There was still no sign that Katerina had returned, unless she was already inside, so I started for the back door. When I reached for the knob, a soft buzz stopped me. I fished my cell phone out of my pocket and glanced at the screen. It was Nick. “Hello?”
“Holly, I’m on my way to Bobby Price’s house. He just called and was in the middle of leaving a voicemail. He saw someone following him. He thought it was me. He was screaming and cursing up a storm and then there was a second voice. I think someone got to him.”
“Got to him? What do you mean?”
“Attacked him. It sounded like a fight.”
“Did you call the police?”
“Of course,” he replied, sounding a little put out by the question. “Chief Lincoln’s on his way too.”
“I don’t understand,” I murmured, mostly to myself. “It doesn’t line up—”
“Line up? Holly, what are you talking about?”
“Nothing. I’m on my way.”
I cut off the call before Nick could ask me anymore questions. Only a few hours before, Katerina had all but named Bobby as the one who had shoved her off that cliff. So, why would someone be following Bobby? Maybe someone had found out that he was the killer and wanted to personally take their revenge. But who? Would Lou be angry enough? What if it was Jess? She wouldn’t stand a chance against Bobby.
I tugged the Larkspur out from under my shirt. “Dilly’s Mini Mart,” I said in a low monotone.
I pressed my eyes shut and when they fluttered open again, I was standing in the parking lot beside Dilly’s Mini Mart. Thankfully the spell had worked, and I’d landed safely out of sight behind the building where the dingy bathrooms were located. The facilities were known for their abysmal condition and were rarely used. Tonight, was no exception. No one had seen me appear out of thin air.
Thank the stars.
Before I could think twice, I took off at a dead run, heading for Bobby’s house. The mini mart was the closest landmark I knew of, but it was a good half a mile to Bobby’s.
And I hadn’t been out for a jog in a good six months. Added to that, I’d been dating Adam for a month and as a result had picked up some of his less than ideal eating habits.
As I huffed my way up the road, I vowed to never eat another cinnamon roll or bear claws.
“Yeah—right—Holls,” I panted to myself.
It was almost completely dark outside but I found the driveway and hurried up the gravel, spotting tail lights up ahead. Nick! The sound of siren’s filled the air behind me and I knew Chief Lincoln would arrive soon. I could only hope that whoever had attacked Bobby hadn’t stuck around long enough to get Nick too.
My heart hammered even harder at the thought.
Nick’s car was parked, but the driver’s door was ajar. There was no sign of him. I sprinted the last stretch and leapt up to the front porch. The door was open a crack and I couldn’t hear anything. Magic pooled in my hand, ready to fire if needed. I pushed door open and stepped inside, keeping my footsteps quick and quiet. No one was in the front room.
“Nick?” I hissed.
“Holly!”
I exhaled a sigh of relief at the strength of his voice. He didn’t sound hurt. I skidded around the corner into the kitchen and my hand flew to my mouth. Nick was kneeling on the ground, a gun pointed at his head. In front of him, sprawled on the laminate floor, was Bobby Price’s lifeless body.
“Nick!”
“You have one job, Ms. Boldt,” a smooth, commanding voice said, drawing my attention to the man positioned behind Nick.
Sullivan Pope.
“What did you do to him?” I asked, kneeling down beside Bobby. I found a thin, but steady pulse at the side of his neck. “He’s alive.”
Nick grunted and I jerked up to look at him once more. Sully was holding Nick’s hair with his free hand and had tugged his head back so far that I feared his neck would snap.
I glared at Sully. “What do you want?” I demanded, pushing back up to my feet.
“You’re going to go out onto the front porch and tell the officers that the emergency call was a mistake. Tell them that everything is fine. Make them go away.”
I folded my arms, biting back the urge to blast the bodyguard into a million tiny pieces. I wasn’t sure I could actually harm someone with my magic. I’d never tried. But at that moment, I was fairly convinced I could find the strength. Nick squirmed and Sully yanked on his hair again. Nick grimaced and magic sparked against my arm as I kept my hand clamped down. “First, you let him go.”
Sully stared at me for a long beat, as though gaging whether I was serious or not, then let out a long, hollow laugh. “Not a chance, Red. Now, do as I ask and we can all walk away from this.
“Why are you here? Why did you attack Bobby?”
A glance down showed he was still out cold. It must have been quite the battle of giants.
“Was this because he killed Katerina?” I ventured.
Nick’s eyes went wide.
Sully’s eyes flashed. “He didn’t kill her.”
“Oh? And you know this how?”
He laughed again, the sound cold as it clawed up my spine. “Because I killed her.”
All at once, the pieces clicked into place. The man in Katerina’s choppy memories hadn’t been Bobby after all. All she’d said was that he was tall, broad, and that he was the same man she’d argued with before.
“But why?”
“Like I told you, Jess and her were up to no good. I figured out what they were doing. Their last haul, those watches, well, those two idiots didn’t even know what they had. They wanted to sell them on some virtual pawn shop. I overheard them talking about it. So, I went to Katerina—she was the more pliable of the two—and told her that I knew where we could sell them and get five times what her and Jess could even dream of. She told me that she’d have to ask Jess but I told her to keep it a secret. That we’d surprise Jess when we had the cash.
“I even had her convinced that I was into her. She was fresh off her break-up with this loser,” he paused and gestured down at Bobby. He momentarily released Nick’s hair, but kept the gun pressed against his temple. “I told her we could run away together. Go on an exotic vacation. She ate it up.”
He laughed and the magic started to burn against my arm. I swallowed hard, trying to force myself to relax, but I couldn’t. Especially as the sirens in the background grew louder. I knew my window of time to keep Sully talking was running low.
“So why kill her? If she was such an easy target?” I countered.
“She said she wanted to go hiking, so I offered to go with her. I told her it was a date. She was supposed to bring the three watches with her. But, when she showed up, she said she didn’t have them. She didn’t want to back out on the deal with Jess. And, to make matters worse, she apparently gave the third one—the most valuable—she’d given to this loser,” he paused to thrust his chin at Bobby. “She told me we could just sell the next score they got. We argued and I went to grab her shoulders to shake some sense into her. She still didn’t get it. Just one of those watches would have gone for half a million! Why someone of that caliber ever stumbled into a dive like Lou’s, I’ll never know, but whoever he was, his watch was my ticket out of this dump. I was going to retire to Costa Rica and live on the beach for the rest of my life. Nothing but white sand, palm trees, and sunshine.”
“A fitting reward for such a stand-up fellow,” I muttered.
Sully scowled at my tart comment and dug his hand back into Nick’s hair, once again forcing his head back. “Story time’s over, Red. Go get rid of those cops or your friend here is going to hit the ground before they can get to him. And this time I won’t just use a sleeper hold.”
Chills crept over my arms. I had seconds to make a decision. Did I risk revealing my magic to Nick—and Sully—in order to save his life? Or was there another way? Maybe I could go out to Chief Lincoln and tip him off. Humans had SWAT teams and Special Ops. Surely some
one could save Nick before it was too late.
I met Nick’s eyes. He was terrified. Stunned into silence. He shifted his eyes to the side, flicking them at the kitchen door. He was telling me to run. To leave him.
I shook my head. “No.”
“No?” Sully hissed.
I met his gaze. “No. I’m not going to let you hurt Nick and I’m not going to let you get away with killing Katerina.”
“Oh, really? And how are you going to stop me?”
“Like this—” In the blink of an eye, I whipped a hand out, snagged a plate from the counter, and sent it flying—like a magically charged, ceramic Frisbee— right at the gun in Sully’s hand. The plate hit its target with missile precision and exploded against Sully’s wrist. Pieces shattered and fell to the floor along with the gun. Sully howled in agony and clutched his hand and broken wrist to his chest.
“Nick, go!” I screamed, lunging for the gun.
Nick flew from his chair but he didn’t run. Instead, he scooped the gun from the floor before I could reach it and pivoted, leveling it at Sully. I stepped to his side, one hand still full of magic, ready to fire. “Holly, go get the chief.”
I nodded and ran from the kitchen to flag down Chief Lincoln just as he was getting out of his unmarked car. Two squad cars flanked him, four deputies filing out, weapons at their sides.
“Holly? Is everyone okay in there?”
I shook my head. “No! Nick has a gun on the—”
A gunshot fired.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
MY HEART JUMPED into my throat. “Nick!”
Chief Lincoln barked orders and the deputies sprang into action, two heading for the front door, the other two taking opposite ends of the house, circling toward the back. Chief followed his men, calling more orders into a black radio before clipping it to his belt.
I started after him, but he whipped around and held out his hand. “Holly, stay out here.”
At his gruff command, I froze in place. I gave him a quick nod and he rushed into the house, weapon drawn.
Everything moved in slow motion as I waited. More sirens wailed in the background and I realized Chief Lincoln had called an ambulance. I hoped Nick wouldn’t need to take a ride in it. My hands worked together, magic pulsing between them. The seconds ticked by like hours. All I could do was replay the moment I’d charged that dinner plate with magic and sent it hurtling through the air toward Sully’s wrist. That had been stupid. Impulsive. I could have gotten Nick killed. What if it hadn’t worked and Sully had retained his grip on the weapon?
I shuddered at the thought and began nervously pacing the front yard.
“Holly!”
I jumped in place and whipped around to see Nick running down the front steps. “Nick! Thank the stars!”
We raced toward one another and crashed together in a tight embrace. Nick placed a hand at the back of my neck, holding me close for another moment, and I stopped breathing.
“You saved my life!” he said, releasing me.
“No. That was dumb. I should have—”
My words were lost in an explosion of voices shouting and barking. Another shot fired and I flinched. Nick kept an arm around my shoulders as he craned around toward the sound. From our vantage point on the porch we couldn’t see what had happened but the voices carried to us.
“He’s down, Chief!”
“The ambulance is on the way. Keep him down.”
The sirens in the background wailed even louder and moments later an ambulance tore up the gravel drive. The paramedics hopped out, gear in hand, and raced around the side of the house. Nick pulled away and went down the steps to go take a look. He stopped at the corner of the house, his eyes fixed on the side yard. “They got him, Holly.”
I nodded and relief flooded through me. It was over. The nightmare was finally over.
Chief Lincoln appeared from around the corner, his gun holstered once again. He snapped his fingers and a paramedic appeared at his side. “There’s a man inside too. No gunshot wounds. But he needs medical attention.”
“Yes, Chief.”
I stepped out of the way as the paramedic raced past me to tend to Bobby. Nick started talking with Chief Lincoln so I went inside and found the paramedic hovering over Bobby who was just starting to come around. “Is he going to be all right?”
The man looked up and gave a quick nod. “Looks like it. We’ll take him to the hospital and run some tests to make sure. But it doesn’t look like he has any head wounds and no signs of a concussion.”
“Good.”
The paramedic called for assistance and another man came to aid. They managed to get Bobby awake and up slowly from the floor. By the time they led him from the kitchen, Bobby was back to his argumentative self, insisting that he didn’t need to go to the hospital. But they took him away anyways and he was still woozy enough not to fight them off.
Once they were gone, I took a quick look around the kitchen. There were signs of the struggle between Bobby and Sully. A bullet was encased in the wall beyond the small kitchen table and I winced, thinking that Nick had fired off a shot at Sully. What had happened once I left? I went to inspect the bullet hole, trying to piece together the chain of events, and when I turned back around to get a different angle of the scene, a sparkle caught my eye, near the kick board of the lower cabinets. I crossed the kitchen and stooped over and saw that it was a gold watch. The same one that Bobby had been wearing the night before when Nick and I had visited him. It looked like Sully had torn it from Bobby’s wrist as the clasp was damaged. Why had Katerina given Bobby such a pricey watch? And when?
After another long look around, I left the house and found Nick standing on the front porch as though he’d been waiting for me. Chief Lincoln was speaking with Bobby in the back of the ambulance. From the scowl on Bobby’s face, it wasn’t going well.
Nick sidled up to me on the front porch. He raked his hands through his hair and stared off in the direction of a second ambulance that must have arrived while I was inside. Sully was being loaded into the back, handcuffed to the gurney. “He’ll be fine. Chief Lincoln got him in the leg.”
My eyebrows hitched up my forehead. “Chief?”
Nick chuckled, the low sound a small comfort to me amid the chaos. “Who knew he had a streak of badass?”
“I certainly didn’t.” I grinned. “What happened in there?”
Nick pocketed his hands and glanced over at me, his face grim. “Sully lunged at me, trying to get the gun, and instinct took over. I pulled the trigger. I didn’t hit him, but it surprised him enough that he took off. He went out that side door. I followed, not realizing the police were already unloading in the front yard. Next thing I knew, Chief Lincoln was there at my side, pushing me back, and took a shot after warning Sully to stop and get on the ground. Just a flesh wound, I suspect.”
I marveled at him. “Why did you chase him? Nick, he could have—”
Nick held up a hand, cutting me off. “He didn’t. Okay?”
I sighed. “Still…”
Nick chuckled and slipped his hand back in his pocket. We watched as the ambulance carrying Sully started to lumber down the driveway, much more cautiously than it had moved when it first peeled up the gravel drive. The one with Bobby took off a few minutes later. Once they made it to the main road, they picked up speed, turned on their sirens, and made their way into town to Beechwood Harbor General. Chief Lincoln had his deputies rounded up, dolling out orders.
Nick tore his eyes off the scene in the front yard and flashed a smile at me. “That was some impressive aim back there, Boldt.”
I laughed softly, the sound carried away on the evening breeze. “I would say it was a lucky shot, but that would make it look like I risked your life on a whim.”
“Right.” Nick chuckled. “So, what’s the story then? World Frisbee champ in your spare time?”
I grinned at him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would,” he said, his to
ne suddenly serious.
I broke our eye contact, suddenly feeling too warm. I cast a glance around, looking for Chief Lincoln. “You think we’re all done here?” I asked, returning my gaze to Nick.
He shrugged. “I’ll stay and see if I can help. But you’re probably good to go.”
I swallowed. “Okay. Guess I’ll take off then. Um, tell the chief that I’ll be at Siren’s Song tomorrow if he needs anything.”
“Will do.”
I smiled in silent thanks and then took the steps down to the gravel driveway.
“Hey, Holly.”
“Yeah?” I turned around, pocketing my hands.
Nick smiled. “You got dinner plans tomorrow? Seems the least I could do is take you out for a bite.”
My stomach flip-flopped but I managed to shake my head. “No need. We’re good, Nick. Besides, if I said yes, you’d probably just spend the whole meal trying to get me to come work for you.”
Nick laughed and slipped his hands into the pocket of his jeans. “You’re probably right. Just thought I’d offer.”
“I appreciate it.”
“See you around, Holly.”
“Okay. Night, Nick.”
“Night.”
The manor was dark when I returned home, tired to the bone, and ready for bed. But once inside, I switched on a light and found Katerina sitting at the base of the grand staircase. I jolted at the sight of her. “Katerina? Are you all right?”
She nodded. “I’m fine. I was just waiting for you to get home so I could apologize for the way that I left. I know your friend was only trying to help.”
I crossed the foyer and took a seat beside her. She rearranged herself so she was angled toward me. “Katerina, you don’t have anything to apologize for. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I never wanted you to feel bad. I thought getting your memories back would help you heal and adjust. I guess it kind of did the opposite.”
Twice the Witch: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 2) Page 18
