“So,” she asked, “when Harvey left the hearing, he didn’t say anything?”
I shook my head. “One minute he was there, the next, he was gone.”
Teddy cleared his throat, silently reminding me that he was the one answering the questions. “Mr. Colepepper was set to testify and vanished before he was able to. The council called for a break and I attempted to call Mr. Colepepper several times but was unable to reach him.”
Agent Bramble frowned at Agent Mache who didn’t look her way. “How did he appear? At the hearing,” Agent Mache asked.
“He seemed normal to me.” I shrugged one shoulder. I’d played the memory of the morning over and over again in my mind but couldn’t pick out anything specific that might be helpful. “He mentioned being swamped. Caught up with the Praxle case.”
“Who isn’t,” Mache grumbled under his breath.
Agent Bramble gave him an annoyed look before asking, “Ms. Boldt, I hate to ask, but you’ve known Harvey for over half of your life.”
I didn’t need to be reminded. Harvey had first entered my life following the murder of my parents. His role in my life was two-fold: to protect me and to keep me from causing trouble. After everything with Gabriel and his ring of dark and dangerous friends, I was thrust under even closer examination and saw Harvey on a bi-monthly basis. The meetings mostly served as a reminder that the SPA was watching me. Closely.
Agent Bramble continued, “Can you think of anyone that would want to harm him?”
I shook my head. “Harvey was—well, he was an acquired taste. I’d be lying if I said we’d always had a smooth relationship. He was about as straight-forward as they come and sure, sometimes that might have ruffled feathers.” I cringed, wondering if the expression was offensive to an eagle-shifter. Agent Bramble didn’t appear to notice the questionable turn of phrase. “If it were me, I’d start with his recent case files and see who might have been on his radar.”
She bristled, her thin lips twisting into a scowl. “Thank you, Ms. Boldt,” she replied, her tone icy.
“I’m sorry.” I sighed. “Obviously that’s what you intend to do. I wasn’t thinking … .”
Agent Mache frowned, then finished the rest of his drink.
I dropped my eyes to the coffee table between where the agents stood and I sat wedged between Adam and Teddy.
“Do you have any questions for us?” Agent Mache asked me.
I glanced up. “Will I be assigned a new agent?”
The hulking bear-shifter turned to his partner and offered a wry expression. “Agent Bramble will be filling in as your liaison to the SPA until a proper case worker can be established.”
I met the sharp eyes of Agent Bramble and my stomach flip-flopped. “Wonderful.”
The following morning, we all piled into Evangeline’s tiny sports car and set off back to Beechwood Harbor. The trip normally took a little over three hours, but Evangeline had relinquished the keys to Adam and he was driving the car like he’d stolen it, completely ignoring the daggers Teddy was throwing from his place in the cramped back seat. I caught him glaring at the back of Adam’s head in the rearview mirror and had to suppress a laugh. The two of them were polar opposites in every regard. Adam was the poster child for rebellion—leather jackets, rakish smile, and devil-my-care attitude. Teddy likely slept in a three-piece suit and probably didn’t have so much as a speeding ticket on his record.
“You do realize this is a forty-five zone?” Teddy finally chimed in.
Adam laughed but he took his foot off the gas and let the car coast for a few minutes as we wrapped around the curving roads that led away from the city and back to the Washington coast. We weren’t close enough that I could smell the sea in the air, but the lush trees that lined both sides of the two-lane highway started to sooth my nerves. I was on my way home. Every mile that flew by was one more between me and the mess back inside the haven. Beyond that, I simply missed my routine. Shopping at Thistle, the small natural food market, and seeing familiar faces each morning at the coffee shop. I loved being able to identify every face walking the downtown streets after dinner. There was something reassuring about living in a close knit community. An unexpected freedom found in the sense of familiarity.
Boots sat on my lap, calmly watching the scenery whiz by as we turned onto another curved road. I smiled down at him as my fingers worked through his thick, tawny fur. “You don’t mind the speed, do you, Bootsie?”
Teddy muttered something behind me and I had no doubt his scowl had shifted from the back of Adam’s head to my own.
“It’ll be fine, Teddy,” Evangeline said soothingly. “This car has so many safety charms that it would quite literally take a meteor shower to do any damage.”
“Really?” I asked, twisting around to look at her.
She nodded. “Originally it was charmed by my security team when I was working on The Wednesday Witch. If you think human paparazzi are terrible, you can only imagine how awful they can be when bestowed with magic.” She grimaced. “I hired a security team to follow me around at all times to make sure I was safe. They called themselves the King’s Guard. Although, as far as I know, they never actually guarded royalty. Seems like I found that out after I signed the contracts. In any case, they proved to be quite good at their jobs so I forgave them the slightly dubious branding.”
“Impressive,” Adam said. “I’ve heard about them before. They’re kind of legends.”
Evangeline nodded. “Quinton, he’s a wizard, though some say he leans more into sorcery. I didn’t really care, as long as he could provide the charms I needed. Anyway, he’s the one who charmed this car to be pretty close to indestructible.”
“Still,” Teddy interjected. “I’d rather not put it to the test.”
Adam gave a disappointed frown.
The rest of the trip was mostly spent talking about trivial things. It was obvious we were all attempting to tip-toe around the murder or anything relating to my failed council hearing. In the end, Adam flipped on the radio and we all fell into a comfortable silence.
We pulled up in front of the Beechwood Manor a little after noon. Boots jumped out the open window as soon as the car came to a stop and made a beeline around the house, his bottle-brush tail straight as an arrow, likely headed for the back door which was equipped with a doggy door straight into the kitchen.
“Apparently someone missed home,” Adam said, watching from the driver’s seat.
“More like he wonders if he missed out on something in his cat food bowl.”
Adam scoffed. “Well if the undead princess is even awake, I doubt she’s going to show him much compassion.”
I didn’t argue. Lacey and Boots weren’t exactly BFFs.
We all laughed and then got out of the car and gathered the bags from the trunk. Posy was waiting in the entryway to greet us. Her silver-purple silhouette shimmered with excitement as I followed Adam inside. “Holly, dear! How did your hearing go?”
Apparently no one had told her what happened.
Evangeline cringed as she joined me. “I’m sorry, Posy. Teddy and I tried to find you last night before we left.”
Posy’s smile fell away. “I was with Gwen. She dragged me to a ghost support group.”
We all stared, dumbfounded by the revelation. Half a dozen follow-up questions popped into my mind.
“Um, did you say you were at a ghost support group?” Adam ventured.
Posy scoffed and flapped a translucent hand through the air. “She’s been on me for months, ever since Katerina was here. I mostly went along to get her off my back.”
I shoved aside my questions and filed them away under the mental label of “entertaining conversations for another time.”
“Well, to be honest, Posy, the hearing didn’t go so well.”
“Oh no. I’m so sorry, dear. I was hoping that having Mr. Colepepper’s testimony would make it a sure thing.”
All of us glanced around the room, choosing different focal p
oints.
“What?” Posy asked.
“Harvey was called away before he could testify to anything.” I drew in a deep breath. “And then … well, Harvey was found murdered last night.”
Posy’s bespectacled eyes went wide. Her mouth worked as she struggled to find the right words and eventually sputtered, “Murdered? Holly, I’m so—that’s simply—how horrifying! Do they know what happened?”
I shook my head. “It’s all still under investigation. We met with the SPA agents in charge of the case last night at the hotel.”
“Well I’m very sorry to hear that, dear. He was a lovely man … troll … creature.”
A pounding sounded from down the hall off to the right of the grand staircase.
“Um, what was that?” I asked Posy.
“That’s not … ,” Evangeline started, shifting a cautious eye to Adam.
Adam shut the front door. “I knew we were forgetting something … .”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Should I even ask?” I said with my eyes squeezed closed. I had a feeling I knew who was responsible for the pounding but was silently pleading that I was wrong.
I peeled one eye open and swiveled it in Adam’s direction. He gave Evangeline a sheepish glance. I opened both eyes and stared at Evangeline. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other and refused to look at me.
“That’s Nick,” Adam finally admitted.
I cringed. “You left Nick alone in the manor all night? With Lacey?”
“We got your call and just kinda … left,” Adam explained. “He was still sleeping off the massive dose of sleeping potion that Evie fed him!”
I waved my hand toward the frantic pounding sound. “Well clearly that is no longer the case!”
“I sealed the door from the outside,” Evangeline chimed in. “He can’t get out and Lacey can’t get in.”
I threw my hands up in the air. “How am I supposed to explain that to him? Oops, sorry Nick, I didn’t realize my roomies would drug you and then barricade you in a dark room for twenty-four hours. Please don’t be mad.”
“That’s not helping, Holly.” Adam ground his teeth together. “What are we going to do? Are you sure you can’t wipe his memory?”
“For the millionth time, no!” I rubbed my temples. “I don’t do mind magic. It’s too risky. Especially when he’s already been … treated. I meant to ask—well, I was planning to ask Harvey about the options. He’s the only one I trust.”
I raked my fingers through my hair. Think, think, think.
“I could give him more tea,” Evangeline offered quietly. “Buy us some more time.”
“No!” I boomed, my voice much louder than I’d intended.
The four faces staring at me all flinched at once. Evangeline’s face crumpled and Teddy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her off toward the kitchen. Guilt slid down deep into my gut. I’d have to mend those fences later.
“Hello? Can anyone hear me! Help!” Nick’s frantic cries came down the hall.
“Ugh! This is ridiculous.” I stormed down the hallway, scraping my mind for what kind of tale I could spin to make the circumstances any less bizarre.
I came up empty.
With a flick of my hand, I released the lock Evangeline had set and pulled the door open. Nick, his dark hair sticking out in every possible direction, blinked a few times. “Holly?”
I drew in a quick breath and slapped a smile on my face. “Hello, Nick.”
Nick squinted at me. “What are you—what’s going on? What time—what day is it?”
“It’s Tuesday. A little after noon, I think. Are you feeling better? Adam and Evangeline told me that you stopped by late last night and fell asleep on the couch. Let me guess, they made you watch that movie with the talking dog? I know, it’s the worst. I fall asleep every time too … .”
Adam stood at my side. “Sorry man, I thought you’d dig it.”
It was the most absurd lie, but I had no idea what else to say. I needed some kind of plausible—if not logical—reason for his overnight stay in the manor’s formal study.
“I—uh—” He exhaled. “I guess so? Is there even a TV in here?” he asked, craning back to look inside the study.
“Come on,” I said, gesturing for him to follow me. “Let’s get you some lunch.”
He stayed rooted in place. “Why was the door locked?”
“Oh, that”—I flapped a hand and smiled—“Boots recently figured out how to open doorknobs. He’s so tall! He gets up there and works his little paws—” I mimed a strange series of gestures.
Adam snorted.
I shot him a glare. Not helping.
When I looked back at Nick, he was frowning. “The cat opens doors?”
“Uh-huh … .” I rocked back on my heels. “How do you feel about nachos for lunch? I know I sure could go for some right about now.”
Nick stared at Adam and me for another long moment but finally gave a tentative nod. “Yeah, okay.”
Adam led the way back down the hall, past the stairs, and into the kitchen. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that Evangeline and Teddy were already at work making some coffee. “Look who’s up!” I told them, my voice artificially bright and sunny.
Evangeline’s eyes went wide with recognition. “Oh good!”
“I told you guys not to make people watch that terrible movie,” I prompted to Evangeline. “Put poor Nick right to sleep.”
Her eyebrows lifted and I cringed, mouthing I know. I mimed smacking myself on the forehead while Nick’s back was turned.
“That’s all right,” Nick finally said. “I’ve had a cold the last few days and I think it’s making my head fuzzy. I probably took too much nighttime syrup. Thanks for letting me sleep it off here.”
“Not a problem,” Evangeline said, obviously relieved that he’d swallowed the painfully thin cover story.
“Adam and Evangeline told me that you were out of town,” Nick said, turning back to me.
“I just got home. The trip was shorter than expected.”
Adam went to work pulling out the ingredients for his massive, six-layer nacho platter—one of his custom creations—and I brought over sugar and cream for the coffee. Evangeline and Nick sat down at the table after we assured them there was nothing they could do to help. The manor kitchen was large, but not big quite enough for five adults—and one begging tabby cat—to work comfortably side by side.
I dropped the sugar and cream off at the table and then hauled Boots into my arms and deposited him on his cat bed. “Stay there and I’ll give you a treat,” I told him with a waggle of my finger. “We don’t need you tripping someone.”
He frowned up at me but then remembered the promise of the treat and sat down, his haunches sticking out from his rotund backside.
“Good boy.”
I took a seat at the table, on the other side of Nick. Teddy brought over the coffee and then went back to grab some mugs. Within a few minutes everyone except Adam had a cup of hot coffee and was seated at the table.
“You sure you don’t need any help?” Evangeline asked Adam.
He craned his head around with a grin. “Let the master work.”
I rolled my eyes. “Trust me, Evangeline, it’s better if you don’t know the secrets to his nachos. They’re delicious but there are probably some questionable ingredients.”
“Hey!” Adam said, shooting me a playful scowl.
I held up my hands. “I’m just saying, you’re a snack-food genius, but you also call marshmallow fluff food.”
“Well rest assured, there isn’t a speck of fluff on these bad boys.”
“I’d hope not,” Teddy said indignantly. He turned in his seat and eyed the stack of take-out menus piled on one end of the counter. He was clearly making back-up lunch plans.
“This is nice!” Posy said, floating through the closed kitchen door. “I do love having a full house for a meal. It reminds me of when Earl and I used to host out of tow
n family and friends for the holidays.”
I looked over my shoulder at Posy. “That’s sweet.”
“Who are you talking to?” Nick asked.
Bat wings!
I whipped around and plastered on a faux smile. “Boots.”
Nevermind that he was in the opposite corner of the kitchen … .
“Oh dear,” Posy said, suddenly at my side. I forced myself to not watch her as she considered Nick. “I forgot he was still here. I think he saw me last night, out in the garden.”
Teddy, Evangeline, and I all shifted our eyes toward her. He’d seen Posy? How was that even possible? And if so, why couldn’t he see her now? Was there some kind of rule that ghosts could only be seen at night? My heart pounded harder. Nick glanced up and frowned at the strained expressions on our faces. “You guys okay?”
Adam swooped in with a cookie sheet of nachos. “Voila!”
“That was fast,” Teddy said, his skepticism ratcheting up another notch.
Adam grinned. “The magic of a microwave.”
Posy scoffed. “That beastly thing!”
“I think they look great!” I chimed in, reaching for a chip.
Everyone followed my lead and dug in with extra exuberance—even Teddy—and shifted the conversation to something completely benign: Sports. Adam, Teddy, and Nick launched into an intense debate about the upcoming March Madness … whatever that was. Evangeline and I rolled our eyes at each other and Posy floated off through the ceiling. I made a mental note to track her down after Nick left to ask exactly what had prompted her to think he’d seen her the night before.
After the last chip had been devoured, Nick announced he needed to get home and shower and try to put in a few hours at the office. He’d been behind schedule thanks to the cold—and I imagined more than a few sleepless nights—and needed to try and get something productive done for the day. I walked him to the door and said goodbye. I watched him until he was nearly out of sight before closing the door.
I sagged against it and exhaled a deep sigh. Was my life ever going to go back to being boring?
Later that afternoon, after a much-needed nap, I left the manor. I didn’t have a solid plan in place, so I decided to go for a walk to clear my mind. Maybe it would help me make sense of things. At the moment, there were a lot of things that needed clearing up. I circled my way around town, wandering through the quiet residential pockets, before going downtown. As I walked, the tangled ball of thoughts inside my mind started to unwind a bit. After lunch, Teddy had gone to the study to make some phone calls and try to figure out a plan for my next move. I’d get a full report when I got back to the manor, but for the moment all I had to go by were the events that transpired over the past forty-eight hours. It was hard to imagine a scenario where a second council hearing would go any differently. Teddy assured me there was a chance, but that was in his nature as a superstar lawyer. Part of me wondered if I shouldn’t call the whole thing off and not risk another humiliating—not to mention pointless—council hearing. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to reign in my anger if the second hearing had the same result as the first. As it was, I’d barely avoided landing back in a jail cell.
Witch Way Home: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 4) Page 6
