Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery Box Set Read online

  “Nowhere near as many as I wanted.”

  “Did you win?”

  “What do you think?”

  LANDON WAS WORRIED. Perhaps “worried” was the wrong word. He was definitely concerned by my silence, but he didn’t press me. He left me to my imaginary work at the newspaper office and promised to check on me in a few hours, after I had time to calm down.

  I watched from the front lobby window as he trudged across the parking lot, crossing paths with Chief Terry close to the sidewalk and slowing his pace so they could talk. Whatever words passed between them, Landon wasn’t happy. He gestured wildly at one point and jabbed a finger toward the newspaper building. I had no doubt who he was talking about. He was taking up my cause with Chief Terry, something that had never been necessary before.

  It seemed I had been supplanted, and it wasn’t a good feeling. Melanie was Chief Terry’s priority now, and even though I understood it, that didn’t mean I could accept it. She definitely had to go.

  With nothing better to do, I headed to my office. Earlier in the day we’d moved the pilfered files from Hypnotic because we were worried someone might discover them. Even though the newspaper building was also open to the public, the odds of someone wandering into Hypnotic were much greater.

  I was fired up, the aches and pains I incurred during the brief skirmish in the Unicorn Emporium serving as fuel. I decided to use the burst of energy to my advantage and go through the files again, to find a key tidbit I might have missed.

  It was mostly a losing endeavor. I went through all of Hopper’s sex partners and found nothing out of the ordinary. Er, well, nothing other than the obvious. He was still a perverted jerk who took advantage of troubled marriages so he could get what he wanted without caring about what these couples needed. If he were still alive I would’ve reported him to the medical board and had his license stripped.

  The last file in the stack was Mrs. Little’s. It was thick, a lot of notations in the margins. While I found her ruminations on the state of her life enlightening, it was nothing I hadn’t already heard or suspected.

  Mrs. Little went to high school with Aunt Tillie. They were rivals of sorts — just like Lila and me, although I didn’t discover my true strength until I was much older, so the fights were largely one-sided — and they apparently hated each other with a fiery passion. Mrs. Little claimed that Aunt Tillie was jealous of her upon first meeting. I didn’t believe that. Aunt Tillie always taught us that jealousy was a useless emotion.

  “It doesn’t matter what others have or how they achieved it,” she once told us. “It matters what you can do, the limitations you set upon yourself. Don’t worry about others. You do you. Everything else will fall into place.”

  At the time, I thought she was full of crap. Aunt Tillie was in our lives from the moment we were born, a larger-than-life character who had spent loads of time with us. She was funny and entertaining. She enjoyed getting us in trouble. Because of that, I very rarely took her teachings to heart. She was more of a distraction than anything else. With age, I’d learned that she was more than the sum of her parts. Sometimes — and sure, the occasions were rare — but sometimes she knew exactly what she was talking about and was unbelievably wise.

  “What are you doing?”

  I jerked my eyes to the office doorway and let out a relieved breath when I saw Clove and Thistle. I’d forgotten to lock the front door, something Landon frowned upon when I was working alone in the building. I felt lucky that the women from Mrs. Little’s shop hadn’t been the ones to track me down.

  “Reading Mrs. Little’s file,” I admitted, offering them a slight smile. “What are you guys doing?”

  “Checking on you,” Thistle replied, neatly sidestepping the piles of folders on the floor and settling to my right. “We thought maybe you’d want some company.”

  Did I? I wasn’t so sure. “I’m fine.”

  “Landon thought you might like some company, too,” Clove admitted, sheepish. “He stopped by Hypnotic a few minutes ago. He wanted us to check on you.”

  I wasn’t surprised. “He doesn’t need to worry.”

  “I think he’s worried about the Chief Terry thing,” Thistle offered as she plucked a file from the floor and opened it. “He thinks you’re upset about how things went down.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I think you’re upset, too.”

  I gritted my teeth and bit back a hot retort. “I’m fine.”

  “You can keep saying that, but we don’t believe it,” Clove offered. “We know how you feel. We love Chief Terry, and while we might not have the same relationship with him as you do, he was like a father to us, too.”

  “I’m not feeling anything.” I refused to crumble in front of my cousins. It was undignified and I was better than that. “I’m simply trying to find a clue in these files. Someone must’ve had a reason to kill Hopper. We need to find out who.”

  “You can’t hide what you’re really feeling from us,” Thistle challenged. “We know you too well. I saw the look on your face when Chief Terry chose to interview Melanie first. It was as if he’d smacked you across the face, something he would never do. The thing is, I don’t believe he did it to purposely hurt you. He was simply trying to get a read on the situation.”

  “Then he should’ve asked.”

  “We were part of the fight,” Clove supplied. “It was us against Mrs. Little ... and Maxine … and Janet. Sure, the other women might’ve thrown a slap or two, but the real fight was between us. I think Chief Terry was trying to get an unbiased explanation about the fight.”

  “I would’ve given him an unbiased explanation.”

  “Really?” Clove cocked a dubious eyebrow. “You would’ve said we were equally at fault for what happened?”

  “No. We weren’t equally at fault. Mrs. Little was to blame.”

  “And that’s why he asked for Melanie’s take on the situation first.”

  It made sense. I still didn’t like it. “We have to get rid of her. I was only half-serious before. I thought for sure my mother would come through and put her foot down, launch a claim on Chief Terry and put things right. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  “She’s too upset and hurt,” Thistle offered. “She thought there was always going to be time to move forward with him. The reality that she was out of time was akin to being run over by Aunt Tillie’s plow. She’s still regrouping. By the time she gets herself together it might be too late. We have to do it for her.”

  “I don’t know,” Clove hedged, chewing her bottom lip. “Doesn’t fiddling with Chief Terry’s personal life make us the bad guys? I don’t want to be the bad guys. We’re supposed to be the heroes.”

  “Oh, please!” Thistle rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe we’re even related sometimes. I definitely can’t believe I’m going to be your maid of honor and have to listen to this stuff nonstop for the next few months. What did I do to deserve this?”

  The statement caught me off guard. “Wait ... you’re her maid of honor?”

  Clove bobbed her head, her chocolate eyes filling with instant apology. “I didn’t choose her because I love her more than you,” she said hurriedly. “We’ve been talking about it. You’re going through a lot.

  “It’s not just Chief Terry,” she continued, resting her hand on my knee as I absorbed the reality that I hadn’t won the competition. Surprisingly, it was a bitter pill to swallow. “You’re a necromancer now. I don’t know everything that entails, but I gather it’s a big deal. I know Aunt Tillie has been contacting witches from other covens trying to get information. That’s how big it is.”

  “It’s huge,” Thistle agreed. “Aunt Tillie would rather set those other covens on fire than accept their help. She’s looking, though. For you. We all want answers to make this transition as easy as possible.”

  “That’s the main reason we decided it would be best if Thistle stepped in this go-around,” Clove added. “You need to focus on f
iguring out how to make this work. The Goddess wouldn’t have given you this power if you couldn’t handle it. You simply need to figure out how to control it. Once you do, it will be easier.”

  I wanted to believe her. “You’re afraid that I’ll accidentally call ghosts to your wedding and ruin everything. I get it.”

  “I’m not afraid of that.” Clove was dismissive. “Sure, that would be weird. But it would be memorable. I’m more worried about you. Being my maid of honor is going to be labor intensive. I have lists and things I need done.”

  Thistle let loose a groan. “Oh, geez!”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing.

  “You have enough on your plate right now,” Clove said. “Thistle will be my maid of honor. I’ll stand up for you when it’s time. You’ll stand up for Thistle, which is kind of a punishment, but there’s only three of us, so that’s how it worked out.”

  I bit back a sigh. “That’s a good plan. I’m sad that I didn’t win the competition, but this is probably for the best. I can control some aspects of the necromancy thing, but I’m far from a master.”

  “And you need to focus on that,” Thistle said. “I remember when we were kids, I heard my mom talking to your mothers in the kitchen one day. I eavesdropped because ... well, I like knowing other people’s business. I was intrigued because they were talking about Bay.

  “It was right after you saw Chief Terry’s mother in the cemetery and she told you where to find that watch thing for him,” she continued. “Everyone was finally convinced you could actually see and talk to ghosts. They were worried because it’s a rare gift and it’s driven more than a few witches crazy.

  “Aunt Winnie was terrified you weren’t strong enough to carry the burden, but Aunt Tillie stepped in and told her to stop being a ninny,” she said. “Aunt Tillie said right from the beginning that you would handle it and be fine. She also said that you were young for the gift to manifest, but there had to be a reason behind it.

  “You’ve always been stronger than us when it comes to the magic, Bay,” she said. “We’re dabblers of the highest order because we don’t like being bossed around. It comes naturally to you when you follow your instincts. That’s what you should do this time. You excel when you listen to your heart instead of your head. You get that from Aunt Tillie.”

  I made a face. “Do you really think now is the time to kick me when I’m down?”

  “Believe it or not, that was a compliment. She’s an instinctive witch, too. Don’t get me wrong, I think Clove and I could be stronger if we put effort into it, but for you it comes naturally. It’s time to embrace that.”

  I swallowed hard. “I killed a man, though.”

  “You’ve fought off attackers before.”

  “This was different. I used the souls of those dead girls to kill. That makes me feel guilty.”

  “Because they were innocent before being killed?” Thistle’s smile was knowing. “I thought about that, and I get it. You can’t take it back. You have to move forward.”

  “Besides, I think those girls would be happy to know that they essentially avenged their own deaths,” Clove added. “Sure, what happened surprised us all. You stepped up to the plate and you protected yourself. That’s the most important thing.”

  “The rest of it will come with time,” Thistle added. “You’ll figure it out.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “You always figure everything out. That’s your strength. It drove me crazy when we were kids. It always appeared to me that things came easier for you. I didn’t understand what was really happening, that you simply thought things out longer and harder than the rest of us. It seemed easier, but it was actually harder.”

  “This won’t be solved overnight,” Clove said. “You’ll get a handle on it. We’ll help while you go through the process. We’ll serve as back-up ... and we’ll gladly get in another fight at the Unicorn Emporium if need be to prove our loyalty.”

  I laughed despite myself. “That was pretty funny. I had no idea Mrs. Little could move that fast.”

  “And I had no idea the pretzel chick was such a manipulator,” Thistle said. “Did you see what she did with Chief Terry? She’s trying to turn him against us. It’s probably jealousy, but we have to stop that.”

  “Definitely.” My spine stiffened as defiance rushed through my veins. “She’s not the right person for Chief Terry.”

  “Of course not. Your mother is the right person. She’ll win in the end. She just needs a little help.”

  “It’s a good thing we’re such good helpers.”

  Thistle smirked. “I think you mean diabolical helpers.”

  “Oh, yeah. We’re definitely diabolical.”

  “So, let’s figure things out.”

  Twenty-Three

  Landon was waiting for me in front of The Overlook when I arrived for dinner. He sat on the front porch bench, his long legs stretched out in front of him, and he appeared at ease. I knew him better than anyone, so I recognized he was putting on a front, essentially waiting to see how I reacted before tackling the big issues of the day.

  “It’s cold out. Why are you waiting here?” I asked as I climbed the steps.

  “I didn’t want an audience in case you needed to melt down.”

  “I’m not going to melt down.”

  He didn’t look convinced. “That sounds very unlike you.”

  “I’m a calm and chill person.”

  “Right.” He snorted and held out a hand. “It’s not that cold. It’s not warm, but it’s not cold. Spring is right around the corner. You can feel it.”

  I linked my fingers with his and sat, taking a moment to absorb the cold wood before shifting closer to share some of his warmth. “I love spring, but autumn is my favorite season.”

  “I like summer.” He ran his hand over the back of my head. “So ... I talked to Chief Terry.”

  I expected the conversational shift. “Yeah? Is he going to arrest us?”

  “You know he’s not.”

  “I know that before Melanie Adams entered his life he wouldn’t have arrested us. Now, I’m not so sure. She’s pushing hard for it.”

  “Yeah. I noticed that.” He looked caught. “She came into the station about an hour after the fight broke up. She headed into his office and closed the door. I heard raised voices.”

  Intrigued, I tipped up my chin. “What did they say?”

  Now that he had easier access, Landon pressed a soft kiss to my mouth. “I don’t know. I didn’t listen outside the door. I know you would have, but I try to refrain from eavesdropping if I can help it.”

  I patted his knee. “I’ll break you of that.”

  “I have no doubt.”

  “How were things when she left?”

  “Better, but I don’t think she got the outcome she was looking for. They weren’t fighting and things still seemed tense.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t trust her.” Landon was already aware of my feelings regarding Melanie, but I decided to double down all the same. “She’s manipulative ... and probably evil.”

  “Bay, I think you’re reading too much into the situation.” He sounded exasperated. “I don’t even understand what you were doing at Mrs. Little’s shop. I thought you were following trails from Hopper’s house.”

  “We were. One of them led to the shop.”

  Landon straightened. “Really? Does that mean Mrs. Little was at Hopper’s house the day he died?”

  As much as I wanted to confirm that, all I could do was shrug. “The spell was set up to lead us to individuals rather than homes or places of business. Someone inside that store was at Hopper’s house the day he died. It could’ve been Maxine — we know they were doing the mattress rumba — or it could’ve been Janet. She was in his files as a bed buddy. It also could’ve been Mrs. Little.”

  “Hmm.”

  “I spent the afternoon going through the files again,” I offered. “Nothing stood out. I even went thro
ugh Mrs. Little’s file from front to back. There were a few things in there I found enlightening.”

  “Such as?”

  “I think she was treating Hopper as a normal therapist,” I replied. “You know, spilling her guts and talking about all the wrongs she’d incurred through life. I’m not sure why.”

  “You could ask him.”

  “That would require talking to him.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Hopper made extensive notes in her file, even more than he did with his other patients,” I said. “There was a lot of paranoia in there. She thinks everyone is out to get her, not just Aunt Tillie. I think she was seeing Hopper a long time before his death.”

  “Who does she think is out to get her?”

  “Half the people at the senior center. She’s determined Esther is out to get her, although Esther was at her store today. I’m not sure what’s up with that. Oh, she had a run-in with Melanie right after she opened the yoga shop and Mrs. Little was convinced she was trying to move in on her turf even though unicorns and yoga don’t overlap.”

  “So ... Mrs. Little thought Melanie was out to get her yet she invited her to her store today?” Landon rolled his neck as he absorbed the new information. “That doesn’t make much sense.”

  “Maybe Mrs. Little was calling her enemies to her for a meeting of the Hemlock Cove Supervillain Society.”

  Landon chuckled. “Maybe. What did the file say about Melanie?”

  “It was a single notation. Melanie came into the store and acted nice. Mrs. Little was convinced she was spying. Mrs. Little thinks everyone in town is spying on her. She has an overblown sense of ego. The only other mention was after Mrs. Little discovered Melanie was dating Chief Terry. It was the last notation in the file. Mrs. Little was convinced Melanie wanted Chief Terry to help steal her status in town.”

  “That’s out there, even for Mrs. Little.”

  “That’s what I thought. It bothered me that Mrs. Little knew about their relationship before I did. I know it’s petty, but ... it’s annoying.”