If the Broom Fits (8 page)

His lips pouted slightly and he shrugged. “And did it?”

I shook my head. “No. Get out of the way.”

He slid past me, too close. “The only person in your way, Frost, is you.”

I put my hand on the knob and twisted, but it didn't budge. Locked. This handle was different than all the other ones. It hadn't been updated. I took the key from around my neck and inserted it into the lock. A click rang through the upstairs as the lock gave way. I gave Orion a triumphant smile over my shoulder as I opened the door. My feet stalled when I looked in. It was exactly the same.

I frowned, stepping inside. “How is this…You are doing this, aren't you?”

He shook his head. “I showed you the room. I didn't create it.”

I pressed my palms hard against my eyes. When I opened them again, it still looked the same.

“What's the plan?” Leslie asked, stepping inside the room and Orion was gone again.

I took a deep breath. “If nothing makes sense like it is, then let's redo it. Take down everything that looks like it belongs in a haunted house and put up what was in the boxes.”

“And what will that do?” she asked.

I threw my hands up. “I have no idea, but maybe we'll see whatever we're missing.”

We got busy switching everything out. We piled all the gothic decorations in the upstairs bathroom until all we had left of it was furniture that was too big to actually move. The house definitely looked more normal.

“What do you see now?” she asked.

The beginning of a smile tugged at my lips. “A serious lack of closets.”

I went to the thick dark paneling covering the wall behind where the staircase was and worked my fingers behind the edge of it. I yanked back as hard as I could until the thin board popped and a chuck broke free. The edge of what looked like a red door waited, hidden beneath. It had always been here, I just couldn't see it.

R
honda Wesselton's
house was really more of a cottage. It was snug with furniture, mostly tidy and well-cared for. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to clear my mind and think about what the killer would have touched.

There were no signs of forced entry and all the doors and windows were locked. That didn't really mean much if we were talking about something supernatural. Even I was able to magically unlock the door, so obviously it wasn't that hard.
But I did it.
I grinned despite the seriousness of the situation.

Okay, I had to focus now. The cottage just felt empty. I didn't sense any magic traces left behind, but unlocking a door would use such a small amount of magic it probably wouldn't linger long. So the killer comes in through the door, where does he go next? I stood in the living room, my hands splayed in front of me trying to decide.

The TV wasn't on, so maybe Rhonda hadn't been in here at all. I headed for the door on the other side of the room that opened to a cozy bedroom. They found her hanging in the closet. Was it a matter of convenience? Was she already in there, or was he hoping it would take longer to find her? Why would something supernatural care about that?

The bed was made and it was clean, but there was a lingering odor in the room. I opened the only other door. It led to a walk in closet and I was hit full-blast with the smell of rot, death, and cat pee. I pulled my scarf over my nose. My eyes watered, but I pushed forward. She hadn't been dead long enough for this smell. It was weird. This was the room I needed to see the most. The closet connected the bedroom to the bathroom and it was a fairly decent size.

She had been wearing her robe. Maybe she had just come from the bathroom and was in the process of getting dressed when she was attacked. None of the bars were high enough in the closet that she wouldn't be able to touch the ground, which definitely ruled out accident. The police must have taken the strap because it wasn't there. I scanned the closet. He might have touched the clothing on either side of where she had been because they were pushed apart.

I reached up, careful to disturb as little as possible. As I touched a shirt to my right, something better caught my eye. Tucked in the corner, just beneath the pants was a green handbag—missing its strap. I squatted down, grabbed the corner of the purse with my gloved hands and pulled it forward.

It was just a regular, empty purse, but one that you wouldn't carry without a strap. And Rhonda had been hung with a green purse strap. The killer had to have removed it at some point. “Gotcha,” I whispered.

I stood up and turned to see a figure in doorway, giving me a start.

“Good Lord, it's foul in here,” Donavan said with a disgusted look. “They're going to have a hell of a time selling this place. Did you find something?”

“The purse missing its strap.” I held it up as proof. “It was shoved to the corner under the pants section. I think it's the one.”

“I guess, but it might not be.”

“Well, it's the only one I see. Also green isn't a super typical purse color. Lots of women might have one green bag, but I don't know how many would have a variety of them. It isn't like black.”

He shrugged, but nodded. “I guess I can see that. So now what happens?”

“We take it back to the shop and Kat and I will do our thing.”

Doubt still creased his eyes, but at least he didn't outwardly express it. “How did you get the door unlocked?” he asked.

“Magic,” I said with a wink, knowing he wouldn't believe me, and it would eat at him until he thought of a better explanation.

He stopped me from leaving through the front door. “Malone apparently has nothing better to do today than stare out his front window. He'll see us if we go that way. I barely got in. Let's go out the back.”

I relocked the front door and Donavan led me out of the kitchen to the backyard surrounded by a privacy fence. None of the houses around us were higher than a single story; it was the perfect escape if someone wanted to get away unseen. Donavan bee-lined to the back corner of the property behind an aging shed, and I followed. He thumped on a couple of wood planks before he found the loose panel he obviously knew was there. He took a section of four boards and lifted it up and over to the side, giving us access to the alley.

I stared at him for a moment before I went through. “I thought you said you didn't know Rhonda well.”

“I didn't,” he said, following me through then putting the fence back as it had been.

“How did you know about this?”

His face went blank and he glanced back at the fence. “About three months ago there was a civil suit filed against Johnson's fencing company by Rhonda Wesselton. She sued him, stating that part of her fence was removable. He claimed she damaged it herself and wanted him to fix it. They went to court over it and it was ruled Johnson had to fix the fence, but he said he couldn't do it until spring. The court agreed.” He raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said you read the paper.”

“That was in the paper?”

“In a town of seven thousand, almost everything that happens here ends up in the paper. It was in the section on current lawsuits.”

I shook my head. “I guess I missed it.”

We headed back to the store, the purse still clutched in my hand. “If you knew about that fence, it's possible someone else knew too.”

“Sure,” he said. “I don't see why not.”

“That means someone could have come up through the alley, went through the fence, entered via the kitchen door.”

He nodded. “But the door was locked.”

“The killer could have locked it after the fact.”

“Could have, but there were no signs that the locks were tampered with. No one else had a key to Rhonda's house.”

“Are you sure her key was still in her purse for that door? Did anyone actually check?”

Donavan shoved his hands in his pockets as we waded through the snowy sidewalk. “You actually aren't too bad at this.”

I laughed. “You don't have to sound so surprised. Never underestimate the power of books and movies.”

We chatted about the town and nothing in particular on the way back, but it was nice. For once someone wasn't pulling apart everything I said, trying to make sure I was okay. I appreciated the coven's concern over my mental wellbeing and it wasn't out of place, but it made me feel alone. As I'd figured out with Femi over Halloween when I helped investigate one of her cases, what I needed was to be normal again. I didn't need the constant reminders that I was in some way broken.
All of us
needed that, , and weirdly enough Donavan made me feel normal.

We reached Enchantment and as I opened the door, Donavan moved to follow me. “What are you doing?” I asked, blocking the entrance with my arm.

“Coming inside.”

I shook my head. “Nope. You can go home and I'll let you know if we find something.”

“No way. I broke into a house with you. That definitely earns me a spot to watch whatever voodoo you do next.”

“You don't even believe.”

“So? That doesn't mean I don't want to see. Who knows, you might make a believer out of me yet.”

I stared hard at his shoes. I couldn't let him in. The Abyss only had one rule and that was to not reveal it to humans. Granted we were no longer in the Abyss, but still . . . allowing a regular person to witness us cast or perform a spell that was more than just words and candles could have repercussions. Especially a reporter I barely knew. “I can't.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why not?”

I held up my hands in a helpless gesture. “You won't understand.”

“Only because you won't tell me,” he said, more determined than ever.

I sighed. “Don't make me turn you into a frog.”

His eyebrows pulled together and he half laughed. “You're joking…right? You can't actually turn people into frogs.”

I smiled faintly. “I can't,” I said completely truthfully. Now if it were Katrina or Leslie or Frost threatening him, that was a different story.

“Okay, fine,” he said, taking a couple steps back. “You don't want me to come in, then I won't.”

“Sorry,” I said, but I wasn't. It was best for everyone if he continued to disbelieve. But I couldn't shake the nagging feeling this wasn't the last we'd see of him today. Donavan didn't seem like the type to back away from a lead for long.

“No problem. Just use me for my mind and shove me away.” He flashed me a charming, boyish grin. “I'll see you around, Jessica.”

I watched him walk away before I went inside and locked the door behind me.

“I thought he'd charge the door,” Kat said when I turned around.

I glanced back out the window, but Donavan was still gone. “How'd the cleanup go?”

“Sixteen bags of junk. The two of us have lost a lot of shit in our lives. The occasional item still falls from the ceiling, but nothing like before. It's mostly cleared up.” Her eyes trailed to my hand. “That's, um, an interesting purse. It's doesn't scream Jess though, if you want my opinion.”

“It's not mine. It's Rhonda's purse—and the killer used its strap to hang her. He definitely touched it.”

Katrina smiled. “Then I guess we have work to do. Come back to my lair.”

“And I unlocked her house door. With magic. Just sayin'.”

“Really?” Kat clapped her hands together. “See? I told you! You have to try. That's awesome. Do you want to do a you're-going-to-get-your-magic-back dance?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Not at all.”

She shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

In the back room, Selene sat on the couch, legs crossed, reading the police reports.

“Hey!” I said. “What are you doing here?”

She stood up with a bright smile, looking beautiful as ever. Being Queen of the Fae certainly had its perks. She looked as young as when we all first met in college. Her skin was flawless and looked like it had been brushed with a fine gold dust…hell, it probably had. She hugged me tight. “Kat thought you guys could use some help since Leslie and Frost are off doing their thing. Plus, it's good to get away for a bit. So tell me about this.”

I gave her the run down on what I knew. She listened, occasionally glancing down at the reports. “It is weird,” she said. “Could be human, though.”

I nodded. “That's what we need to find out. If it is human, then we can go to the police in the morning and just tell them the facts. But if it isn't…”

“Then we need to take care of it before someone else catches on,” she said. “I agree.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I hope it's something supernatural. Is that terrible of me? I want some adventure. It seems like so long since…”

Katrina gave her a flabbergasted look. “Since what? Since everything around you was falling apart and you almost died how many times? If that's the sort of adventure we're getting into, then um, no thanks. We can just tell Sy and he can get a bounty hunter on it.”

“Oh boo.” She waved a hand at Katrina. “It won't be that bad.”

“It better not be,” Katrina said, opening the spell book. “Okay, so here is the magical energy spell. If we can find a trace of it on the purse, we should be able to follow it.”

“I'm ready.” Selene sat on the floor in a graceful move.

Kat and I took our spots too. With a flick of Selene's wrist, the couch moved across the room and the rug pulled out from beneath us, rolled itself up and leaned against the corner.

“Show off,” I said.

Selene grinned.

The protection circle painted on the floor was completely revealed and unhindered by furniture outside of the round coffee table that fit perfectly in its center (this was not by accident). I put the purse on the table, clasped their hands, and we took the time to close the circle before we started the spell. Energy shot around us with a snap. Between Selene and Katrina everything was going to be supercharged.

“Show us your strength, show us your power. Let us follow you, to the very first hour. Though try as it might, let it not hide from our sight. Reveal to us that which is right.” We spoke together.

Nothing happened.

Disappointment sank like a rock in my stomach. Selene wasn't the only one hoping for a supernatural foe.

“What's that?” Katrina said.

I looked closer. The edge of the bag began to glow white. The dot sparkled as it grew and grew and grew until I could no longer see the purse at all, only this giant white orb in the center of the room glowing like it was filled with clouds and glitter.

“What the hell?” I said.

Then a spot of black appeared in the center of it and millions of black threads shot from it and snaked around the white until nearly all of it was covered, though it continued to grow. When it could grow no more, due to the circle, it popped with a huge bang. The store shook. Disappearing pieces rained over us, leaving only the purse on the table.

“Definitely supernatural,” Selene said. “But I have no idea what any of that means.”

“Um, I'm pretty sure it means we're about to be in over our heads…again,” Katrina said. “I'll check the books.”

“We'll follow the energy.”

Right. I grabbed a notebook and a pen, then closed my eyes. Selene grabbed my hand and I felt a pull in the center of my stomach as she wrenched us through space. When I opened them again we were in an apartment.

Selene made a face and pressed her finger to her lips. “Where are we?” she mouthed.

I glanced out the window. It looked like we were still in New Haven. “This must be Emaleigh's house,” I said.

We transported again. The next stop was Rhonda's. The one after that though, I had no idea where we were.