Sleeping with the Fishes (A Paranormal Cozy Mystery) (Willow Bay Witches Book 6)

by Samantha Silver

  “Am I going to find my mom?” Lucy asked, and I nodded.

  “Yes, I know what part of Tarangire National Park your mother lives in now. I’m going to get the people taking you back to take you there, and I have a friend who works in Kenya who will be able to help as well. I had sent Kirsten an email the night before outlining what I knew. She said she would organize with the local authorities once Lucy was returned to ensure that the mother was found. I was so incredibly thankful, and ended up making a hefty donation to her rescue group.

  “That’s wonderful news,” Coolidge said. “Are we also going home?”

  “You are,” I said, grinning. “I hope you remember the heat, you’re being sent home to Australia!”

  “Oh good. If you could please make sure we’re sent back to the Perth area, that would be an even bigger bonus.”

  “I’ll make a note of it. I’m fairly certain you will be; there’s a black cockatoo rescue center in Perth, I wouldn’t be surprised if you get sent there to begin with, to make sure you can still be in the wild.”

  “It’s really happening,” Cherie said. “We’re finally going to go home. What about Hehu? Will he go back to New Zealand as well?”

  I nodded. “Yes, although it will take a bit longer. I want his wing to heal here, first, where I can take care of him.”

  “Good idea,” Coolidge said. “He was a little bit of a whiner, but I’m going to miss the kea.”

  Just then, a woman in khakis and a loose shirt made her way through the backyard, with the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife crest on her shirt.

  “Angela Martin?” she asked, and I nodded and held out a hand. “Lauren Knight, it’s nice to meet you. What have we got here?”

  I brought her into the stable and introduced Lauren to the three animals. Lauren had a look at them, gently stroking Lucy and smiling at the birds who calmly perched on a piece of wood in front of her, then she turned to me.

  “I have a trailer out here that’s suitable for taking Lucy, as well as a cage for the birds. You said you know where she’s from and that you know an organization that can help find her mother? She likely is too young to survive in the wild on her own.”

  I nodded. “Yes. I’ll get you in touch with Kirsten, she works with an elephant rescue group in Kenya but has contacts, and has promised that she’ll help. I know Lucy came from Tarangire National Park in Tanzania, and that her mother lived near a place called the Sopa Lodge.”

  “Excellent, you were extremely thorough. I’m glad you’ve gotten us that information. Can you help me get the animals? I’ll go prepare the truck, it’s out in front of your house, if you can bring them over.”

  “Sure, it’ll give me a chance to say goodbye,” I said, and even saying those words I felt a lump rise in my throat. Lauren nodded and smiled at me, then headed off as I turned to the three animals.

  “All right, you three. It’s time for you to go home,” I said, the first tear escaping my eyes. I wiped it away and laughed. “I’m so glad you’re going to see your mom soon, Lucy.”

  “Thank you, Angela,” Lucy said. “The only sad part about going home is leaving you.”

  That sentence started off a whole new series of waterworks. “Oh come here you,” I said to the giraffe as I reached up and wrapped my arms around her softly in a hug.

  When I pulled back, I made my way to the two cockatoos and hugged them as well. “I’m also going to miss you guys. Thanks so much for saving my life.”

  “No, you saved our lives,” Coolidge replied. “What we lived in that barn was not a life, and you saved us from it. We are the ones who thank you.”

  “Take care of yourselves,” I said. “Now come on, let’s go to the truck that’s going to take you home.

  The two birds flew slowly overhead and Lucy followed me as I guided her out of the stable and out to the front of the house. The birds casually flew straight into the large cage at the back of the truck, while I coaxed Lucy into the large trailer at the back.

  “Wow, it’s almost like they listen to you perfectly,” Lauren said. “Thank you for reporting these. I’ll be in touch later to get the information on the farm keeping them.”

  “Thank you,” I told Lauren. “I appreciate your help.”

  I waved goodbye until the truck turned the corner at the end of the street and disappeared from view, my eyes still stinging with tears. It was a very bittersweet goodbye.

  After Lauren left I made my way back to the vet clinic, where a pretty uneventful morning led to an extended lunch at Betty’s with Sophie. I told Sophie about Lauren taking the animals back, and we started discussing the murder.

  “The thing is, we’re out of suspects,” I told Sophie. “No one had a motive, except for the guy with a rock-solid alibi.”

  “Maybe you’re thinking about it the wrong way,” Sophie suggested. “You’re trying to think about the reason for the crime. What about the facts?”

  I shrugged. “That’s the problem though. We don’t have a lot of facts. What do we know? That Matt was killed, presumably in Willow Bay that night, and then dumped in the water. He was shot, so the person who killed him had access to a gun; that only narrows it down to what, like half the population?”

  Sophie nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. Still, I think that’s the way to go. Even if it’s not physical evidence, what if you could prove that one of our suspects was in Willow Bay? I’d bet Tony Fanchini has a noticeable car. Maybe someone saw it.”

  My mouth dropped open.

  “Oh my God, Sophie, that’s it!”

  “Yeah, of course it is. Now we just need to figure out who it was.”

  “No, no. You’re right. We have to go to Portland.”

  “I can’t go today, after we close up I’m meeting Taylor. He says he has something special planned.”

  “Ok,” I replied. “Well, I can’t wait until tomorrow. There’s a murderer out there, and I’m pretty sure I know who it is.”

  “Who?”

  “The roommate, Jake.”

  “The creepy guy who stared at my boobs for a whole conversation?”

  “Yeah, him.”

  “Why would he want to kill Matt? They were business partners.”

  “I don’t know, but as you said, I don’t need to focus on that. But the thing is, I’m pretty sure Jake was in Willow Bay the night before the murder.”

  “Ok, how do you know that?”

  “You know when I chased Smith down the street after he set the vet clinic on fire? Well I grabbed at him and we both fell into a car. I thought it was a grey Prius, but it was dark, it could very well have been silver.”

  Sophie’s eyes widened. “Silver like Jake’s car.”

  “Exactly. And sure, it’s not exactly rare to see a Prius in Willow Bay, but the two owned by people in town are blue and green, and it’s not tourist season at all. Plus, all the businesses were long since closed, so why be parked on Main Street? Anyone staying at one of the hotels would be parked there.”

  Sophie nodded. “I think you might be right. It’s a little bit of a long shot, but it actually makes sense.”

  “I need to find out for sure.”

  “Absolutely,” Sophie said. “Try not to almost die, this time.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I deadpanned back. As we were getting ready to go, I realized why Matt Smith might have been parked on Main Street. I told Sophie I’d meet her back at the vet clinic, and headed down the street to confirm my theory.

  I ducked into the Italian place Jason and I liked to eat at, and found Jessie, who had been our waitress a few days earlier, cleaning a table.

  “Excuse me, Jessie?”

  “Yes?” she asked, a friendly smile on her face. I turned my phone to her and showed her a picture of Jake that I’d found on the website of the company he and Matt owned; a simple, professional headshot.

  “Would you happen to have seen this guy sometime recently?” I asked. “Maybe he was a customer?”

  “Oh, yeah, him,” Jessi
e nodded. “I called him boobs. Oh, he wasn’t a friend of yours or anything, was he?” she added quickly, realizing what she said, and I laughed.

  “No, don’t worry. And I agree with you, the nickname is well deserved. Listen, do you remember when you saw him by chance? It’s important.”

  Jessie put a hand on her hip and looked up as she thought back. “Hmm. It was the night Carley called in sick, so we were short-staffed, which was a little bit annoying. That would have been on Friday. Yes, definitely Friday. The man he was with asked to keep the wine bottle, which was weird, but whatever.”

  I smiled, thanked Jessie, and left. That answered that. I was certain of what had happened now. Matt and Jake had a meeting in Willow Bay, afterwards Matt used the wine bottle to torch my vet clinic. Then, later on that night, Jake and Matt met up again, and Jake killed Matt.

  It all made perfect sense.

  Unfortunately, I was going to have to spend the afternoon working before I could confirm it.

  Chapter 20

  I sent Jason a text as I made my way toward my car as soon as the vet clinic closed.

  Jake, the roommate, is the murderer. Going to see him now.

  I had to get Jake to admit to me what he’d done. After all, I didn’t actually have any proof, just a hunch and a bit of what the crime shows on TV that I watched way too often would call circumstantial evidence.

  When five minutes after I sent the text Jason hadn’t replied, I figured he was still asleep. As I made the drive up to Lake Oswego, everything continued to fall into place. It all made sense. The only thing I didn’t know was why he had done it. Hopefully Jake would be surprised enough when he saw me that he would admit to everything.

  I arrived at the house just before one. I parked the car in front of his house and made my way up toward it. Opening a recording app on my phone, I slipped it into the pocket of the hoodie I was wearing. This way, if Jake did admit to me what he’d done, there would be evidence of it. I could hand it over to Chief Gary, and he’d go away for life, and Jason and I would officially be suspects no more.

  The only problem was, despite ringing the doorbell three times there was no answer. Jake wasn’t home. I looked around, and sure enough, I couldn’t see his Prius anywhere.

  “Are you looking for Jake?” a woman’s voice asked, and I looked over to where the sound came from. An elderly woman was looking over the hedge separating Jake’s house from his neighbor’s, an elderly woman with a pair of pruning shears in her hand.

  “I am, yes,” I said with a smile. “I thought he would be home this morning.”

  “Oh, he was here a little while ago,” she said. “But I saw him leave about half an hour ago. He told me he was going to check out the development site he was working on.”

  “Do you know where that is?” I asked, and the woman nodded. “Oh, yes. It’s in Damascus, an old farm there. Take the Old Clackamas Highway and turn onto South-East 162nd Avenue. That’s where the young man is building his new houses. You’ll see it immediately, it’s the large lot on the left.”

  I thanked the woman and made my way back to the car. Lake Oswego wasn’t far from Damascus as the crow flies, but because of the Williamette River, with no bridges linking the various residential neighborhoods on either side of it, it was actually a half hour drive to get to the property.

  Sure enough, as the old lady told me, the property was easily spottable. One side of the street had a large sports field, complete with stadium lights, and the other side had obviously been a farm in the past. I could still make out where rows of plants had grown before the land was sold. Jake’s Prius was parked on the side of the road, and I parked my car about a hundred feet further down the road.

  Despite myself, I was a little bit nervous. After all, this place was pretty isolated, unlike Jake’s home in Lake Oswego. And while my arm was feeling a lot better, I was well aware that it was still injured. I knew that I could do basic tasks like cut food with my hand now, but if I had to actually fight a murderer, I was still at a significant disadvantage.

  Still, I was here now. I figured I might as well do my best. Turning the recording app on my phone back on, I made my way onto the property, parts of which had earth moved as though they were getting ready to start building houses. I could see Jake toward the back of the property, doing something.

  “Jake!” I called out, not wanting to scare him, and he looked up at me, confusion crossing his face. A minute later, there was a spark of recognition and he spoke.

  “Oh! You were that hot chick’s friend, weren’t you?” he asked. Ugh. Great, I’d forgotten how just completely creepy this guy was.

  “Yeah, that’s me,” I replied, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Could this guy be any more disgusting?

  “Why are you here? And more importantly, where’s your friend?”

  I decided to try and hit him with the element of surprise. “I’m here because I know you killed your roommate, Matt Smith.”

  Jake laughed. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously,” I replied. “Your car was seen in Willow Bay the night of the murder.”

  “So what if I did kill him? What are you going to do about it? Turn me into the police? None of what you have is actual evidence.”

  “I think a jury would think otherwise,” I replied, trying to sound confident. “But anyway, none of what I’m saying here has to come out.” I didn’t really know where I was going with this, I only knew that I was going to try and take a page out of Jason’s book. “I think we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement, here.”

  A creepy smile formed on Jake’s face. “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah. After all, you property development types have a bunch of money, right? So what do you say? You give me a small percentage of what you’re worth, and I don’t go to the cops.”

  Jake came toward me, nodding slowly. He was about ten feet away from me now. “Ok. Yeah, ok, I can see where you’re going with this. I like it. What kind of number are you thinking of?”

  “A hundred grand.”

  “I give you a hundred grand and you keep your mouth shut about me killing Matt?” My heart swelled. That was it, that was an admission! At least, surely it would be enough for the courts.

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “You’ve got a deal,” Jake said, coming toward me with his hand outstretched, as if to shake mine. I put my hand out to shake his, but I didn’t notice the knife until it was too late. He slashed at me; luckily because the knife was in his left hand he was slightly less co-ordinated, and it simply grazed my skin, cutting me lightly in my side.

  I let out a yelp and jumped backwards, but Jake had grasped my hand in his, and yanked me toward him, trying to stab me once more. Pain coursed through my injured wrist, but I ignored it.

  “Help!” I shouted, but I knew the odds were so low that anyone would hear. We were too far from the street, and even so there would be no one around to hear my cries.

  Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Shut up! The less you fight, the sooner this will be over.”

  “You’re not going to kill me,” I muttered. “And even if you do, you’re not going to get away with it. I’ve sent a text to my boyfriend telling him where I went, and why. He’ll know.”

  “Oh, and your boyfriend’s going to stop me, is he?” Jake laughed.

  “Yeah, he is,” I heard Jason say, and I turned to see him launching himself toward Jake, who let go of my hand in shock.

  “Look out, he has a knife!” I shouted, but it was too late. It was like everything was happening in slow motion. A grin formed on Jake’s face as he lowered himself and extended the knife toward Jason’s abdomen. Jason’s eyes widened as he saw the weapon, but his momentum was moving him too quickly toward Jake; there was no way he could avoid the knife.

  I was about to see my boyfriend being stabbed to death in front of me.

  “Propelloroa,” I shouted, using my magic for the first time in days. I had no idea if it was even going to work. What I did know was th
at if it did, I was going to be in huge, huge trouble. But none of that mattered. I didn’t care. The Witches’ Council could do what they wanted to me, so long as it meant Jason would still be alive.

  As soon as I felt the burst of energy expelling from my body, I knew my magic was working fine once again. Jake was suddenly thrown to the side, as though he’d been hit by an invisible wrecking ball. Jason stumbled to the ground and I rushed to him.

  “Are you ok?” I asked. I glanced over at Jake quickly; my spell had completely knocked him out. Jason looked up at me in surprise.

  “What on earth just happened?”

  “I… uh… nothing? I don’t know,” I started, but Jason shook his head.

  “No. No, something happened. He was going to stab me, and then you pointed at him, and you shouted something, and now he’s lying over there like he’s dead. Oh God, is he dead?”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. He shouldn’t be, anyway. But you’re right. I did do something. Jason, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  I looked into my boyfriend’s eyes, and I could see the trust in there, mingled with curiosity. Still, I’d felt so bad about hiding this from him for so long that I couldn’t look at him while I told him. “I’m a witch.”

  “You’re a… you’re a what?”

  “A witch.”

  “Like, Harry Potter? Well, I guess Hermione. Except, Charlotte would be Hermione. Wait, I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

  “Like Harry Potter, yeah. I know spells, and I can use them. I can also speak to animals.”

  “Wait, for real?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Always have been able to. It’s how I managed to get so much information about the smugglers. Barely any of it came from Richard Steele’s daughter; it almost all came from Lucy herself, and the three birds. Coolidge, Cherie and Hehu are their names.”

  Jason grabbed his head. “Do I have a really bad concussion or something? Because seriously, I can barely believe what I’m hearing right now, and yet it makes perfect sense. And even if I didn’t believe it, that guy is lying over there passed out. I should grab his knife,” Jason said, getting up and moving over to where Jake was still lying motionless. He carefully picked up the knife and brought it back over to where I was, then sat himself gingerly back down.