Broom and Board

by Sara Bourgeois

  Before I could say anything else, the doorbell rang. I went to answer it and found Remy and Annika standing on the front porch.

  “Oh, good,” she said and let out a breath. “I thought he was arresting you.”

  “Arresting me?”

  “Why would I be arresting her?” Gunner had walked up behind me.

  “Because you’re brash and gruff, and I assume you’re always trying to arrest someone,” Annika said.

  “Woman,” Gunner said, but there was a softness to his voice he didn’t use with anyone else. “I swear you’re just trying to get under my skin.”

  “So, what are you guys up to?” Remy asked.

  “Oh, don’t be jealous, cuz,” Annika said. “If he’s not here to arrest her, then he must be here to ask for help with the case.”

  “I wasn’t asking for help,” Gunner bristled. “She was the person who found the body. I was doing a follow-up interview.”

  For a brief moment, I considered busting him, but I knew that all he wanted was to impress Annika. I knew it would earn me a lot of good will with the new sheriff in town if I went along with it and spared his pride.

  “Just a follow-up,” I said flatly. “But I did invite him to dinner with us. Annika, are you interested?”

  “In food? Always.” Annika took Gunner by the arm and led him to the kitchen. “Let’s see what she’s got in here.”

  “Is that really all it was?” Remy asked as soon as they were gone. “Just a follow-up interview?”

  For a second, I wasn’t sure what he was really asking, but then I saw it. Concern etched in his face and a hint of jealousy in his brown eyes. Remy was probably remembering my relationship with Thorn, but that was a different situation entirely. He didn’t need to worry about me being around Gunner.

  “He was here asking for my help,” I whispered to Remy. “He’s at a dead end in the case. He even offered me a job as a deputy.”

  “Oh, really?” Remy visibly relaxed.

  “Why did you think he was here?” I asked.

  “Good-looking, very manly sheriff?” Remy asked.

  “I love you,” I said. “I’m marrying you. Plus, he’s pursuing Annika. What kind of person would I be if I were to wreck our relationship and hurt my best friend? And, Remy, I’m not attracted to him. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted and needed.”

  “You’re right,” he said. “I’m kind of a jerk for even thinking it.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re human. It happens, but you have to know that I chose you. I’d choose you over anyone.”

  “I’m not a human, I’m a witch,” he said, but there was a hint of a smile.

  “You’re still human, but just a little extra.”

  With that, Remy and I joined Annika in the kitchen to figure out dinner. With all hands on deck, I knew we’d have something delicious in no time.

  “So, the two of you are getting married?” Gunner asked when we all sat down to eat.

  Annika had rooted through the fridge and pantry and found everything we needed to make fajitas. The guys had gone outside to cook the chicken, steak, and veggies on the grill while she and I stayed inside and cooked beans and rice. By the time we were done, the whole house smelled delicious. Meri hung around the edge of the kitchen hoping for a bit of steak and chicken, and I happily shared.

  “We are,” Remy said. “We’re deciding between a winter or spring wedding.”

  “I think you guys should just do it,” Annika said.

  “You don’t think winter is soon enough?” Remy sounded skeptical.

  “No, I think you should just get the family together and pull the dang trigger.”

  “You just don’t want to have to help Brighton plan the ceremony,” Remy said, but it was obvious he was teasing.

  “You don’t want to help me with the ceremony?” I went along with it.

  “That’s not it,” she said. “I just want to see you two happy as soon as possible.”

  “We are happy,” I countered. “But I’ll agree to a winter wedding, if that will make everyone else happy.”

  “That’s a start,” Annika said.

  “And we’ll do red and white for the colors.”

  “Now, we’re getting somewhere. Maybe this thing will actually happen.”

  “You’re acting like we’ve been engaged forever. It’s literally been days,” I said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah, but so much stuff has happened in those days, it feels like forever. It’s almost like we’re living in an entirely different life now.”

  She was right. Our lives were completely different than they had been a week before. Most of the world wouldn’t remember the zombie thing, and if they did, it would be as if it were an old movie they couldn’t quite put their finger on seeing. The Skeenbauer magic would make their memories flutter away like butterflies anytime they came to mind. And of course, I’d learned about vampires, but the rest of the humans still believed them to be a myth.

  “The silver hair suits you,” Gunner said.

  I’d almost forgotten about that. “You don’t think it makes me look like an old lady?”

  “Not at all,” Annika said. “It doesn’t really look gray. Gunner’s right. It’s definitely silver.”

  When everyone was gone, I retired to my room to go to bed. The sun wasn’t quite down yet, but I was getting used to that. It was necessary considering how early I had to be at work. Eventually, winter would arrive, and it would be dark when I went to bed.

  I was about to start wondering what Remy would think of my early as heck bedtime once he moved in, when Meri jumped on the bed and startled me. “Maybe the two of you should consider a fall wedding.”

  “What? You agree with Annika? We should do it sooner than winter? It’s almost fall as it is. What’s the sudden urgency?”

  “Because I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he said. “You’re a pain in the butt, but I’m sworn to protect you. Not just that, I do think you’re all right too. As far as witches go. Being your familiar isn’t so bad. Or, whatever.”

  “What bad would happen to me?”

  “I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned in the past that there’s a prophesy.”

  “I don’t know. You might have. If you did, I probably thought you were messing with me. The vampire blood from Marius got rid of the zombie magic, but some of my memory is still a bit sketchy. Sorry.”

  “So, there’s this prophesy that neither the Skeenbauers nor the Tuttlesmiths like to talk about. It’s pretty much that their bloodlines are going to come together and save the world from a great evil.”

  “Okay, right. This sounds sort of familiar. You’re saying it’s Remy and me,” I said. “It’s coming back now. There was a chance that it was Annika and Brody, but I guess that’s canceled.”

  “There’s a good chance that evil forces want to stop the two of you from getting together. I think it would be better if you guys hurried up and did it.”

  “What do you mean evil forces?” I asked. “This sounds a little nuts. Why are you saying all of this now? What brought this on?”

  “I don’t think what happened with your brother was just him having issues because of your childhood,” Meri said.

  I was going to say something in rebuttal, but that actually made sense. We both had our baggage, but murder would have seemed like a stretch if I’d thought about it.

  When I didn’t say anything, Meri continued. “The thing is that I think he’s going to end up being the thing that the dark uses to come after you.”

  “How is that possible? He’s in jail, and he’s going to prison.”

  “He’s going to get let out on a technicality,” Meri said matter-of-factly.

  “Did you get this from some sort of book? Is there a book up in the attic that’s telling you this stuff? Or what?”

  “Nope, totally nothing like that,” Meri said.

  “Are you going to show me the book?” I asked.

  “What book? I have no idea w
hat you are talking about.”

  “You’re impossible,” I said.

  “Whatever.”

  I went to bed that night mulling over what Meri had told me for the few precious minutes I had before complete exhaustion claimed me. If Brody got out on a technicality, he could come after me. I had so many witches protecting me, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

  There was the matter of Grey still being out there somewhere too. As I drifted off to sleep, a terrible nightmare where the two of them teamed up gripped my brain in its icy claws.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next day while Mrs. Maynard was with Gunner, I decided to go into her room at the bed and breakfast and see what I could find. We didn’t find any solid evidence against her when we broke into her house, but I thought that perhaps that was because she had it with her.

  Focusing on the murder would keep my mind off of what Meri had said. Somewhere deep inside I knew it was about more than just Remy and me getting married. Part of the whole prophesy thing was us having a child. I’d begun to remember that part, and it chilled me to the bone.

  I couldn’t have children. It was why Donnie left me and started a new family. Remy had told me a million times that would never happen, and that he would never walk out on me like that. He’d also told me that we would have a baby, but it was a dream I couldn’t dare to hope for after all this time.

  So instead, I put my master key into the lock on Mrs. Maynard’s room. The first thing I saw when I walked in was the empty bottle of wine, and the next thing I saw was the second empty bottle of wine. There was a third and fourth as well. I hadn’t cleaned her room before because she’d put out the “no housekeeping service” sign. Either she’d been drinking heavily while staying at the hotel, or she’d had a guest and they’d both been drinking heavily.

  No sooner had I stepped foot into the room and a loud crack sounded like thunder. For a second, I could tell what it was, but the wine bottle that had just hit the doorframe next to my head rolled across the floor. Amazingly, it hadn’t broken, but even better than that, it hadn’t hit my head.

  I backed into the hall because I didn’t want to get hit in the head again. Meri was around, but Remy and Annika were at work.

  A guest two doors down poked his head out of his room. “You okay?”

  As soon as he said it, I had to duck. Another bottle went flying past my head and crashed into the hallway.

  “Do I need to call the police?” the concerned guest asked.

  “Nothing they can do,” I said without thinking.

  No sooner had I said that, and the guy had his phone out recording. “No freaking way. We’ve got activity. You guys just missed a wine bottle almost hitting the innkeeper in the head. The spirits are feisty today,” he said into his phone.

  I presumed he was making a video that would later be uploaded to the internet. For a moment, I considered making him have a technology glitch, but I reconsidered. He hadn’t actually caught anything other than the broken bottle he recorded on the video. It would be great advertising too. Lucy would love it even if the rest of the witches of Coventry didn’t.

  A loud thump issued from inside the room. I blocked the door with my body even as the guest made a move to go in.

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t go in there. It’s a guest’s room,” I said and pulled the door closed behind me hard.

  Thump

  Crash

  Thump

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said. “There’s evidence of the paranormal going on in there right now. You can’t just shut me out.”

  “I can, and I did,” I said. “Now, if you’re interested in that particular room, you can rent it as soon as the current guest checks out.”

  There was one more thump, and then it was quiet. There had been a charge in the air, but it dissipated quickly. I hadn’t noticed the feeling at first, but I did as it faded away. I made a mental note of the phenomenon and figured I could use it in the future when a murderous ghost wanted to kill me.

  “When is she checking out?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. She doesn’t have a reservation for any specified time,” I said.

  “Well, then I can fix that.” He stopped recording and typed something into his phone.

  “There, now I have a reservation for tonight.”

  I let out a deep sigh. “Okay. Well, check-in is a three. If the room is ready before that, I’ll let you know.”

  The new development meant that I was going to have to tell Mrs. Maynard that she needed to check out by eleven. If she wasn’t back from meeting with Gunner by then, I’d have to go in and clear her things out for her.

  I wanted to try and go back in, but the guest with the phone, Jeremy was his name, I believe, was standing there staring at the door. “There’s breakfast,” I said.

  “No thanks. Even if I can’t go in, I can still wait here. Maybe I’ll catch some audio evidence.”

  “Suit yourself,” I said with a shrug. “If you get tired of waiting for audio evidence, come down and get some fried chicken.”

  There wasn’t any more stirring in the room. Whatever it was just didn’t want me in there. It was as if the same thing had happened at Jack’s home. Whoever the entity was, they didn’t want me investigating Mrs. Maynard. It wasn’t enough to convince me it wasn’t her, though. I needed a plan to get more evidence.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I shot off a text to Gunner asking him if he could keep Mrs. Maynard at the station until after check-out time. I doubted he would do it, but it was worth a try. If I was a deputy, he would. I thought to myself, but if I was a deputy, I’d feel even worse about bending the law to solve the case.

  He didn’t answer right away, but I suspected that was because he was still interviewing her. He’d either answer me when he had time, or he wouldn’t. I had to get on with my day for the time being if I didn’t want to get fired.

  After doing a bit of cleanup in the breakfast room, I went into the kitchen and prepared the last round of food. Breakfast was almost over, but a couple of people hadn’t come down yet. I didn’t make much, but I wanted to have something there for them just in case.

  As I was putting out the last of the food, Jessica came in. She looked a hundred times better, and I was a little proud of my healing magic. Not too much as I didn’t want to get a big head, but I had to admit that I was improving if she looked that good.

  “Good morning,” she said cheerfully.

  “You look good,” I said.

  “I feel good too. I have a bunch of energy, so I decided to come in today. I hope that’s okay.”

  “As long as you’re up for it, I’m glad to have you.”

  “I know you said that I was going to be assistant innkeeper, but I’ll still get started on cleaning rooms.”

  “That’s fine. I can help in a little while when I’m done with the breakfast stuff.”

  “Sure. Anything I need to know?”

  “Yeah, the victim’s wife is here, and she’s checked into the Bluebird Room. She’s got no service for right now, so just leave that one.”

  “You’ve got it, boss.”

  “I’m not sure if I have anything for your brother, but I’ll take a look around. He did such a fabulous job while he was here.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. He’s got some work,” she said with a smile.

  “That’s awesome. Did he get a job?”

  “No, it’s better than that. Word got around that he’d done such a great job for you, and his phone won’t stop ringing. He’s got day jobs booked up for at least a few weeks, but he said he’d find a way to make time for you if you need it. Brighton, I think he’s going to be able to start his own business doing handyman work and landscaping.”

  “That’s wonderful.”

  “He’s so happy. Connor had been down in the dumps about not being able to find a job and his family struggling, but you’ve helped give him the boost he needed. His wife is even helping him wit
h scheduling and stuff.”

  “Well, I’m glad I could help, but it was all him. He’s such a hard worker.”

  “I’m going to get to work too,” she said with a smile and headed upstairs.

  As soon as Jessica was gone, Lucy showed up. She didn’t look angry, and at least this time she didn’t accuse me of killing anyone.

  “Lucy, what brings you in?”

  “I just wanted to check and make sure that everything is going okay. You had kind of a rough start. I figured I’d come by and address any concerns.”

  “I think things are going well,” I said. “We’re probably about to get a lot more business.”

  “Oh, really?” She seemed to perk up. “What’s going on?”

  “Well, it’s a little strange, but Jack’s wife checked into the room where he was staying the night he died.”

  “That’s a little odd,” she said. “I don’t see how that would drum up more business, though.”

  “Well, there’s been some weird activity coming from her room, and this morning a guest caught some strange sounds and an event on video. I imagine if he uploads it to the internet, people will want to come stay here.”

  “Activity?”

  “It was just strange noises. A bottle fell and broke too,” I said.

  Her face lit up, and I felt my stomach drop. It had been my job to stop the famous paranormal investigators from getting any serious evidence of the paranormal. And there I was almost encouraging it to make the bed and breakfast more successful. What could I do, though? The inn was obviously haunted. Nothing that I’d seen or heard had anything to do with witchcraft.

  “Oh, that’s excellent news,” she said. “Things are much better with this Jack business behind us.”

  We chatted for a while longer, and then Lucy left. I wasn’t sure if it was Gunner doing what I’d asked or if Mrs. Maynard’s interview had just run that long, but at check-out time, she still wasn’t back.

  So, I took a deep breath and headed up to the room. I hoped the ghost would leave me alone if all I was doing was packing up her things and taking them down to the front desk.