Witch Way to Murder

by Shirley Damsgaard

  “Nina, can I help you?”

  “Umm, umm.” Nina stared at the floor, not looking at me. “There’s a new book out on self-esteem. Darci remembers a new self-esteem book coming in, but we can’t find it.”

  “Do you know the name of the author?”

  “No.”

  “What about the title?”

  “No,” Nina said, shifting her eyes to me and blinking rapidly. “But it was reviewed in the Des Moines Sunday Register. I’d know the title if I saw it.”

  “I’ll have to look at the new listings on the computer in my office. Why don’t you see if there’s another book you might like while I check,” I said, and headed for the stairs leading down to my office.

  Darci took a step to follow me. “Ophelia, Rick—”

  “Not now, Darci,” I said, waving her off. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  I hurried down the stairs toward my office in the corner of the basement. Maybe after I found the book for Nina, I could hide out down there for the rest of the day. When I rounded the children’s section, I saw the door to my office open. I heard a voice coming from my office.

  “People I’ve met so far? Nice, friendly.”

  I stopped to listen. It was Rick. He was using my phone.

  “No, I haven’t made contact yet.”

  He paused.

  “That’s not good. It could mean trouble if they find out I’m here.”

  Who was he talking to?

  “I’ve tried to blend in, and I don’t think I’ve aroused any suspicion.”

  Ha. He’d aroused mine.

  “No, I’ll be careful.”

  Why did he need to be careful?

  “Who? The librarian?”

  Me? Why was he talking about me? I edged closer to the door.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think so. She’s definitely smart enough.”

  Well, that was a boost to my ego.

  “Yeah, but she isn’t the type.” Rick paused, listening to the other voice.

  “Oh, she’s sort of prissy, real tight-lipped. Likes to boss people around.”

  Prissy? Tight-lipped, huh? I guess the old adage might be true: People who eavesdrop seldom hear good of themselves.

  Rick laughed. “Not her. Nothing about her is typical. I’ve never met anyone quite like her. And I can’t decide how much she knows. What?” He stopped talking for a beat. “Nope, she won’t go.” He stopped again. “Hey, I tried, but it didn’t work.”

  If I took another step, would I be close enough to see him? Would he be able to see me? I craned my neck and peered at the door while I tried to decide if I could get closer.

  “She’s kind of pretty, but you have to get past the prickly personality.”

  Pretty was nice, but prickly? I’d show him prickly.

  “Right. She’s a loner—doesn’t seem to have many friends. There’s definitely something going on with her. It’s like she’s afraid of something. It may take a while, but I’ll figure it out.”

  I’d heard enough. I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking. What could I do? March in there, demand to know what he was doing in my office? If I did, he’d know I’d been listening. No, I’d be sneaky, just like him. One problem: I’m no better at being sneaky than I am at lying.

  “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay. As soon as I get what I need, I’m out of here. You just take care of things on your end.” Rick paused. “Okay, ’bye.”

  Damn, any minute now he’d walk out the door and see me. I had to do something. I’d run back to the stairs and pretend to be coming down them. Unfortunately, my foot caught the book display. The books fell like dominoes, each one thumping into the next. The sound bounced off the basement walls. A second later Rick walked out of my office.

  “Rick, I didn’t know you were down here,” I said, bending down to pick up the fallen books.

  He walked toward me, wearing his boyish grin.

  “Hi, Ophelia.” He motioned toward the office. “Darci said it would be okay to use your phone. I had to check my voice mail and my cell phone’s dead. I hope you don’t mind.”

  Voice mail, my Aunt Fanny. You don’t talk back to voice mail. While I picked up the books, I tried to gather my thoughts. Think, Ophelia, think. Try to be charming. When I stood, I felt the envelope in my pocket.

  “I don’t mind,” I said, plastering a fake smile on my face. “And, Rick, thank you so much for the tickets. It was so very sweet of you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said, looking perplexed.

  “How are you this morning?” I asked, my voice overflowing with concern.

  “Ah…fine. And you?” He eyed me suspiciously.

  “Oh. Fine, fine,” I said, while my mind scrambled for ways to charm him. Too bad charm isn’t one of my skills. What was the plan? Oh yeah, get him to talk about his job. “Rick, I wanted to ask you—”

  “By the way, nice sunglasses. Rough night out on the town last night?” he said, interrupting me.

  “Oh, whatever,” I replied, slamming the books on the table. Well, so much for the plan.

  Rick laughed. “Ha. I knew it wouldn’t last. Trying to be nice was killing you.”

  “I was being nice,” I snapped. “It’s all your fault if I failed. All you want to do is give me a hard time.”

  “My my, rather cross this morning, aren’t we?”

  “No. We aren’t cross this morning, we just aren’t in the mood for bullshit.” The situation was impossible—I couldn’t be in his company for more than a minute without his teasing getting to me. I gave up and turned to leave.

  “Wait, I’m sorry. I always irritate you, don’t I? I don’t mean to. Can we start this conversation over?”

  I paused, turning around. If I left, I wouldn’t learn anything. “Okay, you go first.”

  He smiled again.

  “Good morning, Ophelia. Thank you so much for allowing me to use your phone,” he said politely. “You look lovely this morning—with your sunglasses and all that makeup. Going for the circus look?”

  “That’s it. It’s impossible to have a civil conversation with you. You always have some smart remark. And why do you keep popping up everywhere? Why can’t you just go away and leave me alone?”

  “I don’t want to go away. Believe it or not, Ophelia Jensen, I like you. Teasing you is the most fun I’ve had since I got here.”

  “Well, go someplace else for your fun. I don’t exist for your amusement.”

  Rick stepped closer.

  “You know when you get mad, you’re very pretty?”

  “Oh brother, what a line,” I said, putting a hand on my hip. “Is that the best you can do?”

  He took a half step. “Why don’t you have dinner with me tonight and find out?”

  The sarcastic reply died on my lips when I looked over and saw Darci and Nina at the bottom of the basement steps. Nina’s mouth hung open and her pale blue eyes stared at my face without blinking. She reminded me of a cornered rabbit.

  Rick stood inches away from me, smiling. My rudeness had no effect on him at all, and his confidence irritated me. I tried to stifle my reaction but failed. My control was slipping. I had to get away from him before I escalated to anger.

  “No, I won’t have dinner with you tonight,” I said through clenched teeth.

  I knew Nina and Darci were soaking in every word. This would be all over town before lunch. I had to end this before it got worse.

  “I have work to do. If you need anything else, Darci can help you.”

  I headed for the stairs, but before I could move, Rick’s hand closed over mine. The heat from his palm seemed to burn my skin. I couldn’t bear it. The control I’d struggled to maintain slipped.

  “Get away from me and leave me alone,” I said, and twisted away from him. “I’ve made it very clear I want nothing to do with you. I think you’re the most arrogant, self-absorbed jerk it has ever been my misfortune to meet. And, I’m tired of all your questions, all your jokes. Now, just go away.”<
br />
  Even as the words rushed out of my mouth, I knew I was overreacting again. But I couldn’t stop them. Fear, worry, and mistrust ricocheted around in my brain, clouding my common sense.

  I watched Rick’s smile drop, driven away by my outburst. Nina and Darci were quiet, their eyes wide and their lips pressed in tight lines. The room was deadly silent, and my dignity lay shattered at my feet. I had to leave. They were all staring at me, and I couldn’t stand it, their faces full of pity. Poor Ophelia, she’s lost it again.

  I pushed past Nina and Darci and ran up the stairs.

  Ten

  The car tires sprayed gravel when I whipped into Abby’s driveway. I’d made up my mind. We were both leaving town until this whole thing was finished. And she was coming with me, whether she liked it or not. I wasn’t going to let Rick Davis’s snooping ruin Abby’s life.

  “Abby? Abby? Where are you?” I called, my voice echoing through her large farmhouse.

  “Ophelia, whatever is the matter?” Abby said, coming from the kitchen.

  She had on a dark red cowled robe, and the faint aroma of simmering clove drifted from the kitchen.

  Terrific. She’d been stirring up a little something in the kitchen. Hmm, red robe, cloves—she’d been doing a spell for safety. As if some stupid spell would protect us. I had a better idea.

  “Come on, go pack. We’re going to visit Aunt Rose in Cedar Rapids for a while.”

  “What’s happened now?” she asked as I rushed by her.

  “Nothing much, just made a fool of myself in front of several people. Now, I’m getting the hell out of Dodge, before it happens again,” I said from the bottom of the stairs. “And you’re coming with me. Rick Davis is asking too many questions about us.” I glanced at Abby over my shoulder.

  She wasn’t moving. She stood with her feet planted slightly apart, her arms crossed over her chest. “Don’t be silly. We’re not going anywhere,” she said.

  I glared at her. “The hell we’re not.” I grabbed the banister and started running up the stairs.

  “Ophelia.” The tone of her voice stopped me dead. “You stop your swearing and listen to me.”

  Abby hadn’t used that tone of voice with me since I was six years old. I turned to look at her.

  “I tried to explain to you this morning, you have no choice. You have to stay and see this through.”

  “Oh, yeah. Who says?”

  “Quit being childish. You know the answer to that.”

  “Oh, of course, it’s my fate, right? Just like it was my fate four years ago. Only four years ago, things didn’t go very well, did they? I wasn’t able to change anything, was I?”

  I sat down on the step. She joined me.

  “Abby, you know what happened to me, don’t ask me to do it again. I’ve worked hard to straighten out my life, put the past behind me. But now it’s starting all over again—the dreams, a dead man. I’ve had two fits of nerves in the past few days. I don’t want to lose control again. Not when I finally have my life pulled together.”

  I bowed my head, staring at the pattern on the stair runner.

  “Ophelia,” Abby said gently, “you haven’t pulled your life together. You’ve shut down and dropped out of life. Whatever happened to the girl who was bright as a new penny? The one who loved life, loved being with people?”

  I lifted my head to look at her. “She was an ignorant child who thought life was a game, until she lost the game and reality slapped her in the face. Too bad someone had to die to teach her that lesson.” I didn’t feel the tears on my face until Abby reached over and brushed them away.

  “I’ve told you, Brian’s death wasn’t your fault, Ophelia.”

  “Tell that to Brian’s family.” I clenched my fists. “I’m damn well not going to do it again. I won’t. I don’t care if it’s fate, cosmic justice, or whatever else you want to call it. And you can’t make me. I’m leaving.” I stood and hurried down the stairs.

  “Ophelia Mette Marie Jensen, you stop your whining this instant.”

  I looked up at Abby, who stood on the stairs, her face angry and stern.

  “Whether you like it or not, you’re one of the chosen. It’s time for you to stop running and deal with it. You were not raised to be a coward, and I expect you to stop acting like one.”

  She walked down and past me then, her head held high, leaving me alone and ashamed.

  After leaving Abby’s, it took me fifteen minutes to reach Roseman State Park. It was one of my favorite places in the world. I spent a lot of my childhood roaming those woods with Abby, looking for wildflowers—Dutchman’s-breeches, sweet william, and bloodroot. She taught me plants had the power to help, or to harm. Nettles would blister the skin when touched, but inhaling smoke from the dried, burning leaves helped bronchitis. Foxglove could stabilize an irregular heartbeat, but too much would cause the heart to stop. There’d be no plants in the woods today. Only dead, wet leaves scattered about. Abby’s wildflowers were asleep now, waiting for spring. I envied them.

  I parked my car and headed into the woods. The air smelled cold and clean, and it felt good against my flushed face. I had to stop my life from spinning out of control. But how? Abby’s spells hadn’t helped me four years ago. All the magick in the world hadn’t saved Brian.

  Brian…he would’ve loved a day like today—fall was his favorite time of year. I could see him striding across the campus, his plain face animated while he talked to his students. He enjoyed life so much. It wasn’t fair it ended so soon. No matter what reason Abby gave me—fate, karma, whatever—it was all bullshit. I would never accept his death. Brian was my best friend, and he had been murdered. When the murder was never solved, I lost all faith in Abby’s cosmic justice, in Abby’s magick.

  My dark thoughts were interrupted by the snap of a twig behind me. I spun around to see Rick standing there.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Darci and I saw you fly by the library in your car. She was worried and asked me to find you, so I followed you here,” he said, trying to read me. “Why are you so upset?”

  “You. I’m upset with you.” I picked up a twig and broke it. “Boy, you’re hard-headed. Don’t you get it, Davis? I’m tired of this game you’re playing and I don’t want anything to do with you.”

  “It’s not a game. I like you,” he said. “You’re such an easy mark, and I never know how you’re going to react to my jokes. It keeps me off balance. And that’s a new experience for me.” He scuffed the leaves at his feet with the toe of his boot. “I’d like to be your friend, Ophelia. That’s all, just a friend. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who needs one more.”

  “No thanks,” I said stubbornly. “Now go away, and this time permanently.”

  “You know, I’m going to start thinking you don’t like me if you keep this up,” he said, smiling.

  “You’d be right, I don’t like you.”

  “Sure you do. Everybody likes me. I’m a likable kind of guy,” he said, still smiling.

  “Ha! I don’t know who told you that, but they were lying,” I said, putting my hand on my hip and glaring at him.

  His teasing wasn’t going to work. I was mad, and I intended to stay mad. It was safe being mad. And I wore the feeling like a cloak, protecting me from other feelings I didn’t want to think about.

  Rick studied me for a moment, his smile slowly fading. “Yeah, well, I know a lot of liars. Even though I like you, I happen to think you’re one of them. But I can’t figure out what it is you’re lying about. And why you’re so afraid of people.”

  I moved two steps away from him. “I’m not afraid of people, and you’re crowding me.”

  “Okay, okay.” Rick held up his hands in mock surrender and took a few steps back, increasing the distance between us. “I know by now you don’t like to be crowded. Look, can’t we have a normal conversation?”

  “One that involves you asking a lot of questions, no doubt,” I said sarcastically.

 
; “I’ve told you before, I’m curious. Also, I like solving puzzles, and you’re a puzzle, Ophelia Jensen.”

  “I don’t understand what gave you that idea. I’m not a puzzle. What you see is what you get.”

  “And which Ophelia is that—the prim and proper librarian, or the screaming shrew who swears—or is it someone in between?” Rick smiled. “Would the real Ophelia Jensen please stand up?”

  I turned to leave. “You know, you aren’t nearly as funny as you think you are.”

  “Oh, come on. Lighten up. Talk to me. Please.”

  I stopped with my back toward him. “What is it you want to talk about?”

  I could hear the muted footsteps on the wet leaves when Rick came forward, but he stopped before he came too close.

  “You know, normal things. Tell me about your life, what it’s like living in a small town, and I’ll tell you about my life. Stuff like that. I promise I won’t pry into any secrets.”

  Could I believe him? Could I find out some of his secrets and still keep mine? If I could, it might help me.

  I turned around and rolled my shoulders, trying to relax. “Okay, what do you want to know?”

  Rick laughed. “That’s one of the things I like about you, Ophelia, you don’t beat around the bush. Okay, I know your parents are retired professors and you grew up in Iowa City. Do you have any brothers and sisters?”

  “Only child. Do you mind if we walk while we’re doing this? It helps me think.”

  He laughed again. “You need to think about your answers? Why? Afraid you’ll tell me too much?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not very good at small talk. I’m a little out of practice.”

  “It doesn’t surprise me. I had you figured for a loner. But it’s okay, I like being alone sometimes, too.”

  Unbelievable—Rick Davis alone? In the short time I’d known him, he seemed to thrive on being with people. The feeling was mutual. People were drawn to him. Ned appeared to be the only other person in town who questioned why he was here.

  “I doubt it,” I said.

  “Doubt what? That I like being alone sometimes? I do, even though I come from a large family.”