Witches of Three_Seraphina (12 page)

“They say that he was in prison.”

“They’re lying. They don’t know anything about us.”

“They know more than you think. It’s a small town, and people observe what’s going on around them. They know you have a man living here, they believe he’s your brother and that he’s an ex-con.”

“Just an ugly rumor,” Gwen said, regaining her strident tone.

Sera had hoped to handle this amicably, but now she saw Gwen would deny everything to the bitter end.

“I’m surprised you’re engaging in such gossip,” Gwen sniped.

“I don’t care what the gossip is,” Sera said. “I do care about the man who lives here with you looking into my windows with night goggles.”

The woman fell silent, her eyes wide, her mouth actually hanging open.

“I tell you, there’s no man living here. Now, I think you’d better leave.”

“All right, I’ll take this to the police.” Sera turned toward the door.

“No,” Gwen cried.

Sera faced her again and caught a glimpse of movement beyond the arch to the kitchen. A man stepped forward. He held a gun in his hand, and from his expression, she guessed he wouldn’t hesitate to use it. Sera nodded at him and his gun, then turned her attention to Gwen.

“Your brother, I presume,” she said.

“My ex-husband, Tim Shepherd, also known as Mannie Somner,” Gwen said sourly then turned her attention to the armed man. “What are we going to do about her?”

“We’ll have to take care of her.” Shepherd spoke for the first time. His voice was rough and phlegmy, like a man who’d smoked too much his whole life.

“You can’t do that,” Gwen protested. “I won’t be a party to it.”

“You don’t have a choice,” the man said sharply. “You’ve been part of this all along, taking your alimony plus hefty bonuses to keep quiet.”

“And you blew it anyway with your need to look at a pretty woman.” She threw a glance in Sera’s direction. “I hope your filthy habits were worth it.”

“Shut up,” Shepherd snarled.

“I won’t shut up,” Gwen said shrilly. “I’ve always taken you back when you needed my help. I’ve lied to protect you even though you didn’t deserve it. And you, at the first swish of a skirt, you were out the door again, off on one of your crazy schemes. I’m tired of it. I won’t protect you anymore, and I won’t be a party to murder.”

“Why would you have to murder me?” Sera asked. Strangely, she wasn’t afraid, but she got no answer. They simply ignored her.

“You’ll do what I tell you,” Shepherd said, approaching his wife, his hand raised as if to strike her, but he grabbed hold of her shoulder and spun her away from the door. “You think you don’t need me just because you’ve got a million bucks of my money salted away in your own account, but I paid for your services,” he sneered. “Such as they were.” He shook his head. “God, even in a pinch, I could barely stand to touch you.”

“You bastard,” Gwen cried and charged him.

He pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed. He cursed and hit her on the shoulder with the gun butt. Gwen went down, clutching her shoulder. Leaning against the wall, her face twisted in a grimace of pain, she stared up at him.

“You were going to shoot me,” she said incredulously.

Shepherd was busy with his gun, trying to find the reason it jammed. When he seemed satisfied, he aimed the gun at Gwen again. She cringed, throwing up her hands.

“Don’t,” she screamed. “Please, don’t. I won’t tell anyone. I’ll help you get rid of her body. You need me.”

Her words seemed to have some effect on her ex-husband for he lowered his weapon and turned to Sera.

“You’ve had it, girlie,” he said. “I hate to kill a pretty woman like you, but you’ve heard too much now. Besides, I don’t like that boyfriend of yours. He’s too snoopy for his own good.”

“He’s an FBI agent,” Sera informed him. “And he’s here looking for you.”

Alarm swept across Shepherd’s face.

“He hasn’t found me yet, and he won’t, so it’s goodbye for you, girlie.”

He pointed his gun at Sera, and she could see his finger tightening on the trigger. At that moment, a crash sounded from the back of the house, and Owen Cutter could be seen rushing from the kitchen into the living room. He held a rake in his hands.

“Put down that gun,” he demanded in a loud voice. “I’ve called the police.”

Shepherd didn’t say a word, simply turned the gun on Owen. Without hesitation, he fired. Sera blinked, and the bullet stopped in mid-air and fell to the floor. Gwen screamed and, getting to her feet, ran out of the room.

Owen dropped his arm, bringing down the rake on Shepherd’s arm. Howling in pain, the man dropped his gun and clutched his injured wrist. Owen raised his rake ready to strike again, when Shepherd plowed into him, slamming him against a wall. Owen slid down to the floor and lay still. Shepherd went after his gun, but Sera blinked and it skidded across the floor, out of reach.

“What the hell?” Shepherd cursed.

With a menacing sneer, he charged Sera, a mad rage evident in his eyes. She put up a hand and stopped him in his tracks as if he’d run into a brick wall. He bounced backwards and fell to the floor just as a pounding began on the front door. Sera opened it, and Jack stumbled inside.

“Are you all right?” he demanded, looking around. Without waiting for an answer he made a search of the house and ushered a weeping Gwen back into the living room.

“I’m fine,” she reassured him once he’d returned, then hurried to Owen, who still lay stunned and half conscious. “There’s your man over there.”

She nodded toward Shepherd who’d gotten to his feet and was preparing to run. Jack gave him an uppercut to his chin, and the man fell down again. Jack looked around in consternation.

“What happened here?” he said. “Owen called me and said there was gun fire.”

“Owen called you?”

“I gave him my cell phone number in case he ever had to get in touch with me.”

“Oh.” Sera looked down at the old man who didn’t seem so old after all.

A gray-haired wig was askew. Beneath it was a full head of black hair with streaks of silver. She snatched the wig off and stared at it then at Jack.

“Don’t tell me he’s working for you?” she said waspishly.

“I never met him before you introduced us,” Jack said.

Owen moaned and opened his eyes. “Sera, are you all right?”

Staring at him, everything fell into place for Sera. She remembered the old photographs. She’d studied them often enough to memorize every detail.

“I’m fine, Daddy,” she said and slapped him as hard as she could.

“Well, with that, we’d better get some help in with this.” Jack pulled out his phone and called someone named Hurley.

Gwen crept closer. “He made me help him,” she told Sera. “You saw how he tried to kill me. I was scared for my life all these months.”

Jack closed his phone and looked at the older woman. “Who are you?”

“I’m…Tim’s ex-wife,” Gwen said. “He’s held me hostage in my home for nearly a year now. I’ve been afraid he would kill me at any moment.”

“Are you the only one living here?” Jack asked.

“My daughter, Beth. She’s at school,” Gwen muttered. “I was afraid he would harm her as well.”

The door opened, and a young man stepped inside.

“What have you got here?” he asked, looking around.

“Eugene, meet Mannie Somner,” Jack said.

“We got our man!” Eugene exclaimed elatedly.

“We got our man,” Jack repeated. “He should come around pretty soon. Get some cuffs on him and on this woman here.” He indicated Gwen.

“I’m not part of this,” she protested. “I was held captive in my own home.”

“You could have escaped anytime you wanted,” Sera spoke up.

“You bitch,” Gwen screamed. “You little goody two-shoes. I know what you’ve been doing with this man for weeks now. Wait until I tell people in the neighborhood about you. They won’t think so highly of you then.”

“I’m afraid you won’t be telling anyone anything, except our agents,” Jack told her. “You’re under arrest as an accomplice to fraud, swindling and a whole host of other charges.”

“I had nothing to do with his crimes,” she protested.

Shepherd raised his head and stared groggily at his ex-wife. “She was part of the whole thing,” he said snidely.

She squawked a protest, but Hurley clipped on the handcuffs and herded her out the door to two waiting vehicles. Jack pulled his prisoner to his feet and followed. As he went out the door, he looked back at Sera.

“It’s going to get real busy around here for a while, but I’ll be back,” he said, his dark gaze softening for a moment before he disappeared through the door.

“All’s well that ends well,” Owen said and got to his feet.

He was a little wobbly, and Sera was tempted to leave him to his own devices, but he was her father, and she wanted to hear what he had to say for himself.

* * * *

“I can’t believe it,” Charlie said. “Your neighbor was a confidence man, another Bernie Maddox, and he was going to kill you.”

“And his ex-wife and partner in crime,” Sera reminded her guests.

Nick, Beck and Phil were sprawled on her living room couches, sipping cocktails while they waited for Mums to arrive. Jack was running late and had hurried to take a quick shower. Sera divided her time between her guests and putting the finishing touches to food for her buffet table.

“Oh, I think the soufflé is ready,” she said when the timer went off.

“Can I help?” Phil offered.

“Sure. I still have to make the salad.”

Phil followed her out to the kitchen. “You said you have a surprise to tell us. Are you and Jack getting married?”

“I can’t tell you what the surprise is until Mums gets here. Now make the salad.”

“It’s done.” Phil sipped from her margarita glass and grinned. A colorful display of dark greens, tomatoes and other vegetables filled the salad bowl, and Phil chuckled. “You didn’t really think I came out here to make a salad, did you?” her older sister asked. “Now talk.”

Sera was saved from answering when Charlie swept into the room.

“Wait for me before you say anything,” she squealed, rushing forward. “Now give. What’s going on? What’s the big secret? I’ll bet you and Jack are going to announce your engagement.”

“Actually, that’s not why we asked you all over,” Sera said deliberately vague.

“Then what?” Phil and Charlie crowded closer. “Come on, Pet, tell us. You know you want to. You could never keep a secret.”

“I want you to meet someone,” Sera said evasively and carried the salad to the buffet table. To her relief, the doorbell rang.

“That must be Mums,” she said to halt any more coercion from her sisters. “Why don’t you go greet her?”

“The guys are doing a good enough job.” Charlie said, eyes narrowing. “Sera, look at me.”

“Stop the silly games,” Sera said sharply. “You really can’t read my mind. You just think you can.” Just in case she was wrong, she concentrated on Jack in the shower, soaping himself all over, his muscles gleaming under the water, his dark head thrown back as he shampooed his hair. She thought of how his skin smelled after a shower, and how she’d like to suck his cock.

“Umm, I’m going to tell Mums,” Charlie teased, and Sera looked at her in surprise.

Okay, so Charlie could read her mind, and Phil could wheedle almost any information out of her, but this time, she was sticking to her guns. She switched her thoughts to two very pregnant sisters bent over their toilet bowls.

“Bitch,” Charlie said good-naturedly and turned toward the living room.

“What?” Phil asked, following after her.

Her mother relaxed on the couch with a salt-rimmed glass of margaritas, and Jack, newly showered and spectacularly sexy, chatted with Beck and Nick. Everyone was here. She said a final prayer that her plans would work out.

She glanced out the window anxiously and relaxed when she saw Owen crossing the lawn to the back deck. He looked quite distinguished in his dark suit with his hair brushed and his shoes polished. She hurried to let him in and guided him to the living room where everyone seemed to be chattering at the same time. It took a moment for people to notice the newcomer and fall silent. Her mother was the first to speak.

“Owen?” she said tentatively, her face pale.

She rose from her seat and took a step toward him then hesitated, swaying as if she might fall. Jack stepped forward and took hold of her arm.

“Hello, Claire,” Owen Prescott said softly. He glanced around the room. “Charlie, Phil.” He acknowledged them. For once, her two sisters were speechless.

“How have you been?” her mother asked politely, her gaze still pinned on her errant husband.

“Not as well as I could have been if I hadn’t left. I missed you, Claire. You’re even more beautiful than I remember.”

“Why?” her mother hesitated. “Why did you leave us like that?”

“I don’t know,” Owen said. “Fear, a feeling of unworthiness, just plain cowardice. I’m not sure now, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Once I left, I couldn’t come back. I couldn’t face what I’d done.”

“You left us all,” Charlie cried. “You left Mums to raise three little girls by herself, just because you couldn’t take it that we were witches.”

“Witches?” Jack said, his face registering shock.

“I’ve told you time and again,” Sera said. “You just didn’t believe me.”

“No, I…I thought you were just…”

“What? Pretending?”

“Well, you thought I was an Incubus and…” He looked around the room in consternation. “Are you all witches?”

“Just us girls, not Mums,” Phil said. She’d been silent so far, but now she looked at her father. “Didn’t you love us?”

“Yes, I did, with all my heart, but…” He shrugged. “The truth, I wasn’t man enough to handle being a father to three little girls who were different. I was afraid of you and for you. When I saw you do things that other children couldn’t, I felt inadequate to take care of you. I didn’t know how to guide you or even if I should try. I heard Claire talking to you one day, admonishing you to not practice your witchcraft because it might drive me away, and I realized I was useless with you. I’m not saying that was a right way to handle things. I’m just saying that was my thinking at the moment.” He drew a deep breath.