Witchy Warning

by Kate Allenton

  Mine was perfect, a juicy cheeseburger and homemade fries. I popped one into my mouth before grabbing the ketchup and putting some on my plate.

  “Say what you want about the old hag, but when she was alive, we didn’t have thieves in our town. She would have found a way to run the bastards out,” Alma grumbled.

  “A couple car thefts hardly indicate hardened criminals. It’s probably some bored kids trying to pass the time,” Francine argued.

  “Whoever the miscreant is, he took my cane out of my car. Can you believe that?” Alma said. “What would some kids want with an old lady’s cane?”

  “Well, it wouldn’t have happened if you’d locked your car doors and rolled up your window,” Francine amended.

  “Every town since the beginning of time has had crime,” Franklin announced. “It’s inevitable. Just be glad these weren’t worse people.”

  “Like the killer who put the head in Georgia’s shipment,” Theo announced.

  All talking ceased, and heads turned in my direction. I hadn’t wanted to talk about that case tonight. Not that it mattered. The ghost had followed me around all afternoon. The minute he knew I could see him it became a stalkerish-type haunting. It was only a matter of time before he’d figure out that he could still manipulate things in the present. Concentration and lots of energy were all that were needed, and we had a ton of energy in this house.

  Damien had clued me into that little bit and proven it a time or two when he’d throw a tantrum because I wasn’t giving him his way. I guess I should be happy that it was only a tantrum; the entire Gold family was off their rocker.

  “That wasn’t common knowledge.” I raised my brow at Theo.

  “Sure it was,” Auntie B announced, sipping her soup. “They believe the victim to be Rockford Fillmore.”

  I dipped my fry into the ketchup. “Now how in the world would you know that?”

  “They needed a caterer in the event they had to plan the wake,” Aunt B announced.

  “I heard about it at this afternoon at the coffee shop,” Helen added, sipping her coffee.

  “How…”

  “Rockford Fillmore was a man who got around,” Auntie B announced.

  “He was a male slut,” Francine corrected. “Had lovers in at least two different town. Who knows how many actually?”

  “I’m not surprised,” Auntie B announced. “He was handsome, successful, and I must admit, I’d seen him working many a party and leaving with several women’s numbers. He had this way of making women feel special.”

  Rockford floated over to my Auntie B and hovered around her like he was fishing for more compliments.

  “You sound like you’re talking from experience,” Theo said.

  When she didn’t answer, it turned everyone’s attention from me to my aunt.

  She shrugged. “What? I may be old, but I’m not dead, and I never gave in to him and tarnished the Hexford name. Besides, I think he liked my cooking and was just going through a cougar phase. It was years ago.”

  “That’s more information than I needed to know,” I said before taking a bite of my burger. I moaned in pleasure, tasting the fabulous food and ignored my need to tell this group the rest of the information that I knew.

  The staged ritual in the woods, the cheating husband, and almost divorce, and the woman in the other town that Rockford had been fighting with, not to mention the sexy detective who had kidnapped me. These people would continue asking questions and never let me finish my meal while it was still hot.

  A smile played on my lips until I realized I was smiling like an idiot. I shook my head, taking another bite of my fries, and tuned back into the conversation around me.

  “He was a sleaze who couldn’t keep it in his pants,” Francine added. “His wife should have divorced his sorry ass years ago.”

  Rockford floated in the corner of the room, and if looks could kill, we’d all be dead. Good thing he hadn’t mastered the manipulation of energy, or so I thought…

  8

  The saltshaker was the first thing to fly across the room, startling my dinner guests.

  “If everyone can step out, I need the room,” I said, slowly rising from my chair while pegging the ghost with my glare.

  Francine’s plate rose into the air, and her spaghetti was dumped on her head. The red pasta sauce slid down her blue strands. She gasped when the first meatball hit her new dress.

  “He’s here, isn’t he?” Theo asked, hurrying to help Francine.

  “Yep,” I answered seconds before the doors to the dining room slammed closed.

  I tsked, wagging my finger back and forth like I was punishing a child. I whispered a spell to throw the doors open again and hold them in place.

  Wind swirled through the room, blowing napkins around and the hair into my eyes. This was not good. Not good at all. The lights in the chandelier exploded as Franklin and Theo helped the old women toward the door, using their bodies to protect them from flying objects.

  “You don’t want to go up against me,” I growled, conjuring an energy ball in my hands the way my mother had taught me at the tender age of five. “If you want me to solve your murder, fine, but how dare you attack my guests in my own goddamn house,” I yelled into the wind, and then I threw my first energy ball at the apparition.

  Margo stood next to me, reciting some type of spell. Her words were a whisper in the chaos of the room when suddenly, just as if the magical house was trying to help, everything around us stopped. Plates and debris remained frozen in midair. A steak knife hovered an inch from Theo’s arm.

  Everything and everyone was at a standstill, and Margo was now looking in Rockford’s direction.

  “Did you do this?” I asked, knocking the steak knife to the ground.

  “I made him visible so I could see to help you fight, but no, I didn’t do this.”

  “I did,” Carson said from the doorway.

  “How?” I asked.

  “One of those conversations best saved for later.” He answered just as Auntie B hurried from the room while everyone else was frozen in place. She returned with a smoldering sage stick for each of us, and we started working our way around the room.

  “You may have been powerful in life, Rockford, but you’re in my house now, and this little hissy fit will get you banned.” I walked straight to him and waved my sage, pushing his spirit toward the dining room doors and out the front door until I had him on the porch. “One of you guys, start spreading the salt to keep this guy out.”

  Rockford vanished as Carson stepped out the front door behind me. “You really can see them, can’t you?”

  “Yeah, I can, and you did, too, thanks to my sister,” I said. Folding my arms over my chest, I turned to face Carson. “And what was that with you and freezing things in mid-air?”

  His lips twitched. “I was a rambunctious child. My mom used that spell on me so many times when I was little I memorized the words.”

  “And what are you doing here? I thought you had an engagement.”

  “Dinner was canceled until tomorrow. I just stopped by to make sure you didn’t kill the fed.” His lips twisted at the corners.

  “I didn’t.” I patted his shoulder before sitting on the porch swing. I needed a minute to make sure the ghost didn’t try to get back into the house.

  “Good. I’d hate to have to arrest you before tomorrow when we go see the mistress.”

  “You’d miss my company?” I asked, meeting his gaze.

  “Well, of course, that and King might have mentioned you might have some truth serum left over.”

  I chuckled. Of course, he’d want truth serum. I’m kind of surprised King hadn’t announced it to the whole precinct. “I’ve got a little left.”

  “Perfect.” He grinned bigger. “Do you want me to stay and help you clean up?”

  My brows dipped, and I glanced at the door. “No thanks. It’s my mess. I’ll clean it up.”

  “You know, here in Canapoly Falls, we help o
ur neighbors. It’s kind of our thing if you ever decide to call this place home.”

  This place was just temporary in the grand scheme of things. Technically I was being held hostage by Mildred’s will and her withholding the information I needed. I’d guess being neighborly instead of family changed things where help was concerned. “I’m here for a year.”

  “Right, well, I’ll pick you up at eight.” Carson stepped off the porch and headed through the maze of metal lawn figures. He stopped in front of the gator, resting his hand on the metal before he glanced over his shoulder and winked. It was almost as if he knew that gator had been delivered the same day I was born.

  9

  I would have slept like the dead if I hadn’t been worried Rockford would try something stupid again. As it was, the sun was shining in through the window of the front parlor as I passed with a travel coffee mug in hand. Caffeine would be running my internal engine today.

  I’d given Theo the keys to the shop and asked that he try and find a place for the new stuff to be displayed.

  Carson arrived right on time. I didn’t even make him get out of the SUV before I rounded the car and hopped in the passenger side. Dark glasses covered his eyes while the scent of sandalwood filled the enclosed space.

  He waited until I buckled before he handed me a bag from the bakery. I peeked inside to find cake donut holes. I grinned and licked my lips. “How could you have possibly known I like the donut holes?”

  “What’s not to like about donut holes?” His lips twisted into a smile.

  I popped one of the freshly baked donuts into my mouth and gave a grateful smile before I leaned over and popped one into his mouth, sharing like he’d done with me.

  The car trip was quick. The next town over was only twenty miles away down a winding country road. It was a large town. Where Canapoly Falls was small and cozy, this one was the opposite. This town was complete with a two-story mall and rush hour traffic. It reminded me a little of New Orleans where I grew up.

  We turned down a road of middle-class houses that were built close together. Kids were playing in the yards.

  “Our mistress lives in suburbia? The way the twins was talking about her, I thought maybe we’d find her walking the streets with a feather boa.”

  He chuckled. “Do you honestly think a man like Rockford would let his women live just anywhere?”

  “I guess not.”

  “We matched the head with Rockford,” he said.

  “That was quick.”

  “We already had a suspected victim, so we matched his dental records.”

  “Has the cause of death been determined?” I asked as he parked in front of white picket fence. Sprinkles of weeds were growing through the green grass.

  “On the initial examination, the coroner believes he was killed from blunt force trauma but won’t know for sure until he finds the rest of the body.”

  My eyes widened as I got out of the SUV and followed Carson into the yard. “Probably threw a temper tantrum like he did last night and it pissed the wrong person off.”

  “He wasn’t always that bad. He helped my dad coach little league. His daughters were on the same team.”

  “Everyone knows everyone in a small town.” That was my main problem with Canapoly Falls. Helpful neighbors were one thing, but people all up in my business was another. I didn’t need any watchful eyes on me. I followed him up to the porch. The sound of a television drifted through the open window.

  “Give it a chance, Georgia. You might like it,” he said before knocking on the door.

  I was giving it a chance. Not that I was going out of my way to make friends, but I was still here for my sisters, for the answers I’d been promised. If I figure out the killer before my year was up, I wasn’t sure I’d have enough reason to stay.

  A petite woman opened the door. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun, and she wasn’t wearing much makeup. Her cotton top was sporting a football team logo, and her boyfriend jeans were baggy around her hips. She was cute, in a girl-next-door kind of way. Nothing like I I’d expected.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “Vivian Smith?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m Detective Carson Anderson from Canapoly Falls, and I’d like to ask you some questions.” Carson flashed his badge.

  “About what?” she asked, and I watched as the pink in her cheeks drained from her face before my eyes.

  “Rockford Fillmore,” Carson answered.

  “You knew him, didn’t you?” I asked, pulling her gaze away from Carson.

  She nodded. “I haven’t seen him in about a month. Is Rock okay?”

  “He’s dead. Do you mind if we come in?”

  Her mouth parted briefly before she snapped it closed.

  “Um…sure.” She opened the door farther for us to enter, and we followed her into a living room, where she started shuffling some schoolbooks that were open on the table. “I apologize for the mess. No matter how many times I tell my son to pick up his things, it goes in one ear and out the other. Do either of you have kids?”

  “No,” we answered simultaneously.

  “Oh.” The pinkness returned to her cheeks as she gestured to the couch for us to sit.

  “Can I get you guys anything to drink?”

  “No, we’re fine. Please….” Carson gestured to the chair. “How well did you know Rockford?”

  “Really well. We had a relationship for the last fifteen years.” Her look softened.

  I exchanged a look with Carson. Maybe the fight that the detective had witnessed wasn’t about him going back to his wife.

  “What can you tell me about the last time you saw him?”

  Vivian grabbed one of the throw pillows and hugged it to her body. “It was about a month and a half ago. He came to apologize.”

  “Apologize for what?” I asked before I could stop myself.

  Carson nudged my leg.

  The sound of a herd of elephants trampling down the stairs stifled her reply. She rose from her seat as teenagers left through the front door. The one that looked the most like Vivian paused with a baseball bat in his hand.

  “You okay, Mom?” he asked.

  “Of course, honey. Are you going to the ball field?”

  “After I go pick up my new bat. Our game is in an hour. Are you still going to be able to make it?” he asked, holding Carson’s gaze.

  “We won’t keep her long,” I answered for Carson, pulling the kid’s attention in my direction.

  The kid gave a slow nod and headed for the door. Vivian walked to the window and peered outside before she explained.

  “That was my son, Phillip. He’s a good kid.”

  “Seems like it, other than picking up his books.” I smiled. “So you were about to tell us what Rockford was apologizing for before Phillip came downstairs.”

  “He apologized for a lot of things, actually. You have to understand Rock. To others, he was a shark in business and cold as ice. But he wasn’t that way with us.” The tension in her face softened as she talked about the maniac who’d tried to frighten the guests at my dinner party.

  “Miss Smith, what did Rockford apologize for?” Carson asked again.

  “I got pregnant the first month Rock and I started dating. I’d expected him to break things off with me. I mean, he has another family. But he didn’t. He was around as much as he could have been. Rock apologized for forbidding me from telling Phillip that he was his father.”

  “His father?” Carson asked.

  My eyes widened. I hadn’t seen that one coming, and I hadn’t even brought my truth serum.

  She nodded. “Our relationship was complicated. I never asked for anything from him, but then he had that accident, and something in him snapped. He showed up wanting me to tell Phillip the truth, and I just couldn’t do it. Maybe if he’d agreed from the beginning, but not now.”

  “Why not now when that was what you wanted?”

  “Phillip would have n
ever forgiven me for not being honest all those times he asked for his father’s name.”

  “That’s a pretty strong motive to want to silence Rockford,” Carson said.

  “I didn’t kill Rock, and I didn’t have to silence him.” She rose, crossed the room and opened a little drawer, and returned to her chair. She leaned across and handed Carson a check. “Phillip overheard everything. Our secret was out. Rock said the accident made him realize how important family is, and he just wanted to be a part of Phillip’s life, even though he’d decided to work things out with his wife.”

  “And that upset you?” I asked, confused now that her motive turned to dust before my eyes.

  “No. I just wanted him to be happy. It wasn’t until after he left that I found the check he left.” She gestured to the check in Carson’s hand, and I leaned over to find the check was written for half a million dollars. I almost choked. “We were arguing about the money. The chemistry between us was never about the money.”

  “The money had nothing to do with you. It was about Phillip and his future.” I answered the unasked question before Carson could. They both turned to stare at me, and I felt the heat claiming my cheeks, so I explained. “Similar thing happened with my mom. I get it.”

  Carson glanced down at the check and frowned. “Do you intend to cash the check?”

  She shook her head. “I can provide for Phillip. I’ve been doing it all my life. I didn’t want Rock’s money. Now that the cat was out of the bag, I just wanted Rockford in Phillip’s life.”

  “How exactly was that supposed to work?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the couch now. “He was going to come to Phillip’s games and bring the old wife?”

  “He told me he planned to confess to his wife and that he’d make it work, but I guess we’ll never know, now.”

  Not yet. As soon as Rockford started talking in his ghostly form, he and I were going to have a long chat about his secrets. This running around trying to untangle his web of lies was starting to give me a headache.

  “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you.” Vivian swallowed hard. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell Phillip.”