Ax to Grind (10 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

The next morning, Paige Wakefield sat behind her desk in her new office at the Enchanted Theater.  With Ethan’s death, she had inherited his ownership of the place, and was trying to settle into her new role as the top dog. 

While Paige typed at her computer, Vanessa McMillan entered the doorway to the office and knocked. 

Paige looked up at her with a smile.  “Ah, Vanessa, there you are.  Come in and take a seat.”

Vanessa was far more guarded but did sit down.  “What’s this about?”

“I knew you’d be wondering that.”

“Of course.  I was shocked when you called me.”

“I know we don’t have the best history, but I thought now would be a good time to bury the hatchet,” Paige said. 

Suddenly, Meg emerged in the doorway behind Vanessa. 

Meg went straight to work.  “Just like you buried a pick ax in Ethan Wakefield’s back.”

Vanessa whirled around in her chair and glared at Meg. 

“You again.  What are you doing here?  You can’t just come in here and throw around crazy accusations,” Vanessa said. 

Meg corrected her.  “They aren’t just accusations.  I know the truth.  Although, I have to admit, you nearly had me fooled.”

Vanessa was defiant.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s a shock to go from easy street to hard luck alley, especially in the blink of an eye.  One minute you were on top of the Enchanted Bay theater world, the next you were out of a job—all because of Ethan.  The thing is, when life comes easy, it’s hard to imagine things any other way, but that’s exactly the situation you were faced with all of a sudden.  Not just you, but your father as well.  Ethan had found a way to screw you both over at once, but as a writer, you were determined to make sure this story had a different ending.  You figured out the way to get the last word in.  In a great twist of irony, after Ethan figuratively stabbed your father in the back, you decided to literally stab Ethan in the back,” Meg explained. 

Vanessa went into full denial mode.  “Stop it.  I’m warning you--”

Meg kept going.  “With Enchanted Nights canceled, you knew no one would notice if the pick ax prop from the play went missing.  The ax wasn’t just a fitting weapon to kill Ethan with.  As the prop Liz Donnelly’s character carried around throughout the majority of the musical, leaving the ax at the scene of the crime would immediately incriminate Liz instead of you.  So you killed Ethan, wiped the ax clean of fingerprints, and left it at the scene, convinced that Liz would go to jail for the crime you committed.  Isn’t that right?”

Vanessa gave Meg a death stare, quietly seething for a few moments. 

Meg pushed her again.  “Didn’t you?”

Suddenly, Vanessa blew her top.  “Yeah, I did.  I killed Ethan.  And you’re next.”

Vanessa lunged towards Meg with crazy eyes, looking to strangle her.  She wouldn’t get the chance to. 

Just then, Detective Connor Smith darted out of his hiding spot in the office next door and emerged in the doorway with his gun drawn. 

“Freeze,” Connor said.

Vanessa stopped dead in her tracks.  As she stared at the gun pointed at her, she knew there was no escape.  She’d been caught.  Faced with that realization, Vanessa had an emotional breakdown. 

“Ethan didn’t just ruin my life, but my father’s too.  He was a scumbag.  A complete sleaze ball that had no problem lying and cheating to get his way.  He was so arrogant that he never thought his actions would catch up with him, but they sure did,” Vanessa blurted out. 

“Your actions have caught up with you as well.  Now you’re going to spend the rest of your life behind bars,” Meg declared. 

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Take her away, boys,” Connor said. 

Two of Connor’s deputies dragged the killer to their squad car.  Finally, Meg could breathe a sigh of relief.  Now would normally be the point where Meg and Connor blew off some steam with a few wisecracks.  She waited for him to let one rip.  Instead, he left her hanging. 

Uh oh. 

Connor looked really tense.  Relief, Meg could understand, but she didn’t know why he was so stiff.  Unless he was bothered by the fact that Meg had been the one to solve the case instead of him.  To be fair, it must have been pretty frustrating for Connor.  After all, he was a ten year veteran of the police force who specialized in solving homicide cases.  Now, for the second case in a row, he’d been upstaged by a donut shop manager.

In Meg’s mind, all that mattered was the guilty party had been caught and would soon be in jail.  To her, putting this whole thing behind them mattered more than who got the credit.  Luckily, Meg wasn’t the type to rub things in.  She was curious to see how Connor would react, though.

Finally, after ten seconds of silence, Meg spoke up.   

“Are you all right?” Meg wondered.

Connor pulled himself out of his daze.  “Uh…yeah.”

“Are you sure about that?  You don’t even sound like you’ve convinced yourself.” 

“I’m just in awe is all,” Connor revealed.

“Of what?”

He turned to her with his eyes as wide as saucers.  “You.”

“That’s nice of you to say, but it’s not like I just performed brain surgery.”

“Go ahead and try and downplay what you did.  But I’m not the only one amazed by what you did.  Take the killer, for example, I’ll bet they’re just as awed by your sleuthing as I am.”

“I’m pretty sure the killer has more colorful, bitter description of the sleuthing I did.”

Connor nodded.  “Yeah.  They probably wished you’d performed brain surgery instead of investigated this case.”

Meg laughed. “True.  At the same time, I’ll just be happy to put this all behind me.  I don’t know about you, but I miss the sleepy Enchanted Bay of yore.”

“Don’t say sleep.  I haven’t been getting much shut-eye lately and could go for a good nap after all this running around.”

She was surprised.  “Really?  I’m completely wired.”

He gave her a knowing look.  “There’s nothing quite like the adrenaline rush you get from cracking a case.”

Meg nodded.  “I feel like I can take on the world.”

“Watch out.  It’s addictive.  Before you know it, you’ll be joining the force.”

“Let’s not get crazy now.  There are donuts to bake, and we both know my mother is never going to get up early enough in the morning to bake them.  That honor falls to yours truly,” she joked.  She then switched gears as her stomach started to rumble.  “Speaking of, I have the biggest craving for a donut right now.” 

He chuckled.  “You’re sounding more like a detective every day.”

“You must be rubbing off on me.”

“Speak for yourself.  You’re the one getting me hankering for a nice bear claw.”

“It’s settled.  There’s only one solution to this problem.  We have to go stuff our faces, ASAP.”

Connor grimaced.   “This is where being an amateur sleuth really works in your favor.  Unfortunately, duty calls, and with it, a dreaded batch of paperwork.”

“That’s why I’m glad I don’t have a badge.  Besides, I don’t look good in a trench coat,” she joked. 

He laughed.  “I’ll tell you what, nothing works up an appetite like paperwork.  How about I treat you to some dinner when I get all this casework done?”

Meg smiled.  “It’s a date.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Meg couldn’t wait to deliver the good news to Liz Donnelly.  As relieved as Meg was to put this case behind her, no doubt the happiest person of all would be Liz.  So when Meg revealed that Liz was in the clear, she was surprised that she didn’t immediately jump for joy.  Instead, Liz got very quiet, clutched her chest, and then closed her eyes. 

Meg furrowed her brow.  “Are you ok?”

Liz took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and then gave Meg a big hug. 

“Yeah.  Thanks to you,” Liz replied.

Having spent so much of her life intentionally trying to fly under the radar in order to keep her witch powers secret, Meg was not comfortable in the spotlight.  Her mother had always taught her the importance of humility.  Because of that, Meg tried to downplay her actions. 

“It’s the least I could do for a friend,” Meg said. 

Liz pulled back from the hug and shook her head.  “No.  You did the most amazing thing.  I’m almost speechless.”

Meg raised her eyebrow.  “Almost?”

Liz bit the corner of her lip.  “I’m a born motor-mouth.  The only way I’d be totally speechless is if I lost my voice.”

Meg laughed.

Liz continued.  “Anyway, I can’t thank you enough.”

“The smile on your face is all the thanks I need.”

“Here, I was thinking of repaying you with a spa day—on me.”

Meg’s eyes lit up.  “Of course, I won’t turn down a little pampering.”

Liz chuckled.  “That got your attention, didn’t it?”

“No other words get my attention as quickly as ‘free’ and ‘spa.’”

“How about chocolate?”

Meg stood corrected.  So much for her donut cravings.  They were quickly replaced by a strong yearning for chocolate. Her taste buds clamored for a truffle at the mere mention of chocolate.  “Now you’re really talking.” 

Liz looked out with longing.  “I could really go for a double chocolate cupcake right now.  Or, a hot fudge sundae.  Then again, why choose when I can have one of each?”

Meg got wrapped up in the chocolate fever.  “Are you trying to drive me nuts, here?”

“A couple minutes ago, I was staring down the prospect of serious jail time.  I can’t help it if I want to indulge in one of the simple pleasures of life.” 

“I’m right with you.”

“So, what do you say to going on a chocolate bender?”

Meg smiled.  “My mouth is watering already.”

***

After spending the afternoon going chocolate wild with Liz, Meg closed out the day by heading over to Connor Smith’s house.  Unlike their previous dates, this one had a twist.  In the past, Connor had taken her to dinner at one of the local restaurants, then out to the movies.  He’d never offered to make dinner himself before—until now. 

This could be a serious treat.  At the same time, it could also prove treacherous to her taste buds.  The problem was, she had no idea what to expect.  Connor never talked about cooking, at least not meals he made himself.  He spent plenty of time complimenting her pastries.

Meg remained cautiously optimistic while she sat at his dining room table.  She kept reminding herself of the old saying about how it was the thought that counted most.  That was no consolation to her nerves.  They were acting up like crazy.  She decided to make small talk to distract from her nerves. 

“What a day, huh?” she asked. 

“I’ll say.  As exciting as the morning was, I’m hoping tonight is even more memorable,” he replied. 

Meg crossed her fingers. 

Connor certainly seemed confident.  That was a promising sign.  Or, perhaps he was just trying to put on a good face.

Meg had to give him credit for this; he was at least trying.  She’d dated a number of men in the past, but this was the first that had actually cooked for her.  It sounded crazy when she repeated that again in her mind.  It probably shouldn’t have.  In the age of the microwave, it was rare to be able to find a man that knew his way around the kitchen.  To Meg’s last three boyfriends, if a meal took more than five minutes to heat up, it wasn’t worth bothering with.  Come to think of it, that was just another reason why those men were her ex-boyfriends.  

Before Meg got too deep into thought, the moment of truth arrived.  She heard a ding coming from Connor’s stove. 

Her nerves flared up once again.  She kept worrying that the meal would turn out to be a dud.  Not only would it be tough for her to stomach, but it would break Connor’s heart. 

That’s when she made a promise to herself.  She became determined not to let anything spoil her boyfriend’s romantic gesture.  After all, she wanted more things like this to happen, not less.  There was one way to guarantee the meal would turn out wonderfully.

Meg had a spell at her disposal that could mask the taste of any food.  All she had to do was repeat the word ‘delectamentum’ under her breath three times, and the dinner would be a resounding success. 

She was torn.  It was one thing to cast spells to get her friend off a murder charge; it was another to do it in her romantic life.  The problem was, if she cast this spell, she’d find herself on a slippery slope.  What was to stop her from casting another spell to get out of her next sticky situation?  A line needed to be drawn somewhere.  The question was, where?

If she wanted to find a genuine love and lead a genuine life, she had to trust people, especially those closest to her.  That’s when she made her decision.  For better or worse, Meg decided to lay off casting the taste-masking spell and pray for the bet from Connor’s meal.   

Just then, Connor opened the stove door and pulled out dinner.  Meg was immediately greeted by aromatic delight.  The smell of mashed potatoes and savory beef were unmistakable.  Connor hadn’t just cooked her a meal; he’d made a comfort food special—shepherd’s pie. 

“Are you ready?” he asked.

Meg’s eyes lit up.  “You remembered.”

Shepherd’s pie was Meg’s all-time favorite dish.  It had been that way ever since she was a kid.  This meal suddenly took on greater meaning, not just because he’d decided to make her favorite dish, but also because after ten years away, he even remembered how much she liked it. 

“Of course.  How could I forget?” 

“You realize my expectations are sky high now, don’t you?”

“I’m a detective.  You know I like a good challenge.”

“All right.”

Connor plated the pie, then served her, waiting anxiously for her to take a bite. 

“So?” he asked. 

She hesitated before answering, trying to let what she just tasted sink in. 

“I can’t believe it,” Meg replied.

Connor furrowed his brow.  “Wait, what?  Is that a good or bad thing?”

She smiled.  “This is like comfort food heaven.”

“Really?” 

Meg nodded.  “It’s amazing.  I haven’t had shepherd’s pie this good since I was a kid.”

“You don’t have to sound so surprised.”

She chuckled.  “How could I not be?  I’ve never expressed any interest in cooking before.”

“That’s because I don’t have any interest—except this meal.”

“Wait a minute.  Are you saying--?”

“I had your mom teach me this one meal specifically so I could cook it for you.”

“You really did all that for me?”

He nodded. “You’re not the only one who is full of surprises.”

“The biggest surprise is how you got my mom to keep a secret,” Meg joked.

Connor laughed.  “That’s a surprise even to me.”

“Do you have any other surprises up your sleeve?”

“You’ll just have to stick around and find out.”

She smiled.  “I can’t wait.”

Connor got caught up gazing into her eyes.  He then pointed at her plate.  “Eat up.  I wouldn’t want your food to get cold.”

“You’re right.  Just one thing first,” she said. 

“What’s that?”

Meg leaned in and gave Connor a deep kiss. 

“Thanks for being the best,” she said. 

Connor smiled.  “Trust me, the pleasure is all mine.”

The End.

Pick up more books in The Witches Of Enchanted Bay series right here:
http://www.amazon.com/Amelia-Morgan/e/B018F503PI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1448488676&sr=8-1

If you want to become a Meg Walton super fan and be the first to know about my new books, sign up for my mailing list here.  As an added bonus, if you sign up right now, I’ll send you a copy of my next book Free:
 
http://eepurl.com/bGT-c1

If you enjoyed this book, it would be great if you left a short review.  The review can be as short as 20 words and makes a huge difference.

Witches Of Enchanted Bay Book Order

Book 1 – The Witches Of Enchanted Bay

Book 2 – Ax To Grind