The Witching Hour

by Sara Bourgeois

  “I’m going to call an ambulance,” I said. “I think you need to go to the hospital and get checked out.”

  “I think it’ll be okay. There’s not even much of a bump.”

  “I’m going to call anyway. Sit tight.”

  Joe arrived while I was on the phone with the emergency dispatcher. “Is he all right?” he asked when I hung up.

  “I think it was a blow to the head.”

  “I’m going to go talk to him,” Joe said.

  I followed him back inside. Buzz was just sitting there sort of staring off into space, and I was glad I’d called an ambulance.

  “Hey, Buzz,” Joe said. “The ambulance is on its way.”

  “Thanks, Sheriff,” he said and grimace-smiled. “It’s really starting to smart.”

  “We’ll make sure you get fixed up,” Joe said. “Before you go, can you give me Jacob’s address? It’ll be easier for me to get it from you then to run his DMV records.”

  Buzz wrote the address down and handed it to Joe. “You think he’s at home?”

  “I’m going to get to the bottom of it,” Joe said. “You just worry about getting better.”

  We stepped out of the way when the paramedics arrived. A few minutes later, they had Buzz loaded up in the ambulance and were off.

  “I’m going to go see if Jacob is at home,” Joe said as soon as they were gone.

  “I want to go with you.”

  “If Jacob hit Buzz over the head, he could have kidnapped Lila to cover up the crime. Lila could be in danger. That would mean you’d be in danger too, Zoe.”

  “I want to go with you. I don’t know what Jacob is capable of, but I need to be there, so I can use my magic to keep you safe. I’m more worried about you being in danger.”

  “No, Zoe. I’m going alone. You need to go home. This is police work, and I’ll do it the old-fashioned way.”

  “Fine,” I said and crossed my arms over my chest.

  My pouting must have been convincing, because Joe shot me a look and then left. He actually believed I was going to go home and wait. I did wait. For him to leave. And then I followed him.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  My mission was to protect Joe. I couldn’t do that if I blew my cover, so I parked my car down the block. I watched as Joe knocked on the door, but no one answered. He knocked again and waited a minute.

  When no one came to the door the second time, Joe tried the knob. It was open, and he disappeared inside. I really wanted to get out of my car and go into the house, but I made myself stay put.

  “What’s he doing?” Ginger whispered.

  “He’s still in the house,” I said. “Why are you whispering?”

  “‘Cause we’re on a stakeout.”

  I was about to point out that she didn’t need to whisper since we were in a car a block away, but Joe came out of Jacob’s house. Apparently he didn’t find anything because he typed something into his phone and then got back in his car.

  Joe drove out to a house on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Fortunately, he never noticed my car behind him. A little magic and the fact that I drove a boring sedan helped.

  I couldn’t pull into the driveway behind him, so I parked the car off the side of the road and crept up to the property to hide behind some bushes. I watched as Joe knocked on the door and Lila answered.

  Lila’s hair was a mess and she looked flustered. Joe followed her into the house and the door closed behind them. I waited, but no one came out. After about five minutes, I started to get nervous. Ten minutes in and I was really worried. Jacob hadn’t come to the door, and I had to wonder if he was in the house too. Maybe he was holding them hostage.

  I walked up to the front door, but before I knocked, I got a bad feeling. My intuition screamed at me to find another way.

  So I walked around the side of the house, stood on my toes, and peeked in a window. I almost gasped when I saw the scene playing out in the house, but I bit the inside of my cheek to stifle it. Lila had Joe held at gunpoint. He was tied to a chair and she had her gun aimed at his head.

  I was in complete shock, but I channeled that emotion and sent a blast of energy into Lila. It knocked her over, and I didn’t hesitate to shove open the window and climb inside.

  Lila jumped up and aimed the gun at Joe again. “If you use your magic on me again, Joe will take his last breath,” she snarled.

  “Get out of here, Zoe,” Joe said.

  “Shut up, Deputy Do-gooder,” Lila said. “You and I both know she’s not going to leave your side. I know the both of you are completely in love with each other.”

  “Lila, stop,” I said. “Put the gun down before I have to do something that could hurt you.”

  “That’s the problem with you, Zoe. You’ve got a man who is obviously completely in love with you, and you are too stupid to see it. Jacob is the same way. I’ve loved him for years, but he was blind because of his love for Regina. It made him stupid. She didn’t deserve him. I deserve him. So I tricked Regina into meeting me in your shop. I told her that you had another book and I gave her the tea I made from the monkshood in Esmeralda’s garden. Regina was so blinded by her love of money, she didn’t see it coming. I thought that Jacob would finally forget about her and fall in love with me. I even killed Regina in your shop so he’d stay away from you. He was always going into the bakery to get cupcakes. I didn’t need him falling in love with you instead. I’d already worked too hard.”

  She was ranting so hard that I had to take advantage of the fact that she was completely distracted. I used my magic to knock the gun out of Lila’s hand while Ginger chewed the knots holding Joe.

  As soon as he was free, Joe grabbed Lila and put her in handcuffs. Jacob was tied to a chair in the kitchen. I took the gag out of his mouth.

  “Is Buzz okay?” was the first thing he said.

  “He is,” I said. “What happened?”

  “Lila lost her mind this morning when I said I didn’t want another one of those cupcakes. No offense or anything, Zoe, but I wasn’t in the mood for sweet so early. I told her that I’d probably want a cupcake later, but that I was going to go over to the bakery to see if you had any Blueberry Bliss. I totally forgot it was your day off. Anyway, she snapped and yelled at me that I was in love with you. She said that I should be in love with her. I had no idea what she was talking about. Lila pulled out a gun and said I was coming with her. She hit Buzz over the head and then made me drive to her house. She was completely nuts, Zoe. I had no idea she even liked me let alone that she was bat-split in love with me.”

  “Sometimes love is deaf, dumb, and blind,” I said with a shrug.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Neil came and took Lila away to the jail. An ambulance came and took Jacob to the hospital to be checked out. Lila pistol-whipped him a couple of times, and they wanted to make sure he didn’t have a skull fracture or a broken jaw.

  That left me alone with Joe, and boy, was he not happy with me. “Why can’t you ever listen to me?” he demanded when everyone was gone.

  “I needed to make sure you were safe. There was no way that I could leave you alone.”

  For a moment his face hardened, and then it relaxed. He pulled me into hug. “You better never jump between me and a gun again.”

  “I don’t plan on it.”

  At least I knew we were still friends. But did I want to bring up all of the stuff Lila said about relationships? Did I even want to go there? I felt something in my chest. It was like a pull toward him. Almost as if there was a bit of gravity there. I didn’t quite understand it, but the feeling did pique my curiosity.

  I didn’t have to say anything, though. “What do you make of what Lila said? Like, she was crazy, right? That stuff she kept saying about relationships… If people were really in love…. Wouldn’t they know it?”

  “I think that what I told Jacob was true. Love can be deaf, dumb, and blind.”

  “I couldn’t handle it if anything ever happened to you. N
o matter what, we’re friends for life. I’m sorry that I doubted you. I know that words don’t mean much, but I’ll work hard every day to make it up to you, Zoe.”

  Even though I had my best friend back, I couldn’t help the slight slump in my shoulders. I didn’t expect him to confess his undying love for me, but I couldn’t help being a little disappointed. It was a shock even to me. I hadn’t expected to feel letdown by him not saying he loved me.

  “Zoe?” Concern etched lines around his eyes. “You seem upset suddenly.”

  “No, I’m good. It’s good, Joe. I’m glad we’re still friends. I would have been heartbroken if I lost my best friend.”

  I think he could sense there was more too it. “Look, Zoe. I have a lot of things I need to work through. I haven’t been fair to you. But they are things I need to work on. Can you be patient with me? I know I’ve already asked for too much, but now I’m asking for just a little bit more time. I don’t want this to be the end of this conversation. Can we come back to it soon?”

  “Yes,” I said and felt the butterflies dance in my stomach. He did feel something. I could see it in his aura.

  “I know the bakery is closed today, but you wouldn’t happen to have any extra Blueberry Bliss cupcakes lying around, would you? I could sure use one right now.”

  “I don’t, but let’s go to my house. I’ll whip up a batch for us.”

  “Yes!” The tiny voice came from inside my bag.

  “Oh, my gosh, Ginger,” I said and pulled her out of my purse. “Are you okay?”

  “I’ll live,” she said with a snort. “I’ll be even better when I get my paws on one of those cupcakes. Mind sharing, Joe?”

  “Not at all,” he said with a smile.

  Chapter Thirty

  A while later, the town of Destiny Cove held its annual Mabon Festival. I had my booth as usual, and my cupcakes were selling like hotcakes.

  Buzz and Jacob stopped by to see me. They had both fully recovered physically from the drama with Lila. Regina’s spirit had been set free, and I believed that was helping Jacob move on from his grief. It would take a while, but at least he had a chance.

  Esmeralda had her fortune-telling booth set up. She’d been given a plea bargain for faking the will. It was a huge fine and a few years of probation. I doubted that she’d be as bad as Regina, but I still vowed to keep my eye on her. Joe agreed.

  Bethany and Joe McGrath had decided to move out of Destiny Cove. Bethany was getting help for her addiction to psychic readings, and Thomas had perfected his pesticide formula for a huge chemical corporation. They had money enough to move back into the city. I wished them well and sent them off with a box of Caramel Apple Carefree cupcakes. A flavor the Cookbook of Shadows had revealed to me just in time for the festival.

  They were so popular, it appeared I would sell out before noon. I had to decide if I was going to run back to the bakery and whip up more or just enjoy the day.

  In the end, I decided to take the rest of the day off so I could enjoy spending some time with my mom and Joe. The bakery would open again in the morning, and the town of Destiny Cove could come get all the cupcakes they wanted.

  I was glad that my town was safe, and I hoped that I’d never find a body in my bakery again. But, if I did, I knew I had the magical skills to make things right.

  About the Author

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  Also by Sara Bourgeois

  Wicked Witches of Destiny Cove Series

  Book 2: Mummy Knows Best

  Other books

  Mojitos & Murder

  Brewing Love

  Pretty Hexed

  Devil Hour

  Make sure to check out more books by Sara Bourgeois on Amazon

  Copyright© 2018 Sara Bourgeois

  All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.