The Witch's Christmas Wish

by Rebecca Lovell

  “We should at least try. I don’t know what else I would do with two days to myself.” Terra sighed. “If the man who was drunk in Baltimore was really the one who sabotaged the train, then what does that mean for the case?”

  “I guess it puts it in Baltimore’s jurisdiction,” Gard said. “Technically we should report it to the Roanoke City detectives and have them transfer it to Baltimore.”

  “So that’s all for us to do?”

  “Unless they want to keep you on as a consultant about the trains and track.” Gard shrugged. “I’m basically useless to them now.” He pulled away from the curb. It was hard not to feel a little hopeless already. His first case and the only thing he was able to do was hand it off to someone else.

  “What about them using you as a consultant? Do they ever do that?” Terra’s eyes were wide but Gard tried to keep his on the road.

  “Maybe. I’d have to ask Jake, he’d know more.” An idea came to Gard and he grinned at Terra. “I’ve got a great idea! How about tomorrow we get them to open up the warehouse so we can look over the train, then Sunday you come with me to Garden City to meet Tilly and Jake. He and I can talk about setting up some sort of consultant work while you talk to Tilly.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Terra said, uncertainty clear in her voice. “It’s so close to Christmas, I’m sure she’s busy.”

  “Tilly’s never too busy for guests.” Gard hazarded a glance in her direction. “I thought you wanted to meet her.”

  “Yes, I do. It just seems like a bad time. Are you sure I wouldn’t be intruding?” She picked at the corner of her glove.

  “Of course not,” Gard said. “I go over to their place all the time. I think Tilly likes having people in the house. Her little girl is always running around and talking a mile a minute to people. Trust me, they’ll love having you. Besides, it won’t be like I’m just showing up with you, I’ll talk to Jake first.”

  “If you’re sure.” A smile spread over Terra’s face. “Thank you for helping me take a look at the wrecked train tomorrow. I know it’s going to be annoying, but I really appreciate it. You’re so kind.” The softness in her voice brought back a little of Gard’s hope that he might be able to get her to have dinner with him.

  “What are you doing this evening? Just staying in your hotel?” He tried to sound casual about it but out of the corner of his eye he could see Terra smirking.

  “I thought I would have dinner in their restaurant and then spend the evening reading. Why? Were you thinking of asking me to go eat somewhere again?” There was a playful tone to her voice but Gard felt his ears turning red just the same.

  “Only if I knew you were going to say yes,” he said, trying not to stammer. He had a bad habit of doing that when he was nervous, and asking Terra to have something more than a sandwich with him made him incredibly nervous.

  “Hmm, I don’t know. Eating on my own or eating with a fine young gentleman.” She sounded as if she was teasing him, but not in an unpleasant way. “It’s a difficult choice but I think you’d be the better conversation.”

  “Great!” It was a relief to have an answer from her after the look of surprise she’d given him the last time he asked. They pulled into the parking lot beside her hotel and he turned off the car, then looked at Terra. “I know a place that has some really good steaks.”

  “Steak?” Terra’s eyes were wider than he’d ever seen them, and she shook her head. “Oh my goodness, I couldn’t let you spend that much money on me. I’d be happy with a nice pot roast. I’m a very accommodating person.”

  “I want to get you something nice,” Gard said. “If we go see Tilly and Jake, she’ll want to cook for us and it’ll probably be a more home-cooked meal. Come on, when are you going to be back here? You should have some fun.”

  “It’s true, I don’t have much fun up north.” She hesitated and Gard waited, holding his breath but hoping she didn’t see him doing it. “All right, I think that would be lovely. I shall go wherever you choose because you’re going to harass the trainyard workers for me.” She sighed. “I haven’t had much luck with these people, being just a lowly female.”

  “That’s their problem, not yours.” Gard finally relaxed fully. “Would you be offended if I walked you up to your room? I’d like to put this case down and I figure it’ll be safe in your hotel room with the door locked.”

  “Of course. I could hardly be offended when I’ve already invited you to my room before.” Terra got out of the car and waited on her side for Gard to join her before walking toward the hotel. “Besides, after being around you these few days, I already know you’re a gentleman.”

  “I’m flattered,” Gard said, opening the door for her. “Speaking of, if you wanted to change your clothes or anything, I’m happy to wait in the lobby.”

  “I certainly appreciate that.” They walked over to the elevators and Terra pressed the ‘up’ button. “I’ve been wearing my nicest clothes to try and make a good impression, so I’m already ready to go. People respond to a respectable, well put-together woman much better.” She sighed. “Honestly, it’s nice when I can wear a nice plain dress and hat to see a friend, or to go buy groceries.”

  “Not just women, men too,” Gard said. “I’ve noticed a definite improvement in the way people treat me now that I’m wearing nice suits all the time.” He sighed. “Guess that’s just the way things are. I don’t like it much either.”

  When they got to Terra’s room, Gard looked around for a place to put his files. It was easy to be paranoid that something would happen to it on his very first case, but he didn’t want to carry it around with him if he was having dinner with someone. He wanted to focus on Terra and not where his files might be. It would definitely be a waste.

  “How about the closet?” Terra seemed to have read his mind, and she opened the door. Several beautiful dresses hung from the bar and she stepped aside. “You can put it in the bottom there. I don’t mind at all.”

  “Thanks,” Gard said, sliding his case into the closet. He looked at Terra with a frown when he straightened as something occurred to him. “If this falls under Maryland’s jurisdiction and they won’t let me consult on the case, you’ll be going back to New York after the case is finished, won’t you?”

  “More than likely, yes.” There was a note of regret in Terra’s voice, and it was hard to tell if it was because she would miss Roanoke or because she had developed some sort of feelings for him. While he wished it was the latter, it was most likely the former. “But I’m here now, so let’s not get too discouraged yet.”

  “You’re right,” Gard said, attempting to smile. “Until we look at that wrecked train, we don’t know what might happen.” He opened the door for Terra and without thinking, put a hand on the small of her back to guide her through. She jumped slightly, then proceeded without a word. Gard thought he saw a little bit of a blush on her cheeks, though, and smiled. There really was no telling what might happen.

  Chapter Six

  “I appreciate your doing this for us,” Gard said to Alvin as he unlocked the warehouse where the wrecked train was being kept. It was on the far end of the trainyard so there were tracks that made it possible for the train to be brought to it, but enough of a distance that they’d had to drive to get to it. “We shouldn’t be too long if you want to wait for us.”

  “All right. There’s an office up those steps there,” Alvin said, pointing to a small windowed office whose blinds were drawn. “I’m going to sit up there and have myself a cigarette. Maybe even a nap on the clock depending how long you take. You just knock on the door whenever you’re ready to go.”

  “Thank you so much.” Terra gave him her most winning smile and he returned it, clearly oblivious to the condescending way he’d spoken to her at their last meeting. She’d allowed Gard to take the lead when they were talking to him the night before about the warehouse but she was quite ready to leave Roanoke’s central station behind in favor of going to Baltimore. “Coul
d you show us the train before you go up there?”

  “Of course, miss.” Alvin led them to the back of the storage warehouse past two train cars that were also nonfunctional. “There she is. She used to be a beauty, now she’s just a hunk of scrap.” He sighed. “Ain’t that how the world goes?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Gard said. “Thanks for bringing us back here. We’ll let you know when we’re finished.” Alvin nodded and Terra watched him go before she turned to Gard.

  “What was that about?”

  “Who knows? He’s an older guy, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was getting pushed out.” Gard took out a flashlight and turned it on. “Glad I brought this, it’s pitch black back here.”

  “You’re right. I can hardly see my hand in front of my face.” She held out a hand to make sure she didn’t run into anything and almost instantly bumped into Gard’s back. “I’m sorry,” she said behind him. The light from the flashlight illuminated their faces when he turned to her and she was relieved to see he was smiling.

  “Here.” He offered her his arm and she took it, feeling a bit like she was walking into a party in a gown and hat instead of poking around a greasy train storage warehouse. It was a nice feeling and she enjoyed it as he led her over to the train.

  It was easy to tell which one it was. The engine’s cab was almost completely crushed, accordioned in on itself like it was made of paper instead of thick metal. Seeing a beautiful train reduced to this almost made Terra cry. They reached its side and she released Gard’s arm. If she was going to confirm her vision, she would have to go inside.

  “I need to get in there,” Terra said, doing her best to keep her voice from shaking. “I need to see if I can find the reason he couldn’t stop. It couldn’t have been the brakes. The majority of trains, especially ones this new, use the Westinghouse air brake design. It’s impossible for them to fail.”

  “If you’re going in there, I’m going in too.” Gard shined the flashlight up the train. “What kind of detective would I be if I didn’t take a look around myself? Two sets of eyes are better than one, right?”

  “You’re right. We’ll get it done faster.” Once again, Terra was impressed by the way Gard treated her like an equal instead of assuming she had no idea what she was talking about or trying to take charge and talk over her. She reached up and took hold of the handrail, but the crushed running board made it hard to get a good foothold.

  “Here, let me get in there first. I’m taller and I can pull you up.” It would have been easy to be offended by Gard’s gesture but Terra knew he wasn’t doing it to be superior. He really did have a foot over her.

  With a level of skill that rivaled Tommy’s ability to shimmy up a tree, Gard climbed up the side and swung into the engine compartment. Then he leaned out and offered her a hand, then hesitated and took off one of his gloves. Understanding what he was doing, Terra took off her glove as well and took his hand. His grip was firm and a little sweaty, but he easily pulled her up into the train. Terra hardly noticed herself climbing, she was too busy savoring the feeling of Gard’s hand on hers. It was comforting considering what she knew was about to happen.

  The vision she’d had when she was touching the other engine had been bad, but it had also been her first that had shown her the past instead of the future. She’d seen what had happened rather than what was going to be and it had unsettled her. Her vision had been horrific and she had a feeling it would only be worse when she was touching the places where the engineer had been when he had died.

  “Thank you,” she said when she was standing beside him, putting her glove back on. “You’re almost as smart as I am.” This made Gard laugh hard enough that he had to put a hand on the wall of the train.

  “Probably not,” Gard said, grinning. “There’s a reason you’re the doctor here. Come on, let’s take a look around. Any idea what we’re looking for?”

  “Any evidence that would explain the brake failure.” Terra moved to the back of the compartment, carefully making her way over the crushed and warped floor. She stopped by a pipe-like structure and pointed at it. “The brake lever is over here.”

  “All right, I’m coming over.” Rather than picking his way over the floor like Terra had, Gard skirted the walls. There was a strange, metallic clunk and he stopped. “I think I just kicked something.” Whatever it was had rolled under one of the control panels and he shined the flashlight under it, then reached out to grab it.

  “What is it?” Terra leaned toward him and he turned to her, holding the rectangular piece of metal out.

  “Looks like a part from a really big car engine, or a zipper. What do you think?” Gard handed it to Terra and shined his flashlight on it.

  “I think this is the brake switch.” She waved him over and he turned the flashlight onto the pipe where she was standing. Just as she’d suspected, the switch had snapped off the brake line. She set the switch on the housing where it had been broken off and tapped it. “It goes on like this, and to brake you turn it. When the engineer tried to turn it, it snapped off.”

  “But it’s a piece of metal, and a thick one. Someone had to have tampered with it for it to just break off.” Gard squatted down and used his flashlight to get a better look. “Uh-huh. There are some cuts on the metal near the pipe, probably where the file or whatever they used slipped a couple of times. That means—-”

  “-—whoever it was sawed through the switch so that when the engineer turned it, the whole switch broke off. That’s why he couldn’t brake.” She frowned and Gard turned the flashlight onto the piece of metal in her hands. Terra ran her fingers over the ragged end and was immediately pulled through the icy barrier into another vision of the past.

  In it, the engineer tried to engage the brake and it snapped off in his hand. He hurried around the compartment, trying to find something he could use as a makeshift switch. There was a wrench hanging on the wall and he tried unsuccessfully to use it, then time shifted forward and Terra saw him engulfed in flames, silently screaming as the rear of the second train came rushing toward them. Her vision stopped abruptly when the switch fell out of her hands and hit the ground.

  “Dr. Rendon? Terra?” She opened her eyes and saw Gard looking down at her with concern. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes,” Terra replied. In addition to shaking from the cold, she felt like she had been punched in the stomach, and she could see that Gard didn’t believe her.

  “Here.” He reached into his pocket and took out a handkerchief, which he handed to her. Terra frowned at him and he smiled. “You’re crying.”

  “I am?” Touching her cheeks, Terra found that they were wet and she wiped her eyes with Gard’s handkerchief. “Thank you. I didn’t even realize I was.” She looked closer at the broken switch and saw that the bolt was stripped, most likely because the engineer had tried his best to use the wrench and was unable to get it to catch. “There’s a wrench around here somewhere, or there should be.”

  “You don’t think the saw or the file or whatever is still around here, do you?” Gard gave the flashlight a cursory pass around the compartment. “I wouldn’t think it would be but you never know.”

  “Probably not. If it was a file or even a small saw it would be easy to hide inside a jacket. I’m convinced that Mrs. Lovett saw whoever did this and didn’t realize it.” Terra looked down at the switch. She didn’t want to touch it again. She was still cold enough from the vision that she was shivering. “Could you get that for me?”

  “Sure. I’ll take it to the station tomorrow when we visit Jake.” Gard smiled at her. “You can come too, if you want. They’d probably be impressed by your knowledge.”

  “Perhaps. I’ll consider it.” In all honesty, Terra mostly wanted to meet Tilly. Going to the station would be interesting but it might lead to uncomfortable questions about how she’d come to the conclusions she had. Gard might be accepting of her strange methods but other police officers might dismiss it as a woman being hysterical. Talking to T
illy would be much more interesting. “Let’s go. It feels like a tomb in here.”

  “Agreed. I’ll hop down first and help you down so you don’t hurt yourself. I’d hate for you to turn your ankle and spend the rest of your time in bed.” He was once again demonstrating his kindness and Terra was more than happy to let him. She wanted to hold Gard’s hand again and as he jumped down from the train she felt herself trembling with anticipation. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” Terra said, trying not to grin. She held a hand out to him and he shook his head.

  “I can’t get you down like that. Sit down and I’ll lift you. If you don’t mind, that is.” Terra blinked at him, surprised that he would offer this, and he held up his hands and shook his head. “I’m not trying to be a masher, I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “I appreciate that,” Terra said. She wanted to add that she knew he would never try to accost her but that would have sounded odd. To prove she didn’t think he would do anything untoward, she sat down on the edge. “What if I jump down and you catch me?”

  “That’d be even better. I’m a great catcher.” Gard stood closer and Terra took a breath, then pushed herself off. She only fell for a few seconds before Gard caught her, and she put her arms around his neck.

  A moment passed between them, then stretched itself until there was no space between them. Terra looked into his eyes and was lost, though not in a vision. She was absorbed instead by an affection so deep for him that she felt as if she could be happy in his arms for the rest of her life. Telling him this was on the tip of her tongue, but Gard set her down gently and reached up to get his flashlight.

  “I suppose this means the case really is Baltimore’s jurisdiction now,” Terra sighed. “What a terrible thing to have to pass to them when you’re the one who did all the work.”