by Vella Day
The Magical Pink Pendant
A Witch’s Cove Mystery
Book 9
Vella Day
The Magical Pink Pendant
Copyright © 2021 by Vella Day
Kindle Edition
www.velladay.com
[email protected]
Cover Art by Jaycee DeLorenzo
Edited by Rebecca Cartee and Carol Adcock-Bezzo
Published in the United States of America
E-book ISBN: 978-1-951430-25-2
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief questions embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
About the Book
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Excerpt from The Poisoned Pink Punch
Other Books by the Author
About the Author
Don’t get me wrong. I love magic, just not when it is used for evil.
It’s bad enough when some poor soul is murdered in my hometown, but when he’s near and dear to someone I care about, I have no choice but to look for the killer. Since magic seems to be involved in his death, my teenage cousin and I might be the only ones who can discover the killer’s identity. After all, we are witches.
I was hoping this would be a run-of-the mill case, but no. The number of suspects keeps mounting, making our job more difficult. Considering most suspects live across the state makes it doubly hard.
Can we say road trip!!
Seriously, this person is super dangerous, and we have to take precautions. But never fear, between my trusty talking pink iguana, my very talented business partner who has mad computer skills, and my teenaged psychic cousin, we’re sure to crack the case.
Chapter One
The sound of hard pounding footsteps racing up the outside staircase of our Pink Iguana Sleuths’ office, caused a rush of hope to surge through me. This could be a paying customer! While my business partner—turned boyfriend—and I were no longer desperate for funds, I needed something to keep me mentally engaged. As much as I liked my former job as a waitress, it didn’t stimulate my math brain like solving a murder did.
Before I had time to even push back my chair from my computer desk, Gavin Sanchez, my cousin’s new beau, slammed open the door. While the nineteen-year-old normally acted in control, right now, he looked scared and rather confused. The red-rimmed eyes were a definite cause for concern.
“Is Rihanna here?” His words gushed out, and my heart broke at his distress.
Before I could tell him Rihanna was in her room, she ran out and stopped dead in her tracks. “Gavin, what’s wrong?” Her voice cracked.
“My father is…dead.” He waved his arms, looking as if he punched the air hard enough, answers would miraculously appear.
His shocking statement had every cell in my body freezing. “What? He’s dead? How?”
Rihanna had the sense to hug her boyfriend and then lead him over to the sofa. I was glad she didn’t escort him into our converted storage room turned bedroom since nosy me wanted all of the details.
I know it might seem strange that my eighteen-year-old cousin, Rihanna Samuels, would be living at an office, but until she graduated from high school in a few months, she would be staying with us here—or longer if she so chose. Having her around made my life a bit more complete.
“I’ll get you something to drink.” The part of me that used to be a waitress often took over in a crisis.
Since Gavin frequently stopped over, I knew which soda he preferred. I also fixed a sweet tea for both me and Rihanna. Not wanting to miss even a word of this tragedy, I hurried.
Let me mention that I, Glinda Goodall, along with Jaxson Harrison, run a sleuth agency, because…well…being a busybody is in my nature—as is being a witch.
I carried the drinks into the main room, placed them on the coffee table, and then sat across from them. “When you’re ready, tell me what happened.”
Gavin sat up straighter, his gaze bouncing around the room. Clearly, he was in shock, as anyone would be upon learning his not-very-old dad was dead. Poor guy. Gavin was already living under the stress of interning with his medical examiner mother. Having to deal with the death of a parent would crush anyone.
When he finally seemed to get himself under control, he blew out a breath. “Okay. Here goes. Nash got a call earlier this morning about a body in the backyard of our neighbor’s house. Since the victim—my dad—wasn’t carrying his wallet or anything, Nash had no idea who this person was, which meant he had to run a fingerprint scan.”
“That must have come as a shock to our deputy.” I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to tell your girlfriend that her former husband was dead.
“Nash said he was upset, which was why he asked the sheriff to double-check his findings.”
“That makes sense.” Considering where his dad was found, the sleuth in me immediately suspected foul play. “Who’s backyard?”
“Mrs. Prentiss’.”
“She’s in her eighties.” I didn’t believe she’d be capable of harming a man in his prime.
“She is. Here’s the bizarre part. Dad had been renting a room from her for the last three days.”
I couldn’t help but suck in a breath at that news. First off, his Miami-based father was supposedly quite wealthy. I would have thought he’d have stayed in the Magic Wand Hotel, our nicest facility, rather than rent a room in someone’s slightly rundown home.
“I take it you didn’t know he was in town?” If Gavin or Elissa had been aware of his dad’s visit, surely they would have suggested a better place—or maybe that would just be my reaction.
Gavin shook his head and then sipped his drink. “Neither of us had any idea he was here. When we’d Skyped, Dad never mentioned any plans to see me. The last time we chatted, all he could talk about was his upcoming trip to Rome with Morgana.”
The emphasis on that name implied she wasn’t high on Gavin’s list of favorite people.
“Morgana is his new wife, right?” He’d mentioned her before, but clearly, I hadn’t paid enough attention.
“Yes.”
“Did you talk to your dad often?” It was important to understand how close they were.
“He’d set up a time most weeks to connect via Skype, but too often something would come up, and he’d have to cancel.” Gavin shrugged, pretending it was no big deal, but the disappointment slicing across his face said otherwise.
“Lawyers are busy people.” I hoped that would make him feel better. Doctors were busy, too, but I bet his mom would never cancel on him like that—or at least not very often.
“So he kept telling me.” Gavin pressed his lips together.
“Do you have any idea what business he had in Witch’s Cove, or why he didn’t tell you
he was here?” Rihanna asked.
“No, and it’s not like Dad not to mention something that important. I don’t remember him keeping secrets from us.”
While this might not be a paying job for Jaxson and me, for my cousin’s sake, I had to do what I could to help.
“What did your stepmother say about his visit here?” Despite some tension between them, I hoped Gavin had spoken with her.
“Morgana was as surprised as we were. My dad told her that he was going to Tallahassee for some lawyer’s convention.” His voice trembled, but I couldn’t tell if it was from anger, frustration, or sadness.
If Mr. Sanchez lied to his new wife and son, he was hiding something. But what?
Before I could come up with a list of possibilities, the office door opened. When Jaxson came in and smiled at me, my tight muscles relaxed a bit. His presence and level-headedness always helped calm me.
He stopped short when he spotted Gavin. Jaxson looked back at me and then at the young couple. “What happened?”
The fact Gavin and Rihanna were on the sofa talking to me probably clued him in that things were amiss. They usually preferred their privacy. “Grab a chair, and we’ll fill you in.”
He’d just sat down when Iggy, my fifteen-year-old pink iguana familiar popped in through the cat door.
“I’m getting too old to be climbing that railing,” he complained. “You need to put in an elevator for me.” For effect, he expanded and contracted his tiny chest. I’m guessing it was to show us he was out of breath, but I knew a faker when I saw one.
The idea of an elevator for a nine-pound iguana was ridiculous, but knowing Jaxson, he’d probably try to rig up something just to make Iggy happy.
I patted my thigh. “Iggy, come over here. There’s been a death.”
Acting as if he hadn’t just climbed a mountain, Iggy raced over. “Who died? Do we get the case?” he asked with too much enthusiasm.
I was thankful that Gavin couldn’t hear him—only witches and those who’d had a spell put on them, like Jaxson, could. However, Rihanna had explained to Gavin that the rest of us could communicate with my ego-driven, talking lizard.
“Gavin’s father,” I whispered. I lifted him up onto my lap and pressed a finger to his mouth. Iggy could say some insensitive things at times, which wasn’t cool. Gavin might not be able to hear, but Rihanna could.
“Is he asking about my dad?” Gavin nodded to my familiar.
“Yes.” I didn’t think translating what Iggy said would be helpful. “Rihanna, how about bringing Jaxson and Iggy up to speed?”
She outlined the series of events—or at least as much as she knew.
“How did he die?” Jaxson asked.
“I don’t know,” Gavin said. “It wasn’t anything obvious like a gunshot wound or a blow to the head. Mom called in another medical examiner from Ocean View to do the autopsy.”
That was a good idea. She wouldn’t want any impropriety. The law might believe she’d tamper with the evidence—being his ex and all.
“From Mom’s brief perusal of the body, it was sometime around two this morning. The medical examiner will know more after he finishes with the autopsy.”
I wanted to ask where his mother was at the time of Gavin’s father’s death, but it wasn’t my place. If confronted, she’d say she was home in bed, which was probably true.
“Did your mom say if he’d been ill?” I asked. “His death could be from natural causes.”
“No. As far as we know, Dad was healthy.”
“Does your mom think someone murdered him then?”
“It’s not her place to guess, but Nash thinks so, only he isn’t telling me why,” Gavin said.
This must be terribly traumatic for Gavin. I had to say, the young man was holding up rather well. I’d be bawling my eyes out if anything happened to either of my parents.
At least Rihanna would be able to relate to Gavin since her father had been murdered five months ago.
“What can we do to help, Gavin?” Jaxson asked.
“Nothing. I didn’t come here for that. I just needed to see Rihanna and tell her what happened.”
I could understand that. “Rihanna, why don’t you take Gavin into your room where you’ll have more privacy.”
She nodded. As soon as they slipped into the bedroom and closed the door, I faced Jaxson. “I can’t even imagine what Gavin is going through right now, but we need to do something.”
“We’ll help in any way we can just as soon as we learn that Mr. Sanchez was murdered.”
I picked up my tea and sipped it, my mind racing. “Why would Daniel Sanchez rent a room down the street from his ex-wife and son and then not contact them?”
“Maybe he was spying on them.”
“Spying? Why?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps he heard that Elissa was seeing someone, and Daniel wanted to make sure this man wouldn’t be a bad influence on his son,” Jaxson said.
“That makes sense, but I would think Gavin would have given him the lowdown on Nash since Gavin and his dad were in regular contact. If Daniel didn’t want to talk directly to his ex-wife about Nash, why not have Gavin meet him for dinner in town or somewhere else to discuss it?”
“Those are excellent questions,” he said.
“I understand wanting to check out Nash, but staying a few doors down the street is almost asking to be spotted.”
“For sure.”
“Forgetting why Daniel Sanchez was in town or the reason for staying so close to his ex-wife, why would someone want him dead? I don’t recall hearing that he’d been to Witch’s Cove in a long time even though his parents live here.”
Jaxson huffed. “I have no idea, but didn’t you tell me he’d recently remarried?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe the new wife thought he wanted to get back with his ex-wife and ordered a hit on him. Trouble in paradise is often a good motive for murder.”
I held up a finger at his wild imagination. Having crazy hypotheses were usually up my alley. “Mrs. Sanchez claimed she didn’t know he was here.”
“People lie.”
“True. It’s possible either Daniel came to Witch’s Cove to make amends with Elissa, or because their divorce had been so contentious that he wanted to clear the air in order to get a fresh start with his new wife. When he spotted Elissa cozying up to our deputy, Daniel might have decided to sit back and watch before making his move.”
“Could very well be. That might explain why he didn’t meet up with his son. Maybe he didn’t want Gavin to tip off Elissa that he was in town,” Jaxson suggested.
“Too bad all of these theories are pure conjecture. But you know who might have the deets on what really happened between our good medical examiner and her former husband?”
“Pearl?”
“Precisely.” Pearl Dillsmith was the sheriff department’s receptionist. She kept the job in her old age mostly because her grandson was now the sheriff. “If Pearl is privy to what could have happened, her best buddy Dolly would have gotten the lowdown by now, too.”
Jaxson rubbed his stomach. “I’m so hungry.”
He was mocking me. “You can just say we need to go to the diner in order to talk to Dolly. There’s no need for the hunger ruse. You know I’m always up for eating.”
Jaxson chuckled, as I’d hoped.
Iggy looked up at me. “Can I come?”
“You know it’s hard to talk to you without looking like I’m crazy, and when I don’t speak to you, you can get huffy.”
“Me? Huffy? I’m a model citizen.”
“Sure, you are.” I cleared my throat. “I think you’d be better off spying on the two teens.”
He lifted his chest. “Spy? Me? I never would do that.”
“I wasn’t born yesterday.” His favorite pastime was listening to conversations—especially private ones.
Iggy dropped onto his stomach. “Fine. What’s your best bet on the motive for killing this guy? Greed,
revenge, or jealousy?”
“Let’s not jump to any conclusions. We don’t know that he didn’t die from natural causes.”
“But suppose he was killed?” Iggy asked.
“Fine. I’d go with jealousy.” I honestly had no idea, but Iggy would keep bugging me unless I picked an option.
Iggy bounced up and down. “That sounds juicy.”
I wagged a finger at him. “Juicy, maybe, but not substantiated. We probably should rule out revenge, though.” I was only kidding. I never eliminated any motive until I had proof—at least most of the time.
“Why?” Jaxson asked, clearly not understanding I wasn’t serious. “Gavin’s dad was a lawyer. Perhaps one of his clients was convicted due to Sanchez’s poor handling of the man’s case. If he’d recently completed his sentence, he’d be free to come after him.”
I sunk back against the chair. “According to Gavin, his dad won most of his cases, implying he was a good lawyer. In case he did mess up, this opens up a whole slew of suspects.”
“The sad part is that we can’t eliminate anyone who is still in jail. When I served time for my bogus crime, too often I’d hear stories about an inmate hiring someone to exact revenge for him.”
“That stinks. What’s worse is that the suspects are probably still in Miami, which is a huge town.” At least when a murder happened in Witch’s Cove, it was moderately easy to keep track of their comings and goings. We had eyes and ears everywhere, mostly in the form of our gossip queens.
“How about we let Iggy do his magic with the teens, and you and I hit up the Spellbound Diner? You know Dolly will be on top of things, what with Pearl on the case,” Jaxson said.
“I love a good plan.” And something sweet to eat.
Chapter Two
By the time Jaxson and I walked into the Spellbound diner, it was close to four. The timing was quite good since the lunch crowd had left, and the dinner crowd had yet to arrive. I liked that if we bent Dolly’s ear, we wouldn’t be taking her away from any demanding customers.
Dolly spotted us right away and nodded. From her distressed look, she’d heard about the sad news. While Daniel Sanchez wasn’t a member of the Witch’s Cove community, his parents lived here, as did his former wife and son. It was an unspoken rule that we would do what we could for them.