by Esme Addison
“You’re right, it was worth the hike in heels.” She laughed, then turned to look out over the water. “I could take in this view for hours and not get tired of it.” Her gaze went back to Evelyn, who had an odd expression on her face. She wore heels and a plain black dress, Alex noted. Her only jewelry was a simple necklace. “You’re all dressed up. You look nice. Are you going to the party?”
Evelyn’s lips twisted. “My husband just died. Do you think I should be living it up with a bunch of Magicals?”
The smile disappeared from Alex’s lips. “Of course not. It’s just, you’re wearing a dress…”
“I’m in mourning. Remember?” Her voice rose, and Alex realized that Evelyn was angry. “My marriage was destroyed because of all of that abracadabra crap,” she said, jabbing a finger toward the cottage. “Because of people like you.” She pulled something out of her purse that glinted in the sunlight.
A gun, Alex recognized with a twinge of fear. “Why do you have —” And then it hit her—like a tidal wave actually. Evelyn had come that night to the park with a weapon, not to defend herself but to kill someone. Because she is a murderer.
The pieces fell together with horrible precision—click. Click. Click.
Mac telling her that Neve had been in Bellamy Bay two months before for a visit.
Both Ciocia Lidia and Jack saying Neve was six weeks pregnant.
Kamila sharing that the spot in the woods was a “lover’s lane” and that Evelyn’s husband had been meeting a source when he was killed.
The list in his shoe was for his source.
Why couldn’t I have figured it all out a few minutes sooner? Alex thought to herself.
Alex took a step back, and then another, until her back was against the railing. She looked behind her, alarmed. Nowhere to go except over the edge to the ground below. “Your husband thought he was meeting with Neve that night in the woods.”
“Of course, he did,” she said. “It was, like, their spot. He never doubted for an instance that he was meeting her. Only when he arrived, it was me and not her.” She laughed. “You can’t imagine the look on his face when he saw me.”
“How did you do it?”
“He’s not the only one who’s a wiz with a computer. I used an app that made it appear that I’d sent a text from her number. And of course, he came running.”
“Neve wasn’t just a source,” Alex said. “You found out he was cheating on you. Why didn’t you throw him out of your house and file for divorce?” Alex said, mind racing for a solution. What in her magic bag of tricks could she use to counter this woman?
“I loved him,” she seethed. “I didn’t want him to leave. And I gave him a choice. I said forget her and come back to me and Tanner.” An angry tear slid down her face. “He refused! That jerk refused me—said he was starting over with her. She was pregnant, and they’d be a family.” Her grip was so tight on the gun that her knuckles turned red. “We were already a family,” she choked out. “How could he?”
Alex shook her head. “I don’t know …”
“He said she was going to quit her job, and they were going to move far, far away from everything and everybody and start a new life together. Can you imagine how I felt?”
“No,” Alex said, her eyes trained on the gun. “But I bet it was very painful for you.”
“He tried to explain it to me. Can you believe that?”
Alex shook her head, thinking that had probably been a very stupid move.
“He told me that she was so beautiful and smart and interesting and adventurous, and they cared about the same things. This was supposed to make everything clear, since I wasn’t beautiful or smart or interesting or adventurous—do you see what I mean? Like, what was I supposed to do with that explanation? Say, ‘Oh, okay, I see you’re upgrading.’ And just leave with my tail between my knees? And that blog! That stupid, stupid blog of his. She’d been his source for years—years! They had that in common. I tried to fake an interest. I mean, sue me for not caring about aliens in the government and magical weapons and fairy tales that turn out to be true!”
Her shoulders heaved in a tortured sigh. “I shouldn’t have had to compete with her. And did you see her? So beautiful. Her hair? My God—like a freaking shampoo commercial.”
She steadied herself and held the gun out before her with two hands. “I had everything under control. I killed him in the most perfect way—I didn’t leave a trace of how I did it. And you know how they always suspect the spouse?”
Alex nodded silently, eyes still on the barrel.
“I made sure to pester the police and the newspaper so much that there was no way they could ever suspect me, even if they did find out how he actually died. I’ll admit, I was a little paranoid about someone thinking I did it. But when I found out you were dating the detective, I thought, how clever would it be if he heard from you that I was also bothering our local Nancy Drew about solving the case. You think I just happened to run into you outside that wine bar?”
“You were following me?”
She chuckled. They would never suspect me, not the way I was begging and pleading anyone and their mother to help me solve the case. And then that night at the coffee shop, you told me you might have security footage to look at—which meant you’d see me.
“Which created an entirely new set of problems for me.” She sneered. “Now, I had to get you out of the way before you figured things out and connected Neve to Chris … to me.” Evelyn closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. “And now, I have to kill you just so there are no loose ends.” She puffed out a breath in exasperation. “I’m actually tired of killing. This isn’t who I am, you know? I’m a science teacher, for goodness sake.”
“And the laptop wasn’t really stolen?” Alex guessed.
“I tossed it at the dump. Couldn’t have anyone seeing all of the love letter e-mails from Neve to Chris, could I? I read them and almost vomited.”
“They would provide motive for you,” Alex said. And motive for killing Neve too, she suddenly realized. “You hated Neve.”
“Of course I did. She came to town a few months ago—I know because I rented an SUV and followed him and saw them meeting here—I knew it was their special spot. After work and on the weekends, he came here to see her. Picnics and wine in the woods. Really? He never did that romantic crap for me. He hates wine. But he drank it with her.”
“Wait, you rented a vehicle? Let me guess—a white SUV with tinted windows? It was you that rammed my car?”
“I told you, I didn’t want to kill you. I thought if I scared you off, you’d back off, but no, you’re too nosy for your own good. I regret ever asking you for help. I would’ve been fine. The detective would’ve just closed the case.”
“I’m sorry that you had to go through this. But you didn’t have to kill him. You didn’t have to kill Neve either. How did you, by the way? I didn’t see you at the museum reception.”
“No? I was there watching her laugh in all the men’s faces, touching their arms, tossing her hair.” She sneered. “She was such a flirt. That’s why your friend thought her boyfriend was cheating on her, which, incidentally—he may very well have been.”
“Jasper?”
“Yeah.” She snorted out a laugh. “I saw the way he looked at her, the way he clung to her side. Made me sick to see how she acted. Like taking my husband wasn’t enough.”
Alex winced, seeing the pain in the woman’s eyes. “This isn’t the first time you’ve been cheated on?”
“What is it about me? Do I have a sign on my forehead? I’m a nice woman. I’m smart. I’m funny and I cook.” She laughed. “Oh, do I cook. That’s how I got the drugs in Chris’s system. I crushed them up to a fine powder and mixed it up in his bone broth and reishi mushroom soup. He couldn’t taste the difference.
“I put it in a thermos for him and he drank it on his way to meet his lover. By the time he got there, his heart was already racing, he had shortness of breath,
and he probably had sweat pouring down his body. I’m sure he thought it was just eagerness to see her, but when I got there, I made sure he knew it was me who caused it.”
Alex thought back to that night. Chris’s body had been unidentified then. Neve wouldn’t have known her lover and the father of her unborn child had died, which would explain why she was so happy and carefree. Alex felt sad for the woman, even if she had wrecked a not-so-happy home. She turned to Evelyn, cringing at the hatred she saw in her eyes. Killing Neve had certainly been a crime of passion—it was all there. The anger, the jealousy … Evelyn must’ve confronted Neve in Jasper’s office, and … “I get that you were motivated to kill Neve. But to bludgeon her in the head with a paperweight? It was a vicious way to go.”
“She deserved what happened to her. Just. Like. You. Do.”
Alex was alarmed at the situation, but she wasn’t exactly scared by this Mundane. She almost laughed but stopped herself; no need to escalate the situation. “I thought you said you didn’t know how to use a gun.”
“I lied.”
“Even so, you’re not going to kill me, Evelyn. If anything, you should be afraid.”
Evelyn made a “get a load of this guy” face before her features twisted into anger. “You think you have the edge on me because you’re a Magical?”
“Yes, I do.”
Evelyn laughed and ran her fingers over her necklace, a string of crystal beads, black in color, with dark blue swirls. “Hit me with your best shot. If you don’t, I’m going to kill you.” Evelyn’s smile was pleasant. “And if you do, I’m still going to kill you.”
Without thinking, Alex flung all of her power at the woman’s hand and watched, expecting to see the gun fly from her hands. It did not. She gasped. What had she done wrong? She tried again, flinging her hands before her. Nothing.
Evelyn laughed. “See? Your magic has nothing on me.”
Alex looked at her hands, stretched her fingers, trying to discern the problem, as a ball of anxiety, tight and growing, expanded in her chest.
For some unexplainable reason, her magic no longer worked.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Clever, right?” Evelyn fingered the crystal beads around her neck.
Alex stared at the necklace, trying to discern what was so special about it. It looked like a string of blackish-blue pearls. Nothing more.
“I learned about it on Chris’s blog. I thought it was one of his fake new items, but after I met you, I figured it was real. I contacted the company employee who shared the tip—and blackmailed him into sending me a sample. And I don’t think he really minded since he’d just been laid off—the company is under new ownership, actually.” She laughed. “It’s pretty, right?”
Alex glanced at the necklace and nodded politely.
“I don’t know how it works exactly, but this combination of crystals blocks the frequency and vibrations of your magic.” She shrugged. “So now you are going to climb over this railing and jump. And then all of my problems will be solved.”
Alex looked behind her. She didn’t have time to process the fact that there was a substance able to block her magic. Did other Magicals know? She had to warn them. She sent Minka a message and waited. No response. That was magic; of course it didn’t work.
It was at least three hundred yards down, not a fall she could survive. Not unless she could also fly. And unless she also had some bird DNA, she thought insanely—
“What are you waiting for!” Evelyn said, taking the gun and pointing it under her neck.
Now Alex was afraid. A killer was pointing a gun at the soft flesh of her skin, and she had no magical defenses. But no … wait, yes, she did have defenses. Maybe not magical, but she was fighting a Mundane. Fight magic with magic, but in a Mundane fight … Her daddy may have treated her like princess, but he had not raised a coward.
Her father had taught her self-defense, and she’d taken classes in college as her physical education credit. She knew that, first things first, she had to put space between them. And then she had to find something as a defensive weapon. She checked in her peripheral vision and saw the silver circular top of a trash can a few yards away. If she could grab that, she’d have a fighting chance, but first she had to get that gun out of Evelyn’s hand.
She pasted a mask of defeat onto her face and looked at Evelyn. “Okay, okay, you got me. Without my magic, I’ve got nothing.”
Evelyn grinned, and Alex pretended to turn around like she was going to climb over the railing, her right leg on the middle bar, but then she quickly whirled around. Holding on to the top rail for leverage, knee raised, she kicked her right leg directly into Evelyn’s torso.
Contact!
Evelyn stumbled back, yelling in surprise. But she caught herself, didn’t fall. However, it gave Alex just enough time to reach the trash can top and wield it like a shield before her. The woman lunged at her with a shriek, and there was a loud metallic clank as the gun made contact with the trash can lid. And again.
Finally, summoning all of her strength, she was able to use the trash can top to knock the gun out of Evelyn’s hand.
Growling in rage, Evelyn reached down to her leg and up her dress a bit and pulled out a knife.
“A knife?” Alex breathed, hardly able to believe her eyes.
“I teach biology,” Evelyn said. “Dissections? I’m good with a knife.” She reached forward and Alex quickly blocked the jab with the trash can top.
Clang!
Another jab, and Alex stepped out of the way. “Where’d you learn how to fight with a knife?
Evelyn laughed. “I know—I’m pretty good, right? That’s thanks to five years of sword lessons for Tanner. He grew up wanting to be a knight, and here I thought I was indulging him with a completely useless skill. I’d say it’s coming in handy right about now.” She jabbed again with the knife, and Alex blocked the thrust.
Alex looked into this woman’s eyes, recognizing that Evelyn had lost her grip on reality somewhere between teaching high school science and discovering her husband had a secret baby on the way.
“Who do you think you are?” Evelyn shrieked. “Captain America? Put that shield down and fight me.”
“Actually,” Alex said as she hopped to the side, moving out of the way of another thrust, “more like the Mermaid of Warsaw.” Something rushed through her body, close to adrenaline but stronger, more powerful. She might have lost her ability to practice magic for the moment, but she still had the DNA of a warrior in her body. And this schoolteacher who had killed her own husband and had bashed a beautiful, vivacious woman in the head, murdering her and her unborn child—would not be killing another.
She placed the garbage can in both hands and swung it like a bat at the woman’s head. Once. Twice. The sound of contact against the side of Evelyn’s head rang out like a bell, and she wobbled on her legs. The thin sheet metal of the top wasn’t hard enough to cause real damage, but it could stun her. And it did. It was enough for Alex to push her down to the ground, then turn her over onto her stomach, with her own knee in Evelyn’s lower back. She grabbed the woman’s left hand and twisted it behind her, while the hand holding the knife still flailed around as Evelyn screamed.
Alex’s father had also taught her about pressure points. The knife was still in Evelyn’s hand, and Alex pressed her wrist to the ground and twisted it with a jerk, hearing a cracking sound. The knife fell out of her hand as Evelyn wailed in pain. Alex took her right hand and twisted it behind her back. Panting, she looked around, wondering how she was going to get this woman down the stairs.
She looked down at her clothes and laughed. She’d done all of this in a dress and heels.
The sound of shoes pounding against metallic stairs could be heard, and voices and police radios. Feeling relieved, Alex thought that help might be on the way.
Evelyn murmured, a mixture of pain and anger, with her face smashed into the ground. Alex saw the necklace glinting in the sunlight, and with one hand s
till holding the woman’s wrists in place, reached for the necklace and was about to yank it off when Jack jumped up the last few steps and appeared on the landing in suit and tie.
His gun was drawn and pointed at Evelyn. “You okay?” he asked as his face turned from fear to disbelief. He took in the scene. “What happened here?”
“She tried to make me jump off the ledge at knifepoint. And I fought back.”
“And won,” he said in surprise. He gestured for Alex to remove her knee from Evelyn’s back, which she did. And then he yanked the woman up off the ground and snapped handcuffs on her. She screamed in pain, and he looked shocked. “The cuffs aren’t tight,” he protested.
“I think I broke her wrist trying to get the knife out of her hand,” Alex said as she rubbed at the bruises and nicks that ran up and down her arms. “How did you know?”
“We got some surprising results back from Neve’s paternity test.” He glanced at Evelyn, who hung her head in shame. “Chris Robinson was the father. And then Kamila called me and said I needed to take a look at the traffic cam video from the parking lot where Chris died—a request I denied, but in this case I’m glad she didn’t listen.”
“You saw Evelyn?”
“Not exactly. We saw a rented vehicle turning into the parking lot around the time Robinson was found. I ran the SUV’s plates, and we got her name from the rental company. I tried calling you to let you know you’d been right to think there was more to the Chris Robinson case. I wanted to apologize. I couldn’t get you. And then Kamila called me, saying she couldn’t reach you, and she started demanding that I—”
Kamila came running up the stairs along with several uniformed police. “Sorry, we’re late. I was on the ferry when I got Jack’s call. And the rest sped over on a police boat.” She threw a surprised look at Evelyn in handcuffs. “You good?” she asked Alex.
