Witch Hunt

by Cate Conte

  I walked down to Pete’s, lost in thought, and didn’t notice Rain until I nearly bumped into him.

  “Sorry—oh, hey, Violet!” He smiled at me, as if nothing at all was wrong or out of the ordinary.

  “Rain. Just the guy I wanted to see,” I said.

  “Oh yeah? What’s up?”

  “We need to talk,” I said. “At my shop. Now.”

  He glanced at his watch. “I can’t right now. I have to—”

  “Wrong answer,” I muttered. I focused on his wrist, concentrating really hard on the watch. To my delight—and his shock—the watch flew off his wrist, bouncing off the pavement.

  He stared at it, then at me. “What . . .”

  “You should see what else I can do,” I lied. I wasn’t really sure what else I could do, but there had to be something. “Coming?”

  He trailed behind me as I about-faced and marched to my shop. When we got there, I said a silent prayer that no one else had been Genied and that the smell was gone, and pushed the door open, taking a careful sniff. Nothing. Thank goodness for magickal cleaning services.

  “Come on in.” I waited until he’d stepped in, then closed and locked the door behind us. I led him to my back room and pointed to a chair set up at my little card-reading table.

  He sat. I pulled up my seat across from him.

  “You’re Carla Fernandez’s son,” I said without preamble.

  He winced a little, then nodded. “Your past is never really hidden, is it?”

  “Not when you come back to your hometown,” I said, exasperated.

  “Well, I had business here,” he said. “No choice. And I figured I’d try to do some good while I was here.” He motioned to his hat. “My way of giving back and trying to offset any damages.”

  “What kind of business?” I asked. “Did it have anything to do with Sydney?”

  Now his face went white. “She told you?”

  I inclined my head in what could have been a nod, but said nothing.

  “Look. Whatever she told you, I’m not a bad guy.” He waited expectantly.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “I’m serious, Violet. I told her the truth from the start. I’m not a big relationship guy.”

  “Is that why she had to go to your mother?” I snapped. “Who was awful to her?”

  “No, she had to go to my mother because she couldn’t reach me. I wish she’d figured out another way, but there really wasn’t.”

  I sat back, confused. “Couldn’t reach you? When?”

  “When she decided she wanted to get in touch,” Rain said. “She tracked me to Carla and moved here, hoping she’d find me. But I didn’t make it easy for her, and neither did my mother.”

  Now I was really lost. I also noted how Rain called his mother by her first name. “What do you mean, she tracked you to Carla?” I asked. “I thought you two were dating.”

  Rain chuckled. “Is that what she told you? Hey, I never called it that. Seriously. We had a fling while I was passing through Chicago.”

  “Chicago?” I shook my head. “Maybe you better start at the beginning.”

  “I thought you said she told you this?” Rain shook his head, maybe remembering the watch. “Never mind. So we met when I was going through Chicago. Dated while I was there. I told her I had no plans on staying. She was cool with it.” He shrugged. “I left, and didn’t leave my number. She didn’t give me hers either. But apparently years later, she decided she wanted me to know she’d gotten pregnant and thought I should meet my kid.”

  I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth. I’d had it all wrong. Syd wasn’t pregnant now. “You’re . . .”

  “Presley’s dad.” He nodded. “I guess Sydney lost her dad recently and it made her think Presley deserved a father.”

  Holy moly. The last pieces clicked together in my head. Syd’s appearance on the North Harbor scene two years ago. Reaching out to Carla, thinking she’d find a grandmother waiting with open arms. “But how did she track you to Carla?”

  “This was before my Rain identity,” he said, with that wry smile again. “I told her my real name and where I was from. It wasn’t a huge stretch for her to look up Fernandez in the area. And I’d mentioned my mother’s council position. So really, I made it easy for her.”

  “So she moved here to see if she could get to you through your mother,” I said slowly. “But she’s been here for almost two years.”

  Rain nodded. “As you know, my mother wasn’t exactly the friendliest woman in town, especially if she thought you were beneath her. Syd’s first faux pas, in my mother’s eyes, was the tiny house parked on the street. She zeroed in on Syd even before Syd could think of how to make contact with her. She’d been out to get the house removed from day one. So Syd’s been sitting on this, trying to figure out how to mend fences so she could broach the subject.”

  “So what did she do?” I asked, but I dreaded the answer.

  “She went to her office with Presley. Told her this was her granddaughter. Expected my mother to embrace them both, call me, and never look back.”

  “And that didn’t happen.”

  Rain shook his head slowly. “Quite the opposite, in fact. You may have noticed my mother wasn’t known for her warmth,” he said, so dryly it almost made me laugh. “She got very upset. Told her she was a liar and a gold digger and threw her out.”

  “Oh, man.” No wonder Syd’s hatred of Carla had seemed to get worse over the past couple of months. Her reasoning to me was about Carla upping the stakes and making life hard for Charlie, who didn’t deserve it. And this explained her frozen reaction in the coffee shop Monday when Carla had come at us—at me—with figurative guns blazing. “But knowing Syd, she kept trying.”

  Rain nodded. “In subtle ways. But then she started getting angry. Like, really angry. She felt that Carla was making decisions for me without ever giving me a chance to weigh in. And she was right. But that’s how Carla operated. God.” He raked his hands through his hair. “I hear what I’m saying and I know how awful it sounds. To talk about her like this when she’s gone, especially the way it happened. But it’s true. All of it’s true.”

  “So you just found out?”

  He nodded. “Three weeks ago. My mother finally called me. But she had something to hold over my head.” At my questioning look, he nodded. “My inheritance.”

  “Inheritance?”

  He nodded. “My part of the family business. This was the birthday I was supposed to get it. The big thirty. It should’ve been twenty-five, or even twenty-one, but my mother convinced my grandfather to delay it even longer.”

  I was confused. “The realty business?”

  Rain made a face. “God, no. That was her way of keeping herself amused. The family business, going all the way back to her great-great-grandfather. Mayfair Chemicals.”

  “Chemicals?”

  Now he laughed out loud. “I’m glad the irony of that isn’t lost on you. Now you see why I don’t broadcast it?”

  “Because of the circles you run in,” I said.

  “Bingo. I’ve worked really hard to get myself some standing in the environmentalist community. I’m writing papers, I’m out on the frontlines, and people are starting to know me. I didn’t want to risk all that because of my mother.”

  “Well, you didn’t need to take her money,” I pointed out.

  “I wish it was that easy. Have you tried living on a stipend from a university?” He grimaced. “I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who likes to eat.”

  “So she’s been funding you this whole time?” I asked.

  He nodded. “A monthly allowance. Until I got my inheritance. It’s not exactly something I wanted to share with my friends. And when she found out about Syd, she thought she could use it as a threat. Tell me that if I didn’t get rid of her, there was a clause in my inheritance that could make it so I didn’t get it if this was really my kid and they would be entitled to anything. I’m not sure I understand it, or even if I belie
ve her—I never saw the paperwork—but. . .” He spread his hands. “That’s why I’m here.”

  CHAPTER 49

  “So what were you going to do?” I asked. “Were you interested in seeing Syd and meeting Presley?”

  He sighed. “Sure, I was interested. And don’t get me wrong, she’s a cute kid. But I’m not the daddy type. I don’t stay put for long. I told her I’d help her out financially whenever I could, once I got this inheritance thing sorted out, and I’d visit when I was nearby. But I couldn’t commit to more than that.”

  I thought about this. If Rain wasn’t going to get the money because of Syd, had he found a way to get rid of his mother instead? Maybe he knew they were supposed to meet. Maybe he had shown up in her place. And maybe things had gone really wrong.

  Would he kill his own mother?

  “Are you sad she’s dead?” I asked bluntly.

  Rain’s gaze slid away. His eyes turned cloudy with the question, as if the answer was so muddled in his brain it had taken on a physical appearance. “It’s complicated. My mother and I disagreed about a lot of things. I haven’t been home in ages. She was fine with it.” He smiled wryly. “I think she wanted people to forget we’re related.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I was a troublemaker as a kid. Hung out with the bad kids, got arrested a couple of times. Something else I try to hide from my friends nowadays. It’s only cool to get arrested if you’re protesting global warming. And later, she was fine not being my mother because we don’t align on anything. Because I’m protesting her pet project. Because I’m a scraggly, un-gainfully employed drifter who draws attention to himself and embarrasses her.” That easy look was still on his face, but his tone had turned harsh. “And having to be responsible for my kid now? Well, that would’ve been more than she could stand.”

  “So do you get more money now that she’s gone?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. It’s a specific amount my grandfather designated for me, plus the interest. It’s got nothing to do with my mother’s portion.”

  “So who gets her portion?”

  “Why, you need a loan?” He laughed at his own joke, then realized I wasn’t laughing. Then it dawned on him. “You think I killed my mother?” His feet dropped to the floor, and he sat up straight. “Are you kidding me?”

  “Why not? The police think I did,” I shot back. “And I had way less of a reason to. You had an inheritance coming. And I’m hearing from you that you didn’t like her much.” My heart was pounding so hard I wondered if I’d hear his answer.

  “Wait a second.” Rain leaned forward earnestly. “You’ve got this all wrong, Violet. I needed my mother alive to get that inheritance. She had to sign it over to me at her discretion, once I hit this birthday. I was here to convince her she should.”

  I had no idea if I should believe this guy or not. “Okay, so she signs it. Now you’re even angrier that you had to grovel for it. And now you don’t need her anymore.” I waited, holding my breath.

  One side of Rain’s mouth tipped up in a smile. “Good theory. Except for the fact that I didn’t get it yet.”

  I sat back, confused. “What do you mean?”

  He shook his head. “She didn’t sign off before she died. I didn’t get the inheritance.”

  Really? That seemed convenient. “Well, can you still get it?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe. I need to talk to my grandfather. But he likes me even less than my mother did, so I’m not sure how that will go.” His smile was wry, but I could feel sadness underneath his flip attitude. “Besides. I wasn’t around Monday night. I had a meeting with some of the local chapter of my environmental group over in Monroe. I left here around four and didn’t get back until nine. After Andrew called me.”

  Convincing, but it could all just be a good story he’d concocted to throw suspicion off himself.

  “You do know Syd could be in trouble,” I said. “Carla sent her a message telling her to meet her at 5:45 that day.”

  Rain frowned. “Did she go?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “She won’t talk to me. But what I’m really struggling with is who else could’ve done it? I mean, I’m sure there were people who had issues with her, but I haven’t found anyone who’s a serious contender yet.”

  “I’m kind of at a disadvantage because I don’t know who she deals with, really,” he said slowly. “But I do know the business records are a mess, and the finances are a huge mess. I’m her executor,” he added. “Since she and my dad are getting divorced, I was all she had for a safeguard. And I think that business partner of hers has been messing around.”

  “Andrew?” I was taken aback. “That can’t be true. Is that why you went to see him the other day?”

  “It is. Anyway, I don’t know for sure, but I’m sitting down with the accountant to try and reconcile the books and see what’s what. Which is upsetting her partner. I can’t imagine why he’d be upset unless he had something to hide.”

  “Andrew’s not like that,” I insisted, but doubt was starting to creep in.

  “Well, he’s been pretty vocal about threatening me,” Rain said. “Like he did at the protest.”

  “He threatened you?” I remembered seeing Andrew talking at Rain, waving his hands around.

  “Told me to stay away from the office and the books or he’d have me arrested. That I was money hungry.” Rain didn’t seem too affected by it. “He can’t do it anyway. And I don’t feel the need to explain myself. Yeah, I want what’s mine. After what I put up with from my family, I deserve it.”

  “Did you tell the cops this?” For Natalie’s sake, I hoped not.

  Slow head shake. “I want to be sure.”

  “Even if that’s true, it doesn’t mean he killed her,” I said.

  “Not unless she found out,” he pointed out.

  We both sat with that. Then I shook my head, suddenly remembering what Ginny had told me, and why it was important. “No. The waitress at the bar saw Andrew there during that window Monday night.” While Natalie thought he was out posting flyers about our healing circle. Maybe he’d gotten cold and decided to take an hour to warm up.

  “You know for sure it’s the window?” he asked.

  “Based on what the cops told me, yeah.”

  “Then I guess he’s just a scammer. Or a bad record keeper.” Rain shrugged. “There is one other thing that I found out this week when I was going through her bank stuff.” He glanced at me.

  “Okay,” I said.

  He was silent for so long I wondered if he was messing with me. Maybe he was going to bribe me to recoup some of that inheritance. “She was involved in a fledgling business deal with someone else. As an investor. And she pulled out recently. You probably know this, though, right?”

  I was immediately on alert. “No. With whom?” I asked.

  He grimaced. “I probably shouldn’t be the one to tell you—well, anyway. Is what it is.” He spread his hands wide. “With Todd.”

  “Todd who?”

  “Todd Langston,” he said, exasperated. “Isn’t that your boyfriend?”

  I wondered how he even knew that, but that was the least shocking thing about what he’d just said. I stared at him as the room started spinning around me. He was jerking me around. Had to be. Why would Todd be in a business deal with Carla? It was impossible. He didn’t like her either.

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said. I could hear the quiver in my own voice and felt my face reddening, and hated myself for all of it.

  “I do,” he said. “Sorry. She was going to be a silent investor in his pub franchise.”

  His pub franchise. Something he’d been talking about doing forever. Something I didn’t think he’d made any traction with.

  Then I had another thought that left me cold—was Carla the off-site meeting he’d had on Monday? The day she died?

  Rain watched me with those intense eyes. “She pulled out at the last minut
e. Said she didn’t have as much investment capital as she’d initially thought after reconciling her books.”

  “What’s the last minute?”

  “It looked like just this past weekend.”

  Right before she died. The pit in my stomach was back, and pretty deep. “How do you know this?”

  “I found some paperwork.”

  “Who have you told?”

  “The detectives,” he said. “I had to. They wanted copies of all her recent business records.”

  I let this sink in. My boyfriend had been doing a business deal with Carla Fernandez and hadn’t told me. Heck, he hadn’t even told me he was close with a deal on another location. He’d been vague about it lately, still talking about it as if it were in the future but not concrete yet.

  And if Rain was telling the truth, she’d pulled out of the deal and been killed—what, one or two days later?

  Had the cops been talking to Todd too? I felt sick.

  “I’m sorry, Violet,” Rain said. He sounded sincere.

  “Yeah. Thanks. Anyway, I’m sorry to keep you. Thanks for shedding light.”

  He nodded and rose to go.

  But I had one last question for Rain before he left. “Since you’re not really Miguel Fernandez anymore, what last name do you use as Rain, since you don’t want anyone to know who you are?”

  He smiled. “I don’t. I’m like the Beyoncé of the environmentalist world. So far, it’s been working.”

  CHAPTER 50

  After Rain left, I went down to Pete’s for my coffee, since I hadn’t made it there earlier. I walked down the street, feeling like I was in a trance. We’d gotten rid of one suspect—Andrew—but gained another one.

  My boyfriend.

  How could he not have told me any of this? Did that mean he was guilty of something? Or were we just that out of touch with each other that he didn’t think it was important? Either way, this wasn’t good. I remembered Fiona’s assessment of him. Subpar.

  By the time I got inside the café, I was feeling pretty low. Pete wasn’t even behind the counter. I ordered my double-shot latte and picked it up at the other end of the counter. No Fiona today. I was sure she was waiting for me to come to her, after her dramatic proclamation and exit Wednesday. I hadn’t seen her or Zoe since.