A Breath of Witchy Air

by Amanda M. Lee

  “That’s because phones weren’t even invented when you were my age,” the kid shot back. “Welcome to the technology age.”

  Aunt Tillie made a face that I knew would mean trouble if I didn’t distract her. “Drink your coffee, Aunt Tillie. You need the soy milk if you’re going to live forever.”

  Aunt Tillie harrumphed, but did as she was told. I knew she wouldn’t sit still for long, so I worked fast to remove the wedge she’d inserted between us and the gamer. “I’m sorry. She doesn’t understand computer games. She’s too old to get them.”

  “I understand computer games.” Aunt Tillie was affronted. “I play Candy Crush all the time.”

  “Candy Crush?” The guy barked out a laugh. “That’s so 2015.”

  “And you’re so going on my list,” Aunt Tillie fired back. “In fact … .”

  “He’s not explaining the game well,” a boy said, holding up his hand in a placating manner to stave off Aunt Tillie. It was as if he sensed she was about to lose it … and that wouldn’t be good. “The game is so much more than Danny here said.”

  “Really?” I forced a smile. The new kid appeared friendlier, but he had a smarmy quality that bothered me. “And you are?”

  “I’m Steven Foreman. I’m a student at the community college. These are my classmates, Michael Kutcher and Eric Masterson. You’ve already met Danny Roberts over there.”

  I cast Danny a dubious look. “Yes. I believe we’ve had the pleasure.”

  “Don’t mind him.” Steven took me by surprise when he grabbed the chair to my left and sat at our table. I briefly looked to Aunt Tillie to see if she was surprised by the move, but she was too busy glaring at Danny to even bother paying attention to our guest. “The game is getting a lot of attention. People are obsessed with it.”

  “What’s it called?”

  “Infinity Echo.”

  If the name was supposed to move me to awe, it missed its mark. “And how’s it played?”

  “That’s kind of a simplistic question,” the guy Steven introduced as Eric interjected. “The game is played on multiple levels. It’s not straightforward.”

  “Uh-huh.” I’d met my share of video game geeks, but this foursome was clearly at the head of the pack. “So what’s the first level?”

  “It’s not all that difficult.” Steven had a charming personality and I was sure he was used to people melting at his feet. As a reporter – one who’d worked in Detroit for several years – I’d seen people with his personality before, and they were never as charming as they appeared. They were always hiding something under an otherwise affable veneer. “Basically you’re supposed to collect things. The game itself is overlaid on top of the real world, so you have to walk around if you want to collect items.”

  “I’m not sure I understand,” I said.

  “It’s like Pokémon Go,” Aunt Tillie supplied, sliding her eyes to me. “You walk around trying to find creatures. You get points when you catch them. You collect items at stops and mix them with other items to get more powerful.”

  That didn’t make much sense to me. “How do you know about Pokémon Go?”

  Aunt Tillie blanched. “I know things.”

  “Okay, but … .”

  “It’s simple and straightforward,” Steven said. “You collect as many things as you can, move up in the ranks, and then if you get a high enough standing you battle other players.”

  “And these are people from the real world, right?”

  Steven chuckled. “Right. Everyone has an avatar for the game world, but when you battle someone it’s someone from the real world.”

  “So how do you win?”

  “You don’t really win. You just keep battling. I suppose if you battled everyone and were the last person standing you’d win. That’s not really how it works. Even when you lose a battle you’re not down and out. You simply have to go back to the beginning and start collecting and build yourself up again.”

  It sounded ridiculous and annoying. “I think I’ll stick with Monopoly.”

  “That’s so old school.” Danny rolled his eyes. “You need to get with the program. Someone as young and hot as you should join the technology age and let go of that old stuff.”

  It was an odd statement, which forced me to lean over the table and catch Aunt Tillie’s gaze. “I think he’s talking about you.”

  Aunt Tillie made a face. “Please. I’m young and hip.”

  “And you’re going to live forever.”

  Aunt Tillie sipped her coffee. “You’ve got that right.” She moved fast, grabbing Danny’s phone from his hand before he could compute what she was doing. “Let me try.”

  “No way!” Danny tried to reclaim the phone, but Aunt Tillie was too quick for him. “You’re going to ruin my game. I’m on a roll!”

  “All you’re doing is sitting here doing nothing,” Aunt Tillie argued. “I want to catch something. Now … sit back and let me play.”

  “Get your own phone and play on that.” Danny looked positively sick to his stomach. “I’m not joking, old lady. If you don’t give me that phone I’m going to … .” He didn’t finish the sentence. I couldn’t decide if he thought better of issuing a threat to a woman in her eighties or had no idea what to threaten her with.

  “Give it back to him, Aunt Tillie,” I instructed after a beat. I couldn’t wrap my head around the kid’s reaction. It seemed over-the-top and ridiculous. “I think he’s going to freak out if you don’t.”

  Aunt Tillie sighed. “Fine. It’s a stupid game anyway.” She made the phone dance in front of Danny’s face before handing it to him. “Back in my day we played real games, not this computer stuff you guys seem so excited about.”

  “Yes, well, I prefer technology.” Danny’s brow was sweaty as he went back to his game. It was almost as if he was going through withdrawal. “Oh, good. You didn’t ruin anything.”

  I lifted an eyebrow and shook my head. I had never seen a reaction like that outside of a drug rehab … or a bad Lifetime movie about rehab … or that very special Saved By the Bell where Jessie got hooked on speed and was really excited to dance. Wait, what were we talking about again?

  “So, have you guys heard about the bodies found in Hemlock Cove yesterday?” I decided to get to the heart of matters.

  “No.” Steven looked surprised. “What happened?”

  I launched into the tale, omitting the important investigative information, and fixed Steven with a curious look when I was finished. “Did you guys hear about that?”

  “No, but I don’t often watch the news,” Steven admitted. “I’m too busy with schoolwork to pay attention to stuff like that.”

  “And with the game,” I added.

  Steven smiled, his charm on full display. “And with the game, which I know you don’t get.”

  I definitely didn’t get it. “What about the girls? Do you recognize any of the names?”

  “I don’t think so. What were they again?”

  I repeated all three, but Steven started shaking his head before I’d even finished. “That doesn’t sound familiar, but we don’t really go to class with one another here. Almost everything is online, except for labs.”

  “You seem to know each other.” I gestured toward the group of boys. “If you don’t go to classes together, how did you meet?”

  “We went to high school together.”

  “Ah. So … you’re local?”

  “Everyone here is local,” Steven explained. “You don’t attend this school unless you’re local.”

  “You didn’t want to go to a larger college?”

  “Eventually. It’s expensive. My parents only agreed to pay if I stayed close so they could save money on room and board. The classes aren’t expensive either. I’m working and putting money away. In another year I’ll be able to go to Michigan State, which is where I wanted to go from the start.”

  “That’s definitely an expensive university,” I agreed, tapping my fingers on the table. “So
you really didn’t hear anything about these girls at school? Don’t you guys have a message board or something where you share information?”

  Steven smiled, although there was something pitying about the expression. “Message boards are kind of … 2009.”

  That didn’t make me feel old or anything. “What about on Facebook?”

  “That’s more 2013,” Danny offered helpfully.

  I ran my tongue over my teeth as Aunt Tillie grinned like a loon. “What?”

  “It sucks to be old, doesn’t it?” Aunt Tillie was practically giddy. “Welcome to my world.”

  “Go back to taunting the kid about his phone,” I ordered, shaking my head. “If you guys don’t hang out on any of the normal social media sites, where do you hang out?”

  “In the game,” Steven replied as if I was slow for not realizing the rather obvious answer. “We can talk to each other while playing. We group together in the real world for events. It’s a social thing and that’s basically how everyone spends their time … at least in this area.”

  The last part of the statement caught my interest. “Is it a local game?”

  “It was developed in Michigan and is slowly growing. Up here, though, it caught on quickly. People have been playing it for three months solid or so.”

  “Huh.” I had no idea if I was supposed to be impressed or embarrassed on his behalf. Given his expression, I was leaning toward impressed. That wasn’t how I really felt, though. “So basically word goes out in the game and people then meet up in parks and stuff to play?”

  Steven bobbed his head. “Exactly.”

  “But … it’s cold out.”

  “That’s why we bundle up.”

  I guess that made sense. It was better to hang out in person, even if they were constantly holding their phones, than hiding behind a computer screen twenty-four hours a day. “What are the popular places for these meet-ups?”

  “I can show you. I mean … if you want. You’re a little old, but you won’t stick out too much.”

  I was caught between offense and amusement. “I … well … um … .”

  “I think she’s going to have plans.” A voice interrupted from behind me and I swiveled quickly to find Landon standing two feet away. His expression was hard to read, but I didn’t think amusement was on top of his emotions list.

  “Who are you?” Steven asked, instantly alert. Landon was so much bigger than him I almost thought he might start screaming “stranger danger” if Landon got too close. “We’re only talking.”

  “I figured that out myself.” Landon cracked a smile as he glanced between Aunt Tillie and me. “I’m here for work. Saw two familiar faces, so I thought it was best to see what they were up to.”

  “You know each other?” Steven looked to me for confirmation.

  “We live together,” Landon answered, his lips curving when Steven sank deeper into his chair. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here, sweetie?” Landon asked.

  “Oh, well, we were looking for information for a news story,” I replied. I hated being put on the spot, but I knew I would have to answer the questions eventually. There was no reason not to do it now. “We assumed some of the students would be here.”

  “And we were right,” Aunt Tillie said. “They’re all playing a lame game. It’s not even as cool as Candy Crush.”

  “Oh, geez.” Danny made a face. “Forget about Candy Crush. You’re totally missing the boat by not playing Infinity Echo.”

  Landon knit his eyebrows. “Infinity Echo?”

  “It’s a long story.” I waved off his curiosity. “I don’t suppose you have an opening in your schedule for lunch?”

  “I do,” Steven immediately offered.

  I ignored him and remained focused on Landon. “If you don’t, that’s okay.”

  “I might have an opening.” Landon grinned. “What did you have in mind?”

  “How do you feel about Mexican?”

  “I could eat Mexican.”

  “Me, too.” Aunt Tillie beamed at him. “I guess it’s good we ran into you, huh? This way you can buy and make the federal government reimburse you.”

  Landon’s smile slipped. “I won’t be doing that, but I will buy. I guess that means you’re coming with us?”

  “Yup. Sucks to be you, Sparky.”

  Landon exhaled heavily. “I don’t know. I’m hopeful it won’t be too bad.”

  I was hopeful, too, but I wasn’t holding my breath.

  Eight

  “That was good.”

  Landon wiped his mouth with a napkin and leaned back in his chair. I kept expecting him to question my presence at the coffee shop during lunch, but he was surprisingly low key, instead opting to question Aunt Tillie about her fajita choice as the juice ran down her chin and onto her shirt.

  “I wanted to bring you here for dinner when we’d have a chance to be alone,” I admitted, risking a pointed look in Aunt Tillie’s direction. “This wasn’t how I saw it going. It was good, though.”

  “It was definitely good.” Landon used one of the provided wet naps to wipe his fingers. “So, what’s next on your agenda? Are you going to the campus to question students there?”

  The query felt like a trap, although I had no reason to be suspicious. “We’ve already been by the campus. It’s empty.”

  “Yeah. That’s where I started, too.” Landon’s expression was hard to read. “It’s a really small school.”

  “That means it should be easy to tie the girls together.”

  “You would think so. In theory, at least.”

  “How hard can it be?” Aunt Tillie challenged. “I mean … they must’ve overlapped somewhere. Maybe they were in the same English class. Maybe they were all in the same extracurricular group together. There must be something.”

  Landon furrowed his brow as he regarded her. “Since when are you so interested in investigative work?”

  “Since I realized I’m a pro at ferreting stuff out,” Aunt Tillie replied without hesitation. “I have a natural instinct for investigation. It’s one of those inherent gift things you hear talked about on television.”

  “Really?” Landon looked more amused than bamboozled. “And what’s your inherent gift?”

  “I just told you. Investigation.”

  “I didn’t know that was a gift.” Landon shifted his eyes to me, his lips curving. “Did you know investigation was an inherent gift?”

  I shrugged, noncommittal. “She could do it professionally. What do you want from her?”

  Landon let loose a sly grin as he rested his hand on top of mine. “I should’ve seen that coming.”

  “You really should have,” I agreed. “What about you? What’s up next for you?”

  Landon sobered. “I haven’t decided. This entire situation is … different … from anything I’ve ever dealt with.”

  “If you had the gift of investigation you wouldn’t have a problem coming up with a new plan of attack,” Aunt Tillie offered helpfully, ignoring the dark look I shot her. “I’m thinking of teaching lessons if you’re interested.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Landon said dryly. “My issue is not with following leads and tracking people down. It’s with finding a common thread to tug to tie all four of these women together.”

  “Did you identify the fourth woman?”

  Landon nodded. “Laura Patterson. She was also a student here. She was only part time. She worked full-time at a bakery down the main drag. Chief Terry is there questioning her co-workers right now.”

  That was an interesting turn of events. “You and Chief Terry aren’t working together?”

  “We are, but he’s trying to train two of his officers. He thinks he’s fallen down on the job as a mentor. This is a case where we’re going to need all hands on deck and he feels he can’t allow his men to ask questions without supervision. It’s put us in quite the bind.”

  That sounded like an unhappy occurrence. “So you’re on you
r own?”

  A small smile played at the corner of Landon’s mouth. “I am … unless someone volunteers to be my partner on this one.”

  That was an intriguing prospect. “I thought you said our relationship couldn’t survive us working together.”

  “I said our relationship couldn’t survive you being my assistant,” he clarified. “I stand by that. If I’m your boss, things will go south quickly. If we’re equals, I think we’ll be totally fine.”

  I couldn’t stop myself from beaming. “That’s an interesting way to look at things.”

  “Oh, geez.” Aunt Tillie offered an exaggerated eye roll. “Don’t fall for his line, Bay. I raised you better than that. He wants you to tell him what we’ve uncovered so he can pretend he discovered it himself. Don’t let him play you that way.”

  I slowly shifted my eyes to her. “What have we uncovered?”

  “So much stuff that he’s very clearly jealous.”

  It took everything I had to keep myself from snapping at her. She was gregarious and enthusiastic when she wanted to be. She was also a complete and total pain in the keister when the mood arose. “Yes, well … don’t you have a bathroom run to make?”

  Aunt Tillie blinked three times in rapid succession before responding. “As a matter of fact I do.” She balled up her napkin and hopped to her feet, leaning close before departing. “Don’t let him sucker you into giving up your information.” She extended a warning finger and waved it close to my face. “You’re stronger than that.”

  I chose my words carefully. “I’ll keep it in mind.” I watched her go, a mixture of weariness and baffled fondness warring for supremacy. When I finally elevated my eyes to Landon, I found him staring at me with an intensity that made me mildly uncomfortable. “What?”

  “Nothing.” Landon clucked his tongue as he shook his head. “I’m just surprised you brought her with you.”

  I shrugged. “She wanted to come and she caught me at a vulnerable time.”

  “And why were you vulnerable? Is this about your hangover?”

  “No. Well, not entirely. I did have a hangover. She cured it with her magical elixir.”