A Breath of Witchy Air Read online

  “He was mean to me a few days ago, too,” Clove volunteered. “I wasn’t rude at all but I got the feeling he wished I was dead. I wouldn’t underestimate him.”

  It was a sobering thought and still … . “He’s too gutless to hurt someone. He’s a coward. That’s how he ended up in this situation.”

  “Yeah, but every human being has a breaking point,” Thistle said. “Maybe Brian hit his.”

  I certainly hoped that wasn’t the case. I wanted him out of town and away from my newspaper. My newspaper. Now that it was so close I could finally embrace the idea.

  My newspaper. It had a nice ring to it.

  I WAS NERVOUS WHEN I walked into the bank’s lone conference room forty-five minutes later. I clutched my hands and smiled at bank manager Kenneth Morton – who also happened to be a notary – and took the seat to his left.

  Brian was already seated across from him, his real estate agent Karen Fisher planted beside him. I knew the woman only vaguely – she worked one town over – and the smile she sent my way was much more sour than sweet.

  “It’s so nice of you to join us,” Fisher drawled, her expression condescending.

  I flicked my eyes to the clock on the wall. “It’s not scheduled to start for five minutes.”

  “Yes, well, it’s nice of you to join us all the same,” Fisher sniffed.

  I managed to keep my eyes from rolling over and playing dead by focusing on my real estate agent Stephanie Grody. I’d known her since high school and while we’d never been close she hadn’t been a member of the mean girls group that terrorized my existence during my lower education years. “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself.” Stephanie beamed at me. “This is a big day for you. You must be excited.”

  “I am.” I risked a glance at Brian and found him glowering at me. “I’m also anxious to get it over with.”

  “I don’t blame you.” Stephanie patted my hand. “This shouldn’t take overly long. I’ve been over the new paperwork three times to make sure the language didn’t change. I’ll be going through it again as you sign … just to be on the safe side.”

  Fisher sneered. “I wasn’t trying to slip in that language. Ms. Winchester verbally agreed to that language, which is why my client requested it.”

  I knit my eyebrows. “I agreed to that language? When?”

  “That’s what I want to know.”

  I swiveled quickly, my heart stuttering when I realized Landon was standing in the open doorway. His black coat was open and his hair windblown, signifying he’d probably been in a hurry to rush here, but his eyes were on fire as he locked gazes with Brian.

  “I didn’t know you would be attending,” Brian said stiffly, shifting on his chair.

  “Oh, see, that makes you stupid.” Landon’s attitude was on full display as he grabbed a chair and positioned it so he sat slightly behind me, close without dislodging Stephanie from her spot so she could speak to me without raising her voice. “I’ve been looking forward to this since before you even announced you were willing to sell. There’s no way I would leave Bay alone for her big moment.”

  I lowered my voice and leaned closer to Landon. “I didn’t think you remembered.”

  Landon dragged his eyes from Brian and smiled. “Really? That doesn’t sound like me at all.”

  “Well, no,” I agreed. “I thought you were busy with your task force.”

  “We’re still debating the merits of that.” Landon’s hand was cold when it landed on mine. “No matter what, there was no way I’d miss this. You should know that.”

  My heart warmed at the simple sentiment. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t thank me.” Landon’s lips curled as he shifted his attention back to Brian. “I’m here for my own reasons – as well as yours.”

  I didn’t doubt that. “Still, I’m glad you’re here.” I rubbed my palms against my jeans as I fidgeted in my chair. “I don’t know why, but I’m nervous.”

  “Your life is about to change. You’re about to get everything you’ve ever wanted.”

  That was a slight exaggeration, but I knew what he meant. “I’m surprised you’re not wearing the hat.”

  Landon chuckled. “I’ll wear it for you later.”

  “Deal.”

  STEPHANIE WAS RIGHT about the closing taking a long time. I’d never closed on anything so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The fact that my hand was cramped from holding a pen when we were finished was befuddling.

  Still, when the last document was signed and I was holding a huge packet of copies, I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

  “Will you look at this?”

  Landon smiled as he took in the stack of paper. “That’s a lot of paperwork. Make sure to file it in your office when we get back to the guesthouse tonight.”

  “I don’t have a filing cabinet.”

  “Yes, you do. I bought one for each of us and put them in our offices yesterday.”

  That was news to me. “You did?”

  “I believe you were hungover and sleeping at the time.”

  I got to my feet and found the nerves coursing through me an hour before were completely gone. I was still somewhat shaky, but it was from excitement rather than fear for the first time in weeks. “I own a newspaper.”

  “You do.” Landon leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You’ll be great as the boss.”

  “I have, like, one part-time employee. I’m only the boss of me.”

  “You’ll still be great at it.” Landon extended his hand to Stephanie. “Thank you for catching the discrepancy in the documents. We’re very thankful you’re so diligent.”

  Stephanie beamed. “It’s my job.”

  “We’re still thankful.” Landon slipped his arm around my back and let his smile tilt into a sneer as he pinned Brian with a dark look. “As for you … .”

  Brian held up his hands to cut off Landon. “Yes, I know. You hate me and you’re glad I’m leaving this hellhole town.”

  “I don’t care about you enough to hate you,” Landon corrected. “I am glad you’re leaving, though. You don’t belong here.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Brian moved to cut around us but Landon’s hand shot out and smacked into his chest before he could build up a head full of steam.

  “We’re not done.” Landon kept his voice low but the warning twisting through his words was obvious. “I know what you were trying to do with the change in the closing documents and I don’t like it.”

  “Landon.” My stomach twisted. “Maybe we should just let this go.”

  “No, sweetie, we’re not going to do that.” Landon never moved his icy gaze from Brian’s face. “You were trying to put one over on Bay. I’m not stupid enough to believe you didn’t have a plan attached to that move. Make no mistake, had you tried to enact that plan you would’ve had more than angry Winchesters on your tail … although that would be frightening enough for most people.”

  “I don’t care about this conversation,” Brian drawled. “I want to get out of here. The rest of my life awaits.”

  “I’m still not done.” Landon was firm. “I also know what you did to that office yesterday. If it were up to me, I’d make you go back and put things right.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Brian averted his gaze as Fisher lobbed a curious look at her client.

  “Don’t bother lying,” Landon snapped. “I know what you did. I know why you did it. You thought you’d get away with the language change, and when that didn’t happen you pitched a fit. You left that mess for Bay to find because you’re a jerk.”

  “I am a jerk who is putting this town in his rearview mirror. That should make you happy.”

  “Oh, I’m happy,” Landon said. “I’m also heading over to that newspaper right now to change the locks. We’re getting a security system before the end of the week. If you try entering that building I’ll arrest you.”

  “You don’t have the authority.”

>   Landon quirked a challenging eyebrow. “Really? I’m the FBI.”

  “And that’s my grandfather’s business.”

  “Not any longer. It’s Bay’s business. You have nothing to do with it. If I see you near that building – heck, if I see you near Bay or any member of her family – we’re going to have issues.”

  “Really, Agent Michaels, I see no reason to threaten my client,” Fisher said nervously.

  “I’m not threatening him.” Landon moved his hand from Brian’s chest. “I’m making a promise. Stay away from the Winchesters. They … and that newspaper … are no longer your concern. Do you understand me?”

  Brian swallowed hard and nodded. “I understand.”

  “Good.” Landon linked his fingers with mine and tugged me toward the door. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s go look at your new kingdom. I think redecorating should be your first order of business … after I change the locks, of course.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “I want a globe. I have no idea why, but most people have globes in their offices. I want one.”

  Landon chuckled. “Then we’ll get you a globe.”

  And just like that I was embarking on a whole new adventure and could put a certain part of the past – an ugly part – behind me. It felt good to be queen. Now I knew why Aunt Tillie was always going on and on about it.

  Eleven

  Landon was in a ridiculously good mood, so much so that he swung our joined hands as we walked down the sidewalk. I slid him a sidelong look and shook my head.

  “I can’t believe you came.”

  “Of course I came. This is a big deal for you. Nothing would keep me from being here.”

  “Not even a task force to catch a serial killer?”

  Landon shrugged. “We don’t know if we’re going that route yet. There’s some debate on whether the situation warrants that much manpower.”

  “Debate?” I was offended on behalf of the dead girls. “Four people are dead. When do they think a task force is in order?”

  “You’ll have to ask them. I was so charged up Chief Terry suggested I take a breather. That was fine because I intended to leave for a bit anyway. I’m not sure how things shook out after I left.”

  “There’s Chief Terry.” I inclined my head as we closed in on the police department. “Why don’t you ask him?”

  “I just might do that.”

  Landon increased his pace and glanced around to make sure it was only the three of us before speaking. “Well?”

  “Well, what?” Chief Terry was blasé.

  “What did they say after I left?”

  “That you have a big mouth and a short temper.”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. I knew a lot of people who would describe Landon in exactly that manner.

  Landon let loose a heavy sigh. “I don’t deny either of those charges. Are they forming a task force or not?”

  “Not at this time.” Chief Terry didn’t look any happier with the turn of events than I felt. “I tried to get them to see our side of things, but they’re arguing that this could’ve been a mass killing rather than the act of a serial killer.”

  “Oh, that’s a load of crap,” Landon exploded. “All four of those girls disappeared on different days.”

  “But they disappeared the same week. Until we have a better understanding of how they died, the state police chief doesn’t think a task force is warranted. He claims his troopers are spread thin already.”

  “He just doesn’t want to fork over the manpower so early in the year,” Landon groused.

  “Why would that matter?” I asked.

  “Budget,” Chief Terry answered. “Task forces are expensive. No one wants to blow their discretionary funds in the first quarter.”

  “That sounds like bureaucratic nonsense. People are losing their lives. Young women are dying. I’d say that’s more important than a budget.”

  “I think anyone would say that out loud,” Chief Terry agreed. “What certain people think in private is an entirely different matter.”

  “Well, it sucks.”

  “It definitely sucks,” Chief Terry agreed, running a hand through his dark hair as he collected himself. “Wait … you just closed on The Whistler, didn’t you?”

  I nodded as I puffed out my chest. “I’m a business owner.”

  “Good for you.” He leaned over and gave me a bear hug. “I’m proud of you, kid. I knew you’d be in charge eventually. Now you can do things on your own terms.”

  I hadn’t really thought about it that way before. “I’m not sure how much things will change,” I hedged. “I kind of ran the news side on my own before – other than when Brian got a bug up his butt and decided he wanted to be involved – so that should be relatively the same. Now I’ll have to deal with the advertisers on top of everything else. That’s going to be the hard part.”

  “You’re going to be better at that than you think.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “You deal with difficult people every day of your life,” Chief Terry pointed out. “I mean … you live on the same property with Aunt Tillie. If you can handle that, you can handle anything.”

  He had a point. Still, I was nervous. “I think most of the business owners will be okay.”

  “What are you talking about? They’re all excited. Trust me. I know, because they’ve been talking to me about it.”

  “Mrs. Little is excited?” I made a rueful face. “You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?”

  “Margaret Little is never excited. Don’t worry about her. She’s always going to be bitter. Focus on everyone else.”

  “But she’s a big advertiser.”

  “And she’ll stay one because she won’t like it that other people are getting coverage when she’s not. Trust me. You have nothing to worry about with Margaret.”

  I hoped he was right. “Well, I should probably get over there, huh? It’s my building now.” I glanced across the parking lot in front of The Whistler and smiled. “I can’t believe I own a building.”

  Landon squeezed my hand before releasing it. “Well, you do. Why don’t you head over? I’ll be a few minutes behind. I want to talk to Chief Terry for a moment, and I have your new locks in the Explorer.”

  “New locks?” Chief Terry looked confused. “For what?”

  “The newspaper office,” Landon replied. “I don’t trust Brian Kelly. Those locks are getting changed first thing. Then I’m having a security company come out.”

  “Yeah, speaking of that … um … don’t you think you should’ve mentioned it to me?” I challenged. “It is my building, after all.”

  Landon smirked. “You like saying that, don’t you?”

  “I do. It’s kind of like right after we admitted we loved each other. I’ll probably overdo it for a few days.”

  “That’s fine. I think it’s cute. As for the security system, I didn’t mention it because I didn’t think of it until we were at the closing. I haven’t even placed a call yet.”

  “So that was an exaggeration, huh?”

  “It was, but I think it’s a good idea. You don’t always work in the office. This way you can monitor security when you’re not there.”

  “That’s true, but … .”

  “But what?”

  “What about Viola?”

  Landon furrowed his brow. “Viola the ghost?”

  I nodded. “She hangs out there all the time and she’s been trying to train herself to move things. Won’t that like … I don’t know … set off the alarm?”

  Landon chuckled. “It’s not like on television, sweetie. There won’t be pressure sensors on the floor. We’ll just have sensors put on the windows and doors. That should be more than enough to keep people out. Viola can keep doing whatever it is she does inside and no one will be the wiser.”

  “Okay.” That didn’t sound so bad. “So, I’m going over to my building and looking around. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” I felt ligh
t on my feet as I practically skipped toward the parking lot. “This is kind of fun, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, Bay. It’s totally fun.”

  I EXPECTED TO FEEL differently when I walked through the front door of The Whistler. I thought I’d feel somehow … bigger. Yes, that sounds ridiculous, but I felt it all the same. I was mildly disappointed when I realized the office felt exactly the same when I crossed the threshold … only emptier.

  “Congratulations!” Viola bellowed as she popped into existence at my right.

  I jolted, pressing my hand to the spot above my heart and choking on a curse word as I attempted to tamp down my racing pulse. “Thank you. I think.”

  “If I could hold confetti I would totally throw it on you right now,” Viola said sagely. “I can’t do that, so you’ll have to picture me doing it and be happy with that.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” I headed toward my old office first, shrugging out of my coat and hanging it on my chair before booting my computer. “Anything of note going on here today?”

  Viola’s face was blank. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know, like … um … did Brian Kelly stop by this morning?”

  “Oh.” Viola winked sagely. “You want to know if he trashed anything else. To my knowledge, he didn’t. But I wasn’t here all morning. I was only here for an hour or so.”

  “Really? Where did you go?” Unlike the previous ghost who’d haunted the newspaper, Viola wasn’t anchored to the location. She traveled around Hemlock Cove whenever she wanted. Only Aunt Tillie and I could see her, so she always returned when she was in the mood for conversation.

  “I’m still working on being able to move things in the real world,” Viola explained. “I have a plan once I can do that.”

  I was almost afraid to hear her plan. “And that is?”

  “I want to rearrange Margaret’s shelves in her store and drive her crazy.”

  I don’t know why, but the simple answer caused me to burst out laughing. “Oh, well, that sounds like a marvelous idea. That will drive her insane.”