Witch's Awakening (25 page)

“The woman we saw with Garth was pretty, like the young woman in this drawing.” Brenna stared down at the face on the page. How could someone who looked so innocent be so evil? Who was this woman and what had really happened to her?

“Do you have all the versions of her stories written down?” Fiona asked.

“Of course, in one of my books,” Inez said and pointed to the four shelves filled with dozens of leather-bound volumes. “I'm sure it's in one of those.”

Chapter Twenty-One

On Friday, the sheriff's office had an abnormally quiet morning. Gladys was doing her weekly dispatcher's report, Brian was typing up an incident report, and a resident was snoring in the back, sleeping off a bad binge brought on by yet another fruitless search for his grandmother's priceless pearls.

Jake still didn't feel comfortable in the office he inherited from Garth, but he was easing into it. Garth's things were gone, given to his aunt, so the room was a little bare. Maybe that was for the best, Jake thought as he sipped coffee. He was only the acting sheriff. He might not want to stay in the role.

He felt a little blue, thinking of Garth this morning. Maybe that was why he wasn't enjoying a respite from crime. The calm felt ominous. It reminded him of being on active duty, of the breathless pause he always felt just before his unit started a new mission. Anything could happen.

Brenna thought it was a false break in the action, too, especially since the demon had tried to take over their elderly cousin. She was in sharp disagreement with her family. Sarah was sure they had driven away the Woman in White at the shop on Tuesday night. Few of the other witches disagreed with her.

Jake suspected Delia wasn't convinced the trouble was over, although she seemed reluctant to fight with Sarah. Fiona still had trouble connecting to spirits, so she was distracted by that. He wasn't sure about Eva Grace. She remained shell-shocked by the deaths of Garth and Sandy, so it was difficult to know what she was thinking.

The bottom line was Brenna's mother, sister and closest cousin weren't giving her any support in her quest to thwart the family curse. Like the others, they wanted to believe Sarah was right and the curse was finished.

Brenna couldn't. Last night, she cried while telling him about the fight with Sarah. He didn't think Brenna cried easily. She and Sarah had quarreled so long and so loud that Marcus stepped in. Brenna worshipped her grandmother's husband and his anger had hurt. She said she no longer felt welcome in the house where she had grown up. She'd spent the night with him again.

Sipping his coffee, Jake frowned. Of course Brenna ended up at his house for the night. That was becoming a habit.

The phone intercom buzzed. “Fred Williams is on line one.”

“Thanks, Gladys.”

He sighed before punching the button. “Morning, Fred, how's it going today?”

“That's what the Board of Commissioners wants to know. We've called a meeting for eleven o'clock. We want a full run-down on everything that went on in town after Garth died.”

“You've got my latest report,” Jake replied, trying not to be irritated. “And everything is very calm today. We haven't even had one call.”

“We can't expect that to last.”

So the commissioner was of the same opinion as Jake and Brenna. That was interesting. “What makes you think the trouble will start again, Fred?”

“I just know. See you at eleven.”

The dial tone rang in his ear as Jake said, “Sure, Fred, I'll check my calendar to see if I can make it.”

He put the phone in its cradle and took another drink of coffee. It tasted bitter now. For a preacher, Fred Williams sure gave him a lot of hell. Letting out a long breath of frustration, he punched the intercom button.

“Brian, I need the most recent incident reports and the graphs you made comparing this year with the last two, please. I've got a BOC meeting in an hour and I need three copies of everything and the master for me.”

“No problem.”

Jake went to the small break room, dumped his now cold coffee and poured a fresh cup, adding a spoonful of sugar to ease the bitterness. He wished a spoonful of sugar would make the BOC easier to take.

Garth had faced their wrath often. So far they had gone pretty easy on Jake, even during the recent troubles. He suspected that would change today.

He headed to the meeting with his report about an hour later. It was short walk since the commission room was in the courthouse just like the sheriff's department. The politicos sat behind a half-moon desk at the front of the room. Walking down the center aisle, Jake felt three pairs of eyes boring into him. Harry Chambers, Riley O'Neal and Fred Williams didn't speak until Jake passed out his reports and took a seat on the front row of folding chairs.

They flipped through the reports and muttered to one another in low voices. Jake watched them and wondered what they would do if confronted by a tiger.

Riley O'Neal sat on the left. Jake thought he'd heard somewhere that Riley's ancestors were druids. There'd been rumors for years that Riley used an ancient spell to become invisible. Jake didn't know what Riley did then. He didn't think it was anything illegal, but he also wasn't sure how Riley had built his family's compound of houses, pools and horse barns.

Harry Chambers lived in The Enclave and was the retired CEO of a textile company. He'd orchestrated the sale of the company just before the economic downturn, his millions safely invested in healthy stocks and gold. He was the leader of Neighborhood Watch and embroiled in county politics.

Fred spoke first. “We're here today because people in our town are frightened and upset. What are we going to do when the crime wave starts again?”

“We're not exactly looking at a gang war in Newark,” Jake said. “We'll respond, just as we've done for the past week.”

“We've had two murders,” Harry said. “You've got good, honest citizens worried about leaving their houses. Some of our residents are getting guns, with legal permits, of course.”

“That's not always a good idea, Harry,” Jake said.

“These people need to feel safe. They moved here from Atlanta to get away from crimes and fear. We've built a wonderful community and made it secure, but we know what's happening in New Mourne will eventually make its way to The Enclave.”

“That's not necessarily true, Harry,” Fred said. “My family has been here for a long time and there have been other times of unrest and everything worked out. We just need a little cooperation.”

“What happened during those other times of unrest, Fred?” Jake asked.

“Bad times, crimes and misdemeanors,” Fred said, “and the church people did lots of praying. It's how we've always responded to evil.”

Jake rolled his report into a tube. “I know about some of that, Fred, I've been doing some research. It seems there was always trouble in New Mourne at certain periods in the town's history.” He shared a long look with the pastor. He would bet his cabin the man knew everything about the Connelly family curse and the troubles that came to town with it.

Fred looked at the other two men. Harry nodded. Riley clasped his hands on the table. Jake felt his stomach tighten. Something bad was coming.

“We think it's time to look again at allowing the security guards for The Enclave to be a local police force,” Fred said amiably. “We all believe it's important for our citizens to feel safe.”

“Even if you add a police force out there, you know Georgia law states the sheriff is still in charge,” Jake said.

“Looks to me like you could use the help,” Harry said. “And it would give our men more authority.”

“Where will these men get their training?” Jake asked. “Will they be former police officers? Many of them are retired and unable to meet the physical standards for a sheriff's deputy.”

“Are all of your deputies fully up to snuff?” Harry asked.

Thinking of his oldest two men, who were nearing retirement, Jake shifted in his chair. He looked to Riley, hoping for support. The man's dark eyes glimmered, but he said nothing.

Jake straightened his shoulders, knowing he had to face this on his own. “Let's not be too hasty with this.”

“We know there are things that need to be worked out—” Fred stopped, his face paling visibly as he stared at a point over Jake's shoulder.

Jake turned to the door, surprised to see Brenna's parents coming toward him.

“Celia,” Fred said in an awed whisper.

Riley touched the minister's arm and said, “It's Delia Burns, Fred.”

Jake watched Fred's inner struggle for a moment, seeing that control didn't come easily.

“Of course,” Fred said. He nodded to Delia and Dr. Burns, then abruptly picked up his copy of the report and stood. “I think that's all for today,” he told the other commissioners as he left the room through the side door.

Harry and Riley watched him leave, and then turned back to Jake. Harry said, “We'll discuss this at length during the next meeting.”

As the two men left, Jake stood to greet Brenna's parents. He hoped they weren't here to report more trouble.

“Was that Fred Williams?” Delia asked.

“You know him?”

“We grew up together.” Delia laughed. “Fred was always stuck on himself. Very handsome, of course, but vain and selfish. He was president of his senior class and thought he ran the world. I didn't like him.”

Jake had to laugh. “He hasn't changed much.”

“I'm not surprised.” Delia gave Jake a concerned look. “I bet dealing with him is a pain.”

“A big one,” Jake admitted. “What brings the two of you to the courthouse?”

“We were looking for you,” Dr. Burns said. He hesitated. “We wanted to talk about Brenna.”

Jake frowned. This wasn't a conversation to have in a public meeting room. “Let's go back down to my office.”

County employees in nearby offices directed curious stares their way as Jake led the Burns up the stairs. He supposed they were used to stares. She was uncommonly beautiful with her bright red hair, delicate skin and petite figure. Aiden had a distinguished presence. Together, they exuded a European air.

As they went through his outer office, the couple greeted Brian and called Gladys by name.

Jake offered them tea and coffee, but they declined as they went into his office and sat. He closed the door, afraid if he didn't Gladys might strain her neck trying to listen to the conversation.

“What's going on with Brenna?” he asked as he took the chair behind his desk.

“We're worried about her,” Delia said. “She's convinced Celia's warning about betrayal in the coven is serious. To say Sarah doesn't agree is an understatement.”

Her husband added, “In the journals she got from Inez, Brenna found evidence that there's been discord in the coven before.”

“We can't dispute that we Connellys haven't always been devoted to one another.” Delia sighed. “But Sarah will not have it. Brenna is threatening to leave.”

“She and Brenna have been at it again all morning,” Dr. Burns said.

Delia rubbed her forehead. “Those two have matching tempers, and neither of them gives an inch.”

“Sarah's worse than Brenna,” her husband said.

“Aiden.” Delia's voice had a warning.

“Sorry, sweetie, but it's true.”

Delia sat forward in her chair. “Jake, we know you and Brenna have been spending a lot of time together.”

Jake shifted in his seat, not quite able to meet Brenna's father's eyes as he thought about how he spent his time with Brenna.

“Eva Grace thinks the world of you,” Delia continued. “She says Garth loved you like a brother. We'd like you to talk to Brenna. Maybe you can help her see how unwise it is to leave her grandmother's home.”

Jake laughed. “You think Brenna will listen to me?”

“It's more likely she'll listen to you than either of us,” Dr. Burns said. “She doesn't exactly trust us.”

“Oh, Aiden, she despises us,” Delia said quietly. “We're concerned, Jake, and we thought you'd be the best person to talk to about it.”

“What about Fiona and Eva Grace?”

“They agree with Sarah, so for maybe the first time in her life, Brenna's on her own,” Delia said.

Jake rubbed his chin and wished he had a cup of coffee and a donut with sprinkles. A cake donut, in fact. Yeah, that's what he needed…and to be anywhere but here.

As a loner, like most of his nature, he wasn't used to family dramas like this. He had never been approached by the parents of a…lady friend? Girlfriend? He knew he was already embroiled in it, but did he want to get deeper? Weren't he and Brenna just pals, just enjoying each other? Wasn't it stupid of him to get in the middle of a family feud?

He knew all of that, yet he couldn't look into her mother's green eyes full of concern and turn her down. “I'll think about talking to Brenna,” he said at last. “I can't guarantee she won't turn me into a toad, but I'll try.”

“Delia made me a turtle once.” Dr. Burns's tone was matter-of-fact.

“A tortoise, my love,” Delia corrected him. “I made you a big, beautiful tortoise once when you were trying to rush me as I was getting ready for a party. I needed you to slow down.”

He took her hand and kissed it. “I guess I did deserve that spell.”

“And I turned you back.” His lovely red-haired spouse smiled at him. “For that you can be grateful.”

Jake gulped. “So Brenna really could turn me into a toad?”

Delia considered him a moment. “Well, it might be difficult, given that you're already a tiger, but Brenna's very talented.”

“She summoned the wind when she was two,” Dr. Burns said with pride. “Sarah called us. I think we were in Turkey.”