Witch Silenced in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  “Please, Ma’am. Reconsider. Surely someone else can pretend to be old and not all there?” I winced. Bad choice of words.

  “I’m one of the oldest here, dear.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. With a flick of her wrist, everything she’d conjured disappeared, and she was back in her PIB uniform. “There are two other agents who are older than me, but one is on light duties after sustaining injuries in an explosion, and the other has a wife and children. His youngest daughter has just moved back home with her two babies after a messy separation, and she doesn’t have a job. He’s supporting the whole family. I won’t risk his life.”

  “But that’s his job. Isn’t it?” I tried to keep my tone even, but frustration sharpened the edges of my words.

  “I won’t change my mind, Lily. And who knows? Maybe that’s not why I’m going to die. Maybe I’ll be in a car accident on the way home from work.”

  “You don’t drive. You magic yourself everywhere.” I wasn’t going down without a fight. “What if we have the intention of putting him in your place, and I take his photo? If he’s see-through, we won’t send him, and if he’s not, we do?”

  James and Will had joined Beren and me. We stood united against her death wish. “Aunt— Ma’am, Lily has a point. Please let us at least try?”

  James stared at her, his gaze calm but unrelenting. “I’m not ready to run the PIB. You know they’ll call someone else in from New York. All the years you’ve worked to get to the top, and you’ll throw it in for some other idiot to take over and maybe send us back to being inefficient? What if one of the You-Know-Who clan sneaks someone in to replace you?” He must be talking about the snake people who were after me—Dana’s people.

  “I won’t let you.” William had stepped past me and was staring down at Angelica.

  “I think you’ll find, young man, that you can’t stop me. It’s not your place.” Ma’am folded her arms and looked up at him, anger flickering in her gaze.

  He shook his head. “If you die, it will be my fault. I’ll carry that with me forever. And what about Lily? Do you want her to suffer with guilt forever too?”

  “If I die, it won’t be your fault.”

  “Yes, it will.” I hoped my eyes conveyed the full horror of what losing her this way would feel like to me. “I have a chance to stop you. We’ve been forewarned. If I don’t do everything in my power to stop this from happening, it will be my fault.” She stilled, and I wondered if we had almost convinced her. She might need another nudge, just to get her over the line. “I’ve already lost my parents. I can’t lose you too. You’re like the aunt I never had… one I sorely need. And you’re the only one who knew my parents. Who else can answer James’s and my questions about them? We need you. If Mum were here, she wouldn’t want you to risk yourself this way either.” If only I had the power of persuasion. I was immune to it, but I’d never tried it. And yes, it was illegal unless it was for an extremely good reason, but I didn’t see what a better reason could be than saving a friend.

  Ma’am looked over my shoulder, to a far-off place where she stayed for a couple of minutes. No one said anything. It was as if we held our breath in unison, waiting for the axe to fall. Will slid his hand over mine and gently squeezed. I squeezed back and enjoyed the comforting feeling of having someone who would be there just for me. I had James, and nothing could come between our brother-sister bond, but he had Millicent and their future baby to worry about and be there for. His other family had to come first, and I appreciated that. It was nice to have my own person to lean on if I needed to. The thought of grieving someone was horrible—it was just a little less so if I could do it in my gorgeous man’s arms.

  Ma’am gave a small shake of her head and eyeballed each of us in turn. “All right. We’ll do it your way. I hereby appoint Agent Gryffith to go undercover at the care home. But if his photo is ghostly, I’m going undercover.” She placed her hands firmly on her hips. “I don’t want to hear any arguments. Any agent, or Lily, who argues will be off this case. Understood?”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” we answered. The lump of worry that squished my chest eased only slightly. I wouldn’t take a deep breath until I’d taken that agent’s photo. Could I turn my magic off and take it? I sighed. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t deceive Angelica like that. Then she’d live with the guilt of sending him in, and I’d live with the guilt that I’d lied. Why couldn’t life be simple and safe?

  Angelica magicked a phone into her hand. She put it to her ear. “Agent Gryffith, Ma’am here. Can you come to the main conference room, please? Yes. Now.” She pressed the screen, and the phone disappeared. “Everyone, sit.”

  We resumed our seats, but Will sat next to me this time. I leaned towards him. “How are you?” I was pretty sure he’d know what I meant—how are you feeling after finding out your grandmother was murdered?

  “Angry, sad, so disappointed I could kick myself. I should have listened to her, Lily. If I’d taken her fears seriously, she might still be here.” His breath huffed out of his nose like an angry bull.

  “How could you know? She wasn’t exactly making sense when we went to see her. I didn’t take her seriously either.” Guilt slid fingers around my wrist, but I shook it off. This wasn’t our fault. “You know that’s how they get away with things for so long.”

  His brows drew together. “Who?”

  “People who kill people in nursing homes. They would know no one takes the patients seriously. How can they when their relatives know they’re living in a fantasy world? Paranoid delusions are probably common with people who aren’t in their right mind.”

  “I know. But still….”

  The door opened, and a tall, fit man walked in. He filled out his suit in a way suggesting he was muscular without being a mountain, and he moved with the power and grace of a panther. I wasn’t expecting him to look so, well, young. If he was older than Ma’am, that put him at late 50s, early 60s, but he actually looked younger than Ma’am. He stood tall, his thick wavy hair dark and luxurious. I hit my palm against the side of my head, protesting my brain’s annoying tendency to use words I didn’t like. His hair wasn’t a Ferrari, a five-star hotel room, or a mega yacht. Why did people use luxurious to describe hair? Stupid other people putting that idea in my head.

  “Thank you for coming on short notice, Agent Gryffith. We’re testing new software on the iPhone. I just need you to stand there for a moment.”

  His brows raised the tiniest bit, but he nodded. “Of course, Ma’am.”

  “Lily, if you wouldn’t mind taking a photo.”

  “Of course.” I flicked my phone into camera mode again. I took a breath and held it, lifted the camera, and clicked. Crap. “Um, looks like the software isn’t working. What a huge disappointment.” My shoulders slumped.

  “Thank you, Gryffith. You may go.”

  He gave her a small bow, turned, and left via the door. I guessed he was going to another place in this building that he didn’t have coordinates for. Ma’am put her hand out. “May I?”

  I sighed and handed it over. He was as ghostly as could be. Stupid magical ability.

  “Well, that settles that, team. I’m going in.” She turned to Beren. “Obviously Lily and Will can’t be involved in any care-home interaction or visits. Beren, you’ll have to make all the arrangements. Use these identities.” Two pieces of paper appeared in her hands, and she gave them to Beren. “I’m Angelica Prestons, and you’re my son, Preston Prestons.”

  I snorted. “What kind of a mean parent are you?”

  She grinned. “One who likes to have a little fun at the expense of my offspring. My diagnosis is early onset Alzheimer’s. Make the arrangements today. Tell them it’s urgent. From what Will said, they have a fairly high turnover, and in light of what we now know, I’m not surprised. And, Beren, I’ll have to get you to take a photo of me for the care-home ID.”

  Beren nodded, and I was pleased that he didn’t do a damn thing to hide his frown. At l
east I wasn’t the only one who hated Ma’am’s idea. I still couldn’t believe she was really going through with it. And what if we were doing this for nothing, and she died, but we still didn’t catch the culprits?

  Will said, “Ma’am, how will Lily and I be involved?”

  “You’ll both take shifts in the surveillance van that will be parked down the street. While I’m undercover, James will take my place running this operation and the PIB.”

  James gave a single sober nod. He exuded confidence. Was he really feeling it, or was it for the benefit of Angelica? “I won’t let you down, Ma’am.”

  She smiled. “I know. You’re one of the best agents we have. I’ve always seen the potential in you, James.”

  My heart lurched to the right as if to break out of its cage and jump to its death. It knew what pain was coming and didn’t want to face it. Neither did I. It seemed as if she was telling James something she’d always thought but had never said—something she wanted to make sure he knew before she…. “Isn’t there any other way? I mean, is it worth losing you to catch the killer? Maybe we should just order autopsies on the other bodies.”

  Angelica pinned me with her stare. “What did I say before about arguing?”

  “I was just asking a question.” I sunk lower in my seat.

  “Well, don’t. I’ve made up my mind. And even though your magic has predicted death in the past, that doesn’t mean it’s always going to be right. I have a job to do, and nothing will stop me doing it. Danger is ever present in what we do. Do you understand me, Lily?” She held her gaze on me until I nodded— sullenly, I’d admit, but it was a nod. I also bit my tongue. Pointing out that my magic had never been wrong before was obviously not going to help, and if anything happened to her, I didn’t want one of our last moments together spent disagreeing.

  Satisfied I was going to toe the line, she turned back to James and Beren. I tuned out as they discussed the finer points of the sting—there was only so much time left for me to figure out how to save Angelica. And I had a feeling I was going to need every second.

  Chapter 6

  The next morning, just after 9:00 a.m., I sat at the kitchen table, yawning and cradling my cappuccino when Olivia walked in looking as tired as I felt. She was dressed in a black T-shirt with a white Siamese cat on the front with the words “I’m Feline Purrfect” and red tracksuit pants. Okay, so her T-shirt wasn’t telling the absolute truth, but it made me smile.

  “Good morning. I missed you last night.”

  She turned on the kettle. “I got in late. I worked some overtime and got a handle on the computer system. It’s taken a bit, but I’m really getting the hang of it now.”

  “That’s awesome because we’re going to need all your skills to track down Dana and her evil associates.”

  She put a teabag in her mug. “Not only that, but Ma’am’s asked me to pull some info on that care home Will’s grandmother died at.”

  That was a good sign—she wasn’t just going to go in there totally blind. “What kind of info?”

  The kettle boiled, and the switch clicked off. She poured the water into her cup and sat next to me. “Well, you’re lucky you have clearance, so I can tell you.”

  “How do you know if I have clearance?”

  “When Ma’am gave me the request, she put a list of people I could share the information with. You’re one of them.”

  “Oh cool. Otherwise, I’d have to magic it out of you.” I wiggled my fingers at her.

  She gently slapped them away. “Ha ha, very funny.”

  “So, what do you have to research?”

  “The notices the care home has sent to the Care Quality Commission. Every time there’s a death, they have to provide them with paperwork. Then I’ll have to try and find info on everyone who works there and look into their history. It’s not going to be easy. I mean, the first part will be, but trying to find who works there without asking them directly is going to be a pain in the bum.” She jiggled the teabag up and down, grabbed milk from the fridge, poured some into her cup, and sat down again.

  I swallowed the last of my coffee and acknowledged the panic storm lurking on the horizon. “Did Angelica tell you what happened yesterday? About the photos I took?”

  Two small vertical lines appeared just above the bridge of her nose. “No. What happened?”

  “This is confidential, of course.”

  “Of course.”

  I knew I could trust her, but I had to say it, just in case. The less people not in our immediate circle who knew about my talents, the better. “After Angelica agreed to go undercover at the care home, I took her photo. It came back with her looking see-through.” I blinked back tears. “She’s going to die.” I shook my head, still in disbelief about the whole thing.

  Olivia’s face slackened—it appeared she was as dumbfounded as me. “Are you sure?”

  “When has my talent ever been wrong?”

  She shrugged. “I have no idea, Lily. I haven’t known you the whole time you’ve had your powers. Please tell me there’s been at least one occasion.”

  “I’m afraid not.” I told her about the bride’s father and the woman at the airport in Paris, both of whom died shortly after I’d seen them as ghostly images through my lens.

  She blew out a loud breath. “Does she know?”

  “Yes, of course she knows, but she refuses to back out. I’ve lain awake all night trying to think of what I can do to change things. But I haven’t come up with anything. We need to find out what we can as quickly as possible. Do you think you can start those searches after you finish breakfast?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Thanks. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  She pressed her lips together, thinking. “Hmm, there is something you could try. Do you think you could put a spell on my search that helps me find stuff quickly?”

  Could I? “There’s a good chance I can. I just have to figure out the right thing to say, although it’s a fairly simple request.” I smiled.

  Olivia grinned. “That’s my Lily. You’re awesome. You know that?”

  “And so are you.”

  “How much time do you think we have before Angelica goes undercover?”

  I scratched the back of my head and yawned. “Um, I’m not sure. At least all of today. Beren had to apply to get her a place at the care home, and if there aren’t any spare beds, she’ll have to wait. Who knows? It could take a week or more. I have no idea how often people die and a bed becomes available, or how long the waiting list is.” Except at least three people had died there in the last week. It would have been great if the wait was two or three weeks—the longer, the better.

  “Okay then. After breakfast, we’ll head into the bureau.”

  “Oh. We can’t do it from here?”

  She shook her head. “My laptop’s not powerful or secure enough. We need the PIB system. I’ll just check with Millicent, and then we’ll be good to go.”

  Millicent was her direct report. Olivia had to confirm everything with her first. I was so glad my sister-in-law and best friend got to work together. I would have hated if Olivia had been stuck with some demon boss. Someone like Dana, for instance.

  Olivia texted Millicent and got the okay. Then we had toast for breakfast. Olivia looked at mine, slathered with butter and Vegemite, and pulled a disgusted face.

  “Mmm, Vegemite.” I grinned.

  “That looks disgusting.”

  “Have you ever tried it?”

  She shook her head. “No way. Ew.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Wussy baby. I guess everyone can’t be as tough as us Aussies.”

  She raised a brow. “Is that so? Okay, then. Let me have a bite, and I’ll prove that I’m as tough as you, and that it’s disgusting.”

  I handed her a triangle and smirked. She would likely hate it—most people did if they hadn’t been brought up eating it—but I’d enjoy watching her squirm. She bit into it, her face pensive until her eyes wid
ened, and she squished her eyes shut tight, stuck her tongue out, and gagged.

  “Oh my Lord, this is terrible.” She swallowed and put the rest of the piece back on my plate. “You Aussies are sickos. You know that?”

  I grinned and bit into my toast. “Mm, mmm. Sick and loving it.”

  She shook her head.

  After breakfast, we changed into PIB-issue uniforms—I figured I’d stand out less if I was dressed like everyone else there—and I travelled us to the reception room. Good old Gus was there to open the door.

  “Hey, Gus,” said Olivia as she walked into the hallway. “How’s the puppy?”

  Wait, what? Noooo! I’d forgotten Olivia was probably here more than me now and had been getting to know people. If only I could have warned her not to ask any dog-related questions.

  “Good morning, ladies. The dog’s good, thanks, Miss Olivia. But you should’ve seen him yesterday.” Gus held his hand on his belly and laughed. As his laughter subsided, he shook his head. “On our walk, he decided to roll in the grass, only it wasn’t just grass, if you get my meaning.” He pinched his nose between thumb and forefinger. “It was a massive pile of shit, all matted into his fur with a few twigs and leaves, for good measure. I was off to work, so my Mrs had to bathe him.” He laughed again.

  I gagged and could swear I smelled dog poo. I lifted each foot and checked under my black sneakers. Of course there wasn’t any—I hadn’t worn these shoes outside for ages, since I tended to travel everywhere, and I had a different pair for jogging. I looked down at Gus’s shoes. Hmm…

  “We’d best get a move on, Liv. We have lots of work to do.” I smiled at Gus. “See you next time. And thanks for answering the door.”

  “It’s my pleasure, Miss Lily, and it’s my job.” He winked. I chuckled. He was a lovely guy, but I was starting to associate him with things that smelled horrible.

  “Bye, Gus.” I hooked my arm through Olivia’s and dragged her down the hallway. “So, where’s your office?”

  “This way.” She continued towards the lift. “And why were you in such a hurry. I enjoy chatting to Gus.”