Poor Little Witch Girl: Witch Cozy Mystery (The Reluctant Witch Book 2)

by Maeve Hart

  I took a sip of my drink. “How long have you been here?”

  “About a year now. I changed to be with Roy. That’s him over there.” She pointed to a man with short dark hair who was playing pool.

  “I’ll learn everyone’s names before long.”

  Celia giggled. “It won’t take long.”

  “So, did you just think Roy was an ordinary man when you met him?” I was interested to learn how these things worked.

  “Yes. We met at a nightclub and we just got on really well. Three months into the relationship he told me what he was and then I didn’t want anything more to do with him. I was shocked. I didn’t know anything like that existed.”

  “And then what happened?”

  She giggled again. “I just couldn’t get him out of my head. He was like no other man I had ever met. I knew I was in love. The next day he called me and we made up and we’ve been together ever since.”

  “And then he changed you?”

  “Yes, but he was reluctant. I had to talk him into it. I want to be together with him forever and that was the only way.”

  “That’s very romantic.”

  She glanced over at Roy. “I suppose it is.”

  “What about your family? Do you still see them?”

  “I never really got along with them. There’s my brother—I still see him once in awhile. My mother and father split when I was young and neither of them really wanted me, or my brother. We were just a nuisance to them.”

  “That’s a bit sad.”

  “Yes, it is. I would never treat my children like that.”

  That led me to thinking about children. There were no children amongst the pack and I wondered whether that was because the couples hadn’t been together for long.

  I would have to ask Jacques about babies. Would we have a shifter baby? Do two shifters always have a shifter baby? I didn’t have any idea and I’d never thought to ask about it. That was one more question I’d have to ask Jacques when we were alone.

  “What about your family?” Celia asked.

  That was dangerous ground. Jacques had told me that none of the pack knew that I came from a family of witches.

  “Much like you, I don’t get along with my family. There was only me and my father deserted my mother before I was born. Well, as far as I know it was before I was born. I’ve only ever seen him once in my life that I remember. And then my mother got busy, wrapped up in work seven days a week.” I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Well, we have something in common.”

  I saw genuine sympathy in Celia’s eyes. I knew we would be good friends and that was something I’d never had a lot of.

  “I’d better get to the kitchen. It’s my turn to help with the serving.”

  I nodded and stopped myself from asking if she wanted a hand. I had a feeling that everything was very regimented and considering the hierarchy, the Alpha’s mate might not do such things as cooking or helping with the food.

  We all ate dinner at a long table in the dining room. Jacques was at the head of the table and I was next to him. As always, there were plenty of vegetables along with roast turkey and ham.

  I asked Jacques quietly why we were eating the meal now, because we normally ate after a run. On the nights we went for a run, the pack normally had a five o’clock snack and as soon as it became dark we’d go out for hours. When we came back we’d have a big feed. We didn’t all go together, because some had to stay behind for security reasons in addition to the shifter guards who roamed the perimeter.

  He told me this was how things were done on a Friday night. I nodded and didn’t ask why. Jacques then leaned over and told me that on Friday nights we ran much later than we did the other nights.

  I was pleased to see ice cream and chocolate mousse with strawberries for dessert. I didn’t mind fruit when it was accompanied by chocolate.

  When we had finished the meal, we moved back to the living area. Some continued their pool games while others played table tennis and some watched TV in an adjoining room. When I saw people playing darts, I was reminded of the poisonous dart that had been shot into Don’s neck. I just wished I could put everything behind me. When was I ever going to have a normal life and not have to think about murder?

  I looked around for Jacques and saw him talking to Seamus. The next thing I knew, Kylie was making a beeline for me. I fixed a smile on my face, hoping we wouldn’t become enemies, although considering the scuffle we’d had the other night we probably already were.

  “You’re still here, I see.” She sat heavily in the seat next to me.

  Kylie was a pretty girl with blue eyes and a narrow but attractive face. I’d already heard from Jacques right from the start that she was a troublemaker.

  “Yes, that’s right, and you’re still here as well.”

  “I’ll always be here.”

  “Good.”

  She pushed out her lips. “You don’t fit in.”

  She was wrong. “That’s funny, because I’ve never felt more at home anywhere. I’m here to stay. I’m sorry you feel I don’t fit in.” I stared back at her, not wanting her to sense she was upsetting me. One thing I had always avoided was confrontation.

  Her eyes glazed over, and it scared me somewhat. I didn’t want to start making enemies within the pack, but the woman was confrontational.

  “We shall see about that.” She stood up and then leaned down to whisper, “Don’t get too comfortable, Princess.” And then she walked away.

  I stared after her and Byron, who was just a few paces away, caught my eye. “Just ignore her. Most of us do.”

  I smiled. “I’ll take your advice.”

  He gave me a nod.

  The next few hours passed quickly as I had joined Celia in watching Roy play pool. Then everyone started moving out of the room.

  Jacques came up beside me. “Are you ready?”

  I knew it was time to run. I gave him a smile and stood up. He held my hand and together we walked out of the building.

  Chapter 13

  After an interesting weekend at the compound, Jacques and I came back to the city and back to reality. The helicopter landed on the roof of the penthouse and Jacques made sure I was safely inside before he went back into the helicopter to get to his appointments.

  My mission for the day was to get my mother to come clean if she knew something about Granny and an association with snakes. Whoever had killed the poor snake dealer man would’ve had to be familiar with snakes.

  I walked into the art gallery and looked around for my mother. She was there most days but most definitely on a Monday, tallying up the profits from the weekend.

  There she was behind the front desk. She looked up when I walked a little closer and I gave her a wave.

  She stood up. “Destiny, what are you doing here again so soon? I see you nearly every day now.”

  “I came here because I’m disturbed about something.”

  My mother stepped closer. “Is this about Granny again?”

  She was on to me. “Yes, I’m a little concerned that Granny has done something and I need you to tell me the truth.” My mother’s green eyes darted about the place, and I continued, “Did Granny have anything to do with the snake dealer’s death?”

  “No, why would she?”

  I thought I might be jumping at shadows.

  “I don’t know; it’s just that so much has happened. In a conversation I had with Granny, she made out that she might have had something to do with Don’s death.”

  “She could’ve killed him from a distance with a spell.”

  “What about the snake dealer being dead, and the fact that Granny had a blowpipe and Don had a hole in his neck? Granny was angry with Don because he was asking questions about the Alpha she killed.”

  My mother frowned at me. “I can see you’re very stressed.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? Granny made out that she did have something to do with Don’s murder and if she was willing to do it with a
spell then she might have gone further than that.”

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t have.”

  “But she did kill the Alpha wolf shifter. She doesn’t deny that.”

  “That’s different. Don was a person and the Alpha was a shifter.”

  I looked into my mother’s eyes and I knew at that moment she didn’t have any idea that Flora’s father was the Alpha that Granny had killed. “Just tell me this: has Granny had anything to do with snakes before, or snake venom? Or has she had anything to do with people who sell that kind of thing?”

  My mother’s mouth turned down and after a moment she slowly shook her head. “I can’t think that she has. Your imagination is running wild, Destiny. Why don’t I close up here and we go for lunch somewhere?”

  I could see that’s where my food issues had stemmed from. My mother always thought things could be smoothed over and made better with food. Normally I would have agreed, but I had to get to the bottom of things.

  “No thanks, Mom, I’m not hungry. I remember at Granny’s house, on the table with all the statues of the gods, that there was a statue of a woman holding a snake, or there could’ve been two snakes.”

  “It’s probably just a snake goddess of some sort. That doesn’t mean your grandmother killed someone with venom just because she has a snake statue in her house.” My mother stared at me as though I was crazy.

  I shook my head. “You know that’s not what I’m thinking.”

  “Well, it sounds like it to me.”

  I sighed. “I’ll call you later, Mom.”

  “Don’t you want to have a look at my new paintings?”

  I glanced around at all the huge black and white paintings. “They’re good. I like them.”

  “I’ll give you a tour and tell you about them.”

  “I’d love to, but I don’t have time today. I’ll call back another day.”

  My mother grunted at me. I backed away while giving her a wave and then I got away from her as quickly as I could. When the automatic glass doors closed behind me, I was engulfed in a waft of cool air. Just as I was hurrying up the sidewalk, my cell phone beeped. I hoped it wasn’t my mother ordering me back to her.

  Thankfully, the caller ID showed it was Jennifer’s husband, Peter. I answered his call.

  “Destiny, it’s Peter.”

  “Hello, Peter. I didn’t expect to be hearing from you.”

  “Yes, well, I’m calling to apologize.”

  That wasn’t what I’d expected. I stepped into a nearby store so I could hear him better away from the traffic. “Go on.”

  “We found out what happened to the missing money.”

  “What happened?”

  “It was Gina, Don’s ex-wife. She’s got the two million dollars and she’s come to get the rest of it.”

  Don’s ex-wife was actually his current wife, but I wasn’t going to correct him. “How did she get it, exactly?”

  “Either Don transferred it to her before he died, or she stole it from his account. If she knew his login details she could’ve done that. The bank statements showed the money going from his account to hers.”

  It seemed odd that someone would just have two million dollars lying unused in their account, but I’d never had that kind of money so maybe that’s what people did when they had it. It wasn’t my problem. All I wanted to do was get off the phone. “I see. Well, it’s nice of you to apologize to me. Thank you. I appreciate you letting me know.”

  “I just thought I should tell you. No one’s been acting themselves lately—we’ve been under a lot of stress.”

  “Yes, that’s totally understandable.” I felt someone looking at me. It was a sales assistant with her arms crossed and a look on her face that said, If you aren’t here to buy, get out. I edged my way closer to the door.

  “Okay. That’s all I had to say.”

  “Bye, Peter.”

  “I’ll see you later, Destiny.”

  I hurried out the door and hailed a taxi, directing the driver back to the loft. I had an idea and called Peter back.

  “Peter, it’s Destiny.”

  “Hello.”

  “I just remembered I’ve been meaning to call you about something. I’ve been wondering if you still have any of Don’s paperwork anywhere.”

  “I do.”

  “Oh good. I’ve been missing some of my important papers and I was wondering if they’d somehow gotten mixed up with Don’s.”

  “It’s funny you should mention that because I’ve been at his house packing everything up. There are boxes and boxes of paperwork that I was just about to shred. You’re welcome to go through them if you’d like.”

  “That would be fantastic. When would it be convenient for me to do that?”

  “I’ll be there from nine o’clock tomorrow and I’ll be there all day.”

  “Great! I’ll be there at nine.” To sound more realistic, I added, “I sure hope my papers are there.”

  “Well, you won’t have long to wait to find out. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I thought if I sneaked a peek at Don’s paperwork I might find a clue about who he was working for. There was bound to be something at the house—or at least that’s what I hoped—and the paperwork excuse was my best chance to find it. Maybe he had left a paper trail. If not, I’d snoop around the house and maybe even try to get a look at the desktop computer that I knew was in his home office.

  When I got to my destination, I was walking up the stairs to the apartment and realized the time had come when I should say something to Jacques about Aunt Flora being related to his grandfather. The longer I left it, I figured, the more upset he would be that I’d kept it from him.

  When I opened the door, I saw him sitting on the couch, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. He put the paper down in his lap and smiled at me. I still couldn’t believe how handsome he was and that he was all mine. It felt good. I sat next to him and put my head on his shoulder. It was so nice to come home to a kind man who was always smiling.

  “I’ve got something to tell you and I don’t know how you’re going to take it.”

  He drew his eyebrows together. “Destiny, what’s wrong?”

  “It was something I found out when I was at my grandmother’s place trying to get her to tell me about the Alpha shifter.”

  “My grandfather?”

  I nodded. “Did you know that they had some kind of a relationship?”

  “She told you?”

  He didn’t seem at all surprised. “Wait a minute. Don’t tell me you knew that all along.”

  He looked away. “You know I haven’t told you everything and that’s only to protect you.”

  “You should tell me things when they involve my family.”

  He nodded slowly.

  “You know about Flora?”

  “I do,” he said.

  “She has no idea.”

  “Who does she think her father is?”

  “I don’t know. Granny said that she hasn’t told either of her daughters who their fathers are.” I pressed my head against his shoulder. “I don’t know anything about my grandfather or my father. I only met my father once and I couldn’t even tell you what he looks like. I don’t even know his name, or why he left my mother and me.” I’d grown up thinking he’d left because I’d somehow disappointed him, but I didn’t want to tell Jacques too many of my fears too soon.

  “I’ve only got vague memories of my parents.”

  “I’m sorry, I feel like the most selfish woman in the world. You lost both your parents and here am I feeling sorry for myself for not knowing a man who didn’t want to know me.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “You’re not selfish. Everyone’s got something that concerns them, and if they don’t then they’re very lucky.”

  “I suppose you’re right. No one’s life is ever perfect.”

  “Ours will be, Destiny. Very soon.”

  I tilted my head back to look up at him. “Will it?”

&nbs
p; He smiled. “It will. We’ve got each other so any problems we have will be shared and halved.”

  “That sounds good to me. Maybe I worry too much. That’s what my mother keeps telling me.” I remembered about going to Don’s house tomorrow to look through paperwork and told Jacques what I was doing. Then I called Abbie and asked to borrow her car, knowing it wouldn’t look good to show up in one of Jacques’ cars and it was too far to go by taxi.

  The next day, I stepped out of Abbie’s car and looked up at Don’s red brick home. I wondered why he had his own home because I was sure it wasn’t the house he had lived in with Gina. And why would he leave nearly three million in the bank account when he could’ve upgraded this modest home?

  As I was gazing at the single level building, Peter opened the front door and waved me in. He’d seemed okay on the phone but his face looked sour. As usual, he was dressed in a suit and tie.

  “Hello, Peter.”

  “Hello, Destiny.” He gave me a weak smile and asked me to follow him through to the back room.

  “Are you working today?”

  “No. I’ve taken a few days off. Annual leave. Under the circumstances, I thought it best.”

  “Yes. Of course.” I thought it strange that he was dressed in a suit, but then again, I didn’t recall him ever being dressed in anything other than a suit and tie.

  I’d only been to Don’s house two or three times before. It still seemed odd that he wasn’t there. Peter showed me to a room that Don had used as an office.

  “These are the five boxes I’m going to shred. It looks like you have your work cut out for you.”

  The large boxes virtually covered the whole floor. “Where did it all come from?

  “He had papers all over the house, in nearly every room.”

  “And none of them were important?” I asked.

  “None of them were important to me, put it that way.”

  “It will take me a while to go through all of it.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’ll probably be here all day anyway. I’m going through his wardrobe today. Maggie wants to keep one set of clothes and the others will go to Goodwill.”