09 - Return Of The Witch (12 page)

Chapter 12

I
awoke in New Castle, back in my own house, lying in my own bed. Ursula was there, holding my hand and patting my forehead with a cool damp cloth. She smiled softly after seeing my eyes open.

“Welcome thee thy sleepy head
. Did ye rest well?”

“Ursula?” I smiled back. “You got me home.”

“Aye.”

A voice across the room
said, “It’s a good thing, too.”

I raised my head off the pillow and saw Carlos and Dominic sitting in a couple of chairs
that they brought in from the kitchen.

“Carlos?”

He and Dominic got up and came around the other side of the bed. “Hey kid. You had us worried for a while there.”

Dominic added, “We were about to call
for the medics.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” I said. “If they
checked my blood pressure they would have—”

“Thought you were in a coma, I know. Ursula reminded us
of that. So, what happened to you?”

I propped myself up by the elbows and leaned back against the headboard. “I don’t know. I guess I passed out from lack of nutrition.”

“When’s the last time you ate?”

I looked at Carlos. “When did we
go to the Crab Trap in Gloucester?”

“Two nights ago,” he answered, “but we didn’t eat.”

“Oh. Then I don’t remember.”

Dominic
coaxed Ursula in a hushed voice, “Would you mind, hon?”

She shook her head.
“Not the least.” She turned and headed to the kitchen.

Carlos
gestured a nod toward the living room. “So Lilith, we couldn’t help but notice you did a little redecorating out there.”

I shook my head at that. “
Excuse me?”

“
Did someone trash the place while you were away?” Dominic asked.

“
Oh that. No, I did that. I got a little pissed about something.”

“You got pissed and so you busted
up your own place?”

“Hey, don’t judge me.”

“No one’s judging. It’s your house. Ain’t no crime if no one gets hurt.”

“Thank you.”

“So what did you find out?”

“I found out that cheap furniture burns way too quickly in a bonfire.”

“I mean what did you find out at Paige Turners’? You did see her, didn’t you?”

“Oh yeah. We saw her.”

“Does she think other witches are in danger?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Who?”

“All of us. Every witch in the world.”

“Come on.”

“I mean it, Dominic. She
’s convinced that the Pendle Prophecy has been set into motion. Oh, and get this. She also thinks I’m the Pentacle Prodigy, brought forth to save the world.”

“The whole world?
Damn, that’s a big job,” said Carlos.

“
Well, at least the witches in the world. But hey, without us the world would pretty much go to pot anyway.”

Dominic asked, “
What are you going to do?”

“Nothing
. I’m not the Pentacle Prodigy because I don’t possess the quintessential; therefore, whatever is or is not happening to the witches of Essex County is none of my concern.”

Carlos said, “Yeah, but you’re not off the hook
yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“They know about you now.”

“
Who?”

“Ipswich P.D.”

“What do they know, that I went out to April’s house to snoop around?”

“
Yes and that you were there last night, too.”

“
But I wasn’t.”

“They have a witness.”

“Don’t tell me, that nosy neighbor next door?”

“
That’s right. Her name’s Emma Bernstein and she claims she saw you stalking the grounds last night.”

“The woman’s a fruitcake.
Why should they believe her?”

Dominic
said, “Because she also has you on video. You probably didn’t notice the security camera on the front of her house, but it noticed you. She showed Ipswich P.D. the tape of you and Ursula walking up onto her porch this afternoon. Then she showed them another from last night. It’s dark and grainy, but it shows someone that looks like you coming out of the fog and moving toward April’s house.”

“That still doesn’t explain how they would know
who I am. I didn’t give her my real name.”

“Come on, Lilith. It wasn’t hard to figure out.
The cops knew about April’s website and about her claims of being a witch. It didn’t take much investigative prowess to look at her blog and find a link to the Witch’s Cauldron where there’s a prominent story and images of you and Ursula.”

“S
ure Brittany didn’t have anything to do with them identifying me?”

“
Of course, she didn’t,” said Carlos, striking a defensive posture. “Brittany tried downplaying the connection, telling her fellow detectives that the women in the night video looked like a local jogger.”

“I thought you told me
Ipswich P.D. wasn’t looking into April’s disappearance. You said they weren’t even interested.”

Dominic
answered, “That was before you and Ursula went and stuck your noses into their business.”

“You asked me to check it out.”

“I asked you to check out Paige Turner and her absurd claims of a Pendle Prophecy.”

“Oh, now they’re absurd. You didn’t
think they were so absurd this morning.”

“Still,
” said Carlos, “nobody asked you to go out and dig up dirt on April Raines. If you didn’t go and talk to her neighbor, then the Ipswich P.D. wouldn’t be out looking for you right now.”

“They
’re looking for me?”

Carlos
got quiet then. He dragged one of the chairs over to the bed and took a seat. “Brittany gave me a heads-up about an hour ago. They want to talk to you, and if you don’t go and see them, they’ll come and see you.”

“Fine. Let`em come. I
got nothing to hide.”

“
What will you tell them?”

“
About what?”

“
About last night. Were you there? Is that you in the video?”

Ursula returned, carrying a serving tray
with a cold cut sandwich, chips and a glass of iced tea. I took a bite of the sandwich and washed it down with a gulp.

“
Look. I’m not going to tell them that’s me in the video, because I don’t know that it is. But I’ll tell you what I told Ursula. I think I was there last night. Whether in body or soul, I can’t say, but I was there.”

Dominic
said, “I don’t understand.”

I
shook my head undecidedly. “Neither do I. See the thing is, I saw what happened to April. That much I know. Someone attacked her. Maybe I attacked her. Maybe not. If I did, I was in a trance or something. I mean I initially thought I dreamt it.”

“Could you have been bilocating?”

“I suppose, but I’ve never done that before. And even if that was the case, I couldn’t have killed her. I’d have been an apparition, incapable of manipulating physical objects.”

“Yet you woke up in Gloucester this morning with no recollection
of how you got there.”

Carlos said,
“Maybe you were sleepwalking. I read somewhere that in extreme cases, people have been known to get up and drive to work or to the store while still sleeping.”

“That thought crossed my mind, too,” I said. “
Earlier today, Ursula and I went to Salem to check out Terri Cotta’s house. A neighbor there also said he recognized me. Accused me of being the Devil and stalking the neighborhood the night Terri disappeared.”

“Did he call the police?”

“He did, just before the ground opened up and almost swallowed us both.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it was the craziest thing. The old man pitched his Crucifix over the fence and damned me to Hell. The next thing I knew, a sinkhole opened up and almost accommodated his wish. Not so sure he wasn’t the devil himself.”

Dominic asked, “Were you?”

“What, the devil?”

“
No. Were you at Terri’s place the night she disappeared?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I think I was.”

I watched Carlos and Dominic exchange worried glances, and almost expected one of them to read me my rights. That’s when Ursula pointed out the window, her eyes wide with warning.

“There yonder, they come!”

Carlos pulled back the drapes for a better view. “Speaking of Salem….” He leaned back so that Dominic could see. “Looks like two of their finest coming up the walk to see you now, Lilith.”

I sprang from bed, spilling the tray with the sandwich, chips and iced tea all over the floor. “How can you tell?” I asked, pulling the drapes further from the window so that we all could see. “It’s an unmarked car.”

“That’s Detective Chandler. Don’t you remember him? He headed up the investigation after Putnam shot Dominic up on Gallows Hill.”

“I remember,” said Dominic. I turned and caught him rubbing
the spot where Putman’s bullet had entered his chest that night and nearly taken him from us.

“I remember, too,” I said, “but I thought you
said the Ipswich P.D. wanted to talk to me. What’s Salem Slim doing here?”

“Guess you’re a popular girl.”

Dominic said, “Don’t worry, Lilith. Brittany told us their department couldn’t do anything to you because there’s no proof a crime has been committed. I’m sure the same goes for the Salem P.D. They can’t touch you.”

“No,
but there’s nothing stopping them from getting together and comparing notes.”

I looked at Ursula, remember
ing the bowling trophy at April’s house that I picked up and later cleared of prints. Was it the only thing there I had touched? In Salem, we both pressed our hands to the patio doors to look inside Terri’s home. Surely if either of those women turned up dead, the police would have to suspect me.

The doorbell rang, followed by a loud, authoritative knock.
Carlos started toward the door. I pulled him back and skirted around him.

“Let me,” I said.

Dominic grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. “Remember, Lilith.” His voice fell into a hush. “Anything you say to them now may be used against you later.”

I patted his hand and gently pried it
off me. “Thanks, but I’m a big girl. I’ll handle it.”

The
Salem dick had started a second, more forceful, round of knocking when I opened the door in mid-thump. “Whoa! Easy there, Slim. You don’t have to beat it down.”

Chandler stood there a moment, blinking in mock surprise. “Excuse me?”

“All right, since you asked nicely.”

“
Good afternoon, Miss Adams?”

“Please, Detective
Chandler, call me Ms. Adams.”

“
So you remember me.”

“
How could I forget?”

I stepped aside and allowed
him and his partner to enter. He had lost weight since I’d last seen him, taking most of the fun out of calling him Slim. But his partner, a moon-faced, pot-bellied chap with bushy white hair and a mustache to match, looked as though he could wear that crown nicely.

Carlos, Dominic and Ursula
stood behind me shoulder-to-shoulder. I presented them to our company. “Detective Chandler, you’ll no doubt remember Detectives Rodriquez and Spinelli of the Second Precinct, New Castle.”

“
Of course. Detective Spinelli, it’s nice to see you’ve recovered from your wounds.”

“And my sister, Ursula?”

“Yes. I remember.” He reached out and began shaking hands. “This is my partner, Detective Rick Rossi.”

I offered my hand to
Papa Smurf. “Detective Rossi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

After
the somewhat stiff introductions, I invited everyone into the living room for a seat. Rossi was halfway there when Chandler cleared his throat and stopped him.

“Actually, M
s. Adams, we can’t stay. We really just want to ask you a few questions.”

“Oh? You mean this isn’t a social call?”

“Hardly.”

He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket
and handed it to me. It looked like a printout from a web page, probably the Witch’s Cauldron. He had highlighted sections with yellow highlighter that mentioned my name along with Terri Cotta, Amber Burns, Wendy Skye and April Raines. I glanced at it briefly before casually handing it to Carlos.