Brooms and Brains (A Hocus Pocus Cozy Witch Mystery Series Book 5)

by Constance Barker

  Chapter 28

  Luckily, Celestial didn’t have long to wait. Tamara was very speedy in her insect form, and came flying up rapidly a few minutes later, shifting back onto human legs to stand right next to Celestial in the front yard. Within a few seconds, Dakota appeared nearby, as well, though he was halfway up the next-door neighbor’s tree, and it took a hand down from both Celestial and Tamara to get him safely on the grass.

  “Sorry, I ended up at the wrong address a couple times,” Dakota said. “Wait, isn’t this Tommy’s house?”

  “Wait,” Tamara said, turning to look at Celestial. “Does that mean that Tommy’s the killer, after all?”

  Celestial shared with them in a rapid, breathless voice what she had managed to figure out. She didn’t have time to delve into all the evidence behind her theory; if she was correct, then it was more important that she get into that house right away. They would have to be filled in on the relevant details later.

  Dakota and Tamara watched her, wide-eyed, a little disbelieving, but they knew well enough to trust Celestial at this point of the detective process. When she got that light in her eyes, it normally meant that she had figured the whole thing out.

  “And on top of all that, I can’t reach Nikoli, and I’m worried he might have gone in there looking for Tommy and then that means he’s in danger right now,” Celestial finished in a rush. “So this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to head in as politely as I can. I’m not sure who’s home--I don’t think Tommy is, I just called him recently and he didn’t mention anything--but in general I don’t know for certain what I’m about to encounter. If Nikoli’s not in there, I can probably handle it by myself. But if I see Nikoli I’ll give a loud whistle and I want you folks to come rushing in and back me up. Understand?”

  Tamara and Dakota nodded. Athena bobbed up and down in the air to indicate that she understood, as well.

  So, without wasting any more time, Celestial turned and strode rapidly up to the front door. She knocked, but it was brief; she didn’t give whoever was there much opportunity to answer the door before she was turning the handle--mercifully, it was unlocked--and letting herself in.

  “Hello?” she called, already moving quickly through the Rainsfords’ front room. She heard something knocking about deeper in the house, and she picked up the pace and trotted back toward the kitchen.

  As soon as she stepped into the kitchen she let out the loudest, most piercing whistle she could, praying Dakota and Tamara would be able to hear it. Then, she allowed herself a beat to take rapid stock of what she was seeing.

  Nikoli was on the floor in the center of the Rainsford kitchen, his mouth agape and body convulsing violently. His face had an unpleasant, sickly tinge to it, and he was clutching at his stomach helplessly with twitching hands as though half-tempted to tear his own abdomen apart.

  In that moment, several things happened at once. In the same second that Celestial began to move toward Nikoli to help him, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye: someone coming toward her, the glint of a large, menacing kitchen knife raised in her direction. Then, suddenly, in answer to her whistle, Dakota appeared out of nowhere.

  He appeared right on top of the person who had been wielding the knife.

  Together, the two bodies fell heavily down to the floor. “Oof!” said Dakota as he tumbled on top of the pile. The knife clattered out of grip and skittered away across the floor, passing dangerously close to Nikoli for Celestial’s taste. She finished crossing to Nikoli, knelt beside him, and then tossed the knife further away.

  Tamara and Athena rushed into the room to find Celestial gripping both of a convulsing Nikoli’s hands in her own, and Dakota wrestling Nettie Rainsford to the ground. Tamara instantly withdrew her cell phone and dialed for an ambulance and the police.

  * * *

  “I guess you were right, Celestial,” Dakota said as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. “But how did you know it was Tommy’s mother?” Lanky and stringy though he was, he wasn’t having any trouble keeping Nettie pinned down to the kitchen floor, trying as hard as she might to buck him off. She wasn’t saying much, though; she had glassy, teary eyes and a furious scowl, and occasionally she spat out a rude word, but she managed mostly to keep quiet.

  “Nettie is short for a lot of names,” said Celestial. “In this case, it’s short for Janet.”

  “JR,” said Athena, realizing. “The initials on the lighter.”

  “It was my fault for not verifying her full name earlier. But what really helped me catch on was the timeline. Once I figured out that the dish had to have been swapped when it had already been cooked, then I knew it had to be another cook who had done it.” She trailed off from her explanation, however, bending closer over Nikoli. “Come on, Nikoli,” she whispered gently. She felt tears pulling at her eyes. She tried to get his gaze to focus in on hers but his own eyes had drifted mostly shut, and his convulsions had become less violent. Under different circumstances, that might have been a good thing, but at the moment she was worried that meant he was getting worse, not better.

  Just then, the blessedly welcome sound of an ambulance siren filled the air.

  Within two minutes, Celestial had helped the EMTs get Nikoli onto a gurney. She and Athena followed them out into the yard, where they began loading the gurney urgently into the back of their ambulance.

  “You coming with?” one of the EMTs asked her abruptly just as they were locking the gurney into place.

  Celestial hesitated. Just then, two police cars, lights flashing, turned onto the street.

  “You go ahead,” Athena told Celestial. “Tamara, Dakota, and I will turn Janet over to them and then meet you at the hospital.”

  “Thanks,” Celestial said, dizzy and a little breathless, before hopping into the back of the ambulance. As the EMTs closed up the back doors and began to drive, Celestial sat and found Nikoli’s hand. His convulsions were fainter than ever. She gripped his fingers tightly, praying he would grip hers back, but his hand remained limp.

  Chapter 29

  The doctor had told Celestial that Nikoli would be fine, but it was very clear on his face that he was surprised. He told Celestial that Hemlock poisoning was usually fatal, and that there was currently no known cure for Hemlock poisoning. Even as tired as she was, Celestial feigned surprise and nodded along until the doctor left.

  She hadn’t meant to be rude if she was, but her focus was not entirely on the “medical spectacle” of Nikoli’s condition. Of course, he survived, she thought, He’s a shifter. The poison probably doesn’t affect him like it would others. If he hadn’t been a shifter... She honestly didn’t even want to broach that subject.

  Still, she was anxious, and she probably would be until the detective actively opened his eyes. As soon as Celestial had begun thinking about it she heard a rather hoarse cough coming from across where she sat. Her attention immediately snapped to the bed where Nikoli was resting.

  The detective was trying his best to sit up properly, wincing in discomfort. “Nikoli!” Celestial’s relieved voice caught his attention immediately, and for a moment, the detective’s face held a look of concern. “Celestial?! Where are-?”

  Celestial placed a calming hand on his shoulder, “We’re in the hospital. I found you in the Rainfords’ house, doubled over in pain. You were poisoned-” Celestial’s voice trailed off at the memory, she tried to not remember how sickly Nikoli had looked, or think about how close to death he had just been.

  “...I was poisoned,” Nikoli repeated, almost in a confirming whisper. Then in a more normal cadence, “I had just gone to Tommy’s house, I wanted to talk with him...” Nikoli attempted to move around a bit but winced again in pain. " T-Tommy wasn’t there, but his mother, Janet was.”

  Nikoli moved to sit up more on the bed, “Janet invited me inside the house, she said that Tommy would be back soon, and I could sit and wait for him.” Nikoli yawned, head tilting to the side somewhat, “So I did, and she offered
to bring me some food.”

  Celestial spoke up, “And it didn’t seem suspicious to you?”

  Nikoli sighed, rubbing his forehead, “Well, sure it was. But I wasn’t going to get answers by backing out now.”

  Celestial sighed, sitting on the bed beside Nikoli, allowing him to continue talking. “Ah, you’re starting to sound like me, Detective.”

  Nikoli chuckled, “Gee, thanks...You know, she brought me a salad. For a guest? I expected cookies or something, but...” His facial expression soured. “Then my stomach... It felt like I was on fire...It still kind of feels like I’m on fire…”

  “Do I need to get a doctor in here?” Celestial asked, starting to get up, Nikoli immediately shook his head, “It hurts, but I’m not going to die from this.”

  Nikoli cleared his throat, “Ah...I got a full confession out of her. Janet I mean.” Celestial’s eyes lit up. “A confession, what did she say?” Nikoli took a moment to recall, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again.

  “She was talking about how abusive Tammy was to her little boy. How Tommy was just the sweetest little boy on earth and didn’t deserve any of what was done to him.” Nikoli grimaced.

  “She talked about how she just knew that woman would kill Tommy before he was able to leave and live out the rest of her days. And that she needed to stop her.” Nikoli continued, “She even told me how she killed Tammy. Why is it she felt the need to do that? I have no idea… Guilt, maybe?”

  “Apparently, Janet had gone over to visit Tommy at Jody’s Diner while he was at work, under the context of bringing him food for lunch.” Nikoli looked over to Celestial, and with a shrug, added, “She switched the plate that she had made, with the Hemlock plant in it, with the dish that Tommy had made for Tammy, and just left through the crowd from Jody’s Diner.”

  Celestial pursed her lips as she thought about the whole situation. “So she was just hoping that she could help her son out of his abusive relationship.” Nikoli shook his head. “Not quite. See, since she’s such close friends with Elaina, Janet had figured that by poisoning Tammy in Jody’s restaurant, she could indicate Jody with the murder.”

  “She would get rid of Tammy, who had been plaguing her son for so long and make him want to quit the job he had at Jody’s forcing him to work with Elaina. A double win in Janet’s book.”

  Nikoli finally forced himself out of bed, settling on unsteady footing. “Ah...I guess I’m feeling good enough to stand. I should probably make a report and close this case out, huh Celestial?”

  Celestial nodded, helping him stand up. “Yeah, I mean...If you’re feeling well enough, then yes. We should probably get you out of here.” Both of them standing now, Celestial offered to leave first so that Nikoli could change out of his hospital garments in peace. And she added that she was probably going to go home and get some real sleep. Nikoli could only agree, especially since, despite her best efforts, Celestial did appear physically drained.

  “I’ll try to check on you later, alright? Thank you for all your help Celestial.” Nikoli stated, waving a quick goodbye as Celestial left the room.

  “See you later, Detective.” Celestial waved goodbye in return.

  Celestial made sure to notify a doctor that Nikoli was awake, and she contemplated waiting for the detective to be discharged, but her body was already shutting down from how stressed and tired she’d been. Instead, she stressed with the doctors to make sure that Nikoli would be okay before she left, and she made her way home.

  Chapter 30

  It was much later into the next day, around lunchtime when Celestial saw Nikoli again. She had devoted some time in her store to busy herself and clear her thoughts. Some people say that when a person’s mind is racing, work is the perfect distraction. Those people were not entirely wrong.

  Still, a distraction only works until you find the next one. For Celestial, that would be Nikoli. It was good to see him, and even though she was supposed to be working with customers, she found herself rushing people out of the door as politely as possible. Once the last customer had left, and the only people in the store were Celestial, Nikoli, and Athena, she walked over to the detective.

  “Congratulations on the discharge-” Celestial’s sentence was cut short as Nikoli pulled her into a hug. For a moment, Celestial mind and body both froze, neither being able to respond. “Wha-what? What can I help you with, Detective?” Celestial’s voice cracked and pushed out the only sentence her brain could form.

  Nikoli slackened his death hug for a moment, backing up so that he could look Celestial in the eyes. “Thank you,” he finally spoke, though he might have been saying it before and Celestial just didn’t hear him correctly. Despite her broken silence, Celestial chuckled.

  “Ha, I just realized I didn’t really thank you properly,” Nikoli said sheepishly, breaking away from their hug fully this time to stand in front of Celestial. “I can’t stress enough exactly how much you help me all the time. But, I thought I’d at least try.”

  Celestial laughed again, still drawing blanks in her head as to what she should be saying. But Nikoli apparently had more to say, “I have to head out now, but I knew I needed to get in touch with you. I’ve been talking with my captain about you.”

  “About me? What for?” Celestial spoke up, louder than she meant to, wincing at the end of her sentence.

  Nikoli, realizing exactly what he had said, shook his head in protest. “No! Not specifically about you, per se!” he coughed aloud to clear the air. “I mean, I've been talking with my boss about outside help for cases. Sort of similar to a consultation-type of job. I didn’t specifically mention you, but you would be perfect for it.”

  Celestial could hear Athena’s laughter even though the dragonfly had moved further into the store to give these two some privacy. “A consultation job? Are you sure?” she asked, feeling her face finally begin to cool down.

  “Well… it could give some legitimacy to your more questionable activities in the future.” Nikoli shrugged, though his eyes did seem to light up in a playful manner.

  Celestial rolled her eyes in response, then with a short laugh, said, “Ha! Well, maybe you should find yourselves a psychic. I am in no position to be admitting to my questionable actions, sir.”

  Even though Nikoli was almost out of the door, he stopped to laugh at Celestial, “Whoa. Wait, are you admitting to being psychic, Celestial? I never knew!” Both Celestial and Nikoli began to laugh hard at that, Nikoli leaning against the frame of the front door. And Celestial leaning against one of the many shelves near the front.

  “Oh, so I’m a psychic now?” Celestial said through laughter. Nikoli finally gathered his breath and shrugged nonchalantly, “You’re the one who said something. How about we prove it? If you were a psychic, could you…” Nikoli trailed off for a moment, giving Celestial time to finally stop laughing and catch her breath.

  “Can you tell me what I’m doing next Friday?” Nikoli asked, flashing a brilliant smile.

  Celestial once again froze, there was something about the way he said it that fogged her brain and made it impossible to speak, but it might have just been her imagination. “Next Friday? I already told you, Nikoli, I”m not a psychic, I don’t even know what I’m doing next Friday…”

  Nikoli stepped away from the doorway, walking back over to Celestial and stopping right in front of her. “I guess that makes two of us? Would...” Nikoli laughed, but it was more contained than before, obviously much more nervous. “Would you want to do something next Friday with me, then?”

  Celestial forced herself to speak again. “Is… is that a date? Are you asking me on a date?” Nikoli laughed a little bit louder in response. “Y-Yes? ...Yes.”

  For some reason, knowing it was a date actually made it easier for Celestial to think, and easier for her to answer. “Of course. I would love to.” She smiled, and could already feel her face becoming flushed once again.

  “Really? That’s great!” Nikoli seemed to r
elax almost immediately. “I do actually have to go but we can call or message about this later, okay?” Nikoli left quickly, practically skipping out of the doorway. Celestial sat there for a moment after he left, just watching the doorway.

  Athena’s voice, a sort of buzzing laughter, snapped Celestial out of her thoughts, forcing the witch to stare down her familiar. “What do you want, Athena?” Celestial sighed.

  “Me? I’m just glad you’ve finally taken my advice, and decided to make an honest man out of that detective!” Athena mused, barely missing Celestial playfully swiping at her, “What? You know you need to scoop up that detective before someone else does!”

  Celestial snorted looking away from Athena in a huff. “You’re too much, Athena.” Celestial felt something rub against her ankle, looking down and spotting a familiar, dark-colored, furry shape. “And what about you, Jinxy? Do you think like an old woman too?”

  Celestial cooed, picking Jinxy up and nustling his head softly. Athena only laughed in response. It only served to make Athena laugh more as Jinxy seemed to meow in agreement, though neither could guess who the savvy feline was agreeing with.

  *****

  Don’t miss the next book in the Hocus Pocus Cozy Witch Mystery Series:

  Moons and Magic

  Thanks for Reading

  I hope you enjoyed the book and it would mean so much to me if you could leave a review. Reviews help authors gain more exposure and keep us writing your favorite stories.

  You can find all of my books by visiting my Author Page.

  Sign up for Constance Barker’s New Releases Newsletter where you can find out when my next book is coming out and for special discounted pricing.