A Witch Before Dying Read online

  Landon opened his mouth to argue and then snapped it shut.

  “And that’s how you handle mouthy men, Bay,” Aunt Tillie said, grinning as Landon scowled. “I’ll start giving lessons if you feel you need them.”

  I didn’t bother to hide my smile as Landon’s gaze lanced into me. “I think I’m good.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  TWO HOURS LATER I HAD a fresh kebab and rice to eat while Landon and Chief Terry compared notes. Both Greg and Tess were in custody – the latter making a stop at the hospital first – and the case was essentially closed.

  “Greg admitted to everything once I had him in custody,” Chief Terry explained. “He blamed everything on Tess and said he was in fear of his life.”

  “Do you believe him?” I asked, holding up my fork so Landon could take a bite as he settled next to me.

  “Not even a little,” Chief Terry replied. “They were clearly in it together.”

  “What about Arthur?” Thistle asked, sitting next to Chief Terry with a mountain of food before her. The festival was a complete bust thanks to the arrests, and the vendors were practically giving the food away instead of throwing it out.

  “He claims he had no idea that Tess was responsible for Adele’s death,” Chief Terry replied. “He didn’t deny the affair, but said that he genuinely respected Adele. He also claimed that he had no idea that Tess wasn’t really in love with him.”

  “If he didn’t see it, it’s because he didn’t want to,” I said. “My understanding is that Arthur had a wandering eye and would pretty much sleep with anyone as long as they were younger.”

  “Yes, well, as long as those women were legal, that’s not a crime,” Landon said, smirking when he saw the way my eyes fired. “I, of course, love only one woman. Even when she gets older, that won’t change.”

  “That was smooth.” I gave him another bite. “But you’re still in trouble.”

  “I guess we make quite the pair.” Landon kissed the tip of my nose. “What happened to your witch friend? We questioned her, but she was a total mess. She kept talking about exploding lights and magic.”

  “Aunt Tillie puts on quite the show when she wants to.”

  “Where is Aunt Tillie?”

  I pointed toward the main tent, where Aunt Tillie was having a good time with the renaissance troupe props that hadn’t been reclaimed. “She thinks she’s going to have a sword fight and be named queen of an alien realm.”

  “Well, she saved you, so whatever makes her happy.” Landon slipped his arm around my waist. “How do you feel? No matter what you said, I know you thought Scarlet had a part in this.”

  “And it turns out I was wrong,” I conceded. “She’s merely a scam artist, not a murderer.”

  “I think she’s learned a bit from this one,” Chief Terry noted. “I heard she informed Margaret that she’s leaving town. She demanded back the money she paid for the building. She said the town is full of freaks, and she’s not staying.”

  “She’s leaving?” Thistle perked up. “That means that building will be available again.”

  “Are you really going to buy it?” I asked.

  “I’m going to try,” Thistle replied. “If I can get it for the same price Scarlet did I’m definitely buying it. We’ll be able to expand the store and put a gallery in. I’ve been dreaming about that for a long time.”

  “Then you should definitely do it,” Chief Terry said. “You’ve always had a creative streak. Often, when you were younger, I wished you’d focus on art rather than mischief. It seems as an adult you’ve hit a happy balance.”

  I grinned at his teasing. “So that’s it, huh?” I couldn’t help feeling a bit let down. “The murder is solved. The enemy witch is on her way out of town. Aunt Tillie didn’t get to unleash her revenge. It feels … anti-climactic.”

  “It’s almost Christmas,” Landon pointed out. “I’m fine with anti-climactic.”

  “Yeah, speaking of that … .” I licked the kebab grease running down my hand. “I was wondering how you’d feel about spending Christmas Day alone, just the two of us.”

  “Instead of with your family?”

  “We’ll spend Christmas Eve with them,” I replied. “It’s Christmas, so family is important. But I think Christmas Day should be just us. We’ll start some new traditions.”

  “Well, we are officially living together.” Landon ran his hand over my back. “I think it’s a plan. In fact, if we could keep things quiet through Christmas I’d consider that the best gift ever.”

  “Oh, don’t get ahead of yourself,” I warned. “Aunt Tillie loves Christmas. She’ll do something decadent before it’s all said and done.”

  “Isn’t that what she did today?”

  “Today was nothing. She’ll do something bigger and bolder. Just wait.”

  “That sounds terrifying.” Landon stretched. “So, do we essentially have this festival to ourselves since everything else fell apart?”

  I nodded. “Even you couldn’t eat all of the food we have access to.”

  “That sounds like a challenge.”

  I smirked. “I guess we’ll see.”

  “We definitely will.” Landon got to his feet. “Who wants to have a fake sword fight with Aunt Tillie in the main tent?”

  Thistle groaned. “Are you serious?”

  Landon nodded. “I’ll be on her side. You’ll be against us – unless you’re afraid to take us on.”

  Thistle recognized the gleam in his eye. “You’re on. I will crush both of you!”

  “Bring it.” Landon held out his hand to me. “You’re on my team, right?”

  There was only one answer that would make both of us happy. “Now and forever.”

  “Then let’s do it.”

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  About the Author

  I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my novels. I have a particular brand of humor that isn’t for everyone – and I know that.

  If you liked the book, please take a few minutes and leave a review. An independent author does it all on their own, and the reviews are helpful. I understand that my characters aren’t for everyone, though. There’s a lot of snark and sarcasm in my world – and I know some people don’t like that.

  Special thanks go out to Heidi Bitsoli and Phil VanHulle for correcting the (numerous) errors that creep into a work of fiction.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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  Books by Amanda M. Lee

  An Avery Shaw Mystery

  Who, What, Where, When, Die

  If it Bleeds, it Leads

  Buried Leads

  Shot Off The Presses

  The Preditorial Page

  Misquoted & Demoted

  Headlines & Deadlines

  Misprints & Mistakes

  Bylines & Skylines

  Off the Record

  Unwritten & Underwater

  A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery

  Any Witch Way You Can

  Every Witch Way But Wicked

  Witching You Were Here

  Witching on a Star

  Something to Witch About

  Witch Me Luck

  Life’s a Witch

  Charms & Witchdemeanors

  The Trouble With Witches

  Murder Most Witchy

  A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Short

  Careful What You Witch For

  Wicked Brew

  On a Witch and a
Prayer

  You Only Witch Once

  The Christmas Witch

  Bewitched

  A Solstice Celebration

  Witchdependence Day

  Happy Witchgiving

  Merry Witchmas

  Four-Leaf Clover

  Thistle While You Work

  Landon Calling

  I Dream of Twila

  How Aunt Tillie Stole Christmas

  A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy

  Witchy Tales

  A Witch In Time

  Make A Witch

  A Witchmas Carol

  An Aisling Grimlock Mystery

  Grim Tidings

  Grim Offerings

  Grim Discovery

  Grim Reunion

  Grim Expectations

  Grim Holiday

  Grim Rising

  Covenant College

  Awakening

  Whispering

  Conjuring

  Waxing & Waning

  Graduating

  Living Covenant Trilogy

  Rising Covenant

  Dark Covenant

  Eternal Covenant

  Dying Covenant Trilogy

  Haunted Covenant

  Desperate Covenant

  Everlasting Covenant

  A Mystic Caravan Mystery

  Freaky Days

  Freaky Lies

  Freaky Hearts

  Freaky Games

  A Charlie Rhodes Cozy Mystery

  The Bigfoot Blunder