Several gunshots rang out from the tree line, and I flung my body over Andrew’s just as Janice dropped to the ground, still clutching the gun.
A confused look washed over her face as the gun and book dropped from her grasp. Blood from her wound was seeping onto her shirt.
“Margo, are you okay?” Ryder’s voice stilled my departure.
I glanced over my shoulder, refusing to believe this was over, and saw McCaffrey step out of the woods with the delivery driver in handcuffs. Ryder stepped out with him. His look of concern landed on me.
"Are you okay?"
"I am, but Andrew’s been shot. He needs help. How did you find us?"
Ryder crossed the distance between us, kicking Janice’s gun from her grasp before dropping to his knees to get a better look at Andrew, whose eyes were rolling back in his head. “Your sisters called.”
Ryder slid the phone out of his pocket and hit a number. I could only hear the one-sided conversation. "It's safe. We caught her, but Andrew was shot. Tell King to send the ambulance in."
Within a matter of seconds, Auntie B, Tess, and Georgia appeared at the tree, standing next to me. Tess dropped to her knees beside me and threw her arms around me.
“You're safe."
"If you would have just waited another ten minutes, we could've found out who she was working with."
“Why not just ask her?” Georgia said.
“She’s dead.” I whispered.
"Are you suggesting that she had an accomplice?" Ryder asked.
"According to her, she did. He was on his way."
Sirens could be heard in the distance heading in our direction. It wouldn't be long before somebody arrived to stop the bleeding on Andrew's leg. His face was as white as a ghost and my heart seized tight making it difficult to breath. I wasn’t going to let him die like this. Stay with me, Andrew Gold, or so help me, you’ll never get any eternal peace.
We stepped out of the way when the paramedics arrived. King and other detectives and police personnel had converged on the area and cordoned it off.
Tess, Margo, and I stood outside the taped-off area an hour later while the crime scene was being processed. Auntie B had walked toward the coven to let the other members know what was going on and to inform the witches’ council members that were still on site. Ryder left a short time after Auntie B. He and McCaffrey were hauling the driver back to the coven for questioning.
As relieved as I was, the council members would be even more relieved having Manny’s book back. My gaze scanned the area, and there was no book. "Where’s Manny’s book?"
"What book?" King asked.
"Manny's spell book. Janice had it."
"Let me check with forensics to make sure somebody hasn’t already bagged it."
I moved closer to my sisters and chewed my nails while watching King check with the others in the area. He returned with a worried look on his face. "No one has seen a book."
Dread filled my body.
"How is that possible?" Tess asked. “There must be twenty of us here. How did we let that book slip past us?"
“It’s obvious. Whoever Janice was working with was someone on the inside.” Even though Manny’s killer had been captured and my sisters were safe, there was a new threat looming on the horizon. Whoever was the muscle behind the voodoo killer team was still out there. And now he or she had the book.
Chapter 18
The crime scene had been processed and some of the coven members had found a rope in the woods and had reported it to the police. That might be our only link to figure out who else might have been in on the killings.
Days later I handed another cup of coffee to Andrew, who had propped his wounded leg on the couch and lay covered with a blanket.
I cared about him more than I realized. “You good?”
He took my hand as I was about to walk past and stopped me, his eyes searching for what I didn’t know. “I don’t want to use the spell.”
I smiled. “It’s probably wise if we don’t. She could have given us one that will turn us into purple pigs.”
“Then you’re stuck with me for a while longer. Are you good with that?”
I sat down next to him on the couch. “If I’d known you could use a shield to block my thoughts, I might not have run all those years ago.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
Everything in me wanted to think that this would be okay and that he and I would figure out how to work through the connection.
“We will,” he said, reminding me again that my defenses were lowered. “Manny’s killer was caught. Now we can work on finding us a solution and figuring out who Janice was working with.”
“We need to start with the grimoires,” Georgia said, entering the room as if she’d been listening the entire time.
“It shouldn’t take us long if we’re all searching through the spell books.” Tess said entering the room behind Georgia.
“We might have to do this the old-fashioned way and actually read through the spell books while we’re monitoring the magic beneath the town.” She paused and held out her hand. “And when I say that we’re going to read the spell books, we aren’t doing it out loud. God forbid we summon a demon.”
The front door flew open. King, Theo, and Livvy walked in. Livvy hopped up into a seat next to Tess as King ran his hand over his head. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”
Apprehension caused me to glance at my sisters.
“What happened?” Tess asked.
“The rope we found in the woods disappeared before we could check it for DNA.”
“How did it disappear?” Georgia asked. “Don’t you guys have like a protocol and keep stuff in an evidence locker?”
“We do,” King answered. “But the guard didn’t see anyone enter the locker.”
“It had to be a witch or a wizard,” Theo said. “Maybe he or she used that…hide and seek spell mumbo-jumbo that Mildred and you ladies use in the antique shop.”
I turned my glare on Theo.
“What? You know it’s probably true.”
There was a knock on the door, and Theo answered it. “The other cop is here,” he said, walking back into the sitting room and reclaiming his seat. Ryder followed him into the room.
“So we lost the rope. We still know someone was staying in your great-grandmother’s room at the coven, and now that Margo and I saw that someone was staying there, we can take an article of his and test that to see who was staying there. It has to be the killer,” Andrew said.
“What room?” Ryder asked.
“The one at the coven that has been locked for decades,” I answered.
“What brings you by, Ryder? I thought you would have left by now with the council members,” Tess said.
“We’ve also taken custody of the delivery driver. He’s going to have to answer to the council for his involvement.”
“So you figured it out?”
“Janice gave him the insulin to put in the fruit. He’s confessed to most of it, but he claims he loved her. Don’t worry, we’ll get him to tell us the rest and admit to being her accomplice. I just came by to tell you that Witch Wars has been cancelled. The last thing we need is the FBI looking in on our practices.”
“That’s probably a good thing,” Andrew said, slipping his fingers through mine. “With Tess planning a wedding, and Georgia dealing with an antique shop, that will give Margo and me time to search for the spell that breaks our connection.”
“About that…” Ryder grinned and pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket. He handed it to me. “I talked Maya Phillips into giving me her spell. I convinced her it was the least she could do for your help in figuring out who killed Manny.”
I shared a look with Andrew before meeting Ryder’s gaze. How could we have gotten so lucky? “Thank you.”
He nodded. “I should get going.”
Within two weeks, we’d performed the spell, and our connection was severed. It was weird h
aving that peace in my head and not having to actually guard my thoughts. It wasn’t my thoughts during the day that I was worried about. It was the absent ones at night. I hadn’t been able to connect with my father like before. That connection seemed severed as well, because I refused to believe any other reason for his absence.
Even though the connection with Andrew no longer existed, he’d surprised me. He wasn’t in any hurry to leave. We were rekindling our relationship, and it appeared our chemistry was even stronger than the first time we’d gotten together. Maybe it was age or a new appreciation for life in general; regardless, he didn’t need to be in my head to know how and what I needed from him. I just needed someone who understood, and out of everyone, he understood me best. Maybe the spellcasters had been right when they’d chosen to connect us.
Andrew told me he stayed because the coven needed him, but I think we both knew why.
He was helping us skim through the spell books in the antique store, his leg propped up on another chair, as I stood at the bookshelf debating which book to try next. I was still on the hunt for my dad’s journals, and we were looking for any connection we could to this voodoo killer. He had to be mentioned at least somewhere.
“Did you guys go back to the Hexford room at the coven?” Georgia asked.
“Yeah,” Andrew answered. “It was all cleaned out. Until we can figure out how to unlock the door, we can’t get any forensic personnel in there to start looking for answers without divulging our use of magic.”
“Did they check for DNA on the door handle?”
“It was wiped clean,” Andrew said.
“But someone still have a key and the lock won’t budge?” Tess asked with a sigh, tossing her wedding magazine onto the table.
“We’ve tried everything,” I admitted in embarrassing defeat. “Still no dress?”
“Nope, nada. I’ve almost convinced King to elope.”
“Almost,” King said as he descended the stairs. “Her father and brother won’t have it. They want the wedding on the island, and they promised to take care of everything. Shut down the hotel if need be.”
My eyes widened at the thought. “And?”
King tossed his arm over Tess’s shoulder and kissed her. The love between those shined brighter than any I’d ever seen.
“And I told him sooner was probably better than later, so we’re getting married on the island.”
I slowly rose from my spot. “Why sooner?”
Her smile was big and bright and filled up the room.
King rested his hand over her belly. “We’re expecting. So no fighting bad guys anytime soon.”
She held up her fingers in a salute. “Scout’s honor.”
Lights flashed on the wall alerting us that we had a situation. The location was the town middle school. Georgia grabbed the compass from the table. “I’m sure it’s just kids trying to cast spells. I’ll take care of this, and we can celebrate later.”
Georgia walked over the wall, and before she put her hand on the map, she added with a smile, “I’m going to be aunt…again. First to Livvy and now to this baby. Just think of all the fun things I’m going to teach those two.” Her laughter vibrated through the room as she disappeared into the wall.
Congratulations sounded around the room before Tess excused herself to meet Auntie B at the inn to discuss plans for when everyone would be gone.
Andrew and I stayed another hour and continued to look through the books for answers to some of the riddles.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked just as I was flipping the last couple of pages in my current book.
“Yeah,” I said and rose, flipping the last page. It was only then that I saw it. A simple line of text. “Philmont Shields. Voodoo Practitioner.”
Lead filled my stomach as I slowly shook my head.
“If we leave now, we can stop and get Tess some flowers.”
I gestured to the book. “I know who the accomplice is.”
“Who?” he asked, using his cane to hobble to my side. He glanced down at the book.
“Ryder is related to a notorious voodoo doll practitioner. He has to be the one behind all of this.” I lifted my gaze. “He showed up on the island and met Tess, but that’s not before Georgia’s mother was killed and he’d met her. He knew both my sisters before any of this started.”
“He’s a tracker for the council. I’m sure they looked into his history and deemed him worthy.”
“It wasn’t always like that,” Auntie B said from the top of the stairs. “You can’t judge a witch by their family. That wouldn’t be fair, would it, Andrew?”
Andrew met her gaze. “No, I guess not.”
“You should tread carefully, Margo. Accusing a tracker is a dangerous thing.”
“But what if I’m right?” I asked, lifting my chin. “What if all this time Ryder has been playing all of us? He was on the island when Tess came into her powers. He was there with Georgia when her mother was killed, and he knew about my painting. Not to mention he was there when Manny’s book disappeared. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Why do you suppose he’d need a spell out of Manny’s book?”
Andrew turned the page and lifted it for me to see, stepping in between my aunt and my determination.
“Well, hell.” Andrew sighed, handing me the book. “Looks like one of your ancestors used to sit on the council back in the beginning and that same ancestor put a binding spell on the Shield’s family name. He needs the book to lift the spell.”
“I’m afraid that book isn’t the only thing he’s going to need,” Auntie B exclaimed. “He’s going to need Hexford blood.”
“This isn’t over?” Andrew asked.
“Not by a long shot,” Auntie B answered.
“The only question is, do we tell Tess and Georgia before or after the wedding?”
Georgia appeared in the room, pulling strands of spaghetti from her hair. “Tell me what?”
As much as I didn’t want to tell Georgia, I wouldn’t keep this secret from her. “We may have a lead on the identity of the killer, but we don’t have any concrete evidence yet. I need you to trust me and the reason I can’t tell you yet.”
Georgia sighed. “Haven’t you learned anything by now?”
I clasped my fingers together. “When I tell you who I think it is, you’ll want to kill him, and you won’t stick around to listen to why you need to stay close.”
Her brows dipped. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
I shook my head, and Auntie B rested her palm on my back. “You’re doing the right thing. Tell her why first and then break the news.”
“The killer needs Hexford blood, and that’s why you can’t go after him. With Tess expecting, we need to stay close to her.”
“Okay,” Georgia said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I won’t run off and kill the guy until Tess is safe. Now tell me.”
I grabbed the book and handed it to her. I knew the exact moment she saw the same thing I did. She snapped her gaze to mine. “Seriously?”
“We don’t have proof that it’s him…yet, but Auntie B thinks he stole the spell book to break the curse we placed on his family, and if that’s the case, he’s going to need our blood.”
She held up her hand. “Wait. If Ryder has our dad and is torturing him, why not just use dad’s blood?”
“One Hexford wouldn’t be enough. Do you remember how many of us it took to lift Theo’s curse, and that was just changing him from a cat back into a man.”
“Margo’s right.” Auntie B announced. “To lift a curse that strong placed by council members, it’s going to require much more power than any of us individually have at our disposal.
Georgia slammed the book closed. “Have you told Tess?”
I shook my head. “If we tell her, she’ll cancel the wedding and try to run King and Livvy off. We know her. Their safety is imperative and if they were to be taken like our dad, they could be used as leverage.”
>
“Okay.” She nodded and dropped her defensive pose. “Then we give her the safety, the wedding, and we’ll deal with Ryder.”
“How?”
She grinned. “He’s been a part of our lives this long, so I’m sure we won’t even need to send him an invite to the wedding for him to show up with some excuse of needing to be there. And when he does…we’ll be ready.”
I nodded. That was a plan I could live with. “We should go celebrate with Tess.”
I’d headed for the stairs when Georgia called out, “Why drive when you can get there faster? We need to protect her.”
Auntie B stepped over to Georgia and patted her arm. “I’ll go with you. I believe that Margo has some important calls to make.”
It was true. Auntie B did know everything. I smiled as Andrew followed me.
Pulling out my phone, I texted Harley. The Hexfords and I need your help. I’ll send you an invite. Be sure to bring your new bag of toys. We’re going to need them.
She replied with a smiley face. That was all the confirmation I needed. The next call to Tess’s stepfather, Masterson Venture, would be the most important. He answered on the third ring.
“Masterson Venture,” he answered.
“Mr. Venture, you don’t know me, but I’m Tess’s half-sister.”
“Margo or Georgia?” he asked.
“I’m Margo. You’ve heard about us?”
“Of course. Tess told us all about both of you when she was here. Margo, what can I do for you?”
“I’m afraid we’re going to need your help with the wedding.”
“Whatever she needs,” he answered.
“Top security and the strongest witches you trust.”
The final (for now) Hex Sister book will be coming out in March 2019. Be sure to subscribe to my email to be notified of future release dates. www.kateallenton.com
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