Okay, so she had perfect oval-shaped acrylics, but they were digging into my skin, about to draw blood.
Something had rattled her. Not just the break-in. More personal than that. She was a tough woman, and she wouldn’t be literally hanging on to me by her fingernails if there weren’t more to the story than that.
When she didn’t release me, I addressed the police over her shoulder. “We can take it from here.”
“We’ll be in touch,” Downy assured me. “Call if you think of anything or if you see your ex in town.”
“I’ll do that,” I told the polite lie. “Thank you for your service.”
The officers left, and Miss Dotha’s acrylic talons dug in deeper, but she didn’t budge for a full minute.
“Miss Dotha.” I couldn’t extract myself without hurting her. “What’s wrong?”
“He took them.” Her arms began trembling around me. “He took the girls.”
A lump formed in my throat. “Who?”
“Your ex.” She pulled back but didn’t let go. “He was here when I arrived at six. The weekly jar shipment came in last night, and I had inventory to do before we opened. The store was a mess, and when he saw me…” Tears filled her eyes. “He started ranting about a Colby Timms.”
Tiny feet dug into my scalp while Colby panicked at the sound of her name on Miss Dotha’s lips.
By this point, I was clutching her back. “What did he say about Colby?”
For him to bring Colby up to Miss Dotha, he must have sensed Miss Dotha’s witch heritage and figured that was why I hired her. Smart as he was, he would have quickly realized he was mistaken to do so, that she was blissfully ignorant of my real identity. Frankly, I was amazed—and grateful—he let her live.
“He demanded to know where she was hiding or where she might go.”
He must have thought she would run here after the house wards failed. “What did you tell him?”
“The truth.” She stared up at me. “I’ve never heard of her.” Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. “From what I know of your past, I assumed that was your birthname, that you changed it when you left him.” A fresh wash of tears poured down her wrinkled cheeks. “He was about to leave when the girls arrived. He did something, I don’t know what, but they collapsed in the doorway. Drugs, maybe? He had a stick with him. It was small, what my granny would call a switch. He couldn’t have done all this damage with just it. He must have had help.” She caught her breath. “He told me to call you and what to say.”
And that, right there, was the reason she was still breathing. To play messenger.
“He took the girls with him?”
“Yes.” She lowered her voice. “He picked them up, both of them, like they weighed nothing.” Her bright eyes burned with fear. “As he walked out, the storefront began to crackle. I ran to the office to call you, just like he told me to do, and the glass exploded. He must have set up a bomb before I got here.”
A bomb was as good of an excuse as any. “Did he tell you how to get in touch with him?”
“No.” A sob broke free of her chest. “He said he would call with instructions.”
Then he must be close. Watching. He would want to see I was following his rules.
“I need you to go home, pretend everything is normal, and help me keep the girls’ parents in the dark.” I regretted asking her to choose me over her own daughter, but Miss Dotha had overloaded her circuits. Bombs, superstrength, and possible drug use had tipped her over the edge. She was happy for simple directions. “I will call you the second I hear from the—” I bit down on the word killer, “—my ex.”
Head down, Asa stepped up to Miss Dotha. “Can I drive you home, ma’am?”
Of the two agents, he fit behind the wheel easier, and without the risk of busting another seat.
“No thank you.” Her hand rose to clutch her cross necklace. “The drive will give me time to calm down.”
There was no correlation between Miss Dotha taking comfort in her religion and Asa’s heritage, but he noticed the gesture and took a healthy step back. It made me wonder how often he garnered that reaction from those who were aware he was half daemon. With Clay as his partner, I doubt anyone mocked him twice.
As funny and sweet as Clay could be, he had a bad side no one in their right mind wanted to be on.
Clay took care of his people. It made me sound pathetic, but he had been my best friend. One of my only friends. I wasn’t raised to search out others to form bonds. Aside from alliances. And those were iffy.
Clay had changed my life. Forever. He was the only person who had ever seen any good in me. He was as much to blame for the switch flipping in my head as Colby. Maybe he had been the true catalyst, his goodness priming me for the moment I said “Enough” as I sprouted a conscience of my own.
“Get our girls back.” Miss Dotha cupped my cheek in her cold palm. “Kill the bastard who took them.”
Humans spoke those words out of anger, not intent, but I wasn’t human, and I meant to end this.
“Yes, ma’am,” Clay answered for me. “We fully intend to do just that.”
With that, Miss Dotha straightened her shoulders and crunched over glass until she hit the sidewalk.
Gesturing toward the office, I picked my way through the debris. “I’ll check the phone.”
“I’ll call the Kellies,” Clay said, “see if they can track Arden or Camber’s cells.”
The office was in ruins, the same as the store, but the portable phone worked when I lifted the handset.
“We’re good to go.” I scanned the mess. “This will be a nightmare to clean.”
Lotions, bodywashes, tinctures, and more saturated the floor with a layer of slippery, smelly goop.
Whoever or whatever had been stealing my rosebuds, they were out of luck now.
And…yeah…that was the least important thing happening here, but the tiny details were easier to swallow than the big ones. Those, like filing insurance to repair my store, threatened to choke me.
Seeking out my furry hairbow, I stroked her back. “How are you holding up, Colby?”
“He took Camber and Arden…” her small voice trembled, “…because of me.”
“No,” Clay corrected her. “He took them because he’s an asshole.” He hesitated. “Butthole?”
The slip made her laugh, which I was sure had been the point, since he winked at me on the sly.
“None of this is your fault, smarty fuzz butt. From the start, you were an innocent in all this.”
Nestling down in my hair, she hugged the top of my head and breathed, “Okay, Rue.”
“Ms. Hollis?”
The voice drew me out to find the promised help in the form of Miss Dotha’s son, Camber’s uncle. “Hi, Clive.”
“Mom told me you could use a hand.” He whistled at the destruction. “I brought my boys and plywood.”
“Thank you.” I blamed the fresh tears on the overabundance of eucalyptus extract. “I’ll pay for your time and your supplies.” I met him at the door and shook his hand. “It’s the least I can do.”
“Mom would tan my hide if I let you do that.” His smile was crooked. “I’m happy to help.”
Two boys around fifteen or sixteen walked up with toolboxes in hand, and the three of them set to work boarding up the front of my shop, door and all, and sweeping the sidewalk clean to spare me the chore.
As much as I wanted to stalk the phone until it rang, I followed small town protocol and dialed the diner. I ordered my helpers, and the three of us, sandwiches and chips for an early lunch. It was the least I could do, even if the gesture felt empty. Miss Dotha had sent one of her sons to help, who had no clue his niece was missing. Her family was lending me a hand without any expectations after I had cost them so much.
No.
I couldn’t think like that.
Camber and Arden would be okay.
They had to be.
About the time Clive and his boys finished up, I heard Ms. Hampshire call
out a greeting.
I was still in the store, making a tiny dent in the mess, when she walked in with multiple bags hanging on her arms. They left bright white lines in her tan skin, and I rushed to take a few. Clay pitched in too, but I couldn’t blame Asa for hanging back. He really did have a knack for spooking people. Especially humans.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I chided her. “I could have picked it up if you couldn’t spare someone.”
“Nonsense.” She hugged me the second my hands were empty. “We all saw your poor shop.”
“Yeah.” I picked at a fingernail. “Miss Dotha sent her son and grandsons to help. Most of the food is for them.”
“I figured.” She glanced around the store. “Do you need help in here?”
“No.” I gestured to my teammates. “The guys are helping me.”
Asa had been sweeping and changing trash bags for me while Clay stood guard near the door.
The sight of Asa holding a broom and dustpan must have set Ms. Hampshire at ease.
In her world, the scary guys must not be domesticated.
“Oh good.” She smiled at Clay and Asa. “Thank you both for helping our Rue.”
“We’re happy to, ma’am.” Clay ducked his head. “Thank you for going out of your way for us.”
“It’s no problem.” She waved him off. “Fresh air does a body good.”
“How much do we owe you?” Clay pulled out his wallet. “Pass me that ticket, Rue.”
“I won’t take your money or hers.” Ms. Hampshire lifted a hand. “Consider it a gift from me and Frank.”
Outright refusal would hurt her feelings, and I had become a person who cared about others’ feelings.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t fuss. “You won’t stay in business if you don’t start charging people.”
“Eh.” She flipped that same hand. “I’m about to retire. Let the person who buys us out worry about it.”
“Let me help you.” Clay offered her his arm. “The floor is still slick in here.”
“And they say chivalry is dead,” she tittered. “Thank you, young man.”
Clay was old as literal dirt, since he was made from the stuff, but he did look around forty.
Clive ducked his head into the store. “Are you ready for us to seal it up?”
“Yes.” I passed him his bags of food. “Thank you all for your help today.”
He grumbled to accept even that much payment, but the teens had their stomachs in their eyes.
Once Clay returned, Clive set the final sheet of plywood in place and began nailing it over the door.
“The Kellies replied.” Clay shook his head. “The phones are both off. He can’t track either of them.”
The girls never turned their phones off, which meant the copycat had done it for them. “Last location?”
A slight hesitation told me how much he didn’t want to say what came next. “Main Street.”
The immediate powering down of the phones reaffirmed the killer was tech savvy, which truly sucked.
On the upside, the privacy allowed Colby to stretch her wings for the first time in hours, but she kept her perch on my head. Pretty sure she had been asleep and had gone right back to napping to pass the time.
The wood blocked us from view off Main Street, and I deflated a bit, as if this version of me, this Rue, had been punctured with a sharp needle. Past and present, the two halves of my life had collided right out of the gate. I had been a fool to think I could keep this part untainted by the darkness of the other.
Black Hat was a cancer in its agents, and I was proof there was no cure.
15
The phone rang.
Ten hours and change after we arrived at the store.
I had been staring at it, willing its display to light. For a panicked heartbeat, I couldn’t decide if it was real or wishful thinking. The handset slipped across my damp palm when I grabbed it and answered.
“Hollis Apothecary, Rue Hollis speaking.”
Asa ducked into the office, mop in hand. Clay was right behind him. Both were listening in.
So was Colby, who was cuddled into a jacket Arden had left in the office, her dark eyes wide with worry.
“You have something I want,” a quiet, male voice informed me. “And I have two somethings you want.”
“You’ll have to be more specific.”
“I want the loinnir.” He paused. “Give it to me, and I will return the girls I took from your store.”
The long wait had cured me of any urge to play games. “I want proof of life.”
Twin screams pierced the air behind the caller, and he sucked in a breath, as if savoring their pain.
In a blink, Colby shot off the desk, shrank, and nestled down until my hair hurt from her yanking on it.
“There is your proof of life.” His voice grew huskier. “Meet me at Tadpole Swim.”
The lack of qualifiers stumped me. “When?”
A soft laugh flavored his tone. “Now.”
The call ended before I could ask more questions. No doubt that was the point.
“He didn’t tell me to come alone.” I flung the phone at its base. “That’s not a good sign.”
Villains loved their catchphrases, and that had to be number one.
Maybe number two, right behind don’t call the cops.
Which, now that I thought about it, he hadn’t used that line on Miss Dotha either.
“He knows you won’t come alone.” Clay didn’t sound worried one bit. “Why bother lying about it?”
Apparently, he appreciated a criminal willing to cut through the BS to the meat of the problem.
“He wanted off the phone as fast as possible,” Asa murmured. “Check the caller ID.”
“Maybe he worried we used our spare time to tap the line.” Clay shrugged. “Paranoia does that.”
Magic created too many loopholes for old school tech to be anywhere near reliable in these situations.
“He used Arden’s cellphone. It’s on. It’s turned on.” A drum beat in my chest. “Call the Kellies.”
There was every reason to believe the copycat had used a spell to conceal his location, but hope was like a weed. Hard to kill.
“We need to move.” I pushed from the desk and stood. “They’ll have to track on the way.”
Clay left the call to Asa. “How far is this Tadpole thing?”
“About twenty minutes outside town. It’s a popular swimming hole for teens.”
The girls met their boyfriends up there in summer, sneaking around like they invented skinny-dipping.
We burst out the back of the store, and I didn’t bother locking up behind us. We climbed into my SUV, and I drove the exact posted speed limit to give the Kellies more time to hit us with some good news.
“What will we do when we get there?” Colby’s quiet voice rang clear in the silence.
“Not hand you over, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
A shiver rippled through her I pretended not to feel. “You love Camber and Arden too, so…”
“I do, but me and you?” I reached up to scratch her head. “We’re in this together.”
“Okay.” She nestled back down. “I believe you.”
“You better.” I glared at her in the rearview mirror. “Or I’ll have to spank your fuzzy butt.”
A teeny-tiny laugh escaped her, and it was good enough for me. The kid didn’t deserve this. She survived the Silver Stag, but she lost everything. Her life, her family, herself. She got stuck as a moth. For eternity. Now her very existence was a temptation to those who practiced dark arts.
It wasn’t fair to force her down memory lane, but life wasn’t fair. Never had been, never would be.
About ten minutes out, Asa’s phone rang, and we all held our collective breath.
“They have a general area,” he reported, then waited on the line. “They have a location, one mile east.”
“No wonder he didn’t bother concealing himself,�
� I muttered. “He was calling on his way to Tadpole.”
“Probably,” Clay agreed. “What’s our plan?”
“There’s no time for a plan.” Asa stared out his window. “We don’t even know who or what to expect.”
Hard to plan a strategy with so many unknowns up in the air. “We’ll wing it.”
Colby stomped several of her tiny feet on my head. “I hope that wasn’t a moth joke.”
As much as I wanted to smile at her attitude coming back to her, I couldn’t get my mouth to cooperate.
“The black witch will be there,” I said instead. “As to the who, I guess we’re about to find out.”
Might be Kidd, might be something that looked like Kidd. Might be whoever cut off Olsen’s face.
Variables were endless, but our time had run out. The killer had his goal in sight and wanted to score.
I parked where the pavement ended, and we sat there while I lined up my thoughts.
“Clay.” I held my hand out to Colby, she climbed on, and I passed her to him. “Protect her at all costs.”
Burnt-crimson eyes bored into mine as Asa growled, “Who’s going to protect you?”
“I can take care of myself.” I twitched my lips in a smile Asa didn’t appreciate. “But I wouldn’t mind if you followed me in, say, five minutes. That’s how long it will take me to get to the pond.”
His lips parted, but whatever he planned to say died on a soft exhale of breath.
“Colby, listen to Clay.” I twisted to face her. “Do whatever he tells you, okay?”
“Be careful, Rue.” She climbed up his arm to sit on his shoulder. “Promise.”
“Cross my heart.” I made the motion. “And cross your fingers.”
I slid out before I lost my nerve, shut my door like it would protect them, then set off down the path.
The pond was how I remembered it the one time Miss Dotha sent me to fetch Camber after a missed curfew. It wasn’t wide, but it was deep. It saw too much action for scum to thrive on the surface, but a green tint colored the water when sunlight hit it just right. Tonight, with the new moon, the water loomed as black as pitch.
“You did an admirable job of hiding.” The same quiet voice from the phone rode on a warm breeze. “I’m embarrassed how long it took me to find you.”
Black Hat, White Witch Page 17