Life's a Witch (33 page)

The skin on Andrew’s arm sizzled as he clawed at the invisible hand holding him, and his screams rocked me.

“I don’t want to survive,” Nathaniel replied. “I’m already gone. Tell Chloe I’m sorry. Try to help her.”

I nodded and turned, resigned. I didn’t want to see what was coming. I pointed myself in the direction of the trees, putting one foot in front of the other as Andrew whimpered, cried out and ultimately fell silent.

I was almost to the trees when Landon and Chief Terry bolted into the clearing, guns drawn. When Landon’s eyes landed on me they were filled with surprise. “Bay?” He raced to my side and pulled me to him, pressing his face against mine. “I thought … .”

“What happened?” Chief Terry asked, confused. “What … ?”

“It was Andrew Brooks,” I said, glancing over my shoulder. His body was on the ground, mostly untouched except for a few red splotches on the side of his neck and arm. “He was in charge of the pot field.”

“We know,” Landon said, pushing my hair from my face. “Charlie told us. I … what happened to him?”

“Nathaniel.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“Where is Nathaniel now?”

“He’s gone.”

“Did he move on after avenging his death?” Landon asked, refusing to let me pull away from him even though I started feeling sick to my stomach.

That was a sticky question. I could protect Chloe and blame Nathaniel’s death on Andrew. It was Nathaniel’s final wish, after all. I couldn’t lie to Landon, though. I wouldn’t. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. “No. He … .”

“Mr. Brooks didn’t kill Nathaniel,” Chloe announced, popping out of the trees. Tears streamed down her face, but she was otherwise stoic. “I did.”

Chief Terry glanced at me for confirmation, seemingly surprised at Chloe’s arrival. All I could do was nod.

“Okay, Chloe,” Chief Terry said, holding out his hand and remaining calm. “We’re going to figure this out. I need you to come with me, though. Okay?”

Chloe nodded, stopping in front of me long enough to offer a wan smile. “Thank you for protecting me. I’m sorry I thought you were trying to kill me the other day. I … understand … now.”

“Chloe, before he left, Nathaniel wanted me to tell you something,” I said, fighting off tears. “He said he was sorry. He said he didn’t want you to be punished. He said ... he understood.”

“Is he in a better place now?” Chloe looked hopeful.

I wasn’t sure whether the truth would help or harm her, but I didn’t have the energy to lie. “He’s no place now,” I replied. “He sacrificed his soul to protect us. I … he’s gone. There is nothing left of him.”

“Oh,” Chloe said, her voice small. “I … oh.”

“You were the last thing he cared enough about to sacrifice himself for,” I supplied. “He knew what was happening. He wanted to protect you.”

“I guess … it’s better late than never,” Chloe said, a fresh round of tears sliding down her cheeks.

Chief Terry gently tugged on her arm. “Come on, Chloe. We’ll get your mother and start talking this over. It’s going to be … okay.” It was an empty promise, but something told me Chloe was already on the way to healing. What came after that was anyone’s guess.

Thirty-Three

“Are you okay?” Landon let himself into The Overlook’s library several hours later and lifted my legs so he could settle next to me on the couch.

I dropped the book I was pretending to read on the nearby table and fixed him with a hopeful look as I struggled to a sitting position. “What’s going to happen to Chloe?”

Landon sighed. “I asked you a question.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “He didn’t touch me. No one did.”

After hours at the police station, two of which involved me telling the real story to Landon and him coaching me how to respond for the taped interview that followed, Chief Terry sent me home. They still had hours of paperwork ahead of them.

Instead of returning to the guesthouse, I hunkered down in the library. Mom checked on me a few times, worry creasing her forehead with each visit, but otherwise left me to my thoughts. I had a lot of them.

“I’m not going to yell at you for going out to Hollow Creek alone,” Landon said.

That was a relief because I couldn’t figure out what he possibly had to be angry about.

“No one could’ve seen that … entire thing … coming,” Landon said. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Although, to be honest, you seem a little shaky. Do you want to talk about what happened to Nathaniel?”

I shrugged, noncommittal. “I’m not sure,” I said. “He was turning into a poltergeist. I told him. He … knew … what he was doing. He chose to burn so brightly that he could touch our plane of existence, but he lost any chance of passing over into another when he did it.”

“I don’t pretend to understand anything you just told me,” Landon said, choosing his words carefully as he rubbed his thumb against my cheek. “It sounds to me as if Nathaniel tried to do the right thing in the end. You couldn’t have stopped him.”

“I know.”

“The coroner says that Andrew’s throat closed due to extreme heat,” Landon said. “It cut off his air supply. He has no way to explain it.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” Landon replied. “It’s going to be recorded as an unexplained death. Because Andrew is a drug dealer and rapist, no one is going to look further into it.”

“What about his wife?”

“She has her hands full with Stephen’s defense,” Landon explained. “Charlie cracked first. I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you. He’s getting the best deal. That’s probably the safest outcome for the three of them. He’s least likely to do something this stupid again.”

“How did you know to go to Hollow Creek?” I asked. “I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. Clove and Thistle thought I was going to The Whistler.”

“Well … .” Landon looked uncomfortable. “I’d like to be the big hero in this scenario, but I can’t. I wasn’t looking for you. I thought you were still at Hypnotic. We saw the mail truck. When Charlie told us what was going on, we immediately started a search for Andrew. He’s the reason we were out there.”

I laughed, although it didn’t feel genuine. “That’s okay,” I offered. “I went out to Hollow Creek to get Nathaniel to admit who killed him. I didn’t expect it to be Chloe.”

“I know you’re worried about her,” Landon said, tugging my arm to he could draw me closer for a hug. “I … she has a lot of stuff ahead of her. I can’t tell you that things are going to work out for her because I don’t know whether that’s the case.”

“She didn’t mean to kill Nathaniel.”

“I know that,” Landon said. “Given the rape and the emotional duress she was under, she’s probably going to be able to plead down to manslaughter. Nathaniel’s death wasn’t premeditated, although she had time to rethink her actions, because it took her an hour to drag his body down to the creek. She said she thought he would sink.

“Chief Terry and I have been talking, and we’re both going to offer recommendations that she serve her sentence in a mental hospital instead of prison,” he continued. “She can’t get off without any punishment. That’s not how the system works.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know that either,” Landon answered. “It will probably be five years.”

That seemed like a lot of time for a teenage girl to lose, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. “Well, at least they’ll be able to treat her drug issues.”

“She’s going to be held in a hospital until her trial,” Landon supplied. “We’ve already arranged it. She’s starting treatment tonight. Her mother is going with her to get her settled.”

Something niggled the back of my mind. Patty Jamison’s face as she stared out the window of her home earlier in the afternoon bothered me. “Did she know Chloe killed Nathaniel?”

“She says she had suspicions. Why do you ask?”

“I saw her this afternoon,” I replied. “There was just something off about her.”

“Part of Chloe’s treatment will include counseling sessions with her mother,” Landon said. “I think both of them need to work together if they’re going to salvage what’s left of that family.”

“That’s probably for the best,” I said, resting my cheek against Landon’s shoulder. “What about you? Do you have to head back to Traverse City tomorrow morning?”

“I told my boss I had stuff to finish up here tomorrow,” Landon said. “That’s kind of true. I think he knew I was exaggerating about what’s left. He told me to email him my reports and enjoy a nice weekend with you.”

I brightened. “Does that mean we can still go to the fair?”

“Yes.”

“Will you win me a stuffed animal?”

Landon grinned. “Yes.”

“Are you going to give me anything I want because you think I’m depressed?”

He tickled my ribs. “Yes. It’s not going to start until after dinner, though. I’m starving, and I think you need the fuel.”

“I’m not sure how much I can eat,” I admitted, letting him pull me to my feet. “I can’t get the sound of Andrew dying out of my head.”

“Well, I’ll liquor you up and make sure you pass out before bed, then,” Landon said. “You need sleep.”

“I don’t want another hangover.”

“Then I’ll just give you enough to make sure you’re sleepy.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t in the mood to argue. I slipped my hand in his as we left the library, tilting my head to the side when the unmistakable sound of Aunt Willa screeching assailed my ears. “Really?”

“That did it,” Landon said, stalking toward the front foyer. “I’m going to arrest her. It’s going to be the high point of my day.”

We pulled up short when we got to the lobby, our eyes busy as we took in the scene. Thistle sat on the front desk, swinging her legs as she enjoyed the show. Clove was more reserved in the spot next to her. I headed in their direction, skirting behind Mom, Marnie and Twila as they held a struggling Aunt Tillie away from Aunt Willa.

“What’s going on?” Landon asked. “I’m ready to arrest them if it becomes necessary. I think we’ve dealt with enough for one day.”

“I heard,” Thistle said. “You should’ve taken us out to Hollow Creek with you. Clove is glad she missed the show, but I would’ve enjoyed a little mayhem with my afternoon misery.”

“Next time,” I promised.

“What is Willa doing here?” Landon asked, pushing me between Thistle and himself to get a better look. “Is Aunt Tillie trying to kill or curse her?”

Thistle shrugged. “I think it’s probably a little of both,” she answered. “No one in the town has a room to rent, and she demands we accommodate her or give her money to get a room out of town.”

“That’s not going to end well,” Landon said, squeezing my hand before releasing it and moving into the melee. “What’s going on?”

“I want my money,” Aunt Willa said. “I’ve had enough of this.”

“You aren’t owed any money,” Landon replied. “You’ve been banished from this property. Either get out or I’ll arrest you.”

“That seems beneath an FBI agent,” Rosemary pointed out.

“Well, since I’ve already had to arrest a traumatized teenager who killed her brother … and see a dead body … and worry about my girlfriend … arresting Willa seems like it would be a fun end to a crappy day. I won’t know until it happens, but I’m willing to give it a shot.”

“You can’t arrest me,” Aunt Willa said. “This is my property.”

“Not according to the law.”

“My mother’s will clearly states that the property was supposed to be divided equally between her heirs,” Aunt Willa argued. “I have a case … and I’m going to win.”

“No, you’re not,” Aunt Tillie said, jerking her arm from Mom and taking a step forward. She was deadly serious. “I tried to protect you from this for as long as I could, but I’m beyond it now. You’re not a part of this family, Willa.”

“Just because you say it – and you probably even believe it, for that matter – that doesn’t make it true,” Aunt Willa sniffed. “I’m owed what’s coming to me.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Aunt Tillie said, snapping her fingers in Thistle’s direction. “Hey, fresh mouth, give me that envelope that’s on the desk behind you.”

Thistle scanned the desk, and handed a thick envelope to Aunt Tillie. It looked old.

“What is that?” I asked.

“It’s Willa’s comeuppance,” Aunt Tillie replied, opening the envelope. “This is a letter my mother attached to her will. We didn’t know any of this until after she died, and when we found it, Ginger insisted we keep it to ourselves. She didn’t want it becoming public knowledge.”

“Oh, this sounds fun,” Landon said. “I love a good family secret. What’s in it?”

“Willa is not our full sister,” Aunt Tillie replied, waving the sheet of paper for emphasis. “She’s our half-sister.”

Aunt Willa’s face drained of color. “You’re lying!”

“I’m not,” Aunt Tillie replied, her eyes sparkling. Whatever was coming was going to devastate Aunt Willa, and Aunt Tillie relished her role as spoiler. “We do not have the same mother and father.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Willa argued. “Even if I don’t have the same father … .”

“We have the same father,” Aunt Tillie clarified. “We do not have the same mother.”

“How is that possible?” I asked. “Isn’t Aunt Willa the youngest?”

“She is,” Aunt Tillie confirmed. “Our father had a wandering eye. He slept with half the women in town. One of those women was Willa’s mother. Because our father had no money, and was something of a tightwad, the woman had no way to care for Willa.

“Even though she didn’t want to do it, our mother took Willa in and raised her,” she continued. “She tried to treat her like the rest of us, although as much as I loved her I’m not sure she managed to do that. My mother knew what kind of person Willa was, though. That’s why she worded her will the way she did.”

“She wanted you and Ginger to have the option of leaving Willa out of the property division if it became necessary, didn’t she?” I asked, things clicking into place. “If Aunt Willa got out of hand, which she obviously is prone to do, you and Grandma had the option of cutting her out of the inheritance entirely.”

“Yes,” Aunt Tillie confirmed. “I wanted to do it right away. Ginger insisted on paying Willa her fair share. She always was a Mary Sue about things like that.”

I pursed my lips to keep from laughing.