Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Not what anyone expected
Gideon
It didn’t surprise me to find Az sitting at the bar waiting for me when I got back from the café. I’d known news of my lunch with Declan would spread quickly. Ravenstone may have been filled with supernaturals, but they were no more immune to gossip than humans were.
“So I hear you had lunch with Elwood’s grandson.” He raised one eyebrow and waited for me to fill him in.
“I did. He doesn’t know anyone here, so…” I shrugged.
“Right. ’Cause you always kiss people who are new to town.” He smirked. Of course the demon knew I’d kissed him.
“Only the special ones.” I couldn’t hold back my smile. I hadn’t been interested in anyone for more than a night in a long time, and while I wasn’t sure where this thing would go with Declan, I was looking forward to finding out.
“Wow. You really like him.”
I raised one eyebrow at him.
“It’s a good thing, my friend. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile like that.”
“Hopefully, we’ll figure out who killed Winston, and then Declan and I can focus on getting to know each other. I’d really like to take the man on a date.”
“Well then, what’s the plan? Have you heard from Grady?”
“I talked to him today, but they don’t have anything concrete.” I shook my head and let out a sigh.
“I know that look. You need to stop blaming yourself. You can’t protect everyone, and it isn’t your job to do so.”
“Tell my wolf that. He’s incredibly upset that one of ours was murdered. He doesn’t care if Winston wasn’t the most likable vampire around… he was a citizen of Ravenstone, and that meant he should’ve been protected.”
“I’m aware that it’s frustrating for your wolf, so what can we do to help?”
“I don’t know. Declan and I talked to Jim and Janis. They both have a motive, and Jim was definitely hiding something.”
“Well, hopefully at the meeting tonight we’ll learn something that will help.” He stood up. “But for now, I need to go back to the bookstore. Someone has to sell those pesky humans their ridiculous monster romances. Like any self-respecting Orc would lower themselves to marry a human.”
I rolled my eyes. Az and his bias against humans. He wasn’t wrong, though—Orcs were actually pretty discriminating when it came to their mates.
I stayed at the pub until Molly, a young wolf shifter who worked part-time in the evenings, showed up for work, and then I headed next door for the misfits’ meeting.
Hazel, Tulip, and of course Eugene were already there. And it seemed Declan had found time to bake snacks for the meeting, because the trays of goodies sitting on the table smelled like cinnamon, sugar, and magic.
They all looked up when I walked in, but as always, Hazel was the one to speak first. “Evening, Gideon. Sandy is on his way, as is Mellgren.”
“Does Mellgren know this isn’t a normal meeting?” I asked.
“He does. Winston was never nice to Mellgren, always teasing him about his dietary choices, but that doesn’t change the fact that a vampire was staked through the heart. Naturally, he’s concerned.”
“Naturally.”
Over the next few minutes, the rest of the group filtered in, with Elwood and Declan being the last. Declan was carrying a large plate filled with cookies and brownies. A little flour dusted his light brown hair, and a bit of chocolate was smeared on his cheek.
“Sorry, we were practicing some magic and lost track of time.” Declan’s smile could have lit up the room, so I assumed the practice went well. He glanced around the room, eyes landing on Mellgren. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“This is Mellgren,” Sandy said around a mouthful of one of Declan’s cookies.
Hazel unfurled one of her long legs and tapped Sandy on the shoulder. “Manners, dear.”
He swallowed and dipped his head. “Sorry, but the cookies are just so good.”
“Mellgren. It’s truly nice to meet you. I’m Declan. Please help yourself to a treat if you’d like.”
Mellgren didn’t require human food to survive, but the vampire had a real weakness for chocolate. And sure enough, he reached for one of the brownies.
Declan picked up a small plate and placed a cookie and a brownie on it before walking over to the fridge and putting it on the floor. “There you go, Eugene. Let me know if you need more.”
Eugene shivered in appreciation, and a dark, formless hand of sorts reached out from under the fridge and pulled the plate underneath.
Declan took his seat next to me and pulled out a notebook. “Okay, guys, we have a murder to solve.”
Everyone looked from me to Elwood like they expected one of us to step in and take charge, but I saw no need. Declan was doing a fine job. Elwood didn’t say anything either, so it seemed he agreed.
“Sandy, what did you find out?” Declan waited patiently while the sprite finished another of his cookies so he could answer without being admonished by Hazel.
“I had a shift at Ravenstone Realty this morning, so I did some digging.”
“I didn’t know you were a realtor.”
“Oh, I’m not.” Sandy shook his head. “I help out here and there at quite a few businesses around town. Today, their usual receptionist needed to take her daughter to a dentist appointment, so I filled in. Anyway… there were a couple of bids for the building other than Winston’s, but the only one who really had a problem with it was Mason—and rightly so.
He had the highest bid until Winston upped his at the last minute and beat him out for it. ”
“That tracks with what Janis told us.” Declan looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded.
“What about you, Hazel?” he asked.
Hazel glanced at Tulip, but the mermaid just sighed. “It’s okay. I know Hazel. Faithfulness wasn’t one of Winston’s better qualities.”
“What was?” Mellgren grumbled, and Hazel shot him a look that said shut it or I will weave your mouth shut before patting Tulip on the arm.
“Well, from what I found out, there were any number of women in town who’d been involved with Winston over the last few years, but according to Cora Mae, who works at the train station, Jim’s sister, Cindy, was the most heartbroken.
As a matter of fact, she was so heartbroken she moved out of town about a year ago when Winston ended things. ”
“I thought Cindy moved to take care of their grandmother,” Sandy said. “At least that’s what she said when she put her house on the market.”
“According to Cora Mae, that was a cover story to allow her to save face.”
Declan and I shared a look.
“So that’s another check mark by Jim’s name.”
“And you said you thought he was hiding something,” Az pointed out.
“He was. I’m sure of it.”
“Also,” Hazel continued, “Daisy said she’d heard a rumor that Winston had an unusual relationship with his assistant, Janis.
She said some people thought maybe they were involved, but she thought maybe Janis had something on Winston and was forcing him to allow her to be more involved in the business. ”
Tulip shrugged. “Janis is an intelligent, ambitious woman, so of course people are going to try to knock her down.”
“I don’t know if it’s because she’s ambitious or because something was going on between the two of them, but she seemed suspicious to me,” Declan insisted.
“She did, but so did Jim.” There was something else… right. “I also heard back from Winston’s attorney. She won’t tell us about the will until all the beneficiaries are contacted.”
“Oh, interesting.” Declan scribbled on his paper. “I wonder if Janis knows there are more people named in his will than just her.”
“So we have two good suspects—Jim and Janis,” Sandy said.
“And Leon. I didn’t like how quick he was to throw Elwood to the police. That makes me suspicious of him.”
I really didn’t think Leon had done it, but I understood why Declan felt the way he did. It couldn’t have been fun for him to see his grandfather being toted away like that.
“My money’s on Jim,” Sandy said. “He has the best motive. Not only was Winston not paying him for the work he’d done, but now we know that Winston ran his sister out of town.”
“That’s very suspicious,” Tulip agreed.
Mellgren looked at Elwood. “Is Grady finished with the building next door?”
Elwood nodded. “He is, or at least the crime scene tape is gone, so I assume so.”
“Maybe we should take a look. You three”—he motioned toward me, Declan, and Elwood—“saw the crime scene, but we didn’t. Grady is a great guy, but he could’ve missed something. I’d like to see it for myself.”
“Oh, me too!” Hazel said. “I’ve always wanted to visit a crime scene.”
Sandy pushed his plate away and stood. “I’m always up for a field trip.”
I looked to Elwood, and he just shrugged, so I sighed. “Alright, but remember—don’t touch anything.”
“I could whip up some gloves for everyone,” Hazel suggested.
“That’s nice of you, Hazel, but I don’t think that’s necessary.” Hazel was like an eccentric aunt to me, and I really cared for her, but the last thing I wanted was a pair of spiderweb mittens.
Elwood stood. “I’m sure the place is locked up, but I can give Grady a call and see if he can let us in.”
Az got up as well. “That’s not necessary, Witch. I’ll open the door.”
Elwood’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t realize you and Winston were good enough friends for him to give you a key.”
Az gave him a bored look. “I didn’t say I had a key. I said I would open the door. Are you all coming or not?”
Demons kept their powers and abilities to themselves, so not many people knew that locks were completely useless against them. They could open them with a mere thought, so if you wanted to keep a demon out, wards and salt were your best bet.
We all stood, and Sandy snatched one more cookie off the platter. That was the thing about sprites—they had voracious appetites but insane metabolisms, which allowed them to eat whatever they wanted and stay wafer-thin. I would have to warn Declan or Sandy would eat him out of house and cookie.
“Hold up, everyone,” I said, using enough authority in my voice to get them to stop. “Let’s go in through the back door. We don’t need all of Ravenstone watching us go into the building. That would for sure get tongues wagging.”
We changed direction and headed for the back door. When we stepped into the alley, Declan stopped and looked around. “What about Eugene?”
“He’ll meet us over there. He doesn’t need to use doors like the rest of us.”
“Then how will he get there?”
I shrugged. “Air vents are my guess, but who knows. Shadows can slip under doors or through keyholes.”
“Okay, good to know.”
I leaned down and brushed a quick kiss across his lips. “It was nice of you to think about him, though. Most people forget he exists.”
“I can see how that could happen, but that just means we need to make more of an effort, right?”
“Right. Now let’s catch up with the others.”
The group was waiting for us at the back door, and when Az saw us, he rolled his eyes. “There will be time for that later. We’re on an important mission here.”
Declan blushed, but I just ignored him. Saying anything back would only feed the fire, so I made a get on with it motion with my hand, and he rolled his eyes at me. Then he gripped the knob and whispered something none of us could hear before turning it and pushing the door open.
He stepped back and bowed slightly at the waist. “After you.”
We all traipsed into the building, flipping on lights as we went.
As a group, we moved through what had been a storage room out into the main storefront.
I reached to my right to flip on the light when Hazel gasped and took a few steps back.
I turned to see what had frightened her, expecting to see a large rat or something.
What I didn’t expect to see was the second dead body in a week.