Endangered Spells (Witches Academy Series Book 6)

by S. R. Mallery

  To her surprise, Billy looked a bit stunned. Sammy did not.

  She stifled a snort. Some tough guy you are, Mr. Blinker.

  Her contempt for him didn’t last. Billy roughly pushed her forward with a brusque, “Let’s go to your bedroom.”

  Then, turning to Sammy, he said, “Sammy, give me the gun, and you go after the damn bird. Stop him anyway you can.”

  “Forget it. I got the gun. You go get the bird and stop its racket. Neighbors are going to hear.”

  Oh, please, please let that be true!

  “No way. This is my gig,” Billy snapped, “Give the gun to me, or you won’t get your money.”

  That seemed to settle the firearm possession issue. As soon as Sammy handed over his gun and went exploring, Billy waved it at Gillian. “C’mon. Bedroom. Now.”

  Once they both were in her bedroom, he slammed the door behind them.

  Soon, she could hear Joselyn’s very light, yoke-toed clicks down the hall toward them. It was definitely not her usual overly exaggerated clacks. There was no sound from Sammy. Obviously, Joselyn had hidden from him.

  Good bird, what a good, smart bird.

  “Okay, time to get the journal,” Billy growled. “I thought I heard something. Was that your stupid bird?”

  Gillian quickly shook her head. “No, right about now, she’s probably hiding from your friend. She’s always hiding.”

  He waved his gun at her. “Okay, continue.”

  Over at her desk, no sooner had she begun to shuffle through piles of papers then she could hear Billy swearing under his breath. She had to halt a couple of times to quell the thumping of her heart inside her chest. This is so not good.

  “You’re not helping, you know,” she said. “This’ll go faster if you stop waving that thing around.”

  That made him only come closer to her. “I ain’t here to make your life easy, princess,” he snarled.

  That did it. Garnering the courage she was hoping for, she snapped, “If you want me to find it, you better back off right now, or I’m not going to do another second of looking.”

  Once again, her anger had an effect on him. He back-stepped a pace.

  More shuffling and all of a sudden, she saw the manila package. And with it a flashback to when she’d picked it up at the post office that day. The day she first realized how interested she was in Nate.

  Oh, Nate. Where are you?

  “Is that the package?”

  She picked it up. “Yeah.”

  He snatched it out of her hands.

  She seized it back, stepped aside, and held it tightly against her chest. “Wait. I want to read it so I can actually see if it’s of any real importance to you. It might just be something personal for all we know. I’m not handing it over until I at least can open it up and read it.”

  “I don’t know. Wait a minute.” With his free hand, he tapped once on his cellphone, then listened. She assumed it was ringing—to someone familiar.

  She used that time to quickly search the room for any kind of household weapon she could use, but all she saw was a backscratcher, her box of spell candles, books, and her side table’s lamp.

  Still aiming his gun at her, he spoke into the phone. “Harvey, we’re here with her. She says she won’t give the journal to me until she can read it––I know––yeah, that’s what I––Okay. Will do.”

  Harvey Nelson? Oh, my god.

  Suddenly, she thought of her greatest weapon of all—Joselyn. Racing to the door, she yanked it open and started to cry out toward the bird standing nearby. In a flash, Billy’s hand was over her month, his gun cocked and pressing against her temple.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he hissed.

  His breath was foul, his body odor so nauseating, she instantly fought the urge to vomit.

  “I’ll kill your stupid bird as fast as I’m gonna kill you if you don’t do what I say.”

  She didn’t need to speak. Joselyn was flying straight for them, now a bundle of fury. Squawking louder than Gillian had ever heard her, the cockatoo repeatedly pecked at Billy’s hand holding his gun.

  Frantic, he fired wildly at the wall, obviously going for anything to stop the attack.

  “Get it off of me!” he screamed when Joselyn jabbed so hard, she made the hole beneath his broken skin in his hand even deeper.

  Within seconds, Sammy was also in her bedroom, reaching out for Joselyn. But she was too fast. Letting go of Billy, she was off, flapping her wings furiously as she completely disappeared.

  His face fury-red now, Billy grasped Gillian’s arm, and yanked her with him into the living room, then shoved her down onto the sofa. “If your bird tries anything, I swear I’m going to kill it. Now, open up that journal and start reading out loud. My boss has given me permission to whack you, so don’t even think about pushing me.”

  “Your boss. You mean Harvey Nelson?”

  “Just start reading,” he growled.

  Opening up the package, she withdrew a smallish leather-bound book as well as several pages stapled together. This is definitely one of her journals. Just a different color from the ones she showed me.

  One glance at the first page of the stapled sheets, Gillian could tell it was part of an article. Still, she opened up the journal and shoved the sheets back into the envelope.

  “Begin,” Billy said.

  With no more sounds from Joselyn, Gillian began. “Monday, January 12th. I woke up with a toothache this morning. I have no idea when that started to happen, but the last time I saw the dentist, he’d warned me about eating foods that—”

  “Just move on, for Christ sake. I don’t need to hear this kind of boring crap.”

  “I told you before that—” One look at Billy’s face, and Gillian stopped and raised her right palm up. “All right, all right.”

  Reading silently, she perused page after page. “Boring stuff,” she muttered. But fifteen pages later she stalled. “Oh, boy,” she said.

  “Read it out loud. Now,” Billy demanded.

  Far away in the background, she could hear Sammy swearing at Joselyn, but it wasn’t clear where they were exactly. The living room? Kitchen? One of her sisters’ bedrooms?

  “Now,” Billy repeated.

  She nodded then began. “My new article is just going along. I can’t say well, because it’s so disturbing to me, I’m even losing sleep over it. Who knew how deep Harvey was into the Valenteen brothers? According to my research, he was always a gambler. Even when we worked together, I somehow knew he went to the track far more times than he ever let on. But this new stuff he’s into? Talk about a gold mine of illegality.”

  Gillian stopped, her heart beating so fast, she thought she was going to pass out.

  “That bitch. Glad I whacked—” Billy looked at Gillian a beat, then stayed silent.

  What? Did he almost admit to murdering Rebecca?

  Gillian read on. “Imagine how horrified I felt when I looked up his campaign finances. Frankly, I thought he’d be smarter than that. Does his wife know? She’d be devastated.”

  “Keep reading,” Billy said, his teeth clenched.

  With no sound coming out of Sammy or Joselyn, Gillian searched for the next entry. It was a week later.

  “Lunch with Harvey today was painful. I had to warn him. I had to say that no way was I not going to publish this article about his bad gambling habits, his getting in bed with mob-like connections, and his overreaching ambitions. I also told him that I was going to tell Marsha and Lilith about him, so if anything happens to me, they’ll automatically go to the police themselves. Boy, the look on his face when I said that was scary. But I couldn’t help it. Wrong is wrong, no matter who you are. No matter how long you’ve worked together.”

  Gillian held up the book. The rest of it was blank.

  “Hand it over.” Billy growled so menacingly, Gillian felt a chill go down her spine. But what he said next topped all. “Those three bitches all deserved to die.”

  She barel
y had time to react. Without warning, she heard a door open and then Sammy yelled, “Get out of here, you stupid bird!”

  Jumping up, Gillian cried, “Why is he letting Joselyn out? She’ll fly away. She’ll…” The journal still clutched in her arms, she raced over toward the back door, sobbing.

  But just short of it, Billy caught up with her and grabbed her arm. “No, no, no. You ain’t going nowhere,” he hissed.

  “I just want to see her,” Gillian said, her voice choked with emotion. Craning her neck up an inch or so, she stared out the back door’s window.

  Outside, Joselyn was squawking like crazy as she flew from surface to surface. Whenever she’d land somewhere, her head feathers stood at full height and width, her screeches loud and frantic.

  Just then, Billy jerked Gillian back into the kitchen. “The bird will be fine. We’re going back into the living room now, and you’re gonna give me that journal. And, Sammy, bring me the tape.”

  In the living room, after a slight tug–of–war, Billy snatched the journal out of Gillian’s hands and shoved it down into his backpack. Watching her the entire time, he motioned for Sammy to tie her up.

  Meanwhile, Gillian noticed there was no longer any sounds coming from Joselyn. Oh, no, she’s flown away. She blinked back fresh tears.

  Ding. The doorbell. Ding–ding–ding.

  “I’m expecting someone,” she lied as she eyed the tape roll, now close to her face.

  Billy’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah? You sure?”

  Ding–ding–ding.

  “Look, I told a couple of people I was going to be home today, and with my car outside, it’s going to look pretty fishy if I don’t answer the door.”

  “She’s got a point there, Billy,” Sammy said, the tape roll now down at his side.

  “Oh, shut up.” Yet, Billy paused. Eyeing Gillian, he said, “Okay, princess, you can open up, but nothing, I mean, nothing you say is gonna sound suspicious, get it?”

  Nodding, she headed for the door, but as soon as she put her hand on the knob, Billy jerked her against him. “Remember, no giveaways,” he hissed. Then he stood off to one side of the door, flattened against the wall, as Sammy did the same a ways down from the door’s other side.

  Hesitant, her hand resting on the doorknob, she prayed all would go well. Be an actress, be an actress flitted through her mind, as inch-by-inch, she opened up the door—to Nate with Joselyn on his shoulder.

  Gillian went instinctive. She thrust out her hand toward the cockatoo, and when Joselyn flew onto it, the parrot cooed, “Pretty girl, good girl.”

  Staring into Nate’s watchful eyes, Gillian mouthed, “Thank you.”

  Then, remembering her situation, she didn’t invite him in. “Hi, how are you?” she asked as normally as she could, but judging from his body’s response, playacting wasn’t necessary.

  Locked in a wide stance, Nate’s clenched jaw told her he was on high alert.

  Remember, be an actress. “I’d ask you in, but I’m so tired. Can we do it another time?” she asked, quickly pointing an index finger sideways toward to where Billy was hiding behind the door.

  Nate’s knowing nod came with, “Of course, just glad I could help you with your pet. Wonder how she got out?” He quickly pantomimed a one–two–three–push signal with his fingers, then a beckoning sign indicating she should run out toward him. Instantly, she nodded.

  “It was my fault actually,” she went on. “I was tired and when I wanted to check the weather by sticking my head out of the door, I must have left it open a little too long. It sometimes happens, I’m afraid.”

  As Joselyn softly nibbled on her ear, Nate took out his gun, slowly cocked it, then started the digit gestures with his free hand.

  One–two–three and––

  She ran out past him.

  Bam! He kicked in the front door, and behind it, the crunched up Billy let out a loud yelp.

  Inside now, Nate, flipped around, and batting at the glazed-over, wide-eyed thug, he knocked Billy’s gun out of his hand.

  But the fight was far from over. Barreling across the vestibule, Sammy went into full attack mode. A punch landed hard against Nate’s shoulder, and the detective was slammed sideways, away from Billy and against a wall. Stunned for a second, Nate recovered fast. He avoided Sammy’s second blow with a fast duck then landed an uppercut belt into the man’s stomach.

  Eyeing his partner doubled over in pain, Billy wasted no time. Three long strides, and he was behind Nate, close enough to launch a tight chokehold around the detective’s neck. Twisting every which way, Nate started to gasp and cough, but he managed to reach up, and with one hand, bent Billy’s fingers back so far, the goon lost his grip with a moan.

  Re-aiming his gun at both men, Nate commanded into his shoulder walkie-talkie, “Need back-up. Now.” He paused. “Gillian, you okay?” he asked, still keeping his eyes only on Billy and Sammy. “Gillian? Where are you? Answer me.”

  Off to one side, she cocked Billy’s gun. “I’m fine. I just had to pick up something off the floor.” With both hands clenched around the pistol, she added, “I’m also covering these torpedoes[27].”

  Smirking, he said, “Good for you. You’re a hard-boiled[28] gal.”

  Within seconds, two police sirens wooped-wooped just outside the door, and all at once, the Good home was filled with cops and detectives, including Adam, who immediately handcuffed both Sammy and Billy, then ordered a couple of cops to lead them outside.

  “This is all Harvey Nelson’s fault, not mine!” Billy called out to Adam as he was being taken away.

  Low-key before on Gillian’s shoulder, Joselyn’s screeches were now earsplitting, as she wildly flew around the room before settling on Nate’s shoulder. Instantly, his gentle rubs to one side of her head with his finger made her squawks quickly morph into soft caws.

  Gillian could feel herself melting. “How did you know she likes that, Nate? Wow. I mean, she’s never reacted to a stranger like this before.”

  “I told you, I once knew someone with a parrot. I guess I picked it up from his bird.”

  When Adam started to leave, Nate grabbed his arm. “Adam, thanks, partner.”

  Adam let out a long sigh. “Look, I swear, I wouldn’t let Billy tell me what he was into. I just figured it was his usual dumb, do-anything-for-money. Certainly not murder. Even if it wasn’t officially through Chief Hutton, I’m glad I also stepped back.”

  After everyone had left, Gillian turned to Nate. “Listen to Billy and pick up that oilcan[29]—that imposter—Harvey Nelson. He’s behind all of these murders. Billy as much as said so.”

  “Already done, Gillian. As soon as I told Charlotte I was coming here, she got a warrant issued then sent a couple of guys to pick Nelson up.”

  “Speaking of that, how did you know to come here in the first place? Your timing was amazing.”

  “After Charlotte and I talked about Harvey Nelson, I remembered seeing you with a package from Rebecca that day in the post office. A package that had her distinctive “N” for Newell icon. Suddenly, something clicked, and I worried about you. I figured either you had evidence you didn’t know about or––”

  She moved in close to him. “Or?”

  With her body pressed against him, his breaths instantly fluttered. “Or you were hiding it from me the whole time. But I didn’t want to think that because…”

  “Because?” she murmured lifting her face up toward his.

  “Because I love you, Gillian,” he said, his deep voice like a caress.

  “That’s good, because…”

  He gulped, then whispered, “Because?”

  “Because I love you, too.”

  When they kissed, it would have been long and passionate—except for Joselyn, still on Nate’s shoulder, puffing up her feathers and giving out several low wolf whistles.

  Laughing, Nate pulled back enough to pet the bird a couple of times before Gillian brought her over to her cage and closed the cage door.


  Brwah, brwah, brwah, Joselyn throated softly then got preoccupied with a bright red plastic toy cup.

  In less than five seconds, Gillian was again enclosed in Nate’s arms. “Now, where were we?” she cooed.

  She soon found out.

  EPILOGUE

  When Ellen Good made an announcement to her family at the breakfast table, she started with, “Dare I say it? After all, there’s another possible trial coming up but,” she paused dramatically, “all’s well that ends well.”

  “Here, here!” they all exploded.

  Joselyn also seemed happy to contribute. “Good bird, pretty bird!” she squawked repeatedly until Ellen finally told her to be quiet.

  “Be quiet, be quiet,” the bird chirped softly.

  While the Good clan chowed down on eggs, hash browns, and whole-wheat toast, they all agreed that recently, it had been quite a heady time. Now that Harvey Nelson, his two murdering employees, and the Valenteen brothers had all been arrested, tried, and convicted by local courts, finally, the town’s citizens could officially get back to the business of simple living. Of course, the families of the three victims would never get back to normal, but, as Ellen gently counseled Rebecca’s mother, “The old saying “time heals all wounds” isn’t completely accurate, but from my own personal experience, the passage of years does take the harshest edge off of things, if only just a teensy bit.”

  Gillian figured her mother would certainly be the best person to say that. At Harvey’s trial, a lot of information came out, not only about the current murder cases at hand, but also about his aunt, Priscilla Crowe, apparently a closeted Wheelton resident herself for years. A couple of witches from the New Orleans Witch Academy had come to town, and on the witness stand, they talked in detail about how Priscilla had not only been expelled by the Academy for practicing various false séances, but also for money laundering and having ties to certain unsavory characters. In fact, it turned out it was she who had introduced her nephew, Harvey, to the Valenteen brothers.

  “I guess with Harvey Nelson, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Ellen had quipped lightly, after first hearing the two visiting witches’ testimonies, but she wasn’t fooling her kin. They worried about what dredging up painful memories of Priscilla causing Elijah’s death was likely to do. They were right. Ellen’s dark rings under her eyes spelled out sleepless nights. And clinging more than ever to trite sayings about witches versus humans showed how much she had been affected, not only by Harvey’s trial, but also the fact that all this time, Priscilla had been so close in proximity.