Witch Bane and the Croaking Game

by Cat Larson

  “Said so when?”

  “Tommy, just leave, okay?” I said. There was no reason for him to stick around any longer if all he was going to do was provoke a wild bear, while thoroughly enjoying it. Is that how he’d acted with Gavin? Pushing him until he’d lost it? Well, there would not be a fight here, not if I could help it.

  “You know what? How about you both leave. Or do whatever you want, just don’t do it in front of me. I’m going inside.”

  That finally got Griffin’s attention, and he glanced at me. “Samm…”

  “Don’t Samm me. You’re acting just as ridiculous as he is.” I thumbed at Tommy.

  I turned to go inside when Tommy said, “Thanks again for taking care of me earlier, nursing me back to health like that. So caring and—”

  I whipped around. “Stop it,” I hissed. Now, he was just being a plain ol’ jerk for the sole purpose of riling Griffin up. Yeah, I’d nursed him back to health, like he had a near-fatal gunshot wound or something.

  “What’s this about?” Griffin demanded.

  I flashed them both a nasty look and stormed inside, slamming the door behind me. Let them stay out there and kill each other. Fine by me.

  Griffin was right at my heels. “Get out,” I said.

  “Samm—”

  “I said get out. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

  “Just listen to me, please.”

  “What in the heck is wrong with you? We were just talking. You had no right to act like an idiotic, jealous boyfriend.”

  “This is not about jealousy. This is about me not wanting you around Tommy because he’s not good for you.”

  I threw up my hands. “You’re impossible. Good for me? I’m not marrying the guy. And you say this isn’t a jealousy thing. Ha!”

  He grabbed my arms. “Will you stand still for a second?” I narrowed my eyes to slits. “When it comes to you, yes, I do have cause to feel jealous, but that is not what this is about. Tommy’s bad news. Maybe I didn’t act my best back there when I saw you with him—”

  “Gee, you think?”

  “But I couldn’t stand seeing that filth so close to you. And what’s this about you nursing—”

  “Enough with the third degree. Just go. We’ll talk later.”

  “Samm.”

  Violet’s landline rang. “I have to get the phone.” Normally, I’d just let the thing ring away, but whoever was on the other line was surely better than listening to this nonsense.

  “Let it ring.”

  “No.” I picked up the receiver. “Violet’s Soap & Tea Emporium.”

  “Finally. Do you know how many times I’ve tried calling?”

  “Mrs. Geller?” Why was my elderly Chicago neighbor calling me?

  “You sound surprised. Did you not tell me to call if there were any problems?”

  “Yes, of course. Are there? Problems, I mean?” Had Fernando’s brother, Sal, paid another visit?

  “Yes, chickadee. Big ones.” My heart pounded. “There’s been a break-in.”

  “Oh no. Are you okay?”

  Griffin touched my shoulder. “Sammi, what’s wrong?”

  “My knees are a trifle swollen,” Mrs. Geller said, “but other than that, I’m right as rain. It might take me a few minutes longer to get out of my chair but—”

  “No, Mrs. Geller. I meant about the break-in. Were you home when it happened?”

  “Of course, I was. Where else would I be?”

  “But you weren’t hurt? Thank heavens for that.”

  “I’m tougher than I look, you know.”

  “But what a frightening experience for you. Was anything stolen?”

  “How would I know? Just because we’re neighbors doesn’t mean I keep a running inventory of your belongings.”

  “What? My belongings?”

  “Yes, were you not listening this whole time?”

  I had to sit down. “So, it wasn’t your place that was broken into, it was mine?”

  “That’s what I’ve been saying. And they say I’m old and senile,” she mumbled.

  “When?” I croaked out, my throat drying up.

  “Early this morning. Sneaky sons of guns too. Got into your place without me hearing a peep. It wasn’t until I was going for the paper when I saw them come out. Two big lugs. I knew they were up to no good as soon as I saw your place through the open door. Ransacked. Then one of the hooligans tried to scare me. Told me to keep my mouth shut or I’d be next. Well, I stared that sucker straight in the eye, said I’d been around much longer than him so he could just crawl back under his rock or else—”

  “Mrs. Geller! How could you do such a thing? Do you have a death wish?”

  “Pfft. I’m not about to let any young punk get the best of me. They ended up slinking out with their weaselly tails between their legs.”

  She sounded quite proud of herself, but I just felt sick to my stomach. My place had been broken into—by whom? Sal’s warning loomed heavily in my mind, and I had to grasp hold of the counter. Fernando owed a hundred grand to his brother, who in turn owed it to people “who messed with women.”

  “You want I call the cops?” she asked. “I got connections, you know, but I was waiting to talk to you first.”

  “I appreciate that, but no, thank you. No cops. I… I’ll decide what to do after I come home and see the damage for myself.”

  “Don’t wait too long. Who knows how soon before they show their ugly mugs again?”

  I shuddered. “I’m on my way now. Thanks so much for calling.”

  I hung up the phone. Time would only tell if I was making a huge mistake by not involving the police just yet, but I wasn’t sure what Fernando had gotten himself mixed up in. I didn’t want to end up making things worse.

  “I have to go,” I told Griffin. The word “ransacked” blared front and center, and I wanted to hurl.

  “I’m so sorry. Let me get a hold of Damon.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s not his jurisdiction, but I’m sure there’s something he can do to help.”

  “Absolutely not. I don’t want any cops involved yet. You heard me tell Mrs. Geller that.”

  “But… I don’t understand. Your place was robbed. Why the heck not?”

  “I don’t know that it was robbed yet. Please just respect my wishes, okay?” I broke free from his hold and rushed around the shop. I already had my coat and boots on. I just needed my purse. And Fernando.

  “Slow down, Samm.”

  “Don’t tell me to slow down. I have to get to Chicago ASAP.”

  He dragged a hand down his face. “I’m coming along.”

  “No, you’re not. It’s better if you don’t.” Better for you, I didn’t add. What if these goons returned and caught sight of him? They’d have even more leverage.

  “It’s not up for debate. I’m not just coming along, I’m also driving.”

  “Griffin.”

  “Do you honestly believe I would ever let you go back to a place that was just broken into, not to mention let you drive that long distance in your current state of mind?”

  “Let me?”

  “That’s the part you’re going to focus on?”

  Keys… I needed my keys. “Ahhh!” I screamed. My blasted car had no gas.

  He grasped me again. “Settle down. Take the time to do what you need to do, and then when you’re ready, we’ll leave.” I opened my mouth. “Not open for debate. You can hate me later, call me a male chauvinist pig, whatever. I am not letting you do this alone. Understand me?”

  I considered kicking him. I considered sneaking out. I considered telling him that my fiancé was waiting for me at the apartment, but in the end, I just let it all go.

  “I have no gas in my car,” I said softly, the fight draining out of me.

  “Then we have two options—either we stop and fill up on the way or we can take mine.”

  I sighed. “Yours.”

  Fifteen minutes later, we were headed to Chicago
. I was surprised that he’d trusted me not to make a quick getaway during the time he’d gone back home for his car. He didn’t know I was nearly broke and couldn’t have afforded a trip to the gas station. But I’d used that time to call Sage, begging her to stay at Violet’s while I was away. It’d been a last-minute decision not to bring Fernando. I needed to ensure his safety, and I knew Sage would protect him as well as I could, giving me one less thing to worry about.

  But I needn’t have begged. No problem, she’d said. She could study anywhere. She was over within minutes, books in hand. Fernando had leaped onto her shoulder the instant she’d arrived. Her little study buddy.

  “I didn’t mean to argue with you earlier,” Griffin said.

  “Me neither, but do you mind if we not talk right now? No offense, but I have a ton on my mind and I’m starting to get a headache.”

  “Yeah, no problem.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled and grasped his hand, squeezing it to show there were no hard feelings, pulling mine back to my lap a split second later.

  We didn’t speak the rest of the drive, except for me muttering out directions. The gnawing sensations eating through my insides intensified the closer we came, and I began to assume to worst. What would I find when I entered my apartment? What would’ve happened if I’d been home at the time? A shiver snaked up my spine.

  “Are you cold?” he asked, fiddling with the heat.

  “No.” But I was terrified. And now I also had the stress of bringing Griffin into my new life, one up until then, I’d successfully kept separate from my past. My two worlds were about to collide. On your mark, get set, go!

  I directed him to my designated space, his car bumping across the crumbling concrete. The area was dilapidated and could’ve been better lit, but you try finding a regular parking spot in downtown Chicago and tell me you’d complain?

  “This is where you live now?”

  “Yep.”

  Even in the darkness, I could still make out his incredulous expression as he gawked at my equally deteriorating apartment. I waited for him to say something like, No wonder you were robbed. I’m surprised it doesn’t happen every day, but he kept his mouth zipped.

  “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not that bad, Griffin.”

  “Really? You know what I’m thinking?”

  “Yes, and despite outward appearances”—thank heavens he wasn’t seeing it in the daylight—“this is a relatively safe area. I walk everywhere and never once felt threatened. I have a good lock on my door and…”

  And I stopped right there. It sounded pretty silly to start spouting off about good locks when my place had just been raided.

  “What happened, Samm? What happened between us that it’s come to this? Our lives couldn’t be more separate now. That’s… that’s what I was thinking.”

  I had no response. It was all too much, especially now. I opened my door. “Let’s go,” I said quietly.

  He nodded, getting out as well. As we tromped up the stairs to my floor, I couldn’t escape the weirdness from hitting me at all angles. Fernando was usually walking beside me, not Griffin. This was not right. He belonged back in Bigfoot Bay. But yet… I had to admit, I was grateful to have him here so I wouldn’t have to face this alone.

  He followed me to my door, and I glanced over at Mrs. Geller’s unit, wondering if I should knock. It could be beneficial to speak to her first, or maybe I was just stalling. Before I could decide, she opened her door, decked out in Velcro rollers and a floral housecoat.

  I ran over and gave her a hug, and when I pulled back, she was giving Griffin the eagle eye. “Who do we have here?”

  “Mrs. Geller, this is my old friend Griffin Kane.”

  He stuck out his hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

  She shook it reluctantly. “Quite the looker you got there,” she said to me. “He your new man?”

  “No! He’s a friend like I said.”

  “Uh-huh. And I just got my behind smacked yesterday.”

  “Thanks again for calling me,” I said, changing the subject. “It really means a lot that you’re keeping such a good watch for me.”

  She motioned toward my door. “You been in there yet?”

  I shook my head. “Still working up the nerve.” As if she didn’t know. She probably had her eye fused to the peephole the second she’d heard movement down the hall. I had to say—for an older lady, her senses were sharper than Catzilla’s fangs. “Can you describe what these guys looked like?”

  “Real shady characters, those two. Dressed like they were going to a funeral in the rain, heads all covered, prowling around like they were a couple of rats instead of grown men.” She stood ramrod straight. “Gave ’em a run for their money, I did. Let them know exactly who they were dealing with.”

  I exhaled loudly. “You really should be more careful, Mrs. Geller.” Ah, who was I kidding? I could’ve hired her to be Fernando’s bodyguard. When he was a man.

  She waved me off. “You need anything else, you know where to find me. I gotta go soak my ankles now.”

  “Okay, thank you.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Griffin called out as she was closing the door. She stuck out her hand in response, either as a wave or an obscene gesture, I couldn’t tell.

  “Friendly,” he said.

  “She really is. She just doesn’t know you yet.”

  I didn’t mention that she’d already been ten times nicer to him than she had to Fernando, and she’d seen him a multitude of times. All my fiancé ever got from her was a grunt.

  “All right. Here we go.” I pushed open my door. Maybe Mrs. Geller had been overreacting. Maybe it wasn’t as bad—my mouth dropped. Or maybe it’s worse.

  Griffin sprinted past me, sending my mind into a tailspin. “Stay here. Let me check everything out before you step one foot inside.”

  “But—”

  He disappeared into the alcove which was my bedroom. Considering how teensy the place was, he should’ve been done inspecting it already. I took that forbidden step inside, head down, blown away by the level of destruction all around me.

  “Samm.”

  I looked up to Griffin’s face in front of mine. My apartment… my freaking apartment! It hadn’t been much, but it’d been all I had. Who would do such a thing?

  “Samm.”

  It was as if the place had been shoved into a snow globe and shaken by someone with a horrible temper. I picked up a piece of broken lamp, almost laughing. Who cared about a stupid lamp? Not when everything, and I meant everything was in shambles. I kicked aside one of the bridal magazines I’d left on the floor before my hasty departure to Bigfoot Bay. Even they had been ripped apart and strewn every which way.

  I ran my hand over my only couch, knifed to shreds. Dishes were shattered, pictures ripped off the walls, laptop and television smashed in.

  “Samm,” he said both louder and gentler, trying to offer some comfort, but I shrugged him off.

  “No, Griffin. Please. Just… give me a minute.”

  He stepped away, giving me my needed space. All I had in this world had been annihilated. I squeezed back the tears and went into my bedroom nook, not expecting to find anything different, and I was right. At least they were consistent.

  My mattress was pushed up, sliced open, pillows gutted. Dresser drawers lay sideways, the wood cracked, the entire area looking as if a clothes bomb had detonated. My heart sank as I stepped over a picture of Fernando and me that appeared to have been pulverized under someone’s shoe, but still, I kept it together.

  I slid open the door to the bathroom and knocked aside the dripping bottles of shampoo and conditioner leaking all over the floor and went directly to the built-in cabinet underneath the sink.

  “Please please please,” I whispered, yanking up the loose tile that I hadn’t even discovered until a year after I’d moved in.

  I rooted around for the envelope that contained my last-remaining cash, my emergency stash I’d set aside for ne
xt month’s rent.

  It was empty.

  I slowly rose and stared at the pieces of my reflection in the fractured mirror. And that was when I lost it. The tears broke free, escaping down my cheeks in torrents.

  Everything.

  Poof.

  Chapter Ten

  I was one of the lucky ones. I had a bathtub.

  I slumped down onto the edge of my tub and laughed bitterly. This was one of the few units in the building that had more than just a shower stall. I could’ve taken a soak right then if I’d wanted to.

  Reaching over, I slid the door shut, not eager for Griffin to hear my sobs. Then I returned to my pity party. I wasn’t sure how long I sat on my cherished bathtub with hands cradling my sopping-wet face, but it felt like hours had gone by before hearing the soft knock.

  “Samm? Can I come in?”

  “Yeah.”

  I rubbed my eyes with my sleeve, not that it’d make a lick of difference to my puffy lids, but it was a start. It’d be mean to continue making him wait. There wasn’t even a spot for him to sit down out there unless he enjoyed a bottom full of glass shards.

  He plopped down beside me. “I’m not going to say something foolish and ask how you’re doing, but I do want to know what I can do for you, if anything.”

  I simply shook my head, afraid to trigger the waterworks again by answering. Having him near was comforting enough, but unless he could fix all my stuff, get my money back, change Fernando into a human, and get these thugs off our backs, he was just as powerless as I was in this situation.

  “Ooh eeh ah!”

  Griffin bolted up. “What the heck is that?”

  I sniffled. “My neighbors.”

  “Your neighbors?”

  The corners of my mouth twitched up over his reaction. He’d never lived in a city apartment, didn’t know how thin the walls were. Even I’d momentarily forgotten. There’d been no need to shut the bathroom door; Griffin likely heard every last snivel through it.

  “You get used to it,” I said.

  “What exactly are they doing over there—biting the heads off chickens?”

  I full-on smiled then, and he rested his hand over mine, figuring it was probably safe now to do so. “How about we go make a formal police report before any more time passes?”