Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery Box Set

by Amanda M. Lee

  I couldn’t answer. My mind had gone blank upon entering the room and finding three ghosts standing guard in the middle of the fallen building.

  “Bay?” Landon snapped his fingers in my face to draw my attention to him. He looked concerned. “What is it?”

  How could I explain without looking like a freak, especially in front of Chief Terry? “There are ghosts here.” I blurted it out even though I knew the state arson inspector was due to arrive at any moment. “They’re talking ... and they say I’m an idiot.”

  “I don’t believe that’s the word we used,” the male ghost replied. He didn’t look familiar. In fact, I was fairly certain I’d never seen him before. He certainly didn’t resemble Adam.

  “It’s not the wrong word,” a female ghost offered. She wore a pair of simple jeans and a hoodie ... and she looked amused. “Only an idiot runs into a burning building.”

  “You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve heard that the last two days,” I grumbled.

  “What are they saying?” Landon asked. He looked genuinely curious. “Is one of them our dead guy? It would be helpful if he could tell us what happened to him.”

  “Yes, that would be lovely,” Chief Terry drawled, sarcasm dripping from his tongue. “There’s nothing better than explaining to a judge that our evidence came from a ghost.”

  “I’m not saying we can use it as evidence,” Landon argued. “It’s a place to start, because we have nothing.”

  “We have an arson investigator who is going to give us information,” Chief Terry pointed out. “Once he shares what he’s discovered, we’ll have a place to look.”

  “If Adam tells us who attacked him we’ll have two places to look.”

  I bit back my annoyance and rubbed my cheek. “It’s not Adam,” I explained. “It’s ... people I don’t recognize.” I was flustered, and confused. This felt somehow off, and I couldn’t explain why. “Who are you guys?”

  “Don’t you know?” a pretty brunette asked. She had a sharp nose and her voice was rough, almost as if her vocal cords had been rubbed with sandpaper a few times before her death. “You called to us.”

  “I ... called to you?” My confusion was complete. I didn’t understand any of this. “How did I do that?”

  “How should we know?” The woman’s annoyance was obvious. “We were in the middle of our own deaths when your voice invaded our minds and demanded we join you here. We don’t even know where here is.”

  “Hemlock Cove,” I replied numbly, racking my brain for an acceptable explanation for what they were saying. “Wait ... you’re saying you died and I somehow called to you.”

  “You needed help,” the man offered. “We came to this place to make sure you didn’t perish ... and then you left us here. We’re trapped until you release us.”

  Well, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Not even a little. This necromancer thing was getting stranger and stranger. “I’m sorry.” I felt like an idiot. “I didn’t know I called to you.”

  “That’s probably because you were in the middle of dying,” the brunette supplied. “You called out without understanding what you were doing. We helped you escape and then you trapped us here.”

  “I didn’t mean to trap you.”

  Perhaps sensing my unease, Landon moved his hand to the back of my neck. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

  “I was right about having help with the hammer,” I replied dumbly. “I called them here as they were dying and then I didn’t help them pass on. This is on me.”

  “You didn’t know,” Chief Terry argued. “Can’t you release them now?”

  I nodded as I chewed my bottom lip. “I really am sorry,” I offered. “I didn’t realize what was happening.”

  “You should be a little more careful with your magic,” the man noted. “It’s not the end of the world. Go ahead and cut us loose now. I don’t know about my friends here, but I’m anxious to see the other side. I’ve seen enough of this place.”

  “I don’t blame you.” I raised my hands and exhaled heavily, screwing my eyes shut as I let the magic flow through me. When I opened them again, the spirits were gone and I was left with nothing but self-recrimination and two confused men. “I need to get a better handle on what I’m doing. That was ... stupid.”

  “You’re doing the best you can,” Landon countered, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I don’t like that you’re blaming yourself for this. It’s not fair. Running into a burning building was something stupid that you could control. This … this is a work in progress and you’re trying really hard. That’s the most important thing.”

  That was true. “I still need to do better. I should’ve realized what was happening yesterday. I was confused.”

  “I’m pretty sure that was the lack of oxygen,” Chief Terry noted. “It’s done now.”

  “Yeah. I ... .”

  “Shh.” Chief Terry gave me a small shake of his head before inclining his chin toward the parking lot. A man in khaki pants and a gray coat was exiting a vehicle with a briefcase in hand. “It’s the arson investigator.”

  Which meant I had to put on a brave face. “Gotcha.”

  Landon left his hand on my back for another ten seconds before moving to intercept the man. He introduced all three of us, explaining that I worked for the newspaper and was part of the rescue attempt the previous day. He didn’t touch on our relationship, which was probably wise.

  “I’m Todd Bennett,” the man announced. “I’ve been over your scene once and plan to make my rounds again, but I figured you would want to hear my initial report.”

  “Absolutely.” Chief Terry enthusiastically bobbed his head. “What do you have?”

  “The place was doused with accelerants,” Bennett replied, matter-of-factly. “We’re not talking about anything fancy. It was simple gasoline, which you can probably smell.”

  “I only smell smoke,” Landon admitted.

  “I can smell the gasoline a bit,” Chief Terry offered. “I’m not sure I would’ve noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out.”

  “Well, when you’ve been in this business as long as I have you learn to notice things like that right away.”

  He didn’t look all that old. He had one of those faces that could be considered ageless. If he’d told me he was forty, I would’ve believed him. The same if he claimed his age was thirty.

  “What else can you tell us?” Landon asked.

  “Whoever did this had no idea what they were doing,” Bennett replied. “This was not a professional. My guess is we’re dealing with a novice. He probably killed the owner and assumed that the fire would burn so hot there would be no way to ascertain what happened to the body. Unfortunately for him, he made a mess of the gasoline distribution.”

  “How so?” Chief Terry prodded.

  “All of the gasoline was poured at the base of the walls. That means the fire climbed up instead of over. I mean ... I guess it’s possible the roof could’ve caved in over the workshop at some point, but that part of the building looks as if it was added on after the rest of the building was erected. It was more insulated.”

  “Do you think we could be dealing with a teenager?” Landon asked.

  “It’s entirely possible,” Bennett confirmed. “Whoever did this doesn’t have much experience with arson. He’s either just getting into his infatuation or the fire was just a way to cover his tracks.”

  “You keep saying ‘He,’” I noted. “How do you know it’s a male?”

  Bennett shrugged. “Statistics. The ratio of people who turn to arson, whether as a countermeasure or murder weapon, skews overwhelmingly toward men. It’s not impossible that we’re dealing with a woman, but statistically that would be an anomaly.”

  “Still, we can’t rule it out,” Chief Terry noted. “You’re saying we have to find a motive to track down a killer because there’s nothing in the evidence.”

  “At least so far,” Bennett agreed. “I’m not done yet, but I have nothing c
oncrete to offer at this point.”

  “That’s a disappointment.”

  I couldn’t help but agree. Fire made me nervous. I wanted to put this one to bed as soon as possible. That wouldn’t be an option if we didn’t luck into a motive, and fast. The problem was, I had no idea where to start gathering information. Adam wasn’t the sort of man who inspired hate. He was, in fact, rather boring.

  So, the question was, who wanted him dead? What didn’t we know about him? Did he have secrets, and how grave were they? If we could answer those questions, we would better understand who we were seeking.

  Six

  I was still bothered by the ghosts when I hit Main Street. I assumed Landon would stay behind with Chief Terry. Instead, he was right on my tail.

  “Hey.” He caught my chin and planted a long kiss on my lips, taking me by surprise.

  “What was that for?”

  His smile was enigmatic. “Can’t I just want to kiss you?”

  “Not usually.”

  His eyes flashed. “I can be romantic.”

  “I’m sure you can.”

  “No, really. I can be romantic. I’m awesome at it.”

  There was something so amusing about his reaction I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “You’re a romance machine.” I patted his shoulder. “Is that all? I have things to do.”

  This time the frown he offered wasn’t even remotely playful. “Bay, this isn’t your fault. Whatever happened ... whatever you did ... .” He couldn’t even finish the statement because he didn’t understand any of it.

  “I ripped them out of their afterlives and drew them here, where I forced them to save Thistle and me before leaving them in a burned-out husk to do nothing but hang around while I went home with you.”

  “Going home with me is always a good idea,” he insisted. “As for the rest ... I’m not sure what to say. If you expect me to be upset because they saved you, I won’t.”

  “It’s not about them saving me.” I chose my words carefully. “I don’t have a death wish. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “I know.” He slid his arms around me. “You have me. That’s worth celebrating ... with bacon-flavored pie. I can’t imagine there ever being a time when you’re not excited about spending time with me … which means your life is a constant party.”

  His response was enough to cause me to laugh. “I don’t think there’s bacon pie.”

  “There should be.”

  “Maybe.” I rested my forehead against the side of his face. “If I hadn’t gone with you this morning I never would’ve known what I did to them. Those ghosts would’ve been trapped there indefinitely ... because of me.”

  He sighed and stroked his hand down the back of my head. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but motive is important when assigning blame,” he started. “You didn’t know what you were doing. You can’t be blamed for that.”

  “Is ignorance a defense in other crimes I don’t know about?”

  “Oh, don’t go there.” He wagged a finger and pinned me with a serious look. “You didn’t commit a crime. You were confused and called for help. Sure, the help that came was in the form of ghosts, but I’ll never be sorry that you’re okay.”

  “I’m not sorry I’m all right. I’m just ... angry that I didn’t realize what was going on with the voices. I need to get this power under control, Landon. I could ruin a lot of lives if I’m not careful.”

  “You’re dealing with ghosts. They have no lives.”

  “No?” I folded my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes. “Say I died before you ... .”

  He immediately started shaking his head. “I don’t like this game.”

  “I know you don’t, but suck it up. I have a point. Say I die before you and another necromancer pulls me out of my intended trajectory and locks me in a different location. When you die three days later of a broken heart, too upset to even eat bacon, you’ll move on to whatever is out there and I’ll be stuck here forever. There will be no afterlife for us to share.”

  Landon looked taken aback. “Why won’t I be able to eat bacon?”

  I elbowed his stomach, annoyed. “As cute as you think you are, there are times I want to shake you. No, truly. I have to figure out what I’m doing with this power. I can’t keep winging it.”

  “You do a great job of winging it,” he countered. “You’re doing the best you can. No one else in the family has this power. What are you supposed to do? Last time I heard there’s not a necromancy school ... and that would be one creepy school with all the ghosts running around. Speaking of losing your appetite for bacon.”

  Even when I wanted to yell at him he was adorable. He had a charm streak wider than a galaxy. He also was loyal and determined to keep me from feeling sorry for myself. What wasn’t to love about that?

  “A bunch of witches are descending on the town today,” I reminded him. “Hazel knows a lot. She might be able to help me with this.”

  Intrigue lit his features. “Do you really think she can help?”

  “It can’t hurt to feel her out. Heck, even if she can’t help there’s a chance some of the other witches can. They’re due to arrive on a bus within the hour. I mean ... I won’t hop on them the second they arrive, but I’ll definitely poke around to see if enlisting them is an option.”

  “I don’t have a problem with that.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my lips. “In fact, of all the ideas you’ve had the last two days, that’s my favorite. It’s so much better than that, ‘Let’s run into a burning building.’”

  My lips curved down. “You’re not going to let that go, are you?”

  “Not until every hint of a bad dream that involves you dying in a fire disappears.”

  “Did you have one last night?”

  He nodded. “I can’t stop myself from being afraid for you, Bay. I know better than pushing you on certain things, though. We’ll deal with this — and I’m talking all of this, from both our ends — together. That’s what we do.”

  “That’s what we do.” I gave him a hug, putting as much effort as I could muster into it. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” He rested his cheek on top of my forehead. “See, this isn’t so bad.”

  The simple statement was enough to jinx us as a low whir caused me to jerk my head just in time to see Aunt Tillie cruising down the sidewalk on her scooter. Today she was dressed in a pair of plain black leggings, something so staid I couldn’t imagine her picking them out. She also wore her combat helmet and had a whistle around her neck, but those items were part of her regular ensemble.

  “Stop fornicating in the middle of the street,” she barked as she zipped by.

  “Where are you going?” Landon called out.

  She didn’t answer because she was already gone. And, to make matters worse, from the rear I saw her leggings weren’t bare of a pattern after all.

  “Is that a pair of ... lips?” Landon, horrified, asked after a moment.

  I nodded grimly. “Yup. Right on the keister. I believe the message is obvious.”

  “She’s going to be difficult because of this Hazel woman, isn’t she?”

  “Oh, you have no idea.”

  CONVINCED THAT I was no longer drowning in melancholy, Landon returned to Chief Terry, leaving me to my work. I let myself into The Whistler and headed straight to my office. There, I wasn’t surprised to find Viola, the resident ghost, waiting expectantly. She peppered me with questions as I handled a bevy of busywork tasks and then lost interest. She’d wandered back into the lobby by the time I remembered she was still in the building, and that only happened because she let out a few excited yips.

  “What now?” I asked as I plodded out of my office. Viola was the excitable sort and there were times she made noises simply because she saw a dog. She couldn’t help herself.

  “Look.” She excitedly gestured out the front window.

  “What is it?”

  “Look.” When I didn’t imm
ediately rush to join her, she gave me an impatient stare. “Look.”

  I heaved out a sigh and moved to her side, my eyes going wide. “Oh, my ... .”

  The witches had arrived. There were too many to stay at The Overlook, so some had registered at other inns. They’d all joined together to ride the bus into town, and it was something to behold.

  “The Samhain Train,” I read aloud from the side advertisement panel. “Well ... that’s new.”

  “It’s inspired is what it is.” Viola’s eyes danced with excitement. “I mean ... seriously. Look at that thing. It’s amazing.”

  I could think of a few other words to describe it. “It’s purple.”

  “But an awesome purple.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. Out of sheer curiosity I tried to keep track of the number of witches exiting the bus. I lost count after a bit, but it was clear we were dealing with more than one-hundred women. Apparently the coven was bigger than I remembered ... or it had somehow grown over the years.

  “Who is that?” Viola looked in awe as she extended a finger and pointed toward a specific woman. She wore a purple pantsuit, a fancy hat that would’ve been more at home at the Kentucky Derby, and she clutched what looked to be an expensive bag with feathers in her right hand.

  It had been years since I saw her, but I recognized Hazel right away. She hadn’t aged a day. “That’s the woman who is going to turn Aunt Tillie into a nut the next few days.”

  “That’s not Margaret.”

  I chuckled. “That’s the other woman who is going to turn Aunt Tillie into a nut,” I corrected. “Her name is Hazel.”

  “And Tillie doesn’t like her?” Before her death, Viola and my great-aunt had something of a tempestuous relationship. Viola aligned herself with Mrs. Little, thus proving herself an enemy of the witch state in Aunt Tillie’s mind. After her death, Viola decided to mess with both women ... something I often found amusing. That wasn’t the case today.

  “Aunt Tillie and Hazel have differences of opinion when it comes to policy,” I corrected. “It’s not as if they hate each other.” Even as the words escaped I knew they weren’t quite true. “It’s not as if they hate each other a lot,” I clarified.