by Rose Pressey
“What is he talking about?” Bill asked. “Someone else was shooting again? It’s like we live in the Wild West around here.”
“No, no shooting at all.” I waved my hands. “It was just a car backfiring and the ladies got scared. Anyway, I’ll get those cookies to you, Bill.”
Bill gave me a strange look as I hurried off the porch. Before Bill had a chance to ask any more questions, Derek and I walked down the sidewalk.
Derek said, “What’s going on? The ladies said clearly it was a gunshot.”
“It was gunfire, but I don’t want Bill to know that,” I whispered. “He already wants me to move out of the subdivision.”
“Cece, is that such a bad idea? I mean, maybe you really don’t belong here,” Derek said.
“Of course I belong here. I like it here. There’s nothing wrong with here.”
When we walked up to the front door, I spotted the ladies inside, peeking out. I’d told them to stay on the ground. How did they know that it was safe to get up?
“Which one of the women called you?” I asked.
“Melanie,” he said.
The witches opened the door and motioned for me to hurry.
“Why did you call Derek?” I asked when I walked inside.
Melanie looked down. “I figured he should know.”
“I told you guys to wait on the floor until I got back.”
“We got tired of waiting,” she said.
I had all the shades down now so I hoped no one could see into the house. Just then I heard the sirens.
“We called the police,” Melanie said. “We didn’t know what else to do. Plus, the police need to know, Cece. You should tell them about what happened.”
“Exactly what did happen?” Derek asked.
“Someone shot at us as we were outside casting…”
I cut Melanie off. “A look around.” I finished the sentence for her.
“Yes, that’s what we were doing,” Melanie said when she realized what I was doing.
“Police,” the police yelled when they knocked on the door. I rushed over and opened it up and let the men in.
“What’s the problem?” the officer asked.
“The ladies and I were outside and someone shot at us.”
“We’ll have a look around,” the officer said.
Of course they couldn’t find anything. They scoured the area for any shell casings and found none.
“It must’ve been something else,” the officer said.
I knew it wasn’t. With little more said, the police left. At least I’d officially reported what had happened.
The witches didn’t want to leave me there alone. Derek offered to stay. How could I say no in front of them? I made a place for him to sleep on the sofa. I tossed and turned in my bed, knowing that he was right on the other side of the wall. What was he doing out there? I slipped out of bed and over to the door. I peeked out at him.
“Everything all right, Cece?” Derek asked.
“I didn’t know you were awake,” I said.
“I’m a light sleeper.” Derek sat up on the sofa.
I walked over to him. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Are you comfortable?”
“More comfortable if I was in a bed.” He smiled.
“Don’t get any ideas,” I said.
He held his hands up. “I didn’t mean anything other than that a bed would be more comfortable.”
Maybe I was jumping to conclusions.
Chapter 27
The next morning I made breakfast for Derek. We had the same thing as before—the toast with the It’s Not Butter. As I walked him to the door, he opened it, but then turned around and looked at me.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
His expression was so serious. He reached out and placed his arms around my waist and pulled me close to his body. The next thing I knew his lips were pressed on mine and he kissed me. Heat radiated between our bodies. The movement of his mouth against mine was raw and unapologetic. After what seemed like an eternity, he stopped and looked me in the eyes. He didn’t say a word, but he turned and walked out the door, leaving me standing there.
I was glad none of the neighbors were watching. I was completely shocked by what he had done and didn’t know what to think. We’d kissed before, but it had been almost like a fluke, but this time it was definitely on purpose.
Derek had definitely left me dazed. How would I face him at work? What would I say? Would he acknowledge it? I just didn’t know how to react. I would just have to ignore the topic and pretend as if nothing had happened unless he mentioned it. Either way, I knew it was going to be awkward. I didn’t want to lose his friendship, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to give up the kisses either. They were the best I’d ever had.
***
Derek was sitting in front of me at my desk. We were strategizing on the case and trying to come up with new thoughts or plans.
“Where do you think Mark hangs out?” Derek asked.
“I would say most likely somewhere around the campus or places around there. What are college students doing these days? It’s been a while since my college days.”
“Partying. It hasn’t changed. Why? What are you thinking?” he asked.
“We can go around and maybe ask about the guy. We’ll find out something that would be relevant to the case.”
“So we’ll go to the campus?”
“Exactly,” I said.
“When do you want to do this?” Derek asked.
“Well, there’s no time like the present.” I grabbed my purse and stood from behind the desk.
“Let’s do this.”
“We’ll be back, George.” I waved.
He tossed up his hand. Apparently he was preoccupied by something.
“I’m driving,” I said, dangling my keys through the air.
Derek laughed as he followed me out of the office. “All right, you win. You can drive.”
We got into my car and drove over to the campus. After getting out of the car, I stood in the middle of the sidewalk.
“Now what?” I asked.
“This was your plan,” Derek said.
“Yes, but you agreed to come along,” I said. “How about the coffee house around the corner?”
“Good idea. Students love coffee.”
Derek and I headed down the sidewalk toward the coffee house. Of course I got strange looks and no definitive answer when I asked around about Mark. I shouldn’t have been surprised really. Of course I was becoming discouraged. Derek and I left the coffee shop. What would we do next?
“How about that store on the corner?” I asked.
“Sounds good.” Derek followed me.
If this didn’t work then I was going to give up. I hated to give up so easily, but there was no point in wasting our time any longer. I was beginning to think this case was pointless. We had learned some disturbing details, but nothing definitive. Derek and I stepped into the store and over to the counter to speak with the clerk.
“May I help you?” the young guy asked.
I flashed my wallet as if I was some sort of official law enforcement. This made Derek chuckle every time.
“Yes, sir, we’re looking for this man.” I held up the picture that I had discovered from my Snapchat session.
He leaned in for a closer look at the photo on my phone. “I’ve seen that dude. He comes in here a lot. I’ll get the manager for you.”
Derek and I exchanged a look.
“This seems promising,” I said.
“I like your badge. Is that a rewards card for Walgreen’s?”
An older man appeared from the back entrance and came over to us. By older, I meant around my age, unfortunately.
“How may I help you?” he asked.
I flashed my fake credentials again and then showed him the photo. “We’re looking for this man.”
“It’s about time someone came around.”
“I’m sorry?” I asked.
“Ye
ah, he steals all the time. I’ve been trying to get him caught.”
“Really?” I said.
“What does he steal?” Derek asked.
“If you’ve got a minute I can show you,” the manager said.
“Yes, we have time,” I said.
Derek and I followed the man into the back room. He pulled out his laptop and turned it on, scrolling through a few screens. Then he pulled up the video footage.
“Here he is stealing from my store.”
I leaned in for a closer look. “Yeah, that’s him all right. What is he stealing?”
“A little bit of everything, but mainly electronic stuff. He likes to take phones.”
“Prepaid phones?” Derek asked.
“Yes.”
Derek and I exchanged a look.
“We appreciate this information, sir. Thank you.”
“Are you going be able to get him?”
“We’ll try our best,” I said.
He still thought I was with the police department. Maybe he thought we were with the FBI with my rewards card.
Derek and I left the store with a bounce in our step. We had finally made progress with this trip. We ran into quite a few students coming and going. It was a bit loud. We didn’t have much of a chance to talk, so we headed for the car. We could discuss what we’d figured out once in the car and then decide where to go from there. We reached the car and hurried inside. I was still on a bit of an adrenaline rush.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Derek asked.
I nodded. “Yes, I think I am. He could possibly have sent text messages from a phone that he took from that store.”
“Exactly,” Derek said.
“Now we have to prove it. How are we going to do that?” I asked.
Derek tapped his fingers against the car seat. “I’m thinking.”
He was kind of adorable when he did that.
“There’s only one thing you can do,” Derek said finally.
“What’s that?”
“You have to get in there and find the phones.”
“What?” I said. “That’s insane.”
“I bet he still has the phones,” Derek said.
“That doesn’t mean we’d find it,” I said.
“We might get lucky and find it or we’ll find other phones. Maybe there will be other clues that might show he’s connected to this murder. We have to move quickly.”
“And how do you propose I do this?” I asked.
“I think it should be fairly simple for you,” he said with a big smile.
“And how do you figure that?” I asked.
“The guy was obviously into you, so you just call him up and make a date. He’ll be thrilled,” Derek said.
“I’m not so sure that will be the case. I think his infatuation with me has faded.”
“Why so?” Derek asked. “What did you do to him?”
I scoffed. “I didn’t do anything to him. He’s a college student. That’s the way they are.”
“I wasn’t like that,” he said. “You were just never paying attention to find out.”
I stared at him for a moment. “What do you mean by that?”
“Never mind,” he said. “Let’s get back to our plan and go over there.”
Maybe that was the best way to talk to Mark, but that meant I would have to do another spell again. It hadn’t turned out great the first time, so I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the prospect of doing it over again. I supposed one last time and that would be it.
“Here’s my phone to call him.”
“I can’t talk in front of you. That’s private.”
Derek looked as if he didn’t like the idea.
“I’ll go home and then I’ll make the call,” I said.
“Whatever you want,” Derek said.
I dropped him off at the office and then headed home. I had to do the spell before I made any phone calls. If I didn’t do the spell Mark probably wouldn’t answer. He had been calling me all day before when I did the spell. If I didn’t receive a call this time I’d know that the spell hadn’t worked. I arrived home and hurried out of the car toward the house. A lone palm tree stood in the front yard. The small pathway led to the white front door of my house.
I waved at the neighbors since there was no time to stop and chitchat. As soon as I got in the house I gathered up my supplies and headed over to the cauldron to cast my spell. I was even more nervous than usual now. I tossed in my spices and herbs, recited the words and waited for the energy. I stirred the pot as the energy lifted up through the water and encircled the air around me. Soon I felt the energy as it vibrated through my body and I knew that something was working.
No sooner had I finished the spell than my cell phone rang. I reached over and answered the call. I was still in my spellcasting trance. I didn’t want to break the spell too much, but I also wanted to know who was calling.
“Cece, where are you? I miss you so much.”
“Hello?” I said. “Who is this?”
“Derek, of course.”
“Are you playing a joke on me? Knock it off,” I said. “I have work to do.”
“Cece, I can’t live without you. I love you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Please, I need to see you right away.”
That was when I realized what I’d done. Instead of saying Mark’s name, I’d used Derek’s name. This was a huge mistake. Now Derek was professing his love for me. What had I done?
“Cece, are you still there?” he asked frantically.
“Yeah, I’m still here.” I stumbled over my words, not sure of what to say in response to his profession of love.
“So what do you say? Can I come over? I want to make sweet love to you.”
I couldn’t hold back a little bit of laughter.
“Do you find that funny? I find it romantic,” Derek said.
This was crazy. I should record this. Maybe get it on video. No, no, it was totally wrong and I had to fix this, right? I should fix it, right? I could let it go on a little bit longer. It was kind of fun. When he’d asked to come over and make love to me an image had popped into my mind just for a moment. I swear it was only a second, but nonetheless, it had popped in there. Our naked bodies intertwined, kissing Derek all over, and the feel of his hot skin pressed against mine. Now it happened again and I couldn’t make that go away. I definitely had to fix this.
I didn’t want Derek to love me for all the wrong reasons. What was I saying? Did I want Derek to love me at all? I had to shake off the thought.
“I’ve got to go, Derek. I’ll call you back real soon, I promise.” I hung up the phone quickly and dashed over to reverse the spell.
The water moved in a backwards motion, and I hoped that was a sign that it was working this time too. My phone rang again and I didn’t even have to look at it to know that it was him.
Was the spell not working? Of all times for me to have faulty magic. I gathered more ingredients and tried the spell again. I was panicked. I needed to calm down. That was why it wasn’t working. I was just too stressed. Once I calmed down a little it would work just the way that it was supposed to. I released a deep breath and started over again.
I finished the spell and there was silence. I paused and waited for the phone to ring again. There was no call. I kind of felt bad. I wondered if Derek would remember making the calls and become more confused about what he’d done. I should call him and see what he said. I picked up my phone and started to dial, and then stopped. I was so scared of what to say. This time it felt so awkward. I hoped that he didn’t remember. I dialed his number again and I actually let it ring.
Chapter 28
Thank goodness Derek answered the phone.
“How are you doing?” I asked cautiously.
I didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m okay, Cece, what’s up?”
He was acting completely normal, as if he didn’t remember what he’d j
ust done, professing his love and wanting to make love to me. This was so weird.
“I just wanted to let you know that I didn’t talk with Mark. I left him a message so I’ll call you back if I hear from him.”
“Okay,” he said as if I was the crazy one who had just made a strange phone call.
Thank goodness he didn’t remember what had happened. I hung up and gathered my items. I started the spell all over again, and this time I wanted to make sure I got it right. I couldn’t use Derek’s name. That had been just a simple slip of the tongue, nothing more. I hadn’t meant to do it subconsciously—no, not one bit.
I placed the ingredients in my cauldron again. I recited the words and the energy surrounded me. Again it circled me, its power swirling around the room. Just as I finished, my phone rang. I froze, still scared that maybe I’d somehow messed up again. When I reached the phone this time a photo of Derek wasn’t on the screen. I answered.
“Hello, Cece,” the male voice said.
“Yes, this is Cece.”
I’d gotten the spell right this time. It was Mark.
“I just wanted to let you know how much I missed you,” he said.
“You do?” I asked.
I could have a little bit of fun with him. After all, he possibly had murdered someone. If so, then he didn’t deserve for me to be nice. Then the thought that I was talking to a killer ran through my mind. That was scary. Mark may have tried to kill me with his car. What if he was the one who’d shot at me.
“Can we go out again?” he asked.
I hated to have to say yes, but that was the whole purpose of this spell.
“Sure, we can go out,” I said.
“How about we meet at my place? I can make something to eat.”
At his college pad? What would that be? Popcorn and beer? Maybe a grilled cheese made with an iron? What difference did it make? It wasn’t like this was a real date. I didn’t care what he made.
“All right, we can do that.”
Plus, this would give me a chance to look for the phones, which was exactly what I wanted. We could just cut to the chase and I wouldn’t have to pretend to be interested in him.
“I’ll be over as soon as possible,” I said.
Now it sounded as if I was totally eager to see him. Yuck. I put on jeans, a t-shirt, and my best running shoes. I never knew when I might need to get away quickly. I headed out the door and into my car. I waved at the neighbors again and was on my way. I was nervous the entire ride over there, hoping that our plan would go well.