“You sure that’s a good idea?” Meri asked. “Maybe you shouldn’t take the job. I’m afraid that you spending too much time there is going to change things for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, witches change when they come into their power, right?” Meri asked. “You get that, don’t you?”
“I totally do. It’s why my hair turned purple.”
“Well, now it’s turning green. It has been since you found Langoria’s body.”
“What?” I asked and rushed into the downstairs bathroom to check the mirror.
Sure enough, a green streak had worked its way in with the purple. I tried to tuck it under the purple to no avail. If my hair kept changing, I’d soon have that mermaid effect everyone was going for a couple of years back. Except I wasn’t trying.
“You’re going to ask me what it means, and I don’t know,” Meri said when I came back into the room. “I’ve seen witchcraft affect witches all kinds of ways, but I’ve never seen it turn their hair psychedelic.”
“Awesome,” I said. “Now I’m going to stand out even more. Okay, so let’s go work on the cemetery. If you’ll come with me, that is.”
“Yeah, I’ll come with you,” Meri responded. “But I want smoked salmon for breakfast first.”
After breakfast, we made our way across the street to the cemetery. Thankfully, the sheriff’s office and the coroner hadn’t done any real damage beyond leaving up some crime scene tape after they were gone. None of it was still blocking the cemetery. They’d left stray ends tied to the trees here and there after they’d cut through it.
I tore it down and shoved it into a garbage bag I’d brought along before making my way over to where we’d found the body. My blood ran cold when I looked down at the grave where the killer had left her body.
There was a bouquet of wilting flowers that looked exactly like the one her apparition had been holding when it manifested in my living room. I bent down to pick it up and found that the flowers were mostly dried out, but not entirely.
“I wonder why they just left these behind,” I said to Meri. “They must have thought they weren’t evidence.”
“How are they evidence?” Meri asked.
“Because they’re flowers left with the body,” I said.
“We’re in a graveyard, Brighton. People leave flowers. They probably thought they were left on the grave and had nothing to do with Langoria’s death,” Meri said, and then it was like the lightbulb came on in his brain. He jumped down from the headstone he’d been perched on. “Oh, right. These graves are really old. No one would have left flowers on any of them.”
“Exactly. But more importantly, when the specter of Langoria appeared in the house, she was holding these. They must mean something,” I said and set them aside so they wouldn’t get trampled.
I was picking up any litter I found when a car pulled up on my street near where we always climbed the fence into the graveyard. The engine shut off, and I heard a car door open and shut.
My spirits lifted a little because I thought for sure it was Remy, so I was shocked when Ralph Badersmith walked into the clearing where I’d been picking up garbage and pulling weeds.
“Hello, Ralph,” I said and set down the trash bag in my hand. “What brings you out here?”
In my head, I hoped that he wasn’t there to pester me about my books, but I had to be nice. He was part of the reason I even had the job restoring the cemetery, but I didn’t like the idea of being cornered when I was alone. Or of being guilt-tripped while I was on the job. It would have been the perfect time for him to do it, though.
“I’ve got your check for the job,” he said and pulled out his wallet.
From that he plucked a check signed by the head of the town council. It was for the entire ten thousand dollars plus the two thousand for materials and supplies, and I was a bit shocked. I didn’t know how I thought they’d pay me, but I hadn’t anticipated them giving me the whole thing at once.
“Thank you,” I said and tucked the check into my pocket. “I appreciate the job.”
“Well, I’m not sure how I let Remy talk me into hiring you for it. I was already on the chopping block as the head of the paranormal preservation society. If Langoria had lived, I’m sure she would have had me removed by the end of the month.”
“That’s unfortunate.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.
“I’m sure it was in no small part because I couldn’t obtain the Tuttlesmith books for the society’s collection. Moreover because I didn’t even know they were there until you moved in and brought them to my shop. It was an egregious oversight on my part, and if you screw up this cemetery restoration, I’m sure the council and the Skeenbauer Coven will still find a way to have me removed.”
He turned and left after that, but his ominous tone hung in the air like a bad smell. He hadn’t come out and threatened me directly, but I caught the warning in his voice. The worst part was that he hadn’t mentioned why he’d brought the check and not Remy. I’d resisted the urge to ask because I doubted he knew anyway.
Chapter Five
There hadn’t been much to clean up behind Thorn and the investigators. But I had the check as payment and I didn’t want to go home and stew about Remy, so I stayed in the cemetery with Meri and pulled weeds until my stomach began to grumble loudly in the late afternoon.
“I’m going to need some fuel if I’m going to keep working,” I said.
“I’m famished,” Meri said dramatically. “I thought I was going to have to resort to hunting bugs or mice. Behavior not becoming of a familiar such as myself.”
“Well, don’t worry, great hunter, we can go home and get something to eat,” I said and picked up a bag of trash and the wilted flower bouquet.
“You can’t take those home,” Meri said. “Her spirit is obviously tied to them, and she didn’t like you.”
“Well, I don’t want to leave them here. I still feel like they might be evidence. They could get trampled or something if looky-loos come around because she died here. Plus, I don’t want to have to worry about finding Langoria’s specter here every time I come to work. The ghosts, or spirits, or whatever, keep popping up like gophers as it is.”
“I don’t think getting rid of those flowers is going to give you that kind of assurance,” Meri said. “She showed up at the house without those, remember?”
“Then it doesn’t matter,” I said and started for the fence. “I’ll keep them in the garden shed out back if it makes you feel better.”
Back at the house, I put the garbage and the flowers in the shed. I was going to need a couple of those big plastic garbage bins to keep critters out. But first, I needed lunch.
I went into the house and got Meri some salmon before I set to making myself a grilled cheese sandwich. Without really thinking about it, I made two. As I was putting them on plates with pickle spears, someone rang my doorbell.
A smile crossed my lips as I looked down at the two plates in my hands. I’d acted out of intuition without even realizing it. That had to mean that my powers were growing. I set the plates down on the counter and went to answer the front door.
“I liked the purple. I’m not so sure about this,” Thorn said as he reached out and gave a lock of my hair that had escaped from my bun a playful tug. “And you look like something the cat dragged in.”
“Did you show up at my door just to insult me?” I said as I tucked the lock of green hair back into the mess on my head. “Because I made lunch if you’d like to come in.”
“How did you know I was coming?”
“Just a feeling,” I said with a shrug as I turned away from the door. “Besides, if you hadn’t, I’d have just eaten both sandwiches myself.”
Thorn joined me in the kitchen, and I poured two glasses of ice tea. I drained mine in a few huge gulps after setting Thorn’s down on the table in front of his plate.
“I was thirsty,” I said as I returned to the refrigerator to pour anot
her glass from the pitcher.
“You were out working in the cemetery?”
“Yep. I got paid for the job today, so I should probably do the work.”
“Sorry if we left a mess behind,” Thorn said before taking a bite of his grilled cheese. After he chewed and swallowed, he said, “This is good. Thank you.”
“Always could make a mean grilled cheese,” I said as I sat down next to him. “But you couldn’t have just come here to make fun of my hair and eat a free sandwich.”
“I think I’ve explained why your hair makes me nervous.”
“Because you think it means I’m the kind of person who could never be happy in a small town like Coventry, but Thorn, I’m telling you that’s not what it means. I like it here. I like the company too,” I said as nonchalantly as possible.
I could convince myself that I didn’t have strong feelings for Thorn when he wasn’t around, but whenever he was there, I couldn’t deny them. It was strange, though. I didn’t know him as well as I knew Remy, but there was some sort of gravity between us. Maybe it was just because he was so devastatingly handsome. Perhaps he just had that effect on women, and I was reading too much into it.
He looked at me for a long moment. Thorn’s eyes studied my face thoroughly as if he were trying to parse the meaning of what I’d just said.
“I actually came to talk to you about the case. The sandwich and the company are just a happy surprise.”
He was being cryptic too. It felt like neither one of us was saying what we really meant. As much as I wanted to enjoy our little dance around our feelings, I was too curious about the case to continue the game of do Thorn and Brighton like each other?
“Oh, yeah, what about the case?”
“Well, I have some preliminary information on how Langoria died, and I wanted to know if it meant anything to you.”
“Okay,” I said. “As long as it’s not too gory. I want to eat my grilled cheese while it’s still warm.”
“Go ahead and finish,” he said.
So I did. When I was done, I said, “All right, lay it on me.”
“You probably already know this since you found the body, but Langoria appears to have died from blunt force trauma to the head.”
“Actually, I didn’t notice that,” I said. “But I’m kind of glad that I didn’t. As soon as I realized I’d found a body, I turned away and didn’t really look again.”
“That’s what the coroner is saying right now, but he cautioned me that he still needs more information. He did say that he found fibers in the head wound, and he thought they might be from a book. He’ll need to wait until the fiber tests come back from the forensics lab.”
“Fibers from a book?” That sounded strange.
“I thought it was weird too, but he said that they might have come from the cover of an antique book. Like the edges were frayed or something. The coroner said he wouldn’t have known what it was, but he’s got a few old books with frayed corners.”
Antique books pointed at two people. One was me, and the other was Ralph Badersmith.
“It wasn’t me,” I said. “I didn’t bludgeon her to death with a book.”
“I didn’t think you had,” he said softly. “But you’ve had some break-ins and people have tried to steal books from you. So keep an eye out in case any of them are missing. I don’t want this to come back that it was your book and we’re caught unaware.”
“I will, but as far as I know, none of mine have been stolen.”
I had to wonder if I should say anything about Ralph. After the last murder, it was obvious that Thorn thought Ralph was capable of killing someone. He’d questioned him about Max Harkin’s death. I didn’t want to send Thorn on a wild goose chase, but he probably needed to know that Langoria had been attempting to remove Ralph as the head of the magical preservation society. Well, to Thorn it was the historical society.
Ralph had given me the job and paid me, so I felt bad telling Thorn about his beef with Langoria. But I had to do it.
“Thorn, I don’t want to be a gossip, but I feel like this is information you should have. Langoria was trying to remove Ralph as the president of the local historical society. He’s also got a store full of antique books, you know.”
“I’d heard that rumor, but I’m not on the council. I didn’t have any confirmation of it. How did you hear about it?” Thorn asked.
“I’m friends with some of the Skeenbauers,” I offered.
“Remy,” he said and flattened his lips into a line.
“I’m friends with Annika too,” I said.
“I’ll look into it, but I’m not sure why you were even discussing the investigation with them. I hope you’re not planning on getting involved again, Brighton. You need to stay out of this. As much as I don’t think you did this, you’re still technically a suspect, and so is your friend Remy.”
There was a sharp edge to his tone when he said Remy’s name. I didn’t get the feeling that he thought Remy did it, but perhaps it was jealousy.
“What is your deal with Remy?” I asked the question before I could stop myself. “Why don’t you like him?”
“I don’t have a deal with Remy,” he said flatly. “That’s you.”
I took a deep breath. “Look, Thorn, if you think there is something wrong with Remy that I need to know, you should tell me. I mean, at least sometimes you act like you care about me. So why wouldn’t you want to protect me?”
“Sometimes I act like I care about you?” he said and stood up abruptly. “I’m on duty, Brighton. I can’t get into little spats with you about feelings.”
“Oh, that’s right. Just leave. That’s what you do, isn’t it? You just leave every time you think you might have to deal with your feelings. Well, what about my feelings, Thorn? You act like you like me or at least care about me, and then you disappear whenever it comes up. Don’t you think that hurts me? Is this some sort of game to you?”
He looked like he was about to say something, but instead, he reached over and wrapped one strong arm around my waist before pulling me close to him. Thorn smelled like citrus and fresh linen, and when I looked up into his face, his lips crashed against mine.
For a moment, I was floating in space. There were sunbursts behind my eyes, and my body was as light as a feather. But as soon as it began, it was over.
Thorn drew back and let go of me. “I have to get back to work.”
I didn’t want to reignite the argument, but I couldn’t help but let a frustrated sigh escape my lips. Thorn’s response was to turn my chin up with his middle and index fingers before planting another soft kiss on me.
“You’re going to disappear again, aren’t you?” I asked when he was walking out.
“I won’t, Brighton. You have thoroughly bewitched me,” he said over his shoulder with a smile. “Even with your… intense hair and looking like you spent the morning rolling around in a grave, you are the most captivating woman I have ever met.”
Swoon.
Chapter Six
It was hard to go back to work after that, but I made myself. I should have made an excursion to the bank, but I felt like I needed to earn more of the money before I cashed the check. I really didn’t have a reason for feeling that way, but I did.
So I left the check locked up in the attic library hidden in a book. Back at the cemetery, I’d set to work pulling weeds again. The work was far more physical than my last job. The most exercise that job had provided was typing notes and rolling my eyes at the customers who called to vent their frustrations at me and ask for random discounts.
Working in the cemetery was probably going to help me get in shape more than any gym membership ever could, but I saw a lot of days full of sore muscles before I got to that point.
As I was wrapping up for the day, I heard another car pull up on the street outside of the cemetery. For being a place that everyone had practically forgotten about, it sure had become a hub of activity. I figured I’d spend hours and hours alone
out there, but I kept getting a steady stream of visitors.
I heard a car door, and then someone called out my name. “Brighton?” It was Remy.
“I’m in here,” I said. “But I’m on my way out.”
With that, I heard the car door again. As I emerged from the wooded area surrounding the graveyard, I saw that Remy was pulling his car into my driveway.
“You’re welcome to come in and wait, but I’ve got to take a shower,” I said. “I’ve been pulling weeds all day.”
He was only halfway out of the car. “I’ll go pick up a pizza then,” Remy said and got back in the driver’s seat.
“I’ll leave it open for you,” I said as he closed the car door.
As far as peace offerings went, pizza was a good one. Though I wasn’t really mad at Remy, I was upset that he’d just left without saying goodbye. I was even more stressed about the fact that he hadn’t bothered to make sure that I was all right. It either meant that we weren’t as close as I’d thought or that something was really wrong.
I showered and towel dried my hair. Even though it was still damp, I could clearly see that more of it had turned green. Soon, it would be half and half. There was no way for me to hide the change by tucking the errant jade strands under the purple. They were all going to be errant green strands soon. Some were lighter than others. The rainbow ranged from lime green to the shade of an avocado skin.
“I wonder if it’s because you’re growing,” Meri said as he jumped onto the counter. “Green might be growth.”
“Are you saying I’m getting fat?” I teased.
“No, I’m saying that you’re coming into your magic.”
“If that’s what green means, then what did the purple mean?” I asked.
Doom and Broom Page 4
