Battle of the Hexes

by Morgana Best

  It was not my lucky day. When we walked in, there were no cops in sight. We heard a voice from the front room. “Come in!”

  I was surprised to see Sergeant Barnes had decorated his office for Halloween. A big pumpkin sat on his desk, and fake bats hung from the fake cobwebs adorning the walls.

  He swivelled around in his chair to face us. “Yes?”

  “We just went to the Halloween football match,” I said, nervously. My palms were sweating, and I rubbed them on my jeans.

  The sergeant looked at me, waiting for me to continue.

  “The nuns are men.” He simply raised his eyebrows, so I pressed on. “I just saw one of the nuns in the toilet and he was facing the stall, just like men do.”

  The sergeant’s jaw dropped.

  “And six nuns beat the eighteen Yowie players,” I added.

  The sergeant’s jaw dropped even further. “The nuns beat the Yowie Team? What was the score?”

  “186 - 24,” I said.

  The sergeant stood up and crossed his arms. “That’s a high scoring game. Clearly, they had God on their side.”

  I rubbed my temples. This wasn’t going at all well. “It’s because those nuns are men. They’re The Squad, hiding out at the convent.”

  The sergeant rolled his eyes. “And how did you see a nun facing the stall? It was the women’s bathroom, I take it?”

  This was the part I’d been dreading. “Err, yes,” I said. I looked at Jackson and he nodded in encouragement. “I knew she was a man, so I followed her into the bathroom. I looked under the stall door, and she was using the restroom standing up.”

  Sergeant Barnes crossed his arms. “There are laws against peeping toms,” he said.

  “But, but…” I sputtered.

  Jackson came to my rescue. “Sergeant, those nuns are men. They beat that other team easily, and Adeline saw one of them using the bathroom like a man. You know that Harrison the pawnbroker was murdered. I suspect he was their fence.”

  Sergeant Barnes held up his hand for silence. “Now look here,” he said, “you’re obviously Protestants, but that’s no excuse to slander those poor nuns. I don’t have time to listen to your crackpot theories, you got me?”

  Jackson drew himself to his full height and held out his badge. “I’m Jackson Scott from Australian Visa Control. I’m on The Squad case. I believe they’re hiding in the local convent. In fact, I think the bank robbers are disguising themselves as nuns.”

  Sergeant Barnes threw back his shoulders and narrowed his eyes. “Why didn’t you identify yourself as AVC at first?”

  “We like to keep a low profile.”

  Barnes nodded at me. “And her?”

  “A normal citizen I’ve roped in to assist me.”

  Jackson put a slight emphasis on the word ‘normal’ and a knowing glance passed between the two men. I knew that was Jackson’s way of telling Barnes I knew nothing about paranormals. If only he knew!

  Barnes crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Okay, I like to cooperate with government agents, but this seems a little too far-fetched. Nuns always have a Reverend Mother or someone in charge. Wouldn’t she know if she had criminals staying under her roof? Or are you saying she’s in on it?”

  “She might not be a nun,” Jackson pointed out. “Do you know what happened to Sister Bertrand?”

  Barnes nodded. “Sister Bertrand was excited her order was sending her on the pilgrimage. She told me she was surprised to receive a letter from the Australian Provincial Office telling her that the Order of the Sisters of Temperance was going to send her on a pilgrimage and that Sister Maria of St. Leonard was coming with a group of novice nuns on retreat.”

  “That letter from the Australian Provincial Office had to be fake,” Jackson said. “At least we know Sister Bertrand is okay.”

  Barnes jerked his head. “Can I have a word with you in private?”

  As Jackson and Barnes left the room, waves of misgivings flooded me. Were they talking about me? Did Jackson know I was a witch?

  Chapter Twelve

  When Jackson left Barnes’s office, he suggested we drive straight back to the convent. We had been sitting under a clump of gumtrees for some time. Up a nearby tree, angry koalas fought loudly.

  “It’s getting late,” I said. “A couple more hours and it’ll be pitch-black out here.”

  Just as we were ready to call it quits, the headlights of a car coming our way changed the game plan.

  After the convent car drove by, I cautiously drove down the road and pulled onto the road running from the convent to town.

  “It’ll be dark soon,” Jackson said. “Try not to lose them.” As soon as the words left his mouth, the convent car pulled over to the side of the road. A nun holding a large bag jumped out of the driver’s seat and sprinted into the bushes. “Adeline, quick! Pull over. We don’t want to get too close. Let’s see what’s going on from back here.”

  I stopped behind a clump of trees. We could see the vehicle, nicely illuminated by the setting sun, at the crest of the hill, but the nun was nowhere to be seen.

  After a few moments, a man exited the bushes and ran back to the car, but there was no bag in sight this time. Once the convent car pulled away, I drove forward slowly until I reached the bushes. I had barely come to a stop when Jackson leapt from the car. He disappeared into the bushes to retrieve the bag.

  Jackson jumped back in the car and opened the bag, revealing a full nun’s habit inside. I gasped. “He’s going somewhere out of uniform.”

  Jackson was still looking through the contents of the bag. “Hurry, Adeline. We need to stay with him.”

  We followed the car at a distance. The sky grew darker, but I did not want to turn on my lights. The nun might not notice a car behind him, but he would certainly notice a car with headlights. I could see the road well enough by moonlight—my main concern was kangaroos. Kangaroos came out at dusk and often hopped at speed in front of cars, giving the cars no time to stop. People in country towns rarely drove at dusk for this very reason.

  I followed the car into town, where it pulled off the road into the parking area behind the Royal Hotel. I sped up and followed it in, selecting a parking spot under a big tree on the opposite side of the parking area.

  The eerie atmosphere made me shiver. The parking area was big, part of it being tarmac and part being dirt. Dust swirled, illuminated by the lights on the motel roof. My witch senses went into overdrive. I had a strange sense of premonition, as if something terrible were about to happen. I shivered.

  The car door opened, and the man stepped out. Jackson and I ducked down in our seats, as the man spun around to check the area. He must have been satisfied he wasn’t being followed, as he took off across the parking area.

  The man walked in our direction. For a moment, I was afraid he had seen us and was heading for us. To my relief, he turned, and then knocked at a door on which was the number 107.

  When the door swung open, both of us gasped in surprise. A slender woman with long blonde hair greeted him at the door, hugging him the second she laid eyes on him. The light inside the motel room shone on the man’s face, more so as he once again checked over his shoulder.

  Jackson gasped. “It’s Big Ted! I have to call Barnes.” He wasted no time in doing so. “Sergeant, I’m outside the Royal Hotel, and we’ve just seen Big Ted, one of The Squad members. Hello? Hello?” He turned to me. “There’s no service! I don’t know how much Barnes heard. What about your phone?’

  I pulled my phone from my jeans pocket and stared at the screen. “Same. The service is intermittent in this area.”

  Jackson shook his head. “I’m guessing it’s his wife, since Big Ted’s the only married member of the gang. Who knows how long Big Ted will stay in that room? We have to do something before he leaves. I should listen at the door, maybe record some audio on my phone.”

  I gasped. “You can’t be serious! That’s way too dangerous. If you want to watch him, I’ll drive t
o the police station and tell them.”

  Jackson was already half out of the car. “I’ll be fine. Just stay here, no matter what.”

  “What do you mean, no matter what?”

  “Adeline, promise me you won’t get out of this car.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t promise that. I don’t think you should go.”

  My pleading fell on deaf ears. Jackson sighed. “Look, I’m going to try to get an audio clip or something.”

  My stomach muscles clenched so hard that they hurt. I felt ill. My heart was in my mouth as I watched Jackson creep ever closer to the motel room.

  Jackson crawled over and put his ear against the door. He stood, listening, for a few moments.

  Just then, the door swung open, and two large muscular arms yanked Jackson inside the room.

  I was panic-stricken.

  Now what? There was no sign of the police. I had to take matters into my own hands.

  I looked around the car for inspiration, when my eyes fell upon the bag of nun’s clothing. I smiled. Now I knew exactly what I would do.

  I threw the habit over my clothes easily enough but had trouble with the wimple. I wasn’t sure the habit was on correctly, but it would have to do. There was no time to waste.

  I took a deep breath, and then hurried over to Room 107. I banged on the door. No response. I banged on it again, and saw movement in the window from the corner of my eye. Someone was peeping out.

  “Who are you? What do you want?” asked a woman’s voice.

  “Sister Maria sent me,” I said in the firmest voice I could muster.

  It was the man’s voice that answered. “What do you mean? No women work for her.”

  I thought quickly. “Excuse me! The Reverend Mother doesn’t tell you everything. She’s in charge, not you, and some things are better left unknown.” I was aiming for a belligerent tone, but I heard my voice come out as a squeak.

  There was no response, and the time stretched on unbearably. Finally, after a long pause, the door opened just a crack. I could see a thin sliver of a man’s face through the opening.

  “What does she want?” he said.

  “What does she want?” I parroted. “She’s furious that you risked everything to visit your wife. She’s already angry with you for committing crimes without her permission.”

  I heard him gasp. “What crimes did I do without her permission?”

  “For starters, I just watched you abduct a man. I’m fairly sure she wouldn’t be pleased to hear such a thing.”

  “Oh, you saw that? Well, he was snooping around, so I had to do something. She’ll understand that,” he assured me.

  I adjusted the wimple. “She would probably understand this incident, if you hadn’t already stirred up trouble in town before. She hasn’t forgotten about Harrison’s death, you know.”

  “Listen, Harrison deserved what he got. He was trying to blackmail us. I know she’s mad that we didn’t go through her, but the rest of the guys agreed we should do it. That’s not only on me.”

  I didn’t know whether to be pleased with the fact that he had admitted it, or to be worried that Jackson was in the motel room. “It doesn’t matter who agreed to it,” I said in a stern tone. I was emboldened by the fact that Big Ted seemed to think I was for real. I pressed on. “The fact of the matter is that you didn’t consult Sister Maria. She never signed off on it.”

  I paused for a moment to draw breath. “She’s furious about the pawnbroker’s death, because it drew so much unwanted attention to this town,” I explained. “If we want to remain safe here, we need to stop with the needless killing. All it does is shine a spotlight right on Sister Maria and the convent. The man you’re holding—give him to me and I’ll clean up this mess for you.”

  The door slammed shut, and again there was silence. I tried again. “Listen, let me take care of this to protect all of us. If you do, I won’t say a word to Sister Maria about anything that’s happened here.”

  A few more moments passed with no response.

  Suddenly, the door flew open, and the man pulled me inside. The door slammed shut behind me.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jackson’s hands were tied behind his back with ripped sheets, and some linen was stuffed in his mouth.

  The man yanked the wimple from my head and pushed me roughly onto the couch next to Jackson.

  His wife clutched his arm. “The AVC agents are onto us! You must kill them!”

  He shifted into a wolf as I watched. “I knew she was one too. I smelt an accomplice on him.”

  “Werewolves? But I just thought you fake nuns were men,” I said lamely.

  There was no time. I had to act.

  As Big Ted advanced on Jackson, his teeth bared, I flung out my arm. Big Ted flew across the room and hit the wall hard. He slumped, unconscious, to the ground.

  “Witch!” his wife spat.

  Before she could shift, I flung her against the wall too. She slumped beside her husband.

  I untied Jackson and pulled the cloth from his mouth. “I, I had no idea,” he stammered.

  The door flew open. Sergeant Barnes and Constable Jones burst into the room.

  It was too late to make a run for it. Would Jackson arrest Ursula and Isabel too? And Pudding?

  A wave of nausea hit me.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Good work, Agent Scott,” Barnes said, as he clapped handcuffs on Big Ted while Jones slapped handcuffs on Ted’s wife. “I take it these two need, um, special measures?”

  “They do,” Jackson said. “I’ll call for a team to arrest the other fake nuns at the convent and Sister Maria too. They’re all like these two.”

  Barnes winked at him. “I get your meaning.”

  I held my breath, waiting for him to tell Barnes about me.

  “I hope you will arrange it soon, in that case. We’re not equipped to hold them for too long.”

  “I’ll arrange it at once,” Jackson assured him.

  Barnes and Jones removed Big Ted and his wife from the room.

  As soon as they left, I asked Jackson, “Did you know they were werewolves?”

  “Not as such. I did sense shifters around, but I thought it was only Harrison’s wife, Rosalind.”

  My jaw fell open. “What? Rosalind’s a werewolf?”

  “No, a shifter, a mouse shifter. They’re uncommon but easy to detect. Their English language isn’t good and they have a deathly fear of cats.”

  I nodded slowly. That did explain a lot. I asked the question uppermost on my mind. “Are you going to arrest me?”

  Jackson ran his hand over his forehead. “No. Can we go back to your place to talk? I’ll explain everything.”

  Five minutes later, I unlocked my door and Jackson followed me up the stairs. Pudding let out a howl when he saw Jackson and ran under the sofa. We had not said so much as a word in the car.

  When I reached for the bottle of Moscato, I asked, “Are you not going to arrest me just because I saved your life?”

  “I have no intention of arresting you, no matter what. It will be our secret. I’ll explain.”

  “Oh,” I said, as a wave of relief washed over me. “I’m starving. I need o comfort eat after all that stress. Dinner?”

  “Sure,” Jackson followed me into the kitchen.

  I peered into the fridge to see what I could whip up, and as I turned around, Jackson was right there. I threw my hands against his chest to balance myself.

  For a moment neither of us moved. I shut my eyes.

  Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Pudding had jumped onto the table and knocked over Jackson’s glass. Tiny shards of glass shattered all over the floor.

  “Don’t trust him, you fool!” Pudding said to me. “AVC agents never change their spots.”

  “I’m pretty sure that’s leopards,” Jackson said. “Here, I’ve been meaning to give you some of these.” He pulled a packet of cat treats from his pocket and poured some on the floor.

  Pudd
ing ran over. “Nice man,” he purred. “Kiss Adeline if you like. You have my blessing.”

  My cheeks flushed hot.

  “Thank you,” Jackson said. He turned to me. “But first, I have to explain. I have a secret too. My mother was a witch. They sent her and her familiar to Tartarus Island.”

  Pudding looked up in horror, shrugged, and then ate the rest of his treats.

  “On the way, they both escaped. My father helped them escape, but no one else knows that. My father was an AVC agent. He eventually took early retirement when he thought it was safe to do so, and they are now together. I can’t tell you where.”

  Pudding waved his paw at him. “Don’t stop now. This is fascinating.”

  “I was a baby at the time. My father raised me. No one knows about my mother. I was born with AVC abilities, so no one questioned me.”

  “But you arrest paranormals!” I said in shock.

  He shook his head. “No, not innocent ones, only criminals. I’m in the criminal AVC department. I’m also in a position to help innocent paranormals escape.”

  “Did you know I was a witch?”

  He nodded. “I’ve inherited some intuition from my mother, but I don’t have your powers.”

  “Where’s my dinner?” Pudding piped up. “I’m bored now.”

  I stood up, intending to grab a can of cat food, but Jackson caught my wrist.

  He pulled me to him. As he pressed his lips against mine, a sound of disgust broke us apart.

  Pudding’s paw was over his eyes. “All’s well that end’s well, I suppose,” he said.

  Sample of Witches’ Brew

  If you enjoyed this, you might like Morgana’s Witches and Wine series which starts with Witches’ Brew (full length novel) which is also Free!

  Here’s the first chapter.

  (And if you’ve already read it, skip over it to find more Morgana books at the back of this book.)

  One discount pack of hipster lace briefs, one large caramel almond latte, one plane ticket from Sydney to Lighthouse Bay. That’s all I had to show for my life, or to be precise, that’s all I could afford after I sold my old car.