Mrs. Tanner gave him a worried look and then sat down next to him. I stayed on my feet for this one.
I held up the brown envelope with the fake images of Mabel. “You might recognize this, Mrs. Tanner. You sent it to a friend of mine. I might be making assumptions here, but you do realize that blackmail is illegal, don’t you?”
Leroy’s eyes went to his wife. “Kathrine, what have you done now?”
Her eyes flared as she looked back at him. “Well, at least I did something. You aren’t even campaigning anymore. Do you know how close you are to losing against that... that... librarian? Do you know what we stand to lose?”
He shook his head and repeated himself. “What have you done?”
Her lips thinned, and she crossed her arms in front of her. A stone wall of a woman. A non-talking stone wall of a woman.
That was fine with me. I had no problem answering his question.
“She ordered some doctored photos of your opponent. You know, like some of the ones you have here?” I motioned to the photos lining the mantel in a place of honor. Yeah. All fake. “Only these images were particularly nasty. She was using them to blackmail Ms. Morgan into dropping out of the political race.”
His eyes went from me to his wife. Kathrine, that was her name. I’d need to remember that. “Is this true?”
She smirked. An actual smirk. But then she didn’t know what else the envelope in my hand now held. It was quite a bit fatter now.
“She’s blowing smoke, Leroy. She can’t prove any of this.”
I gave her a big smile with lots of teeth showing. “Actually, that’s not an accurate statement. And just so you know... these are copies. I have the originals in a very safe place.”
Then I opened the packet and spread the images on the coffee table in front of them. First the headless pictures of the not-Mabel, then the blown-up version of the unicorn symbol in the corner of that image. Next came one of the pictures of Leroy with a past president. And the blown-up version showing the unicorn symbol in the corner of that one as well. Next, a screenshot of Britney’s website with the same logo.
“Ha. Good luck with this,” Kathrine said with a little smile. “Anyone could have found her site and ordered those photos. There is nothing here to say it was me. We just used the same company, that’s all.”
“You might think that, but you’d be wrong. Turns out, this isn’t a company, but an individual. An individual who, as it turns out, feels very strongly about her work being used for blackmail. I have a copy of the order you placed, by the way. A copy of the payment receipt too.”
I paused to let that sink in. “You know the order you emailed her telling her of the crush Leroy has on Ms. Morgan, and that nasty little fantasy you wanted to help him with?”
“Kathrine!” Leroy didn’t look amused.
She closed her eyes for a minute, then opened them and stared at me. “That really doesn’t change anything, though, does it? Mabel won’t risk those pictures being distributed, and I still have copies. Plus, you try to prove any of this with the authorities, and they get used as evidence. She won’t agree to that. Stalemate.” She leaned back, looking a lot more self-confident than she had any right to.
Because I wasn’t finished yet.
“I was afraid that might be your reaction.” I pulled the last images out of the envelope and placed them on top of the others. A college degree from Princeton University. And yet another blown up unicorn emblem. Then I just stood there, watching them.
Leroy looked at the degree and gave a big swallow. “What do you want?”
Yeah, it was that serious. Universities like Princeton took a very dim view of people forging degrees from them. Lawsuits, publicity that definitely wasn’t good for you, criminal charges... a whole passel of trouble.
“I want every single copy of the doctored image of Mabel, and I want the email with the doctored image attachment permanently deleted. No hard copies, no digital copies to remain. Is that clear?”
He nodded, then elbowed his wife. It took a minute, and she wasn’t happy about it, but finally, she gave a curt nod too.
“Mabel has nothing to do with this part of things. But if a single image of her is released to anyone—and I mean anyone—I will take the counterfeit degree public. And I’ll have no choice but to release the copy of that emailed order too. I’m sure the voting public would be highly interested in Leroy’s sexual fantasies regarding Ms. Morgan. Might just turn the tide in her favor, now that I think about it.”
Color rose on Leroy’s cheeks as he glared at his wife. “You have my word that won’t happen.”
“Good.” I gathered up the images and put them back in the envelope, minus the headless originals. Those were coming with me. The envelope, I was leaving for them. As I’d said, I had copies of everything at home. “I’m glad we understand each other.”
I waited for her to gather the other copies for me, and even watched while she deleted the email from the unicorn. That done, I turned to leave, but I just couldn’t resist one last barb.
“Oh, and Kathrine? I think I’d be planning to buy my own appliances from here on out if I were you.”
Chapter 11
All that done, and we were only at the Tanner’s for less than thirty minutes. An hour and a half of free time left.
I glanced over at the still giggling Liz. We’d both had a good laugh when we pulled away from the Tanner curb. It felt good. Really, really good.
“Would you mind terribly if we stopped off at the library to give Mabel the good news? I don’t want to run the risk of her pulling out of the race early because I didn’t get to her in time.”
Liz gave a little bounce. “The library? Oh, that would be lovely!” Then she paused. “You do have a card, don’t you? And would you mind checking out a few books for me?”
“Yes, I have a card, and no, I wouldn’t mind.” In fact, I felt a little guilty about not offering to get her any books that she might want before this. I guess I just assumed that if she wanted something, she’d ask. That didn’t seem to be the case with Liz.
Once inside the building, Liz floated off in search of her next reads, and I headed straight to Mabel. She looked over her shoulder, then at me. “He’s in today,” she whispered.
I thought quick. “Could you help me find this book, please? I’m a little rusty on the library’s search function.” I made sure to talk a little louder than my normal tone. I wanted to make sure her boss heard my request.
“Sure, I can help you.” Mabel stepped out from behind the counter, and we walked over to the public access computer. Far enough away from the office for privacy. As soon as we were there, she glanced over at me. “I’ve decided to drop out. It’s just too risky.”
“Please tell me you haven’t set that in motion yet! I’ve taken care of it.”
The look she gave me told me she didn’t have a lot of confidence in my words. I pulled out the envelope and passed it to her. The degree and the Tanner images were all still at their house. That was between me and the Tanners. My little insurance policy. But all the copies of Mabel were right there for her to destroy at her leisure.
“It was Kathrine Tanner. All the doctored images with your face are here. Physical and digital. And I personally watched her delete the email from her computer too. You’re in the clear. Plus, I have their word this is done.”
She shook her head. “Sorry, but why would they go to all this trouble, and then just give up? I don’t trust them. Well, I never trusted Leroy, but now doubly so.”
“Oh, I don’t trust their word, either. But I have a bit of surety that they’ll keep it this time. While I did my little investigation, I got some pretty dang hard stuff on old Leroy. Stuff he and his wife really wouldn’t want to come out.” After all, an election was one thing, lawsuits and possible jail time was another.
Mabel frowned at me. “You mean you’re blackmailing them?”
I thought about my wording carefully. “I don’t consider it blac
kmail. I think it’s more... an added consequence if they decide to do something dastardly.”
She took a deep breath and finally nodded. “I suppose that's all right then. At least you’re not trying to gain from it, right?”
“Exactly. No gain at all.”
“And you’re one hundred percent positive these are all the images?” She hesitated. “Couldn’t they just get another copy from the person who did them?”
“Nope. That door is firmly shut to them too. You’re safe, Mabel.” I laid my hand on her arm. “And we need Leroy out of that office.”
“Yes, we do.” There was movement out of the corner of my eye. I pointed to the screen. “Are those the only books you have on that?”
She looked at me, then caught the glimpse of her boss at the door to his office. “Yes. Follow me, and I’ll take you to them.” Mabel reached out and pushed the home button on the computer, then led us away out into the stacks.
I could think of another great reason for Mabel to get elected. Her boss wasn’t the nicest man to work for. But we’d sure as heck miss her here. He didn’t realize how many people came to this library because of Mabel. He’d realize it once she got elected for sure.
She led me out to the middle of the library, pointed to a random shelf, and then whispered, “Thank you, Ruby.”
“Anytime Mabel. Just win, okay?”
Mabel smiled and then left me. I stood there for a minute pretending to study the books in front of me, just in case. Even took one of them for good measure. It was a book on gardening, so who knows? It might come in handy after all.
I followed Liz around the library for another hour before I finally had to rein her in. Besides, I could barely hold all the books she’d already pointed out.
By the time we checked out and made it out to the car, we had less than a half-hour before the timer went off.
“Sorry I took so much time in there. It’s just been so long...”
“No worries. We still have time for a quick trip to the market. I’ll just get what I need for a few days. I didn’t have time to make a list anyway, so I’d be bound to forget something.”
Liz watched the other people and oohed and ahhed at all the new products on the shelves as I loaded down my cart. People she’d never get to speak to or interact with, and products that she’d never get to try. It didn’t seem one bit fair to me.
I really hoped her rat of a murderer was having a rough time in prison. The rougher the better, as far as I was concerned.
We moved at a good clip, and I filled my cart in just under our time limit. There were hamburgers, steaks, chicken strips, and all the fixings to go with them. Three nutritious meals right there. Plus, a good stock-up of soda, snacks, and a case of Arc’s favorite beer. I was kind of hoping to save the steaks for the weekend and let Arc fix them on the grill. I really didn’t want to mess up a good steak.
Tonight would be an easy one. Barbecued chicken, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. My stomach growled just thinking of it. That’s when I realized that with all of our running, I hadn’t stopped for lunch. And I didn’t want to take the time now to go through the drive-thru.
I’d run a little too close on time with our first outing. Twice in a row wouldn’t be a good thing for Liz’s confidence in me.
Chapter 12
By the time Arc was due home, I’d already feed Destiny her nightly meal and freshly scooped her box. I’d also watered my newly planted garden, taken Yorkie for a well-deserved walk around the estate, and fixed a wonderful and nutritious dinner.
I was proud of myself. And with good reason.
In the three days I’d been on my own, I had helped a friend in need, planted the start of a nice little witch’s garden, given my ghost friend a new lease on life (well, afterlife), and still managed to get the shopping done and dinner made.
That’s a lot.
Amie and Opie would be back tonight, and that was great. Even as busy as I’d been, I had still missed her. She was a big part of my life and always would be.
But I had a feeling that things might be a little different between us from here out. In a good way.
I’d never really been on my own before. I had gone from living at home to sharing a home with Arc. And from working for Mom to working with Amie.
Not that I ever wanted to give any of that up, mind you. I loved my family. They’re dang awesome, and it means a lot to know that they’ll always have my back.
No matter what life throws at us. Shoot, we’ve already proven that.
But independence was a brand new feeling to me. And I liked it.
And who really cares if I burnt the asparagus just a little? I really doubted Arc would even notice.
I’m calling it a win.
A Familiar Epilogue (From Yorkie Doodle)
“You know she thinks she did this all on her own, right?” Destiny asked.
“Yip.” I knew. And I didn’t really care, either.
“You don’t care, either, do you?”
Like I said, nope. “Yip, yip.”
“You’re such a dog.”
“Yip.” Thanks for the compliment. Glad you noticed.
Destiny rolled her eyes at me. She understood me. Just like I understood her. It was kind of nice having someone to talk to finally. The humans didn’t get my language. Not sure why. I got theirs. Human is much harder to learn than dog. Just sayin'.
They might not be as smart as they think they are. And a lot of them think dogs are dumb. Not my human, of course, but some humans think that.
“Do you think her plan would have worked if you hadn’t brought over Liz when you did?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Yip.” Who knew? “Yip, yip.” Ruby was more resourceful than the others gave her credit for. Especially when it came to helping out a friend.
“Well, maybe you’re right. But if it hadn’t been for the constant reminders, she’d have let me starve, for sure.”
That didn’t even get a yip. Just a look. No way was Destiny going to starve, and she knew it. Shoot, she ate almost as much of my kibble as I did.
“I do think you cowering under the bed like that and then blaming it on me was a bit much though.”
“Yip.”
“Yeah, I know, it worked. To a point.”
I lifted my nose to the deliciously scented breeze wafting by us. Yip, but those steaks smelled like a sunny day at the dog park.
“Think they’re gonna share?”
“Yip.”
Destiny laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. Like we’re gonna give them a choice.”
“Yip, yip.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll let Mom know the food’s about ready.”
Baxter, Destiny’s mom, was Arc’s familiar. I liked her well enough, but I couldn’t understand a darn thing she said. Just like she couldn’t understand me. She was nice enough for a feline, but she kind of kept to herself most of the time.
Didn’t feel right to leave her out of the whole steak thing, though. A rare occasion like this needed to be shared by all of us familiars.
I was really hoping this thing with Ruby cooking would last. I kind of liked it.
There’s so much more to life than just kibble.
STAY TUNED FOR THE next installment of Ruby's story, coming soon! And if you haven't yet read the flagship series of the Gemstone Coven, the Accidental Familiar Series, you might want to check it out. Trust me, the Gemstone Coven witches aren't your ordinary witches!
A Note From Belinda
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR reading Ruby's very first novella. I had a lot of fun with this one. (Hopefully, you could tell!)
There's a funny story about this one. I fully intended for this to be a short story. As a short, I was going to put it in the Gemstone Coven Holiday Shorts Series. Yeah. Several thousand words later and the story was just getting good. So, it ended up as a short novella instead. And Ruby Ravenswind got her very own series.
I'm truly hoping that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed wr
iting it.
If you have a spare minute or two, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could leave me a short review. I'd love to know what you thought of the story!
Belinda White
July 2020
Join Belinda White's Witches & Wolves Newsletter
WANT A LITTLE BACKSTORY on the Gemstone Coven Gang?
Would you like to keep up to date with what Belinda White has coming out next?
Do you like easy and fun (not to mention delicious) recipes?
Want to be a part of writing a fun and exciting cozy mystery with her?
If you're nodding your head right now, then you totally need to join Belinda White's Witches & Wolves Newsletter!
And, saving the best for last... you get a free 13,000 word story just for signing up!
Enjoy!
Yorkie Doodle Dandy Page 6