He blushed again, his eyes no longer meeting mine. “I’ll have to get back with you on that one, Gretta.” Then he reached out and pushed to end the call himself. No car swerve this time.
So that phone call had resulted in two disturbing revelations. One, I had an obvious rival for the sheriff’s affections. Well, I’d always known there were women in Wind’s Crossing that had an eye out for him. What I hadn’t known was that one of them now worked for him. That was troubling to me.
But the other revelation had more meaning to the case at hand. Ashley Conner Fontaine, the newly discovered heir to the Fontaine fortune, was dead.
And somehow, I just wasn’t buying the whole accidental death thing.
Chapter 9
Sapphire and Archie had a buffet of sorts waiting for us when we got there. She seemed a little put out when she saw the kid’s meal boxes.
“I thought you all were coming for dinner?”
Actually, dinner had never been mentioned. But then with the time of day, and it being my sister, I’d been pretty sure food would be involved at some point. At least I’d managed to get Orville to wait on dinner for the two of us. That should count for something.
I shrugged. “Come on, Sapphire, you know it’s all about the toys, right? They’ll still nibble on your food, I promise.” In fact, both kids had immediately run to the buffet and started loading down plates right after giving out hugs.
That appeased her a bit. “Well, I guess that’s okay then.” She laughed when she saw the gusto that the kids were applying to filling out their plates. “More than okay. In fact, we’d better get plates ourselves or we might be having Kid’s Meal leftovers ourselves.”
She wasn’t wrong.
We’d barely started chewing before Archie looked across the table at Orville. “So, I understand you brought me something to take a look at?”
Sapphire shot him a mean glance, but he just smiled at her. “I know, dear, no business during dinner. But I think we can make an exception this one time, don’t you?”
She took an exaggeratedly deep breath but finally nodded. “I suppose so. After all, they traveled a good way for your help. Plus, it’s a school night, so we’ll need to wrap up the business fairly quickly.” She looked over at me. “I fully expect a weekend visit soon, just so you know.”
I shrugged. “Roads work both ways. You know you’re welcome at the farmhouse any time. It’s not like your name isn’t still on the deed to the place. It’s still your home, if and when you need it again.” Even if I had kind of redistributed her space to fit the current situation. Not like I expected her to take me up on the offer any time soon. I was waiting for the honeymoon phase to wear off. I was pretty sure it would, eventually. Truthfully, I’d expected that to happen before now. Archie was craftier than I’d given him credit for.
Or maybe the two of them really did have an everlasting love that would last through the ages. Air and Earth. Why was it so very hard for me to recognize that as a true possibility? After all, my man—or the man I thought of as mine, anyway—wasn’t even a witch at all.
“While it’s very kind of you to let Sapphire know that, I don’t think she’ll be taking you up on that offer any time soon. Will you, dear?”
Sapphire looked thoughtful.
“Dear?” Was that just a hint of worry in Archie’s voice?
“Oh, you’re right, of course, sweetie. I’m very happy here, although I’ll admit that I do occasionally miss the farmhouse. I did so love the woods and garden out back. It truly is a witch’s dream home, you know.” She paused. “It’s just that I hadn’t really thought about my name still being on the deed. That doesn’t seem quite right to me. How would one go about taking it off?”
I shook my head. “Not happening, sister. Not if I have anything to say about it. If anything happens to the two of us that farmhouse goes to our children. Wouldn’t be right to knock Ruby out of her inheritance just because you found true love.” I almost choked on the true love bit, but I got it out.
Her thoughtful look didn’t go away. “Let me think about that a bit, will you?”
I didn’t like the sound of that, but what could I say? Besides, Orville took over the conversation before I could reply anyway, dragging it back on track.
“Back to your original question, Archie. Yes, I brought you a will to look at. Unfortunately, there has already been a will read. Also unfortunately, I’m afraid it was a much earlier one than the one I have to give you. I think things have changed.”
Archie raised an eyebrow. “Is this will from one of my clients?”
Orville shook his head. “I only wish it were. But no, I just want your opinion on it before I give it to the attorney for the Fontaines.”
Archie leaned back in his chair, his widened eyes locked on Orville. “Are we talking the last will and testament for Malcolm Fontaine?”
“That would be the one, yes.”
Archie looked over at Sapphire with a sad smile. “I know I’ll pay for this later, and I’m willing to accept that. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” Then he gathered up his plate and nodded to Orville. “Bring the will with you.”
I wanted nothing more than to follow the men, plate in hand. But I knew better. Archie might well be prepared to accept the repercussions of that insubordination, but I was not. Especially when, with a little patience shown on my part, the outcome would still be the same. It wasn’t like my presence would actually change anything.
But it did make it harder to concentrate on our sisterly conversation. By the time our plates were emptied and taken to the kitchen, Sapphire sighed and shook her head at me. “Go on. I want some time with the kiddos, anyway.” Then she turned to them. “Let me change that rather suspicious smelling diaper on Pearl, and then I’ve got something to show the two of you up in the attic.”
The attic? Okay, she did that on purpose. I run a second-hand shop slash antique shop. And I’d been in my sister’s new home’s attic before. It was literally a dream come true for a shop owner like me. I wanted more time up there, dang it. And Sapphire knew it.
“Go on, Opal. We all have to have our priorities, you know.”
I took a deep breath, but she was right. My first duty right now was to get justice for poor old Malcolm and any rightful heirs that he might have chosen. The attic could wait. But don’t think I wouldn’t be pumping Nancy for information on it during the ride home. We had to talk about something, right? And there was a whole lot of attic I hadn’t even glimpsed yet.
The men were deep in conversation when I walked into Archie’s home office. The silence was instant at my entrance.
“What? The man’s dead. He can’t bloody well have secrets now, can he?”
Archie looked at Orville before shaking his head. “No, I guess he can’t. But this will be a very tricky situation. It’s going to require a certain... finesse.”
Now I was getting offended. “You think I can’t keep a secret? Me? Opal Ravenswind?”
Orville crossed the room in record time and threw an arm around me. “That isn’t what he was saying at all, Opal. We just have to work extra hard to keep things under our hats until we have a chance to do some research and see what’s what.”
“The will wasn’t as straight forward as it should have been, was it?”
Archie hesitated. “Oh, it’s straight forward enough. It’s just that with Ashley Conner dead before the will was opened... and before Malcolm dying... well, it creates a bit of a problem to see Malcolm’s wishes done the right way.”
“You aren’t going to tell me what’s in that will, are you?”
Orville’s arm tightened around me. “It isn’t a lack of trust, Opal. You have to know that. But this is strictly a need to know situation, and right now, well... you don’t need to know.”
“The bloody thing was in a drawer of a desk that I am now the rightful owner of. Don’t suppose that means a dadgum thing to the two of you, does it?”
“Sorry, Opal.”
My hand flew to my chest. My mind had been laser-focused on the conversation at hand, and I’d missed the earlier warning signs. But now my pendant was making sure that mistake was corrected. It was practically on fire.
“Someone’s in my shop.”
SAPPHIRE WAS ON BOARD instantly, as was Archie. They offered to give the kids a ride home once their visit was through, with the strict condition that we would call them immediately once we knew what the devil was going on back at the shop.
That was fair enough to me. The kids didn’t need to be in the car with the way Orville was currently driving. The man was driving like a demon straight from the devil’s clutches. It wasn’t a boring ride at all. Especially after we’d had to waste precious moments getting baby Pearl’s car seat base out.
He had me put the call into his dispatch to get men over there right away. Orville knew better than to doubt my alert. Shoot, his driving told me that.
I clutched the door as once again we rounded a curve going about twenty miles an hour faster than I was comfortable with. Why, oh why, did the road between my house and my sister’s house have to be so darn full of twists and turns? Where was a nice, safe straight road when you needed one?
Orville glanced over at me. “Don’t worry. I got this. I just wish I had a bubble light for the roof. I’m putting one in your glove box after this, just so you know.”
“Whatever you say, Orville.”
He chuckled. The man actually chuckled. “Are your eyes closed?”
I opened one and directed it at him. “It’s easier not to backseat drive that way. Can’t have it both ways.”
“Gotcha.”
Another curve and my heart was once again in my throat. Even if I couldn’t see them, I could still feel them. Either way, it was far more excitement than I wanted at the moment. Yes, I wanted to get to the shop as soon as possible. But I wanted us and my car to be in one, undamaged piece when we did. Well, three individual undamaged pieces if you wanted to get technical about it.
I’d never been so glad to see my little shop as I was when Orville finally tore into the back parking lot, tires actually squealing. That’s a sound my poor tires had never had to make before. Once we were stopped, I noticed the old beat-up Ford truck we were parked beside.
“Looks like we might have still caught him inside. You stay here. I’m going in.” He opened the door and got out, only to find me standing right behind him. I can move quickly when I have to.
“You don’t have your gun. I’m coming with you.”
He frowned at me. “You don’t have a gun, either, do you?”
I waved both my hands at him. “No, but I have something you don’t. And that part of me is locked and loaded.”
I heard the sirens in the distance. A sad thing that we beat his officers to the scene. Especially when you thought about how far away we’d been when we started the run. “He’s going to know we’re coming.”
Orville nodded. “Stay behind me, and that isn’t up for debate.”
That, I could live with.
Chapter 10
I no longer had a back door to the shop. Not one that was repairable, anyway. Someone had taken an ax to it. Now, it was nothing more than splinters and chunks.
Orville glanced behind him at me briefly, pointing to the door. I got it. The man (or woman) inside was most likely armed with a sharp blade if nothing else. It upped the danger risk by far.
He pointed to the car, and once again I shook my head. But I did start calling in the magic. I wanted to be ready to face whatever it was we were about to face.
After a deep breath, and moving fast, Orville dashed into the back room. Then he stopped so suddenly that I actually ran into the back of him.
“What?” I whispered. But he didn’t have to answer me, because I had eyes as well as he did.
The streetlight at the back of the shop gave just enough light through the window and new door opening for us to see the destroyed desk. The ax that had been used on my back door had been taken to it as well. There would be no repairing it this time. There wasn’t enough left to repair.
But the door, the desk, the shambles they’d left of my shop—and it was in shambles—meant absolutely nothing when you considered the amount of blood on the floor in front of us.
Not to mention, of course, the bloody ax right there beside the puddle.
Looking down at the floor, I could see a trail of the stuff leading back out the door. In fact, my feet were firmly on it. These shoes would go in the trash as soon as I got home. If the sheriff didn’t confiscate them for evidence, that is.
I could see that Orville was conflicted. Did he take the time to search the shop, or did he follow the trail of blood? And what would he do about his unwanted tag along? Namely, me.
Luckily, he didn’t have to stay conflicted for long. A blaring deputy’s car tore into the back lot and within seconds, two deputies were standing by us.
“Search the shop and make sure no one is still here. Keep the crime scene as clean as possible. Stick to the edges and touch nothing. And I’m going to need the keys to the patrol car,” Orville told them.
The deputy with the keys didn’t look too happy about it, but he couldn’t very well question his boss, now could he? He handed them over.
Orville took my elbow and led me to the patrol car.
“If you’re thinking about locking me in the back and leaving me there, I think you’ll find you have more than a little trouble carrying out that plan.”
He shook his head. “A great idea, now that you’ve mentioned it, but not my original intention.”
Slipping the key into the trunk’s lock, he popped the trunk and rummaged inside. When he stood back up, he had a rifle in one hand and a taser in the other.
Slamming the trunk lid back into place, he looked at me, then handed me the taser. “Now let’s see where the blood leads us.”
I nodded. Frankly, I thought the taser would be overkill for a woman with my other particular skill set, but I wasn’t complaining all the same. Magic might take a few seconds to work. Tasers were pretty much instantaneous. In fact, I might have to ask my niece where to find one of my own.
Especially if this kind of thing was going to continue happening to me.
The blood trail didn’t go far. It led us along the back of the shop and over to the pickup truck. Now that we were closer, we could see that the driver’s side door was open. That side of the truck had been away from us before.
And that’s where the trail ended. Right there in the lifeless body of Vince Riley, no good thief for hire.
Should have known he would have been involved.
Orville stepped in just close enough to check for a pulse, but from his head shake, I could tell Vince would not be up to no good ever again. His reign of petty thefts and mischief had ended.
I’m not going to say the world will miss a man like that. But I sure as shooting wish he’d gone and gotten himself killed somewhere else.
“I need to check in with the deputies,” Orville said. “I’m afraid I can’t really let you inside to do a check until the crime scene team gets here.” He scrubbed his chin. “Actually, we could really use Amie for this one. Think she’d be willing to make the drive and bring her camera?”
My niece Amie sometimes did crime scene photos for his department. The county even paid for them now, thanks to the Sheriff’s insistence. I nodded. “I’ll call her. Take her a while to get here though.”
“Sooner would be better than later. Stay here. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Get in the car and warm up.” Then he bent down to give me a brief peck on the top of the head and walked back into the shop.
Me? I was looking around to see if anyone had seen that last move of his. The sheriff was getting more and more careless with those public displays of affection. We’d have to be having a talk soon about that.
I got in the car, turned it on, and cranked up the heat. Then I pulled out my phone and called in Amie. Sure enough, s
he was up for the job. I’d known she wouldn’t turn it down. The sheriff and the Ravenswinds go way back. If he needed something that any of us could provide for him, he’d have it. The good thing was that it went both ways.
I’ll admit that I’m not a patient woman. Sitting in that car without knowing the full extent of the damage to my shop was one of the harder things I’ve had to do in my life.
Fifteen minutes later, and yes I was timing him, Orville returned to me. “The shop is empty and other than the backroom, nothing looks like it’s been disturbed. The focus was on the desk.”
I swallowed and nodded. “And my shelves?” My heart was kind of in my throat waiting for his answer. While inside, my field of vision had mostly centered on that little red puddle in the middle of my floor. Orville had hustled me out of there too quickly for me to check out my magic stock. I would have to either stop keeping it there or up my security to the big times.
He gave a grunt of a laugh. “Trust that to be your main concern. But yes, they appeared to be fine.” Orville pulled out his phone and pushed a few buttons. “I figured you’d want a visual of them, so I snapped a couple quick shots. I just emailed them to you. I know you can’t do a true inventory from photos, but at least it’s something.”
“Thank you, sheriff, that means a lot.”
One hand went up to scratch his head. “You’d best go on home, Opal. There’s nothing you can do here, and I will be awhile. It’s going to be a long night, I’m afraid.”
I hesitated. “You’re sure I can’t help in some way?”
He smiled at me. “You already have. Amie’s on her way, right?”
I nodded.
“Then go home. I’ll call you with an update in the morning.” Then he bent down and gave me a brief kiss, right there on the lips, and right there under the dang streetlight.
As good as it felt to know how much he cared about me, I’d have to move that talk up real soon.
KIMBERLY AND THE KIDS were waiting for me when I pulled into the drive at the farmhouse. Sapphire and Archie had stuck around too.
Witch Reborn Box Set: Books 1-3: Includes Gemstone Coven Holiday Shorts 1 & 2 Page 9