by A. M. King
Besides, if one of them was possessed, it wouldn’t be Febe.
“Listen, let’s not go through this tonight, okay?” Ebony said.
“Like you have to get up early in the morning to work at the café and study for your witching licensing exam,” Febe shot back.
“Oh, please. I’m watching over you. Isn’t that work enough?” Ebony stretched on the bed.
“I need to go back to the scene of the crime,” Febe said, pushing the covers off her.
“Are you crazy, girl? It’s two o’clock in the morning.”
“And it’s supposed to rain first thing at sunrise which could destroy some evidence.”
“Evidence?”
“Yes, evidence. I just thought of something.”
“Shouldn’t you be telling this to that hot cop you keep drooling over.”
“Hey. I do not drool over Detective Trey,” she protested, feeling heat climb to her cheeks. How on earth did Ebony even know she had a hint of attraction to him?
“Who said anything about Detective Trey?”
“Isn’t that whom you were talking about?”
“No,” Ebony gave her a sly grin and arched her brow.
Ebony was up to her tricks again. Playing games with Febe’s head. Ever since she could talk, she’d been saying all sorts of stuff to get a reaction out of Febe.
“Besides,” Febe said, swallowing a lump in her throat. “Magical folks and normal folks aren’t supposed to mix, remember?”
“Oh, right. That’s one of the unwritten rules for witches.”
“Why is that anyway?” Febe asked, hoping Ebony would have the answers. It was too late to wake up her aunties to ask them.
Ebony yawned again as if she was bored of this conversation. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“What’s obvious?”
“Oh, come now, for one thing if you married a normal and he found out you were a witch, your very existence would be in jeopardy. Even if he casually mentioned it in conversation somewhere, you could end up being a serious target for witch hunters, a danger he might not be aware of.”
“Oh, right,” Febe said, suddenly feeling down. Not that she was interested in Trey Heart. Besides, the guy had an attitude. He treated her as if she was under investigation or something.
“Then there’s the compatibility issues. Heck, normals can’t seem to get along with each other. Could you imagine a magical person and normal person in a relationship?”
“Got a point,” Febe sighed.
She always felt a world away from her ex-fiancé, whom she wouldn’t call normal. Or was he? Maybe he was just a typical guy that liked to fool around on the side.
Still, if she were honest with herself, she had to admit now that they were opposites in lots of things.
He was extrovert, she was more introvert. He liked the wild life and she liked to keep things calm. He was power hungry and she was always...well, hungry. He was thin and well-built and she had a few curves, to put it mildly. He’d always criticized her hips and how she should try to lose weight like paper-thin cut-out Amanda Harlington, their boss, who now she knew, was his secret lover, too.
Oh, well.
“Well, I wasn’t drooling over him. He just looked...more like a model than a cop when I first met him, that’s all.”
“Yeah, right. Remember, I was in the SUV that night when you ran over the body and the cops came to the scene.”
“We didn’t run over Darla’s body! We sort of stumbled on her while driving.”
“Keep telling yourself that. I don’t know how your sister got her license.”
“To drive?”
“To drive and to practice magic.”
“You’re a bit moody tonight, Ebony.”
“Have you ever tried to deprive a cat of sleep? Where do you think the term cat nap comes from? Never deprive a cat of sleep. All cats need between twelve and twenty hours of sleep a day.”
“You need twenty-four hours it would seem.”
“Hey, are we getting catty here?”
“Catty? Using those terms, are we?”
Ebony hissed playfully. At least Febe interpreted it as playful.
“I know, I know. It’s in your evolutionary genes. In the wild, cats had to hunt in order to eat, and the stalking, chasing, and killing of prey used up a whole lot of energy.”
“My dear, Febe, sleeping helps us to conserve energy between meals.”
“Hmm-mmm.”
“Something that you should be doing more of.”
“Sleeping or meals?”
“Both.”
Febe frowned.
“Sorry to switch back to the subject of magical folks not mixing with normal folks, but what about Aunt Trixie? She’s had a lot of husbands. They weren’t all magical, were they?”
“That is something you’ll have to take up with your aunt, darling.”
Febe reached over to the night table and took up her iPad which had been recharging. Much like she should have been doing while sleeping. Ebony was right. She really needed to get more sleep.
“What are you doing, Febe?”
“Just searching up some recent articles from the Gosnik News website.”
“Why? Looking for a bit of juicy gossip to help you fall asleep?”
“Don’t be sassy.” Who would have ever thought that her kitty would be answering back to her like that?
“I’m sure Darla must have run over someone’s nerves in one of her exposés. Madam Techer said she slandered her family’s name, too. But what strikes me as odd is that Madam Techer’s been dead for what, a hundred years.”
“Ninety-seven to be exact,” Ebony corrected Febe then let out a nice wide yawn. Febe felt guilty for keeping her feline friend up, but she was obsessed with solving this puzzle. This murder. There was a killer on the loose. She didn’t feel one bit comfortable in the town of Blackshore Bay, and neither should anyone else.
Febe opened up her web browser and began to search on Google for the latest articles on the Gosnik News website.
Ebony dutifully climbed over to where she was sitting and snuggled beside her. Suddenly, Febe felt warm and appreciative of having her kitty beside her again. Just like the old days, except now Ebony would answer back to her if she ever stepped out of line.
“Okay, now, let’s see what we’ve got. My instincts tell me that she must have struck a nerve recently with her news articles and somebody exacted revenge on her.”
“That’s a hunch, is it?”
“Yep. Remember, I’ve studied human behaviour.”
“Oh, right. That nice useless degree you have.”
“Hey, it is not useless.”
“In the competitive job market it is. Did you really want to get into advertising?”
“You’re right, I wanted to be a behavioral scientist conducting studies, but...”
“Yeah, I know. Those two available positions in the country had already been filled,” Ebony yawned.
Febe playfully rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You can make fun of my degree but having a speciality in behavioural sciences is, quite to the contrary, a very marketable skill. I can apply that to just about any job in the universe.”
“If you say so.”
“What would you know about that, anyway?”
“Are you trying to say that I’m just a cat?” Ebony appeared to have raised a brow, which made her look positively adorable. If only Febe could stop what she was doing and reach for her cell phone to take a snapshot. She could post it to social media and get tons of likes for that.
“No, I’m not saying you’re just a cat. You are just a bit much sometimes, that’s all.”
“Hmmm. Whatever,” she purred and rested her chin on Ebony’s leg.
“Oh, wait, what have we here?”
Febe scrolled down some of the attention grabbing headlines of the web page. It really was a tabloid style gossip site.
Crazy Cat Lady Chooses Cats over Men
Febe cringed at that title
. She knew if she clicked on the hyperlink to the article it would lead to that scandalous piece Darla did on her Aunt Trixie. Her auntie might have a colourful, eclectic personality, but she did not deserve to be slandered like that.
She gave in to the urge and clicked on the link. She read a few passages of the article to see if she could find anything that would have led the police to suspect her auntie and keep her under watch. Even though it was probably obvious from the title alone. Aunt Trixie did not like to be referred to as a cat lady.
She’s done it again. Trixie Summer, co-owner of Summer Café has married husband number 7 in a lavish ceremony worthy of the front page. And once again her marriage ended in her husband missing. That’s seven missing husbands! Should the police be investigating this lady?
There was an image of Aunt Trixie wearing a lavish, over-the-top massive hat and a long purple gown with beau number seven.
“Aunt Trixie married seven times? I thought it was three.”
“Like that would make a difference,” Ebony said with another yawn.
Febe started to yawn, too.
“You’re obviously tired, now let’s go to bed.”
“I’m yawning because it’s infectious Ebony, not because I’m tired.” Which was true. Her energy was pumped now because of the adrenalin rush from the shocking news. “Why am I the last to know about what’s going on in the family?”
“Join the club, girl.”
“Aunt Trixie really did have an over-the-top ceremony. Is that an elephant in the background?”
“You know your dear old auntie likes to be different, right? It was her fault for enticing the media into her life in the first place. The Summer Sisters used to be in the circus back in the early days. The Sixties, I believe.”
“Oh, right. Grandma Summers was a performer in the circus.”
“That’s right. She used her magical gifts in performance.”
Febe remembered her lesson from Madam Techer about some witches choosing to use their gifts in performance, while others branched out to medicine, law enforcement or science. Well, her gifts were using what she knew about human interaction and trying to solve problems. In this case, solve a murder.
“Is there anything else I should know about the family?”
“Not much, except your auntie really knew how to pick ‘em.”
“Pick what?”
“Losers.”
“That’s not very kind of you.”
“What else would you call gold diggers?”
“Were they all gold diggers?”
“Miss Darla Gosnik, if you read further down, used to publish a cheaters column and would often feature each one of your aunt’s lovers, among others in the country, who were caught with an empty ring finger and a lover in a sleazy bar. That’s probably why your aunt was all too happy to send them packing.”
“So she should be thankful that Darla revealed that.”
“Nobody likes the bearer of bad news. That’s why they always say don’t shoot the messenger. Still, Darla was a little two-faced and would turn around and accuse Trixie of loving her cats more.”
“Why does Aunt Trixie have so many cats?”
“Hey, we’re cool to be around. Well, most of us anyway. I tried hanging out over at her house once. I won’t be doing that again.”
“Why?”
“Catty, my dear. Very catty. Anyway, I’m glad she sent me to hang around you and watch over you until you come of age.”
“Thanks.”
“You sound sarcastic.”
“Am not. Just...” Febe paused for a moment.
Cheaters: Who’s Doing Who This Week
Cheaters: Submit Your Story if You’ve been Cheated On
Febe rolled her eyes and scrolled down the web page. “I’m sure she must have had a lot of slander suits.”
“She had more suits than the House of Armani warehouse.”
“I’m not surprised. Not too many people would care for this sort of stuff.”
“She got a lot of revenue from big investors.”
Febe frowned.
“What is it, girl? You look discouraged.”
“I am. Wouldn’t you be? We’re just further from the truth.” Febe sighed. “Maybe we’ll never know who killed her because it could be anyone. Her investors, the guys featured in her Cheaters column, the people in the town...”
“Focus, girl. Isn’t that what Madam Techer taught you.”
“Yeah. Focus. But where? That’s the trouble.” She glanced at a few more tabloid headlines with hyperlinks. But didn’t bother click on the links. She could not believe the amount of trashing Darla did on that site. She certainly wouldn’t have a shortage of enemies.
Crazy Tycoon Going Senile
Crazy Cops Running the Town
Crazy House on the Hill: The Techer Women Still Haunt the Mansion
Crazy Happenings at Town Hall
“You said you saw something at the scene?”
“Yeah, some strange bike marks.”
“How do you know?”
“I ride, that’s how.”
“Well, let’s go at five in the morning. That way it’s early in the morning before the rain’s scheduled to fall.”
“Thanks, Ebony. I’m going to take a few snapshots and send them to the police station to look at.”
“I hope they appreciate what you’re doing. It would be much easier to just send them there.”
“But I just want to be sure.”
“Sure of what?”
“That I’m right before I send them on a wild goose chase.”
Chapter 20
At five o’clock in the morning, Febe got up again after getting two more hours of sleep. She had a quick shower and pulled her hair up into a ponytail.
She grabbed her bike and placed Ebony in her basket.
“What are you doing up this early?” Janvier asked, yawning.
“I thought you’d be at the café already.” Febe said, surprised to see her sister.
The house was so massive and Janvier’s room was on the other side. She didn’t want to risk waking anyone else up in the house, lest they thought she was crazy for what she was about to do.
“I’m heading in when they open. Bud’s opening this morning.”
“Oh, right.”
“What’s up?”
“I’m going back to the scene of the...murder.”
“What? Why? Are you insane?”
“Janvier, there’s a cold-blooded murderer loose and what disturbs me is that no one seems to care because the victim was the town gossip.”
“Correction, the victim was the most notorious slanderer this side of the galaxy who used her website to spread malicious rumors about everyone and anyone she could for a price. Did you see that massive piece of real estate she recently bought on the west side?”
“Oh, right. I saw a picture of a mansion on the lake on another site. She bought that recently?”
“Yup. I guess she thought crime paid.”
“She didn’t commit a crime, did she?”
“She broke a few rules in the witching world. She should have known better than to use her words to harm others.”
“Isn’t that something?”
“What?”
“People always paint witches as evil women going around uttering curses when in fact, it’s against our principles.”
“You can say that again.”
Febe sighed deeply. “Still, no one deserved to be murdered, not even the town gossip who became an Internet sensation with her gossip news site.”
“That site got more hits than a Grammy-winning rock star.”
“I guess it did.”
“So what are you looking for anyway?”
“A reason to strike up a conversation with that hot cop,” Ebony purred.
“Ebony!” Gosh, she wished her cat would hold her tongue once in a while.
“Sorry, just couldn’t resist.”
“Besides, I’m not inte
rested in men right now. I’ve had my share of heartbreak and embarrassment, thank you very much.”
Ebony rolled her beautiful, large cat eyes.
Janvier just grinned and took a sip of her coffee. “Wait a minute, Sis. Let me get ready. I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t have to, Janvier.”
“Are you kidding me? It’s five in the morning. Do you know how dangerous it can be out there in the dark? The sun’s not even up yet and you don’t have advanced magic like I do.”
“I thought you’re not supposed to be using magic casually.”
“If the situation calls for it, I can. Like if we happen to get into any danger.”
“Oh, right. Danger.”
Febe realized that she was more vulnerable than she wanted to admit. She didn’t have any magical powers that she could control at will. It was probably best that her annoying older sister tag along.
* * *
“So what are we looking for?” Janvier asked an hour later as they walked in the wooded area by the roadside where they had driven over the body the other night.
The sun was beginning to peek through the trees. They knew it wouldn’t last long – the area above them had dark clouds moving slowly in the sky.
“Bike tracks.”
“Bike tracks?”
“Yup. I thought it was odd that there were tire tracks around the area because it had rained the night before we got here, but I noticed a bike track going along here down the side of the road.” Febe glanced at the area. “There’s only one track along this path here.”
“A motorcycle.”
“Right.”
“So what, sis? Really now, do you think it had something to do with Darla’s death?”
“Possibly.”
Just then the girls heard the sound of a twig snapping in the distance. They both froze. Through the trees they saw a shadow of a man.
“I knew it was a bad idea to come out here,” Janvier whispered.
“Shh,” Febe said, her heartbeat pounding in her throat.
The figure moved closer to the girls at a rapid pace. Febe made a move for it and started in the other direction, pulling Janvier with her. “Please tell me you can use magic to get us out of here,” Febe whispered breathless.
“Sorry Sis, it doesn’t quite work that way. If it did, Darla would be alive, right?”