Be Careful What You Witch For (A Family Fortune Mystery)

by Dawn Eastman

  “Well, let the man in, Vi,” said Dad. He and Alex had come to see what was happening in the front hall.

  “I’m so sorry, Diana,” Tom said. His foot got caught in the welcome mat and he stumbled through the door. He stood up straight and smoothed his jacket. “I had no idea they were planning to arrest Dylan. I would have warned you, which is probably why they didn’t tell me. They seem to think he’s a flight risk.”

  “Who’s ‘they’? And why is he a flight risk?” Alex stepped forward. He, Diana, and I had been inseparable in high school and his protective instincts were strong. Anything that upset Diana was sure to upset Alex.

  “Mac and Charla. They have some evidence and are looking for more,” Tom said. “Dylan hasn’t exactly been easy to find over the past few years. He follows the art shows and even Diana doesn’t always know where he is. They were afraid he’d take off again if he knew they were coming to arrest him. Basically, I’m off the case.” Tom stood with his hands out, palms up. “Mac says I’m too close to Dylan and can’t be objective.” He let his hands fall to his side.

  I gestured toward the dining room and the group moved in that direction. Dad and Alex abandoned their project and joined us. The pendulum forgotten, we gathered around the table.

  Per Tom, several witnesses had come forward with stories of Dylan and Rafe arguing and someone claimed that Dylan had threatened to kill Rafe. Dylan had the opportunity to doctor the bread since he had easy access to Diana’s kitchen, and another witness had seen Dylan leaving Rafe’s house the day he died. Rafe had followed him into the yard and grabbed Dylan’s arm. Dylan shook him off, and Rafe fell. Apparently, Dylan just kept walking. Tom ticked these items off on his fingers.

  “Isn’t this just circumstantial evidence?” Alex said.

  Tom nodded. “But they found some fingerprints on the EpiPen. One of them was Dylan’s. One was Rafe’s, one was the paramedic who picked it up at the scene, and they’re assuming the last set would be Diana’s.” His head was bowed toward the table.

  “We have to do something!” Vi glared around the table, daring anyone to contradict her.

  “But what?” Seth said.

  “We need more suspects, for one thing,” I said.

  Diana took a shuddery breath. “I don’t like the idea of looking to put the blame on someone else just to get Dylan out of jail. What if the other person didn’t do it, either?”

  “All we need is another option to stop them from assuming they have the guilty party and ending the investigation,” I said. “Mac and Charla are solid cops, and I don’t believe they would arrest Dylan without good reason, but I also think it wouldn’t hurt to give them a few more avenues to look into.”

  Diana took a deep breath. “I did have a weird conversation with Ember and Bronwyn.”

  “What kind of crazy names are those?” Vi said.

  I cast a threatening look at Vi and she picked up her knitting.

  “Bronwyn is the mother and she and Ember make organic soaps and lotions. They also dabble in oils used for spells,” Diana said.

  “What happened?” Tom asked.

  “I was asking them about what they might have seen that night and Bronwyn told me about seeing someone rummaging through the robes. Then she started to say something about Morgan Lavelle, and Ember stepped in and cut her off.”

  “Morgan says she wasn’t there,” I said.

  Diana nodded. “She wasn’t on the list and she and Rafe tended to avoid each other. I didn’t see her there. I don’t know what Bronwyn was going to say. But it was strange.”

  “So, any other gossip?” Vi asked. She leaned forward and glowered around the table as if we were keeping things from her.

  “Lucan and Rafe have been fighting for the past several months,” I said. “I heard that Lucan didn’t agree with Rafe’s overly controlling leadership style.”

  “I saw Lucan and Dylan arguing at the restaurant the day that Rafe died,” Alex said. He peered around the circle and looked down. None of us were sure if that would help or hurt Dylan.

  “I heard that Morgan and Rafe had a major falling-out a few months ago,” Diana said. “There were rumors that they were a couple and then they fought about something and he kicked her out of the coven. She was livid and started calling all the coven members and bad-mouthing him.”

  “That sounds like routine drama,” said Alex.

  Diana nodded. “It was, mostly. Rafe wouldn’t admit it, but I think he was afraid of her. He caught her going through his garbage. He thought she was looking for supplies for her dark spells.”

  “What?” I said. “Do the police know?”

  Tom shook his head and watched Diana.

  She hugged herself and shivered. “I told Mac that Rafe was anxious about kicking her out of the coven. That woman is scary. Did any of you happen to go by her booth? She sells all kinds of spell kits for revenge and power. It’s not what Wicca is meant to be.”

  “Did you see how she dresses? She looks like a dominatrix,” Vi said.

  Dad’s head snapped up from the newspaper he was perusing.

  “A what?” Seth asked.

  We all sent a glare in Vi’s direction.

  “You know, black leather, scary hair, long nails . . .” Alex decided to skate over the definition and describe her clothing.

  “Oh, like Lady Gaga?”

  “Yeah, a lot like her,” Vi said.

  “Skye told me her mother didn’t like Rafe,” Seth said. “Well, her mother hates everything to do with Wiccans.”

  “I knew that, but thought maybe she was coming around since she came to the ceremony,” Diana said.

  Seth shrugged. “Dunno. It’s just what she said. I got the impression her mother hating it was part of the appeal.”

  “We have Lucan and Morgan in his coven,” Alex said, ticking off the suspects on his fingers. “They’d been fighting with him over the leadership of the group. And Dylan—who had what reason?”

  Tom sighed. “He thinks Rafe killed his parents.”

  A collective intake of breath circled the table. I was surprised Tom knew about this, and Diana’s perplexed expression indicated she was as taken aback as I was.

  “How did you know?” she asked Tom.

  “He told me a long time ago, the day after your parents’ funeral, right before he left. He thought Rafe had something against your dad and was sure that Rafe had arranged their accident.”

  “How horrible, to carry around that sort of anger.” Mom had her amulet in a death grip. “Poor Dylan.”

  Diana brought them all up to date on the grimoire and how there was something in that book that Dylan thought Rafe had killed their parents for.

  “What could be in some moldy old book that would be worth killing for?” Seth asked.

  Diana shrugged. “Dylan thought there was a powerful spell in there, but he’s shown it to a bunch of Wiccans who all say the same thing. The recipes are typical everyday spells that would be found in any grimoire, especially one that was passed down through a few generations.”

  “Then what’s the big deal?” Vi asked. She dropped her knitting and leaned forward.

  “There’s a family tree in the back.” Diana met my gaze. This is what she had been about to tell me the other day. “Dylan said he never paid any attention to it because he was convinced the secret was in the spells. The genealogy is that of Rafe’s family,” Diana said. “You may not know this, but one of the main reasons he’s in charge of the Grand Rapids coven is because he has the longest family history of witchcraft. He’s always played up the fact that Wicca is in his blood, and his followers believed him.”

  We nodded to encourage her to continue.

  “Dylan showed the book to a friend who knew nothing about spells, but a lot about genealogy. Apparently the symbols indicate that Rafe was adopted. His whole argument
that he is most equipped to run the coven goes out the window if he’s adopted.”

  “Oh my,” Mom said.

  “Do you think your dad threatened to expose him?” Alex asked.

  Diana held her hands out, palms up. “I don’t know. They were friends, but my dad always said that Rafe was power hungry and it would ruin him someday. Dad may have just wanted Rafe to be aware that he knew his secret. Maybe Rafe didn’t even know he was adopted. . . .” Diana trailed off, the day’s events finally taking their toll on her.

  “We need a plan to figure out who else would want Rafe dead,” Dad said.

  “I can’t believe that Rafe would have killed your parents over something like this—it’s just ridiculous,” Mom said.

  “I don’t know, Rose,” Vi said. “He really liked being the big fish in a small pond. If he had to give that up, what would he have done?”

  Glances shot around the table. We had all seen how contentious things could get here in Crystal Haven over issues like who was the best psychic, who did the best séances, etc. What seemed small to one person could be the whole world to another.

  “I wouldn’t put it past Rafe,” Vi said. “I never . . .” she stopped when she noticed Diana’s quivering lip. “I never saw eye to eye with Rafe Godwin.” She took up her knitting again with intense interest.

  “Let’s start by looking into Diana’s parents’ accident,” I said. “Tom, do you think you could go to Bailey Harbor and get the police report? Would they release it to you?”

  Tom nodded. “I have a friend working there. I should be able to get a copy.”

  “We’ll start with that,” I said. “And we should try to find out more about Lucan and Morgan and what kind of disagreements they had with Rafe. I’m not sure why this coven is so valuable to everyone.”

  Tuffy jumped up on Seth’s lap and pushed his face into Seth’s neck. “Tuffy needs his walk,” Seth said. Baxter stood up, alert at the word “walk.”

  “We should get home,” Mom said to Vi and Dad.

  “Clyde, I’ve got all the smoke alarms connected to your alarm company now,” Dad said.

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  Mom patted him on the back. “Parents never stop trying to protect their kids.”

  “Diana, stay here tonight. You don’t want to be alone at home, do you?” I said.

  “She can stay with me,” Alex said. “You’ve got Seth here, and Josh and I have room.” He slung an arm over Diana’s shoulder. “Come on, we’ll go to your house and get your stuff and then I’ll go with you to meet the lawyer.”

  Alex steered Diana outside after the rest of the group.

  As soon as the door closed, Tuffy jumped up with bright eyes and a wagging tail.

  “What does he want?” I said to Seth.

  “He thinks it’s time for a walk and his afternoon treat.”

  “He gets an afternoon treat?”

  “Of course. Baxter probably wants in on that as well.”

  We snagged their leashes off the hook and headed out into the cold, gray dusk. I wasn’t used to the time change and resented the darkness encroaching so early in the day. I pulled my jacket closer and worried about what tomorrow would bring. As we walked along I thought about all the people who had apparently been at odds with Rafe. It surprised me since I had only heard Diana’s view of him. It was just another example of how people put on different faces for their various roles.

  Seth’s phone buzzed and he checked the text. His phone was much more active than it had been over the summer. His face looked pink and I wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or whatever he read on the tiny screen.

  “Faith wants me to go to a movie with her,” he said.

  I smiled. “Oh? Okay. Do you . . . go to movies when you’re home?” I wasn’t sure what Grace’s rules were. This had never come up over the summer.

  “Yup, we have movies in New York City and I sometimes go see them.”

  I narrowed my eyes and probably looked like Vi. “You know what I mean.”

  “Yes, I’m allowed to go out.” He sighed dramatically. “I have to be home by nine thirty on weeknights and eleven on the weekends.”

  “Okay. Do you need a ride?”

  He looked at his phone. “She says her mom will drop us off at the mall.”

  “That’s fine. I can pick you up if you want.”

  He shook his head. “No, Skye will pick us up.”

  He punched in a message and his phone buzzed again. “Oh. They’re on their way; we’d better head back to the house.”

  * * *

  A black Tahoe sat in the driveway. We hurried down the street to meet it. Faith must have been pretty sure that Seth would say yes.

  A thin, pretty woman climbed out of the driver’s seat. Her hair was pulled up into a loose bun, and bangs covered her forehead. She wore a black skirt with tall boots and a cream-colored leather blazer. In her forties, she had the whole forty-is-the-new-thirty thing perfected. She held her hand out to me as we approached.

  “Hello, I’m Bea Paxton. You must be Seth’s aunt.” When she smiled I could see where Skye got her beauty. “I think we might have met briefly the other night. That poor man, what a tragedy . . .”

  I nodded and shook her hand.

  “Sorry for the short notice. Faith just came up with this idea as we were heading back to Grand Rapids. You don’t mind if I drop them off? I have a meeting tonight. . . .”

  Since Seth routinely took a subway alone and had managed to get all the way to Michigan from New York, I wasn’t worried about his ability to navigate the mall.

  “No, that’s fine. Thanks for taking him,” I said.

  “It’s no problem. Skye will drop him back home by nine thirty. It’s a school night so I don’t like Faith to be out past then. I looked up the movie and I think it will be appropriate.” She looked to see if the teens were listening, which they weren’t. They were busy listening to each other’s music on their phones. She lowered her voice. “No violence or . . . sex.”

  “Well, thank you.”

  She raised her voice and said, “Okay, kids, let’s go.”

  Seth waved good-bye to me and the dogs and climbed into the backseat.

  “I guess it’s just you and me, guys,” I said to the dogs.

  Tuffy whined, and Baxter let out a quiet groan as we watched the SUV pull into the street.

  15

  The next day, Tuesday, I took Seth to my mom’s with the dogs. Vi had decided that she and I should start interviewing anyone who had been at the ceremony on Halloween night. I had mostly agreed in order to keep an eye on her. Since the nurse who had performed CPR was closest to Rafe at his death, we decided to start with him. I wondered if he had any opinions about the failure of the EpiPen.

  Daron Pagan was a Wiccan, but not part of Rafe’s coven. He lived in the area and was a solitary practitioner, like Diana. They knew each other because Daron frequented her store, and they occasionally exchanged e-mail about news occurring in the Wiccan community. Diana had called to ask him to meet with us, and he’d agreed, saying he had a lunch break at eleven thirty. Diana was going to spend the morning meeting with Rupert again. I had offered to join her, but she insisted I talk to Daron.

  “Let’s hit the road,” Vi said as soon as Seth and I walked in the door.

  “Maybe Clyde wants some coffee before you go.” Mom had followed Vi into the front hall.

  “She’s fine, aren’t you, Clyde? We’re not driving to Canada. We’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Vi pushed me out the door and pulled it closed behind us.

  She took my hand and hurried me toward the Jeep.

  “What’s the rush, Vi?” I asked. I pried my hand from her grip.

  “I had to get out of there before your father started on his home-repair list.” She cast a glance at the house. “Now that Seth is
here to help, he wants to fix everything in our house and he’s working on the list for your house. You might want to put a stop to that.” She said this with the tone of someone anticipating a train wreck.

  I smiled. My dad was not the greatest Mr. Fixit but he was harmless. He’d certainly never caused any problems that I could remember.

  “If Seth and Dad want to clean out some gutters and fix the leaky toilet, I’m all for it.”

  “I have a bad feeling about it. You just remember that I told you so.” Vi wagged a finger under my nose and bustled past me to climb into the passenger seat of my Jeep. She buckled herself in and sat, waiting.

  Feeling my own sense of foreboding for completely different reasons, I climbed into the Jeep and steered it north out of town.

  Daron worked at an urgent care clinic between Crystal Haven and Grand Rapids. I had visited the place myself after my car accident over the summer. I didn’t recall meeting him at the time, but he claimed to remember me.

  As we got closer to the health center, Vi began discussing strategy.

  “Mac has probably already interrogated this guy, so we won’t be able to spring any surprises on him,” she said.

  I nodded, and kept my eyes glued to the road.

  “Are you the good cop or the bad cop? We need to get our story straight,” she said.

  “I don’t think we need a story, Vi. He already knows us, and we’re not cops.”

  She tsked. “How did you ever catch criminals in Ann Arbor with this kind of unimaginative thinking?”

  I suppressed a smile and shrugged.

  “He has no reason to tell us anything. For all we know he’s the murderer and he’ll lie to us to get us off the track,” Vi said.

  I hadn’t considered this, but didn’t think he was a suspect. “He didn’t look like he was trying to kill Rafe. He worked really hard doing the CPR. Did you see him afterward? He was devastated.”

  Violet tapped her fingers on her lips. “Yeah, he did seem to be trying to help. Still you can’t be too careful. Treat every witness like a suspect, isn’t that what they say?”