Even Witches Get the Blues (Wicked in Moonhaven~A Paranormal Cozy Book 1)

by J. D. Winters

  “Hello, ladies,” said a new voice. I swung back to see Crocker Harris coming across the grass toward where we were sitting. “You both look beautiful on this bright and sunny afternoon.”

  “Well, if it isn’t my husband’s right hand man,” Rennie drawled. “Do you remember Crocker?” she asked me. “Oh that’s right, you don’t remember much, do you?”

  “No, but I’ve already talked to Crocker.”

  “Well, I must say, Crocker is one of the good guys.” Rennie grinned at him in a friendly way. “Bear that in mind as you begin to get to know the town here. Crocker can be a big help at times.”

  “Mrs. Mayor, Your Honor,” Crocker said with a formal bow. “Your husband is looking for you.”

  “He is?”

  “Yeah. He’s getting a little miffed I’m afraid. He said you two were planning to go out and look at a new house that’s for sale or something. And you were late.”

  “Late! Oh, he does hate it when I’m late.” She blew me a kiss as she leapt to her feet. “I’m out of here, people. My hubby calls!”

  Crocker slipped in beside me and smiled. He had big brown eyes and curly dark hair and was really quite a good-looking guy. I found myself smiling back effortlessly.

  “So tell me,” he said. “Are you fitting back into this town after all your time away?”

  “I seem to be fitting in fine, considering that I’m the main suspect in the latest murder.”

  “Ah, yes. I’d heard about that. Poor Scotty. That was rather a shock. But how do they figure you were to blame?”

  “I was there late last night. Hey, you were there, too, weren’t you?”

  “At Scotty’s? No. I was driving home from a friend’s house when I saw you with your little dog.” He frowned. “But I hate to think of you being on the suspect list. Maybe I can help. So what’s your motive supposed to be?”

  I threw out my hands. “I guess it’s because I came back to claim the Bar and Grill that Scotty had taken over. I supposedly got angry when he wouldn’t just bow out gracefully, and I popped him one.”

  He looked incredulous. “Wow. Reaching, aren’t they?”

  “I’d say so. When you saw me walking on the street last night, did I have the look of someone who had just committed a murder?”

  He pretended to think about it for a moment, then shook his head. “Hardly,” he said with a laugh. “Listen, I’ve got to go. But I want you to know that I’m here for you if you need someone. Here’s my card.” He handed it to me. “Give me a call. Any time of day or night. I’ll come running.”

  He made that clicking sound with his tongue and chucked me under the chin in a way that was strangely appealing. I usually hate when men touch you without being invited, but somehow Crocker seemed so good-natured, it came across as natural. His dark eyes looked deeply into mine and I felt suddenly warm and wanted.

  “See you later pretty lady,” he said, and he began to stride off toward the mayor’s office.

  I watched him go, then turned with a sigh. I tried to analyze the feeling he’d given me. How had he done that? I frowned, remembering that my first reaction to him had been negative. He’d certainly turned that around. Who was this guy? I wasn’t sure, but I began to wonder if maybe he was “one of us” as Bentley would say. A paranormal human, a supernatural entity, a person of a certain magical level of being.

  Things were topsy-turvy in this Moonhaven world. I was supposedly a witch, my grandmother was a sorceress, Shane was a hunter. I’d pretty much decided that it was just remotely possible that Bentley was a vampire. A vampire! Could that really be true? Oh brother. And now Crocker was a little iffy. Who else was going to turn out to be not exactly what he seemed? I knew more had to be coming my way.

  I looked behind me at the raven, then at the dog out chasing his tail on the grass. Whatever it was, Crocker had left me with a smile on my face and a lightness in my heart. Time to take care of that!

  “Okay everybody. Let’s go.”

  I called Toto over and put him back on the leash, then rose and looked at the raven. “Let’s go see Bentley,” I said. “We can get his advice on all this nonsense.”

  And off we went, me and my two familiars, down the street toward the law office.

  Chapter Ten

  We were almost to Bentley’s office when my cell phone rang. I looked at the screen. “Gran Ana” it said. That was a shock. How did she get my number?

  But what was I thinking? Of course she knew my number. She probably bought the phone for me.

  “Hello,” I said. “I thought we were going to communicate with the aquamarine cabochon.”

  “Oh no, that’s only for emergencies,” she said. “Now, let’s get to the point. I’m somewhat worried that you’ve become entangled in this murder business. It does complicate our intentions. I’m doing my best to make sure things get cleaned up, but I can’t do everything all at once. I don’t know who killed that dreadful man. I can’t fix that for you. You’ll have to handle it on your own. And that’s what worries me.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re not the only one.”

  “I planned to teach you quite a few things when you came by today, but once we got involved in all that silly bickering, those plans fell by the wayside. Now I’m worried that you don’t know some things you are going to need to get through these next few days.”

  “What kind of things?”

  “Oh…spells and incantations and mesmerizations and potion recipes…that sort of thing. As a young witch, you should have learned all that at your mother’s knee, but your mother, unfortunately, wouldn’t have it. So now I’m obligated to take care of your lessons.”

  I was breathless. She was going to teach me magic. That was something I was beginning to realize I could really use. “Oh. Wow. When do we begin?”

  “Tomorrow. In the meantime, I have something else for you. Now please let me speak to Oliver.”

  “Oliver?” I looked up and down the street. “I don’t see him. Why would he be here?”

  She sighed. “Darling, is the raven with you?”

  “Of course. He’s always here during daylight hours.”

  “That’s Oliver my dear. I’m surprised you haven’t tumbled to that yet.”

  Of course, the moment she said that, I knew that it was true. But it was still a surprise. “What? He’s a shifter?”

  “Don’t use vulgar language, please. He’s a type of lycanthrope. Now may I speak to him?”

  I turned around and found that Oliver had indeed appeared. Wordlessly, I handed him my phone. He gave me a slightly apologetic smile and took it. I didn’t hear him say anything special, but he listened, rang off and handed the phone back to me.

  “I have to go,” he said, brushing a speck of dust off his immaculate black coat. “Madam wants me to bring you something.”

  I waved a hand and smiled at him. “Be my guest.”

  I didn’t see him change. I didn’t see anything at all, but suddenly he was flying off, a black stain against the blue sky.

  I looked at Toto.

  “Don’t you go shifting into something else,” I warned him. “I can’t take much more of this.”

  ***

  Sherrie, Bentley’s administrative assistant/receptionist shot daggers at me the moment I walked in.

  “You can’t see him,” she said, narrowing her eyes aggressively. “He’s very busy. In fact, he’s not even here. He’s over at the courthouse. He is a lawyer you know, and he has better things to do that to wait around for you to show up.” And she slammed down the gateway arm that prevented anyone from passing her desk and getting to the hall that led to his office.

  I studied the situation and suddenly I remembered that I was supposed to be a witch. Witches had spells for things like this. I hadn’t learned any of the formal spells canon yet, but from what I’d done so far, I thought I might be able to improvise something on my own.

  Instead of speaking aloud, I used my mind. Focus seemed to be the key. I drilled
down and set my mind to it and said, silently, “Bentley, help! Come out of your lair. A dragon is keeping me away from you.”

  Almost instantly, the office door burst open and Bentley came shooting out, brandishing a sword in his hand.

  “Where?” he yelled at me, looking wild. “Where’s the dragon?”

  “Uh…there.” I pointed at Sherrie. “But please don’t use a weapon on her. I don’t think she deserves that.”

  “Oh.”

  Bentley looked as disappointed as a kid getting socks for Christmas. He lowered his sword, then with a murderous glance at his receptionist, he lifted the gateway barrier.

  “Come on through. We can talk out back on the chessboard.”

  I avoided the temptation to give a “nah nah nah nah” looked to Sherrie. She had her own problems. But as I passed, she hissed, “You can’t take that dog out there.”

  I didn’t even look at her. I was taking him.

  But even Bentley frowned at him. “If that dog starts to dig up my chessboard, he’s out of here,” he warned, looking at him with mistrust.

  The funny thing was, the feeling seemed to be mutual. Toto looked at him as though he was terrified and kept out of his reach at all times, going to outlandish lengths to do so.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll keep him on the leash.” I tied it to the corner of the porch, then looked around the yard. “Wow, this place is beautiful. You’ve done so much in just one day.”

  “Once you get your okay from the mayor’s office, you can really move ahead,” he said. “I’m pretty pleased with it.”

  “Straight out of Alice in Wonderland,” I mentioned, nodding at the chess pieces, some in place, some lying on their sides along the edge of the “board”.

  “What?” he said. “Who?”

  I realized from the blank look he was giving me that he really didn’t know. That was almost disturbing.

  “Oh, nothing,” I said. “So you tell me. Who killed Scotty?”

  His face changed and he shook his head, bemused. “If there was ever a guy in this town that needed killing, it was that dude. There was hardly a person in the area who didn’t want him dead—or at least punished in some way.”

  “That makes it kind of hard, doesn’t it? If everybody hated him, how do we separate the wheat from the chaff?”

  “The wheat being murderous citizens?”

  “Exactly.”

  “I see what you mean—and we could start right at the top with the mayor and his wife.”

  I was just a bit startled by that. “For a crime of passion? Why would they care that much?”

  He stood there with his head to the side, studying me. “Hasn’t Rennie told you how angry and frustrated she was with him?”

  “Oh yeah, but that was just because he wouldn’t put his bar in compliance with the Plan.”

  “That was a huge part of it.” He picked up a clod of dirt and threw it to the side. “Rennie is the embodiment of the Plan. Scotty was her one failure. He kept avoiding the issue until she was over there screaming at him all the time, and then he would find a way to escape and avoid the issue again. He just wouldn’t do it.”

  “So you think she shot him for that?” I was highly skeptical. People will kill for love or jealousy or money—but for the Plan? Seemed far fetched to me.

  Bentley was thinking it over. “Or maybe her husband did it. He adores her, believe me. He’s about twenty-five years her senior and he wants to keep his little angel happy. She’s his pride and joy. He’ll do anything for Rennie.”

  I thought that over for a few minutes. “You know, they had a knife fight or something that afternoon—Scotty and the mayor. Luanne told me so. She said the mayor got cut pretty badly.”

  “There, you see?”

  I was pacing in front of him by now, shaking my head. “I just can’t believe anyone would kill for noncompliance with the Plan,” I said again.

  I began thinking over what Rennie had said—and about how last night the place had been a wreck. Last night. Did that mean that she’d been there late, around the time I came by? A lot of people seemed to have come and gone, but I didn’t know she’d been there. Would she actually show up at that time of night to get Scotty to clean his place up? It didn’t seem likely. Or was she there trying to make him pay for what he’d done to her husband during the knife fight? And did Luanne walk in on them? Things were beginning to swirl around in my head.

  “Who’s next on your list?”

  He thought for a minute, then shrugged. “Luanne, I guess.”

  I was about to say she had an alibi, but I stopped myself. As long as Rennie was telling the truth, that alibi was full of holes. But was she? And was it? After all, I hadn’t really considered her motives fully, and that might be wise to think over for awhile.

  “Okay,” I said instead. “Tell me your reasoning, counselor.”

  “There’s a lot of background there. Five years worth. As I’ve told you before, I’ve only been here for one year. But I’ve heard a lot about the situation.” He looked at me wisely. “Maybe you don’t understand that it was Scotty who ruined Krissy. He was the reason she had to leave town. It was before my time, but I’ve heard it was ugly.”

  I blinked, remembering what Rennie had said just before she left me in the gazebo. “I didn’t know that.”

  “Oh yeah. She was still underage when he started messing around with her. That’s why Luanne sticks with him. She’s trying to keep the same thing from happening again.”

  “I don’t get it.” I frowned, trying to puzzle that one out. “You mean…?”

  “I mean he was already sniffing around her little sister Molly when she was thirteen. She’s fifteen now and Luanne could see that she was starting to lose that battle. She was scared to death.”

  “You mean Molly was falling for him? Him?” I made a face and shook my head. “I don’t get that at all.”

  “It’s hard to see, but there’s something about Scotty that seemed to appeal to a lot of women. He always had someone on the line.” He shook his head. “I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Scotty hadn’t gotten a little too close to Molly and Luanne decided she was going to have to take him out.”

  “That’s hard to believe.” Wow. I’d been saying that a lot today.

  He shrugged and shook his head.

  “You know how emotions can be when they’re running high. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t a mix of jealousy and hatred. With a motherly sort of protectiveness toward the young one thrown in.”

  I frowned. “Maybe, but I have my doubts.” I looked at him. “Tell me something. Why do you suppose Scotty thought he could have clear title to the Bar and Grill? My parents owned it outright, I believe.”

  He nodded. “But your parents abandoned it three years ago.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t believe it. Where can I find out what actually happened? I have this feeling, deep inside, that my father would have made arrangements to have the taxes paid while he was gone. And if that was the case, there is no way anyone had a right to hand over ownership to someone else.”

  Bentley shrugged.

  I glared at him. “Where can I go to check those records?”

  He thought for a few seconds. “I tell you what. Try the Hall of Records. It’s in City Hall, alongside the mayor’s office.”

  Suddenly, I was anxious to get over there and see for myself. “What time do they close?”

  “I believe they stay open until 6 pm. Except tonight is Wednesday and they might stay open later.”

  I nodded, resolved to get over there within the hour. “Good. I have a feeling I’m going to find out something that will change everything,” I said, feeling suddenly refreshed. “Now, I have one other subject I wanted to talk to you about.” I turned to stare at him. “Tell me about the demons.”

  His head spun around as though he were having whip lash.

  “The demons? Why? What do you want to know?”

  I studied his handsome
face. He really had been nice to me and despite the fact that he was probably a vampire, I really did trust him. I felt confident that he would give me the straight scoop. So I asked him, flat out.

  “What did they do? Where did they go?”

  “Oh, they’re still out there.” He turned and looked toward the mountains out along the edge of town. “They haven’t made a concerted effort lately, but they’re renewing their resources. They’ll be back any time now.”

  I shivered. “And what will we do?”

  He turned and looked at me.

  “Fight them. Either that, or give up. And nobody wants that to happen. Do you have any idea what kind of hell on earth it is to live in a town ruled by demons?”

  I shook my head. “No,” I said hoarsely. “Tell me.”

  He shook his head. “Nah. Ask Shane. He’ll tell you what it’s like.”

  I drew in a deep breath. “Well, at least tell me about what went down here when they last attacked.”

  He blew out his cheeks and rumpled his hair before he began.

  “From what I’ve heard they made a determined assault and were beaten back. Your friend Shane and his family were the main organizers of the defense. They did a lot of the heavy lifting. I think one of Shane’s brothers was killed.”

  I gasped. My heart twisted in my chest. “I…I didn’t know that.”

  “Demons don’t play around. If you have a fight with a demon, you’d better kill him. If not, he’ll find a way to kill you. It’s inevitable. It’s all-out war.”

  I blinked rapidly, pushing back the pain, trying to understand. What would it be like when the demons came again? The way my grandmother talked, it was sure to happen—soon.