A Breath of Witchy Air

by Amanda M. Lee

  It was hardly surprising given the fact that it was January in northern Lower Michigan, but the bitter wind was cold enough that I grabbed my heavy coat and bundled it tightly around my body as I hopped out of my car.

  Aunt Tillie, always warm-blooded, didn’t bother zipping her parka as she trudged alongside me.

  “Aren’t you cold?”

  Aunt Tillie shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  “You should at least cover your ears.” I reached over and tugged on her knit cap, making sure it was secure. Even though Aunt Tillie was old and should know better – and a total pain in my posterior – I couldn’t help worrying that she would fall ill and diminish quickly if someone didn’t make sure she took care of herself. She was at an age where a broken hip or pneumonia could shorten her lifespan.

  “Stop being a Nervous Nellie,” Aunt Tillie chided, slapping at my hands. “I’m fine. I can take care of myself.”

  I knew that to be true, and yet … . “I’m just trying to look out for you.”

  “I can look out for myself.”

  “I know but … .” I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence because the way Aunt Tillie’s eyes widened put me instantly on alert. “What?” I jerked my eyes forward and openly gaped when I finally got a gander at the scene. “Holy … moly!”

  “You do have a way with words,” Aunt Tillie taunted, shaking her head. “Have you ever seen anything like that?”

  Not even close. I thought for sure Twila had been exaggerating when she said beer was running amber in the streets, but she hadn’t been far off. The beer truck, which belonged to a local microbrewery, was totaled and the cab, which had separated from the trailer, looked crushed.

  The trailer lay on its side, the sheet metal walls torn from the support beams on one side. That allowed the stacked kegs to scatter across the road. It looked as if the rolling kegs had caused enough panic to force other drivers into the ditch – there had to be at least fifteen stalled cars on the road – and beer was pooling on the pavement in places and in the snow troughs on either side.

  “I don’t even know what to make of that,” I said after a beat. “I just … wow!”

  “Wow is right.” Aunt Tillie’s eyes sparkled. “I’m totally getting drunk.”

  I reached out to snag the back of her coat to still her but missed. Aunt Tillie was deceptively spry for her age. “You shouldn’t go over there,” I called after her. “You most definitely shouldn’t get drunk.” I swallowed hard as I glanced around. “Besides, it’s not sanitary to drink from the snow.”

  Aunt Tillie snorted. “What makes you think I’m going to drink from the snow? That’s the last thing on my mind.”

  “But … how else are you going to drink?”

  Aunt Tillie dug in her pocket and returned with what suspiciously looked like a keg tap. “I came prepared.”

  Son of a … ! “You can’t tap a keg in the middle of an accident scene.”

  “Watch me.” Aunt Tillie was practically giddy as she skipped ahead. I considered giving chase, but it seemed fruitless because I had no means to control her and she was going to do what she wanted, no matter what.

  Instead I dug for my phone, lifted it, and started taking photos and video of the scene. Even though I’d been cold when exiting my car, I quickly forgot about the chill and focused on the chaotic tableau in front of me. Twila had been right about more than just the beer. As far as I could tell, at least half the town had arrived to get a gander at what was sure to be the talk of the county for the rest of the winter.

  I laughed a few times when I saw Aunt Tillie reading labels before selecting her keg, moving from right to left so I could get a panoramic view of the scene. I was so focused on the road I didn’t pay attention to where I was walking. I pitched to the side when I inadvertently stumbled over something that shouldn’t have been there.

  I put out my hands to soften the fall, but I hit hard, breath whooshing out of me, and it took a few seconds to recover. When I finally started breathing again – and my heart rate had returned to normal because I was certain I hadn’t broken any bones – I looked to find what I tripped over.

  The first thing I saw was a shoe. It wasn’t a winter boot, or even something that looked fashionable but could also be considered practical. No, this shoe looked as if it belonged with a nice suit or evening gown. The long heel and narrow middle meant a woman dropped it and I instinctively grabbed it because I couldn’t figure out why it was abandoned in the middle of the ditch. Other than the snow, it looked practically new.

  When I tried to lift the shoe I found it was attached to something. As I slowly lifted my eyes to see what it was attached to, I had to bite back a scream when I met a pair of frozen eyes in the snowbank. The shoe was attached to a foot, which was attached to a body.

  It took at least ten seconds for reality to set in, and I felt awash in fuzzy brain clouds until something inside ordered me to get a grip.

  “Holy crap!” I dropped the shoe and scrambled to my feet, dumbfounded. “Chief Terry!”

  CHIEF TERRY DIDN’T LOOK happy about Hemlock Cove’s newest outdoor brewery and when he made his way to me the expression on his face promised payback for screaming his name the way I did.

  “You scared the life out of me, Bay,” he said, gripping his gloved hands together as he shook his head. “I’m a little busy with all the drunks. Why did you yell my name like that?”

  Chief Terry had been my favorite father figure for years and I instantly felt guilty for panicking the way I did. I knew better than that, yet the body in the snow so surprised me I could do nothing but call for the one person I knew who would race to help.

  “I found something,” I gritted out, doing my best to keep from falling apart. Whether from my tumble in the snow or the wind – I couldn’t be sure which – I was shaking. “I didn’t mean to scream that way. I’m sorry.”

  Chief Terry’s dark eyes filled with concern. “It’s okay, sweetheart. What’s wrong?”

  “I … .” I didn’t know how to explain what I’d found so all I could do was point.

  “What is it?” Chief Terry sounded weary. “Did a keg roll down here? I wouldn’t be surprised. What does surprise me is that no one ran off with it. The whole town is going to be hungover tomorrow.”

  “It’s not a keg.”

  Terry followed my finger with his eyes, his eyebrows flying up when he finally realized what he was looking at. “What the … ?”

  “It’s a girl,” I supplied dumbly. “I’m pretty sure she’s dead.”

  “She’s definitely dead.” Chief Terry hunkered down to get a better look. “Cripes. I think she’s been out here for a bit.” He poked the body with his gloved finger. “She’s frozen solid.”

  That sounded somehow crass. “Who is she?”

  Chief Terry shrugged. “I don’t recognize her. That doesn’t mean she’s not local. I mean … we just might not be able to recognize her.” He slid his curious eyes to me. “How did you even find her?”

  I swallowed hard. “I was taking photos,” I explained, holding up my phone for emphasis. “I wasn’t paying attention and kind of panning the area when I tripped over something. It was her shoe.”

  “Oh.” Chief Terry’s face flooded with sympathy. “Are you okay? You didn’t hurt anything during the fall, did you?”

  It seemed a surreal question given what – I mean who – we were standing in front of. “I’m fine. She’s dead.”

  “I know. I’m just checking.” Chief Terry straightened and glanced around, his irked gaze falling on the reveling residents who continued to play in the midst of their impromptu beer festival. “I’m going to have to clear the area and call for help. I’m also going to need a team to get the body out of this snow.”

  His words cut through the haze threatening to envelop my mind. “Landon?”

  “He’s local now. I think he’s as good a place to start as any.”

  “I can call him.” It wasn’t until the words were al
ready out of my mouth that I realized how stupid they sounded. “I mean … I want to help.”

  Chief Terry rested a hand on my shoulder and solemnly nodded. “I know you do. You can’t be the one to call, though. I have to follow procedure.”

  “Right.”

  “You’ve already helped, Bay. I’m not sure she would’ve been found until the spring if you hadn’t been out here.”

  That was a sobering and depressing thought. “You should call for help.” I meant it. “I’m just going to stand over here and … stand.” I felt lost and disassociated from the scene, my stomach twisting as I tried to regain control of my senses.

  Chief Terry nodded. He dug in his pocket for his phone, furrowing his brow as he stared at the cavorting residents. “Is that Tillie with a tap?”

  I cringed. “If I say no, will you believe me?”

  “No.”

  “That’s her.”

  Chief Terry growled. “I don’t even want to know what’s she’s doing.”

  That was probably for the best.

  LANDON MICHAELS, his shoulder-length black hair a stark contrast against the snow, looked to me first when he exited his Ford Explorer and crossed the road. He was as handsome as he had been when he kissed me goodbye this morning. Of course, the worry crisscrossing his rugged features was a new development.

  “Are you okay?” Landon pulled me in for a quick hug before I could answer, ignoring the curious looks from the state police officers working to collect evidence in the area near the body. “What happened?”

  “A beer truck tipped over,” I replied, basking in his warmth for a moment before he released me. “I came out to take photos and tripped over a body.”

  “Of course you did.” Landon made an odd sound in the back of his throat as he shifted his eyes to the dead woman in the ditch. “Do we know what happened here? Was she involved in the accident?”

  Chief Terry immediately started shaking his head. “No. She’s been out here longer than that.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “She’s frozen solid. The state evidence team is debating ways to get her out of the packed snow without losing or damaging evidence. That means she’s been there for more than a few hours.”

  “Yeah.” Landon rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “I guess that means we don’t have a time of death.”

  “We don’t have a cause of death either,” Chief Terry noted. “We can’t know anything until we can get in there, but no one seems to be able to agree on the best method for removing the body from the scene.”

  “Great.” Landon looked less than enthusiastic regarding the news. “What about a car? Is it possible her car broke down and maybe she was hit while walking back on the highway?”

  “I considered that, and I have officers driving up and down the road in both directions looking for an abandoned vehicle,” Chief Terry replied. “No luck yet, but they just started. I mean … if her car did break down and she was without a cell phone for some reason, I guess walking makes sense.”

  “That doesn’t make sense to me,” I countered, inserting myself into the investigation even though I knew it would agitate both Landon and Chief Terry. “She was a single woman … and look at those shoes. Those are not the type of shoes you wear to walk down an icy highway, especially after dark.”

  Landon flicked his bright eyes to the shoes in question. “She would’ve fallen on her rear end in those things, probably multiple times. She almost would’ve been better off barefoot.”

  “Except she would’ve gotten frostbite within five minutes,” Chief Terry countered. “It was bitterly cold last night. I mean … like in the single digits. She wouldn’t have made it very far without shoes.”

  “She wouldn’t have made it very far in those shoes either,” I offered. “Trust me. There’s a reason women in these parts at this time of year wear boots and carry heels. It’s so they can change into the pretty shoes once they get to their destination.”

  “So you’re saying she wouldn’t have made it far either way, with or without shoes, in this cold,” Chief Terry mused.

  “No. You might want to call all the area towing companies to see if they brought in a car last night,” I suggested. “You might want to check for the past few days in case she’s been out here longer than that.”

  “Good point.”

  “What about missing person reports?” Landon asked, his gaze serious. “She looks relatively young and in good health. Someone must be missing her.”

  “I haven’t seen any missing person reports cross my desk in the past few days, but I can’t say that I’ve been looking either.” Chief Terry exhaled heavily as he watched a state police evidence technician fire up a blowtorch. “What do you suppose he’s doing with that?”

  Landon grimaced as he placed a hand on Chief Terry’s arm to still him. It was very clear that Hemlock Cove’s soft-hearted top cop was about to intervene. “He’s not going to hurt the body. He’s going to try and cut through the snow surrounding the body and lift it out.”

  Chief Terry moved his jaw, no sound coming out.

  “You’ve seen this before,” I prodded when Chief Terry couldn’t find the appropriate words to continue the conversation. “You’ve probably dealt with stuff like this multiple times, huh?”

  Landon tilted his head to the side and shrugged. “I think ‘multiple times’ is a stretch. It’s happened a time or two. In some ways it’s good. In others it’s terrible.”

  I felt sick to my stomach. “In what ways is this good?”

  Landon cocked an eyebrow. “I wasn’t talking about the dead girl. I was talking about the snow, about the body freezing. It will preserve evidence.”

  “Oh.” I was mildly mollified. “I didn’t mean to jump all over you.”

  “I know.” Landon’s lips curved. “You just can’t seem to help yourself sometimes. I’m so hot you can’t stop yourself from jumping me.”

  “Oh, good grief!” Chief Terry slapped his hand to his forehead, recovering his ability to talk. “You two don’t ever quit, do you?”

  “I see no reason to quit.” Landon’s smile was impish. “But because it upsets you, I will try to remember to refrain from overt flirting in your presence. I can’t always remember, but I will try to do better.”

  “Whatever.” Chief Terry wrinkled his nose. “I thought you’d take it down a notch when you moved in together, but it’s the exact opposite. You’re actually worse than you were before.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Landon reached over and tugged up my zipper to make sure I was warm. “You don’t have to stay out here. We have no choice – and this is definitely going to take a while – so you might be better off heading back to town.”

  That was an intriguing option, but I immediately started shaking my head. “I found her. I feel I should be here until she’s taken away.”

  “It’s not your responsibility.”

  “I know, but … I can’t help it.”

  Landon heaved out a sigh, resigned. “You’ve got a soft heart sometimes. I can’t fault you for it. Given your family, though, I’d think you’d be less likely to give in to the softness.”

  “Speaking of family, where did Aunt Tillie go?” Chief Terry asked, craning his neck. “I was trying to keep an eye on her because I sent my officers through to start dispersing the crowd, but I lost track of her.”

  I followed his gaze and came up empty. “I wouldn’t worry. She’s probably got a tummy full of beer and merely curled up somewhere to take a nap.”

  “If she naps out here she’ll die of hypothermia.”

  Aunt Tillie was a witch, so that wasn’t exactly true. Actually, Aunt Tillie was the queen of witches, so that definitely wasn’t true. Chief Terry didn’t like being reminded of our witchy ways, though, so I knew bringing that up would be a mistake.

  “She’ll be fine. I wouldn’t worry about her.”

  “Do I look worried?”

  That had to be a loaded que
stion. “You look handsome.”

  Chief Terry beamed. “You’ve always been my favorite. You know that, right?”

  I did know that.

  “Ugh. You’re such a suck-up.” Landon ran his hand over my back. “Try to stay out of the way while you’re here. I need to go over and take a closer look at the body. Technically you need to keep clear of the scene. Do you think you can do that for me?”

  “Sure.”

  “Good. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Try to stay out of trouble.”

  Three

  Out of deference to Landon and his job – I didn’t want the state police technicians questioning him about my presence – I wandered to the opposite side of the road and searched the ditch for signs of footprints or any other evidence that might have spread that far due to wind or scavengers.

  I wanted to be helpful without overstepping my bounds.

  Given the time of year we didn’t have much snow. Thanks to the way the wind generally blew along this corridor, the highway served as a bit of a wind tunnel and the snow tended to drift closer to the trees. I figured if the woman was carrying something light enough to blow away it would have landed on this side of the road.

  I was barely there, my eyes keen as they searched the bottom of the trees, when my gaze landed on a lump that looked out of place. I tested my weight on the bank where the snowplows pushed the snow and was relieved when I didn’t fall through the crusted cover. It took me almost three minutes to awkwardly navigate closer to the trees, and when I did, I instantly realized that what I’d mistaken for a coat – or maybe a discarded blanket, one of those ones people keep in the trunks of their cars during inclement weather – was something else entirely.

  “Oh, my … .” I opened my mouth to call out to Chief Terry, another scream in the back of my throat, but no sound would come out. I was either too cold or too panicked to find my voice, although I felt a ripple of pent-up power fighting for release beneath my frigid skin.

  I tried again and came up with the same outcome.

  I had two options: I could climb back over the snowbank and drag Chief Terry to my discovery or I could text him. I opted for the easiest choice.