“Alright, well, I guess that’s how I’ll have to frame it to the District Attorney,” Detective Andrews said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I see some ambulance lights outside, and I need to have a conversation with them about the transport and holding of my prisoner.”
Chapter 26
The next couple of hours went by as a blur. Gary was taken away by ambulance and transported by ferry to Seattle, since Detective Andrews didn’t want Karen to be stressed out by having the man who tried to kill her treated at the same hospital as her. Afterwards, Detective Andrews took us both down to the police station to take our statements. I sat in the waiting area while he spoke to Leanne first, texting Kaillie to let her know we were ok. She had sent about a half dozen texts asking where we were when we didn’t come home from yoga class.
When Leanne came out, she winked at me. “Go get ‘im, tiger.”
“Oh, shut up,” I muttered as I made my way into the office and sat down on the chair across from Detective Andrews.
He looked up at me, concern written all over his face. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I am,” I replied. “At least, physically. I’m not totally sure the mental reality has really sunk in yet.”
“If you need to see someone, I have some references for a good therapist on the island,” Detective Andrews replied. “There’s no shame in asking for help if you need it. Mental health is just as important as physical health, and while you might physically be fine, what you’ve been through was traumatic.”
“You sound like someone who knows a lot about this sort of thing, for being a small-island cop.”
Detective Andrews smiled, but it was a sad smile. “I did two tours in Iraq after I graduated from high school. I’ve seen what can happen to people who don’t think they need help.”
“Ah,” I replied. “That explains it. Thank you for the offer. I promise, I will let you know if I need that reference.”
“Good,” he said. “You’re extremely lucky, you know. I can’t believe you broke into the school.”
“To be fair, we didn’t think there was any chance we would get caught.”
“But you did get caught, and you were almost killed. Luckily, the two of you were able to overpower him, but it was incredibly risky. He had a gun.”
I couldn’t correct Detective Andrews and tell him that the gun was already shrinking when Leanne had attacked Gary, and it probably wouldn’t have done all that much damage.
“It was fight back, or die,” I replied, and he nodded.
“Yes. I’m glad the two of you made that decision, and I’m extremely glad you’re both ok. Now, why don’t you walk me through exactly what happened.”
I spent a good fifteen minutes telling Detective Andrews everything – from having seen the car, realizing it wasn’t his, to dropping through the skylight and making it into the office.
“One thing I don’t understand is how the two of you managed to get through the hole without hurting yourselves. That’s a big drop.”
“Oh, I do yoga now, I’m basically an athlete,” I replied, earning myself a laugh from Detective Andrews. “Hey! It’s not that far outside the realm of possibilities. But seriously, we just dangled down from the ledge and absorbed the landing. We probably got a little bit lucky.”
“I’ll say. Well, I’m glad you’re alright.” I was just relieved that he accepted that explanation and I wasn’t going to have to come up with an even bigger lie. After all, I couldn’t exactly tell him I had magically conjured up a mattress that we jumped down onto. “I think given the extenuating circumstances the two of you aren’t going to get into any trouble for breaking into the school. But I will warn you again – please stay out of any future crimes. This is the second time since you’ve moved here that you almost died. I’d really appreciate it if it didn’t happen again.”
“Don’t worry,” I said with a small smile. “I don’t want it to happen again, either, Detective.”
“Good,” he said, and I stood up to go. “One second,” he said, and I stopped, turning to look at him. Detective Andrews bit his lip, like he was trying to decide on something, and then finally said it. “Listen, Eliza. Would you like to go out with me? For dinner? If you say yes, you might want to start calling me Ross, instead of Detective.”
“Yes,” I replied, the word having left my mouth before I’d had a second to fully consider it. “That sounds great.”
That sounds great? What was wrong with me? It wasn’t that I didn’t like Detective – erm, Ross – it was that I wasn’t really looking for a relationship right now. Or ever, really. And yet, one flash of that smile that made dimples appear in his cheeks and I’d collapsed like a house of cards in the wind.
On the bright side, it wasn’t like Ross was a bad guy. Actually, I did like him, when he wasn’t warning me to stay out of investigations I had no business sticking my nose into. And I supposed I couldn’t really blame him for that.
“Awesome,” he said. “I’m working tomorrow night, but how about the night after that?”
“Sure,” I said with a smile. Actually, the more I thought about it, the more I was ok with it. Who knew? Maybe it would be fun. It had been a long time since I had been on a date, but I probably wouldn’t embarrass myself too badly.
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
“Yeah, sure thing,” I replied, getting up from the chair and making my way back out into the lobby, where Leanne was waiting for me.
“What’s up with you?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Your face is so red it’s like someone went to town with fire engine paint on your face.”
“Oh no,” I replied, my hands rushing to my cheeks. They were definitely warm.
Leanne grinned. “So what happened?”
“He, uh, kind of asked me out,” I replied, and felt my face go an even deeper shade of red.
“I knew it!” Leanne barked out with a celebratory fist-pump. “So when’s the date? You did say yes, didn’t you? You better have said yes.”
“I said yes,” I admitted. “It’s the day after tomorrow. You’re going to have to help me figure out what to wear. I haven’t been on a date in so long, I’m kind of nervous.”
“Oh don’t you worry about that. I’ve got you,” Leanne said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and leading me out of the police station.
Over the next day or so, the rumor mill began swirling, and we found out quite a bit at the coffee shop about what was going on in town.
Gary Vanderchuck admitted to everything in exchange for a plea deal that would have him spend the next fifteen years in jail. He had been at the conference, rushed back to meet with Karen, and stabbed her in his car. He then drove back to Seattle via the ferry and took the car to a shady place that didn’t ask too many questions about replacing the upholstery before making his way back to the hotel bar, so that enough people noted his presence that he still had a decent alibi.
Andrew Lloyd went to the police station first thing the next morning and also admitted to everything he had done. Apparently, the guilt really was too much for him and he wanted to own up to everything. It also turned out he had donated all of his ill-gotten money to various charities on the island and in other parts of Washington State. The rumor was a plea deal was going to be made with him given his honesty, and he would be treated leniently.
Karen, for her part, was making a miraculous recovery now that she was back home. We even heard she was scheduled to be discharged in just a couple of days. I was thrilled for her, and for her family. I didn’t know if she was still going to go ahead with the divorce, but for now, she was home, and she was safe.
Aunt Lucy was annoyed that she didn’t get to be involved in the final takedown, and made sure we knew it when we went to eat dinner the following night at Aunt Debbie’s place, with none of us wanting to cook after a long day at the coffee shop.
“I can’t believe you didn’t invite me along,” she sa
id, shaking her head. “Do you know how useful I am in these types of situations?”
“You would have broken a hip jumping through the skylight,” Leanne protested. “We couldn’t bring you.”
“Be careful, I can and will hex you,” Aunt Lucy replied, pulling out her wand and waving it threateningly at Leanne.
“It wasn’t supposed to be an adventure anyway,” I said. “We were just supposed to go in, find proof Gary had done it, and get out. And we found the proof. It was good thinking by you to forward it on to Ross. That way, no matter what happened to us, he still would have found the killer.”
“I’ve seen way too many TV shows where people sit on information and it ends up biting them in the rear,” Leanne replied. “I wasn’t about to let that happen to us. By the way… Ross?”
“Yeah, well, I can’t really call him Detective Andrews anymore, can I?” I muttered, embarrassed.
“Oooh, yes, less than twenty-four hours before the big date,” Kaillie grinned. “Are you excited?”
“I’m excited to stop talking about it right now,” I said.
“Someone’s testy,” Aunt Lucy said, helping herself to another pork chop.
“Well I think it’s nice that Eliza is settling in so well here,” Aunt Debbie added. “And you should leave her and her private life alone.”
“Yeah,” I said, glaring at the others.
“That said, I do wish you’d all be more careful. You’re my nieces, and I don’t want to see you in danger, and yet that’s exactly what happened the other day.”
“Again, we were breaking and entering, we didn’t expect to face off against a killer,” Leanne sighed, exasperated.
“Well, next time you’re committing a crime – even if it’s just a misdemeanor – I want an invite,” Aunt Lucy said.
“No, she doesn’t,” Aunt Debbie said, glaring at her sister. “Especially because there isn’t going to be a next time. You girls are going to stay on the right side of the law, right?”
“Of course we are,” Kaillie said, nodding enthusiastically. “You can count on us, Mom.”
I smiled as I looked around the table. These people were my family, and I couldn’t be happier. I was getting used to life here on Enchanted Enclave, and I couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for me.
Book 3: A Witch, Dark Roast: When another body pops up at a new construction site in Enchanted Enclave, Eliza doesn't want to have anything to do with the investigation. After all, she's had a few close calls, and Detective Andrews warned her not to get involved in police matters in the future.
However, as more information comes out, there seems to be something strange afoot. When it becomes obvious that there's a paranormal hiding in their midst, Eliza and her cousins decide they need to get involved, not only for justice sake, but to keep the residents of Enchanted Enclave safe. But being so isolated from the paranormal world, they find themselves at a disadvantage.
Between finding the killer, trying to figure out why Aunt Lucy has been acting so secretive and dealing with some chaos at the coffee shop, Eliza has a lot of balls in the air. Will she be able to solve all of her problems before everything comes crashing down around her?
Click or tap here to read A Witch, Dark Roast now.
A Witch, Dark Roast
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
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Chapter 1
When the cookie dough you just tried to make starts taking over the kitchen, there’s a very good chance you just messed up.
“No. No, no, no, no, no,” I muttered as I looked around in panic, desperately searching for someone to help me out of this mess. I should have waited for my cousins to come home, but they had gone out to get groceries, and I wanted to surprise them.
I had cast this spell – one that magically doubled the size of whatever you needed – at least a dozen times, and it had always worked perfectly. I figured I was safe doing it again without adult supervision, but apparently I was wrong. And now I was well on my way to being eaten by chocolate chip cookie dough.
Oh, how the tables had turned. If only six-year-old me had known this was how I was going to go.
As soon as I had cast the spell, the cookie dough swelled in size, along with my chest as I proudly looked at my handiwork. I was getting better at casting spells, but it was still such a novelty that whenever I pulled one off successfully, I was hit with a mixture of, “I really did that,” and, “Holy crap magic is real.” The novelty definitely hadn’t worn off just yet.
But when the cookie dough kept rising and spilling out of the mixer and onto the floor, my swollen pride quickly deflated and was replaced by panic. Definitely panic. It rose up into my throat as I tried desperately to find a solution.
I didn’t know a counter spell. I had never needed a counter spell before. So what was I supposed to do? The cookie dough absorbed the metal container that held all the wooden spoons and spatulas in the kitchen with a strange slurping sound. I couldn’t help but wonder if that slurp was going to be the last thing I heard before my death when I was inevitably eaten by the cookie dough.
No, I could run away. Of course, I’d then have a whole lot of explaining to do, and Kaillie would be annoyed that someone in our family once again managed to draw the attention of the non-magical folk to our witch powers, but at least I wouldn’t die the world’s most embarrassing death.
It would be a delicious death, though.
I had to do something to stop things from getting that far. I grabbed my phone and immediately texted my Aunt Lucy, knowing she was home just down the street.
Help. Magic emergency. Come now.
In the meantime, I had to do something. The dough had expanded, dropped onto the floor, and was now oozing its way between the cabinets and the kitchen island. I was only a few feet away, so I took a step back and grabbed my wand.
What spells did I know that could stop something like this?
I didn’t really know a lot of spells yet. But I did know one that could make things smaller! Maybe that would work.
I pointed my wand at the dough and said the words, “Saturn, god of wealth, turn this dough into a quarter of its former self.”
Closing my eyes, I focused every ounce of power I had into my wand. I desperately needed this spell to work, and as I felt the magical energy inside of me dissipate out the wand, I looked at the dough. It worked! The dough had shrunk to about half its size, but my joy was quickly replaced with disappointment as I realized that it immediately began to grow again. And what was worse, this time it was growing faster.
“Noooo,” I whined as the dough quickly began leaking onto the floors and counters once more. It began oozing into the sink and to the edge of the fridge, then began climbing up the fridge door handle like it was some sort of sentient being. This was not good.
“Aunt Lucy, where are you?” I muttered as I took another step back. It was definitely multiplying faster now, and I didn’t have any more time to wait for my aunt. I was going to have to do something now. But how could I stop the dough from growing? I had to destroy it somehow.
There was one spell I’d seen Aunt Lucy do a few weeks earlier. She was
showing me how to blow up pumpkins off the fence at the back of her and Aunt Debbie’s house using magic. Of course, I’d never dared to actually do it because I figured the risk of things going badly and me accidentally blowing up a tree that would have to be explained were way too high, but I knew the incantation.
And frankly, at this point, even if I messed up and blew up the house by accident, it would probably still be a better outcome than the whole town being taken over by a giant blob of cookie dough.
It would certainly be easier to pretend it was just a gas leak, anyway.
I took a deep breath and focused my energy back on the wand. I had to make this work. I knew I could make this work.
“Saturn, god of dissolution, blow up this cookie dough; it’s my only solution.”
My breath caught suddenly, like all of the air had been sucked out of the room for a split second. Then, a giant “whomp” sound filled the space, and the cookie dough exploded.
It went absolutely everywhere. Splotches of it dripped from the lights on the ceiling. The windows looked like they were covered in cookie-dough spiderwebs. Bits dripped off the edge of the counter and onto the floor.
But, like some sort of miracle, it wasn’t growing!
I held my breath, cautiously optimistic, until after about a minute I decided I had succeeded.
Well, succeeded in the sense that there wasn’t a giant, growing blob of cookie dough in the kitchen anymore. Instead, the blob was all over the walls, cupboards, pots, pans and more, and I was going to have to clean it up.
A Cauldron of Hot Coffee: Enchanted Enclave Mysteries Books 1-3 Page 31
