Chapter Twenty

Sitting in a jail cell sucked. Big time. I discovered this three minutes later.

“Am I allowed visitors?”

“Of course. All your family can come by.”

“I’m hungry.”

He sighed. “I’m taking care of that. Okay?”

“Will you be checking out Mrs. Smith’s pantry? I searched all the closets, but I couldn’t find anything.” Funny how jail makes you want to spill all your secrets. Well, maybe not so funny. I’d watched that TV show about a woman’s prison, and oh boy, the inmates spill their guts there.

“Have you considered a career in law enforcement, Miss McCall?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Because then I would be hamstrung, doing things by the book. Right?”

He didn’t answer but turned on his heel and strode off, the keys on his belt jingling ominously, leaving me staring at three bare walls and a barred door. Yikes. This was a tad too real. A cold shiver ran down my back. What if Mrs. Smith did manage to plant cyanide at the café? Had I really made her that suspicious? But I had no proof she was the one—others had motive. Sean could have done it. Maybe the pair were working together? I shivered again. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had murdered their best friend, though I still rejected it. The pair had been so tight since grade school.

“Charm, you okay?” Tulip pressed her face to the bars like we’d been separated for months instead of minutes. Star hung back, looking less concerned, even a bit angry.

“I’m fine.” I got up and slipped my hands through the bars. Tulip grabbed one and held on tight. Star relented and took the other.

“Okay, okay. It’s not that bad, ladies.” Ace shook his head as he came into view, toting a basket in one hand and watching us play out the scene. “She’s not under arrest, only being detained for her own good.”

“We’ve put a file in the pie,” Tulip stage-whispered, giving Ace the stink eye.

He rolled his eyes. “They’ve brought supper.”

“Yup, meatballs, fried chicken, potato salad, corn, biscuits and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.” Tulip was quick to point at the large basket he carried.

“Great! Then let me out of here.” My mouth watered in anticipation. “But you still owe me a steak, Sheriff.”

“You are staying in the cell for now. You’re not getting the chance to slink off again. And you will get a steak soon, just not today. I’ve got my hands full investigating a murder, if you remember?”

I ignored the sarcasm and smiled at my sisters.

“Then we eat in there with our sister,” Tulip said.

“Suits me just fine.”

He unlocked the steel door, plunked the wicker basket down on the bed and left us to our own devices, securing the door behind him. Not ten seconds later a loud commotion broke out in the hallway.

“Where my friend Charm? I demand her!” Ivana’s voice rang, loud and clear.

Ace escorted the angry Russian to the bars of my cell, letting her in with a loud sigh.

“I’ll be back later. Settle down, all of you.”

Ivana’s gray eyes were dark with emotion. She gave Ace the middle finger and turned to me. “This not right! We get you free. Now!”

“I’m fine. Want some supper? Tulip and Star have brought a huge feast. More than enough to go around.”

She hesitated, but the delicious odor of fried chicken must have convinced her. She plunked herself down between my sisters on the bed, accepting a full plate that I quickly dished out for her. She’d settle down with a good meal in her belly. At least I hoped so.

“Ivana thank you.” She nodded gravely and tucked into the food.

Munching and sighs of enjoyment soon followed.

Another loud commotion broke out and we all looked up.

This time Ace was escorting Christine to the cell.

“You have another visitor.” He let her in, locking the door securely again. “Okay, we’ve hit the limit for now. No more visitors.” He was right about that. It was getting crowded in a jail cell meant for one, maybe two people. I wondered for a second where Emma was, surprised she hadn’t raced right to the jail. That would be her normal MO.

“Charm is good girl. You let her out right now or my brothers—”

“Are you threatening a police officer, Miss Petrov?” His voice hardened to steel, and even Ivana looked taken aback.

“Not right,” she muttered in a quieter tone. It was the first time I’d ever seen anyone other than yours truly take the wind out of her sails.

He gave all of us a stern look before leaving, but I did note the twitch in his eye had worsened. Small towns are not like big cities, are they, Officer?

A loud repetitive chorus of, “Set Charm free! Set Charm free!” resounded through the building.

What on earth?

I jumped up and stood on tiptoe to peer through the tiny grille window. The holding cell faced the front of the detachment, meaning I had a good view of the street. I caught sight of my long-time friends getting prepared for the traditional lighting of the torch, done just before they burned someone in effigy. Oh. My. Goddess. Like at all such events held in Canada, from postal strikes to incinerating personal garbage in the backyard, a burn barrel was already lit, smoke and flame drifting upwards in billowing clouds to kiss the sky. All they needed were pitchforks to complete the picture.

“It’s the other members of Northern Lights Coven,” Tulip needlessly explained. “They’re working on getting you out of here. Casting a release spell as we speak.”

“I can see that,” I mumbled, unable to look away as my coven sisters lit the hastily concocted straw figure of a lawman with the torch.

“Oh, can I join the coven?” Christine chimed in. “Wow, I’d love to be part of it. I mean, being in one is so in style.”

I gave a very, very deep sigh. It was lovely to have such an incredible group of friends, but I had brought a little bit of this on myself, I had to admit. It wasn’t entirely Ace’s fault. Perhaps I did need protection from my own exuberance at times.

“Of course you can, Christine,” I reassured her when I spied her downcast look. My sigh had sent the exact wrong message.

“Okay, we need to come up with some plan to set things right,” I mused out loud. It wasn’t going to be easy, not with me being stuck in jail.