by Kelly Ethan
“Now where would you meddling Harrow women be off to?” He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked.
The cousins shared a look. Xandie sighed, it was her turn to provide a distraction. “Lila had something urgent come up and Holly and I were going along for moral support.” Ducking her head, she smiled coquettishly up at the brawny Police Chief.
Lila and Holly sidled past Braun and power-walked to Lila’s van and leaned against it, watching Xandie.
“Urgent? Nothing to do with Elspeth ducking out?” He dropped his hands and rested against the open door.
His large shoulders filled the doorway and Xandie felt a wave of heat rise from her throat. Zach Braun had been a thorn in her side whenever she investigated a murder. But lately he’d been easy going and willing to work with her…mostly. Now Xandie was noticing how his shaggy hair flopped over his forehead and her hands itched to push it back out of the way. She wiped her hands on her yoga pants, forgetting Elspeth’s bra under her arm. The brassiere slipped and landed on the floor between them.
They both stared at the underwear, laying cone-up on the ground.
“Was the urgent task related to updating underwear?”
Where was a stray hole she could fall into when she needed it? “It’s Elspeth’s. Colin was dancing around with it on his head. I just forgot I was holding onto it.” Xandie reached down at the same time Braun did to pick up the bra and their heads collided with a meaty thump.
Braun grabbed Xandie’s shoulders and steadied her as she wobbled back.
“You okay there, Xandie?”
Xandie, not the typical sarcastic Meyers. A shiver ziplined down Xandie’s spine. His ice-blue eyes bored into her amber Harrow ones. She cleared her throat, breaking the physical spell he’d entrapped her in. “I’m fine, Zach. Sorry about that.” She smiled weakly and rubbed the slight lump on her head.
Zach helped Xandie stand, still holding onto one hand. “I’m used to contrary Harrows and Meyers.”
“That’s us. Contrary.” How on earth did she get herself in this position? It was supposed to be about distracting the shifter from questioning their exit, not counting the amount of times his biceps flexed.
“Are you going to tell me the actual reason you three are skipping out on Harrow House and your protection?”
“Lila has some female business. We’re giving her sister solidarity.” When in doubt embarrass.
Zach tilted his head back and guffawed, the tanned line of his throat bare to view. Tiny elephants stomped through the pit of her stomach as she asked, “You don’t believe me?”
“Your middle name is sneaky, and I have a sister and a meddling mother who both used the same excuse when they wanted to ditch us.” He sobered a little. “How about I conveniently forget I saw you, but if you have any trouble with your complicated shenanigans, call me first?”
“And if I don’t?”
“You’ll owe me a coffee date at Lila’s.”
Had Braun just asked her out on a date?
“Why don’t we just skip to a coffee date after this Elspeth fiasco is over? Since we both know you’ll end up in trouble, anyway.” He winked at Xandie.
“If you’re done flirting, we gotta be some place.” Lila grabbed Xandie’s arm and tugged her away. “She says yes. Call her and she’ll set up a time. Ciao, shifter.”
“Why did you do that?” hissed Xandie.
“Because you two are painfully slow, and with that PIG agent sniffing around you, Braun needs some encouragement.”
“Xandie?” Braun raised his voice so it traveled to the fleeing women.
Yanking her arm out of Lila’s grip, she turned around just in time to be hit in the face by a flying brassiere.
“You forgot your underwear.” He snickered and waved goodbye.
“Elspeth’s underwear. Not mine. Elspeth’s,” Xandie hollered at the back-to-annoying Police Chief.
“Nice to know that some things never change.” Lila giggled and shoved Xandie into her van next to Holly.
This was all her grandmother’s fault. Babysitting Elspeth Harrow should come with danger pay.
Thirteen
“I’m telling you, Elspeth isn’t here.” Rose Mayweather, Inn proprietor, shifted in Xandie’s direction. “Just because you can’t keep track of one old woman doesn’t mean that she’s hiding here.”
“She spoke to someone from the Inn a little while ago. Maybe about an hour?” Who knows what her grandmother was planning? The woman skewed toward dramatic, over the top schemes. Xandie shuddered. They needed to find her and lock her in Harrow House and throw away the key.
“She could give a sugar overdosed toddler a run for her money,” Lila mumbled under her breath. “Tell me again why Holly got to stay behind in the van and keep a look out for Elspeth?”
“Because you lost rock, paper, scissors. Stop being a sore loser,” Xandie whispered back then focused on Rose Mayweather. “Think of all the expensive damage Elspeth could do while hiding out here,” Xandie appealed to the Innkeeper’s business senses. “You know how tricky our grandmother is. For an old girl, she’s fast and devious. Is there a possibility she could have snuck in while your back was turned?”
Rose opened her mouth and then closed it again before speaking, “I got a call there was an issue with the kitchen staff, but when I investigated, they denied any problem.”
“How long were you gone for?” Lila tapped the front desk with a blunt-tipped nail.
“Only ten minutes. I swear.”
Xandie and Lila exchanged a speaking glance.
“Probably enough time for Elspeth to slip upstairs to Bridget Doyle’s room.”
Rose slumped against the reception desk. “There’s no getting rid of you Harrows, is there?”
Lila beamed. “Nope. Best to nip the Harrow in the bud so to speak. Minimizes the damage later.”
Giving in, the Inn owner slammed a key down on the desk. “Bridget Doyle’s room, any damage you find you pay for. I’m not sure she’s even there, though. She canceled her lunch order to her room this morning. I assumed she was heading out.”
With a nod of thanks, Xandie pocketed the key and followed Lila’s fast retreating back as her cousin power-walked the stairs to Bridget’s room. Xandie blew out a shuddering breath as she pulled up next to Lila.
“Maybe I should start offering healthier options at the bakery? Besides, now you’ve got Braun asking you on dates, you’ll want to keep your girly figure.”
“Can we keep our mind on business, please? Besides, I haven’t worked out yet how I got roped into a coffee date with the Police Chief.”
“That would be the bubbling tension between the two of you. Had to come to a head sometime.”
Cousins. Xandie pointed to the already slightly ajar door. “Can we focus on the open door instead of my lack of fitness and potentially awkward date with the bear shifter?” Reaching out, she pushed the door wide.
“No dead body. No dead body,” Lila chanted behind her.
No corpse, but one heck of a mess. Xandie pushed the upside-down bedside table out of the way. The mattress had been shoved off the bedframe and sliced open, springs poking through jagged tears. Sheets and blankets were shredded into strips which now decorated the floor. The wardrobe doors hung open, the clothing dumped in a corner and shredded.
“Rose’s housekeeping skills are worse than Holly’s.” Lila wrinkled her nose as she peered around.
“No sign of Elspeth or Bridget? Whatever happened, we’re too late.” But had tornado Elspeth destroyed the room or was it the killer? No amulet was visible either.
“Was this mess caused by an old-woman-on-woman catfight or by the killer searching for Doyle’s portion of the amulet?”
Xandie was saved from answering Lila’s question by the ear-piercing scream of Rose Mayweather.
“What has your grandmother done to my lovely room?” Rose shoved Xandie out of the way and turned in a full circle on the spot, taking in the destruction. “I
hope Elspeth has money squirreled away because she’s paying for every single damaged item in this room.” Rose stopped spinning and glared at Xandie and Lila, hands on hips.
Lila mirrored the irate woman’s body language and glared back. “The door was open. Anyone could have wandered in and trashed the place. Has anyone even seen Elspeth here?”
“What about Bridget? It’s her room, did anyone see her leave? Or hear anything?” Xandie peeped out into the corridor. Bridget’s room was one of the last at the end of the row, but she had a neighbor on each side. If those rooms were occupied, surely the occupants would have heard something?
Rose lowered her hands and cleared her throat. “About that. One of the rooms next to her is empty, but the other just checked out a few minutes ago. They mentioned they heard glass breaking. They poked their heads out into the corridor and spotted a tall, athletic woman exiting the room.”
“That leaves out both Bridget and Elspeth. No one could accuse them of being athletic. It lets Elspeth off the hook for the room damages. Doesn’t it, Rose?” Xandie arched an eyebrow.
“I suppose. Who pays for this mess then?” Rose flapped her hands at the surrounding chaos.
“I’d say the Paranormal Investigative Group has deep pockets, don’t they? They’re supposed to be keeping an eye Elspeth and her friends, so bill them.”
Rose beamed at Lila and blew her a kiss as she pushed past. “Harrow sneakiness at its best.” She paused for a few moments. “One of my cleaning staff overheard a conversation on the phone as she cleaned the room. Apparently, Ms. Doyle met someone at the diner in town for lunch. She remembers the conversation because of all the insults used.”
Had to be Elspeth on the other end of the phone. Only one person in Point Muse could drive someone to so many insults in one conversation. “Thanks, Rose.” Xandie turned to Lila. “We need to get to the diner, warn Bridget the killer is after her piece of the amulet.”
“If they don’t already have it.”
And if the killer didn’t? First stop, the diner and Bridget Doyle.
The killer was always one step ahead.
“I didn’t touch the fortune-teller. Not my fault she’s an overeater.” Elspeth backed into the corner of the diner, arms folded over a non-existent chest as the healer worked on Bridget Doyle.
“She ate two blueberry pies, two lobster pies and a plate of French fries. That’s not just overeating, that’s a death wish.”
Xandie fought a gag as she stepped around blueberry-colored vomit.
“It ain’t my food. The health department has already cleared me this week.” The owner and cook for the diner crossed meaty arms over his stained shirt.
“That’s a shock,” Xandie mumbled to Lila.
“That flaky waitress of mine, Delilah, took sick halfway through her shift. I can’t cook and clean too.”
“Since when do you clean, Harold?” Elspeth sneered. “You’re a sloth shifter. Laziness is your middle name.”
“Now you look here, Elspeth Harrow, I’m not afraid of you.” Harold shook his fist at the elderly witch.
Elspeth grinned, white dentures on show. “Really?” She purred and drew out the word as every lightbulb in the diner popped with a hiss, showering everyone in shards of glass.
“Elspeth, leash the hag,” Buchanan bellowed as he strode in, quickly followed by Chief Braun and Agent Jackson.
Xandie’s attention snagged on the brawny shifter. Only a little while ago, he’d thrown underwear at her and asked her on a date. She wasn’t sure how to act around him now. The status quo of the Braun-Meyers squabbling had changed. She dropped her gaze down to poor Bridget and away from the shifter.
“I’ll give you hag,” Elspeth screeched back and gathered all the shadows in the diner around her like a medieval hooded cape. The only body part now visible was her amber Harrow eyes.
“At least we can see where she vacuum-sucked all the shadows to.” Lila shrugged and scooted in next to Xandie and the late fortune-teller, Bridget Doyle.
The ex-coven member looked like she’d swum in blueberry pie, her skin colored in tie-dyed purple patterns. Xandie took a deep breath, put Braun out of her head, and knelt next to Bridget. A graveyard remnant of various foods surrounded the woman. Elspeth’s nemesis had blue-tinged lips and a purple protruding tongue. But considering the amount of blueberry pie remains, the color could have been from that.
“She choked, I swear.” Harold shuffled over to Xandie, wringing his hands. “She just kept shoveling food in and crying. She barely took time to swallow. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Who was here at the time?” Maybe there were other witnesses she could interview who could clear Elspeth.
Harold rubbed a hand through sparse stringy gray hair. “The lunch rush hasn’t started. It was just those two old cacklers, me and my waitress, Delilah. That good-for-nothing woman bailed halfway through her shift.”
But Delilah wasn’t a Morrigan Coven member, and she definitely wasn’t top of Xandie’s suspect list. That position was taken by Hellacious Whitburn.
“It was a gluttony hex.” Elspeth stomped up and stared at the dead coven member with a loaded glance. “Bridget was an egotistical prima donna who is happy to prostitute her gift, but she used to be a friend. She didn’t deserve to die by shoveling food into her yap.”
“And how do you know it’s a gluttony hex, Ms. Harrow?” Agent Jackson leaned against the doorjamb as Braun and his deputies swarmed the room, along with Jackson’s PIG agents.
Buchanan snorted. “How do you think? Elspeth may have a devious hag streak, but her hexes are pure genius.”
Elspeth curtsied and winked at the grizzled Paladin agent. “Nice to see my skills appreciated.”
“Compliments aside, a woman died by your hex. Try and show a little
sympathy.” Lila rolled her eyes at her grandmother’s antics.
If Xandie didn’t know better, she’d swear Elspeth was flirting with Buchanan. “Can we focus on the body and the fact that the killer could come for Elspeth next?”
“I can look after myself, granddaughter.” Elspeth drew herself up, haughtiness in every inch of her demented diminutive frame.
Xandie nodded agreement. “You probably can, but the killer has how many pieces of the amulet now?”
Elspeth deflated. “Two. Henry and Bridget’s. Mine and Lucien’s are the last ones.”
“Exactly. We need to get a step ahead of Whitburn.”
Buchanan nodded. “I’ve got Paladins pouring through his company and personal finances and past movements. He can’t be working alone. He has to have an accomplice. I should have the information soon. That might give us an edge.”
“But meanwhile...” Xandie narrowed her gaze on her grandmother. “Stay at Harrow House in full view of Buchanan and his leather-clad agents. No drugging and no escaping. Promise me?”
Braun snorted. “Good luck. Elspeth has a certain reputation amongst the unwary who take liquid refreshment from her.” He stepped closer to Xandie. “Speaking of liquid refreshment, have you decided on a time yet for our date?”
Jackson stepped forward. “Date? With him?” He used his metal wand to point at the shifter. “What about our nightcap?”
“Xandie?” Braun frowned.
For the love of… “Can we get Elspeth back to Harrow House and protection before I argue timings of dates?” Whoops, Xandie winced internally. That sounded suspiciously like she’d agreed to a date with Ethan Jackson as well. How did she get herself into these predicaments?
Holly broke in, trying to smooth the testosterone levels. “Not that she’d agreed to any after-hours dating with an agent from the Paranormal Investigative Group.” She scowled at the agent. “Shame on you for taking advantage of the situation.” Holly waggled her fingers warningly at Jackson, glaring like an old schoolteacher until the agent looked suitably chastened.
Jackson cleared his throat and changed the subject. “My bosses also have questions about the legali
ties of some of Elspeth Harrow’s hexes.”
“Great. It’s a party.” Elspeth cheered and clapped her hands. “I have this special pumpkin mimosa I want to try on you. It’s to die for.” Elspeth winked and then led a groaning pack of agents out of the diner.
Lila leaned into Xandie. “They’re gonna wish she had hexed them.”
Truer words were never spoken by a Harrow.
Fourteen
“I think you need this more than I do.” Zach Braun waved a steaming takeaway cup in front of Xandie’s face.
She opened one eye and squinted at the too-cheerful chief of police. “You’re being nice. What do you want?”
Zach placed the honey-sweetened coffee in front of Xandie. “I heard about the karaoke competition last night. Who knew Buchanan could belt out show tunes?”
Xandie grabbed the coffee and sipped a mouthful, wincing as the honeyed caffeine hit the back of her throat. She preferred hot chocolate or a lovely milky tea, but when facing a killer and hung-over Harrows, the shot of caffeine would come in handy. “Yeah, and who knew they’d carry on until three am. Good thing Harrow House is set away from our neighbors.”
“At least Elspeth kept busy.”
“Busy recording everyone else so she can blackmail them later.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from Elspeth Harrow.” Braun paused and assessed Xandie. “How are you doing?”
“There’s a killer stalking my grandmother and those damn PIG agents waver between treating Elspeth as a future victim or the evil perpetrator, so I guess I’m as good as it’s gonna get.”
“Jackson disappeared quickly from the diner yesterday. Anyone would think he was embarrassed about being called out on something?”
“You’d have to talk to him. Actually, don’t do that. You two have a tendency to dissolve into arguing.” Xandie paused and licked her lips. They hadn’t solved the Elspeth/coven issue yet so their future date still loomed unresolved, but at least she could offer Zach an answer to one question. “Jackson asked for a nightcap after the poisoned milk incident. Once I found out the Paranormal Investigative Group had a file on me, I declined…loudly. I think he was trying to aggravate you.”
