“Yeah, at least everyone is dressed and there’s no dancing or wine,” Clove added.
Noah made an exasperated face. “You’re trying to turn this around on me, but I know something funky is going on out here. I know it!”
Noah’s meltdown was amusing, but his presence was troublesome. Chief Terry promised to handle Davis and Noah, yet there was no sign of him. If the two men separated, I could very well see Chief Terry staying with Davis because he was more dangerous. He would’ve called, though.
“Wait a second … .”
Noah barreled forward as if he hadn’t heard me. “You guys are probably conducting human sacrifices or something. Is that what happened to Becky Patterson? Were you going to sacrifice her and something went wrong?”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Landon shot back, keeping his eyes averted from the center of the circle where Becky’s spirit watched the interaction with unveiled interest. “Do you see anyone else here?”
“Then what are you doing?”
“I’m spending quality time with Bay,” Landon replied, not missing a beat. “I believe that’s that thing you find to be a waste of time.”
“It is a waste of time.”
“You’re a waste of space,” Landon seethed, clenching his fists at his side. “Now get off this property. You have no right being here.”
Noah looked as if he were going to put up a fight, but instead turned and began to slink away. I stopped him by giving chase and calling out, forcing his attention back to me.
“Where is Chief Terry?”
“What?” Noah furrowed his brow. “How should I know where he is? It’s not my turn to watch him.”
The ball of worry sitting in the pit of my stomach shifted but didn’t dissipate. “I thought he was supposed to be with you.”
Landon flicked his eyes to me, his expression troubled. “What’s wrong?”
“I … don’t know.” I wasn’t sure how to answer. I couldn’t exactly explain a feeling, especially in front of Noah. “Did you see Chief Terry tonight?”
“I did,” Noah confirmed, bobbing his head. “He was at the bar on the highway between Bellaire and Hemlock Cove. He invited us out. He wanted information, as if we’d share that with him.”
He didn’t really want information. He merely wanted to keep them busy. Still … he would’ve called once Noah left, just to give us a heads up. “Where is he now?”
Noah shrugged. “He got crocked at the bar. Davis said he’d make sure he made it home. Then he suggested I come out here because you guys were probably up to something. It looks like he was right.”
I shook my head as I pinned Landon with a worried gaze. “He doesn’t get drunk. I can count on one hand the times he’s had too much – especially in public. He wouldn’t have risked it right now. I … .”
“It’s okay.” Landon’s bland expression shifted and he tugged me closer so he could give me a hug. “I’m sure he’s fine.”
I didn’t believe that. “We need to find him.”
“Okay. We’ll do that right now. I … it’s okay.”
He sounded reassuring, but I didn’t miss the catch in his voice. Part of him was worried, too. This wasn’t like Chief Terry at all.
“HE’S NOT inside.”
Landon joined Aunt Tillie, Thistle, Clove and me as we rested against Chief Terry’s vehicle in the local dive bar’s parking lot. I couldn’t help but wonder why he’d suggest this place to distract Davis and Noah, but then we didn’t have many nearby options when it came to bars in Hemlock Cove.
“Did the bartender say anything?” Thistle asked.
“Only that Terry was here knocking back a few drinks with a state trooper and Noah,” Landon replied, running his hand down the back of my head in a soothing motion. “He said that Terry seemed to be having a good time and was a little tipsy.”
“Chief Terry doesn’t get tipsy.”
“You don’t know that, Bay,” Landon argued. “You’re not with him every moment of every day.”
“No, I’m not,” I said, adopting a cold but pragmatic tone. “However, if you spent as much time with my family as he does – and you weren’t getting sex out of the deal – wouldn’t you find occasion to drink before this?”
Landon pinned me with an unreadable look. “Hell, I get the sex and I still need to drink. That doesn’t mean that it’s out of the ordinary for him to drink tonight. Maybe he just lost track of things. I seem to know a few Winchester women who have lost track of things a time or two.”
He wasn’t wrong. Still … . I shook my head, defiant. “Not tonight. He wouldn’t have done it tonight. He was too worried.”
“What was he worried about?” Noah asked, popping up on the other side of the vehicle. I almost forgot he insisted on following us. Aunt Tillie begged to curse him so his car smelled like rancid pickle farts, but Landon managed to hold her off because he didn’t want Noah to have anything legitimate to complain to the boss about. That meant we couldn’t do anything obvious to stop Noah from following.
“He was worried about Bay,” Landon automatically answered, resting his hand on top of the cruiser’s hood. It was cool to the touch when I placed my hand next to Landon’s and pressed my eyes shut, as if willing a vision of Chief Terry to form in my head. “He loves Bay. She’s like a daughter to him.”
“We’re all close with him,” Thistle said, her expression dark. “He’s always been extremely close with Bay, though.”
“Did you have a sexual relationship?” Noah asked sagely. “That might explain why he’s always so manic about you.”
I didn’t realize I was doing it until it was too late, but I lashed out and punched Noah with everything I had, jabbing his head back as he screeched and reached for his nose.
“What the … ?”
“Bay!” Landon grabbed my arm and wrestled me backward, jerking me away from Noah before I could hit him a second time. “Don’t! He’s not worth it.”
“She hit me,” Noah yelled, cupping his nose. “She hit me in the face!”
“I didn’t see a thing,” Aunt Tillie countered, her demeanor calm.
“What?” Noah was on the verge of melting down. “She smashed her fist into my face!”
“No, she didn’t,” Thistle offered, shaking her head. “You accidentally ran into the side-view mirror when we were searching Chief Terry’s vehicle. It was clumsy, but funny. I did my best not to laugh, because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“Ultimately she couldn’t hold it in,” Clove added. “I managed not to laugh, but just barely. I actually felt sorry for you when you smacked your head because I worried it might make you dumber.”
Noah worked his jaw, dumbfounded, and then turned to Landon. “I’m going to file a report against her. She won’t get away with this.”
“What won’t she get away with?” Landon asked blankly. “She didn’t shove your head into the mirror.”
Noah narrowed his eyes to dangerous slits. “This isn’t over.”
“I have no doubt.” Landon watched him scurry across the parking lot, remaining silent until Noah slipped into his car and slammed the door. Then he turned on me with vehemence. “He could put you behind bars for that.”
“You heard what he said,” I protested, my eyes filling with tears.
“I did,” Landon confirmed. “I wasn’t going to let him get away with it. You shouldn’t have hit him, though. That was my job.”
Aunt Tillie snickered. “What he means to say is that he wanted to hit Agent Douchebag and you stole his thunder.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant,” Landon clarified. “Bay … you can’t go around hitting people.”
“I won’t let him talk about Chief Terry like that.”
“But … .”
“No.” I shook my head, firm. “Chief Terry did everything for us when we were kids. He got us a fairy house for Christmas one year, for crying out loud. He took us for walks and bought us ice cream. He
was a saint.”
“He really was a saint,” Clove agreed. “We were rotten kids.”
“I have no doubt about that.” Landon looked resigned as he squeezed my shoulder. “Bay, you know as well as I do that Chief Terry is probably fine.”
I didn’t know that at all. “If he’s fine, why isn’t he answering his phone? Why did he leave his vehicle in the parking lot out here? Why did he let Noah sneak up on us even though he knew what we were doing?”
“I … don’t know,” Landon admitted. “Maybe he forgot.”
“Chief Terry doesn’t forget,” I argued. “He never forgets. Something has happened.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.” I honestly didn’t. I knew I needed to find Chief Terry more than anything, though. “We have got to find him … and we have to do it quick.” I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were running on borrowed time.
Landon licked his lips, unsure. “What do you have in mind?”
I forced a smile because I thought it would make the answer go down smoother. “I’m glad you asked.”
Twenty-Nine
Landon knocked on Chief Terry’s front door five times – increasing the volume each time – before casting me a sidelong look. “Do you want to show me some magic?”
I knew he was going for levity, but it hurt too much to fake a smile. It had been much easier to talk him into breaking and entering Chief Terry’s home than it should’ve been under normal circumstances. “Move.”
I shoved him out of the way, grabbing the handle and gritting out a quick spell to force open the door. The house was quiet. I didn’t visit Chief Terry often at his home – almost never, actually – but it felt welcoming, homey even. It smelled like him. I could almost smell his aftershave even though it had clearly been hours since he slapped it on.
“He’s not here.”
“You don’t know that,” Landon countered, brushing past me and heading for the hallway. “He could be passed out in bed. He might not have heard us knocking.”
The house, while comfortable and quaint, was empty. I could feel it. “He’s not here. He hasn’t been here since this morning.”
I waited in the living room, my eyes drifting to a framed photograph on a shelf. Chief Terry sat in the middle of the frame, three small girls grouped around him. Two of the girls were blond, one brunette. The one sitting on his lap, the one with the biggest smile, had my eyes.
“You’re right. He’s not here.” Landon looked grim as he joined me. We had dropped Aunt Tillie, Clove and Thistle back at the inn before heading to Chief Terry’s house. Aunt Tillie claimed Chief Terry was fine and that he’d show up well before breakfast, but I read the worry on her face. She didn’t believe it either.
“Is it Davis?” The question would’ve seemed absurd two hours ago. Trooper Davis was supposed to be a devoted public servant, after all. He was trying to climb the career ranks in the Michigan State Police. That’s the assumption we’d been running on. Except … it didn’t seem to fit the facts. It was starting to sink in that perhaps he merely wanted accolades so his fellow cops would never consider him as a bad guy.
“I don’t know.” Landon’s voice was low, hollow. “I looked at his files when I found out he’d been assigned to the case. I remember thinking that he usually handled drug busts and not murders – so it was kind of odd that he was sent to your place – but I rationalized that he was given the case because Becky was part of a meth ring.”
“Could he be involved?”
“He could.”
“Do you think he’s involved?”
“Bay, I don’t know,” Landon replied. “It would be easy to point a finger at him and say that he refused to look away from you because he was the one who set you up, but we don’t know that. There are too many questions left unanswered.”
“Like what?” I sat on the couch in front of the coffee table and snagged the frame so I could study the photograph. Chief Terry looked as happy in it as we did. I gave him the photograph as a birthday gift a very long time ago. He’d made a fuss when unwrapping it, as if it was the best gift he’d ever been given.
“If Davis is involved, that would explain how Doug and Becky were tipped off,” Landon replied. “Becky didn’t mention Davis, though. You would think she would’ve if he murdered her.”
“You would think that if she was a rational person,” I corrected. “She’s not. She’s more irrational than Aunt Tillie when someone steals her wine. That’s assuming she knew Davis was a part of it. Maybe she thought Doug was the head of the operation.”
“I guess that’s possible.” Landon sat next to me, his eyes drifting to the photograph. “Is that you?”
I nodded, tears flooding my eyes. “I gave it to him as a gift when I was eleven. He said it was the best thing he’d ever gotten, and then he took me for ice cream. I decided I didn’t like my strawberry halfway through and he gave me his chocolate.”
“Bay, we don’t know anything has happened.” Landon reached for me, but I slapped his hands away. I didn’t want to be soothed. “He could be anywhere.”
“No, he’s in trouble. I know it. I feel it.”
“Bay … .”
“Shut up!” I exploded as I hopped to my feet, gripping the frame to my chest. Landon jolted at my volume, but remained calm otherwise. That made me feel worse. “I’m sorry.” I pressed my eyes shut, hoping to stave off the tears. “That’s not fair to you. It’s just … .”
“You love him,” Landon finished, tilting his head to the side. “I know that. It’s just … we don’t know that anything has happened to him. I don’t have anyone to call to look for him. At most he’s been missing two hours … and we’re never going to get everyone to agree that he’s missing, because the last time he was seen was at a bar and he was apparently having a good time.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“I know that, Bay. I don’t know what to do, though. Even if we believe Davis is involved in this – and there are some holes in that theory, mind you – we still don’t know where they are or what he has planned.”
I sat in the quiet darkness for what felt like a long time. “If Davis is involved, how does he think he’ll get away with taking Chief Terry and hurting him?” I asked. “Noah saw him with Chief Terry at the bar. If Chief Terry turns up dead … .” I broke off on a strangled cry and Landon ignored my protests as he dragged me across the couch and pulled me tight against his chest.
“He’s not dead. If Davis took him, there has to be a reason. He won’t kill him.”
Landon sounded certain, but I figured that was for my mental health more than anything else. “If he’s involved, what’s his end game?”
“I don’t know.” Landon pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Maybe he thinks we’re on to him. That’s all I can figure.”
“We aren’t, though. We had no suspicions regarding him until he disappeared with Chief Terry.”
“No, but … we still don’t know how this fits together,” Landon reminded me. “We don’t know if Davis is really involved. For all we know, Chief Terry really did get drunk and Davis took him to the police station.”
That thought hadn’t even occurred to me. “Maybe we should head there?”
Landon pulled his cell phone from his pocket instead of responding, tapping out a number and holding the phone to his hear as he gripped my hand. I listened as he questioned the individual who picked up on the other end, any hope I felt bubbling up waning quickly when he disconnected and shook his head.
“I called straight into dispatch,” Landon explained. “They looked in his office to see if he slipped in when no one was paying attention. He’s not there.”
“Then he’s in trouble.”
Landon opened his mouth to argue before snapping it shut.
“He’s in trouble,” I repeated. “We need to find him.”
“I learned a long time ago that arguing with you is a waste of time,” Landon said. “You have good instincts. If
you believe in your heart that Chief Terry is in trouble, then he’s in trouble. How do you suggest we find him?”
I answered without a moment’s hesitation. “The locator spell.”
Landon cocked an eyebrow. “We’re back to Doug? What if Doug isn’t involved in this?”
“Doug is definitely involved in this, but I no longer think he’s the mastermind,” I replied. “I have no intention of conducting the spell to find Doug, though. I don’t give a flying crap about Doug. I’m going to cast the spell to find Chief Terry. Whoever is with him when we find him had better watch out, because I’m not taking any prisoners. I won’t let anyone hurt him.”
Landon studied me for a few heartbeats before nodding. “I can see you’ve made up your mind. Okay. We’ll do it. I hate to admit it, but … well … we’re going to need help. You can’t do this alone.”
“Of course she can’t.” Aunt Tillie appeared in the doorway with a canvas bag and her shovel, practically taking my breath away when I saw the combat helmet and determined expression on her face. “She’s going to need help. Why do you think I’m here?”
Landon shrugged. “I have no idea. I don’t know what to make of any of this.”
“I knew she would come to the same conclusion I did,” Aunt Tillie said. “We need to cast a spell to find Terry. Lucky for you, I thought ahead. I have everything we need … and reinforcements outside.”
I leaned around Landon so I could look through the door, biting the inside of my cheek when I saw Thistle, Clove, Marcus, Sam, Mom, Marnie and Twila. “You brought everyone.”
Aunt Tillie’s smile was serene. “You’re not the only one who loves him.”
I knew that was true. Still … . “We don’t have time to waste.”
“Then get off your butt,” Aunt Tillie ordered. “We have a cop to save and drug dealers to bring down – which is exactly what happened on the last episode of The Wire I watched. I’m finally going to be the star of my own television show tonight.”
That was a terrifying thought. “Let’s do it.”
Murder Most Witchy (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Book 10) Page 28
