down in a muddy stretch between his front door and his gate. Ember pursed her lips. “You think he could still be alive? Maybe just unconscious?”
The driver laughed. “Look at his face. His mouth and nose are covered by water. Unless he’s Aquaman, I doubt he’s living.”
Ember covered her mouth with her hand. It was true, Kevin Whitman’s still form would remain that way. Forever.
“You haven’t touched anything, is that right?” Cedric asked, scribbling on his notepad.
“Nothing except the buzzer button to let him know I was here.”
“You buzzed him after finding him laying face down in a puddle?”
The driver flinched. “I didn’t notice him at first, all right? I didn’t get much sleep, and this is my second job, you know?”
Cedric shook his head. “Hang out for a bit. I’m going to want to talk to you further.”
The driver climbed miserably back into his truck. Cedric frowned at the gate assembly. “Without Kevin Whitman to open it for us, we’re locked out.”
Ember cast a minor spell and placed her fingers on the magnetic lock. A small buzz later, the door slid open a few inches. Ember grinned at Cedric and he pursed his lips.
“Not technically legal.”
“As an officer, it’s your duty to ascertain if the scene is safe. Would you rather climb? Because I can close it again—”
Cedric’s hand closed on the gate. “Um, no, that’s quite all right.”
“Sorry. You currently aren’t privy to all the times we’ve had almost this exact conversation.”
“Oh yeah?” Cedric chuckled. “Who usually wins?”
Ember grinned. “Who do you think?”
Cedric laughed. “Fair enough.”
They examined Kevin Whitman’s body, finding no obvious wounds. Ember glanced over at the delivery driver, but his gaze remained on the dully glowing cell phone in his hands.
“I’ll check for Faerie’s Death’s Head Caps in his system,” Ember said.
She cast the spell, a grimace coming to her face as she stared at the body with her eldritch vision. “Yes, he’s been poisoned all right.”
Cedric ran a hand down his face and sighed. “Swell. Then I guess we need to sweep for the faerie caps on his entire property, then. Did you bring your wand?”
Ember sighed. “I did, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to try and blunder around on Whitman’s property trying to find the mushrooms growing out here.”
“Why is that?”
“For one thing, Whitman was a well-known prepper nut. So he’s probably got booby traps or other nasty surprises around. Not to mention it’s dark out.”
Cedric nodded. “Good point.”
“Then there’s the fact that it’s highly unlikely Rose has been out this way since before she was poisoned. More likely than not, Kevin Whitman and Rose ingested the mushrooms at the same time.”
Cedric walked over to a nearby wooden stump, splintered and riddled with holes. Obviously, Keven Whitman had used it as a target practice dummy. Cedric ripped a piece of paper
down from the post, which had been stapled across the battered surface.
“If they both ingested the mushrooms around the same time,” Cedric said. “Then this might have been where it happened.”
Ember stared at the shot-up bit of paper, but still recognized the survey card from Obercorp.
“The Homeowner’s Association meeting,” Ember said. “Where Obercorp made their pitch to buy the entire neighborhood.”
Cedric nodded. “Time for us to pay Mr. Olberman a visit.”
Twelve
The next afternoon, Ember closed up the Pub early so she and Cedric could drive to nearby Lake Petit, barely large enough to count as a city and the home to Ron Olberman’s local offices.
“Are we sure he’s even going to be at his office? I mean, a guy like him gets around.”
“According to his secretary, he’s going to be in town for another week or two. He’s hoping to get a rezoning bill added to next year’s city council ballot.”
“Ridiculous. A board member would have to sponsor it and get at least a hundred Caucherie natives to sign off on a petition requesting the vote.”
Cedric glanced over at Ember. “You’re underestimating how much money some people stand to make if this goes through, Ember. Especially Olberman himself.”
“I thought everyone was on the same page about keeping Caucherie just as it is. We don’t need shopping malls, and interstates, and for-profit university campuses clogging up the landscape.”
“I agree, but there’s just as many people in town who are at least considering supporting the movement toward growth as opposing it.”
Ember rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. It seemed like everything was changing at the speed of light. Even forgetting her own problems with Cedric’s magically induced memory loss, the sleepy Louisiana community was changing. Into what, she couldn’t say. Hopefully a form not so different from its current iteration.
Lake Petit sat in a small valley, a shimmering body of water dominating the view from the highway. The town’s namesake had a vaguely horseshoe shape, and while it proved too small for boats it was just right for citizens who wanted to take a cooling dip to escape the summer heat.
Perilous Paws (Kitten Witch Cozy Mystery Book 8) Page 4
