A Breath of Witchy Air

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Of course it will. She has five-hundred porcelain unicorns in there and she knows where each one is supposed to be. If I start moving two or three a day, that will drive her nuts.”

  “Only two or three?”

  Viola mimed shrugging. “I don’t have the strength to do more than that and, as it is now, I don’t even have the strength to move one. But I’m getting there.”

  “Well, at least you have a goal.” I exhaled heavily and chewed on my bottom lip as I stared down the hallway toward Brian’s office. Technically it was my office now. Intellectually I knew that. It would take a bit for me to feel comfortable referring to it that way. “So … I guess I should go and check things out, huh?”

  “As far as I know, the office is exactly the same as you left it yesterday,” Viola offered helpfully. “I only looked for a second but the desk is still out of place. There’s no new mess.”

  “Landon is getting the new locks so Brian won’t be able to get in once those are switched out. I think it’s a little nutty to be worried about Brian, but Landon won’t let it go.”

  “If you saw the rage he was in yesterday morning, you wouldn’t want to let it go either.”

  That was a sobering thought. “Still, I should go check it out. Maybe I’ll move the desk to another spot or something.”

  Viola nodded sagely. “Change is always good to liven up an environment.”

  I hoped she was right. I pointed myself toward the office, keeping my strides even so I didn’t look overly excited, and sucked in a breath before pushing open the door. Viola was right. It was the same. That was both a relief and an annoyance, because the askew desk bothered me.

  “I wish I could move this thing,” I complained, pushing my hip into the desk and frowning when it didn’t budge. “I hate that it’s out of place.”

  “You just said you might move it,” Viola reminded me. “How do you know the desk is out of place if you’re going to move it?”

  Sadly, that was an astute question … one I didn’t want to answer. “I’ll have to ignore the desk until Landon gets here. Instead I’ll think about decorations.” I shifted my eyes to the walls, which were bare on top and paneled about one-third of the way up. “I think this place could use a splash of color.”

  “Anything is better than that painting of the bear eating the fish,” Viola agreed. “I like nature stuff as much as the next person, but that thing is … weird.”

  Viola had a shrine to clowns in her house before she died, so I thought that was a little rich. “I like nature paintings, but I want something that’s more fun.”

  “How about paintings of devils?”

  “Why would I want a painting of a devil?”

  “They’re fun. They cause those they influence to have fun, too.”

  “I think it’s supposed to be bad fun.”

  “Hey, fun is fun.”

  She had a point. “I’m thinking more abstract watercolors or something.”

  “That sounds boring.”

  “I like the idea.”

  “You could do a series of sun and moons like on this sun thing here,” Viola suggested, gesturing toward an item on the opposite corner of the desk. I’d missed it at first glance. “This is cool.”

  My heart dropped to my stomach as I moved closer and realized what I was looking at. It was the sun catcher I’d admired at Call of the Wild the day before.

  “Did you see who brought this here?” I was proud I managed to keep my voice even and calm, even though my insides quaked.

  Viola shook her head. “It’s probably just a gift from someone in your family.”

  Was that possible? Aunt Tillie was with me at the shop, but she’d been on the other side of the store when I was looking at the sun catcher. “I don’t think so. I … are you sure you didn’t see someone here this morning?”

  “Yes, but I wasn’t here that long.”

  “What about last night?”

  “I was watching the euchre tournament at the senior center last night.”

  “Are you absolutely sure you didn’t see someone come in here and put that … thing … on the desk?” My voice turned unnaturally shrill. “Are you absolutely sure?”

  “Bay, what’s wrong?” Landon poked his head in the door and looked around, his eyes alert. He clutched a brown paper bag in his arms. “Did something happen? Did Brian do something in here?”

  I instantly wanted to walk back my panic because I was afraid Landon would overreact. It was too late for that, though, and we’d promised to tell one another the truth.

  “This was on my desk.” Instead of touching the sun catcher, which now felt evil to me, I pointed. “I didn’t put it there.”

  “I didn’t put it there either,” Viola said solemnly.

  “Viola doesn’t know who put it there because she was in and out last night and this morning,” I added.

  Landon dropped the bag on the desk and moved closer to the sun catcher. “What is this?”

  “It’s a thing you put in the window to catch the sun,” Viola offered helpfully.

  “He can’t hear you, Viola,” I gritted out. “Talking to him does no good.”

  “Oh.” Viola looked mildly disappointed. “I thought he was like your cousins and that if he was around me long enough he would begin to hear me.”

  “He’s not a witch.”

  “Thank the Goddess for small favors, huh?” Landon murmured, staring at the sun catcher with an expression I didn’t recognize. “I’ve seen this before.”

  “You have?”

  Landon nodded. “I can’t quite remember where. It was recently.”

  This was the part of the story that was probably going to send Landon into a tizzy. He hadn’t been with me in the gift shop when I discovered the sun catcher. “I saw it yesterday in the Call of the Wild gift shop.”

  Landon slowly shifted his eyes to me. “What do you mean?”

  “I saw it and was looking at it. I liked it. I was considering buying it and then got distracted because a girl playing that game bumped into me. I talked to her a few minutes and forgot about the sun catcher after that. I didn’t even look at it again.”

  “And you’re sure it’s the same one?”

  “Yes.”

  Landon’s expression never shifted, but I could read the change in his body language. He was on alert … and maybe a little ticked off. “How did someone get in this building long enough to drop off that sun catcher in your new office?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Aunt Tillie? She was with us.”

  “I don’t think this is her style. If she bought me a gift she would tell everyone about it. Besides, her gifts usually run to the magical. It’s far more likely she’ll cast a protection spell over the building than give me something to hang in the window.”

  “Yeah.” Landon was thoughtful as he ran his thumb over his chin. “I don’t suppose you could call her and get her to do the protection spell right away?”

  The request threw me. “You’re worried someone dangerous was in here, aren’t you?”

  “Can you think of another explanation?”

  I wanted to. I was desperate to come up with something that would make both of us feel better. I couldn’t. “No.”

  “Yeah.” Landon exhaled heavily. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen: You’re going to call Chief Terry and get him over here so he can take that thing into evidence. I want him to test it for prints.”

  “Why can’t you take it into evidence?”

  “Because for now it’s a local matter.”

  That made sense. “What are you going to do while I’m doing that?”

  “Check every single door and window in this place. I’m going to change the locks and test them. That’s all I really can do, although it doesn’t feel like enough.”

  “It could be an innocent coincidence.”

  “It could be.”

  “It’s probably not, though, is it?”

  “That doesn’t seem
to be the way our luck runs, sweetie. Do as I ask. I’ll be close. We’ll lock this place up as tight as possible. I promise.”

  Twelve

  Landon worked alongside me in the newspaper office the entire afternoon. He claimed it was because I had Wi-Fi and he needed it for searches – and Chief Terry’s office was too crowded thanks to the state police presence – but I knew better. I didn’t give him grief about it.

  In addition to his own work, he helped me move the desk back into position and then refused to sit there because he claimed it was my spot. I found his determination cute, but I couldn’t shake the ball of worry coiled in the pit of my stomach.

  Someone had been inside the building. I wasn’t sure how that individual entered or when, but someone had clearly been inside. As for the sun catcher, the fact that someone bought it after I’d been looking at it so they could break in and leave it for me – without a note – left me feeling hypervigilant. I didn’t want Landon to know that’s how I felt.

  He seemed to pick up on it relatively quickly, though.

  “Are you ready?” We packed shortly before dinner, me grabbing my laptop so I could work from home the following day and him packing his own computer once he was finished running searches. I knew it would be convenient to have my laptop ready should Landon put up an argument about me being in the building by myself. It might cause contention at some point, but I was unnerved enough to think ahead.

  Chief Terry had been just as worked up as Landon when he came for the sun catcher. He promised to run prints and then spent the next hour prowling through every corner of the building looking for weak spots. He didn’t find any, but that didn’t stop him from bending his head close to Landon and whispering. I didn’t know what they said, but I was certain I wouldn’t like it.

  Instead of picking up takeout on the way home, Landon headed straight for The Overlook. Whether by tacit agreement or habit, I wasn’t sure why he made the decision, but I was thankful for it when I walked through the front door and caught the immediate aroma of meat loaf and mashed potatoes. “Yum!”

  Landon smiled the first real smile he’d mustered since the discovery. “Comfort food?”

  “Everything here is comfort food.”

  “Good point.”

  “My relatives aren’t comforting, so that’s probably a good thing, huh?”

  Landon merely smiled as he helped me out of my coat, hanging it next to his on the rack before we made our way into the dining room. There were no guests – unusual for this late in the week – but Thistle, Clove, Marcus, Sam and Chief Terry were present and seated around the table.

  “Surprise!” Twila belted out the word when she caught sight of us, throwing her arms in the air and letting loose with a ladle rather than the confetti she held in a bag in the opposite hand.

  “Ow!” Marnie rubbed the top of her head where the ladle had struck, her eyes on fire, and murdered her sister with a furious look. “Watch what you’re doing, you idiot! You’re supposed to throw the paper, not the ladle.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Twila looked anything but sorry as she beamed at me. “Surprise!”

  “You’ve said that twice now.” I wasn’t sure why I was supposed to be surprised by a family dinner, but I forced a smile all the same. “Um … thanks?”

  “This is for the owner of The Whistler, you ninny,” Aunt Tillie supplied, her eyes on her phone screen. “It’s a surprise party.”

  “Oh.” Realization dawned. “I … oh!”

  “Congratulations, Ms. Bossy.” Landon leaned in from behind and kissed my cheek, causing me to swivel.

  “You knew.”

  He nodded. “Yes. I wanted to spend the night alone with your new pajamas and my new hat, but Winnie vetoed that. I was informed I was to have you here by seven if I valued the fact that she charges me very little in rent.”

  My lips curved as Mom walked through the double doors, an ornate cake balanced on a board in front of her. She glanced around, her smile tipping to a scowl, and made a furious noise in the back of her throat when she saw me.

  “Who was supposed to be watching the front door so we could be sure Bay was surprised?” Mom groused.

  Thistle and Clove pointed at Aunt Tillie in unison.

  “We helped with the decorations,” Thistle said. “Aunt Tillie was our lookout.”

  “I forgot,” Aunt Tillie said simply. “I’m old. I can’t be expected to remember everything.”

  Aunt Tillie was old only when it suited her. Otherwise she threatened to burn anyone who would dare use that word when describing her.

  “Speaking of decorations … .” Twila wrinkled her nose and she glanced around the empty room. “Where are they?”

  “Oh, right.” Thistle raised her hand and snapped her fingers, igniting four different lines of color and causing a magical explosion that featured a flock of what looked to be butterflies, bats, witches on broomsticks and sharks to fly around the room. “Sorry. Surprise!”

  I laughed at her sheepish expression. “This is awesome.” I leaned closer to one of the glittering sharks. “Are these snow sharks?”

  “Don’t even go there,” Landon warned, leading me toward the table. “I don’t ever want to hear about snow sharks again.”

  “I still maintain they’d be cool,” Aunt Tillie complained. “I think we could make pets out of them. Think how freaked out Margaret would be if she strolled out to the end of her driveway and found it not only plowed in, but infested with snow sharks. She’d never leave the house again.”

  “Speaking of that, you need to stop plowing in the end of her driveway,” Chief Terry instructed, pouring me a glass of wine as I got comfortable between him and Landon. “She’s calling four times a day to complain. She claims that she pays someone to plow and then you magically show up and plow her in again thirty seconds later.

  “I told her she was being ridiculous and you couldn’t possibly do something like that – it’s not physically possible, for crying out loud – but she won’t shut up about it,” he continued. “It would make my life easier if you would stop doing it … at least for the time being.”

  I expected Aunt Tillie to put up an argument, but she merely waved off the suggestion. “Yeah. Sure. Whatever.”

  She was so intent on her phone I couldn’t help but ask the obvious question. “What are you looking at?”

  “Porn,” Thistle automatically answered, grinning when Twila scorched her with a hot glare.

  “You know that’s Aunt Tillie’s go-to answer when it comes to people spending too much time on their phones,” I warned. “If you’re not careful people will mistake you for Aunt Tillie.”

  Thistle made a face. “That’s the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  “Two weeks ago she said you had hips like a horse. I think that was way worse,” Clove offered.

  Thistle extended a warning finger. “Shut up.”

  Clove adopted an innocent expression. “I’m just saying.”

  “I’ll make you eat dirt if you’re not careful.”

  “The ground is frozen.”

  “Yes, but Aunt Tillie has dirt in her greenhouse,” Thistle pointed out. “If I have to track it down, I will.”

  “You stay away from that greenhouse,” Aunt Tillie barked, still entranced by her phone. “That’s my private space and you’re not allowed to visit.”

  Thistle was instantly suspicious. “Why? What are you doing out there?”

  “I’m not doing anything. I’m between seasons.”

  I wasn’t sure I believed her. It seemed a little too easy. “Then why can’t Thistle steal some dirt?”

  “Because I said so, Ms. Stick Your Nose Into Things That Are None of Your Business.”

  “You are in a delightful mood,” Landon intoned, sipping wine as he looked Aunt Tillie up and down. “Seriously, though, what are you looking at? You didn’t follow through on your threat to put a camera in Margaret Little’s house, did you? It’s against the law to monitor someone like
that without their knowledge. I will arrest you.”

  “Oh, you’re just making that one up,” Aunt Tillie complained. “I wasn’t going to put a camera in her house anyway. You made a mistake regarding what I’d actually said.”

  “What did you actually say?”

  “I said I was going to buy one of those nanny cams that look like a stuffed animal – they even have one shaped like a unicorn – and give her that as a gift. She wouldn’t even know it’s a camera, so how can that possibly be against the law.”

  Landon’s lips curved down. “You make me so tired.”

  “Right back at you, Sparky.”

  Aunt Tillie’s insistence on focusing on her phone made me uneasy. “Seriously, what are you looking at?” I reached in front of Landon and snagged the phone, ignoring Aunt Tillie’s cry of protest and widening my eyes when I realized what I was looking at. “You’re playing Infrared Echo.”

  “It’s Infinity Echo.” Aunt Tillie’s tone was withering. “If you’re going to talk about it, at least get the name right.”

  I opened my mouth to let loose a scathing retort, but thought better of it after a few seconds. “I can’t believe you’re playing this.” I tapped the screen with my index finger and widened my eyes when eight different items appeared in close proximity to what I assumed was Aunt Tillie’s avatar. “What are these things?”

  “Let me see!” Aunt Tillie moved to grab the phone, but Landon easily smacked back her hand.

  “Just a second,” he chided. “Bay is still looking.”

  “That’s my phone.”

  “And even you can’t always have what you want every minute of every hour. You need to learn to share.”

  The look Aunt Tillie shot Landon was straight out of a bad horror movie. “You’re on my list.”

  Landon was blasé. “What else is new?”

  “You’re at the top.”

  “I’m fine with that.”

  “I’ll curse you in your sleep if you’re not careful,” Aunt Tillie threatened. “I’ll make you smell like rotten eggs.”