Witchin' Around the Clock Read online

  I’d done enough research on firebugs to know that it was the blaze itself that excited them. Once they got the urge, the only thing that usually stopped them was death or incarceration. “Could it be a teenager?” I asked. “Don’t fire fanatic tendencies usually start during the teen years?”

  Chief Terry didn’t immediately respond, so Landon took pity on me.

  “In a hunch, yes,” he answered. “But that’s not always a given.”

  “Oh.” I frowned at Chief Terry. I hated it when he was angry with me. “I really am sorry.” My voice was low as I leaned my head against his shoulder. “You can’t stay mad forever. It’s not fair.”

  Landon smirked as he slid his arm around the back of my chair. “We both know you’re going to forgive her. You’re not going to be able to hold out. Why not get it over with now and stop torturing her?”

  Chief Terry’s eyebrows migrated higher on his forehead. “I would think you’d be as angry as me,” he argued. “She could’ve been killed. I know you would miss her if something happened.”

  “I would most definitely miss her,” Landon acknowledged. “But she did what she thought was right. She knows it was a stupid move. I don’t see how dragging this out helps anyone. She’s sorry.”

  “I am.” I jutted out my lower lip and stared soulfully into his eyes. “Please don’t be angry.”

  He held my gaze for an extended beat, much longer than I thought he would be able to manage. Finally, he heaved a sigh. “I’m not being mean just to be mean. You need to be careful, Bay. You could’ve died.”

  “I know. I’m really sad. I hate it when you’re angry with me. It makes almost dying even worse.”

  “Oh, that was beautiful,” Landon teased, grinning as Chief Terry huffed. “How can you be mad at this face?” He grabbed my chin and gave it a squeeze. “I mean ... look how sad she is. Do you want her to cry?”

  “Knock that off.” Chief Terry pushed Landon’s hand away from my face. “I can’t just switch off my emotions. I’m angry. You have no idea how afraid I was when I heard you were in that building, Bay. We could hear the ceiling give way. I imagined it was falling on you.”

  “That was probably hard for you,” I said solemnly. “The last thing I want to do is upset you. I love you so much.”

  “Oh, geez.” Chief Terry slapped his hand to his forehead. “You make it impossible to stay angry with you.”

  That was my goal. “So ... you forgive me?”

  “I forgive you but reserve the right to call you an idiot for the next week.”

  I cocked my head, considering. “I can live with that. Just don’t be angry. I hate it when you’re angry.”

  “I’m not angry.” He sipped his coffee and shook his head, glaring as Landon snickered. “You just double-teamed me and I don’t like it. I preferred it when you were the one yelling because she did stupid things.”

  “Yes, but that never ends well for me,” Landon noted. “This is really the best of both worlds. I get to annoy you and keep my Bay happy. In turn, she keeps me happy. What’s not to love about that?”

  “I’m going to lick all the bacon before you get a chance to eat it,” Chief Terry warned. “I’m going to laugh like a loon while I’m doing it.”

  “That won’t stop me from eating it.”

  “You’re a sick man.”

  “Yes, but I’m a sick man who can eat his weight in bacon. That should be an Olympic category if you ask me.”

  “Only you would think that.”

  CHIEF TERRY AND LANDON WERE ALREADY standing in front of the burned-out husk of the blacksmith shop when I pulled myself away from a few curious looky-loos on Main Street. They had their heads bent together, talking in hushed tones, which I found interesting. Before I could ask them what they were conversing about, a hint of movement caught my eye inside the building.

  “Is someone in there?” I asked.

  Landon slid his eyes to me, confused. “No. We’re waiting on the state arson investigator. He was here already and went to the diner for breakfast. He’s ten minutes out.”

  That made what I saw doubly confusing. “Someone is in there.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I saw someone inside.” I was firm. “I swear it. I’m not making it up.”

  “You rarely make things up, sweetie. It’s just ... I don’t see anyone. Are you sure the wind isn’t moving something?”

  “I’m pretty sure I know the difference between a person and the wind.”

  Chief Terry and Landon exchanged weighted gazes before Landon put his hand to the small of my back and prodded me forward.

  “Then we’ll check it out,” he said. “Be careful and watch your step. There are a lot of fallen boards with nails in them.”

  I wasn’t worried about a nail going through my foot — although that would suck — as much as I was interested in figuring out who would have the gall to enter a burned-out building that was marked off with police tape.

  Chief Terry took the lead, making sure to position me between Landon and himself. If they thought they were playing it coy with their protective stances, they were wrong. I had other things to worry about, though. The whispers were back inside my head and they were loud enough to send a chill down my spine.

  “I don’t think it’s a human,” I whispered, my blood running cold as one of the voices began talking.

  “She’s back,” it said.

  “What is she doing here?” another voice answered. “She shouldn’t have returned. It isn’t safe.”

  “She needs to go. I told you she wasn’t all that smart.”

  “Hey!” My temper got the better of me and I brushed past Chief Terry to enter what used to be the workshop ahead of him.

  He growled and grabbed me by the back of the neck before I could put too much distance between us. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  I couldn’t answer. My mind had gone blank upon entering the room and finding three ghosts standing guard in the middle of the fallen building.

  “Bay?” Landon snapped his fingers in my face to draw my attention to him. He looked concerned. “What is it?”

  How could I explain without looking like a freak, especially in front of Chief Terry? “There are ghosts here.” I blurted it out even though I knew the state arson inspector was due to arrive at any moment. “They’re talking ... and they say I’m an idiot.”

  “I don’t believe that’s the word we used,” the male ghost replied. He didn’t look familiar. In fact, I was fairly certain I’d never seen him before. He certainly didn’t resemble Adam.

  “It’s not the wrong word,” a female ghost offered. She wore a pair of simple jeans and a hoodie ... and she looked amused. “Only an idiot runs into a burning building.”

  “You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve heard that the last two days,” I grumbled.

  “What are they saying?” Landon asked. He looked genuinely curious. “Is one of them our dead guy? It would be helpful if he could tell us what happened to him.”

  “Yes, that would be lovely,” Chief Terry drawled, sarcasm dripping from his tongue. “There’s nothing better than explaining to a judge that our evidence came from a ghost.”

  “I’m not saying we can use it as evidence,” Landon argued. “It’s a place to start, because we have nothing.”

  “We have an arson investigator who is going to give us information,” Chief Terry pointed out. “Once he shares what he’s discovered, we’ll have a place to look.”

  “If Adam tells us who attacked him we’ll have two places to look.”

  I bit back my annoyance and rubbed my cheek. “It’s not Adam,” I explained. “It’s ... people I don’t recognize.” I was flustered, and confused. This felt somehow off, and I couldn’t explain why. “Who are you guys?”

  “Don’t you know?” a pretty brunette asked. She had a sharp nose and her voice was rough, almost as if her vocal cords had been rubbed with sandpaper a few times before her death. “You calle
d to us.”

  “I ... called to you?” My confusion was complete. I didn’t understand any of this. “How did I do that?”

  “How should we know?” The woman’s annoyance was obvious. “We were in the middle of our own deaths when your voice invaded our minds and demanded we join you here. We don’t even know where here is.”

  “Hemlock Cove,” I replied numbly, racking my brain for an acceptable explanation for what they were saying. “Wait ... you’re saying you died and I somehow called to you.”

  “You needed help,” the man offered. “We came to this place to make sure you didn’t perish ... and then you left us here. We’re trapped until you release us.”

  Well, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Not even a little. This necromancer thing was getting stranger and stranger. “I’m sorry.” I felt like an idiot. “I didn’t know I called to you.”

  “That’s probably because you were in the middle of dying,” the brunette supplied. “You called out without understanding what you were doing. We helped you escape and then you trapped us here.”

  “I didn’t mean to trap you.”

  Perhaps sensing my unease, Landon moved his hand to the back of my neck. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

  “I was right about having help with the hammer,” I replied dumbly. “I called them here as they were dying and then I didn’t help them pass on. This is on me.”

  “You didn’t know,” Chief Terry argued. “Can’t you release them now?”

  I nodded as I chewed my bottom lip. “I really am sorry,” I offered. “I didn’t realize what was happening.”

  “You should be a little more careful with your magic,” the man noted. “It’s not the end of the world. Go ahead and cut us loose now. I don’t know about my friends here, but I’m anxious to see the other side. I’ve seen enough of this place.”

  “I don’t blame you.” I raised my hands and exhaled heavily, screwing my eyes shut as I let the magic flow through me. When I opened them again, the spirits were gone and I was left with nothing but self-recrimination and two confused men. “I need to get a better handle on what I’m doing. That was ... stupid.”

  “You’re doing the best you can,” Landon countered, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I don’t like that you’re blaming yourself for this. It’s not fair. Running into a burning building was something stupid that you could control. This … this is a work in progress and you’re trying really hard. That’s the most important thing.”

  That was true. “I still need to do better. I should’ve realized what was happening yesterday. I was confused.”

  “I’m pretty sure that was the lack of oxygen,” Chief Terry noted. “It’s done now.”

  “Yeah. I ... .”

  “Shh.” Chief Terry gave me a small shake of his head before inclining his chin toward the parking lot. A man in khaki pants and a gray coat was exiting a vehicle with a briefcase in hand. “It’s the arson investigator.”

  Which meant I had to put on a brave face. “Gotcha.”

  Landon left his hand on my back for another ten seconds before moving to intercept the man. He introduced all three of us, explaining that I worked for the newspaper and was part of the rescue attempt the previous day. He didn’t touch on our relationship, which was probably wise.

  “I’m Todd Bennett,” the man announced. “I’ve been over your scene once and plan to make my rounds again, but I figured you would want to hear my initial report.”

  “Absolutely.” Chief Terry enthusiastically bobbed his head. “What do you have?”

  “The place was doused with accelerants,” Bennett replied, matter-of-factly. “We’re not talking about anything fancy. It was simple gasoline, which you can probably smell.”

  “I only smell smoke,” Landon admitted.

  “I can smell the gasoline a bit,” Chief Terry offered. “I’m not sure I would’ve noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out.”

  “Well, when you’ve been in this business as long as I have you learn to notice things like that right away.”

  He didn’t look all that old. He had one of those faces that could be considered ageless. If he’d told me he was forty, I would’ve believed him. The same if he claimed his age was thirty.

  “What else can you tell us?” Landon asked.

  “Whoever did this had no idea what they were doing,” Bennett replied. “This was not a professional. My guess is we’re dealing with a novice. He probably killed the owner and assumed that the fire would burn so hot there would be no way to ascertain what happened to the body. Unfortunately for him, he made a mess of the gasoline distribution.”

  “How so?” Chief Terry prodded.

  “All of the gasoline was poured at the base of the walls. That means the fire climbed up instead of over. I mean ... I guess it’s possible the roof could’ve caved in over the workshop at some point, but that part of the building looks as if it was added on after the rest of the building was erected. It was more insulated.”

  “Do you think we could be dealing with a teenager?” Landon asked.

  “It’s entirely possible,” Bennett confirmed. “Whoever did this doesn’t have much experience with arson. He’s either just getting into his infatuation or the fire was just a way to cover his tracks.”

  “You keep saying ‘He,’” I noted. “How do you know it’s a male?”

  Bennett shrugged. “Statistics. The ratio of people who turn to arson, whether as a countermeasure or murder weapon, skews overwhelmingly toward men. It’s not impossible that we’re dealing with a woman, but statistically that would be an anomaly.”

  “Still, we can’t rule it out,” Chief Terry noted. “You’re saying we have to find a motive to track down a killer because there’s nothing in the evidence.”

  “At least so far,” Bennett agreed. “I’m not done yet, but I have nothing concrete to offer at this point.”

  “That’s a disappointment.”

  I couldn’t help but agree. Fire made me nervous. I wanted to put this one to bed as soon as possible. That wouldn’t be an option if we didn’t luck into a motive, and fast. The problem was, I had no idea where to start gathering information. Adam wasn’t the sort of man who inspired hate. He was, in fact, rather boring.

  So, the question was, who wanted him dead? What didn’t we know about him? Did he have secrets, and how grave were they? If we could answer those questions, we would better understand who we were seeking.

  Six

  I was still bothered by the ghosts when I hit Main Street. I assumed Landon would stay behind with Chief Terry. Instead, he was right on my tail.

  “Hey.” He caught my chin and planted a long kiss on my lips, taking me by surprise.

  “What was that for?”

  His smile was enigmatic. “Can’t I just want to kiss you?”

  “Not usually.”

  His eyes flashed. “I can be romantic.”

  “I’m sure you can.”

  “No, really. I can be romantic. I’m awesome at it.”

  There was something so amusing about his reaction I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “You’re a romance machine.” I patted his shoulder. “Is that all? I have things to do.”

  This time the frown he offered wasn’t even remotely playful. “Bay, this isn’t your fault. Whatever happened ... whatever you did ... .” He couldn’t even finish the statement because he didn’t understand any of it.

  “I ripped them out of their afterlives and drew them here, where I forced them to save Thistle and me before leaving them in a burned-out husk to do nothing but hang around while I went home with you.”

  “Going home with me is always a good idea,” he insisted. “As for the rest ... I’m not sure what to say. If you expect me to be upset because they saved you, I won’t.”

  “It’s not about them saving me.” I chose my words carefully. “I don’t have a death wish. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “I know.” He slid his arms around me.
“You have me. That’s worth celebrating ... with bacon-flavored pie. I can’t imagine there ever being a time when you’re not excited about spending time with me … which means your life is a constant party.”

  His response was enough to cause me to laugh. “I don’t think there’s bacon pie.”

  “There should be.”

  “Maybe.” I rested my forehead against the side of his face. “If I hadn’t gone with you this morning I never would’ve known what I did to them. Those ghosts would’ve been trapped there indefinitely ... because of me.”

  He sighed and stroked his hand down the back of my head. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but motive is important when assigning blame,” he started. “You didn’t know what you were doing. You can’t be blamed for that.”

  “Is ignorance a defense in other crimes I don’t know about?”

  “Oh, don’t go there.” He wagged a finger and pinned me with a serious look. “You didn’t commit a crime. You were confused and called for help. Sure, the help that came was in the form of ghosts, but I’ll never be sorry that you’re okay.”

  “I’m not sorry I’m all right. I’m just ... angry that I didn’t realize what was going on with the voices. I need to get this power under control, Landon. I could ruin a lot of lives if I’m not careful.”

  “You’re dealing with ghosts. They have no lives.”

  “No?” I folded my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes. “Say I died before you ... .”

  He immediately started shaking his head. “I don’t like this game.”

  “I know you don’t, but suck it up. I have a point. Say I die before you and another necromancer pulls me out of my intended trajectory and locks me in a different location. When you die three days later of a broken heart, too upset to even eat bacon, you’ll move on to whatever is out there and I’ll be stuck here forever. There will be no afterlife for us to share.”

  Landon looked taken aback. “Why won’t I be able to eat bacon?”

  I elbowed his stomach, annoyed. “As cute as you think you are, there are times I want to shake you. No, truly. I have to figure out what I’m doing with this power. I can’t keep winging it.”