“I will do you no harm tonight, Gary. But if I ever see you again, you can be sure that I will be prepared, and it won’t end in a tussle on the front yard.”
He snarled, showcasing his fangs. “I’m not afraid of you, witch.”
I shrugged. “That’s your mistake to make. I’ve said all I’m going to. Now, get away from here.”
I called forth all the power I could harness, summoning a powerful blocking spell with both hands, and then spread them wide, forming an arc over the yard. From end to end of the property’s perimeter, the spell went forth and took hold. Gary smiled, not realizing what I’d just cast, but before any further cruel barbs could fly from his lips, he was flung backwards. He sailed over the manor, a shadow against the sliver of moonlight, and crashed in a crumpled heap on the street.
He righted himself and let out a furious howl. He charged at the manor, but as soon as he reached the perimeter, he was kicked back further than before.
Beside me, Adam barked, a smile on his canine face.
I glanced down at him, grinning from ear to ear. “I wanted to know how the house did it with the steps the other day. I did a little digging when I was cooking up the security wards for keeping Nick away.”
He barked and wagged his tail. It obviously got his mark of approval.
Gary tried once again but was thrown halfway down the block. If he attempted it again, things would become infinitely more painful. Something inside of him must have sensed that part of the magic. He brushed himself off, let out a howl, and took to the skies.
Adam, Boots, and I all watched as he disappeared into the night.
I smiled down at Adam. “Thank you.”
He inclined his head and then trotted off toward the front door. Boots followed. I waited another minute, reveling in the powerful pulse of my spell, and then smiled as I went inside with my friends.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“I STILL CAN’T believe it was Gretta…”
An hour had passed, since Gary had revealed the truth of the murder, and we were both still stunned by his confession.
“Well, we don’t know for sure…” Adam corrected, settling into the chair opposite mine at the kitchen table. He had three sandwiches piled on a small white plate. He grinned when he caught me staring at them. “Like I said, it relaxes me.” He bit into the first one with vigor.
I couldn’t even imagine eating. The adrenaline crash was making me nauseated. I kept playing back all the ways the fight with Gary could have ended. None of them were pretty. Instead of food, I went straight to the tea, and made myself a cup of my calming blend. I gave the cup a lazy twirl of my finger above the steaming liquid to mix the herbs. “Well then, I’d say you earned them.”
“You too!” He smirked at me. “That spell you cast was totally badass!”
I smiled. “I’m glad you liked it. I have to say, it worked even better than I expected. I’ll have to thank Posy for the inspiration.”
Adam chuckled and wolfed down the second half of his sandwich in one bite. Boots was across the kitchen, reveling in his own spoils of war. I’d gifted him with an entire can of tuna and he was wasting no time gobbling it all up. “Boots did pretty good too, huh? I’ll never doubt your fighting chops again, Mr. Boots.” Adam gave the oblivious cat a salute.
“He did it all for the tuna,” I joked, smiling at his happy expression as he stuck his face deeper into his ceramic bowl to get every last morsel.
Adam laughed along and then went to work on his second sandwich. “I’m just glad I was nearby. I hate to think what would have happened otherwise…” he shuddered. “I mean, you’re a tough witch, but—”
“No offense taken,” I said, raising my hand to interject. “I was getting my butt kicked. When he had me pinned, it was like I was made of stone. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t use my magic. And those eyes…” A shiver snaked down my spine at the memory. “I don’t want to keep thinking about what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up.”
Adam gave me a grim look. “What were you doing out there in the first place?”
I sighed and pushed my hair back out of my eyes. “I was trying to harvest some sprigs from my Heartsong plant. I need it for a Truth Be Told potion. Well, needed. I suppose it’s kind of pointless now.”
“Why’s that?”
I sipped my tea, letting the warmth and herbal blend soothe my frazzled nerves. “Because I was going to use it to get my boss, Phillip Tanner, to confess to murdering Peg.”
“Oh,” Adam said, his lips holding a small circle for a long moment.
“Yeah. So, obviously I don’t need the potion anymore…” My eyes went to the clock on the wall behind Adam’s head. It was almost one thirty in the morning. “Mystery solved.”
Adam nodded solemnly. “Did the police even question Gretta?”
“I don’t know. Her shop’s right next door, so maybe they asked if she saw anything, but I doubt it was much of a questioning. I mean, it’s no secret that her and Peg weren’t BFFs, but I doubt she crossed anyone’s radar for being capable of the murder. If anything, she’s more likely to be the victim of an attack.”
Adam chuckled softly. “True. I remember one time I was walking by her shop and she came out of her store just to tell me that my posture was atrocious.”
I smirked. “It is pretty bad, you know.”
“Ha ha. Very funny. You try switching between life on four paws and two legs and see how you do.”
“Fair enough,” I replied, my eyes twinkling with amusement.
He leaned back and tore off a bite from his next sandwich. “So, what now?” he asked before popping the bite into his mouth.
“I honestly don’t know. I need to find something linking her to the crime. I can’t exactly use Gary’s testimony. The police would laugh me right out of the station. On top of that, it’s hearsay.”
Adam lifted his brows. “Look at you, little Miss Law & Order.”
I grinned. “I know a little.”
“If Gretta was there, wouldn’t her shoes have the peppermint syrup on them too? Gary said she got into her car and drove off. So, maybe the police could test her gas pedal for the stuff. You know how hard it is to get rid of.”
I nodded. He had a point. But the problem was that I couldn’t get Chief Lincoln to search Gretta’s car. Not without telling him what I heard. Even an anonymous tip probably wouldn’t get much traction.
“Or, what about the lady who saw Gary flying?”
I perked up. “If she was close by, maybe she heard part of the argument!”
“Exactly. That would put the spotlight on Gretta. Everyone knows her voice.” He shook his head as though hearing it inside his head. “Like nails on a chalkboard.”
“The straw!” I clapped my hands and Adam and Boots both snapped to attention. I winced at the loud sound. “Sorry. But, the straw! Remember when you were there in the alley? You said you smelled straw, peppermint, and blood. Gretta lives on a huge nursery outside of town. She grows most of her own stock. She has horses too, from what I’ve been told. It has to be straw from her shoes or clothes!”
Adam nodded. “It makes sense. But the back of her store is in the alley too. She walks that path all the time.”
I deflated a little. He was right. It wasn’t much of a clue and again, I couldn’t go to Chief Lincoln and tell him my shifter friend and roommate had sniffed it out for me. I wasn’t even supposed to have been at the crime scene that night.
“How are we supposed to find the lady who overheard the argument? Gary just said it was a lady with a dog. And even though I heard Mrs. Grady talking about seeing a strange man that night, she didn’t say anything about him flying! I don’t know how to narrow it down. I mean, half the population of Beechwood Harbor have dogs.”
Adam nodded, mulling it over. We both stared at our hands for a moment. Adam fidgeted with the third sandwich on his plate and I twisted my tea cup around in circles against the table top. There had to be a way to prove Grett
a was the murderer. She couldn’t get away with this. And I’d be damned if I let Cassie take the fall for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“What if you made the truth potion?” Adam said after a long beat.
I looked up. “Why? We already know who the murderer is.”
“Right,” he nodded, picking up steam as he mapped out the plan forming in his head. “But we need Chief Lincoln to believe us. If you slip Gretta the potion and get her talking—”
“I could get her to confess! If we record it, we can give that to the Chief and he’ll have to arrest her, or at least investigate her and then he might find the peppermint syrup in her car!”
“Exactly!”
“Adam, that’s genius!”
He gave a half-cocked smile and mimed like he was popping his collar, though he was wearing a t-shirt. “Every once in a while I use this thing for more than winning over the ladies,” he said, tapping at his temple.
I laughed. “Thank goodness!”
He took a celebratory bite into his last sandwich.
“There’s just one problem.”
“What?” he asked around his generous bite.
I wilted in my chair. “I need the Heartsong and it’s long past midnight. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get some. Then the potion alone takes three days to brew. By that time, Cassie will probably have a nervous breakdown from Chief Lincoln and his deputies following her everywhere.”
Adam groaned. “Because of the shoes?”
I nodded. “It sounds like it’s the only clue he has so far.”
Adam took another bite and mulled it over. “Are there any other potions that would have the same effect? Maybe something that would lower her inhibitions a little? If you’re there to guide her through the questions, maybe you don’t need a full truth potion. You just need something to loosen her lips a little.”
“Possibly…” I searched through my mind, considering potions and ideas one at a time, and then discarding them. Until I remembered seeing something in my handbook earlier. “I know! The tension tamer, that I put into my tea sometimes, it has a relaxing quality. I could try to isolate the herb that triggers that reaction, up the dosage, and bam!”
Adam grinned at me. “I knew you could figure it out.”
I stared at him and my skin flushed. The entire array of emotions from the night washed over me, and I was exhilarated and exhausted all at once. “Adam, thanks again for being there tonight. You saved my life. Boots’ too.”
He smiled and reached out for my hand. He set his on top of mine and his thumb stroked over my knuckles. It was a soft, but intensely sweet gesture, and my heart fluttered wildly, like a butterfly caged behind my ribs. “I’ll always be there for you, Holly. Whatever you need.”
My mouth went dry. I swallowed hard as my brain reached for the right response, but before I could land on something intelligent, the door flew open with a loud burst.
Lacey stumbled into the kitchen and reared back at the sight of Adam and me sitting there. “What are you two doing down here?” She craned around to look at the clock on the wall. “Isn’t this a little past your bedtime, Holly?”
Adam glared at her. “We’re allowed to be in the kitchen anytime we want to, Lacey.”
Lacey narrowed her eyes at Adam.
“Guys, please?” I begged, my voice soft and exhausted. “I’m in no mood to play referee to you two right now.”
Adam shrugged and polished off the last of his sandwich which was either filled with marshmallow fluff or a nauseating amount of mayonnaise. Either way, Lacey and I both wrinkled our noses as he chowed down. She stalked past him, the words “mangy mutt” barely audible as she swept to the fridge.
“Gary’s no longer a tenant,” I offered as a segue.
“Good.” She pulled away from the fridge, a can of O positive in her hands. She tapped her long pink nail against the side of the can a few times before cracking it open and drinking deeply. Apparently Adam and I weren’t the only ones having a rough night. I’d never seen her drink directly from the can before. She took another long sip and then looked over at me and Adam again. “What happened?”
She crossed the kitchen and took the chair at the foot of the table and listened intently as I gave her the rundown of the attack, leaving out the details of Peg’s murder.
“Nasty gargoyle. I should have known that’s what he was,” she sneered. “There was a pair of them that lived at the haven I was in before coming here. They were always bragging about attacking mortals. No one knew if they were serious or just full of it. But I always had a bad feeling about them. Ugh. To think I lived that close to one all these months!” She shuddered before soothing herself with another long drink from her can of fake blood.
“Well, he’s gone now.”
Adam laughed. “And Holly cast some badass magic to keep him away from the manor.”
Lacey lifted her brows at me. “Impressive.”
Did Lacey just compliment me? This was officially the weirdest night of my life.
“Thanks.” I smiled at Adam. “Well, we still need to figure out what to do with him. We can’t just let him run loose in the neighborhood. I promised I wouldn’t call the SPA. But I couldn’t help it if someone else did…” I gave Lacey a pointed gaze. “A concerned citizen, perhaps.”
She smiled. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to call my agent for a while. I could put a bug in his ear about a rogue gargoyle.”
“Excellent.” I grinned at her.
Adam chuckled. “That’s really cool of you, Lacey.”
She rose from her place at the table, rinsed her can in the sink, and then stalked back to the door. She stopped short, one hand on the swinging door, and glanced back at us. “One thing before I go…”
Uh oh. I knew her offer to help was too good to be true. “What?”
She smiled sweetly. “If I do this favor for you, then you both have to do a favor for me.”
“Crap,” Adam mumbled.
“Okay, Lacey. That’s fair,” I said, ignoring Adam. “What would you like?”
“No more cracks about my pageants.”
My lips quirked with the effort of holding back a laugh, but I kept a straight face and nodded. “Deal.”
Her eyes darted to Adam, narrowing slightly. I’d been known to join in the mockery, but Adam was always the instigator.
He looked at me and my eyes flashed. “Okay, okay.” He turned his attention to Lacey. “No more jokes about the pageants.”
“Thank you.” She pushed out of the kitchen and moments later, her footsteps sounded on the old staircase.
“That was very good of you, Adam.”
He gave me a mischievous smile. “I said I wouldn’t make jokes about the pageants. She didn’t say anything about making jokes about her tiara collection, glittery dresses, or cheesy speeches.”
I rolled my eyes. “You really are impossible. You know that, right?”
His grin spread wider.
I pushed up from the table, drained the last of my tea, and sauntered to the sink to set down the dish. I walked out of the kitchen, leaving Boots to meticulously clean his face and whiskers on the cat bed tucked into the corner of the kitchen by the back door. “Goodnight, Adam,” I called behind me as the door swung shut.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE NEXT MORNING, I sprang out of bed, ignoring the protests of my exhausted muscles, every one of them sore after the fight with Gary. I didn’t have time to waste if I was going to execute my plan. I pulled on a pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and swept my unruly hair back into a long ponytail that hung halfway down my back. The house was quiet, Lacey and Adam were likely still sleeping off the late night. I wondered if Posy knew that Gary was gone. If Lacey had followed through with her part of the bargain, then the SPA powers that be would no doubt be contacting Posy—however they did that—to fill her in on the particulars. I knew that sooner or later I would need to go to her and explain things from my side, but that would
have to wait.
“Come on, Boots,” I said, patting my leg as I walked in front of the place he was lounging. “Unless you’re still in a tuna coma?”
He raised his head a fraction of an inch. His amber colored eyes opened but then drooped back shut again. I huffed. “I’m only letting you sleep because you were my fuzzy little hero last night. Just this once.” I patted him on the head and left the bedroom. I went through the kitchen to go out the back door and cut across the grass to my greenhouse. It was surreal being in the same place I’d been the night before when everything had broken loose. It all made sense in hindsight. Gary’s increasing reclusive tendencies, the stomping on the floor above my room, and his cold manner.
Beechwood Harbor was lucky to be a boring town. I hated to think what could have happened if he’d stayed much longer. Especially as he grew more restless. Eventually, he would have probably acted on his desires. He certainly hadn’t let on that he had a heart or the sense of a conscious inside of him. He was cold-blooded and could have done a lot of damage.
I just hoped that whoever had seen him wasn’t going to go poking around too deeply into figuring out what it was she saw swooping through the sky. Especially, if that involved going to the local private investigator…
At the thought of Nick, I sighed heavily to myself.
I pushed into the greenhouse, tossed an orb of light into the room to chase away the early morning gloom, and went to work harvesting from my supplies. The idea that had popped into my head in the early hours of the morning was still coming together. I wasn’t sure of the dosage or ratios of ingredients just yet. Luckily, the Larkspur gifted me with potion knowledge that was instinctual.
Of course, I could always open the locket and call on Grandmother Honeysuckle for assistance. But, I preferred to hold onto that option as a last resort. She would probably only want to discuss my dating life—or, lack thereof—anyways.
When my basket was full of everything I thought I might need, I extinguished the ball of light and went back inside the manor. The kitchen was, thankfully, still empty. I set my basket beside the sink and flicked my fingers to seal the kitchen doors. I didn’t want anyone disturbing me. The potion was custom and brewing it would require my full attention. I couldn’t have Adam or Lacey coming in and distracting me. Posy could come in regardless of the locks, but she usually left me alone when I was working.
Murder's a Witch: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 1) Page 16
