“You wanted to see me?” Chief Lincoln asked, a danish pinched between his fingers.
I pulled the notes from my pocket. “I’m sure you’re aware that there is some kind of scavenger hunt going on.”
He tore off a bite of the pastry and nodded. “I’ve lived in this town my whole life but that was a new one for me.”
“Well, somebody found these clues and brought them to my attention.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“It’s a long story. Basically, these sticky notes don’t match the others and the handwriting doesn’t either. They stuck out to me. Then I got to digging, and found out that they’re leading the finder to that cabin.” I pointed at one of the glossy photos hanging on the board.
Chief swallowed a large bite, his eyes wider than before. “You think someone is purposefully leading people out to the woods?”
I shrugged. “I don’t really know for sure, but I think it’s worth looking into.”
He set aside the last two bites and brushed his fingers off on a handkerchief he retrieved from his pocket. When he was satisfied his hands were clean, he reached out and took the notes. “When were these found? Before or after the shooting?”
“After.”
His tanned skin went sallow. I watched as his trained eyes raked over each of the notes three times. Without a word, he snapped his fingers at one of his officers. The mood shifted with a palpable wave, killing off the merriment over the sweets delivery.
“Yes, Chief?” the young man said, springing to his feet.
“Keith, take Jensen and go round up all those damn Post-It notes around town.”
The officers sprang into action and headed out of the bullpen, grabbing their jackets and hats on the way.
“Thank you for bringing these in, Holly. I’ll make sure to have someone posted out at the cabin tonight, just as a precaution. I’ll make sure a patrol swings through your neighborhood every hour.”
“Thank you, Chief.” I glanced at the evidence board. “Still no idea who he was?”
“Not yet. His prints aren’t in any of our systems. I’ve sent his photos to the state police. They have more resources and can run a facial recognition search. Maybe something will pop. In the meantime, we’re working with the rental agency that lets out this cabin to see if maybe he was a guest there. When we stopped by the morning we found the body, it looked like someone had been there recently, but no one answered the door. We should get some answers soon.”
“Good.”
“Holly, you heading out?” Cassie asked, joining us. She popped up on her toes and planted a kiss on Chief Lincoln’s cheek to a round of wolf whistles. She blushed but flapped a hand at the gathered officers. “I’ve got to get back to work.”
Chief Lincoln smiled. “Thanks again, Holly. This might be the key we’re looking for. Although I still have no idea who’s running this damned scavenger hunt. You wouldn’t believe the stories I’ve heard. Someone called dispatch the other night to report a goblin running through the neighborhood.”
An awkward laugh bubbled forth. “Oh, stars. I’m sure you get all kinds of weird calls though.”
“I gotta say, that’s one of the weirdest ones I’ve heard.”
Cassie started for the door and I fell in step with her. “You getting stuck in another murder investigation?” she asked, her voice light and teasing. “I think you’re angling for a junior detective position on the force.”
I laughed. “Trust me, I know my place. All free hours are to be given to you.”
She swatted me playfully but didn’t rebut the statement. She had a couple of part-timers working for her, but we both knew she’d take me back on in a heartbeat.
Siren’s Song was buzzing with the late-morning crowd and Cassie jumped into work. I ordered a coffee and a bear claw—brain food—and headed out. Part of me wanted to confide in her about the argument with Adam. If anyone would be able to help me sort through it all, it was Cassie, but there was a growing line of people waiting to order and I knew she’d only be able to give me a fragment of her attention.
There would be another time.
Coffee in hand, I used my shoulder to open the door and let it fall closed behind me. I headed down the sidewalk, wandering slowly and taking pensive sips from my latte along the way. A few blocks from the coffee house, I spotted Officer Keith plucking a note off the side of a newspaper dispenser. Across the street, Officer Jensen removed one from a bus station bench a few streets down.
I cringed as I turned away. “Sorry, Barnaby.”
The manor was quiet when I returned. Posy and Earl were likely off snuggled up and reminiscing. Evangeline was probably working and Lacey would be in bed, undead to the world. As for Adam … I cringed, glancing up the grand staircase. He was probably working up in his bedroom-slash-office. He worked for a tech company based in Seattle but was able to do most of his work remotely. Occasionally he was called in to work at the main office, and had even gone on a couple of business trips in the time that I’d known him. Nothing too extreme, Los Angeles for one, Chicago for another. Three days and he was back again.
His comment about leaving Beechwood Harbor resounded in my mind and I wondered if he was considering a change of career as well. Was it all some kind of third-life crisis? Was there something else going on under the surface? If he was restless or unhappy about another area of life, maybe it was bleeding over into this one. And if that was the case, maybe there was a way to fix it without uprooting our entire life.
“Hey, Holly,” Nick’s smooth baritone pulled me from my tangled thoughts.
I glanced up and smiled as he exited the kitchen. “Hey. How are you feeling?”
He hitched a shoulder. “Bored, mostly. I’m actually thinking of going back to my place.”
“Oh?”
He nodded. “I’ve felt fine the last couple of days. But, I’ll make sure the door is bolted in case I go … wolfy.”
I slipped my hands into the pockets of my pea coat. “You know that you’re more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need. Posy’s so distracted making up for lost time with Earl, she’s hardly even noticed you’re still here.”
Nick smiled. “I know, but it’s like you said the other day, I need to get back to my life. If this is my new normal, I need to adjust and I can’t do that as long as I’m putzing around here all day.”
I ducked my chin. I understood. But something inside me clenched at the thought of him leaving.
“I’ve been thinking, and before I changed out in the woods, I went through a series of symptoms. If I can pin those down and get good at anticipating them, I’ll be able to get back to normal. Who knows? Maybe it’s only on the full moon.”
“Could be,” I replied. I’d stayed up late the past two nights, scouring every book, parchment, and spell book I owned trying to find some scrap of information, but turned up empty.
“I figure if I wolf out, you can come over the morning after, do the spell, and set me right again. Or … well, at least until I can find someone who can do it permanently.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a guilty look flashing across his face. “I didn’t mean that to come out like an expectation. I know your magic isn’t something I can take for granted.”
I scoffed. “Nick, come on. I know you better than that. And of course I would help. You wouldn’t even have to ask.”
He smiled. “Thanks, Holly.”
“Hey, you want to go get some lunch before you head home? I’ll tell you what I found out at the police station.”
“Sounds good. Let me go gather up my stuff.”
“That works. I have to make a quick phone call first.”
He turned back to the living room and I padded down the hall to my room.
After saying hello to the snoozing pile of cat in the center of the bed, I picked up my cell phone from the nightstand and placed a call to Agent Agatha Bramble, the SPA’s head hawk-shifter and my own personal supernatural babysitter.
“Agent
Bramble,” she answered, her stern manner somehow lacing through her voice.
“Hello, Agent Bramble, it’s Holly Boldt.”
“Holly? Well, hello. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. I hope everything is all right.”
“For the most part, can’t complain.”
Dead guy, half-wolf friend, and the strange were in my forest aside, of course.
“Good to hear. Is there something I can do for you?”
“This is going to sound a little—okay, probably a lot—strange, but I was calling to see what it would take to arrange a meeting between me and Sasha Pringle.”
I cringed, waiting for her to break the silence on the other end of the line.
“Ms. Pringle is being held at the Sandpiper facility,” she replied, seemingly unruffled by the request. “They don’t allow visitors, but if I were to accompany you, we could probably arrange a few minutes. May I ask what it is you’re hoping to come from this visit?”
I blinked. That was … easy.
“As you know, I’ve been working with some of the haven potions masters now that I’m licensed. In our work, we’ve been focusing on finding a cure for the werewolf curse.”
“That’s ambitious!” I could picture her eyes fluttering behind her squared spectacles.
“Yes.” I licked my lips. The lie had felt too easy. “Uh, anyway, as you know, Sasha obviously had extremely advanced knowledge of the curse. I was hoping to get some answers from her in regards to the way she was able to manipulate the curse.”
Agent Bramble sighed. “Holly, I’m happy to arrange a meeting, but I have to say, I think you’re setting yourself up for quite the disappointment. Sasha has been … hostile, to put it nicely, since her incarceration. I’d imagine you’re the last one she would share something like that with.”
“I have to try,” I said, a hint of emotion slipping into my tone as I thought about Nick.
“Very well. I’ll call you back with a time.”
“Thank you, Agatha.”
We hung up and I settled onto the edge of the bed, absently stroking Boots’s head. “I sure don’t mind swimming in the deep end, huh, Bootsie?”
He lifted his head only enough for me to scratch his chin. “Yeah, yeah. You don’t care what I do, as long as I come home at night to feed you.”
He purred and I shook my head, smiling down at him. “All right, well while you snooze, I’m going to get some lunch. If you’re lucky, I’ll bring back something for you.”
One amber eye opened and followed me as I started for the door. I laughed at the look on his face and backtracked to grab my phone. Just as I slipped it into my pocket, it started ringing.
“That was fast,” I said, answering the call from Agent Bramble.
“I was able to get right through. We’ve got an appointment one week from today. Three p.m. Will that work?”
“Um, yes. Did you say we?”
She sighed. “You didn’t expect to be left alone with Sasha, did you?”
I buttoned my lips. The truth was, yes, I actually had. Only when I heard the disbelief in her voice did I realize how big of a leap the assumption had been.
“Thank you. That will work perfectly. I’ll see you then.”
“Very good.”
Agent Bramble clicked off the call and I stuffed the phone back into my pocket.
I had one week to figure out how to get Sasha to spill her dark secrets, and I had a feeling I was going to need every single day.
Chapter 14
St. Patrick’s Day arrived with little fanfare—well, besides the town parade, complete with half a dozen small children dressed up as leprechauns that were at least ten times more adorable than Barnaby. McNally’s served traditional Irish fare all day and Siren’s Song handed out sugar cookies shaped like shamrocks on the corner to anyone who walked by. By a drawing of straws, I ended up being the poor soul standing out in the chilly March afternoon, passing out cookies to the stragglers still dotting the parade route.
The somewhat sad excuse for a parade had long since moved on, winding around the corner of Zinnia and Cattail Court. Three cookies remained on the platter in my gloved hands. I frowned down at them, contemplating chucking them into the bushes—or, my mouth—and going back inside the heated coffee shop.
“You’re Holly Boldt?”
I glanced up and found myself staring into a pair of unfamiliar eyes. The man at my left wore a hooded rain jacket that concealed most of his face. His eyes were dark and sunken and his skin was sallow, even in the cold. Something about him set my heart thrumming a little faster. Not in a good way.
“Um, yes. Have we met?” I slid one foot back and shifted my weight, ready to run if needed.
Magic made for a good weapon, but not when there were twenty eyewitnesses lining the street. If the mystery man was a threat, I’d have to hoof it.
He took a step back and I stilled. “I’m a … friend, of Ben’s.”
Werewolf.
My pulse spiked higher. How did he know my name? Had Ben mentioned me? It was the only thing that made sense, but why?
Determined not to show my shaking hands, I gripped the tray a little tighter. I set my lips in a firm line and straightened to my full height (plus four inches, thanks to my killer heels). “Okay, friend of Ben’s, you got a name?”
He looked down the street, his grey, almost black, eyes sweeping over the street. It was a quick glance, but I got the feeling he hadn’t missed a single detail. “I need to talk to you. But not here. Will you meet me, tonight?”
I snorted. “Do I look like Little Red Riding Hood to you? I’m not agreeing to a meeting with a strange wolf. Let me guess, at midnight?”
The grey eyes snapped to mine, this time shining with a flicker of irritation. “I have information that will help you.”
“Then tell me what it is. Right here. Right now. I’m not meeting you alone.”
A family wandered by and I smiled at them around gritted teeth.
“There are too many people,” he complained when the family had gone. “My name is Marco. I can meet you at On the Rocks. Ten o’clock. It’ll be busy enough no one will pay attention to us.”
I cocked my head. “How do I know it’s not some kind of set up?”
Marco sighed, the sound gravely and impatient as he shifted from foot to foot. “That guy they found in the woods. He was one of my pack. He was—” his voice choked out and he glanced away. “He was my brother.”
Emotion momentarily softened the edges of my defenses. “I’m really sorry to hear that, but I don’t see how I can help. I’m not involved in the investigation.”
Marco locked on me. “Then why have I seen you leaving the police station twice this week?”
“You’re following me?” I hissed.
He leered closer. “Listen, lady, my brother died and these human cops aren’t going to be able to stop whoever was responsible. According to Ben, you’re the best chance I’ve got. That we’ve all got.”
“All?”
He jerked back and started down the sidewalk. “Ten o’clock,” he said, before striding away.
I scowled at his back. “Oh, sure, it’s a date.”
Nick still hadn’t returned to his office since the night of the full moon, so after my shift, I walked the half a mile to his condo building. My feet cursed me with each step, making a convincing case for using some of my savings to buy a car—or at the very least, a bike! It was my own fault. I’d worn my least comfortable pair of shoes to work. Even before setting off on the walk to Nick’s, I was forming an impressive blister.
I sighed. “All for the sake of fashion.”
My normal pair of boots were too long to work with my mid-calf pencil skirt, which was the only thing that made sense with the dressy green blouse. I’d looked more prepared to take Wall Street by storm than sling coffee and cookies all day, but Cassie had warned me that the population of Beechwood took the whole pinching thing very seriously. Wearing green was mandatory.
>
The pain in my feet was almost a blessing as it kept my mind from obsessing over the pending meeting I’d been cornered into agreeing to. Marco most likely preferred that I arrive alone for our tete-a-tete, but I wasn’t about to go in without backup. Adam would probably be furious if he found out I was even considering going to hear the werewolf out, and we were still skating on thin ice. I decided it was best to take Nick instead and we agreed to meet at his place after my shift.
He was ready for me when I arrived and we set off in his sedan. Nick gave me a serious “you sure you know what you’re doing” look but never voiced it as we drove across town to the harbor.
On the Rocks was a classic dive bar, wedged in between a fishing supply shop and a mini mart that mainly served as the town’s liquor store. The boisterous crowd of people inside congregated around a couple of beat up pool tables and a dartboard that had also seen better days. Two flat screen TVs hung on either side of the bar and were likely the newest things in the whole place. Everything from the tables and chairs to the hardwood floors looked like they needed a good cleaning and polish.
No one was smoking inside because it had been outlawed several years ago, but somehow the smell of cigars and cigarettes clung to the thick air all the same.
As far as covert meeting locales went, I could see its appeal. Marco was right that no one would be paying much attention to a couple of people talking in a corner booth and the regulars certainly made enough noise to drown out any secrets he saw fit to share.
Nick circled through, glancing around with a casual eye, but I knew he was pinpointing potential problems and locating the nearest exits. When he rejoined me at the bar, he gave a subtle nod, and then vanished just as quickly as he’d come. The plan was for him to wait outside, parked across the street. He’d hooked up some app on his phone, which now sat in my pocket, that would allow him to listen in on the conversation. I had no idea how it all worked, but he’d told me that if I got into trouble or wanted a way out, all I had to do was ask the bartender for an appletini and he’d come running.
Lucky Witch: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 5) Page 11