Spell Booked (Retired Witches Mysteries Series Book 1) (7 page)

Bless this plant and let it grow,

Hiding here, no one will know.

Strong and green, earth’s tapestry,

Let it thrive, so mote it be!

I couldn’t speak to Joe. My emotions were too raw. I urged Elsie and Dorothy to leave the alley. The three of us hurried under the yellow tape and out on the sidewalk.

“Molly?” Joe called after me before his long strides caught up. “I need to know what you’re doing out here.”

“We were putting flowers on Olivia’s last place on earth.” My voice cracked with tears. “We came to say a prayer for her. I’m sorry if we got in your way.”

“Flowers? I didn’t see any flowers.” He looked back, and there was a bouquet of pink wildflowers growing from the patch of green moss. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to doubt your word.”

Dorothy stopped crying long enough to take a peek and mouth
Wow!
at me.

It was the combination of our magic that had made it happen. I wouldn’t normally do something so flashy, but this wasn’t a normal situation. I thought our grief added to the strength of the spell too.

“Listen, I’m sorry to rush you out of there that way,” Joe said. “The crime scene team is on their way to go through the alley again. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“They didn’t find anything the last time they went through it?” I asked.

“No. Not a thing. It’s as though someone scrubbed the alley after they killed your friend.”

“What about the videotapes from the bars and restaurants?”

“Nothing there either. If Olivia was in any of these places, there was no sign of her.”

That was good, and bad, news.

I’d hoped we’d be able to find Olivia’s killer or at least prove who it was. Most certainly the witch who’d killed Olivia had wiped away all trace of having been there. Even we hadn’t been able to feel any magic left behind.

The good news was that Joe was pushed further away from Olivia’s death. I knew that would be frustrating for him, but it eased my mind.

Two cars pulled up that were marked “Crime Scene Investigation.” Lisbet arrived too and started walking toward us.

“Just don’t go back in there again, okay, sweetie?” Joe put his arm around me and kissed my forehead. “Let
us
figure this out. Stay out of her house too. It’s different now. You can’t wander in and out like she’s still there.”

“Of course.” I smiled and kissed him back.

Lisbet waved to me as Joe met her. They walked back toward the alley together.

“No sign of
anything
in the alley,” Elsie muttered.

“And nothing on any videotape,” I added.

“What does that mean?” Dorothy whispered.

“Combined with what happened at the house, it means magic
was
involved.” I opened the car door. “It’s what we feared.”

“I hate to think that another witch killed Olivia for the spell book.” Elsie took out her handkerchief again.

“Or the spell book was secondary, and she was killed to collect more magic.”

“I wonder what part Brian Fuller played in it, if any.” Elsie tried to get herself together.

“Do you think that’s why she called for me when she was dying?” Dorothy didn’t get in the car right away. “Maybe she needed my magic.”

“I don’t know.” I got behind the steering wheel. “We’ll have to figure that out with the rest of it.”

“How are we gonna find the man who heard Olivia scream?” Dorothy finally got in.

“I’m not sure yet.” My brain felt crammed too full of problems that didn’t have answers. “I might be able to get Joe to tell me who he is.”

“Look!” Elsie pointed in the direction of the dock. “Doesn’t that look like—?”

“Brian Fuller!”

Dorothy turned her head to see where we pointed. Brian was getting on the old-time steamboat that took tourists on narrated trips of the river.

“That’s him.” I unfastened my seatbelt. “Let’s go.”

“What are the chances that he’d be here now?” Elsie queried. “It could be a trap.”

I agreed, but we couldn’t give up the chance to talk to him about Olivia.

“But isn’t your husband going to think something weird is happening?” Dorothy asked. “He’s still standing right over
there
.”

I bit my lip. She was right. He was not only standing at the opening to the alley as the crime scene techs went back in, he was staring right at us.

“Does he know you’re a witch?” Dorothy asked.

“No. He doesn’t,” Elsie answered for me. “My daughter doesn’t know either. The council frowns on telling family members who aren’t witches that there is magic.”

“Does that mean you
can’t
do it?”

Elsie shrugged. “It can be dangerous for the family. The council can get very nasty. It’s probably for the best anyway. Your family might think you’re a little cuckoo. My mother used to call it
touched
. Either way, you end up in therapy.”

“We have to get on that riverboat.” I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. “Let’s not panic. We’ll work this out.”

I started the engine and drove slowly past the spot where Joe was standing, even waving as I went by. I made a sudden left as soon as I’d passed him. That took us behind one of the older buildings. We parked there. “He won’t see us get on the riverboat from here.”

“I don’t have any money for a ticket,” Dorothy said. “Sorry. Librarians don’t make much money, you know.”

“Oh, don’t worry about
that
.” Elsie picked up her bag and righted her hat. “We’re going to be standing right next to the old river. We have a water witch and an old ticket stub. We’ll be fine.”

I went up the gangplank first, feeling the depth and flow of the Cape Fear River beneath me. The young man at the admissions counter took the old ticket stub that Elsie had saved from a previous trip.

“There are three of us today.” I muttered a charm as I gave it to him. If I could stand in or by the river all the time, I wouldn’t even notice my waning powers.

He saluted me. “Of course, ma’am. Happy to have you on board.”

We went up to the top deck and watched the activity on the boat. There was no sign of Brian Fuller.

“We saw him get on the boat,” Dorothy said. “He has to be here, unless he jumped overboard.”

“I don’t think that happened.” I was actually keeping a closer eye on Joe. He was still standing outside the alley. It would take only a turn of his head for him to see us.

In my experience with the natural world, the best way to call attention to yourself is to invite trouble by looking for it. I turned away from my husband and put my back against the rail. He was certainly more likely to see us if I kept staring at him.

“What do we do now?” Elsie asked. “This is a
big
boat.”

The riverboat blew its whistle twice and cast off from the dock.

“Isn’t there a spell or something you can do, Molly?” Dorothy wondered.

“It would take more preparation than I have time for now. Our best bet is to wander the boat slowly, like we’re enjoying the ride, and find Brian.”

“What are we going to do when we find him?” Elsie compensated for the wind blowing at her hat by sticking a large pin into it.

“We’ll bind him so he has to stay with us,” I replied.

“Can we do that?” she whispered. “You know I’m not at my best on the water.”

“I know.” I patted her hand. “But you still have something you can put into the pot. Dorothy’s earth energies should be fine—even close to the water. We should be able to manage a binding spell. We’ll take him back to the shop and question him.”

We all agreed with the plan and started walking slowly around the top deck as the history of Wilmington unfolded around us.

We passed the USS
North Carolina
battleship as she lay at anchor for school tours and private visits. She would never set out to sea again, but the ship had faced many battles during World War II and deserved her cushy retirement.

There was a replica of a tall, three-masted sailing ship in harbor. It was modeled after one of the American blockade runners that had kept the Confederacy alive during the Civil War. At that time, the daring captains had outmaneuvered much larger ships to deliver supplies to the desperate citizens of the city.

It was painted bright blue, red and green—one of the old runners would never have wanted to draw that much attention. Hundreds of seagulls were perched on its masts.

We’d reached the bottom deck by that time. Several other passengers were going up to the top deck for a better view. There was only one other person on the bottom deck. It had to be Brian.

“He’s dressed differently,” Elsie noticed. “Was he wearing that cloak when he got on board?”

“No.” Dorothy sounded worried. “Where did he get
that
? Is it a witch thing?”

“Slowly,” I advised in a whisper as we approached him, ignoring their chatter. What difference did it make what he was wearing? “I know you don’t know a binding spell yet, Dorothy. Concentrate on what we want to do. Think about Brian not walking away from us. Envision that he’s bound to us by a rope. Got it?”

“I’ve got it.”

Elsie and I repeated the binding spell that had been in our spell book. I could hear the words in my head as I thought them. It was easy to recall since I’d used it many times for various purposes—none like this one.

He was standing at the railing, looking at the city, his back to us. The large, hooded cape he wore billowed around him. It should have been simple to catch him unaware.

But I was so caught up in trying to make the binding spell as strong as possible that I didn’t question anything until it was too late.

There was no face—no form that I could see—inside the cloak. If Brian had been there, he was gone.

“Molly?”
Dorothy’s voice was shaking as we faced the empty cloak.

Before I could reassure her, I heard a muttered spell, and in the blink of an eye, we were falling from the bottom deck of the boat and into the cold river water.

I am invisible to my enemies.

They will not see me until it is too late.

I will bring them to their knees.

For their defeat, I wait.

I could happily have drifted in the river forever. There was no sense of panic or worry about survival. I felt more at home in water than I did on land.

Something rapped on the top of my head. It was Elsie. She pointed toward the surface, her cheeks puffed out with air, and started kicking her feet.

I became aware that my lungs were burning. It was one of those cases where the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. I started kicking my feet too and surfaced right next to her.

Dorothy’s head was already above the water. “What was that? Did someone throw us overboard? All of a sudden, I was in the water.”

“That”—Elsie spit out brown river water—“was a powerful witch.”

“He saw us coming,” I agreed. “He’d already worked his spell. We were too close to do anything about it.”

“Well, let’s face it—we’ve never had a run-in with a witch like him.” Elsie splashed around. “I think I’ve lost my shoes.”

It was funny in a way because she was clutching her bag, and the pin still held her drooping hat on her head. It looked like a sodden purple pancake, but it was still there.

“Is there a spell that can protect us from powerful witches?” Dorothy asked with a wealth of fear in her voice.

“I’m sure there is,” I responded. “But you have to realize what you’re up against first.”

“And then you have to be strong enough to deal with it.” Elsie gave me a look that said I shouldn’t be too encouraging with our new witch.

The captain of the riverboat had made a distress call to the Coast Guard vessel that was in dock. He’d already thrown out life preservers. They floated on top of the river close to where we’d surfaced.

“Oh dear.” Elsie shook her head. “This is going to be a mess.”

It was more of a mess than she realized. Joe had jumped on the Coast Guard vessel—that’s what comes of focusing your thoughts on someone you don’t want to notice you. I’d never seen his face look quite the way it did that day. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or scared.

The Coast Guard crew helped us on board and gave us blankets. They were polite and deferential. They offered to call an ambulance if we needed one.

Joe sat beside me. Somehow, I’d become separated from Dorothy and Elsie. They were laughing and talking with the crew about the experience. I was stuck with a slightly angry husband who didn’t understand what had happened.

“What in the world is going on?” His dark eyes were full of concern. “What made you decide to take a trip on the riverboat when you were headed home or to the shop?”

“I can’t really explain.” My mind was racing. We were walking a thin line between the truth and what I could get him to believe.

“Is it the new girl? What’s her name? Dorothy? Is she forcing you and Elsie to do things you don’t want to do?”

“Of course not. Dorothy is a librarian, and a very nice, sensible person. She probably has trouble collecting overdue book fees.”

“Then what is it, Molly?” He gently moved a strand of hair out of my eye. “You can trust me with whatever is going on. Are you in some kind of trouble? Is that why Olivia was killed?”

What could I tell him that would throw him off? I was in the middle of the river, strong with the water, but had never felt so helpless. My mind was still trying to wrap itself around the attack on the boat. I didn’t know what to say.

“You know I trust you, Joe.” I took a deep breath. I was going to have to jump in with at least a partial truth. “We thought we recognized a man on the boat. He might have been dating Olivia. But it wasn’t him.”

He looked almost comically surprised. “And you were going to tell me this when?”

“I wanted to surprise you. I thought
we
could solve Olivia’s murder together.”

It was almost too much for him to take in. “
What?
Where did you get such a crazy idea? The police will be lucky if
we
can find Olivia’s killer. How did you even think of such a thing?”

I shrugged. He was angry, but he was a safe distance from magic.

“You’re my husband. It’s not like we haven’t talked about some of your cases. I taught you how to make an omelet. I was thinking that I had probably heard enough to solve this case.”

He struggled to get his emotions under control. “You need to tell me everything, Molly. I hope I’m clear about that. I need to know all about this man on the boat, and anything else you can tell me that could help.”

I nodded and promised that I would. My blanket was slipping down. As I reached to pull it up, our hands met.

Joe pulled the blanket more securely onto my shoulders. His gaze softened. “Don’t
ever
do this again, sweetheart. You just took ten years off my life that I didn’t have to lose. If that man had killed you—I don’t know.”

I put my arms around him, sorry that I had hurt him, but more determined that we should find the killer before him.

If Brian was the witch who had killed Olivia—which seemed more possible than ever—he was very strong. He was probably stronger than the three of us had been in our prime. He would have killed Joe without thinking. The only thing that had saved Elsie, Dorothy and me was my affinity with the water.

Joe could never find this man. We were going to have to take care of it and hand Brian over to the Grand Council. There was no crime worse than killing another witch. They would act appropriately.

“I’m sorry, Joe.” I smiled and kissed him. “I love you. Let’s sort this out later.”

He held me close for a long time. We were still together when the Coast Guard vessel docked again. The crew helped Elsie and Dorothy off the boat. I got off with Joe.

I saw Lisbet waiting for him on the dock, a puzzled expression on her handsome face. No doubt Joe would tell her my story. She was his partner, and that tended to make people close. I was sure she knew all about our lives together.

I didn’t like that she’d think I was a little crazy, trying to solve Olivia’s murder myself. It couldn’t be helped. It kept Joe away from my reality and left us free to continue our search. Now that we had a better idea of what we were facing, I hoped we’d be better prepared.

“I’m going to take everyone to their houses and then go home and change clothes,” I told Joe. “Maybe we could have lunch somewhere and talk about everything that’s happened.”

“That would be fine,” he said. “But I need Elsie and the new girl—if she knows anything about this man who might have been dating Olivia—to come with you. We’ll have to interview all of you.”

“It was only me and Elsie. We met Dorothy later. She’s going to help out at the shop.”

Smuggler’s Arcane had always been the perfect cover for our magic. It gave us a reason to be together at all hours. Joe had never questioned how important the shop was to me. I’d always supposed that he was glad I had something to do during the long hours he spent at his job.

“Maybe this isn’t the best time to talk about it, Molly, but I think you should consider giving up the shop. We don’t need the money—if you’ve ever made any money at it. Olivia’s death might be the right time to call an end to it. Elsie certainly isn’t getting any younger. Maybe the new girl would like to buy it.”

It was like a sword to my heart. The shop had been more than a distraction, it had been a place to store all the magic artifacts that I hadn’t wanted to bring home. I knew I was going to have to say good-bye to the place when we retired and moved to Boca, but I wasn’t ready yet.

“You’re right. This isn’t a good time to talk about it. Not so soon after Olivia’s death. I’m sorry, Joe. I can’t think about that right now. I’ll bring Elsie for lunch after we’ve changed.”

He caught my arm as I would have walked away. “I’m sorry, Molly. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“I’m fine.” I was very conscious of Lisbet watching us. “Can you have lunch with a suspect?”

He laughed and kissed me. “You’re
not
a suspect. I just need to know what’s going on in your head. Let’s meet at Riverboat Landing. Give me a call when you leave the house.”

We separated as we walked down the dock to the shore. I didn’t want to know what he said to Lisbet or her opinion of me.

“Is everything okay?” Elsie whispered as we walked back where the car was parked. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“Of course not. I love him. I don’t want
anything
to happen to him.”

“Good.” She let out a relieved breath. “What now?”

“We go home and change clothes. Joe wants to talk to us about what’s happening with Olivia and a man she might have been dating—no name. I had to tell him something. A little truth seemed like a better idea than the whole truth.”

“I see.” Dorothy looked out over the river with a mournful expression. “So your husband can’t help us with Olivia’s killer.”

“No. It would be too dangerous for someone without magic.”

“I thought you said there
weren’t
good and bad witches,” Dorothy accused. “Just witches. That seemed like a very bad witch to me.”

“It was a very bad witch,” I agreed. “We’ve never known someone like this before. It was frightening for us too.”

Elsie took off her hat and shook the water out of it. “What do we do now, Molly?”

“We lie to Joe, I’m afraid. I kept him out of the magic part by telling him we were trying to solve Olivia’s murder by ourselves.”

“You did
what
?” Elsie made a hissing noise like a cat. “All I can say is that we’d better be having lunch someplace
really
good.”

Dorothy shivered and got in the car. I could see she was deeply shaken by what had happened. I wished I had a better answer for her.

Riverboat Landing was a quaint, historic restaurant that faced the river. It had private balconies and the best flatbread pizza in Wilmington.

You’d think I’d have been tired of the water after the dunking I’d received, but it was still pleasant to look out and see the river. The weather had cleared a little, and a few artists were out on the riverfront, painting the beautiful scene.

Elsie didn’t feel the same way. She turned her chair a little so she didn’t have to look at the water. She also had chicken salad because pizza upset her stomach.

“How are you feeling?” Joe asked her.

“I’ve felt better, thanks. I didn’t think Aleese was ever going to let me out of the house again. Sometimes that girl goes a little too far trying to protect me from myself.”

Joe sipped his water as we waited for our meals. “Maybe she’s trying to protect you from Molly.”

Elsie’s red eyebrows went up. “I would hope she’d know better than that by now too.”

“It was probably a little startling seeing you come home soaking wet,” he continued. “Did you tell her you fell off the riverboat?”

Elsie glanced at me as if to say,
Is that our story
?

“I told Joe about the man we think could have murdered Olivia,” I filled in for her. “And then we fell off the riverboat.”

“Oh yes.
Yes.
” Elsie picked up her glass of red wine and mumbled into it.

“It must’ve been hard for all
three
of you to fall off the boat.” Joe seemed like he was musing about the experience, but I knew he was fishing for more information. It was the way he thought.

“It all happened so fast,” I added quickly. “We didn’t expect anything like it.”

That was certainly the truth. While I’d been home changing clothes, I’d confided what had happened to Isabelle. She agreed that the man who’d accomplished that feat was certainly powerful. She warned me against future encounters with him.

The problem was—I had no choice. It was either that or let Joe run into him. I didn’t think it was likely the police would find a strong witch like him, but anything was possible. At least Elsie, Dorothy and I could handle basic defense.

“What did he look like?” Joe asked. “The man who might have been dating Olivia.”

“I thought we were being interviewed after lunch?” I smiled at him and separated my silverware from my napkin.