Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery Box Set

by Amanda M. Lee

  “I can hear a ‘but’ in there somewhere.”

  “But I’m not sure my gut believes Lorna is guilty,” I admitted. “I need more information. Masterson is the logical next step.”

  “I don’t know that I like you going there alone. Maybe you can question him and I’ll sit outside.”

  “You’ve been warned to stay away,” I reminded him. “If you go there you could be risking a formal reprimand at work.”

  “Maybe I don’t care.”

  “You care.” We both knew that to be true. “You just got that promotion so you could move in with me. What if your boss changes his mind because of this and tries to make you move? Then we’re going to be in trouble.”

  “Then I’ll quit.”

  I snorted. “You love that job.”

  “I love you more.”

  “It’s far more likely that we’ll do what you originally suggested and find a place to rent between the two locations. That will put off your plans to develop the campground property, because that’s too far to commute daily.”

  He let loose a resigned sigh and I knew I had him. “Fine. I’ll be at the diner. Make sure he knows I’m aware of where you are. If he lays a hand on you ... .”

  “You do know that I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time, right?”

  “I do. We’re a unit, though. It’s my job to beat up anyone who threatens you.”

  “Fair enough. At breakfast, we can talk about this looking down women’s shirts thing. It sounds fascinating.”

  “Ugh. I just don’t know when to keep my mouth shut.”

  “Oh, you’re officially part of the family. That’s a common problem with Winchesters.”

  “I’ve noticed. Don’t spend too much time at Masterson’s house. Ask your questions and get out. I don’t know that I trust him.”

  That made two of us.

  THISTLE VOLUNTEERED TO accompany me to Masterson’s house, but I insisted she stay with Clove. Our cousin was bound to be a bundle of nerves when she woke — it was her wedding day, after all, and she’d been dreaming about it for years — and it would’ve been wrong to leave her to her own devices.

  Thistle being Thistle was suspicious, of course, but could hardly argue. She was still griping about my escape an hour later when I slipped out the front door, Clove still snoozing.

  Masterson’s house was on the east side of town. It wasn’t the ritziest section of Hemlock Cove, but it was hardly rundown. All the homes had perfectly manicured lawns and up-to-date siding. There was no garbage littering the grassy green expanses — an edict strictly enforced because of the importance of tourism — and all the vehicles parked in the driveways and on the streets were relatively new.

  I parked in front of the house, making sure my car was visible, and then sprang up the front walk. There was no sense delaying this interview. I should’ve tracked him down and cornered him days ago.

  I knocked twice and waited for someone to answer. Masterson lived alone — at least to my knowledge — and I doubted that Lorna was feeling up to overnight visits. At the very least, that would’ve looked bad to anyone who witnessed them engaging in a tryst so soon after Adam’s death. That didn’t mean Masterson didn’t have another woman on the side, but I was willing to bet he was trying to lay low these days.

  After another round of knocking I shifted my gaze to the driveway. His Range Rover was parked in front of the garage door. It was always possible he’d looked through the peephole and decided not to answer when he realized it was me. That didn’t mean I was going to let him get away without grilling him.

  I cut around the side of the house. I figured if I could catch his eye in a window he would have no choice but to at least shut me down to my face. When I reached the back of the house, I had to shield my eyes from the glare of the sun to see inside the sliding glass doors.

  What I found there took my breath away.

  Masterson was dead. I didn’t have to break into the house to confirm that. He was sitting in a chair at the end of the rectangular table, his sightless eyes focused on me. Or, well, they would be focused on me if they were still in the sockets. They were missing, as if pecked out, and there were feathers from one end of the kitchen to the other.

  He appeared to have a plate in front of him, what looked like a steak and potatoes on display. He hadn’t eaten much before it happened because there was plenty left. Blood ran down his cheeks and his mouth was opened in a silent scream.

  I fumbled for my phone and almost dropped it before recovering. My hands were still shaking when I found Landon’s name on my contact list. He answered on the first ring.

  “Did you change your mind about interviewing Masterson?”

  The first time I tried to speak, nothing came out. The second, my voice was shrill. “I need you to come over here.”

  All traces of mirth left Landon’s voice. “What is it, Bay?”

  “It’s Masterson. He’s dead and ... it’s not good. I need you to come here right now. I ... need ... you ... .”

  “I’m coming, baby.” There was strength in his tone as he reassured me. “Don’t touch anything. I’ll be right there.”

  CHIEF TERRY WAS THE FIRST to arrive. Landon had called him. He found me sitting on the back patio staring at my shoes.

  “Are you okay?” He was the picture of concern as he closed in on me.

  I nodded.

  “Bay, look at me.” His voice was gentle, as was the finger he placed at the bottom of my chin to tilt it up. “What happened?”

  “I came to interview him,” I replied woodenly.

  “I know that. Landon called.”

  “He didn’t answer the door.”

  “So you broke in?”

  I sensed a lecture in my future and immediately started shaking my head. “I didn’t break in. I didn’t have to.” I pointed toward the sliding glass doors. “He’s kind of hard to miss.”

  Chief Terry kept his gaze on me for an extended moment and then looked in that direction, viciously swearing under his breath when he saw Masterson’s body. “Well, that’s just great.”

  I swallowed hard. “I haven’t been inside. I didn’t touch anything. You don’t have to call me an idiot again.”

  He cast me a sidelong look. “You’re not an idiot and I’m sorry if what I said after the fire hurt your feelings. You do occasionally do idiotic things, but you’re a good girl for the most part. You’re smart, too.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I still kind of want to shake you.”

  “I’m sure Landon will feel the same way when he gets here.”

  As if on cue, Landon appeared on this side of the hedge. He didn’t even glance at Chief Terry before rushing to me. He dropped to his knees and gently pushed my hair out of my face. “Tell me you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine.” I felt stronger now. The initial vision of the body had shaken me, but I was starting to come back to reality. “I just ... it’s bad.”

  “I’m sure it is.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead and then turned to join Chief Terry. “Well ... holy bird feathers. That is ... really gross.”

  Chief Terry’s stare was withering. “Is that your professional law enforcement opinion?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “I hate to say it, but I agree with you.”

  “Do we think birds actually killed him?” Landon started for the door, slipping on a pair of rubber gloves as he went. “I mean ... that can’t be the best way to go.”

  “I would say that’s the absolute worst way to go,” Chief Terry agreed.

  “I still think sharks would be worse,” I muttered.

  Landon shot me a small smile, but it was muted. He was already on the case. “We need to get in there.”

  “I’ve already called the medical examiner,” Chief Terry volunteered. “Let’s take a look at what we’ve got first.”

  I remained where I was. They didn’t need me mucking up the scene. Besides, I’d already seen everything I needed to s
ee. After twenty minutes, they returned.

  “The only marks on his body are from where his eyes were plucked out,” Chief Terry explained. “I don’t know if that’s enough to kill a man. I mean ... if you believe horror movies, it’s not.”

  “The medical examiner should be able to tell us,” Landon noted.

  “I don’t think it was the eyes,” I supplied.

  “What do you think it was?” Landon looked genuinely curious. “It doesn’t matter if you’re right or wrong, just give me your best guess.”

  “I think it was a ritual. There was blood on his face. I’m willing to bet not much is found in his body.”

  “You think whoever did this took his blood?” Chief Terry was horrified. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “I don’t either,” I admitted. “The thing is ... it makes sense. What happened to Adam was a brutal attack. Whoever killed him is feeling emboldened now. If he or she — and I’m leaning toward a she — is collecting blood, it has to be for a powerful spell.”

  “How do we find out?” Landon asked.

  “I can think of only one way ... and you’re not going to like it. Neither of you.”

  “Lay it on me all the same,” Chief Terry instructed. “If you have a way to find answers, I want to hear it. We’re running out of time before Clove’s wedding. I want this handled before she walks down that aisle.”

  He wasn’t the only one.

  Twenty-Four

  The medical examiner, Dan Stevens, was prompt. He seemed as stymied by the scene as the rest of us.

  “Did you find birds inside the house?” he asked, glancing around.

  Chief Terry and Landon allowed me into the house as long as I promised to touch nothing, remain behind them and not draw attention to myself. I didn’t want to get close to the body, so I was fine with that. Still, the second I walked through the sliding glass door I could feel the malevolent energy flowing through the room. The hate associated with it was staggering.

  “There were no birds when we arrived,” Chief Terry replied.

  “What’s she doing here?” Stevens inclined his head in my direction. “Is she a suspect?”

  “No, she’s not a suspect.” Landon made a face. “She was here to interview Masterson. When he didn’t answer the door, she walked to the back thinking he might be enjoying his coffee on the patio or something. That’s when she saw him through the window.”

  As far as lies go, it was relatively smooth.

  “What were you interviewing him about?”

  “None of your business,” Chief Terry answered for me. “She’s not a suspect. When do you place the time of death?”

  “I’m guessing sometime last night, probably around seven or eight o’clock.”

  “That would make sense since he died on top of his dinner,” Landon mused. “Did you find anything but feathers? A dead bird anywhere?”

  Stevens shook his head. “No, and I’m baffled.” He focused on me. “Were the doors open when you arrived?”

  “No. I wasn’t even sure what I was seeing at first. The door was definitely shut.”

  “So how did the birds get inside?” Landon mused, more to himself than any of us.

  That didn’t stop Stevens from answering. “I figure that’s your responsibility to answer,” he said. “I’m just here to answer any questions you might have about the body.”

  “Okay, then answer a question,” Chief Terry prodded. “Did losing his eyes kill him?”

  “It’s unlikely.” Stevens lowered himself to stare at the body from below. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Birds are scavengers for the most part. I’ve seen bodies that birds have fed on, but all of that damage was done post-mortem. This is ... something else entirely.”

  That was putting it mildly.

  “Would just losing the eyes be enough to kill him?” Chief Terry pressed.

  “It shouldn’t. It would have been horribly painful, but it shouldn’t have killed him. What confuses me more is that there are no other marks on his body. If a bird attacks, would you just sit there and take it? He has no defensive wounds, no scratches ... so why was he just sitting there?”

  I had a sneaking suspicion I knew why, but I couldn’t volunteer my hunch in front of the medical examiner.

  “I want to know how the birds got in and out,” Chief Terry noted. “It’s not as if they can open doors.”

  “Maybe someone has trained birds,” Stevens suggested. “I’ve heard of stranger things.”

  “What have you heard that’s stranger than trained birds attacking a guy eating a steak dinner?” I challenged.

  Stevens merely shrugged. “The stories I could tell you.”

  “Some other time,” Landon said dryly. “For now, we need to figure out where the birds came from and what killed him. I don’t see much blood anywhere. There has to be another reason for his death.”

  “My guess would be some sort of poison,” Stevens offered. “I’m far from an expert on birds, but for him to just sit there like that ... my guess is it wasn’t that he didn’t want to move. It was that he couldn’t move.”

  A horrible notion crawled into my brain and took up residence. “Is it possible he was alive when this happened?”

  “I guess it’s possible,” he shrugged. “He would have to have been injected with some sort of paralytic. I guess he could’ve ingested it in some way, but we won’t know that until we note the contents of his stomach and look for injection sites.”

  “Make sure you look hard,” Landon instructed. “Check between the toes and all that jazz.”

  “Do you have any idea who would want to do this?” Stevens asked. “This is a really weird death, even by Hemlock Cove standards.”

  “We’re working on it,” Chief Terry answered, pointing toward the door. “Make this your priority. The sooner we have answers, the better.”

  “I’m on it.” Stevens mock-saluted. “This is the weirdest thing I’ve seen in years. I’m just as anxious for answers as you.”

  “I sincerely doubt it.”

  LANDON SECLUDED ME IN THE back corner of the yard.

  “What are you going to do?”

  On another day I might’ve actually feigned being upset by the question. Today, however, it seemed a wasted effort. “I’m going to gather Clove and Thistle — even though I wanted to keep Clove out of this — and head out to Hollow Creek.”

  Whatever answer he was expecting, that wasn’t it. “Why?”

  “Because I need to call some ghosts to me and that’s the best place to do it. There are remnants of magic left out there from everything else that has happened. You heard the circus people. They could feel the energy.”

  “Yeah, but ... .”

  “I also need to talk to them,” I pointed out. “The ghosts, I mean. I need to do it in a place where people are unlikely to stumble across us. I’m taking Clove and Thistle so I won’t be alone, which should appease you. We need answers.”

  Landon didn’t look convinced. “It’s not the ghosts I’m worried about,” he admitted. “It’s what you’re going to do after you find the information you’re looking for.”

  “I’m going to call you.”

  The look he shot me was dubious. “Please. If you find out who this witch is you’re going to go after her alone. We both know it. You won’t willingly put me at risk.”

  That was a fair point. “I won’t purposely cut you out either. I’ll at least tell you what’s going on so we can deal with it together.”

  “Since when do you approach things that way?”

  “I’m trying to grow here.” I grinned at him. “We’re a team, right? You’re making a concerted effort to include me. I’ll do the same.”

  He wasn’t quite ready to let it go. “What do you expect to get out of this? You’ve pretty much decided it’s Lorna.”

  “She makes the most sense,” I agreed. “We need confirmation, though. We have a boatload of other witches in town. Maybe one of them is responsibl
e.”

  “But Adam died the day before they arrived.”

  “He died the day before most of them arrived. Others were in the area. I remember Thistle mentioning it. None of them were staying at The Overlook, but if I was an evil witch visiting Hemlock Cove I wouldn’t stay at The Overlook either.”

  Landon looked intrigued. “Why would a random witch attack the guy who owns the blacksmith shop?”

  “That’s what I intend to find out.”

  He blew out a sigh and dragged a hand through his hair. “Okay. Just keep me informed ... and be careful.” He grabbed the front of my shirt and hauled me to my toes so he could plant a hot kiss on my lips. “I really did miss you last night.”

  I smiled. The naked emotion in his eyes was enough to warm me all over. “And I missed you. Although ... there’s a funny story regarding Aunt Tillie I should tell you once we get a second alone to enjoy each other.”

  “Once we get a second alone to enjoy each other you’re dressing up like bacon. That’s all there is to it.”

  “Then after that.”

  “I can’t wait to hear it.” He stroked his hand down the back of my head and pressed a light kiss to my mouth. “I’ll stick with this and see what we come up with. Maybe we’ll have a meeting of the minds by noon and be able to put this behind us and enjoy the wedding.”

  “That would be nice.”

  “But you don’t think it’s going to happen.”

  “Oh, it’s going to happen. Nothing is going to ruin Clove’s day. Absolutely nothing.”

  “THIS IS STUPID.”

  Clove bitterly complained as she picked her way through the foliage separating the parking lot from the water at Hollow Creek.

  “And here I thought you loved the great outdoors,” Thistle drawled. “I’m shocked that you’re not enjoying this.”

  “It’s not about being outdoors ... although now I don’t want to go anywhere that’s not inside because I’m afraid birds will peck my eyes out.” Clove wrinkled her ski-slope nose in dainty fashion. “Seriously, I could’ve lived my entire life without hearing that story, Bay.”