11. Eleven
ELEVEN
I wanted to see the place where the bodies were found. I was about to suggest to Landon that we head out—just the two of us—when Steve announced they had a Zoom call with the mother of one of the victims.
“I think it’s best if we’re all involved,” he explained to Landon and Chief Terry.
“No problem,” Landon replied, sparing a quick glance at me. “What are you going to do?”
“I might try to track down Aunt Tillie.”
Landon arched a speculative eyebrow but didn’t respond.
“I also might take a walk.”
He didn’t say anything immediately, instead being careful to weigh his options before speaking. “Take Aunt Tillie’s number one sidekick,” he said finally.
That was already my plan but being ordered to do so irritated me. “Maybe.”
“Bay.” Landon’s voice was low and full of warning.
“Is something going on?” Steve asked, picking up on the tension.
“No,” I answered automatically. If Steve believed marital tensions were going to be an issue, he might try to separate Landon and me … and that was the last thing I wanted. “We were just talking about Aunt Tillie. I think I might try to track her down.”
Landon gave me an indecipherable look. “I told Bay to be careful because we don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
“Definitely,” Steve agreed. “If there’s a monster, I don’t want you taking it on without backup.”
That was all well and good for him to say—and I understood why he was saying it—but in truth there was very little fifty FBI agents could do to protect me if we were up against one paranormal creature with extensive magic.
This wasn’t some movie. It wasn’t Underworld , where they managed to catch the sun in bullets and shoot vampires through the chest. His men could be helpful in certain situations—like if there were fifty arachnids to take out—but one powerful paranormal would be too much.
“I very much doubt I’ll find trouble today,” I assured him. “Well, other than Aunt Tillie. She’s full of trouble.”
“So much trouble,” Landon agreed darkly.
“I’ll be fine.” I let my gaze rest on Landon’s agitated face. “I’ll text you when I know where I end up.” I squeezed his hand even though that probably wasn’t proper FBI behavior. “By the way, I saw Cam.” I turned to Steve. “She said you were having her question everyone in town.”
“We want to know if anyone saw the victims,” he replied. “Perhaps they were with our suspect at some point.”
That seemed unlikely. “That makes sense.” I smiled but I wasn’t feeling very happy. “Will she be staying at the inn?”
“No. There’s only money in the budget for two rooms. If Landon required a room, Spencer wouldn’t be able to stay. Since that’s not the case, we have a solid team here during the overnight hours.”
“Well … I’m sure I’ll see you at dinner. Mom was baking a huge cake earlier.”
Landon perked up. “What type of cake?”
“Chocolate.”
“Awesome.” He pumped his fist, then recovered. “I would’ve married Bay simply for access to her mother’s cooking,” he explained to his co-workers. “Thankfully I happened to fall head over heels in love with her at the same time.”
“We’re all thankful for that,” Steve assured him.
I gave Landon a dirty look. “That was over the top,” I hissed when the others had moved several feet from us.
He mock clutched at his heart. “You take Evan with you if you go back out there. Promise me.”
I wanted to shake him. Part of me wanted to defy him just to prove I could.
“I’ll take Evan,” I promised. “He was always part of the plan.”
“That’s my girl.” He gave me a hard kiss. “This is working out. Let’s see how far we can take it.”
THANKFULLY, I DIDN’T HAVE TO LOOK far for Evan. When I called him, he was already downtown and willing to meet me in front of Mrs. Little’s store.
“Hello, hot stuff,” I drawled playfully as I approached him.
“I don’t think your husband would be fond of your new nickname for me,” he teased. He didn’t look bothered. “Have you seen this?” He gestured to the shop. “She seems back to normal.”
“She does,” I agreed, bobbing my head. “I talked to her earlier. She was mean, but the normal sort of mean. I think the spell worked.”
“That’s good. Dealing with Mrs. Little on top of everything else would not be fun.”
“Not even a little,” I agreed, rubbing my hands over the hips of my jeans. “Can you go to look at the site with me again? Landon will pitch an unholy hissy fit if I go alone.”
“You shouldn’t go alone,” he replied.
“Not you too,” I complained.
He chuckled. “I’m just saying that we don’t know what we’re dealing with. Going out there alone would be a boneheaded move.” He pinned me with a serious look. “Even Scout wouldn’t.”
That was a bunch of crap and we both knew it. Scout Randall did what she wanted to do. “I want to see the area before it gets dark.”
“Okay. Then we should go.” Evan gave Mrs. Little another look before following me to my car.
He could’ve run to the location we were heading in a quarter of the time it would take us to drive there.
He could’ve even carried me without breaking a sweat.
That wasn’t an option in case anybody saw us, however.
“Tell me what’s going on,” he ordered once he was settled in the passenger seat.
I checked traffic—of which there was none—before backing out. “A few things have happened.” I gave him the rundown. By the time I finished, we were parked on the side of the road where the truck had been discovered the previous evening. Crime scene tape now fenced the trees on the side of the road.
“Are we supposed to be here?” he asked.
“Probably not, but I’m going in. If you’re nervous, you can stay here.”
His lips quirked. “You’re so funny sometimes.” He led the way, and this time there was no meandering. He led me straight to the clearing.
The tape that had been put up the previous evening was still there, fallen to the ground in some places. He hummed as we stepped over it, a melody I didn’t recognize, and then he stood in the center of the clearing and scanned the trees where the bodies had been strung up.
“You know,” he said. “That tree there looks as if it’s even with the other three.” He pointed. “I have to wonder if the tableau wasn’t complete when we found it. Maybe our monster needed another victim.”
“Because the number four is somehow significant?” I challenged.
“There are four directions, four corners if you will,” he replied. “North, south, east, west. That’s significant in magic. There are four elements. Four is often considered a magic number.”
I nodded for him to continue. “Three is often a significant number in magic.”
“That’s why I’ve always found your family so interesting.
Your mothers are a threesome. You, Clove, and Thistle are a threesome.
The thing with three is that it’s a triangle.
The top of the triangle is always more powerful.
Sure, you can tip the triangle, but the powerful angle always rises to the top. ”
I gave him an interested look as I crossed to the nearest tree that boasted a blood rune. “How does that work?”
“In your house, your mother is the top of her triangle and you’re the top of your triangle. It could be that your mother passed that along to you, something like a birthright. Or it could be a coincidence, because if Tillie had a triangle she would definitely be at the top.”
“Aunt Tillie was really a solo practitioner,” I countered. “Supposedly my grandmother had magic, but it was earth magic and she never wanted to get involved in Aunt Tillie’s games.”
“And the other sister wasn’t a blood sister, correct? I believe her name is Willa.”
I frowned at mention of Aunt Willa. She was not a pleasant person.
“She’s a blood sister, just not on the right side.
My great-grandfather had a wandering eye.
Willa was brought into the home as the youngest sister.
I don’t get the feeling she was treated all that well by my great-grandmother, who was cheated on. ”
“She was abused?”
“Not physically. Aunt Tillie was mean to her. My great-grandmother had a reputation for being hard-nosed. Willa was a whiner. She was also proof of my great-grandfather’s wandering eye.”
“Do you think that your great-grandmother finding out about the affair changed things? Would there have been a third sister if she hadn’t discovered his infidelity?”
That was an interesting question. “My great-grandmother was interested in powerful magic. She might have wanted to create a triad. My great-grandfather was non-magical. At least that’s the story. Aunt Tillie doesn’t talk about him much.”
“Your grandmother died when your mother and aunts were teenagers?”
“My mom and Marnie were adults. Twila was still a minor. I think Willa wanted to take her for a bit, because she said Aunt Tillie was a crappy parent, but it didn’t happen.”
“Say what you want about Tillie, but she loves your mother and aunts. That much is obvious. She loves the three of you too.”
“She has a funny way of showing it sometimes.”
Evan chuckled. “She doesn’t want anybody to see her as soft.”
“I guess.” I cocked my head as I regarded the rune. “We need to find out what this signifies.”
“I have Doc on it,” he replied, referring to a member of his group. “He’s useless in the field, so we might as well use him for research.”
“Thanks, but I should be conducting some research too.” I left the first tree and headed to the second.
Magic hummed around the clearing, but it wasn’t active.
It was as if it had been building and then cut short, ultimately fragmenting as it fell apart.
It gave weight to Evan’s theory that whatever was being constructed here was never finished.
“I wonder if you’re right about a fourth body. ”
“You feel the magic vibrating beneath your feet,” he surmised.
“Yeah. And this morning there were prints along the tree line by the guesthouse. They were like the print you found out here.”
Evan went ramrod straight. “That’s called burying the lede, Bay,” he chastised. “Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?”