The Hex With It (A Paranormal P.I. Mystery Book 2)

by Rose Pressey

As I reached the main building, I sensed someone behind me. I glanced back and noticed Derek was right behind me. I hurried my steps. When I got to the stairs of the building, I stopped and stared up.

  Derek stood next to me now. He was staring up at the building too.

  “Now what?” he asked.

  “I guess we could ask around.”

  “Are we going to describe this guy to everyone on this campus? He looks like a bunch of guys here.”

  I sighed. “Good point. Why do you keep coming up with those?”

  “It’s my job, Cece,” Derek said with a smile.

  “I bet I could figure out what classes he takes,” I said with a cocky confidence.

  “We don’t even know for sure if he’s here. Plus, I doubt you can figure it out.”

  “You want to bet?” I smirked.

  “I’ll accept that bet.” Derek stuck out his hand toward me.

  After a couple seconds, I shook his hand. Then immediately we took off running in opposite directions. Another competition without any known outcome. I was getting some strange looks as I ran around the side of the building. I decided I was just going to make a loop around and go back to the front. I had a feeling that this main building would lead me to the guy.

  I had a distinct advantage over Derek. I could use my witchcraft. I had cast a spell this morning, so now I was picking up on my senses. A chill crawled along my skin. That was a sure sign that my magic was working. The guy was in the main building. It was certainly worth a shot. I knew I had to find him before Derek. He’d never let me hear the end of it if he found him first. By the time I reached the front of the building again, I was out of breath. I panted for air as I climbed the steps.

  Chapter 13

  Once in there I realized how crowded the place was and I was overwhelmed. Where would I find this guy? He could be anywhere. This was a really bad idea and it made me question whether I could confidently be a private investigator. Without ever planning things through or having logical steps to follow in an investigation, I couldn’t be classified as professional, right? Then I told myself to stop having such negative thoughts.

  I just needed to calm down, relax, and think this through. It didn’t help that I was in competition with Derek and trying to beat him. Now I felt as if I was rushed.

  Where would a student go first if he wasn’t waiting for class to start? If this guy was like me he would have shown up early for class. In reality, he’d probably gone to either the library or the rec center. My guess was that he was going to get food before class. When I saw the sign pointing me in that direction I took off.

  I stepped in the rec center and scanned the pool table area for him. So far there was no sign of him. Sure, I instantly became discouraged, but then I spotted the guy. I was proud of myself for actually thinking this through and coming up with a logical place to find him. Now I was glad that I had followed through. Maybe I was feeling a teensy bit smug. Derek was probably outside wandering around in circles. I watched as the guy walked across the room. I wasn’t going let him out of my sight. He had no idea I was watching him. That sounded totally creepy.

  When I saw his girlfriend Brianna over by the drink machine I knew where he was headed. He had either followed her here or randomly bumped into her. My guess was he’d followed her. They’d probably agreed to meet.

  When she turned around and saw him she rolled her eyes. She acted as if she wanted to hurry up and get away. There must be trouble in paradise. He walked up to her and they immediately started talking. Well, it wasn’t so much talking as it was arguing. I wished I knew what they were saying.

  I was too far away to hear. I should move closer. It definitely looked as if she wanted to get away from him. He moved closer to her, but she stepped back. This could turn into a dangerous situation pretty quickly. Other people had started to notice. I didn’t want to blow my cover, but I also didn’t want to let him harass her. Move along, buddy, she obviously doesn’t want to talk to you right now. I still couldn’t believe that I had found this guy before Derek had.

  “It looks like they’re arguing,” a male voice said.

  “Yes, it does,” I said. “I wish I knew what they were saying.”

  Suddenly I realized who I was talking to. Derek was sitting at the table by where I stood.

  “Hello, Cece,” he said without looking at me.

  “How long have you been sitting there?” I asked.

  “Since before you got here.”

  I wouldn’t have believed him, but I figured I would have noticed if someone had sat down at the table beside me. How had he gotten here so quickly without me seeing him?

  “Sorry to beat you to the punch,” he said.

  “You didn’t beat me. I have been here a long time.” I stared at the couple, trying hard not to show my frustration at losing.

  “So they’re arguing. Any guesses to what about?” Derek asked.

  I studied the couple. “I’d say that one of them has been cheating and the other one is mad.”

  “How do you get that? Maybe they’re just fighting over who pays for the salad bar.”

  “Well, it’s too heated for that unless they’re really passionate about chickpeas. So my guess is since she is now leaving that they’re arguing about her infidelity.”

  “Very good,” Derek said.

  “Thank you,” I said with a boastful smile.

  “Okay, I know what we need to do,” Derek said as he stood from the chair.

  “Oh, no, I don’t think I want to hear this idea.”

  “Now just listen. What we need is for him to go out with someone else. Someone who he can tell all of his problems to, and then we’ll have an inside source. We can find out things about her, and he’ll tell us.”

  “So you want him to confess his deepest feelings. Exactly how is someone going to get him to do that?”

  “She would just need to talk to him. Where can we find a pretty girl?” He tapped his finger against his bottom lip. “Where can we find one? There are a lot of pretty girls here on campus, but we don’t know any of them. It might be kind of awkward to ask someone to do this.”

  “You would feel awkward about anything? I would think you would love that.”

  Derek stared at me, and then said, “Anyway, we need someone we can trust.”

  I placed my hands on my hips. “Hello? What about me? I can do it.”

  Derek looked me up and down. “Well, it would be a bit of a stretch.”

  “Hey!”

  He laughed. “What I mean is you don’t exactly look eighteen.”

  I snorted. “Well how about twenty-two?”

  He quirked an eyebrow.

  “Stop right there.” I held my hand up. “At least somewhere round twenty-five, right?”

  “Twenty-five? Why would you still be on campus?”

  “I got a late start?” I said.

  “I suppose,” Derek said. “So you’re agreeing to do this?”

  “I didn’t say I agreed to it.”

  “Then why are you even discussing this?”

  I sighed. “Okay, so I guess I’m in.”

  Now was my chance to go over there and talk to him, because she’d just walked out the door. Brianna hadn’t even looked our way.

  After their argument, he was wide open for discussion right now. I pushed my shoulders back and headed across the room.

  “Try to look sexy,” he said as I walked away.

  I wouldn’t even validate that with an answer. Derek would be watching my every move and scrutinizing me, so I had to play this right. I walked up the guy and tried my best to accidentally gently bump into him. It was more like a lurch though and I bumped right into his back. His tray of food fell to the floor.

  He spun around and said, “What the hell?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  I could feel Derek’s laughter without even having to look his way.

  “I’m terribly sorry. Can I buy you something else to eat?” I peered do
wn at his tray.

  He reached down and picked up the contents and placed them back on the tray. “No, I think I’m good.”

  “I just didn’t realize you were staying there, but I should have noticed you,” I said, batting my eyelashes and smiling.

  “Are you a teacher here?”

  When I heard laughter I looked over and realized that Derek had moved a little closer and was sitting in a nearby chair. I guessed he wanted a ringside seat for this debacle. He had to have heard the comment about me being a teacher.

  I batted at my eyelashes again and smiled, trying my best to flirt.

  “No, actually I’m a student here just like you. My name is Cece.”

  Was he picking up on my flirty attempts? I was getting tired of my fake smile.

  “What do you have to eat there? A tuna sandwich?” I pointed.

  Another round of loud laughter from Derek. What was wrong with asking what the guy was eating? Okay, maybe batting my eyelashes wasn’t working.

  On second thought maybe I had asked the wrong thing. But I was kind of out of the flirting loop. I hadn’t done that since I was eighteen. Maybe that was why I didn’t have a date. Plus, I was really bad at flirting.

  The guy eyed me up and down, and then finally he said, “Hey, you want to grab something to eat later tonight? Maybe we can hang out. My name is Mark Branton.”

  This was how the guy asked for dates? If this was the way things were done then I was glad I didn’t have dates. I didn’t want to hang out. What did that even mean? I glanced over at Derek. He was nodding for me to say yes. If that was what I had to do…

  “Sure, that would be great, Mark” I said.

  He furrowed his brow, but then said, “So I’ll meet you at nine? I’ll meet you at the nightclub at Paris.”

  I smiled again. “Okay, cool. It’s a date. See you then.”

  I turned around and walked away. I was afraid to look back to see if Mark was actually watching me. Derek got up and followed along behind me.

  “What do you call that? What were you doing?” Derek asked.

  “That was me flirting. Didn’t you know?”

  “Cece, your flirting looks painful. It was even more painful to watch,” Derek said.

  “Oh, be quiet.” I picked up my pace. “By the way, what is this business of hanging out?”

  “Did he say hang out or hook up?”

  “What’s the difference?” I asked.

  “There’s a big difference. Hooking up means you agreed to go on a date and have sex with him.”

  My eyes widened. “What? I’m not having sex with him.”

  Everyone around looked at me. I needed to lower my voice. Derek opened the door and directed me out of the building.

  “Hanging out just means hanging out… like a date. Just be careful,” Derek said.

  “Great. What have I gotten myself into? I’m going on this date alone and I don’t know what will happen. I don’t even know this guy. Furthermore, why is he asking me out when he has Brianna?”

  “Maybe they’re on a break.” Derek winked. “Besides, you won’t be alone. I’ll be with you.”

  “How can we explain you coming along? Are you going to be my protective dad?”

  Derek chuckled. “Okay, I see how it is.”

  “Well, you deserve that comment after you laughed at me.”

  Derek and I walked out of the building and back to the parking lot. This was where we went our separate ways.

  “So how is this going to work?” I asked.

  “Well, I guess we’ll have you wired and then I can follow along closely. I’ll listen in and if you get in any kind of trouble I’ll be right there. Not that you can’t take care of yourself.”

  I waved my hand. “Hey, everyone needs help every now and then.”

  Derek smiled. “Right, so are we good?”

  “Yeah, I guess that will have to work.”

  “Don’t act like yourself and I’m sure things will be fine,” Derek said.

  I smirked. “Very funny.”

  I turned around and headed toward my car. I couldn’t believe that I had agreed to go out on a date with that guy. He was so young. Well, ten years younger than me. But that ten years made a big difference. Besides, he wasn’t my type.

  What was I saying? This wasn’t a real date. I had to remind myself I was just trying to get information. I just hoped that this guy wasn’t really interested in me. Why would he be? He’d at first thought I was a teacher at the university, right? Way too old for him, unless he was into older women. What if he didn’t believe that I was a student?

  I arrived at my house. Before I had to get ready for my date I decided to relax a bit. Maybe a little meditation was in order. Perhaps a spell or two? I got out of the car and headed toward the house.

  Mr. Wilson next door waved. He’d actually become friendlier over the past few weeks. I was surprised he was one of the last ones in the neighborhood holding out to vote for me to leave. I wasn’t sure if they had actually taken a vote. I wouldn’t be surprised. Things had started out so well when I first moved in. Where had things gone wrong?

  I picked up my mail and hurried inside to the relief of the air-conditioner. A spell for tonight was definitely needed. I stood in front of my cauldron. It hummed with power as I tossed in the ingredients—mugwort, dandelions, and ginger. The red sheen of energy floating from the top soon turned to a golden glow. The sensation tingling across my skin let me know the spell was working. Now that I was finished with the spell, I was somewhat drained. I needed rest before tonight.

  After taking a short nap—yes, I was that old—I headed for the shower. Then I stood in front of my closet, trying to pick out what to wear. I had to have something that made me look less like a teacher and more like a college student. Something hip and young. Jeans? Yeah, that would probably work. Something trendy to wear on top and some heels. I wasn’t exactly a fashion maven, that was for sure.

  Chapter 14

  Derek and I had pulled up outside of the nightclub where I was supposed to meet Mark. The glowing sign beckoned people inside. The windows were blacked out so there was no way to see what was happening inside. I knew it involved loud music and cramped spaces with lots of bodies. With a long line outside waiting for admittance, it appeared to be packed. I figured there was no way we would ever get in.

  “Is there some kind of waiting list for this place?” I asked.

  Derek said, “Probably. And you don’t look cool enough to be allowed in.”

  “Thanks a lot,” I said. “Don’t be so excited, it’s not as if you would get in either.”

  “Well, I bet I could, but we won’t even make that bet right now.”

  I scoffed. “Yeah, that’s because you know you would lose.”

  “Let’s just focus on what you’re here for. The important thing is to stay calm while you’re in there,” Derek said, shutting off the van.

  “Where did you get this van anyway?” I asked as I looked around the old clunker.

  “Do you know how much of a bargain I got this van for?”

  “That may be so, but you look like a serial killer now. Do you have chains in the back of this thing?”

  Derek laughed. “No, I don’t have chains, funny girl, but this is what we’re supposed to do on stakeouts.”

  “If we had a legitimate real stakeout, then this thing screams stakeout. It couldn’t be more obvious if you had written surveillance on the side of it.”

  “Never mind that. Are you ready?” he asked. “You’ve got to meet this guy in two minutes and you don’t want to be late.”

  “I should be fashionably late,” I said, checking my makeup in the mirror.

  “Whatever you want to call it, just get out there and find the information we need.”

  “Are you sure you’re going to be here? Don’t leave me.” I placed my hand on the door handle.

  “I wouldn’t dream of leaving you, Cece Cash.” The look on his face was completely serious.
>
  Sometimes he said things like that just to get under my skin, but this time it made my stomach dance. I opened the van door and closed it without looking back. As I stepped away from the curb, I finally glanced back. Derek gave me a wink and a smile. I took in a deep breath and headed across the street.

  I stood in line for a short time and all of a sudden the guy working the door came up to me and asked if I wanted to go in. Of course I’d like to go in early and not stand in this line.

  “Cool,” I said, knowing that Derek could hear every word I said on the wire attached to my chest.

  I knew he was rolling his eyes and I couldn’t even see him. The big bouncer guy led me past the line into the front door.

  “Yeah, we need some older people in here, so I’m trying to make a quota.”

  Oh, how I hoped Derek hadn’t heard that. I would never hear the end of it if he had. I was almost certain he’d heard the comment.

  With my head held high I walked into the place. The crowd was overwhelming. The music pounded against my head and the lights whirled, almost causing me to have some sort of seizure reaction. I couldn’t even move in the crowd. What was I thinking? I was too old for this kind of stuff. I wanted to be home in my cozy bathrobe watching reality TV, but instead I was here in these torture-device heels. They were killing my feet. I had no choice but to work my way through the crowd. People bumped into me. They gave me dirty looks as if I was in their way.

  Where was this Mark guy anyway? He was supposed to meet me at the front. There was no way I could wait at the front though. I was being pushed into the middle of the room whether I wanted to go or not. Soon this crowd would push me all the way to the back and out the fire exit door.

  All of a sudden some guy bumped into me. I looked at him and he stared at me for a moment. I attempted a smile because he looked like he might want to kick me out of there. He wore all black---pants, shirt, and shoes. His black short-sleeved shirt was too tight. A tattoo of a panther peeked out from under the edge of the sleeve. Jet black hair reached down to his shoulders.

  “Excuse me, ma’am, I didn’t mean to bump into you,” he said.