Witch Way to Mintwood (Witch of Mintwood Book 1)

by Addison Creek

  I paused, halfway through a bite of my sandwich. I had already planned to stop at Liam’s after lunch, but by myself. Now that Jasper had mentioned it, I felt like I couldn’t refuse to go with him.

  “Sure,” I said. My grandmother is probably rolling over in her grave. No, I’m only kidding. She was probably sitting up and throwing ingredients in a cauldron. I was hanging out with a Wolf.

  Mentally I said, “Granny, you really should have explained more. If I knew why they were so bad, I might be more willing to avoid them.”

  “Might” being the operative word.

  “I didn’t realize that suggesting a trip across the street to the costume shop was like suggesting we go to China together,” he said.

  I blushed, swallowed my food, and said, “Yeah, that’d be great. I’m sure Liam would be happy to see you.”

  Liam being a more-the-merrier type of fellow, I knew he would be happy to see Jasper. Besides, maybe seeing the former high school quarterback would take Liam’s mind off the recent robbery.

  “I thought we could talk more about the protest,” he said.

  “What protest?” I said.

  “Yours . . . “ he shot back. “Charlie is coming out with an article soon, and I thought it was important to clear the air with you before that. I have the impression that you think what the Wolf Corporation is doing is terrible, so I thought it might help if I offered to answer any questions you might have.”

  “You’re going to tear down the oldest building in town for money,” I said. “This town has a lot of history, and we’re destroying it one bit at a time. The barn is a part of that. If you love this town, you should want it left the way it is.”

  “The new building is going to benefit the town,” Jasper argued. “And the barn is . . . “

  “I know, I know, the barn is falling down,” I said. “You could restore it, though. You could turn it into the coolest set of apartments in town.”

  “Say I did that,” said Jasper, leaning forward on his elbows, “the barn would still have to be gutted. Maybe the frame is savable, but the rest definitely isn’t. It’s been neglected for too long. It wasn’t even safe for you to be walking where you were walking last night.”

  He had a point there. The boards had felt like they might give way at any moment, and the fact that I knew it was making me waver even more. Morris and Morton would be disappointed, but it wasn’t like they couldn’t continue their practical jokes in the next place they moved to. It wasn’t as if an heir to the barn had come out of the woodwork and asked me to save it for sentimental reasons. Here was Jasper, who for some reason I trusted, telling me that even then the barn might not be savable.

  Despite how nice Jasper was being, I didn’t believe there was any chance he’d actually listen to me, but I played along. “I’ll think about it,” I said. His offer was a good one, since he didn’t actually have to offer anything at all, so I figured he must really want us to stop protesting. “But it’s a historical landmark, after all.”

  We finished the rest of lunch talking about old classmates. “How about Gracie going missing? I thought the barn coming down was a big bit of news, but not compared with her disappearance,” said Jasper. “I hope she’s okay. She never had much of a head for good sense, but that doesn’t mean something terrible should happen to her.”

  I agreed with him.

  “Had you seen her recently?” I said.

  Jasper thought about it for a minute. “Come to mention it, yeah, I had. She strutted in the day I was in the bank to get a loan.”

  I dipped my head in amusement, delighted to think that Jasper thought Gracie strutted. I mean, she did, but still.

  “What did she want?” I said.

  He frowned. “I’m trying to remember. I was pretty nervous about the loan. Usually my grandfather would go with me but . . . “ He frowned, and I waited.

  “Oh, yeah, she wanted a safety deposit box,” he said.

  “For what?” I said.

  “No idea, but the bank was confused, because I guess her family already has five boxes there. I wonder if they get the keys confused.”

  “But she wanted another one?” I said.

  “She wanted a secret one,” he said. “She was wearing big black sunglasses and a black hat and dress. She looked like she thought she was a character in some spy movie. Definitely out of place around here.”

  I nodded thoughtfully. The more I learned about this business the more confused I was and the more I wanted to know.

  We were just finishing up when Jasper went back to our original topic of conversation. “Look, I know it’s asking a lot, but can you call off the protests? It’s starting to spook the guys. I promise I’ll look into a way of saving as much of the historical value of the barn as possible. This project is something my grandfather started, and I’m going to finish it, but I don’t have to finish it in the exact same way he envisioned it.”

  He had already said one thing about his grandfather and not continued, and I couldn’t let it go again.

  “How’s your grandfather?” I said.

  My companion’s face fell and I was almost sorry for asking. “Not great. Dad and Grandfather used to do everything together, and he’s kind of lost interest since Dad died.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “Grandfather’s still in charge of the company. He does a lot, but not so much on the construction front anymore.”

  Jasper was being far more accommodating than I had imagined he might be. Why hadn’t I tried to talk to him to begin with? I had just pictured him as a robot in a fancy suit, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t even a robot in a hard hat. He was a nice guy who just wanted to finish a project his grandfather had started.

  “All right, I’ll see what I can do,” I agreed. “I’ll call off the protests, or at least I’ll try to convince people to stop. I don’t know how much luck I’ll have.”

  “Mrs. Snicks does have a mind of her own,” said Jasper, chuckling. “Then again, that’s what I like about her.”

  We headed over to the Twinkle Costume Shop. Just as I’d pictured, sad music was blaring from the speakers, and the lights were dim.

  “This is depressing,” said Jasper, surprised. Uncharacteristically, Liam didn’t burst from the back in his usual rain of delight and sparkles.

  “I think he’s here,” I said, making my way around the counter.

  “Liam?” I called out. “What are you doing?” I asked once I found my friend.

  “Learning about surveillance cameras,” he said. He was sitting on the floor in a mess of wires with three coffee cups next to him, two of them empty and tipped over. He wore black and white striped slacks, a black button down shirt, and a glittering purple vest.

  “Have you been here all night?” I asked.

  “Who steals fake diamonds?” he wailed as Jasper appeared at my shoulder. “I mean, come on. Real ones I can see, but my beautiful knockoffs? It’s downright wrong, and I just can’t . . . oh my, who are you?” he asked, peering around me at my companion. Then he covered his mouth and gasped. “Jasper Wolf, as I live and breathe!”

  His whole face changed from strained upset to delight. He scrambled to his feet, momentarily derailed by a derelict wire, and wrung Jasper’s hand, grinning from ear to ear. “Are you looking for something in particular? Can I get you a Superman cape, perhaps?”

  I rolled my eyes. “We just came to see how you were doing.”

  “Miserable, but better and better all the time,” Liam said, smiling again at Jasper. “I’ve been trying for hours to figure out these cameras! If those thieves come back I want it on video, but it’s a mess.”

  “Want help?” Jasper offered. Liam looked like a cat that had just been given a cup of cream.

  “That would be delightful. You’re such a lifesaver! Lemmi, do you need to be here?” he asked me pointedly, while Jasper walked past both of us and started sorting through wires.

  “No, I actually needed to go see Mrs. Snicks,”
I said.

  From behind Liam’s back Jasper gave me a grateful look. I knew the protesters were there today, and I had now heard that they had started being disruptive, which of course was the original point. Jasper was taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to me because he needed the work to run smoothly, that was all it was really about.

  “You two have fun,” I called out as I left the shop.

  “We already are,” Liam called after me.

  After I left the Costume Shop I made my way to my car. Just before I got there, as I was passing the town hall, I saw the mayor and Detective Cutter standing on the steps. I quickly ducked my head, but it wasn’t quickly enough.

  “Lemmi,” Detective Cutter called out. He came down the steps looking serious. I thought about running, but that would look ridiculous. “Lemmi, how are you?” he asked me.

  “Great,” I said. “How’s the investigation going?”

  “We’ve made progress,” he said evasively. “Obviously, any information is confidential.”

  “Obviously,” I said.

  Something about Detective Cutter had rubbed me the wrong way from the start. Maybe it was how he hadn’t taken me seriously when I had first reported Gracie missing, or maybe it was his closeness with the mayor, but either way, I wanted to get out of this conversation as quickly as possible.

  “Hopefully you’ll find her soon,” I said, “that and the Pier Pearl.”

  “The . . . ? Oh, right, yes, of course, that. Yes, like I said, we should find that soon as well, but it’s not something I can discuss with the public,” he said.

  “Yes, of course. I understand,” I said.

  “I’ll let you be on your way. Stay out of trouble now,” he said.

  “Always do,” I lied. Good thing Paws wasn’t there, because he wouldn’t have been able to take this conversation.

  I scuttled away, determined that there was no way Detective Cutter was going to find Gracie before I did. I had the ghosts on my side. He didn’t stand a chance.

  At the barn, Mrs. Snicks was protesting as usual, and as I pulled up she waved merrily. The gray clouds of the morning had given way to a bright and charming sun that warmed my face as I walked over to her. Despite the nice weather, though, there were fewer protesters than usual, maybe seven, but there had still been a picture of them in the paper next to the latest barn article, and now I knew that Jasper couldn’t take the bad press.

  “Hi, Mrs. Snicks,” I said.

  “Hi, dearie! Where’s your sign?” she asked.

  “Oh, I, um, I cleaned my car, so I took it out,” I said, wondering if the three pairs of shoes, two jackets, three sweaters, one pair of jeans, the empty water bottle, and the countless take-out containers thrown in the backseat were visible from here.

  “Ah, I see,” she said, smiling. “March with me.”

  I fell into step with her, having no idea how to start the conversation.

  “How are you holding up?” she asked.

  Mrs. Snicks was the best. “I’m doing okay,” I said. “I got a second roommate, which helps a lot with the bills. I’m getting more pet sitting business, but there just aren’t a lot of people around here who need that service. And what with Gracie going missing, it’s been a crazy week.”

  “It’s been all over the papers,” said Mrs. Snicks. “Poor girl. She was so lovely.”

  I took a deep breath.

  “Mrs. Snicks,” I said, “I was actually thinking that it might be better if we stopped protesting for a while. Maybe give Wolf Corporation a chance to make amends and save the barn without all the noise and signs.” I spoke quickly, afraid to look Mrs. Snicks in the face while I said my piece. If there was one thing I really hated doing it was disappointing people, and now that it was a choice between disappointing Mrs. Snicks and disappointing Jasper, I was in a real bind.

  “Thank goodness,” said Mrs. Snicks, coming to a dead halt. “My arms are doggone tired. Takes a lot of energy reminding folks that old ladies can do stuff too.”

  “My grandmother would certainly have appreciated your efforts,” I said. “She would have said that you were old battle-axes together.”

  The lady smiled. “Your grandmother was the best. I’m sorry you were left to take care of that big place all by yourself. And I’m not old,” she said, waggling a finger at me.

  I nodded my appreciation at her concern for me, but as she walked away I was struck by something. I wasn’t really taking care of the place all by myself. I had two great friends who were in the farmhouse trenches by my side, and now they both knew about my ghostly abilities to boot.

  Relieved that one of my problems was solved, I got into my car. All the other protesters were slowly lowering their signs as Mrs. Snicks went around to each of them in turn and whispered in their ears. A line of construction workers, who I felt sure were waiting to start the demolition work, stood watching. Breathing a sigh of relief, I drove away.

  When I got home I would need to tell Charlie about calling off the protest. Our little local Gazette had been dominated this morning by the story of Gracie’s disappearance (above the fold) and the barn protest. Even the robbery at Liam’s shop had been pushed to a back page. My friend would never forgive me if I didn’t tip her off that the protesters were all going home. She’d want the scoop.

  Dusk was just brushing the treetops as I parked and got out of the car. My roommates’ cars weren’t there, so I had the place to myself. Greer was probably stress grocery shopping; she wasn’t exactly thrilled to be having a roommate meeting tonight, and she’d need good food to sustain her. I knew she had only agreed to the meeting for Charlie’s sake, and in a way for mine too, because I needed the money I’d have coming in from a second lodger.

  Charlie, on the other hand, had said she was going make a stop at Andy’s after work and get more stuff. She hadn’t quite figured out how to fully move out of his apartment, so she needed to get more of her things that were still there. But she’d hinted that she was getting tired of the frequent visits.

  “Just looking at him is hard,” she said. “I want my stuff out of there. He probably thinks I’m making excuses to see him or something.”

  “We can help you,” I said. “Next weekend Greer and I will borrow a truck and drive it over.”

  “That’d be great,” she said. “Who do we know who has a truck?”

  I thought about it. Deacon had one, but Greer would never go for that. I had a pretty good idea of someone else who might have one, but I’d have to work up the nerve to ask him, and I had a lot more work to do before it would make sense anyhow.

  “We’ll figure it out,” I assured her.

  “You two are the best,” she said.

  There were no ghosts out yet to greet me or shout their disappointments. Paws would probably appear soon, and I hoped we’d have a chance to talk about the case before the roommate meeting later. But even without the distractions, I was so busy thinking about the events of the past few days, and how much my life was changing, that at first I missed the note pinned to my front door.

  I walked up to my front steps and stopped. Suddenly, my own front porch felt eerie. I glanced to my left, then to my right, as the hair on my arms stood on end. When no one jumped out at me, I forced myself to step forward.

  Pulling the note off the door, I read it quickly:

  “I know what you’re doing. Stay out of the search for the Pier Pearl. Or else.”

  Gracie might not be the one in the most danger after all.

  The stationery smelled like roses.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I had just been threatened, that much I knew, but who had left the note? Obviously, Charlie and Greer hadn’t come home to see it yet. I was glad about that, because I didn’t want them worrying about me. Whoever was behind Gracie’s and the pearl’s disappearance knew who I was, and they knew where I lived.

  So again, who had left the note? Had I passed any suspicious-looking cars on my way home that might have been coming fr
om my place? What had I done that had escalated the investigation so much that someone felt the need to threaten me?

  I cast my mind back to the events of recent days. Other than my friends, Detective Cutter, and the mayor, who knew I was looking into Gracie’s disappearance?

  Detective Cutter and the mayor couldn’t have been involved, so there seemed to be no suspects for me to consider. Someone besides them and my own friends must know. Maybe Jeff? He’d somehow caught on to my questioning him and decided he didn’t like it? The stationery didn’t seem like his style, but who knew. Maybe he’d bought it on sale.

  Everyone else who knew what I was up to was a ghost. I would have suspected the tea ladies, but ghosts don’t pin signs to doors, because they can’t.

  Shaking my head, I folded the note and went inside.

  When Charlie and Greer came home, I decided not to tell them about the note just yet. There was no need to worry them if I could help it.

  We were just sitting down to a dinner of pancetta and steak fries courtesy of Greer, plus a mixed green salad I’d thrown together, when the cook herself said, “So, before I went to the grocery store this afternoon, I stopped in to see how Liam was doing.” She looked up at me and raised her eyebrows, her blue eyes amused.

  “Oh?” I said. Charlie, noticing something was going on, stopped eating her salad and sat there watching us.

  “Yeah,” said Greer. “He already had company, so I didn’t stay long.”

  “Who was his company?” Charlie asked.

  “Jasper,” I said, before Greer could enjoy torturing me any further. “We had lunch and then went to see Liam. Jasper decided to stay and help Liam with his alarm system.”

  “The two of you had LUNCH!” Charlie burst out. “I thought he was your enemy! The corporate man who was standing between you and a falling-down barn!”

  “He wanted to talk about my protest,” I said. “I figured the least I could do was agree to meet with him, so we went to The Daily Brew. He’s really very nice.”