Westerham Witches and a Venetian Vendetta

by Dionne Lister

  “Great idea.” Mum smiled. “Where do you want us to stand?”

  I shrugged. “Halfway between me and the bar. We can take photos in the bar later.” I winked, and Mum and Imani laughed.

  Imani tapped her nose with her index finger. “I’m onto you, lovie.”

  “What can I say? Those cocktails are to die for.” Argh, why did I have to use that expression? I did not want to die for any reason, let alone for a cocktail. Way to remind myself about stressful stuff. I had a real knack for saying the wrong thing, even if I was just thinking to myself. Sheesh. Please let Angelica be okay.

  Mum and Imani placed themselves further down the hallway and faced me, each with an arm around the back of the other. I lifted my phone and opened myself up to my internal magic and my talent. In my mind, I said, Show me Mr Dal Lago the last time he was here. Where did he go straight from this hallway? To Mum and Imani, I said, “Smile.”

  The lights dimmed in my screen, the hallway lit only by a couple of wall sconces. Mr Dal Lago’s back was to me, at the far end of the hall, at the door next to the bar area entry—the office. His hand was on the doorknob, and he was by himself. I snapped a shot of him, then closed off my magic and snapped a pic of Mum and Imani—I might as well have some nice snaps too. “Lovely! Just what I wanted. Let’s get a drink.” We were spending so much time in the bar, the bartender probably thought we were alcoholics.

  I ordered the drinks and took note of the bartender’s magic as he created them in a jiffy. Hmm, he was a bit more powerful than Mrs D, but not by much. He likely wasn’t our guy, unless he’d teamed up with her and they’d somehow managed it together. He magicked the drinks onto a tray and grinned. “Ciao, beautiful. Are you enjoying your stay?”

  Oh, he was a charmer, even after telling me not to touch him earlier. Maybe he was desperate for a tip. Great. “Ah, yes, thank you. Venice is beautiful.”

  “Just like you.” He leaned one elbow on the bar and waggled his eyebrows. “Want me to show you around later? I can show you all the pleasures of… Venice.” Wow, what a proposition. How was I ever going to resist?

  “Um, thank you, but no. I’m here with my fiancée. I held up my hand and showed him my ring, not that that was probably a deterrent for someone who was having an affair with a married woman and looking for more on the side.

  He shrugged. “If you change your mind, you know where I am. I’m Vince, by the way.”

  I answered, “Hi, Vince,” to be polite. Then I gave him an “I don’t think so” smile and took the drinks to where Mum and Imani were sitting. I made a BOS, handed out the drinks, and sat. “Oh my God. What a sleazebag.”

  Imani smirked. “I thought it looked like he was hitting on you. What a charmer.”

  “Yeah, who in their right mind would pick Will over him?” I rolled my eyes.

  “You could do worse.” Mum cocked her head to the side while she regarded him. “Nice brown eyes, thick, dark hair, high cheekbones.”

  “He’s not much taller than me, and he has no class. He thinks he’s all that, which is really annoying. Maybe if you’re into one-night stands and braggers it’d be fine, but not me. All I can think is ew. And I can’t believe you’re checking him out.”

  Mum laughed. “I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole. I was just making a point that he wasn’t ugly. Besides, I have to get into the spirit of what I’m going to do.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’ve decided that I’ll butter this one up—we already know he likes older women. How old do you think he is?” Mum asked.

  Imani checked him out. “Twenty-seven, tops. And Mrs D must be at least fifty.”

  “So he’d totally go you, Mum.” I laughed. “But then, he just tried to hit on me, so he’s probably into women whatever their age. So what’s the new plan?”

  Mum stood. “I’m going to pump him for information… um, not pump, pump, but you know what I mean.”

  My mouth dropped open. She wasn’t usually crude, at least not the parent I remembered, but then again, I was a lot older now. Maybe I just missed a lot of references when I was younger, or she didn’t speak like that in front of me because I was only young? “Mum!”

  Imani laughed. “Nice one, Katerina.”

  “So, as I was saying, I’ll flirt with him, keep him distracted, and see what I can find out about Mrs D and her relationship with Mr D. Imani can keep that boy at the front desk occupied, and you can slip into the office. Easy-peasy.”

  They had the easy jobs. “Yeah, super-duper easy-peasy.” Sneaking around wasn’t my favourite thing to do. Not only did I hate doing the wrong thing, I was paranoid about getting caught. I needed to have a plan in case I did. Maybe I’d just say I was lost? Gah, why couldn’t my brain come up with something better? I tapped my thigh. “None of us are meant to be alone though.”

  Imani shrugged. “Don’t worry, Lily. We’re all still in the hotel, and we need to get this done quickly. If anything happens, just scream—that goes for you too, Katerina. If Will says anything later, I’ll take the heat.” Oh, well. If she was happy to take the blame, who was I to stop her? And it wasn’t like we were going to be out of hearing distance of each other.

  “Okay. Now, wish me luck.” Mum smiled, undid the top two buttons of her summery shirt, and turned. She sauntered—sauntered!—to the bar. Who was this woman, and what had she done with my mother? When she got there, she leaned over the bar, giving him a look down her top.

  Imani grinned. “Your mum’s got some moves. Look at her work it.”

  “Mmmhmm, just look. I wish I didn’t have to.” I stood. “Come on. Let’s get this over and done with. I think you should go out and distract that guy first. Get him to look towards the front doors, and I’ll slip into that room. If you feel my magic because I have to unlock the door, do something with your magic, too, so he doesn’t realise what I’m doing.”

  “Sounds good. Give me a minute, then come out.”

  She walked fast, and I lagged behind, giving her time to get the job done. Once I reached the doors, I glanced down the hallway. Impressive. Imani was a fast worker. She had the young man’s attention. My heart raced as I left the bar area and moved to the right and the office door. I took my phone out, ready to take a photo, and tried turning the handle with the other hand. It was unlocked! It must be my lucky day.

  As I opened the door, my whole body tensed, waiting for someone to call out and ask me what the hell I was doing. But the shout never came, and I slid into the room and closed the door quietly behind me.

  The office was typical of any office anywhere, except for the pretty terrazzo floors, and Venetian-glass chandelier hanging in the centre of the room. There were two boring timber desks, each with a black office chair and one guest chair in front of one of the tables. One table was tidy and organised, the other had an array of paper on its surface and two dirty coffee cups.

  The urge to check out what was on the tables was strong, but I needed to take the photo first. Maybe Agent Tondato would get a search warrant once they’d spoken to Mrs Dal Lago.

  I lifted my phone. “Show me Mr Dal Lago the last time he was here.”

  The windowless room was lit as it was right now—by the chandelier in the middle of the ceiling. He stood face to face with his wife. She had her hands on her hips as she looked up at him, an annoyed expression twisting her face. His face was red, his eyes shooting daggers. Seemed he was angry. I took a photo of them from the side, capturing both expressions, then I took one of him from the front and one of her. I panned the phone around the room, making sure they’d been alone. Yep.

  I spun around and looked at the door. Phew. I hadn’t been discovered yet. Time to go since I’d gotten what I’d come here for. But where had he gone after this? I cocked my head to the side. A brown, four-drawer-tall filing cabinet sat against the far wall in front of a door. Interesting. I pointed my phone at it.

  Voices sounded outside. The knob on the door behind me rattled. Crap.

  I turned
and looked around the room. To hide or not to hide? Damn. I could make excuses about being here accidentally… maybe. But hiding? There was no way to explain that. Damn it. As the door opened, I did the only thing I could think of and made a doorway around myself.

  I sucked in quick breaths as I stepped out into Angelica’s reception room. I planted my feet and bent at the waist, putting both hands on my thighs. That had been a close call. Whoever had opened that door would surely know that someone had just cast a spell in there. Crap, crap, crap, crap.

  I still had my phone in my hand, and I texted Imani to tell her where I was. She would’ve seen whoever it was coming to the door. Maybe her voice was the one I heard, subtly warning me and distracting whoever was about to come in.

  If I travelled back to the hotel now, it might be too obvious when I arrived in the reception room. I was stuck here for a while as I didn’t have a key to get in. Luckily, there was a chair in here. I sat and called Mum. “Hey, Mum.”

  “Lily, why are you calling me?”

  “Sorry to interrupt your flirt session, but can you come to Angelica’s and bring the key. I’ll explain later. I think I need to stay here for an hour or so. Maybe tell Imani where you’re going.”

  She sounded frustrated. “Fine. Can you wait ten minutes? I’ll have to get Imani to bring me, or maybe I’ll give her the key.”

  I slapped my head. “Oh, yeah. I forgot. Sorry. I’ll wait here for Imani while you enjoy your date.” Yikes. My mother had no magic and couldn’t travel. What a stupid thing to ask her to do. Idiot, Lily. “And be careful.”

  “Thanks, sweetie.” She hung up, her voice devoid of remorse. I shook my head and smiled. We were just teasing each other. At least I hoped that’s what we were doing. I sat up straight. She wouldn’t be flirting with him for real, would she? No, don’t be silly, Lily. And what if she was? It was none of my business. My father had been dead for a long time. Talk about depressing. My mother could fraternise with whoever she wanted. I didn’t have to like it though.

  I shook my head and hit the side of it with my palm. Snap out of it. Your mother deserves all the happiness in the world, and you will support her. Too right I would… or at least I’d try. And how was Will getting along? Were he and Beren learning anything about Mrs Dal Lago? Had Sarah managed to make it to the interview? Was Angelica okay? My brain was speeding along on a rollercoaster of disaster.

  Squirrels. Think of squirrels.

  I shut my eyes and thought about squirrels: squirrels scurrying, squirrels eating, squirrels standing on their hind legs, boofy tails twitching as they begged for food. After a while, I opened my eyes and looked at my phone. Only another five minutes and she should be here. It was weird that only six minutes ago, I’d been in Venice, and now I was in Westerham. My life was often like the Twilight Zone. It weirded me out, even though I’d been living this life for over a year. Would I ever truly get used to it?

  Wanting to deplete my nervous energy, I leaned forward, dropped to the floor, and did some push-ups. Three sets of fifteen should do it, and if Imani wasn’t here when I’d finished, I could do some sit-ups. I was in the middle of those sit-ups when Imani came through her portal. She stepped on my ankle, flew forward, and hit the wall palms first. Slap.

  Sharp pain shot from my ankle up my shin. “Ow!” Oops. I hadn’t thought that through.

  She spun around and looked down at me as I clutched my throbbing ankle. “What. The. Hell. Are you daft?”

  I looked up at her and grimaced. “Ah, yeah. Apparently I am. I forgot you’d need some room. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, no thanks to you. I could’ve broken my nose.” She folded her arms. “What in the dickens were you doing anyway?”

  I lurched to my feet, gently testing my weight on the sore side. It was going to be okay. Other than slight aching, no real damage had been done. I supposed if it had, Beren would be able to fix it today anyway, but still. When would I stop doing stupid things? “Sit-ups. Burning my nervous energy. You know I don’t do waiting very well.”

  She shook her head. “No, you don’t.”

  “So, what happened? As soon as I heard the voices outside and the doorknob, I was out of there. Who was it?”

  “That Isabella woman. She came out of the door from the restaurant, and she was in a hurry. I managed to call out to her, but she wasn’t stopping for anything. I think she knew someone was in there.”

  I swallowed. “Crap. There must’ve been some kind of alert system or security camera in there. Why the hell didn’t I check that first? There’s no way I can show my face there now. Is there any way we can find out if it’s a camera or something else?”

  “I’m waiting for Will to call me with the outcome of the interview. If we’re lucky, they’ll come back with a warrant, and I can check that room out. If it wasn’t a camera, you’ll be safe to return. If not….”

  I sighed. My first holiday in ages, and now I was going to be banned. Argh! Why did this stuff always happen to me? “I’ll just have to find somewhere else to stay. But you need me to look in other rooms.”

  “Maybe. With a bit of luck, we can dig up some more evidence later today. Who knows? We might get enough to figure out where Angelica is.”

  “Actually, you should see this. She could be on-site for all we know.” I pulled out my phone and brought up the photos I’d taken. I handed it to Imani. “See that door. I wonder where it leads.”

  “Hmm, interesting. But to be fair, there are probably dozens of rooms we haven’t seen. They could’ve put her in a room in the attic.” She handed my phone back and slid hers out of her pocket. “I’m going to call B.” She dialled and put the phone on speaker.

  He answered quietly. “Hey, Im. Just a sec.” There was the sound of a chair scraping on concrete, and voices in the background. After a bit, he spoke again, his voice not full volume, but louder than before. “We’re still interviewing the suspect. What’s up?”

  “Assuming you end up with probable cause, can you make sure you get a search warrant for the whole building? Lil and I are thinking that Angelica might be somewhere in the hotel.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Well, we have no other leads right now, so that’s where we want to start.”

  “Makes sense. Okay. I’ll see what I can do. She’s still denying having anything to do with it, but we’ve matched her magic signature with one of the three we found on him, and he had a life insurance policy of a hundred thousand euros.”

  “Oh, wow about the magic signature, not so much about the amount of the insurance. It’s not even enough to pay back Lorenzo.” Yes, it was Imani’s conversation, but I couldn’t help it.

  “Hey, Lily. Yes, on both counts. Anyway, was there anything else? I don’t want to miss anything.”

  Imani shook her head. “No. That’s it. Oh, Lily almost got busted in the hotel office today. We need to know whether there are video cameras in there or not. If there are, there’s no way she can come back, and Will might get funny looks from the old lady who works there.”

  “You talking about Isabella?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, noted. I’ll get back to you when I know something. Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  I sighed.

  “What’s up?”

  “I just thought of something. If Mrs D had help, and whoever it is knows she’s being questioned, they might move Angelica if she is there. We need to go back and search now.”

  “Dammit. You’re right. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.” She jammed her teeth together and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She opened them and blew out a big breath. “I think being on holiday has dulled my edges.”

  “So how are we going to do this without getting arrested?”

  “Let me think.” She sat in the chair, leaned back, and got comfortable, then stared at the wall.

  Hmm, were the squirrels outside, just a few feet away right now? Had Imani brought the key? Maybe I could go and have a
little hangout with them? If only I could understand squirrel speak—they might be able to help us sort this out. I slapped my hands together. That was it! “Hey, Cinnamon and Bagel! You could take them to the hotel, and they could get into the rooms without anyone noticing.”

  She quickly sat up straight. “You’re a genius!” She stood. “Next stop, your brother’s place.”

  I dialled James’s number. “Hey, boofhead.”

  “Hello to you too. What’s up? Any news on Angelica?”

  “Um, things aren’t going too well. We haven‘t found her yet. It’s actually why I’m calling. I need Millicent and the rats.”

  “Dare I ask why?”

  “We think they might be hiding her in the hotel, so we need to look in every room. We don’t actually know she’s there, but just in case. And the rats are the perfect small creatures to do that without alerting anyone.”

  “Okay. I’ll let Mill know—she’s working a case out in the field today.”

  “This is urgent. We were hoping to go to your place and grab the rats and Millicent right now. We only have about an hour, maybe less before they potentially move her.”

  “Struth, Lily. You don’t make things easy.”

  “It’s not my fault. Jeez.”

  “I know. Sorry. Anyway, let me go, and I’ll get onto Mill ASAP. If I haven’t heard back from her in five, I’ll let you know. Just wait in my reception room.”

  “Okay, thanks. Bye.” I explained everything to Imani.

  “Fingers crossed, then, love.”

  “Yep. Let’s go.”

  We made our doorways and stepped into James’s reception room. I knocked on the door on the off-chance Millicent had ducked home for lunch or to use the toilet. There was nothing worse than having to go in a public toilet. A dog barked and scratched on the other side of the door. “Hey, buddy. It’s just Lily.”

  Imani sat on the love seat. “Looks like she’s not home. Do her dogs know how to open the door?”

  “I thought I’d try… just in case, and no, they don’t.”

  “Miss Impatient. Now we have to listen to that.” The dog kept barking, and another one joined him. Now both my brother’s dogs were in on it.