“How well did you know Louella Drummond?” Owen asked Issy.
“Not very well, really.”
“Well enough to visit her at her home?”
Cold fear clawed up inside Issy. Had she left behind some clue to her break-in the other day? She’d been so careful, worked so hard to erase all evidence of her presence at Louella’s home. But then she’d run into Dex Nolan in the woods, and he’d distracted her, and then the kiss and… Oh no. A new horrifying thought occurred. Had Dex told him about seeing her there?
She didn’t trust her voice to speak, so she slowly shook her head instead.
Owen narrowed his gaze on her and gave a slight nod. “Right. Think you can call your cousin and have her meet us at her shop?”
Ember thankfully stepped in and offered to do it, since Issy seemed incapable of talking at the moment. She wasn’t sure why the idea of Dex ratting her out to the police bothered her so much—it just did.
“Raine said she’s on her way to her shop now,” Ember said a few moments later.
“Great. Thanks, ladies.” Owen turned and headed back to his squad car. “I’ll meet you there in five minutes.”
Issy and Ember piled into Brown Betty and followed behind the sheriff to Raine’s landscaping business, just down a side street from her cousins’ places of business on Main. They parked behind the squad car and followed Owen inside.
Green Goddess Landscape and Florist was as eclectic as its owner, with cute green-and-white-striped awnings outside and healthy, thriving plants everywhere. With all the misters and humidity from the attached greenhouse out back, it felt more like a rainforest inside than the middle of Silver Hollow, New Hampshire. They’d barely been there two minutes when Raine came bustling in, her overalls splotched with dirt and her straight copper-colored hair twisted back into a messy bun.
“Sheriff Owen, what can I do for you?” Raine said, wiping her hand off on a towel before shaking his. “Looking for some flowers?”
“No. Actually, I’d like to look around, if you don’t mind.”
Raine glanced at Issy and Ember with a what-is-going-on look before nodding. “Okay. Sure. Um, if you tell me what you’re looking for, I might be able to help you find it a bit easier. Things are a tad overgrown in here lately.”
“I see that.” Owen gazed around at all the abundant foliage. “How long does it take you to get them to this size?”
“Not long,” Raine said, tossing her towel aside. “I haven’t been spending a lot of time in the shop lately, though. Summer’s my busy season, so I’m out landscaping or working maintenance on previous jobs most of the time. I only come in here at night or on the weekends to handle my paperwork. In the winter, though, I’m here more. Sell a lot of houseplants, flowers, knickknacks.”
“Huh.” Owen peered through the branches of a flowering magnolia filling the air with their sweet fragrance. “Got any jack-in-the-pulpits?”
“Not sure,” Raine said. “I can check my invoices in the office and see, if you have a few minutes.”
“Yep.” Owen stepped back and crossed his arms. “Take all the time you need.”
Raine cocked her head for her cousins to follow her into her office. Once they were alone, she whispered, “What’s happening here?”
“The coroner discovered that the poison found in Louella’s system matches that found in jack-in-the-pulpits,” Issy said. “Owen thinks whoever made the poison might’ve gotten the plants from your shop.”
“Seriously?” Raine frowned as she flipped through the stacks of paperwork covering her desk. “I psychically screen all my patrons. I’d never sell a plant to someone with such dastardly intentions. And the paranormals around here know better than to try and fool me.”
“What if someone stole one?” Ember asked. “Has anything turned up missing lately?”
“Like I said, I haven’t been here that much, but I keep things locked up when I’m gone, and I’ve not found any signs of a break-in, so I doubt it.” Raine pulled out a piece of paper and held it up. “Here it is.”
They went back out to where Owen still stood near the magnolia bush, and she handed him the invoice. “According to that, I ordered in twelve about a month ago. They’re fairly exotic in these parts, though, so I have to be careful where I place them. Looks like nine have been installed at my landscaping jobs and three are still here on the premises.”
“Can I see one?”
“Sure.” Raine led them all over to one of the plants. It wasn’t anything spectacular, at least in Issy’s opinion. The flowers were pretty, if understated, with their brown and green stripes surrounded by thick green leaves. But considering all the trouble this plant had caused of late, Issy half expected some garish magenta blooms the size of her head or something. “These are it.”
Owen leaned in and sniffed. “Just a faint smell. Not flowery, though.”
“Not really. No.”
“Pretty plain, aren’t they?” He wrinkled his nose.
“They have their own beauty. The female flowers produce lovely red berries in late summer, and the flower petals always remind me of tiger stripes.”
“Hmm.” He sounded unconvinced as he turned each of the three pots right, then left, inspecting each plant. “Well, it doesn’t look like any of these have been cut at all. What about the ones you’ve planted around town, Raine? Got an address for me so I can check those out too?”
“Yep.” She handed him the invoice again. “Down at the bottom I noted each location where I planted them, for future reference.”
“Great.” Owen pulled out a small notepad and jotted the addresses down then handed the paper back to Raine. “I guess I’ll bid you ladies good evening, then.”
“Good night, Sheriff,” the three cousins said in unison.
Issy waited until Owen had driven away before she allowed herself to breathe again. “I’ve got a bad, bad feeling about all this.”
“Me too,” Ember said. “Especially after what just happened at the planning office.”
Knees shaky, Issy took a seat on a nearby empty ledge, and Raine sat beside her.
“What happened at the planning office?” Raine asked.
Issy closed her eyes, hoping her tilted world might right itself. “We got to see Louella Drummond’s address book.”
“And?” Raine prompted when Issy didn’t say anything.
“We think she had a meeting with Karen Dixon the night before she died,” Ember said.
“Oh no.” Raine placed a comforting hand on Issy’s back. “It’s possible those rumors aren’t true, you know.”
“What if they are, though?” Issy shook her head. “What if she used dark magic to kill Louella? I’ve seen her do mean things before, like that time she caused that snobby tourist to trip on the town square and break her ankle, remember?”
“Yeah,” Raine said, rubbing Issy’s back. “I remember. So what are you going to do?”
“What can I do?” Issy shrugged. “I have to go see her, for Louella’s sake, much as it scares the heck out of me to do it.”
“Well,” Ember said, taking a seat on Issy’s other side. “You’re not going alone.”
“No,” Raine said, squeezing her arm around Issy’s shoulder. “You’re not.”
“Thanks, guys.” Having the support of her family meant more to Issy than she could say. “Sorry to be a such a wimp.”
“There’s not a wimpy bone in your body, cousin,” Ember said. “Though I would suggest we not go at night. Dark magic is more powerful then.”
“So, tomorrow morning?” Raine suggested. “I don’t start on my next landscaping job until the afternoon, so I’m free.”
“Works for me too,” Ember said. “I’ll get my assistant to fill in while I’m gone.”
“Me too,” Issy said. “Looks like we’ve got a date.”
“Cool.” Raine pushed to her feet. “Now, if you gals don’t mind, I need to get home and take a shower.”
“Of course.” Issy stood,
with Ember at her side, and they all said their good-byes. “C’mon, Ember. I’ll drop you off at the shop so you can pick up your car.”
“Great. Thanks.”
They climbed back into Brown Betty, and Issy pulled a sleeping Bella from her backpack and settled the tiny dog on her lap before starting the engine and pulling out of her parking spot. As they headed across the intersection, Issy noticed a small white cottage on the corner and the plants neatly dotting the side beds. “Hey, aren’t those the same plants we just saw in Raine’s shop?”
“Yep. Those look like jack-in-the-pulpits to me.”
Issy swerved up to the curb and leaned out the driver’s-side window for a closer look. There seemed to be six spots for plants in all, except the last hole was empty. It appeared all haphazard and gouged out, as if someone used their bare hands instead of a shovel.
“Uh-oh,” Issy said.
“What?”
“Look at that.” Issy pointed out the empty hole to Ember. “One of them’s gone.”
“That’s not good.”
“Nope.” Issy signaled then pulled back out into the lane of traffic. “Not good at all.”
17
The next morning, Issy, Ember, and Raine all piled into Brown Betty and headed to the outskirts of Silver Hollow to visit Karen Dixon’s house. The day was overcast, and the air was more humid than Issy ever remembered it being that far north in the White Mountains. Still, the weather seemed to echo her growing sense of foreboding about the upcoming meeting with the dark witch.
Brimstone was along for the ride as well, stretching his long feline form across the back of the bench seat in the truck and grooming his front paws as if they were coated with catnip. Issy caught his orangish gaze in the rearview mirror, and the cat sighed loudly, his whiskers twitching with disdain as only a cat’s could.
“You look as though you’re going to a hanging,” he said, stretching. “Surely, this Karen person isn’t that dangerous.”
“We don’t have enough information about her to know if she’s dangerous or not,” Issy replied. “I’ve got a bad feeling about her, though.”
“I’ll alert the presses,” Brimstone said, his feline tone dripping with sarcasm.
Ember snorted from her seat against the passenger-side door, and Raine elbowed her in the side. “Don’t laugh. Poor Issy’s been traumatized.”
“I’m not traumatized,” Issy said, giving her cousin a sideways glare. “I’m just super cautious these days.”
“Right,” Brimstone piped in again. “Traumatized.”
“Listen, I—” Issy started to say then was cut off by Raine’s loud, impressed whistle.
“Look at that!”
Issy followed Raine’s pointing finger and spotted the back end of an expensive candy apple—red sports car peeking through the thick pine forest lining both sides of the road. The fact that the car was parked in Karen Dixon’s driveway didn’t escape her attention either. “Uh-oh. I’ve seen that car before.”
“You have?” Ember leaned forward to see Issy around Raine. “Where?”
“First at Hans’s office. The day Raine and I went over there to drop off Mortimer.”
“Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that.” Raine nodded. “I remember now. The car was leaving just as we were arriving, right?”
“Yep.” Issy slowed the truck and pulled off onto the berm near the end of Karen’s driveway. “We should go back to Hans’s office later today and pick up Mortimer too, if you’re free. Hopefully, he’s heard something we can use to catch Louella’s murderer.”
“I’ve got a couple of accounts to check on after this, but my schedule’s open later on.”
“Great.” Issy jammed the old truck’s transmission into park then cut the engine. “I saw that car a second time too. The day I ran into Karen in the street and we talked. I didn’t realize it was hers, though.”
They exited the truck and stood near the end of the long driveway. Hard as it had been, Issy had left Bella back at her shop with her assistant, never wanting to put another of her precious familiars in peril due to dark magic again.
Even Ember had left Bellatrix and Endora at home, it seemed, so all three of them were without their magical companions. Perhaps not the wisest choice, considering where they were going, but the safest where their beloved animals were concerned. Witches weren’t powerless without their bonded familiars, but they acted like prisms, focusing a person’s magical powers and providing bewitching assistance when needed.
But they had Brimstone, who had insisted on being there when they interrogated Karen but refused to tell them why. One never knew what his ulterior motives were since he wasn’t any one witch’s familiar but rather seemed to serve them all. When it served him as well, of course.
Brimstone sauntered farther up the driveway then stopped and turned back, giving the Quinn cousins a superior look over his shoulder. “Are you planning on gawking all day, or are you actually going to ring the doorbell?”
Issy exhaled and followed after Brimstone, her steps heavy and her heart pounding. Raine and Ember trailed behind her, their footsteps crunching loudly on the gravel. Birds twittered in the gray sky above, and a slight breeze ruffled through the pine-scented air, and if she weren’t going to have what might be the scariest conversation of her life, Issy might’ve appreciated all the natural beauty surrounding her. As it was, all she could see in her mind’s eye were flickering images of what had happened during that last deadly battle—a bright flash, sparks everywhere, her brave bulldog, Luna, lying there, still and lifeless, with her eyes still open in sickening shock. The cruel cackle of the evil sorceress who’d killed her…
A sharp poke in the arm brought Issy back to the present. “Ow!”
“Hello? Earth to Issy,” Raine said as they reached the bottom of the wooden stairs leading up to a large wraparound porch.
“What?”
“I asked if Karen’s even here. Doesn’t look like there’s any lights on inside,” Raine said.
Brimstone trotted up the stairs to the porch. “Only one way to find out.”
“Wait for us,” Issy hissed under her breath. “We need to stay together.”
Ember went up the stairs next, followed by Raine, and finally, Issy.
The boards creaked under her feet, though the whole house appeared to have been built recently. It was actually quite lovely, built in the Victorian style, with lots of gingerbread detailing and pastel blue—colored paint. The kind of house Issy would’ve loved to explore, if there weren’t a real possibility that the owner had killed someone.
Hands and knees trembling, she took a deep breath and raised her tight fist to knock on the door then gasped as it was suddenly pulled open in front of her. Karen Dixon stood there, looking as surprised as Issy felt. Her dyed-black hair was pulled back into a ponytail today, and her dark eyes were still rimmed in thick kohl eyeliner, but her usually perfect red lipstick was slightly smudged, and her cheeks looked pale and chalky. Her long, black gauzy dress billowed in the breeze, and a short-cropped black cardigan covered her arms and shoulders. Rows of tiny diamond earrings still sparkled up and down the rim of each ear, and a tiny stud gleamed from Karen’s right nostril. She looked every inch the epitome of what non-paranormals would stereotype as a witch—all goth edge and eerie attitude.
“What are you doing here?” Karen demanded, her eyes darting from Issy to her cousins then back again. “I’m on my way out.”
Despite the lump of alarm wedged tightly in her throat, Issy managed to find her voice. “We’re here to talk to you about what happened to Louella Drummond.”
“I’ve already told you what I know about that.” Karen frowned down at Brimstone, who shoved his way past her leg and into her house. “You need to watch your familiars.”
“And you need to watch your step, Karen,” Raine said, moving in beside Issy, her shoulders squared. “We know you like to dabble in dark magic, and we know you were there the day Louella died. Now, either yo
u talk to us today, or we go to Owen with what we know.”
“That’s right. And if you won’t talk to us, I’ll cut you off at Divine Cravings too. No more chocolates. Period,” Ember said from the other side of Raine.
Issy bit her lips to hide a smile. She’d never loved her cousins more than she did right at that moment. Her family was the best. Always there for her in her time of need.
Karen crossed her arms and inhaled slowly. “Fine. But keep control of that cat, or I will.”
She stepped aside, and Issy and her cousins stepped into the house. The rooms were large and decorated with antique furnishings and artwork. Scents of apples and cinnamon and lavender drifted through the air, and exquisite white lace curtains covered the windows. Again, it was all quite lovely, except for the whole evil-killer vibe.
Issy rocked back on her heels, the toes of her hiking boots tapping on the shiny, dark hardwood floor, and shoved her hands into the pockets of her khaki shorts. “So, how long have you lived here?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Brimstone piped in. He’d wandered over to a small black Persian cat curled onto a cat bed in the far corner of the living room and now stood nose to nose with the creature, which Issy supposed was Karen’s familiar. “Get to the point.”
“Is he always that rude?” Karen asked, staring warily at Brimstone.
“Yes,” the cousins answered in unison.
“I’m not rude,” Brimstone said. Issy narrowed her gaze as he raised one paw and tapped the air surrounding the other cat lightly, sending shimmering golden light arching over the other animal. Nose wrinkled, Issy blinked and looked again. Yep. A cage. Karen’s familiar was locked in a cage! A sort of magical lockdown. Swift anger filled Issy’s blood. She would never, ever lock Bella up in some kind of jail, no matter what mischief she’d done. Neither would any other law-abiding witch that Issy knew.
She opened her mouth to tell Karen just that but halted when she saw the forlorn expression on the other woman’s face. Perhaps it wasn’t Karen who’d locked up the cat after all. “What happened to your familiar?”
A Spell Of Trouble (Silver Hollow Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) Page 11
