“I might have,” Gus said, “Without you.”
“No,” Scarlett said, squeezing those strong, foreign fingers. she knew the soul inside, and she knew him. “I don’t know why yet why Lacey died, but I can tell you this—-there is no way you would have struck someone down like that. Not from behind. Not like that.”
Scarlett sat up and then stood, pulling Gus with her.
“We don’t know anything yet,” Lex said as they went back into the kitchen and dining area. She crossed to the herb box in the window over the kitchen sink, letting her fingers say hello to the little plants. “Except that this is a good motive, and it’s real evidence.”
“Even among witches and vampires,” Gus said, “You still need concrete proof. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could wave a wand and figure things out?”
“That never works when both sides have magic,” Scarlett said, “Didn’t you read your Harry Potter?”
Gus rubbed his brow. The sadness on his face seemed to match the sadness in her heart. She didn’t want to believe that those dumb kids they grew up with would become this kind of adult. She couldn’t help but think of Lacey when she wore that pink tutu dress in grade school. Or when Kelly belted out that song in the school play. Or the way that Brad headed up that habitat for humanity house. Or the way Abby used to curl up in the sun with a book.
“By the stars,” Scarlett said as she looked over Lex’s shoulder at the book of payments. There was a line of initials, followed by weird words that didn’t make sense. Congeniality. Succeed.
Oh. Scarlett froze as she looked at the line with congeniality and B.L. Oh. Scarlett pulled the book to her and then glanced through it again. Yes. Becca Lovejoy—that matched. And…Lacey--hers matched too. But…what about these others.
“It doesn’t make sense,” she said. But there were only five names. Becca’s was so obvious. Who used congeniality normally? But the girl who’d been voted Miss Congeniality in high school—that would be the one in the book here. The book that Abby kept, anyway. The rest…unless… “Of course.”
“Of course what?”
“Who was voted Miss Congeniality?” Scarlett’s gaze was fixed on Gus.
“Becca Lovejoy,” he said after a moment. “She always was so nice.”
Scarlett showed Lex the book.
“Succeed is Lacey?”
Scarlett and Gus both said yes.
“But these others?”
“They weren’t in our class, I bet,” Scarlett said. “Those are either names Abby gave them or things they were voted for their own class.”
“That makes sense,” Lex said. “And is super weird.”
Scarlett pulled out the flash drive and asked, “Did you find anything on this?”
“It’s password protected.”
And she knew. “Put in Die of Boredom.”
“Oh god,” Gus said as Lex tried it and it worked.
Scarlett told Lex, “Abby was voted Most Likely to Die of Boredom.”
The flash drive opened to six folders. But only five matched the book of payments. As Scarlett leaned forward, the lights went out.
“She’s here,” Scarlett said. She knew it.
“She must know we have the box,” Gus whispered.
But Scarlett disagreed. The killer was here—but even with all this weirdness. The killer didn’t add up to Abby. The emotion in that picture of Abby and Lacey. Abby would never have killed Lacey when they were spending time together—murdering her didn’t fit.
Everything clicked into place as a rock burst through the window of her living room. Scarlett, however, had seen that last file. Shoes. Kelly. Voted Most Likely to Drown in Shoes. By the stars, what if Kelly discovered what Scarlett had been figuring out since the murder? That Lacey had been sleeping with Brad. That Abby was a blackmailer. That...the rock was followed by a flaming bottle.
“We have to get out of here,” Lex said, snapping the computer shut and shoving it into a bag with the other evidence they’d found.
“It’s a trap,” Scarlett replied. “But she can’t know we’re together. Against me, she’d have a chance. A good one. Against all of us—no way.”
“We must have tripped something in the office,” Lex said. “If we did, she might know we’re together.”
“It’s not Abby,” Scarlett countered, “It’s Kelly.”
“What?” Gus and Lex both turned to Scarlett and she dropped to the ground of the apartment as she heard a sing-song voice from the outside. The bakery was on Arbor Avenue, the main street of Mystic Cove, but Kelly was coming from behind, having bypassed the busier street. With Mystic Cove quieting down early, it was possible there was no help to be found.
Scarlett hissed to the guys, “Who do you hate so much that you crush them from behind?”
Lex used a charm and the flames disappeared.
“Scarlett,” Gus said, “We have to get out of here.”
But she wasn’t finished, “You hate your best friend. The one you slaved for your entire life. The one who used you to steal money from your city. The one…”
She paused, feeling suddenly what Kelly must have felt. Scarlett felt with the abilities of her kind, and the rage, the hurt, the sadness, the broken dreams—all from those who should love you the best. And then she said for Kelly, “Lacey was sleeping with Brad. Best friend with your husband. Nothing could have been worse for Kelly.”
“Scarlett,” Gus said, taking her arm. “We have to get out of here.”
“It’s a trap,” Scarlett told them again. She looked down at the wood of her apartment and said, “Don’t burn.”
The wood had bonded to Scarlett. It wanted to please her. It couldn’t fight fire forever, but it could long enough for her to set her own trap. She smelled the fire that was burning at the bakery—that was trying to eat up Scarlett's garden and most importantly her power base.
“Kelly doesn’t know you’re here. I’ll run down the stairs. You take the windows. Circle around from behind.”
“No,” Gus growled. “No, it’s too dangerous. Think of your girls.”
“Can you get a confession?” Lex asked the question and Scarlett had to reply over the sound of Gus’s growled fury.
“I can try,” Scarlett said. “I will try. I am thinking of my girls. All of them.”
She didn’t expand on what Gram said. Scarlett didn’t mean only them anyway. She meant her mother, Maye. She meant her daughters. Gram. Harper. The girls to come. And she meant her man. The one she was going to fight for. Faceplanting into love didn’t sound so great, but landing in love—no matter how hard the fall did sound like a pretty good way to end.
“No,” Gus said. “It’s not worth it. What about Luna? Ella?”
“Gus,” Scarlett said. “We don't have time for this. I’m not going to be alone. It isn’t just me. It’s us.”
* * * * *
The sing-song voice of madness called Scarlett down to the garden. She walked slowly out the door and faced off with the beautiful face, the flowing hair, the gorgeous eyes. The perfect makeup. The incredible figure.
“I didn’t ever really think it would be you,” Scarlett said. “Abby was such a good suspect.”
“Abby the Blackmailer? She does seem suspicious even when she’s sitting across from you in the diner.” Kelly pushed her hair back and then said, “For what it’s worth, I’d have left you out of it. Being awkward, lonely, and fated for disappointment seems like a cruel enough fate.”
Scarlett blinked in the face of that venom and said, “Is that what you see when you look at me?”
“You can’t even land Gus. The vampire who can’t perform and even you can’t pull him in. You don’t even see that Lex is only using you. He’s a Lacey kind of man, not a nerdy freak man.”
Scarlett saw Lex creeping towards Kelly from behind.
“I’m sorry it has to be like this,” Kelly said. She lifted a charm that was made of onyx. Scarlett had only seen them in sketches before. She blinked.
&nbs
p; “You have to break that into my skin,” Scarlett said.
“Please. Druid. Fat, divorced loser. I run five miles a day. Besides I have this if you get away.”
Kelly flashed a gun and it paused Scarlett a little more than the tiny charm. Neither of them were that terrifying.
“So you realized that Lacey and Brad were sleeping together. That Abby and Lacey were using your login to steal from the town?”
Kelly took a deep breath and rubbed her brow again—this time with the back of her hand, since her fingers were clutched around the gun.
There was the sound of lightening in the distance, and Scarlett saw that a storm was coming in from the sea. How long had she been back in Mystic Cove? She'd have been to see the ocean by now if not for the murder. She wondered if she wouldn’t make it, but she wasn’t really that worried. Gus was mere steps from Kelly. He’d keep her safe. Lex was watching carefully from the shadows, and Scarlett knew she could trust him.
“I found out,” Lacey said. “I…how could she? She was supposed to be my friend.”
Kelly cursed and then said, “Do you know what I’ve done for her?”
Scarlett nodded and said, “Everything she wanted.”
“Everything,” Kelly shouted. “Everything. And she took that one thing from me that should have been mine.”
“He loves you,” Scarlett said gently. Not that it mattered. Kelly had killed Lacey. In murdering Lacey, Kelly had crushed her own shot at happily ever after too. “He told me.”
“When you were making a play for him?”
“Actually,” Scarlett started, but Kelly laughed a high-pitched mad laugh.
“Don’t lie,” Kelly shouted.
“I was trying to see if he’d killed Lacey.”
“Him? He’s a wuss. He passed out when I gave birth to Jimmy Jr. He couldn’t have hurt a fly.”
There was so much disgust in her words that Scarlett was confused. Was this love? This hatred? This…
“Mostly, I’m sorry about your little girl. I wish she wasn’t involved.”
For once Kelly didn’t sound mad, but Scarlett found that well of madness inside of herself.
Thunder rolled and lightning struck again and the wind picked up, slashing through the town, through the garden, past Kelly and right into Scarlett. She had frozen on the words little girl. She’d frozen and fury such as she hadn’t known was possible rose in her—a force unto itself.
Gus must have seen something in her, because he moved, drawing Kelly’s attention. She spun, facing off with Gus but holding the gun directly on Scarlett.
“Don’t move little vampire,” Kelly said in her sing-song voice. “Don’t make me shoot your pathetic little tree lover.”
It wasn’t possible for Scarlett to be more afraid that she’d become when Kelly said Luna was a target. But then again, it wasn’t possible for Scarlett to be less dangerous than she was at that moment either.
“I told you not to come out here,” Gus said gently. His gaze was fixed on the death charm, and Scarlett was sure that Kelly would attempt to use it on him and then wrap Scarlett up with a gunshot.
“You did,” Scarlett said without looking at him.
“You’re a mom. Your girls need you.”
“I am a mom,” Scarlett agreed. “I never would have thought that if you gave the mom inside of me a form, it would be a lioness, but that’s what I am. Don’t worry, Gus. I got this.”
Kelly laughed at that, and in the distraction Gus dove at her. Kelly, though, really did have the instincts of an athlete. She slammed down with her fist holding the death charm. He wasn’t going to make it, but Scarlett wasn’t just a druid.
She was a druid of the east wind and that wind grabbed Kelly’s wrist and held it. She screamed, but of course, the east wind was neither obedient nor gentle. Scarlett wouldn’t have crushed the bones in Kelly’s wrist, but the east wind would.
Lex dove forward, catching the death charm as Kelly dropped it. As he did, Gus bowled into Kelly, knocking her into the back of the brick bakery. Kelly’s head slammed against the brick and she slid slowly down the side.
Scarlett darted forward, slammed her hand into the wall next to Kelly and said, “Feel.”
Kelly screamed as the pain of Scarlett’s worry, Luna’s fear, Lacey’s pain, Brad’s despair hit her all at once. Everyone who’d been hurt by Kelly’s crime rang down on the witch as she crumpled to the ground.
“Finally,” Gram said from the alley. “It took you long enough to wrap that up. Boys, you can let Wally go now.”
Scarlett, Gus, and Lex turned to see their audience; Gram, Henna, Mr. Throdmore, Mr. Jueavas and one very shocked sheriff as Kelly’s shrieks faded to whimpers.
“Take care of the fire, warlock. What’s wrong with you?” Gram asked as Mr. Throdmore removed his hand from Wally’s mouth.
“Pick up that child, Gus. Being a murderer doesn’t mean we need to be cruel. See about dulling her pain. Do you need some first-aid charms?”
Gus shook his head.
“Scarlett Rebecca Oaken, take a deep breath and let the wind go.”
Scarlett turned to her Gram, barely realizing that she was in the center of a whirling east wind. She wanted to shriek in fury to let the rage comb through her and strike Abby down, strike Grant down. Jen and her perfect, normal baby boy. Brad and his philandering ways. Mr. Day, Brad’s Dad, and the…
“Scarlett Rebecca Dandelion Oaken that is enough. What would Ella and Luna think of your lack of control?”
“Oh,” Scarlett whispered, snapping back into herself. “Goodness.”
“I believe,” Gram said, “You have some cleaning to do. Harper is on her way. You’d better sweep up the glass before the girls arrive.”
Chapter 22
“Scooch over Mommy,” Luna said, “I need snuggles.”
Scarlett moved over as her little girl climbed into her bed. She didn’t open her eyes, but she pulled Luna close, tucking her little head under Scarlett’s chin, and breathing in the scent of her baby. Healthy, warm, and safe and right where she should be.
“Harper says if I’m really good, she’ll get me some rockets.”
Scarlett’s forehead crinkled, but she was determined to not open her eyes yet.
“And, she said I could name the kittens Dixie, Flower, and Beelzebub. And that you better get up and get a cat box because she didn’t bring one.”
Scarlett’s eyes snapped open.
“There are kittens here?”
Luna nodded happily. “They’re my best friends except for you mommy. And Max.”
Scarlett’s gaze narrowed on the perfect, beloved, round, little face. Her daughters were devils.
“Dixie says you should hurry up because she needs to pee real bad. It’s about to come out.”
“Luna, you fiend, take the kitten down to the garden to pee. All of them. And Max. And Harper.”
“I’ll go,” Gus said, and Scarlett spun.
He was sitting in a chair next to the window.
“Are you pulling an Edward? “
Gus shook his head frantically. “I came in with Luna. I swear.”
“Because lurking while I sleep is not ok,” Scarlett told him. “Even if you are a vampire.”
“I swear,” he crossed his finger over his heart. His expression was the guise of innocence.
Scarlett wasn’t sure she believed it. Her BS radar was out of practice.
“Lurking while someone sleeps is creepy beyond belief.”
“I swear,” Gus said again.
“Admit it’s creepy.”
“Stupid creepy. Horrifically creepy. I’d never ever consider it,” he lied.
“Where is my little sister?” Scarlett left her bedroom, grateful she’d been too tired to slip off her PJ pants. Usually, she only wore them around the house and slept in a t-shirt and undies.
Harper was leaning back in a chair at the table with her black, sparkly combat boots crossed over each other directly next to the salt and p
epper shaker.
“It is about time. It was meatloaf day at the diner yesterday. They have meatloaf omelets this morning. Let’s go.”
Scarlett’s eyes narrowed on her sister and she said, “Kittens?”
Harper shrugged and her casual reply was, “It was the only way for Auntie Harper to never have to see Moana again. Or Frozen. Or Trolls. One movie per kitten. The deal includes soundtracks while we drive.”
“Kittens?” Scarlett tried for dangerous the second time because angry didn’t cover the first time. “Pets are expensive, Harper.”
“Speaking of that, I’d like to buy the building with you. I want my own apartment and my own shop.”
Scarlett blinked.
“That way you won’t be so poor and I won’t have to pretend to not see Mr. Jueavas anymore. also, once those nasty things quit sneaking around, they’re going to stop being quiet.”
Scarlett dropped into a chair and said, “By the stars, never say something like that again.”
“So as you can see, I’m desperate.”
“Good,” Scarlett shot back, “Then I’m going to get two nights off a week, every other Sunday starting before bedtime and continuing through Sunday afternoon. You buy groceries, I’ll cook. And you’re responsible for all cat bills and any other pets you let the devils con you into.”
Harper considered and then nodded. There was a smile that twitched at the edge of her lips and it came out in full force when Ella threw herself into Harper’s arms and said, “You’ll be in the same building?”
Harper took the girls, kittens, and dog down to the garden and Scarlett turned to Gus saying, “Meatloaf omelet?”
He nodded.
“That’s all I’m offering for now, for anyone, for the foreseeable future,” she said, hoping she wasn’t lying. Her voice was suddenly serious and he paused and the nodded.
“Ok,” she said.
“Ok,” he said.
They walked downstairs. Scarlett wore mom leggings and mom bun, and her very best bra. Gus didn’t seem to notice that she looked like a scrub. When they walked into the diner, Mabel said, “Did you hear about Becca Lovejoy?”
Scarlett blinked. She’d been sure they’d be facing a cross-examination about Kelly and the murder.
Bedtimes and Broomsticks Page 21
