by Rose Pressey
I’ll see you soon. I sent the text.
Looking forward to it. She replied.
Now I just had to slip past Derek without him becoming suspicious. I grabbed my purse and eased over to the door. Before actually opening the door, I prepared myself for interacting with Derek. Just as I was about to open the door a knock sounded against the wood. I immediately panicked. It was Derek—either he was suspicious or he’d been listening to the call.
“I knew it,” he said when I opened the door.
Derek and I exchanged a look. One look at me was all it took. He knew I was up to something. I marched around him and out of my office toward the door. As I made it halfway across the room I was going to give it my best shot to avoid answering his questions.
Derek rushed up behind me. “Hey, hey, where do you think you’re going?”
I turned around to face him, looking him right in the eye. “If you must know, I have to go to the store and pick up feminine products. Would you like to go with me?”
He stared at me blankly, completely tongue-twisted. Derek glanced to George, as if he would offer help. George just shrugged.
Finally, Derek said, “No, I think I’ll stay here. Thanks anyway.”
“Are you sure? I can pick you up something while I’m out?” I asked.
“I’m good,” he said as he went back to his desk.
Finally I’d gotten one over on Derek. That would only work once or twice though. He’d catch on to me soon enough. I hurried out of the office before he realized what I was doing.
A short time later I backed up to the address where Regina had suggested I meet her. It was a house, but I knew it wasn’t her house. Why had she asked me to meet her here? Instantly I became suspicious. This was kind of like what had happened to Paul when he’d met someone at the abandoned house. A short time later he was dead. I didn’t want to end up that way.
I parked along the street a little bit away so that I could watch the house. I wasn’t going to get out and go up there right away. I would wait and see if she showed up or came out to look for me. I couldn’t tell if anyone was even at the house.
I sat there for a few minutes. Then I noticed a man. He was one of the duo who had chased us at the casino. I was so glad that I hadn’t gone up to that house.
He had no idea that I was sitting in my car watching. The other man who had chased us came from the house. They talked on the sidewalk for a bit. After a few more minutes, they got in their car. I started mine. I had already made the decision that I was going to follow them. It was risky, but it was a risk that I had to take. After waiting a couple of seconds when they pulled away from the curb, I drove off behind them. I fell in behind the car, keeping my distance. I couldn’t let them know that I was back there.
After a short drive, we pulled onto the street for the university. I knew exactly where they were going. Well, maybe not exactly, but we were here at the campus, and I thought that was too much of a coincidence. Had these men met me there to harm me? Why else were they there? They had chased me before and now this. Had they killed Paul? This was certainly suspicious and made me think that all of those things were true. Unfortunately, after a short time following them, I lost the guys.
There was something else I noticed. A car was following me.
I didn’t recognize it and I couldn’t make out the driver either. However, it was making every turn that I made. I had to lose this person. I didn’t know how long they had been back there. I was quite angry though that I was being followed. I wanted to find out who this person was and what exactly they wanted. I knew the streets well and I had a feeling I could lose the car.
I punched the gas and then made a U-turn. The car couldn’t keep up with me. Now I could go around on the next turn and with any luck fall right in behind the car chasing me. I’d turn the tables and follow this person.
As I drove down the next road, I spotted the car. It was parked on the side of the road in front of a restaurant. I just knew it was the one that had followed me. I was going to find out what this person wanted.
I parked a good distance down the road and got out. I headed down the sidewalk, looking over my shoulder to make sure that I hadn’t been followed again. This was becoming out of control. I made it to the car and paused, looking into the restaurant to see if I recognized anyone. I didn’t. As I peered into the car, I realized there was someone still in it. What if this person was really dangerous?
I couldn’t let that stop me from doing my job though. I sneaked closer to the car and that was when I realized who was sitting behind the wheel.
At that moment Derek looked over at me. Our eyes met. He knew he had been busted. Then again, I had some explaining to do as well.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked. “Whose car is this?”
“I could ask you the same question,” he said. “My neighbor let me borrow it.”
“I know what you’re doing. You’re following me.”
Derek got out of the car. “You want to tell me what you’re doing? I know you’re up to something. I saw you leaving the house.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Okay, Regina asked me to meet her to try on the clothing and I didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of you. I didn’t want to try on clothing in front of you. There. Are you happy? I admitted it.”
A slight smile slid across his face. “Why would you be embarrassed? You look fantastic in everything you wear, and I can only imagine in the things that you don’t put on too.”
I knew that my face blushed.
“What happened? How did it go? You weren’t there very long,” he said.
“Well, this is strange. I had a bad feeling when I got there and then I saw those guys come out of the house. I didn’t get out there. The place looked empty, as if it was abandoned just like the other place.”
“The men from the casino?” he asked.
“Yeah, those are the ones.”
“Did you try to call her?”
“No, this just happened and then I was following you. So I haven’t tried yet.”
“Give her a call and ask her what the hell she thinks she’s doing. Then we’re calling the police.”
I could tell he was really angry. I pulled out my phone and dialed her number, but it went straight to voicemail.
“No answer,” I said.
“Get in the car with me and we’re going to find her,” Derek said.
Luckily, we’d tracked down an address for her. I’d never seen Derek so angry. I got in the passenger side and we took off, headed for her place. We pulled up and got out, marching up to her front door. Derek pounded on the door.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if those guys answer the door,” I said.
“Good. It’ll give me a chance to beat the hell out of them,” Derek said.
A couple seconds later Regina answered the door.
“Hi,” she said in a cheery voice.
“I have a question for you,” Derek said. “I’m confused as to why you had Cece meet you at an abandoned house.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t have her meet me anywhere.”
I pulled out my phone. “Oh, yeah? Then why did I get a text message from you?” I showed her the screen.
“I didn’t text you,” she said.
“Then explain how I got this text.”
“I guess someone sent it. My phone was stolen.”
“How convenient,” Derek said.
“No, really, I’m being honest with you. My car was broken into and my phone was in it.”
“When did this happen?” I asked.
“Not long ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police?” Derek asked.
“I didn’t think there was anything they would do. I just now got a new one and was setting it up.” She pulled out the phone and showed it to us.
At first I hadn’t believed her, but now it was looking as if she was telling the truth. None of this made any sense. Who would text
me?
“Who knew what you were doing for me?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I really don’t know, but I’m just as upset as you are. I’m really sorry.”
Derek and I exchanged a look. I supposed we had no choice but to believe her. I had to find out who had sent the text. It was probably the men who had been at the house.
“There were two men there. They both have dark hair and lots of muscles. Do you know anyone like that?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“They were at the house. I suspect they’re the ones who sent the text message to Paul.”
Since she was denying it so much, I didn’t know what to do next.
“Sorry I haven’t had a chance to put all the outfits together for you yet. I’m almost done though. I’ll give you a call soon.”
Clothing was the least of my concerns right now. I couldn’t help but be somewhat suspicious of her.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Well, if you don’t have any other questions, I have things to do. I’m meeting someone at the nightclub tonight.”
I stared for a moment longer, and then said, “Call me if you think of anything.”
Regina closed the door. I assumed that was her way of telling me not to count on a call. Derek and I walked away from her house.
“What do you think about that?” he asked. “She seems suspicious.”
“I think she’s probably not telling us everything,” I said as we reached his car. “And I think you’re right.”
We got in and I looked back at her house. She had just walked back inside. “The key is finding those men,” Derek said as he started the car. “Which seems virtually impossible.”
“We have to find out any connection they might have to that address.”
Derek pulled out onto the street. “Did you say that I was right? That never happens.”
Chapter 26
Later that evening I was walking across my living room floor when the doorbell rang. I instantly froze. Who could that be? I wasn’t expecting anyone. It was probably Derek again. I looked down at my wrinkled shirt and sweats. Why did he have to pop in unannounced?
I went over to the door and asked, “Who is it?”
“Your favorite coven members,” the ladies announced in unison.
“What are you all doing?” I asked when I opened the door.
Melanie, Sue, Anna, Ellen and Agatha marched into my living room. The ladies came bearing bottles of margarita mix, tequila, tortilla chips, salsa, and other yummy treats. I was surprised they’d talked Melanie into foregoing the vegetables.
“We brought snacks.” They waved the stuff through air.
“Well, that’s great, but you have to tell me why you’re here. Tonight is not the meeting.”
“We came to do a spell, that’s why we’re here,” Melanie said as she placed the stuff on the dining room table.
“What kind of spell?” I asked.
This wasn’t a scheduled coven meeting, so I had no idea what they could be up to this time.
“This had better not have anything to do with Derek,” I said.
The witches waved their hands. “No, of course not.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with that handsome man, although you should let us do another spell. Regardless, we are here to do a protection spell for you,” Melanie said.
“We’re worried about you so that’s why we came to offer protection,” Sue said.
“Well, it was really sweet of you ladies to do that, but I’m fine.”
“Oh, do you call when people break into your home and your office fine?” Melanie asked.
“No, I suppose that’s not fine, but I have done some spells on my own.” I grabbed a chip and dipped it in the salsa.
I supposed that wasn’t fine, but I’d cast spells on my own.
“This is more than that. We have to do more than that.”
“We’ll do a spell outside. After we cast the spell, we’ll come back in and have our margaritas and treats.”
“Right now we go outside with the cauldron and we whip up some magic.”
They seemed pretty confident and there was no way I was going to be able to talk them out of doing the spell right now.
“If this is some kind of trick to do a love spell I will never speak to you all again,” I warned.
“She doesn’t mean that,” Melanie said.
We gathered outside with the cauldron and circled around. After placing the ingredients in, we were all ready to start the spell.
“Who’s out there?” someone yelled. “You get out of that yard right now before I call the cops. I’ve got a gun and I’m not afraid to shoot your ass.”
The ladies looked over to the neighbor’s yard in astonishment.
“Bill, this is Melanie. You take your butt back inside and leave us alone or I’m going to tell everyone that you cheat at bingo.”
“Melanie, is that you?” Bill called out.
“It’s me. Now you get your silly butt out of here.”
“Sorry,” he said and then turned around and walked away.
I couldn’t believe Melanie had gotten him to leave just by threatening to rat him out at bingo. That did explain all the times he’d won though. Oh, well, it didn’t matter. Now we needed to get back to the spell.
We started the spell all over again, chanting the words and focusing on protection. We had just gotten into our groove when the shot rang out, piercing the night air.
Instantly I fell to the ground, as did the other witches. We were all lying flat on our stomachs with our hands covering our heads. The smell of grass and dirt filled my nostrils. I had no idea if more shots would be fired.
“Cece, what should we do now? I’m terrified,” Melanie said.
“Stay calm, everyone. We have to take cover in the house,” I said.
“Is someone shooting at us?” Melanie asked.
I was pretty sure it wasn’t a car backfiring.
“I think so,” I said. “That’s why it’s important to stay calm.”
Maybe I did need to find a new place to live. Why bring danger to Desert Palms?
“On the count of three we need to run to the house,” I said.
“I’m too scared to move. I think I peed my pants a little,” Melanie said.
“Just stay down and we’ll be fine. Ready? On the count of three.”
The women nodded.
“One. Two. Three.” I jumped up and hurried toward the back door.
I kept my body hunched toward the ground in case I needed to drop again. We made it to the door. I got it open and the women smashed inside. I managed to get out of the way before they bulldozed right over me.
“Everybody get down and stay down. I’m getting my gun.”
“Oh, dear, Cece, be careful. Do you have to do that?” Melanie asked.
“Well, we don’t want the jackass shooting at us. At least I’ll have a gun to protect us.”
I managed to get the gun and then made my way back over to the door. I kept my back pressed against the wall so that I was away from the windows.
“I’m going to check back outside. I want you ladies to stay put, okay? Understand?”
“You can’t go out there alone,” Melanie said.
“I have to make sure the person isn’t there to hurt us. I want to catch the person.”
“Yeah, you’ll put a bullet in his butt,” Melanie said.
Slowly I made my way out the door. The lights were off in the house. I was hoping that no one would be able to see me. I made it around the perimeter of the yard, but didn’t see anything unusual.
I knew that someone had fired a shot. I also knew that I was a target, although no one was there. Unless they were still hiding.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are, jackass,” I said under my breath.
My gun was pointed and ready to shoot. Since I couldn’t find anyone out there I needed to go back in and
check on the ladies.
When I got back to the door, I called out, “Is everything okay in there?”
They screamed.
“Ladies, it’s just me. Calm down.”
I knew they were still terrified. They would for sure want me out of the coven after this. They’d probably never talk to me again, and definitely never come back over to my house. If they let me stay in the coven I knew we would never have another meeting here.
“Ladies, stay put, I’m going to check on the neighbor just in case he heard anything.”
I didn’t want to tell them I was worried that maybe he had been in the middle of the gunfire. I stepped back out into the night and headed for the neighbor’s house. I hoped I made it there without more gunfire. I kept my body leaned over slightly as I sneaked over.
Once on the doorstep, I rang the doorbell. Mumbling came from the other side of the door and then it was yanked open.
“Oh, Cece, is everything all right?”
Obviously Bill hadn’t heard the gunfire. How, I didn’t know, but I didn’t want to tell him about it now. Maybe he had a hearing aid. I put the gun in the back of my waistband so he wouldn’t see it.
“I was just coming over to see if you’d like for me to bake you some chocolate oatmeal cookies.” I smiled. “For the disturbance earlier.”
I hated baking cookies. Why had I even mentioned that? Couldn’t I have thought of anything else? I didn’t totally hate baking, it was just that I wasn’t very good at it sometimes. If I actually made something successfully then I loved it.
Bill frowned. “What’s the catch?”
“Oh, no catch. I thought I’d make some and would have some extra.”
“I would love cookies, Cece. Thank you.”
“Well, all right then, I’ll make you cookies.”
I noticed that Bill looked at something over my shoulder. I spun around.
“What the heck are you doing here?” I asked.
I hadn’t meant to sound so grumpy, but I was shocked to see him.
“The ladies called me. They said someone was shooting at you,” Derek said.
Oh, how I wished he hadn’t said that.
