And just like that, she was gone. Poof. Into thin air.
I sat very still for a few minutes, trying to take it all in. I hadn’t had the answers to many of my questions yet, but it was a beginning. Now to get back off this strange island.
I rose and turned and was surprised to find the water was now a gentle stream rushing over piles of rocks. It wouldn’t need magic to negotiate. I walked over it easily and found my way back to the little dog run where Toto was waiting for me.
Along with Oliver.
I looked at the man assessingly. He seemed friendly enough, and he had tried to give me help out on the lake edge. He might be able to answer some of my questions himself.
“Thanks for your help,” I said as he let Toto out of the run. The little cutie jumped happily at my knees, leaving paw prints of the sawdust flooring he’d been playing on for the last hour. “May I ask you something?”
He made a courtly bow. “I’m at your service, of course.”
“How long have you worked for my grandmother?”
He shrugged. “Practically forever. My life is devoted to her in many ways. As yours should be. And will be.”
That startled me. “Really? Why?”
He waved a long, white hand as though to show how irrelevant the concept was to explanation. “You’ll understand better and better as time goes by.”
I stared at him, not convinced. He moved closer.
“Perhaps you don’t understand what your grandmother is, Haley. She’s not a normal grandmother.”
I knew that. I’d been thinking over the possibilities ever since I’d begun to hear about how important it was for me to go and see her.
“Is she a witch?” I asked point blank.
He laughed. “No, my dear. She’s not a witch.” He raised his eyebrows and laughed again. “You’re a witch. She’s a sorceress. There’s a difference. But you’ll learn these things. Perhaps you should jot down notes. Take care.”
And he disappeared just like she had. That was annoying, but intriguing at the same time. If I really was a witch, and I have to admit, by now I was beginning to believe it, was I going to be able to terminate conversations the same way? Wow. What a convenient talent that would be.
I got Toto into the car and we headed back to town. I went over all the things I’d wanted to ask Gran Ana—that name still sounded kind of silly, but if she wanted it, who was I to say no?—and hadn’t had a chance to. Like—did she know who had killed Scotty? Or why? Or how I was supposed to stop the Bar and Grill from being demolished before I had a chance to start a sandwich shop in it? Little questions like that. I guessed they would have to wait.
And another thing. I was going to have to curb my temper. She seemed to have brought me back here to Moonhaven because she needed me for something. Well, I had no doubt I needed her, too. Antagonizing her was going to get me nowhere. I resolved to be more polite in the future. After all, against all common sense, this strange woman, this sorceress, might actually be my real grandmother.
Chapter Nine
The first place I headed once I was back in town was the sheriff’s station. I’d had a text from Shane. He said that Sheriff Hayes had some questions. Far be it from me to ignore a command from the powers that be. I had a feeling that would work out badly on my behalf.
Deputy Decker was covering the desk when I walked in. I knew it was him by reading his name tag. I’d heard about him but never actually spoken to him before. At least, not that I remembered.
“Haley Greco,” he said with a grin when he looked up and saw me standing there. “I’ve heard you’ve got certain memory problems, but you must remember me. I used to run deliveries for your Dad in the old days.”
I shook my head and shrugged. “Sorry Deputy.” Then I realized he might be a resource. I leaned toward him across the desk. “Were you around when my parents left town? Did you talk to them? Do you know why they left so suddenly?”
His grin evaporated and his gaze took on a wary look. “Nope. I know nothing about it.”
I pulled back. “Right,” I said. “Listen can you tell Deputy McAllister that I’m here? He wanted me to come in.”
“Sure.” He called Shane and told him, then hung up and looked at me furtively. “Listen,” he half whispered. “Here’s one thing I can tell you. They told everyone they were going out of state to consult specialists about your brother’s condition. But I never believed that. I think they left because they were scared.”
I tensed. “Scared of what?”
He shook his head. “Don’t know. But…” He leaned close enough to whisper in my ear. “It was during the summer of the demon attack. A lot of people left that weekend. That was why I decided to stop denying my destiny and be a hunter like my father. It changed my life.”
I stared at him but before I could ask anything else, Shane was there, beckoning me to follow him, and Deputy Decker had turned back to his work.
Shane was frowning by the time I reached him.
“What was Decker telling you?” he said.
“Nothing.” It was a blatant lie and I didn’t expect him to believe me, but he let it go.
“Glad you’re back,” he said instead. “Sheriff Hayes was getting impatient. Let’s go on down the hall and check in with him.”
I turned and glanced into Shane’s office as we passed the open door. There on his chalkboard was a list of names. Mine was at the top. Luanne’s came next. I didn’t have time to read the others.
I grabbed his arm as we walked. “Am I the top suspect for Scotty’s murder?” I hissed at him.
He didn’t answer. We’d reached the Sheriff’s office and he held the door for me to go in first. Sheriff Hayes rose from behind his desk and nodded his head to acknowledge my presence, then pointed toward a chair.
“Have a seat Miss Greco,” he said. “I have a few more questions for you.”
I sat on the rock-hard chair and he fired questions my way, mostly the “Where were you at 6 pm?”,“What time did you end up at the Bar and Grill?”, “What did you see there?”, “What did you hear?” sort of thing. I answered calmly and honestly. I figured they couldn’t accuse me of something I hadn’t done. But I wasn’t being realistic. It turned out there were all sorts of ways to accuse you I hadn’t thought of.
He stood the whole time, pacing back and forth before me. Shane stood against the wall. I sat on my hard chair and before long, I was beginning to sweat.
He stared at me as though he thought I might break under pressure if he looked mean enough. Too bad for him, I was sweating, but I wasn’t anywhere near breaking.
Suddenly, he pulled open a drawer and brought out a gun. It was a semi-automatic. Don’t ask me how I knew that. I just did. Carefully, he placed it on a piece of flannel and held it toward me, laying on its side
“So when was the last time you used a gun like this?” he asked me curtly.
I shook my head. “I…I don’t think I’ve ever used a gun for anything,” I said. “Maybe a toy version for playing cops and robbers as a kid. I bet I was always a robber.”
A little levity should lighten the mood. But he wasn’t smiling. I glanced over at Shane. He was still standing against the wall, his arms folded, looking stern. I wanted to reassure him. But the Sheriff was still talking about something. I turned back just in time to see him holding out the semi-automatic he’d been looking at, handing it to me.
“Can you check if this is loaded?” he asked me.
Dutifully, I took the firearm with my right hand and pushed back the slide, looked into the chamber, and nodded as I let the slide come back to cover it.
“Yup,” I said. “There’s one bullet in the chamber.”
He stared at me. Shane stared at me. I looked down and saw that I was holding the gun in regulation fashion. My finger was not on the trigger. All was well. What the heck were they staring at?
Then I realized I’d handled the semi as though I knew what I was doing. Did I? Maybe so. I looked at the Sherif
f, feeling cornered.
“You know how you can tell if someone is unfamiliar with firearms?” he said quietly. “Their dumb finger goes right for the trigger. Yours didn’t. Why are you lying about knowing your way around guns?”
“I…” I looked at Shane but there was no help there. My heart was racing. Had I just stepped in it? Was I going to end up suspected of murder because I lied about being able to use a gun?
Thinking this through, I thought I knew what it meant. Scotty hadn’t died from a beating. He hadn’t even died from falling off my mountain trail. He’d been shot, hadn’t he? Oh damn.
I looked back at the Sheriff.
“I guess Shane hasn’t told you that I’m suffering from a form of amnesia? If I know how to use a gun, I don’t remember. I’m sorry. But I don’t know what else I can tell you.”
His eyes were cold. He didn’t buy it. What else could I do to convince him? I couldn’t think of a thing.
He asked a few more questions which I answered badly. It had worked. I was shaken. But I managed to pull myself together and ask him a question or two.
“Does all this mean that the cause of death was….that Scotty was shot?”
He practically sneered. “The exact cause of death hasn’t been determined as yet. We want to cover all possibilities.”
I took a deep breath. “I realize I’m a ‘person of interest’ in your investigation. But you don’t really think I killed a man to get my Bar and Grill back, do you? Don’t you think you’d get further going after people who actually might have done it?”
He stared at me, hard. “Let’s put it this way, Miss Greco. I knew your father. I knew your mother. I even knew you once upon a time. I think I can gauge what you might be capable of for myself. But thanks for the advice.”
He finally let me go, but kept Shane in his office for consultation. I left and hurried toward the exit. I wanted to get out of there and forget this had ever happened.
But my luck just wasn’t that strong.
A familiar screech stopped me in my tracks. Rennie Dobbs had seen me.
I turned to find her running toward me waving her arms.
“Haley! Wait up. We’ve got to talk!”
I sighed, but waited. “What are you doing here?” I asked as she skidded to a stop in front of Deputy Decker’s desk.
She looked startled. “Who, me? I’m here all the time. Aren’t I, Tommy? I’ve got the run of the place.” She grinned at the Deputy and he flushed before turning away in order to pretend he wasn’t going to listen in on our conversation. Nobody was buying it though. And the way things were going, I didn’t want to hang around where cops could hear me. I gestured to let Rennie know I would meet her outside, and took off toward the exit. She followed, looking grumpy about it.
“Oh, all right. There’s a place we can talk out in the gazebo. On nice days, the guys all come out here to eat their lunches. Unless they’re going to Hamburger Heaven of course. You’re going to have to try the Heaven. I mean, people brag about their In-and-Out burgers, but the Heaven beats them cold. Besides, they’ve got those crispy fries. I adore those things.”
The gazebo seemed just fine, though I gave it a cursory inspection for hidden microphones.
“Boy, you are skittish, aren’t you?” Rennie noted with a gleam in her eyes that might have been admiration—but more likely was just plain old amusement at me being silly. “So tell me, did you do it?”
That got a rise out of me. “Do what?”
“Oh, you know. Send good old Scotty to the land beyond. Did you do the world a favor? Did you kill him?”
I sighed. “No Rennie, I did not kill anyone.”
She nodded and shrugged. “Good enough for me, honey. I’m just glad he’s gone. Now we can get on with the Plan.”
“The Plan? You mean…?”
“Yes.” She pumped her fist into the air. “Finally, I’m going to get compliance from that ugly building. Only…” She shook her head as though astonished. “Honey, how did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Get all that work done so fast. I mean, last night it was still a trashed building, a regular hell-hole, and today, what a change! I drove by this afternoon and it’s beautiful! And I do mean it. That Bar and Grill is headed into compliance with the Plan and everything. It looks like it’s straight out of my Little Bo Peep template. Or maybe Alice in Wonderland, when she meets the caterpillar.”
I blinked. “Alice in Wonderland? Is that the goal?”
“Not necessarily. But it helps.”
“But wait.” I shook my head wondering what the heck was going on. “There was just a murder committed there. How can it be changed already? Doesn’t the Sheriff have it roped off as a crime scene? Have they already run tests and everything they do in these cases?”
She shrugged, hands out. “All done. They still have the back yard workshop where the body was found roped off. But bar itself is in the process of a complete transformation. There’s a whole crew working on it as we speak.”
“No kidding?” I felt like I was being left behind by events. “Uh…you know I haven’t been by to see what they’ve done yet. And who are they, by the way? Oh never mind. I’m sure my grandmother had something to do with it.”
“Well, I think you’ll be surprised. So…you’re going to be selling sandwiches?”
My eyes widened. “What gave you that idea?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. The menu board is up and it says croissant sandwiches. Quite a change from the bar and grill theme of old but it sounds delicious.” She clasped her hands together. “And thank God, it’s finally going to be in compliance. You don’t know how hard I’ve been working toward that. It’s such a weight off my shoulders.”
“You’re really a believer in the Plan, aren’t you?”
She stared at me. “You should have seen this town a couple of years ago. Run down, people out of work. And now we have gobs of tourists every weekend and every little shop and service is buzzing with activity and commerce. And it’s all because of the Plan.”
I smiled at her enthusiasm. “You can’t fight real results like that,” I said.
“You got that right.”
“So I guess you stopped and went inside, huh? What are they doing? Are they tearing out the bar and everything?”
She looked surprised, then shocked. “Uh…oh no, honey. I didn’t stop in. I was just driving by.”
“Just driving by and you saw the menu board in such detail?”
“Yes, that’s what I said, wasn’t it?”
She looked nervous and I wondered why.
“So anyway, Rennie.” I moved closer to her on the bench. “You haven’t told me who you think did it.”
She looked a bit wary. “Why do you want to know my opinion?”
“You’ve lived here for the last five years. I haven’t.”
“And you think I have the inside scoop?”
“Could be. You are the mayor’s wife.”
She sighed and shook her head. “My little cutie patootie,” she murmured, and I assumed she was thinking kindly of her husband. “He did catch me at a weak moment. And before I knew what was happening, we were wed.”
“You don’t regret it, do you?”
“Oh heavens no.” She grinned, seemingly hitting her stride again. “I was born for this job. I love being in charge.”
“Uh…isn’t he the one in charge?”
“Hah! Well never mind that. We’re a pair, partners. We work together. We’re like twins, peas in a pod, soul mates.”
“I heard about his fight with Scotty. Was he badly hurt?”
She paled, looking at me in shock. “Who told you about that? Listen, it isn’t as bad as it sounds. He’s fine. He’s okay. He’s up and around and everything. Believe me, it was no big deal.”
“Really?”
She tossed her head and changed the subject. “You want to know who the scuttlebutt says did it. Right?”
“Right.”
<
br /> “Well, I hate to tell you, but you’re right up there at the top of the list.”
“I know. That’s exactly why I’m trying to find out who really did it.”
“I get that. But I just have to say, first there’s you. And then…” She gave me the wide eyes.
“And then,” I said impatiently. “I suppose you’re going to tell me it’s Luanne.”
“Have you got a better suggestion? Because she’s got cause if anyone does.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“But she’s got an alibi. She told me first thing this morning.”
“Before you even asked, huh?” Rennie laughed. “Yeah, well, she has reason to make sure everyone knows it. Before you hit town, she would have been the one I’d suspect.”
“But the alibi gives her cover, doesn’t it?”
She gave me a sly look. “Tell me what she says.”
“She says she was at a motel down by the shore and Molly was with her.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Then why did I see her driving toward the beach road just after midnight?”
Oh my! There went Luanne’s alibi. “Interesting.”
“You bet.”
“Have you told the sheriff?”
She nodded. “They acted like it was no big deal, but I have a feeling there will be repercussions.”
“No doubt.” I frowned. Somehow it didn’t surprise me. Still, I had a hard time seeing Luanne as a murderer. “Why would she kill him, though? She was still with him, wasn’t she? She’d been his supposed girlfriend for years from what I’ve heard. She seemed to take good care of him.”
Rennie nodded. “She did that. But only in a strange, evil way. Believe me, she had an ulterior motive.”
“Yeah? What was that?”
She leaned real close and whispered, “Krissy.”
“Krissy?” Wasn’t that the name of Luanne’s sister who was supposed to have been my best friend or something? Before I could ask for clarification, I heard wings at my back and I swung around to find the raven settling in on the fence behind me.
I glared at him and he glared back. I swear those eyes looked familiar. He turned his head, but with birds it’s hard to know. In fact, just when you think they’re looking at you, you realize they’re actually looking at something else. Their eyes just don’t track the way ours do. And with this bird…well, I was pretty sure he wasn’t a real bird. I mean, real birds didn’t have human eyes like he did. So he scared me a bit. And made me very nervous. Just exactly who was he reporting to? That was the question. It was just too obvious that he was eavesdropping.
Even Witches Get the Blues (Wicked in Moonhaven~A Paranormal Cozy Book 1) Page 10
