by Molly Fitz
“Actually, it seems like a very big deal,” I corrected, hoping he would tell me more.
“It’s not my fault the rules state that no two witches may live under the same roof. It was fine when I was stray, but things change. There was no way I’d give up my awesome powers in favor of a fling. Nope. Anyway… No need to dredge up the past when we have our futures to worry about. Now show me the book,” Merlin commanded without a second thought about his past love affair.
I tromped over to the couch and set the journal in my lap so we could read through it together. “What is all this?” I asked, squinting at the strange series of symbols interspersed with sketches of various flora and fauna.
“It appears to be a grimoire. Not her primary one, mind you, but something new she’s working on.”
“A spell book? Do you have one of those, too?”
He nodded, continuing to study the page. “I have many, but I would never leave them in plain sight.”
“Where are they?” I wondered aloud.
“That’s privileged information, aka on a need-to-know basis. And you don’t need to know right now.”
“Ouch. Okay.”
Merlin mumbled to himself as he flipped through the pages, completely unbothered by the fact that he’d hurt my feelings.
“So what are we looking at here?” I asked after a little while of watching, waiting, and understanding absolutely nothing.
“She’s developing a new potion. A powerful one. But she doesn’t seem to quite have it yet.”
I stared at the book harder but still couldn’t make heads or tails of it. “To do what?”
“I can’t quite tell. This is all garden witch stuff. They’re big on brews. Me? Not so much.”
“Do you think it could be a poison?” I asked, thinking of poor Harold. Yeah, he may have been stingy and mean, but he certainly didn’t deserve to be murdered over it.
Merlin immediately picked up my suggestion and ran with it. “You think Luna could be behind Harold’s death?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I mean, why not? We don’t really have any other suspects that make sense.”
Merlin slammed the journal closed. “A very interesting theory. She may have been trying to get to you, but nabbed Harold instead.”
I gasped, unaware of just how much danger I’d been in this whole time, how much danger I was still in. “She would do that? Kill me?”
“Duh.” Merlin yawned as if this very important conversation bored him. “Luna is very dangerous, and she has it out for me, which means now she has it out for you, too.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have broken her heart then,” I mumbled, adding to the long list of reasons why I was very upset with my cat that day.
If only I’d have adopted a dog instead…
10
“I have to get to work,” I said before shuffling my way toward the shower. We’d spent the better part of the last hour poring over that stolen grimoire and still had nothing to show for it. Well, except for my poor frazzled nerves.
“If Luna’s so dangerous, perhaps you should return that journal,” I shouted back toward Merlin before I closed the door and enjoyed some much-needed time to myself.
And he seemed to have taken my advice, because by the time I finished getting ready for my shift, neither he nor the journal were anywhere to be seen.
Honestly, I didn’t know whether I was expected to show up for work that day, given the whole crime scene thing, but I decided it would be best to at least try to honor my responsibilities to the late Harold.
When I reached the coffeehouse, I found that it was still blocked off by police tape but that my coworker Kelley was moving about inside.
I let myself in, too.
Kelley glanced up suddenly from her place behind the glass pastry display case. “Oh, hi, Gracie,” she said with a frown.
“How are you holding up?” I asked gently, coming over to stand beside her.
She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
I glanced down at her hands, but they were empty. In fact, Kelley appeared to be doing nothing more than standing there in a mournful trance.
She’d been upset while we were waiting for the police yesterday, but I’d assumed that was more of an in-the-moment reaction. If possible, she seemed even more torn up today.
And that made me feel guilty that I hadn’t spent any time mourning for Harold. Instead I was too focused on my worry that I might be pegged with his murder.
Even if Harold had been a bad boss, I still wanted to be a good person. Maybe if I helped Kelley now, it would make up for my earlier failures.
“Yeah, it’s hard,” I said, keeping my eyes downcast. “He may not have been the best boss, but he was still a person we knew.”
Kelley sobbed into her hands. “Not me. I hardly knew him. Not yet. I thought we’d have more time.”
I didn’t know Kelley all that well myself. I hadn’t realized she’d wanted more than a casual work acquaintanceship. Had she been crying out for a friend, and we’d all been too busy to catch on? If so, I felt horrible about it.
Kelley had only been working at our coffee shop for about a month. She was a sweet girl who’d recently graduated high school and moved to our area for a gap year. I always wondered why she’d chosen to move to rural Georgia rather than backpack through Europe, but who was I to judge? Maybe she’d inherited a house just like I did. I could have asked, though. I should have asked.
I placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder. “Trust me,” I said with a small smile. “You aren’t missing much.”
She turned to me with red-rimmed eyes. “Aren’t I, though? I’ve spent my whole life wondering about him, imagining how it would be when I finally got to meet him face to face, but now we’ll never get the chance to form a real relationship.”
The revelation slammed down on me like a falling stack of bricks. “Kelley, was Harold…?”
“My dad,” she finished, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a crumpled tissue. “He dated my mom way back when. By the time she found out she was pregnant with me, they’d already broken up and he’d moved away.”
I hugged her hard. “I’m so, so sorry.”
She tried to smile, failed. “I guess I wasn’t meant to have a dad. I also guess there’s no reason for me to stick around here anymore. I never should have come. That police officer says my dad was murdered. What if it was my fault somehow?”
“Oh no, sweetie. It definitely wasn’t your fault,” I assured her, but Kelley was not easily assured.
“Think about it,” she said, knitting her brows together in frustration. “I show up in town, and a month later he’s dead. That can’t be a coincidence.”
“Of course it’s a coincidence. A horrible one, but definitely not your fault. You aren’t responsible for your parents’ decisions, and you’re definitely not responsible for Harold’s death.”
She blinked up at me. “Do you mean it?”
I bobbed my head vigorously. “Yes, absolutely.”
Finally Kelley chanced a small smile. “Thanks.”
“If you’ve got some time, I can tell you some stories about him.”
Her smile grew wide and bright. “Really?”
“Yeah. It’s not like we’re open for business. Let’s grab ourselves a snack and settle in for a chat.”
“I’ll make us a couple of pumpkin spice lattes,” Kelley volunteered.
“And I’ll get the snacks!” I headed to the walk-in cooler and grabbed some “fresh-made” banana bread to thaw. When I came back out, Kelley motioned for me to take a seat while she finished up with the drinks.
“You know,” she told me when she came to join me in the lone booth. “My mom told me I was crazy for coming here. For trying to get to know him. I probably should have listened. At least then I’d still be able to imagine what he was like, what he might be doing. Rather than knowing for a fact he was dead.”
And so began a very uncomfortable conversation, indeed.
>
Well, at least it was for me.
11
I pressed my lips in a firm line and nodded as Kelley shared a small glimpse into her family history. The whole purpose of this conversation was for me to help her get to know her late father better, but what if she actually knew more than she realized? What if Kelley had some special glimpse into Harold’s life that helped pinpoint his killer?
She’d certainly been paying better attention to his comings and goings than I ever had.
But my young coworker was also already so distraught over his passing, it seemed wrong to push her for information when that could possibly make things worse for her.
And yet if someone didn’t find out who actually killed Harold—and soon—I could end up taking the blame. Thinking of it in this way made my path obvious.
I cleared my throat and cast my eyes toward the table. “Did things end on bad terms with your mother and father?” I asked, seeing no other option but to nudge her gently and hope for the best.
Kelley sighed and reached for one of the pieces of banana nut bread, then realizing it was still ice cold, placed it back on the plate and wrapped both hands around her to-go cup. “Mom said if she never saw him again it would still be too soon,” she murmured.
“That bad, huh?”
Kelley leaned back against the booth and let her head rest against the worn vinyl cushioning. “Yup.”
“Did I ever tell you about the first time I met Harold?”
Kelley shook her head and her eyes widened. “No, but please do.”
“Well, I was coming in for my interview. Late. And when I showed up, I found him sitting in the office going over his papers while belting out that one song from Phantom of the Opera.”
Kelley sat up straight and actually let out a small chuckle. “No way!”
“Yes, way. And that’s not all…”
I shared the few pleasant memories I had of my former boss, and Kelley proved to be a rapt audience. By the time we’d drained our lattes, I’d run out of stories to pass on. Also the banana bread had at long last thawed.
I lifted a piece and nodded to Kelley before taking a huge, delicious bite. Hey, even though it wasn’t made fresh, it was still freaking delicious.
“So what do you think you’ll do now?” I asked as Kelley picked all the walnuts from her bread and popped them into her mouth one by one.
“My mom’s on her way to pick me up and drive me back home,” she revealed with a grimace.
“Where’s she driving from?” I asked conversationally, although it didn’t escape my notice that Kelley seemed unhappy about her mother’s impending visit.
“Ohio.”
“No way.” I reached across the table and lightly slapped her hand. “I’m from Michigan.”
“Natural enemies,” Kelley teased, referring to our home states’ bitter rivalry. In reality, though, us both being from the Midwest meant we had more in common than not.
I wanted to know more about her mother, just in case she was a person of interest in this investigation. But I had to be careful about how hard I pressed. Hopefully the light playful moment would help me get further with my next line of questioning. Again, the next to last thing I wanted to do was kick Kelley when she was down. The very last thing I wanted to do was go to jail for a crime I had no hand in committing.
“Your mom must be happy that you’re coming back home. Huh?” I ventured, licking my thumb and then pressing it into the crumbs that lay scattered on my plate.
“Yeah.” Kelley said, finally taking a proper bite of her dessert. “Like I said, she never wanted me to come in the first place. She said the only good thing my dad had ever done in his whole life was to give her me.” She smiled shyly.
“Why’d they break up? Did she ever say?”
“She didn’t want to spoil my impression of him. Kind of ironic, huh? She said just to take her at her word and be careful.”
That reminded me of rule number two of being Merlin’s familiar: Do whatever he says without asking any questions.
“I know things didn’t end well, but I think it’s really good you got the chance to meet him,” I offered with a small smile.
Kelley sniffed and shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“You’ll get there,” I said as if speaking from experience.
“You’re probably right.” She shrugged and leaned back in the booth, eyes closed. “It’s just still all fresh and new, and I’m not sure I can handle my mom trash-talking him before he’s even laid to rest.”
“Yeah, that’s hard.” Suddenly I got an idea that could help both of us. “Tell you what, if she gives you any trouble, come see me. Tell her we already had plans before this all happened. I can serve as a buffer.”
Kelley opened her eyes and stared at me in silent shock before saying, “Wow. Thank you, Gracie. You are being so nice.”
“You deserve a friend right now, and I’m willing to bet you need one, too.” I pushed my phone across the table toward her. “Here, enter your phone number, and I’ll text you my address.”
Gracie grabbed at it eagerly and began to type. As she did, a knock sounded on the door to the coffee shop.
I glanced over and immediately recognized the silhouette of the last person I wanted to see just then.
Officer Dash had come to pay us a visit.
12
As soon as we heard the knocking, Kelley immediately jumped up to let the policewoman inside.
Officer Dash smirked when she saw me. “Figures you’d be here, exactly where you aren’t supposed to be.”
“We were scheduled to work today,” Kelley explained, jumping straight to my rescue. Now that I was getting to know her better, I really did like her.
“Well, sorry to say, this place of business is closed until further notice.” Dash didn’t look sorry, though. Not one bit.
“Do you have any idea when that might be?” I asked, gathering the two empty plates and taking them back to the small sink we used to keep things tidy.
Dash’s eyes followed me, tracing every movement. “Not until we conclude our investigation and Harris’s attorney settles his estate.”
“Do you happen to know who’s handling his will?” Kelley asked, tucking her hair behind each ear and glancing down. Well, at least I wasn’t the only person intimidated by the brusque policewoman. Still, this was the last thing that poor Kelley needed right now.
“That’s private family business,” Officer Dash snapped, only glancing toward Kelly for a moment before staring me down again.
“I know,” Kelley mumbled as she studied her shoes. “I’m his daughter.”
“If you’re meant to be included, his attorney will contact you,” the officer explained with a hard gaze. “How come you didn’t disclose your relationship with the deceased the first time we talked?”
Kelley shook her head. “I’m still coming to terms with all of this.”
“They were estranged,” I piped up. “Until very recently.”
“Interesting.” Officer Dash pulled out that little steno notebook of hers and jotted a few things down. “Do you mind accompanying me to the station for a few questions?”
Kelley’s eyes widened in horror.
“Is that really necessary?” I argued, moving in front of Kelley protectively. “Can’t you see how upset she already is?”
“Oh, did I hurt your little friend’s feelings?” she asked with a cruel smile. “Silly me, I was just trying to bring a murderer to justice here!”
Officer Dash stomped her foot, and Kelley’s trembling fingers reached for my arm.
I turned to face my frightened young colleague. “You didn’t do anything wrong, which means you’ve got nothing to hide. Even this one is going to see that,” I said, hooking a thumb back toward a very cranky Officer Dash.
“Stay?” Kelley begged.
“I really need to question each suspect separately,” the policewoman informed us.
Kelley gasped. “Suspect?”
“Look, she’s a little rough around the edges—okay, a lot. But she can’t do a thing to you. You have my number now, call me anytime you need me. Any reason.”
Kelley nodded, and I stepped aside.
“Ever ridden in the back of a cop car before?” Officer Dash asked with a bemused expression, sending Kelley shrinking back.
“Enough,” I growled. As soon as this investigation was over, I would be filing a big fat complaint about Officer Dash’s lack of professionalism. Anonymously, of course.
“You can talk here,” I continued. “I’ll leave to give you both some privacy.”
I squeezed Kelley’s hand and told her it would be okay, then saw myself out. Neither of them tried to stop me.
I waited in the parking lot for a few minutes just to make sure Officer Dash wasn’t honestly planning on carting the poor aggrieved daughter to the station for an interrogation.
Once I was satisfied that she wasn’t, I began the short drive home.
In my distracted state, I almost ran a red light and drove up over the curb more than once. Why did Officer Dash have to be so combative about the investigation? Moreover, why had she come into the coffeehouse that afternoon? Had she been looking for me?
I worried now that if they didn’t find the real killer soon, Officer Dash might even stoop to fabricating evidence just so she could close the investigation and move on.
Scary.
Maybe I should file that complaint against her sooner than later…
One more chance, I decided as I pulled into my driveway. One more encounter. If Officer Dash didn’t start behaving more professionally with her very next visit, I would be heading into the station to discuss matters with her boss.
That small thing decided, I pushed my car into park, took a deep breath, and headed inside to see what new trouble my cat had gotten us into during my brief absence.
13
I crept into the house, not sure what I would find. Merlin had been alone for almost two hours, thanks to my strange shift at work. Funny, I’d never had to worry about what he did while I was away before. Now all I did was worry… about him, about Harold, about life on the whole.