Witching You Were Here (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Book 3) (25 page)

Aunt Tillie parked in front of the police station. I saw Chief Terry wander out curiously. His face broke into a wide smile when he saw Landon in the passenger seat of Aunt Tillie’s ride. Once we were all out of the truck, Chief Terry couldn’t rein in his amusement any longer. “You spent the night out at the inn?”

“On the couch,” Landon said stiffly.

“I made sure of it.” Aunt Tillie had rolled down her window and was enjoying Landon’s discomfort in front of Chief Terry.

“How did you make sure of it?” Chief Terry asked, although I think he already knew the answer.

“My shotgun,” Aunt Tillie shrugged.

“That will do it.”

I glanced around a second, realizing that what had started out as a caravan from the inn had turned into a solo trek at some point. “Where did Trevor and Ted go?”

Thistle glanced up and down the street. “I have no idea.”

“Do you think they got stuck?” Clove looked appalled – and ready to run to Trevor’s rescue. I imagine she had a fuzzy image in her head that involved hot chocolate, a roaring fire and absolutely no clothes.

“I think we would have noticed that,” I said.

“Not the way your Aunt Tillie drives,” Landon grumbled.

Chief Terry snickered. “If I understand you correctly, you’re saying you had more people with you when you left the inn?”

“We did.”

“And you lost them somewhere?”

“Yeah.”

Chief Terry looked thoughtful. “Ted was one of them?”

“He stopped by the inn for breakfast to make sure everyone was okay,” Thistle said defensively.

“I didn’t say anything,” Chief Terry held up his hands in surrender.

“I think he’s jealous,” I teased. “He’s worried
Twila will pay less attention to him and more attention to Ted.”

Chief Terry shot me a dirty look. “At least Aunt Tillie isn’t guarding
Twila’s virtue with a shotgun.”

“Whatever,” I huffed. I decided to change the subject. “So, where do we think Ted and Trevor went?”

“I guess we better find out,” Landon sighed.

I watched as he moved around to the driver’s side of the plow truck, opened the door, and then forcefully moved Aunt Tillie from the driver’s seat to the center seat. “I’m driving this time.”

“All you had to do was ask,” Aunt Tillie sniffed. “You don’t have to be a Neanderthal.”

Thistle, Clove and I watched the exchange in surprise. Aunt Tillie can run hot and cold without any indication of what temperature she’s leaning towards at any given moment.

“What are you waiting for?” Aunt Tillie eyed Landon curiously.

“My girlfriend to get in the car,” he said grimly. “I’m not finished with the conversation we were having and I thought I could kill two birds with one stone.”

“Oh,” Aunt Tillie said knowingly. “You’re going to tell her how many women you’ve slept with.”

“No,” Landon said. “I’m going to find out what she and her cousins were doing last night when they should have been taking cover.”

“Oh, that conversation.”

“Yes, that conversation.”

Landon turned to me. “Get in the truck, Bay.”

Crap.

Landon seemed to have no trouble turning Aunt Tillie’s monster truck around. Once it was pointed in the right direction, he gunned the engine and headed back out of town.

“He’s a good driver,” Aunt Tillie said.

Landon ignored her. “What were Thistle and Clove talking about?”

The question was pointed. I wasn’t sure what to do. Our previous problems had stemmed from the fact that I couldn’t tell the truth because of my family. Currently, we were facing the problem of me not being able to tell the truth because I didn’t want to go to jail. Okay, my family might be playing a part in this deception as well.

Aunt Tillie watched me struggle internally and then blew out a frustrated sigh. “You might as well tell him.”

“You just want me to tell him because that means you’ll find out, too.”

“That’s an ugly thing to say to your elder,” Aunt Tillie pouted.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“I accept your apology,” Aunt Tillie said. “Now, why don’t you tell both of us what you and your delinquent cousins have been hiding?”

I pursed my lips ruefully. “We haven’t been hiding anything,” I said carefully.

“Lies,” Aunt Tillie said. “I can always tell when you’re hiding something
, and the three of you have been acting like you’re up to something for several days.”

I wanted to kick her.

“We haven’t been hiding anything,” I repeated.

“Then what were you and Ted talking about in the kitchen?”

Landon kept his eyes on the road, content for the moment to let Aunt Tillie grill me.

“I looked into his financials,” I admitted. “I thought it was weird that he came to town, fronting some business consortium, and tried to initially hide from us.”

“And what did you find out?” Aunt Tillie asked.

I explained about the three pieces of property. Landon and Aunt Tillie listened but didn’t speak. When I was done, Aunt Tillie looked irritated. “He’s bringing competition into town.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why else would he buy the Dragonfly?”

“You think that’s why he was trying to be all stealthy?” Something about that scenario didn’t quite fit.

“Why else?”

“Then what does he want with the property out at the Hollow Creek?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Aunt Tillie said thoughtfully. “If they wanted to have that rezoned, they would have to go before the city and we would have heard something about that if it happened.”

“Are you sure?” Landon finally spoke.

“It’s a small town,” I said.

“Do you know everything that goes on in town?”

“Pretty much,” I shrugged.

“What did Ted say to you when you questioned him about it?” Landon had his immovable cop face on. His eyes were glued to the road ahead of us, but he was still listening to everything I had to say.

“He just said he was buying up the property for a business consortium. That’s all he would say.”

“But you don’t believe him?”

“No.”

“What else?”

“What else what?”

“What else?” Landon pressed. “What were you, Clove and Thistle doing right before you got stuck yesterday?”

There was no way I was going to answer that. “We were running errands,” I said evasively. “Checking a few things out.”

“What things?”

“Just things,” I said.

Aunt Tillie sensed my sudden distress. “What were you really doing sneaking around the inn last night?”

I glanced at her a second and then blew out a weary sigh. She was giving me an out here – but it was one that benefitted her. I didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter. “We were looking at the financial information for the Bakers.”

“The Bakers?” Aunt Tillie looked surprised. “Why?”

“Because I thought their arrival – at the same time a boat was found abandoned in the channel – was a little bit suspicious,” I admitted. “Anyone else in their right mind would have packed up and left before the blizzard hit.”

Aunt Tillie mulled through the puzzle. “You have a point,” she said finally.

“It happens on occasion.”

“You’re smarter than you look sometimes,” Aunt Tillie agreed.

Landon gritted his teeth and shook his head. I could tell he wanted to press me on my movements yesterday afternoon, but he was letting it slide – for the moment, at least.

“So what did you find out?” Aunt Tillie asked.

“It’s clean, as far as I can tell.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me what you were doing last night?”

“Because I didn’t want you to freak out
on us for going through your clients’ personal information.”

“I wouldn’t have freaked out about that.”

“Since when?”

“Your mothers would have freaked out,” Aunt Tillie corrected me. “I would have joined you in the investigation.”

I considered the statement. She had a point. She had never been one for respecting a person’s right for privacy – except when it came to her.

“You still think there’s something off about the Bakers, don’t you?” Landon asked the question quietly, but with determination.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Something just feels off.”

“I’ll do a little more digging into them,” Landon said finally.

“You will?” This sounded like a trap.

“I will,” Landon agreed.

I blew out a relieved sigh.

“If you tell me what you were doing yesterday afternoon.”

Crap on toast.

“I already told you, we were just running errands.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” I said helplessly.

Landon slowed down the truck. I thought, for a second, he was going to jump out of the vehicle and run away screaming into the snow about women and lies. I saw that he was scanning the fork in the road instead. “Someone went in that direction,” he said finally. “Where does that go?”

“Nowhere,” Aunt Tillie said. “There’s nothing out there. It’s a dirt road.”

“Are there any houses out there?” Landon asked.

“A few,” Aunt Tillie said. “Those are survivalists, though. They wouldn’t be out driving around this early after a blizzard.”

“What else is out there?” Landon pressed.

“Just the Dragonfly,” Aunt Tillie said. She swung on me suddenly, surprise smoothing the wrinkles around her ancient and suspicious eyes. “Ted!”

“Why would he want to go out to this inn in the middle of a snowstorm?” Landon asked pragmatically. “The way you make it sound, it’s a dump.”

“Maybe he’s keeping something out there,” Aunt Tillie said. “Like drugs.”

I felt my heart clench in my chest.

“Or bodies,” Aunt Tillie continued, not dissuaded by the warning glances I kept shooting in her direction. “Maybe he killed the people on the boat and hid their bodies there.”

“Why would he kill the people on the boat?” Landon asked.

“Why would he buy an inn just to hide bodies at it?”
I chimed in.

“Maybe he’s a devil worshipper,” Aunt Tillie stiffened her chin.

“Maybe he’s a witch,” Landon grumbled.

“There’s no devil in the craft,” Aunt Tillie corrected him.

“Sorry,” he muttered. He looked like he was debating on whether or not he should follow whatever vehicle had traversed the snowy road.

“You’re not mean,” Aunt Tillie said. “You’re just uneducated. I get that.”

Landon shot her a dirty look.

“Bay will teach you. You’ll teach each othe
r a few things, I would gather,” Aunt Tillie continued.

I felt my face redden. Landon didn’t look like he was in the mood for Aunt Tillie advice. “If that’s the truth, then why did you sleep outside their room with a shotgun last night?”

“I would prefer it if you taught each other things away from the roof I sleep under,” Aunt Tillie said stiffly.

“Fair enough,” Landon agreed. “We’re going back to town,” he said finally. “I want to talk to Chief Terry and make sure you’re safe in town.”

“I don’t need your protection,” I corrected him.

“Yeah? Well, you’re going to get it,” Landon said. “Especially since you still seem to be reluctant to tell me what it was you were doing yesterday afternoon.”

“Are you calling her a liar?” Aunt Tillie swung on Landon angrily.

“Yes.”

Aunt Tillie shrugged. “Fair enough.”

“Aunt Tillie,” I chastised her.

“I can tell you’re lying honey. So can he,” Aunt Tillie countered. “I just don’t think he realizes you’re not lying to protect yourself.”

Landon seemed to consider Aunt Tillie’s statement for a second. Realization dawned across his face. “You’re protecting Thistle.”

“How do you figure?” I asked warily.

“You suspect Ted is up to something. Ted has disappeared. You disappeared yesterday afternoon. All of this ties together somehow. I’m just not exactly sure how.”

“Well done, officer,” Aunt Tillie said.

“I’m an agent,” Landon said.

“Don’t get a big head,” Aunt Tillie said. “You’ve started to grow on me – but that can change.”

It took us about fifteen minutes to get back to town. Aunt Tillie used that time to explain to Landon why he should never call me a liar to my face and – instead – just learn to trick me into telling him the truth. She had tips, in case he was interested. When we got back to town, Landon grudgingly let Aunt Tillie climb back in the driver’s seat of her truck and head back towards the inn. She promised she would go straight there and not stop anyplace else.

“Drive slowly,” he admonished her.

“I’ve been driving for longer than you’ve been alive,” she reminded him.

“That doesn’t mean I want you to die,” Landon said.

“You’d miss me,” Aunt Tillie scoffed sarcastically.

“No, Bay would,” he corrected her. “I don’t want to see her sad.”

Aunt Tillie started to roll up her window. “I might miss you a little,” he conceded.

Aunt Tillie beamed at him for a second and then quickly wiped the smile off her face. “There’s no accounting for taste.”

Once she was gone, Landon turned to me. I couldn’t decide if he was angry or tired – or maybe a little of both. “We’re going to talk about whatever you’re hiding later.
By a fire. When it’s just the two of us.”

“That sounds a little presumptuous,” I said.

“I don’t care,” Landon replied. “After last night, you owe me.”

I ignored the statement. “What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to go talk to Chief Terry and then the two of us are going to go check out those tracks.”

“I could go with you,” I offered.

“No,” Landon shook his head. “You can stay here in town. In fact, I want you to stay at Hypnotic with your cousins. Don’t go to the paper. Don’t go to the cop shop. You stay in that store.”

“Why?”

“Just do as I ask, for a change,” Landon sighed.

“Are you punishing me?” I narrowed my eyes in his direction.

Landon grabbed the lapels of my coat and pulled me towards him. He planted his lips on mine for a second and then pulled away somewhat reluctantly. “Trust me,” he said. “When I punish you, you’ll know it.”

Despite myself, I felt a little thrill rush through me as I crossed the street – accidentally tripping over the curb as I stepped up onto the sidewalk in front of Hypnotic – and opened the door to the store. When I turned around, I found that Landon was still watching me. That gave me a little thrill, too.

Crap! I was definitely getting in deep now.

Clove and Thistle were waiting for me when I entered Hypnotic.

“Well?” Thistle was sitting on the couch, looking dejected. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure why.

“Well what?”

“Well, where did they go?”

“Aunt Tillie and Landon? Aunt Tillie went home and Landon went to talk to Chief Terry.”

“No, not Aunt Tillie and Landon,” Thistle replied irritably. “Trevor and my dad.”

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “There was at least one set of tracks breaking off from the main road on the route back.”

“What road?” Thistle asked blandly.

“Maple.”

Thistle grimaced. “Back out to the Dragonfly. Why would he go there?”

“I may have let on that we knew about the property he bought,” I said sheepishly.

“Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Do you still think that?” Clove asked.

“Probably not.”

“So, now what? Did you tell Landon about us breaking into the Dragonfly?” Thistle asked.