“Right. And where exactly did you hear that?”
“You know, just town gossip,” I replied. “Does that mean it really happened, then?”
“Yes, it happened. And no, I’m not telling you anything about it.”
I frowned, but I really couldn’t have expected any other answer.
“Alright, thanks,” Detective Andrews said, standing up. “I appreciate the help, and I promise you, I am going to do whatever needs to be done to find the person who did this. Someone tried to kill one of you two, and I take that very seriously. You should know I’ve spoken to Debbie and the coffee shop will be closed for the rest of the day while I bring in a full crime scene investigation unit to try and find more clues as to who is responsible for this.”
“Thank you,” I told him earnestly. As much as the police chief in town might have been an idiot, I believed Detective Andrews when he said he was working hard, and it really did put my heart a little bit more at ease knowing he was going to try and find the person who had done this.
“I’m happy to do it. It’s my job, and I want to remind you that it’s not your job, just like it’s not your job to try and figure out who stabbed Karen. You could be dead because you stuck your nose in something you shouldn’t have.”
“Yeah, but we’re not,” Leanne countered, and Detective Andrews gave her an incredulous look.
“Only because Eliza here has decent reflexes and heard the snap of the wire. You can’t count on luck any more. I don’t want to see you hurt, Eliza. I don’t want to see any of you hurt. Stay out of this.”
Then, without another word, Detective Andrews headed back into the main part of the coffee shop.
“Did you hear that?” Leanne said to me with a grin. “He doesn’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Please,” I scoffed. “He said that to everyone.”
“Yeah, but he was looking right at you when he said it. And he singled you out. He added Kaillie and me as an afterthought.”
“That’s silly,” I said, brushing Leanne’s words aside.
“Eliza and Ross, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” Leanne teased.
“You know, that song is pretty appropriate, seeing as you’re acting about twelve years old,” I replied, looking to Kaillie to help me out.
“I agree with Leanne,” my cousin said, and my mouth dropped open. “What? It’s obvious he likes you. There’s definitely a spark between the two of you. Plus, you immediately go the shade of a tomato every time he looks at you. It’s kind of a giveaway.”
“I do not,” I replied, my face going hot.
“Yeah, just like that,” Leanne said with a laugh. “That’s exactly it.”
I groaned and leaned back against the wall. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Just ask him out.”
“What?” I yelped. “No way. Why would I do that?”
“Because you’re obviously attracted to him, and he’s obviously attracted to you. That’s how this whole thing works. Or do you not know that?”
“No. No way. I’m not asking him out. Besides, you don’t know he feels like that about me. Maybe you’re just projecting. And I don’t feel that way about him to begin with.”
“Sure you don’t. The fact that you added that almost as an afterthought really seals it,” Kaillie said, smiling.
I grumbled at my cousins. I totally didn’t have a thing for Detective Andrews. I mean sure, he was really nice, and whenever he smiled dimples appeared in his cheeks. And his body looked like he did yoga constantly. And hit the weight room a few times a week too, for good measure. But that didn’t mean I liked him.
“Whatever you say,” Leanne said. “You’ll see. The two of you are going to end up together one day. I just know it.”
She was so wrong.
Chapter 21
With nothing to do for the rest of the morning or the afternoon, with the coffee shop being closed, the three of us decided to stop by Otterly Delicious to get a bite to eat and hopefully come up with a new plan to find out who had tried to kill Karen… and now to figure out who had tried to kill Leanne and me, too.
We ordered the soup and sandwich combo – I was getting a BLT along with a bowl of curried cauliflower soup – and sat down in one of the booths.
“We should have stuck around and tried to get as much information as we could from the crime scene people,” Leanne bemoaned.
I shook my head. “I don’t think it would have worked. I noticed Detective Andrews looking at us as we were leaving; I think he was expecting us to do that. If we had tried to ask anyone anything he probably would have stopped us and told us to head on home.”
“Of course you would have noticed that,” Leanne said to me with a wink.
“Oh let it go,” I replied. “I’m not going out with him.”
“Sure, you say that now. Anyway, I will let it go, but only because I want to catch this person. I mean, it’s one thing to go after Karen. But this time I could have been killed, and that’s even worse,” Leanne said, and Kaillie snorted.
“Karen is way better a person than you.”
“Yeah, that’s probably true,” Leanne admitted. “Still, it would suck to die, so we need to find proof that Andrew stabbed her.”
“Agreed,” I said. “I don’t plan on dying either. So let’s find some proof, and maybe submit it anonymously to Detective Andrew so he doesn’t keep thinking that we’re investigating this case.”
“Because you care so much about his approval?” Leanne asked with a grin, and I glared at her in reply.
“Ok,” Kaillie said. “So what do we need to know?”
“I want to know who he was on the phone with,” I said. “If we can get that information, maybe we’ll have a new lead. But you can’t exactly get away with stealing someone’s phone these days. And what if he has facial recognition to unlock it?”
“That’s easily taken care of with a spell, we just have to convince Kaillie to do it,” Leanne said, and the two of us looked at her expectantly.
“Fine,” Kaillie said, following it up with a big huff to make sure we knew she wasn’t happy about it.
“Really? That easy?” Leanne asked. “I was sure you were going to give us a lecture about how you can’t use magic for bad and how you’re not going to give up your shot to return to the paranormal world just for us.”
“Normally, I would have. But someone tried to kill you two today. And frankly, even if it meant never visiting the paranormal world in my life, I would do whatever it took to make sure the person responsible doesn’t get a chance to do it again.”
“Aww, that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said,” Leanne replied. “Plus, now we’ve figured out what the line is. If we want Kaillie to use magic in a bad way, it has to be so that she can find someone trying to kill us.”
“Well, let’s hope you don’t make that a habit,” she replied. “But yes. If this is what it takes to save your life, then so be it.”
“Alright, let’s do that this afternoon after we eat,” I said. As if right on cue, the waitress arrived with our food and the three of us spent the next quarter of an hour talking about other things while eating, getting ready for a busy afternoon ahead.
Hopefully, by the time it was over, we would have proof that Andrew had tried to kill Karen, and we’d be able to let Detective Andrews know so he could arrest him.
“Hey, speak of the devil,” I said suddenly, noticing a familiar figure on the sidewalk. It was Andrew.
“Let’s follow him,” Leanne said, jumping up from the booth. Kaillie and I followed immediately after her.
“Stay back a bit,” Kaillie warned. “He already knows we’re trying to prove he stabbed Karen. And if he tried to kill you two already, well, you never know what he’ll do if he sees us following him.”
“He might not even be doing anything suspicious. Maybe it’s his lunch break or something.”
“Yeah, sure. The murderer isn’t doing anything weird. Kaillie, cast an
invisibility spell on us. We’re going to need it.”
I could see Kaillie trying to figure out how she could get away with spying on a non-magical person without casting the invisibility spell, but she must have realized pretty quickly that it was, in fact, the best way to spy on someone without them knowing.
“Fine,” she hissed, motioning for us to enter a nearby alley so she could cast the spell without being seen. “Hurry.”
A couple of seconds later the three of us were invisible and we made our way back into the street. He had continued about thirty feet further than when I’d last seen him, but I still spotted Andrew. He was headed in the opposite direction from the recreation center.
I rushed after him, careful to hold out my hands in front of me so as not to crash into one of my cousins. Eventually, he reached one of the local bar and restaurant combo establishments and went inside. Thankfully, the door was a slow-closing one, and I was able to sneak in afterwards, with one of my cousins stepping on the back of my heel as she followed in closely behind.
“Sorry,” I heard Leanne whisper quietly into my ear.
As soon as we were in I took a few steps to the left of the door to have a look around where it was unlikely that anyone would walk into me suddenly. This was a typical-looking Irish pub, with dark walls, dark carpet, warm lighting, and beer on tap. The menus were leather-bound, and a couple of casually-dressed waitresses made their way between tables. About a quarter of them were filled, with everyone here looking fairly casual and plates on most of the tables. After all, it was still ten to noon, so I suspected most people here at this hour were more about the eating than the drinking.
Andrew had gone straight to a booth at the back, in the far corner. I couldn’t see the person he was meeting with, but I headed over there, careful to take a path that would keep me as far as possible from anyone else. I had to be as subtle as I could. I was also taking special care to make sure I didn’t accidentally hit one of my cousins and send us both careening into a table. That would definitely not qualify as a subtle use of magic.
“What are you doing here? I can’t meet you here, in public like this,” Andrew hissed at the person across the table from him. The man looked, well, a lot like Andrew. They had the same eyes and mouth, though the man across from him had a good thirty pounds on the recreation center administrator.
“Relax,” the man replied, leaning back in the booth casually. “Stop looking so suspicious. No one cares that we’re here.”
“I care. I can’t have us meeting like this. The risks are too high.”
There was a nudge next to my shoulder; one of the others was obviously listening in as well.
“You only think there are risks right now because of what happened to that woman.”
“Yeah, she almost died. And people saw me arguing with her a few days before. What if she tells the police everything?”
“She won’t. If she hasn’t done it yet, she’s not going to. Besides, you could always arrange for her to have an accident in the hospital, or something like that. There’s nothing saying she has to come out of this alive.”
“You’re insane. After everything that’s happened she’s bound to have extra security around her. No, I’m not going near her with a ten-foot pole now. I don’t want the two of us to be associated in any way.”
“Did you get the papers from her house, then?”
“Yeah, I found them. She had scans of them on her computer. That’s all the proof she had, so there’s no more. And her husband’s not going to say anything either, obviously. So I’m all good on that front. But I don’t like this. I don’t like meeting you in public, Tony.”
“Why, because your dear old brother has a criminal record and you don’t?”
“No, because my brother is actively involved in criminal activity.”
“And so are you. But the difference is you like to pretend to be better than me, when the reality is we’re exactly the same. The difference is I accept what I’m doing, whereas you just like the money.”
“No, we’re not the same. I do like the money, I will admit that. But I can’t do it anymore. I can’t keep running bets for you. I keep thinking I’m going to get caught. Karen threatened to turn me in if I didn’t stop. So I’m going to stop. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a good night’s sleep? I can’t handle the stress. I just can’t do it.”
“If you stop doing this for me, I’m going to turn you in for breaking into Karen’s house.”
“You know what? That’s fine. Because even if I have to spend time in prison, that’s better than dying. And at this point, I literally feel like if I keep going this way, my heart’s going to explode, Tony. You’re my brother. You’re supposed to be on my side on these things. I’m telling you, I just can’t.”
“Fine,” Tony said, standing up. “From now on, consider yourself out. I won’t come to you anymore, but if I hear that you’ve gone into business for yourself, I’m not going to be happy.”
Andrew raised his hands. “Trust me, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m out of this business for good. I’m going back to my job. The extra money is in my bank account, and that’s where it’s going to stay. I’ll live with my salary.”
“You better. And the next time you find yourself in trouble, don’t come to me if you’re not prepared to play the game.”
“Sure thing, Tony. No problem. I’ll leave you alone. I learned my lesson.”
“Good. I did you a favor, and you’re backing out on it. And I get it. Really, I do. This lifestyle isn’t for everyone. But I can’t do this for you again.”
“Got it. Thanks, Tony. I appreciate you letting me get out of this without breaking my kneecaps.” Andrew laughed nervously, and Tony grinned at him.
“There’s that sense of humor. You know, it’s too bad we drifted apart so much. We were actually good buds, and I gotta say, I enjoyed working with you. You brought in a decent amount of money considering the tiny population that lives on this miserable island. I’m telling you, take your earnings and come move to the city. It’s much more fun.”
Andrew shook his head. “Nah. Thanks, but I like it here. The slower pace is way more my speed. I should have known I didn’t belong in your world. I’m better off behind my desk at the recreation center, organizing classes for kids and shooting hoops with them when I’ve got a spare minute.”
He got up from the table, and already looked visibly more relaxed. There was still some obvious tension in his shoulders, but some of the lines on his face seemed to have disappeared instantly.
“Take care of yourself, bro,” Tony called out. “I’m telling you, you don’t need to do anything stupid.”
“Yeah. You’re right, I don’t.”
I only wondered if Andrew already had done something stupid. After all, he had never once in that meeting admitted that he didn’t stab Karen.
Chapter 22
Andrew left the bar and started actually whistling as he walked back down the street towards the recreation center. I looked around for my cousins, but it was fruitless. They were invisible in the same way as I was. But I needed Kaillie to be able to undo the invisibility spell so that we could confront Andrew.
“Kaillie?” I said quietly, hoping she was within about ten feet of me and would be able to hear what I said, but no, nothing. I had no choice but to follow Andrew on my own and hope that I’d run into one of my cousins – quite literally – sooner rather than later.
Of course, I did have the option of reversing the spell myself. I fingered my wand in my pocket, where I always kept it. I had seen Kaillie cast the spell multiple times, and I was fairly certain I knew the words to it off by heart. But still, what if something went wrong? What if I messed it up? Tina had told me it was completely acceptable to take my time, and to wait until I was comfortable doing things. If I messed up reversing this spell, I could ruin my entire life. What if I paralyzed myself by accident? I’d have no way of letting anyone know what had happened.
I knew I was eventually going to have to use magic in public, and use spells that had a little bit of inherent risk. But I was a beginner, and I really didn’t want to try it out just yet. Tina had told me that was fine, and I was going to go with her advice after all.
“Eliza” a small voice to my right suddenly asked. It was Leanne.
“Hey,” I replied quietly. “Where’s Kaillie?”
“Over here,” my other cousin said. “Come on, let’s go behind this building and reverse the spell. I think it’s safe to say Andrew is going to the recreation center.”
“Right,” I said, and the three of us walked behind the store in question, where Kaillie quickly made the three of us visible once more. I looked at my arms and hands in awe, still not used to the idea of being able to use magic to become invisible, but impressed by it all the same.
“I think we should go confront him,” Leanne said.
“You always think that,” I retorted.
“That’s because it’s always the right answer.”
“It’s definitely not always the right answer,” Kaillie said. “But in this case, I think you might be right. Andrew sounded like a man who’s desperate. If we tell him we know he was taking illegal bets for residents but promise not to tell anyone if he tells us everything, he might actually spill the beans.”
“See?” Leanne said, nodding. “Perfect plan.”
“Well, I don’t have a better idea, so let’s go for it,” I replied.
Five minutes later we were at the recreation center, and Leanne knocked on the door leading to Andrew’s office, near the concession stand.
“Come in,” he said, and as I opened the door there was a smile on his face, but when he saw my cousins it turned to a scowl. “What, are you here to accuse me of murder again?”
“Yes, only this time we’ve got more evidence,” Leanne said, stepping forward. “We know you’ve been taking bets illegally in this town. We know Kyle was one of your customers, and that’s why Karen threatened to turn you in. That’s why you stabbed her, isn’t it?”
A Cauldron of Hot Coffee: Enchanted Enclave Mysteries Books 1-3 Page 28