CHAPTER 16
Mia kept her hand on the knife the entire trip up the Magic to town. Knowing she could protect herself made her feel powerful. Knowing she may have to because someone had already killed Adele and she might be sitting next to the killer made her want to throw up. When they reached the Lodge and William left the snowcat Mia’s body sagged in relief.
Levi glanced back at her using the rearview mirror. “You okay back there?”
“Yeah, just wanting to get home.” Mia leaned back in her seat and relaxed her shoulders. She had been sitting straight as a board for the entire trip back into town. Every time the snowcat shifted she tensed, until she’d become so stiff, she couldn’t imagine relaxing.
“No worries. Next stop, Mia’s school for wandering children and orphans.” Levi grinned at his brother. “Where do you want to be dropped off, dude?”
“I’ll go with Mia. I want to check out that building. You could help me hook up the generator before you take off for your party.” They had stopped at the van on the way up to grab the piece of machinery and check on the condition of Mia’s car.
“My continued absence will be mourned by one and all, but I can do that.” Levi turned the snowcat back onto the road. Snow had been falling for hours in town, making the roads almost impassable.
“An hour. You can miss your snow bunnies for an hour.” Trent shook his head. “Little brother, you are a horndog.”
“I came to rescue you, so just hush. You’re making me look bad in front of the little woman back there.” Levi’s eyes twinkled as he gazed at her in the mirror.
“You keep calling me the ‘little woman,’ you’re the one who’s going to need to be rescued.” Mia watched the snow fall as they drove. “And how exactly did that rescue work? I know we were out of cell range.”
“Brothers have a special connection. That’s all I can say.” Levi grinned. Trent didn’t even turn his head to look at her.
“Whatever. As long as you and your specially connected brother get my generator set up, I guess I don’t care how you communicate.” Although deep down inside, she did. Had Trent cast a spell, did they have telepathic abilities? Had the owner of the house installed a shortwave radio? She focused back on the street and watched the snow pile up. The town looked deserted. Shops on Main Street were closed and dark. Even the fake gaslight streetlights had been turned off or lost power from the storm. City Hall blazed bright at the end of the street and several officers bundled in parkas worked on cleaning off the steps, sidewalks, and police cars, only keeping in front of the falling snow for a few minutes. Emergency response would be slow tonight, even with their diligence.
Curving around the square, Mia caught her first glance at her building. The school still had lights. The front walk looked recently shoveled and the entry looked inviting. She really needed to start bringing in some cash before the house ate up all her savings in utility costs alone.
As they pulled into the parking lot, three figures emerged from the front door and headed out to meet them. When she slipped out of the cat Grans grabbed her in a hug. “I was so worried. When Levi called to let us know you were stranded I knew something was wrong. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She glanced at Levi. “Thanks for getting hold of her.”
“No problem. I figured you’d want her to know you were being rescued.” Levi smiled. “And, of course, I wanted the credit.”
“Brat.”
Grans slapped her on the arm. “Don’t be spiteful. Levi didn’t have to go out of his way to save you two. But then we found out that Barney and Mr. Danforth had been stranded as well.”
“Wait, Barney was with William?” Trent stood by Mia now, questioning her grandmother.
“Right after Levi left we got a call from Officer Baldwin saying Barney had called from the road, and he was stuck too. And he told Baldwin that Mr. Danforth was also on the road to Magic Springs. Did you find them?”
Levi and Trent passed a long look between them. “Help me take the generator in, then head back to City Hall. Tell them what we know. Then give them the keys to the cat and get back here. You’re not going back down. Now it’s police business.”
“But—” Levi started, and Trent shook his head.
“Help me with the generator, then do what I said.” He put his hand on his brother’s back and led him toward the cat.
Mia did the same to Grans, but gently aimed her toward the door. “Let’s get inside where we can talk.”
Another arm went around her grandmother, and Mia looked up, expecting to see Christina. Instead, James caught her eye. Reading her expression, he quickly explained. “I found your grandmother’s car stuck in the snow a mile from here. After we got here the roads got too bad for me to leave. I guess you’re stuck with me.”
“And he’s teaching me how to make clam chowder,” Christina added.
“As long as you’re being helpful, you’re more than welcome.” She smiled at him. “Thanks for bringing her here. I should have had her come earlier.”
“I may be old, but I’m not deaf, you know.” Grans slipped a little on the ice. “Although if you two don’t walk faster, I might freeze solid out here.”
“James,” Trent called over the whipping wind. “We need you over here.”
Mia watched as the man hesitated, then turned to Christina. “I guess our clam chowder lesson will have to wait.” He waited for Christina to take his spot next to Grans, then made his way back to the snowcat.
As soon as the three got into the foyer, they slipped off their boots and coats. The school did keep heat well, and the solar panels on the roof helped when there was sun. But as Mia shut the door, she shivered. “Let’s get upstairs and finish off that chowder. Maybe we can throw some biscuits in the oven too? It looks like we’ll have a full house for the snowstorm.”
Grans nodded. “I was lucky James arrived when he did. I don’t think Muffy could have walked very far in this storm.”
Mia followed the women up the stairs. James did always seem to be in the right place all the time. He’d been at the Lodge when Adele was killed; now he just happened to find Grans in a snowstorm. Mia shook off the thought. She was tired and worried and seeing ghosts where there weren’t any. Barney popped into her mind. William had to have lied to them when he said the lawyer stayed in Twin Falls.
Too many questions and no answers. Right now she just wanted to get into a hot shower, some fresh clothes, and cook in her kitchen. Mr. Darcy stood at the top of the stairs watching her ascent. She scooped him up in her arms and rubbed the top of his gray head. The cat purred his welcome home, warming her as she entered the apartment.
“I’ll be back out in a second. Tell me we still have hot water.” Mia frowned; would the pipes have frozen? “Water, even?”
“This isn’t my first storm, missy,” Grans shook her head. “We left water dripping through all the pipes here, and at my house as well. But honestly, I think the plumbing is pretty well insulated here. The board put a lot of money into the school to make sure the building would be weatherproofed. That’s one of the reasons Adele decided to vote with me in selling the building to you rather than the developer. She hated the idea that they wanted to tear down a perfectly solid building.”
“Thank the Goddess for Adele.” Mia sat Mr. Darcy on the couch and walked the hall to her bedroom. Thirty minutes later, her hair still wet but the kinks from stress easing out of her shoulders, Mia followed the chatter of voices to the kitchen.
Trent sat at the table with Grans and Christina, but James and Levi were gone. He glanced up and smiled as she entered the room. “Feel better?”
“Much.” She headed to the cabinet to grab a cup, but Grans shooed her to a chair.
“I’ll get your tea. You relax.”
Mia slipped into a chair across from Trent. “The generator up?”
“All set. I’ll take you there in a few and show you how it works.” Trent glanced at the clock. “I’m waiting for a call from Levi.”
“I thought he was coming back here.” Mia accepted the cup of hot tea from her grandmother.
Trent nodded. “I told him to call once he got to the police station.”
Barney’s face surfaced in Mia’s thoughts again. “You don’t think William could have . . .” She let the words trail off.
“No use worrying about what we don’t know.” Grans tapped the table. “I did find something interesting in Adele’s genealogy files, however.”
Any thought of sleep vanished from Mia’s body. “What?”
“Christina, bring me the brown tote I left in the living room.” Grans looked at Mia. “Where’s your laptop? I need you to look up something.”
Mia went over and opened the roll top desk she used to hide the papers and mess that came with trying to run a business. She opened the laptop and booted the system. The Wi-Fi connection to the internet still worked, but she didn’t know if it would hold up with the storm in full swing now. All it took was the loss of one cell tower and she’d be back in the Stone Age, cut off from the world.
Trent’s phone rang. He glanced at the display and answered it. “Levi, what’s going on?”
Mia watched Trent’s face as he listened to the other side of the conversation. He definitely didn’t like what Levi was telling him.
“Just get back here.” He clicked off the phone.
Mia raised her eyebrows. “Problems?”
“Baldwin thinks it’s too dangerous to send out anyone tonight. Barney’s on his own until tomorrow morning, if then.” Trent tossed the phone on the table. “Maybe he turned back and is hunkered down in Twin Falls. If not . . .”
Trent didn’t have to finish the sentence. They all knew the danger being out in a storm like this could be to someone who was in great shape. Barney didn’t have a chance.
Mia heard Grans whisper a protection blessing under her breath for the stranded lawyer. Then she straightened her shoulders and waved her hand over the phone. “No use us worrying about something we don’t know is true. Barney Mann isn’t stupid. If he’s out in the storm, he’ll find shelter, just like the two of you did. He’s been around these Magics too long to let some Arizona tenderfoot get the better of him.”
Mia listened to Grans’s words, but something about what she said bothered her. Not about Barney; she knew Grans was right about him. Knowledge of the Magic had saved many a stranded townsperson over the years. He might just make it. But William—something was wrong with what she’d said about William. She realized all three were staring at her.
“What do you want me to look up?” She opened a web browser.
Grans dug in the tote and pulled out a folder stuffed with papers and photos. She paged through the pile until she pulled out an old picture. Two boys sat on the side of the Lodge pool, feet in the water and arm in arm, grinning at the camera. She turned over the picture. “Here it is. Look up Samuel Jacobs.”
“Just Samuel Jacobs? There must be a million people by that name.” Mia typed it into her search line hit Enter. As she suspected, pages and pages of entries. “Can you narrow it down a bit?”
Grans pushed the photo to her and pointed to one. “There are two boys.”
Mia stared at the boy’s face. A young William grinned back at her. “So that looks like William. I don’t understand.”
“Now look at this one.” Grans handed her a school picture taken at the same age.
Mia held up the second photo to the first. “So, this is Sam?”
“Turn it over.” Grans sat back, waiting.
Christina leaned closer as Mia turned over the photo. William Danforth III was scribbled in fading ink. Mia turned the picture back over. “This is William—not Samuel.”
“And the man here in town is not William, but Samuel, posing as William.” Grans nodded. “Adele must have recognized him from the pictures and that’s why she was digging through the stuff on her desk. The man posing as William Danforth is a fraud.”
“Which is why he was pushing to have the estate finalized,” Trent added.
Christina picked up the two photos, “So if Samuel Jacobs is here, where is William Danforth?”