by K. J. Emrick
She stepped around the back of the Jeep and popped the back hatch.
Alan had taken her car to drive to Birch Hollow. He’d killed a woman and transported her body to Willow’s car for some reason she still couldn’t understand. This car was part of a crime. Not sure what she was going to find when she looked inside, she held her breath as the interior dome light came on. She always kept the interior of the Jeep immaculate, even vacuuming it on a regular basis. There shouldn’t be any mess back here.
There wasn’t.
Everything was just like she left it last. Snowbrush. A box of windshield washer fluid and emergency road flares and an old blanket, just in case. Even witches had to be prepared.
There was no blood. Nothing to show that a dead woman had been here. She sighed with relief, and then wished she could take it back. Just because she couldn’t see DNA evidence didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Modern science found trace evidence with microscopes. There could still be hairs or small traces of Autumn’s blood or fibers from her clothes right here in front of her, and Addie wouldn’t be able to see them with her eyes.
Any way she looked at it, this car was part of the crime scene. She couldn’t just go driving around town in it. For all she knew, the police had already drawn up a search warrant to seize her Jeep and search it with forensic vacuum cleaners and tweezers. If she was driving it when they stopped her, would she end up in jail right next to Alan?
What in the world was happening to her family? It was like some giant conspiracy against them.
Well, she wasn’t going to play along. Swearing softly, she went back into Stonecrest and switched her keys for Kiera’s. No way was her sister’s car involved in any of this. Kiera hardly ever took it anywhere.
Addie left a quick note for her sister and stuck it to the refrigerator with a magnet, simply saying that she was borrowing her car for the day. She doubted Kiera was going to go out anywhere. She doubted her sister would even leave her bed today, after everything that had happened.
When she got into Kiera’s dependable, sturdy Buick Verano, Doyle was already curled up in the leather of the front passenger seat, his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep again.
“Guess you wanted to come into town with me after all,” she said. He didn’t answer, except for a twitch from one ear. He wasn’t fooling her. “You know, I could use an extra set of ears with me today. Too bad you’re so tired.”
His tail twitched.
Addie watched him from the corner of her eye. “Yup, a smart partner I could rely on to help me figure things out.”
One eye cracked open.
“A smart, strong partner.”
The other eye followed.
“Not just smart and strong, but someone who’s family.”
His furry head popped up, and he stretched with his back arched, his tail fluffing out, and a smile that was very smug for a cat. “Well, that’d be me then, wouldn’t it? Not seeing anyone else from the family here, sure enough.”
Addie sighed. She wasn’t in the mood to stroke Doyle’s trademark ego any more than she had. “You do know what’s going on, right? Kiera’s son has been arrested for murder, and Willow is still a person of interest because she had a dead body show up in her car and her little disappearing act certainly didn’t help.”
“Of course I know what’s going on. You told me all this last night.”
“All right, then you know our whole family is in trouble. We need all hands on deck.”
“That’s what I mean. I don’t see Kiera sitting here in this amazingly comfortable leather seat.”
“I think Kiera’s a little upset this morning. You know, what with her son being arrested and all.”
“Why is it,” he asked, “that you always get sarcastic when I’m just stating the obvious?”
“Maybe it’s not so obvious as all that.”
“Aw, sure looks it to me, it does.”
“I’m just saying, Doyle, that I appreciate you being here because I could really use the help right now.”
“Because Kiera needs some time to herself,” he said, repeating her words.
“Yes. Exactly.”
“And because Domovyk is nowhere to be found.”
That did strike Addie as a little odd. She hadn’t seen him last night, or this morning either. “So he’s missing, too?”
Doyle did the equivalent of a cat shrug, shifting from one front foot to the other. “That boyo comes and goes as he pleases. Hasn’t quite settled into the idea of being a housecat, if you ask me. Soon as you and Kiera and Alan left yesterday he was off. Haven’t seen a whisker of him since.”
Addie didn’t know what to make of that. Domovyk had been the pet familiar of Belladonna Nightshade, a very nasty witch who desperately wanted to find a way of getting at the Well of Essence underneath Stonecrest. As big baddies went, Belladonna was among the biggest. Addie and her sisters had convinced Domovyk to change sides, and as far as she knew he’d been all the happier because of it. If he still ran after mice or snakes or girl cats sometimes, who was she to try to contain a free spirit?
After all, talking cats were a breed all their own.
The Hot Cauldron Café was a narrow building in the middle of Main Street. It sat with its shorter side toward the street. The light blue siding was complimented by the white trim around the two bay windows at the front, to either side of the door. In the left window was a hand painted sign telling people to “Come In and Sit A Spell.” Over the door, a cartoonish rendering of a black kettle pot simmered over an open fire. Addie had a friend make that for her special back when she first opened this place. It was all very cute and inviting but Addie couldn’t work up her usual enthusiasm for her pride and joy. Not after helping to put her nephew in jail for murder.
She drove around to the back of the building where there was a small parking lot for the customers and for herself and her two employees. She saw Jade’s car was already there, which was good, since they had started serving breakfast an hour ago. There were always a few diehard customers who came in this early to have coffee and sit and talk and maybe order some food. Jade was a new employee, just hired a week and a half ago to cover for Darla Pettigrew while the burns to Darla’s hands healed.
That was a long story. Hopefully it was over now. Darla did seem to be getting better, at least. Both physically and in her soul.
She came around the passenger side of the Verano she opened the door for Doyle. “You coming, Old Man?”
“And miss the chance to help you clean up the bacon that drops on the floor?” He shook his head vigorously before jumping out of the seat. “Not likely.”
Addie almost laughed at her old friend. This was not a morning for laughter, but Doyle had a way of bringing out the lighter side of things for her. That, more than anything she had told him earlier in the car, was really why she wanted him along this morning. He lifted her spirits. Right now, they needed a lot of lifting.
The back door of the Hot Cauldron was locked, as it should be, and Addie used her key to get inside. When the café was closed there was also a spell that engaged and protected her business investment from threats of the supernatural kind. It wasn’t just the threats of burglars that a witch like her had to guard against.
She let the door close behind her and stepped inside the kitchen with its center island and its gleaming countertops and its cupboards full of baking supplies. She scanned the entire space, with the hanging pots and pans and the items lined up on the shelves and everything in its rightful place. She even stuck her head inside the storage closet off to the side.
Willow was nowhere to be seen.
Feeling completely defeated now, feeling abandoned by her younger sister and blamed for this whole mess by her older sister, Addie sat herself down on one of the stools at the kitchen island. There was work to be done, both here at the café and in the bigger sense with this murder mystery, but she couldn’t bring herself to do anything more. She was out of ideas.
She f
elt, if she was being honest, completely and utterly useless.
“Oh, thank the Morrigan!” said a voice speaking out of midair right next to her.
Addie leapt off the stool, at least a foot in the air, spinning around with her hands raised and the words of a rather nasty spell already slipping through her lips. Doyle screeched like someone had just stepped on his tail. All of his fur bristled. His claws came out.
They both faced the bit of empty air in front of them.
With a snap of her fingers, Willow dropped her invisibility spell.
“Dear Saints in Heaven!” Addie swore, dropping her own spell mid-word before she could blast her sister into ash along with half the kitchen. She settled for ramming a fist into Willow’s shoulder, taking satisfaction from the wince of pain it evoked. “Don’t do that! Where have you been? Do you know what’s been going on? How could you do that to us, Willow!”
Rubbing her arm, Willow smiled a crooked smile. “Geez, sis. Which question do you want me to answer first?”
Her sister was only three and a half years younger than her, but she still had so much growing up to do. There were times when she acted like she was still a kid despite the way Victoria Secret scouts actively sought her out for their catalog. She was taller than Addie, with a lithe, feminine body. Her hair was a darker red than Addie’s, and she didn’t have the freckles that still peppered Addie’s face either, but they shared the same delicate chin and high cheekbones that had been passed down from their mother.
Family resemblance or not, Addie could have strangled her. Right here, and right now, she could have committed sororicide and gone on with her day with a song in her heart. Well, no, that wasn’t true. She would have taken a moment to mourn the loss of a sister who was nothing but trouble, and then whistled a sunny tune about the old emerald isles.
She threw her arms around Willow and held her just as tight as she could. Maybe she wouldn’t kill her. At least, not today.
“Where have you been?” she settled for asking. “We looked everywhere for you.”
“Obviously not everywhere,” Willow squeaked. “I really figured you’d come to your café last night. Uh, Addie? Um. You’re kind of choking me.”
“Be careful what you wish for, sis.” Addie held her tighter and refused to let go.
Doyle jumped up on the seat Addie had been sitting in before Willow had given them a fright. “Oh, don’t anybody mind the cat. I just about had my heart put sideways in my chest there, but I’ll be just fine, thank you all so much for your concern.”
Willow laughed when Addie finally let her go and she could draw a deep breath again. She reached over and gave the fur between Doyle’s ears a vigorous scratching. “Well, well, well. I see my sister brought backup with her.”
“Hey, hey, watch the fur. Watch the fur!” He shook himself away from her and dropped down to the floor again. “If’n you need me then, I’ll be out in the dining room. I’m sure by now that someone has dropped some bits of eggs or such for the cat. I’m off to do my part, thank you very much.”
Tail in the air, he nosed his way out through the swinging kitchen door, temporarily letting in a quiet cacophony of silverware on plates and people talking in hushed tones. They sounded like they were having fun. Like they didn’t have a care in the world, or any of the very real concerns the Kilorian sisters had found dropped into their laps.
As soon as Doyle was gone, Addie was back to being serious. “Willow, where have you been?”
“Here,” she said with a shrug, as if that should be obvious. “I wasn’t going to let them arrest me.”
“Really? That’s what you have to say for yourself?”
“Well, yeah, actually it is! What was I supposed to do, let them put me in handcuffs and drag me away to the police station for something I didn’t do?”
“I wish you had,” Addie told her, not holding back.
Willow stared at her. “How can you say that? Addie, I’m your sister, and I’m certainly not a murderer! Murderess? I’m not really sure what the right term is. This is my first time being accused of killing someone.”
“Willow, that is not the point!”
“Well, it kind of is.” She rolled her eyes at Addie’s expression. “Oh, don’t go all high and mighty on me. We’re witches. We’re above the laws of the Typics. They can’t touch me, and they need to know that. Even your boyfriend let me slip right through his fingers. Did you see the glamor I used? Oh, wow, wasn’t that great? That’s some of the finest spellwork I’ve ever done, I think. They actually thought I was still in the back of the patrol car!”
Addie wasn’t impressed. “Willow, listen to me. You put all of us in a very bad spot. I’m not going to be a bit surprised if there’s police surveillance on the café right now, looking for you.”
“Oh, sis, you’re just being paranoid now.”
“Really? Think so? Because there was a car out there last night. Do you think they just gave up?”
“Yes, actually.” Willow tossed her hair with a haughty shrug. “Typics don’t have a very long attention span. Besides, don’t you think I was smart enough to look before revealing myself to you? By the way I didn’t see your Jeep out there. Did you bring Keira’s car? Smart, sis. They’ll never think to look for that. Anyway, I looked outside before I showed myself. That’s why I didn’t shout your name as soon as I saw you walk in. I’m not stupid, Addie.”
“That’s a matter of opinion.”
“Hey!”
“Willow, wake up! The Kilorian family name has been put into question. You broke out of police custody. That made you look guilty. Not to mention, Alan was arrested for murder. You have no idea what you’ve done to us with your little stunt!”
“What?” Willow obviously hadn’t heard this bit of news. “They arrested Alan? That’s impossible. I saw him yesterday. He and I had a coffee together in Birch Hollow. I wasn’t expecting to run into him but there he was, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that he did not kill anyone.”
“You mean, he didn’t kill anyone when he was with you.”
“Exactly… Oh.”
It had taken a moment, but Willow understood the difference now. If she and Alan didn’t go to Birch Hollow together, then she had no idea what he was doing before she saw him, or after. She wasn’t giving Alan an alibi. If anything, she was making the situation worse for him by confirming that he had been in Birch Hollow. Even if he was going to stick with his amnesia story, here was a witness who put him in the town where Autumn Lynch was killed, right at the time when she was being murdered. A witness who had no idea what he was doing before she saw him. He could have killed Autumn before meeting up with Willow, and then transferred the body to her car in an attempt to cast blame on her.
Addie slammed her fist down on the island counter. That was a solid theory, and all it did was prove Alan did this crime. Everything they did made things worse. Absolutely everything!
She took a breath. She couldn’t help anyone if she lost her cool. There were still things she didn’t understand and as much as she worried that every answer was going to make things worse, she still needed to ask the questions brimming in her mind. “Willow, what were you doing in Birch Hollow yesterday, anyway? I thought you were supposed to be spending the day with your boyfriend?”
“Sort of,” she said, almost as if she was embarrassed. “I mean, we spent a few hours together in the morning, but then I left. Gary’s been having problems finding work, so I promised him I would talk to some people I knew in Birch Hollow. I had to use his car because I left mine back at Stonecrest.”
“Gary having trouble finding a job. Hey. There’s a shocker.”
“Really, sis? You’re going to make fun of my boyfriend now? I really don’t think this is the time.”
Addie’s patience was wearing thin again. “Whatever. After the stunt you pulled you don’t get to decide what we’re talking about here.” Addie began pacing a few steps back and forth in the kitchen. It wouldn’t be to
o much longer before Jade came running back in from the dining room with another customer’s order to make. They had to talk fast. “Willow, you left the rest of us to clean up a mess, and we’re barely staying afloat here. Kiera has locked herself in her bedroom because she’s so upset. Can you imagine how this must feel for her?”
“Well, yes, I think so.”
“I don’t think you do! She and her son just found each other and now, thanks to me… and her, he’s in jail. He’s going to go to prison for a very long time, and I have no idea what the police are going to do with you because of the whole dead body in your trunk thing. Not to mention escaping from custody as if the law doesn’t apply to… you… and…”
She stopped, and cocked one ear, pulling her hair out of the way.
Willow leaned over, crossing her arms and waving a hand in front of Addie’s face. “What are you thinking over there, huh? You kind of stopped talking midsentence. Is it my turn to start ranting?”
“Shh.” Addie lifted a hand, pointing out toward the dining room. “Do you hear that?”
“Hmm? Hear what?”
“Exactly.” The two of them looked at the door separating the kitchen from the rest of the café. “There’s no sound. It’s completely silent out there.”
She had owned the Hot Cauldron long enough to know what the hum of activity out in the dining area should sound like. The lunch rush had a different sound than a lazy Monday morning, for instance. People stopping in after work for a coffee and some socializing and maybe a piece of pie sounded different than Tuesday afternoons when the group of old ladies came in for their tea and sandwiches to discuss the events of the day. Every hour of the week had its own sound, but it was never completely quiet unless the café was empty. Right now, there were customers out there, sitting at their tables over their plates of food, and apparently doing absolutely nothing at all. It was quieter out there than a tomb.
One step at a time, she went to the swinging door. Willow followed her.
They pushed it open and peered out.
The scene that greeted them was eerie. Six customers sat at different tables, three at the one in the corner and one in a booth and two others at a table in the center of the room. Jade was at that table, her notepad in her hand and the pen poised to write down whatever the pair were ordering.