Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery Box Set

by Amanda M. Lee

  “I don’t believe that’s true,” Aunt Tillie countered. “In fact, I believe the exact opposite. You’re the self-conscious type. You need to absorb things on your own before you share your feelings with others. You’ve always been that way.

  “You were seeing ghosts for years before you admitted it,” she continued. “Don’t bother denying it. I saw you talking to nothing in the garden several times when you were little. The first time you were six ... and you had the fortitude to lie and say you were talking to the garden gnome. I knew that wasn’t true because I saw you were talking to Gary Steinbeck.” She turned to Landon to explain. “He was a neighbor for a few years. He was friendly with the girls, gave them candy and watched them when they played in the yard to make sure they never made it too close to the road.”

  “That’s fascinating,” Landon deadpanned. “I love hearing about long-dead neighbors.”

  “I’m just saying that she’s always been the sort to internalize things, smart guy,” Aunt Tillie snapped. “The same thing has been happening this go-around. She doesn’t want any of us to worry so she keeps things to herself. Occasionally she snaps because of that tendency. That’s probably why we assumed her meltdown a few months ago was a snap when it was something else.”

  Landon opened his mouth to argue and then changed his mind. “Basically you’re saying that she’s susceptible right now and she wasn’t before. Do I have that right?”

  Aunt Tillie nodded. “Her powers advanced within the past few months. I’m guessing it started around that time. We just didn’t realize it because she didn’t overtly start controlling ghosts until that day with the crazed gamer. She sent those ghosts to attack. Heck, she’s the reason those ghosts stayed anchored the way they did in the first place. She was exerting power and we didn’t even know it.”

  “So ... what happens now?” Landon looked legitimately concerned. I wanted to reassure him, but I didn’t have the appropriate answers to soothe either of us.

  “She needs to get control of her magic,” Aunt Tillie replied simply. “Her guard was down while looking through the photos.” She leaned forward and snagged the snapshot that had me crying. “She was emotional when she saw this, which created an opening. Vicky was emotional when she saw it. It was her emotions Bay was feeling when I looked up. That much was obvious.”

  “How can you be sure?” I asked. “How do you know she wasn’t feeling my emotions?”

  “Because you weren’t in control. I could read your aura. She briefly took you over. You can’t let that happen, Bay. I know you didn’t realize you were doing it, but you need to keep it together and make sure that you don’t allow yourself to be vulnerable.”

  “That’s easier said than done,” I argued. “I didn’t even know it was happening.”

  “You know now. Just ... be careful. This is like all the other magic in your life. You had to learn to control it. This is no different.”

  I wanted to argue but there was no point. She was right ... and I felt awkward given the way she and Landon were watching me. “I’ll be careful.”

  “You will,” Landon agreed, catching my gaze. “You didn’t know it was happening and now you do. We’ll figure out a way to handle it, just like we do everything else. It’s going to be okay.”

  “You sound like a broken record repeating that mantra these days,” I noted. “Don’t you ever get tired of it?”

  “Nope.” His smile was heartfelt. “I happen to like a good mantra.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “It’s okay to feel things, Bay. You just can’t let other beings feel things for you. We’ll figure it out.” He wrapped his arms around me and held tight. “This is just a new wrinkle.”

  It felt somehow direr than that, but I held it together. “Yeah. I’m going to be completely wrinkly by the time I hit thirty at this point.”

  “I think you still look young and hot.”

  I laughed despite myself. “Yeah, well ... .” I jolted when the open door banged against a wall and drew attention to the figure standing in the doorway. I hadn’t seen Randy Weaver coming until he was upon us, and he didn’t look happy when he realized we were encroaching on his turf ... again.

  “Exactly what are you doing out here?” he bellowed. “This is private property. You have exactly thirty seconds to vacate or I’ll make you vacate. Starting now.”

  Seventeen

  Randy apparently didn’t like visitors at the camp and stopped by more frequently than he intimated when I’d questioned him the first time.

  “This is private property,” he announced in a self-important voice when we didn’t immediately hop to our feet and flee. “You’re trespassing. Trespassers may be shot on sight.”

  “This isn’t your property,” I pointed out.

  His eyes flashed with annoyance. “I’ve been hired to protect it.”

  “You told me you got thirty bucks a month and it wasn’t enough to make sure you dropped by regularly.”

  “And who are you again?” Randy adopted a quizzical expression, as if he thought that would be enough to dissuade me from asking the hard questions. Before I could answer, Aunt Tillie pushed herself to a standing position and glared at him.

  “She’s with me,” Aunt Tillie announced in a grave voice.

  Randy swallowed hard when he saw her. He was at least a foot taller and almost five decades younger, but he shrank in front of her. “Ms. Tillie, I didn’t know you were here.”

  “Ms. Tillie?” Landon sent her a sideways look. “Do I even want to know what you’ve done to make this guy fear you?”

  Aunt Tillie ignored the question. “We’re here looking for a killer, Randy. What are you doing?”

  He was obviously caught off guard by the question. “I just told you, Ms. Tillie. I’m here to make sure no one trespasses.”

  “That probably would’ve been more helpful if you did it before the body ended up in the pool,” Aunt Tillie noted.

  Randy made a face. “Yeah, well ... I only make thirty bucks a month.”

  “Which makes me wonder why you’re back here after the fact,” I admitted, folding my arms across my chest. “What good does patrolling do now?”

  “Well ... .” Randy looked uncomfortable with the question.

  Landon stood, his shoulders squared, and faced down Randy with his best “I’m an FBI agent and you have no choice but to answer my questions” stare. “Do you know who I am?”

  Randy nodded. “You’re Bay’s boyfriend. Everyone knows that.”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. Landon seemed genuinely amused.

  “Perhaps I should get one of those ‘Hello, my name is’ stickers,” he suggested. “I can write ‘Bay’s boyfriend’ and there will never be another question as to my identity.”

  “I think that’s a fine idea,” I offered. “I can have a shirt made up for you. What a fantastic birthday present.”

  His lips quirked. “Sure. I’ll wear it on special occasions.”

  “Like when we’re snowed in and can’t leave the guesthouse.”

  He shot me a thumbs-up and focused on Randy again. “In addition to being Bay’s boyfriend, I’m an FBI agent. I’m investigating the two murders that happened here.”

  “Two?” Randy furrowed his brow. “How are there two murders?”

  “Another body was found,” I supplied. “I thought you knew that.”

  “No.” He scratched at his facial stubble while adopting a far-off expression. “I did not know that. I thought it was just the one.”

  “The other body has been here for more than a decade,” Landon supplied. “Where were you ten years ago?”

  Clearly surprised by the question, Randy made a hilarious face. “I don’t know. I ... how am I supposed to remember that?” He looked to me for help. “No one could possibly remember that.”

  “I don’t think he’s asking where you were specifically,” I countered. “It’s more of a generic question. Like ... were you in Hemlock Cove ten years ago. You
know, something like that.”

  Randy frowned. “Hemlock Cove wasn’t even a thing ten years ago. I wasn’t in Walkerville. I was probably down south. I think I was in the Detroit area at that time … but I did visit a few times before I decided to relocate here for good.”

  “And what were you doing during those visits?” Landon asked. “You weren’t hanging around out here, were you?”

  “Absolutely not.” Randy was firm on that point. “There’s no way I would hang around out here when I could hang around at the bar and get laid.” He realized what he said too late. “Not that I would ever do that, because women should be treated in a respectable manner.” He offered Aunt Tillie a lame half-bow that made me roll my eyes.

  “Oh, please.” Aunt Tillie shook her head. “Everyone knows that you have never treated a woman with respect, Randy. In fact, I seem to remember you sneaking onto my property with a few of the less savory women who frequent that hole out on the highway just last year. The fact that I had to chase you off with a gun was hardly respectable.”

  “You chased him off the property with a gun?” Landon shook his head. “I really wish you wouldn’t tell me things like that. You’re not allowed to just pull a gun on people willy-nilly. I could arrest you for that.”

  “Right. Like any judge or jury in Michigan would lock me up for protecting my property.”

  Landon rolled his neck. “Randy, I’m not going to lie. I find it strange that you’re out here given what happened. I would’ve thought you’d call it a day.”

  “Gertie wants me to watch her investment. She made that clear.”

  “When?” I asked, my mind busy. “When was the last time you saw Gertie?”

  “Yesterday. She was out here. You saw her, too.”

  “I did. I didn’t realize you two talked.”

  “She wanted to know why I didn’t realize there was a body in the pool. I told her I couldn’t watch the property twenty-four hours a day. She didn’t think that was an acceptable excuse and yelled at me. I said I would do better. This is me doing better.”

  “But ... .” I honestly had no idea what to say.

  “Tell me about your visits here,” Landon prodded, using his most official voice. “How often did you visit?”

  Randy looked pained. “I don’t know. I swung around when I could manage it.”

  “And when was that? Once a week? Once a month?” When Randy didn’t answer, he kept going. “Once a year?”

  “I mostly stopped by when I was in the area checking on other things,” Randy replied. “I didn’t mark it down on a calendar or anything.”

  “He told me he hadn’t been here since before the snows,” I offered helpfully.

  “So ... since before October?” Landon did the math in his head. “It’s May. You were getting paid to check in regularly, but it has been seven months since you visited the property.”

  “I’ve been here twice in two days now,” Randy pointed out.

  “Yeah, but that’s after a body was discovered. That’s essentially showing up after the party is already over.”

  “Whatever.” Randy took a moment to glance between Landon and Aunt Tillie, and then focused on me. “You get it. I’m a guy trying to survive. I have a lot of jobs. Sometimes things fall through the cracks. You own your own business.”

  I wanted to laugh at his newfound serious expression. “Well ... um ... I still show up at the office whenever possible. I might go a few days working at home, but I still show up.”

  “I can’t be here every day,” Randy argued. “It’s thirty bucks a month, for crying out loud. Besides, no one ever comes here. I can’t remember when I last saw someone out here.”

  “That’s the sort of information we’re interested in,” Landon noted. “When was the last time you saw someone out here?”

  “It would’ve been the fall,” Randy replied. “I came out in early October to check on things, and there were three people already here. I didn’t know what to make of it.”

  “Did you recognize them?” I asked. “I mean ... were they locals?”

  “I recognized two of them. I don’t know who the third one was.”

  “Well, we’re dying to know who you recognized,” I prodded.

  “Margaret Little and Kevin Valentine.”

  Landon flicked his eyes to me. “Who’s Kevin Valentine?”

  “He’s the bank manager,” I replied grimly. “Obviously they were out here so she could float her plan to buy the property for condos and a second festival location.”

  “Is that why they were out here?” Randy almost looked relieved. “I figured maybe they were dating. Mrs. Little is old enough to be his mother, so I thought that was gross. But I don’t judge. I never judge. Lord knows I’ve made a few mistakes picking women to spend the night with. They always look better through the beer goggles.”

  “You’re a prince among men,” I muttered, causing Landon to smirk.

  “What do you know about Kevin Valentine?” he asked. “I mean ... is he a pervert like this one?” He jerked his thumb toward Randy.

  I shrugged. “He’s divorced. Has two daughters, but they live a few towns over with their mother. They would be teenagers now. Heck, they might even be in their twenties.”

  “Like the victims?”

  I understood what he was insinuating. “I guess, but I’ve never seen anything in Kevin’s personality that would suggest he’s a killer. I know my intuition isn’t infallible or anything, but he seems pretty normal. I’ve never heard of him going after women.”

  “Me either,” Aunt Tillie said. “He’s not a pervert like this one.” She tilted her chin in Randy’s direction. “I once caught this one trying to peek through the windows on the main floor of the inn.”

  “I wasn’t peeking at you,” Randy said hurriedly. “I’m not into grandma porn.”

  Aunt Tillie’s mouth dropped open as I desperately tried to swallow my laughter. “Grandma porn? Did you hear that?” She looked to Landon and me for confirmation. “I’ll have you know I’m in my prime.”

  “Of course you are,” I soothed. “You’re still young and spry.”

  “You could be a model,” Landon automatically added. “Professionally.”

  “See.” Aunt Tillie was practically snarling when she faced off with Randy. “You owe me an apology. Grandma porn my big, fat ... .”

  “Back to the campground,” Landon prodded. “Have you ever seen anyone else hanging out here who shouldn’t have been around?”

  “Just you guys,” Randy replied. “No one cares about this property except Margaret Little, Gertie and ... well ... you. I don’t know what you guys are looking for, but I can’t help you.”

  Well, that was a bit of a disappointment.

  THISTLE, CLOVE, SAM AND MARCUS SHOWED UP with dinner shortly after six. They had packed for camping, including warm blankets and snacks, but Clove and Thistle clearly weren’t happy.

  “I blame you for this,” Thistle muttered when Peg started begging for food from her plate. “Seriously, Bay, wasn’t this entire thing bad enough without including Aunt Tillie?”

  “It’s not my fault,” I countered as I finished off my hamburger and fries. “Mom insisted because she wants private time with Chief Terry.”

  “Oh, naked time?” Thistle wrinkled her nose. “I am so grossed out thinking about the things they’re going to do tonight. I mean ... do you think they’re going to be wandering around the inn naked?”

  The thought hadn’t occurred to me, and I was horrified she would dare say anything of the sort. “Why would you put things like that in my head?”

  “Because they’re in my head,” she replied simply. “If I have to think about them, so do you. Those are the rules.”

  “Ugh.”

  We lapsed into uncomfortable silence for several minutes. I knew what everyone was thinking — Mom and Chief Terry naked together was the sort of visual that would blind mere mortals — and my stomach twisted before I could finish my food. “I
think I’m done.” I closed my container and dropped it in the garbage bag Marcus brought for refuse. “I’m going to have nightmares.”

  “Speaking of that, I thought we could get the generator hooked up before it gets dark,” Landon suggested. “That will allow us to keep looking around the cabins after dark ... once we get all the lightbulbs screwed in.”

  “I can’t help but feel there’s a joke hidden in there somewhere,” Thistle said. “I guess it can wait until later.”

  Landon and Marcus handled the generator, leaving the rest of us to check the cabins and screw in lightbulbs. To my surprise, the system still worked and we were bathed in light relatively quickly. That propelled me to return to the office, where I found Aunt Tillie going through files.

  “You’re determined to find something to stop Mrs. Little, huh?” I said as I sat on the floor and resumed flipping through personnel files. “I thought maybe you would’ve given up by now.”

  “I will never give up when it comes to Margaret. I enjoy taking her down too much. Besides, if she wants this property, there has to be a reason. I want to know what it is.”

  “I thought she wanted it because she’d be able to make a profit on it.”

  “That’s possible, but I’m betting it’s more. There’s a secret. I’m sure money is involved, but my guess is she’s trying to sneak in and scoop this place up before a developer can. Then she will try to flip the property for a big profit. This whole second place for festivals thing is a smokescreen if I ever heard one.”

  “Unless it’s not,” I countered, grabbing a new file. “I can see Mrs. Little being interested in the property because of the condos she wants to develop and the idea of leasing specific areas to the township for festivals. That’s continuous income for very little investment if she can get the property on the cheap. I have to figure that’s why she’s working with Kevin.”

  “I guess.” Aunt Tillie didn’t look convinced. “I still think she must have another plan. It doesn’t matter. I’ll thwart her if it’s the last thing I do.”