A Breath of Witchy Air

by Amanda M. Lee

  “I do.” I opted not to mention The Whistler. I didn’t want to encourage him to stop in. That wouldn’t make Landon happy and I wasn’t keen on interruptions. “I’ll definitely be around.”

  “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you then.” Steven seemed reluctant to walk away. “Have fun at your meeting.”

  “She always has fun at her meetings,” Aunt Tillie said. “She’s perverted that way. As for the town, have you had a tour yet?”

  I thought about trying to dissuade her from offering her services as Hemlock Cove’s one-witch welcoming committee, but it seemed unnecessary. The guys were harmless – at least they looked harmless – and Aunt Tillie might get some insight into the game if she hung with them for an afternoon.

  “Don’t be late for dinner,” I warned, stepping away from the small group.

  “Am I ever late for dinner?”

  I ignored the challenge. “Don’t poke Mrs. Little either. She’s screaming at Chief Terry left and right because of you.”

  “I don’t go after Margaret,” Aunt Tillie argued. “I simply end up in the same place a lot of the time due to karma.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” I waved off her excuse. “Try to be good. And make sure you don’t catch a cold.”

  “Since when are you my mother?”

  “Just take care of yourself,” I replied. “No one wants you to get sick.”

  “Margaret wants me to get sick.”

  “Yes, well, there’s an exception to every rule.”

  “There is indeed,” Aunt Tillie agreed. “As for me, I only have one thing to say: Don’t wait up.”

  And just like that Aunt Tillie was off with her new friends and I was left with nothing to do but ponder our recent development. I had no idea what to make of any of it.

  Seventeen

  Landon was true to his word and had pie and ice cream waiting when I sat next to him in the diner. I dug in right away, hopeful he wouldn’t ask too many questions about my conversation with Aunt Tillie, but I knew it was a lost cause when he cocked an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair.

  “Well?”

  “Well … um … we talked about things and agreed that maybe it would be a good idea if she learned more about the game before giving up.”

  Chief Terry let loose a chuckle. “In other words, she told you to mind your own business, that she’s an adult and she’ll do what she wants, and if you’re really upset you can arrest her and see what happens. Oh, wait, that last part is probably something she reserves for me.”

  “That’s kind of what she said,” I hedged, wiping the corners of my mouth. “She wants to play, even though I told her the game might be how the victims were selected.”

  “Bay, you’re getting ahead of yourself,” Landon chided. “We’ve confirmed that only one of those girls played the game.”

  “I know that, but … it’s still possible.”

  “It is possible,” Landon agreed. “But even if the game is how victims are selected, odds are Aunt Tillie is safe. She’s not in the correct age bracket.”

  “I’ll tell her you said that.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “She kind of said the same thing,” I admitted.

  “See. She agrees with me. She’ll be perfectly fine.”

  I wanted to believe that but couldn’t shake the worry niggling at the back of my brain. “Did you know they’re having an Infinity Echo event in Hemlock Cove the next few days?”

  The shift in the conversation threw Landon for a loop. “Excuse me?”

  “We ran into those guys we met at the coffee shop the day we visited. They’re scoping out the town. There’s going to be a big battle or something here in the next few days. They were massively excited about it.”

  Chief Terry furrowed his brow. “How does that work?”

  I shrugged. “I haven’t played the game. Aunt Tillie is into it, and now I think Thistle and Clove are, too, but I don’t know how it works.”

  “Wait, wait, wait.” Landon waved his hand. “When did Thistle and Clove become obsessed with the game?”

  “About an hour and a half ago.”

  “But … how?”

  “Well, Thistle wanted to know what the fuss was about so she created an account. Right away she found a crown in the store, and Clove decided she wanted a crown so she created an account. Thistle was mostly looking around until Aunt Tillie stole her skunk. Now it’s all-out war between them.”

  Landon’s mouth dropped open. “You’ve had a busy afternoon, huh?”

  I shrugged. “I mostly watched. They’re all involved now, though. If I have to guess, Clove doesn’t care about the battles or anything. She only wants to collect items and turn her avatar into a princess.”

  “And Thistle?” Landon asked.

  “She wants to beat Aunt Tillie.”

  “And Tillie simply wants to beat everyone,” Chief Terry volunteered. “She’s not picky about how it gets done.”

  “No,” I agreed. “She’s open to anything … including cheating. In fact, that seems to be the tactic she learned about first.”

  “I’ll bet she’s good at it.” Landon’s expression was wry as the waitress delivered his lunch. He waited until she left to speak again. “I know you’ve got it in your head that this game is somehow involved, Bay, but we don’t have proof of that. I don’t want you getting ahead of yourself.”

  “I’m not getting ahead of myself.”

  “You are.”

  “I’m not.”

  “You are.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Stop!” Chief Terry’s bark silenced us. “Eat your pie, Bay. As for you, Landon, we talked about this already. She wants to believe it, so you should let her until we have something contradictory.”

  Wait a second … . “You guys were talking about me behind my back?”

  Landon cast me a sidelong look. “Oh, don’t go there. You talk about me all the time behind my back and I’m fine with it.”

  “I have never!”

  “So, if I go over and ask your cousins if my name came up during lunch they’ll say you didn’t even mention me?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “That hurts my feelings.” Landon adopted a pathetic look. “I can’t believe you didn’t care enough to talk about your live-in boyfriend. I guess I must not be that important. My heart hurts.”

  I knew he was playing me, yet I blurted out a response all the same. “Don’t be ridiculous. I talk about you all the time.”

  Landon’s lips curved. “Behind my back, right?”

  I glared. “You tricked me.”

  “You walked right into it, so I don’t have a lot of sympathy for you,” Chief Terry noted. “As for talking about you, we do it all the time. There’s no sense getting worked up about it.”

  “What do you say about me?”

  Landon’s smile was lazy. “Every day, right before I sit down in the chair across from his desk, I tell the chief what a lucky man I am to have the most beautiful woman in the world as my girlfriend.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Get real.”

  “I am being real.”

  “He’s not exactly being truthful,” Chief Terry clarified. “He is a big old sap for you, though, and he does say ridiculous things when you’re not around.”

  I pressed my lips together and risked a glance at Landon. “Mushy things?”

  “I might say a few mushy things,” Landon conceded. “I also tell the truth when I feel you’re becoming a bit edgy and obsessed. Like, for example, I’ll say ‘Bay is getting herself in trouble and I don’t like it.’ That could be true at least five to ten days a month.”

  I didn’t like that one bit. “Okay, well … um … I’m not edgy or obsessed.”

  “You’re both, but I love you anyway.” Landon was the type of person who refused to engage in an argument he knew he couldn’t win. He clearly felt that way now, because the slope of his shoulders told me he had no intention of allowing me to derail the conversation. “The
fact remains that you’re invested in this investigation. I’m fine with it. I expect nothing else given how things shook out. That doesn’t mean I’m going to allow you to run off half-cocked.”

  “And what does running off full-cocked look like?” I challenged.

  Landon shot me a hot look that caused my cheeks to flush with color. Of course he would take it to a dirty place. That was always his first stop on the Landon reaction train. “Crap. I said the absolute worst thing, didn’t I?”

  “Yes,” Chief Terry agreed, slapping his hand to his forehead and shaking his head. “You totally did, and I’m scarred for life.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Landon said after a beat. “I want actual proof all four of those girls were playing the game before you focus all of your attention on that.”

  “So call their parents,” I suggested. “Ask them.”

  “We did after ordering. I called Abby Kennish’s mother.”

  “And what did she say?”

  “That she had no idea what Abby did on her phone and she didn’t have time to answer stupid questions when she was planning her daughter’s funeral,” Landon replied, grimacing. “We could check the phone company, but that might take days to cut through the red tape. We’ve decided to go another way.”

  “What way?”

  “The bureau has a local computer expert,” Landon explained. “He’s on his way. He’ll hack the app and have a look around.”

  The way he phrased it caught me off guard. “He’s going to hack it? Isn’t that illegal?”

  “Not when law enforcement does it,” Landon answered. “He should be here in about an hour, which is just enough time for me to eat lunch and have some pie of my own.”

  Chief Terry growled at Landon. “Don’t get fresh in front of me. How many times do I have to tell you to back off the dirty talk when I’m around?”

  Landon arched an eyebrow. “Pie!” He pointed at my plate. “I freaking love blueberry pie.”

  Chief Terry looked embarrassed. “Oh. Well … sorry.”

  “I think someone has an even dirtier mind than you do, Landon,” I teased, snagging a fry from his plate. “I’m shocked. Shocked!”

  Landon smirked. “He hides it well.”

  “Ugh.” Chief Terry made a hilarious face. “I hate spending time with you guys. I liked it better when Bay was eight and thought I was king of the world and all other boys were icky.”

  I patted his hand. “You’re still king of the world.”

  “Even though you’re more perverted than me,” Landon added.

  “Just shut it,” Chief Terry warned.

  “Yes, sir.”

  CHUCK ASHTON WASN’T WHAT I expected. Sure, he had that hipster thing you associate with computer whizzes, but he wore an expensive suit with expensive Nike sneakers and carried a backpack when he arrived at the station.

  “Are you the chief?”

  I was sitting in one of the lobby chairs with my laptop – I wanted to make sure Landon and Chief Terry pointed this guy in the right direction when it came to providing information about the game – so I made sure I was close when he arrived. He was still thirty minutes late, something that didn’t seem to bother Chief Terry or Landon, but set my teeth on edge, and it took a moment for his question to sink in.

  “Are you talking to me?”

  Ashton bobbed his head, his bright red hair gleaming under the harsh lobby lights. “I was told to ask for Chief Terry.”

  “Chief Terry is a man.”

  “So that’s not you, right?”

  Was he being serious? “Do I look like a man?”

  “I don’t know.” Ashton appeared to be the sort of guy who played loose and fast with the rules. He gave me a long once-over as he pressed his backpack to his chest. “I’ve learned not to answer that question because it gets me in trouble. That and ‘oh, it looks like your baby is due soon’ tend to get me smacked across the face.”

  “I can see why,” I said dryly. “Chief Terry is back that way.” I pointed toward the hallway. “I can show you the way.” I closed my laptop and pressed it against my chest as I led him toward the office. “I hope you get to the bottom of this game as soon as possible.”

  “I’m sure it won’t be a problem.” Ashton brushed past me and walked into the office before I had a chance to knock, a smarmy smile on his face as he greeted the two men inside. “Agent Michaels, it’s good to see you. You must be Chief Terry.” He extended his hand by way of greeting.

  “This is Chuck Ashton,” Landon said. “He’s one of the brightest minds in the bureau.”

  “Brightest minds? He couldn’t decide if I was a woman or man,” I grumbled.

  Landon narrowed his eyes. “Did you say something?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I was just talking to hear myself talk.”

  “She’s a great secretary.” Ashton clapped his hand to my shoulder. Hard. “She showed me down here and offered to get me a mug of coffee.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “I didn’t offer to get you coffee.”

  “I was trying to protect you.” Ashton lowered his voice. “I don’t want you to get fired or anything.”

  “I don’t work here!”

  “Chuck, knock it off,” Landon warned, his tone severe. “I know you think this sexist crap you run is funny because you carry a backpack and do that ‘aw, shucks’ thing you believe all women fall for, but there’s no way she’ll find it funny.”

  Instead of apologizing Ashton merely shrugged. “I would think a secretary should find comedic things funny.”

  “And I think if you call me a secretary again I’ll make you eat dirt,” I shot back.

  “You’re fiery! I like that in a woman.”

  I was two seconds away from punching him in the groin when Chief Terry banged on his desk to get my attention. The look he shot me was full of warning as he shook his head.

  Landon exhaled heavily. “Sweetie, can you come over here please?” Landon gestured toward the empty chair on his right. “I’ve been saving this spot just for you.”

  I wanted to argue. I wanted to flick Chuck Ashton between his stupid red eyebrows. I wanted to pinch his annoying lips off his ridiculous face. I was only there because Chief Terry was doing me a favor, so I knew all those choices were wrong. “Fine.” I heaved out a sigh and dragged my feet across the linoleum. “He’s a total tool, though.”

  “He is a tool.” Landon’s tone was soothing as he grabbed the computer and rested it on the corner of Chief Terry’s desk. “You have to understand, he’s young and dumb. He thinks the fact that he’s a computer genius will naturally attract women. He doesn’t realize it takes more than that.”

  “He’ll need a personality transplant to attract women,” I shot back, glaring. “Like … a big one. A huge one. He’ll need to magically turn into Tom Hanks or something.”

  “And we’re all praying for that miraculous day.” Landon patted my hand while fixing Ashton with a dark look. “You can’t be you while you’re in Hemlock Cove, Chuck. The residents won’t like it.”

  Ashton chuckled as he sat in the chair on the other side of Landon, offering me a wink as he leaned back and stretched his legs. “I’ll have you know people love me wherever I go.”

  “I can’t wait to introduce you to my great-aunt,” I whispered under my breath.

  I couldn’t be sure if Landon heard what I’d said, but he didn’t react.

  “So what am I doing here?” Ashton asked, changing the subject. “I understand you have some game giving you trouble. You look old school, chief, so I’m guessing that game is solitaire or something.”

  I opened my mouth to blast him with an insult, but Landon grabbed my arm before I could lose control of the temper boiling beneath the surface of my quickly crumbling veneer.

  “Chuck, no one wants to hear your crap.” Landon’s tone was icy. “We have four dead girls. They were murdered and dumped in the snow like garbage. I know your personality is an acquired taste, but no one wants to
acquire it right now. Do you understand?”

  Ashton swallowed hard and nodded. “I didn’t mean … .”

  “You like being the center of attention,” Landon continued, ignoring whatever lame excuse Ashton was about to offer. “I get it. That goes along with youth. But this isn’t the sort of situation where you can get away with being a jerk.”

  Ashton stared hard at his hands. “I didn’t mean to upset the secretary’s feelings.”

  “That did it.” I was halfway out of my seat before Landon caught me around the waist.

  “Chill out, tiger,” Landon ordered. “Killing him won’t do anybody any good. We need him to look at that game.”

  “I don’t like him.”

  “No one does.” Landon choked on a groan as he held me in place. “Bay, if you don’t calm down I’ll have to bar you from the building.”

  I didn’t miss the smug look that crossed Ashton’s face. He was enjoying himself. I, on the other hand, was close to blowing my witchstack. “Don’t worry about it.” I jerked away from him, my gaze scorching. “I don’t want to make a mockery of the investigation or anything, so I’ll just leave you boys to do whatever it is boys do when they’re together.”

  “That would be great,” Ashton supplied. “Do you think you can get that coffee you promised me before going? I’m a bit parched.”

  “I will make you cry,” I hissed.

  “Bay, just go.” Landon gave me a small shove. “As for you, Chuck, you’re not going to like your accommodations once she gets done with you.”

  I slowed on my way through the doorway so I could listen.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Ashton asked, confused.

  “The bureau booked you at The Overlook.”

  “Does that mean Jack Nicholson is going to chase me with an ax?”

  “That means Aunt Tillie is going to eat you alive,” Landon corrected. “May the Goddess have mercy on your soul.”

  “I have no idea what that means.”

  “You will in a few hours.” Landon flicked his eyes to me as I hit the hallway. “Don’t get into any trouble out there, Bay. I know the way your mind works. You’re going to go after those game players.”