Star glared but got to her feet to go get her cell phone.
Mallory turned to Cody. “So, you guys haven’t had any luck tracking down Willa?”
Cody shook his head.
“I wonder where she could be. It’s like she just vanished.”
TWENTY FOUR
A s Mallory walked into Caravan Manor, she glanced at the boarded-up window and made a note to call their insurance agent in the morning. She knew most insurance companies had 24/7 service for damage, but that was not the case in Bohemian Lake. It seemed she and her friends were always on-call, but the rest of the town had banker’s hours.
“You’re back!” Lizzy waved from the reservation desk. “Thank goodness things have slowed down a bit. I’ve been going around making a list of to-do items.”
“That’s great, Lizzy. Thanks!” Shoot, she’d just remembered she was supposed to look for more supplies this morning.
Mallory grabbed the high-powered flashlight on the way to the kitchen. It was always so dark in the basement even with the light on. She crept down the stairs slowly, and at the bottom step scanned the dirt floor, waving the light beam back and forth. The coast looked clear, no creepy crawlies. The supplies were on wooden shelves made with plywood and two by fours at the very back. Mal noticed the toilet paper had been stored on the top shelf. Great. She didn’t mind her short stature, but sometimes it was inconvenient. On the other side of the cellar, where they stored all the homemade canned items, they put up every year, she found the step ladder.
She climbed up to grab the paper products, still she couldn’t quite reach. Mallory toddled on the top step, stretching. Her fingers brushed something smooth. Odd. She stretched a bit farther and managed to poke a finger through the plastic and pulled. She tried to catch the bundle as it dropped toward her, but something hard hit her instead.
“Oww!”
She stepped down, rubbing her head. Wet. Turning the flashlight, she saw blood on her fingers. Mallory bent to grab the plastic-coated package and saw the offending item. On the dirt floor, lay a binder. She grabbed it and headed back up the stairs to the kitchen.
“Mallory, I’ve been looking everywhere for you! What happened?” Kaden led her to a stool and helped her sit down at the island. He grabbed everything and dumped it all on the counter. After wetting a paper towel, he was dabbing at her forehead when Jilli walked in.
“Mahala! What happened?”
“It’s okay Mom, just a small accident. Nurse Bones here is taking care of me.”
Kaden mock-frowned. “Now, what about me says nurse, to you?”
Mallory squeezed his bicep. “Definitely. Your upper body strength.”
Kaden smiled, ego sufficiently stroked. “Oh, nice.”
Jilli smirked. “You’re still bleeding. Let’s go upstairs, so I can make sure you don’t need stitches.”
“She doesn’t. Head wounds are notorious for heavy bleeding, but we’ll need a butterfly,” Kaden decided. “I’ll send her up, right after I talk to her.”
Jilli looked like she didn’t trust him.
“I will carry her if need be,” Kaden said.
“Hey! Right here,” Mal said, waving her arms.
“I guess everyone knows of your aversion to doctoring,” Jilli quipped.
Mal stared after her mother. “It’s good to see her up and about. It has taken a lot of time.”
Kaden nodded.
“Why were you looking for me?”
“You know the oak tree that we worked on this morning. Well, we only managed to cut a path out for your guests, so I’ve been out there working on it again. Look at what was stuck in the branches.”
“A wet piece of paper?”
“A wet note. Look at it, Mal.”
Mal turned the evidence bag over and squinted at the words that looked like melted doodles. Honestly, she was surprised there was this much ink left considering how much rain had fallen.
“I can’t read it.”
“Look closely.”
“I can barely make it out. It looks like night, but there are letters in front of it. Oh, Midnight!”
“Exactly what I saw,” Kaden smiled like a proud papa.
“Wait, Kaden, does that say Willa above it?” Mal pointed at the page.
“I’m not sure, it could be.”
“Kaden, it’s another piece of evidence! What if Sylvia was meeting Willa at midnight?”
“Which is why it’s in an evidence bag. I’m taking it to the lab in the city right now. Hopefully, they’ll be able to bring it back to life. Labs can do pretty amazing things these days with ink or they might get impressions from the pen pressure even though it was wet for a long time.”
“You’re brilliant,” Mallory said.
Kaden blushed, so Mal leaned forward to kiss him. The movement was too sudden and she swooned. “Ahh.”
“Hey, take it easy. Head wounds can really affect you, even if it’s a minor injury.” Kaden stepped behind her and pulled her back to lean on him. “What’s this you were carrying?”
“It’s the missing binder!”
“What missing binder?” Kaden asked.
“Remember the box Mick brought? I took a peek last night when I couldn’t sleep. It had four binders, all full of ledger pages, from the witch hunter days in Bohemian Lake. There was one binder missing.”
“That means someone stole one between the time he delivered them and whatever time you looked at them.”
“Yes, whoever murdered Sylvia and Edwin had to have been staying here. Besides the times of the murders, I mean. They stole this and a braided rope from our tack room, and someone used our truck after taking the keys from the kitchen. They seem to have free rein. How could we not notice at least one odd thing?”
“Well, don’t forget your secret passages were outed. Even though YouTube pulled the video, it had thousands of views.”
“Kaden, I really don’t think it’s Star. She told Cody she was with funeral directors for hours last night.”
“Let’s table that until the investigation’s complete.” Kaden dabbed at her head again.
“Right, well, I better get upstairs.”
“Mal.”
“It’s fine, you need to get that note to the lab anyway.”
Kaden cleared his throat. “Well…I…”
“Spit it out.”
“Cody has me working a special assignment with Officer Fleur. It’s apparently why she’s in town.”
“Okay. What’s it about?”
“I can’t talk about it.”
“I see. So, why are you telling me this?”
“I, well, sort of have to go out of town with her. It’s to do with the case. I’ll be out of touch for a bit.”
“Uh huh, best be on your way. Enjoy your trip.” Mal grabbed the binder and stomped off.
TWENTY FIVE
M allory took the manor’s elevator up since her head hurt. Her heart hurt a little, too. She’d never thought herself a jealous person, but she had exhibited a few traits of the green-eyed monster lately. Kaden had done nothing to encourage Officer Fleur, at least in front of Mallory, and honestly, he didn’t seem to care for her. She was almost embarrassed by the way she acted at the police station. And her ex, Daemon, now he was a hottie. She thought it only politically correct to apply that term to a man. Turnabout was fair play and all. Mal remembered him breaking up with her and she had felt almost relief, like she’d just been waiting for it to happen. Mallory disliked how much he traveled and always wondered if he was seeing other women. Opportunity and all that. She was such a homebody and Kaden seemed fine with that, which is why he seemed a natural fit. Cute, too. Mal wondered if those jealous feelings were based on her insecurities. She’d had enough psychology in school to know that was at least part of it. Gaw! She needed to get over herself.
The smell of rosemary and garlic greeted her when opened the door. “It’s about time,” Jilli said. “Sit down over there by the first-aid kit.”
&nbs
p; Nana was at the stove, her back to Mal, her arm moving as she stirred whatever was in the frying pan in front of her.
Danior was nowhere in sight.
“I think it’s stopped bleeding, mom.”
“Let me do this, Mal.”
She sat obediently.
Jilli dipped a cotton ball in peroxide. “Hold this washcloth above your eye because I’ll squeeze this and it’s going to hurt.”
“Oww, oww, oww.”
Jilli blew on it while it bubbled away the germs. Wiped it clean and added the butterfly bandage.
“What’s the stuff you put on the table?”
Nana clicked the burner off and took the pan from the stove, scooping up Abby, her beloved shih tzu who was busy pawing at her legs. “What war did you lose, Malhala?” Abby yipped as if to punctuate Nana’s question.
“It was an accident.”
“Who had an accident and what smells so good?” Danior had followed behind Nana. Bakalo was in her arms but he leaned toward Mallory. She dumped him in Mallory’s lap.
“Probably the stuffing,” Nana said. “Why don’t you go ahead and set the table. The roast should be done soon enough.”
With the salad finished and the fresh vegetables steamed and seasoned—Jilli had taken care of those—they started hauling food to the table.
Mallory and Danior had done a masterful job setting the table as Mallory explained everything she and Kaden had found. They all threw their opinions into the ring while they finished preparing their traditional Sunday dinner together as a family.
When everyone’s plate was loaded and glasses were filled, Mallory eyed her mother, “Since we’re all together, is there any chance we could talk about Dad and the past? You know, could you tell us what happened?”
Jilli’s eyes filled with tears.
“Never mind, it’s too much, too soo—”
“No, you’re absolutely right.” Jilli said, cutting her off. She then took a big gulp of Shiraz. “I need to talk about this as much you all need to hear it.”
Mallory picked up her own glass and sipped it. Liquid courage. As much as she wanted to hear what had happened, she was also terrified.
“Okay, where to start.” Jilli debated, pushing the salad around her plate with her fork.
“How about the day Dad went missing?”
“Yes. Okay. I can do that. It’s practically burned in to my brain. Your father, Marco went to band practice one night a little more than eighteen years ago.” She took a bite of her lamb, chewed and swallowed. “I stayed in the motel because you were sick, Mal. You had the stomach flu and were miserable. I spent most of the night holding your hair back or rocking you. We were on the bathroom floor for hours, so busy that I didn’t notice how much time had gone by. Your little stomach was finally empty of everything, so I put you to bed and stepped out to the vending machine for pop. That’s when I realized it was pitch black outside. Turns out it was one in the morning and Marco hadn’t returned. I wasn’t too worried because the band would stop for drinks on occasion. A shaft of sunlight, shining in my eyes woke me the next morning. You were still sleeping, and Marco wasn’t there. I called our bandmates, and everyone said he had never showed for practice. It was a short walk, so I was worried by this time.”
Mal twined her fingers with Jilli’s.
“Anyway, you cried out, “daddy”, in your sleep. That’s when I became frantic and called Seb. He’d always been like a part of our little family when we traveled. Unfortunately, I thought he had our best interests at heart. He spent almost as much time with Mal as we did. A week went by with no word. The band had to move on without us, but Seb wouldn’t leave us. Several weeks passed, nothing. Mal, you became inconsolable and wouldn’t let Seb near you anymore. I knew it was bad because your powers were starting to emerge. One night, we put you to bed and Seb suggested we go next door to his room because every little sound woke you. We had a baby monitor, so everything seemed fine. He gave me a beer and I guess I cracked. I became hysterical. I ranted about scrying for Marco with tarot cards and I wanted to go into the mirror. Seb thought I was crazy. He gave me a pill to calm me and he just held me. Eventually, one thing led to another. There had never been anyone but Marco. A small part of me feels terrible about what we did, but I wouldn’t trade you, Danior, for anything.” Jilli grabbed Danior’s hand, and Nana pushed back from the table.
“Where are you going?” Mallory asked.
“To grab the Kleenex box. Where do you think?”
“A week later, I dreamed of you, Dan, and knew I was pregnant.” Jilli wiped Danior’s tears with her thumb. “Mal, you wouldn’t let me out of your sight, so I was giving you a bath when I heard someone talking. I stepped into the room and saw the lights blinking on the baby monitor. Seb had to be talking to someone on the phone in his room because I could only hear his side of the conversation. I’ll never forget this.” Tears were running unchecked down her cheeks. “I finally got my life back. Mallory and Jilli belong to me now. No, Marco won’t ever be back.”
“I was horrified. I threw everything in a duffel bag. I took my bathrobe, plucked Mal out of the tub and wrapped her up. I told you to not make a sound. We drove with no lights for a time and then returned to Bohemian Lake as fast as possible. Seb wouldn’t have figured out his mistake until morning. After dropping Malhala with you, mom, I went through the mirror to hide. You know the rest.”
“What about the watch?” Mal asked.
Nana spoke up, “That was my father-in-law’s watch. Ion gave it to Mikhail after Simza died. Mikhail passed it to Jilli.”
“And I gave it to Marco when we married. I have no idea how it ended up in that sewing basket. Marco never took it off. I’m so glad you found it, Mal.”
“I had help from this one,” Mallory said, nodding to the cat. Bakalo purred loudly in response. “I told you guys about the ghost lights and Balthasar, but I felt like there was more than one ghost trying to communicate. This one light was very dim and small, and I think I’ve only seen it here. It seemed very weak.”
“Do you think it’s your father?” Danior asked.
“I don’t know. I mean I’d like to think so, hoping we could have contact of some kind. But why was I led to the watch?”
“You know, I’ve always felt Marco wasn’t gone.”
“Do you really think he could be alive after all this time?”
“I don’t see how.”
Mallory expelled a long breath and sipped her wine. “I’m dehydrated from all of the crying.” She smiled at her family and suddenly knew how to lighten the mood.
“So, Nana, how was your date with Mick Spirit last night?”
Nana jumped up and ran at Mal. Mallory’s eyes were huge as she jumped up to run from her nana. They were all running around the table. Abby barking and Bakalo hissing.
“Malhala Louise Vianu, you stop right now and take your punishment.”
They all fell to the floor, laughing like maniacs. When there was no punishment forthcoming, Mal wondered if Nana had enjoyed herself.
“The guests we have left are going to think a herd of elephants are stampeding on their heads,” Nana chuckled.
Bakalo had made himself comfortable on Mallory’s stomach, so she turned her head to look at Nana. “Speaking of guests, thank you for making the announcement about Sylvia’s death.”
Nana nodded, getting to her feet and moving dishes to the sink, “You’re welcome. We held a minute of silence in her memory, but I didn’t mention Edwin. I wasn’t sure if I was free to do so.”
Mal nodded. “How was the panel this morning?”
“The panel was a gas! We may have to do something like that again.”
TWENTY SIX
M allory ran down to the main kitchen. She’d just remembered the paper supplies she’d left on the island.
“Hey, Mallory!” Lizzy called, “Sera Priest wants to speak to you.”
She turned around to see the brunette witch standing there.
; “Hello, again.” Sera said.
“Hi, Sera, what can I do for you?”
“Do you have a room available? My house didn’t sustain any major damage, but I don’t have power or a generator. The house is a mess and will be until I hire a contractor. So, anyway, it’s pretty creepy with lights, but at night...” Sera shivered.
“Sure! Have you eaten?”
“Umm, no.”
“Come with me. Lizzy, would you get a room ready for her?”
“Oh, I love this kitchen!” Sera announced.
“Thank you, we’re pretty proud of it. Nataliya keeps us well stocked. What would you like to eat?”
“Honestly, anything. I’m not a picky eater.”
Mallory rummaged through the commercial sized stainless-steel refrigerator. “We have lasagna, fried chicken, or spaghetti with pomodoro sauce.”
“The spaghetti would be great.”
Mal spooned some out onto a plate and popped it into the microwave. “Remember, I mentioned Jack and Juniper? They’re local contractors that do amazing work. Junie can look at a space and she comes up with the perfect layout and beautiful ideas that no one else can see, but she makes into reality.”
“Yes, and the lady with the new baby mentioned them.”
Mal chuckled, “That doesn’t surprise me, since they’re besties. They did just convert an old mill that Pike inherited into a show place.”
“I’ll check them out when I have power. This spaghetti is delicious.”
“Nataliya is a genius, I don’t know where we’d be without her. Do you still want to get together tomorrow? You said you found a book?”
“I did. I looked at it today and noticed a few pages were missing.”
“Mallory, Lizzy said you were in here. Well, well, well. Seraphina Popescu, I’ve been looking for you,” Cody said.
Mallory gasped, “Popescu! What’s he talking about?”
Sera’s face looked ashen.
“I thought your name was Sera Priest. You lied!”
“I didn’t lie, exactly.”
“You signed up for Hexfest as Sera Priest. Is that your name or not?”
Ouija, Death & Wicked Witchery Page 12
