Stuck in the Middle Witch You (A Middle Witch Mystery Book 1)

by Danielle Finch

  “That’s wonderful,” Gigi said and walked over to Raine. “You see? It all worked out.” She gathered Raine in her arms and squeezed. “You must be very happy about that.” Gigi let go and studied Raine’s face.

  Raine nodded.

  “She’s very happy,” I said, and gave her nudge. Smile, dammit.

  “Yes, it’s great news,” Ember chimed in. “Matt’s investigating someone else, and Jason’s been cleared. We were just going to go and pick him up.”

  “That’s right,” I said, “we were just leaving.” I took Raine’s hand and started pulling her toward the door. Ember followed right behind us.

  “Just a minute,” Gigi said, and put up her hand.

  Uh-oh. We never had been good at hiding anything from her. I held my breath.

  “I don’t think Jason needs all three of you to pick him up. Ray and I could use a hand at the campground moving some picnic tables.”

  I started to breathe again. “You’re right, we don’t all need to go,” I said. “Ember, you stay and give Gigi a hand, and I’ll take Raine down to the station to pick up Jason.”

  “I can take her,” Ember said.

  “No, that’s okay, I’ll take her.”

  “Bree,” Ember said, with just a hint of a threat.

  “Ember.” I threatened right back.

  Gigi shook her head. “Some things never change, do they? When you’ve decided, I’ll be outside waiting in the golf cart.” She left the room, still shaking her head.

  I quickly closed the door behind her and turned to face Raine. “You threw a ring out the window?”

  “Yes. The opal and sapphire one. I told you about that. I found it in the lining of that jacket from the antique store in London.”

  “That must be where he came from.”

  “London?” Ember asked.

  “No, the ring—he came with the ring. He’s attached to it.”

  “So now you’re an expert on ghosts?” Ember cocked an eyebrow at me.

  “He disappeared when Raine threw the ring out. It’s kind of obvious, don’t you think?”

  “Never mind the ring,” Raine said. “What are we going to do about the ghost? What if he’s out there and Gigi sees him?”

  “Then we’ll have to find the ring and destroy it. If the ring doesn’t exist anymore, then the ghost doesn’t exist anymore.” It sounded logical… sort of. “Where’s Violet? She’ll know.”

  We looked around the room, but she was gone.

  “Probably hiding in some corner laughing at us. I bet she knew this wasn’t going to go well,” Ember said. She got down on her knees and looked under the bed.

  Outside, the horn on the golf cart beeped.

  “Forget Violet,” I said. “This is what we’ll do. Raine and I will go get Jason, take him home, and come straight back. Ember, you go help Gigi and try to keep her at the campground, and when we get back, we’ll look for the ring and get rid of it. Okay?”

  “I don’t want to go out there,” Ember said, brushing dust off her knees. “What if that thing comes after me?”

  “I don’t think he will,” I said remembering Violet’s twitching whiskers. If the ghost was going to hurt us, Violet wouldn’t have let us conjure him. As much as she likes to mess with us, I was certain she wouldn’t have put us in a dangerous situation. Well, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t. Mostly sure.

  “Just go.” I gave Ember a push. “Stay away from the house until we get back.”

  Ember looked at me doubtfully but left the room.

  I turned to Raine. “Hurry and get dressed then meet me in the car.”

  Chapter 17

  “I’m sorry,” Raine said as we raced toward town. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

  I looked over at her. She was fiddling with her braid again.

  “Of course you didn’t, but next time think twice about trying to conjure the perfect guy. I hate to burst your bubble, but he doesn’t exist.”

  “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” she muttered.

  “That’s what you thought about the frog, but that didn’t work out so well either.” I grinned at her.

  “Ugh, don’t remind me.” Raine flopped her head back on the seat. “That was so gross.”

  I won’t go into the details but suffice it to say, trying to reanimate a dead frog is never a good idea.

  “Why didn’t you come and tell us before all this happened?”

  “I didn’t want you to be mad at me. You guys have always told me not to practice magic without you. Gigi would be furious.”

  “For good reason,” I said. “Case in point—the frog.”

  “Stop it.” Raine let out a little laugh.

  “And we wouldn’t have been mad—well, Gigi wouldn’t have been too happy about it, but we could have figured something out.”

  Raine didn’t say anything. She was looking out the window.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll fix this,” I said, trying to reassure her.

  “I wish I had never let the cousins talk me into it.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have. What were they thinking—that you could just conjure a person out of thin air?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. They’d had a lot to drink, and when we formed our ring—”

  “You mean circle,” I said.

  “Sophie and Lily call it a ring, not a circle. It’s the same thing.”

  Raine was right. We said circle because that’s what we were taught, but it didn’t mean it was right or wrong. Every family of witches had their own way of doing things, but whatever words are used, it’s important that everyone is on the same page. I had a feeling that in this case, they weren’t.

  “Did you actually use the word ‘ring’ in your incantation?”

  “Yeah, I remember that because the cousins thought it was funny that I’d said circle. We had to start all over again.”

  “What exactly did you guys say?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

  “Try. How did you use the word ‘ring’?”

  Raine leaned back in her seat and looked up at the roof.

  “Think!” I said.

  “I am thinking! You don’t have to shout.”

  “Sorry, but it’s important.”

  “I remember we called on our powers, then I think we said that stuff about the kind of guy we wanted and then they said ‘come forward and step into our ring.’ And I said circle instead, so we started again.” She furrowed her brow and stopped talking for a moment.

  “What is it? What happened?”

  Raine turned her head slowly and looked at me, her eyes wide. “I said ‘come forward and protect our ring.’ I should’ve said step into our ring, not protect it.”

  I could feel her looking at me, but I kept my eyes on the road. I had driven this route so many times, it was more muscle memory rather than conscious thought that navigated the car toward the town. I let my body do the driving while my mind worked on what felt like a jumble of puzzle pieces bouncing around in my head. One by one, each piece fell into place until a clear picture formed. And murder wasn’t part of that picture.

  “The ghost wasn’t trying to protect me, was he? He was protecting the ring.” Raine looked down and was silent for a moment then looked at me, realization dawning on her face. “He didn’t kill Seth! The ghost was just trying to stop him from damaging the ring, right?”

  “I think so,” I said, but I wanted to be sure. “Every time you take off the ring, something of yours goes missing and the air around you gets cold, right?”

  “Yes! That was him trying to tell me to put the ring back on, wasn’t it? He was just trying to do the thing I told him to—protect the ring. And the cousins called him forward and I called him to protect the ring. He must have been so confused. Poor guy, no wonder he got stuck like Violet said.”

  “Hey, we’re not talking about a person. He’s a ghost. I don’t think you need to feel sorry for him.”

  “I think it’s sad.
Obviously the ring means something to him. Something important. Maybe it was his girlfriend’s, or his wife’s. Oh! Maybe it was his daughter’s and—”

  “Stop! No need to get all romantic about it.”

  “I’m not.” She sank back into the seat rubbing her finger. “That’s why he was so mad when we were in my room—his ring is bent. When Seth grabbed me, he squeezed my hand so hard it bent the band. That’s why I put it in my nightstand—it hurt to wear it. I’ll have to get it fixed.”

  “You have to get rid of it, is what you have to do.”

  “Why? It might be fun to have a ghost around.” She looked at me and smiled.

  “Are you serious?” Raine’s had some pretty wacky ideas before, but this… I shook my head.

  “What? Come on. We know he didn’t kill Seth. He’s harmless.”

  “And is that what you’ll be telling Gigi?”

  “Oh, crap. I forgot. I guess I’ll—”

  “Look,” I said, interrupting her. “There’s Jason.”

  We had reached the small two-story brick building that housed the police station, town hall, and fire department. The door to the police station was open slightly and I could see Jason peering out.

  I pulled up as close as I could. Raine jumped out of the car and ran up to him, her braid bouncing against her back. She threw her arms around him and he buried his face in her shoulder. Raine said something and Jason pulled his head back to listen. He nodded a few times, then hugged her once more. They both got into the backseat. Jason sat behind me.

  “Hi, Jason,” I said to his reflection in the rearview mirror.

  “Hey, Bree. Thanks for picking me up.”

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “I am now.” He looked at Raine and smiled. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

  “Sorry you had to go through all that,” I said as I pulled out of the parking lot.

  “No problem. I knew it would work out in the end. Well, at least, for me it did.”

  I knew he meant Seth, and I wanted to ask him what had happened when he found Seth’s body, before we all came outside, but Raine was whispering something in his ear. It made him laugh, and I decided to let them enjoy the moment.

  A few minutes later we reached Jason’s cottage—or rather, his grandparents’ cottage. When we first met Jason, he’d told us his grandparents were letting him stay rent-free in return for him keeping on the place until they come from Iowa, or maybe it was Idaho, for their yearly vacation.

  I steered the car into the driveway, put it in park, then turned to face Jason. “Matt told you to lay low for a while?”

  Jason nodded. “Yeah, he did.” He opened the door and got out. Raine slid over and he took her hand and helped her out. “Do you want to come in?”

  “I can’t, we’ve got some stuff to take care of at home,” she said and closed the car door behind her.

  I saw the deflated look on his face. Poor kid. I lowered my window. “Sorry, Jason,” I said, “but I really need Raine’s help today. Another time, okay?”

  “Yeah, sure,” he replied. “I understand. Thanks for the ride.”

  Raine took his hand and walked him to the cottage door, where she gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before running back to the car. The smile was back on his face as he waved to us.

  “He does know you’re not serious about him, right?” I asked her as I backed down the drive and headed toward home.

  Raine shrugged. “I’ve told him I’m not interested in a committed relationship and he said he isn’t either, so it’s all good.”

  It might be ‘all good’ for Raine, but I had a feeling Jason wasn’t completely on board with that, even if he said he was. As much as I wanted to say so to Raine, I kept my mouth shut. It wasn’t easy.

  Raine swiveled in her seat to look at me. “Hey, you never told me why Matt cleared Jason of the murder.”

  I relayed the information Matt had told us earlier, how it was impossible for Jason to have done it because Seth had been killed earlier in the day, and that Nick looked to be a likely suspect.

  “That little guy in the Hawaiian shirt?”

  I nodded my head. “Lydia’s boyfriend. They’re planning on getting married.”

  “Wow. That sucks,” Raine said. “He didn’t look like a murderer.”

  “And you know what one looks like?”

  “No, I guess not but—”

  The ringing of my phone cut her off. She pulled it out of my purse glanced at the display. “It’s Ember.”

  “Put her on speaker,” I said.

  “Hey,” Raine said as soon as she answered. “We figured it out—the ghost didn’t do it.”

  “I know,” Ember said, “and neither did Nick.” Raine and I looked at each other in surprise.

  “I just got off the phone with Matt. He’s on the mainland right now. He told us that nobody saw Nick get on the ferry, so he went down to the government dock and spoke to some of the guys there. It turns out Nick chartered a boat. Matt took the patrol boat and caught up with them just as they were docking. He took him into custody in the police station there. They ran his fingerprints, and guess what?”

  Ember stopped speaking.

  Raine and I shouted, “What?”

  “Well, it turns out that his name isn’t Nick and he isn’t a teacher. His real name is Oren Preeper, and he’s a conman. Apparently, Lydia was just one in a long line of women he’s charmed and then stolen money from. He ran because he didn’t want the police to figure out who he was. What an idiot.”

  “But how does Matt know he didn’t kill Seth?”

  “Because Nick was on the phone the whole time Lydia was in the bar with Grant. Matt checked his phone and then called the number, and guess who answered?” She didn’t give us a chance to guess. “His wife!”

  “His wife?”

  “Yup. The slimeball’s married. Matt said the wife was screaming on the phone, she was so pissed. I guess Sir Nick’s armor isn’t so shiny anymore.” I could hear the glee in Ember’s voice.

  “Poor Lydia. She’ll be devastated when she finds out,” I said.

  “But what about the ghost?” Raine whispered to me. I held up a finger. Something had been bothering me since the beginning of the conversation, and I’d just realized what it was.

  “Ember,” I said, lowering my voice. “You said ‘he told us.’ Who is ‘us’?”

  “That would be me.” Gigi’s voice came through the speaker loud and clear.

  “And me,” Violet said.

  “Oh, hell,” Raine groaned.

  “We have you on speaker, dear, so do watch your language,” Gigi said.

  The cat—or rather the ghost—was out of the bag now. I pulled the car over to the side of the road.

  “Are you guys okay?” I asked.

  “Yes, we’re fine,” Ember said. “Edward’s actually a nice guy.”

  “Edward?” Raine and I shared a look of surprise.

  “Yeah, that’s his name. When you left, Violet found the ring and—”

  Violet cut Ember off. “If only you girls hadn’t panicked, everything would have been just fine.”

  “You couldn’t have told us that before we conjured him and had the crap scared out of us?” If I could have reached through the phone and squeezed Violet’s furry little neck, I would have. She had known all along we weren’t in any danger. I could easily sympathize with whoever it was who cursed her. Changing Violet into a cat was generous—I would have changed her into a cockroach.

  “It was a teachable moment,” Violet said. I could hear the smugness in her voice ooze through the phone. “Teachable moment” my ass.

  In the background, I could hear Gigi and Violet start arguing. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but Gigi sounded furious. Good. Squeeze her neck, Gigi.

  “Can I finish please?” Ember said to them.

  “So anyway,” Ember continued, “Violet brought the ring back into the house and Edward followed her. When he saw th
at the ring was safe, he calmed down.” The phone went silent for a moment and then Ember came back on. “Edward says he’s sorry for scaring us.”

  “That’s okay, Edward!” Raine shouted at the phone.

  I looked at Raine, who smiled. Seriously? Was I the only one who found this bizarre? There was a ghost in our house. And everyone was okay with that.

  “We’ll tell you the rest when you get back,” Ember said, “but listen, Matt asked if you could find Lydia and let her know what happened with Nick. He’s on his way back in the patrol boat, but he’ll be a while and he doesn’t want to tell her everything over the phone—and he doesn’t want Dennis to do it.”

  “Of course. Raine and I can go talk to her.” I looked at Raine for confirmation and she nodded her head vigorously. She was happy to delay having to face Gigi, and I wasn’t exactly eager to meet our new houseguest.

  “But wait,” I said. Something else occurred to me. “If the ghost didn’t do it and Nick didn’t do it, then we still don’t know who killed Seth.”

  “Stop calling him ‘the ghost,’ dear; it’s rude,” Gigi said.

  “Uh, sorry,” I said. “Edward.” I shook my head, and Raine giggled.

  “Matt says Chief Whatshisname is on the island now, finally, and he’s going interview everyone again,” Ember said.

  “Good. I hope that means he’ll be taking a closer look at Grant. I’m still not convinced he wasn’t involved.”

  “You may be right,” she said slowly. Wow, Ember actually agreeing with me? Mark that on the calendar.

  “Did you tell Matt about… you know… Edward?” I couldn’t imagine how Matt would react. He was used to our family’s weirdness, but this was weirdness on a whole new level.

  “I tried to,” Ember replied. “But he thought I said we had a roast in the house. He said it sounded delicious, but he didn’t think he’d be back in time for dinner.”

  Raine laughed. “Roast. Too funny.”

  “Raine?” Gigi said.

  “Yes?” She stopped laughing.

  “We’ll talk when you get home.”

  “Yes, Gigi.”

  Raine ended the call and threw the phone in my purse. “She’s going to kill me.”

  “Probably.”