Witch I May, Witch I Might

by K. J. Emrick

  Thank heavens for small favors, she supposed. “Okay, but still. The murder happened here. Those two knew her, and they were here, doesn’t that make them the prime suspects instead of my sister?”

  “Not when we know your sister was up here in Birch Hollow, too. She was seen at the Overlook Diner, and we already know she drove south from here to Shadow Lake, which was when Herman found her. Do you have any idea what business your sister had up here?”

  “No,” Addie said with an angry grunt. “But when I find her, I’ll ask her.”

  “And then call me?”

  “As soon as I can. I promise.”

  “All right. I guess I can be happy with that. So, were you able to find anything out… you know… with your special skills?”

  “You mean with my magic.”

  His eyes flicked around them to make sure no one else was close enough to eavesdrop. “Yeah, that. Did you find anything, or see anything?”

  “No, I’m afraid not. Corbin and August came out of the motel room just as I was about to start. Magic isn’t something I do in front of other people. Did you get anything from them?”

  “Just the same story you got. They were on their way to Cape Cod, they stopped here, they all went their separate ways to look around town, then they come back here. You two show up and tell them Autumn is dead. August said that he’d been trying Autumn’s cellphone with no luck but neither of them actually knew anything. That’s it. So, here we are.”

  “Sure, except for one detail. They didn’t tell you about a friend that Autumn was here to see?”

  Lucian’s eyebrows shot up. “No, they did not. Well. Isn’t that interesting. You got that name from them?”

  “Yup. Percy Pokins. And guess what? He’s a lawyer.”

  “What?” That definitely got Lucian’s attention. “They told you she was here to see a lawyer?”

  “No. I did a quick Google search on the name to get his address, and his occupation was listed along with the rest of it.”

  “Hmm. What do you suppose she wanted to see an attorney about?”

  “Maybe nothing,” Addie said. “He could just be a friend, and his job could be unrelated to anything that happened.”

  “Maybe,” he agreed, “but I’m not a big believer in coincidence.”

  “Neither am I. Well, in that case, are you interested in taking a little drive to do some investigating, Detective Knight?”

  “With you, Addie Kilorian, any time.”

  He gave her a quick hug and whispered something in her ear that let her know tonight was going to be a very nice night. If they were able to find a few hours for themselves, she was going to hold him to everything he had just promised. Starting with the foot rub and moving on to… everything else.

  When Addie looked over again, she saw Corbin and August being put into the back seat of a patrol car.

  “Are they being arrested?” she asked, wondering if maybe something had happened when she wasn’t paying attention. Maybe the murder was solved, and Willow was off the hook…

  “No,” he said, bursting her bubble. “They aren’t under arrest. They’re just going to the station to give official statements. The other detectives will take care of their interviews. How about me and you and Kiera go find this lawyer friend of Autumn’s?”

  “Yes. Us, and Alan.”

  Lucian looked uncertain. “Addie, we really shouldn’t have Alan here.”

  “Because he’s a civilian?”

  “Well, yeah there’s that but… he only just came back into Kiera’s life a short time ago. Just a matter of months, right?”

  “I know that,” she said defensively.

  “Okay. How much do you really know about him?”

  Not much, if she was being honest, but that wasn’t the point. “Lucian, he’s Kiera’s son. We can’t just cut him out of the things we do. He may not have the name, but he’s a Kilorian. He’s family. He’s part of the family business.”

  “Oh really?” Lucian stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking directly into her eyes. “So, he can do magic, too?”

  “Well, no. Witches are almost exclusively women.” Although, she supposed there had been a few times, a few little things, that made her think maybe Alan was that one in a thousand men who could feel and use magic. A real son of a witch. That was silly, though. Even if Alan could use magic he wouldn’t have been trained how to use it, having grown up in a Typic family like he did.

  So Alan wasn’t a witch. He was still a part of the Kilorian family, and that meant something special. She stood her ground, meeting Lucian’s stare.

  “Fine, he can come,” he relented. “But he stays in the car when we talk to this guy, understood?”

  “Sure. He already did that when we came here. Then, if you remember correctly, he helped us find the evidence that proved where Autumn was killed. He’s got a knack for this. I think it might be hereditary.”

  He brought his fingertips up to brush against her cheek. “Yeah. Imagine what your children will be like.”

  Looking into his amazing eyes, she saw that future reflected there. Her, and the man she loved, watching their children grow up. Triumphs. Disappointments. A lifetime made of singular moments.

  Yes. She could definitely see herself starting a family. With the right man.

  “I love you,” he told her, at just the right moment.

  “I love you, too, Lucian. My car, or yours?”

  He let that subtle innuendo hang in the air between them for several heartbeats before giving her a wink. “I’ll follow you guys in my car. How about that?”

  From an inside pocket of his coat, a ringtone signaled an incoming call to his cellphone. He looked disappointed that he had to take his attention off Addie even for a moment, but the phone wouldn’t stop making noise until he took it out and answered. He didn’t have to say two words before Addie knew he was talking to the Chief.

  “Yes, sir. I mean, yes. We are. I’m here now. Yes. Yes. Yes? Where? Sir, yes we can do that. Right away. Yes. Sir, I said—”

  He stopped talking, and just from the way he shoved the phone back into his pocket Addie knew that his Chief had hung up on him.

  “I swear to you, Addie, it’s a good thing this man is good at his job, because if he was on fire I wouldn’t cross the street to spit on him.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at that image. She knew Lucian better than that. If he ever found the Chief in flames, she had no doubt that he actually would spit on him. Several times. “So what did he have to say?”

  Lucian held the cellphone up, with the dialing screen open. “He said that they had the phone provider do an emergency triangulation on Autumn’s phone. Guess what?” He took a moment to dial a number that he must have gotten from the Chief. “It’s within two hundred feet of right where we’re standing.”

  His thumb pressed the green send button.

  They waited, knowing that if the phone was nearby and still had power, then they should be able to hear it ring…

  Faintly, they heard three seconds of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way playing on a loop.

  Autumn’s phone.

  They followed the sound of it, turning back to face the motel. The officers there paused in the process of helping Corbin and August into the patrol car. Everyone stood still, right where they were.

  Lucian quickly stepped around the police tape blocking off the crime scene, scanning the area as if his eyes could find the phone before his ears could. Addie took a more methodical approach. She turned slowly, person to person, focusing on that ringtone as she did. She didn’t really care for Lady Gaga or her music, but right now it was the most important song in the world.

  She faced each person in turn. Corbin. August. One of the officers. Another officer. Kiera. Then…

  Oh, no.

  Lucian caught on at the same time that Addie did, and he hesitated only a moment before stepping right up to Alan. The ringtone was coming from him.

  No, Addie just kept repeating. Fi
rst Willow, now this!

  “Turn your pockets out for me,” Lucian said to Alan. “Everything. Put it all right here on the trunk of the patrol car.”

  “Now, wait a moment,” Kiera tried to say. “Detective Knight, this is my son. You can’t possibly suspect this of him.”

  “I’m just following my ears,” Lucian answered without turning around. “Pockets, Alan. Now. Slowly, if you don’t mind.”

  The other officers around them tensed. They knew what this meant, too.

  Alan blinked at Lucian, but he realized he had no choice. Addie sincerely hoped that meant he had nothing to hide. Under the glare of the pole lights, she could see everything. His wallet came out, and a set of house and car keys on a ring, and then several pieces of candy from his left jacket pocket.

  From the pocket on the right, he took out a cellphone.

  “That’s mine,” he declared. “I don’t have any of my tones set to Gaga, either.”

  Addie remembered that phone from seeing it several times at Stonecrest whenever Alan needed to make a quick call. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. That was not the phone they were looking for.

  Putting his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket, Alan froze.

  His eyes came up, and his gaze locked with his mother’s.

  When he slowly, slowly brought his hand out, the damning instrumental refrain of Born This Way got louder. In his hand was a phone with a pink case that had swirly black hearts on the back. Definitely not Alan’s style.

  Which could only mean one thing.

  “Alan Pierson,” Lucian said to him, his face stony and his voice all business. “You are under arrest for the murder of Autumn Lynch.”

  The rest of what Lucian said was lost to Addie under the wail of despair from Kiera. She was desperate to save her son from this moment. Power began surging in her, strong enough for Addie to feel it from where she stood.

  Making a triangle with her thumbs and her forefingers, not caring who saw her this time, Addie squeezed a heavy portion of her Life Essence through the space between her hands, directing it at Kiera, blocking a spell that had been building to explosive intensity. Her sister had been about to blast every man and woman standing nearby out of her way in order to get to her son.

  Purple static had been arcing along Kiera’s fingertips, whisked away in an instant by Addie’s counter-spell. Every witch knew the basics of a counter-spell. Addie and Willow used to use them on each other when they were kids for fun, in the same way that other children threw pillows at each other’s heads. You had to be quick, and you had to be forceful, if you expected it to work.

  Kiera’s glare turned on Addie as Lucian placed handcuffs around Alan’s wrists. There was more than just smoke and fire in those eyes. Addie knew there was enough of a spark there to turn into a raging inferno of violence, riding on waves of protective maternal instinct. Kiera might have come late to the role of being Alan’s mother, but she took it more seriously than most. Right now, her son was in trouble and the only thought in her head was to save him.

  “Not. Now,” Addie whispered, exaggerating the words so Kiera could read her lips.

  After a moment, the flames in her sister’s eyes ebbed to smoldering coals. She nodded and fisted her hands into her dress just below the hem of her coat, holding on so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She understood what Addie was saying. Even if she didn’t agree with it, she understood.

  They could not break Alan away from police custody. They couldn’t even influence all of the officers to look the other way while they drove off, and not just because there were so many of them here. After what Willow had done, one more amazing escape from police custody by a member of the Kilorian family would bring far too much attention down on them. Right now, they needed to remember that and stick to the rules if they were going to solve this mystery and clear their name.

  Which is something Willow should have thought of, Addie griped sourly to herself. Maybe if Willow hadn’t been so selfish by saving her own skin, then they wouldn’t be standing here watching Alan get put into a patrol car instead.

  “Don’t worry, Mom,” he called over to Kiera. “It’s all a misunderstanding. It’s nothing. We’ll figure this out.”

  Addie wasn’t so sure. The victim’s cellphone was in Alan’s pocket. Come to think of it, Alan was the one who had conveniently found the evidence in the parking lot linking the murder to this motel and to Corbin and August. If it were anyone else, Addie would find that extremely convenient. She might even think it was an attempt to cast blame on someone else.

  She remembered the words Lucian had spoken from a few moments ago. “He only just came back into Kiera’s life a short time ago. Just a matter of months, right? How much do you really know about him?”

  But this was Alan, Kiera’s long-lost son. She didn’t want him to be a criminal.

  So what? Since when, she reminded herself, did what she want have any influence upon the reality she had to live in?

  Kiera’s face was a study in strained emotions as the patrol car with Alan in it backed out to drive away. Without looking at anyone, including Addie, she turned on her heels and walked slowly back to the Jeep.

  Addie couldn’t believe any of this was happening. It was like the fates themselves were conspiring against them. Like God was looking down from Heaven and stroking that big white beard of his while he thought up new tortures for the Kilorian sisters to endure. What was next, a plague of locusts? Rats? Blood?

  With a hangdog look, Lucian met her halfway to her Jeep. “Addie, I’m sorry. I never saw this coming. I know I had my doubts about Alan, but I didn’t want him to be a murderer. I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah, so am I.” She was trying to hold it together, but she just wanted to shout at someone. She wanted to let loose with her magic just like Kiera had almost done. She wanted to find someone to blame for all of this but so far all they had was suspects, and no proof, and the fact that their own family members made the best suspects out of the whole bunch.

  “I have to go to the police station now,” Lucian said. “I can’t go look up this lawyer friend of Autumn’s until later. Wait for me, okay? In fact, why don’t you come down to the station now and I’ll let you know everything that’s going on with Alan. Or you can wait for me to call first, if you want to.”

  “You mean you want us to sit by and twiddle our thumbs while you process Alan for something he didn’t do. Sit by, while Willow’s face is put on wanted posters. You expect me and Kiera to just sit by while our family is falling apart, is that it?”

  “Look, Addie.” He tried to reach for her, but she pulled back. “I’m not so sure that Alan didn’t do this, to be honest. I know he and Willow were close, right? Now we find the victim’s cellphone in his pocket, the body was in the trunk of Willow’s car… do we know if Alan was up here in Birch Hollow today?”

  Addie was sure the heat from the glare she gave him could have melted through steel. She was a little surprised when Lucian didn’t burst into flames. She was even more surprised when he didn’t turn his eyes away.

  At the base of her spine, Addie felt the same sort of tingling that she always got whenever she was close to Lucian. She might be angry with him, but she still loved him, and she still felt like they were destined to do something amazing together. She was furious at him, but she knew he was only doing his job.

  Right now, she just wanted to put some distance between him and her before she said something that she was going to regret.

  “I’ll call you later, Lucian. Try not to arrest anyone else in my family until at least tomorrow, okay?”

  He started to say something, but she was already walking away, and the way she slammed the door on the Jeep sent the clear message that she did not want to talk about it anymore.

  Kiera was in the front seat, staring through the windshield at nothing. “Wasn’t it you who urged me to be calm?” she asked.

  “Yes, it was.” She yanked her seatbelt out and slapped it i
nto place across her lap. “That was me being calm.”

  “Mmm,” Kiera mused. “Me, too.”

  After a few deep breaths, Addie said, “Lucian reminded me that we need to stay away from this investigation because we’re too close to it. He said to wait for his phone call so that he can tell us what’s going on with Alan. He said we should tell him as soon as we hear from Willow.”

  “I see.” Kiera shifted in her seat. “So what are we going to do now?”

  Addie started the Jeep and threw the shifter into reverse. “Now, we’re going to not stay away from the investigation, and not wait for his phone call. I’m going to find Willow, and box her ears just as hard as I can, and not tell Lucian anything until we know what’s going on. And,” she added as she drove out of the motel parking lot and into the night, “we’re going to find this lawyer friend of Autumn’s and see how he fits into this.”

  Kiera raised one hand, palm up, and let streaks of purple electricity dance across her skin.

  “That sounds like a good plan to me.”

  Chapter 6

  The address for the lawyer was several streets over but at this time of night, and with the snow, there was only a light flow of traffic to weave through. It didn’t take them any time at all to get where they were going.

  Neither of them spoke about what was happening, even though each of them knew it was the only thing on their minds. Addie just kept coming back around to the idea of an unknown force pushing them. Harassing them. Or, more correctly, some force using a blowtorch to fry them where they stood. The family had rarely ever had to withstand so many bad things happening to them all at once. Usually they had the luck of the Irish, and there was a reason why that was a saying that had endured for generations. Being a witch didn’t hurt, either.