Strangetown Girl (Welcome To Witch County Book 1)

by C. M. Cevis

“I feel like that wouldn’t stop you.”

  Luna chuckled. “Probably not. But I like my house, and my business, and my friends. I like Calidity. I don’t want to leave. Plus, I didn’t murder anyone.”

  “I didn’t think you did. But I’m not sure how we can prove that to the police.” Asher stepped onto the porch and sunk into one of the patio chairs.

  “I’m not either, honestly.” Luna sighed.

  “There are cops parked out front, so it’s probably better that you stay put.” Asher yawned.

  Luna froze. “What? How would they even know that I’m here?”

  “Who knows? They may be here to keep an eye on me,” Asher said, shrugging. “Either way, it’s probably best that we’re careful. Isn’t that why you put the wards on the house?”

  Luna chuckled softly. Apparently, she hadn’t been as stealthy as she thought. “That’s something I’ve been meaning to do for a while now. I guess being here now made it a bit more urgent.”

  “I don’t need wards to know when someone is coming, you know.”

  Luna smirked. “I know. But humor me in my paranoia.”

  Asher shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with a little best friend back up.” She laughed.

  “Good, because it’s already done and I’m not taking it off.” Luna stood and stretched, turning back towards the house. “If there really are cops outside, maybe we should take them some coffee, hm?”

  “There’s no rule that says not being in the L & L means you can’t be courteous. Maybe we can make them some breakfast too.”

  “Ooo, bacon, eggs, and cheese on toast sounds wonderful,” Luna said.

  She and Asher were up and in the house before their stomachs could growl agreement.

  ~*~

  THE TWO OFFICERS WERE SITTING in an unmarked car out front, though it was clear what and who they were to anyone with half a brain. Or that’s how Asher and Luna felt about it.

  The two of them made enough breakfast sandwiches for four people, brewed a fresh pot of coffee, and made their way outside with the sugar and creamer in tow.

  “Morning, gentlemen,” Luna said, walking up to the open window. The two officers hunched in their seats until it was obvious they’d been discovered. “We brought breakfast, if you’d like.”

  Asher walked up to the opposite side of the car and handed the officer in the passenger’s side a plate with a sandwich without bothering to ask if he wanted it or not. “And coffee,” she added.

  “Have you guys been out here long?” Luna asked as if they weren’t there to spy on one of the two people currently standing next to their car.

  “If you all are still here around lunchtime, we’ll bring you some iced tea. By then, you’ll probably need it. It’s supposed to be pretty warm out today.” Asher motioned for the officer on her side to go ahead and fix his cup of coffee.

  “I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to know that we’re here. And we definitely aren’t supposed to be taking food from you,” the officer on the driver’s side said as he took a bite of his sandwich and began making his cup of coffee.

  “We won’t tell if you don’t,” Asher said with a grin and a wink.

  “Also, you guys are kind of obvious, no offense,” Luna said, making a face. “Sorry.”

  “But if you weren’t obvious, you wouldn’t be getting breakfast, now would you?” Asher said, her bubbly on full display now that she was awake.

  “If we see something that incriminates you, this won’t make us go easy on you,” passenger side cop said, looking from Asher to Luna and back again.

  “Nor would we expect you to. The thing is, I didn’t kill anyone, so there won’t be anything for you to see. You’re just doing your job,” Luna said.

  She and Asher sat down in the middle of the concrete sidewalk with the food and coffee they’d brought for themselves. A breakfast picnic.

  “So, I know you can’t tell me anything about an ongoing investigation, and that’s fine. Is there any way I can find out when I’ll be able to get back into my house?” Luna asked.

  The two officers shared a look, and the one who was apparently in charge nodded his go-ahead to the other.

  “We can’t say for sure, but once the scene isn’t needed for forensics anymore, it should be opened back up to you.” The passenger side officer cleared his throat. “It won’t be, uh, cleaned though.”

  Luna made a face. She hadn’t thought about that. “That sounds gross.”

  “Yeah, sorry,” the officer replied.

  “I’ll help you clean it up, don’t worry,” Asher said, stopping just short of saying that she knew how to get bloodstains out. Luna swallowed a laugh.

  “Will I be notified in some way?”

  “You should be, since the property is yours, suspect or not,” Driver’s Seat said, his mouth half full. “If nothing else, ask whoever is on duty out here. They’ll probably tell you, as long as it isn’t—” He gulped, cutting himself off.

  “As long as it isn’t Wesley,” Luna finished. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me that’s what you meant. I know.”

  “Does anyone like him?” Asher asked softly.

  “His wife, apparently,” Luna said, rolling her eyes.

  Asher stifled her guffaw as she looked at the two officers. “I’m sorry, that’s your boss and we’re putting the two of you in an awkward position.”

  Passenger Side shrugged. “If it matters, most of us at the station don’t think you’re the murdering type, Miss Luna. You’re just a suspect of convenience.”

  Luna loved small-town cops. They knew everyone and everyone knew them, and that made them nicer. And they said things that they weren’t supposed to. “I appreciate that.”

  “Thank you for the breakfast, Miss Asher and Miss Luna. We really do appreciate it.”

  Luna took a good look at the guy who was speaking, the one in the driver’s seat. He had ash blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and attention focused mainly on Asher.

  Someone had a crush.

  “Of course. If you guys are still out here later, we’ll bring you something to munch on for lunch too,” Asher replied, hopping up and walking towards the car to collect used dishes. Luna’s lips quirked up as she watched the officer’s eyes follow Asher.

  Once they were safely back inside the house, all bets were off.

  “That officer has a crush on you.”

  “Who?” Asher asked as she began running water so that they could wash the dishes.

  “You know who. The blonde one. There is no way you missed that.”

  Asher sniffed. “I didn’t,” she started. “His name is Ryan Fawn. He and I went to high school together, though it was me with the crush back then. He was a popular jock and thought that the red-headed smart girl was beneath his station.”

  “Oh,” Luna said softly. “I know that feeling.”

  Asher nodded. “So, while I’m flattered at his obvious attention, he’s going to have to do more than simply stare and drool.”

  Luna bumped her hip playfully into Asher’s. “Look at you, being all demanding. I’m so proud of you.”

  Asher giggled. “There’s nothing wrong with demanding what you’re worth.”

  “You are absolutely correct. And you are most definitely worth more than a stare.”

  Asher laid her head on Luna’s shoulder briefly. “Thanks.”

  Luna smiled, and the two of them got to work on the breakfast dishes.

  7

  ASHER WAS LOOKING OUT THE front window. She’d wanted to see who was outside watching them for lunch. Except she’d been looking for a good minute or two, and she hadn’t said a word.

  “Asher? Everything okay?” Luna asked, walking up beside her.

  Asher didn’t move. “The officers from earlier aren’t there anymore.”

  Luna shrugged. “Okay.”

  “There’s only one person out there now, and it looks like Wesley.”

  Luna parted the curtains. “Is that why you’ve been sit
ting in the window for all this time?”

  “I wanted to make sure. What sheriff stakes out himself? Alone, at that?”

  Luna narrowed her eyes as the figure in the car. It looked like Wesley to her too. And it was odd that he was alone. For safety reasons, if nothing else.

  “One who’s up to something, maybe?” Luna responded.

  “I don’t think we should take him lunch.”

  Luna almost snorted. “We are definitely not taking him lunch.”

  “Good.”

  “Good.”

  “So, what do you want to cook?” Asher asked, moving toward the kitchen.

  Exactly seven minutes into lunch, there was a knock at the door. The wards that Luna had put in place that morning hummed with each strike of the fist at the door. She frowned but didn’t move.

  “I vote we don’t answer that,” she said, her voice soft.

  Asher watched her for a moment before she spoke. “What exactly do those wards of yours look for?”

  “Ill intent.”

  Asher and Luna turned to face the door, but neither of them got up. The person visiting knocked again, this time for longer, and with more force.

  “I wonder if they’ll break down the door,” Asher asked, her voice a whisper.

  “They’ll regret it if they do.”

  “Open up, ladies. I know you’re in there,” Wesley’s voice called through the closed door.

  “I didn’t think you were supposed to announce yourself if you were staking someone out. They act like it’s supposed to be a secret on those cop shows,” Asher said.

  “I’m pretty sure that you aren’t,” Luna responded, though to be fair she wasn’t sure. She hadn’t ever been a cop.

  He banged on the door again, this time hard, but slower, as if he was getting fed up. He probably was.

  “We should probably answer it,” Asher said.

  Luna sighed and tossed her lap napkin down on the table with a huff. “I know,” she said, standing.

  If she’d been in her own home, she’d have just let him stand out there. But she wasn’t, and the last thing she wanted to do was make trouble for Asher.

  Luna made her way to the door with Asher just behind her. Whatever Wesley wanted, good or bad, she knew that he was there for her, not Asher.

  “What,” Luna hissed as she flung the door open.

  “Took you long enough,” Wesley snapped.

  Luna counted to three in her head. When Wesley hadn’t said anything that she cared about, she began closing the door.

  “Whoa, wait, what are you doing?” he asked, putting his arm up against the door to keep it from closing all the way.

  “First, you’re not telling us why you’re here. Which to me says you aren’t here for anything and I can close the door and return to what I was doing. Second, you blocking the door like this is illegal. No one has given you permission to invade this space.”

  “You sure do know a lot about legality for someone who claims to be as innocent as you do,” Wesley said, narrowing his eyes.

  Luna had never claimed to be anything, much less innocent. But now didn’t seem like the time to point that out.

  “Was there something that you needed from either of us, Sheriff?” Asher asked.

  Luna stood in the doorway and watched the man she didn’t trust. She could almost hear her wards humming in anticipation. All he had to do was take one step through that threshold, and—

  “I heard through the grapevine that the two of you brought my officers coffee and breakfast this morning,” Wesley said.

  Luna and Asher both blinked at him, waiting for him to continue. Eventually, he did.

  “You know that a little food won’t get you off the hook if you do something sideways and we catch you,” he said, looking directly at Luna.

  “I know. They told me,” she responded.

  “That’s not why we chose to take them something to eat,” Asher added.

  “You know, Asher, you’re a sweet girl, really. You probably shouldn’t get yourself tangled up with someone like Luna. No one even knows where she came from or what she did before she showed up here. And now her past shows up, out of the blue, literally dead on her doorstep. That doesn’t seem odd to you?”

  Asher shrugged. “No.”

  Luna loved Asher so much.

  “If she’s involved in something and you get caught up, I’d hate to see you go to jail for someone else’s mistakes,” Wesley said, his gaze boring into Asher.

  “Is that some sort of threat, Sheriff? Because that doesn’t seem very professional of you,” Asher said, doing her best wide-eyed, innocent head tilt.

  Luna was going to burst a blood vessel trying not to laugh.

  “Not at all. Just saying, it would be a shame.”

  “Good thing I can take care of myself,” Asher replied without missing a beat.

  “Was there something other than the food that you wanted to speak to us about, Sheriff? Or can we return to our afternoon?” Luna asked.

  Wesley made a face like he was about to say something angry. Luna shut the door before he could. It was probably for the best, for both of them. She didn’t need to lose her temper, and he didn’t need to jeopardize his job. Or that’s what she was going to tell herself as she slid the deadbolt home and returned to the kitchen with Asher.

  “Have you heard anything from your father’s friend? Has he found anything that can help?” Asher asked as they sat back down at the kitchen table.

  Luna shook her head. “Not yet. He’d have called if he’d found anything helpful.”

  They sat in silence for a few moments before Asher spoke up again.

  “I’m not picking, but Wesley is right about one thing: We don’t know anything about you before you showed up here. Over the years, I feel like you’ve been very genuine with me, so I assume that’s because we can’t know.” She popped a forkful of meatball into her mouth.

  Luna opened her mouth, but she wasn’t sure what to say. Asher was right about why she didn’t talk about her past, and it wasn’t that she didn’t want to. Asher was her best friend, that was the truth.

  At Luna’s hesitation, Asher swallowed and continued. “I know that you try to protect me. I always figured you didn’t talk about your past because there was something there you wanted to protect me from. And that’s fine. But if you do want to talk about it, I’m here for you.” Asher smiled. The biggest, sweetest, most genuine smile Luna had ever seen.

  And Luna started crying.

  “I… can’t tell you, Asher. Please, I want to tell you, I have wanted to tell you. But I can’t.”

  “It has something to do with your father?” Asher asked, her voice calm.

  Luna nodded and sniffed.

  “Tell me when you can, when you’re ready. Until then, I’ll still be here,” she said, reaching across the table and taking Luna’s hand.

  Which didn’t make Luna feel like a bag of dog poop, of course not.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. And she meant it. She was.

  Her phone rang in the other room, chiming out the tone that only sounded when it was Graham.

  “And there is why I can’t tell you,” she said.

  “What?”

  She closed her eyes, wishing she could take back that slip. “Nothing. I’ll be right back.” Getting her phone, she answered it in the other room.

  “Did you know that the sheriff is sitting outside of your friend’s house?” Graham asked on the other end.

  Luna sighed and rolled her eyes. “Actually, yes. He made his presence known a little while ago. We are apparently under surveillance, but as poorly as possible since we’ve known about everyone out there so far.”

  Graham laughed. “I was coming past to let you know that I was going to try and get access to the house, see if there’s anything at the scene that could help, or if they missed something. But when I saw him sitting out here, I thought calling might be a better option.”

  “Nothing good from t
he boys back home?”

  “Not yet. Sorry,” Graham replied.

  “It’s alright. I know you’re trying. I won’t make your life harder by running.”

  “Good idea, since then they would have an actual reason to arrest you.” Graham chuckled. “I’ll let you know if I can get into the house. And you let me know when the sheriff leaves.”

  “Will do. Thanks, Graham.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  Luna ended the call and turned just in time to see Asher standing in the doorway.

  “Probably not something that you’ve thought about before, but I can hear your phone calls when I’m this close.”

  Luna raced back through the conversation in her head. Nothing had been information that Asher couldn’t know. And she was right, Luna hadn’t even considered that she could probably hear the conversation.

  “It’s alright,” Luna said, tossing her phone back onto the couch and coming back into the kitchen.

  “I figured I’d mention it, in case you actually need to have a private conversation. The back of the yard is probably good. I might be able to hear you, but I probably won’t be able to hear him.”

  Luna studied Asher across the table. “You don’t even know everything, and yet you’re still helping me.”

  Asher shrugged. “Like I said, you’re usually trying to protect me. How can I be mad about you caring about me that much?”

  Easily, Luna thought to herself. “You’re amazing,” she chose to say instead.

  “I know.” Asher giggled.

  8

  GRAHAM WANDERED INTO THE STATION and made sure that he gave off an easy-going air. He wasn’t there to cause trouble—not yet. He was there for information and access, both of which he had a legal ability to get.

  He walked up to the first desk he saw and made sure to non-threateningly show his badge to the officer behind it.

  “Hi there, I’m Graham Lloyd, the FBI agent that was here yesterday,” he started.

  “You’re the one who got Luna out, right?”

  Graham nodded. “I’m actually here about her case. I wanted to see if I could get to the scene before it was cleaned up. I have no problem being escorted,” he said, trying to make sure he covered all of the bases that might cause problems later.