A Witch Before Dying (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Book 11)

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Like what?”

  “Like … what her plans were for the day or anything.”

  “Are you asking if she confided in me that she was going to war with my daughter?” Dad asked. “If so, she didn’t. She was pleasant and chatty. That’s the way she is. She asks a lot of questions and then pretends she cares about the answers.”

  “Why do you say it like that?”

  “Like what?”

  “You said she pretends to care about the answers,” I prodded. “How do you know she doesn’t really care?”

  “It’s obvious by the way she acts,” Dad replied. “She gushes over men and talks down to women. I’m pretty sure you’ve already noticed.”

  “I have,” I confirmed. “If you see her, can you do me a favor and text me? I just want to know if she shows up.”

  “I will but I’m going to bed soon,” Dad replied. “We have to get up early because the festival starts tomorrow. If she comes in after … well … it’s not as if we have a curfew or anything.”

  “I understand. Just … if you see her before you go to bed I’d appreciate a text. I’m sorry if this puts you in a tough position, but we have a lot going on these days.”

  “We all have a lot going on these days, Bay. It was nice to talk to you. I’ll text if I see her.” His tone was cold and caused my heart to pinch.

  “How about we have lunch tomorrow,” I suggested in an effort to tamp down my worry. “I’ll be at the festival all day. It might be nice to hang out together for a bit.”

  Dad’s tone softened. “That sounds nice. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Yeah.” I disconnected and stared at the phone. “He said he hasn’t seen her and he’s annoyed that I only bothered to call because I wanted something. I need to be better about that.”

  “He’s the one who abandoned you for years,” Chief Terry argued. “He should be happy that you bother to give him any time at all.”

  I fixed him with an amused look. “You know I still love you, right? You’ll always be my favorite.”

  Chief Terry looked embarrassed. “I wasn’t fishing for a compliment.”

  “You don’t have to. I always think about you in complimentary terms.”

  Chief Terry’s lips curved. “Thank you. I feel the same way.”

  “Oh, geez.” Landon rubbed his forehead. “If anyone else acted that way with my girlfriend I’d totally punch him.”

  “That’s because you’re a Neanderthal,” I said. “You like to pound your chest and use words like ‘mate’ when you refer to me.”

  “I have never used the word ‘mate’ when referring to you.”

  “You’ve thought it.”

  “I’m pretty sure you’re exaggerating,” Landon said. “It doesn’t matter. Scarlet Darksbane either got distracted or is in the wind.”

  “I wonder why,” Chief Terry mused. “She must be worried that you found out something important when you visited Grand Rapids. Landon told me that you made sure she knew that you spoke to her old friend Silver. What’s up with the odd names, by the way?”

  “It’s the way of posers,” I explained. “They don’t have the magic, so they cover with distracting names. It’s a common practice. Although, to be fair, Silver claimed she could see auras.”

  “Do you believe her?”

  I shrugged. “Seeing auras isn’t something only witches can do. It’s a fairly common gift.”

  “Well, for now there’s nothing we can do about it,” Chief Terry said. “Let’s regroup and discuss things over breakfast. Hopefully we’ll know more then. As of now, we know Tess is acting weird and Scarlet Darksbane isn’t around. Neither necessarily means anything – certainly not proof of murder.”

  “We have only two days to figure out what’s going on here,” Landon added. “Once that troupe leaves – and we have no way to make them stay – we’ll lose our suspect pool.”

  “Then we’ll have to start early.” Chief Terry patted the top of my head, his big hand warm, and smiled. “I’ll see you for breakfast. Thank you for calling your father.”

  “I know why you didn’t want to do it, and I don’t blame you,” I offered. “It’s a weird situation. You’ll always be my favorite, though. I meant it when I said it.”

  Chief Terry beamed as Landon snorted and wrapped his arm around my waist.

  “I’m your favorite,” Landon corrected. “He can be your second favorite, but I demand top billing.”

  “Oh, geez! You’re so much work,” I teased.

  “And don’t you forget it.”

  EVEN THOUGH IT WASN’T all that late I was exhausted when we got back to the guesthouse. Thistle and Marcus were already tucked away in her bedroom, so I was happy to brush my teeth, change into pajamas and crawl into bed.

  Landon was beneath the covers when I closed the bedroom door. He smiled and lifted them as I shut off the light and shuffled across the room. My feet were cold when I pressed them against his.

  “Holy crap, Bay,” Landon complained. “Your feet are like ice! Why aren’t you wearing socks?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe I like to feel my skin against yours. Have you ever considered that?”

  “Only during summer,” Landon replied, sliding his arm under me and arranging us so my head rested on his shoulder and we could share body heat. “Just think, when summer rolls around again we’ll have this place all to ourselves.”

  “Yeah.” That sounded nice. “What do you think we’ll be doing?”

  “I think we’ll be grilling. And I’m totally getting that hammock we talked about so we can make napping outdoors our new hobby.”

  I giggled. “That’s my type of hobby.”

  “I’ll be handling more cases in this immediate area, which means I’ll be driving to a few neighboring towns and cities, but I’ll never be too far away. You’ll be the owner of the newspaper, so you’ll have different duties, too.”

  “Yeah.” I rubbed my cheek against his T-shirt. “What do you think really happened to Scarlet?”

  The question caused Landon to shift so he could stare into my eyes. The room was dark, but the moon was bright enough that it offered some illumination. “I don’t know. Are you worried about her?”

  “Worried?” That wasn’t the word I would use. “I’m suspicious. She wasn’t happy when she found out we’d talked to Silver. She couldn’t hide it. She might’ve panicked and run, but that doesn’t seem to match the woman we’ve come to know over the past few days.”

  “Maybe she initially thought you guys would just roll over or something. If she did, she made a big mistake. For all we know, Mrs. Little could have lied about how formidable you guys are.”

  “Maybe.” That didn’t sound likely. “Aunt Tillie had a big plan to embarrass her in public, tell everyone in attendance what she did while in Grand Rapids, and then curse her to be stuck with the ‘Everything is Awesome’ song from The Lego Movie in her head for the next thirty days while smelling like three-day-old tuna fish left out in the sun.”

  Landon chuckled, his chest shaking with mirth. “You have to give her credit. She always picks inventive ways to curse people.”

  “Yes, she’s gifted that way,” I agreed, sliding my hand beneath Landon’s shirt and resting my fingers on his muscled chest. “Do you think she’ll come back and attack us from behind? Do you think she’s out there plotting?”

  “She might, but I doubt you have anything to fear. You figured out she put that poppet on you within thirty minutes. If that’s the best she can do … .”

  “She has that book,” I reminded him. “She could move on us. She might not even realize what she’s doing when she lets the curses fly.”

  “She’s not a real witch,” Landon said, his hand absently moving up and down my spine. “She’s a fake witch. I’ll put my money on a real witch every time – especially when that real witch is you.”

  “I think you’re only saying that because you’re sweet on me.”

  “I am definitely sweet on you.�
�� Landon gave me a soft kiss, his eyes pressed shut. “You need to sleep, sweetie. We’re going to have a big day tomorrow between watching potential murderers and hunting down a rogue witch. You need your rest.”

  “I know.” I nestled closer. “I love you.”

  Landon tightened his grip on me. “I love you, too. We’ll figure it out. I think we’re close. We’re only missing a small piece of the puzzle. When we uncover that, we’ll uncover everything.”

  I could only hope he was right.

  I WOKE IN THE exact same position I fell asleep in, Landon’s warm body pressed to mine. I felt comfortable, safe and content.

  Then I heard someone chewing. I’m not talking quiet chewing. This was big, loud and sloppy.

  I rolled to my back and looked to the end of the bed, frowning when I found Aunt Tillie munching on a candy bar while watching us sleep.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You two sleep all twined up together,” Aunt Tillie noted, dodging the question. “I don’t understand how you breathe.”

  “We just do.” I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “What are you doing here?”

  “I need to talk strategy, but you people refuse to wake up at an acceptable time. Why is that? Are you lazy by nature or is it a couple thing? Just for the record, Thistle and Marcus are already up and out. They were leaving when I came in. Thistle said we have to be at Hypnotic to make another plan before the festival starts.”

  “Since when do you follow Thistle’s orders?”

  “Since I happen to agree with them.” Aunt Tillie shifted and poked her finger into Landon’s knee. “He sleeps like the dead.”

  “He’s tired.” I slapped her hand away. “Don’t get him going. He deserves sleep. He needs it.”

  “Oh, you’re such a whiner.” Aunt Tillie made a disgusted face. “Besides, he’s awake. He just doesn’t want me to know it because he thinks it will make me go away.”

  As if on cue, Landon opened one eye and glared. “What will make you go away?”

  “Nothing right now,” Aunt Tillie replied. “I need to talk to Bay.”

  “Do you have to do it in our bedroom?”

  “It’s not your bedroom yet,” Aunt Tillie replied. “It’s not your bedroom until you get rid of the apartment.”

  “Soon,” Landon muttered. “It will happen soon. I just have to clean it. I’m spending every night here, so it’s technically my room. You should get out.”

  “I’m good.” Aunt Tillie wasn’t one to back down, and this morning wouldn’t be any different. “So, I called The Dragonfly and talked to your father.”

  “Oh, geez.” I slapped my hand to my forehead. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because I was curious about whether Scarlet returned to her room,” Aunt Tillie replied. “I’ve got big plans for her, and I can’t unleash them if she’s not around to beg for mercy.”

  “You’re the only person I know who wants someone to beg for mercy,” Landon noted. “What do you think about that?”

  “I think it’s funny that you have more hair on your face than on your chest when you wake up in the morning,” Aunt Tillie replied, not missing a beat. She poked her finger into Landon’s bare chest for emphasis. “Do you shave or wax?”

  Landon wrinkled his nose. “Why do you even care?”

  Aunt Tillie shrugged. “I’m curious. Back in my day, men didn’t try to make themselves look like women. There were no naked chests. When you started sleeping with someone you often woke up wondering if you’d done it with Bigfoot the night before.”

  “Oh, my … why do you have to say things like that?” I was understandably frustrated. “Now I’ll have nightmares. I’ve seen photographs of Uncle Calvin. He wasn’t that hairy.”

  “How do you know I was talking about your uncle?”

  “Because the idea of you sleeping with anyone else will surely make my head explode.”

  “Mine, too.” Landon offered up a lazy grin as he shoved his hair back from his face. “Go back to the part of the conversation where you mentioned calling The Dragonfly. What did Jack say?”

  “He said that Scarlet hadn’t returned before he went to bed last night. I told him to check her room – which he totally whined about, by the way – and he said it didn’t look as if anyone had slept in the bed.”

  Landon propped himself up a bit, his fingers busy as they brushed over my arm. “Was her stuff still there?”

  “Hey, you ask good questions,” Aunt Tillie teased. “I made sure to ask that one, too. I did it before you, so … .” She blew out a wet raspberry, causing Landon to make an exaggerated face as he wiped his cheek. “All her stuff was still there, at least as far as Jack could tell. He was irritated and kept reminding me that he asked me never to call or visit.”

  “He should know better than that,” I pointed out. “You never do what you’re told.”

  “That’s why I always win.” Aunt Tillie pronounced. “I told him that he was unnaturally crabby and then asked him if he was going through Malopause. He didn’t think it was funny. He never did have a very good sense of humor.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask, but what is Malopause?” Landon asked.

  “Male Menopause.”

  “Yup. I should’ve seen that coming.” Landon laid back and stared at the ceiling. “So Scarlet Darksbane is missing. All of her stuff is still at The Dragonfly and she hasn’t been seen – at least as far as we know – since last night.”

  Aunt Tillie bobbed her head. “Pretty much.”

  “What do you think it means?” I asked.

  Landon shrugged. “She could be hiding.”

  “Or?”

  “Or she could’ve left and not bothered to pick up her stuff.”

  That didn’t seem likely. “Maybe we should break in to her store again and see if the journal is gone.”

  “I’d rather not risk breaking into a business on a Saturday, which just happens to coincide with a busy festival in downtown Hemlock Cove,” Landon said. “We’ll keep our eyes open for her, but she’s not our biggest concern.”

  “Unless she was taken by a killer or is the killer,” Aunt Tillie pointed out.

  Landon rubbed his cheek as he debated the point. “I think both of those are unlikely. Why would a killer take her? She has no ties to anything. Also, why would she be the killer? As far as we can tell, she’s a grifter but there’s nothing violent in her past. Why would she kill Adele Twigg?”

  Aunt Tillie shrugged. “Maybe her plan was to frame us from the beginning.”

  “To what end?”

  “I don’t know, but you’re definitely being a killjoy,” Aunt Tillie said. “I still think something funky is going on here.”

  “I agree something funky is going on,” Landon said. “But we won’t know more until we touch base with Terry, so there’s no reason to freak out.”

  Aunt Tillie snorted. “Sometimes I think you get this family and other times I think you don’t. If we didn’t freak out we’d have absolutely nothing to do with half of our time.”

  Landon grinned. “I’m sorry. I forgot. Feel free to freak out.”

  “Thank you.” Aunt Tillie primly got to her feet. “By the way, Winnie made pancakes that actually have bacon bits in them this morning. She’s going to surprise you.”

  Landon perked up. “Why did you bury the lead?” He tossed off the covers and hopped out of bed. “Get moving, Bay. Your mother is experimenting with bacon. I think it’s my lucky day and I don’t want to miss a moment of it.”

  I offered up a rueful smile. “I guess we’re done cuddling for this morning, huh?”

  “We can cuddle any time. Bacon pancakes are a first.”

  He had a point. “Does that mean you’ll be a flirty fool all day?”

  “You have no idea.”

  I returned his smile. “Maybe it’s my lucky day, too.”

  “There’s no maybe about it. You’re going to get lucky so many times.”

  He probably didn’t mean i
t as it sounded, but I’d take it all the same. “Let’s go. We have a missing witch to find and a murderer to capture.”

  “Don’t forget the bacon pancakes.”

  “And those. It’s going to be a busy day.”

  Twenty-Eight

  Landon and I drove to town separately. I was already in Hypnotic, my coat halfway off, when he walked through the front door.

  “Wow,” Thistle shouted. “There’s an added spring to your step this morning. You’re practically floating.” She turned an accusing look to me. “Did you do something dirty while the rest of us were up at the crack of dawn to get work done?”

  “Don’t look at me that way,” I ordered. “He wanted nothing to do with me this morning. Mom invented a new kind of breakfast for him, so he’s all about her right now.”

  “That came off filthy, but I don’t even care after the pancakes.” Landon tapped the end of my nose. “That was the single best breakfast I’ve ever had. If I wasn’t already dating you I’d totally ask out your mother for her cooking skills alone.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “That is not the way to keep me happy.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I hurt your feelings?” Landon’s voice was full of mirth. “You know you’re my favorite.”

  “Only until you start dreaming about those bacon pancakes,” I muttered, folding my arms over my chest.

  “You have a point.” Landon’s grin was impish. “I’ll still love you forever. You’ll simply have to take the occasional backseat to the pancakes when your mother makes them. I’m sorry, but it is possible to love two things at once.”

  “So now you’re saying that my competition is pancakes, huh?”

  “You don’t have any competition, at least where I’m concerned, but speaking of that, we checked Scarlet Darksbane’s store.” Landon sobered, real work forcing him to forget about the bacon pancakes and focus on something serious. “She’s not in her store. As far as I can tell, most everything is exactly the same as when we were in there the other night.”

  “Did you kick down the door?” Clove asked, genuinely curious.