Landon glared in my direction. “That’s what you’re arguing with? The fact that she called me your boyfriend?”
“What should I be arguing with?” I asked stubbornly.
“How about the fact that she shouldn’t be driving? How about that?”
“She’s fine,” I waved off his concerns. “She’s not going to die behind the wheel of her plow.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Landon seethed. “I’m talking about her hitting someone else.”
“I would never do that,” Aunt Tillie looked scandalized.
“She hasn’t had any accidents in years,” I said.
Landon didn’t look convinced. “Just let me drive.”
“No,” Aunt Tillie put her hands on her hips stubbornly. “And if you say it one more time, I won’t give you a ride into town.”
“That may be a blessing,” Landon said under his breath.
“You want to stay here and spend time with my mom?” I asked him pointedly.
Landon seemed to consider the suggestion for a second. His shudder, though, told me that he was dismissing it outright. “Fine.”
Thistle and Clove climbed into the back of the truck again, leaving me to slide over to the center seat. Landon begrudgingly climbed into the passenger side seat of the truck and fastened himself in. Aunt Tillie was a lot more smug when she climbed into the truck and settled herself behind the wheel. “Everyone ready for an adventure?”
Landon didn’t look happy with the levity of her words or the condescending nature of her stare. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud, though, when I felt his hand grip my knee. His knuckles were white from the effort he was exerting to keep from jerking the wheel out of Aunt Tillie’s hands.
Here’s the thing, Aunt Tillie really is a poor driver. She’s so short she has trouble seeing over the steering wheel – especially in a big truck like the one we were in now. She had long ago taken to stacking kitchen chair cushions underneath her so she could see out of the windshield. That was only one problem taken care of, though. The other was the fact that she had a lead foot. It was bad enough on dry roads in the summer. On wet ones in the winter, though, it was kind of like being in a runaway roller-coaster with snow banks.
Each time we ricocheted off one snow bank Landon gritted his teeth. Every time we careened into another, he muttered under his breath. It took us about an hour to get to town. And, by the time that we did, I had heard pretty much every swear word ever invented – and even a few I had never heard before. Landon looked relieved when we came around the corner and found that Hemlock Cove itself had already been plowed out. Not only that, whomever had done it had pulled his vehicle and Thistle’s car out of the snow drifts and left them in the parking lot of the police station.
“You’re probably going to have to pay a fine,” I glanced at Thistle in the rearview mirror.
“It won’t be the first time,” she sighed.
“Since it’s my fault we got caught downtown, I’ll pay for it,” I offered.
“We’ll split it,” Clove said congenially. “Even though I told you that I didn’t want to go on that little adventure.”
Thistle kicked Clove viciously, causing her to yelp out. She shot a pointed look in Landon’s direction and then raised her finger to her lips in a shushing gesture. The exchange wasn’t lost on Landon. “Why would you get a ticket?”
“It’s a snow emergency,” I said breezily. “You can’t leave vehicles on city streets overnight in a snow emergency.” I had no doubt that Landon knew I was lying. I tried to pretend that I didn’t notice his grip on my knee tightening, though.
“Why was it your fault that you were downtown so late yesterday?” Landon asked the question like it wasn’t important, but I could tell that he was thinking the exact opposite. “Were you doing girl things?”
“Yeah, we were buying tampons,” Thistle shot back pointedly. “And douche. We were buying tampons and douche.” She was trying to make Landon uncomfortable, that much was obvious, but I was the one feeling the blush creeping over my cheeks. I glanced at Landon and noticed the color rushing to his face, as well.
“You know what’s funny about that?”
“What?” Thistle said innocently.
“I don’t believe you,” he said. “I know women.”
“How many women have you known?” Aunt Tillie interjected. I glanced over at her. She had no idea why she was helping; she just knew that she didn’t like Landon’s tone. I let her have her malevolent fun, though. I didn’t think that admitting we were breaking and entering when we should have been ducking and covering was going to make him all that happy with me.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Landon asked irritably.
“I’m just curious. The sexual exploits of a man’s past tell you a lot about a man’s future.”
Landon’s face looked blank for a second. “Are you trying to confuse me?”
“That depends,” Aunt Tillie placed her tongue in her cheek. “Are you confused or are you evading me?”
“Evading you? Why would I be evading you?”
“Because you don’t want to tell me how many women you’ve slept with.”
“How many men have you slept with,” Landon challenged her.
“One.”
“One?” Landon turned to me for confirmation.
“Don’t look at me,” I said. “I have no idea.”
“How many have you been with again, dear?” Aunt Tillie turned to Landon.
Landon snorted in disgust. “I’m not answering that.”
Aunt Tillie turned to me. “That means he’s been with a lot. Maybe he’s like that Kareem Abdul Chamberlain.”
“Who?” I furrowed my eyebrows.
“That basketball player that slept with a hundred women,” Aunt Tillie supplied.
“I haven’t slept with a hundred women,” Landon challenged.
“Maybe he’s still a virgin,” Thistle piped up from the backseat.
Aunt Tillie nodded sagely. “That could be it.”
“I’m not a virgin either,” Landon growled.
“So why won’t you tell us how many women you’ve slept with?” Clove piped up from the backseat, joining the fun.
Landon slid a dangerous look in my direction. “You and I are spending our next date alone.”
“This was a date?” I was surprised.
“I certainly didn’t sleep on your mother’s couch for my health,” Landon said.
Aunt Tillie parked in front of the police station. I saw Chief Terry wander out curiously. His face broke into a wide smile when he saw Landon in the passenger seat of Aunt Tillie’s ride. Once we were all out of the truck, Chief Terry couldn’t rein in his amusement any longer. “You spent the night out at the inn?”
“On the couch,” Landon said stiffly.
“I made sure of it.” Aunt Tillie had rolled down her window and was enjoying Landon’s discomfort in front of Chief Terry.
“How did you make sure of it?” Chief Terry asked, although I think he already knew the answer.
“My shotgun,” Aunt Tillie shrugged.
“That will do it.”
I glanced around a second, realizing that what had started out as a caravan from the inn had turned into a solo trek at some point. “Where did Trevor and Ted go?”
Thistle glanced up and down the street. “I have no idea.”
“Do you think they got stuck?” Clove looked appalled – and ready to run to Trevor’s rescue. I imagine she had a fuzzy image in her head that involved hot chocolate, a roaring fire and absolutely no clothes.
“I think we would have noticed that,” I said.
“Not the way your Aunt Tillie drives,” Landon grumbled.
Chief Terry snickered. “If I understand you correctly, you’re saying you had more people with you when you left the inn?”
“We did.”
“And you lost them somewhere?”
“Yeah.”
Chief Ter
ry looked thoughtful. “Ted was one of them?”
“He stopped by the inn for breakfast to make sure everyone was okay,” Thistle said defensively.
“I didn’t say anything,” Chief Terry held up his hands in surrender.
“I think he’s jealous,” I teased. “He’s worried Twila will pay less attention to him and more attention to Ted.”
Chief Terry shot me a dirty look. “At least Aunt Tillie isn’t guarding Twila’s virtue with a shotgun.”
“Whatever,” I huffed. I decided to change the subject. “So, where do we think Ted and Trevor went?”
“I guess we better find out,” Landon sighed.
I watched as he moved around to the driver’s side of the plow truck, opened the door, and then forcefully moved Aunt Tillie from the driver’s seat to the center seat. “I’m driving this time.”
“All you had to do was ask,” Aunt Tillie sniffed. “You don’t have to be a Neanderthal.”
Thistle, Clove and I watched the exchange in surprise. Aunt Tillie can run hot and cold without any indication of what temperature she’s leaning towards at any given moment.
“What are you waiting for?” Aunt Tillie eyed Landon curiously.
“My girlfriend to get in the car,” he said grimly. “I’m not finished with the conversation we were having and I thought I could kill two birds with one stone.”
“Oh,” Aunt Tillie said knowingly. “You’re going to tell her how many women you’ve slept with.”
“No,” Landon said. “I’m going to find out what she and her cousins were doing last night when they should have been taking cover.”
“Oh, that conversation.”
“Yes, that conversation.”
Landon turned to me. “Get in the truck, Bay.”
Crap.
Thirty
Landon seemed to have no trouble turning Aunt Tillie’s monster truck around. Once it was pointed in the right direction, he gunned the engine and headed back out of town.
“He’s a good driver,” Aunt Tillie said.
Landon ignored her. “What were Thistle and Clove talking about?”
The question was pointed. I wasn’t sure what to do. Our previous problems had stemmed from the fact that I couldn’t tell the truth because of my family. Currently, we were facing the problem of me not being able to tell the truth because I didn’t want to go to jail. Okay, my family might be playing a part in this deception as well.
Aunt Tillie watched me struggle internally and then blew out a frustrated sigh. “You might as well tell him.”
“You just want me to tell him because that means you’ll find out, too.”
“That’s an ugly thing to say to your elder,” Aunt Tillie pouted.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“I accept your apology,” Aunt Tillie said. “Now, why don’t you tell both of us what you and your delinquent cousins have been hiding?”
I pursed my lips ruefully. “We haven’t been hiding anything,” I said carefully.
“Lies,” Aunt Tillie said. “I can always tell when you’re hiding something, and the three of you have been acting like you’re up to something for several days.”
I wanted to kick her.
“We haven’t been hiding anything,” I repeated.
“Then what were you and Ted talking about in the kitchen?”
Landon kept his eyes on the road, content for the moment to let Aunt Tillie grill me.
“I looked into his financials,” I admitted. “I thought it was weird that he came to town, fronting some business consortium, and tried to initially hide from us.”
“And what did you find out?” Aunt Tillie asked.
I explained about the three pieces of property. Landon and Aunt Tillie listened but didn’t speak. When I was done, Aunt Tillie looked irritated. “He’s bringing competition into town.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why else would he buy the Dragonfly?”
“You think that’s why he was trying to be all stealthy?” Something about that scenario didn’t quite fit.
“Why else?”
“Then what does he want with the property out at the Hollow Creek?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Aunt Tillie said thoughtfully. “If they wanted to have that rezoned, they would have to go before the city and we would have heard something about that if it happened.”
“Are you sure?” Landon finally spoke.
“It’s a small town,” I said.
“Do you know everything that goes on in town?”
“Pretty much,” I shrugged.
“What did Ted say to you when you questioned him about it?” Landon had his immovable cop face on. His eyes were glued to the road ahead of us, but he was still listening to everything I had to say.
“He just said he was buying up the property for a business consortium. That’s all he would say.”
“But you don’t believe him?”
“No.”
“What else?”
“What else what?”
“What else?” Landon pressed. “What were you, Clove and Thistle doing right before you got stuck yesterday?”
There was no way I was going to answer that. “We were running errands,” I said evasively. “Checking a few things out.”
“What things?”
“Just things,” I said.
Aunt Tillie sensed my sudden distress. “What were you really doing sneaking around the inn last night?”
I glanced at her a second and then blew out a weary sigh. She was giving me an out here – but it was one that benefitted her. I didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter. “We were looking at the financial information for the Bakers.”
“The Bakers?” Aunt Tillie looked surprised. “Why?”
“Because I thought their arrival – at the same time a boat was found abandoned in the channel – was a little bit suspicious,” I admitted. “Anyone else in their right mind would have packed up and left before the blizzard hit.”
Aunt Tillie mulled through the puzzle. “You have a point,” she said finally.
“It happens on occasion.”
“You’re smarter than you look sometimes,” Aunt Tillie agreed.
Landon gritted his teeth and shook his head. I could tell he wanted to press me on my movements yesterday afternoon, but he was letting it slide – for the moment, at least.
“So what did you find out?” Aunt Tillie asked.
“It’s clean, as far as I can tell.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me what you were doing last night?”
“Because I didn’t want you to freak out on us for going through your clients’ personal information.”
“I wouldn’t have freaked out about that.”
“Since when?”
“Your mothers would have freaked out,” Aunt Tillie corrected me. “I would have joined you in the investigation.”
I considered the statement. She had a point. She had never been one for respecting a person’s right for privacy – except when it came to her.
“You still think there’s something off about the Bakers, don’t you?” Landon asked the question quietly, but with determination.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Something just feels off.”
“I’ll do a little more digging into them,” Landon said finally.
“You will?” This sounded like a trap.
“I will,” Landon agreed.
I blew out a relieved sigh.
“If you tell me what you were doing yesterday afternoon.”
Crap on toast.
“I already told you, we were just running errands.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” I said helplessly.
Landon slowed down the truck. I thought, for a second, he was going to jump out of the vehicle and run away screaming into the snow about women and lies. I saw that he was scanning the fork in the road instead. “Someone went in th
at direction,” he said finally. “Where does that go?”
“Nowhere,” Aunt Tillie said. “There’s nothing out there. It’s a dirt road.”
“Are there any houses out there?” Landon asked.
“A few,” Aunt Tillie said. “Those are survivalists, though. They wouldn’t be out driving around this early after a blizzard.”
“What else is out there?” Landon pressed.
“Just the Dragonfly,” Aunt Tillie said. She swung on me suddenly, surprise smoothing the wrinkles around her ancient and suspicious eyes. “Ted!”
“Why would he want to go out to this inn in the middle of a snowstorm?” Landon asked pragmatically. “The way you make it sound, it’s a dump.”
“Maybe he’s keeping something out there,” Aunt Tillie said. “Like drugs.”
I felt my heart clench in my chest.
“Or bodies,” Aunt Tillie continued, not dissuaded by the warning glances I kept shooting in her direction. “Maybe he killed the people on the boat and hid their bodies there.”
“Why would he kill the people on the boat?” Landon asked.
“Why would he buy an inn just to hide bodies at it?” I chimed in.
“Maybe he’s a devil worshipper,” Aunt Tillie stiffened her chin.
“Maybe he’s a witch,” Landon grumbled.
“There’s no devil in the craft,” Aunt Tillie corrected him.
“Sorry,” he muttered. He looked like he was debating on whether or not he should follow whatever vehicle had traversed the snowy road.
“You’re not mean,” Aunt Tillie said. “You’re just uneducated. I get that.”
Landon shot her a dirty look.
“Bay will teach you. You’ll teach each other a few things, I would gather,” Aunt Tillie continued.
I felt my face redden. Landon didn’t look like he was in the mood for Aunt Tillie advice. “If that’s the truth, then why did you sleep outside their room with a shotgun last night?”
“I would prefer it if you taught each other things away from the roof I sleep under,” Aunt Tillie said stiffly.
“Fair enough,” Landon agreed. “We’re going back to town,” he said finally. “I want to talk to Chief Terry and make sure you’re safe in town.”
“I don’t need your protection,” I corrected him.
“Yeah? Well, you’re going to get it,” Landon said. “Especially since you still seem to be reluctant to tell me what it was you were doing yesterday afternoon.”
Witching You Were Here (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Book 3) Page 19
