Becky rolled her eyes. “Here we go.”
“You’re going to listen for a second.” Hannah extended a warning finger and forced Becky to meet her gaze. “You may not like me — and that’s your right — but I still deserve a modicum of respect.
“I’m not asking you to be my best friend,” she continued. “I’m not demanding that you suck up to me or pretend that we’re on the same wavelength. What I am demanding is that you not be rude to me. I am your boss whether you like it or not and I’m not going to put up with the sass any longer.
“I get that you feel as if you’ve been hurt ... and disrespected ... and perhaps even done wrong by me. That’s not the case, though, and you need to get your head out of your ass. Seriously, I mean ... grow up. You’re not a child and you’re not always going to get your way.”
Becky’s mouth dropped open. “I can’t believe you just said that to me.”
“I’m not finished either.” She’d come this far. Hannah knew she needed to push through the rest of the way. Then it would be done. “You don’t have to like me. You do have to show me respect. If you don’t feel you can do that, it’s time for you to find another job.”
Something flashed in the depths of Becky’s eyes. It didn’t feel dangerous, but Hannah recognized the woman was on the edge of saying something she would most likely regret. She steeled herself for it.
“You’re firing me?” Becky queried finally. “Are you actually firing me?”
“No. I will if you don’t stop this, though.” She sucked in a deep breath and gripped Jinx’s leash tighter. “You can’t treat me like dirt. I won’t put up with it. I understand and accept that you’re upset. I will continue to treat you with respect. I won’t sit back and be a walking doormat, though.”
“Well ... that’s just ... .” Becky muttered something under her breath that Hannah couldn’t quite make out. It hardly sounded complimentary.
“Think about it,” Hannah suggested, shifting Jinx’s leash to her other hand. “You don’t have to go to Astra’s store to pick up the sage dust. I’ll do that. I want to talk to her anyway.”
Becky balked. “But Jackie told me to do it.”
“Tell her I said that I wanted to do it. Astra and I need to chat and you have some thinking to do. If you decide that you can’t do as I’ve asked, then I’ll give you a few weeks’ severance and you can leave tonight. Just ... give it some thought.”
“Fine.” Becky threw her hands in the air. “I’ll think about it. Are you happy?”
“Not even close. If you’re going to stay, the attitude has to go. No joke. If you keep talking to me this way, I will fire you. Make no mistake.”
“Whatever.” Becky scuffed her foot on the ground. “Is that all? Can I go now?”
“Yeah. Knock yourself out.” Hannah watched the dejected woman trudge away and wondered if she’d approached the situation in the right way. There was no way of knowing until Becky settled, she realized. After that, she would have to gauge the situation. That would have to wait, though. Someone needed to visit Astra’s store, and it only made sense that she should be the one to do it.
One fight down. One to go.
ASTRA’S STORE HAD UNDERGONE A FEW changes since the last time Hannah visited. She was impressed when she saw the buffed hardwood floors, and the counter area was new and shiny. Astra wasn’t behind the register, which didn’t surprise Hannah, but the new witch was.
“Stormy, right?” Hannah forced herself to remain calm under the haughty glare of the other woman. “You were at the river with Astra. Is she here? I need to talk to her.”
“Why do you assume she wants to talk to you?” Stormy challenged, leaning against the counter and fixing Hannah with a dubious look. “I’m pretty sure she thinks you’re a complete waste of time.”
“That’s her prerogative.” Hannah refused to rise to the bait. “I’m actually here to buy something for a spell and I was hoping to steal five minutes of Astra’s time. Can you please tell her that I’m here?”
“I think ... no.” Stormy wrinkled her nose. “She said she didn’t want to be bothered unless it was important. I can’t think of anything less important than you.”
Hannah forced a thin-lipped smile. “I think that should be her choice. Can you please just tell her she has a visitor? I promise I won’t take up more than a few minutes of her time.”
“I already told you no. In fact ... .”
The sound of a woman clearing her throat caused Stormy to trail off. When the witch shifted her eyes to the door behind her, she swallowed hard and then purposely blanked her face.
“Hey, Astra. You don’t have to worry about this. She wants to see you, but I told her that you’re only to be bothered for important things, which she’s not.”
Astra’s expression was unreadable, but Hannah was almost certain she found annoyance there ... and it wasn’t directed at her. Stormy was the one driving the white-haired witch around the bend.
“Thank you for looking out for me,” Astra said dryly. “I think I can decide who I do and don’t want to see, though. It’s not up to you ... or for debate.” Slowly, she tracked her eyes to Hannah. “Twice in one week. Things must be completely out of control at Casper Creek, huh?”
“They’ve been better.” Hannah saw no reason to lie. “I was hoping you might be able to help.”
“Yes, because that’s exactly how I want to spend my day,” Astra drawled. “Helping you will obviously complete me.”
Stormy snorted to encourage her boss. “You tell her.”
Astra’s eyes flashed with annoyance, but she kept her attention on Hannah. “Why would I want to help you?”
“Because whatever is happening out there is bigger than both of us,” Hannah replied, unruffled. She refused to let Astra bully her. If the woman wanted to laugh, shut her down, or even pick a fight, she would deal with the repercussions then. For now, she needed help, and she was worried Astra was the only one who could give it. “One of our workers showed up dead this morning.”
“That sucks for you,” Astra replied. “Who killed him?”
“I don’t know. The thing is, he was seen with the bride who went missing the day before. He was the last person seen with her.”
“So ... you’re saying he’s a murderer and yet someone murdered him?” Despite herself, Astra looked intrigued. “That’s weird, huh?”
“I don’t know that he was a murderer,” Hannah clarified. “He was definitely our chief suspect. He had ties to the woman who jumped off the bank roof. She dumped him for another Casper Creek worker and he was bitter. Someone slashed his throat on Main Street last, night, though. Whoever it was managed to do it without waking anybody.”
“Yes, well, I’m guessing you’re a heavy sleeper because of all that air whistling through your head and Tyler has the cover of the animals in his paddock,” Astra taunted. “If Arnie was out there — because he is sometimes — he’s so old that he can’t hear anything.”
“Yeah, but Cooper didn’t hear it either and he’s trained to listen for things like that.”
Hannah didn’t realize her mistake until the words were already out of her mouth. The rage that flooded Astra’s eyes was a thing to behold ... and then some.
“Cooper was there, too?”
Stormy sucked in a breath behind her boss. “Uh-oh.”
Hannah refused to back down. “He was. He was asleep, though. We were all asleep. Nobody heard anything. Not only was Rick killed, but most of his blood was stolen. It’s been suggested to me that someone might be trying to do a blood ritual and we want to do a mystic seance to see if we can ascertain who is doing this. I need some sage dust from you to carry out the spell, and I’m hoping you’ll just sell it to me without offering up any grief.”
Astra’s anger was palpable. “I take it you and Cooper are getting even closer than you were before.”
“That’s really none of your business.”
“Oh, but it is. Everything he does is
my business.”
Hannah shook her head. “It’s not, though. You lost the right to care about what he does when you turned on Abigail. He sees that as a betrayal to him because he loved her.”
“And does he love you now because you’re a stand-in for her?”
“I don’t think we’re quite there yet,” Hannah replied. “It doesn’t matter, though. It’s none of your business.”
“Except it is.” Astra’s anger had teeth and she lashed out with her magic, sending a blue bolt of hate in Hannah’s direction.
Even though she was caught off guard, Hannah managed to react to the magic ... although it wasn’t in a manner that anyone expected.
Instead of dodging, Hannah held up her left hand. The blue power surge, which was careening directly toward her, smacked into the palm of that hand ... and then exploded in a series of purple sparks as the red protection magic she’d somehow conjured without realizing she was doing it flared to life and beat back the attack.
Astra’s eyes widened as Hannah’s mouth dropped open. Neither woman had been expecting that outcome.
“What did you just do?” Astra barked.
“I don’t ... know.” Hannah stared at her hand. Her reaction had been instinctive, as if somehow she’d simply known what to do. “Hey!” Her eyes flashed as she focused on Astra. “You attacked me. I’m here to try to buy ingredients from you, and you attacked me for no good reason.”
“Oh, I had a reason.” Astra’s countenance turned dark. “You’re messing with things that shouldn’t be messed with.”
“Like what?” Now that she’d managed to show off a little bit, Hannah was feeling strong. “Cooper? Is that who you’re talking about? You don’t own him. Your relationship ended because you betrayed him. He won’t ever overlook that.”
“He doesn’t belong to you,” Astra hissed.
“He doesn’t,” Hannah agreed, making up her mind on the spot. She took a decisive step back. It was a mistake coming here, she realized. Astra was never going to willingly help her. On occasion, mutual need might have them crossing paths. The woman was never going to be a friend, though, and the sooner she accepted that, the better. “I don’t happen to believe that one person ever belongs to another. That’s not how to have a healthy relationship.”
Astra barked out a hollow laugh. “Oh, now you’re giving sermons on how to have a healthy relationship? That’s ... rich.”
“Not sermons. I just ... you know what? It doesn’t matter.” Hannah shook her head and started for the door. She was smart enough not to turn her back on Astra, though. She figured the dark witch wasn’t above attacking from behind if her guard was down. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
“I think we can both agree with that,” Astra said dryly. “I don’t care about your problems at Casper Creek. They’re not my problems ... until I take over that property. Then I’ll care.”
“That’s never going to happen.” Hannah was calm as she pushed open the door. “I may not be able to control much, but I can control that. I’ll make sure there’s never a chance for you to take over that land. I promise you that.”
“Just go.” Astra wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want to even look at you.”
“That goes double for me.” Hannah was halfway through the door when Stormy decided to make her voice heard.
“We’re going to take what’s yours,” Stormy warned. “We’re going to take all of it, and that includes that fine man you’re messing with. He’s not yours, and we’re going to take him back.”
Hannah didn’t respond. There was no need to. Astra, however, obviously couldn’t contain herself.
“That property and that man are both mine,” she snapped. “Who do you think you are?”
Hannah let the door fall shut, cutting off the rest of their argument. It had most definitely been a mistake coming here. She’d lived to tell the tale, though. That, at least, was something.
COOPER WAS HAPPY TO SEE RICK’S BODY had been removed by the time he returned to Casper Creek. He was freshly showered, his phone charged, and he was anxious to see Hannah. She’d been in her apartment preparing for the day when he left. He thought he should say goodbye to her, but he didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself from the workers who had managed to show up so he’d refrained. Now it had been more than two hours since he’d seen her and he was feeling antsy.
“Have you seen Hannah?” he asked as he stopped by Tyler’s paddock, his eyes immediately going to Jinx. The dog looked less than happy to see him. There wasn’t as much as a tail wag, although the canine’s glare of disdain was firmly in place. “What’s he doing here?”
“He is spending time with me because Hannah had an errand to run,” Tyler replied, hoisting a bag of feed so he could transfer it to the barn. “He’s grumpy, by the way. I think he thinks you’re trying to steal his woman.”
Cooper frowned at the dog as Tyler disappeared through the barn opening. “I’m not trying to steal your woman,” he announced, holding Jinx’s gaze. “I thought maybe we could share her.”
Jinx didn’t look impressed with the suggestion.
“I think we’re both good for her,” Cooper tried again. “I happen to care about her — and you — a great deal. We’re going to have to compromise here. I promise not to leave you down here overnight again if you agree to play nice.”
Jinx didn’t blink.
“Come on now. There’s no reason to be difficult.”
Tyler chuckled as he returned to grab another bag. “No luck, huh? I think you’re going to need to bribe him. He’s mad ... and it doesn’t help that Hannah took off and left him here again.”
Cooper straightened. “Yeah. Do you happen to know where she went?”
“She didn’t say. I saw her talking to Becky before she left, though. It looked like an intense conversation. Maybe she knows.”
“Ugh. I would rather not talk to Becky.”
“Is that because she loves you to the point of distraction?” Tyler teased.
“It’s because she makes me uncomfortable. I ... .” Cooper trailed off when he spied Jackie walking in their direction. “Maybe she knows.”
Tyler followed his gaze. “There you go. Jackie knows everything. She’s also not a fan of talking to Becky unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“Ha, ha, ha.” Cooper mustered a smile for the approaching witch. He’d always liked her and found her sarcastic comments funny at the oddest of times. “How is life in the seamstress world?”
“Stressful,” Jackie replied. “That’s why I’m here. I’m looking for Becky. Have you seen her?”
Cooper slowly shook his head. “No. I was actually going to track her down, too. Tyler thinks she might know where Hannah is.”
“Hannah ran to Astra’s shop to get ingredients for a spell we want to do. I sent Becky, but Hannah intervened and volunteered to make the trip.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because she gave Becky something to think about before leaving,” Jackie replied. “Basically she told her that she doesn’t have to like her, but Becky does need to show respect. If she doesn’t, she’s going to be fired. That was the gist of the conversation.”
“Well, I hate to say it, but that’s a conversation that needed to be held weeks ago,” Tyler noted. “I agree with Hannah on this one.”
“I do, too.” Jackie bobbed her head. “Still, Becky was in a bad mood even when I told her Hannah was being more than fair. I wanted to check on her, but I can’t seem to find her.”
Even though he was agitated that Hannah would visit Astra on her own, Cooper was resigned to helping Jackie look for the missing member of her coven. “We’ll check,” he offered. “By the time we find her, Hannah should be back. I’m going to want to have a talk with her, too.”
Tyler smirked. “It seems to be the day for it ... although I bet you wish you were doing something else with Hannah.”
Cooper jabbed out a finger. “Shut up.”
�
��Yes, sir.”
16
Sixteen
Becky hadn’t been found by the time Hannah returned to Casper Creek. Cooper put together a small search party — they really didn’t have a lot of people to choose from — and they scoured the town from top to bottom ... and came up empty.
Hannah found the group in the saloon when she returned.
“What’s going on?”
Cooper jerked his eyes to her, relief mixing with annoyance. “Where have you been?” He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear her say it.
“I went to Astra’s shop because Jackie needed some sage dust for a spell. She wants to do some sort of mystic seance so we can see what went down on Main Street last night. Becky was supposed to go, but I volunteered to do it for her. It didn’t go well.”
Cooper’s frown became more pronounced. “What does that mean?”
“It means that Astra has an attitude and I should’ve realized she would never willingly help. Stormy was there, by the way. She’s still annoying.”
Cooper shook his head. “Why did you go without me?”
“Because you weren’t here. Besides, I didn’t realize I needed a bodyguard.”
“Astra has it out for you.”
“Because of you. I know. She figured out you spent the night last night because I have a big mouth and she’s not happy. She actually tried to attack me with magic.” Hannah missed the way Cooper’s eyes fired and barreled forward. “This really cool thing happened, though. She fired blue magic at me — I have no idea what type or anything, but I think it was probably wicked — and my hand automatically went up and deflected it. I swear, it was like my body knew what to do.”
Cooper strode to her with a purpose, his hands sweeping over her shoulders and midriff. He was intent. “Are you hurt? Do you have pain anywhere? Tell me what you’re feeling.”
“I’m feeling annoyed.” Hannah pulled away from him, her eyebrows drawing together. “I just told you I protected myself.”
“And I want to make sure you’re okay.”
“Isn’t my word good enough?”
Boot Scootin' Boogeyman Page 16
