Landon worked his jaw, but no sound came out. Finally, when he decided what to say, it was the last thing I wanted to hear. “I can’t tell you. This is a priority case. That means I can’t talk to anyone, let alone a representative of the press.”
“I’m not just a representative of the press. I’m your girlfriend.”
“It doesn’t matter. I can’t talk about this investigation. I’ve been specifically ordered to keep my mouth shut. Everyone involved with the investigation has been ordered to do the same. If there are any leaks there will be hell to pay.”
I fought to remain stoic. “So ... you don’t trust me.”
“It’s not that. I trust you more than anyone. I wouldn’t have given you my heart otherwise. This is my job, Bay. I can’t share information on this one. I’m sorry.”
He rarely cut me out of investigations. In fact, he shared more freely than he should. Still, I couldn’t stop myself from being agitated. I knew it wasn’t his fault. That didn’t stop the small ember of frustration that had been burning all afternoon in my gut from exploding into an inferno. “I see.”
“Bay, please don’t make this a thing. I can’t take an argument right now.”
He looked so miserable I acquiesced, but only on the surface. “Fine. I won’t make it a thing. I won’t ask again what’s going on in Potter’s Field.”
“Thank you.” Landon leaned over to offer a kiss, but I smoothly slid off the couch. “I need to check on dinner preparations. You should get yourself a drink.”
Landon heaved out a weighted sigh. “You’re not letting this go, are you?”
“Of course I am.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.” Actually, I had a very good idea. It was because I was lying. There was no way I was going to let this go now. It was too big to ignore.
Alien Inspiration
Do you think the aliens in War of the Worlds attacked because we’re jerks or they simply found Tom Cruise ludicrous as an action hero? He’s shorter than Aunt Tillie, for crying out loud. I think it was Cruise rage more than anything else.
Winnie on alien motivations
Four
We witches are not alone.
“How long are you going to stay angry?”
Landon picked an easy pace as we left The Overlook after breakfast the next morning. I wasn’t particularly interested in arguing in front of my family, but we only had oatmeal to eat in the guesthouse. Compared to the eggs and hash browns I knew my mother would be making, there was no competition.
We had stayed through dinner and dessert the previous evening before heading home. I didn’t have my vehicle — I’d left it downtown when Thistle insisted on driving the day before — so I walked back to the guesthouse. Landon had no choice but to drive, but I didn’t miss the whisper of irritation on his face when I opted not to go with him.
I understood my attitude was juvenile and ridiculous. I wasn’t naive enough to believe otherwise. That didn’t mean his refusal to at least give me a hint on where to start looking didn’t sting.
For the first time since we’d moved in together, we weren’t on the best of terms when sleep beckoned. He slept on his side of the bed, I stayed on mine, and I woke up crabbier than when I went to sleep. That agitation carried over through breakfast, which my mother and aunts wisely decided to ignore.
“I don’t know how long I’m going to stay angry,” I admitted as we walked the pathway back to the guesthouse. “I’ve never been in this position before with you, so I don’t have a baseline to work with.”
“And what position is that?”
“The one where you shut me out.”
Landon made an angry sound, like a wounded cat, in the back of his throat. “I am not shutting you out. You’re shutting me out.”
“That is a ridiculous claim.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s untrue.”
I slowed my pace and opened my mouth, ready to argue to the point harsh words would most definitely be said, but I caught myself. Neither of us liked to fight. Er, well, at least we didn’t like big fights. Little ones were okay because they served as a foreplay of sorts, but big fights left us both feeling off.
Rather than engage my immature instincts, I sucked in a steadying breath. “I don’t want this to blow up.”
Landon’s usually expressive eyes were unreadable as they scanned me. “I don’t want it to blow up either, but I can’t give you information. I’ve been ordered not to. I have a job to do.”
“You’ve gone against orders before,” I reminded him. “I believe you went against orders the night we met. You weren’t supposed to go out of your way to worry about me that night because it put your entire undercover operation at risk. You showed up anyway.”
“That was different. I knew you were in real trouble. What I didn’t know at the time was that you were magical and could probably take care of yourself. Even knowing that, I still would’ve come.”
“So why is this situation different?”
“You know why.”
I honestly didn’t. “Not really.”
“Bay, you were in danger of dying that night,” Landon snapped. “I thought you were in real trouble, and even though I didn’t know you that well I didn’t want to risk something happening to you. I couldn’t live with it even then. You’re not in danger here.”
“I’m in danger of losing my mind if you don’t tell me what crashed in that field.”
Instead of reacting out of frustration, Landon smiled. “This right here, this natural curiosity you can’t seem to rein in, this is the thing you got from Aunt Tillie.”
If he was trying to make up, he picked a rotten way to do it. “I am not like Aunt Tillie.”
“Oh, but you are.” He refused to back down. “You all are. None of you are exactly like her — which is a blessing — but you all have a little something from her. Thistle got the biggest dose, but you come in a close second. You think just like her sometimes, and now is an example of that.”
I worked my jaw as I glared at him. Finally, I could think of only one thing to say. “That’s the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Landon snickered as he smoothed my hair and pressed a kiss to my forehead. He was used to having a few minutes of quiet time to talk before we got up every morning. That didn’t happen today, and I was starting to believe that it unsettled both of us – which only furthered my mother’s argument that we were co-dependent.
“I didn’t say it was a bad thing that you had a streak of Aunt Tillie in you,” he pointed out. “For the record, it’s not bad. It is, however, annoying when I can’t give you what you want. We all have orders to follow.”
I wanted to push him. I wanted to wheedle and get my own way. That wasn’t fair to him, though. We were both trying to grow a bit since we’d taken the huge step of sharing a roof. That growth spurt wasn’t always seamless, but it was working fairly well.
“I don’t want you to tell me.” I held my hands up in defeat. “It’s not fair to ask for information you’ve been ordered not to tell.”
“I would tell you if I could. You know that.”
“I do.” I bobbed my head in confirmation. “It’s just hard because you usually share information, even when you’re not supposed to. We’re often a team on stuff like this.”
Landon’s eyes narrowed as he extended a finger. “Don’t do that. You know I don’t like it when you do that.”
I adopted an air of innocence. “Do what?”
“That.” Landon’s forehead wrinkled as he slid a strand of black hair behind his ear. “We are a team. You know that. You’ve helped me so many ways I’ve lost count. I like to think I’ve helped you, too.”
“You have.”
“Those other times were different,” Landon persisted. “We were always working to solve a case that put others at risk. You know, find a murderer and whatnot. No one is at risk here.”
“You don’t know that.
What if that drone is leaking some airborne poison or something? That could hurt people.”
Landon planted his hands on his hips. “Do you really think I would keep you in the dark if poison was leaking into the ecosystem?”
He had a point. I couldn’t back down now, though. “You didn’t deny it was a drone.”
“I can’t confirm or deny anything.”
I stared hard into his eyes, willing him to break. He merely stared back.
“Fine.” My frustration threatened to bubble over into whining, so I had no choice but to give in if I didn’t want to argue. Things were going well between us now and we hadn’t really clashed in weeks. I didn’t want to break the streak. Oh, sure, I knew it would eventually happen because we were fiery people, but I wasn’t in the mood to push it now. “You have to keep things secret. I get it.”
“Do you?” Landon cupped my chin and tilted my head up. Instead of worry flitting through his eyes I found amusement. “Do you want to know what I think?”
“Not particularly.”
“I think you’re going to keep pursuing this no matter what. You’re not the type who can let it go.”
“I can let things go.”
“Not this. You took it as a personal affront when Gibson made you leave the scene yesterday. You don’t like being told what to do.”
“No one likes being told what to do.”
“Fair enough.” Landon surprised me when he planted a quick kiss on my lips before pulling me into a hug. “You’re going to do what you’re going to have to do, and I’ll do what I have to do. I get that.”
Wait ... what was he saying? “You’re not going to try to keep me from investigating this?” I was leery. I couldn’t help it.
“If I thought it would work, I would definitely try,” Landon replied. “But it won’t. We both know that. You can’t stop yourself. Besides that, I don’t want to change you. I like how diligent you are.”
“Diligent makes me sound boring.”
Landon chuckled. “You’re never boring.”
“It’s just ... this is the biggest story that has crossed my desk since I bought the newspaper. I can’t let it go.”
Landon’s expression softened. “I know. But you need to be careful.”
“Because someone is out in the woods hoping to steal government drone secrets?”
Encouraging me was most definitely the last thing on his mind, but Landon smiled all the same. “Because Agent Gibson has a stick up his butt — something I never thought I would say about a superior until I spent so much time with Winchester witches. And he won’t hesitate to arrest you if he catches you snooping around. You need to be careful.”
“Chief Terry won’t arrest me.” I was almost certain of that. “You won’t either.”
“Not by choice,” Landon cautioned. “You know I can’t handle the guilt associated with arresting you.”
I knew it hurt him more than me. “I’ll be careful.”
“Make sure that you do,” Landon pressed. “He can have you taken to a federal facility. He has the authority to do that. I need you to be really careful when you’re sneaking around. In fact, if you know a spell to make yourself invisible ... or to make you look like someone else ... that would be great. You need to hide what you’re doing from the Feds, who will be all over Hemlock Cove the next few days.”
That was interesting. He’d let something slip and didn’t realize it. “You’re a Fed,” I said finally. “Do I have to hide what I’m doing from you?”
“There are different levels of Feds. As for me, I always want to know that you’re safe. We’ll play the rest of it by ear. If you get in trouble, I want to know about it. Nothing changes that.”
I nodded, my mind busy. “Okay. I can work around that.”
“You have no idea the fear you just sent coursing up my spine.” Landon pressed my body tightly against his. “I don’t want to fight about this, Bay. I have a job to do. I understand you have a job to do, too. Just ... be careful.”
I relaxed against him long enough to rest my head against his shoulder. “I’ll be careful.”
“Good.” He kissed my forehead. “Try to keep Aunt Tillie in line, too.”
Surprised, I leaned back. “Aunt Tillie? I’m not bringing her with me.”
“Oh, she’ll end up with you.” Landon looked resigned. “She won’t be able to stay away. Don’t let her carry that shotgun into the woods for the next few days. It’s going to be crawling with agents, and they won’t find it funny if she runs her usual shtick on them.”
Hmm. He let another something slip. Instead of pointing it out, I patted his back. “We’ll be good.”
Landon cocked a dubious eyebrow. “You won’t be good.”
“We’ll be careful,” I corrected.
“That’s the most I can ask for.” Landon took me by surprise and caused me to giggle when he dipped me low and gave me a lavish kiss. “Remember, if you get arrested I won’t be able to do that until we find a way to get you out of jail. It might take days to make that happen.”
“You’ll get me out of jail no matter what, though, right?”
“Yeah.” Landon’s expression softened. “No matter what.”
“That’s all I need to hear.” I put a hand to either side of his face. “It’ll be fine. In fact, it’ll be a blast from the past. It will be like when we first met and were forced to tiptoe around each other.”
“I know you might find this hard to believe, but I didn’t particularly enjoy that part of our relationship.”
“I did. Whenever I saw you, I got butterflies in my stomach. It was ... invigorating.”
Landon’s smile widened. “I think that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“I love you,” I supplied. “That’s nice, too.”
“Even nicer.” Landon smacked a loud kiss on my lips. “I love you, too. Don’t get arrested.”
“I won’t.” I hoped that was true. “I need a ride into town. I left my car at Hypnotic.”
“You’ve got it. I’m starting at the police station today. It works out well.”
AGENT GIBSON STOOD outside the police station when Landon parked. Clove and Thistle’s shop, Hypnotic, was across the street, so I didn’t have far to walk. The look on Gibson’s face when he saw Landon and me together was enough to make me cringe.
“Did he not know we were a couple?”
Landon looked grim as he stood next to his Explorer and frowned. “He knew. I told him after you left. He told me my personal life was none of his concern, but he would have no problem locking you up if it came to that. That’s why I was so adamant you leave. Luckily for us, Mrs. Little showed up a few minutes after and he found her more annoying than you.”
“That was lucky.”
Landon smirked as he moved my hair away from my face. “Be good. Don’t get into too much trouble. Do not let Aunt Tillie call the shots when you add her to your team.”
I had no idea where he was getting that. There was no way I would purposely add Aunt Tillie to my team. “She’s not joining the party.”
“She always joins the party.” Landon moved to give me a kiss, but the way Gibson glowered caused him to take a step back. He looked annoyed more than amused by the man’s weighted glare. “If I’m around at lunch and can get away I’ll bring you something at the newspaper office.”
“I probably won’t be there.”
“I know. But you gave me a key, and I might need to hide.”
“There’s a couch if you need to take a nap.”
“Naps aren’t nearly as much fun if you’re not there to take one with me.”
“Sweet.”
“I’m just killing time because I don’t want to talk to that man.” Landon inclined his chin in Gibson’s direction. “He’s not exactly what I would call fun.”
“Well, you’ll survive.” I patted his arm and started to move across the street. “I’ll see you later. I’ll text you if I’m going to be late gettin
g back to the inn.”
“You do that.” Landon waved as Gibson moved to stand next to him. The man’s voice carried, so I had no trouble hearing his first volley of the morning.
“She’s jaywalking.”
“There’s no one driving down the street,” Landon shot back. “Her cousins’ store is right there, and traffic is non-existent. Why is this an issue?”
“The law is the law.”
I ignored the ridiculous argument and turned my attention to the woman shuffling along the sidewalk in front of Hypnotic. I recognized her right away, although she was hardly what I would consider a family friend.
“Hello, Mrs. Little.”
Margaret Little was something of a family inconvenience. Heck, she was a pain in the keister for the entire town. She’d fought with Aunt Tillie for decades and considered herself in charge of Hemlock Cove. Still, she was a magnet for good gossip sometimes and if she was at the scene of the crash yesterday she might have information.
Instead of greeting me with a sneer or snort, Mrs. Little blandly stared past me. Was she playing a game? Was this her version of ignoring me?
“Mrs. Little, did you hear me?”
Mrs. Little slowly turned to face me, as if some outside power was forcing her to react. When she finally focused, there didn’t seem to be much recognition behind her eyes. “I heard you.” Her voice sounded jumpy. “There’s no reason to yell.”
“I wasn’t yelling.”
“I think I know yelling when I hear it.” That snippy outburst sounded more like the Mrs. Little I knew and loathed.
“I just wanted to ask if you saw anything while you were out at the scene yesterday,” I said. “I couldn’t get close enough to see anything, but I’m hoping to track down information today.”
“‘The scene?’” Mrs. Little furrowed her brow. “What ‘scene’ are you talking about?”
My heart skipped a beat. “The scene of the crash in the woods. Are you saying you don’t remember that happening?” My mind was busy with possibilities. Mrs. Little looked lost, making me wonder if perhaps she’d had a stroke or some sort of spell (and not the witchy kind). I put my hand on her arm. “Are you feeling okay?”
Close Encounters of the Witchy Kind (A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy Book 6) Page 4