“Save your breath. I checked the records, and I know what happened back then. But I still say you girls aren’t as innocent as you seem. I intend to prove that for myself.”
“You can’t prove anything. And maybe you should have looked a little harder,” Fiona continued, not backing down an inch. “Morgan didn’t kill anyone. Those accusations were false. There’s a lot of beat-up Toyotas in this town. I suggest you start finding them.”
“Oh, I intend to.” Sheriff White headed back to the front door and opened it before turning back toward them. “You better hope there’s another vehicle out there that matches the witness’s description too. Because this won’t be like the last time you were accused, Morgan Blackmoore.” She glanced at Fiona and sneered. “Your sister won’t be able to take up with one of our police officers to get you out of trouble this time.” Sheriff White tipped her hat and opened the door, letting in a blast of frigid air. “You ladies take care now.”
With that, Sheriff White walked out of the shop, leaving Morgan and Fiona to stare after her.
CHAPTER TWO
“ Can you believe the nerve of that woman? Just because I date Jake does not mean that’s why Morgan wasn’t charged with murder,” Fiona said, her tone indignant.
The Blackmoores had congregated in the cozy sitting room off the kitchen after dinner that night. A fire crackled in the old brick fireplace, which was about the only indication that the house was three centuries old.
Though most of the house had its original antique charm and was loaded with furniture from generations past, Morgan’s mother, Johanna, had decorated this room in a more beach-modern decor. Overstuffed furniture, sky-blue throw pillows, and muted colors made it cozy and comfortable. Giant starfish and other sea-themed accents made it reminiscent of summer. A stark contrast to the howling wind and snow swirling against the window panes. Sounded like another nor’easter was blowing in. The beams in the three-hundred-year-old roof creaked under the onslaught. One of the hazards of living on a cliff above the Atlantic Ocean in Maine: the weather could be harsh in winter.
“I’m beginning to think the new sheriff’s no improvement at all over the last one,” Celeste said from where she was sitting on the sofa beside their mother. Her short blond hair was still damp from having spent the afternoon outside shoveling, and her cheeks were red. Her ice-blue eyes flashed with agreement at Fiona’s indignation.
“Yeah, we need to watch her,” Jolene said, curled in her overstuffed chair, her long brown hair cascading over one shoulder, thick pink fuzzy socks on her feet.
“This tea is delicious, dear,” their mother said to Morgan, her amber eyes sparkling. She was the only Blackmoore without blue eyes, as those came from the girls’ father’s side. There was no evidence of the white in her long ebony hair that had been there when they’d first recovered her from a remote island after she’d been presumed dead for years. The time at home, here in Noquitt, had restored her energy and her zest for life. “Blackberry, yes?”
“Yes,” Morgan said, taking a sip from her own mug. The fruity fragrance wafted around her, helping to soothe her frayed nerves. She tried to focus on the conversation, but her attention kept straying to Belladonna, who’d continued to watch her with an accusing glare. “I picked the berries from the garden last summer and dried them for the tea. I’m glad you like it.”
Despite the bright fruity flavor on her tongue, Morgan’s stomach still knotted with guilt over how she’d lied to Fiona and Sheriff White earlier. She wished they would change the subject so she didn’t have to continue to do more of the same to the rest of her family, but no such luck.
Morgan snuggled down beneath her blanket and consoled herself with the knowledge that she couldn’t dare tell them the truth—that she had been at Clementine Vega’s yesterday. Besides, the time for confession had passed, walking right out the door with Sheriff White earlier. If she changed her story now, it would only make things worse. Best to let everything blow over, which it would once the real killer was found.
“Poor, poor Clementine,” their mother said, shaking her head. “Such an awful thing.”
“Hmm,” Celeste said. “She was one of the few people I felt like I’d actually gotten to know around here. Good lady. Fun tarot readings.”
“Yeah,” Morgan said, hoping her response would deflect attention away from her. In truth, Clementine Vega was one of the more welcoming souls within the small paranormal circle in Noquitt, Maine. They were a tight-knit community that kept to themselves, for obvious reasons. The sisters hadn’t even known there was such a community, much less who was in it. Newcomers were met with suspicion until they were proven worthy. And while the Blackmoore sisters weren’t newcomers to the town, they had just started believing in their own powers, and therefore, the paranormal community was just starting to reach out to them as equals.
Morgan looked up to find everyone watching her expectantly. Shoot. They must’ve asked her something, and she’d missed it. Unsure what to say, she went with the last known topic. Clementine. “It’s too bad. She was the only magical healer in the county.”
To regular folks in town, Clementine Vega had appeared to be a fiftysomething fortune teller and reiki healer. To the paranormal community, however, she’d been the one they’d sought out to help them heal supernatural issues. Speaking of that…
Celeste frowned. “You don’t think this has anything to do with Dr. Bly, do you?”
The sisters all exchanged a look.
“Maybe we should look into that,” Jolene suggested.
Fiona shrugged. “Then again, it could just be a regular murder.”
“Yes, it probably is,” Morgan agreed, perhaps too quickly in her haste to steer her siblings away from any paranormal involvement. The last thing she needed was for her sisters to look into the paranormal motives. “Let the police handle it. People do get killed for regular reasons, too, and Clementine did readings for lots of people.”
“That’s probably true, but one can never be too careful when it comes to Bly,” Johanna chimed in. “The guys should be here soon. Maybe they’ll know something about what happened to Clementine.”
“The guys” consisted of Luke, Mateo, and Jake. Jake Cooper was Fiona’s boyfriend and used to work for the sheriff’s department—thus Sheriff White’s snide comment earlier. Now he ran the local detective agency where Jolene worked. Calvin Reed, Celeste’s boyfriend, was the fourth member of “the guys,” and he was an antiques dealer and ran the local pawnshop. He wouldn’t be there that night though since he was out of town on a buying trip.
Luke Hunter was Morgan’s boyfriend, and he worked for the same secret government agency that hired the sisters to help fight in their paranormal battles. Funny how that had worked out. They’d dated in high school, years earlier, then he’d gone off to the military, and she’d stayed home in Noquitt. They hadn’t seen each other again until he’d returned to town to try and recruit Morgan and her sisters for his government agency because of their skills. Now, she and Luke were right back where they’d left off prior to their high school breakup—well, if you didn’t count all the magical gifts that Morgan hadn’t known she’d had back then and the fact they were both quite a bit older and a whole lot wiser.
Still, if the paranormal community was involved in Clementine’s murder, Luke would know about it. And if a paranormal was responsible, then hopefully he and his agency would soon unmask the true killer, and everyone would forget about Sheriff White’s witness statements saying that Morgan’s truck had been seen at Clementine’s house.
Paranormal involvement was a double-edged sword though, given that if there were supernatural shenanigans at play, then the sisters might end up corralled into the fight against the bad guys, and with Morgan’s powers still on the fritz, she might not be able to help.
Her heart lurched. It was her worst nightmare. Her sisters in peril and Morgan helpless to save them. Clementine’s words from the day before repeated in her head…
You have stray
ed from your core. Your gifts are not to be taken lightly.
Morgan had no idea what that meant, but Clementine had promised to work out a solution for her, some steps she could take to get her gifts back. Steps she’d never get now because those instructions had died along with poor Clementine.
The front door opening announced “the guys’” arrival. Over the past year, Johanna had insisted they simply walk in. They visited often enough, and Johanna was probably sick of having to answer the door every time they came over. Morgan heard the rustle of coats being hung on the coat rack and the thudding of boots being placed in the boot tray, and then Luke and Jake appeared in the doorway.
“Hey, everyone,” Jake said as he took a seat beside Fiona.
Luke shook the snow from his hair, his cheeks and nose red from the cold. He sat on the arm of Morgan’s chair, leaning in to give her a quick kiss before glancing over at Jolene. “Mateo’s finishing up a phone call. He’ll be in in a sec.”
Jolene shrugged, pretending like she didn’t care as she started picking up the mugs and small plates they’d used for snacks to take into the kitchen. Morgan didn’t need her intuition to tell her that Jolene cared about where Mateo was and what he was doing a lot more than she let on.
“Any new assignments from Dorian Hall?” Johanna asked from across the coffee table. Dorian Hall was Luke’s contact in the agency and the one who usually doled out their assignments.
“Nope.” Luke draped his arm across the back of Morgan’s chair. She resisted the urge to snuggle into his heat as she sipped her tea. Best to keep a clear head during this conversation, and cuddling with Luke was endlessly distracting. “Everything’s quiet around here right now. In fact, last I heard, Dr. Bly’s focusing on something in China. Why?”
Fiona proceeded to tell him all about their visit from Sheriff White today while Morgan took a deep breath and forced her tense muscles to relax, even as Luke’s frown deepened to a scowl. His hand dropped from the back of her chair to her shoulder in a show of solidarity.
“The sheriff all but accused Morgan of the crime just because a witness said they saw an old Toyota there,” Fiona said, her voice edged with outrage as she looked at Jake beside her. “Can you believe that?”
“From our stellar local sheriff’s department? You bet,” Jake scoffed. “And that’s flimsy evidence if I’ve ever heard it. There have got to be hundreds, if not thousands, of beat-up old Toyotas in this area. Sheriff White can’t possibly think she has a chance of making an arrest on that alone. It could have been anyone driving that vehicle. Did she mention anything else that specifically linked Morgan to the murder?”
“No. Of course not.” Morgan scowled at him. Jake had been a cop during the last time she’d been accused of killing someone. That’s how he and Fiona had met. Morgan had been innocent that time, too, but somehow these situations kept plaguing her. Ugh. She could be in real trouble if Sheriff White wanted to pursue this. She’d inadvertently left evidence behind—fingerprints, hair—that could directly link her to Clementine’s house. “We just seem to be her favorite target.”
“Hey,” Jolene called, poking her head in from the kitchen. “You guys want some coffee while I’m up?”
At Luke and Jake’s nods, she disappeared back into the kitchen. Morgan could hear her getting mugs out of the cabinets as she yelled out, “Jake, if you want, I can look up all the red Toyotas registered with the DMV in our county. See if anything comes up that’s close to the year and make of Morgan’s car. If so, we can take it to Sheriff White as proof it could’ve been someone other than my sister’s car that witness saw yesterday. I’m caught up on everything, and I’ve got plenty of time to look things up. The only case we’re working on right now is the nightly mystery noises coming from Mrs. Tower’s shed on River Road.”
“Look what things up?” Mateo asked, walking into the room. His hair glistened from the melted snow, and he shook himself, sending droplets everywhere. Jolene came back from the kitchen with steaming mugs, and her face brightened at the sight of him. Morgan bit back a smile. Her sister might pretend that whatever was happening between her and Mateo was no big deal, but Morgan recognized that special glow when she saw it. It was the same glow she saw in the mirror each time she thought about Luke. She was glad her sister had found someone special.
Jolene proceeded to fill Mateo in on what had happened to Clementine and the sheriff’s visit to Sticks and Stones earlier as she handed out the coffee then went back to get Mateo a mug.
“Wow, I don’t know if I would write this off as a normal killing so fast,” Mateo said, his expression concerned as he took the mug from Jolene. “The fact Clementine was paranormal means we can’t rule out one of our own killing her. Maybe not Dr. Bly, since he’s in China, but someone else. His absence shouldn’t lull us into a false sense of security. We still need to be vigilant about what happens here in Noquitt.”
“I think it’s better that you girls be prepared, just in case,” Johanna said. “And it won’t hurt to have Jolene do a bit of recon.”
Jake nodded. “Fine. Maybe we can go out to Clementine’s place tomorrow and look around. Between Jolene’s gifts with auras and Morgan’s intuition, they should be able to sense any lingering evil paranormal energy there. That way we’ll know what we’re up against. I’ll make sure to find out when the police will be done.”
“I’m down for that,” Jolene said eagerly.
“Me too.” Morgan forced a smile. Fat lot of good her intuition would do her, but of course she couldn’t let her sisters know that. If they wanted to check out Clementine’s, she’d have to go along and pretend like she just wasn’t feeling any vibes. Hopefully no enemy paranormals would be there, because the last thing she needed was to end up in some sort of fight. And hopefully, they’d go during the day. Less chance of danger then, right? “Let’s do it.”
“Cool.” Jake pulled Fiona closer to his side. “I’ll check with my old contacts at the sheriff’s department first thing in the morning and see what I can find out about when the crime scene will be cleared. Safer for us to check it out when we know we won’t be caught breaking in by the cops. That probably wouldn’t help Morgan any. I’ll let everyone know.”
“Let me just see if I can delay my next trip as well,” Mateo said, pulling out his cell phone and typing in a text. “I was supposed to leave for China in the morning for a recon mission on what Bly’s been up to over there.”
“Oh, I hope you can. In the meantime, we’ll do what we can to get ready here.” Jolene clutched the obsidian amulet around her neck. It was identical to the one each of the Blackmoore sisters wore. They had been made by Fiona and imbued with magic to ward off evil energy. Jolene frowned at Morgan. “Where’s your amulet?”
Reflexively her hand went to her neck as her stomach went into freefall. Oh no! How could she have forgotten?
A jolt of panic zinged through Morgan. She’d taken it off yesterday per Clementine’s request and put it in a dish of Himalayan sea salt to soak during her appointment. The cleansing was supposedly part of the process of reconnecting with her gifts. She was supposed to pick it up tomorrow. Her mind raced along with her pulse. She had to get it back before her sisters saw it. They’d recognize it right away.
She forced out another lie. “I, uh, must’ve forgotten to put it back on after my shower. It’s still upstairs.”
Jolene and the others gave her an odd look but thankfully let it drop.
Things were going from bad to worse. Now, Morgan not only had to figure out what was wrong with her gifts and a way to get them back, she also had to find a way to get her amulet before her sisters went in there and saw it or the sheriff picked it up as more evidence that Morgan had committed the crime.
There was only one way to do that. She was going to have to break into Clementine’s before her sisters did.
CHAPTER THREE
In a daze, Morgan followed Jolene back into the kitchen to help divide up the dinner leftovers for the guys whi
le their group continued to discuss the absurdity of Sheriff White thinking Morgan’s car had been at Clementine’s place. She felt hot and sick and jumpy as all get out. At least if she kept busy, the guilt wasn’t quite so overwhelming. She divided up the food silently, her mind whirling on how she could get into Clementine’s place before everyone else and avoid the police if it was an ongoing crime scene.
“Hey,” Fiona said, sticking her head into the kitchen and scaring Morgan half to death. “Jake and I are going to take off. We’re meeting some friends in town.”
“Okay,” Jolene said, handing her sister Jake’s bag of goodies. “Be careful out there. The roads are probably bad.”
“And I’m going to the family library to practice,” Celeste said. “Put Cal’s stuff in the fridge. I’ll give it to him tomorrow when he gets back.”
“Done,” Jolene said. “Have fun practicing.”
Morgan stared after Celeste as she headed into the hallway on her way to the south side of the house where the library was. She hadn’t paid much attention before, but now that she thought about it, Celeste was always hanging out in the family library, meditating and doing yoga. Well, at least Morgan assumed that was what she was doing. Had she been practicing her craft this whole time? And what did that entail? Maybe it would be a good idea to find out.
“And I’m turning in for the night,” Johanna said. “I still get tired pretty early.”
Morgan gave her mother a kiss then waved as she disappeared down the hall. Good, everyone was taking off. Morgan wanted to check out what Celeste was up to, and she needed time alone to formulate her plan. Now if she could just figure out how to get rid of Luke.
Mateo wandered into the kitchen and started digging through his food for a snack. Morgan took that as her clue to leave and headed back into the living room, where Luke now sat alone. Well, alone except for Belladonna, who was snuggled up beside him in the chair. The feline was still giving Morgan the stink eye, and she knew why. Because she kept digging herself deeper and deeper into trouble with all her deceptions.
Hidden Secrets: Blackmoore Sisters Cozy Mystery Series Book 9 Page 2
