“Obviously not, or he would know what happened to Ronnie.”
“So why do you think they didn’t go riding together?”
“Because Philip told Tristan that they didn’t go,” Hugh said matter-of-factly.
I stared at him incredulously. How could someone be so trusting? I was shocked at Hugh’s naivety. “Hugh! Did it ever occur to you that Philip lied to Tristan?”
Hugh lowered his head. “Look darlin’, I know it might look that way. But just because a chicken has wings don’t mean it can fly.”
I palmed my forehead and then eyed Hugh with frustration. “Hugh! I don’t know what that means!”
“Just because Philip looks guilty, doesn’t mean he is. He’s a decent guy. Sure the two of them had their issues, but I really can’t see Philip killing Ronnie over something so petty. I feel like this was probably just Ronnie going out to practice on his own and falling off his broomstick.”
Alba and Juan, who had been talking to a different officer, rejoined me and Hugh. “Do we know anything new?” Alba asked.
I looked at Hugh but bit my lip. I wanted to tell Alba what Hugh had just told me, but I felt a sense of obligation to keeping his secret. I shook my head as I eyed Hugh angrily.
“What do you know, Juan?” I asked him with one raised eyebrow.
Juan shrugged. “Just like I told the officers. I know nothing. Literally. Nothing. Hugh and I were just hanging out in our room when all of this went down.”
“But I’m sure you’ve had time to talk to the guys. What’s everyone saying?” I pressed.
“Like, everyone, who?” Juan asked, confused.
I shrugged nonchalantly and tried not to make eye contact with Hugh. “Like, Tristan. Does Tristan have any information?”
“Mercy Mae!” Hugh hollered disapprovingly.
“What?” I asked innocently. “Maybe Tristan told Juan something he didn’t tell you!”
Alba looked between the three of us curiously. “Am I missing something here?”
Hugh shot me a look that clearly said zip your lips.
I glanced up at Alba nervously, but pinched both lips between my teeth and shook my head, wide-eyed.
“You told her?” Juan asked Hugh with surprise.
Hugh sighed. “I told her it was just between the two of us!”
I stomped the heels of my black Chuck Taylor high-tops down on the soft grass. “It still is just between us! I didn’t say anything.”
“Obviously the three of you know something juicy,” Alba said, looking between the three of us.
Her brown eyes glowered at me, but I managed to keep my lips shut.
Then without warning, she lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of Juan’s collar and pulled him towards her, peering into his dark eyes threateningly. “What do you know, John?”
Juan shrank visibly under Alba’s intimidating stance and immediately caved. “Ronnie told Tristan that he and Philip were going to go riding!”
Alba’s eyes widened. She let go of his shirt and gave him a tiny shove backwards. “Ronnie and Philip went riding together?”
Tristan approached the four of us right as the words left Alba’s mouth. He shot Hugh and Juan an incredulous look. “Oh, for crying out loud, guys. You told the girls?!”
Hugh took his cowboy hat off his head and wiped his brow with the sleeve of his button down shirt. “I’m gonna have to blame this one on infatuation, fellas.”
Juan held up both hands to signify his innocence. “I blame it on fear. That one scares me.” He pointed at Alba with wide eyes.
“They went riding together. Why wouldn’t you tell Detective Whitman that?” Alba asked Tristan quizzically.
Tristan sighed and looked at Hugh and Juan nervously. “Because they didn’t go riding together.”
“How do you know?” Alba asked.
“Philip told me they didn’t go.”
“And you just believe him?” Alba asked suspiciously.
“I have no reason not to,” Tristan said honestly. “Philip is a nice guy. He wouldn’t kill Ronnie.”
“Why didn’t they go riding then?”
Tristan glanced up at all of us nervously before arching his back and cracking his neck. Then he cleared his throat. “He said he came looking for Ronnie and he wasn’t here.”
“Where was he?” I asked.
Tristan shrugged. “No clue.”
“Were you here when Philip came looking for him?” Alba asked with interest.
Tristan’s eyes shifted from my feet to Alba’s and then to Hugh’s. It was obvious he didn’t want to make eye contact. Something didn’t feel right. “No.”
“Where were you?” I asked.
“Out.”
“Out where?”
“Just out,” he said quietly.
Alba and I exchanged suspicious glances. “You don’t want to tell us where you were?” I asked him.
“It’s really not any of your business,” he said pointedly.
“Well, I’m sure when I tell Detective Whitman about the fact that Philip and Ronnie were scheduled to go riding, he’ll want to know where you were. You can tell him then.”
Tristan sighed. “Why do you have to tell Whitman? Philip didn’t kill Ronnie.”
“You seem so sure,” Alba said. “Maybe you know who did kill Ronnie?”
We all stared at Tristan with interest. His face flushed red, but he didn’t crack. “Maybe no one killed Ronnie. He obviously fell off of his broomstick while riding.”
“Why would he go riding alone?” I asked Tristan pointedly. “He was supposed to go with Philip, but when Philip came to find him he was gone. Instead he went out by himself? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Fine, tell, Whitman if you must. I’m sure Philip doesn’t have anything to hide,” Tristan said staunchly.
“Let’s go then,” Alba said, challenging him.
“I’ll come with you,” Juan said, glancing at Alba nervously like she might punch him for even speaking.
“Let’s all go,” Hugh suggested with a sigh. “Get it over with.”
I put a hand on his arm. “Can I talk to you first?”
He stopped as Alba, Juan, and Tristan made their way across the grass to Detective Whitman. “What’s up, darlin’?”
“I thought I should tell you the newest developments.”
He looked around him on either side. “In the case? I was just standin’ right here, pretty sure I know all the newest developments.”
“Not in the case. With my mom and my brother. I just told the girls and I thought I should tell you, too.”
“Oh, did you find out who Reign belongs to?” he asked, knowingly.
I nodded and looked down at my hands nervously. “Yeah. It’s a little bit of a shocker, to be honest.”
“I’ll brace myself.”
“I’m just gonna say it then. It’s Merrick Stone,” I said quietly.
Hugh’s eyes nearly burst out of his head. “Get out.”
“It’s true.”
“Well, that makes sense. Those two go together like guns and ammo.”
“Quit it! I thought you and Reign were going to start getting along?”
Hugh made a face. “I realize he was cleared of that Bradshaw girl’s murder. I know he didn’t do it. That doesn’t mean I trust him.”
“What did he ever do to you that made you feel like you couldn’t trust him?” I demanded. How was I supposed to get to know my brother better or continue a relationship with Hugh if the two of them couldn’t get along?
Hugh shrugged. “I can’t quite put my finger on it. He just woke up crooked one mornin’, I suppose.”
My heart sank. “Ugh, you’re so frustrating!” I fumed.
“I’m sorry, darlin’. Knowing he’s the son of Sorcerer Stone doesn’t make him sound any better to my ears. Stone’s got his own issues. He’s got more twists than a pretzel factory and if Reign is his son, well, they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
My irritation was punctuated by the ringing of my phone. I pulled it out of my back pocket and looked down at the number ringing through. I slid the green icon to the side with my finger.
“I’m really busy right now Mom,” I said into the phone.
“There’s something really strange going on around here, Mercy. I need you to come to the b&b, as soon as you can!”
{ Chapter Seven}
Hugh pulled his big black truck up to the curb in front of the b&b.
“I’m really sorry to keep you out so late, Hugh,” I said, feeling embarrassed.
“Don’t worry about it. I happen to like Linda a lot. If something’s wrong, you need to be there for her. I’m happy to help,” he said before jumping out of the cab.
The front door was unlocked and when I came in, Mom was sitting on a barstool at the bar with her head in her hands. My brother was behind the counter looking at my mother with a worry stricken face.
“What’s going on?” I asked, pulling off my outer layer and throwing it down on a table as I raced through the bar with Chesney jumping around my ankles excitedly.
Reign gave Hugh a once over before answering. “Mom’s just a mess. She’s been rattling off things, but she really doesn’t make any sense. I finally just told her maybe she should call you.”
I nodded and pulled a barstool up next to her. “Mom? What’s going on? What happened?”
Mom looked up at the sound of my voice and put her hand on my arm. She was shaking like a leaf. “I’m so sorry to make you come all the way down here, Mercy. I know it’s late.”
“What happened? Are you alright? You’re shaking!”
All eyes were trained on her. She looked from me to Hugh to Reign. “Oh, gosh. You’re all here. I’m really sorry to make such a big thing out of this.”
“Mom! Just tell me what happened!” I finally said, a little more forcefully than I had intended. My patience was wearing thin. It had been such a long day and it was getting really late. There was no way I was going to be any good for classes the next day.
Mom looked between Reign and Hugh again. She raised one shaky hand. “Boys, would you mind if Mercy and I had a few minutes alone?”
Hugh backed up. “Not at all. I’m sorry, ma’am. I should have thought of that already.”
Reign looked at Hugh, not quite sure what to do with him. Finally, he said. “Care for a drink in the kitchen, Houston?”
Hugh nodded stoically. “Sure. I’d take a cup of coffee.”
Mom and I waited to talk until the two disappeared uneasily into the kitchen.
“So what’s going on, Mom?”
“Mercy, the strangest things are happening to me.” Her eyebrows furrowed together anxiously and the lines in her forehead appeared to deepen the harder I looked at her. Her long auburn hair seemed to be peppered with more starch white strands than it had been only hours earlier. She seemed to be aging in front of me.
“You’ve got me really freaked out Mom. Can you just tell me what’s going on?”
“You’ll think I’m crazy,” she assured me.
“I’m a witch, Mom. Nothing surprises me anymore,” I said honestly.
She grabbed my arm. “I feel like I’m living in a mad house.”
“In what way?”
“Ok. I went downstairs to make some tea before bed and when I got to the bottom of the stairs…I was upstairs again.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head.
“What’s not to understand?” she asked. “I walked down the stairs and when I got to the bottom, I was at the top again. I did that twice! The third time, I got so freaked out, I hollered for your brother and he came running and he helped me to the bottom of the stairs.”
My eyes widened. That sounded like the most bizarre thing I’d ever heard. “Have you taken anything tonight, Mom?”
“I told you you’d think I was crazy.”
“Sleeping pills maybe? I heard antihistamines can make you delusional sometimes.”
She shook her head quickly. “I haven’t taken anything, Mercy.”
I looked around at all the bottles of liquor behind the bar. “Mom, have you had a bit to drink?”
She let out a frustrated breath and covered her face with her hands. “Mercy! Stop it. I haven’t been drinking. I haven’t had a single dose of medication since I came to town. I’m telling you! Weird things have been happening all week! But it’s getting worse.”
“Is that the only thing that’s been happening?” I asked her after a long pause.
She shook her head. “No! I told you earlier. I go to find something and it’s not there and I find it in a completely random place, that I know I didn’t leave it. I find the stove on. I go to my room and my bed sheets have all been removed from the bed and I find them folded up in the linen closet! I look in the mirror and I have no reflection. I try to open the front door and it’s locked, so I unlock the deadbolt and then the door handle and the deadbolt’s locked again. I unlock the deadbolt and the handle is locked again. Mercy, I’m freaking out here!”
“Take a deep breath, Mom. There’s got to be a logical explanation for all of this,” I told her, trying like mad to rationalize these things in my mind. The only explanation that made sense was that my mom was going crazy and I didn’t particularly like the sound of that.
“Mom, are you sure you haven’t accidentally eaten some bad mushrooms or something? Weren’t there mushrooms in the chicken pot pie?” I asked her, nervously rubbing my stomach.
“Mercy!” Mom huffed, jumping off of her stool. “Things are happening to me. You told me, you’re a witch. Nothing would surprise you. Then believe me!”
I nodded and took a deep breath and counted to ten while letting it out slowly. “Ok, Mom. I believe you. If you say so, it’s true. So why do you think this is happening?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea! If I knew, I’d fix it! Honestly,” she began, lowering her voice. “It feels like a curse.”
“Seriously?” I deadpanned. I looked around, glancing at the ceiling. I suddenly felt like I was being recorded for an episode of Punk’d.
“Yes, seriously! Something big is happening here. I think I’m being sent a warning,” she cried. “It has to be the universe telling me that Merrick and I are getting too close.”
“Why would the universe care about you and Merrick getting too close?” I couldn’t possibly fathom the universe wanting to hurt my mother. She was probably the sweetest, most easy going witch I knew. And then it hit me. “Mom, did you say this started getting worse today?”
She nodded sadly. “Yes.”
“Mom, Reign told Merrick you were in town today. My money is on Merrick. I bet he’s intentionally trying to scare you.”
“Mercy, why would Merrick want to scare me?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he wants you to leave town.”
“Unlikely. Merrick loved me. I don’t think he’d want to hurt me.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know why the two of you were bound from each other. Maybe Granny told him some lies about you. Maybe he’s upset because you didn’t tell him you were pregnant and that you gave birth to his son. Maybe you broke his heart years ago and he’s never forgiven you for it. Maybe he has a new girlfriend and he doesn’t want his old flame to interfere in his love life. Mom, there could be a million reasons why Merrick would want to scare you out of town. This is Merrick’s doing. I’m sure of it.”
Mom’s body shook as she considered my suggestion. “It isn’t Merrick, it couldn’t be.”
But the sound of her voice told me a different story. The thought that it could possibly be her old lover playing tricks on her would be a crushing blow.
I put my hands on each of her biceps and shook her lightly. “Mom. You’re dreaming. It’s got to be Merrick. Who else has the capability to do such odd things to you? Who else would care?”
She tossed her head backwards and stared up at the ceiling. She was quiet for several long s
econds. Finally, she sat up straight again. “I know what’s going on and it isn’t Merrick’s fault. It’s your granny’s fault,” she said as if revealing the secret of the universe.
I raised one eyebrow inquisitively. “Yeah, I don’t get it. How is this Gran’s fault? She’s not even in town.”
Mom stood up and went around the counter. She grabbed a mug from under the counter and filled it with water. “Mercy. When you bind two people and those two people get within a certain proximity of each other, sometimes things can happen. Back in my day, when bindings happened more frequently than they do now, they sometimes led to big storms. But it’s not unheard of for binding’s to cause unusual events.”
“You call what’s been happening to you unusual events?”
Mom shrugged and took a sip of her water. She tipped her head from side to side as she set the glass on the counter. “Mmm, a series of unusual events, perhaps.”
“So you think all of this is happening because you’re getting too close to Merrick?”
“Exactly!”
I sighed and scooped Chesney up off the ground and hugged him close, letting his soft smooth fur caress the side of my face. “Mom, you said it yourself. Things started getting worse today. After Reign met his father. If this was the Universe telling you that you were getting too close to Merrick why would it start getting worse today of all days?”
“You can’t predict the Universe, Mercy. Sometimes things just aren’t explainable. You should know that, you’re a witch too. Not everything can be explained away.”
“I suppose, Mom. I just don’t know if I buy it. Merrick is very powerful. This seems like something he’d do.”
“You don’t even know him, Mercy,” she protested.
“Do you even know him, Mother?”
“Of course I do!”
“Mother! You were sixteen years old when you dated him. You had Reign at seventeen. How could you possibly have known anything real about him? And I’m sure he’s changed. What he was back then is probably not who he is now. I certainly wouldn’t want to be judged on the person I was at sixteen and I’m only nineteen!”
Witch Degrees of Separation: A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery #3 Page 6
