Witches and Wine

by Samantha Silver

  "Darren mentioned that he gave everyone at the firm the day off," I huffed, nearly out of breath. I wondered if Rosemary Creek had a gym, because oh boy was I ever out of shape.

  "I bet she was just itching to hurry up and get out of there," Karen replied, somehow taking even longer strides than I was despite her shorter legs.

  We slowed down as we got closer to the back end of the law firm, just in time to see Sydney jiggling the handle of the side-door around, something in her hand. I yanked back on Karen's arm as Sydney hoisted her shoulder into the door, shoving it open.

  "Wait," I whispered, watching as she slipped into the law firm. "Maybe we should call Chief Benson to meet us down here. I mean at the very least, she shouldn't be breaking into the building, whether her husband owned the place or not, right?"

  Karen gave me the side-eye. "Not a chance. We don’t have time. What if she’s going in there to destroy some evidence? We can call Chief Benson later."

  "Fine. We can go in after her. Quietly," I added, seeing the determination in Karen's face as she started to take a step forward. "And I still think we should let the police know."

  "Sure. After we confront her. I want to know what on earth she's doing in there. After everything she and him put my mother through, I think I deserve some sort of explanation at least."

  There was no arguing with that, and we both slunk inside the building, stopping to make sure no one saw us.

  The lights were mostly out inside, but light was emanating from what I knew to be Henry’s office, and the door was wide open. Sydney obviously figured everyone would be at the funeral and there wouldn’t be any reason for anyone to be in this building.

  Karen silently motioned for us to move forward, and I followed, quiet as a mouse, a weird sense of foreboding scurrying along the surface of my skin.

  Ahead, the sound of long nails clicking away at a keyboard meant that Sydney was on Henry's computer. And I had a hunch I knew exactly what she was after.

  We had just managed to edge along the inside of the hallway, out of sight of the inside of Henry’s office, when that stupid Imperial March theme went off inside Karen's purse. Her eyes widened and we both froze, rooted to the spot as the long nails stopped clacking against the keyboard.

  "Who's there? Darren? Eliza? Ken?"

  I tried to hold my breath, but instead of staying put, Karen looked at me one more time and walked into the office doorway, a grim look on her face. I followed suit, unable to do much else. I wasn't about to let her face Sydney on her own.

  "Why are you here, Sydney?" she asked. "We just saw you break into the place. Surely, you could have at least waited for your husband to be in the ground before you came here to do your taxes or whatever." Karen’s expression was cold as ice.

  "Oh. It's just you." She continued to type, clearly not at all worried about our sudden presence.

  "Let me ask you again." Karen's voice rose a few decibels. "What are you doing here?"

  "Collecting my fair share," Sydney very simply replied without looking up from the screen. "My husband's death has inspired me to take what's mine."

  "As if you didn't do it yourself," Karen hissed. "Go ahead and try and deny it, Sydney. Let's see you talk your way out of this one."

  The shrill laugh that escaped Sydney's mouth sent a horrible shiver down my spine. "Oh no, there's no need. I did it. I thought maybe pinning it on that hapless loser who showed up that morning right when I was trying to talk some sense into Henry over his will would smooth things out for me. And it sounds like I at least managed to throw you girls off the scent. Henry and that Phil loser both played golf at the country club from time to time, and since I knew Henry kept a spare bag of clubs in his closet, I pulled out the biggest one and well, I think you get the picture. I have to admit, it was pretty satisfying to watch him finally cave in to what I wanted, so to speak."

  I gasped at how casually she spoke about murdering her husband, as if she were simply admitting that she preferred champagne over wine. Even Karen was struck speechless.

  Sydney shrugged. "I've been wanting a divorce for a while now, actually. But I knew the smug jerk was hiding some of his money out of the country. I mean, he was so good at doing it for everyone else, why wouldn't he have his own private account? If all else failed, at least I'd get the money from the nice, hefty insurance policy I had him unknowingly sign up for. It's not like Henry would have left me with a cent to my name if he had the chance. I think we can all agree on that."

  "So what, you thought you'd just kill him off and cash in?" Karen accused her, narrowing her eyes at Sydney.

  "Well, maybe if Henry hadn't had the nerve to cheat on me with that little tart that works for him, he'd still be alive right now."

  "You knew," Karen guessed quietly.

  Sydney stood up and spun on her heel. "Of course I knew! Do I look like an idiot? Maybe Henry thought so. And maybe I let him think so, but the truth is that I've known for quite some time about his dirty little secret. And all that money in the bank off shore… I knew I only had to bide my time until everyone was more concerned with the funeral, giving me the perfect opportunity to look up his bank information. Stupid man," she chuckled darkly, shaking her head at us. "He kept everything I needed right here, all in one nice little neat package.”

  I slowly inched forward until I was side by side with Karen, hoping that blocking Sydney would stop her from getting away. I knew we should have called the cops before coming in here.

  "But you know, enough about all this," Sydney quipped impatiently as she fished something out of her purse. "Let's talk about how you bratty wenches thought to put your noses where they don't belong. Now that the two of you know, I'm just going to have to take care of you, too. I'd say I'm sorry but, well, I'd be lying."

  Sydney whipped out a small black bottle with a red cap, and before I knew what had happened, the acrid smell of spice and something worse filled my nose, disorienting me on the spot.

  My eyes stung and my lungs felt like they were on fire as the spray hit me dead-on. It took everything in me not to claw at my eyes, desperate to get rid of the pain, but I remembered I who I was, and I forced myself to calm down and let my body do its thing, healing me from the inside out. With a loud couple of coughs, my lungs filled back up with clean air and the tears slipped down my face in streams, but my eyesight returned, if only a little bit blurry.

  Karen had the forethought to cover her eyes with her forearm, blocking most of the mace from getting into her face, although she was still coughing up a lung, trying to draw in deep breaths of air as Sydney's vicious form circled her.

  "You know, I never wanted kids. Henry assured me that you wouldn't be a problem, and that you were practically grown anyway. But still. Me, a step-mother? No," she said, running her tongue over her teeth. "Not me."

  "I was only eleven!" Karen cried, still trying to breathe. "Hardly grown. You took my father away from me!"

  I reached out just as Karen looked at me from the corner of her eye.

  "Get back, Tay—"

  Thud.

  Karen's body hit the ground in what felt like slow-motion, her limbs awkwardly flailing and sticking up strangely as she fell, until I realized she was completely unconscious, a large lump and deep cut covering half the side of her face.

  Sydney stood over us looking absolutely insane, her chin tilted up. In her hand was one of those heavy metal three-hole punches from Henry's desk.

  Anger shot through every part of me, but I crawled to Karen's side, no longer caring about Sydney's derangedness. All I wanted was to heal my best friend.

  "Murderer!" The rage surrounding the word was so strong and palpable that I thought for a split second that it came from my hoarse throat.

  Everything happened so fast, but I could still hear the clunk of the hole punch dropping to the floor, right before a loud thud and the sound of Sydney's clothing crumpling underneath her as I watched her keel over along after it. Behind her stood a stricken-looking Eliza,
a heavy round paperweight from Henry's desk in her hands and over her head.

  "You," I whispered, unable to find the right words.

  Eliza's bloodshot eyes were reeling and wild as she slowly dropped the paperweight down to chest level, her body trembling.

  "She killed him. She killed my Henry," she moaned, grabbing at her stomach with a free hand.

  It was over. Sydney couldn’t hurt us anymore. I drew in a breath, imagining myself with deep roots plunging into the ground below my feet. I found the ball of energy deep inside myself, and mentally pulled on it, tugging free strands of it to help me as I covered Karen's face with my hands, concentrating as best as I could on healing her. Warmth buzzed along my nerves, until I could feel the hint of pain seeping out of her.

  I cradled Karen's head in my lap, relief flooding through me in bursts as the swollen contusion on her face started flattening back down under my palm, the bruising already forming along her cheekbone fading away. Karen's eyes fluttered back into focus, and tears welled up in them as she threw her arms around me, clinging on tightly as ever.

  "I told you we should have called the cops," I sniffled, realizing my own eyes were filled with real tears.

  I didn't know how long we sat there, but it took Karen a moment to stand without swaying, and once she was back on her feet, I turned to Eliza and very gently plucked the paper weight from her still shaking hand.

  "No one else is going to start throwing around any more heavy office supplies, are they?" I asked, trying to lighten the thrumming tension in the room, my heart still racing. "Just making sure."

  Chapter 21

  A few days later, I piled another inch of dip onto a tortilla chip, groaning as I bit into it, the queso bursting with flavor. "You know, I could get used to this kind of treatment," I tried to say through a mouthful of gooey cheese, completely unashamed. "Maybe I should have been the one to get my lights knocked out."

  Karen playfully pushed at me with her fuzzy sock-covered foot. "Yeah? Well, it didn't work out so well for everyone else involved."

  She of course, was talking about Sydney Mortran being carted off to prison with no chance of getting bail. That was after she had stitches sewn into her head from where Eliza whacked her with the paperweight, basically saving our lives in the process.

  I nodded. "Touché."

  We'd been lying around on the couch all day, snacking on the tons of meals that neighbors and friends alike had brought over to us in light of everything that had happened on the day of Henry's funeral. Pies, casseroles, bags of chips, all sorts of Tupperware containers full of food sat stacked to the brim inside of our refrigerator and across our kitchen island.

  So many people had come by to say hello, but Barbara had shooed every one of them away, claiming that Karen needed her rest. The truth of the matter was that Karen was totally fine thanks to my crazy healing powers, but we all frankly were taking advantage of an opportunity to get a few days of peace and quiet.

  So, when Barbara bounded down the steps, graceful as ever and with her house phone in hand, I didn't think much of it until she handed it over to Karen.

  Karen took it, looking mildly interested.

  "Hello? Hi, Darren. I'm actually feeling a lot better today. Yes, Mom brought it down to me. Please thank Sharon for me, would you? It was delicious. I think Taylor might have enjoyed it even more than I did," she said, shooting me a teasing grin over her shoulder as I stuck my tongue out at her. "What's that? Hmm. I think I'll have to get permission from the warden, but yes, I don't see why not. I'll let you know for sure. Thanks, Darren. Bye."

  Barbara raised a brow at her. "Permission from the warden, huh?"

  "Something like that. Actually, he asked if I'd be okay to stop by the law firm later on today. He said there was something there he thought I might want to see."

  I popped another chip in my mouth. "Color me intrigued. I'm in."

  We both looked at Barbara, pouting with our bottom lips sticking out like a couple of three-year-olds. "Please?" we both asked at the same time, erupting into a fit of giggles as the stern look slid from her mouth.

  "Well, I guess so. But please don't be gone for too long. I think I've had enough alarming news this week to last me the rest of my life," she replied, leaning down to give Karen a kiss on her forehead.

  -

  Karen had the common sense to at least pretend she was getting over trauma to the head, and the fake bandage Barbara had recommended seemed to do the trick. Our arrival at James & Sons was a little too widely-known for me, but I relaxed when a familiar hand reached out and handed me a glass of bubbling champagne as Darren directed Karen to follow him into Henry's office.

  The dimple in Ken's chin was still just as adorable as the last time I saw it. "Well, if it isn't Rosemary Creek's own Nancy Drew!"

  I had to laugh. "Who reads Nancy Drew anymore? Your Great-Aunt Tessie or something?"

  Ken chuckled. "Hating on the classics, I see. Tsk, tsk. Maybe the two of you would have found the murder weapon and all if you'd just followed the Case of the Missing Golf Club. Really, though. Thanks for your help, Taylor. I know it means a lot to the firm, not to mention to Karen and Barbara."

  My skin flushed pink at the sound of my name on his lips. "It wasn't just me. Karen played a big part, too."

  Ken nodded, the corner of his smile ever slightly so crooked. "Well, remind me not to ever get in your way," he replied, looking somewhat impressed.

  I found it hard to look away from him, noticing the little flecks of gold and hazel in his green eyes fringed with those thick lashes that made women cry with jealousy.

  "Actually, maybe you can help me this time around," I said. "Did you know about the offshore account and how Henry was handling his clients’ money?"

  The smile faltered. "Darren mentioned something about it to all of us associates the day before the funeral, yeah. I had no idea, but at the same time, it seems like exactly the sort of thing Henry would have done."

  I sighed. "I just wish there was some kind of retribution for the poor women who had to deal with him, you know? It was so unfair of him to help all those men commit fraud."

  He nodded slowly, but there was a dawning realization crossing his handsome face. "I can't do much – representing those women would constitute a conflict of interest on behalf of the firm - but I do know a few people who might be able to help. I went to law school with them. Like I said, it might be a long shot, but I could at least try and reach out to them."

  I was totally speechless for a second, a weird tightness balling up inside my chest. I must have looked like some kind of crazy fish standing there with my mouth opening and closing. "Wow, yeah. That would be amazing, Ken. I don't even know what to say, except, well, thank you. From the bottom of my heart. And on behalf of the women who I'm sure would be falling at your feet right about now," I said, laughing at the way things were starting to finally turn around. If we could help even one of those women it would have been worth it to me. "The women deserve someone like you fighting in their corner."

  Ken pointed at himself with a chuckle. "Me? I think maybe that someone they need is you."

  "Well, on top of that whole not-having-a-law-degree thing, animals of the non-talking and non-scheming variety are much more my speed."

  "Animal lover, huh? Okay, yeah. I can see it," he replied, that same smile on his face still making it difficult to look away.

  "Taylor!" someone screeched, and before I knew what was going on, a pair of long thin arms were thrown around my neck. Eliza pulled away just in time to look at me, her mascara already running down her face.

  "I don't think I can thank you and Karen enough for what you did on behalf of Henry! That murderer would have gotten away with all of it if it weren't for you!" I was vaguely aware of the wetness smearing against me as she leaned in, still crying.

  "How about we get you some of that champagne they're serving, Eliza?" Ken suggested, noticing the confusion on my face. I had no idea how to react.
<
br />   I chewed on my bottom lip as he directed her away, still flushed from the whole exchange.

  "So, what was all that about, anyway?" I asked Karen as she came back from her meeting with Darren.

  It took me a minute to realize that the look on Karen’s face was one of pure shock.

  "Are you okay? What's going on?" I asked her, looking behind her to see if anything else was amiss. But Karen just shook her head.

  "Apparently, Henry set aside some money for me, in case anything were to happen to him, according to Darren." She handed me a paper folded in half, and when I opened it, I squeaked like a darn mouse.

  "Oh my god, Karen! This is a check for twenty-thousand dollars! Holy crap, girl! He left you twenty grand!?"

  And yet, Karen’s face was scrunched up in a frown.

  "Ugh. Don't you see? It's his version of a bribe from the afterlife. And with everything we found out, I mean, this isn't even as much as my mother would have gotten from a proper child support stint, you know? Sure, it's a lot of money to just hand over, but still. I just can't imagine taking it with a clear conscience."

  There was no way in the world I was going to let her sit back and watch a twenty-grand paycheck fly right by her. I didn’t care who it came it from.

  "Karen, come on now. You can't just let your pride get the best of you. I mean, this is twenty thousand dollars we're talking about, here! What if you find a way to put the money to good use somehow? Do something Henry would have never done with his money, you know?"

  Exasperated, Karen blew a strand of hair from her face and stared me down. "All right, then. Fine. I'll take the money. Gilly Mills could always use it that’s for sure. Or at least half of it."

  I frowned. "Half of it! Why not just give all of it to them?"

  Karen shifted from one foot to the other, looking down at the ground. "Because I'm giving the other ten thousand to you."

  I didn't think I'd ever be able to pick my jaw back up off the ground. "Are you serious right now?"