Cold as a Witch's Toffee

by Sara Bourgeois

  But it wasn’t the coffee table that interested me. Instead it was what sat on it. There was a nearly empty box of Ho-Hos, two empty bottles of wine, and a stack of papers.

  I picked up the papers and discovered they were divorce papers filed by Lukas. Someone, and I assumed it was Laney, had written on almost every single sheet. Red scrawl that was nearly illegible said:

  OVER MY DEAD BODY

  She hadn’t taken being served with divorce papers well. Or, had she written that recently in a drunken rage? But then that didn’t make sense.

  “What’s that?” Voodoo asked.

  “Divorce papers with crazy stuff written on it, snack cakes, and wine,” I said and set the papers back down.

  Voodoo looked at the papers. “That’s not exactly a threat. Maybe if it said: over your dead body.”

  “You’re right. She could just be super messed up emotionally over the whole thing,” I said. “Did you find anything?”

  “Cut-up wedding photos and a smashed vase,” Voodoo said. “A wedding gift perhaps? Looks like something a mother-in-law would give.”

  “Well, this is a big house, so let’s keep looking.”

  “You’re the boss,” Voodoo said.

  Near the front of the house was a wide marble staircase that led to the second floor. At the top of the stairs, you could go left or right into the separate wings of the house.

  I decided to go to the right first, and I made it about ten feet down the hall when I heard what sounded like a door slam downstairs. Someone had come into the house.

  My options were limited. I could go deeper into the house and try to hide, or I could attempt to sneak out right away. There were a lot of rooms, and I doubted that whoever had come in would go right to the room I’d chosen. Going down the stairs seemed risky since I didn’t know where the person who had come in had gone. I could go down and walk right into whoever it was.

  I was about to make my way into the first door in the hallway when it suddenly slammed shut. It was loud, and I heard the person downstairs stop.

  “Is someone up there?” they called out.

  If no one was supposed to be in the house, who had just slammed the door?

  Chapter Ten

  I heard the clicking of heels coming up the marble stairs. Escaping that way was out of the question, and the closest door had just slammed shut.

  My only choice was to move onto the next door on the other side of the hall and hope that no one was in that room. As I was running past the door that had slammed, with Voodoo right on my heels, it opened again. Only there was no one there, but that didn’t stop it from slamming shut again.

  “Hello?” the woman on the stairs called out again. “Say something, or I’m calling the sheriff.” Fear made her voice waver a bit.

  Great, I thought. She was going to call the sheriff, and I was totally going to get busted for being in her house. I knew that would end up making me look even more guilty. I had to hide and then find a way out fast.

  The only problem was that the next door slammed shut too. I looked at Voodoo, and he nodded toward the door as if he wanted me to just go in.

  I tried the knob, and it wouldn’t budge. Voodoo must have done something, because he nodded toward it again, and that time, it opened.

  We went into the room, a bedroom, and there was no one in there. There was a closet, though, and both Voodoo and I slipped inside.

  Well, we didn’t exactly have to slip. It was a fairly large walk-in closet, but in a house that size, I knew we weren’t in the master bedroom. Additionally, the closet wasn’t filled with regular clothes. It was all garment bags, winter clothes, and ski suits. We’d caught a lucky break and wedged ourselves behind some full-length fur coats.

  “What is slamming the doors?” I whispered.

  “I’m not an expert, but I’d say a ghost,” he whispered back.

  “A ghost that’s trying to get us caught and arrested?”

  “It would seem.”

  “Would that be Lukas? Why would Lukas want us to be arrested for trying to solve his murder?”

  “Shh,” Voodoo warned.

  I hadn’t heard her out in the hallway, but the woman came into the room. “No, never mind. I thought I heard a door slam in my house, but I think it was just a draft. I had the back door open while I carried in some shopping bags.” It was Laney. “No, it’s fine. I’m sure. You don’t need to send anyone out to check.”

  She disconnected the call and walked over toward the closet. I held my breath wondering if she’d heard us after getting off the phone.

  Thankfully, not only did Laney turn and leave, but she left the door to the room open. As soon as she was back downstairs, we’d be able to sneak out. Provided the ghost didn’t slam the door again.

  No sooner were we out of the closet, when the specter did just that. Fortunately, my reflexes were decent. I instinctively reached out my hand to stop the door, and while I was too far away to actually catch it, the door stopped anyway.

  “Come on,” I whispered to Voodoo. “The ghost isn’t going to like that.”

  I wish I’d been wrong. No sooner were we out in the hallway when every door began to slam down the line. I heard Laney turn and start to run back up the steps.

  “I’m calling the cops back.” She screeched in her trademark shrill.

  We couldn’t go down the way we’d come up, and it was too risky to hide again. Instead, Voodoo and I turned and ran down the hall away from the main staircase. I didn’t know what we were going to do, all I knew is that we had to move.

  Lady Luck smiled on us again, because at the end of the hall on the left were narrow, dark servants’ stairs. We made our way down them as fast as we could and then through the corridors that ran between the rooms. We were actually in the walls, though, and unless Laney came down those stairs and followed us, no one could see us moving through the house.

  Voodoo and I found ourselves an opening that led into a small staging room off the kitchen and we high-tailed it out through the mudroom.

  “We can’t go back down the driveway,” I said once we were outside. “If she’s called the sheriff, someone could tell Bethany it was us.”

  Voodoo looked around. “Follow me.”

  He ran across the lawn to a line of trees that skirted the back of the property. I kept up with him but was knocked on my butt when we hit the edge of the forest. I’d slammed into a chest-height branch that knocked the wind out of me.

  Voodoo rushed back to my side and licked my hand. My lungs expanded, and I was fine. I scrambled to my feet and was more careful as I followed Voodoo into the woods.

  It wasn’t like going on a hike. There were no trails. Voodoo could move easily through openings in the trees and shrubs, but I had to climb over and under the limbs that were too sturdy to move.

  “Where are we going?” I asked after about twenty minutes.

  Despite being in great shape, I was exhausted. Working out in the gym and doing aerobics hadn’t prepared me for that type of challenge. I felt ready to collapse.

  “Are you okay?” Voodoo asked.

  “I’m just really tired. This is so much harder than it should be.”

  “That’s because you used magic,” he answered. “Which was awesome, by the way. You just did it naturally. Rowan is completely right about you.”

  I wanted to be excited about it, but I was too tired. My eyelids began to feel heavy, and my stomach growled loudly.

  “Can we rest for a few minutes?”

  “We can, but we’re almost there. These woods open up at the end of your block, and we are almost there,” Voodoo said. “Do you think you can keep going just a bit longer?”

  “I can,” I said, and I felt a second wind. “Hey, did you do that?”

  “Do what?” Voodoo asked, but there was a tone.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “For what?” Voodoo asked. “But, seriously, if I did do something, don’t expect me to do it all of the time, and don’t
be asking me to get you high or anything like that.”

  “Wait, you can get me high with magic?” I asked. I guessed that made sense. If he could give me some energy to get through this hike, then it would probably give me a real boost when I wasn’t about to fall over.

  “I’m not saying one way or another. You just shouldn’t ask me to do that.”

  “Then why did you bring it up?” I asked.

  “Because it kept you distracted, and now we’re at the end of the woods.”

  “Oh, thank goodness. That was pretty smart keeping me distracted so I could finish the walk. I appreciate it.”

  “Of course, I’m smart,” Voodoo said. “I’m a dog, not a dumb cat.”

  “Cats are smart,” I protested. “They’re supposed to be more intelligent that dogs even. Sorry, no offense.”

  “First of all, have you ever talked to a cat before?”

  “No.”

  “That’s why you think they are smarter than dogs. Try talking to one sometime, you’ll see. And secondly, have you ever seen a cat do tricks?”

  “In the movies,” I said.

  “This conversation is over,” Voodoo said, and he trotted off toward the house without me.

  As soon as we got back in the house, I threw myself down on the sofa. “You should eat something,” Voodoo said.

  “I will in just a minute. I just need to rest my eyes for a moment.”

  When I opened them again, it was dark outside. My stomach felt like it was eating itself. The smell of Chinese takeout hit my nose and made my stomach growl so loud I was sure Mrs. Miller would hear it next door. I sat up and wondered how Voodoo had gotten Chinese food.

  “I think she’s awake,” Rowan said with a chuckle.

  His voice had come from in the kitchen. “You heard that too?” Voodoo answered.

  “I think they heard that in the next county,” Rowan said.

  “I thought it might have been a demon,” Voodoo retorted.

  I got up and tried to hurry into the kitchen, but my body felt like it was made of lead. “I can hear you,” I grumbled.

  “Yep, she’s awake,” Rowan said.

  Suddenly the top half of my body felt heavy while my legs felt light. I almost fell but caught myself against the wall.

  In an instant, Rowan was in front of me. He scooped me up into his arms. “Whoa there, cousin,” he said.

  “We’re not really cousins,” I said and let my head fall against his chest.

  “Are you flirting with me?” he asked with a smile I couldn’t see but I could feel.

  “Did you get me food?” I didn’t want to answer that.

  “Of course, I brought you food. What kind of monster do you take me for?”

  “You’re not a monster, but you are a wicked witch.”

  “Okay, now you are flirting with me.”

  He sat me down in a chair at the table. In front of me was a plate piled high with all of my favorite Chinese food. There were little mountains of orange sesame chicken, another of lo mein, two eggrolls, and a stack of crab Rangoon. He’d had to use a serving dish to get it all on one plate.

  “I can’t eat all of this,” I said in a moment of panic. “I’ll blow up like a balloon.”

  “Not only can you eat all of that, you have to. Doctor’s orders,” Rowan said.

  “You’re not a doctor.”

  “You are either going to eat it, or your body is going to keep feeling like it’s made out of drying concrete. It’s not an indulgence, Allegra. You need it.”

  My only response was to dig in. I lost the battle in my head telling me it was too much food. It still seemed that I had a lot of demons in my head to battle over food, but fatigue and gnawing hunger won out.

  Rowan let Voodoo out into the back yard to sniff around and then joined me at the table. He looked at the food like a tiger eyeing its prey.

  “Are you going to have any?” I asked in between shoveling forkfuls of lo mein into my mouth.

  “Well, I thought I got enough for us both, but I don’t want to take any in case you want to eat it all.”

  He’d been looking at a box of orange chicken, so I picked it up and set it down in front of him. After that, I passed him a carton of fried rice and the greasy bag of egg rolls.

  “Dig in,” I said. “I can share. I don’t think I can eat all of this myself, and hey, if I’m still hungry when we’re done, we can always just go get more.”

  “Thank you,” he said and dug in.

  When we were done, Rowan told me to go rest while he cleaned up. I felt bad for him having to tidy up the kitchen and dining room alone, but he reminded me that he was just going to use magic.

  A few minutes went by, and I felt alive again. Rowan joined me in the living room with two glasses of white wine. “It’s a Riesling,” he said and set the glass down on a coaster in front of me.

  “I haven’t drunk much,” I said as I considered the translucent liquid.

  “Well, the Riesling is a good place for you to start. It’s light and fruity in my opinion. Unless you don’t want it. I can go if you just want to go to bed. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

  “No, stay. Please, and thank you for the wine. I’ll give it a try,” I said.

  I half expected Rowan to sit next to me on the sofa, but instead he sat down in the chair next to the couch. He turned to face me and took a sip of the wine. I felt his eyes burning through me, so I lifted the glass and took a drink as well.

  It was a welcome distraction for the intensity of his attention. I got the feeling that Rowan was an intense person, and I wondered if there was anything mystical about him that drove that in him.

  “You look like you’re thinking about something,” he said.

  I covered by talking about the wine. “It’s intense,” I said. “It burned a little more than I expected, and I almost didn’t want to swallow it.”

  “But?”

  “But the second sip was better. I can taste the fruitiness now instead of just chemical,” I said and took another sip.

  “You’re not talking about the wine,” Rowan said pointedly.

  I was and I wasn’t. “We just met,” I blurted out.

  “No, Allegra, we didn’t. I’ve known you longer than just about anyone else, I’d say.”

  “I mean, yeah, we knew each other as kids, but I’ve changed. I mean, we’ve just reconnected.” I could feel heat rising to my cheeks, and I wasn’t sure if I was excited or terrified.

  Rowan moved to the edge of his seat, and I wasn’t sure if he was about to pounce on me. I didn’t believe it was possible, but his gaze became even more intense.

  “I don’t think you’re so different,” he said. “I think you were for a long time, but that wasn’t the real you. You’re becoming the real you, and I know you. Psychologists say that your core personality is already defined by the time you are five.”

  “Is that so?” I asked.

  “I think so,” he said and scooted forward a little more.

  Rowan looked like a tiger sizing up his prey again. I had to wonder if I was just another craving to him like the Chinese food. The way he gazed at me was similar.

  “Where is Voodoo?” I said knowing I had to put the brakes on whatever was happening between us. “He and I saw some things today.”

  “He told me,” Rowan said.

  “Wait, he told you about what we did today? I thought he was supposed to be on my side.”

  “Allegra, I’m on your side too, and yes, he told me. It’s how I knew why you were so drained. Remember?”

  “Right, sorry. That bit is still a little fuzzy. It makes sense, now.”

  “Voodoo told me that there were divorce papers with something written on them in red ink.”

  “‘Over my dead body’, and it was written in all caps like the person was in a rage when they did it,” I said.

  “And you think it was Laney who wrote it?” Rowan asked.

  “I would assume so because it was Lukas who filed the
papers.”

  “That make sense. So, what about the ghost?”

  “It was slamming doors like it wanted us to get caught. Laney came home and it was alerting her to us, and she threatened to call the sheriff. We were lucky to escape without getting caught,” I said.

  “It sounds like it,” Rowan agreed. “I think you should take me with you when you do stuff like that.” He took a large gulp of his wine.

  “So, you endorse my breaking and entering?” I teased.

  “I’m not sure I’d go that far, but I do want to protect you. If you’re going to put yourself in situations like that, I want to be there for you.”

  “Well, I’m thinking about confronting Laney again. She called me out in front of a bunch of people at the bookstore today. I can’t just let that go unchallenged knowing what I know now. Do you want to be there for that?”

  “Oh, yeah, I definitely want to be there for that,” Rowan said with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

  “I guess I’ll just go back over to her house and ring the doorbell?” I asked. “I’m not sure what else to do. There’s really no delicate way to handle this.”

  “My guess is that she’s probably out and about. There’s no way she’s sitting at home alone,” Rowan said.

  I thought of seeing her earlier in the day all decked out in the diamonds she’d bought herself with her inheritance. Laney had definitely looked like someone who wanted to be noticed.

  “Okay, well, where would she go to do that around here?” I asked.

  “She liked to frequent the Olde Moon Inn when Lukas was out doing what he did. It’s the local tavern and closest thing we have to a hot spot,” Rowan said. “My guess is we’ll find her there.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The Olde Moon Inn was busier than I expected, but I hadn’t thought about how there wasn’t much else to do in Knox Hills at night. You could drive to other towns or into the city to find more variety, but the diner and tavern were about it in town.