by Falls, Bella
My full stomach clenched, and I lowered my voice. “Then what are they doing?”
Dad caught sight of the two men I’d spotted before. “They think we have the exceptional items stored somewhere near here.”
The closer the strangers got to us, the more Bobby’s hackles stood on end. The hound growled at the shorter of the two and barked without stopping, straining at the end of his leash.
The man ignored our dog. “Are either of you the operator of this place?”
“You can speak with me or my daughter. It’s all the same,” my dad instructed.
The short guy reached into his pocket, and I conjured a little power to have at the ready for whatever he was trying to pull out. He withdrew his hand and held up a business card. “I’d like for you to contact me directly. Especially if you find anything rare or particularly special. My partner and I could make it worth your while.”
Bobby growled and bared his teeth, threatening to gnaw on the man’s ankles. He glowered at our dog with annoyance but placed the card down on a nearby table. Backing away, he bumped into his partner, who he grumbled at and pushed out the door.
I clutched my chest over my heart, trying to get it to stop beating so fast. “He was a little scary.”
“That’s nothing. I’m gonna let Barney know we’re getting an uptick in a certain kind of clientele. First, we’ll get those who know we’ve got something worth having. Then we’ll get the ones who know exactly what we’ve got and are really interested in obtaining it. Neither of those two types bothers me, and they can end up becoming loyal customers if handled correctly.” Dad motioned for me to follow him outside and around the corner to the back of the barn. “What’s the protocol if someone starts any trouble?”
“Call you. Call Officer Whittle. Try to use as little magic as possible unless absolutely necessary. Don’t try to be the hero.” My father had taught me the steps in dealing with the more unsavory client since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.
“If you have to, you run. Do not engage anyone, especially since you’ve never had much training in witch fighting.” He held up a hand to stop me from arguing my worth with him. “I know you can handle yourself, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to make sure you don’t get hurt. Plus, there are other supernaturals out there whose bites are far worse than their bark, if you get my meaning. When in doubt, play it safe.”
Bobby leapt to his feet and woofed, pulling with all of his might on his leash. Dad allowed the hound to lead him back to where the food truck was parked across the driveway. Deputy Caine stood off to the side, wearing off-duty clothes and looking completely out of place.
“Quiet, Bobby,” Dad growled, yanking on the leash until the dog heeled. “Deputy Caine, you seem to be a bit lost. How can I help you?”
The law enforcement officer opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He cocked his head a little, staring at the space beyond the food truck, his pupils too big for his eyes.
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked, hoping I didn’t have to get close to the deputy to find out.
“He’s spellstruck. I’m guessing there’s a part of him that really wants to go beyond this point, but our wards won’t let him. They’re supposed to make him forget why he wanted to go there in the first place and turn him away, but he’s so determined that he’s literally stuck.” Dad handed me the dog’s leash and took Caine by the elbow. “Come sit over here with me, Marshall. Ruby, honey, get the man some iced tea. And make it extra sweet.”
He escorted the deputy to a stump in the shade under a tree a little further away from the border of the protection spell. I brought the requested drink over and watched my father convince the man to drink like he was a baby. As he consumed the liquid, his pupils constricted bit by bit until their hazel hue showed up again.
Dad patted him on the back. “There, I think you might be feeling a little bit better now, right?”
Deputy Caine blinked several times and ran a hand down his face. “What? Where am I?”
“I think you might have suffered a little heat exhaustion,” I explained in a loud, slow voice.
The man winced, his mustache twitching. “I’m not deaf,” he complained. “Just confused. I’ve had heat exhaustion before, and it didn’t feel like this.”
Bobby approached the deputy and sniffed all around him, still unsure whether or not he needed to be barked at or slobbered on. The dog chose the latter, and Caine wiped his wet hand on his pants.
He took a tentative sip of the drink and shuddered in disgust. “Ew, what’s wrong with this tea? It’s so sweet, it’ll rot out my teeth.”
While an immediate sugar rush could help a depleted magic user survive and refuel quickly, it helped a mortal combat being under the influence of a spell a little faster. Sometimes it depended on the strength of the spellcaster or the actual intent of the charm. Or curse.
The deputy would be better off finishing the whole cup, but he stopped drinking and set it down beside him. “I’m having a hard time remembering why I came here in the first place.”
“Did you have somebody you wanted to shop for? Maybe for your wife or your children?” Dad suggested.
The corners of his mouth crooked ever so slightly up under his mustache in the closest thing to a smile I figured I’d ever witness on him. “My son does have his birthday coming up.”
“There you go. Let me take you inside and show you some of the things I think he might like. How old is your boy, Marshall?” My dad did his best to keep the deputy distracted from trying to think too hard. Unfortunately, Bobby got excited when the man stood up and licked his hand.
The immediate frustration at having to wipe off his hand for a second time cleared Caine’s head. “What business is my family to you? You don’t ask me questions, I ask them of you. And you should address me as Deputy Caine, not by my first name.”
“My apologies, Deputy.” Dad whistled for the dog, and Bobby stopped where he was with his tongue hanging out and obeyed his master, sitting at my father’s feet.
Even his mustache couldn’t hide the deputy’s contempt. “And now I remember why I’m here. To take a better look at the crime scene.”
Panic grabbed ahold of my insides and twisted. I shot a terrified glance at my father, but he ignored me, playing things way too cool. “I’d be happy to take you to our other barn, sir.”
My eyes widened with shock. It would take great effort to break through the protection ward’s barriers with a regular human in tow. Without much experience to draw from, I could only guess taking him into the heart of the protection spells might have a truly adverse effect on the deputy.
Dad finished his statement. “As long as you’re willing to show me your warrant. And I’ll need to contact my lawyer and have him stop by so my legal representation can be present the whole time. Although I seem to remember that he’s out on a boat fishing with a few friends and won’t be back before sundown. But if you’re willing to wait—”
“Enough!” Deputy Caine bellowed. “I get it. I won’t be given access to the crime scene today.” He rubbed his temple with his fingers. “But I’ll be back eventually, and you won’t be able to hide whatever it is my gut keeps telling me is wrong here.” Leaving his tea on the stump, he marched toward the parking area.
“You sure you don’t want to come in and shop? I swear we’ve got something your son would love. And in the section of essential oils, you could get some peppermint oil to help with that headache of yours,” my dad called out to him.
The deputy kept walking, refusing to acknowledge our presence even while he was still on our property. His tires kicked up gravel as he sped down the driveway.
Dad flashed me a satisfied grin. “See? When in doubt, play it safe.”
“I thought you were crazy talking to him like you did! And you scared me for a second that you might actually try to take him back to the storage barn.”
“Nah.” My father crouched down and gave Bobby a good head rub. “I knew e
xactly how to handle him as soon as I saw he was spellstruck. The easiest path was to kill him with kindness while also forcing him to follow the rules he’s sworn to uphold. If I’d fought with him, he might have pushed himself too far and done more harm than good.”
“I shouldn’t have doubted you,” I said, impressed to my very core.
Dad stood and scratched the top of my head, too. “It’s okay as long as you’ll remember the lesson. What did I do?”
I swatted his hand away. “Played it safe.”
“Right. And because of that, what are we?” he teased.
“We’re safe,” I replied like a child in school.
My father winked at me. “Lesson over. I’ve gotta contact Barney and tell him about the uptick in interested parties crashing our store. See you for dinner?”
I shook my head. “I’ve got plans with the girls tonight.”
“Have fun.” He waved and pulled on the leash for Bobby to follow.
Dad’s motto echoed through my head the rest of the day. If I thought it had been difficult to bring up the subject of the crystal ball before, it became the last thing I wanted to do after encountering the deputy. His presence emphasized the need to find the person who was with Croy at the time of his death. Or at least to give the nosy lawman a plausible alternative to his obsession with my uncle and the rest of us Jewells.
Tonight, I needed to put together a team of the baddest witches around to help me figure things out.
Chapter Fifteen
“I can’t believe the two of you participated in a séance and didn’t tell me about it until just now. You know I love the ghosts,” Cate complained from the back seat.
I checked the palm of my left hand for the directions I scribbled on it with spelled ink to make it glow. “Sorry. It wasn’t exactly a planned thing, and it really only involved family.”
“But we’re practically family.” In my rearview mirror, Crystal pouted until Dani threw her arm around our friend.
A little guilt seeped into my consciousness, having used my friends’ demand for me to go out with them as a means to go investigate the one clue I’d managed to sneak from the local warden.
My search for the meaning of Blacksheep had turned up a knitting store, a bicycle store, and an odd name for a pizza joint. Considering Barney and I had been discussing the menacing man Croy was accused of hanging around with, I doubted Mr. Red Mohawk would be into needles unless they were possibly at a tattoo parlor. Both bicycles and pizza weren’t completely impossible, except neither of them was anywhere near our vicinity, ruling them out of consideration.
The Black Sheep Bar outside of the town right next to Smooter caught my eye, and I figured it couldn’t hurt if I combined a promised girls’ night out with a little investigation of my own.
“So, explain to me again why you think getting rid of the crystal ball is a bad idea instead of a good one,” Dani requested. “I heard Sarah’s story, too, and I’m pretty sure what I got out of it was that the use of one typically ended horribly.”
I slowed down to turn onto a two-lane road away from the small town we’d just driven through, following the radiant directions on my palm. “I’m not saying that the crystal ball doesn’t have its issues. But I think not using one while it’s in our possession is insane. If we did tap into its powers with caution, while being overly prepared, it could help us solve the murder, which will then help us keep your dad from being the deputy’s target.” I glanced back at my cousin.
“How would you make sure you weren’t hurt in the process?” Crystal asked, leaning forward in her seat. “I don’t think I like the idea of you risking your life.”
The other three agreed with her, and I dropped the subject, not wanting to get into it with them. Or listen to even more of my trusted friends tell me what not to do. Lights from a display board glowed in the night sky, and the brick building that housed the Black Sheep Bar stood on the left-hand side. Slowing down, I pulled into the cracked pavement of the parking lot.
“Uh, Rue, where are we and why are there so many motorcycles here?” Cate gazed with wide eyes at the rows of machines parked in front and around the corner.
“I’ve never heard of the Black Sheep Bar, and I’m not sure I want to get to know it all that much.” Crystal glared at me in the rearview mirror. “I knew something was fishy when you not only volunteered to come out tonight, but you insisted on being the designated driver.”
The longer we sat in the car, the more I questioned my sanity for bringing them along. Putting myself at risk was one thing, but adding them to the mix wasn’t responsible nor kind. “I’m sorry, girls. I thought we’d be going to a normal bar where I could try and find the human who could be a decent suspect in Croy’s murder.”
“Okay, that’s it. Put the car in park. You and I are switching seats.” Cate unbuckled her seatbelt and crawled over, almost falling into my lap in the process.
“What are you doing?” I reached between us and pulled on the handle underneath the seat, and it exploded backwards to give us more room. “Wouldn’t it be easier to get out of the car?”
“None of us are getting out,” Cate huffed as she pushed the side of my face to get me to move. “Once I’m in the driver’s seat, we’re getting out of here as fast as—”
“Uh, guys,” Dani interrupted.
“We can—” Cate continued, holding her body up so I could shimmy out from under her.
Something jammed into my behind, but I kept my mouth shut for fear of what else the three rebelling witches would do to me.
“Go,” Cate finished when I pulled my left leg over to the passenger side and she plopped down in the driver’s seat.
A heavy knock on the window startled all of us, and we screamed. A man wearing a leather vest with a bandana tied around his head and a beard long enough to tickle his bellybutton scowled at us. “Are you tonight’s entertainment?” he asked.
Cate flashed the white of her teeth in what she probably thought was a smile but came off more like a jack-o’-lantern’s wide, comical grin. “I don’t think so. We’ll be leaving now.”
A line of other bikers blocked us on all sides of the car. The first to address us insisted we roll down the windows. He leaned inside and took his time looking at all of us. “You’ll do nicely. Come with us.” Sticking his hand inside, he pulled on the handle and opened the car door.
Hiding my right hand behind my left, I summoned a little power and pulled the door shut again. “Thanks for the invitation, but really, we just got a little lost.”
Longbeard leaned against the door. “Then before you go, let us buy you pretty ladies some drinks first. We insist.”
If he’d been alone, I might have considered casting enough magic to make him go away. But with a line of his friends trapping us, I didn’t think using my powers would be any better of any idea than coming in the first place. After we agreed to just one drink each, he backed off enough for Cate to roll the window back up.
“What are we doing?” Dani squealed from the back.
I turned to face her. “We’re going to get these guys off our backs by having that one drink. Then we will haul our behinds out of here and I will act as a servant to each of you for life to make up for my colossal mistake. But right now, you will do your best to fake like we’re not shaking in our cowboy boots. And do your best not to resort to using magic out of fear.” Opening the car door, I prepared to get out and remembered one last point. “But have it at the ready in case of an emergency.”
My fingers itched to send an S.O.S. to Luke, but under the watchful eyes of so many, I didn’t think I could get away with it. Plus, even with his vampire speed, he wouldn’t know where to find me since I hadn’t told anyone my brilliant plan for the night.
We entered the bar with hardcore music blasting over its sound system. Based on the trashed decor, fights within the premises must happen on a regular basis. The few other women inside dressed in skimpy attire stopped hanging onto the guys around th
em and glowered at us.
I stopped moving forward, and the girls huddled in back of me. “When he mentioned entertainment, I don’t think he meant whether we were a band that played together,” I tried to mumble to the other three without moving my mouth.
“Who are they?” the girl with pink stripes in her hair yelled from behind the pool table.
Longbeard pushed us from behind, making us move further in. “These girls say they got lost, so I promised them all a drink before they left.” The rest of his friends filed around us, filling up the chairs at the bar and the general space nearby.
He took the stool at the end and patted his lap. “Which one of you pretty things is gonna sit with me? How about the two of you.” He pointed at Cate and me. “Based on what I saw you doin’ in the car, I’m pretty sure you two could handle me.”
“Dusty, why are you bothering these women?” a deep, husky voice asked from the far end of the bar. “They don’t belong in here.”
I searched for the person trying to save us and spotted a red mohawk towering over the rest of the seated patrons as he got up. His thick black boots shook the ground with every step.
Caught between wanting to get out of here and needing answers from the man I came to find, I threw back my shoulders, pushed out my chest, and stood my ground. “Thanks.”
He sauntered up in front of me, crossing his massive arms across his chest and flexing his tattoos in my face. “No problem. There’s the door.”
Not willing to show the intimidating predator my back, I turned my head and whispered to the others. “Go. Now.” Instead of following, I stayed right where I was and took my shot.
Trying to hide my panic, I lifted my face to meet Mr. Mohawk’s curious gaze. “Although I’ve heard if I needed a loan when the bank turned me down, this is the place to come.”
