The Pink Pumpkin Party

by Vella Day

  I grabbed an iced tea and plopped down on the sofa, trying to figure out who might be able to get close to these werewolves who was also a witch or warlock. I thought of Camila, the woman in Levy’s council, but she wouldn’t be safe if they caught on to what she was doing.

  No, we needed a way to get these men out of the woods. An idea formed. I called Steve back.

  “Glinda? You figured something out I take it?”

  I explained that the only way to do the spell would be if these men were free to leave the forest. “I’m all in favor of keeping a roadblock at the border, but it would be great if they could come to town for something. I would prefer a public place where I can casually get close to them.”

  I crossed my fingers, hoping he would be okay with this plan. My last few plans, harebrained though they might have been, had still worked.

  “Like you did with those thieves who broke into the houses and cracked the safes?”

  “Exactly.”

  “I can do that. I’ll have Misty remove the patrol cars, but I’ll ask her to have one or two men in plain clothes follow them in unmarked cars should they leave. If they come to Witch’s Cove or any one of the surrounding towns, I’ll let you know.”

  “You are the best.”

  “I will be only if this plan works.”

  I had to laugh. “You know my track record. Anything could happen.”

  “Later.”

  When Steve hung up, I felt one hundred percent better.

  Even though the spell was easy to understand, the short ones were often the ones where one wrong word could mess up everything. Reading and rereading the spell until I’d committed it to memory seemed to be the best course of action.

  In no time, Rihanna came home. “How did school go?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Boring.”

  That wasn’t good. “I thought you liked the new photo teacher.”

  “I do, but I’d rather be with Gavin or out solving a crime.”

  Uh-oh, I had a feeling we’d be adding another sleuth to our family in the future. “I might have some work for you.”

  She perked up. “What is it?”

  I explained about the possible chance of running into these werewolves in town. “Steve will call us when the men leave the forest and then tell us where they are.”

  “What if they return to their homes?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure. Gertrude said I needed to be close to these men, but how close? I really don’t want to sneak around their houses and hope they don’t see me.”

  She snapped her fingers. “I got it. We need them to see Nash to prove that he isn’t dead. That way they will hang out around Witch’s Cove.”

  I smiled. “Aren’t you the smart one. Let’s hope these men would never shift in public.”

  “Why don’t you call Hunter and pass it by him? He might have an idea how to go about it.”

  “Good thinking.” In a way, I was glad that Jaxson wasn’t here. He’d be having a fit. “I’ll give him a call. He said he was planning on going home today, so hopefully I won’t be disturbing him.” I called him, and he answered right away.

  “What’s up, Glinda?”

  I explained about having the spell that in theory would cancel George and Tony’s ability to hide their werewolf scent and then about Steve’s willingness to let the men leave the forest without anyone stopping them. “The problem is I need to be close to them in order to do the spell. I was thinking these men won’t want to leave town if they think Nash is alive.”

  “Are you asking if he is willing to prance down the street or something waving his arms to let everyone know he’s okay?”

  That gave me an idea. “He’s not fit enough for that, but what if he sits at the Bubbling Cauldron for a while? We could ask Miriam and her posse to spread the word that Nash is alive and well. He’s been ordered to take it easy and popped in to her coffee shop.”

  Hunter whistled. “That sounds a little chancy.”

  “You and Heather could station yourself close by.”

  “Heather is in Montana trying to figure out who these guys are.”

  That was good and not good. Hunter couldn’t protect Nash against two wolves should they choose to shift. “I’ll think of another plan.”

  “I didn’t say no, yet. What was your original plan?”

  I explained about Rihanna and I being in the shop. “If the men came in, I’d say the spell and be on my way. If Rihanna can hear their thoughts, it would be a bonus.”

  “How will you get the word to them in the first place? I don’t sense that they are the type to be in Miriam or Maude’s social circle.”

  Even though his comment sounded humorous, he was right. “That is the sticking point. If enough people are talking about Nash’s remarkable recovery, these two werewolves are sure to hear about it. I hope.”

  “Let me talk to Nash and Steve and see what they think.”

  “Thank you.” I disconnected.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “Well, what? You didn’t read my mind?”

  “Glinda, at the moment, your thoughts are so jumbled not even ten psychics could tell what you’re thinking.”

  I laughed. “At least now I know the secret to blocking you.” I explained what he said.

  “Why don’t we grab a cup of coffee now? If Sheriff Rocker calls and changes the location, that works, too. I’ve been jonesing for some coffee all day.”

  I smiled. “I could use some myself.”

  Iggy was at my feet in seconds. “I want to come.”

  “Why?”

  “To give you moral support.”

  “Speaking of moral support, I’ll have to tell Jaxson, so he knows what’s going on.”

  “He’ll be mad.”

  “If there was any other way, I’d do it. I’ll say you and I are grabbing some coffee.”

  “Lying by omission is lying,” Rihanna said.

  Who was this girl? “I’ll say I got the spell and am working on finding a way to execute it.”

  She smiled. “That will get his attention.”

  I wrote the note and placed it on his computer. Once I gathered Iggy, the three of us left for the coffee shop. I figured it could be hours before anything happened, but I had nothing else to do.

  We’d been seated only a few minutes when Steve called. “Yes, Sheriff Rocker?”

  He chuckled. “You are something else.”

  “What did I do?”

  “Your plan might work—at least Nash wants to try. I’ll be close by, as will Hunter. I’ve told my grandmother to start the rumor tree going. No guarantees that these men will hear about Nash being alive and show up in town today or even tomorrow.”

  “I understand. And thank you.”

  “No, thank you. If this works, I might have to make you an honorary member of our department.”

  He was kidding, but I’d love it if it were true. “I appreciate the thought.”

  We ordered our drinks and a few cookies. I slipped the paper out of my pocket, ready to read it should the need arise.

  “Will you recognize them?” Rihanna asked.

  “It will be hard to miss a tall bald man and a shorter man with scraggly red hair. Besides, your photos were wonderful.” I’d gotten a good look at their faces.

  She smiled. “Just checking that you were paying attention.”

  Miriam came over and looked around. “I hear my place is going to be ground zero for a sting operation.”

  She was loving this. “I’m hoping so, but our two guests might not learn about it for a while.”

  Miriam grinned. “It’s exciting anyway. I know you’ll be here for a while, so coffee refills are on the house.”

  “You are too sweet. Thank you.”

  Rihanna and I talked more about Gavin, school, and her plans for next year. When the bell above the door rang, I almost shouted when I spotted Nash, who I had to say was looking so much better than the last time I saw him. He nodded in my direc
tion and then took a seat on the other side of the shop. Should Fredericks and DeLorenzo show up here, I’m guessing he didn’t want these men knowing we were friends. That was okay. I was just happy he looked so healthy.

  Rihanna leaned forward. “It looks like everyone is on board with this. Do you want to practice reading the spell to me?”

  “Sure. The only werewolf in here is Nash, and I don’t think his identity is a secret to these men.” I picked up the paper and very softly read the spell to her.

  “Good job.”

  I looked at Nash, but he didn’t act as if the spell had affected him, which made sense since he hadn’t cloaked himself.

  My cell rang. It was Steve again. “Yes?”

  “Misty called to say Frederick’s blue truck left the forest and is heading to town.”

  “Do you think they learned that Nash is at the coffee shop?”

  “I have no idea, but I won’t underestimate my grandmother and her friends.”

  “Amen.” When he disconnected, I turned to Rihanna. “We’re set to go. All we need is for the men to learn that Nash is here.”

  “How will they do that?”

  I shrugged. “Word of mouth can be powerful.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Nash left the coffee shop, looking a little weak, but a far cry better from where he was before. I had no idea where he was going, and I wasn’t about to ask him. The fact that the sheriff’s office was next door might encourage the men to come here in order to watch for a Nash sighting.

  Even though I was coffee-logged and stuffed from eating too much, I was determined to see this through. Jaxson had returned to the office and called a few times to make sure I was okay. I caved and explained my plan. To my surprise, he wasn’t as angry as I thought he’d be. I’d asked him not to come because the men would surely recognize me if they saw us together, and he actually agreed.

  On Jaxson’s last call, he said he was heading over to the sheriff’s office just in case Steve needed help.

  It was around dinner time when the coffee shop doors opened. Just as I was about to check out the newcomer, Rihanna kicked me under the table.

  I looked up. “What?”

  When I spotted our two subjects at the counter, I nearly froze. “That’s them,” I whispered, forgetting that I probably didn’t need to say that. Rihanna knew who they were.

  “Say the spell,” she mouthed.

  Sheesh. I’d practiced until I’d memorized the thing, but I took out the paper anyway. Tilting my head to the side to make sure they didn’t catch sight of my face, I repeated the spell. Gertrude never said what would happen after that, but I figured it would be up to Nash and Hunter to let me know if I’d been successful.

  Rihanna pushed back her chair. “Give me your credit card so I can pay.”

  The refills might have been on the house, but not all of the food I’d consumed. I slipped it out of my purse and handed it to her. I was guessing her goal was to get close enough to these men in order to either hear what they were saying, or to read their minds. Either way worked for me.

  When I watched her go up, I was struck dumb by one very, very strange image.

  Chapter Seventeen

  What the heck was going on? The two men at the counter were glowing yellow. I’d never seen anything like it before. I checked the rest of the room, but no one seemed to have noticed. Even Rihanna was acting as if everything was normal. Maybe my imagination had gone wild. After all, I thought I’d seen my grandmother when I was doing the last spell.

  A few seconds later, Rihanna returned to the table. “I paid. We need to leave,” she whispered.

  The stress in her voice convinced me it was time to go. “Okay.”

  After making sure Iggy was tucked away tight in my purse, we left. I motioned we inform the sheriff what had gone down. Only after I stepped inside the safety of the office did my pulse slow.

  “Why were they glowing yellow?” Rihanna asked, her brows pinched.

  My muscles almost melted. “Thank goodness you could see that.”

  “Granted, it didn’t seem as if anyone else noticed. Even the two men had no idea, and I could tell what they were thinking.”

  Pearl wasn’t at her station, so we went straight back to Steve’s office. I could hear Jaxson and Nash chatting in the room. I knocked and then we stepped inside. “The two men are at the coffee shop,” I announced.

  “I know,” Steve said. “I have spies stationed everywhere.”

  Nash turned around. “Did you put the spell on them?”

  “Yes, but I might have messed up. They are glowing yellow, and I don’t think that is supposed to happen.”

  “Yellow?” Nash asked.

  “Yes, yellow. I could see it, as could Rihanna, but no one else seemed to notice.”

  Nash pushed back his chair. “In case they are still there, I want to see if I can sense them.”

  “Don’t go!” Rihanna nearly shouted.

  Nash eased back down. “Why?”

  “I was standing next to them, and they were quite angry that you were still alive. The bald one kept blaming the red-headed man for the mistake, saying that he’d been the one to mess up.”

  “Then I will be careful. I won’t go inside, assuming they are still there.”

  Steve shook his head. “Let me ask Hunter to check it out.”

  He pulled out his phone and dialed Hunter’s number. After a brief explanation, he hung up. “Now we wait.”

  Sometimes this job was frustrating.

  “Glinda has done her job,” Steve said. “We now can find these men, maybe easier than I thought.” He smiled. “Hey, maybe they’ll glow in the dark.”

  That would be funny. “That only helps if you can see them. No one else seemed to notice.”

  The front door to the office opened, and a few seconds later, Hunter walked in. Steve stood. “How about we move to the conference room? It’s a bit crowded in here.”

  Before we’d had the chance to sit down in the new location, Hunter announced that the two men were on the move.

  “Could you tell they were werewolves,” I asked, with quite a lot of pride in my voice.

  Hunter’s brows pinched. “No, was I supposed to?”

  “You didn’t see their yellow glow?” Rihanna asked.

  “Yellow glow?”

  Darn it. Once more I explained about the spell, and how it was designed to reverse it. “I figured when they started to glow, it meant they could no longer hide.”

  “Did Gertrude tell you this would happen?” Steve asked.

  “No. All she said was the spell would be reversed. I assumed that meant other werewolves could now detect them. I never expected the color thing.” Heck, I wasn’t sure I had reversed anything.

  Hunter sat next to me and ran a hand down my arm. “It was a good try.”

  “We can’t give up now,” I said. “We strongly believe these guys murdered Travis Knowlton and that Travis murdered the fake Peter Upton. These men need to be brought to justice.”

  “I agree,” Hunter said.

  “Do you know where they are headed?” Steve asked.

  “Misty’s people are following them. She’ll let us know if they return to the forest or go back to their house.”

  “They might leave town,” Jaxson said.

  “Not without making sure Nash is dead,” Rihanna said. “They’ll need time to regroup. They planned the first attack, but now they’ll need another one.”

  Everyone sat up. “How do they know he’s alive?” I asked. “Nash wasn’t in the coffee shop when they came in. We can’t be positive they will fall for hearsay.”

  “I didn’t get a chance to tell you, but when I was up at the counter standing next to these men, Miriam was there. I motioned with my eyes that these were the guys we were after.” She smiled. “Miriam is sharp. Our gossip queen came over and announced that I’d just missed Nash, that he’d come in for a To-Go order moments before. I could read the men’s thoughts. Trust me, they beli
eved her.”

  “Then we have to do something,” I announced.

  I looked over at Steve. Surely, he wouldn’t let them get away. “Don’t even think it, Glinda. I’m not having you lead us into the woods—assuming they go back there—just so we can arrest them. They’ll have to emerge at some point, and when they do, we’ll get them.”

  “They could stay in there for days.”

  “She has a point,” Nash said.

  Finally, someone was on my side. “I can find them. They glow, which makes them hard to miss. Once I point them out, I’ll leave and let you lawmen take care of them.”

  “I don’t like it,” Jaxson said, “but I know once Glinda sets her mind to something, it’s hard to change it. I only ask that we have more than just Hunter and a yet-to-be-healed Nash try to take them down.”

  I reached under the table and squeezed Jaxson’s hand.

  “Do you two know more werewolves? As in reliable ones who can fight?” I asked.

  My father was reliable, but he hadn’t been trained to fight. Hunter and Nash looked at each other.

  “Other than Heather, no,” Hunter said.

  As if they’d conjured her up, she appeared at the door. She tapped lightly and then entered. “What did I miss?”

  “Welcome, Heather,” Steve said. “Heather has been to Montana to hopefully learn who these men are. Any luck?”

  She smiled. “A lot of luck.” When she spotted Nash, she almost did a double take. “When I spoke with Steve last night, he said that Glinda had been able to reverse the spell, but I didn’t expect you to be up and around so soon.”

  He smiled. “I had a good nurse, and I know a witch.” He looked over at me and winked.

  That made my day. “Aw, thanks.”

  “Glinda, why don’t you bring Heather up to speed, and then she can hopefully provide us with some valuable intel,” Steve said.

  I nodded, and then began with my procuring the spell that would allow other werewolves to identify these men. “I don’t know what went wrong, but instead of you all being able to smell them, or whatever you do to tell they are werewolves, now only witches can see them—or at least Rihanna and I can see them. I’m assuming all witches can.”