Witch Hunt

by Kate Allenton

  “Someone stronger than a typical witch?” I asked.

  “Yeah, we’re looking for someone higher up the food chain.”

  "I think we need to leave." I grabbed Andrew's hand just as I heard somebody outside the door. The sound of a key sliding into the lock made my heart stop.

  “Wait, we can end this now.” Andrew said trying to yank his hand from mine.

  “I’m not dying in this room where no one will find my body.” I wasn’t naïve to believe that the two of us could take on the killer. Him with his rusty magic and me…well I wasn’t chancing it without, not yet.

  I kept a tight hold on his hand and placed my palm on the wall and closed my eyes again, and this time I made no mistake about where we were going. We were going to the inn.

  We arrived on the front lawn just like I expected we would. We both sighed in relief as we stepped onto the porch. Our relief of making it back from this new adventure was short-lived.

  I stumbled, feeling the last tendrils of energy in my body.

  Andrew slipped his hold around my waist. “You traveled too much. I won’t let you fall.”

  A squeak sounded in the direction of the swing in the darkest corner of the porch.

  Andrew froze, pulling me closer in his hold.

  Someone rose from the swing, and Georgia came into view, an angry, tired scowl on her face. "Did you enjoy your little jaunt?"

  "We were just trying to find some answers.”

  "You two need to hurry upstairs and act like you've been sleeping. King called to warn me that there are a few detectives on their way here. They got a call about an alarm at the fruit place. And considering they found materials the killer may have used, and two people that resembled you two on surveillance, they’re coming here to question you. Good thing their feed was fuzzy.”

  “Good thing indeed,” I said.

  “Yeah, but you guys need to hurry. I’m sure Ryder has it figured out that it’s one of us. King called to warn us."

  “Why would they think that?”

  “I don’t know,” Georgia said, yanking the front door open just as we heard the sound of cars in the distance, “but you better go act like you were asleep.”

  My heart raced. They had every indication to point the finger at us as the ones that broke into the warehouse and assume we could possibly be the killer.

  Andrew swung me up into his arms and jogged up the stairs.

  I patted his chest to let me down. When my feet hit the floor, I dropped to my knees. Andrew was in mid-grab when I stopped him.

  “We’ve got to hide the evidence.” I pulled back the rug and removed one of the secret floorboards my father had warned me about.

  I stuck the items from Abaline’s warehouse inside and pulled the rug back into position. I climbed up on the bed and kicked my shoes off.

  “We need to look like we’ve been sleeping.”

  “Right.” Andrew yanked the shirt from his shoulders as I grabbed a nightshirt. I turned my back to him as I changed. It wasn’t that I was shy; we’d been married before. But it had been years since we’d been together.

  We could hear the voices below. Georgia wasn’t happy we had uninvited guests. We heard King and the police clomping their big boots up the stairs.

  We’d both hurried and crawled into bed when the first knock sounded on the bedroom door.

  I was about to slip out of the bed when Andrew stopped me. “You rest. I’ve got this.”

  He climbed out of bed and answered the door.

  King and another detective were at the door.

  King glanced down at Andrew’s boxers and hid the grin on his face. “Sorry to bother you and Margo. Georgia has already told me you were home all night. We just need to verify it.”

  Andrew pulled the door open even farther. “What’s this about?”

  “A break-in at Abaline’s Delectables.”

  I shrugged. “I’m sorry. I don’t know anything about that.”

  “I didn’t think you would.” King nodded. “We’ll leave you guys in peace, but we might be back tomorrow to get your statements.”

  “We’ll be here.” Maybe. Waving, I said, “If you guys don’t mind.”

  “Right.” The other detective blushed as Andrew shut the door.

  Chapter 13

  Andrew stayed the night in the guest bedroom. We couldn't let on that he and I were not together. It would have garnered suspicion. The sun streamed in through my window the next morning before I got out of bed. After a shower and getting cleaned up, I made my way down the stairs.

  The smell of freshly brewed coffee led me into the kitchen where I found both of my sisters waiting for me. I had suspected they would start their interrogation by withholding coffee, but I was wrong.

  Tess set a cup of coffee in front of me before fixing a plate of bacon and eggs. She put those in front of me too. I nibbled on a piece of bacon.

  The fact that they were nice, without yelling, should have been my first clue. I was halfway into my bacon and coffee when Georgia smiled.

  She exchanged a glance with Tess that I'm sure they both thought I missed. But I could tell they were up to no good.

  Georgia grinned as she slowly sipped her coffee. "Do you think Andrew is sexy?"

  "Yes," I answered, even though I had decided not to admit it. My eyes narrowed as I watched both of them exchange another look. Tess turned to look out the kitchen window, but Georgia met me head-on.

  "Why are you here?"

  "To find my father's journals.”

  “Good,” Georgia said. “So you didn't come to meet your sisters?"

  "Not originally. I don't need family. I had mine, and they all disappeared."

  None of this was making sense. I didn’t know why I was answering their questions. What I said might have been the truth to begin with, but it wasn't the reason why I was here now. “I didn’t mean it that way. You guys are part of my family now. I just wasn’t looking to get to know you, but now that I do…”

  George's gaze went to the coffee, and she raised a single brow. I lifted the cup to my nose and inhaled. There was a twinge of something that just didn't seem right.

  "Did you spike my coffee?"

  Georgia shrugged. "If this is the only way we can get the truth out of you, then yes.”

  I rose from my spot and glared at her and then Tess. "The reason why I came was to get my father's journals. But after I got here and I met you, my reason to stay changed. It was because of you two, and now I’m starting to regret that decision. Maybe you should learn to reword your statements. Am I telling the truth?"

  I didn't wait for them to answer me. I spun around and headed toward the stairs. I didn't expect an answer. If they were willing to drug me to get to the truth, I wasn’t sure I could trust them at all.

  Tess called my name as I reached the landing. "Margo, wait!"

  I turned to face her slowly, trying to measure my words so that I didn't make the situation any worse than it had to be. "Why wait? You know what I said was the truth. It's not me that can't be trusted; it's both of you. What I did was to protect my only remaining family, and you can’t say the same about what you and Georgia just did to me.”

  I walked into my bedroom and threw back the rug, pulling out the loose board in the floor. I grabbed the items that we had taken from Abaline’s shop. The burlap bag, the stuffing, and the bear. I jogged back down the stairs into the kitchen and tossed all of the items onto the table.

  "You want to know where I was last night? I was trying to figure out who the killer is. Andrew went with me. He can verify that's what we were doing. When I started thinking about Manny and his room, I remembered the fruit basket in the room when I closed my eyes and used the magical currents. Instead of ending up at the coven and in Manny's room, where we could've used an item to try and scry for his grimoire, we ended up at the Abaline’s Delectables warehouse.

  “We found these items. I believe they’re the same items used to make the voodoo dolls that
were left in Livvy’s room. So, as you can see, I am not out just for myself. I’m out to stop Manny’s killer and figure out who is terrorizing this community. So if you ever question my loyalty again, all you need to do is ask me something to my face, not use a truth serum in my drink. I have no problems telling you the truth."

  I spun around and headed for the door, grabbing my keys on the way out. Today I’d either find Manny’s spellbook or convince the other councilwoman to give me the dang spell. Andrew and I would break our connection once and for all. I wanted it. I slipped into my car instead of taking the magical tunnels this time. I didn't want to end up just anywhere the tunnels would take me, and God forbid, I got stuck from running out of personal energy.

  I drove to the Abaline’s Delectables and parked my car. Grabbing a baseball cap, I slipped it over my head and grabbed my keys and purse before heading inside. One of two things was going to happen. Either the clerk would call the police on me for my sort-of break in last night, or I’d be ordering a basket, which I hoped led to some answers.

  I pulled the door open. The aroma of roses smacked me in the face. There were several pictures of baskets to choose from hanging around the room. Some had stuffed animals. Others were filled with fruit and/or cookies.

  I’d have to watch what I said thanks to the concoction Georgia used in my coffee. There was no telling how long before that serum wore off.

  The cashier behind the counter smiled as I approached. There was no look of recognition in her eyes.

  “I'd like to order a basket, please.”

  “Do you already know what you’d like?"

  "I do.” That was the truth. I knew exactly what I wanted to order. It was a good thing she didn't ask me why. "I'd like a basket of fruit delivered to my sisters."

  "Do you have a preference of fruit?”

  I smirked. "Lemons. I want the entire basket to be filled with lemons."

  “This is a first.” The woman slid an order form across the counter. "If you'll just fill this out, my assistant is putting orders together now in the warehouse and then he’ll deliver them. I can have him send it right over.”

  I tried to hide the satisfaction from my face and failed miserably. My grin grew just thinking of my sisters' reactions while I filled out the form with the pertinent information.

  When I got to the point where it asked for a message, I didn't even pause.

  Just because.

  I chuckled as I slid the order form back over to the young woman.

  "Are you sure you want the entire basket filled with lemons? I can add different types of fruit."

  The thought of margaritas filled my mind. "You can add in a few limes. When did you say that this would be delivered?"

  "Bobby only has one other delivery that he needs to make today. So it should be within the next hour. He'll make the other delivery first and then yours. Is that okay?"

  "That would be great, thank you.”

  I offered her my credit card and watched as her brows dipped while reading my name. Her attempt to mask her interest failed. “You're one of the new sisters?"

  "I am. I guess word traveled fast about Mildred's granddaughters moving to town."

  Pink slowly crept onto the woman's cheeks. "After everything that's happened already, there's been a lot of new deaths in town since you and your sisters showed up.”

  Interesting. This woman has been following us and our antics since we arrived in town. Granted, most of the townsfolk knew that Tess had found a body in the well and that Georgia could see ghosts. But it was interesting how this woman connected all of that to us. "I'm sorry, did you know Mildred? Did you grow up in this town?"

  "Everyone in town knew Mildred."

  "You say that like it's a bad thing."

  "Not bad, just different. You have to understand I was raised in a church where witchcraft is taboo.”

  “You think all witches are evil?" Had we been looking at this case all wrong? Could it be as simple as a hate crime in an attempt to get all the witches to turn on each other? "Maybe I should make my purchase elsewhere."

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. Just because I was raised by Bible thumpers, and my father hates witches, doesn't mean that I hate witches. I actually have a secret."

  “I love secrets.” I raised my eyebrow as I watched her process my credit card.

  She slid the slip for my signature across the counter, and I signed before handing it back to her.

  She glanced over her shoulder before she spoke. "I'm dating somebody that lives at the coven. My father would kill me if he knew."

  I could see by the dreamy way she said it that she was telling me the truth. Georgia might've had better luck had she come here and sprayed her truth spray around interrogating everybody. I didn't have that luxury, but one day I would use the same tactic on her. Still, I was getting some information without the truth spray.

  "Is it anyone we know?"

  Chapter 14

  "We've only just met and have been on a couple of dates. He’s like a police officer with that group that just came to town." Her cheeks turned a bright cherry red. "I know he's not staying long, but I was hoping maybe I could talk him into staying longer after those people leave."

  “Those people?”

  “Yeah, those people that are here like we have government. My boyfriend told me that they frowned upon witches and wizards dating someone who can’t perform magic. We have to keep things a secret.

  “What’s your boyfriend’s name?” I asked.

  “I can’t tell you.” She waved her hand in the air. “I don’t want it to get back to my dad.”

  If she was involved, I’d need to dig a little deeper to find out exactly just how much she might think like her father.

  I grabbed my credit card and slid it back into my wallet and headed for the door, waving as I left. "Have a good day."

  "You too,” she hollered back.

  I intended to have a very good day. I climbed into my car and drove around the back for a better view of the warehouse. I parked out of sight and killed my ignition while I waited.

  Only one car sat outside the brick building. A delivery van with the Abaline’s Delectables logo painted on the side. I didn't have to wait long for the driver to appear.

  Ten minutes later, a young guy who looked to be in his mid-twenties stepped out of the warehouse, carrying a vase of flowers, before he disappeared inside again and carried out my fruit basket delivery.

  The clerk from inside followed him out. He kissed her in a heated kiss before smacking her butt as she hurried back inside.

  The assistant used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe off the kiss when his girlfriend went back inside.

  “Hello magical boyfriend.” I whispered.

  I turned on my car engine and waited. When he drove by, I got a better look at him. His sandy-blond hair was cut at an angle, blocking one of his eyes in the popular fashion that would one day give kids cricks in their necks from shaking their heads to toss the bangs out of their eyes. The driver had peach fuzz on his chin. Instinct told me that this kid probably didn't care about anything other than getting stoned and hanging out with his friends, but I could be wrong. I normally am.

  I slowly pulled out from my hiding spot and started to follow him. I hadn’t been clever enough to ask the cashier where the first delivery was going.

  When he turned onto our street, I was surprised. I’d assumed that he was doing my delivery last, but maybe this route made more sense.

  He parked in the inn’s driveway before grabbing the basket of lemons from the back of the van. He carried them up the steps and knocked on the door.

  Within a minute, Tess’s confused face was greeting him.

  Tess read the card and slowly shook her head before taking the arrangement from the driver. She was about to close the door when the delivery driver stopped her.

  He held up pointer finger before disappearing down the steps again and getting the flower arrangement that I’d wa
tch him carry from the store. He carried that up as the stairs as well and set it down on the porch before handing Tess a clipboard to sign.

  With both the lemon basket and the flowers at her feet, she signed the paper.

  As the driver jogged back down the stairs, I watched Tess look at the name on the envelope in the flowers before placing the card back in the prongs without opening it.

  She carried the lemons in first and then came back for the flowers to carry in those as well.

  I eased out of my waiting spot to follow the driver. My phone chimed in a text, and I glanced at the screen while at a stop sign.

  You have a delivery.

  I didn't reply as I continued following the delivery driver back through town. When he should have taken a right to go back to the warehouse and instead took a left toward the coven, my heart rate doubled.

  I continued following him, staying far enough back that he might not notice. The only things on this road were the coven entrance or an exit out of town.

  I parked behind the trees and watched as he pulled into the coven parking lot. He got out the truck and jogged over toward the townhouses. He knocked on Janice’s door and did a quick look over his shoulder before he slipped inside.

  “No, that wasn’t suspicious.” I rolled my eyes and glanced at my cell phone. I should tell my sisters what I’d been doing, not that him being at the coven was a crime. For all I knew, he could be related to Janice.

  I needed more information. I needed some type of proof that I was on the right track. I turned off my car and was pulling the keys out of the ignition when there was a knock on my car window, making me jump.

  My hand flew to my chest to cover my erratic heartbeat. Andrew was staring down at me. It wasn’t the scowl on his face that worried me; it was the color of his shirt.