Brewing Trouble

by Sara Bourgeois

  “What about Brad?” I asked him. “He doesn’t seem like the type to ignore something like this.”

  “I’m sure he wouldn’t, but Brad hadn’t transferred here yet.”

  Nate told me the stalking went on for weeks. There was a break in at the ranger station, and after that, she started calling him too. Nathan told me she must have broken in just to get his contact information. It was terrifying for him because the burglary was an escalation. She was now taking more risks to get to him.

  One night, Nathan came home, and something wasn’t right. His front door was cracked open, and he could tell someone was in the apartment as soon as he walked in. Nate said he didn’t even have to turn the lights on to see someone sitting on his sofa.

  He reached over and flicked the light on, and Irene stood up. A flash of light caught his eye, and he realized it was the overhead light reflecting off a large butcher knife she’d taken out of his knife block in the kitchen.

  “I can’t live without you.” She said.

  This made Nate think that this was a suicide attempt. Or, at least she wanted him to believe it was. It wasn’t the first time Irene had threatened to kill herself in order to control Nathan, and he wasn’t going to let himself fall for it again.

  “I’m going to call for help. You need professional help, Irene. I can’t do anything for you anymore.” Nate said and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

  “Please don’t, baby. We can work this out.” Irene said and took a step towards Nathan.

  He stood his ground and said. “I’m not your baby, Irene. There isn’t anything for us to work out, but I do want you to get help and get healthy. We’re over, though.”

  Nate told me that the look that came over her face was so hateful and dark that he knew he’d made a mistake. He’s not sure if his memory is exaggerating the details or not, but he swears she snarled at him.

  The light flashed against the knife again and made Irene’s eyes glow eerily. She then lunged at Nate and tried to sink the knife into his chest.

  Nathan’s reflexes kicked in, and he put up an arm to block her attack. Her hand flew to the side when his elbow made contact with her wrist, and she stumbled forward smashing her hand against the door frame where he’d been standing seconds before.

  At that point, the knife flew out of her hand and skittered out into the hallway. Just then, one of Nate’s neighbors came up the stairs and yelled “Hey!” as he saw the scene unfolding in front of him.

  Irene stood up and tried to wrap her hands around Nate’s neck as if she hadn’t heard when the neighbor yelled. The man in the hall shouted again and pushed his way into the apartment.

  Irene let go of Nate’s neck and ran away. The neighbor, Sam, started to go after her, but Nathan stopped him.

  “Let her go. We’ll call the police.” Nate said.

  “I can catch her, man. We’ll hold her for the police. I saw what she tried to do to you.” Sam said.

  “No, dude. I don’t know if she’s got another weapon on her or not. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  Sam relented at the thought of getting stabbed, and they called the police. The cops came and took statements from both men. Since the neighbor had seen the whole thing, the police finally believed Nate.

  “How was she at the restaurant, then?” I asked Nate with wide eyes. “She should have been in prison for a long time.”

  “She didn’t go to jail,” Nate said softly. “She was ruled unfit to stand trial. Instead of going to prison, they sent her to a mental hospital. I can only guess that she’s been released.” He said and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I suppose I should assume that she’s better, but I just can’t believe it. I don’t think her showing up the other night at the restaurant was a coincidence. It felt like one of her stunts.”

  “Nate, you need to tell Brad you saw her,” I said and grabbed his hand. “The police should know that she’s hanging around again.”

  “I don’t want Brad to know about this unless it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t want anyone to know. It’s humiliating.” He said in a slightly shaking voice.

  “Is that why you didn’t tell me?” I asked, and I swear I didn’t mean anything by it.

  “What, like this is a bigger secret than you being a witch?” Nate said and shot up from his chair. “Lenny, you’ve got no right to be upset about me hiding things from you.”

  “That’s not what I meant, Nathan. I just wondered why you hadn’t said anything.” I said. “I’m sorry. I just want you to know you can tell me anything.”

  “This isn’t right. I shouldn’t be here until I know that it’s safe.” He said and started towards the living room. “Me even being with you is putting you in harm’s way. But, Lenny, you should stay with Esme or at the inn until we know more about what’s going on.”

  “That’s silly, baby. I’m safe if I’m with you.” I knew as soon as I said it that I shouldn’t have used the word silly.

  “You think I’m being silly?” He said. “I’m trying to protect you from a woman who would kill me for not wanting to be with her. What do you think she’d do to another woman in my life?”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said silly, but what do you propose? Are you going to break up with me to protect me from your ex? Are we supposed to give up our relationship?” I countered.

  “I don’t know, Lenny. This is a hard enough situation to contend with without..” He stopped before saying it, but I knew.

  “Without me. I’m making this more difficult for you.” I said and felt a tear run down my cheek. “Fine. Do what you have to do. I’ll be here when you figure it out.”

  “Lenny…” Was all he could choke out.

  Nate kissed me on the head and mouthed I love you. But, then he left without saying anything else. I didn’t know whether to be sad, mad or comforted by that. Why didn’t he think we could tackle this together?

  “Hey, lady. You want to make some chocolate cookies?” Abby appeared from around the corner.

  Jezebel sauntered into the room and jumped up on my lap. I petted her, and she started to purr.

  “Yeah, I’d like to make some chocolate cookies.”

  “Men are stupid,” Jezebels said and nuzzled my hand.

  “Jezebel.” I chastised. “I love him.”

  “Yeah, I know. But, he’s being stupid.” Jez said. “You should turn him into a frog or something.”

  “I should,” I said and let myself feel annoyed at the situation. “Then, maybe I should give up on men.”

  Chapter Twelve

  I tried to call Nathan later, but he’d disconnected his cell phone. It was probably as a precaution. He might have suspected that Irene already had the number since she’d possibly found us at the restaurant the other night. But, I was annoyed. I couldn’t believe he didn’t let me know his new phone number.

  Was this it? Was he just going to ignore me forever? We’d gone from getting married in a few months to no communication in the space of one day. I tried to stay calm and told myself that he’d contact me soon, but I didn’t know if I believed it. After what happened with my ex, Devon, and now this, I’d started to think that I couldn’t trust myself with men.

  Esme had to work, and I didn’t want to go stay at the bed and breakfast. It was mostly due to me not wanting to have to explain all of this to Aunt Kara. I hadn’t processed it enough to try telling someone else about it, and I didn’t think Nathan wanted me telling her anyway.

  So, after we baked cookies, Abby, Jezebel, and I settled into my office to look up protection spells on the internet. I needed something big to protect the whole house. Perhaps if it worked for me, I could go put it on Nathan’s place too.

  I finally fell asleep after midnight. I sat with my phone and waited as long as I could for Nathan to call. My sleep was fitful, and when my alarm went off the next morning, I felt exhausted. I thought about calling into work and telling Charles that I needed another day off, but I decided I’d be better of
f going into work.

  When I got there, Charles was out with a headache again. Great, that’s just what I needed. I felt sorry for him having to deal with the migraines he suffered from this time of year, but I didn’t want to be sitting in the office alone. If I’d known he was going to be out, I’d have brought Jezebel to work with me.

  I sat at my desk and tried to decide whether I should look more into Nikolay and Viktor’s death or if I would attempt to find more information on Irene. I knew that I shouldn’t, but I really wanted to know what kind of problems I might have to deal with. I wouldn’t be able to find out much about her release from the mental hospital legally, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve from my days writing about celebrities. If I could get famous people’s medical records, I could get hers too.

  “I need a favor.” Nikolay’s voice surprised me.

  “It figures,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “What’s that?” He asked.

  “Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if I was going to see you again.”

  “I have a favor to ask of you.” He said.

  Oh man. If I got a reputation for helping the dead, I was never going to get anything else done. I’d seen movies about this before. The last thing I wanted was a line of spirits out the door waiting to ask me to complete their life’s mission.

  “What is it?” I asked despite my reservations.

  “I still believe that Sofia had something to do with my death. I’d like you to look in on her.” He said and threaded his fingers together on his lap. “That is what you do, isn’t it?”

  “Well, sort of. I’m an investigative reporter, not a private investigator.”

  “I could pay you well.” He said with a wry smile.

  “How could you pay me well. You’re a ghost.” I said with one eyebrow raised.

  “I have a safe deposit box no one knows about. The key is hidden somewhere no one will ever find it unless I tell them where it is. So, the money goes to waste unless I give it to you. If you want it, I need you to investigate Sofia and report back to me.”

  I thought it over for a minute, and I couldn’t believe I was actually considering his request. I needed a distraction, though, and investigating Sofia would fit the bill.

  “Fine. I’ll do it, but I’m not sure about the money. I don’t know if I would feel right taking it.” I said.

  “Why not take it. If you don’t, no one gets it. Besides, if you do me a favor, you deserve to be paid for your services.”

  “Okay.”

  As soon as I agreed, Nikolay disappeared. I guessed that meant I couldn’t take it back. I’m sure if I didn’t help, he would most likely haunt me until I changed my mind or went insane. I should have made him promise not to tell his spirit buddies about my agreeing to help him.

  I went online to dig a little deeper into Sofia Charming’s life. Besides being a former exotic dancer and escort, I found out that her real name wasn’t Sofia Charming. I probably could have guessed that.

  Sofia was her first name, but her real last name was Stockton. Even that was a married name. Her maiden name was Sofia Romanyuk, and she was a Ukrainian mail order bride. Her husband, Ronald Stockton died a short time after their marriage.

  Ronald passed away before their prenuptial agreement would allow Sofia to inherit his fortune. So, she was never considered a suspect in his death even though it was possible that he was given an overdose of his medications.

  She was left almost penniless, and that’s when Sofia turned to stripping to make money. Somehow dancing turned into escorting, and that’s how she met Nikolay. He’d been a regular customer up until the time he decided he didn’t want to be a customer anymore.

  I did a little more digging and found that while Nikolay refused to marry Sofia, she was a kept woman. I guess that’s where I needed to go. She apparently still lived in the house that Nikolay bought her before he died.

  The address was outside of Tree’s Hollow in an area I wasn’t entirely familiar with, but I had a GPS installed in my Jeep. I was confident that Chuck wasn’t coming back in today, but I left a note just in case. The last thing I needed was him thinking I was slacking off just because the boss was out.

  On the trail of a juicy story – Lenny

  I packed up my things and walked out to my truck. As I opened the door, I realized I hadn’t thought about Nate for fifteen whole minutes. Suddenly, I felt sad, but sadness wasn’t the only thing. Dread was creeping up into my chest. It was the first time I’d let myself think that I might not see Nate again and that he might be done with me. I hadn’t considered it before. For some reason, up until that moment, I’d made myself believe everything would be alright. I wanted to sit down and cry.

  Instead, I made myself get in the Jeep. There was nothing I could do about Nathan right now, but I could investigate Nikolay’s death. Action seemed like a far better choice than sitting around feeling sorry for myself. Things with Nathan would work out or they wouldn’t. Either way, I had work to do. If Sofia had murdered her boyfriend, I was going to nail her to the wall in solidarity with jilted lovers everywhere.

  The sight of Sofia’s house took my breath away. Nikolay may not have married her, but he made sure she had the best of everything. A sparkling black Mercedes SUV was parked in the driveway of the two-story Italianate mansion. The house gleamed in the sunlight almost as much as the truck, and the manicured landscape looked like something out of a magazine.

  I parked down the block and waited. I hadn’t gotten that close of a look at Sofia the night Nikolay died. Mostly because a man was dying next to me, and then because I tried to hide in the coat closet from his ghost.

  After a few minutes, Sofia came out and walked across her perfectly manicured lawn to get into her SUV. Her hair was pulled up into a perfect high ponytail, and on the tips of her fingers were perfectly manicured nails with a little crystal in every other one. I could tell that her sunglasses, perched on top of her head, were expensive even from a distance. Her handbag was probably more than my car payment. But the kicker was the perfectly pressed cream pantsuit. She wore it like it was made just to fit her body, and I knew I’d have dropped food or coffee on it five seconds after putting it on. Sofia was high maintenance, but she carried it off like a pro.

  As her Mercedes pulled out of the driveway, I started to get nervous. Was I really going to do this? I hoped there was a door unlocked around back because I didn’t want to use the money Nikolay was going to pay me for bail. Then, I remembered I could use a little touch of magic to make the back door open if it was locked.

  Once I was sure Sofia was gone, I closed my eyes and imagined myself as invisible. I hoped this would be enough to keep others from seeing me sneak into her yard. At some point, I would need to learn some real spell work, but I had to admit that I was learning how to use my powers without structured practice.

  I held my breath as I crossed the driveway and turned the corner around to the back of the house. After bumping into an ivy-covered trellis, I thought I’d pass out. I pulled myself together, though, and made my way to the back door.

  The actual entrance to the house was inside a mudroom, so at least I had more cover than my spell while I fiddled with the lock. I was thankful that the enclosed back porch was unlocked.

  After staring at the deadbolt for a few moments, I reached out to turn the knob. What I wanted to know was if the knob was locked too, or if I’d only had to deal with the deadbolt.

  Much to my disbelief, the door opened. Sofia didn’t have her house locked. Two thoughts crossed my mind. Either she didn’t have anything in the house worth protecting, or she was the kind of person that everyone knew better than to mess with.

  The second thought left a huge lump in my throat. But, I straightened up and took a deep breath. “You’re a powerful witch, Lenora Brewer. You don’t need to be afraid of anyone.” I whispered to myself.

  These words sounded hollow to me, but I knew deep down that they were true. So, I strode into Sofia’s
kitchen with a little more confidence. I had to start acting more like a lion and less like a cowering kitten if I was going to do this type of work.

  “If you’re around, now would be a good time to pop in for a chat,” I said to the empty house hoping to get Nikolay to appear. “I could use a little guidance as to what you want me to look for.”

  Nothing.

  Apparently, I didn’t have a direct line to the spirits. They could pop in on me whenever they wanted, but I couldn’t contact them on a whim.

  “You could try summoning him.”

  I must have jumped halfway to the ceiling. I whirled around ready to face death or arrest, but what I found was Jezebel sitting on the marble floor nonchalantly licking one paw and washing her face.

  “How did you get here?”

  “Lady, I’m a magical talking cat. How do you think I got here?” She said sarcastically.

  “I actually have no idea,” I said.

  “Me neither. I’m a cat. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m your familiar. You need me. Here I am. Let’s have a look around shall we?”

  Jezebel left the kitchen and walked into a vast, open living area. I followed quickly behind her and took in the luxurious surroundings. The décor was on the verge of gaudy, but it didn’t quite cross the line. Jez stared longingly at an opulent leather sofa while I looked around the room for signs that a real person lived here. This place looked like a museum. There weren’t any knick knacks or family photos, and the place was so pristinely clean that I imagined the room wasn’t used much.

  “I wonder if this lady needs a familiar.” Jezebel teased. “I could get used to this.”

  “You’re incorrigible,” I said to her. “Now, are you going to help me, or just drool over the furniture.”

  “I’m not drooling, Lady. Dogs drool. Most dogs can’t even be familiars.” She half mumbled under her breath.

  “Awe did I hit a nerve? Sorry, kitty.” I said and walked across the room to scratch her between the ears. “Now, help me find what we’re looking for, so we can get out of here.” I thought about what I’d said for a moment. “Except, I don’t really know what we’re looking for, do I?”