Chapter 12
Grans excused herself to go to the potions lab when Mark pulled up. Of course Damian had arrived at the same time and had walked in with Mark. As Mia and Mark went upstairs to her apartment, Mark rubbed his head. “That guy looks really familiar.”
“His brother lived here a few years ago, before he was killed,” Mia said, focusing on the stairs.
She hated to lie to Mark, but he liked staying out of magical things.
Damien was probably more magic than he could deal with at the moment, especially when Sarah and Em were at Trent’s, training their hellhound.
Humans could only stretch their belief system so far before they had to worry a little about brain damage, which was why Mia wondered how Finn was really doing with her life overhaul.
“That’s right. His brother was killed just before you moved here. You found his body at the food bank while you were trying to set it back up.” He looked less stressed because he had an answer. “Man, I’m not sure I could move to a town where my brother was killed.”
“Mark, you don’t have a brother,” Mia reminded him as she opened the door to her apartment.
“That’s right. I guess I’m safe, then.” Mark followed her into the kitchen. The table was clean, but Mia had the notebook and a file folder with a pen sitting by her coffee cup. “Can we set up here?”
“Works for me; that way I can talk and cook.” She held out a cup. “Coffee?”
“Please. I’m not sleeping well.” Mark didn’t elaborate, but Mia knew he missed his family.
“Just a few more weeks and we’ll all be back to normal here.” Mia poured his coffee as he sat down and pulled out the folder and a notebook.
Mark took a pen out of his breast pocket. “According to her travel records, she arrived Friday night and was to leave on Thursday, but that didn’t match the Lodge’s reservations.”
“Yeah, I saw that. Did you know Suzanne Parker owned a house here in town?” Mia glanced at the note and read off the address. “It’s lovely. They held her wake there on Friday.”
“‘They’ being your friends?” Mark wrote down the address.
Mia broke eggs into a bowl. “‘They’ being the magic coven that you know is here in town. Let’s not call them my friends because I haven’t found one person in the coven I like yet. Except for Marsha Fieldstone. She’s growing on me.”
“The woman from Magic Brews? She’s a witch?
Huh.” Mark paused for a minute to take in the information.
Then he continued with his report. “Ms. Parker rented a car at the airport in Boise, came up here, and was supposed to turn it in Tuesday night. Instead, she went to the trailhead, parked, and was found at six by the ski patrol making sure the trail was clear. She’d frozen overnight. ”
“How long does it take for someone to freeze to death?” Mia didn’t know if she wanted to know the answer. She focused on putting together Mark’s omelet while she waited.
“According to the coroner, when it’s really cold, it can be minutes, but that’s not what happened in this case.
Someone doused her with water while she sat on the ground.
I’m going to guess that she was sedated before the water was sprayed on her.
He said she died around one on Wednesday morning.
” Mark sipped his coffee. “Right after your test results were posted. Do you think someone asked her to come and give you a lower score?”
“It doesn’t work that way. Some sort of magical being does the scoring.
All the tester can do is change up the questions, which Suzanne Parker did.
The test felt a lot harder than the first one.
I was worried that I wouldn’t pass at all.
” Mia thought about that night. “She was here right after the results posted, mad as a wet hen.”
“That’s an unfortunate descriptor.” Mark frowned.
Mia ignored him and continued. “She was here at midnight and Damien asked her to leave because she was threatening me.”
“A lot of people must have seen her drive away. Remind me to look at your security footage before I leave. Anyway, if she was asked to lower your level, she failed.” Mark scratched his neck.
“Sarah has tried to explain what this means, you being a level five, but I don’t quite get it.
It’s like you got a scholarship to study whatever you want, and they give you money. ”
“They say they give you money. I haven’t seen any yet, although I haven’t gotten into my online account yet to check.
I’ve been busy.” She put the omelet on a plate and added a square of hash brown casserole that she’d saved back from their breakfast. Then she put a big mound of fresh fruit on the plate.
“Hold your fork over the plate; I’m going to snap a picture and send it to Sarah to prove you’re eating. ”
“Proof of life is what they call it in my line of work.” He laughed and followed her directions. “You’re an amazing cook, Mia. Thank you. So that’s all level five means? Why would someone want to stop you from reaching that level?”
“That is the big question, right? I need to bite the bullet and talk to Brandon again. I don’t think he’ll tell me the whole truth, but maybe I can get enough to show us what we’re missing.
” Mia sat down and opened her notebook. “I found out a lot of the same things that you did, except I just learned that Suzanne had asked the Lodge for a driver the morning before she was set to leave, even though she wasn’t still staying there.
I bet Blake freaked on that one. She hates anyone using the Lodge’s services if they aren’t staying there that night. She says it messes up her bookkeeping.”
“Interesting, but not at the level of I’ll-kill-you interesting.” Still, he wrote down something in his notebook. “It’s been bugging me that you asked why I told people you were a suspect. I never did that.”
“And yet several people, including Abigail and Grans, watched you come to the academy and do that exact thing.”
Mark blinked first. “What the heck, Mia?”
“I know; it’s very thought-provoking. But that incident is not the only time we’ve seen visions while awake.
It’s been happening more since this murder.
I saw Sonja and Trent out to dinner in Twin Falls the other night.
” Mia watched as Mark frowned. Before he could say something, she continued.
“I had Christina call Sarah, and she told me they were standing next to her, in Magic Springs. The spell caster didn’t know Sarah was even staying at Trent’s house, yet she or he knew that Sonja made me a little uncomfortable. ”
Mark considered what she’d told him. “They’re making you see things?”
“Yeah, but let’s make it clear, the spell caster doesn’t have all the facts, so he or she is making mistakes.
Like their impersonation of you. They know that you could make me a suspect, but they didn’t know that we’ve been working together to solve these types of cases.
Besides, you wouldn’t announce your suspicions to my friends and family.
You’d just come arrest me and play the strong, silent type. ”
“Not a lot of people know about our alliance,” Mark admitted. “But you figured out that it wasn’t me. So who was it?”
“It was the FedEx guy. I have no idea who’s trying to fool us or why. But I know they’re messing with me and my friends, and I’m going to stop them.” Mia ate a muffin. “Oh, and I think my boss is spelling me.”
“Way to bury the lede. Do you want me to do something about it? I could arrest her.” Mark finished his breakfast and stood to rinse the plate and put it in the dishwasher.
“I’m not sure if she’s using a potion or an actual drug, so not yet. I still want to find out why she’s doing it. I didn’t notice when it happened; Christina did,” Mia admitted.
Just then Christina came out of her room all ready for work. She narrowed her eyes toward Mark as she got her coffee. “Good morning.”
“How’s my favorite Goth princess?” Mark leaned back in his chair.
“Pregnant.” Christina sipped her coffee. “With twin girls.”
Mia started laughing at Mark’s face. “You look like you swallowed something big. Em should have some playmates soon.”
Mark eyed Mia. “Are you pregnant too?”
“No. No way, no how. I’m good.” Mia held up her hands like a barrier. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I guess Christina is letting the cat out of the bag.”
“Congrats to you and Levi.” Mark let out a breath. “Being a parent changes your world.”
“I’ve had enough of change. I have no idea what to do, so who knows what will happen.” Christina sat down and unwrapped a muffin.
Mark went on to tell Christina all his parenting war stories, including ones about the birthing process. Finally, when he left, Christina stared at Mia. “I can’t do this.”
“You can do this if you want. I’m not an angel, so I’m not trying to sway you one way or the other, but never say you can’t do this.
You’re one of the strongest women I know.
You made your own path even when dealing with your mother, and you’ve become an amazing young woman.
” Mia squeezed Christina’s hands. “Ready to go to the Lodge and see what trouble we can find? I need to talk to Blake and find out what she’s doing to me and why. ”
“And I need to get to work,” Finn said, walking into the room. “Why were the police just here? I didn’t come out because they freak me out.”
“Mark’s a friend. He came for breakfast. Now I have a list of people I need to talk to. Christina’s driving, so let’s go.” Mia tucked her laptop and her notebook into her tote and threw Finn a bottle of water.
When they got to the Lodge, the great room was filled with check-ins for the hotel. A wedding was scheduled for Sunday, and Mia saw the mother of the bride standing by the counter.
Mia walked over and smiled at the woman. “The big day is almost here.”