A Charmed Life (Halloween LaVeau Book 5) (15 page)

“You want to tell us anything?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

Chapter 23

Since he didn’t offer info, I decided to just come right out and ask about the name. I glared at him. “Why does your driver’s license have a different last name on it than the one you gave me?” I smirked, sure that I’d caught him in his little game. “Furthermore, why would you have the same last name as Liam?”

Surely that couldn’t be a coincidence. I couldn’t wait to hear his explanation for this. I wasn’t going take my eyes off of him until he offered one.

Arthur looked me right in the eyes and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I should’ve seen that answer coming. There was no way I’d let him get off that easily. “In your wallet… the driver’s license I saw has a different name on it. It’s not the name you gave me. I want to know what kind of tricks you’re up to.”

With his narrowed eyes and clenched fists, Nicolas looked as if he was growing more inpatient by the second. What would Liam think when he found out? Speaking of Liam, where was he?

“I’m not up to any tricks.” The sly smile remained on Arthur’s face.

“I knew you would deny it,” I said.

“You’d better just come clean now, man. Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” Nicolas said.

How could Arthur deny it when I had seen it with my own eyes? Nicolas had seen it too.

“I’m sorry if I’ve upset you,” Arthur said as if he’d done nothing wrong.

How long would he continue to keep up the innocent act? He had to know that I was going to tell Annabelle about this. I couldn’t let her date a fraud.

Again, he said, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Buddy, I think you need to stop saying that.” Irritation flickered in Nicolas’ eyes.

“Okay, if you did nothing wrong then I want to see the proof. Show us the driver’s license.” I folded my arms in front of my waist.

I felt pretty satisfied with this question. He would have to finally admit what he’d done. I wanted an explanation. I was pretty sure I couldn’t allow him to stay here any longer if he was really up to something. And using a fake last name wasn’t going to cut it
.
Normally, I wouldn’t care if he used the name Mr. Purple Pants, but with all the magic zinging around here, I couldn’t take my chances.

He pulled the wallet from his pocket and opened it up. Then he flashed the driver’s license at me. Of course, I’d already seen it, so I knew what name was listed. Nevertheless, I peered down at the license again. A gasp escaped my lips. Rankin wasn’t there. Instead it read Arthur White, just as he’d told me at the beginning. I couldn’t believe this.

I looked at Nicolas. “Are we going crazy?”

“No, of course not,” Nicolas said. “He’s just playing tricks.”

I knew what I’d seen.

Arthur stared at me and gave a little smirk. “Are you happy now?”

No, I wasn’t happy now. As far as I was concerned, Arthur was not telling the truth. I’d just handed the wallet back to him and I knew he couldn’t have changed the license that quickly. I’d been watching him the whole time. Nicolas was right, Arthur had to be playing tricks with us. I bet he hadn’t counted on losing the wallet. Lucky for me I’d found it and now I knew about his ruse.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, please. I’m feeling a bit tired.” Arthur looked from me to Nicolas.

We watched as he walked away. Of course this whole thing had left me pretty much speechless
.

When he’d walked out of the parlor, I looked at Nicolas. “What do you think about that?”

Nicholas ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to think.”

“You saw the license with the different last name, right?”

He nodded. “Yes, I saw it.”

“So what do I do now?” I asked. “How do you think he switched the driver’s license?”

“I think we both know that a little magic was involved.”

“Yes, it’s the only way.”

“Hallie, I think you need to ask him to leave.” Nicolas pinched his brow together into a frown.

I was torn about what to do. Technically, I couldn’t prove that he’d done anything wrong. And if I was mistaken, I would feel totally guilty about asking him to leave when he’d already paid for his nights here. But I had to think of my safety and the safety of my other guests, even Cora.

I crossed my arms in front of my waist. “I’ll think about it.”

My thoughts were confused and my mind was going a million miles a minute. Nicolas wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close
.

“I’ll do everything I can to protect you,” he said.

I appreciated his help and I hoped that he knew that. Nicolas’ eyes widened as I moved closer to him. Without saying a word, I planted a kiss on his lips. I bet that surprised him.

“We should go to bed,” he whispered.

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a long day.”

He wrapped his hands around mine and I led him up the stairs toward my bedroom. I couldn’t help but wonder about Arthur. Was he sneaking around somewhere or was he really in his bedroom?

I hated to break the romantic vibe we had going, but I really needed to call my mother. We reached the bedroom and I closed the door behind us. Nicolas turned to face me, and I knew he recognized the look on my face.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked.

I grimaced and then said, “I need to call my mother.”

“You’ll be thinking about it all night if you don’t. I’ll just be waiting over here in bed for you.” He flashed an irresistible smile.
 

“Thank you,” I mouthed as I dialed my mom’s number.

She picked up right away. “I was expecting a call from you.”

“What did I do wrong?” I asked.

Did she already know about what had happened?

She sighed. “Nothing… it’s just that I had a strange feeling.”

"There are a lot of strange feelings going on lately,” I said.

“What do you mean? Is there something you’re not telling me?” My mother’s voice was full of panic.

“You always say that,” I said.

“That’s because you’re usually not telling me something.”

This was one time when she was actually right about that. I did have something, but lucky for her, I was going to tell her. Only because I had to though.

“Remember the woman who did the spell in the café?” I asked.

“It would be kind of hard to forget her. Why do you ask? Did she come back? Have you seen her again?”

“Well, yes to both of those.”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” my mother said.

“I saw her and then I went after her. I wanted to find why she cast the spell. Anyway, she got away, but I think she dropped a bottle. I know it’s one from your shop. Plus, her magic led me straight to your shop and then she vanished.”

My mother paused and then said, “Where did she disappear to?”

“That’s what I want to find out. I checked the store and it was still locked. No one had broken in,” I said.

“Maybe she just disappeared around the corner. A lot of people buy items from my shop, Halloween, so I wouldn’t be surprised to find a bottle or two.”

I sighed. “I was just wondering if maybe you remember selling the potion to her.”

“Halloween, come on, she’s wearing a cloak. I have no idea what she looks like.”

Nicolas touched my arm and summoned me to bed.

“I guess you’re right, but I thought I’d give it a shot.”

Taking pity on me, my mother asked, “What kind of bottle is it?”

“I think it’s that lotion that’s been selling so well.”

“Oh, Annabelle has been dealing with those. Maybe she would have remembered the woman."

"Maybe so. I’ll have to give her a call,” I said.

“There are a lot of wacky things going on lately. Are you sure that everything’s okay?”

“Just peachy.” I glanced at Nicolas. “I have to go. I’ll call you soon.”

I knew she didn’t want to hang up, but she’d ask a million more questions if I didn’t get off soon.

“You’d better call me as soon as you find out anything,” she said.

“Of course I will.”

“I’ll be on the lookout for this weird woman too.”

My mother was naturally suspicious of everyone. This would make her even more so than usual. It was one of her endearing quirks. I hung up before she had a chance to say anything else. My mother would have to keep an eye out for the cloaked woman. If the woman had bought potion from Bewitching Bath and Beauty once, she’d probably be back for more.

“One more quick call.” I held up my index finger.

Nicolas groaned and fell back onto the bed.

I immediately dialed Annabelle.

“Hey, I was just thinking of you,” she said.

Talking and music sounded in the background.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“Oh, uh, I was just leaving somewhere.”

That was odd. It seemed as if she was being vague on purpose. Nonetheless I didn’t press for more details.

I released an audible sigh.

“Oh no,” she said. “Did something happen?”

“I saw the cloaked woman again,” I said.

“Really? What happened? Did she do another spell?” Annabelle’s voice was full of nervous excitement.

“She didn’t cast another spell, but it’s what she dropped that I find suspicious.”

“Well, now you have me curious what is it?” Annabelle asked.

“She dropped a potion bottle,” I said.

“Was it a potion bottle that she’d been using?” Annabelle asked.

“I don’t know, but here’s the weird part. I know the bottle came from Bewitching.

“No way,” Annabelle said.

“I was just wondering if you remember selling a bottle of the facial potion to the woman.”

“What does she look like?”

I paused and then said, “I don’t know… she was wearing the cloak.”

“And you want to know if I sold a potion bottle to a woman wearing a cloak?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

"The woman you told me about in the café?” Annabelle asked.

"Yes, I’m sure you don’t remember.”

“Sorry, sweetie, I just don’t remember.”

“That’s what I figured, but I had to ask anyway,” I said.

“Sorry I couldn’t help more,” Annabelle said.

“It’s okay. I’ll just have to think of another way to find her. There’s always witchcraft. Maybe that would pull her out, although she probably has her defenses up, so it’ll be a little trickier.”

“If anyone can do it I know you can,” Annabelle said.

“I appreciate the confidence,” I said.

“Are you sure you didn’t get a good look at her?”

“No, both times I only saw the back of her.”

“That’s good, I mean, that’s bad,” Annabelle said.

Her mix up of words caught me off guard, but I suppose she’d just gotten tongue tied.

“I’ll definitely call you if she comes in the shop,” Annabelle added.

“She’s on my most wanted list.” I laughed.

“What about your guests? How’s it going?”

“You mean Cora or Arthur?”

“Both, I guess.”

“I’m not sure.”

“Just be safe,” she said.

“Always,” I said.

After clicking off the call, I turned to Nicolas. He was asleep in the middle of the bed. Should I wake him? Maybe I should just let him sleep. My thoughts immediately went back to the potion bottle. I couldn’t figure out how the bottle had ended up on the sidewalk if the mystery woman hadn’t dropped it. Why wouldn’t Annabelle tell me where she was? That was strange. I hoped it wasn’t something bad. She would probably try to keep that info from me so that I wouldn’t worry.

***

A strange noise woke me from a deep sleep. The sun was just starting to come up. When I glanced over at the clock I saw that it was already six. I hadn’t meant to sleep that long. I needed to get up and start preparing for the day. I still hadn’t decided what to do about Arthur, but right now I needed to figure out where the strange noise was coming from.

Nicolas stirred. “Did you hear that?”

I slipped out of bed. “I don’t know what it was.”I had learned not to ignore noises anymore
.

Nicolas climbed out of bed. He wore blue striped pajama bottoms. After he slipped a t-shirt over his head, we both stepped out into the foyer. I paused and listened for the noise. The banging sounded again.

“I think it might be the bat again,” I said.

“I’ll go check it out.” Nicolas started down the hallway to go up to the third floor.

“I’m coming with you,” I said as I followed behind him.

If that bat was in there again, then I was calling somebody to figure out how it was getting in. I needed to find the source of its entry. 

We reached the attic door and I said, “Be careful. That thing is vicious.”