“So you followed him, didn’t you?” I ask.
Ken’s eyes are flashing menacingly. He doesn’t look good. Lucy said that he hasn’t been sleeping, and she must have been telling the truth. There are dark circles under his eyes.
I continue. “You followed him to my office, and you killed him. Then, you wiped your own prints off the vial, and left it on him, for the police to discover. You knew that they’d trace it back to Buttercup, and that was just fine with you, wasn’t it?”
His gun twitches in his hand. “I’m going to kill you,” he says in a low growl.
I lower my gun so it’s aimed right at him while I keep talking. “Then, for good measure, you planted a rope on Buttercup’s property. It was the rope that you used to kill Gunther Larson.”
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” He asks.
“Yes,” I say. “I am. I’m the only one who figured out what you’ve done.” It’s not bragging if it’s true.
“And that’s your downfall,” he says. “You’re the only one, Penny. Once I kill you, no one will have any idea what happened here. Buttercup will go to prison, and I’ll live out my days in this mansion. Nice try, Penny, but I’m afraid you’ve failed. Again.”
His hand squeezes the trigger of his gun. The shot explodes through the room. Instinctively, I drop to my knees. My hands fly into the air and then wrap around my head protectively.
As my hand flew up, I may have squeezed the trigger of my own gun. I’m not entirely sure, but... Okay, fine, I’m sure. I accidentally fired my gun.
So sue me.
The second shot, fired by me, cracks through the small kitchen. I hear a massive ringing sound and then a clattering as one of the hanging skillets crashes down from the rack.
Suddenly, as if from nowhere, I feel a sharp, explosive impact hit against my safety goggles. I’m crouched on the ground, barely balancing to begin with, and the force knocks me straight backwards.
Thud! My head hits the hard tile floor.
And then the world goes black.
Chapter Seventeen
“She’s awake!” I hear Marley’s voice before I see anything. It hurts to pry my eyelids open, but I try. At first, my vision is blurry. As it clears, I begin to make out shapes.
I see Marley, cradling Turkey in her arms. Behind her, I can see Cora and Annie. Just beyond them, I catch sight of Chris.
Everyone is leaning over me. I seem to be in a bed of some sort.
“Where am I?” I ask. “What happened?”
Marley speaks first. “You’re in the medical center. You were knocked unconscious.”
“A bullet hit you in the face,” says Cora.
“The eyes, to be exact,” adds Annie.
“It’s a good thing you thought to wear those safety goggles.” Marley is stroking Turkey’s forehead. He looks content and serene in her arms.
“My safety goggles,” Chris says.
I swallow. It hurts a little. My throat is dry. It’s all coming back to me: stealing the cop car, barging in and accusing Ken of his crimes, and then our shootout.
Gun battle.
Yep. That’s the life of a PI.
“Did I get him?” I ask. “How was my aim?”
Chris speaks. “If you mean, did you shoot Ken when you discharged your weapon?” He chuckles. “The answer is, no, Penny. You did not. Apparently, your aim hasn’t improved much.” He rubs his arm.
Marley jumps in. “But you did hit a pan on the ceiling above him, and it dropped on his head and knocked him out,” she says.
“The bullet ricocheted off of the pan, bounced back to you, and hit you straight in the goggles,” Cora says. “The whole thing was caught on video. Ken was installing cameras throughout the house. He was kind of a paranoid freak.”
“Lots of criminals are,” Chris says.
“You caught the whole thing on video?” I ask.
Annie laughs. “It’s hilarious!” She says between giggles.
Then she looks at me and straightens her expression out. “I mean, it’s not hilarious now. You could have been hurt. But down the road, I think we’re all going to look back on this and laugh.”
I cover my face with my hands. “I can’t believe that was caught on tape!” I say.
Chris steps up closer to the bed. He lays his hand over mine, which is resting on top of the covers.
“It’s a good thing, Penny,” he says. “It gave us what we needed to arrest Ken. When we got to you guys, both of you were knocked unconscious. That cast iron skillet knocked Ken cold, and you’d smacked your head on the ground when you fell backwards.”
Is that why I have a freaking pounding headache in the back of my skull? Good to know.
Chris continues. “We had time to look over the footage, and it was clear that Ken fired his weapon first. It missed you. You reacted in self-defense. Once we brought him in for questioning, he spilled all of it. You’d already shaken him up, and he admitted to both murders. He’s going to be in prison for life.”
“Whew,” I say. I’ve been straining to sit up as I talk to my friends, but now I let my head rest back on my pillow.
“Good job, Penny,” Marley says.
I look at her, and as I look, Turkey opens his eyes. His expression is bright, happy, and peaceful.
“How is Turkey?” I ask.
Marley strokes his forehead. “As soon as Chris let Buttercup go, I brought Turkey over to her place. The surgery only took one hour. Our little patient is right as rain.”
“Except for the scar on my stomach,” Turkey adds, telepathically so that only I can hear.
I smile. “Better than death,” I say aloud.
“Hm?” Annie says. I’ve just muttered her favorite word. “Yes, you’re right, Penny. We should have a party to celebrate at the Death Cafe.”
“That’s not what I said.” I say.
“This Wednesday,” Cora suggests, ignoring me. “Right after our knitting meeting.”
“Sounds good to me,” Marley says. “Chris, are you coming?”
I look over at Chris. He meets my eye. For a moment, we just stare at each other, as if trying to communicate without words.
There’s definitely things between us that need to be said. I have no idea if it’s the Love Spell that’s bringing up all of these unresolved feelings inside of me, or merely the fact that we’re both single and confused. Or is it that I just stole his cop car? Whatever it is, we really need to talk.
“Um, ladies, do you think I could have a word alone with Chris, just for a moment?”
“Ooohh!” Marley sings. “Chris and Penny!”
“The two love birds!” Cora says.
“Smoochie smoochie!” Annie adds.
I blush. Have I ever mentioned how mature my friends are?
“Just a few minutes,” I say casually, as if I’m not planning on spilling my heart out to Christopher Wagner.
The ladies parade out of the little hospital room, and Chris and I are left alone.
“I think we need to talk,” I say.
“Yeah,” Chris agrees. “We really do.”
He reaches up and rubs the back of his head, looking quite uncomfortable. Neither Chris nor I are very good with conversations like this. We’re better at bickering, or debating evidence or... well, doing anything except hashing out our feelings.
“Um... I guess I could start by apologizing for stealing your patrol car,” I say. “I’m sure that didn’t go over well with your chief.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” he says. “I didn’t really leave you a choice. I was being slow on the uptake, and you were onto something big.”
“Really big,” I agree.
“The chief wasn’t thrilled about the car... but there are more important things than my standing with the chief.”
Woah. I never expected those words to come out of Chris’s mouth.
“Really?” I say.
“Yes.” Now he looks really uncomfortable. “When we arrived on sc
ene, and I entered that kitchen and saw you lying on the floor... I thought you were dead, Penny. I thought I’d lost you.” He seriously looks like he might cry.
“I didn’t die,” I say. “I just shot myself in the face. No big deal.”
Chris gives a laugh, as if relieved that I’m trying to lighten the mood. But then his smile fades. His eyes are holding mine with intensity I’m not used to.
“I’m serious, Penny,” He says. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I break eye contact, and look down at the blanket. “Then why did you dump me?” I ask, my voice quiet.
“I guess... I guess I thought that being with Nathalie was safer,” he says. “It didn’t feel so... big. So unmanageable. Being with you—the way I felt for you—it scared me.”
“It scared me too,” I say.
Woah. Where did that come from? This is the first time that I realize that I ever felt scared. I guess these are the feelings that Max was talking about—one’s that I’ve stuffed down in attempt to hide from them. Well, they’re coming up now!
“Chris, you broke my heart,” I say.
“I’m sorry,” Chris says.
“It took me a long time to get over you. I think I’m still...” I look up, meeting his eye. My brow is furrowed. “I think I’m still working on getting over you.”
“Well, do you think you could stop working so hard at it?” He asks. “I mean, maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world for you to have feelings for me.”
“What are you trying to say?” I ask.
“I mean—I mean, I still have feelings for you, Penny. I don’t know if they’re ever going to go away. I don’t want them to.” He gathers up my hand in his, and he holds it while he looks down at me.
I used to dream about this moment.
I mean it. When Chris Wagner broke up with me, I spent hours fantasizing that he would come crawling back to me, saying that it was all a mistake, and that he wanted nothing more than to be with me again.
But now that it’s happening, I don’t know quite what to think.
I wasn’t afraid when I was storming in on Ken. A little bit nervous, and trying to manage my doubt, sure, but not really afraid.
Now, staring up into Chris’s eyes, I feel genuine fear.
“What if you hurt me again?” I whisper. “I don’t know if I can handle that, Chris.”
He holds my gaze. “If you give this another shot, Penny, I won’t mess up.”
“Maybe you won’t mess up... but what if I do?” I ask.
“Please,” he says.
I take a deep breath. And then, slowly, I feel a smile spreading over my lips. I want to try again. I want to see where this can go. More than anything I’ve ever wanted.
I feel myself nodding before I reach a conscious decision. It’s like my body has a mind of its own.
Seeing my agreement, Chris leans down, towards me. My heart is fluttering in my chest. I don’t know if it’s my witchy powers, or good old fashioned romantic butterflies, but something is going wild inside of me. I watch Chris come closer and closer.
When he’s just a few inches away, I speak. “Chris, this time... Let’s take things slow.”
I don’t know where that came from, either. But it’s another honest feeling. Chris and I moved so fast that last time we were together. If we’re going to give this another shot, it’s going to have to move slower.
“Okay, Penny,” Chris whispers. Instead of kissing me, he wraps his arms around me in the warmest hug imaginable.
His strong arms feel heavenly around me. I feel myself sigh, and for some reason, tears start pooling in my eyes. It just feels so good to be held. It’s like a dam inside of me is breaking. He squeezes me harder, letting me cry.
It’s been a crazy few days. I don’t know what is going to happen next in my life. I don’t know what will happen with our witch coven, or the portal. I’m not sure if Azure is going to hang around, or whether I’ll see Max again.
What I do know, right now in this moment, is that there’s nowhere I’d rather be than in Chris’s arms. I can smell his cologne. It’s familiar and comforting. His body is warm. I can feel his cheek next to mine.
Then, because I really can’t help myself, I turn my face a little bit. He feels me move, and turns to meet me.
Our lips press together in a gentle kiss. It feels absolutely magical.
******
The End
Dear Reader,
Did you enjoy this story? Please consider leaving a review!
Look for more from Penny Banks as she and her witchy sisters continue to learn magic. This prequel to the Hillcrest Witch Mystery series sets the stage for more magical mayhem to come!
I would love to hear from you! Shoot me an email at [email protected]. Or... try out your telepathy skills! I won’t promise to receive your message, because my own telepathy is still a bit rusty. I’m working on it though;)
Hope to hear from you soon!
Amorette Anderson
The Case of the Love Spell Page 17
