Magic and Mayhem: Witchin' Impossible (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Hazed & Confused Mysteries Book 1) (7 page)

Ford’s phone rang. “It’s the station. I have to take this.” He answered. “Officer Baylor.” His brow pinched, creating deep frown lines. “I understand. I’ll be right out.” He hung up.

“What is it?”

“There’s another body.”

“Where?”

He rubbed the crease between his eyes. “Junkyard Dog.”

“Oh, crap.”

“Yep,” he said. “You want to come along?”

“Hellz yes.”

ON THE DRIVE TO THE JUNKYARD,
I saw I had two missed calls from Lily. I must have turned off the ringer by accident. In a way, it was a relief. I hadn’t had to choose whether to answer her or not.

“You should call her,” Ford said as if reading my mind.

“Thank you, Dr. Phil.”

He shrugged. “Or not.”

I put my phone away. My head wanted to forgive Lily, but my heart wasn’t ready. My father being in town was an unexpected blow. He killed my mom. He wiped her from the face of the earth. This is something I’d want to freaking know about. “Did you know my dad was back?”

“Yes.” He gripped the steering wheel tighter. “My father mentioned it.”

The gravel road out to Junkyard Dog was hazy with dust and debris. Two official police cars, along with a silver sedan, a blue full-sized pick-up, and a green and yellow compact truck. My heart froze a beat. “Oh no.” I unsnapped my seatbelt as Ford parked. “No, no, no.”

“What is it, Haze?”

“That’s Lily’s truck.” I yanked on the handle and threw my body at the door to open it. “That’s Lily’s,” I said again. I could hear Ford telling me to wait, but I couldn’t. What if the dead person was… I brushed the awful thought from my head as I sprinted for the metal building where a small crowd had gathered.

Chief Nichols’ eyes widened at my speedy approach. He held his hand up in the universal sign for halt. I brushed past him without slowing down. Inside, the overwhelming scent of rot and decay nearly sent me to my knees. I gagged at the stench but kept going. Where Danny’s Chevelle had been on the lift, now there was something that looked like a bloated bag of blood. There wasn’t enough light for me to tell for sure.

I scanned the room for any sign of Lily. Something to tell me that she wasn’t involved. Red fur wrapped around my neck as Tizzy unexpectedly flew in for a landing on my shoulder.

“I can’t find Lily. Is that…” I pointed to the dripping object on the lift. “Could it be?”

“No,” Tizzy said. “Lily got a call to come here, and that was already up there.” She rubbed her cheek against mine as if for her own comfort, which meant she found the scene as disturbing as I did. “Apparently it’s a guy named Dennis Mitchell.”

“The detective in charge of Danny’s case.”

“If you say so, Haze.”

Ten kinds of relief flooded me. It was too bad for Dennis Mitchell. No one deserved to end up like that, but I was more grateful than words that it wasn’t my best friend. “Did you ride with Lily?”

“Yes. She tried to call you.”

Guilt pinched me. “My ringer was off.”

“Uh huh.” She whacked me in the side of the face with her bushy tail. “Lily and I got here half an hour ago. She was talking to that asshole Frank, and I came in here for a closer look. When I went back out to find her, she was gone.”

“And Frank?”

“Him too.”

I took my phone out and dialed her number. Straight to voicemail. I had two voicemails from her, so I dialed my messages next.

Message One:
Hey, Haze. This is Lily. Duh. Right. You know that already. Anyhow. Got a call from the Dick Knuckles. He’s asked me to come out to Junkyard Dog. Not sure why, but I wanted you to know since Tiz is coming with me.

Message Two:
Hey. It’s me again.
Her voice was tight as she continued.
Dennis Mitchell is dead. Someone said I threatened him for bungling Danny’s case. Dear Goddess, Haze. I’m a suspect.
I heard a man say,
Can I talk to you a minute
? Then Lily said,
Okay, Haze. I’ve got to go. Call me.

My guilt compounded. “I need to find Lily.”

“I’m sure she’s around her somewhere, Haze,” Tizzy said, but she didn’t sound convinced.

“Mizzzzzzz Kinsey,” Nichols said as he walked up behind me. “This is not the Daniel Mason case, so I’ll ask you to quit contaminating my crime scene.”

Clayton Driver was right behind him, his arms crossed over his chest.

I pushed past him. “Where’s Danny’s car?”

“Wha—I don’t know what you mean?” Driver pretended ignorance.

“When did you discover the—” I waved at the thing in the air.

“I’m the only one officially allowed to ask questions around her, young lady.”

“Fine,” I said. “Don’t help me.” I pushed past both men.

I blanked on a spell so threw out:

“
Double bubble. Show me trouble.

Show me what Mitchell could see.

Point to the clues, so mote it be.
”

Several spots began to glow for me. I walked to the first. A puddle a tarry liquid, to dark for blood, was pooled near the victim. The second spot behind the lift and near the acetylene torch there was an
H
scratched into the concrete floor, but like a small pimple on a friend’s face, I wouldn’t have noticed it if the spell hadn’t pointed it out.

I knelt next to it and traced the symbol with my finger. “What the heck are you?”

“That’s a hagalaz.” Tanya Geller stood over me, peering down at the mark.

“A what-a-laz?”

“It’s a rune of disruption.” She squinched her perky nose. “It’s Witchcraft 101, Hazel.”

“I flunked that class.” I stood up and dusted my hand on my pants. “I’ve seen the same mark in relation to Danny Mason and Boyd Decker. I think having it show up again is more than a coincidence.”

“It’s usually half of a spell. The rune is rarely used alone.”

Under the acetylene torch machine, something grew so bright I couldn’t ignore it. I reached under the welder and pulled out a sphere with many points coming out of it. It looked like an ice crystal, but I was certain it was made of glass. The prism in Danny’s car, the faceted glass ball in Boyd’s room, and now this star-like ornament.

“Looks like a tree ornament,” Tanya said.

It didn’t feel like magic, but neither did the rune. It should, right?

Clayton Driver grabbed me by the forearm and leaned in close. “If you want your little friend to survive the night, you’ll back off, Miss FBI.”

I staggered sideways, eyes wide in disgust and disbelief. “Where’s Lily?”

In the next second, Ford was next to me and glaring at Driver.

He raised his eyebrow and chuckled. “Why, I have no idea what you’re talking about?”

“What are you doing here, Baylor? It’s your day off,” Nichols said. “And what are you doing here with Kinsey?”

“Leta Givens called me, Chief. I figured you’d want some extra help working the scene.”

I remembered Givens. She was the desk officer at the station. So, the chief hadn’t called Ford. While the chief was distracted with Ford, I took matters into my own hands.

“Show me where you last saw her, Tiz.”

The squirrel hopped off my shoulder and raced for the exit. I followed at a brisk pace after exchanging a look with Ford.

“Wait a minute, Mizzzzzzzz Kinsey,” Chief Nichols said.

I snapped my fingers at him, a jolt of electricity flaring from my fingertips. “It’s is Special Agent Kinsey, Dick Knuckles. And I’ll thank you to remember that next time.”

Ford stepped in front of him, blocking the Nichols view of me as I head out. I heard him say something along the lines of, “Can I get a word with you, Chief?” The menace in the brilliant bear’s tone came across loud and clear.

With my obstacle out of the way, I hurried to catch up to my familiar.

TIZZY LEAPED IN THE AIR TO GET MY
attention where she’d stopped near a row of stacked smashed cars. When I got close enough, she said, “They were chatting right here.”

I let my fear form a spell.

“
Goddess don’t let this be the end.

Show me the path to find my friend.

Protect her and keep her safe for me.

This is my prayer, so mote it be.
”

Footsteps lit up a path that led down the row.

“What’s happening, Haze? Did it work?”

“Yes,” I said, concentrating on following the glowing marks.

“Really?” She took two giant leaps toward me and clambered up my clothes until she was in her favorite spot. “I don’t see anything? Are you sure it’s working? I’ve heard stress can make you delusional.”

“Stop talking, Tiz.” The path continued on past the walls of dead cars to the back fence. There was an opening in the chain link that was haphazardly covered with a piece of wood. The steps were scattered, and I saw the glowing outline of a body being dragged through. “Oh, Goddess.”

“What? What!”

“I think Lily is unconscious.”

“Are you sure you’re not unconscious?” she chattered nervously in my ear. Something she did when her anxiety levels rose. “I want to believe you, Haze, but you were never much good a spell work. I still have a few places where my fur doesn’t grow well to prove it.”

“Trust me, Tiz. This is the one kind of spell I know how to work.” I picked up the board, and we crawled through the fence. The tracks glowed across the field for as far as I could see. The phone call message had come in more than forty minutes earlier. I worried Lily didn’t have the time it would take me to cover the area on foot. “I’m going to try a transport spell.”

“Dear Goddess kill me now.”

“You were complaining in the car that you wished I’d used one.”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t!” she chirped. “You’re going to turn me wrong side up and inside out.”

“That is a risk,” I agreed without any real conviction. I was pretty sure I could get us from one place to the other unharmed. I just wasn’t sure
where
we would end up. “You can stay here.”

“And let you have all the fun. No way. Besides, I’m spoiling to skin that rotten beaver for his cheap shot last night. The side of my head still smarts.” She clung to me like her life depended on it. “Do eet!”

I took a deep breath and crossed my fingers. Desperation brought the words. I could only hope I didn’t say something that would land me in a lava pit.

“
Goddess show us the path’s end.

Help us find our in-need friend.

Transport us far across this land.

Hold us safely in your hand.

Please don’t put us up a tree.

Transport us now, so mote it be.
”

Tizzy snickered in my ear. “You’re really bad a poetr-eeeeeee!” Her squeal ended when we blinked out. When we blinked back in it continued. “Eeeeeeee! What the fading hell?”

We were not on the other side of an open field. Instead, we’d landed in some small dark room.

Tizzy sneezed. “There’s so much dust!”

“Where are we?”

“It’s your stupid spell,” Tiz hissed. “Make a light, Haze.”

“I’d blow this place up.” Probably. I fumbled around until my fingers alighted on a handle. I turned it and opened a door. A small amount of light poured in, and I could see we were in some kind of storage closet.

A thin layer of white powder coated Tiz’s fur, my hair, and my shirt. “What is this?” I touched it. It felt smooth and silky. “Some kind of powder. Maybe concrete silt.”

Tizzy coughed and hacked then examined her paws. “At least I still have all ten of my fingers. Damn, Haze. You chipped my manicure.”

Voices carried like a murmuring brook to our location. “Shhhh. I hear something.”

“I’m not deaf,” Tizzy whispered. “I hear them too.”

Quietly, we eased the door open enough to look outside. There was six feet of concrete floor in front of us with a staircase that went down. I crouched and made my way to the edge. Down below, I saw Adele Adams and Frank Leggert in a wide open space with a thick, gnarled tree growing up through the center of the floor.

Adele was working with Frank? It seemed too odd to be true. I stifled a gasp when I saw Clayton Driver carry Lily into the room like she was a sack of flour. He put her back against the tree and held her there while Frank started tying her to the trunk with a rope.

My hand instantly went to my gun, but it found nothing. Cripes! I’d left it in my purse. The purse that I’d left in Ford’s truck. My phone was in my pocket. I pulled it out to text Ford, but it dawned on me that I had no idea where the hell I was at. Goddessdamn transport spell.

I heard Lily moan, and my stomach clenched.

“Oh, Haze,” Tiz said in my ear, her voice full of trepidation. “Do something.”

Adele was a two-hundred-year-old witch with super witchy powers. I could barely manage a simple relocation spell. How was I supposed to take her down without a weapon? “I’m thinking.”

“I thought I saw smoke,” she quipped. “Quit thinking and start doing.” The windows on this upper level were dirty, some were even broken. Since I couldn’t discern any real utility for the building, I made the assumption it was abandoned. I couldn’t know for sure whether Frank had driven here with Lily, but I knew that Clayton had been at the crime scene when I got there. He most likely drove. But how far? The transportation spell felt like it had lasted only a few seconds, but what if it had taken longer?

I pulled up Ford’s phone number in messaging and texted:
In an abandoned building.
Unsure where. Unarmed. Adams, Driver, Leggert here. Lily hostage. Weird-ass tree in the middle of an empty warehouse-like first floor. Find me.

Dear Goddess let that be enough information for him to get here in time.

“Now what?” Tizzy whispered.

“How stupid are you, Frank?” Clayton Driver yelled. He poked a finger in Frank’s narrow chest. “I swear to the Goddess that beavers are the stupidest creatures.”

“Shut your mouth, Clayton,” Adele said. “Don’t be evoking the
you know who
in here.” When he gave her a blank stare, she said, “Starts with a G. Ends with an S.”

“Oh…right.”

Adele shook her head, her blonde hair flouncing around her shoulders. Clayton looked at her like a kid starved for candy. It appeared, she was using something other than her magical powers to keep him on a leash. “Bringing the Mason girl here was stupid. As long as she’s missing, that bitch Hazel Kinsey won’t stop digging around.”

“Then we’ll take care of her too.”

Adele slapped him. He growled, but she held her hand up, a fireball forming in her palm. “Try me, Cat.”

He backed down.

“We can’t touch the Kinsey girl. She is under Baba Yaga’s protection. Damnit! The girl showed no promise as a child. Even her mother thought she’d amount to nothing better than a slight step up from human. But I believe now that she carries more raw magic than I’ve seen in a long time.”

Ouch. That hurt. Adele had known my mother? Wait. She thought I had a lot of raw magic?

“Priscilla was key in these rituals.” She paced in front of the two Shifters. “Maybe you aren’t so dumb.” She touched Lily’s hair, and I focused my thoughts on burning her face off.

Nothing happened. Not that I expected anything would.

“We can use Hazel’s friend to get her to help finish the spell. And this time, Kent won’t be able to interfere.”

What? I was seriously struggling to process Adele’s revelations. My mother was a powerful evil witch, and my dad had stopped her somehow? If that were true, he wouldn’t have gotten thrown into witch jail. He cast a bond severing spell that was above his pay grade and caused my mom to disappear from the world entirely. That’s the story I’d been told.

I gestured to Tizzy to get down from my shoulder. She jumped to the floor and waited. “Stay here,” I mouthed. She nodded once.

The stairs were concrete, easy to descend without making a lot of noise. I had to stop this somehow. I could use Adele’s misconception that I might have some of my mother’s gifts to an advantage.

Frank Leggert snickered when Lily groaned again. What had they done to knock her out? The opiates. Both Boyd and Danny had recreational amounts of opiates in their system, but what if they hadn’t taken it willingly? It might take an elephant’s dose to put a Shifter out, and by the time the bad stuff started the drug would be wearing off.

Why hadn’t I seen it before?

“I know how we can get Hazel Kinsey here and helping,” Clayton said.

Adele gave him an appraising look. “How?”

Clayton reached back, grabbed Lily’s arm and with one quick jerk, he snapped it. The crack echoed against the walls. Lily screamed, suddenly alert.

“Stop!” I shouted. “Please don’t hurt her.”

Clayton smiled. “Just like that.”

He’d known I was there. How?

“I’m a werecougar, Agent Kinsey. I have a nose, I have ears, and I have eyes.”

Crap. Fifteen years of working with humans, I’d forgotten how attuned Shifters were to their senses.

“So glad you could join us, Hazel,” Adele said. I didn’t like her pleased tone.

Clayton poked Lily’s arm. She cried out. “Don’t keep us waiting.”

I swore to the Goddess I was going fry his furry ass. As I walked the last ten steps to the floor, I asked, “How has the Baba Yaga not caught wind of your foul magic? Have you figured out a way to shield your powers against her?”

Adele laughed. It was lyrical and lovely, and it made me want to barf. “Carol can sit on Stonehenge and spin.” She laughed again.

“Stonehenge? As in the place in southern England where the…” Oh, Goddess. Was Adele really dabbling in… “You’re practicing druid magic.”

Her eyes widened. “You are definitely smarter than you look. Your mother would be proud.”

“I don’t understand why you’re doing all this, Adele. You’re a powerful witch already.”

“But not the most powerful.” She shook her head. “And once that Zelda creature was born, I knew at that moment, I never would be. Especially now that Carol is dating the child’s father.” Adele shook her head. “Nepotism at its worst.”

Adele was jealous with a capital J. “So you’ve been learning druid spells to become more powerful than Baba Yaga? To what purpose?”

The two-hundred-year-old blonde witch shrugged. “Carol has her kingdom. Now I want mine.”

“And my mother was helping you?”

“Oh, darling girl,” Adele said, syrup thick in her words. “All of this was your mother’s idea.”

This little nugget of information took the wind right out of my sales. “Liar.”

“Not in this case.”

Frank and Clayton laughed. I threw my rage at them, lightning bolts shooting from my hands. I struck Frank in the leg. He went down like a screaming beaver with a large charred hole in his thigh. The second bolt bounced off a force field. I turned on Adele. She held her hand out, casting a protective bubble around Clayton.

“You can have, Frank, but Clayton is my pet.” Her eyes glowed with green as a red light bathed her skin. A fireball skimmed my shoulder as I took a diving roll toward the tree. I put myself between Lily and the scary-ass witch-druid.

“If you hurt Lily, I’ll never help you.”

A tall man with black hair walked into the room, and my stomach soured.

“Ease up, Adele. We need Hazel more than we need her friend’s pain.” Robert Townsend ran his hand through his neatly styled hair. “Hello, Agent Kinsey. So nice to see you again.”

Well, screw me blue, the
raton
was a stinking rat. “Why? Why would you help her?”

He held out his hand to Adele, and she took it. Robert smiled. “You misunderstand what’s going on here, Hazel. I’m not helping Adele. She’s helping me.”

“Pentagram on a popsicle stick,” I said. “I did not see this coming.”

“We are the Arete,” he said. “We strive for perfect magic.” He cupped Adele’s cheek, and she crooned.

Yuck. “You are completely nuts.”

He lifted his arms and began to wave his hands around in front of him. I thought he might be having a seizure for a moment until the symbols began appearing in the air. I recognized the
H.

“Hagalaz.”

“Very good. It took me a long time without your mother to master using the rune without bringing down the wrath of nature.” He held up a piece of cut glass. “It was a matter of infusing some baubles with a druid spell for temperance and pairing the two. The last three sacrifices have proven we’re almost there.”

“Almost where?”

“Our own Utopia, of course.”

“You’ve been sniffing the glue too long.” Paradise Fails, once again. “You won’t get away with this.”

“There is nothing you can do, Hazel,” Adele said. “I’m not breaking any witch rules.”