Bad to the Crone

by Amanda M. Lee

  I don’t know what I was expecting. Perhaps a nice ranch house with flowers in the front or a colonial with music blaring to signify a teenager was present. Instead, I found a ramshackle cape cod that sagged on one side and was in desperate need of a new roof.

  The lights were on inside, but instead of music all I heard was a man raging. I wanted to believe the vile words were being spewed from a television show, but I knew better. I couldn’t see him through the windows, but it was clear that whoever lived here was having some sort of a meltdown.

  “I set very few rules,” he bellowed. “I let you do whatever you want, run all around town with those jerks on the motorcycles, and still you can’t be bothered to behave yourself!”

  I’d yet to hear Raisin, but I was positive I was in the right spot.

  “I said I was sorry,” a weak voice sniffled, causing my spine to stiffen. “I just ... I’ll do whatever you want. Just tell me what you want.”

  Raisin. I recognized her voice, even though it was clouded with tears.

  “I want you to behave yourself! How many times do I have to tell you that?”

  I couldn’t be sure, but I was almost positive I heard a piece of furniture being slammed from one side of a room to the other. A kitchen chair maybe, or perhaps a small table of some sort.

  “I said I was sorry.”

  She sounded so pitiful, so terrified, I couldn’t hold back. It had been a long day and I’d been searching for a fight from the start. I was still worked up from the adrenalin rush from earlier, so I didn’t bother knocking when I reached the front door. Instead, I used my magic and sprung the lock so it flew open.

  The house was neat inside, which was mildly amusing considering the exterior, which needed so much work I was convinced they should just start over from scratch. Raisin kept up the inside. That was obviously part of her job. Her father, well, he had other things on his mind ... and he wasn’t afraid to express them.

  “Who are you?”

  Steven Morton wasn’t a large man. In fact, he was relatively small. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, his dark eyes gleamed and his face flushed with rage. He looked nothing like Raisin, for which I was oddly thankful.

  “What are you doing here?” Raisin gasped. She was on the floor, tears streaking her cheeks, and she looked terrified as she glanced between her father and me. “You need to go. I told you there was no need to stop by and explain. I ... he ... it’s fine.”

  It was pretty far from fine. “I was out,” I explained, never moving my eyes from her father. “I decided to make sure you were okay. I was confused after you took off the way you did.”

  “It’s nothing.” She sounded exasperated. “I’m fine. I just ... there are rules that have to be followed.”

  “Definitely.” Steven nodded. “Rules that my daughter always seems to forget. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I don’t believe I invited you into my home. This is a private matter.” He gestured toward the door. “You can show yourself out.”

  That wasn’t going to happen. “No.” I shook my head, firm. “I’m not leaving her here with you.”

  “Excuse me?” His eyebrows flew up his forehead. “Exactly who do you think you are?”

  “Scout Randall,” I answered without hesitation. “You can act as shocked as you want, put on whatever show you want, but I’m not leaving her here.” I looked around to make sure no one else was present. “Are you an only child, Ruthie?” I used her given name because it seemed appropriate, but I was itching to call her to me so I could secure her escape from ... whatever hell she’d been living in.

  “Why are you asking that?” Raisin asked, confused.

  “I want to make sure no one else is in the house.”

  “Oh.” Realization washed over her face. “Um ... it’s just us. You don’t have to worry, though. I’m fine. This happens all the time.”

  The mere thought of that made me sick to my stomach. “Well, it’s not happening again.” I pinned Steven with a pointed look. “Your daughter is going into her room and packing some things. When she comes out, I’ll be taking her to a safe location. What happens after that ... well ... will have to be worked out.”

  Steven’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “What did you just say to me?”

  I ignored him and snapped my fingers in Raisin’s direction. “Get your things. We’re getting out of here.”

  “But ... where am I supposed to go?” Raisin’s eyes brimmed with tears. “I promised my mother I would take care of him.”

  My heart went out to her, but I recognized a dangerous situation. “Well, I think your mother would understand why you can’t keep that particular promise.” I refused to back down. “Now, pack your things. Just take the necessities. We’ll be back for the rest later.”

  “But ... .” Fear lit Raisin’s eyes as her father viciously swore under his breath and swiveled in her direction. The way she shrank away from him told me all I needed to know.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” he roared at his offspring. “And, you, you’re not involved in this. I’m calling the cops and having you locked up. How do you like that?”

  I didn’t flinch when he turned in my direction. “I think that’s a fabulous idea,” I replied without hesitation. “I say we call Chief Stratton and get him out here. I’m guessing he would like to hear what’s been going on under this roof.”

  “Get out of my house!” he howled, fury getting the better of him as he took a menacing step in my direction. “I have the legal right to kill you for trespassing on my property.”

  “You can certainly try.”

  “Get out!”

  He was clearly used to people doing his bidding. I wasn’t the sort of person who kowtowed to anyone, especially vicious trolls who mistreated their flesh and blood. “No.”

  “I can make you,” he threatened.

  “That, I would like to see.”

  He was moving almost before I registered it, his hands outstretched. I was expecting him to make some sort of move so I was prepared, and this time the magic I unleashed wasn’t from the fire family. No matter how traumatized she was, I knew Raisin wouldn’t appreciate me killing her father. That meant I needed to dole out another form of punishment.

  “You asked for this,” I said, flicking my fingers. “You should’ve thought long and hard before you put your hands on your daughter. You have this coming.”

  Nineteen

  Rooster wasn’t exactly happy when he arrived at Raisin’s house to find the girl borderline hysterical and her father in a stupor on the floor.

  “What did you do?” he demanded.

  I shrugged, refusing to engage in a screaming match. “I saved the day. You should be happy.”

  “Oh, I’m pretty far from happy.” He swore viciously under his breath before pulling out his phone and searching for a contact on his list. When he found it, he hit the button and pressed the phone to his ear as he glared at me. “I knew you were going to be trouble, but I had no idea you were going to be this much trouble.”

  “First off ... .” I didn’t get to finish what I wanted to say because Rooster raised a finger to silence me. I wasn’t sure who he was calling until he mentioned keeping the lights and sirens to a minimum. “Graham Stratton?” I asked when he disconnected.

  “You didn’t think I could just let this go without police involvement, did you?” he challenged.

  “Well ... .” I wasn’t sure how to respond.

  “What’s going to happen to me?” Raisin whimpered from the floor. She held her head in her hands and rocked back and forth. “I don’t want to go to a state home. I ... he told me what will happen if I go to a state home. I don’t want that.”

  My stomach twisted. I was certain whatever her father told her was an outright lie or a gross exaggeration. That didn’t mean a state home would be an exercise in puppies and roses. “I ... .”

  “You shut your mouth,” Rooster ordered, wagging his finger as he crossed in front of me and went
to Raisin. He was gentle when he dropped to one knee and slipped an arm around her shoulders. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. I don’t want you to freak out about this.”

  “They’re going to take me away,” the girl sobbed.

  “I don’t think so, but we’ll figure it out.” His gaze was cold and accusatory when it fell on me. “What were you thinking?”

  Oh, now he wanted to talk to me? What if I didn’t want to talk to him? “I was thinking that he was mistreating her and I wasn’t going to put up with it,” I replied simply.

  “How do you know he was mistreating her?”

  “I could hear him from the driveway.”

  “Was he ... hitting her?” Rooster tightened his arm around Raisin when she dissolved into another bout of tears.

  “I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “I heard him yelling ... and I was already worked up. I just saw red. I came in and she was cowering while he raged like a maniac. If you think I’m just going to sit back and watch him do stuff like that, you’re crazy.”

  He didn’t immediately say anything, instead rubbing his hand over Raisin’s back as her wracking sobs quieted.

  “I knew something was wrong this afternoon,” I admitted, glaring at Steven as he tried to shift into a sitting position on the floor. He was completely out of it, which was a good thing. “She was terrified when she realized what time it was, yelled about being late and took off. I sensed trouble, but I tried to put it out of my mind. I offered to go with her and she totally freaked out about that, told me he would kill me if I tried. I should’ve followed my instincts.”

  Rooster’s gaze softened, though only marginally. “I understand the instinct to protect, but did you think we weren’t monitoring the situation? Did you think we weren’t poised to rush in and save her if it became necessary?”

  “You weren’t here when it became necessary. I’m not apologizing.”

  “Fine.” He slowly stood. “You’ll have to explain yourself to Graham. If he doesn’t like what you have to say he’ll probably take you in. I hope you’re prepared for that.”

  “Whatever it takes.”

  “Yeah, well ... .” Rooster moved closer to Steven, who whimpered and turned his face toward the wall. “What did you do to him?”

  “Nothing he didn’t have coming.” I was grim as I glared at the man. “Let’s just say I gave him a dose of his own medicine ... magnified to a degree of ten.”

  “That sounds interesting.”

  “It didn’t suck.”

  GRAHAM WASN’T nearly as angry as Rooster anticipated. He yelled at me, said they had a plan, and then laughed at the way Steven cringed and cried before locking him in handcuffs and dragging him to his patrol vehicle.

  Raisin wasn’t in nearly the terrible position I feared. The other Morton in town, Irene, was her grandmother. The woman was expecting her and had no problem taking in the girl. She recognized her son wasn’t the best person to raise a child. In fact, she’d been trying to get him to sign over custody for years.

  She was standing on her porch when we dropped off Raisin, who had stopped crying when she realized she wasn’t going into the system. The girl practically skipped to her grandmother and threw her arms around her in delight when Graham walked her to the porch. Irene was all smiles when she returned her granddaughter’s hug.

  “We were working toward this solution from the start,” Rooster explained, his arms folded across his chest as he regarded the grandmother-grandchild reunion with a warm smile. “We’ve been trying to figure out a way to get Raisin out of that house for a long time.”

  “Why not just take her?”

  “We’re not in the habit of kidnapping children.”

  “I didn’t kidnap her.”

  “No, you did something to her father ... and I’m still dying to hear what.”

  “It was nothing special. I just took all the terror he elicited from her over the years and aimed it at him. Then I magnified it.”

  Rooster shook his head. “I don’t know how you even thought to do that.”

  “I like making the time fit the crime.”

  “Yeah, well ... .” He raised his chin when Graham descended the porch stairs and joined us. “Everything is okay?”

  “It is,” Graham confirmed. “Irene has to sign some papers and we need to get a judge to officially sign off on a permanent custody change, but I’m fairly certain we have everything in order.” His eyes slowly tracked to me. “Even though your worker here jumped the gun and put us in a perilous position.”

  “She did,” Rooster agreed. “But she heard Steven yelling from the driveway. You can’t expect her to sit back and do nothing when she’s worried about Raisin. It’s not fair. You and I have had a few go-arounds with Steven, too.”

  “I guess.” Graham rubbed his chin. “I’m not going to congratulate you on a job well done. You saved her, though. You made sure something terrible didn’t happen. I don’t see where we can ask for more than that.”

  “I’d do it again.” I was feeling fearless. “What’s going to happen to him?” I asked, jerking my thumb toward the backseat of Graham’s car, where Steven sat and stared at nothing. “You’re not going to let him out and give him Raisin again, are you?”

  “No. We’ve been building a case against him for a long time. We should be able to charge him tomorrow. The judge will probably issue a bond, but it will be too high for him to meet.”

  “Well, then I think my work here is done.” I dusted my hands off and grinned. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I need a drink. I’m heading off to the Cauldron and getting one.”

  “Try to stay out of trouble while you’re out and about,” Graham suggested. “If I get called to another scene because of something you’ve done tonight, I won’t be happy.”

  “Do I look like I’m in the mood for trouble?” I flashed the sweetest smile in my repertoire.

  “You look like you’re going to be trouble regardless. Try to remember who’s in charge here, okay? If you’re wondering who, the answer is me.”

  I grinned. He was sort of funny ... in a straight-laced way. “I have no intention of getting in trouble. I think I’ve had my fill for the night.”

  “See it stays that way.”

  I WAS FEELING PRETTY GOOD about myself when I strolled into The Rusty Cauldron thirty minutes later. The bar was packed — a lot of faces I didn’t recognize bouncing around and having a good time — and I headed to the bar to order a drink.

  Whistler was behind the counter by himself, but it didn’t take him long to get to me. “What’ll you have?”

  “I don’t know. What’s on tap?”

  “Corona and some microbrew the locals insist on. I think it tastes like rancid urine, but I’m not paid for my taste.”

  I snickered. “I’ll take a pint of Corona.”

  “You’ve got it.” He winked as he went to the tap and filled a frosty mug.

  While I waited, money in hand, I scanned the faces at the bar. One of the first I saw was Gunner, who sat on a stool in the middle of the huge rectangular monstrosity that took up almost a third of the room. He looked freshly showered, his hair clean and face devoid of dirt that would indicate some manner of battle. He wasn’t alone. A beautiful woman sat with him, striking auburn hair and green eyes on full display as she kept up a steady stream of conversation that he seemed to be only half listening to when he caught my gaze.

  My heart lodged in my throat, and I felt like a complete and total idiot. His business today had obviously been of the female variety. I’d clearly read more into our interaction than was really there. He was involved ... and I was an idiot.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled when Whistler delivered the beer. I quickly fumbled with the money, my fingers shaking enough I thought I might drop the ten. I held it together and shoved the bill in his direction. “Keep the change.”

  I took the mug and turned away from the bar, desperate to put some room between Gunner and me. I never should’ve come
here, I realized. This was his turf ... and I was clearly losing my mind. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a reaction like this to a man I’d just met. In fact, I was fairly certain it had never happened. There was a reason for that: I didn’t fall for men willy-nilly. That was a complication I simply didn’t need.

  “Scout.” I heard someone call after me, but I refused to turn around, instead zeroing in on Bonnie, who sat near one of the pool tables and swilled what looked to be bourbon and soda in a glass. She smiled when she saw me, waved, and I was so relieved to have someone to sit with I almost threw my arms around her for an inappropriate hug.

  “Hey.” I smiled as I sat. “How are things?”

  “Things are good for me,” she replied, furrowing her brow as she looked me up and down. “What’s up with you? You look ... flustered.”

  There was no way I could tell her what was really bothering me, so I merely shrugged. “I’ve had a busy night. I broke into All Souls Church ... and I got in a fight with Raisin’s father that resulted in her being removed from the home.”

  The first part of the statement was heard only by Bonnie because of the blaring music. The second part, unfortunately, floated over the entire bar because I uttered the words at the exact second the music died.

  “You did what?” Bonnie was dumbfounded. “I can’t ... you ... are you kidding me?”

  I forced a tight-lipped grin as I sipped my beer. It was good, and I needed it to keep myself from looking over my shoulder and staring at Gunner and his date. Honestly, I couldn’t believe I so badly misjudged the signs. I felt like a total moron.

  “I think I’m going to need you to tell me the story from the beginning,” Bonnie prodded, downing half her drink as she stared at my face. “Don’t leave anything out.”