by A. M. King
“I see,” Aunt Trixie said, sounding unconvinced. She cast a deleterious glare at Jonathan.
Febe watched as Jonathan flinched.
“Well, it’s up to you if you want to devour everything he’s feeding you.”
“I’m not devouring everything, Auntie. I’m just saying.”
“Okay, fine. I’m going to find your Aunt Eartha and see what she’s up to.”
“Please don’t make a scene, Auntie.”
“I won’t. The last thing I would want to do would be to compromise our magical activities in the world. Not everyone knows or believes we exist. And if they found out, it could be the end of our line.”
Febe flinched.
Her mind drifted back to that chilling note she found on the porch. The threat to the Summer family line. Her mother was already dead. She couldn’t bear anything happening to any more family members—or to herself.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm her escalating heartbeat. She had to believe everything would be all right. Still, she wished she could have revealed who sent the note. Who could she trust?
“I know,” Febe said, a sinking feeling entering her stomach.
“See you later. Don’t forget to watch your back,” Aunt Trixie said.
She cast another glare at Jonathan’s shadow—the shadow of him that she saw.
After she left the room, Febe turned to Jonathan. “I can’t believe you’ve gotten me dragged into this. I came to Blackshore Bay to escape your drama.”
He sighed and seemed far more relaxed than when Aunt Trixie was in the room.
“I’m sorry, Febe.” His voice was low. “But as I said before, you’re the only one who can help me so I can, you know, crossover. Thanks by the way.”
“Fine. I didn’t say I was going to help you.”
“I guess you’ll have no choice but to find out who killed me now,” Jonathan said with a wide grin. “You could be my prime suspect. You’ll need to clear your own name. Welcome partner.”
Welcome? Partner?
And just when she thought she was done with Jonathan.
Chapter 4
An hour later, Febe tried to push the events from earlier away as the café got busy. The place was alive now with scores of customers and the kitchen had its full share of staff. She stood in the kitchen filling in for Chet, the short-order chef as he stepped out to take an emergency call.
She could not believe Jonathan was back in her life. Again. She was so through with him. She’d vowed to make a fresh new start and guard her heart from the male species.
Grrh.
She would not let this get to her. She would help him as best as she could and make sure she did not become a prime suspect. Like her life needed that added complication. She was already coming to terms with her magical bloodline.
She carefully poured the pancake batter on the grill. She wanted to make sure it was nice and fluffy. The pancakes were for Mrs. Pin, one of the café’s oldest customers.
“I’ll take it from here, Febe. Thanks,” the chef said when he washed his hands in the sink and returned to his station.. One of the things she liked about being in a family-run small business was that it gave her a chance to sample working in every area of the facility. It was a change from the pencil-pushing office politics job she had in the city. There was something relaxing about working in a small café making gourmet tasty treats for customers who knew you by name. Her mom had taken her there when she was much younger. It gave her fond memories of simpler times.
“No worries, Chet.” She told him before turning over the pancake with the lifter. She then wiped her hands on her apron and went to the sink to wash her hands.
Febe adjusted her apron and went back out through the swinging kitchen doors to see if she could help out at the cash register or take orders. The place was busy, customers chatting amongst themselves, music playing softly over the speakers—thanks to a little magic.
Just then, the door chime sounded and the handsome Detective Trey Heart walked in to the café. Febe’s heart leaped in her chest. He sported a sexy five o’clock shadow. She couldn’t wait to speak to him again.
“Are you all right?” she asked him when he got to the counter.
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his head. “Not enough sleep though.”
“Well, you know what they say about sleep. You’ve got to keep yourself rested if you want to last long.”
“Yeah, I know. Tell me about it. It’s not that easy to do when you’re short staffed and crime never takes a break.”
“In this small town?”
“You’d be surprised, Febe.” He shook his head. “Can I get the full breakfast?”
“Sure thing. How would you like your eggs? Over easy, scrambled or...hard.”
Hard? Why did she feel heat climb inside her? She thought of what her Aunt Vanity teased her about the other day, saying that Trey and she should get together.
Oh, goodness. She really needed to get a life and get those naughty thoughts out of her head. There was this chemistry she felt between them, but then again, maybe it was all in her overactive imagination.
Please don’t say hard. Please don’t say hard.
“Nice and hard as usual,” he said.
Crap.
She was blushing now. She wondered if he could see the red on her cheeks.
Gosh, she hoped not. That would be so embarrassing. Especially in a public place. Oh, why did he have to have that kind of effect on her?
“Actually, no I’ll have them scrambled this morning,” he said changing his mind. As if he heard what Febe was thinking. “Thanks.”
Oh dear.
Why did he change his mind so suddenly? Febe wondered if she’d inadvertently used wish-craft. Sometimes when she really wished for something, it would come true, even if it seemed impossible at first.
Her aunt once told her that some witches had that ability. It’s a skill that needed to be mastered, though, and wasn’t reliable as it would only work sporadically—not to mention it could backfire if one wasn’t careful what one wished for.
That was why Febe made it a point to try to keep positive thoughts in her head as much as possible. Hence the saying, “Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it—and regret it.”
“The big breakfast, eggs scrambled, please,” Febe called out to the back.
“Sure thing,” the chef said. She heard the sound of eggs from another order frying on the grill and smelled pancakes . The kitchen was busy back there.
“So what’s new?” Febe then turned to Trey.
“Oh, nothing and everything. We’ve been getting a rash of pedestrian collisions lately.”
“Pedestrian collisions?”
“Yep. There have been a few pedestrian fatalities lately. Distraction seems to be the key factor.”
“Oh, no. Don’t tell me it’s distracted drivers.”
“Yes and no.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s not as bad as in the city but too many people are staring at their smartphones right now and not focusing on what they’re doing when crossing the roads.”
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes. I always tell people to be careful. Not just behind the wheel but on the road, walking. Always be aware of your surroundings.” He shook his head and took a drink of his coffee. He looked bothered by the situation. And who could blame him?
“We’ve been warning people not to stare into their smartphones when crossing the street or walking on the sidewalks. They need to pay attention to where they’re going and what they’re doing. Distracted walking, we call it.”
“I never thought this would be happening in a small town. I know we get a lot of that in the big cities.”
“Well, gadgets are popular these days, even in the small towns. As my old man would say, people should be spending more time with each other.”
“They do. Through social media,” Febe said with a grin.
He couldn’
t help but grin too. “True. So true. It’s still not too bad around here. There’re far more incidents in the big cities.”
“You’ve got that right,” she said.
That’s why she loved the small town. It was a nice change of pace. Nature all around. Not just steel buildings. She could actually hear the birds chirping and the sound of the water lapping against the shoreline. The sun over the horizon looked glorious from there. There were lots of trees and greenery in the village. It was a nice change indeed.
Just then another customer sat beside Trey on the other bar stool. “Hey Trey, good game yesterday—we sure had fun at the bar and grill to celebrate that victory.”
“Yeah, it sure was.”
“Game?” Febe couldn’t help but overhear.
“Yeah, the little leagues of Blackshore Bay. Baseball.”
“I had no idea you coached the little leagues. Good for you, Trey.” How sweet was that?
“Hey, it’s nothing,” Trey said.
“Nothing?” The guy beside him said. “You know he still takes his girlfriend’s son.”
“Your...your girlfriend?” Febe swallowed hard. Her heart sank.
It was true then that all the good ones were taken.
“My ex-girlfriend,” he emphasized the word “ex” to the guy beside him. “We broke up last year, remember?” His expression was serious and his soft tone had an air of finality to it.
“Yeah, right of course. Well, that’s still nice of you to take care of her son.”
“I’m just keeping my promise to him. He’s a good kid. I said for as long as he needed I’d take him to his practice. His mom doesn’t have the time and she admits she’s not a fan of the sport.”
“Good thing you love the sport. The kid loves the game.” The man then turned to face Febe. “The kid has cerebral palsy, you know,” the man told Febe.
“Aww, he does?” Febe’s heart squeezed in her chest. “That’s very good of you, Trey, to keep supporting him in his extracurricular activities,” she said, and she really meant it.
What a sweet guy to take time out of his hectic schedule to help the son of his ex who happened to have a disability. Not all guys were like that. Trey really had a heart of gold. His ex was lucky.
Of course, it helped that Trey was a respectable officer of the law in the community and could be trusted. She was sure that most women would not have allowed their ex near their son.
Trey flushed. “You know it’s no big deal. It’s a lot of fun.”
“Well, you have a lot of heart, Trey,” Febe said.
“I love baseball. I really don’t mind sharing it with people I care about.”
She wondered if he still cared about his ex.
Not that it was any of her business. But then again he seemed adamant they were over when his friend referred to her as Trey’s girlfriend. Febe was willing to bet that the ex really missed Trey.
Febe heard a ding and Trey’s breakfast order was sitting on the counter behind her from the kitchen chef who’d just placed it there.
“Your breakfast is ready, Trey. Here it is. Scrambled eggs and toast with three hash browns and fluffy pancakes.”
She placed the tray in front of him.
“Thanks, Febe.”
“Hey, no worries.”
“You like baseball?” he asked casually as he picked up his fork.
“Sure. Who doesn’t?”
“Want to go to a game?”
Febe’s heart leaped in her chest. Was this hot detective with a heart of gold asking her out?
Chapter 5
“I would love to go with you,” Febe told Trey.
She could see a hint of color in his cheeks. “Great. There’s a game next week.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Febe didn’t know what else to say right then. There was an awkward pause between them.
Just then Jonathan popped into her mind.
“You know, you were saying that you were at a party last night.”
“Well, not exactly. We won the game and took the teams out for lunch.”
“The teams? You mean you took the winning team and the losing team?”
“Sort of. Only we told the kids there are no real winners and losers. It’s how they play the game.”
“Aww. That’s so sweet.”
“We just want them to all feel good about themselves. Anyway, after we took the kids home, the coaches and all the adults decided to celebrate.”
“So the winning team had their drinks bought by the losing team.” She winked.
“You could say that.” He grinned. “I was supposed to be off yesterday as I’d just gotten off a long stretch of six straight days of 12-hour shifts, or more like 16-hour shifts.”
“Trey, that’s too much.”
He shrugged. “What can we do? We’re short.”
“Yes, but you don’t want your life to be short too.”
He grinned again. “True. Anyway, I filled in a four-hour short shift and then came back to the bar and grill. That’s when we saw the cell phone.”
“Oh, no.” She swallowed hard. She knew it was Jonathan’s phone they’d found.
“Looks as if it had been thrown quite a distance.”
Something didn’t feel right to Febe. That cell phone. What was it about that cell phone? Jonathan was always on his cell phone, staring at the screen, playing one of his games or swiping through text messages. She remembered having a conversation with him while they were walking downtown in Toronto on the sidewalk and he kept bumping into people, not paying attention to what he was doing or where he was going. She would be speaking with him and he had the gift of being able to tune her out without her knowing it while chuckling occasionally to a joke or funny video someone sent to him. He would often tell her, “Talk, I’m listening,” which really wasn’t the case. Had Jonathan been distracted and didn’t know what he was doing?
“Trey, I have a feeling about this.” She didn’t want to get into the fact that her ex, Jonathan’s ghost was paying her a visit. That would be too weird on so many levels.
“About what?” Trey said to her, his gaze capturing hers. She felt her heart turn over in her chest. Gosh, he had the most gorgeous pair of eyes she’d ever seen on a man.
Okay, focus, Febe. Focus. You need to get your ex out of your life for good by helping him find out who took his life. Not to mention, she was bothered by the fact that it could be possible, just possible that he was a victim of a hit and run. In that case, that would be horrible and the vehicular homicide suspect should be brought to justice.
“About that cell phone. The one that belonged to my ex, apparently.”
“Oh, yes, my uncle told me you knew him.”
“Is it possible I could see that phone?”
Trey gave Febe a strange look.
“I’m afraid we can’t do that, Febe.”
Of course not, the phone could be evidence.
“We will eventually return the phone to its owner or...” Trey continued.
“Or if he’s deceased, then his estate or next of kin,” she finished his sentence for him.
“Why do you want to see it?”
What she really wanted to do was to try magic spell number #514 in The Witches Guide to Magical Spells by Inerva Hagspeed that included theory and a companion package with over 1,000 magical spells ranging from minor to major, lasting anywhere from five seconds to five minutes in effectiveness and duration.
She was really having a blast going through the parchment pages of that book. It was an incredible resource for training witches to obtain their full license to practice magic, not to mention it gave a useful practice component in enhancing one’s natural magical abilities. Since, as she’d learned from Madame Techer, her teacher, that most beings have a trace of magic anyway, but witches held a greater amount of magic in their blood.
She was hoping to reveal the phone’s history through a reveal or elaborate spell.
“You and the department told me you were gr
ateful for my assistance recently in finding the true killer of Darla Gosnik, the tabloid reporter, remember?”
“Yes, we’re very thankful.”
“Well, I think I can help you find out how the cell phone ended up on the roadside.”
He looked dubiously at her for a moment. He seemed to hesitate. “You know it’s dangerous to get involved in police matters, Febe. You should really leave all the detective work to the cops. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”
Aww. Was he really thinking about her that way? Wait a minute. He was probably just trying to get her out of his hair.
“Please. I really have a hunch about this.”
She was well aware that the police station often used psychics part time in search of missing victims, unaware of course that most psychics were witches undercover. Madam Techer had told her once that witches often were employed in various service industries helping humans without revealing their magic and their true backgrounds.
Febe was eager to be of service. Though she wasn’t fully licensed yet, this was a bit of an emergency. She’d read somewhere during her studies that using magic to help humans in an emergency situation was acceptable, as long as said magic wasn’t exposed to humans.
In other words, she had to be extra cautious about how to go about doing this. She couldn’t let them on to her abilities. The last thing she’d want to do was to jeopardize her family further. Especially now since there was the evil hunter who wanted to destroy them all.
He sighed deeply and glanced down at his watch. “Fine then. I have to be heading out on a call and I’ll be working a shift tomorrow, but I’ll call the sergeant and let him know to expect you in the next twenty-four hours. That’s all I can do. I don’t know if he’ll let you actually see the phone.”
“Okay, fine. I saw him earlier today and I’m sure he would love to ask me more questions.” There was a hint of sarcasm to her tone but she hoped he wouldn’t notice. She really didn’t like the way his uncle Will looked suspiciously at her this morning. She was hoping Trey could have taken her to the station, but this was better than nothing. After all, she needed to find out who killed Jonathan so that he could get out of her hair and move on—and so that she could take a heartless killer off the street.