by Zoe Arden
"I'm going to make a list of the things we're short on," Eleanor said.
"And I'll make a list of some new ideas for cookies I've had," said Trixie. "For example, how do you feel about O-negative and O-positive black and white cookies? You get it? The white side could be O-negative and the black side could be O-positive. The perfect duo!"
She was so excited I hated to burst her bubble.
Eleanor had no troubles with it.
"If there were more vampires on this island, Trixie, that would be a wonderful idea. As it is, tourists don't want to eat blood-battered cookies. There's something about the idea that grosses them out."
"That's absurd!" Trixie cried, her hands on her hips.
"I know," said Eleanor gently, "but we have to give the customers what they want. Don't you agree?"
"It's not human blood," Trixie said, pouting.
Eleanor rolled her eyes and shot my father a look. He was trying not to laugh. The door chimed and a new customer walked in.
"Welcome to The Mystic Cupcake," I said without looking up. I had a tray of bubble gum bright cupcakes under one arm. They were delicately balanced on my hip as I refilled our display shelf.
"Thank you."
I recognized the voice but couldn't place it. When I looked up, I saw Hadley Miner staring back at me. "Oh! Mayor!" I cried.
Eleanor and Trixie were quickly gathering a box of our best goodies for the mayor to take home with her, free of charge. It was always a good idea to stay on the best terms as possible with the mayor.
"Here you are, on the house," Trixie said, beaming.
"How lovely," Hadley said, still smiling. "I am grateful for this, but I actually came to speak with Sheriff Knoxx and Detective Hudson. I understand they're both here?"
"Yes," I said. "They're in back."
"May I go back there?" She was all smiles and politeness, just like a politician should be.
"Of course," said Eleanor. "Ava, can you show her the way, please?"
I led Hadley into the back room. Sheriff Knoxx and Colt looked up at our footsteps.
"Mayor Miner," Sheriff Knoxx said, rising in greeting.
"Glad I could catch you both together," Hadley said. "Otis told me where you were when I stopped by the station. I've already spoken with Sheriff Lincoln Maxwell, but I wanted to speak to you as well."
"Of course, what about?" asked Sheriff Knoxx.
"This business with the assassins," Hadley said, taking a seat.
"There's no need to worry about that bomb threat," Colt said, taking the lead. "We had one of the assassins in custody and he assured us that there was nothing to that. It was just a rumor that got spread around."
Hadley paused. "Well, that's good to hear. I have to admit, I'd figured as much when I didn't hear any more about it, but that's not precisely what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed..." Colt looked sheepishly at her and Sheriff Knoxx. "What was on your mind, Mayor Miner?"
"First of all, I'd like to know how you two incompetents let the assassin you had in custody escape."
Sheriff Knoxx's face went red. "Well, it... that is... we didn't. Not exactly."
"It was part of their plan," I interjected. I didn't want Colt getting in trouble.
"Part of your plan to let him escape?" Hadley asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Yes," Sheriff Knoxx said. "That's right. We thought that if we made it look like an escape, he might be able to lead us to the person who hired him."
"I see," said Hadley. "That makes sense." We all sighed with relief. "And where is he now, then?"
Sheriff Knoxx and Colt looked at each other. "Well, he... uh..." I'd never heard Sheriff Knoxx stammer before. "He found the tracking devices we'd planted on him, and uh, disposed of them."
"So, you mean that he really did escape after all?" Hadley asked.
"Sort of," Sheriff Knoxx mumbled.
"You have no idea where he is right now?"
"No," Colt admitted.
Hadley paused, scrunching her brow. "I want you to stop looking for him."
"What?" I cried, unable to help myself. "That's crazy. You can't be serious."
"Oh, I'm serious all right," Hadley said. "You two have been making fools out of yourselves, losing the assassin like that. I will not allow you to make a fool out of me as well."
"Mayor—" Colt started to say, but Hadley cut him off.
"This isn't a choice, Detective Hudson. I've already spoken to Dean Lampton. I'm in charge of this island now, and you will investigate what I tell you to investigate. Right now, that does not include your escaped assassin."
"But then, what do you want us to do?" Colt asked. "Just let him go?"
"This is a delicate time for Heavenly Haven," Hadley said. "What I want is for us to let the little things go so that we can focus on the big picture."
"Letting the assassin go isn't a little thing," I said.
Colt shot me a look.
"I want our two towns to feel safe. They can't do that if there's an assassin running loose," Hadley said.
"Precisely our point," said Colt.
Hadley went on as if she hadn't heard him,
"Therefore, I will make the announcement later today that he's been caught and killed. You will not contradict me, you will not go against my orders and search for him, or I will have you both replaced. Is that understood?"
Sheriff Knoxx and Colt nodded, too dumbfounded to say anything.
"And you," Hadley said, rounding on me, "will say nothing about this to anyone. Got it?"
I nodded. We watched her walk out the door, wondering what had gotten into her.
"Are you guys really going to stop looking for Al?" I asked.
"Of course not," said Sheriff Knoxx at once.
Colt nodded his agreement.
"We just need a new plan. A better plan."
"And a way to make sure the mayor doesn't find out," Sheriff Knoxx added.
I left them alone to get to work, but I had an uneasy feeling I couldn't shake. Hadley's order didn't make sense. Either she was being threatened, or... I tried to push the thought from my head but it wouldn't go.
After we closed for the night, it was still there. I lay in bed for an hour, still thinking about it, before finally deciding to get up and do something. I wasn't scared of Hadley Miner. If I was right, she should be scared of me.
* * *
3 5
* * *
Eleanor's car hadn't given me any problems since the last time it broke down at Whisper Crossing. I was pretty sure that hadn't been an accident, but I'd been reluctant to tell that to anyone. I didn't want Colt or my dad freaking out, thinking that someone had hexed Eleanor's car.
I didn't tell anyone I was leaving. It wasn't quite midnight yet. Eleanor, Trixie, and my dad were all asleep. I quietly slipped out of the house, got into Eleanor's car, and made my way to Mistmoor Point.
Hadley had begun talking about building a house in Whisper Crossing since it was the midway point between our two towns. She thought that having her house and office on what was considered neutral territory might help to ease bad feelings on both sides. I actually thought that was a good idea. Whisper Crossing was about as neutral as you could get on Heavenly Haven, aside from the ferry docks and maybe Beggars Forest, where the goblins reigned.
She hadn't started the house yet, though. She was still in her old one. I pulled up to Hadley's street and parked my car. One good thing about living on a small island was that places were easy to find, even if you didn't know where they were. I'd simply texted Lucy, asking her where Hadley's home was. She had texted me back with an address. She'd asked me why I wanted to know, but I told her I'd explain later. I knew that wouldn't be enough to satisfy her, in fact, she was probably burning up with curiosity right now. But she would just have to wait. I didn't have time for details at the moment.
I parked a block away so Hadley wouldn't see me or hear my car and made my way toward her house. I st
uck to the sides of her neighbors’ houses and hid behind bushes, trying to make sure I stayed out of sight. When I finally got to her house, I very carefully, very quietly, approached a side window and looked in.
My knees began to jitter. I had to take a deep breath to calm my nerves and stop my hands from shaking, too. I couldn't see a thing. It was dark inside the house except for a sliver of light, which seemed to be coming from the kitchen. I tried listening, hoping to hear something that might tell me what she was up to, but the house was silent.
"Warthogs," I muttered quietly. Maybe I'd been wrong.
The idea that had been rolling around in my head was that Hadley Miner, first ever Mayor of Heavenly Haven, was somehow responsible for the assassins and murders that had been taking place during this election. I knew it was crazy, but there was something seriously wrong with the way she had threatened Sheriff Knoxx and Colt if they didn't stop investigating Al.
Suddenly, a light flicked on in Hadley's backyard. I held my breath and crept closer. There was a large wooden fence that surrounded Hadley's yard. I couldn't see anything over it; it was too tall. There was a large rock at the edge of Hadley's lawn, part of her front garden. I rolled it over to the fence and used it as a step stool. I managed to get one leg over then used a float charm to lift me another foot. I sneezed in the middle of it though and broke my concentration, falling the rest of the way. At least I landed on the other side of the fence. I would have hated it if I'd had to climb the fence all over again.
I stuck close to the side of the house, hiding in the shadows. Hadley's house was bigger than I would have imagined. It felt secluded despite the fact she had neighbors on both sides. You couldn't even see those houses over the twelve-foot fence.
I heard the door to her backyard open followed by a low grunt. I stood perfectly still, listening. It sounded like someone was dragging something across the lawn. I peered around the edge of the house. The light was just bright enough to illuminate Hadley's form. Her hair was down. It swung from side to side as she yanked on a large, rolled-up blanket, dragging it across the yard.
She finally got it to where she wanted it and dropped it, wiping her hands on her shirt before going back inside and shutting the door. I stared at the blanket. She'd left it in the very back of her lawn by a shed. I had to know what she was up to. What was in that blanket?
I took a breath and ran for it. The yard was wide open, and it took all of my strength not to stop and go back, I felt so exposed. I was sure that at any second I'd turn around and she'd be standing there. I made it to the blanket, panting. I could see now that it wasn't just a blanket; something was rolled up inside it. I lifted the top of the fabric and had to stifle the scream that tried to rise in my throat.
Rolled up inside the blanket was Al. He was dead.
"Ava?" a voice said. I looked up to see Hadley standing there with a shovel. My worst fear had just come true. I didn't stand around to ask questions. I ran.
* * *
3 6
* * *
I cast a quick float charm and managed to jump over the back of Hadley's fence without falling out of midair this time. Except what did happen was possibly worse. There was a cluster of trees just standing there. I jumped smack into them and felt the bark scrape my face. Then I sank slowly to the ground.
"Ava!" Hadley screamed, still chasing me. She wasn't far behind. I had to hurry. I forced myself back on my feet and took off.
Hadley's neighborhood was deceiving. There were other houses around, yes, but there were also great masses of forested space with no sign of life other than the wildlife that lived there. But even those were deceptive. It wasn't one great forest; it was pieces of forest. It had been trimmed away and tailored to fit the houses around it.
I ran into one of these pockets of forest and sprinted toward the other side. I could see a house there. Its back light was on. Maybe if I could get to it, I could get help. I dug my heels into the ground and ran twice as fast.
"Help!" I screamed. "Help!" I don't know where I got the breath to yell like that. Too bad no one answered. The house was just ten yards away from me. Five... four... three... two... I stopped at the edge of the lawn. There was a For Sale sign sitting in the middle of it. The house was empty.
"Warthogs!" I cried.
I thought about trying the back door anyway. Maybe it was open. This house was on a corner lot on a part of land that hadn't finished getting developed yet. There was no one across from them, no one on the other side, just more forest.
I turned back around, deciding to go back the way I'd come. If I could make it to my car, I could get away. I'd left my darn cell phone inside the car, too. I was acting like the dumb girl in a bad horror movie. Not the girl who gets away, the girl who gets killed in scene one. Why hadn't I tried running to my car to begin with? I could have made it. Probably. Float charms didn't seem to be my specialty.
I dug into my pocket, searching for my keys. I felt the hard, cold metal. My fingers clasped around it. I ran smack into Hadley and dropped them.
"Ouch!" Hadley cried.
We bounced off each other like rubber bands, or maybe more like bowling balls. It was more of a collision than an actual bounce.
"Ava! Stop!" Hadley yelled as I searched frantically for my fallen car keys. "Let me explain!"
"You killed Al. You hired the assassins. There's nothing else to explain."
Hadley let out a frustrated cry. "That's so like you, like everyone in our towns. All you see is the small picture, never the big one."
"What could possibly be the big picture?" I asked, mystified. I had no idea what she was talking about.
"Heavenly Haven. The power that goes with it."
"What power? We're a small island, Hadley. There's no power here. It's not like you're the head of the Council on Magic and Human Affairs or even the Witch's Council."
"Not yet," said Hadley, "but I could be. Dean Lampton is getting older. He can't be around forever. If I do well running Heavenly Haven, why shouldn't I take over for him one day?"
"That's what this is all about?" I asked, disappointed. "Power? I was hoping it was something more original. Why hire the assassins? Why not just kill everyone yourself?"
"I didn't want all those murders leading back to me. I'm not crazy, Ava, I just like being in control."
"Why'd you kill Al and those other two assassins?"
"Because I didn't need them anymore. Their job was done. I wasn't about to pay them, and I couldn't leave them. They were loose ends. Loose ends are never good when you're doing something illegal. That's why I went down to your bakery today. I'd already found those two tracking devices on Al. They were so obvious. I just needed to make sure there weren't more that I'd missed."
I shook my head. Hadley was nuts.
"Come on," Hadley said. "Make it easy on yourself. I don't want to hurt you."
"Aren't you planning to kill me?"
Hadley shrugged. "Yes, but I don't have to make it painful. I can make it fast and painless like I did with Al. I just shot a death curse at him when he met me at Whisper Crossing, then shoved him into my car when he collapsed. He never even knew what happened."
"I'm not going anywhere with you," I told her.
Hadley pulled a supercharged wand from her pocket and aimed it at me. Witches didn't need wands, but the supercharged wands were something different, something special.
"Where did you get that?" I asked her. "I thought only COMHA agents were supposed to have those."
"Oh, well, you'd be surprised what you find hiding in people's closets. I found this in Wilma's."
"Wilma's?"
"Yeah. When I found out that she and Thaddeus Black knew each other, I figured that she'd have some special magical items laying around, so I ransacked her place one night while she was out."
"Wait, you did that? I thought she faked that burglary."
"Faked it? Well, that was your mistake."
I suddenly felt terrible. Poor Wilma. She'd li
ed about a lot of things, yes, but not that. I hadn't even listened to her, just cast assumptions.
Hadley pointed the wand at me and muttered an incantation I couldn't hear. Ropes shot out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around my wrists.
"There we go," she said. "That's so much better. Now you can't get away from me again."
* * *
3 7
* * *
The inside of Hadley Miner's house was nice. Elegant, some might say. It gave no indication of the crazy person lurking just below the surface.
It wasn't a huge place, but Hadley had done it up right. Two stories with a finished basement. The stairs to the top floor were long and winding, a shorter version of something you'd see in an old Hollywood movie. The carpet that covered them was a rich red, almost maroon. The walls were painted to perfection, no brush marks left behind or holes that had been missed.
In the living room, where I sat tied to a chair, the walls were a deep cream color except for one accent wall that was the same shade of red as the carpet. A vintage crystal chandelier hung high above a mahogany table. I think it was Victorian.
I sat waiting for Hadley to return from the kitchen, certain she'd gone to get a knife to kill me. That was always what happened in horror movies, wasn't it? Frankly, I didn't know what she was waiting for. It's not like she was the type of person to have any reservations about killing people. She'd clearly demonstrated that already. She'd killed not just one but two assassins and had been responsible for the murder of Thaddeus Black, as well as several other attempted murders.
When Hadley returned holding a glass of iced tea, I had to blink to make sure I wasn't seeing things.
"Where's the knife?" I asked her.
"What knife?"
"The one you're going to kill me with."
She looked at me funny and said, "I'm not going to kill you with a knife. That would be much too messy, and I don't do mess. Never have."
I breathed a sigh of relief until she moved toward me.
"Here, drink this," she said, holding the iced tea glass to my mouth.
