Witch Way to Beauty and the Beach

by Jane Hinchey

  “I don’t think she had cancer.” I shook my head. He cleared his throat and glanced over my shoulder. He had customers to serve, and I was holding up the line.

  “One more question, I promise.”

  “Just one. I don’t wanna get fired.”

  “Her happy mood? How long ago was that? Like in the last couple of months?”

  He shook his head. “Nah, months ago. The last couple of months she’s been weird. Weird for Emily, that is.”

  It tied in with her finding out she was pregnant. “Thank you”—I glanced at his name badge—“Zack. You’ve been most helpful.” I slid the notes across the counter to him and he palmed them before handing me my receipt.

  “Your order shouldn’t be too long, ma’am. If you’d like to wait over there.”

  I waited where he’d pointed, my mind going over what he’d told me. It was entirely possible that Jacob wasn’t the baby’s father, that Emily had been seeing someone before him. Had she known she was pregnant when she started dating Jacob? Only one way to find out. I’d go straight to the source and ask him.

  Chapter Nine

  This time when I stepped through the doors of the town hall I wasn’t greeted with marshmallow goo. Instead Gran was taking the teenagers through a series of exercises, wands aloft as they hovered a foot from the floor. Seeing me, Gran waved them to relax, and they glided to the floor, touching down with a soft thud.

  “Lunch!” I called, holding the bags of takeout up.

  “Cool. I’m starved.” Ethan reached me first and took a bag, digging inside and pulling out a burger. Ryan and Jacob were next, then Hannah, who approached somewhat sheepishly.

  “Hannah.” I greeted her with a nod.

  “I’m so sorry for all the trouble I caused,” Hannah said in a rush, twisting her hands together.

  “Help yourself to a burger and we’ll talk once you’ve eaten, okay?” I hid my surprise that Hannah was even at rehearsals today. I’d thought for sure her parents would have grounded her.

  “Hey, Harper.” Jordan bounced up, a flush of color in her cheeks.

  “Having fun?” I handed her a burger and a box of fries.

  “This is so awesome.”

  “How’s it going with Jacob?”

  Jordan shrugged. “Yeah, fine.”

  “He hasn’t been giving you a hard time that you’ve taken his girlfriend’s place?” I pushed.

  “What? No! He hasn’t mentioned her. Not once.” We both looked to where Jacob had joined his friends Ethan and Ryan. They were joking about as they ate. He hardly seemed heartbroken that his girlfriend was dead.

  “Why don’t you sit with Hannah?” I suggested to Jordan. “I think she could use a friend.”

  “Sure!” Jordan bounced off to sit next to Hannah who was looking pale and miserable. I still had three burgers in the bag. Mine, Gran’s, and Sarah’s. Sarah was in an animated conversation with Gran. They’d moved away and, despite not being able to hear what they were saying, the body language spoke volumes. Sarah was pissed and Gran wasn’t having any of it.

  Seeing me watching them, Sarah clamped her lips shut and flounced over to me, helping herself to a burger, and then stormed outside, the door slamming behind her.

  “What’s up with her?” Handing Gran her burger, I settled onto one of the wooden chairs set up around the perimeter of the hall. Gran sat next to me, unwrapping her burger.

  “She’s got her panties in a bunch because I paired Jordan with Jacob. She thinks she should be Jacob’s partner and that Jordan can partner with Ethan.”

  “Ah.” I nodded. “I heard that Sarah had eyes for Jacob.”

  “You’d have to be blind to miss it,” Gran grumbled. “Girl has no shame, flirting outrageously.”

  “What does Jacob think? Does it make him uncomfortable?”

  Gran narrowed her eyes at the three males across the room. “I think he thinks it's funny. He doesn’t encourage her, not exactly, but he doesn’t set her straight either. Which is why I think she thinks she has a shot.”

  We lapsed into silence while we ate our lunch. I’d forgotten drinks and gave Jordan my card to go buy milkshakes for everyone. Hannah went with her to help carry them back.

  “How’s Hannah doing?” I asked Gran, wiping my mouth with a napkin. “Do the others know she got charged with arson?”

  Gran shrugged. “No one has said anything, so probably not. Poor kid.”

  “Poor kid? Gran, she was deliberately setting fires. If we hadn’t caught her, she could have ended up seriously hurting someone.”

  “That girl has been on her own for the last two years, practically bringing herself up. I’m not surprised something snapped.”

  “What do you mean? Adam and Jacqueline are still alive, still together. Aren’t they?”

  “They are,” Gran said, “but since their boy died they’ve been in a spiral of grief and despair they still haven’t surfaced from. Oh, they put food on the table, don’t get me wrong, but that girl has been emotionally neglected.”

  “They had a son? Since when?” I knew nothing of this.

  “Oh right. Happened while you were away. So Jacqueline falls unexpectedly pregnant at forty-eight. Can you imagine? They’d been trying for all those years to give Hannah a little brother or sister and had totally given up on it, when whammo, she gets knocked up.”

  “But she lost the baby?” I guessed.

  Gran shook her head. “Nope. Carried to term, successful delivery. A little boy they named Adam Junior.” Gran rolled her eyes at the name choice. “Then when he was four weeks old, he died.”

  “Oh, no!” How awful. I couldn’t imagine. “How? Why?”

  “They say SIDS.”

  “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Oh, how awful. For everyone.” Poor Hannah. She’d not only lost a little baby brother, she’d lost the emotional support of her parents when she’d needed it the most.

  “Ever since, those folks have been going through the motions, but they’re just shells.”

  I recalled that Adam worked as an accountant at The Bean Counter, and Jacqueline was a hairdresser at Curl Up & Dye. Gran nudged my arm, pulling me from my thoughts. “That lot look like they’re up to something.”

  Jacob, Ethan, and Ryan had their heads together and were gathered around a backpack, looking very furtive indeed.

  “I’ll handle this.” I headed across the room. The boys didn’t hear me coming until I was upon them.

  “What you got there, gentlemen?” I plucked the backpack from them. It was heavy, and I glanced at their startled faces before peering inside. Ah. Beer.

  “Where did you get this?” I wasn’t expecting an answer. I was pretty sure this was the beer that Daniel had purchased for his nephew.

  “It’s mine.” Ethan made to grab for the bag, but I held it out of reach. There was a dynamic amongst the boys I’d missed, but now I could see it, in the hand signals and eye movements. Jacob was the leader of this little trio and Ethan would take the fall for his buddy.

  “Jacob.” I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Can I have a word?”

  “Ethan told you. It’s his,” Jacob snapped, but rose to his feet anyway. He was taller than me and tried to use his height to intimidate. Silly child, did he think I’d never come across someone like him before? The pieces were falling into place and, despite Jacob’s pleasant demeanor, I was beginning to suspect he was actually a bully.

  “Sure,” I drawled. “Next you’ll be telling me you believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.”

  A flush of color crept up his neck. Swinging the backpack over one shoulder and hiding the wince at the weight, I crooked my finger at him. “Follow me.”

  Outside, I turned to the recalcitrant teen. “Tell me about the beer.”

  “It’s Ethan’s.” He crossed his arms and glared at me.

  “Oh, so this isn’t the beer your uncle bought?” I eased the backpack off my shoulder and set it between my feet. Jacob didn’t reply, but his expression had
that oh shit, I’m busted look.

  “Now why would your uncle buy you alcohol, hmmm? And why haven’t you drunk it yet?”

  “Okay fine!” His shoulders slumped and the swaggering demeanor vanished. “Uncle Dan bought me the beers. Me and the boys were going to go drinking out at the bluff, only Ryan’s dad busted him sneaking out.”

  “When was this? The night Emily died?”

  He nodded.

  “So you weren’t meeting her?”

  “Nah. Things with Emily were…”

  “What?”

  “A little weird.” This was the second time someone said Emily had been acting weird.

  “In what way?”

  “Like she wanted to be with me—when we were in public—but as soon as I got her alone she wasn’t interested.”

  “Were you sleeping together?”

  His cheeks burned bright red. He shook his head. “I wish. Like I said, she wasn’t interested. I could hold her hand and kiss her in public and that was as far as she’d let me go. I thought she’d warm up to it, you know, but it’d been a couple of months and she still wasn’t keen.”

  “Wait. A couple of months? You’d only been dating two months?”

  “Two months is ages!” Jacob protested.

  I rubbed my hand around the nape of my neck, my mind whirling. Emily had only been dating Jacob for two months and according to him they hadn’t had sex. Emily had been twelve weeks pregnant. So there had to have been someone before Jacob. A secret boyfriend. But also, another niggling thought entered my brain.

  “You weren’t going to get her drunk, were you? Because it strikes me as strange that you’d go to all the trouble of buying beer and then not drink it.”

  “Told you, Ryan got caught sneaking out.” Sarcasm dripped from every word. Rude little turd. I was starting to seriously dislike this teenager.

  I curled my lip in a sneer. “You strike me as the type of dude who wouldn’t pass up a good time just because one of his buddies got busted. I’d say you’d go right ahead and drink those beers yourself—or with Ethan. But you didn’t. So…. that leaves me to speculate that you were planning on getting Emily drunk so she’d sleep with you—since she’d been turning down your advances consistently. Am I right, or am I right?”

  Jacob blanched, and I shook my head. “Not cool, Jacob. Did your uncle know that’s why you wanted the beer?”

  “Please don’t tell Uncle Dan.” Jacob switched gears, widening his eyes and pleading. “He thought it was for a boys’ night and he warned me it was a one off. He used to be wild in his youth and he knows dad and mom are so stiff.”

  “Stiff?”

  “Straight-laced? Stuck up? By-the-book citizens who don’t have any fun?”

  “Ahh. Got it. Well, Jacob, sorry to be a party pooper, but consider the beer confiscated.”

  “Doesn’t matter.” The swagger was back. “Sarah doesn’t need any convincing to hang with me.” He half tilted his head and laughed.

  “So I hear. You been leading her on, Jacob? When Emily wouldn’t put out, you made the moves on Sarah?”

  “What? No way! She hit on me!”

  Gosh, I couldn’t keep up with these kids. “When was this?”

  “The other night.” He took a sudden interest in the tips of his shoes.

  “The night Emily died, you mean?” Silence. “What happened?”

  It came out in a rush. “I texted Emily to hang out, but as per usual, she brushed me off. Said she had something important to do. I had a six-pack of beer, so I texted Ryan and Ethan to meet up at the bluff. I was already on my way when I ran into Sarah. She lives around the corner from me. I turned on to her street and she was suddenly there, up in my business, brushing against me and asking if I wanted to, you know.” He mimed squeezing a pair of boobs.

  “And did you?”

  He nodded, a gleam in his eye. “She kissed me,” he said defensively, “and I kissed her back. She’s hot, knows how to kiss. I was figuring me and her could drink the beer and, you know. And then she told me if I wanted to touch her anywhere else I had to dump Emily.”

  “But you didn’t want to break up with Emily?” I wondered why. His behavior since Emily died didn’t show he had any strong feelings for the dead girl. Why not dump her and hook up with her friend?

  “It’s all a game, you know? Emily’d been leading me on for weeks, thinking she’s the boss of me. Sarah wasn’t going to do the same. I mean, if she hadn’t said that, hadn’t ordered it, I probably would’ve done it anyway. I mean, why stay with Emily if Sarah was prepared to put out?”

  What a gross little worm. “Then what happened?”

  “Sarah didn’t like it when I laughed and said no way. She got real mad. Slapped my face.” He raised his hand to his cheek, probably remembering the sting. I wondered if Sarah was mad enough to confront Emily. To kill her. But Emily had been strangled, and that would take strength. But also, Emily possibly had a concussion and was in a weakened state, so she’d have been relatively easy to subdue.

  “Get back inside,” I told Jacob, pointing to the town hall. “And don’t let me hear of you attempting to get a girl drunk again, or there will be consequences.”

  Without a word, Jacob spun on his heel and sauntered inside. I was pretty sure my threat didn’t carry much weight with him, but I’d be having a word with his parents about his actions.

  Chapter Ten

  “I wish we had popcorn.”

  “You’re a ghost, you can’t even eat popcorn.”

  Whitney crossed her arms and pouted, hovering in the armchair. She looked like she was sitting. Almost.

  We’d reconvened at The Dusty Attic—Jenna, Monica, Gran, Jackson, and I—to update the murder board and discuss recent discoveries. I told them about the six-pack of beer I’d found in Jacob’s bag.

  “That makes sense,” Monica announced. “I checked the records for the type of beer that Daniel bought. It stuck in my mind because it was unusual and we don’t get a lot of it in. Actually, Harper, you may know it.”

  “Oh?”

  “Grumpy’s Brewhaus Adelaide Hills Pale Ale.” She watched me expectantly, but I shrugged. Nope. It was new to me and I was pretty sure I’d remember a name like that. I hadn’t seen the label on the beers in Jacobs backpack so I couldn't say for sure that was the brand of beer his uncle had bought for him.

  “An Australian beer,” Jenna said.

  “You know it?”

  She shook her head. “Mick might, but the important thing here is, is it the same brand that Jacob had in his bag?”

  “Put it on the board, Mon,” I told her. “It could come in handy.”

  “I wish I could still drink beer,” Whitney said, giving up the pretense of sitting in the armchair. This time she drifted to the desk and perched—sort of—on the edge.

  “Maybe you can.” Gran grinned. “We could get you a bottle and you could submerge yourself in it.”

  Whitney looked hopeful. “Do you think that would work?”

  “We should try it!” I could see where this was going. Gran was about to embark on a mission to get a ghost drunk. I had no idea if that was even possible, and no desire to find out.

  “Ladies.” Jackson wrapped a knuckle on the murder board, drawing their attention back to the case at hand. “We’ve got work to do, remember?”

  “Sorry,” they said in unison and I bit back a grin.

  “Let’s go through our suspect list.” I pointed to the first name on the board. “Hannah.”

  “The family’s lawyer has requested we assess her for an impulse control disorder,” Jackson told us. “Pyromania.”

  I nodded. “Makes sense. She’s confessed to lighting the fires. And that she and Emily fought when Emily caught her trying to light a fire at the beach.”

  “It’s confirmed the blood on the rock was Emily’s,” Jackson said. “But the ME doesn’t believe the blow to the head killed her. Dazed, definitely.”

  “But Hannah ran off and didn�
�t get help,” Monica growled, her dark brows pulling together in a frown. “What sort of friend leaves a friend unconscious and bleeding and not help?”

  “A scared one,” Gran piped up. “Her life was unraveling. She knew lighting the fires was wrong but couldn’t stop herself, couldn’t control the compulsion. Her parents are right to get her assessed and get her the help she needs.”

  I pointed to the next post-it on the board. “What about Sarah? We know she has the hots for Jacob. Does she like him enough to kill the competition?”

  “Her statement says she was home that night.” Jackson had pulled up the notes he’d recorded on his phone.

  “Wait.” I frowned. “That’s not true. She was out on the street; Jacob ran into her. He lives just around the corner and he told me when Emily blew him off, he arranged to meet up with Ethan and Ryan at the bluff to drink the beers. On his way he ran into Sarah.”

  “So who is lying? Jacob or Sarah?” Jenna asked.

  Gran snorted. “Probably both.”

  “Explain,” Jackson requested.

  “The two of them have some strange dynamic going on,” Gran said. “She openly flirts, is overly suggestive with blatant sexual undertones in every interaction. He either pretends not to notice or makes a joke out of it. But his body language gives him away. He turns toward her whenever she’s near. His hand will deliberately brush hers as he passes. There is more to those two, mark my words.”

  “He admitted that they kissed,” I said. “He told me the night he ran into her she pushed up against him and kissed him and he didn’t exactly fight her off.”

  Jackson typed a note in his phone. “I’ll follow up with Sarah.”

  There was something in the glint of his eye, the way he held his shoulders and cocked his head ever so slightly. He noticed me noticing and gave a little shrug, then winked. And just like that, I was totally distracted.

  “What about the other two? Ethan and Ryan. What’s their relationship status?” Jenna asked.