The Book Of Ill Deeds_A Paranormal Cozy Mystery

by Phaedra Weldon

  There were a few beats of silence. “And?” I prompted.

  “Heather is still in a coma. She’s being held in a special facility that even if she did wake up, she couldn’t hurt anybody. As for me, the Familiar Hunters came—claimed Heather and I were in the book and had to be destroyed. They could and would prevent them from taking Heather, but for me, there wasn’t a choice. And when Hardin demanded to see the names, the Hunters refused.”

  “So it was just their word.”

  “It’s always been just their word,” Max’s brows turned down over his little pink nose. “They bark, and the Elders obey. It’s infuriating. So…Hardin broke me out of the place where Familiars are detained and took me with him. We kept one step ahead of the Hunters for a while until a year went by and we hadn’t seen them. Hardin thought that it was odd that there had been no word, not even a whisper of them near us. Part of the book’s power is it gives the magical and birth names of the witch and their location in the world.”

  I put the pieces together. “That’s when Hardin figured out they no longer had the book?”

  “He suspected it. And then he confirmed it. And then he decided to find the book and look inside. He wanted to see for himself if mine and Heather’s names were inside. I think he’d gotten to the point in his life that he didn’t believe in the book anymore.”

  I scooted closer and crossed my elbows on my knee. “Then Hardin got a lead on the book. Talked to Charles Willmington.”

  “I think so. I really wasn’t paying attention. I’d tried to get him to just leave me somewhere and forget it, but he always said he should have listened to me when I warned him about Heather the first time.”

  “And now someone killed him.” I pursed my lips. “It’s a given that others are looking for this book. I’m betting not only witches but vampires or even psychics.”

  “All manner of supernatural,” Max said. “It’s like the Holy Grail of the supernatural world.”

  I looked at the box on the bed and thought of the cards inside with my sister’s store sticker. “Do you remember what he went to see my sister for?”

  “You mean the card reader?” Max looked at the box. “No. They closed the door, and I played around in the store. I liked the place. Had a nice vibe to it.”

  I sat up straight. Melody closed the door. That could mean Melody read Hardin’s cards. And that reading could be the reading that freaked her out so much she talked to Mama D. Was it possible the cards in his box were the same deck?

  “Ginger? You okay? I mean, if you want to hate me that’s okay, and you don’t have to make me your familiar—”

  “How could that happen?” I looked at Max. “Your witch is still alive.”

  “My tie to her was weakened,” Max said. “The Elders refused to sever the bond between us. And when Hardin died, I felt what small, tenuous link we had vanish as well. Remember, we never bonded as Witch and Familiar, but we were close.”

  I jumped off the bed, grabbed the box and motioned for Max to follow me. We made our way to the Mercedes. I unlocked the car and threw my bag in as Max jumped in. I locked the box in the trunk. Seeing Charles’ briefcase back there reminded me I needed Melody’s lock picking kit. I also needed to talk to her. Visiting her store seemed like a better idea than ever.

  When I opened the door, Max jumped in the driver’s seat. “Your phone is making a pinging noise.”

  I moved him out of the seat and fished my phone out of my bag. There were six messages. All of them were from David. I sat in the parking lot listening to him as he wondered where I was. Why hadn’t I gotten any calls? I checked my phone’s screen and saw only one bar.

  Ooh. Didn’t know the connection up at the falls was so bad.

  The last one said he was going to Melody’s store. I cranked the car, put on my seatbelt and hit call-back on the message. When it went straight to voicemail, I bit my lower lip. I got out on the main highway back to town and dialed up Mama D. The shop answering service picked up. So I tried calling her cell phone, which Melody got her and she rarely ever used—

  “Where are you?” Mama D’s voice was gruff and irritated.

  “Oh. Hi. I didn’t think you’d answer.”

  “You thought wrong. Where are you?”

  “Heading back into town. Have you seen David?”

  “No. And he called me and said he needed you or me to help him check out Melody’s apartment at the store. I’m heading there now. You go there too.” She disconnected.

  I chucked the phone back into my bag and pressed a bit harder on the accelerator. It was just after noon and the traffic heading into town was heavier than expected.

  “What’s wrong?” Max said from where he sat in the passenger’s seat.

  “I’m not sure yet. Stick close to me, okay?”

  “Will you make me your familiar?”

  I glanced at him. I wanted to say yes. I wanted to give this little guy a forever home as it were. But I also thought it was only right to tell Mama D about Max’s past first. If I decided to stay in Castle Falls and keep Max with me for the rest of my life, I was gonna need a place to live till I could stand on my own again. Bringing a cat whose name showed up in The Book of Ill Deeds wasn’t exactly going to win points for me.

  “We’ll see.”

  Max beamed. “That’s better than no.”

  I gripped the steering wheel and watched the traffic ahead of me. “Max…what would happen to you if the Familiar Hunter captured you?”

  Max didn’t answer right away, so I glanced over at him. He was looking out the windshield, the noon-day sun making his green eyes glow. “I suppose they’d destroy me, Ginger.” Then he looked at me. “Hunters don’t believe in giving familiars second chances.”

  TWELVE

  The dashboard clock said twelve-thirty as I pulled the Mercedes into the parking area of Past & Future. The place looked dark and deserted. Mama D’s Volvo, a dark green monster that only allowed her to drive it (I’m not kidding), was parked up front. I pulled in beside it as she climbed out of the driver’s door. Burt flew out and perched on the Mercedes emblem.

  “Mama D,” I opened the door wider so Max could jump out of the car and I grabbed my bag. “What did David say?”

  “He said the place had been ransacked. Which doesn’t make sense if Melody was heading off for some dang fool retreat.” She pulled her walking cane out of the floorboard of the car where she usually wedged it between the door and the driver’s seat. Once the door was shut, she gave the store a narrowed glare. “I tried calling Melody again. Went to voicemail. And I tried calling her partner, Carmine. Same thing.”

  “That’s the first time you’ve mentioned Carmine,” I said to her. “Doesn’t she usually clean your house?”

  “Yeah. And when she didn’t show up on Sunday, I fired her. Left her a message on voicemail.”

  “So,” I chewed on my lower lip as Max jumped up on the hood of the car and sat down beside me. “Carmine’s voicemail was picking up on Sunday, but now it’s going to voicemail.”

  Mama D arched a brow at me but didn’t say anything.

  “Melody left you a note about what she was going to do—she didn’t call you or tell you in person.”

  “No. I figured she was still too creeped out about that reading.”

  Okay, now I was just confused. “Mama D, since when has Melody not shared everything with you? She’s done that since mom and dad died. The fact she left you a note and not personally told you what she was doing should have clued you in that something was wrong.”

  “Oh really?” She crossed her arms in front of her, the cane folded in. “So when did you become such an expert private eye?”

  “Private—” I huffed. “Granny, it’s all about knowing the nature of people. Everyone has certain…behaviors.”

  “You mean like you, running away to be something you clearly don’t like?”

  “I thought I liked numbers!”

  “Then take up Numerology!” She unfold
ed her arms and held up the cane. “We’re wasting time. Dr. Flanagan’s probably inside waiting for us.”

  I blinked and then looked around. “If he’s here, where’s his car?”

  “Maybe he left?”

  I shoved my hand into my bag and pulled out Melody’s key. It was pretty easy to find without looking. It was connected to one of Kevin’s carved animals. One of a kind. A polar bear.

  I lead the strange little procession up the front door and pushed the key into the lock—but the door moved. It was already unlocked and very much open!

  With a glance at Mama D, I used the key to push the door further in and stood just inside. “David?”

  The place really was ransacked. Knocked over furniture, broken glass, wrinkled up rugs. I stepped forward, but a light from behind me made me turn. Mama D had her cane out in front of her like a spear and the tip of it was on fire. “What are you doing?” I waved at her.

  “Ginger—David called asking me to meet him here, and now he’s not answering, and he’s a vampire. If that doesn’t say ‘oh crap’ then I don’t know what does. I plan on defending myself. You should too.”

  She had a point. I held up my right hand and readied the small bolt I’d managed to summon a few times to fend off muggers. It wouldn’t do anyone any real harm—but it would hurt like hell.

  And the pain would linger.

  Mama D came in beside me, the flame on her cane illuminating the store. “Is the electricity out?”

  “The light switch up front isn’t working,” Mama D said. “Burt, you sense David anywhere?”

  Burt flew overhead and did several loops around the large room. Bats had radar, so the dark didn’t handicap him. “I’m not picking anything up.”

  I did not like the sound of that.

  “Let’s go upstairs. Maybe David got inside the apartment, anyway.”

  “But Burt can’t sense him.”

  Mama D looked at me. She looked so odd, all arms in the air and that flaming cane in her hand. “He’s a vampire. I doubt he flags on everyone’s someone-is-in-the-house radar.”

  Och.

  I followed her to the register area with Max at my side. He bounded ahead and jumped on the counter top, landing on the glass that wasn’t broken. It looked like there had been five sections, with one in the middle and two fanning back in a semi-circle. The sides were bashed in and empty.

  Mama D continued around to the door on the right. I remembered the layout of the place now that I was inside. It had been a long time. The house had been an older Tudor Revival design that Kevin had completely remodeled for Melody and Carmine. The main floor had pretty much been gutted, with only a bathroom, back room for storage, a showroom and three smaller rooms. The kitchen had been moved upstairs. Kevin converted the entire upstairs into an apartment for Melody. Carmine had a house just outside of town, inherited from her father.

  I opened the door and looked up the stairs. The light came on automatically, but there was no David. Max ran up ahead of me and put his paw on the wood. “There’s something weird here. It’s like a…a seal.”

  “Does it extend around the entire floor?” Mama D asked.

  “No,” He turned and looked down at Mama D. “You can understand me?”

  “I’ve understood you since you showed up, idiot. I’m a witch. Your witch died in my home. It’s about time Ginger understood you.” She looked at the door, closed her eyes and then snapped her fingers. My ears popped and something sparkly covered the door.

  “Ooh,” Max said. “Now that’s real magic.”

  I glanced at Mama D. She looked like the fox in the henhouse. Very pleased with herself. She moved past me and opened the door.

  The first thing that attacked us was the stench. I dismissed the electricity arcing over my fingers and slapped my hand over my mouth and nose. “Oh, sweet kitty’s whiskers!”

  Max turned and looked up at me. “We really need to work on your swearing. You sound like a Fairy Tale.”

  I ignored him and stepped up the last step to the threshold. The apartment was a mess, just like the downstairs. The door opened into a living area, with lots of bookshelves, tiffany lamps, antique furniture and walls painted a deep burgundy. But the books were on the floor and the furniture had been overturned.

  It was also very hot in here.

  I picked my way to the kitchen and discovered the stove was on. I turned it off and opened the door. The second thing that attacked us was the billowing black cloud of something burned. I coughed and ran to the window over the sink and opened it. Cool air filtered in and I shoved my face into that breeze and continued to cough.

  “Ginger…we need to call Danvers.”

  “Yeah,” I coughed again before I turned and looked at the living area. But Mama D wasn’t there. “Where are you?”

  “In the bedroom.”

  I hesitated as Max jumped on the counter beside the sink. The smell when we walked in meant something was dead. All I could think about was Melody. That she hadn’t gone off on a retreat. That someone had broken into her store and surprised her up here while she was cooking…

  “Ginger!”

  I jumped and wiped at my eyes. I needed to prepare myself for what was in the bedroom. I wasn’t going to cry. I wasn’t.

  I moved like a zombie out of the kitchen and into the hall. The bedroom loomed ahead of me. I took off running and stopped myself at the door. Mama D was standing over a body, just like I thought she would be.

  But it wasn’t Melody.

  Mama D looked at me. “Call Danvers on your cell phone. Mine’s in the car.”

  “Who—”

  “It’s Carmine Kyle, Melody’s business partner. She’s dead.”

  I stood outside of Past & Future as Danvers’ men, a few people with Crime Scene Unit jackets, and people from the Coroner’s office worked inside and outside. I’d started calling David seconds after I called Danvers. I thought maybe I’d hear the phone ring somewhere. But I didn’t. At least it wasn’t dead yet, or turned off because I kept getting his voice message.

  But I also needed to stop calling it or the phone would eventually go dead. And that thought bothered me even more.

  Max sat hunched on the hood of the Mercedes. He’d been very quiet since we found the body. Mama D was also quiet. And that bothered me. She only got quiet when she was worried.

  I finally slipped my phone into my pocket and folded my arms over my chest. Spectators were being turned away by uniformed officers, but that didn’t stop little pockets of locals from standing across the street at the Piggly Wiggly and watching.

  Sheriff Danvers came out of the store and approached us. His expression wasn’t something I liked. “Ladies—”

  Mama D held up her finger. She didn’t say anything, but the Sheriff stopped talking anyway. He glanced at me and I shrugged. Finally, she lowered her finger and looked at him. “I had to follow my thoughts. I’m finished. What did you find?”

  He gave her what I called a pained expression. “What thoughts?”

  “I’ll say them when I can.”

  Danvers sighed. “You both said Dr. Flanagan had called from here?”

  “He called me and left messages,” I volunteered. “But he actually spoke to Mama D.”

  “Said he slipped in to check something out and needed to get into Melody’s apartment, just like I told you,” Mama D said.

  “Yes but,” Danvers put his hand on his hip. “How did the doc get into a locked store?”

  Mama D and I exchanged looks. She shrugged and gave me a gesture that said, you tell him. I cleared my throat. “How much do you know about Dr. Flanagan?”

  “Not a lot. He’s a good shot with a gun. Likes to hunt and fish. And he’s good at pool—” Then he closed his eyes and groaned. “What is he?”

  I pursed my lips. “You have anything against nocturnal creatures?”

  “No. Spit it out, Ginger. You know I’m not against this town and its…peculiar residents. For crying out loud, Perrin�
��s a shifter,” He said, though his volume dropped considerably.

  “Dr. Flanagan’s a vampire.”

  The Sheriff straightened up. “No, he’s not. He’s out in the day. I’ve seen him eat, and I’ve seen him eat garlic.”

  “He’s the nouveau type of vampire,” I said.

  “I have no idea what that word means.”

  I smirked at him. “He’s a new kind of vampire. He’s also a shifter. I don’t know what he can shift into, but he confided that to granny and I.”

  “Oh.” Sheriff Danvers glanced back at the store. “Then you two come with me.”

  We followed him in and walked the barrier of the taped-off areas inside. He led us behind the counter where two standing lights were set up and focused on an area of the hardwood. The light bounced off of something shiny on the floor beside a police marker. It lay in the middle of a puddle of something dark with a second police marker.

  Max bounced up on the counter and then landed with care beside the puddle.

  “Hey—” The sheriff held up a finger.

  “Billy, let it alone,” Mama D cautioned.

  Max sniffed the puddle and then moved around to the shiny object. He made noises in his throat before he lifted his head and sniffed the air. His whiskers quivered as he looked around and then bounded over some glass and shoved his head under the counter and started wailing.

  Alarmed, the sheriff came around the counter and bent down on his knees as Max backed out. The sheriff shined his flashlight under the counter. “Hey, Maggie?”

  “Yeah?” one of the white coated women said as she leaned over the counter.

  “Found another one.”

  Maggie sighed and came around with a technician. The tech got down on his hands and knees as Max sniffed Maggie’s booted feet and then went back to a spot beside my feet. I looked down at him.

  “It’s blood. And those are silver bullets,” He said.

  Oh no. I touched my face with my hand. “Did someone shoot David with silver bullets?”

  “I don’t know. But the blood isn’t human so it might be vampire.”