By that time, I was convinced that Maximillian had something to do with Langoria’s death, and when I saw him exit the courthouse and get into a brand new truck that looked like it had cost more than I’d made in my lifetime, I knew I had to bust him. Maximillian spotted me as he pulled the truck out of the two spaces he’d parked across, and he waved. I forced a fake smile and waved back.
Since it was the middle of the afternoon, Bubble & Brew Coffee was quiet. The chipper, college-aged girl behind the counter made chai lattes for Annika and I while I looked around.
The store’s walls were lined with shelves containing what looked like magical items. There were potion bottles, small cauldrons, dried herbs, candles, and tons of crystals. But none of it felt truly magical. It was as if humans had decorated the shop in witch memorabilia and had no idea that they were surrounded by real witches.
“Your lattes are ready,” the girl behind the counter called out as I examined a crystal ball in a skull-shaped holder. “Can I get you any pastries?”
“Actually, yes. Those walnut tarts look amazing. I’ll take two.”
“Sure thing.”
I took the coffee and the pastries and headed back to Annika’s shop. As I walked in, Remy was leaving. He nodded his head, said “Hello, Brighton,” and then kept walking.
It was a cold greeting, and he suddenly felt like a stranger. If it hadn’t been for my budding relationship with Thorn, I probably would have been even more heartbroken. As it was, his newfound contempt for me only made my chest ache a little.
“He’s really mad at me,” I said as I set the coffees and tarts on the counter in front of Annika.
“He’s mad at me too,” she said. “But he’ll get past it. I’m sorry I caused trouble between you two.”
“It’s all right. It’s not your fault either.”
“He’s just been acting so out of character lately,” Annika said. “Like, I had no idea he could be so cold. It’s strange, Brighton. I grew up with him, and I thought he was my best friend. It’s almost starting to feel like I never knew him at all.”
“I hadn’t expected him to turn on me like this either,” I said. “It kind of sucks. He seemed like he sincerely cared about me, but he just shut it off. And he shut it off right after promising to always be there for me.”
“I don’t know,” she responded. “He does seem to have flipped a switch, but the word around town about you dating Thorn probably isn’t helping,” Annika said and swatted my arm. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything.”
“I was going to tell you. I didn’t think anyone would know. I guess I thought Thorn wouldn’t say anything?”
“Why wouldn’t Thorn tell everyone? You’re a catch. Of course he’s excited.”
“We got into it too,” I said. “About me being involved in the case.”
“I understand Thorn being… prickly,” she said with a giggle. “That’s how he is. I wouldn’t take it too seriously.”
“I’ll try not to, but I do want to solve Langoria’s murder. I think I’d rather focus on that right now than relationships.”
Chapter Fourteen
When Annika and I left the shop for the day, I saw Maximillian’s truck parked outside of Dumbledore’s Diner. When I looked in the window, he was inside with his girlfriend, and they didn’t have food in front of them yet.
“Hey, Annika, where does Maximillian live?” I asked as she locked the door to the shop.
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to break into his house and see if I can find evidence he killed Langoria.”
“That sounds like something I need to be involved in.”
“Well, we have to hurry. We only have as long as it takes him and his girlfriend to eat dinner,” I said and pointed toward the diner window.
My hand shot back down to my side, and I turned away quickly when Maximillian turned and looked at me. Getting caught pointing at him hadn’t been part of the plan.
“He’s waving at you,” Annika said. “If you don’t want to look totally guilty, you’d better wave back.”
So I did. And just as I did, Maximillian’s girlfriend turned to see who he was waving at. If looks could have killed, I’d have had a hole in my head. Drusilla swiveled back around, and from what I could tell, began to lay into Maximillian.
“Let’s hurry,” I said.
Annika showed me where Maximillian and his girlfriend lived. We parked the car down the block in the alley so as not to make our little burglary obvious. This time we really were breaking and entering, but I was desperate to prove he’d killed Langoria.
We were fortunate that Maximillian had a door that led from his attached garage into the backyard, and he’d left it unlocked. We didn’t even have to use any magic to get in.
The backdoor to the actual house was a different story, but since Annika and I were in the garage, no one saw use using a spell to unlock the door. I was just about to turn the knob so we could slip inside when the garage door opener made a loud grinding sound and the main garage door began to lift.
“Oh, crap,” I whispered.
We didn’t have enough time to slip out the back of the garage so instead, we had to hide behind a stack of Amazon Prime boxes. Annika crouched down and scooted along the wall to give me space.
As soon as we were hidden, Maximillian’s truck rolled into the garage. He didn’t even bother to close the garage door before he and his girlfriend both got out and slammed their doors.
That’s when they started shouting at each other. She was mad about the new truck and the grill. He was angry because Drusilla still blamed Langoria for everything wrong in her life even though the matter was “over.”
“You bought this grill and this truck as soon as you had more money. You didn’t even think to get anything for me. I’ve been waiting all this time for you to spend money on me. For you to show me you care,” she yelled.
“Really, Drusilla? You think that’s how I should have shown you I care? Buying you this house and your car wasn’t good enough? Taking care of us financially wasn’t good enough?”
“I made money too,” she spat.
“I know you do, but you can’t argue with the fact that I support us. I know you contribute to our household, but even with the money I paid Langoria in alimony, I was still supporting us.”
“So what are you saying? You’re saying that you get to choose how we spend our money always because you make more?”
“I’m not saying that,” he said and squeezed the bridge of his nose.
I was watching the whole thing go down and praying they didn’t see us behind the boxes. The good thing was that they were too wrapped up in their fight to notice us.
“I think you are saying that. I don’t think you appreciate me. I take care of us in other ways. I come home from work and cook your dinner. I do your laundry.”
“I know that, and I appreciate it. But, Dru, you work part-time. I have a full-time job that sometimes requires overtime. Most times, in fact, and I think I’ve done a good job taking care of you. I got you the Mercedes you wanted and kept my old truck until I didn’t have to pay alimony anymore. I’ve tried to put you first.”
“No, you put her first. You always did.”
“I had to do what the court ordered, Dru.” He sounded defeated at that point.
“You never fought hard enough. It was because you wanted to take care of her. You still loved her. You cared more about her than me.”
“Dru,” Maximillian began. “This is the same argument we have over and over. It’s not true, and you know it. It’s really wearing me down. I’ve given you everything you wanted, and I just wanted something for me. I don’t know why you can’t understand that.”
“Maybe I should help you out by leaving. That way you wouldn’t have to worry about me or giving me what I want,” she said and pulled her keys out of her purse.
“Dru, wait,” he called as her heels clicked on the concrete. “Dru, honey, come on.”
She got into her car and backed it out of the garage. Maximillian got into his truck and backed out after her. Apparently, he intended to follow her wherever she was going. That gave us an opening.
Chapter Fifteen
“Let’s go,” Annika said as soon as they were gone and the garage door was lowered.
“You don’t think they’ll come right back?”
“Nah, she’s going to make him chase her for a while.”
We were in luck, and the back door was unlocked. It led into a laundry room off the kitchen. The house wasn’t huge, but it was much nicer than I’d expected. From the outside, it just looked like your regular suburban type home, but it was so much more.
The fit and finishes in each room had to have cost Maximillian a fortune. From the marble in the bathrooms to the tray ceilings and crown molding in the bedrooms, the whole house had been redone to look like a tiny mansion on the inside. All of the furniture looked pricy too.
That included the giant mahogany desk in what had to be Maximillian’s home office. I went through the drawers and found his important files easily. He had them in the same drawer as Langoria. They must have had shared habits form their marriage that never died.
What I found on the top of the file shocked me more than I expected. As in it wasn’t what I expected to find at all.
The first thing was a letter written and signed by Langoria:
Dear Maximillian,
While I do appreciate that you have taken care of my financially for all of these years after our divorce, I now understand why you’d like to stop. I originally fought you in court out of a stubborn sense of pride and entitlement. But you are right. I’ve been living well on your dime for long enough.
Thank you for the good years we had together, and thank you for making sure I always had what I needed. Even if you didn’t do it out of the kindness of your heart, I still appreciate all you have done.
Your friend,
Langoria
Underneath the letter was an agreement filed with the court ending the alimony payments. She had voluntarily given up the alimony before she died. Maximillian didn’t have a motive to kill her after all.
“Come on, Annika,” I said.
I found her in their pantry snooping around. Clearly she was not taking the case as seriously as I was, but that was okay. I had all of the information I needed from Maximillian’s house.
“Oh, we’re leaving.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I found paperwork in his office where Langoria dropped the alimony before she died. He had no reason to kill her.”
“Well, I mean, he might have had other reasons. We just don’t know.”
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“You sure you don’t want to look around some more. We did break in here after all. Might as well make it worth our while.”
“No, I think we should go. We’ve kinda broken into an innocent man’s house. Let’s get out of here.”
We left and I took Annika home. We agreed to meet for lunch the next day at Dumbledore’s Diner. I was too emotionally drained to feel like hanging out that night.
I really wanted to talk to Thorn, but I didn’t want to come off as needy. So instead of texting him when I got home, I just sat on the sofa and stared at my phone willing him to text or call me.
I’m in the neighborhood, can I come by?
It worked. He texted me right about the time his shift was usually over for the evening.
Sure. I’d like that. – was my response.
Good, ‘cause I’m in your driveway.
I went outside to greet Thorn as he was getting out of his cruiser. Neither of us said anything. I just hurried across the lawn and threw myself into his arms.
He kissed me quickly and then pulled back. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just really happy to see you. I guess I didn’t realize how worried I’d been about…”
“I’m sorry about that,” he said and pulled me close to him again. “And I’m sorry I made you worry. My job is to make you feel happy and safe, and I failed you.”
“You didn’t fail me.”
He kissed the top of my head and took my hand. “Let’s go inside before your neighbors call the cops on us for indecency.”
I laughed at that. “One, I hardly think a couple of kisses is indecent and two, you are the cops. Oh, and three, what neighbors?”
“There’s always someone watching around here. Even if you can’t see them.”
“Well, that was thoroughly creepy,” I said.
“I would think it would take more than that to creep out someone like you,” he said with a soft smile.
“Someone like me?” I asked as we walked through my front door.
“I just mean someone who lives across the street from a cemetery that she happens to work in. And lives in this big old house alone. And has that hair.” Thorn twirled a strand of my hair around his finger. “And there’s something else.”
Thorn looked like he was on the verge of a realization, and I knew exactly how he felt. It was how I felt before I knew I was a witch. When the notion was nothing more than an itch irritating the back of my brain.
“Something else?” I asked.
I wanted him to figure it out on his own, because I sure didn’t want to be the one to tell him. But could he even figure it out? The humans of Coventry willfully ignored the magic around them, but was there more to it than that? Was there magic in place to keep them from questioning the strange things that went on around them? If I dropped it right then and there, would Thorn just move on to a different topic?
Part of me wanted to let that happen, but the other half knew it was wrong. I was a witch, and if he and I were going to be something serious, I couldn’t hide it from him. If for no other reason than it would take more energy than I wanted to spend just to keep him in the dark. And I didn’t really want to keep Thorn in the dark about who I was. If we were going to fall for each other, then I wanted him to love the real me.
“Yeah, it’s like… I’m not sure… Brighton, do you ever feel like there is a whole other world out there that is just beyond your reach?” Thorn asked. “I mean, I know that sounds totally nuts, but it’s like there is a veil covering something. I can almost see it. I can almost touch it, but I’m not sure how. And every time I get close, it’s just gone again. Somehow, I just move on until the next time I’m close again. Man, that sounds so crazy. I’m sorry,” he said and started to put his hat back on his head.
“It’s not crazy, Thorn,” I said. “Come sit, please.”
“You don’t think I’m nuts?”
“Not at all, and honestly, I know exactly what you mean,” I said and moved to the sofa. “Please, come sit.”
He sat down next to me. “What do you think it is?”
“I know what it is,” I said and kissed him swiftly on the lips. “But if I tell you, you have to promise to hear me out. You have to swear that you’ll let it settle instead of running out of here on me.”
“You’re scaring me,” he practically whispered.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of, but promise me that you’ll hear me out. I’m going to let you in on something I’m not even sure if I’m supposed to tell you, but it feels like the right time. I’m trusting my intuition here, and I need you to trust me.”
“Okay,” he said, and I realized he’d taken my hand. “This is so strange. I feel strange. It’s like the edges are all fuzzy now.”
“That’s because you’re close to a truth. You’re close to a truth that most humans never even see.”
“Humans?” Thorn cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “Are you an alien or something?” he asked with a nervous chuckle.
“No, Thorn. I’m a witch.”
“What? Like you practice all that Wicca stuff? Is that why you dyed your hair like that?” His questions came gushing out, and there was a premature relief to them.
“No, not like that.” I said. “
It’s not like a religion that people try to practice. I mean that I am a witch. I was born a witch. In fact, at least half of this town are witches.”
“Like, you think you have magical powers?”
“I don’t think I have magical powers, Thorn. Stay with me here. I do have magical powers. So do a lot of us in this town.”
He flinched for a second, but then recognition settled in his eyes. “That just can’t be possible.”
“I promise you that it is,” I said and stood up. “Meri, come here.”
“Why are you calling the cat?” The anxiety in his voice was almost palpable.
“How long have you lived in this town?” I asked.
“My whole life,” he said and scooted to the edge of the sofa.
“And how long as there been a big black cat living in or around this house?”
He swallowed a lump in his throat. “No. That’s not… I mean, always. But there’s an explanation for that, Brighton. It’s obviously not the same cat.”
“But it is,” I said. “And there’s no explanation for this.”
What I did next was rather drastic, but necessary. I closed my eyes, envisioned a roaring fire in the fireplace, and snapped my fingers. As I’d hoped, a fire roared to life in the stone hearth.
“What?” Thorn rubbed his chin with the palm of his hand. “You have to have a remote or something. That was just a trick. Brighton, why are you doing this?”
“Yes, Brighton, why are you doing this?” Meri asked as he sauntered into the room from the kitchen and sat down on the floor in front of Thorn. “Why are you telling a human about us?”
Thorn’s eyes went wide. “He’s talking.”
“He is,” I said. “Meri is my familiar.”
“You’re completely serious.”
Thorn’s tone had turned from fear to something that sounded more like wonder. He looked at Meri and then back at me again.
“I am, but Thorn, I think you already knew this. You just didn’t let yourself dwell on it.”
Wicked Witches of Coventry- The Collection Page 19
