“Maybe it’s just dust,” I offered as I left the apartment.
I walked back down the steps and out of the building. A fake fire was an escalation for the ghost. It must have taken a lot for it to create that illusion and try to get my attention while I was in the apartment.
“Kinsley!” Viv and Reggie cried out in unison as I rounded the corner. They ran across the street and pulled me into a hug.
“What’s wrong with you?” Viv asked.
“I was going to come too, but Viv literally held me down,” Reggie said.
“I did,” Viv added.
“There’s nothing wrong with me. I would have been fine. You guys know that,” I said.
“Oh, right. I just… panicked when I saw the smoke,” Viv said.
“It’s okay. There’s no fire anyway.” The last part I said in a whisper so other bystanders couldn’t hear. “It was an illusion. I’m pretty sure the ghost did it.”
“That’s quite an escalation from scratching on doors and turning on faucets,” Viv observed.
“It is, but it’s a mystery for another time. I can’t go up there and check it out with the fire department around. So, I think I’m just going to go home then.”
As I was pulling my car out of the parking space, Thorn’s cruiser drove into the space next to mine. I parked again, and Thorn got out of his car and slipped into the passenger side of mine.
“You’re all right,” he said and took my hand. “I would have been here sooner, but I was on a call. I couldn’t get away.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “The shop’s not really on fire. I’m not certain, but I am pretty sure it was the ghost that created the illusion of smoke.”
“I heard the first part over the radio on my way here. I also heard a civilian ran into building before the fire department could get here. Know anything about that?”
“I can put out fire, Thorn. It’s not a danger to me. I didn’t want to just stand down there and let the building go up in flames. My shop would have been destroyed too. I don’t know that I could use magic to fix it quickly. Not when it’s so visible. I wouldn’t want to test the veil spell like that, but saving the building before it burned would have been easily explainable.”
“The shop isn’t worth your life,” Thorn said.
“I can handle fire, babe. I really can. I promise you that. Reggie needs her job at the shop. I wasn’t going to let it burn.”
“You ran into a burning building because Reggie needs her job?” There was no anger of malice in Thorn’s voice.
“It wasn’t really burning,” I said.
“You didn’t know that,” he countered. “You’re not supposed to be using magic. You’re supposed to be saving your energy because of the baby. You told me yourself that witches are supposed to take a break when they are pregnant. You’ve had a lot less energy lately. Kinsley, what if there had been a roaring inferno in there? What if you’d gotten overwhelmed? I know you don’t like to think it’s possible, but it could have taken too much out of you. You could have…”
“It wasn’t,” I interrupted, but he was right.
My pregnancy wasn’t showing yet. I still wasn’t nearly far enough along for that, so even I often forgot about the restrictions I was supposed to enforce on myself. I completely disregarded it until I found myself fatigued physically or magically.
“I’m not trying to insult you,” Thorn said. “I know what you’re capable of.”
“I know you’re not. Thorn, I promise I’m going home now. I was going to open the shop for the afternoon, but I’ll go home and watch movies and rest.”
“And I’ll pick you up for dinner after my shift. Wear something nice,” he said.
“Don’t I always?” I teased him.
“You know what I mean.”
“Does that mean we’re going to Bella Vita for dinner?” I asked hopefully.
“It does indeed,” he said. “If that’s okay with you.”
“You know, we could just get takeout. I know you’re tired after work,” I offered.
“I’m taking you out. We need a night out on the town. I want to.” He squeezed my hand. “We should make the most of the time we have alone together. Once the baby comes, I imagine it will be a while before I can steal you away for a night out alone.”
“All right then,” I said and kissed him quickly. “Now, get out of my car. I have a box of toasted ravioli in my freezer and two new movies came out I want to see. Things to do.”
Thorn laughed. “Anything I’d want to see? Or is it more of your horror movies?”
“Totally horror movies. You know if it was something you wanted to see, I’d wait for you. Now, for real. Get out of my car. Jaws will be flapping all over town about me monopolizing the town sheriff.”
“All right, all right,” Thorn said and held his hands up in mock surrender. “Kinsley?”
“Yes, Thorn.”
“You’re beautiful, and I love you.”
“Get out of my car,” I said with a laugh. “I love you too.”
Back at home, I made myself half of the box of toasted ravioli. Only half because we were going out later and I had just had lunch. Otherwise, I would have devoured the entire thing.
I cooked them in the oven, and while I waited for them to bake, I brought my laptop to the kitchen table. Curiosity over the building I rented for the shop had overwhelmed me.
While I’d known from the beginning that the place was haunted, I’d never thought to look into it. Ghosts were just a part of my life. They had been since I was a child.
I’d begun to suspect the one in the shop was trying to get my attention, though. So I booted up my computer and began doing research on the building.
I didn’t remember anyone talking about the building being haunted when I was younger, that didn’t mean it wasn’t. Again, ghosts were a dime a dozen in a place like Coventry. There was no way I’d heard all of the stories. Especially when, for the most part, my family and our ancestors were the big story.
It seemed like the best place to start was a Google search, so I typed in the address to the building. My shop came up, and that made me happy, but it wasn’t what I was looking for right then.
After thinking about it for a few moments, I realized that the address I’d typed in was the address to the shop, but it wasn’t the address to the apartment upstairs. Perhaps that address had a 2 in it or maybe a B. I tried the 2 first and got nothing, so I plugged in the address again with a B.
After clicking past a couple of pages of unrelated results, I found an online newspaper article from a nearby town. I clicked on the link, and I’d just started to read it when a big box popped up on the screen. The newspaper wanted me to pay a dollar a month for a subscription to keep reading.
For the briefest second, I got annoyed and considered using magic to bypass their subscription, but that wouldn’t have been right. Plus, I didn’t want to face the consequences of using my magic to steal even if it was only a dollar.
So, I got my purse and my credit card. I filled out the little form to join the newspaper subscription, and a few minutes later, I had access to the article once again.
At the time the article was written, the upstairs was an occupied apartment and the downstairs was a pharmacy. Most towns and cities had a Walgreens or CVS, but Coventry didn’t. I actually started to remember the place from when I was a kid.
Anderson’s Pharmacy had been a cool place. Not only did the pharmacist, I think his name was Stanley Anderson, fill prescriptions for the citizens of Coventry, he’d taken great pride in making his pharmacy just like one of the older ones I’d only seen in movies.
Where my front counter was, there had been a soda fountain. There were a few stools there, and you could sit at the counter and get a hamburger, hot dog, or a plate of one of many cold salads. I remembered liking the ham salad on saltine crackers as a kid. I’d also get a vanilla Coke that was made with real vanilla syrup right there in front of me. At the time, I th
ought it was the coolest thing ever.
Across from the register was a wall of penny candy. Mr. Anderson and his wife would let kids fill up an entire brown paper lunch sack full of candy for a dollar. I remembered he worked in the back at the pharmacy counter. That had been where I had my special section for Coventry’s witches. The door to the back at the time was behind that counter. At some point between then and now, someone had redone the space. Probably so that a business other than a pharmacy could use it. If I closed my eyes, I could still see it in my mind, though.
I kept reading to see if I could find out who lived upstairs. My assumption was that it was the Andersons, but that assumption was wrong. I should have figured that. The headline of the article was about a suspicious death that had been ruled a suicide. I would have remembered if Stanley Anderson had committed suicide.
No, they had rented the apartment out to a man named Cody Black. The article painted him as a drifter and an ex-con that the Andersons had tried to give a second chance.
He’d ended up dead. Uncle Gunner had ruled it a suicide after his investigation, and apparently, my mother hadn’t gotten involved. The article went on to say that drug problems were suspected to be the reason for the suicide.
I could only guess that people accepted that explanation because of Cody’s troubled past. I tried to find in the article where it specifically said he died of an overdose, though, and I couldn’t find anything. The article did note that a lot of money and medicines had come up missing from the pharmacy but that none of it was found in the apartment or in Cody’s car.
“How did he die?” I asked.
“How did who die?” Meri asked as he poked his head out of the dining room.
“Cody Black. He died in the apartment above the shop. I think he’s the ghost.”
“So?” Meri asked.
“So, maybe… I don’t know… Perhaps we can help him if we know who he is and why he’s there,” I said.
“You mean get rid of him,” Meri countered.
“I don’t mean it like that, and you know it. But I wouldn’t want to spend eternity trapped in that little bathroom. I mean, it seems like he can go into the one upstairs too, but still,” I said.
“You’re terrible at staying out of things,” Meri said.
“This isn’t a murder investigation,” I said.
“It’s not?” Meri asked with a flick of his tail.
“I guess it sort of is, but not like a current one. It’s a cold case, right?”
“Cold cases are unsolved,” Meri said.
“Yeah, and this one was ruled a suicide, so it’s technically not even a cold case. Not a murder investigation at all. I’m just trying to help a spirit,” I said with a shrug.
“That is a load of crap,” Meri retorted.
“It is what it is,” I said. “I have to get ready for my date with Thorn.”
“Whatever,” Meri said and darted back into the dining room.
“Whatever, cat,” I said and shut the laptop.
Chapter Two
Thorn had insisted we go out to Bella Vita after I’d said that I was fine with takeout. That meant that I had to find something to wear because he was right. We should make the most of the time we had together before the baby came. It would be a long time after peanut was born that we’d have evenings out to ourselves.
I knew my parents and all of the Aunties would be happy to take the baby so we could go out, but I also knew I wouldn’t be okay leaving peanut for months, at least. Not without thinking about them constantly. I got the distinct feeling that Thorn would be the same way. We’d go out to dinner and just keep checking our phones to make sure the babysitter hadn’t tried to call. All we would talk about was the baby, and then we’d leave early to get home.
Yeah.
I knew already that after the baby came, Thorn and I would be all about family time. It was just the way he was wired, and I was finding that I was as well.
So, I found a red silk cocktail dress that made me feel amazing hanging in the back of my closet. It was not something I would normally wear, even though it made me feel beautiful and magnetic, but that night I was going to put it on. I’d purchased it on a whim and never been brave enough to wear it, but I would give Thorn the whole enchilada for our date night.
After the dress, it was high heels, perfectly curled hair, and a full face of makeup. I almost considered calling Reggie over to help me get the smoky eye right, but I didn’t want to bother her. She was spending time with her grandmother and preparing for Jeremy’s imminent return. So instead, I looked up a tutorial video and took my time.
All in all, I had to say that I’d done a pretty good job. When I answered the door, Thorn just stood there with his mouth open for almost a full minute.
“What? Do I usually look like recycled dog food or something?” I asked with a chuckle.
“No, baby,” he said and swept me into his arms. “You are always the most beautiful woman in the world, but tonight, you look hot. I can’t take you to Bella Vita looking like this. I should take you into the city, but we have a reservation.”
“Bella Vita is great,” I said just before he kissed me. “But if you mess up my lipstick, we’re going to have a problem.”
He just laughed and kissed me again. “I’ll deal with the penalties.”
“You guys are gross,” Meri said as he sauntered into the living room. “Please get out of here before I die from the cheesy grossness.”
“Let’s listen to the cat,” Thorn said as he took my hand. “Are you ready to go?”
“What’s the urgency? Let me check my lipstick,” I protested.
“I didn’t smudge it. I promise. Whatever industrial strength magic makeup you have on, it’s beautiful and it’s no match for the mere likes of me,” he said.
“Okay, fine,” I said with a laugh. “Let’s go then.”
“I hope you don’t mind that we’re going in the cruiser,” Thorn said. “I’m glad I didn’t bring the truck.”
“You’re on duty?” I asked as he opened the door for me.
I suspected that he might be because Jeremy wasn’t back yet, and his department was short again after Lincoln was arrested for murder. Thorn was dressed in black slacks and a blue button-down dress shirt that matched his eyes. It was still too warm out for him to wear a jacket, but he looked sharp nonetheless.
“I’m on call,” he said as I slid into the passenger side of the car. Thorn walked around and got behind the wheel. “But Wayne promised me that he wouldn’t call me unless he really needed me. He and Jackson are both on call tonight too, so I think I’m covered.”
“No one is on duty?” I asked.
“It will be okay with three of us on call. It’s been quiet around here the last few days,” Thorn said as he backed out of my driveway.
“Are you going to keep doing it this way?” I asked. “Just having people on call at night instead of on patrol?”
“No, probably not. I think it’s so quiet because the college kids just went back to school. Things will pick up again at night when they adjust and start hitting the bars again.”
“The college’s fall classes just started?” I asked. “I could have sworn that Viv said that they were still in summer session.”
“No, they had some sort of delay. I think it was something like a lot of the local colleges had meningitis outbreaks during the summer session, so they had to close for a couple of weeks. It got everything behind, but as far as I know, summer sessions ended like a week ago. Regular sessions are starting this week and next.”
“Wow, those kids didn’t get any kind of break,” I said.
“They aren’t really kids, though. They’re technically adults. I’m sure it sucks, but it’s the taste of the real world they need. Sometimes things go sideways, and you just have to cope.”
“You’re right,” I agreed, but I couldn’t help thinking about Hollie. She took on so much, and even though Viv said she thrived on the challenge, it ap
peared that something had overwhelmed her.
It didn’t stop there either. When we got to the restaurant, I saw her waiting on tables. She wasn’t our server, but Hollie was in the section next to us. Doing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the same time along with waitressing must have been overwhelming with no break. She looked a little frazzled but still managed to take care of her tables with a warm smile.
“Is this table okay?” Thorn asked when the hostess left. “I can ask for a different one if this one isn’t perfect.”
“This table is great,” I said and turned to look out the window. “I like the window tables. Especially on this side of the building.”
A Taste for Magic (Familiar Kitten Mysteries Book 5) Page 2