Witch Way to Beauty and the Beach

by Jane Hinchey

  He huffed out a breath. “She was pregnant. With my kid.”

  “So you killed her? Bit extreme don’t you think?” Jenna said.

  “I told you, I didn’t kill her. Had no plans to either. She refused to get rid of it so I’d arranged to meet with her that night for Plan B.”

  “Which was?”

  “Send her to East Dondure to wait out the pregnancy, deliver the baby and put it up for adoption. I’d arranged an apartment, private tutoring so her schooling wouldn’t suffer. But the baby had to go, one way or another.”

  “Did Emily know you intended to ship her off? Force her to give up her baby?”

  He shrugged. “Didn’t get a chance to discuss it. I was running late, and when I turned up at the beach hut, she was gone. I figured she’d gotten tired of waiting and gone home.”

  “How do you know she hadn’t already told her friends she was in a secret relationship with you? That she was pregnant? How long had it been going on, anyway?” I demanded.

  “Long enough. Anyway, I took care of that.”

  “Oh?”

  He waved the gun around as he spoke and I kept my eyes glued to it, worried he’d accidentally squeeze the trigger in his excitement.

  “It pays to have connections in this town.”

  I rolled my eyes. Of course he had connections. I wondered if the council elections were rigged and if he was about to be made mayor via underhanded means.

  “Do tell,” Jenna drawled, her eyes drilling into him.

  “You should know a businessman doesn’t reveal his sources.” He matched her tone. “Much like a reporter doesn’t reveal hers.”

  “Let me think,” I murmured. “How would you stop a seventeen-year-old girl from telling her friends about her secret boyfriend? There’s not a lot you could threaten Emily with. Her parents are dead. What? You threatened to out her to her grandmother?” I pondered, tapping my chin. “But no, you’d be outing yourself. No, I don’t believe you threatened Emily at all. But you were confident she wouldn’t tell anyone about you—but not the baby.”

  I snapped my fingers. “Someone spelled her. Spelled her into not speaking about you, revealing your relationship. But then she got pregnant, and the spell didn’t extend to the baby. And if she told people about the baby, they’d want to know who the father was—but she couldn’t tell them—so they’d start digging. And you couldn’t have that. If people found out, you could kiss the mayor's job goodbye, no matter how powerful your connections are.”

  The gun swung around, aimed at my head. I gulped. “You’re getting quite the reputation, Ms. Jones,” he said. “Too bad you never learned to keep your nose out of other people’s business.”

  “Not my fault you did a crap job at getting rid of Emily’s body,” I snapped back. “If I hadn’t found her on the beach I most likely wouldn’t be involved at all. You only have yourself to blame.”

  His jaw clenched, he ground out, “I told you. I did not kill her.”

  Jenna cleared her throat. “Who did then?”

  “That would be me.” Sarah McClain stepped out from behind Daniel. His big frame had hidden her approach. Only Daniel appeared as startled as we were. He swung around and she brought a baseball bat down on his arm. I winced at the crack it made as the wood connected with flesh and the gun dropped from his hand. With a howl of pain he cradled his arm to his chest.

  “I think you broke it,” he groaned.

  “Don’t care.” Scooping up the gun she aimed it at Daniel. “Over there. With them.”

  I looked at Jenna in confusion. “What’s happening?” I whispered.

  “No clue,” she whispered back, lips barely moving.

  Daniel staggered to my side, his face pale. Tossing the baseball bat aside, Sarah trained the gun on us.

  “Is it true?” Jenna asked. “Did you kill Emily?”

  She cocked her head, slowly swung the gun to focus on Jenna, then shrugged.

  “Guess it can’t hurt to satisfy your curiosity. You will be dead soon too.”

  Jenna and I looked at each other then back at Sarah. I wasn’t sure how we would get out of this one and was secretly hoping Jenna had come up with something while we were buying time.

  “Emily was barely conscious when I found her. Jacob and I had planned to meet up at the beach hut, instead I found Emily, bleeding. So I helped her inside, initially I was going to call for help, but then I had a thought. Jacob wanted me. He just wanted to win the conquest of sleeping with Emily before he’d dump her, but she wouldn’t give it up and it became more and more of a challenge for him.”

  “Oh God, I think I’m going to throw up.” Daniel was as white as a sheet and I wasn’t sure if it was from what Sarah was saying or the pain of his undoubtedly broken arm.

  “Shut up,” she barked at him. “I knew he didn’t love her. She was just a conquest to him. So I figured, with her out of the way…”

  “No, seriously. I’m gonna hurl.” Daniel clamped a hand over his mouth.

  “Nice try.” Sarah sneered. “Back it up.” She waved the gun at Daniel, but he stayed where he was, crouched over with a hand clamped to his face. Then he crumpled to the floor, out cold.

  I blinked. Well. That was unexpected. Sarah cocked her head, nudged Daniel with her foot, then gave him a hard kick in the ribs just to be sure. Nothing. Shrugging she turned her attention back on us.

  “Now, where was I?”

  “You and Emily. In the hut,” Jenna said.

  Sarah nodded. “Right. I made a split second decision to use her head injury to my advantage. She was out of it anyway, didn’t feel a thing as I choked her to death. Then I dragged her out into the ocean.”

  “Expecting the tide to take her away,” Jenna cut in. “Only it didn’t. It washed her back ashore.”

  “Didn’t matter. She was still dead.” She wiggled the gun. “Pick him up and put him on the sofa. Now! Move it!”

  Hurrying forward, Jenna took one side, I took the other, and together we heaved Daniel onto the sofa. His head lolled back, and I pressed my fingers against his neck. Good. Nice strong pulse. Although for how long with Sarah waving that gun around was anyone’s guess.

  “You.” She pointed the gun at Jenna. “Go into the bathroom and get a glass of water. And don’t try anything. You do, and your friend here gets it.” She stepped forward and pressed the barrel of the gun against my forehead. I closed my eyes and prayed.

  “I’m not going to try anything,” Jenna assured her. She was back in minutes with a glass of water.

  “Now throw it on him,” Sarah ordered.

  Jenna did and Daniel woke with a start, wiping his face and cursing when he jostled his broken arm.

  “What are you doing here, anyway?” he ground out, jaw clenched as he glared at Jenna.

  “I imagine they were looking for the phone,” Sarah said. “The one with all the evidence on it. God, what an idiot, not even deleting the texts.”

  “How do you know about it?” I asked, beyond curious.

  “Uh duh.” She rolled her eyes. “Emily told me.”

  “She told you?” Daniel sputtered, his face paling.

  “Yes, genius. She did. Now shut up.”

  I looked at Jenna. This wasn’t adding up. Emily couldn’t have told Sarah about the phone; she was spelled not to talk about her relationship with Daniel, and the phone was how they communicated.

  “Now what?” Jenna asked. “Are you going to shoot us?”

  “Don’t be silly, I’m not going to shoot you.” Sarah laughed, an unhinged, creepy sound. “He is.” I half expected Jacob to come strolling out, but instead she nodded toward Daniel.

  “Now I’m really confused,” I muttered.

  “I know what she’s up to,” Jenna said. “She’s going to frame Daniel for our murder. Just like she framed Jacob for Emily’s. Am I right?”

  “Stop talking!” she leveled the gun at Jenna’s head. I held my breath, my heart pumping so hard I thought it would beat right out of m
y chest. I had an awful feeling we would die here today at the hands of a psychotic teenager.

  And I still hadn’t had my first date with Jackson.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “It’s really rather clever when you think about it,” Jenna said conversationally. “Who would suspect you when Jacob was the boyfriend and Daniel the lover? I mean, they’re the obvious suspects. A love triangle. Only Jacob didn’t really love Emily.”

  Sarah scoffed. “Of course he didn’t. He went out with Emily because he wanted to get into her pants. But she wasn’t putting out, and that irked him no end. That’s why he turned to me.”

  “Turned to you? So, what? He was dating you? In secret?”

  She tossed her hair over one shoulder and nodded. “We’ve had sex three times.” She held up three fingers, as if immensely proud of it. “But he’s a stupid boy who just wanted to nail Emily that one time, to brag about it to his buddies.”

  “Ahhh.” I nodded. So part of what Jacob had told me was true. “He wouldn’t break up with her. That must have hurt.”

  A dark flush crept up her neck and into her cheeks and the gun settled on me. I swallowed. Then she grinned. It was the most unnerving thing I’d ever seen. My stomach flip-flopped.

  “You really are a psychopath.” The way Jenna said it, so calmly, as if our lives weren’t in immediate danger, had me turning my head to look at her. Her eyes met mine, then darted down, then back to me. What? What was she looking at?

  “I wouldn’t have thought so,” Sarah replied. “But I’m discovering death is not as distasteful as I would have thought. And it's an excellent solution to one's problems.”

  Then I saw it, approaching behind Sarah’s legs. Archie. He crept along on his belly, golden eyes now black, ears laid flat against his head. I focused my eyes back on Sarah, not wanting to give away the fact that my cat was stalking her. This could be the distraction we needed. I squeezed Jenna’s hand, and she squeezed back. She’d seen Archie before I had. We just had to keep Sarah talking until Archie made his move.

  “I’m curious though,” I asked, turning my attention to Daniel, trying to keep my voice even, “what did you use to keep Emily quiet? Did another witch help you?”

  He grimaced. “Hardly. If you want something done under the radar, who would you go to?”

  “The foxes,” Jenna said.

  I looked at her in surprise. “What?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve used them a time or two myself. Not for murder,” she clarified, “but they are fantastic at getting information or certain items that are otherwise hard to get.”

  “Now I’m really confused,” I admitted. “So foxes can spell cast?”

  “Foxes are excellent herbalists,” Jenna answered. “Isn’t that right, Daniel?”

  He nodded. “They are.”

  “So… no spell?”

  He shook his head. “No spell. But a certain combination of herbs, a strand of my hair, a strand of Emily’s, creates a special concoction that when consumed, bound her to silence. She couldn’t talk about me. Ever. About anything. It’s brilliant.”

  “Until she got pregnant. That was careless of you.”

  “An unfortunate accident.” He lowered his head for a moment before jerking it back up and glaring at us. “I liked Emily. She had potential.”

  “Potential?”

  “Once she was eighteen I’d intended to make our relationship public. I’d be mayor by then, and she only had her grandmother, so minimal family interference. She was an attractive young woman.”

  “Who you could mold into the perfect… what? Wife?”

  “Eventually.” I couldn’t contain the eye roll. What an egotistical prick. I was busy fuming about it and almost missed Archie’s big moment. Jenna squeezed my fingers, hard, just as Archie launched, an almighty leap from the floor to the top of Sarah’s head, where he clung, claws extended, digging into Sarah’s scalp and neck.

  “Get the gun!” Jenna shouted, launching forward while Sarah danced around yelling and trying to dislodge Archie. I leaped into action, grabbing Sarah’s wrist and wrestling the gun from her grip. Now I had it, I had no idea what to do with it. Staggering back out of reach, I held it in trembling hands and aimed it at Sarah’s chest.

  I needn’t have worried. Sarah couldn’t have cared less; she was more intent on getting an infuriated Archie off of her. Blood ran down her face where Archie’s claws had dug deep. Jenna had her hands at Sarah’s belt and I wondered what on earth she was doing until I saw her slide the belt free, grab one of Sarah’s flailing fists and, creating a loop with the belt, slide it over and pull it tight around her wrist. Dragging that arm behind her back, Jenna maneuvered behind her, kicked her hard in the back of the knee so she collapsed to the floor, and with one arm incapacitated behind her, Sarah fell face first.

  “Omph.”

  Archie leaped clear, running to my side. I crouched, gun now aimed at the floor, while I ran a reassuring hand over Archie.

  “Help me with her,” Jenna grunted, having trouble keeping Sarah pinned to the floor and capturing her free arm. Setting the gun down, I hurried forward, sitting on Sarah’s back.

  She groaned in protest. “Can’t breathe,” she gasped.

  “Don’t care,” I shot back. Jenna captured the free arm and soon had it wound up with the belt and tied behind her back. She looked at me, face flushed and triumphant.

  I smiled. “Time to call the cops?”

  Her smile was wide. “Time to call the cops.”

  Chapter Twenty

  We sat in the darkened town hall, eyes glued to the extravaganza taking place before us on the stage. Gran had outdone herself, stepping in at the last minute to take Sarah’s spot, partnering with Jacob, and together with Hannah, Ryan, Ethan, and Jordan, flew through the air, spinning, swirling, performing dance moves from hip hop to ballroom, all seamlessly melded together.

  Jackson threaded his fingers through mine and squeezed. I turned and smiled at him.

  “They’re fantastic,” he whispered, leaning in close.

  “They are.” I nodded, feeling proud, both of the teenagers and Gran.

  The dance ended on an explosion of glitter that rained down on the audience. I jumped to my feet, clapping, and everyone else followed suit. The students stood in a line on stage and held hands before bowing, low and deep. Jackson stuck his fingers in his mouth for an ear-splitting wolf whistle. Gran bowed with her students and the crowd roared. Shaking my head and chuckling, I cheered even louder. Finally, the noise settled, and we resumed our seats for the next act.

  “I’m not sure anyone can top that,” Jackson said, adjusting his long legs until his thigh was resting against mine. I liked the heat of it, and with no thought, rested my hand on his leg. He placed his hand over mine and that’s how we sat for the rest of the show.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Izzy Higginbottom said, striding out onto the stage, looking glamorous and elegant in a long, sparkling, gold dress, “I’m sure you’ll join me in once again thanking all of our contestants in this evening’s talent competition.” We erupted in thunderous applause and cheering until she waved us into silence. “But alas, we can only have one winner. The poor judges had their work cut out for them this evening, from the dazzling aerobatic display of the Wicked Witches, to the sword swallowing endeavors of young Miles Brockhard, to the entertaining efforts of Whitefall Cove’s own Houdini, plus so many more. I have the envelope here—can I have a drum roll, please?”

  The orchestra below the stage obliged, a long and loud drumroll followed by a clash of symbols, as Izzy opened the envelope.

  “Starting at third place,” she announced dramatically, “we have Donna the Dexterous!” Donna Columbine hurried onto the stage, still dressed in her leotard costume and accepted the trophy Izzy presented her with. She then moved to stand center stage and await the remaining two announcements.

  “Second place goes to… Stephen Kemp for his incredible array of card tricks.” Nine-year-old Steph
en skipped onto the stage, the tails of his tuxedo fluttering behind him, his face beaming with pride. Izzy kissed his cheek and pretended to swoon. After Stephen had accepted his trophy and joined Donna, Izzy returned to the announcement we’d all been waiting for.

  “And the winner of this year’s Talent competition is…. the Wicked Witches!” Gran and her students burst onto the stage, doing cartwheels and somersaults. My eyes filled with tears I was so happy for them. It had been a tumultuous few days, but they’d persevered and I couldn’t be prouder. I dabbed under my eyes with a tissue.

  “Happy tears?” Jackson asked, breath hot in my ear.

  I nodded. “Very happy tears.”

  The main lights came on and the audience started to file out. It had been a wonderful evening. With my hand in Jackson’s, we headed down the center isle. We’d had no time to grab dinner as we’d intended to before the night’s show, not with the arrest of Sarah. Now my stomach was growling.

  “Shall we grab a table at Brewed Awakening?” Jackson asked, “They keep the kitchen open late.”

  “That sounds perfect. I’m starving.” Jackson led me to his car with a hand on the small of my back, before helping me into the passenger seat.

  “Your Gran did a fantastic job with the kids,” he said, sliding behind the wheel. “Even if her dress was... unusual.”

  Gran had worn a black spandex body suit with a cage dress over the top, and a sparkling tiara perched on her head.

  “She did, didn’t she?” I agreed. “She said if they won she’d take them all for burgers and shakes at The Silent Bite.”

  He threw a glance at me. “I was surprised Jacob was there tonight, what with the arrest of his uncle.”

  “Same.” I turned to face him. “I just can’t believe Daniel Griffin had been carrying on a relationship with a teenager for all this time and no one knew! He told us he’d gotten some herbal concoction from the foxes that prevented Emily from telling anyone about him, but how they weren’t spotted sneaking about is… amazing and appalling.”