Twice the Witch: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 2)

by Garrett,Danielle

  “Dark memories?” I added.

  Posy stared at Katerina for another lingering moment and then tore her eyes away and looked back at me. “I’d keep an eye on him, Holly.”

  I nodded. Posy’s words making goosebumps rise along my own arms. “We will.”

  After another long moment, waiting for Katerina to remember anything, I gave up and excused myself, wishing the ladies good night, before hurrying to meet Adam on the front porch. If there was anyone who could chase away the creeping feeling at the back of my neck, it was him.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “ALL RIGHT, CASS. I want all the details and I want them now!” I announced, marching into Siren’s Song the following morning. I’d let myself in the back, expecting to find Cassie, humming away, on the other side. However, after a quick sweep of the back room, I realized I’d beat her to work.

  It was odd to be there first, but I shrugged it off and went to work, starting with the most important task: getting myself a massive cup of coffee.

  After the unsettling conversation with Katerina and Posy, Adam had taken me out for dinner at a small diner on the outskirts of town. We’d noshed on huge stacks of pancakes until I was convinced the top button on my jeans was about to pop off. We walked back to the manor, debating movie options the entire way, and spent the rest of the night crashed out on the couch, watching a spy thriller in between pancake-induced naps.

  What can I say? We’re a very romantic couple.

  When the movie ended, we’d said goodnight at the base of the stairs, and I started toward my room to snuggle up with the other guy in my life. Boots. However, halfway there, I backtracked to the kitchen for a glass of water. The layout of the kitchen was familiar enough to me that I hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights. I’d made my way by feel and as I stopped at the sink to fill up my glass, I saw Evangeline out in the backyard, shooting sparks up into the night sky from the tip of her wand. Her face was masked by darkness but when the sparks flew above, I could see the look of intense concentration on her face. On the ground, at her feet, were two well-worn spell books, but they’d been too far away for me to see the titles along the spines. At first, I’d thought about going out to see what she was doing, but quickly decided against it and hurried back to my room before she could see me watching her from the window.

  I’d gone to bed but sleep eluded me. Instead, I ended up wrestling with theories about Evangeline for most of the night. And as I stood at the espresso machine, warming up some milk, I started sifting through it all over again.

  The one thing that continued to reappear in my mind was her interest in starfire spells. It could be entirely harmless. An advanced interest in spellcrafting like she claimed. But…there was also the chance that she needed to harness the power of the stars for an entirely different purpose.

  A dark purpose.

  “Holly?” Cassie’s voice cut into my musing and I jolted upright so fast I slopped scalding milk over the back of my hand.

  “Bat wings, Cass!” I griped under my breath as I hurried to rinse my burnt skin off with cool water.

  “You okay?” Cassie asked, breezing into the front room.

  I glanced over at her as I turned off the tap. “Spilled some milk. I’m fine.”

  She made a sympathetic face but a smile broke through, like she just couldn’t help it.

  I straightened and wiped the back of my hand on my apron. A grin tugged at my own lips. “You look like you’ve been up to no good,” I teased. “I need the details! Now!”

  “Coffee first,” she insisted. She giggled to herself as she crossed to the espresso machine and started to pull two shots. She kept her back to me as she worked on preparing a vanilla latte and with each passing second, my excitement curled up tighter in my belly, like a spring trap about to release. Her damp locks swung about her shoulders as she worked and it struck me as odd that her hair was still wet. That was the thing about Cassie. She was the first one at the shop but also managed to be the most well put together. She always showed up in full makeup, hair tucked up into a perfect bun or twisted into an elegant braid.

  “Cassie, you’re killing me!”

  She laughed and turned back as she capped her paper cup. “What do you want to know?”

  “Um, everything!”

  She grinned and took a slow sip off the top of her drink. “We had a lovely night.”

  I groaned. “Cass!”

  “All right, all right.” She laughed and set her drink to the side of the machine and went about tucking her thick brown hair up into a topknot. “Jeffery picked me up—not in a squad car, before you ask—and he took me up the highway to this adorable little seaside town and we had dinner out on the deck of this super cute restaurant. Afterward, we walked down on the beach, barefoot, under the stars,” she paused and sucked in a deep sigh.

  I laughed. “Chief Lincoln is a romantic?”

  “Apparently! It was very sweet. We had the best time. But I didn’t get home until after midnight. So, excuse me if I go a little zombie on you today.”

  “Hey, as long as you don’t try to eat my face off, we’re cool.”

  Cassie laughed and reached back for her drink once her elastic band was secured in place. “Deal.”

  I stared at her rosy cheeks and the sparkle in her eye. “I’m so happy for you, Cass. I gotta say, I didn’t see this coming, but if you’re happy, then I am too!”

  “Thanks, Holly. That really means a lot. I know you were kind of…” her words trailed off as she glanced down at the polished floors. “A little hesitant about me and Jeffery.”

  “Well, he did come a little too close to accusing you of murder,” I reminded her.

  Cassie laughed and rolled her eyes. “We actually talked about that last night.”

  I snorted. “Interesting dinner conversation. I hope no one overheard you!”

  Cassie just smiled and started on the morning checklist. I jumped in to help her and as we worked, I made a mental note to track down the love potion I’d mixed up for her and Nick.

  I no longer needed it to spark something between Cassie and Nick, but generally speaking, missing love potions were not a good thing.

  Toward the end of another bustling day, Nick showed up and I hurried to get through the line that backed up to the doors. When the line cleared and Nick sauntered up to the counter, I noticed that Cassie wasn’t by my side, ready to hand off a large mocha. In fact, she wasn’t anywhere in sight.

  “Mocha?” I asked him as I took a large sidestep to the espresso machine.

  Nick grinned and leaned down, bracing his elbows on the edge of the counter. “Sure. You got any of those chocolate chip cookies in the back?” he asked after giving the front case an appraising glace.

  I laughed and started to pull the shots of espresso. “I think so. I’ll go check before we leave.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Did you find out anything today?” I asked, glancing over at him before pouring milk into a stainless steel pitcher.

  Nick straightened and pocketed his hands in the front of his dark wash jeans. He was wearing a button up shirt with the sleeves cuffed to his elbows, displaying his sinewy forearms. He wasn’t as broad as Adam, but it was clear that Nick logged some hours in his condo building’s gym. “I spoke with Chief Lincoln about Mr. Price. I didn’t tell him that we went and saw him. I just passed the information along that Aunt Pearl had him at the top of her list as far as suspects. Chief said he’d look into it.”

  “Well, good luck to the chief,” I muttered, shuddering slightly at the creeping memories of our chat with the cold man the night before.

  Nick chuckled. “Yeah.”

  I squirted chocolate sauce into a tall paper cup, swirling a little extra on the sides, before dumping in the milk to blend with the shots of rich espresso. The chocolate and coffee smell wafted up to me and I smiled. Maybe I needed one for the road too. I sprayed whipped cream on top, shook out some chocolate sprinkles, and capped it before sliding it
over the counter to Nick. “Still think he’s our number one suspect?”

  Nick took the drink, slipped his reusable coffee cup sleeve, and lifted it to his lips. He breathed deeply, just like I had a moment before, and smiled. He sipped from the top. “Perfect. Thanks, Holly. As to your question, I don’t know. He was oddly unconcerned about her well-being, but if they had been broken up for a couple of weeks, maybe that’s to be expected. I also don’t know why they would have gone hiking if they weren’t together anymore. So, that would need to be explained too. Still…there’s something about his reaction, or rather, his lack of a reaction, that doesn’t sit right with me. I’m hoping we’ll be able to make a better determination after we talk to Katerina’s boss and co-worker.”

  I nodded and punched in Nick’s order. He set down his drink and reached into his back pocket for his wallet. “I’m especially interested in what the friend will be able to tell us. Girlfriends always know what’s really going on behind the scenes.”

  Nick payed, dumped his change into the tip jar, and then retrieved his drink. “I hope so. I found Katerina’s social media profiles and by all accounts, it looked like her and Bobby were a happy, normal couple.”

  “Really? That’s odd. It seems like most people immediately scrub away all the evidence of their relationship. I mean, I’m far from a social media pro, but from what I’ve gathered, that’s the standard operating procedure.”

  Nick shrugged. “Maybe she wasn’t ready to let go.”

  “Or, maybe they weren’t as over as Mr. Price wants us to believe.”

  My head was already flooding with new suspicions. If Bobby and Katerina weren’t officially over, maybe he’d convinced her to meet up for a hike to talk about their relationship. Maybe the conversation had gotten heated and they’d fought. Maybe she’d slipped. That could explain why he made up the story about their relationship being over.

  Nick gave a lingering glance behind me and I laughed. “Cookies, right.”

  “Thanks, Holly!” he called, a smile in his voice as I spun on my heel and marched to the back.

  After digging through the back refrigerator, I found a bag of six, day old, jumbo-sized chocolate chip cookies. “This should hold him over.”

  Before heading back to the front to deliver the cookies and punch out, I stopped in the doorway to Cassie’s office. She was bent over some paperwork, her eyes scanning back and forth, although at a speed that made me unsure whether she was really reading or just looking for something to do. I rapped my knuckles on the door frame. “Nick and I are getting ready to leave.”

  “All right.” Cassie glanced up, a crease formed between her brows. “Holly, can I ask you something?”

  “Of course, Cass.”

  She folded her arms on the top of her cluttered desk and gave me a look that made me feel like she had x-ray vision.

  I gave a nervous laugh. “Cassie? What is it?”

  She sighed. “What’s up with you and Nick?”

  “What do you mean? There’s nothing up with us.”

  “In the last week, Nick has picked you up at work more often than Adam, who you’re supposed to be dating.”

  “And?”

  Cassie stared at me for a long moment and then flicked her eyes to the clock hanging above my head. “I just think it’s a little…odd.”

  “Why?” I hated the defensive clip to my tone as soon as the short bark echoed back to me. I sucked in a quick breath and smoothed my hair back. “I mean, why would it be odd? I’m helping Nick with a case. Adam’s busy with work tonight. Besides, we live together. I see him all the time.”

  Cassie frowned. “Listen, I’m not trying to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong, but people talk. I’d hate for Adam to get hurt.”

  I reared back, as though she’d physically reached out and slapped me across the face. “What are you trying to say? That I’m cheating on Adam by hanging out with Nick? Why can’t we just be friends with each other?”

  Cassie dragged in a deep sigh. “You can. All I’m trying to say is that you need to be careful. You might see Nick as just a friend but I don’t know that those feelings are the same on both sides.”

  I crossed my arms tightly around myself and balled my hands together to keep the magic pooling in my palms from blasting out. Whenever my emotions ran high, my magic did too, and while I had a firm grip on it most of the time, it was best to be extra careful. “I can assure you that they are.”

  “Okay,” Cassie replied. She held up her hands, palms out, to show that she was backing down. Surrendering.

  I sighed and dropped my arms. Cassie was my best friend. We shouldn’t be fighting about something as stupid as the gossip mill’s piece of the week. “I’m sorry, Cass. I wasn’t trying to be mean. I’m just tired of the accusations. Adam’s said the same thing and apparently the whole town is talking about me like I was some contestant on a terrible dating reality show. It’s exhausting. Nick and I are friends. That’s it.”

  Cassie nodded but there was still a shadow of something dark and stormy in her eyes.

  A terrible thought popped into my head, and I vocalized it before I had a chance to think it through, “Is that why you went out with Chief Lincoln? Because you think Nick is into me?”

  Cassie’s lips pursed together. “No!”

  I cocked my head at her, unsure if she was telling me the truth. But before I could drill down further into the conversation, a bell rang from over my shoulder. New customers had arrived and I needed to go see that they were helped.

  Cassie pushed up from her desk and followed me out to the front, the silence between us palpable. She gave Nick and thin-lipped smile when she reached the front but didn’t offer a greeting before jumping in to help the trio of high school aged girls at the counter, giggling and laughing together. I noted that in between every rapid fire sentence, they’d collectively glance over at Nick.

  I rolled my eyes as I tugged my apron off over my head and placed it back on its peg.

  “Ready?” Nick asked.

  “Absolutely,” I replied, shooting one last glance back at Cassie before following Nick to the door.

  “Bye, Cassie,” he called, his tone a little unsteady.

  She waved but didn’t look over at us.

  “She okay?” Nick asked, pushing the door open.

  “Yeah,” I replied, frowning at my friend. “Just overworked. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  We left Siren’s Song and went to Nick’s silver sedan that was parked in the corner spot in the small lot outside the cluster of beachside shops. I pulled my door open and smiled at Nick over the top of the car. “Are we allowed to drink on the job?”

  He laughed and nodded before dropping into the driver’s seat. “James Bond, remember?”

  “Excellent.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  LOU’S WHISKEY WELL was only a ten minute drive from Siren’s Song, just on the edge of town. The drive was similar to our trip the night before out to Bobby Price’s rental home. But instead of turning right at a four way intersection, Nick turned left. The tavern was up the road, on the right, wedged in between a Mexican restaurant and an office supply shop. From the parking lot, the tavern didn’t exactly look like a desirable destination, at least not judging by the rundown appearance of the outside of the building. Half of the bulbs in the neon sign above the front doors were burnt out, making it appear as “Lo key We” in fluorescent green and blue. The rest of the building was nondescript. There were no windows along the front, just a pair of heavy looking wooden doors to mark the entrance. A few sad looking potted plants were scattered haphazardly along the sidewalk, along with a couple of cement poles, topped with carved out ashtrays were overflowing as though they hadn’t been emptied in month.

  “Kind of a dive,” Nick said under his breath as we walked to the front of the building.

  I stayed close to his side. The place gave off a vibe that made me not want to wander too far off on my own. I nodded in reply to his r
emark, but my mind was busy trying to reconcile the ghost version of Katerina with the place before me. The two didn’t seem to match up. Katerina was a small, willowy girl, with big innocent eyes, and a look of helplessness about her. Although she was actually twenty-four years old, she barely looked legal to be inside a bar, let alone work in one. It was hard to imagine her serving drinks in the dingy place that looked like it might be full of burly bikers. Even more concerning, was what Bobby had told us about her penchant to wear short skirts, drink a little too much, and get tangled up with the wrong people.

  Katerina, what happened to you?

  Nick opened the door and ushered me inside, but I noticed he stayed close. The inside of the tavern was just as run down as the exterior. A loud, pulsing beat filled the air. Some kind of hard rock song with indiscernible lyrics. I wanted to press my hands over my ears. Booths circled the room and a long bar stretched over the far wall, bottles of liquor lit up with more neon lighting, making them look like prizes on a sweepstakes show. Most of the patrons gathered around three pool tables off to the right, in a separate room, that was visible to the main bar area through a wide arched doorway. A few couples were sprinkled throughout, seated at different booths, and they all glanced our way as Nick and I stepped into the room, both of us shuffling at a tentative pace.

  We were clearly not the ordinary clientele.

  Nick threw his shoulders back, infusing his posture with confidence and picked up the pace as we neared the bar. A large, hulking man who almost looked like he could be Bobby Price’s brother or cousin was hunched over a beer tap, working to refill a tray loaded with empty pint glasses. He didn’t look up as we approached the bar. Instead, he bellowed, “Jess! Customers!”

  A swinging door flew open and a sultry looking girl, who was probably ten years Katerina’s senior, sauntered out to greet us. Her lips were painted cherry red and her eyes were ringed with thick, black liner. Her brunette hair swirled around her shoulders in soft curls as she hustled over to us. She was wearing a top cut so low that I was blushing. “Howdy,” she said without a trace of a Southern accent. “What can I get you two? It’s buy one, get one on pints all night long, if you’re interested.”