| |
At five o’clock in the morning, Febe got up again after getting two more hours of sleep. She had a quick shower and pulled her hair up into a ponytail.
She grabbed her bike and placed Ebony in her basket.
“What are you doing up this early?” Janvier asked, yawning.
“I thought you’d be at the café already.” Febe said, surprised to see her sister.
The house was so massive and Janvier’s room was on the other side. She didn’t want to risk waking anyone else up in the house, lest they thought she was crazy for what she was about to do.
“I’m heading in when they open. Bud’s opening this morning.”
“Oh, right.”
“What’s up?”
“I’m going back to the scene of the...murder.”
“What? Why? Are you insane?”
“Janvier, there’s a cold-blooded murderer loose and what disturbs me is that no one seems to care because the victim was the town gossip.”
“Correction, the victim was the most notorious slanderer this side of the galaxy who used her website to spread malicious rumors about everyone and anyone she could for a price. Did you see that massive piece of real estate she recently bought on the west side?”
“Oh, right. I saw a picture of a mansion on the lake on another site. She bought that recently?”
“Yup. I guess she thought crime paid.”
“She didn’t commit a crime, did she?”
“She broke a few rules in the witching world. She should have known better than to use her words to harm others.”
“Isn’t that something?”
“What?”
“People always paint witches as evil women going around uttering curses when in fact, it’s against our principles.”
“You can say that again.”
Febe sighed deeply. “Still, no one deserved to be murdered, not even the town gossip who became an Internet sensation with her gossip news site.”
“That site got more hits than a Grammy-winning rock star.”
“I guess it did.”
“So what are you looking for anyway?”
“A reason to strike up a conversation with that hot cop,” Ebony purred.
“Ebony!” Gosh, she wished her cat would hold her tongue once in a while.
“Sorry, just couldn’t resist.”
“Besides, I’m not interested in men right now. I’ve had my share of heartbreak and embarrassment, thank you very much.”
Ebony rolled her beautiful, large cat eyes.
Janvier just grinned and took a sip of her coffee. “Wait a minute, Sis. Let me get ready. I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t have to, Janvier.”
“Are you kidding me? It’s five in the morning. Do you know how dangerous it can be out there in the dark? The sun’s not even up yet and you don’t have advanced magic like I do.”
“I thought you’re not supposed to be using magic casually.”
“If the situation calls for it, I can. Like if we happen to get into any danger.”
“Oh, right. Danger.”
Febe realized that she was more vulnerable than she wanted to admit. She didn’t have any magical powers that she could control at will. It was probably best that her annoying older sister tag along.
* * *
“So what are we looking for?” Janvier asked an hour later as they walked in the wooded area by the roadside where they had driven over the body the other night.
The sun was beginning to peek through the trees. They knew it wouldn’t last long – the area above them had dark clouds moving slowly in the sky.
“Bike tracks.”
“Bike tracks?”
“Yup. I thought it was odd that there were tire tracks around the area because it had rained the night before we got here, but I noticed a bike track going along here down the side of the road.” Febe glanced at the area. “There’s only one track along this path here.”
“A motorcycle.”
“Right.”
“So what, sis? Really now, do you think it had something to do with Darla’s death?”
“Possibly.”
Just then the girls heard the sound of a twig snapping in the distance. They both froze. Through the trees they saw a shadow of a man.
“I knew it was a bad idea to come out here,” Janvier whispered.
“Shh,” Febe said, her heartbeat pounding in her throat.
The figure moved closer to the girls at a rapid pace. Febe made a move for it and started in the other direction, pulling Janvier with her. “Please tell me you can use magic to get us out of here,” Febe whispered breathless.
“Sorry Sis, it doesn’t quite work that way. If it did, Darla would be alive, right?”
“What?” Well that really sucked. What good was using magic if you could only use it in certain circumstances? Her sister had a point though. If Darla was a fully matured witch then she should have been able to save her own life or at least know that impending danger loomed. Sheesh! Power was truly overrated.
“Only the goddess has all full power of everything, Sis. Not us mere...”
“Stop right there!” The man’s voice was forceful. “What are you two doing on my property?”
They both turned around. How in Sam’s name did he manage to catch up with them so fast?”
“Mr. Calahan.” Janvier recognized the man.
“Mr. Calahan?” Febe repeated.
“Janvier Summer? What are you doing here?” He held onto a shotgun and he wore a plaid thick shirt and jeans and mud boots. He also wore a hunter’s hat, if one could call it that.
“Um, we were just going for a walk.”
“Out here?” He glanced at her dubiously then cast a suspicious eye to Febe.
“Hi, I’m Febe Summer.”
He said nothing for a moment. “Cal Calahan.”
Okay, was anyone going to tell her who Cal Calahan was?
“You still haven’t answered my question,” he said.
“Oh, we were just walking.”
“You live out here?” Febe asked.
“I live in a cottage not far from here. Use to live in the town but since I got voted off the council I just keep to myself.”
“You got voted off the council?”
“Yeah, it’s a long story. I’m sure your sister will tell you. Some stupid scandal that I got blamed for. It wasn’t my fault. Anyway, I just keep to myself these days.”
“How’s Mrs. Calahan?” Janvier asked.
“She’s okay.” His voice was rough and coarse and he started to cough. It sounded like a smoker’s cough. If Febe had X-ray vision she wouldn’t be surprised if she saw emphysema in his lungs.
Febe’s head started to throb. She was getting a massive headache. Maybe it was being in the woods too long, standing in one place. If she could remember correctly, she was allergic to one of the birch trees.
“You were out riding your bike at night I see,” Janvier said pointing to the single tire marks.
“So what of it?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s just that.”
“Are you ladies here about that woman?”
“What woman?” Janvier said, feigning innocence.
“That gossiping hag. I’m glad someone taught her a lesson for spreading lies and ruining marriages on her website. If it wasn’t for her, I’d still be on the council.”
“Oh, no. I’m sorry to hear that...” Febe took a closer look at Cal and was stunned. She realized where she recognized him from. He’d been featured on Darla’s Cheaters section of her news blog. There was a site where readers uploaded pics of known married men going to sleazy clubs and doing all sorts of shady things with scantily dressed women.
Alarm bells went off in her mind.
This didn’t look good at all. She couldn’t wait to get out of there and tell Janvier about her findings.
“Her website. Everyone knows about that ridiculous tabloid junk.”
“Oh, right. I’ve um...heard about it,” Febe said, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Well, I’m glad someone choked the life out of that sinful woman. Good for her. Now that newspaper can rest in peace like her. Shame what she did to her folks’ good newspaper.”
“Right, of course. But it’s still so sad that she...um...was you know, murdered!”
“Ha! Good riddance to her.”
Febe couldn’t believe how cold this man was. “Aren’t you afraid that a cold blooded killer is on the loose? They didn’t make any arrests yet.”
“Course they did.”
“They did?” The sisters said in unison.
“Yeah. Sure. It was that fella, that street performer who sings outside the café.”
“What?”
Febe couldn’t contain herself. “That’s preposterous. Yella?”
“Yeah, that’s it. Yella. What a fine fella. Hope he gets an award for that.”
“Yeah, he’ll get an award all right. Fifteen to life!” Janvier said.
* * *
Thirty minutes later, Febe hurried back into the house and dropped off Ebony while Janvier waited in the car. “Now you stay here, sweetie. I’m going to the café, and then I’m going to have a word with Detective Trey.”
“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Ebony said.
“Of course I do. I may not have much, but my suspicions are right about this. Whenever I get severe headaches, it means something’s wrong. Seriously wrong.”
“Yeah, something’s wrong all right.” Ebony then swayed her tail as she strutted across the hardwood floor into the living room.
Febe grabbed her handbag and went outside.
“What time are we supposed to be at the college dorm?”
“At lunch to deliver the Halloween cookies.”
“Right. Let’s go there, but I’ll need to speak with Detective Trey, too. I’m just going to send him a text message. He gave me his card.”
“Febe!”
“What? I need to share my thoughts with him about Yella. You don’t really think he did it, do you?”
Janvier shrugged. “Sometimes we just have to trust that justice will be done.”