Murder Kicks the Bucket

by Diane Darcy

  The cat seemed to lose interest in William, and turned to look at Lena.

  The cat actually had been there at the shed where she’d been held. It had followed her somehow and found her before William, even. She’d forgotten about that.

  Ava had a cat that Lena suspected was there to bolster her witch image. What witch didn’t have a cat, right?

  Now, Lena, apparently had one too. So, what, exactly, did a familiar do?

  The cat had jumped on her lap when she’d told a fortune recently. Her vision had become so clear, right down to the name of the girl’s boss.

  A chill ran up Lena’s arm. That had been strange. Different. Something that had never happened before.

  The cat darted across the garage and disappeared from sight.

  It did that a lot.

  It showed up a lot.

  She shook her head and glanced back at William. He was lifting his phone to see if the car was still there.

  She chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you if it disappears for real.” The longer this went on, the more this situation was getting on her nerves. “Do you still think it’s Heath?”

  “Aye, he’s been most insistent upon getting and keeping the Corvette. I may not know what his reasons are, and it may be as mundane as money. Vampires generally have plenty, but ye never know.”

  “Is there some sort of paranormal database? I’m assuming you’ve already looked him up to see if he has a criminal history?”

  He shrugged. “We gather what information we can, but much of it tends tae be gossip, innuendo, or outright lies.”

  “That’s not very helpful.”

  “The only real records we have come out of New York, o’ course. And they doonae always want tae share.”

  “Why New York?”

  He opened his mouth to answer, but just then, Esmeralda and her cousins showed up. They heard chattering before they actually saw the trio round a row of cars and head in their direction.

  Esmeralda wore a long black dress shot with silver, with long dangling sleeves. Ava was in a pale-yellow dress, followed up by Scarlett in a ruby red one.

  As they got closer, they fell silent, then came to a stop, the three standing shoulder to shoulder. “You found something interesting?” Esmeralda asked.

  Caleb and Quinn came up behind them and Ava shot them a nasty look before facing forward again.

  William gave a sharp nod. “It seems we have a problem involving —”

  Esmeralda held up a hand and shot William a cold look. “I was talking to Lena.”

  William glowered at her, and then, with an overly polite bow of his head, indicated Lena with his hand.

  Lena’s glance skittered between William and the witches, then she took a steadying breath. “It seems we have a mystery.” She indicated the car in front of them. “What do you see?”

  Scarlett clapped her hands. “Oh, a game! I spy with my little eye … a Corvette!”

  Lena grinned, finding the more she was around her silly cousin, the more she liked her.

  Ava rolled her eyes. “A cigarette butt?”

  Everyone looked at Esmeralda as she made a sound of exasperation. “What? The oil stain on the ground? The questionable boot mark on the wall? The gargoyle peering down at us? What are we doing here, exactly?”

  Lena scanned the ceiling and, sure enough, a little head was hanging upside down, wide eyes staring down at them. Her favorite stone-baby stalking her once more.

  Scarlett looked at her cousins in surprise. “You really don’t see the Corvette?”

  “I see it,” Lena said.

  Esmeralda quickly moved forward and swerved away exactly the way the men had done earlier.

  Ava did the same.

  “If you have your cell phone, open the camera and take a look.”

  Both ladies did so, surprise crossing their faces.

  Lena crossed the short distance and hiked herself up on the trunk once more.

  Ava grinned. “Awesome.”

  William, leaning against a stone pillar once more, glowered at Scarlett, “Anything ye wish tae tell us?”

  Scarlett gave him an over-bright smile, then looked toward Lena with wide eyes as if to say, help me out here.

  Oh, boy. A test of loyalties? William seemed to think so too, and crossed the distance and took Lena’s hand, as if to show they were united in their quest for answers.

  Lena gave a slight shrug of her shoulders, and Scarlett finally sighed and lifted her hands in a show of exasperation. “All right, it wasn’t that big of a deal, it’s just that when someone’s throwing money at you, lots and lots of money, what are you supposed to do?”

  “Mayhap help us catch a murderer, before he decides ye’re too much in the know, and ye’re the next victim?”

  Scarlett’s smile faltered. “Well, I hadn’t thought of that, had I?”

  She glanced over at her cousins, who both glared. “What? It was a lot of money; you’d have done the same.”

  Esmeralda crossed her arms and gave Scarlett a pointed look. “I’m assuming you used a vanishing spell to keep anyone from seeing it? My only question is, why can Lena?”

  Scarlett turned and they all three looked at her. “You know, I’m wondering exactly the same thing.”

  “Earth witch. I called it,” Ava said.

  Esmeralda’s eyes narrowed. “No, you didn’t. Anyway, it could be her Martin blood.”

  “We have Martin blood,” Ava argued.

  “I did cast the spell in the same vial that I made the love potion in.” Scarlett tapped a finger to her lips. “And it once held a strand of her hair. What if—”

  “Enough!” William barked out. “Ye cast the spell, obviously. The question is, who did ye make it for?”

  All eyes turned to Scarlett and she seemed to shrink in on herself just the smallest amount. Finally, she gave a small lift of her shoulders. “A witch never tells her secrets?” she gave a weak smile.

  Esmeralda placed hands on her hips. “A dead witch, maybe. Spill it, Scarlett. What do you know?”

  Scarlett sighed and shook her head. “All I can tell you is that it was a woman.”

  Lena met William’s gaze. “Bianca?”

  William dug his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll send someone to pick her up.”

  Chapter 17

  Fifteen minutes later everyone was gone and Lena was left with William in the parking garage, guarding the car until they’d nabbed the vampires.

  He watched her closely and after a long silence, she started to get uncomfortable.

  Were soulmates supposed to feel that way?

  Did he regret she was the one he’d gotten stuck with? A fake psychic. Well, fakish, anyway, and a witch to boot. He didn’t seem very keen on witches and she’d be blind to miss the animosity between them all.

  And the relationship got stranger by the day. Solving murders together wasn’t exactly hearts and roses, and what did it say about her that she was even interested in doing such things?

  She’d always been a weirdo.

  Maybe he was starting to think so.

  Lena shifted from one foot to another, glanced at William looking so handsome in his dark gray suit, and insecurity flooded her once more. “Maybe I should go home?” She asked the question, but wasn’t really serious. It wasn’t like William had ever tried to get rid of her, she was just uncomfortable with his staring and didn’t know what to think.

  William glanced around, and pointed to his car nearby. “Any chance we can have a talk?”

  “Talk?” The way he asked the question, so serious, was making her feel she’d done something wrong.

  He wasn’t breaking up with her, was he?

  Why wouldn’t he? her critical voice quickly jumped in to assure her that of course, he was. For all of the reasons she’d just thought about. “Sure,” she said, turning away, her movements slightly jerky.

  She followed, and stood to the side as he unlocked the doors. He helped her inside before closing he
r in, rounding the machine, and getting inside himself.

  And then it was just the two of them in the small enclosed space, and she breathed in the smell of new car, leather, and William. She clasped her hands tightly on her lap to try to hide her sudden nerves.

  When William didn’t say anything for another long moment, her nerves got the better of her and she blurted out, “You wanted to talk?”

  William took a deep breath, released it, and her fingers tightened to the point of pain. He was breaking up with her. She should’ve known this was too good to last. She had a horrible track record where men were concerned, and so this shouldn’t surprise her, but it did.

  Her chest tightened to the point of pain.

  And she’d considered breaking up with him earlier?

  She couldn’t breathe. Her brain no longer functioned, and therefore whatever was building to spout out of her mouth was no longer within her control.

  She bent her head and blurted, “You’re breaking up with me, aren’t you?” in a fast, rush of words.

  William gasped. “Lass?”

  William was so shocked by Lena’s assertion that it took him a moment to be able to articulate. Break up with her? What had he done to make her believe he was even capable of such a thing? He sputtered for a moment, and then finally said, “Lass, tis obvious we need tae talk.”

  She glanced at him, a shy look that caused his heart to clench hard in his chest. “All right,” she said, shooting him another glance before looking down at her entwined fingers once more.

  “Tis just, I ken yer mother and grandmother have raised ye tae believe that such an outcome is even a possibility, but if ye understood this world a bit better, ye’d know it cannae be ended.”

  “What can’t?”

  “Us, apart, finished, over. We’re soulmated, lass. Fixed together. It means I’m yers and ye’re mine and there’s nae gettin’ round it.”

  The look she gave him was solemn and he racked his brain trying to think of a better way to explain when she suddenly smiled. “What if I do something that bothers you? I mean, what if I have a really irritating habit that you just can’t stomach. Like interrupting when you’re talking, or speaking too loudly on the phone, or insisting on being right all the time? What if I forget to return things I borrow? I might be a know-it-all.”

  William felt something loosen in his chest, and soon he was grinning, too. “I hate tae tell ye this, but I myself have some habits others might consider irritatin’.”

  “No!”

  “Aye, tis true. Sometimes I’m completely unaware of other people’s reactions. I’ve been told I’m a bit of a know-everythin’ as well, and a smidgeon on the judgmental side.”

  She was still smiling. “Sometimes I lose track of time and I’m late.”

  He scoffed. “I invade personal space.”

  She chuckled. “I’ve been known to play games on my phone, and forget what’s going on around me.”

  “Och, that last one is a bit of a deal-breaker, as I like tae have all yer attention focused upon me. Oh, wait, we doonae have deal-breakers, as the die is cast! Guess I’ll have tae live with it.”

  He grinned at Lena, who grinned back at him, and he raised his hands in the air. “Seems there’s naught tae do about it as ye’re stuck with me, and I with ye.”

  Her eyes crinkled at the corners in genuine amusement. “I guess I need to quit trying to break up with you?”

  He lifted one shoulder. “Ye’re welcome tae try, o’ course, but it willnae do ye much good.”

  “Because we’re fixed?”

  He blew out a breath and grinned. “I’m glad ye finally understand.”

  She chuckled and held out a hand and he was quick to grasp it, and gave her the slightest tug forward. As he leaned over the console, she bent closer at the same time and just as their lips were about to meet, he saw something out of the corner of his eye and straightened.

  She sat back and followed his gaze. “You have got to be kidding me. Everyone’s looking for them so how did they get here?”

  Heath and Bianca approached the Corvette and, after a quick look around, Heath removed a bar of some type and quickly popped the trunk.

  He’d done that before.

  They were either unaware that William’s team, the witches, and Lena had just been down here, or they knew and thought the coast was now clear.

  Heath started scooping the coins into a white bucket he’d brought along, no doubt for that very purpose, and Bianca quickly joined in, scraping coins, with an occasional glance around the parking structure.

  Surprise held William still for a moment. Vampires were known for their vast wealth. Vampires scrabbling for coins wasn’t something William had witnessed in his lifetime. Could Heath and Bianca have a major gambling problem or something?

  “What should we do?” Lena whispered, and the words jarred William out of his inertia.

  He quickly texted his men, told Lena to wait, and exited the car.

  Frankly, this was getting ridiculous.

  At the sound of William’s car door slamming shut, Heath and Bianca looked up and froze.

  “Bianca, run!”

  “If ye do, I’ll enjoy the chase all the more!” William growled, his voice deepening with anticipation.

  Heath scooped a few more coins, then held the bucket to his chest like a newborn and sprinted away, the jerky motion spilling some. He panicked, grabbing at the air as he tried to recapture his loss.

  “Bianca, doonae move!” William warned, then took off at speed after Heath, easily covering the distance between cars as he caught the vampire before he turned the corner, William’s large hand latching onto his shoulder, claws piercing to hold him in place.

  Heath, more coins spilling, attacked, slashing out with a knife.

  Seriously? The guy was losing it, big time.

  William easily caught his hand and bent his wrist until the other man let out a shout of agony and the knife clattered to the ground.

  “William!”

  He glanced back to see Lena was out of the car, and that Bianca still stood by the Corvette, arms crossed, her long hair hanging around her shaking shoulders.

  A small gargoyle dropped from the ceiling, stood in front of Lena, and chirped.

  Bianca cried as if her heart was broken, and Lena’s brow wrinkled in concern.

  William let out a heavy sigh. “Come on, then. This way.”

  Though he had Heath by the arm, the vampire dropped to the ground and started to scrape up coins.

  “Really?”

  “Heath!” Bianca sobbed his name from across the garage. “Stop. Leave it. It’s over.”

  Lena walked over to join him, her pet trailing behind. “What’s with the coins?”

  William still had Heath by his arm, though it was twisted at an angle as the other man, still on his knees, stared at the ground, his entire body radiating dejection.

  “Come on, then. It will do ye no good tae kneel here all day.” He hefted the smaller man up and herded him over to Bianca, then corralled both of them into a concrete corner of the garage.

  He heard footsteps, turned to see Caleb, Quinn, Alistair, and Berkeley coming up behind him. He gave a quick explanation, and pointed to the trunk of the car, which was open and looked to be floating in the air as the rest of the vehicle was still invisible.

  “Well?” William asked the two miscreants. “I’d like an explanation, if ye doonae mind.”

  As one, Bianca and Heath looked at the coins that were now being gathered up by Alistair and Berkeley, who wore gloves to protect themselves against the silver. Bianca started to cry again and Heath quickly put his arms around her and whispered soothing words as he rubbed circles into her back.

  They waited, and soon Alistair and Berkeley came forward with the bucket of coins. “I think we have them all, Boss.”

  “Anything unusual?”

  Berkeley shook his head. “I didn’t see anything.”

  William looked at the d
ejected duo. “I have to admit, I’m surprised tae see ye together. Bianca seemed somewhat uncertain that ye were innocent of murdering yer friends. So why would she be here with ye now?”

  Bianca gasped. “That’s not true!” She turned to Heath, who looked stricken and she put a hand to his face. “Heath, that’s not true.”

  Heath let his arms drop to his sides, and Bianca quickly gripped his shoulders. “It wasn’t like that!” She sent William a killer look. “Tell him the truth!”

  William had to admit he felt sorry for the guy. He was obviously devastated the girl he loved didn’t believe in him. Aye, that would hurt.

  Lena moved up beside William and threaded her arm through his. Going by her expression, there was no doubt she felt sorry for the couple as well. “Tell us about the coins.”

  Heath glanced at Bianca and his mouth tightened.

  She looked the other direction, her mouth equally rigid, more tears trembling on her lashes. It was obvious they weren’t going to get anything out of them.

  “Heath, why doonae ye tell us what’s going on?” William gestured at Bianca. “Tis clear that Bianca doesnae have yer best interests at heart, so why no’ just tell us?”

  Bianca glanced at Heath, fear on her face, but when Heath shook his head, her expression softened and her eyes started to shine.

  “Heath, ye didnae kill yer friends, did ye?”

  He sucked in a breath, horror obvious in his expression. “No! I would never! Never!”

  Either the man was a good actor, or he really had not killed his friends. William could smell hurt coming off the other man, but not deception.

  Bianca held out a hand to Heath. “I’m sorry. They’re making this sound worse than it was.” She shot William another killer look. “They were the ones who tried to convince me you were capable of murder.” She glanced at the ground, and then back at him with a fierce expression. “But I still had doubts.”

  Heath nodded, but appeared stricken, unable to look at Bianca.

  “This is all good and well,” William broke in. “But I need more information. Specifically,” his voice hardened. “I’m going tae want tae know who shot at Lena.”