Witch Silenced in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  We both turned to look at her. Her vacant smile, as if she didn’t recognise us but was trying to be polite, showed me she at least had some acting chops. “You’re eerily convincing.” I leaned back, away from her.

  She laughed, a crazed cackle. Olivia and I looked at each other.

  “Yeah, I think I’m going to get dressed. I’ll see you both in ten. I want to say goodbye before I leave.” I magicked my uneaten cereal into the bin, and my cup, bowl, and spoon into the dishwasher. Tidying was so awesome with magic.

  By the time I came back down, Angelica was standing at the bottom of the stairs, a pink suitcase with black cat motifs all over it at her feet. I swallowed my tears. This was it.

  I gave her a hug. We weren’t massive huggers, but she accepted it with ease and hugged me back. I’d been expecting stiff reluctance. It was a nice surprise. “Stay safe,” I said and stepped away.

  “You too, Lily. Don’t be worrying about me so much that you forget to stay alert for yourself. Okay?”

  “Okay. Good luck.” We shared a smile. Then I built my door, putting on the van’s coordinates, and stepped through.

  My doorway had taken me to a tiny black space. It took me a moment to realise it was an area surrounded by a black curtain. I opened it to see the rest of the van. Will and another guy stood there chatting. Will saw me first, as he’d been facing the curtained-off area. “Lily! Welcome to our mobile surveillance centre.” He grinned but made no move to give me a hug. Disappointment descended until I remembered we were at work, and being all over each other would be totally unprofessional.

  I smiled. “Hi. Reporting for duty, Agent Blakesley.”

  “Agent Cardinal, this is Lily. She’s not an agent, but she’s doing some contract work with us at the moment. She doesn’t have weapons clearance, but she’ll be great on the monitors.”

  “Nice to meet you.” The redhead extended his hand, and I shook it. He must have been about my age and had blue eyes and freckles. He was a couple of inches shorter than Will, and whilst muscular, was a bit thinner. His smile revealed a gap between his two front teeth.

  “Are you going to introduce me as well?” a female voice asked from the front of the van. Black curtains blocking off the two front seats parted, and a tall, ebony-skinned woman slipped through. Her broad shoulders were almost a match for Will’s. She smiled, her straight white teeth glowing against her skin. Long lashes framed her warm brown eyes. Wow, looked like being a supermodel was a great way to get a job at the PIB. Most of the younger agents were gorgeous—I thought of Beren and Witchface. Okay, so Agent Cardinal wasn’t my cup of tea, but Will wasn’t into dudes, as far as I could tell.

  “Lily, this is Agent Imani Jawara. Agent Jawara, this is my friend and a PIB contractor, Lily Bianchi.”

  She held out her hand, and I shook it. “Lovely to meet you, Lily. Are you James’s sister, then?” Her English accent was more street than refined, but it was full of cool attitude. I’d bet she was fun to hang out with.

  “Lovely to meet you too. And yes, I’m James’s sister.”

  “Let me know if there’s anything you need, Lily. And if you have any questions about how anything works, just ask. I’m here to help.”

  Wow, she was so nice. “Thanks, Agent Jawara. I will.”

  She waved her hand. “You can drop the ‘Agent’ business while we’re in here. Call me Imani. And I love your Aussie accent.” She smiled.

  I grinned. “Oh, wow. Thank you, Imani. I was thinking yours was pretty cool too.” Some of the tension left my shoulders. I realised that not only had I been worried about Angelica, but learning new skills and meeting new agents wasn’t fun either. I didn’t want to muck anything up, and who knew when I was going to come across another psychopathic agent, like Dana. It seemed as if this shift was going to be okay.

  “You’ll sit here, Lily.” Will pointed to the middle seat and monitor—one of four sets running along the driver side of the van. All of the monitors were on, but showing black screens, a white cursor sitting waiting for something to happen on each one.

  I sat. “Do we have to wait for Ma’am to go inside before we get any feed?”

  Will sat to my right. “Yep. And Beren’s placing some cameras around the place as well, when he takes her in.” He smirked, probably proud of how sneaky they were being. I couldn’t argue, though—it was kinda cool.

  We’d been chatting for about twenty minutes when Will said, “Lily, if something happens and we have to rush the place, you must stay here, contact headquarters, and keep watching the monitors. You’ll be able to give them vital information. We’re all wearing body cams we’ll turn on in the event of an incident.” He nodded at his comrades. “Okay?”

  I nodded. “Definitely. I’ll stay here, call HQ, and keep them updated on the situation.” I knew I would hate waiting while they were in there trying to save Angelica—because that’s what a “situation” amounted to—but if that was how I was going to be most effective, I’d take it.

  The screen directly in front of me came to life, displaying a picture of the front entry of the care home. Imani settled into the chair to my left to watch. The view turned and paused on our van. Beren’s voice came through. “No, Aunty. This way.” They’d started the act outside, which made sense. The view must be from Angelica’s earring camera.

  One of the three screens to my right showed something greyish white. I squinted, trying to make out what it was. Then the grey became two steps. Oh, how funny. It must be the teddy bear. I chuckled. I could just imagine it dangling from one of Angelica’s hands. It was a shame we couldn’t see out of the van—the back windows were all blacked out, and the curtain blocked off anything visible through the windscreen.

  All conversation in the van had stopped, and everyone stared at the monitor receiving the earring transmission.

  The front of the property comprised a pretty, late-1800s brick home with bay windows, and the rear had been added maybe forty or so years ago and was much uglier but likely more practical. At least the uglier part wasn’t visible from the street. The front door was getting closer and closer, until it filled the screen.

  Beren buzzed the intercom. Within seconds, the door clicked, and he pushed it open. From there, they traversed a hallway and headed to the front reception area, where there was a middle-aged woman sitting behind a half-height wall, kind of like at the hospital. She smiled as Beren and Angelica approached.

  Then the screen just to my left filled with a shot of skin. What was that? I tipped my head to the side, trying to figure it out. Then the view swung wildly, and the picture became a blur before stabilising on a wall with a print of a turquoise-and-black butterfly with the words “Time for our residence passes as gently and beautifully as a butterfly fluttering passed.” How had I not noticed that last time? The spelling was a dog’s breakfast.

  “What’s wrong, Lily?” Will whispered.

  I blinked. “Oh, that picture on the wall.”

  “That’s from Beren’s wristwatch cam.”

  “No, not that. The spelling’s wrong. They’ve spelled ‘residents’ and ‘past’ wrong. Seriously, it’s in a public spot where everyone sees it. If their record-keeping is as shoddy as their spelling, they’re in trouble.”

  “Lily, focus. And shh.” Will shook his head.

  “But you ask—”

  “Shh!”

  I inhaled a huge breath and blew it out loudly. Will pointed at the screen with a stiff, angry finger. I did the adult thing and kept quiet… whilst rolling my eyes. Imani smirked. I was pretty sure I was definitely going to get along with her.

  “How can I help you?” the lady behind the counter asked.

  “I’m here to admit my mum.” He handed her some papers. “The doctor’s reports are in there, and the forms are all filled in.”

  She quickly flicked through the papers and put them aside. “Just a moment, and I’ll call someone to show you and your mum to her room.”

  “Thanks.”

 
; “What room? What’s going on, Son? I thought we were going for ice cream?”

  “Later, Mum. First we just need to do this. Okay?”

  She was looking straight at his face, and Beren was doing a great job of looking anxious. His forehead wrinkled, and his eyes held sadness. Maybe he was thinking to a time when his aunt wouldn’t be around. Even if he believed Angelica was going to survive this assignment, time eventually caught up with all of us, and he was likely to lose her one day rather than the other way around.

  A short woman with a blonde bob haircut arrived. She wore the basic light-blue long-sleeved top and drab pants that most of the staff wore. It was hospital-style garb, which made sense because they probably got all manner of gross stuff all over them on a daily basis. The people who worked in aged care were angels… well, except for whoever was murdering the residents. Maybe they could be classified as dark angels—angels of death. Hmm, way to make myself feel better. Why did my brain always take the worst path possible?

  The lady smiled at Beren. “Welcome to Saint Catherine Laboure. I’m Michelle Price, admissions manager.

  “Hi, Michelle. Lovely to meet you. I’m Preston, and this is my mother, Angelica Prestons.”

  “Lovely to meet you both. Is it Mrs or Ms Prestons?” She directed the question at Beren.

  “Mrs, but you can call her Angelica. She won’t mind.”

  The woman smiled at Angelica. Her voice had a kind tone. It seemed as if she really did care and probably wasn’t going to end up being the killer. Although, if it were that easy to tell, no one would need detectives. “Why don’t you come with me? I’ve got a lovely room I’d like to show you. Your son can come too. Would you like that?”

  The picture bobbed up and down—she must have nodded.

  “Let’s go, then.” The woman led the way to the lift and punched in the code. They got out on the first floor and turned left—towards the room that had been Will’s grandmother’s, but they stopped two doors earlier. “Here we are.” The room was identical to Will’s grandmother’s, except there was standard bedding—a cotton-looking blanket on top of white sheets, and two white pillows. There was no TV.

  They all pottered around the room, getting Angelica settled. After ten minutes, it looked as if she was set, and she hadn’t said a word the entire time. I texted Olivia. Can you add “not likely” to the file on Michelle Price, admissions manager? She seems quite nice. The footage will be there tonight. Everything recorded here was being saved on a hard drive, which would end up at the PIB at the end of each day. They didn’t want to transmit anything in case it was intercepted. On change over, the hard drive would magic itself to a PIB safe, and a new one would pop into existence in the recording device. Magic meant no more dramas changing print cartridges either. They bought them in bulk and spelled them to change when needed. It was totally awesome.

  Angelica put her teddy on the bedside table, and for the first time, I could see her. My breath caught in my chest as she sat on her bed, and nausea spiralled up my throat.

  She was ghostlike on the video too.

  “Lily, are you all right, love? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

  I turned to Imani, who was leaning towards me. She placed her hand on my shoulder. I swallowed, speechless as I got my brain working again. My talent was a secret I couldn’t let anyone else know about. Only those I totally trusted were privy to my secret, and with a price already on my head, the fewer people who knew, the better.

  “Um, I’m fine. I think my breakfast doesn’t agree with me.”

  “Do you need some fresh air?” she asked.

  “No. I’ll be fine. If I have to leave, I’ll just pop home for a few minutes.” Well, that was an added benefit of being able to travel—the comforts and privacy of your own bathroom was always only a few steps away.

  “Okay, love. You do what you have to. If you need to rush away, feel free.”

  I smiled at her. “Thanks, Imani.”

  Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, Lily?” Will’s brows were in their preferred wrinkly configuration, but I could tell he had guessed my sudden “illness” wasn’t because of breakfast. I had to find a way to tell him in code.

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine. I just hope no one at the care home can see through Angelica’s disguise like I can. I’ve never seen her so docile before.” My short laugh came out strained.

  Will nodded, his gaze softening. “I think she’s doing a fine job. We’ll catch those murderers before you know it.”

  “If anyone can pull off an undercover job, it’s Ma’am,” said Agent Cardinal.

  I nodded and gave him a wan smile. If only I didn’t know the truth. Whether she succeeded or not this time, the result would be the same.

  She was going to die.

  Chapter 9

  Our shift in the van finished at four thirty in the afternoon—there were three eight-hour shifts—after which, we travelled to headquarters. Agent Cardinal and Imani wandered off to their own offices, which left Will and me standing in the hallway. “What are you up to now?” he asked.

  “I need to see Olivia and go through the employee files, so I can make notes on today’s observations. What about you?”

  “I’ll come with you. We can pool thoughts, plus I want to ask you more about this morning.”

  I sighed, the tragic inevitability of everything like being smothered by a ton of manure—it wasn’t just heavy and suffocating; it was crappy… literally. “Come on.” He slung his arm around my shoulder, and I leaned into him as we walked to Millicent’s office.

  The reception desk was unoccupied, so I called out. “Mill, Liv, I’m back.”

  “Come through,” Millicent said.

  Olivia was at her computer. She looked up and smiled. “How’d it go?”

  Will and I looked at each other before I looked back at Olivia. “Uneventful yet horrible.”

  Millicent frowned. “What happened?” A sea of paper covered her desk—it was far from the orderly space I’d left yesterday. I recognised a couple of the photos on printouts; one was one of the orderlies I’d seen wandering about, and the other was the mean carer. Millicent was obviously doing her best to crack the case before Angelica became the next victim.

  “Angelica settled in well enough, and Beren deployed all the other cameras. Unfortunately, once I saw Angelica via video, my talent kicked in. She was a faded version of herself, and all I could think about all day was what’s coming.”

  The sympathetic looks I got from both women almost had me crying, but I needed to be strong. I wasn’t the only one who was going to lose Angelica, plus Millicent and Will had known her for much longer than I. And what about Beren? Gah. I was the only one being a huge baby about this—but then, maybe no one else really believed she was going to die.

  “I’m sorry, Lily.” Millicent’s shoulders sagged. “We’re doing all we can to stop it from happening. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow she’ll be her old solid self again?”

  I gave her a “what can you do” smile. “Maybe. You never know. If that happens, I’ll let you know.”

  “And what about the extra cameras?” she asked.

  Will answered, “Beren brought in a TV, so we have that camera. He also hid one in the common lounge area on the leaf of a plastic plant, in the dining room, and on the top of the door frame to Angelica’s room. It faces the hallway. That way we can warn Angelica if we need to.”

  “Huh? How would you warn her?” Had they given her a phone? And if they had, would someone take it off her?

  “The teddy is a two-way communication device. If we need to talk to her, the teddy will squeak, alerting her—it also has a built-in squeaker in case Angelica needs to make an excuse as to the noise.”

  Somehow, that made me feel slightly better, but then I realised it didn’t change anything. Bummer.

  “Did he manage to place one in the manager’s office?” Millicent asked.

&nbs
p; “Not today. He was meant to meet with the guy, but the manager cancelled because of another meeting. They’re meeting tomorrow at ten.”

  Millicent nodded. “Okay. Great. I’ll get that information sent to James. And now, let’s have a look at these.” She nodded at the sprawl of documents on her desk. “We’re starting to get an idea of who each employee is—where they were born, where they grew up, other workplaces, whether they’re single, married, divorced, have children, arrest records, etcetera.”

  Wow, that hadn’t taken them long. “Have any of them been in jail before?” I would imagine it would be hard to get a job if you had a criminal record.

  “Just one. One of the three chefs that work in the kitchen.”

  “Well, I would hope he’s using his skills in the kitchen and not anywhere else.” I laughed.

  Olivia shook her head. “Your jokes are not funny.”

  I placed my hands over my heart. “Oh, how you wound me. I’ll have you know that I’m hilarious. If you don’t believe me, just ask me. I’ll tell you.”

  She snorted. See—I was totally funny.

  Millicent cleared her throat. “Okay, yes, very funny, Lily. But back to it now, please. He was arrested for drug possession, served his short time in jail, and has supposedly been clean ever since. They have to do annual drug tests to be employed at this nursing home. It’s important because, of course, there are drugs on-site to treat the residents. Now, I’ve separated these into two piles—one was supposed to be for me to go through and one for you, Lily, but I’ll hand mine to Will.” She absently rubbed her belly, and I smiled. Soon I’d have another person to love, and I couldn’t wait. Mum and Dad would have been ecstatic. A pang of inevitable bitter-sweetness squeezed my chest. “I want you two to look for any patterns or anything that seems unusual—quick job changes, moving around a lot for no apparent reason, that kind of thing.”