Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery Box Set

by Amanda M. Lee

  It was an interesting question. “Witches can use animals. We don’t. We tend to stay far away from animals. Chief Terry got us Sugar when we were kids and we loved him dearly until the end. Other than him, the only other pet we’ve really had is Peg and she’s a recent addition.”

  “You don’t control your animals,” Landon pointed out. “Someone is controlling these birds. My guess is that it’s Lorna.”

  “She’s the obvious choice,” I agreed. “I want to be sure, though. I just don’t feel certain that we’re on the right track. Something feels off.”

  “How will you ascertain you’re on the right track?”

  “I have no idea. I need to think about it ... and do a little research. I bet there’s more news to dig up on Diane.”

  “I can run a search on her, too,” Chief Terry offered. “It’s possible she only hid her location when she first ran away. Maybe now that decades have passed she’s gone back to living in the open.”

  “You’re assuming she’s alive,” I pointed out. “It’s possible she never went missing. She could’ve been killed and dumped somewhere. We can’t rule out that possibility.”

  “No, I guess we can’t.” He rubbed his chin. “I’ll still see what I come up with.”

  “It can’t hurt,” I agreed. “What was your meeting with Steve about? I figure it had to be big for him to come to town the way he did.”

  Landon frowned and shifted on his seat. It was obvious he was uncomfortable with the question. His boss, Steve Newton, allowed him plenty of leeway when it came to doing his job.

  “What?” I was instantly alert. “What happened?”

  “I’m not supposed to tell you, but ... screw it.” Landon glanced over his shoulder to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. “Steve came to warn us that a formal request had been lodged with the home office.”

  “I have no idea what that means,” I admitted.

  “It came from Masterson. He requested that any questions be asked in a private location.”

  “But ... .” I was officially flabbergasted. “I didn’t think you guys had questioned him yet.”

  “We haven’t. Apparently he figured out it was only a matter of time and decided to head us off. Now we’re limited as to when we can approach him. We have to call his office and arrange a time convenient for all parties.”

  The way his lips curved down told me what he thought of that suggestion. “So Masterson knows that you’re looking at him.”

  “He at least knows that we’ll have to question him,” Landon corrected. “His relationship with Lorna puts him in a precarious position. He’s trying to make sure that he controls the information as best as he can. We were also warned that it would be unwise to spread the nature of his relationship with Lorna around town.”

  “How is that supposed to work?” I challenged. “You guys are hardly the only ones who know.”

  “He doesn’t realize that. My guess is he thinks he can keep this under wraps.”

  “Good luck with that.” I sipped my iced tea and stared out the window. “Still ... everything we have seems to lead back to Lorna. I have trouble believing that’s a coincidence.”

  “You’re not the only one,” Landon admitted. “We’re calling her in for a formal interview after lunch. We have no other choice.”

  “What do you think she’ll say?”

  “Probably nothing, but we have to do it.”

  They did, and the fact that Lorna would be away from her home for an extended period gave me an idea about something I had to do.

  ONCE I LEFT THE DINER, I HEADED to Lorna’s house, parking a full block away and behind a neighbor’s hedge so there would be no chance of her seeing my vehicle. Then I waited.

  She left not long after. She was in her vehicle and didn’t as much as glance in my direction as she left. As soon as I was certain she was gone, I hopped out of my car and headed for the house. I had no idea if Nick or Dani was inside but I was determined to get close enough to figure it out.

  “What are you doing?” Thistle stepped out from behind a bush just as I was about to head up the driveway, causing me to rear back and make a strangled sound deep in my throat.

  “What are you doing here?” I challenged, my voice raspy as I fought to recover. “Were you hiding in that bush?”

  She smirked. “Aunt Tillie sent me.”

  “Aunt Tillie sent you here? Why?”

  “She figured you were about to do something stupid ... and she wasn’t wrong. You’re going to break into Lorna’s house, aren’t you?”

  I hated that Aunt Tillie knew me so well. “That’s the plan,” I admitted, rolling my neck. “I have to make sure Dani and Nick aren’t inside first.”

  “They’re not. I saw them both leave from where I was hiding. We have a clear shot.”

  “We?” I couldn’t help being dubious. “Why are you coming with me?”

  “You need backup and I’m as curious as you are. Aunt Tillie gave me a brief rundown before sending me after you. She mentioned something about Lorna possibly being a witch and you being an idiot who can’t keep your nose out of Lorna’s business. Then she said she had to keep stalking Hazel and we were on our own.”

  That sounded just like her. “Well ... awesome.” I flicked my eyes toward the empty house. “You’re sure Dani and Nick aren’t here?”

  “I saw them leave myself.”

  “Then I guess we should get to it.”

  “Absolutely,” Thistle agreed. “Let’s invade Lorna’s privacy and find out if she’s calling birds to kill people for her.”

  “I don’t think the birds are killing people.”

  “Close enough.”

  That wasn’t even remotely true, but I was too keyed up to argue. “Let’s go. The faster we get in, the faster we can get out.”

  THIS WASN’T the first time we’d invaded someone’s home in an effort to get information. Yes, we knew it was wrong and there was every chance we could get caught — and good luck explaining that — but that didn’t stop us.

  “Where should we start?” Thistle kept her voice low even though we were relatively assured we were alone.

  “Probably Lorna’s bedroom and any office we can find are the safest bets,” I replied, glancing around the kitchen. I was hopeful Adam would return, but he didn’t seem to be hanging around today. “I doubt Lorna would keep anything in a high-traffic area, because people have been stopping by to share their condolences.”

  “Good point.”

  By tacit agreement, we headed toward the second floor. It took a moment to sort through the rooms, but it became obvious relatively quickly what we were dealing with.

  “There’s no office,” Thistle noted. “There are two adult rooms.”

  “His and hers,” I agreed. “Lorna and Adam weren’t sharing a bed. They were separated.”

  “I thought maybe that was a lie, but I guess not.” We headed toward the master bedroom. “This looks like Lorna’s room.”

  I nodded, my lips pursed as we invaded the mourning woman’s personal space. At first glance, the bedroom appeared normal. There wasn’t much furniture to riffle through. Basically a bed and dresser and that’s it. But for some reason, something beckoned me to the back corner of the room, where the closet was located.

  “What is it?” Thistle asked when she saw me crossing.

  “I don’t know.” My heart started pounding harder the closer I got to the closet, and when I finally arrived — after what felt like years rather than seconds — I took a long, steadying breath before throwing open the door.

  There, eyes wide with fear, was Adam’s ghost. He huddled in the shadows looking terrified.

  “I was wondering if I would see you again,” I said as I took him in. “I think you’re what I’ve been looking for.”

  Adam’s gaze was earnest. The way he moved his chin told me he was trying to speak. The thread — or whatever it was — holding his lips together was too strong.

  “Can I look?” My han
ds shook as I raised them and I felt Thistle move in at my back.

  “Who are you talking to?”

  “Adam,” I replied, frowning as my fingers went through him. He was a ghost, for crying out loud. How was I supposed to touch him and make things better?

  “Is his mouth still sewn shut?”

  I nodded, frustration rearing up. “It is, and I don’t know what to do about it. It’s not as if I can pull out the thread. It’s not really there. In fact ... I just don’t know.”

  Thistle shot me a quelling look before moving closer. “I wish I could see him. Obviously, because his mouth is sewn shut he can’t talk. I won’t be able to hear him.”

  “Nobody will be able to hear him.” I hated how petulant I sounded, but I couldn’t stop myself. “This is the worst.”

  “It is the worst,” Thistle agreed. “But why can’t you just remove the thread?”

  Apparently she’d decided to play deaf and dumb today. “I just told you that I can’t touch him. There’s no way I can remove the thread.”

  “I didn’t say you could. Can’t you force him to remove it? You can’t touch the plane he lives on. He’s caught between two worlds. It seems to me that the only way to save him is to force him to save himself.”

  “But ... how?”

  She shrugged. “You’re the necromancer. You figure it out.”

  That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “But ... .” I frowned as I regarded Adam. He looked so fearful, pathetic even. ”I guess I could try.”

  I shot him an encouraging smile. “This won’t hurt.” At least I hoped that was true. “I’m just going to ... .” I had no idea what I was going to do. This necromancer thing was new enough that I constantly felt lost. Still, I recognized I needed to try ... so that’s what I did.

  The magic unfurled like a fern tendril in the spring. It was slow, felt mildly tedious, but there was strength in the attempt. Energy sparked in the back of my brain and before I realized what was happening I’d managed to make a connection.

  “Can you hear me?” I asked without actually uttering the words. I was piping them directly into Adam’s brain.

  He nodded, his eyes going wide enough to make me fear they might pop out of his head.

  “Then here is what I need you to do.”

  It was difficult to convince Adam to remove the thread. He fought the effort, but I exerted as much control as was necessary. I felt guilty about it — and then some — but he was the only one with answers. Finally, he managed to remove the thread, leaving gaping holes on his ghostly flesh. He gasped at the sudden freedom, and then looked at me appraisingly.

  “How did you know I could do that?” His voice was dry and rasped.

  “I played a hunch.” I glanced toward Thistle and she nodded at the unasked question. She could hear him. My powers allowed that if she was close when I questioned a ghost. “We need to know what happened to you, Adam. It’s important.”

  “I ... .” The sound of a door closing on the main floor drew everyone’s attention.

  “What was that?” Thistle hissed.

  I hurried out of Lorna’s bedroom and into the hallway, racing toward the end of the stairs and positioning myself so I could look down without drawing attention. Dani was back, and heading toward the stairs.

  Well ... crap.

  I hurried back into Lorna’s room and pointed to the window. It opened out near a huge maple tree. That was our only chance of escape.

  Thistle immediately started shaking her head but she knew as well as I that we had only seconds to act.

  “I hate you for this,” she muttered as she tugged up the window and dislodged the screen. This was hardly the first time we’d been forced to sneak out a second-story window. “I mean ... I really hate you for this.”

  I didn’t blame her. I turned to tell Adam to go to The Overlook — it seemed a safe place to meet — but he was gone. Apparently his fight-or-flight response kicked in and he took the opportunity to vanish. I couldn’t really blame him. I would’ve done the same if I could.

  Ah, well, I would have to worry about it later. For now, the only thing I could do was escape.

  Thistle climbed into the tree first, and I made shooing motions to get her to drop to a lower branch so I could follow. She did, but she wasn’t happy about it. Very carefully, very slowly, we made our way to the ground. Once our feet were firmly planted on solid earth, I turned to her … and whatever I was going to say died on my lips.

  The sound of birds assailed my ears and a shudder ran up my spine. Thistle jerked her head at the noise, her eyes going wide as a clutch of crows – five or six of them at least – swooped from the sky directly toward us.

  “Run!” I shoved her as hard as I could. “Don’t look back. Just … run!”

  “I really hate you!”

  Nineteen

  Thistle was furious by the time we reached downtown. She rode with me because she’d walked to Lorna’s house, and I had to hear her nonstop diatribe about what an idiot I was for the duration of the trek.

  “You’re being a baby,” I complained, studying my arms and glaring at the scratches I found. Landon wasn’t going to be happy when he heard I’d had yet another run-in with the birds ... and that this time it got physical. “We’re fine. Probably.” Something occurred to me. “Birds don’t carry rabies, do they?”

  Thistle’s glare was withering. “You are the absolute worst.”

  “I thought you reserved that honor for Aunt Tillie.”

  “Which should tell you how far you’ve fallen in my estimation.”

  I ran my tongue over my teeth and tamped down my irritation. She’d been at the house in the first place because she was worried about me. She had a right to her anger ... mostly. “How about some ice cream?” I decided to switch topics. “That might make you feel better.”

  Even though she was angry I could practically see the gears in Thistle’s mind working. “It had better be good ice cream.”

  “They have double chocolate chip and hot fudge at the festival truck.”

  “Fine. We should probably grab Clove. If we go for ice cream without her she’ll be ticked.”

  On that we could agree.

  It didn’t take long to talk Clove into closing the store for forty-five minutes — the tourists would return later; they were something of a captive audience — and we ordered heaping bowls of ice cream and settled at a picnic table to talk.

  “I can’t believe that happened.” Clove’s eyes were wide. “Why didn’t you invite me?”

  “I think we’re telling the story wrong if you feel you’ve been left out,” Thistle replied darkly. “Besides, we had to jump out the window and climb down a tree. That’s probably not safe given your condition.”

  Clove jutted out her lower lip. “It’s still not fair. I don’t want to be left out of everything just because I’m having a baby.”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” I said. “I’m sure the birds will be back. You can dodge them with us the next time they attack.”

  Clove frowned. “I don’t like birds.”

  “Nobody does,” Thistle muttered. “They’re like Aunt Tillie ... small, evil and they want to peck you to death.”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing, the expression quickly fleeing when I saw Landon and Chief Terry cutting through the crowd. “Oh, geez.”

  “What’s wrong now?” Thistle zealously guarded her ice cream bowl, as if I was trying to distract her long enough to steal her treat.

  I inclined my chin toward the men. “They’re going to be angry.”

  “That’s your problem.” Thistle made a face. “I hope they ground you to within an inch of your life.”

  “They can’t ground me.” I was mostly certain that was true. “I’m an adult.”

  “Let’s see what happens, shall we?” Before I could register what she was doing, Thistle raised her hand and waved to get their attention. “We’re over here! Hey, Chief Terry! Come over here.”

 
Several sets of eyes drifted in our direction, causing me to hunch my shoulders. “Why don’t you just take out an advertisement in the newspaper or something?”

  “Why would I do that when I can embarrass you in person for free?”

  She had a point. I kept my gaze on my ice cream, refusing to look up as they approached. I could sense the moment Landon finally got a clear view of me. His reaction was swift.

  “What happened to you?” He slid onto the bench next to me and immediately grabbed my arm to study the scratches. “Bay ... .”

  “It’s nothing,” I reassured him quickly, forcing myself to be bold rather than shrink in the face of what I knew would be righteous fury. “We’re fine.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Thistle countered. “I’m thinking of going to the health clinic because now I can’t get the notion that birds have rabies out of my mind. I don’t want to be foaming at the mouth at Clove’s wedding. That’s Aunt Tillie’s job.”

  I pinned her with a furious look. “Birds don’t get rabies.” At least I hoped they didn’t. “Besides, they barely broke the skin.”

  “Birds?” Just as I expected, Landon’s countenance darkened. “What did you do?”

  I balked. “What makes you think I did anything? Isn’t it possible that I was minding my own business and birds attacked out of nowhere?”

  “No.”

  “Well ... .” I didn’t want to admit what we’d done. He would be angry. And, worse, he might arrest me. He hadn’t done it yet – he’d watched others do it a time or two – but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was only a matter of time before he lost his temper and shoved me in a cage.

  “We broke into Lorna’s house looking for proof that she’s a dark witch, but we ran into a few issues,” Thistle volunteered, ignoring the fury I directed toward her. “The good news is that Bay managed to free Adam from whatever spell had been cast on him. Or, rather, he freed himself. She commanded him to remove the thread keeping his lips sewn together. The second that happened, we were interrupted and had to jump out of a second-story window.”

  Landon started to stand and then immediately sat again. “You jumped out of a second-story window?” His voice carried under the right circumstances ... which apparently included ice cream time at a festival. “What is the matter with you?”