by Raven Snow
Rose stifled a yawn. “The rest of us should probably get an early night. Rowen, Eric, Margo. I know you all have to be tired.”
Rowen nodded in agreement. “That’s an understatement.”
“All right then.” Rose gave everyone else in the room a sheepish look. “Everyone’s welcome to stay and help us finish this pizza, of course. No point in letting it go to waste.”
The Greensmiths didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to head home. They weren’t worried about overstaying their welcome. They were family, and family had a tendency to be insensitive about that sort of thing.
Jasper was the only person in the room who hung back. Rowen didn’t really notice until he cleared his throat. “I think I’m going to head back to the hotel, actually.”
Margo looked back at him. She frowned. “Are you sure?” At least she was making an effort. There was a hint of concern in her voice that said maybe she was keeping in mind what Rowen had said to her.
Jasper nodded. “Yeah, I’m not really hungry. I’m just tired. What Rose said about turning in early sounds good, so…” He trailed off and motioned to the door.
“If you’re sure.” Margo reached out and gave his arm a squeeze. It was affectionate but decidedly less intimate than a hug or a kiss. “Drive safe, okay?”
“Yeah. You take care too.” Jasper lingered there for a few seconds, like he was debating going in for a kiss. Finally, he took a step back. “Call me if you need me, all right?”
“I will,” Margo said with a nod.
Jasper turned and headed for the door. Everyone else went back to grabbing themselves some more pizza. Except Margo, of course. She was too picky of an eater to eat pizza. At least, that was the sort of illusion she wanted to present to everyone else. Rowen was sure she had seen a pizza box in her garbage can at least once.
Rowen wanted to go to bed, but a relaxing moment with family was nice. It was a welcome change from all the chaos that followed… at least it was until she heard the commotion starting up outside.
It started as muffled shouting that turned heads. Rowen couldn’t place it at first, but it didn’t take her long to figure out what was going on. She swore under her breath and jumped to her feet. Ben was already on his way out the door. His first instinct was to move toward the commotion. He had probably already guessed what was going on as well.
Rowen wasn’t sure how much help she would be, but she followed Ben anyway. She didn’t check to see if anyone else was coming with her, though she had a feeling they would all be migrating to the lawn soon enough. God, what were the neighbors going to think? A fight breaking out on the Chief of Police’s front lawn didn’t exactly reflect well on him.
Sure enough, Rowen’s suspicions proved true. Jasper and Sutton were in the grass. There was a lot of flailing and shouting. Rowen had trouble parsing what was being said, if anything was being said at all. Jasper wasn’t doing too well. He was a lot smaller than Sutton and almost certainly less experienced at subduing someone. He was well on his way to being pinned face down on the grass as Sutton wrenched one of his arms behind his back.
“What’s going on here?” Ben demanded, his voice deeper and firmer than usual. It made even Rowen jump. “Stop this. Now.”
Sutton hesitated. He seemed reluctant to let Jasper go now that he had finally gotten him pinned. He glanced up at Ben.
“Now,” Ben repeated.
Sutton did as he was told, releasing Jasper and backing up. For a few seconds it seemed like Jasper might turn and tackle him. He glared back at Sutton upon sitting up but had the sense not to make a move for him. He dusted himself off instead. Both men got to their feet slowly. They looked around sheepishly. Rowen realized most everyone had poured out of the house and onto the front lawn after her.
“What’s going on here?” Ben demanded. “Who started it?” It sounded like he was talking to a couple of rowdy kids. He may as well have been.
“He just tackled me,” said Sutton.
“Because he said—”
“What are you doing?” Margo demanded. Her hands were on her hips and her eyes were wide. “Are you kidding me? Why are you two doing this?”
Jasper’s face was turning red, but he didn’t back down. “You know why,” he shot back.
Margo started to turn red as well. “Now really isn’t the time for this.”
“Then when is the time?”
“Maybe after we figure out who’s trying to kill her?” Sutton suggested, his arms crossed over his chest.
“You two need to go home,” Ben said firmly. “Everyone is tired. Tensions are high. I’m not going to take either of you in to the station, but I might reconsider if either of you tries something again.”
That shut both of them up. Jasper turned and stalked off toward his car. Margo took a step toward him like she was thinking about following, but she stopped short. Rowen was thankful for that. Jasper really was a lot more upset than she had initially anticipated. She hadn’t ever pegged him as someone who would pick a fight. What else was he capable of?
Chapter Thirteen
Everything was a mess. Margo was in a worse mood than ever. Rowen didn’t ask, but she could only imagine that things had been awkward between her and Sutton when they went back to his place the night before. She tried to get to the subject indirectly, ask if she had gotten much sleep. Margo was quick to shrug and change the subject. She didn’t say so explicitly, but it was easy to tell that she was stressed.
No one had gotten any more hints from the ritual the night before. Rowen was annoyed by that but not surprised. It could be days before they got anything, if they got anything at all. What little Peony might have inferred from the experience hadn’t been particularly helpful. Ben had told her as much that morning. He didn’t know what to do with the idea of there being more than one person responsible for all of this. “Honestly, the only suspect we have right now is Jasper,” he’d said, his voice low. “I still haven’t brought it up at the station. There’s not a lot to go on, and I’m afraid of what Sutton might do. He’s on a broad list of suspects, of course. Everyone always considers the boyfriend in cases like this, but… I just don’t know.”
Rowen didn’t know either, and that worried her. She wanted to meet with Jasper again, see if she could get any more information out of him. She wasn’t sure he would agree to meet with her or if that was even a good idea. It might be worth trying, though. She was out of ideas.
There was stuff to do around the office. There were stories to write and more to edit. Everyone was working harder than normal to catch up. Everyone but Margo. She was understandably distracted. To her credit, she was trying. It seemed like she wanted to keep herself busy. She kept slipping off into her own thoughts, though. More than once Rowen saw her prop her chin in her hand and stare at the wall. She didn’t even seem interested in turning the television on to see if they were talking about her on Channel 2.
Seeing Margo in such a state made up Rowen’s mind for her. At lunch time, she told everyone she was going out to the local cafe. She was thankful when no one asked to join her. When she got to her car, she pulled out her phone and called Jasper.
Rowen didn’t really expect him to pick up. After all that had happened last night, she figured he might not want anything to do with the Greensmiths for a while. She was relieved when he answered. “Hello?” he said wearily.
Rowen’s relief turned to anxiety as she realized she hadn’t planned out much beyond this. “Hey, it’s Rowen.”
“I know.”
“Right… Well, I was wondering… It’s fine if you don’t, but I was wondering if you wanted to meet for lunch.”
“Why?” Jasper asked immediately.
That was a good question. “I don’t know. A lot happened last night. I’m worried about you.” That wasn’t a lie. She was worried about him. For a lot of reasons.
There was a sigh on the other end of the line. “Is it just you?”
Rowen wasn’t sure how she felt abou
t him asking that. It was a pretty innocuous question if he was innocent. Even if he wasn’t, they were going to be in a public place again. She reminded herself that, even if he was guilty, he had no reason to be after her. “Yeah, it’s just me.”
There was some more silence. “All right,” he said finally. “Where do you want to meet?”
Rowen gave Jasper the address of the cafe and told him she would meet him there. This time, she got there first. She picked a seat in the back and went over the menu while she waited. She had a good idea of what she wanted. This was a place she visited frequently, what with it being so close to the office and all. Still, she needed something to do while she waited. She didn’t want to call Ben. Making him worry seemed unnecessary. He might tell her not to meet with Jasper, and she was already in the process of doing it. There was no stopping now. Besides, it wasn’t like she was even sure she would find anything out.
It took about fifteen minutes for Jasper to arrive. Rowen hoped that she didn’t get a call from one of her cousins asking what was taking her so long. She hoped they were all too wrapped up in work to notice that she was taking a longer lunch than usual. It wasn’t a long lunch yet, but it would be soon enough.
Rowen was facing the door so she saw Jasper as soon as he entered. She raised a hand and waved him over. He was looking a little better, she noted, when he sat down across from her. There was a dark bruise on his chin, but he looked like he’d taken a shower and put on some fresh clothes. His complexion was brighter; his eyes no longer had dark bags under them. “Finally got some sleep, huh?”
“I’m surprised I did, but yeah. I only woke up a couple of hours ago, actually.”
Rowen nodded. “Going long enough without sleep will do that to you.” Rowen stifled a yawn just thinking about the idea of sleep. “I wouldn’t mind taking a whole day to catch up on sleep myself. Hopefully I can as soon as all this mess is over and done with. Hopefully that will be soon.”
“Hopefully,” Jasper echoed.
Rowen held up the menu. “Do you want to order something? I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“I don’t have much of an appetite,” said Jasper. “But, by all means.” He motioned for her to go on to the counter and order.
Rowen wasn’t going to skip lunch just because Jasper wasn’t hungry. She headed up to the counter and ordered herself a turkey sandwich with an extra bag of chips just in case Jasper changed his mind. She paid and headed back to the table with her drink. It probably wouldn’t take them long to bring it out. There was only one other customer in the cafe.
“All right.” She sat back down across from Jasper. “So—”
Jasper held up a hand, cutting her off. “Look, first, I just want to say I’m sorry. I have no excuse for how I behaved last night.”
“You were very tired. We were all super tired, and it’s a pretty stressful time for everyone.”
Jasper shook his head. “That doesn’t make what I did okay. I’d like to apologize to everyone else too, but… Well, I’m not sure they want to hear from me right now.”
Rowen opened her mouth to object, but realized he was probably right. “You might want to give everyone a day or two to cool off. I’ll pass on the sentiment, though.”
“Thanks… I just… I don’t know. None of what I did was okay. I was embarrassed on the ride home and I’m embarrassed now.” He bit his bottom lip as if he was considering saying something else. “How is Margo doing?”
“She’s okay. Well, about as okay as she has been. You know.”
“Right… Are they any closer to finding a lead on all this?”
“Not yet. Or, if they have, no one’s said anything to me about it. I don’t know what’s going on. The ritual from last night hasn’t stirred up any new information for anyone. How about you?”
“No, I didn’t get anything last night.”
“Maybe—” Rowen was cut off as a young server in an apron approached with her sandwich. She smiled awkwardly at the both of them and put it down on the table, not sure who it went to. “Thanks.” Rowen smiled at the woman until she walked off. “Here.” She pulled the sandwich over to herself but tossed a bag of chips to Jasper. “I feel awkward eating alone.”
Jasper caught the chips and promptly fumbled them onto the table. “Thanks, but I’m really not hungry.”
“A snack for later then.” Rowen picked up one half of her sandwich and took a big bite.
“They really don’t have any other suspects?” asked Jasper, going back to what they had been discussing before the server came.
“Other suspects?”
“Aside from me.” Jasper said that like a matter of fact. “I’m not an idiot. I know I’m on the suspect list. I’m her boyfriend… Or was. I don’t know. Whatever we are right now.”
“I don’t know.” Rowen put her sandwich back down. “I mean, I don’t know of any other suspects. Not that you’re a suspect. I don’t know if you are, I mean. I—”
“I really wish people would just be straight with me right now.”
Rowen bounced her leg beneath the table. She wasn’t sure what to say. What could she say? It wasn’t like she could just come right out with her suspicions. Granted, keeping all this to herself wasn’t doing much good. “Maybe I heard something,” she said slowly. “Maybe I heard it being theorized that you had something to do with all this. Not that I think that’s true!” She added that last part quickly. “It’s just something I’ve heard.”
Jasper gave her a long, earnest look. “Are you serious?”
Rowen squirmed under his gaze. “Yeah. That’s what I heard.”
“No, I mean, do you really believe I didn’t have anything to do with all this?”
Rowen remembered what he had said about wishing people would be straight with him. It felt wrong to sit there and lie to his face. “I don’t know what I think,” she admitted. “I don’t think you’re that kind of person… But, at the same time, I can’t think of anyone who is that kind of person.”
Jasper sagged some in his seat. “I thought everyone was treating me kind of weird.”
“I’m sorry. It’s really not your fault. I just… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I would probably think the same if I was in your shoes. Heck, if it was the other way around between me and Sutton, I’d suspect him. I’m not exactly doing myself any favors acting like I did last night.”
“Yeah, speaking of stuff I didn’t expect out of you. No offense.”
“None taken. It was a stupid thing to do. What does Margo think?”
“About the fight you and Sutton got into last night?”
“No… about all the other stuff.”
“Oh.” Rowen hesitated but saw no reason not to answer him. She’d said too much already. Telling him what Margo thought wouldn’t hurt. “I brought it up with her, actually. Ben thought she should be aware of the possibility, just to be on guard, you know? She was furious with me.”
“Really?”
Rowen nodded. “Yeah, she thought Ben was wasting his time and I was encouraging him. She thought it was absurd that you would do anything like that.”
Jasper exhaled, releasing a breath he must have been holding. “At least there’s that, I guess. Of course, I don’t know if she still thinks that after last night.”
“I don’t know,” Rowen admitted. “But I know she still likes you as a person. Whatever your relationship is after all this, I don’t think she could ever hate you… Unless… you know…”
“Unless I tried to murder her?” Jasper sighed. “I really didn’t. I wouldn’t. I can’t imagine doing anything like that. I know my sister… did some horrible things in the past. She hurt your family, but… I could never hurt anyone like that, much less Margo. I love her. If she falls for someone else, that sucks, but I wouldn’t wish her dead for it. That’s not love. I don’t even wish Sutton dead. I might want to punch him in his stupid face, but that’s about as much violence as I think I’m capable of, honestl
y.”
Rowen didn’t say anything for a little while. She watched Jasper, trying to read him. More than that, she was trying to get a sense of what was going on in his head. She wasn’t as good at reading people as other members of her family, but she was still better than the average normal human at this sort of thing.
“Here.” Jasper held out his hands. He came from a powerful witching family. He knew as well as she did that physical contact strengthened the feelings you got from people.
Rowen took him up on the offer. She reached out and took his hands into her own. They were soft, like he hadn’t worked a day in his life. That wasn’t much of a surprise. She closed her eyes and tried to focus. She got flashes of things, a lot of feelings.
“I would never hurt Margo. I’ve never tried to hurt Margo.” Jasper said those words strongly and firmly.
Rowen listened to him, remaining focused on the sensations she was receiving, the emotions she was picking up on. There was a lot to process. There was stress and sadness and even a little anger. She didn’t sense anything violent, though. There was guilt but it felt tied to his behavior. It wasn’t the sort of guilt a person would harbor after making an attempt on someone’s life. There wasn’t any sort of cold absence of emotion that pointed to Jasper being some sort of unfeeling psychopath either. It wasn’t a sure thing, but Rowen felt a little more comfortable sitting there with Jasper. She believed him. It really did feel like he was telling the truth, like he wasn’t the person they were looking for. Of course, that just raised more questions.
Rowen dropped Jasper’s hands and opened her eyes. “Can I ask you a question that might sound kind of… accusatory?”
“Yeah. I mean, I want to know now.”
Ben really was going to be angry at her if he found out she was being this direct. “The last time Margo was attacked, when someone shot through my window… I know you weren’t at the hotel. Where were you?”