by Sonia Parin
Henry Stuyvesant tried to get past her only to stop. With a worried expression on his face he turned back and strode toward the windows.
“Let me guess, you can’t hear me now.” She went up to him and poked him in the back. “Your cat gives me the creeps.” Nothing. Lexie couldn’t hide her disappointment. Henry Stuyvesant and his evil cat would have been the perfect villains. She was running out of suspects.
What if the person who’d taken Luna knew something about tapping into her cat’s power and was trying to force her to do things but Luna was fighting back and, every time she did, the spell broke?
Heat swept up to her face followed by a surge of rage that made her grit her teeth. Luna was her cat. If anyone was going to push her buttons...
Looking down the long corridor, Lexie pushed out a breath. How many more bedrooms did she need to look into?
She sensed a scream of frustration swirling and rising inside her. “This is no time to throw a grown-up tantrum. Pull yourself together, and...” Did she dare say it out loud? “Focus, Lexie.” The command shot out of her, obliterating all other thoughts.
She slashed her hands out and stumbled back in surprise when all the doors were flung open.
“Wow. Whatever I just did worked a treat.” Lexie pushed her sleeves up. For what it’s worth, she thought... “Will the person responsible for killing Stewart please step out?” She peered up and down the hallway. “Everyone who’s wearing pink underwear, please step up to the door.” In an instant, three women... and a man went to stand by their bedroom door.
“Anyone involved in the kidnapping of my cat, Luna, please raise your hand.” Despite the urgency in her tone, she was pleased to note she’d remained polite. Lexie looked up and down the hallway. “No one?” She tapped her foot. “How about... anyone who knows the whereabouts of Luna, please step forward. Don’t be shy people.”
No one moved.
“If someone knows what’s going on, speak up now.” She used such a commanding tone, her mom would have been proud, insisting she join her theater group.
The sound of a door slamming had her swirling around.
It had come from downstairs.
Was the killer... kidnapper trying to make their getaway?
She flew down the stairs and rushed from room to room. Storming into the library she found Dante arguing with Eloise and Aurora. When he turned, she knew they weren’t under a spell... for now.
“Did you hear a door slam?” she asked.
“Yeah, I tried to leave the library but the door slammed,” Dante said. “There’s something going on.”
Lexie rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it.”
“Bebe Brown is not Bebe Brown.”
“And that’s supposed to make sense to me?”
“We were going through all the guests and every time I mentioned Bebe Brown they couldn’t remember her. I’m thinking she’s been pretending.”
“An impostor? But everyone here knows everyone.”
“Exactly and suddenly, Eloise and Aurora can’t remember where they know her from.”
That sounded familiar. “You mean the way you can’t remember Luna’s previous owner?”
“Yes.”
“But you said you hadn’t sensed anyone with special ‘gifts’.”
“I’m thinking she’s somehow managing to cloak herself.”
“You mean the way Luna is black but everyone else sees her as golden?”
“Precisely.”
“So Bebe is in disguise. But if she’s not Bebe, then who is she?” Lexie didn’t wait for him to answer. She rushed out of the library and headed toward the patio where she’d left Henrietta with Bebe.
Henrietta Langton was still there with Nigel curled on her lap.
“Where’s Bebe?”
“Who?”
“Bebe Brown and Miss Brown. Her cat with the eye patch.”
“I’ve no idea. I’ve been sitting here sipping this wonderfully refreshing fruit juice and... I think I’ve been talking to myself. I hope that’s not a sign of early senility.”
Lexie looked at the table. Another glass sat on it. Bebe had sat there earlier sipping her drink. She’d looked as if she’d succumbed to whatever spell had been cast over everyone. Or had she?
What if she’d been pretending?
The way Luna had pretended to be golden when in reality, she had a beautiful black coat. Lexie shook her head. Either Luna had pretended or Lexie had failed to see her true colors because she’d been in denial. Or in deep resentment for being dragged away from her normal life.
“I’m over all that,” she muttered under her breath. And now she could see Luna as she really was. She swung around.
“Henrietta? You’ve met Luna before?”
“Yes. Everyone has.”
“Where?” She knew it was a waste of time asking.
Henrietta’s lips parted but no words came out. Then she frowned. “That’s so strange. The place where I saw her feels so familiar. I can see her face. I can remember seeing her.” She clicked her fingers. “It was at... No. It’s gone.”
“The tip of the tongue syndrome.” That, she thought, would be a highly effective spell. Specific enough to make it effective. Everyone had those moments of nearly remembering something, but not quite managing it.
“Henrietta, have you ever been to Manhattan?”
“Yes. I go there every year. In fact, we all do. It’s part of the circuit. Nigel loves the cat shows.”
Luna had never participated in a cat show. Someone had told her that... she couldn’t remember who. But that wasn’t to say Luna had never been to a cat show. Luna and her owner... Her previous owner.
The one no one could remember.
“The poisoned apple,” Lexie exclaimed.
“What about it?”
Who else would think of killing someone with a poisoned apple?
A witch.
Luna’s previous owner?
“If anyone can hear me, I need help. I can’t do it all myself. It looks like I’m up against a rogue witch—”
A roar erupted from...
Everywhere.
There was something familiar about it.
It had sounded like Luna’s mewl only a hundred times worse.
“Here kitty, kitty...”
Chapter Ten
“You have nothing to fear but... fear itself.” Now say it with conviction. Lexie tried but it took all she had to get her feet to move toward the lion’s den.
That roar had shaken her to the core.
It had been Luna. She’d recognized her tone, even though it had been amplified to a terrifying pitch.
Had Luna turned evil?
The thought was enough to make her move toward the stairs with the speed of someone on a mission. Lexie hoped it didn’t turn into a suicidal mission. She had so much to look forward to. Getting her landings right. Maybe some day visiting Catherine. Doing her weekly grocery shopping at the blink of an eye... while no one was looking. Doing her laundry at the blink of an eye... And she wouldn’t mind seeing what Jonathan had done with her apartment. Had she even asked what sort of wallpaper they’d chosen for her bedroom?
She stood at the foot of the stairs, her fingers curled around the balustrade.
Taking a deep swallow she gave anyone who could hear her one more try but she didn’t make it past her mom when another roar swept through the hallway. “Okay. Now I’m desperate.” Bebe Brown had fooled everyone into believing they knew her when in fact they might never have met her. She had to be behind Luna’s disappearance. Worst-case scenario, she could also tap into something quite powerful... because she was Luna’s previous owner here to reclaim her cat.
Before she could talk herself out of it, Lexie made one last attempt to call for help. A last ditch attempt. “O’Rourke.”
A tsunami of voices surged toward her. She swayed on the spot and gasped for breath. “All right, everyone. Pipe down.” She didn’t think they’d listen to her, but surpri
singly, they did. The cacophony mellowed to a collective murmur.
“Who is this?” they all asked, their voices layered into an impressive impersonation of Darth Vader.
“It’s me... Lexie.”
“Who?”
“Alexandra Elizabeth Mackenzie.” She lifted her chin a notch. “The High Chair of the American Continent...” she rolled her eyes and bobbed her head from side to side... “And all Circumferential Domains Pertaining to the Mackenzie Coven.”
“You are far from home, Alexandra Elizabeth Mackenzie.”
“Yes, and I’m in dire straits. Someone has kidnapped my cat”
“You’ve lost your cat?”
She lost her cat.
How could she lose her cat?
That’s bad.
Very bad.
I’ve never heard of a Mackenzie witch losing her cat.
“All right. Spare me the Greek Chorus. There’s something happening here and one of your own is caught up in it. Dante O’Rourke. He came here to investigate the murder of Stewart Bradbury. Now we’re all under some sort of spell. I need backup.”
“Find somewhere safe. We’ll be there shortly.”
“You get here as fast as you can. I’m going up.” She didn’t give the words a chance to sink in. Before she could talk herself out of it, she ran up the stairs, her back teeth set into gritting position.
She reached the top landing and stopped so abruptly she nearly lost her balance. A kaleidoscope of colors whizzed about her, splashing against the walls, turning into shape shifting globs of hot pink, red. Orange. Lime green.
“Whoa. This doesn’t look good.” It all seemed to be coming from the end of the hallway. She narrowed her gaze and saw a shape approaching. A person. A familiar looking man. “Ramona?” She’d ditched her dress for a gangster style suit that could have come straight from Henry Stuyvesant’s wardrobe.
“Don’t come any closer.”
“Hey...” She stabbed her finger at him. “You’ve got my cat.”
“Yes, and I’m not afraid to use it.”
The remark didn’t make any sense until Lexie saw something shoot out of Luna. A fluorescent blue ray. “You’re shooting at me with my cat? Stop it right now. Put down your weapon.” Although... how cool was that. Luna could shoot colorful death rays! Luckily she stood too far away for it to reach—
“Ouch!” Okay. Not far enough. She rubbed at the sting on her hand. “That hurt.”
Ramona’s evil laughter echoed along the hallway.
“Luna. You are in so much trouble.”
Holding Luna like a gun, Ramona took aim and shot at her again.
Lexie zig and zagged, just barely missing the stream of glob like rainbow colored bullets.
“How could you, Ramona? I thought you liked me.” Lexie considered making a swift tactical... sensible retreat down the stairs, but that meant abandoning Luna and she couldn’t do that. “Let me guess. You found out what Stewart planned to do with Luna so you killed him, clearing the way for you to snatch Luna for yourself.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Now make it stop,” Ramona screeched.
“Huh?”
“You stupid girl. Can’t you see it’s not me? Someone’s forcing me to do this.”
“Huh?” Another spray of bullets had her dancing across the hallway. She tried to open one of the bedroom doors but it wouldn’t budge.
“Behind you.”
“Huh?”
Both Luna and Ramona rolled their eyes.
Lexie turned and wished she hadn’t. Without understanding what was going on, she knew she was in deep trouble and caught, or rather, ensnared between the proverbial devil and the deep blue sea.
Bebe Brown hovered behind her.
In mid air.
“Wow. How is she doing that?” Lexie murmured under her breath. Snapping out of her stupor, she pointed a finger at her. “You.”
“Yes. Me,” Bebe said.
“You’re doing this?”
A small smile stretched her lips. Bebe gave Miss Brown a scratch behind the ears.
“Who are you?”
“Do you really need to ask?” Bebe’s pale blonde hair turned pitch black.
“You’re Luna’s booze loving ex owner... companion.”
“I enjoy the occasional tipple. That doesn’t make me a drunk.”
“You killed Stewart. That makes you a murderer.”
Bebe gave a small shrug. “Technically, an apple killed him. In any case, someone had to do something about him.”
“You’re not even going to deny it?”
“The man was a menace.”
“Aha! So you do admit to the cold-blooded murder of Stewart Bradbury.”
“Cold-blooded? Look at what he did to my Miss Brown. He was going to stuff her and he had the same plans for Luna. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Why? What is she to you?”
“You really need to ask?”
Actually, yes... she did. Why did everyone assume she knew everything?
“She’s my cat.”
“She was your cat. Luna’s moved on. She doesn’t want you anymore.”
“It was nothing but a misunderstanding. She’ll come to her senses.”
Lexie growled under her breath. “Luna is with me now.”
Bebe harrumphed. “You’re unfit to be her companion. How many times have you lost her now?”
“She’s here, at Chelsea Manor. That means she’s not lost. We don’t live in each other’s pockets. And stop changing the subject. Is Bebe Brown even your real name or did you do away with her too?”
“Bebe Brown is as good a name as any and despite what you might think I don’t go around ‘doing away’ with people.”
“So it’s your alias. That means you’re hiding from something... or someone.”
“I’m not hiding. I’m retired.”
Ramona cleared her... his throat, but both Bebe and Lexie ignored her.
“And you’ve come out of retirement to compel Ramona into kidnapping my cat.”
“You’re delusional. Luna would never choose you.”
“She already has.”
“Says you. She can’t possibly be happy with someone who keeps losing her. And don’t think I haven’t noticed how scrawny she looks. Even at my worst I never managed to be so negligent. You made it so easy for me to take her.”
“Yeah, about that. How did you do it?” She put her hand up. “Wait. Let me guess. You intercepted the butler and put something in my drink. Admit it.”
“It makes no difference if I did or didn’t.”
“That’s right,” Lexie said. “Either way you’re still a killer.”
“It wasn’t me. Stewart simply chose a bad apple.”
“Which you no doubt poisoned.”
“I merely enhanced some of its natural properties.”
“Why don’t you come down here and we’ll discuss what’s what?”
Bebe raised her hands. The white shirt and slacks she wore turned black. “Renounce your claim on Luna.” Her voice boomed and echoed throughout the manor.
Lexie pushed past the quivering in her legs and laughed. “That’s it? You think I’m going to turn my back on Luna just because you say so? Who’s delusional now?”
Out of the corner of her eye she caught a flash. Luna had fired. Before she could turn and step out of the way, the shot hit its target and the blast shook through her. Lexie’s arms splayed out. She became airborne. A scream caught in her throat as she tried to grab hold of empty air. When her fingers caught hold of something solid she grabbed onto it.
Bebe’s leg.
Growling and clenching her teeth, she wrapped both her hands around Bebe’s legs. Lexie looked down. If she released her hold, she wouldn’t have far to fall. At worst, she might twist an ankle and that would seriously annoy her because she’d be no better than those heroines in movies who stumbled and fell as they tried to run for their lives...
“Let go!” Bebe demanded and
tried to shake her off, but that only made Lexie sway from side to side. The motion threw Bebe off balance.
They both drifted. Great, now she had several more feet to fall through. “Stop drifting.”
“Let go.”
Lexie tightened her hold.
“You’ll take us both down,” Bebe warned.
“Yeah, and your point is?”
“Ramona. Fire.”
Lexie couldn’t measure the relief she felt when she realized Luna didn’t have a say in what she did.
“Ramona. Don’t fire,” Lexie yelled.
“You think I have a choice?” Ramona hollered.
Lexie lifted one leg and put all her weight on her left side. Changing positions and shifting her weight to her right managed to set them both on a pendulum motion.
“Stop that.”
“Right. As if I’m going to hang around and become a sitting target.”
A spray of colorful globs shot past her.
“You’ll get us both killed.”
“Really? Again? What is your point?” Inspiration struck. This time, she lifted both legs.
“What are you doing now?” Bebe yelped.
She pushed both feet down and immediately lifted them up again. Bebe wouldn’t be able to hold her position for much longer. Lexie could see her straining to keep herself airborne. She repeated the motion keeping up the momentum, each time gaining a few inches as the combined weight and motion brought them closer to the ground. It would only be a matter of minutes before Bebe lost complete control.
“If you don’t stop that I’m going to turn you into a toad,” Bebe warned.
“Even I know that only happens in fairy tales.”
“You want to test me?”
Actually, she didn’t.
Another shot flew past her, this time missing her by an inch.
“Fire. Fire!”
She couldn’t look over her shoulder but seeing a shot ricochet off the ceiling, she suspected there might be a struggle going on between Luna and Ramona... or both Luna and Ramona working against Bebe.
A little help would be good.
Luna?
Fix your eyes on her.
Huh?
Look up!
Lexie cleared her mind and did as told.