by Raven Snow
“I don’t know all the details,” said Rose, putting on her blinker and taking a shortcut down a side road. “It sounded like something more organized was going on, though. Like this isn’t just a simple possession charge.”
“So, what? They’re dealing?”
“It sounded like some kind of large-scale operation. They could be dealing to… you know… dealers.”
Margo inclined her head. “Okay, yeah. That might be news.” She reached down into the floorboard and pulled her phone out of her purse. She sighed as she checked the screen. “I guess there’s no way I’m going to make lunch.”
“You didn’t cancel?” asked Rowen.
“No. I was hoping I could still swing by.” Margo groaned and her thumbs started moving over the face of her phone, typing out a text. “He’s probably there waiting for me by now.”
“You didn’t even warn him. Geez.”
“I thought I could make it in time!” snapped Margo, growing irritated. “Jasper and I need to talk. It’s important.”
“You’re not breaking up with him, are you?” When Rose didn’t get an immediate answer, she took her eyes off the road for a split-second. “Margo.”
“What?” Margo shot a glare right back at Rose. “My life, my business. I decide who I date.”
“You’re breaking up with Jasper?” Rowen leaned forward and up through the middle seats. “Why are you breaking up with Jasper?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Margo said, which felt like a lie. She generally didn’t mind unloading all her problems on her cousins. They weren’t just family, they were also best friends. “I haven’t even talked to him about it, so it’s not right to say anything to you guys before—”
“Bull,” Rowen said, plainly.
“I thought you liked Jasper.” Rose sighed. “Well, Ben is never going to let me hear the end of this.”
That got Margo to lower her phone. “What do you mean? What does Ben have to do with anything?”
“He said the relationship wouldn’t last. He called it a few months back. He said you’d leave Jasper. I didn’t think you would. Jasper was special.”
“And rich,” Rowen added, because she was sure that mattered with Margo. Rose was just too polite to say it. “A lot richer than Sutton ever will be.” Margo hadn’t said anything about Detective Sutton yet, but she didn’t have to. There had been sparks between them ever since he had transferred over from Tarricville.
“Hey,” snapped Margo, but she didn’t deny anything.
“He’ll be rubbing in the fact that he could read you better than I could.”
“You aren’t cheating on him, are you?” The question came out of Rowen’s mouth as soon as the thought occurred to her. She didn’t feel bad about asking it, though. Margo had cheated in the past. Margo did a lot of things Rowen didn’t approve of. She didn’t love her any less for it, but she did judge her.
“What? No!” Margo sounded scandalized, like Rowen’s question was completely unfounded.
“But you are interested in Sutton.” Rowen felt like that was a safe guess.
“I’m not—” Margo cut herself off and gave another huff. “I thought we were working. Can we do that? Can we just work?”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Rowen,” Rose said in a warning tone of voice, speaking before Margo could say anything. “She’s right. We’re working. Let’s focus on that.”
“Fine,” Rowen relented. She could always give Margo a hard time later.
Chapter Two
As it turned out, the bust was easy to find. Rose parked a few doors down from the flashing light and the police tape. There were some people standing around on lawns, hands shoved in the pockets of their house robes or cell phones raised. The whole thing was a spectacle, but it looked like they were the first ones on the scene. Rowen wasn’t sure for how long. Probably not very. Channel 2 was probably already on their way.
“We’re going to need more than this,” Margo said, raising her camera.
“Shoot video with what you’ve got,” said Rose. She looked back at Rowen as she threw the van into park. “You too. Use your cellphone. It’s better than nothing. I already gave Benji a call. I’m not sure how long he’ll be, but he’s on his way.”
Rowen hopped out of the side of the van, her cellphone at the ready. She made sure to hold it horizontally, trying to keep it steady and take in the scene as they approached.
Magnolia Street wasn’t in a particularly bad neighborhood. If anything, it was sort of average by Lainswich standards. The street had homes for a mix of incomes. The one the police were raiding was mid-sized. Several police and dogs were gathered under the carport talking to one another.
It didn’t look like anyone was being led out of the house. They were probably too late to catch any of that. Rowen didn’t see anyone in the back of any of the police cruisers. Most likely they were in custody and long gone.
That didn’t mean all the action was over. A team in protective gear was going to and from the house. They were carrying large boxes. Rowen wasn’t sure whether it was drugs or the equipment to make them. She filmed it all anyway.
“Are you kidding me?” Rowen made it all the way up to the police tape before she heard Ben’s voice. She had sort of hoped that he wouldn’t be on the scene. “Is Rose here too? Never mind. Stupid question. Of course she’s here too.” Ben swore.
Margo and Rose had both gone in opposite directions. There was no point shooting what was going on all from one angle. “Hey,” Rowen said sheepishly. She looked up from her screen but didn’t lower the phone completely. Rose wouldn’t want her to stop filming even if her husband was in frame. There was always the chance they could crop him out later.
“Hey,” Ben said back, hand on his hips and his mouth a stern line. He didn’t say more than that. He was waiting for Rowen to explain herself.
Rowen liked Ben. Heck, she had dated him back in high school. He was cute back then, and he had grown into a rather handsome man. He had pale blond hair and a frame that was, perhaps, a little wiry for someone in law enforcement. He and Rose made a good couple, even if she did get on his nerves sometimes when things like this happened.
Rowen raised her shoulders in a shrug. “Rose said that she had a lead on a story. What was I supposed to do? Say no?”
Ben sighed, his posture sagging just slightly. “Yeah, I figured she probably overheard that. I hoped she didn’t, but… Oh, well.”
Rowen pointed past Ben and toward what was going on behind the police tape. “It’s not like you could have kept this under wraps for long. Channel 2 is bound to get here any minute. I mean, this definitely looks like big news.”
“I figured she’d hear about it. I just don’t like that she got here so fast.” Ben lowered his voice. “It’s not going to look good if people think I’m feeding my wife information.”
That was fair, and it wasn’t like it was a new problem. Rose and Ben’s careers conflicted sometimes. Well, a lot of the time. “I’m sure it’s fine,” Rowen said, even though she wasn’t entirely sure about that. It sounded right, though. “Sometimes we get to the scene before Channel 2, right? We were passing by as far as anyone else is concerned. Or maybe we got a hot tip. Don’t stress about it.”
“Mm hmm.” Ben didn’t look or sound particularly reassured.
“So, while I’ve got you here, do you have any kind of comment?”
“Are you kidding me right now?”
“No. Seriously. I mean, I’ve got you over here and, well…” She trailed off and gestured grandly back at all the people gathered round. “I mean, it’s not like you’re keeping this whole thing a secret. I heard it had something to do with drugs.”
“Rose overheard that too, huh?”
“I intuited that it had something to do with drugs,” Rowen said, rephrasing. “Is that true? Looks like a big operation. We’ve been hearing about an uptick in drug use recently, but I didn’t realize there was something like t
his going on in Lainswich. I figured maybe it was coming in from Tarricville.”
“No comment,” said Ben.
“Oh, don’t be like that. We’re friends. Family even! Help a gal out, won’t ya?”
Ben regarded Rowen with an unreadable expression. Most of his expressions were unreadable. He had played the straight-man to the Greensmith girls for years now. It had given him time to perfect that impassive, exasperated expression of his. For a moment, Rowen actually thought she had won him over.
“You can wait for me to release a statement with everyone else,” Ben said finally. “Make sure you stay on that side of the police tape or I will have you arrested,” he added before turning and heading back toward the carport.
“Do I look like the kind of person who would sneak into a crime scene?” Rowen called after him. She regretted saying it and was glad Ben didn’t answer her. She was exactly the kind of person who would sneak into a crime scene. Not that she would attempt anything like that with so many witnesses around.
Rowen raised her camera again. Not that there was a whole lot to film at this point. She wasn’t sure how much footage of forensics teams going in and out of a house they actually needed. She scanned the lawns behind her while she stood there.
People hadn’t gone back inside yet, but a few had retreated to their front porches. A familiar sedan caught Rowen’s attention on the curb. She saw someone bespectacled and small getting out of it. That would be Benji. He was doing his best to negotiate a big black bag and his camera on his shoulder. Maybe that meant Rowen could stop shooting after all.
Rowen scanned the perimeter of the police tape. Did Rose know Benji was here yet? She didn’t see Rose, but she did spot Margo. She also spotted Detective Sutton at the police tape in front of her.
Margo had lowered her camera. She probably didn’t even know Benji had arrived. She was probably just caught up talking to Sutton.
Rowen abandoned her search for Rose and started making her way to Margo instead. There wasn’t a huge crowd of people pressed up to the police tape, so it wasn’t exactly difficult. “Hey there, you two,” she said in way of a greeting, her phone raised so that she was filming them instead of the crime scene.
Sutton and Margo turned at the same time. Margo swore and raised a hand in front of her face. “Will you point that thing somewhere else?”
“I’m going to have to ask you to put away the camera,” said Sutton at the same time, using an official-sounding voice.
“Pretty sure I’m allowed to film, Detective.” Rowen kept her phone raised, unwavering. “Do you want to call a superior over and ask?” They both knew that Ben was the only superior he had in Lainswich. “We were just talking. I still see him over there.” She sucked in a breath like she was about to call his name.
“You know—” began Sutton, but he cut himself off. He looked uncertain about saying anything with the camera on him like it was. “Just watch yourselves.” He left it at that and turned his back on them, heading back toward Ben.
Margo shot her cousin a contemptuous look, her eyes narrowed. “Do you have to be such a complete and total spaz?”
“What?” Rowen asked, feigning ignorance. She leaned into Margo, ramming their shoulders together. “So what were ya talking about, huh?”
“That’s really none of your business.”
“In all seriousness, Jasper is a nice guy.” Rowen assumed a more serious tone. Truth be told, she was pretty ambivalent about Jasper. Heck, he had been complicit in Margo cheating on another guy. It wasn’t like this should catch him completely off guard. He should know that Margo cheating on him was a distinct possibility. Still, Rowen didn’t want to see this get messy if there was any avoiding it. “Maybe don’t kick anything off with Sutton until you’ve broken things off with the last guy, huh?”
Margo rammed her shoulder right back into Rowen’s. “There’s not even anything going on. Stop being like that. Sutton and I aren’t a thing.”
Rowen watched Sutton’s back as he walked away. She wasn’t entirely sure she trusted her cousin, but it wasn’t like doubting her was going to do any good. It was especially pointless with them both being in public. With her luck, Channel 2 would get here and run a story with the rival news source in Lainswich bickering in the background.
“Hey, guys.” Rose’s voice came from behind the both of them. It was a relief to have their conversation interrupted. It was turning awkward. “Guess who’s here?”
Rowen turned to find Rose standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Benji. “Hey,” he said sheepishly, raising a hand in a small wave and nearly dropping his camera in the process. Rowen and Rose both moved at the same time to help him get a hold of it.
“Sorry,” said Benji, sniffing loudly. He sounded congested. “I’m still getting over whatever it is Willow has.”
“Well, we super appreciate you coming out here even though you feel sick,” said Rowen, shooting Margo a look. “You have a really admirable work ethic.”
“How is Willow anyway?” asked Rose, ignoring her cousins.
Benji sniffed again and took a step away from all of them to line up a shot. “She’s doing better, I think. When I left, she was on the sofa eating chips and playing video games, so…”
“Well, that’s good.” Rose cut him off there. She clearly had other things she wanted to get to. “Girls, we should probably see about getting this stuff on the site. Let’s head back to the van and get on that.”
“Sure.” Margo trudged toward the road. “Sounds better than standing around out here.”
Rowen followed her cousins toward the van. As they walked, she saw a Channel 2 news van pulling up to the curb. Julia Martinez hopped out before it had come to a complete stop. She smoothed down the skirt of her blue suit with one hand while pulling curlers out of her hair with the other.
Julia turned and barked something at the people inside the van. She was probably telling them to hurry up, though Rowen couldn’t make out her words exactly. She was, however, close enough to make eye contact when Julia turned. She couldn’t keep a smile off her face as Julia boggled at her. Never mind that they hadn’t been able to report on much. It was awfully satisfying to see Julia so stunned that they had beaten Channel 2 to the punch.
Chapter Three
Girls’ night. It had been in their plans for a while. Rowen had been forced to work really hard to set it up. First and foremost, there was the matter of getting everyone together at the same time.
The Greensmith girls, despite working together at the same establishment, all had wildly different schedules. Rowen had wanted to invite her half-sister Coreen, but that simply hadn’t panned out. She was out of state helping their deadbeat father with something or another. Rowen hadn’t asked for the details. The less she knew about that jerk, the better.
It was probably just as well. Rowen had a very particular bond with her cousins. She had grown up with them, lived under the same roof as them for years. Just the six of them spending time together seemed important.
Of course, that meant making sure their aunts didn’t find out. Lydia and Nadine would probably insist on dropping by and bringing their newly adopted kids. Lydia definitely would anyway. And wherever Lydia went, Nadine usually followed.
Rowen loved her aunts. They were like parents to her. All the more reason why she didn’t necessarily want them crashing their girls’ night. She definitely didn’t want young kids there either.
The get-together had been scheduled a week prior. Unfortunately, Willow and Peony had come down with some sort of flu-like bug. That had put a delay on things.
Tonight was supposed to be the night, though. Rowen sat in the living room, fully expecting something to go wrong. She had already ordered pizza and she was in her pajamas. No point in dressing up for what was essentially a sleepover between family members.
“You good?” asked Eric, stopping behind the sofa. He was wearing jeans and a leather jacket, ready to venture out into the chilly night. “Need me to gra
b anything for you while I’m out?”
Rowen went up onto her knees and turned around to face her husband. “I think I’m good, thanks. Sorry about running you off like this. You know you can stay, if you want.”
“And spend the whole night locked in the bedroom pretending I don’t hear you guys gossiping about your sex lives? No thanks.” Eric leaned down and planted a kiss on top of his wife’s head.
“We’re not going to gossip about our sex lives,” Rowen said, defensive even though, yeah, they probably would.
“I’m good.”
“Right. You and Ben have your own boys’ night planned.”
Eric chuckled. “If that’s what you want to call it. I’m thinking it’ll be me watching TV while he does paperwork. Then one of us will get tired and go to bed. Yeah, I’ve got an exciting night in front of me.”
“Well, don’t have too much fun.” They shared one last kiss before he headed out the door.
Rose arrived shortly after. She was usually punctual. She showed up with her black hair in a ponytail and a duffel bag over one shoulder. Out of all of Rowen’s cousins, she looked the most different. It was because Aunt Lydia had adopted her. She had always stood out by being Asian in a sea of witchy white girls. She didn’t have the knack for magic, but she did know a lot about it. She was also darn good at running The Lainswich Inquirer. Putting her in charge was the best business decision Rowen had ever made.
“Did Eric already leave?” asked Rose, kneeling down to pet Chester. He was an old black mutt that Rowen and Eric kept.
“Yeah, he headed out just a little while ago.”
Rose nodded. “Ben is looking forward to the two of them hanging out.”
“Seriously? He said that?”
Rose nodded again. “He didn’t say it exactly, but I can tell. He doesn’t really have any work friends, you know? It’s sort of awkward since he’s in charge. I think he considers Eric a friend. I know they don’t do a whole lot together, but I think he’s secretly looking for an opportunity to change that. He finished all his work early so they can hang out.”
