by Wendy Wang
Jason forced a smile. Dammit, he didn't want Tom on this trip. “It’s your call, Miss Evangeline.”
She nodded. “Okay.” She looked at Tom as if making up her mind. “Well, all right then. We’re leaving in a few minutes. Are you prepared for that?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jason stepped between Tom and Evangeline and met the man’s gaze. “I'm only gonna say this once. I don’t know what your motive is, but if you get in our way, I will shoot you. I don’t care if it kills you or not.”
Evangeline gasped. Fear touched her sharp blue eyes. “Jason Tate. What would your mama say? Apologize to Tom.”
Jason opened his mouth to protest but Evangeline’s tone sharpened. “Right this minute. I won’t have this petty macho bullshit. Do you hear me? Charlie’s like one of my kids and if you can’t straighten up and be helpful, then you can just stay here.” Tom snorted softly. She turned her attention to him, pointing. “That goes for you, too. Reaper or not.”
Tom’s face shifted from amused to contrite and he nodded. “Of course. I apologize.”
Jason made a low growl in the back of his throat. He scowled. “Fine. I apologize.”
“Good. Now let’s get going. We’re burning daylight.”
Chapter 7
Jen paced back and forth in front of the bench inside the small Brynn Falls police station. Daphne and Lisa sat watching her. The police station had several desks spread out behind the receptionist’s desk. Two larger offices with floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooked the whole office. The louvered shades were drawn obscuring their occupants. The stark black Chief of Police sign stood out against the closed white blinds on one glass-front door. The chief was hiding in there. Jen could feel it. The receptionist had put them off twice saying someone would be with them soon.
A phone rang and a uniformed officer sitting at the desk closest to the receptionist answered it.
“Maybe we should’ve called instead,” Daphne muttered and laid her head on Lisa’s shoulder. Daphne’s usually perfectly styled bob was pulled away from her face with a thick leather headband and large black-framed sunglasses hid her blood-shot eyes and blocked any light that was too offensive.
Jen stopped pacing and crossed her arms. She glanced across the room. Three of the five desks were empty. Her eyes went to the closed door and the shuttered window.
“Daphne’s right. This is taking too long.”
“Come on. Just sit down.” Lisa patted the empty place on the bench next to her. “Jason asked us to report her missing, and that's what we're gonna do.”
“We’re losing daylight. We could be out looking for her,” Jen said, taking a seat. “Maybe Jason’ll have better luck. I mean these are his people.”
“I'm not sure what that means, but okay.” Lisa sounded irritated. She glanced away from Jen and whispered something into Daphne’s ear. Daphne made a whiny, nasally sound but straightened up and got to her feet. She pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head and went straight for the receptionist’s desk.
“What’s she doing?” Jen asked. She leaned forward straining to hear her cousin’s quiet voice.
“Nothing.” Lisa’s gaze followed Daphne.
“Liar,” Jen whispered. Daphne had her back to them. Jen watched carefully, keeping her eyes on the receptionist. The older woman’s eyes glazed over as Daphne spoke to her. Jen recognized that wide-eyed, unfocused look, but the woman rose to her feet and was halfway across the office before Jen could say stop.
Daphne returned to the bench wearing a self-satisfied smile. She sat back down on the bench next to Lisa and pushed her sunglasses back down over her eyes. “She’s nice and suggestible. We should be getting some attention in three, two, one . . .”
A tall, brawny officer emerged from behind the door. He wore a tan uniform shirt and brown pants but looked more like he belonged on a lumberjack crew. Gray salted his dark, wavy hair. Following close behind him was a short but lean officer with a thin face made up of sharp angles. His dark, hungry eyes zeroed in on Jen, making her instinctively fold her arms across her breasts.
Lisa and Jen stood up, but Daphne remained seated.
“Hello.” The tall officer smiled and held out his hand as an offering. “I'm Chief Brighton,” he said. “Marla said you have a missing person to report.”
Lisa stepped forward and shook the chief’s hand first. “Yes. Our cousin went for a walk down by the river this morning and never came back.”
The chief smiled, his eyes wrinkled at the corners cutting deep lines into his cheeks. His dark blues eyes glittered like hard little sapphires but they offered no comfort. Jen shifted her feet. He gestured to the officer standing beside him. “I see. Well, this is my sergeant. Jeremy Hicks. He’ll be taking your statement.”
Jen glanced at Daphne, who was still sitting on the bench. She'd taken off her dark glasses and worry etched lines into her usually smooth forehead. Her fine features froze for a second, reminding Jen of the porcelain figurines her mother once collected. Her pale skin had gone even paler, and she chewed on her bottom lip.
“Daphne? You okay?” she asked softly.
Daphne nodded but didn't take her eyes off the two officers.
“How do y'all do? If you wouldn't mind following me.” He gestured back toward a hallway that ran along the side of the two officers. Jen and Lisa slung their purses over their shoulders but Daphne didn't move. Instead, she continued to stare at the young man. Her eyes were a little glassy as if holding onto unshed tears.
Lisa bent low and looked into Daphne’s face, making her cousin break her gaze. “You stay here, okay? We've got this.”
Daphne gave Lisa a grateful smile and nodded. Her shoulders relaxed a little, and she leaned against the back of the bench. As crazy as Daphne made Lisa sometimes, Jen knew her sister’s instinct was to protect her family.
“I'm okay,” Daphne said quietly. “I want to go.”
“You sure?” Lisa asked.
“Yeah.” Daphne offered a weak smile. “I promise.”
Lisa held her hand out and Daphne took it. She helped her cousin to her feet, and it surprised Jen that Daphne continued to hold Lisa's hand even as they followed the officer. What was it about him that frightened Daphne so badly? Daphne was not exactly a mind reader or an Empath the way Charlie was, but it didn't mean she couldn't sense things about people. Jen could not wait to get her younger cousin alone and ask her what was going through her head.
“Right through here,” the officer said. He turned down another hallway and led them through a door that opened into a windowless room. A table with three chairs around it dominated the space. “I'll get another chair. Just a sec,” Hicks said. He smiled, but it never touched his dark brown eyes.
Once he left the room Lisa and Jen flanked Daphne.
“What's wrong?” Lisa asked.
Daphne shook her head. “Nothing.” Her eyes darted over to a long mirror hanging on the wall. “I'm fine. Still just a little hung over. That's all.”
Lisa gave Jen a knowing look. Daphne had seen something but couldn't say what. Not here. Not in front of whoever was standing behind that glass watching them. When she and Lisa had returned to the cabin, they'd all taken their wands from the protective boxes where they normally kept them. Jen reached into her bag and wrapped her hand around the handle of her wand. The touch of the carved nine-inch piece of oak sent an electric tingle through her hand and up her arm. With the connection made, she started to pull the wand from her purse and focus her thoughts on what she wanted to happen. The image of the glass fogging popped into her head, and she whispered the word obscurum. The mirror overlooking the room turned opaque as if a shot of steam had suddenly risen from below it.
Jen saw Lisa close her eyes and mumble a spell under her breath, too. The room grew very quiet as if they'd been blanketed.
Lisa opened her eyes and set her gaze on Daphne. “Okay, spill.”
Daphne opened her mouth to speak just as the door opened.
Sergeant Hicks appeared, dragging a fourth chair into the room. It scraped across the floor setting Jen's teeth on edge.
“All right then, why don't you ladies have a seat.” He walked over to the mirror and drew his finger across the surface in a straight line. Water dripped in thin trails.
“Huh. Weird,” he said.
Jen held her breath waiting for the thin line to fog up again. He wiped his wet fingers on his pants and walked to the seat facing away from the mirror. Jen's heart beat hard against her rib cage. The fog on the mirror dissipated. The spell broken. How had he done that?
Jen glanced at Lisa and then toward the mirror again. Lisa gave her a worried look and pulled out a chair. Daphne turned an even paler shade of white. Jen touched her arm trying to imbue some comfort. Daphne stared at the sergeant’s badge. Jen followed her cousin’s gaze, noticing the silver five-pointed star inside a circle. A pentacle. A symbol of protection. Even law enforcement knew the power of the image.
Jen took the middle seat facing the sergeant directly and Lisa took the seat on Jen's right. Daphne settled in to the seat on the far left closest to the door. She glanced into the hallway, swallowing hard as she watched him close the door. Jen reached over and touched her hand to Daphne's forearm. It was a gentle, soft touch, just enough to still her cousin to reassure her that nothing would happen to her here.
“So I understand y'all want to report a missing person?” the sergeant asked. He shuffled a short stack of forms and pulled a pen from his front pocket. He clicked the ballpoint until it appeared.
“Yes,” Jen said sitting up straight on the edge of the seat. “We're up here from Charleston, South Carolina. Our cousin Charlie went for a walk this morning and never came back.”
He nodded his head and scanned Jen's face. “She went for a walk?”
“Yes,” Jen nodded. She reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of Charlie. It was an old picture when she was still with Scott, and Evan was only six or seven. Jen had brought it for their ceremony. As part of the ritual to induct Charlie into their coven. Jen handed the deputy the picture.
He looked it over. “And this is recent?”
Jen frowned. “Not exactly. It's a few years old, but she still looks the same. Blonde hair. Tall. Very pretty.”
“Hmmm,” Hicks said. “Maybe she just got distracted on her walk. Or maybe she met someone.”
“No,” Lisa said. She sat up straight and used her most authoritative lawyer voice. “We walked the path and found a place where she may have slipped into the river. We walked for at least a mile, hoping to find some sort of evidence of her in the water but, unfortunately, we didn't. That's why we're here. Surely there are people who get lost in the woods around here.”
“There are.” The sergeant leaned back and rested his elbow on the arm of his chair. His dark brown eyes looked over Lisa in a way that irritated Jen. He was sizing her up. Trying to determine how much of a fight she was willing to give. Well, he didn't know Lisa or her reputation as a pit bull. Once she sank her teeth into something she didn't let go.
“Well.” Lisa’s voice was measured and steady. “We want to file a report and we would like an officer to go out and take a look. This is pretty simple. Either you’ll help us or you won’t. I’m pretty sure the park service will help us if you can’t.”
Hicks’s mouth twisted into a frown. “What time did she go for this walk?”
“Early,” Jen said. “Before any of us got up. So probably before 8 a.m. She did leave a note saying she was going for a walk and that she’d be back soon. Then later she texted me and told me she was on the way back. But she never showed up. I waited for an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I thought she wasn't that far from our cabin based on what she’d said.” Jen babbled and fidgeted in her chair. “It shouldn't have taken her very long to get back even though it’s rained recently, and it’s muddy.”
“Can I see this text?” Hicks asked.
“Um, sure. I guess.” Jen’s voice cracked. The text had mentioned a ghost. A dead girl.
“It's okay, Jen,” Lisa said. “Show him.” Lisa’s gaze met hers and she gave Jen a reassuring smile. “Really.”
Slowly Jen reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. It only took a moment for her to find the text and she handed the phone to the deputy.
“What does this mean exactly?” The deputy asked. “A spirit encounter?”
Lisa stiffened and she set her jaw as she spoke in her most authoritative tone. “Our cousin is a psychic. And sometimes she encounters spirits.”
“A psychic.” Hicks scoffed and his heavy brows tugged together. “Y’all know it's illegal to file a false claim, right? I could arrest you.”
“Well, considering that I'm a lawyer, I'm quite aware of the law,” Lisa said. She didn't mention that she was a lawyer in South Carolina and that she mainly handled taxes, wills, real estate and sometimes the occasional contract. That was something he didn't need to know. “And there is nothing false about this report, sergeant, and it doesn't matter what that text says. The fact remains that our cousin is lost in the woods. Now are you going to file our report or not?”
The deputy sat up straight. The muscles in his jaw tensed. He obviously didn't like the way she spoke to him. Daphne let out a little whimper.
“What is going on with you?” Lisa snapped.
“Nothing,” Daphne said, her voice growing high and loud.
Jen sighed, ignoring her sister and cousin. “I think what my sister is trying to say is that we just need some help. That's all. It’s gonna be dark before we know it and we’re just real worried about our cousin.”
The deputy shifted his gaze from Jen to Lisa and then his eyes flitted toward the mirror. “I'll be right back.”
He stood up and left the room. As soon as the door clicked closed Daphne let out a ragged breath. “He's not gonna help us.”
“Why do you think that?” Lisa kept her voice low.
“His aura is black. Blackest I've ever seen. So was the Chief’s,” Daphne whispered.
“That doesn't mean he won't help, though, does it?” Jen whispered. She met Lisa's concerned gaze.
“I don't know. A black aura doesn't necessarily mean he's evil,” Lisa said. “But . . . it’s not good either.”
“He could just be under a spell.” Jen wanted to be comforting, but the words sounded hollow.
“A spell?” Daphne scoffed. “Why would anybody put them both under a spell?”
“I don't know.” Lisa shook her head. She sighed. “I know Jason meant well but we should just do this on our own.”
Jen nodded. “I agree. We should see if there's a local coven. They may know more. Especially if it is a spell.”
“Not to be a negative Nellie but what if they're the ones who cast the spell?” Daphne wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging tightly.
Lisa sighed and the lines between her eyebrows grew deep when she frowned. “It's a chance we're gonna have to take.”
“I agree,” Jen said.
“Daphne?” Lisa asked.
Daphne hesitated then finally nodded. “Me, too. Anything’s better than these guys.”
“Good.” Lisa got to her feet and gave Daphne’s arm a gentle squeeze. She walked over to the mirror and knocked, breaking any of the spell that might still be working.
Daphne shivered and Jen placed a soft hand on her shoulder. Her cousin let out a tense, measured breath.
“Come on back. I know you're out there watching,” Lisa said.
In less than a second the door opened and the sergeant and chief appeared.
“Y'all aren’t leaving, are you?” The sergeant offered a half-smile. Something about it made Jen's skin crawl, and she stood, putting her body between him and Daphne. The sergeant glared at her, sizing her up with a once-over glance. She fought the urge to shiver and couldn't wait to take a shower later to wash off the grimy feeling of his eyes on her.
The chief stepped forward wearing an alligator s
mile. His salted dark hair gleamed in the artificial light. His hard, bright eyes were full of intelligence. “Take their report, Hicks.”
“Yes, sir,” Hicks said. “Why don’t y’all have a seat and we’ll fill this out. Then we’ll send an officer with you and contact the park service to see if they might be able to help us out.”
Lisa glanced briefly at Jen and nodded. Jen sat down, and Daphne sank into the chair next to her, wearing a miserable expression.
“Fine,” Lisa said.
Chapter 8
Charlie awoke to the acrid, smoky scent of burning wood. She should have been cold. Hell, she should've been dead. Instead, she was nestled into a sleeping bag in front of a blazing fire set inside a fire ring. She unzipped the expensive down-filled bag and assessed the situation. Her clothes had been stripped off and were resting over a camping chair close enough to the fire for them to dry. She touched her ponytail. It was still damp. Her hand immediately went to her throat. The long silver chain with the small medallion that Jen had given her for protection was gone.
The last thing she remembered was struggling for the surface. Her legs and arms kicking against the current and some unseen arm that kept pulling her down. She had focused only on the light above emanating from the sky.
Hunger gnawed at her belly. She pressed her hand against her growling stomach. What time was it? She couldn't tell from the overcast day. She sat up and glanced around the dark gloom of the interior forest. The girl. Her breath caught in her throat at the thought. The girl had pushed her into the water. Her heart sped up, and she tried to look everywhere at once. Where was the girl now? Spirit or not. She was obviously dangerous.
Charlie climbed out of the warm sleeping bag. The crisp air around her chilled her skin and goose bumps pimpled her arms and legs. Her bare feet crunched against the gravelly surface of the fire ring and dug into the soles of her feet. She couldn’t wait around here. The girl might come back. Quickly she took several steps toward her clothes and shoes. The girl had mentioned that someone was not happy to have her nearby. A witch? Maybe, but Charlie was not about to stick around to find out. She touched her hands to her jeans and found them barely damp. Quickly she slid them up her legs and over her hips, buttoning them into place. Her layers, a tank top, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and a flannel shirt were in various states of dampness. The tank was driest, which made sense because it was the lightest of the fabrics. She slipped it over her head followed by the pale yellow t-shirt. Her thick socks were still very wet to the touch, and she wrung them out as best she could before slipping them on and sticking her feet into her squishy trail shoes. She checked the back pocket of her jeans. Miraculously, her phone was still there, but the water had killed it. The black glass screen stared back at her, unblinking. Dammit. This was a new phone, too.