TWENTY

 

Fear shining through his eyes, Jared said, “I can call someone to cover for me. I don’t really need to go to the bookstore.”

“I’ll be fine. Remember, they’re after you, not me.”

“Yeah, well they know nothing would hurt me more than for you to be injured or lose this life early.”

I shook my head and smiled. “That’s not going to happen during the day. They seem to prefer night attacks.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t be too sure. Two years ago before she went into labor, Olivia’s worst attack was in the late afternoon. And Kendra’s not using a night owl this time.”

“So we think. Who knows what else’ll come out of her bag of tricks.” I gave him a shove. “Now go and check out the store. No matter how much you trust the people you hired, an absent owner is asking for trouble in business. I know. My walk-out’s memories tell me her businesses have had rocky periods due to employee blunders.”

He nodded. “You’re right.” Bending down, he gave me a quick kiss. “I’m glad you turned your class over to that other teacher. But, you still need to be careful.”

“Careful is my middle name.”

“Right.” He grinned as he opened the front door. “Just like it’s Olivia’s.” He closed the door behind him.

Maybe he was right. It seemed I realized more each day that I had more of Olivia’s traits than I thought. Still thinking about the advice I’d given him about business, I decided it was time to go over Randee’s books and see how my enterprises were faring.

My walk-out’s memories said they basically ran themselves and she knew business like a second language. I knew, having lived many lives, that approach usually spelled trouble with a capital “T.”

A couple of hours later, I looked up from my desk now in the library. I was the proud owner of a conglomerate, actually holding company, and one big huge convoluted mess.

Chesco was the parent holding company for three corporations: Chesco Construction handled commercial projects with multiple contracts for building secure government office structures; a real estate investment company, Rock Investments, with three arms—residential condos, apartments and gated communities; another one specialized in commercial real estate in the U.S. and its territories; and one that specialized in senior continuing retirement centers. The third corporation, Staff Ready, provided temporary workers for all of Chesco corporations, as well as outside companies. It had two arms, one for staffing regular businesses and another for healthcare personnel.

I was shocked into silence at Chesco’s net worth. Then, as I’d looked over the past month’s sales figures, revenues and expenses, I realized something was wrong. Dead wrong. Chesco had suddenly started leaking money like a sieve. Forget the economy, only one thing could cause this type of loss, theft and sabotage from the inside. That’s when a name from the Board of Directors list froze me in place. “That son-of-a-bitch.”

* * * *

 

At six that night I met Carl and his team of forensic auditors at Chesco’s headquarters in Jacksonville. “Thanks for taking care of this for me. I’ve put a stop on all checks authorized or written by him. I need to know where every penny of this company has gone over the past three years.”

“I’ll have the information for you by early Sunday morning.”

I returned Carl’s shark-like grin. The man positively loved catching crooks by their short hairs. And did I have a lulu for him. “I can’t wait to see his face as the Feds take him off in handcuffs Monday morning.”

“Ah, Ran—Miranda, that’s what I love about you. When the claws come out they go for the jugular.”

“Better late than never, eh?” At his nod, my grin widened. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. I’ve called the FBI and alerted them to my suspicions. They’ve agreed to have a couple of supervisors work with you and your team to ensure the chain of custody.” I glanced out at parking lot. “And here they come now.” Four men walked toward us.

* * * *

 

As soon as Jared and I arrived at Mystic Dreams, I told the gang everything I’d discovered and what I’d set in motion.

“It sounds like a clear cut case of ego to me,” Natasha said

Olivia gasped. “How’d he think he’d get by with it?”

“Easy.” Seth paced with his hands in his pockets. “Madoff got away with almost a billion dollars. Sometimes all it takes is a guy with a pair of brass ones and the self-confidence to carry it off. From what you’ve said, for all her business savvy, your walk-out was emotionally and psychologically fragile.”

“No kidding. Forget his resume, the FBI’s run a check on him and discovered his entire life’s a lie. They don’t know who the heck he is. They’ve even dusted his hole-in-one trophy and run his prints through AFIS and not found him.” I crossed my legs and scowled. “It’s the smaller two companies—Staff Ready, and the retirement center division of Rock Investments—that’ve taken the hit.”

“Ah,” Jared said, “Beware of giant shells. Pearls of wisdom come in small ones.” He grinned. “I’ll also bet once you meet him, you’ll find he reeks of evil.”

I sighed. “You’re probably right, but I didn’t need to discover this treachery on top of fighting a bunch of demons.”

Jared slipped his arm around me and drew me against him. “Bet we discover he’s knowingly working with Kendra.”

“Thanks, for the cheer-up.” I slanted him a grimace. “Tell them about the demons.”

“I think the one who attacked Uncle Paddy is a fire demon, either Xaphan or Ukobach. They’re both an arsonist’s dream. One touch and poof, it’s burning embers and ashes galore.”

I met Olivia’s gaze. “Hope your fire insurance is current.”

“Stop sounding so fatalistic.” Olivia smiled weakly. “This’ll work out. We’re stronger than the demons and a heck of a lot stronger than one bad ass con artist embezzler with an inflated opinion of himself.”

“I know you’re right. I’m just feeling stupid right now for not catching the problems with the businesses before now. Is everything ready to cast the spell to ward off demons tonight?”

Natasha nodded. “Absolutely. Everything came in except the salt. You said you were going to pick it up.”

“Don’t worry. I’m on my way right now.”

Since I’d walked to Mystic Dream, I left their house and zipped back to mine to pick up my big purse and the Ferrari. As I made my way to the front of the house, I stopped dead in my tracks when I spied my Mercedes parked in front of the house. Looked like good ole’ Bill Bennett had taken my threats to report him seriously.

Pokie met me at the front door with a look that would melt steel. “Don’t look now…”

I nodded. “I saw the Mercedes. What’d he say to you?”

“Nothing ’cept the fact you were ’spectin’ him. I’ve been watchin’ him from out here to make sure he doesn’t pocket anythin’.”

“I don’t think he’s that hard up.”

She jerked her head in his direction. “That asshole’s the cause of a lot of missin’ antique trinkets. They disappeared o’er the years he was around.”

The smug two-timing bastard sat waiting in the parlor as if he owned it.

Why in heaven’s name did the old Randee take this? She must have had worse self-esteem than I’d realized. “I’ll take it from here. Have a vodka martini waiting when I’m done with him.”

She beamed. “That’s my girl. Just like your gran.”

I sauntered into the formal parlor. “Great timing, Bill.” I made a show of checking my watch. “I was just getting ready to call the cops and report the car as stolen.”

Smiling, he remained seated in the over-sized club chair. Guess Southern manners weren’t his forte. Sure he was a good looking man, but he knew it, from his hand made shirts to his buffed nails and five hundred dollar shoes. Yet not even his designer cologne hid the smell of corruption oozing from him. “I didn’t steal your car,” he said with a barely concealed sneer.

“As I recall, I still have the title and thus own it. Not to mention, you took it without permission and didn’t return it upon demand.” My eyes narrowed to slits. “That constitutes grand theft auto.”

“Baby!” Still sitting, he held his arms out in an exaggerated gesture and spoke to me as if I were a child. “You gave it to me as gift, don’t you remember?”

“I remember everything; including you driving off with my Mercedes after I discovered you and the bimbo in my bed and kicked your sorry asses out of this house. I also remember your promise to have the car back to me the next day, which was two weeks ago.”

From the look of his slack jaw, I knew Randee’s new attitude had shaken him. “The keys.” I held my hand out palm up.

“I have to drive home.”

“Walk. Call a friend. I don’t care, just hand over the keys and get off my property.” He threw the keys at me and was once again was surprised when I easily caught them. With a glare, he stormed from the house, slamming the door behind him.

Turning to leave the parlor, I spotted Pokie and George grinning at me from the doorway. “George, would you please have the Mercedes washed and disinfected? Pokie…keep the martini chilled, I’ll be back shortly.”

* * * *

 

Jared and I arrived back at Mystic Dream at eight for the warding ceremony. Now back to her slender self, Hazel looked ethereal in a long white gown and white witch’s hat Josh had given her as a joke. She’d brought her copy of the “recipe,” a large stoneware crock with “Hazel’s Magic Formulas” inscribed into it, and a bottle of lamp oil. Natasha had the abalone shell and a cup of ground shell next to it on the table, and Seth’s small container of mountain water sat next to them.

“I bought the truffles.” Olivia pointed at the ground truffles in a ramekin. “I can’t believe they were seventy-five dollars an ounce!”

“For forty-eight hours of demonic-free peace, the benefit is priceless.” I turned to Seth. “Is the mountain water filtered?”

He nodded. “I put it through a special charcoal filter three times.”

“I took my nail file to the abalone shell and didn’t get very far.” Natasha grinned. “That’s when Seth went next door and borrowed the neighbor’s gemology tools. That did the trick.”

“Let’s get started.” Hazel rubbed her hands together. “I have my nerve right now.”

“Why do you need nerve?” I saw her hands were shaking. “Either it works or it doesn’t. We can’t be any worse off than we are now.”

“Great Gramps had written a tiny little note under the concoction that I didn’t initially notice.”

“Is your mentioning a ‘tiny little note’ anything like an angel mentioning one more ‘tiny little thing’?” I looked at her warily. “Because when an angel says that, that’s the time to brace yourself for the other wing falling.”

Hazel tittered, not laughed, nervously.

“Jackpot!” Olivia scowled.

Gregory turned to our friendly little white witch. “So, what’s the danger we’ll be facing, Hazel?”

“You know how when some people have regression therapy to remember a former life and suddenly evil forces begin to attack them from the astral plane?”

We all nodded.

“Well, sometimes, according to Great Gramps, in the middle of reciting the incantation that goes with the mixing, the demons become alerted to our, er, intentions, and attack with hellacious fury to stop us.”

Jared sat in a chair with a smile of amusement lighting up his face.

“They’re going to attack sooner or later,” I said. “The whole idea is to delay them, and if we do nothing we’re no better off. If we can ward the house until after the festival, we may’ve thwarted their plans for the kids. We’ll still have to fight the demons, but the kids may be safe. So let’s get going.”

Hazel exhaled a deep breath of relief. “I was afraid to tell you all.”

I smiled. “We appreciate your help. What can I do for you?”

“Nothing really. Let me mix this stuff in the right order, and as I light the lamp oil, everyone recite the incantation in unison. I wrote one for each of you on index cards.” She passed out the cards. Mine read:

“Mix it right and mix it well,

Do not pause and do not dwell,

Watch the mixture steam and brew,

’Til your demons come in view.

Watch as faces flash inside

Your spell bowl both deep and wide.

They’re enveloped in the goo,

Stir them in, they’ll vanish too.

For the moment safe you are,

Breathe relief they cannot harm.”

“That’s a bizarre incantation. So their faces will show up in the mixture?”

She nodded. “So he said.” She dumped each ingredient in the bowl. “I’m warning you, Olivia, this spoon you gave me may never be the same.”

“That’s okay. I bought it at the consignment store just for this occasion.”

Stirring quickly, Hazel dumped in the last ingredient: the unicorn horn dust and stirred. Suddenly we watched as the thing began to steam.

“Say the incantation. Now. Quickly.”

As one, we recited the words. At the part about the faces, I saw Kendra, then Allocen, Nadulbar, an ugly man with a hook nose, whom I was assuming was Pharzuph, the Banshees, a body with flaming hands and a bellows emblem, Xaphan. But the last one I hadn’t expected. Shock filled me at the sight of his face in the goo. Biting back a gasp, I kept reciting my part. Jared saw my face and grabbed my hand.

Suddenly, a claw reached out of the mixture and grabbed Hazel’s hand. It dug into her flesh. She moaned, but refused to stop. “Keep reciting. Don’t quit.”

“But Hazel.” Josh grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Stir them…in, they’ll…”

Another arm shot out of the goo and reached for her throat.

“Do something!” Josh attempted to yank the hand away from its destination.

“Vanish too.”

The words left our lips and with a loud scream and the clawed hand disappeared. As we finished the last two lines, Hazel never missed a beat, poured the lamp oil on top and lit the mixture. Strange green smoke poured up toward the heavens and crawled through every crevice of the house, like a barrier between us and any evil. Slowly it cleared and the bowl’s flame extinguished.

“Is that it?” Gregory asked.

Hazel nodded, finally taking time to examine her wrist. “Josh, get the alcohol and bandages out of the bathroom cabinet.”

He ran from the room.

“Are you okay?” I moved to her side and put my arms around her. Her entire body was still shaking.

“I will be. At least he didn’t get to my neck. I just hope the flesh didn’t travel through the bowl, otherwise Kendra can use it to attack me.” She raised her gaze to mine. “Don’t worry, she won’t do anything until after the festival. Her attention will be on trying to defeat the ward.”

“Can she?” I asked.

All eyes focused on the two of us.

“It’s possible. I’m a human witch, not immortal or divine.” She blinked back tears. “Olivia, Gregory, treat this as if it’s failed. While they can’t enter the house, Lilith can still entice the children from it.”

Josh came back with the first aid kit. “Let me help.” He worked on her wrist.

“Maybe none of them will be around for two days.” I rubbed my forehead. “There’s a new demon who’s just been exposed. Don’t worry, I’ll handle him.” At their gasp, I waved them off. “He’s mine to deal with on Monday.”

Eyes drawn together, a deep furrow between his eyes, Jared read my mind then inhaled sharply. “You’re kidding. Him?”