spies and spells 01 - spies and spells (11 page)

“Can we please get this over with?” I stepped up between their little date-making conversation. “I’ve got things I need to do, like go back to work and clean up so we can open tomorrow.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had a perp with you.” The blonde looked me up and down. “Nice necklace. Is that a ruby?”

“Something like that.” My brows rose, I stared at Mick.

“She’s not a perp, just a witness,” Mick corrected the bouncy blonde.

“Oh.” She rested her hand on her gun, shifting her slim figure to the right. “Let’s hope you can help catch a cop killer.” She threw her words at me like a dagger.

“I didn’t die.” Mick smiled, gesturing me to go into the office door.

“Thank God,” she said before she turned and walked back to the hole from which she came.

The thought of how ugly she’d look with a big zit on the edge of her nose was a tempting spell and I had to force my hand down to my side.

“Please take a seat.” Mick pointed to a chair. It seemed he had found his southern manners he seemed to be lacking.

He took a seat next to me. The nameplate on the big mahogany desk read Burt Devlin.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked.

I kept my eyes straight ahead. “No.”

A few moments later the older, silver-haired gentleman I had seen in the parking lot over a week ago walked into the office and sat behind the desk. He thumbed through the files on his desk, pulling one out from the middle of the stack.

“Good afternoon, Miss—” He looked at me.

“Park,” I answered, giving my hair a graceful toss behind my head. The smell of the diner breezed around me. I would have much rather gone home, gotten a shower, and changed my clothes before I had to be here. But no, Mick demanded three o’clock. Here it was almost three-thirty. Waste of my time.

“Ms. Park.” Burt smiled, clasping his hands and resting them on the file he had plucked out from the pile. “I understand you found Agent Jasper and dropped him off at the hospital.”

“I. . .” I stammered, running my hand over the red stone, trying to get some sense of what I was supposed to say.

“Yes, sir, she did,” Mick confirmed. “Isn’t that right, Maggie?”

I sat in silence.

“I mean, when I went to The Brew this afternoon for lunch, we had discussed what she saw, sir.” Mick turned to me. “The Brew is your family owned diner, correct?” he asked.

I didn’t have to answer to know what he had lingering over my head. Yes, The Brew was our diner. Did my Auntie Meme go about getting the diner the right way? Through the sale of the building? Getting a food licensing permit in order to open the diner? No. Probably not. If I knew my family, which I did, I was sure it was a wave of the hand kind of deal.

“Ms. Park?” Burt asked.

“I’m sorry, I was just in the right place at the right time.” I smiled, slowly rubbing my finger over my stone. “I was driving home from a friend’s house and I saw Mr. Jasper, excuse me,” I cleared my throat, “Agent Jasper stumbling down the sidewalk.” I stopped talking and looked over at Mick, whose mouth was gaped open, listening to my lie. There was no way I was going to say I was returning the package to the informant.

There was a way out of this. If I couldn’t beat him, I’d join him. My hand swung off my necklace and pointed to Burt, suspending my conversation with him.

“Weren’t you outside in the parking lot talking to Agent Jasper a couple weeks ago?” Burt had watchful eyes that missed nothing.

“No.” I shook my head, rubbing my finger under my nose, sending a memory loss spell his way.

“Yes!” Mick smacked the desk, making us all jump. He jabbed his finger at me. “Yes! That is her.” He stood pleased.

“Now that I think about it, you weren’t the same person.” Burt shook his head.
Ahem,
he cleared his throat, gesturing for Mick to sit and settle down. “Have you ever heard about Mystic Couture makeup?” he asked me.

“Yes. I’d love to own some, but it’s so expensive.” I smiled, nestling back in the chair feeling a little better that my spell worked on him. I had made myself a nervous wreck all day thinking I was losing my touch.

“But sir,” Mick scooted to the edge of his seat. “The point—”

“The point is this,” Burt tapped his finger on the file. “We need a woman informant. Ms. Park seems to have what Mystic Couture looks for when they hire the sales representatives. She is exactly what we are looking for as a,” he paused, squinted as he continued, “as a partner for you on this case.”

“A what?” Mick jumped up, sending the chair crashing down behind him.

“A partner?” I questioned rubbing my hands together.
Yes, I’ll play.
I grinned at how well my little spell on Burt was playing out. “I am available every afternoon, though I do have to work at my family restaurant Agent Jasper was talking about. The Brew.”

“But sir. I don’t need a partner. I mean, she’s a—”

“I’m a what?” I watched with giddiness as Mick tried to worm his way out of my spell on Burt, where there was no wiggle room.

“This is a brilliant idea.” Burt opened the file. “Maggie, if I may,” he asked for permission to call me by my first name. I nodded. He continued, “Maggie is a perfect candidate to get on the inside. We tried with you but you got yourself shot.”

If looks could kill, Mick’s evil eye would’ve had me six feet under by now.

“Sir, she doesn’t even have training.” Mick was pulling things out of the air to try to save him from working with me.

“I do know makeup and I do know how to sell things. After all,” I straightened my shoulders, “I sell the daily specials at The Brew every day.”

“That does not make her an agent for SKUL. Sir, it took me years to move up the ranks of the force and schooling to do my job.” Mick sounded desperate.

“You are right, but you don’t have the right anatomy in order to do this job, Mick.” Burt began to write on the file. “If you don’t mind filling out this paperwork and bringing it back tomorrow, we will have your first assignment.” He slid some papers across the desk in my direction.

“But sir,” Mick protested.

Gleefully I took the papers. This might not be a good move on the witch side of things, but it kept my family safe by me being on the case and The Brew safe from Mick digging any deeper.

“Their family-owned restaurant doesn’t,” Mick stopped as though he was contemplating what he was going to reveal or the damage it would do to me. “Doesn’t serve dinner, which means she would be a great Mystic Couture hostess.”

I looked over at Mick forcing my lips to part in a curved, deep smile.

“That’s solved.” Burt stood up. He handed the file to Mick. “Now I assume you are going to go over the assignment with Maggie.”

“Sure,” Mick replied with heavy sarcasm and walked to the door. “Maggie?” He looked at me. His blue eyes were icy cold.

“Thank you, sir.” I gave a slight wave. “Be sure to stop by The Brew and I’ll treat you to our famous biscuits and gravy,” I called over my shoulder as I followed Mick back out into the hallway where blondie was eagerly waiting for him.

“Forget Friday. Let’s make it tonight.” She ran a finger down his arm. “Plus I want to see what the wound looks like.”

“I’m sorry,” I stepped in between them, “we have to go over our case.” I grabbed Mick by the hand. “Let’s go.”

The electricity that ran between our fingers was not a pinch of magic. There was a different emotion associated to the touch.

“What is it with you?” Mick jerked his hand from mine once I had him back in the elevator.

“I’m not sure what you are talking about.” I curled my fingers in my palm trying to get a reading on the jolt of electricity I’d felt.

“You know exactly what you did. You were there. You somehow got me out of the warehouse and I’ve got a good one hundred pounds on you.” He made a reference to my slight frame. “I saw you
not
driving your car.”

“I think you lost so much blood, you don’t remember.” I wasn’t about to tell him who I was even though my magic seemed to bounce off him like a small rubber ball.

“Why were you there?” He grabbed my arms, forcing me to face him.

“I had to return the package to the rightful owner.” I wasn’t going to lie. “Your informant, white brow guy, he showed up at my house.”

“Bastards.” Mick punched the elevator wall, and then doubled over in pain.

“Stop.” I held my hand on his side, hoping a little healing spell would soak in. “Take a deep breath through the pain.”

Doubled over, Mick glanced over his shoulder. Our eyes held for a second before he sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out, straightening to a standing position.

“I don’t know what you are up to, Maggie Park,” his voice broke slightly, “but you can be sure I’ll be right next to you like a little lost dog, watching your every move.”

Great.
It wasn’t like I needed another familiar.

Chapter Twelve

“That didn’t go well,” Vinnie’s voice was dull and troubled.

“It couldn’t have gone any better.” I kept my eye on Mick, who was standing outside of the SKUL secret office. The blue of his eyes was like a cold wave. “Not only am I going to get our family off the radar of whatever is going down at Mystic Couture, but I’m going to get off the radar of Mick Jasper.”

Vinnie peeled out of the parking lot. Mick shook his head in disappointment.

“I’m afraid I feel like you are getting yourself in over your head and it’s my job to make sure you don’t do those types of things in the mortal world.” Vinnie yammered on and on but I was barely listening.

I was busy trying to untie the knots in my stomach. Had I really just offered to help SKUL solve a case? Holy broomstick, I could never tell Mom or Auntie Meme or Lilith.

“Am I supposed to use mortal tools?” I questioned how I was going to help them.

“Again, I’m afraid you have gotten yourself in over your head.”

“I mean, I don’t know how to use a gun, but I’m pretty good with my finger.” I held my finger up to my lip and blew across the tip like it was the barrel of a gun. “I
could learn
how to use a gun or even a knife.” I jabbed my fist in the air in a stabbing motion. “Knifing someone might be the thing. But then you have blood splatter and that would be hard to get out of my clothes. Or.” I tapped my chin.

“Don’t even say it.” Vinnie took a left on Magnolia Street and passed Central Park on the right.

I eyeballed the amphitheater and the trashcan where I’d taken the package from. There was regret from taking the package nagging me. I wished I could take it all back, even the dare.

“I could definitely use a little magic. I’m not sure I can handle the blood and guts.” It wasn’t like I knew what my first assignment was going to be, though with magic or without, I was up for the challenge—especially since Mystic Couture was involved.

Vinnie took a left on Sixth Street and pulled up to the curb in front of Belgravia Court. All the lights in the house were on and a purple fog seeped under the door, which couldn’t be seen by the mortal eye. It was a signal that Auntie Meme was making her special cocktail for her Spell Circle meeting tonight.

“What is going on over there?” Mrs. Hubbard and a few of the neighborhood ladies were sitting on her front porch.

All of their chairs were facing toward our house, their arms folded across their bodies.

“Hi, Mrs. Hubbard.” I waved with the biggest fake smile on my face. “What do you mean?”

“There have people coming in and out of there all day,” she said. I swear her body creaked when she stood up from her rocking chair. Her right hand fiddled with the pearls around her neck, she continued, “I haven’t seen your backyard yet, but I hope those people aren’t helping your mom with the garden tour.”

The other three women lifted their chins, all high-brow, looking down on me.

“Oh no.” I waved off her accusation. “Was one real tall? Another real short?” I lifted my hand high in the air and then low to the ground.

The four women all nodded at the same time.

“Those ladies are my auntie’s book club.” I pulled that lie out of my bag of tricks. I’d never seen Auntie Meme read a thing. Their witch hiding was getting to be very sloppy, and they worried about me. “Good evening.”

“Where have you been?” Mom eyed me when I walked through the front door.

“I had a meeting.” I bit my lip not sure how to handle the situation. I grabbed a piece of meat off the platter sitting on the counter, popping it in my mouth. I waved my hand. “Mrs. Hubbard and the neighborhood hens are asking all sorts of questions about the Spell Circle coming and going along with the seeping purple fog.” I glanced around and didn’t see any of the Spell Circle members.

Lilith had a bowl full of fresh green beans, snapping them in thirds and getting them ready to boil for supper. Her mouth dropped and she nearly dropped the bowl when she heard what I said.

Mom’s eyes clung to mine, trying to analyze my reaction. The doorbell rang, saving me from any further discussion. With Mom’s eye still on me, she washed her hands, drying them on the tea towel before hurrying off to get the door.

Lilith shrugged, lifted her hands in the air and made a breaking gesture. The beans broke evenly. Lilith brushed her hands on top of them. “That was easy.”

“It wouldn’t have been if Mom didn’t leave the room.” My brow cocked. That was one of Mom’s pet peeves. She believed in magic, but she also didn’t believe in lazy magic. She’d say Lilith breaking the supper beans with magic would be lazy magic and would prefer us to use our mortal skills.

“What Mom doesn’t know.” She grinned. “Tell me how Mr. Hottie found you.”

“Luck, I guess.” I took the bowl of green beans from Lilith and walked over to the stove to retrieve the pot to boil them in. “What Mom doesn’t know,” I whispered, twisting my hands in front of me bringing the water to a boil in the pot on the stove, skipping a few steps.

“What Mom doesn’t know what?” Mom asked standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Ha!” Lilith cackled. “And now he’s here.”

I turned toward Lilith, following her line of vision over to Mom, who was standing in the kitchen doorway with Mick behind her.