He nods. “Can you say right here while I go take a look? Just stand right here at the gate.”
I nod and reach for the fence, holding onto it for dear life when his warm embrace leaves me.
When he comes back, his face is pale. He takes my arm. “Come on. Let’s get you home and get some help. There’s nothing we can do here.”
I follow him slowly—it feels wrong to just leave Lilly there, but he’s right that we can’t do anything.
Bilda’s house comes into view, but he leads me around it to his own, holding my hand like he’s afraid I’m going to run away. Then he deposits me on the sofa and tucks a blanket in around me. Even though it’s eighty-five degrees outside, I’m cold and it feels good.
He brings me a cup of steaming coffee and kisses me on the head. “You can stay here while I get Angelo and the others out to the house. I’ll send Feena over to be with you.” He stops and considers me for a moment. “I don’t think you should be alone right now.”
I nod. I don’t think I should be alone, either, and I really hate that he’s leaving me.
Just as he’s going out the door, it occurs to me to ask, “Jones? Where were you taking me?”
His smile is sad. “Someplace special. We’ll go another time.”
FOUR
I don’t know how I could sleep, but I do. When I wake up, the room is full of people, and their voices are low. I spot Jones immediately, then Feena in the doorway talking to Ronnie, the detective that investigated Maggie’s murder. The others, men in uniform and others in serious black garb, are strangers.
Jones looks over at me, sees that I’m awake, and comes to sit on the sofa beside me. “Hey, you. How are you feeling?”
“Mm,” I say. “Not sure. What’s going on?”
“They’ve arrested Aries for Lilly’s murder.”
“So it was murder?” I ask.
He nods. “Aries must have cooked up a spell just for Lilly. We found Devils’ Tongue root all over the crime scene. It’s a popular ingredient in Lilly’s brand of black magic.”
I remember the red powder, but his explanation still doesn’t fit. “Why Aries? She was Lilly’s business partner. I’m sure she could have chosen a hundred places to do something like this besides my house. ” I pause. “Jones, I’m pretty sure Rachel did this.”
No, I’m positive Rachel did this. She’s done it before, with less motive.
Jones is shaking his head. “It was Aries. You’ve missed a few things.”
“Like what?” I sit up, because lying on the sofa makes me feel like an invalid.
“Like the fact that Aries was overheard arguing with Lilly two nights ago, and that she was about to break their partnership.”
“Why?”
Jones shrugs. “Aries thought Lilly was skimming money from the store, and she’s been pretty vocal about her anger.”
“So she killed her at my house? Why wait? They must have seen each other every day.”
Jones looks toward the door as it opens, and Angelo walks in. I tense, but he’s not even looking at me. Instead, he goes over to the men in black and starts talking. He turns back to me. “Maybe she wants to cast suspicion on you instead of herself. I don’t know, Trinket.”
“So she hasn’t confessed?”
“No, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before they find solid evidence.”
He reaches for my hand, and I let him take it, but his conclusions still don’t seem right to me. I let it slide as Angelo finally looks over at us, sees Jones holding my hand, and gives us a dark look.
“Can we get out of here?” I ask.
“Not yet. I think they have some questions for you.”
“Who, Angelo? I don’t want to talk to him, Jones.” I imagine Rachel swooping in to destroy Jones’s house and kill the entire Jagged Grove police force. Her whispered words, “Come see me, Trinket,” echo in my mind. “I’ll talk to anyone but him.”
As it turns out, Ronnie is the one who takes my statement. Even though he’s nicer about it, he also shoots down my insistence that Rachel killed Lilly. “This isn’t her style, Trinket. She’s more...explosive. This wasn’t a crime of passion - it was calculated.”
I have to admit that he probably has a point.
By the time our interview is over, I’m exhausted and shaking. Jones rescues me again. “Let’s got you some food, then get out of here for a while.”
I agree because so far I’ve managed to avoid Angelo, but his glances in my direction are becoming more frequent. I don’t want to talk to him, especially with Rachel’s body count up to two.
We get to the Crystal Cup around seven, just in time for the supper crowd. As we wait for our order, all of the conversations I hear at the tables nearby revolve around Lilly and Aries.
“I still don’t think she did it, Jones.”
He looks at me hard. “Well, they did have one other suspect, Trinket, but I talked them out of it.”
“Who?”
“You.”
“Oh. Why would I kill Lilly?”
He shrugs. “Who knows why people do these things? She was found at your house, though. By you. And you’re a powerful witch.”
“I don’t use herbs, though. I don’t know anything about them.”
“Your mother does. I’m sure she would answer any questions you have about which plants do what.”
I spend the rest of the meal in a swirl of thoughts, but they all come back to the same person: Rachel.
After supper, we step out into the weak sunshine. “Do you still want to go for that walk?” I ask. I need to do something to shut up my brain before I drive myself crazy.
He looks surprised. And happy. “Sure, but it’s a bit of a hike. Do you want to do that this evening?”
I offer him my hand. “Let’s go.”
The streets are quiet this evening, and I watch our reflections as we pass the storefronts on Main Street. The tattoo shop, a ritual supply store, and three herbal healing markets - each specializing in a different region of the world - are all dark and silent. A couple of voices catch my attention momentarily, but they belong to a couple of teens that are hanging out in Killswallow Park. I wave at them as we pass, but they don’t see me.
I don’t start to get nervous until we come to the end of the street, casting only a single fleeting glance at my house as we pass it. The sun is getting low in the sky, and a breeze has kicked up, making the two trees left in the yard sway. It should be pretty, but it seems more ominous. I want to search the windows for movement, but I’m too scared. Where the sidewalk ends, a gravel path takes over, veering off to our left and into a small stand of trees. It’s really dark in there. At the edge of the grove, I hesitate. “Where did you say we were going?” I ask, looking warily at him.
Jones laces our fingers tighter and pulls me along. “I didn’t. I only said that I wanted to show you something.”
I sigh. Here again I have to decide - do I trust Jones?
Well, as crazy as his reputation is, I doubt he’s going to lure me into the woods to ravish me.
I eye him for a moment, thinking about that.
“Why are you blushing?”
I ignore the question and pretend to look at the smooth pale bark of the trees. “Just tell me where we’re going, Jones.”
“I can’t - it is beyond words. Also, I want it to be a surprise.”
I wish I could be annoyed with him, but he’s too cute when he looks all imploring like that. I sigh and squeeze his warm hand. “Lead on.”
The trees aren’t thick, but their shade cools the air by at least ten degrees. I kind of want to stay here, but he pulls me along until we’re passing through a small, sunny clearing. Grass to my knees whispers as we walk and threatens to tangle around my ankles. I almost trip several times, but I refuse to complain.
Away from town, the air is quiet. I can’t hear the folks working on the dock or kids playing in their yards.
There was a dead woman in my yard.
“It’s even nicer on top,” he answers, turning to look back at me.
Only then do I realize that we’re still going gently upward. Mt. Savage looms in the not-so-far distance, spilling its shade out over a bay that I couldn’t see from town. Coves dot the edges of the mountain, and now that we aren’t completely blocked, I can feel a breeze on my face and arms. It smells like the sea, and I sigh with pleasure.
He smiles at me again, then says, “Watch your step.”
The ground is getting rockier, and now that I’m paying more attention, I notice that the slope is getting steeper, too. A picture of Jones in wolf form - which I’ve only seen once, very briefly - flashes into my mind. “You aren’t going to drag me up here and kill me, are you? Cause that would end our delicate friendship, Jones.”
He laughs. “Well then, in that case I won’t. I’ll just hold you down with my paws and lick you while we enjoy the view.”
Now I know I’m blushing. That image is just too vivid.
The trail begins to wind around a few outcroppings, and the slabs of stone rising up around us tells me that we are on the mountain itself. It feels ancient to me, even though Angelo said that this place isn’t that old. A hundred years, maybe? But this mountain feels like it’s seen a million years of tides and changes.
“It feels like a holy place, doesn’t it?” Jones asks.
I look up at him. “Stop reading my mind.”
“Oh, if only I could...”
I stop walking. “Jones? If you want me to follow along here, you need to keep your lust to yourself, or I’ll turn around right now. We have a deal, remember?”
“I remember.” He looks like he doesn’t care, though.
“Jones, please? You’re one of my few friends here, and I don’t want to mess that up.”
“So it’s not because you don’t think I’m sexy?” His voice is plaintive and low.
I swallow hard. “No - it isn’t that, I promise. Can I trust you?”
His sigh is dramatically miserable. “I suppose. Come on.”
The trail is steep enough to make my thighs burn now, but we don’t slow down much. I look around to see that town is completely out of sight, and that we are surrounded by mountain and water. It’s gorgeous...and incredibly romantic.
I wonder what Angelo is doing today.
The thought stops me in my tracks. Where did that come from, and why? I don’t need to worry about Angelo or his whereabouts, because he is the enemy. I remind myself that I’m avoiding him, not looking for him. Big difference, and one that I can’t lose track of until this Rachel thing is fixed.
Even if he is all sexy and fun. Even if he does smell good, and I like his laugh, and those broad shoulders...
“Earth to Trinket?” Jones is asking. We’ve stopped walking.
I blink and look at him, squinting because he’s backlit by the last rays of the sunshine. “Sorry, what?”
“I asked if you were all right. We’ve got a little ways to go yet, and...” He glances dubiously down at my sneakers.
“I’m fine.” My shoes might look kind of scuffy, but they’re the most comfortable pair I’ve ever owned. “Really. Besides, I never asked Angelo where to buy new stuff, and I haven’t taken the time to fully explore town. I’ll get new ones later.”
He cocks his head and stares at the shoes again. “Go see Mrs. Dumas. She can conjure you up something.”
“Thanks. I will. Is her shop here in town?”
“Not exactly.” He pulls me along, and we’re going upward again. The trail is really steep now, and it slows us down. “She operates out of her home, I suppose you would say.”
“Oh. Ok.”
He squeezes my hand. “Sometimes I do wish I could read your mind, you know. You’re fascinating.”
“I am?” I reach for a rock to steady that last step. Sweat is running from my temple and down inside my bra. I scratch it away as unobtrusively as I can. Very sexy.
“Yes. You’re...impenetrable. I like that - it’s a challenge.”
“Jones...” I warn.
“No - I don’t mean like that. I just mean that you’re a hard person to get to know...friend.” His laughter rumbles.
“I’m not, really. Mostly I’m just boring. If you could read my mind, you’d start looking for something else to do pretty quickly, I’m afraid.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
I concentrate on climbing over a boulder that has rolled into the path, then glance at his broad back. He doesn’t seem to be struggling as much as I am, so I cast him a brief glare, just to make myself feel better.
“I felt that,” he says.
I open my mouth and then close it again. What if he can read my mind, and he just isn’t saying so? The thought worries me, for some reason, but then I dismiss it. He’s a werewolf, not an oracle.
I try to remember what Angelo told me about Mt. Savage when we first saw it from the ship. “So were you one of those first shifters that came here?”
“No - I was part of the second wave.”
“So you’ve been here a long time?”
“A very long time. Please don’t ask - I’ve lost track.”
I wave away a couple of buzzing mosquitoes and don’t ask. “I’m just trying to get a handle on this place.”
“Well, let’s see.” he says, stooping to duck under a fallen branch. This area doesn’t look like it gets much use, and I can see why - it’s too steep, has too many bugs, and you can’t really see much from here, because trees are growing up along both sides of the path. “The shifters came first, which you already know. According to the agents who brought them, they were the easiest to catch back on earth - they had a tendency to run in packs, and their timing was obvious. It was just a matter of waiting for a full moon and picking them up as they hunted.”
I’m imagining the silent men, waiting in forests for the tell-tale call of wolfish howls and shiver, even though I’m burning up. The shade is growing darker, and it’s starting to feel humid. Like a rainforest. “They didn’t fight?” I ask.
“Oh, yes. They did. From all I’m told, Abnormal and Supernatural Security lost a lot of agents on those nights. Just not enough.”
The bitterness in his voice surprised me. The thought of a gorgeous Jones in wolf form being chased down like common game makes me sad. After working my way across a bunch of gnarled tree roots, I said, “Is that how they picked you up, too?”
“No. They captured my pack leader, then followed the trail to the rest of us. That’s one of the reasons I prefer to hunt alone these days.”
“I thought you liked it here.”
“I do, now. Just like you will if you ever give the place a chance. But at the time, I was ripped from my home as carelessly as you were, and I fought, too. Just like you.”
For the first time since coming here, I feel truly understood. Everyone wants me to treat this whole situation as some grand adventure, but I just want to go home. Evidently Jones felt the same way, once upon a time. “What changed?”
“First of all, I didn’t get to cut a deal.” He glances over his shoulder at me, but I can’t read his expression. I know he’s talking about my agreement with Angelo to go home in a year, though. “I got a definite one way ticket, along with everyone else here, and I figured I might as well get used to it. So eventually I did.”
“And then what?” I ask. We have to be getting close - the breeze is steady now, and I can feel that the air is thinner when I take a breath. Also, the view is starting to open up a little, even though I still can’t see much beyond the trunks of tall evergreens.
“Wait a minute...”
We finally reach an outcropping and he motions me forward. Then he clasps his hands and bends down, making a stirrup. I raise my eyebrows, but follow his direction and, with his help, pull myself up and over the boulder, scratching my belly through my t-shirt.
Then I just lay there on my stomach and gasp.<
br />
“Then I found this,” he says below me, but I barely hear him.
We are on a sheer cliff at the very top of Mt. Savage, and all I can see is turquoise water, stretching out below me and off into the distance. The last rays of the setting sun shines red and pink, rippling across the surface of the water. The mountain curves inward here, creating a protected lagoon of sorts just below us.
Jones climbs up beside me and sits. I scramble to join him, still speechless. I’ve never seen such a beautiful, peaceful place. “Then I found this,” he whispers again, taking my hand but not looking at me. Instead, he’s looking out across the glittering sea.
“Wow,” I answer, panting slightly.
“Yeah. I thought you’d like it, too.”
That’s an understatement. “It’s like a fantasy up here.”
The wind is strong, a salty tang blowing in to stroke my cheeks, and I capture my hair in one hand to keep it out of my eyes. I can see the rest of Mt. Savage curving off to my left, then slipping into the sea about a mile away along the coast. Waves crash against the rocks farther along, splashing up to wet the cliffs. To our right, soft-looking white beach sand stretches out for miles. Far in the distance on this side, I can see a bit of Jagged Grove, but it looks tiny and harmless.
If I could transport Clay, Tawny, and my law practice here, this would be my dream home.
We sit in silence for a long time, just looking. The beach closer to town has a few people lounging and swimming, but over here, it’s empty and silent, with only a few pieces of driftwood near the water. “How do we get down there?” I ask, pointing to my right.
“We don’t - not from here. It’s too steep.”
“Oh.”
“We can, of course, but it requires us to walk all the way back down, then through town. There is a path by the docks for access.”
I let my eyes follow the coast from right to left, taking it all in. Jagged Grove sits on the very tip of Mt. Savage’s right shore, then there is nothing much except the mountain. As I look, I wonder why all of the land over here is uninhabited. Then I spot something else, on the opposite end of the island to my left.
“What’s that?” I ask. Maybe this end isn’t as empty as I thought.
Conflicted Witch (Jagged Grove Book 2) Page 6