What the Hex? (A Paranormal P.I. Mystery Book 1) (13 page)

The sun had finally set on the hot day. I needed to cast a spell for my latest case. This wouldn’t be like the other spells though. This was much more serious. Where would I start? Of course Aunt Barb had left me all her herbs, spices, and other witchcraft paraphernalia. Now it was up to me to select the right ingredients and words. That was a lot of pressure. Not only for Paige, Amber and Morgan, but I wanted to show the coven members that I knew what I was doing. Something big like this would really impress them. At least I hoped it would.

I needed to keep my spellcasting a secret though. If everyone knew I might scare off customers. Maybe they would think my spells were nothing more than crazy hocus-pocus. That couldn’t be further from the truth though.

I walked over to the giant wood armoire and opened the doors, revealing shelf after shelf of bottles of herbs and potions. The cabinet wasn’t full of weird things like toad legs or bat fur. I tapped my finger against my chin while trying to decide which ones to use. Cinnamon would help with clarity. I certainly needed that. Sage would help with protection. From what I’d seen so far, I would definitely need that too. I pulled out a bottle of rose water and placed it on the dining room table. Tonight I would slip outside under the cover of darkness, under the expanse of the universe, and cast the spell.

After straightening the bottles on the shelves, I closed the cabinet door. I liked to make sure I kept the area tidy just as Aunt Barb had done. Now I just had to wait for nightfall. Maybe I’d watch TV until it was time to go. 

I sat on the sofa and leafed through the
Glamour
that Derek had perused when he was here. I couldn’t believe he’d seen the answers to my questions for the love quiz. Yes, not telling him that I was a witch was the right thing to do. I was just glad that my family hadn’t let the secret slip years ago. It was a good thing they hadn’t told George either. Like I said, he wouldn’t be able to keep a secret. I flipped through the channels, but my thoughts were too messed up to concentrate on
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
.

The moon had now appeared in the sky. It was time for me to cast the spell. I gathered the items and placed them in my tote bag. I’d cast the spell in the back yard under the trees with nature surrounding me. Stars twinkled in the night sky. This was the time I felt more connected with earth. My mind was clearer, something that was almost impossible during the day. It seemed as if the dark allowed for some of the racing thoughts to slow down. Though they would always be there.

I stepped out the back door and inhaled the fresh night air. I loved being outside at night. It brought peace and relaxation. The sweltering sun wasn’t an issue and the stars shone beautifully against the black sky. For a moment, I paused and peered up at the stars. A shooting star streaked across the sky. I took that as a good sign. The spell would probably work really well tonight. I closed my eyes and made a wish. Was it bad that my wish was to solve this case? I wanted the killer to be caught before someone else was hurt. At that moment Derek flashed through my mind.

A strange feeling overcame me, as if someone was watching me. I looked around but saw no one. It was probably one of the neighbors watching me.

It was time to start the spell. I pulled the items from my bag and placed them in the bowl. One thing I had that would help with this spell was the receipt from the ATM. I might not have solved the case with it, but adding it to the spell would help. That would be a key in bringing this spell together. It was like having a personal item of Morgan’s, although not too personal.

I stirred them together and then recited the words. The air always felt heavier when I cast a spell, but I took that as a good sign. I finished reciting the words and wrapped up the spell. It felt as if it had been a success. My attitude had to remain positive if I wanted my spells to work.

I stuffed my items back into the bag. I stared up at the sky one last time and inhaled. It felt good to cast another spell. I turned to go back inside when a rustling noise sounded from somewhere behind me. I spun around, but no one was there… at least not that I could see. I paused and listened. I figured one of the neighbors had been out here again. It wasn’t the first time they had spied on me. Aunt Barb had warned me about that. The noise came again and I thought it had come from a group of trees in the backyard.

I decided to go over and check it out. Maybe it was just a stray cat. I wouldn’t be totally shocked to find one of my neighbors hiding behind the trees. “Is anyone there?” I called out. Not that I expected an answer. Especially if it was a cat.

I stepped a little closer to the trees. As I neared I thought I spotted something back there. It looked like an arm wearing a white shirt sleeve. Whoever was attached was hiding behind the tree. Maybe it was one of my neighbors and they needed help.

“Are you okay?” I asked.   

I heard the click and I knew what the sound was right away. Luckily, the gun had jammed.

Just then the person took off. I couldn’t make out who it was, but I thought for sure the person who’d just tried to shoot me was female. Since I was unarmed I thought it wouldn’t be a wise idea for me to chase this person. I had to call the police.

My heart thumped wildly and my body shook. I couldn’t believe what had happened. It was terrifying to know that someone wanted me dead.

I ran back inside, grabbed a wooden chair, and then shoved it under the knob of the kitchen door. Now what? I found my phone and with a trembling hand I dialed the police. Honestly, I’d never thought I’d be shot at when I got into this business. I supposed I’d known I could be dealing with bad people, but I figured most of my cases would be cheating spouses or insurance fraud. Never solving a murder.

Somehow I managed to tell the 911 operator what had happened and she informed me the police would be here right away.

As minutes passed, I wondered what her definition of
right away
was. Maybe I was just anxious. After five minutes, sirens sounded and lights flashed outside my window. The neighbors would completely freak out now. As soon as I stepped out my front door to meet the officer and tell him where the person had run, Mr. Richmond hurried out his front door.

“Cece, who died?” he yelled as if I was hard of hearing.

I guessed that would be a natural assumption considering where we lived. 

“Don’t worry, Mr. Richmond, no one died.”

Well, someone had almost died, but I didn’t want to scare him. They would probably try to keep me out of the community once they found out about my shenanigans. I wasn’t sure how to keep this from all my neighbors. They would surely ask what was wrong. No matter what I told them they would freak out. And rightfully so, I guessed. Though I was the target. As long as they weren’t around me they were probably safe.

“I’ll be back, Mr. Richmond, I need to speak with the police officer.”

This would give me time to come up with some kind of excuse. As the officer neared, I realized it was the same dark haired one from the earlier incident. I explained to the officer what had happened. Honestly, he looked as if he didn’t believe me. He also asked if I was supposed to be in the community this late. For all he knew I could be visiting my grandparents.

I waited on the front porch with another officer as he went around the back. He probably wouldn’t find anything. Every light in the community was on now. It was way past everyone’s pass time. They were all standing out on the sidewalks staring over at me.

My cell rang and I recognized the number for the front entrance of the community. They were probably calling to find out what the heck was going on at my place. Everyone probably thought I was nothing but trouble for Desert Palms.

I answered. “Yes?”

“Ms. Cash, there’s someone here to see you. I told him it was too late, but he insists. Are you still talking to the police?”

I knew by the tone of his voice that he wanted me to explain why the police were here. All he knew was that they’d gotten a 911 call from my address. Of course he’d allowed them entrance right away. I needed to come up with my story sooner rather than later.

“What’s his name?” I asked. Though I was pretty sure I knew who it was already.

“Derek North,” the security guard said.

What was he doing here? I’d been going to tell Derek what had happened, but I’d figured there was no need to disturb him with this tonight. There was nothing he could do.

“Okay, let him in,” I said.

I hung up before he had a chance to ask any more questions. Another officer watched me. The other officer came back from around the back of the house.

“I didn’t see anyone. Are you sure it wasn’t a cat?”

“A cat with a gun?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Maybe it just sounded like a gun.”

I was kind of familiar with the sound. I knew what I’d heard. It didn’t seem as if they were going to take this seriously though. That was when Derek pulled up. At least he would believe me.

After asking me for the person’s description, the officer said, “We’ll fill out a report and keep our eye out.”

“I didn’t see the person, therefore I can’t tell you what they looked like,” I said with frustration in my voice. I doubted I would ever hear from the police in regards to this report again. After all, as far as he knew I was just some lunatic reporting imaginary gunmen.

Derek walked up as the police were walking away. “What happened?”

I blew the hair out of my eyes. “Someone tried to kill me.”

He touched my arm. “Are you okay?”

I looked around at the people still staring. “We should go inside.” As much as I didn’t want to invite him in, it was better than standing around and having everyone gawk at us.

“Can I make you tea or something?” Derek asked when we got inside. He remembered that my mother always did that when were upset.

“Actually, tea sounds good.”

It wouldn’t be sweet iced tea, but the comfort of a warm cup would make me feel more secure, as if I was back home in Savannah at my mama’s house. Derek headed into my kitchen while I cozied up on the sofa. I was still trying to wrap my head around what had happened. I’d escaped the Grim Reaper tonight, but would he catch up with me soon? Or she. This time the Grim Reaper was female, I just knew it.

After a couple minutes, Derek returned with a couple mugs. He sat down beside me and handed me the mug. “You want to tell me what happened?”

I took a sip and let the warmth ease the tension in my shoulders. Suddenly the reality of the situation hit me. I was having a hard time holding it together. I refused to let the tears flow though. I had to remain tough in front of Derek. I wouldn’t allow him to see my weakness.

After I had explained what had happened, he said, “The person had to have jumped the fence, right? I mean, the guard had to call you to let me in the gate.” 

I took another drink of tea and then said, “Well, they don’t close the gate until ten. So the person could have driven in before that and waited for dark. Then they could have taken off through someone else’s backyard.”

“We could ask the neighbors if they saw anything,” Derek said.

I quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t know what you’re getting into by saying that.”

“They will want an explanation anyway,” he said.

I waved my hand. “I was just going to make up something.”

He laughed. “I don’t think they will believe you.”

“I doubt they would believe me even if I told the truth.”

“I suppose you’re right, but we have to try.”

I drank the rest of the tea. “Yeah, how about we do that in the morning?”

He took the cup from me and then took both the cups into the kitchen. When he returned from the kitchen he said, “I’ll come by in the morning then. Right now you need to get rest.”

I stood from the sofa and walked over to the door.

He opened it and then turned to face me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I nodded and attempted a smile. “I’ll be fine. It wasn’t the first time I’ve been shot at.”

“Let’s hope it was the last.” His gaze moved to my lips.

My heart sped up and my stomach flipped. Was he going to kiss me? After a long moment he walked out the door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you then.” I closed the door and leaned against the wood.

It had been really sweet of him to make the tea. Plus, he’d even taken the cups into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. Derek could be a sweetheart when he wanted to. After all, he was a charmer.

The next day Derek and I headed down the sidewalk in front of my place. He’d convinced me to talk with the neighbors. I’d warned him that this might not go well.

“Like I said, they already know something happened. I’m sure they would appreciate you actually coming to their house and talking to them about it,” Derek said. 

I glanced at Derek. “That’s a very mature thing to say. You’re absolutely right.”

“Cece Cash just gave me a compliment. I can’t believe it.”

I chuckled. “Keep doing things like that and I’ll be forced to hand out more compliments.”

“I can’t make any guarantees, but I’ll certainly try.” Derek’s voice was sinfully rich and made my stomach dance. 

The first door we came to was Mr. Richmond. At the first sign of flashing police lights he’d been out his front door last night like a thoroughbred breaking out of the gate at the Kentucky Derby. Derek and I huddled on his small front porch.

I released a deep breath and rang the doorbell. “It may take him a few minutes. Sometimes he doesn’t hear the doorbell.”

Just then the door opened as if a hurricane had forced it open. Mr. Richmond wore khaki shorts, a white t-shirt, and black knee socks with brown leather sandals.

He looked from me to Derek and then said loudly, “Did something else happen? The crime around here is getting out of control.”

“Nothing else happened, Mr. Richmond.” I glanced at Derek, hoping we could stop this conversation before it went any further.

He gestured for me to continue.

I cleared my throat. “Well, I just came by to apologize for last night.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Mr. Richmond asked. “Did you do something?”

“No, I know that the police being at my place caused a lot of disturbance.”

“I heard someone shot at you. It would have been a lot more of disturbance if the coroner had had to come by and pick up your corpse.”

Derek laughed.

“True, that’s true,” I said.

This conversation was worse than I’d imagined.

“So what’s going on?” Mr. Richmond asked. “Are you involved in some kind of crime ring?”

Derek laughed again.

I glared at Derek. “Heaven’s no, Mr. Richmond,”

“Are you coming over here to warn me?” Mr. Richmond poked his head out the door and looked around, as if criminals were possibly hiding behind the scrubs, waiting for him to come out so they could attack. Next he would accuse me of luring him out of his house. This visit had done nothing more than confuse him even more. A panicked look settled across his face.

The last thing I needed was for him to have a heart attack because of me. I had to calm him down.

I touched his arm. “Mr. Richmond, it’s nothing like that. No one is coming after you.”

“Mr. Richmond, everything is fine. Cece, just came to apologize. Is there anything we can do for you before we leave?” Derek asked in his soothing voice.

Mr. Richmond gave Derek a look as if to say
who the hell are you
?

Finally Mr. Richmond said, “No, I’d better take my medicine now.”

“It was nice talking to you, Mr. Richmond.”

Derek pulled on my arm, getting me away from the door. “I would suggest sending him a fruit basket, but he’d probably just think that was a warning too.”

“I told you this was a bad idea,” I said as we headed down the sidewalk.

When I glanced back, Mr. Richmond was watching us from his window. The curtain fell back when he realized I had spotted him.

“Just a little hiccup in our otherwise brilliant plan.” Derek smiled.

“Maybe we should quit while we’re ahead,” I said as we approached Mrs. Bellflower’s door.

She was already watching from the window.

“We’re detectives. This is our job,” Derek said. 

“We already have an audience,” I whispered.

I wanted to turn around right then, but Derek convinced me to talk with her. Needless to say, she acted just like Mr. Richmond. And everyone else we spoke to after that behaved the same. After going to just a few doors, I told Derek there was no need to speak with anyone else. Word would spread soon enough. By the time it was passed around Desert Palms the story would be grandiose.

We headed back toward my house. After making our way to the next street over, we ended up behind my house where the shooter had been hiding.

“This is where the person took off when they ran,” I said, pointing to the tree.   

“There’s not a lot back here. I’m surprised you couldn’t see who it was,” Derek said.

“It was dark,” I said.

“Why were you out here anyway?” he asked.

“Enjoying the weather,” I said.

That wasn’t a lie, I had been enjoying the outdoors. As we neared the tree, I noticed something on the ground. I reached down and picked it up. I couldn’t believe what I’d found.

I waved the card in front of Derek’s face. “Ah ha!”

“What is it?” he asked, trying to get a look.

“It’s a card from Vegas Fit.”

Derek’s eyes widened. “What? You can’t be serious.”

“As serious as Mr. Richmond’s potential heart attack.” 

He took the card to examine it. Unfortunately, it was blank other than the club’s information. There was no trainer name. I leaned closer to take another look while Derek studied it.

“This looks like the cards they use to write down training appointments. It can’t be a coincidence, Cece.”

Derek was one hundred percent right. I was saying that a lot lately. Knowing this information made what had happened in my backyard even scarier now.

Derek handed the card back to me. “Do you think they left it on purpose?”

I shook my head. “I think they would have written a message if it was on purpose.”  

Derek and I stared out across the backyards of the other houses.

“I wonder if they accidentally left something else?” Derek asked.

“I doubt we’ll find a trail of bread crumbs,” I said. “This means it had to have been someone from the gym.”

“That leaves only two people, right?” Derek asked.

“I would say maybe Morgan had come to find me, but she wouldn’t have tried to fire a gun.”

“Maybe that wasn’t what you heard after all.”

Everyone kept saying that, but I was positive about what I’d heard. Well, almost positive.

“How do we find out who left it?” I asked.

“That will be impossible to find out.”

“We’ll think of something. Let’s go inside.” I motioned.

The sun was really heating up now. Air conditioning sounded like a good idea. I glanced back one more time as we made our way across the backyard. The back door led into the kitchen.

“Would you like sweet tea?” I asked with my hand on the refrigerator door.

“I’d really like that.” Derek smiled.

A rush of memories flooded back. At least with Derek nearby I felt a little more at home. I poured a couple glasses and we sat at the table.

“This reminds me of hot summer days back home.” He took a drink.

“I was just thinking the same thing.” I set my glass down. “So I guess we do have some things in common after all.”

Derek and I had grown up together, even though he was a little older than me. I’d always avoided any thought of dating Derek because I felt he was too much of a bad boy. It looked as if I had been right about that, although occasionally he was allowing a glimpse of a gentler side. I had no idea how he felt about me. Well, other than I was a bit of a screw up who needed help saving her business. Sure he always flirted, but that was just a natural characteristic for him.

Derek finished the last of the tea. “This is just like my mama makes her tea.”

“Thanks, I add sugar and then when I think it’s done, I add more.”

The corner of his mouth twisted up. “I like it.”

An easy silence settled over the room until I finally said, “Would there be any fingerprints on the card?”

“Possibly. The problem would be if we found them what would we do with them?”

“That’s a good problem to have though, right?” I took another drink.

“We might only find our fingerprints too,” Derek said.

“Okay, so I guess it’s pointless to try it.” I leaned back in the chair.

“Don’t be discouraged, Cece. I’m sure something will turn up.”

“I’m glad you have confidence, I said.

Derek stood from the table. “I should go. Are you sure you’re okay?”

I followed him across the room. “Yeah, I’m okay now.”

Derek stared for a moment. “Call if you need me.”

I nodded. “I will.”

On his way out, he looked to his right. “You have a thing for candles.”

I’d left a couple of the candles from my spell on the table by the door. The more he was in my house the more suspicious he seemed.

“What can I say, I like my candles.” I tried to laugh it off.

A couple of neighbors watched from their front porches as Derek walked out of my place. The rumors would really swirl now.