Chapter 44
FORTY-FOUR
Oh, It’s You
The car thumped and my head hit the window, waking me up. Stretching out my neck, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Osso.
“What?”
“I think it’s his office desk. Power is important to him, so I think it needs to be his office, not his home.”
Osso was instantly alert, papers shuffling in the background. “Okay, tell me.”
“There’s a hidden drawer in his desk on the…right side. It’s shallow and almost impossible to see. He keeps his trophies in there.”
Osso cursed under his breath, still listening.
“There are two releases. One is underneath the edge of the desk on the right side. The second is only a few inches away, on the inner edge of the leg. Once both have been released, the drawer will pop open maybe a quarter of an inch. You’ll need to pull it the rest of the way.
I saw him dropping in a silver tie pin.”
“Anything else?” he asked.
I thought about it. “He keeps his hands perfectly manicured. He has a gold signet ring on his left hand. Um, I think that’s it.
He likes to go in it a lot, so I’m sure if you sniff around, you’ll find the two spots he touches quickly.
Remember, though, you have to do it in order.
Below the drawer first and then the inner leg. ”
“Thank you,” he said. I could hear him up and moving.
“Yup.”
When I disconnected, I realized the rest of the car was watching me. “I fell asleep and saw something about the mayor.”
Faith flinched. “The summer camp killer is the mayor?”
“Oh, wait,” I said. “I think that’s still top secret. Don’t say anything to anyone. They haven’t arrested him yet.”
The rest of the ride was quiet. Thankfully, I didn’t fall asleep again. When Bracken pulled around Quinn Woodcraft, Declan and Uncle Robert were standing in the open doorway to the workshop.
Declan jogged over, opened the door, and pulled me into a hug. “Are you two all right?” he murmured by my ear.
I nodded.
Uncle Robert was at Faith’s door, helping her out. “Okay?” he asked her.
She nodded, but he seemed to recognize something in her expression because he pulled her into a big hug.
“What happened?” He rubbed a hand up and down her narrow back.
“I rained on them,” she said against his chest.
He glanced over his daughter’s head at us and we nodded. “That’s nothing. Sometimes it rains in San Francisco.”
“We were in Pacifica,” she said.
“Oh, well, it rains even more there,” he told her.
She looked up at him. “Dad, it was totally obvious. I panicked and the rain poured down.”
“I honestly think most of the wicches believed it was a sudden storm,” Mom said, trying to reassure her.
Faith gave her a look. “What about the earthquake?”
Robert took a half step back, his hands on his daughter’s shoulders so he could see her better. “Who scared you?”
She ducked her head. “It was nothing.”
“No.” Mom rubbed Faith’s back like her father had. “We don’t lie to your parents. They have a right to know you were in danger.”
Robert tucked Faith under his arm, holding her close as he pinned Mom with an accusing glare. “What happened?”
“The meeting was going as well as could be expected,” Mom told him. “Catherine was doing what she could to paint us in a bad light. She needed us to live up to all the horrible things she’d been saying about us for years. Bracken spoke first and was clearly changing minds.
“I think she was desperate by the time Arwyn took over,” she continued.
“Arwyn had pulled up all the video and photos and said she had proof of the Swans doing black magic. Catherine threw a curse, not at any of the three adults. No, she threw it at the one she thought was the most vulnerable and would cause the most chaos.”
Robert’s gaze ran over his daughter. “Were you hit?”
She shook her head, her braids swinging. “They all moved too fast. Aunt Sybil threw herself in front of me. Uncle Bracken reached out to grab the curse in his hand, but Arwyn got there first. Fire shot out of her fist.”
Declan grabbed my hands and held them up to the light from the doorway. He stared at the hole in my right glove, his finger lightly tracing over the new skin on my palm. “I knew I smelled something charred.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I accidentally took out the extra pair of gloves I keep in my backpack when I was reorganizing for the laptop and projector. I’ve had to hold this hand closed so I didn’t accidentally touch something.”
Robert was there, taking my hand and holding his over the top of it.
“The healing is almost complete.” He flipped my hand over and kissed the back of my glove.
“Thank you for saving my daughter.” He turned to the others.
“All of you. Having Faith be a member of the Council scares her mother and me, but I feel better knowing the first impulse of all of you was to protect her.”
“Wait, though,” Faith said, grinning now, the embarrassment of losing control of her powers now forgotten.
“Uncle Bracken and Arwyn made a car disappear and reappear a quarter of a mile away.” She smacked her dad’s chest. “It was incredible! All the wicches watching gasped.” She looked over at me.
“Some of them were muttering about you two never being able to do it, how this was a waste of time. You know, Coreys with an eye roll. And then you did it! Ha! It was beautiful. Wasn’t it, Aunt Sybil? ”
Mom nodded, grinning at Bracken and me. “I must admit, it felt really good to put those naysayers in their place.” She shook her head. “Put some respect on our names.”
“They invited us back,” I said. “So, that’s good.”
Mom straightened her dress. “Lydia shared that with Catherine gone, it made sense for a Corey to be back on the Panel of Five.” She held up a hand. “We’ll see, though. It’s too early. I’m sure a lot of families still think the worst of us.”
“We’ll prove them wrong,” I assured her.
She checked the time on her watch. “It’s late and it’s been a very long and emotional day. We should probably head home.” She looked at Declan. “And you have a bag of food to eat.”
Everyone said their goodbyes and headed out. Declan carried my backpack and his bag of food while keeping an arm around me as we went inside.
“Okay,” he said. “Now tell me what really happened.”
I did while I heated up his food and watched him eat. I tried some of the crab-stuffed shrimp, and they were delicious. Declan had made me a cocoa while he had a beer with his seafood feast, even saving a good amount for tomorrow’s leftover lunch.
“I still can’t believe that old bitty tried to curse Faith.
” Shaking his head, he stored the food in the refrigerator.
“Poor thing.” Grinning, he turned back to me.
“I would have loved to have seen your mom go after Swan, though.” He took my cup and rinsed it out before putting it in the dishwasher.
“Should we watch something or go to bed?”
I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open, so I said, “Bed.”
“That’s what I thought. Throwing cars can wear a person out.” He turned off the lights and waited for me to drag myself away from the kitchen table.
I barely had the energy to crawl into bed. Declan flicked off the lights and turned on the fire. When he got into bed, he curled himself around me, but I was already drifting off.
I slept late the next day, like late late.
Declan woke me an hour before the gallery opened, with spiked juice and the smell of food. “Come on, sleepyhead. Let’s eat so you can get ready for work. I already called Bracken and asked him to make sure your crew can get in to prep for work.”
“You’re really good at this whole mate thing,” I mumbled, trying to move the comforter to block the sunlight from my eyes so I could go back to sleep.
The bed moved and I felt a kiss on my head. “Thanks. Now come eat with me. I’m starving.”
That did it. I sat up and took the glass from his hand. “Why didn’t you eat without me? It’s late.”
“Because I like eating with you. Come on.”
When Declan dropped me off at the gallery, my hair was still wet, but it was only a little after opening. I walked through the front door, Carter rolling his eyes at my tardiness. Hester was kind enough to make me a cup of tea, which I appreciated.
Frank complained that he’d missed the car relocation, but Faith had painted such a perfect picture for him, it was almost like being there. He asked to attend the next meeting with us, though I assured him there’d be no need to move more vehicles.
It was a nice, steady day. I spent much of it in the nursery, marking up the wall, planning what I was going to paint.
On the drive to and from Pacifica the previous day, I’d planned the walls for the three rooms I needed to paint.
The playroom in Bracken’s apartment would be a forest scene with a wolf, some black bears, an owl, a fox, and other woodland creatures.
The gallery nursery would be an underwater scene, in keeping with how I’d painted the interior gallery walls.
Phosphorescent rays, seals, whale sharks, and the like would swim around the room.
High on one wall, I’d paint the underside of a deck with three little raccoon noses looking over the edge as an octopus danced in the current below.
The nursery at home would be a combination of the two. I’d paint a forested cliff on the window half of the room, with crashing waves at the bottom of the cliff. The water line would be at about four feet from the floor, with a teeming underwater scene below and sailboats and sunshine above.
A knock sounded at the door and Frank ducked his head in. “Hey, Arwyn? There’s a man out here who wants to talk to you. We’ve closed down, but he said he doesn’t want to buy anything, just talk to you. Mom’s here. Do you want us to stay?”
I closed my sketchbook. “No. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was so late. This is what happens when I get involved in a project. Did Hester leave?”
He nodded. “Yeah; it’s been quiet the last hour or so. She closed up and went home. Carter said he’d stick around with you.”
“Okay. You and your sister take off.” I walked out with him, my sketchbook under my arm. I waved at Elizabeth. “You all have a good evening. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
A polished-looking man in a light blue button-down and khakis waited near the front door with Carter. He had a thick beard, glasses, and was wearing a weathered ball cap that matched his shirt.
Putting on my professional artist persona, I walked across the gallery. “Hello. I was told you wanted to speak with me?”
“Yes.” He had a charming smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“First, allow me to say, you’re incredibly talented.
Your work is, well, genius.” He rubbed his forehead.
“Sorry; I’m gushing and it’s embarrassing.
Let me explain. I was hoping I could hire you to paint my wife’s portrait for our anniversary. I’d be willing to pay top dollar.”
Carter rolled his eyes behind the man’s back.
“Arthur? You can head home now.”
Carter tensed at my calling him by his brother’s name. Hopefully, he understood and would call Osso.
“We’ll be talking business now,” I told him.
Glaring at the back of the grinning man’s head, Carter said, “Okay. Good night.” He went out the front door and the man’s smile went up a notch.
“I hope this means you’re saying yes to the commission.” His eyes ran over me, as though trying to decide how easy I’d be to overpower.
“Oh, no. I’m not doing anything for you. Tell me, though. Why would you want a painting of your late wife, considering you’re the one who made her late, Mister Mayor?”