“Did the humans fight alongside our people?” I asked, trying to get a feel for what it had been like at the time.
He looked at me and laughed, showing his pointy teeth again. “Are you kidding? The humans didn’t even realize that anything was wrong at the time. Only we knew, and the hunters of course.”
I shook my head, feeling a little hollow inside. “Do the humans just not care?” I asked him.
He looked sadly into my eyes. “No, Haley. It’s not that they don’t care. They don’t know it’s happening. And we work hard to keep it that way. If they knew….” He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at me again. “If they knew how close to disaster they could come, they would very likely turn on us as well as the demons. Many humans can’t distinguish between us. To them, we’re all paranormal. We’re all bad. And they would make sure that we all died.”
My heart broke. “You don’t know that.”
He tried to smile. “It’s not worth the risk to test it. Believe me. I’ve seen it turn bad before.”
I was bewildered. I felt a natural urge to fight it, to reach for something better and I wasn’t sure if that was just a passing emotion, or if it came from something deeper down inside, something hiding in my memories—those things I couldn’t find.
“So we just live with it? We fight the demons and the humans don’t even know?”
He nodded. “It’s our lot. Our place. Our destiny.”
I felt that same old rebellion rising in my heart. Somehow I knew that this was normal for me, even if I couldn’t remember it happening before. “I don’t like it,” I said.
“Nobody does. But it is what it is.” Reaching out, he took my hand. “Just hope that it doesn’t come to out and out war. If it does, we all lose.”
Chapter Eleven
I left Bentley’s place and headed down the street with my little dog in tow. As I walked past the sheriff’s station, Shane came out and nodded to me. I stopped. How could I help it? Shane was worth stopping for.
He had on his dark glasses, so I couldn’t gauge his state of mind very well. I couldn’t help but admire how muscular and trim he looked in his uniform.
“Hey,” I said. “Have you arrested the murderer yet? Or are you still hoping I’ll break down and confess?”
“Where’ve you been?” he asked instead of answering. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“I was talking to Bentley,” I said. “I was trying to fill in a background for this crazy little town. It isn’t easy to understand just what makes it tick.”
“Ask me those questions,” he said. “I might be able to help you.”
I looked at him and smiled. “I will. Later. But right now I’m headed for the Hall of Records.”
He grimaced, not letting me go. Instead, he positioned himself in my way and he gave me advice.
“You know, until you know more about what you’re doing, I think it would be a good idea to stay away from vampires. They’re tricky to maneuver around.”
I looked away, coughing to hide my reaction to that. “Uh, Shane?” I turned and looked at him. “I’ve always been told there’s no such thing as vampires. When did that change?”
He looked at me as if he couldn’t believe I would say such a thing. “Have you met Bentley?” he said with some asperity.
“You know I have. I had dinner with him last night.”
“Then you know that vampires exist, don’t you?”
“Well, maybe.” I had to admit, the word “vampire” had sprung to mind the first time Bentley smiled at me and showed his pointy teeth. “But he doesn’t scare me. I mean, he doesn’t spend a lot of time looking at my neck and thinking about my blood type. In fact!” I jabbed my forefinger at him. “In fact! He ate Chinese food last night. So what do you think of that?”
“So?”
“Well, I thought vampires didn’t eat real food. I thought they existed on blood alone and….”
“Wait. You said you didn’t believe they existed. Now you want to set up a list of rules they have to follow in order to be real?”
“Yes.” On that, I was certain. Sort of.
Suddenly I realized that he wasn’t angry with me. He was smiling. I wished I could see his eyes. He was so cool most of the time, so unemotional, rational. So when he showed a bit of warmth, it curled through me like a flame, warming me inside and out.
“But never mind that. We have a murder to solve. How’s that coming?”
He shrugged. “We’re moving along.”
“So did the Sheriff decide I knew enough about guns to be the killer?”
His smile widened but he didn’t respond.
“Scotty was shot, right?”
He nodded slowly. “Yes, he was. And we’ve got the gun that we think did it.”
“Oh.”
“It’s being checked for prints right now. They won’t be yours, will they?”
I shook my head. “Nope. And that I know for sure.”
He just grinned again.
“I’ve got to go,” I said. All this smiling was making me nervous. “But before I do, tell me who you think did it.”
“Scotty’s murder?”
“Yes.”
He hesitated. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but in fact, I’m looking into Vince Trulow’s activities of last night. He was with Scotty for at least an hour. He’s one of the gang who hang out there a lot. But I’ve pretty much ruled him out. No motive.”
I blinked. That was the front desk worker at the motel where I was staying, wasn’t it? “What kind of car does he drive?” I asked.
“Vince?” He thought for a moment. “I think it’s a Subaru. Why?”
I shook my head. There had been no Subaru in that parking lot when I was there last night. Of course, that didn’t mean anything. I was only there for about ten minutes.
“Tell me this. Do we have a time of death yet?”
His wide mouth twisted in another reluctant grin. “No, ‘we’ don’t. However I’ve been told it was between ten thirty and midnight.” One dark eyebrow rose. “Weren’t you there about eleven?”
“I was. Right in the middle of prime time.” I’d already answered all of this sort of questioning earlier in the day. “And I told you what cars I saw there.” I made a face. “But it was dark and my identification skills are lacking when it comes to cars.”
He nodded. “You said two cars, right? Scotty’s Jeep and a silver sedan?”
“Yes.” I said it tentatively, because I wasn’t absolutely sure there hadn’t been another one, parked back almost behind the workshop. But it hadn’t really registered at the time and I didn’t want to have to answer any more questioning about it.
“So in your mind it’s not too crazy to assume that the silver sedan might have belonged to the killer. Don’t you agree?”
I took a deep breath. “Maybe. Or maybe Scotty and the person who parked the car there had gone for a hike and didn’t come back until eleven thirty, when the extra person drove away and a bright yellow Corvette drove in. Someone jumped out of the Corvette, ran into the back yard where Scotty was wandering around, and killed him. That could have happened too.”
He came up too close to me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me closer. I gasped, thinking he was angry. Then I looked up and saw his grin.
“You’re determined to be a wise guy, aren’t you?” he said.
I lifted my chin and stared at those darn black glasses. “You can read me like a book,” I said.
He laughed, but he didn’t let me go. I have to admit, I kind of liked the way he was acting kind of flirty and possessive. But then he took it a step further and I had to think twice.
“Listen,” he said, speaking softly but keeping me close so I could hear what he’d said. “I saw you talking to Crocker out in the gazebo a while ago.”
I nodded.
“Don’t,” he said.
I blinked. “Don’t what?”
“Fall for that guy.”
That put my back up
immediately. I pulled away from him. “I don’t fall for people,” I said evenly. “I’m no patsy. Don’t you worry about me.”
He shrugged as though it really made no difference to him, but I knew it did. And I wasn’t sure if I was annoyed with his nosiness or pleased with his possible twinge of jealousy. If that was what that was. Regardless, he was smiling again, and that made my skin prickle with warmies.
Wow. I might not remember details of our past relationship, but I sure could feel the emotional echoes of it. I was pretty sure I’d liked this man a lot when we were kids. Maybe too much.
“Hey,” he said. “Have you gone by and seen the Bar and Grill today?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. I hear it’s already in the midst of renovation.”
“You can say that again. How the heck did you get permission to go ahead with all that work less than twenty four hours after a murder on the property?”
I raised both hands. “I had nothing to do with it.”
“Your grandmother, huh?”
I nodded. “At least I assume it had to be her doing.”
He grinned. “You know how in some places they say you can’t fight city hall? In this town it’s more like, you can’t fight Madam Ana.”
I shook my head in wonder. “She’s something, isn’t she?”
“That she is.” He looked at me for a moment, then added, “Hey, why don’t you go on over and take a look at the work going on at your place? It seems like you might want some control over the decisions. You could just cut right across the park and get there in no time.”
I looked at the park. I was going to have to brave that walk through it sometime. I looked back at him. “You want to go with me?” I asked hopefully.
He frowned and it seemed like he understood my hesitation. “You don’t want to go through the park by yourself?”
I just gave him a look.
“Oh. I guess because of what happened yesterday.”
“Uh huh.”
“You searched the place for an hour yesterday all on your own.”
“With Toto.”
“But still…”
“I know.” I turned fretfully. “But I was pumped up with adrenalin at the time. Now I’ve had time to think over what happened and it makes me...oh hell, it makes me sort of scared.” I said it in a little voice, not too proud of myself, but being honest.
“Hey,” he said at last. “I’ll go with you. Just let me check in with the desk deputy. I’ve got a few things I’ve got to clean up first.”
“No problem. I want to run in at the Hall of Records anyway, just to see if I can find out something about the legal status of the Bar and Grill.”
“Good enough. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Meet me right here.” He looked up and motioned toward a tree behind me. “I think your raven wants to have a word with you anyway. See you in half an hour. Okay?”
I waved him off and he turned back toward the station. I glanced at the raven, then back at Shane, and by the time I looked the other way again, Oliver had joined me.
“You grandmother is quite disturbed,” he said. “She’s worried that you don’t know enough magic to keep yourself out of trouble. So she’s sent you this and wants you to read it and begin your practicing right away.”
He handed me what he’d brought from her. It was a reader or tablet, like a kindle or an ipad, only a bit smaller. Scanning the table of contents, it seemed to be filled with spells and potions. Nifty things for a young witch to have on hand, no doubt. I turned to Oliver.
“How can you expect me to take this seriously?” I asked him. “Where’s the wax candle? Where’s the ancient manuscript document? The musty smells. The eerie writing. The crumbling leather binding?”
He shrugged. “You can visit the real thing whenever you go to your grandmother’s house. In the meantime, this is the modern way to approach the topics at hand.”
I laughed and he grinned and I shoved the thing into my back pocket. Oliver retreated and the raven took his place as I walked on to the City Hall. I tied Toto’s leash to a post in the entryway. A uniformed guard was sitting behind the desk and he agreed to keep an eye on my doggie for me, then directed me to the Hall of Records.
I went in and looked around. Everywhere there were large cabinets with huge pull-out drawers with various records for years at a time. The back wall was lined with them, floor to ceiling. You wouldn’t have thought this many people had ever lived in this town, even counting down the centuries. But everything was behind a long, low counter. No general public access that I could see. I turned toward the check out desk.
The first thing that greeted me was a sign saying, “Access to records available from 10 am to 4 pm, Monday through Friday. Please fill out a request form and put it into the receiving basket on the counter. Your request will be fulfilled as quickly as possible. Please allow at least three hours.”
I sighed, then went to the lone clerk working this late, a middle aged lady with a permanent scowl. “Do you think it would be possible for me to go in and find my own records?” I asked her. “I’m in a bit of a hurry and….”
She didn’t speak. She just gestured toward the sign.
“But…”
She gestured again, more aggressively. It was clear she didn’t consider being helpful an element of her job. I sighed and gave up. So much for records.
Maybe I could get some help from someone in the mayor’s office. It was just next door. I left the Hall of Records and went into the administrative offices of the mayor’s wing.
There was a secretary typing away on her computer. I went up to her desk and lingered, waiting for her to pause and give me a chance to ask a question. When she did, she looked up, saw me and smiled.
“Haley Greco! I’d know you anywhere. I heard you were back.”
She jumped up and came around the desk to give me a hug. “I’m Grace Northern. You probably don’t remember me, but your mother and I were good friends. Ever since high school in fact. A lot of years. I miss her so much. Have you heard anything from her lately?”
I shook my head. She was so warm and welcoming, I was afraid I was going to cry. “No. Actually.” I took a deep breath and pressed on. “Actually, I was in an accident and I’ve got a bit of amnesia. Just to let you know. So I don’t remember much about anything. They say I’ll get my memories back soon,” I added quickly when I saw the look on her face. “But in the meantime….”
“Oh you poor thing. I’m so sorry! Your mom is just one of the cream of the crop as far as I’m concerned. I hope she comes back soon.”
“So do I.” I had control of my emotions now and I enjoyed this woman. Something told me she was going to be a resource for information about my family once I got things stabilized and under control. “Right now, I’m sort of caught up in this murder that happened last night at our Bar and Grill.”
“Oh I know. So awful. And yet, that Scotty fellow was just riding for a fall. He did some bad things. Karma does get you sooner or later.”
“You bet. Is the mayor in?”
She sighed. “No. What a day it’s been. He’s been in and out a few times. Now I think he’s off with his wife somewhere. I haven’t heard from him since earlier this afternoon.”
“Oh. Well, I guess I’d better come back tomorrow and see if I can catch him.”
“Tell you what, give me your cell number and I’ll give you a call when he comes in and is going to have a free moment or two. How will that do?”
“Thanks. That’s great.”
I glanced around the office while I waited for her to pull out her address book. And suddenly, my gaze was riveted on a trail of stains on the floor, leading into the mayor’s private office.
“Uh…” I glanced at Grace. “Is that blood?”
“Where?” She looked and gasped. “Oh no. I must have missed those.”
Drops of drying blood, like crumbs left by Hansel and Gretel, leading into the mayor’s private office. Grace grabbed a tissue and trie
d to clean them up. I got another one and wet it in a vase filled with daffodils, then helped her.
“I just don’t know how I missed these,” she was saying, talking fast, obviously nervous about the situation. “I’m so sorry. I cleaned up all the rest….”
I threw my tissue in the trash and wiped my hands, not sure how to approach this topic without spooking her. What I needed was information.
“Luanne—you know Luanne?” I said. “Well, she told me Scotty pulled a knife on the mayor yesterday afternoon, and that he cut him badly. I guess this is from that? Has he had medical attention?”
She looked at me, hesitated, then sighed as though she just gave up. “So you know about it. What a relief. I’ve been lying to people all day. He didn’t want anybody to know, but how do you hide something like that? I did call the paramedics yesterday when he first came in. He didn’t want me to, but he was bleeding all over the place. They patched him up but he refused to go to the hospital and he wouldn’t sit still, so he kept getting the bleeding started again. It’s been a nightmare.”
I sympathized. “Ouch. I feel for you. Does Rennie know?”
“Oh sure. She knows. And you know, despite everything, those two love each other a lot. After it happened yesterday, she was so angry, she went over to the bar and grill to…”
She stopped herself and her gaze avoided mine for a moment, then she took a deep breath and went on.
“Well, I don’t know what she was planning to do, but she was so mad, she was spitting fire and I don’t know what happened once she got there, but when she came back, she told Crocker to go put up a demolition notice on the place.” She stared at me, her eyes a bit wild. “She was out for revenge.”
I was pacing while she talked, thinking as fast as I could. All this while, thinking over candidates for head murder person, why had I left the mayor out of the equation? Scotty stabbed him. But what did he do to Scotty? Still, if Rennie ran over there, loaded for bear—so to speak—and had dealings with Scotty herself… Oh boy. If Scotty did something to Rennie, maybe the mayor went back over there aiming to teach him a lesson. And then… And then what? But that was earlier in the late afternoon, wasn’t it? When was the last time anyone saw Scotty alive? I was pretty sure he was already dead by the time I wandered into the scene.
Even Witches Get the Blues (Wicked in Moonhaven~A Paranormal Cozy Book 1) Page 12