Witch Cursed in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  She turned and left via the way she’d entered.

  I looked at Liv. “But I have questions.” Apparently so did everyone else because the conversation ramped up to a loud buzz. “Do they know who’s doing this and why?”

  “I doubt it, or she would’ve said. Come on; you can work in Mill’s office with me.”

  “But I don’t have anything to do.”

  “Well, you have to stay in case they call you for healing, and I could use the help. Do you mind?”

  I smiled. “Not at all. I would love to help you, plus, I’ve missed you.” Okay, I was beginning to sound like a broken record, or would that be CD? There wasn’t even a modern equivalent now that we streamed everything. I’d just have to get over missing my best friend and enjoy whatever time we did manage to spend together.

  When we reached Liv and Mill’s office, Liv checked her emails. Ma’am had lots of work for her, so I helped. I started by compiling all the information we’d received on the crimes yesterday that had taken the agents away from headquarters. In a separate file, I put all the information on what had transpired at the PIB yesterday. When that was done, I started going through it all to sort the evidence into what we could use and what needed further investigation. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot in my “know for sure” pile.

  “Why the long face?” Liv asked.

  “There’s not much to go on.” I stuck my bottom lip out.

  She sat back from her keyboard and gave me her full attention. “So what do we have for sure?”

  “The same magic signature was used at all the crimes, out there and here, and the signature isn’t one on file. There have been no fingerprints, no actual sighting of who it was for sure, except for the photos I took, and they’re inconclusive. We have the note he or they left Ma’am after stealing the artefacts. The paper is in testing, just in case it’s special in any way; maybe they can track down where it came from. And that’s it. Which is virtually nothing.”

  Not looking the least bit defeated, she asked, “And what else do we have to follow up on?”

  “According to these notes, Ma’am’s ordering video surveillance from all the places that were hit, although some have probably been wiped since whoever it was set up the spells. They could’ve arranged some of these thefts weeks ago. I don’t know what the life of a dormant spell is, but they’ve obviously planned it this way. And the PIB had over fifty call-outs yesterday. That would mean there had to have been a lot of preparation, and there was no way they could’ve done that in one day—some of the places were twenty miles apart. That amount of travelling would drain anyone, let alone having the power left to cast all the spells.”

  Liv scrolled through her emails again. She opened a document from one. “According to this, James and Ma’am are compiling a list of everyone who’s threatened the PIB in the last ten years, and they’re also going to question some of the more powerful criminals they’ve locked up over the years. This could take forever.”

  “And what’s their end game? Is it just to beat the PIB, or are they planning some massive crime?” The options were frightening, especially if we couldn’t break the curse affecting most of the PIB agents.

  Liv shook her head and bit her bottom lip. She stayed that way for a while, then pursed her lips and sat up straight. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. Come on; we’ve got work to do.”

  I didn’t share her confidence, but I did as she asked because this crime wasn’t going to solve itself.

  Chapter 5

  I ended up working with Liv all day because I couldn’t travel home, and I had to wait for Ma’am and Will to finish. Will and James had abandoned the idea of creating new home-protection spells as well, since anything we tried would be likely to fail or create havoc. Now that I’d done everything I could for Liv, I was standing at the window, staring out into the drizzling, gloomy afternoon. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to it getting dark so early.

  Liv’s desk phone rang. She answered it. “Hello, Olivia speaking.” She waited while the other person spoke for a minute. “Okay. Yes. Right away. Bye.” She clicked the phone back on the hook. “Lily, that was Will.” I turned to look at her. “He wants you to go down to the basement now and meet him and Ma’am at the car. They have to rush out to an assignment, and they’re going to drop you home.”

  “Oh, okay. Well, it’s been lovely spending the day with you.” I smiled.

  “It has. When this disaster is over, we should have a day in London shopping or something.”

  Shopping wasn’t my favourite thing, but hanging out in London with my best friend sounded awesome. “Count me in.” I grabbed my coat from the back of my chair. “See you later.”

  “Bye.”

  I made my way downstairs, past dishevelled agents, faces pinched in what I assumed was frustration. Waiting in the car were Ma’am in the driver’s seat and Will sitting next to her. Wisps of hair had come loose from her bun. Her usual immaculateness must be a result of magic rather than a natural ability to remain impeccable all day. That gave me satisfaction as I opened the back door and slid into the seat behind her. She wasn’t so perfect after all. Okay, so that was a little mean of me, but she liked to lord it over everyone, but she was, at the heart of things, just like everyone else. I shut the door.

  “Gloat while you can, Lily, because once we have our powers back, I shall be immaculate once again. And I’m not like everyone else—I’m infinitely better.” She smirked, gave a wink in the mirror, and started the car.

  I groaned. “How can you still mind-read if you can’t use your power?” Because we were told to drop our magic, I hadn’t been able to use my mind shield, and she was back to her old tricks.

  “Yes, I am back to my old tricks. It’s one of my natural talents, and it seems as if this spell hasn’t affected it.”

  “That’s fantastic! Do you know if it’s the same for everyone?”

  Will turned to look at me as Ma’am negotiated the car park towards the exit. “We were going to see if you could use your talent and let us know. We’ll do it at home, but first, we have to attend a crime scene.”

  “Why am I going with you?”

  Will turned back around as the roller door opened to let us out. “Until we know whether or not RP is involved, you’re not safe at home by yourself. If they can break through the spells we had protecting those artefacts, they have the ability to break those spells too.”

  “So we’re pretty much sitting ducks right now?” As Ma’am pulled out into the compound and headed for the gate, silence permeated the cabin. Fear skittered around my stomach, and I shivered. We didn’t have proper magic, so we couldn’t attack or put up a return to sender. “But you guys have your guns, right?”

  “Yes,” Will answered, looking straight ahead. “Old school.”

  “Old school is better than nothing, I suppose.” Yep, there was my positive streak coming out. Ma’am turned right into the street, heading for the main road. “Where is this crime scene, and what happened?”

  Will and Ma’am shared a quick look before Ma’am flicked her gaze back to the road and said, “We’ll tell you when we’re there. The witch at the house hasn’t had their magic restricted. She can make a bubble of silence for us. But don’t worry, there’s nothing gory.”

  That was a relief. “How were you discussing things at work today without the B.O.S.”

  “Do you have to do that, dear?”

  “What? Shorten things?”

  “Yes.”

  I grinned. “Yes. It’s way easier.” She shook her head.

  Will watched the road ahead and answered, “We had someone who hadn’t been in yesterday come and do it for us, but we sent them home quickly, just in case the infection could still take. We had them protect one room, which has become the hub of our operations for now. It’s the control room you helped out in when we had all that trouble from the tea.” That was a nice way to say the trouble caused by Piranha and RP.

  I wanted to
ask more questions, but considering anyone could be listening, I shut my mouth and looked out the window, although there was nothing much to see in the rainy darkness. Five felt like 7:00 p.m.

  Eventually Ma’am turned into a country lane, and fifty metres down the road, pulled into the driveway of a neat brick bungalow. She parked next to a Volvo 4WD. “Am I coming in too?” At the risk of getting out of the car and being told to get back in, I figured I’d ask first.

  “We want you with us, dear. It’s not safe out here.” Ma’am turned off the car and got out. Way to instil confidence. My shoulders tightened, and an ache pulsed at the base of my skull. Just what I needed. I hopped out and walked just behind them, seeing as they were the investigating agents, and I was just along for the ride. The cold air drew goosebumps along my arms, even though they were covered, and I dipped my head, trying to avoid the frigid raindrops.

  Thankfully, Will and Ma’am were fast walkers, and we were soon under the cover of the front porch. Will rang the bell, and a young blonde woman answered the door. She was about my height and slim, her pretty face showing relief at seeing Ma’am and Will. “I’m so glad you’re here. Andrew said you’d make it a priority. Thank you.”

  Ma’am went in first, then Will stepped back to let me go ahead of him while introducing me. “This is Lily. She works with us.”

  I smiled and held out my hand for her to shake. “Hi.”

  She took my hand. “Hi, Lily. I’m Kelly. Come in.” Kelly led us through to her bedroom. Ma’am and Will followed her all the way to her built-in wardrobe. I stood just inside the doorway and folded my arms. I wasn’t a prude, but being in a stranger’s bedroom was weird and uncomfortable. A huge framed photograph hung above the bed. My eyes widened, and I looked away. Sheesh, some people were way too confident to have strangers coming into their room and seeing a photo of them with their significant other in lingerie. In the picture, Kelly had on a red lace number, and who I assumed was Andrew wore tight black briefs which left little to the imagination and a lot to see, which I couldn’t un-see. Damn it. I peeked up at it again. Okay, so I was curious. Oh my, was that Kelly’s nipple? I looked away and to the trio at the wardrobe and blushed. I really hadn’t needed to know what Kelly looked like under her clothes, and if I ever ran into Andrew, I was probably going to blush and giggle. Why couldn’t I be more of an adult?

  “And that’s everything?” Will asked, putting his notebook and pen back in his pocket. Oh, I’d missed it all. I hated myself sometimes. Why couldn’t I just pay attention? Now I’d have to wait until we were in the car to ask what had been taken. I was my own worst enemy.

  Kelly frowned, sadness in her eyes. “No. They took Benny, our beagle.”

  Ma’am’s poker face stayed put. “Are you sure he didn’t just escape by himself?”

  She shook her head. “Definitely not. He can’t jump, and there’s no way for him to get out of our back garden or the house, and since they came in with magic and left the same way, no doors were opened, at least that I could tell.”

  “Did they leave a note?” I asked before I could stop myself. Ma’am scowled at me, probably for interrupting and sticking my nose in where it wasn’t needed. Oops.

  Kelly nodded. “Yes. But it didn’t say anything about Benny, just that we could thank the PIB for the things that were taken. Andrew’s already given it to Agent Bianchi.”

  Ma’am folded her arms and gave me an extra cranky look for good measure. “Yes, and Agent Bianchi has passed it onto me. Thank you, Kelly.” Right, so I was going to shut up now.

  Kelly walked towards me, leading Will and Ma’am out, so I hurried into the hallway first and stood to the side, to get out of the way. Ma’am stopped in front of me and faced Kelly. “Agent Smith said he’d done some preliminary investigation when you first discovered things were missing, but do you mind if we have a look around?”

  “Yes, that’s fine. Andrew said you’d probably do that. Feel free. I’ll just be in the kitchen. If you need anything, let me know.” She smiled and headed off through another doorway. From the conversation, Agent Smith was probably Andrew, her partner or husband, or whatever.

  Ma’am turned to me and gave a nod. Huh? I lowered my voice. “You want me to take photos?” She nodded. I was about to argue that my magic was off, as she very well knew, but then I remembered that it was my talent, which meant it probably wasn’t affected. “Okay. I’ll try. What did they take?”

  “Family heirlooms worth a few thousand pounds. Gold, diamond, and ruby jewellery.”

  I pulled out my phone, because I couldn’t magic my camera to myself, and headed back to the bedroom. I stood in the doorway and pointed my phone towards the wardrobe. Opening my portal to the magic river, I whispered, “Show me who stole Kelly’s jewellery.”

  A figure in a long, black coat and balaclava. Great. They weren’t giving us anything to go on. I took a photo, then walked around, taking photos from every angle. The one thing I could tell: this person was a tad shorter than the man in the antique store, maybe by three or four inches. I stood where they had been standing. “Will, can you take a photo of me, please?”

  “Whatever for?” Ma’am asked.

  “Trust me.”

  She shrugged, and Will, curiosity in his gaze, took my phone and stood back, pointing at me. I stood straight and looked at the phone. The phone made two click sounds, then he handed it back. “Done.”

  “Thanks. I’m comparing my height with theirs.” I wasn’t going to say any more—they’d know what I meant, but anyone listening in wouldn’t.

  Ma’am nodded slowly. “That’s actually quite a good idea, Lily.” If only she hadn’t sounded so surprised. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She went through the door Kelly had just used. She must be going to tell her we were done. I turned to Will. “Aren’t you going to look for anything else?”

  “No. Our magic isn’t working, and Agent Smith, Kelly’s husband, dusted for fingerprints and conjured the magic signature earlier.”

  “Is it the same one we got from the other crimes?”

  “I believe it’s not. But it’s still not in the system, so whoever it is, is a mystery.”

  Ma’am returned with Kelly. “Thanks for coming and having a look,” Kelly said.

  “It’s our duty.” Ma’am smiled. “If we find out anything further, we’ll be in touch.”

  “Thanks.” Kelly opened the door. “Nasty weather. Drive safely, Agent DuPree.”

  “I will, thank you.” Ma’am was almost to the car by the time Kelly shut the door, and I stepped off the porch.

  I ran through the rain to the car, jumped into the back seat, and slammed the door. We had no magic with which to dry ourselves—well, we did, but the way that spell worked, we’d probably end up even wetter, or naked, or something equally undesirable. I clicked my belt in as Ma’am started the car. “Do you think we could have the heater on?”

  “It’s not that cold, dear.” Easy for her to say. She was used to near-zero temperatures. I was a softy from Sydney, where even in winter, it rarely went below ten Celsius.

  “Pretty please with sugar on top? I’m freezing.” To emphasise the point, I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered.

  Ma’am rolled her eyes. “Honestly, the things I do for you people.” She turned the heater on and carefully backed out of the driveway.

  Will smirked—I could see him in the side mirror—and I smiled. “Thank you.” I was sure her grouching was for show… at least, I hoped so.

  Will asked, “Lily, can you pass me your phone? I want to check out the photos.”

  “Sure.” I unlocked it and handed it to him. “Should we go to any of the other places the crimes were committed so I can get photos?” Since my talent was still working, we might find a decent clue.

  “Not at this stage, dear. With everything as it is, we don’t want to risk more than we have to.” She must have meant that because our magic was haywire, we couldn’t protect ourselves properly, but, of course, we didn�
��t know who was listening in. Although, we could probably assume RP knew what had happened. They likely had some kind of spy in the PIB, and that’s even if the attack hadn’t been them in the first place.

  I stared out the window. Oh, look, cows. I breathed a quiet “moo.” It was impossible to resist. The herd stood at the edge of a field at the fence line, which happened to be next to a street light. Were they cold out there in the winter rain? Why didn’t they give them coats to wear like they did horses? Man, it would be terrible to be a cow, standing around all the time in that weather. And if they wanted to sit down, it would be onto the wet, muddy ground. Yuk.

  “Lily? Hey, Lily!” I started. Will was twisted around, his arm bent weirdly as he tried to give my phone back.

  “Oops, sorry.” I grabbed my phone and held it in my lap.

  He laughed. “Always off with the fairies.”

  “And the cows.” I grinned. “It’s better than thinking about what’s going on. We need more clues.”

  “Well,” Will said, “what you did today is a start. It will be tinily helpful, which is way better than not helpful at all.”

  “Tinily? That’s not a word, but it should be. Welcome to my world!” I laughed. The serious old Will was becoming sillier. Maybe my good influence was making a difference.

  “You are making a difference, dear, but I don’t know whether it’s good.” Ma’am’s smirk reflected in the rear-view mirror. Damn mind-reading talent. A grin replaced her smirk. It was my turn to eye-roll.

  Will’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. “Hey, James. What’s happening?” Will listened, then said, “Okay. We’ll meet you at Ma’am’s. See you in twenty. Bye.”

  “What was that about?” I could never not know. The suspense would just about kill me.

  “Your brother’s meeting us at Ma’am’s soon, but I can’t tell you the why right now.”

  I sighed. “Fair enough.” I bet Ma’am knew, though, since she could mind-read. I was always the last to know….