Three Witches and a Killer: Wicked Western Witches Book 1 (4 page)

Staring the woman down, I was sure it was the one the preacher had called Martha.

“But please, Sheriff. He is only here to do the Lord’s work,” Martha whined.

Buck shook his head. “I’m sorry about this but assault is against the law. So is destruction of public property. I’ll overlook it if you ladies get that sign down.”

Throwing me a dirty look, the one called Allison tore the sign from the tree.

While Buck was busy handcuffing the preacher, Martha pulled something that appeared to be an old brown bottle from the apron she wore over her dress. The next thing I knew, she was splashing water in my face.

“You hussy!” she hollered as I was wiping the water out of my eyes. “That will teach you not to interfere with the Lord’s work!”

Before I could react, Buck was standing between the offending fanatic and me. He was doing his best to stop an all out battle while calling for backup on his portable radio.

As he was holding the woman back, Buck twisting his head to look at me. “Don’t do it, Sadie. You know you’ll lose your PI license if you get an assault charge.”

“Now you’re cursed!” Martha continued her tirade. “Death will follow you wherever you go.”

Just then, Deputy Sallow came running up the cobblestone sidewalk. Buck’s backup had finally arrived.

“Do you want to press charges against her too?” Buck asked me.

It was tempting, but getting the preacher put in jail was probably good enough for one day. The more reasonable part of my brain, the part that wasn’t aching to toss the woman up, actually had some pity for the trio. It was obvious they actually believed the malarkey they were spewing.

As far as their so-called curse, I wasn’t worried about that in the least. How much weight could a religious zealot put into a curse anyway?

“I don’t think so,” I told him and then got on my tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “Maybe you should just teach them a lesson. Put the old man in time out for a couple hours and then let him go.”

A discrete nod was the only sign he gave that he’d heard me. Buck was the coolest.

I was just happy to put the incident behind me and get on with my day. This was my first big case and nothing could propel my career as fast as solving a murder mystery. All I had to do was get the Petrova family to cooperate.

Chapter Four

When it rains it pours, according to my Aunt Sophie anyway. I was inclined to believe her.

Due to the fact that I’d been dense enough to let my husband keep everything in his name, believing he would always do what was best for me, I was now down one very hot cherry-red Camaro. Although the jerk never paid a dime for the car, I had no way of proving it was actually mine. The result, he and his crooked lawyer got it in the divorce and I was left with a dull red heap of a car that I’d bought from a shady car salesman.

Just thinking about it had me grinding my teeth.

I’d intended to stop by the butcher and bring Mickey D some brains, but the hell with that. It wouldn’t hurt him to go a little longer without brains. It wasn’t as if he’d actually been born with them anyway.

On second thought, maybe that was me. Either way, one of us hadn’t had any brains in that messy situation and I half suspected that I was that someone.

I was way too trusting. That’s what Aunt Selena told me and as usual, she’d been right.

If it weren’t for Dad lending me his Lexus for the day, I’d have really been pissed when my heap of a car wouldn’t start. 

All that aside, it was amazing how leather interior, air conditioning, and an awesome stereo could calm the soul. Even my Camaro hadn’t been this good.

It took all of three minutes to get out of Shadow Crossing’s city limits. It was a relief to be able to drive more than twenty-five miles an hour.

State Highway 2, also known as the Crossing Highway, went right through the middle of Red Rock Canyon. As the name would suggest, there were sheer red cliffs on both sides of the valley. The Shadow Mountains were to the south and the Shoshone reservation to the north.

Shadow Crossing was a little isolated but that was part of its charm. The outside world didn’t bother us much, with the exception of tourist season. In our case, the tourist season lasted throughout the summer and fall.

It wasn’t just morbid curiosity that drew people. Tourists were also drawn by the Gold River, which went right through our little valley. To the east of Red Rock Canyon, there were numerous ghost towns left over from the days of the Old West.

A ride in the country is always so much more pleasant if someone doesn’t step out in front of your car while you’re doing fifty miles an hour.

One minute I was enjoying the natural beauty of the horizon and the next I was staring at a huge man, dressed in some kind of fur coat.

Totally out of place for this time of year.

I was so startled that at first I couldn’t react. All I remember was thinking was that I was in deep doodoo.

And then there were his eyes. They were such a deep shade of blue; they literally took my breath away.

Coming to my senses, I hit the brakes - but not fast enough. As the Lexis fishtailed I heard a thump and knew he’d been hit.

My heart jumped into my throat.

It seemed like an eternity before the car came to a complete stop. Throwing open the door, I ran to where the man lay in the road. He looked strangely out of place, not just because he was laying in the middle of the road, but because he was dressed like some kind of old time Viking.

Kneeling next to him, I felt for a pulse. Nope, not even a faint tick.

Backing away, I grabbed my mobile phone and dialed 911. “There has been an accident on the Crossing Highway, about three miles west of town.”

“Is that you, Sadie?” Marva asked.

I’d known Marva since the day I was born. Actually, she worked part-time as a midwife and had actually helped my mother bring me into the world.

“Yeah, it’s me,” I told her as I was fighting to get air into my lungs. I was fairly sure I could feel an anxiety attack coming on. “We need an ambulance too. I ran over someone.”

I thought that maybe I should roll the guy over and start CPR, but was worried it might cause more damage.

“I’ve already sent a dispatch to Buck. They should be there any minute.”

“Thanks,” I told her, ending the call. “If I didn’t end it, she’d try to keep me on the phone.

I decided it was probably a good idea to double check for a pulse, but just then I heard the sound of sirens coming from the direction of Shadow Crossing. As Buck’s patrol car came to a stop, I ran to meet him.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“This guy stepped into the road. I couldn’t stop the car in time, but I did try. I promise,” I added, just in case there was any doubt about the fact that I hadn’t actually committed vehicular homicide on purpose.

Buck looked at my car, which was off to the side of the road. “Where’s the victim?”

“He’s right there,” I said, turning around to point at the heap in the road.

He was gone!

Impossible! I just checked for a pulse less than a minute ago.

“He was just there, I swear! And he was dead. I checked his pulse,” I informed Buck.

“We should look on the sides of the road, just in case he crawled into a ditch,” Buck yelled in an attempt to be heard over the approaching ambulance.

The ambulance guys jumped out but then looked dumbfounded when there was no victim.

“Look on the sides of the road,” Buck instructed them.

We spent the next twenty minutes looking for my disappearing victim. Finally, Buck turned away from the ditch and put his hands on his hips. “I’m sorry, but he doesn’t seem to be here. Could you have been mistaken?”

“I wasn’t mistaken. Look at the skid marks on the road,” I pointed out.

Buck cocked his head to one side. “I heard you were partying last night. Maybe there’s some residue left from that. Have you been sampling your Aunt Sophie’s moonshine? I know she has a tendency to get the ingredients mixed up sometimes.”

“Buck Hascall,” I exclaimed, folding my arms in front of me. “That was just plain mean.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I’m just saying, there’s no one dead in the road like you reported.”

“I’m well aware of that.” I frowned.

“I reckon you can call back if you happen to see him again.

“I’ll do that,” I told him without much enthusiasm. “And thanks, Buck. I’m sorry the victim disappeared.”

Buck nodded. “No problem, but you should be happy. At least you didn’t kill anyone.”

That was certainly a better way of looking at the situation. I might be totally loony, but at least I didn’t kill anyone.

After Buck and the ambulance guys were gone, I carefully pulled away from the sagebrush that I’d put my dad’s car in, flinching when I heard the brush scratching the paint.

My dad was going to kill me.

The road was completely deserted, which was fine with me. Hopefully, no one else would decide to step in front of the car.

Taking a deep breath, I turned on the radio. Immediately, bible thumper chaos blared from the speakers so I quickly hit the off button.

Had Dad suddenly gone over the edge?

He never listened to that stuff.

Wasn’t there some kind of rule against putting that fire and brimstone stuff on the airwaves during the week?

Not that I didn’t believe in a supreme power, but it was my opinion that God was a mite more forgiving in nature.

Soon the sage gave way to massive pines and aspens. There was so sign to point out the turn-off, but I knew where it was. As kids, we would drive by Draven Street and contemplate sneaking onto the property. They were rumored to have a killer swimming pool, though they also had killer watchdogs. The killer part of the swimming pool might be literally true, at least if we were to believe the official story of Canton Petrova’s death.

They were hiding the truth and I couldn’t understand why. Maybe the Petrovas were planning a revenge attack. Of course, that attack would likely be against the Trevils. As far as I knew, there was no evidence the Trevils were involved at all.

The monstrosity known as Draven Court was located several miles west of town. The Petrovas liked their privacy, as did the Trevils.

On the other hand, the Costellos didn’t mind being right in the mix of things. Our family estate, better known as Moonstone Hall, was just on the edge of Shadow Crossing. True, the old place looked like something out of a horror movie and it was haunted. I was pretty sure it was haunted, anyway. Whenever I visited the old place, I could feel unseen eyes watching my every move.

Of course, Day and I hadn’t grown up in the old homestead but my cousins had. They’d never seemed to have a problem with it.

I turned off the main highway and onto Draven Street, which was really just a dirt road. Like all three of the original Shadow Crossing families, the Petrovas had an ego as large as Texas and had apparently felt the need to name the street after their estate.

It was a short road. Actually, more of a driveway that ended abruptly at an impressive wrought iron gate. Fortunately, there were some modern amenities, such as the gate being electric with a call button attached to a gray stone pillar.

Rolling down the car window, I pushed the big red button. A moment later, a male voice came over the speaker.

“Welcome to Draven Court. How can I help you today?” he asked, sounding a bit like Boris Karloff.

“I’m here in regards to Mr. Pentrova’s drowning. I need to ask a few questions. Is there someone in the family available?”

“Are you the police?” he asked.

I knew that was coming. “No, I am a private investigator, but I have the support of the police.”

It wasn’t exactly the truth, but I knew if push came to shove, Buck would back me.

There was a long pause before Boris responded. “If you will drive forward, someone will meet you at the door.”

The massive gate swung open and I pulled forward. Suddenly I was a bit apprehensive about having that gate shut behind me. I’d heard rumors about the Petrovas. Sure, they were witches, but there were some who believed they were part of a blood cult and could actually be vampires.

But that was ridiculous! If they were vampires, how could old man Petrova have been killed?

I followed the tree-lined driveway until I came to Draven Court. Although I’d heard it was a sight, I wasn’t prepared for just how magnificent the estate really was. With its keep and spires, the mansion resembled an Old World castle.

Apparently, the Petrovas were determined to keep with the old ways, even if they had to have a castle moved all the way from Europe.

Pulling into the little parking lot at the side of the house, I killed the engine.

Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I lifted my chin.

So what if they were massively rich and kind of mysterious. They were still just witches. With a new dose of determination, I got out of the car. By the time I lifted the gargoyle knocker I was more than ready to bust someone - anyone, even the butler.

As soon as the door swung open and I came face to face with the Boris Karloff impersonator, some of my nervousness returned. The Petrova’s butler was tall, thin, and wore his gray hair combed flat against his scalp.

“Hello.” I forced a smile. “I’m Mercedes Costello.”

The butler’s brows shot up, but that was the only sign he gave that he might recognize my name.

Giving me a slight incline of his head, he said, “If you will follow me, Miss Costello.”

When I stepped through the door it was like stepping back in time. Draven Court’s massive medieval hall was impressive.

I wasn’t given a lot of time to take in all the armor and paintings before the butler motioned for me to follow him. He led me down a hall to a set of white doors with golden handles. Although the doors were beautiful, the strange and elaborate carvings in the molding around it seemed a little strange. I didn’t recognize the symbols as anything associated with witchcraft so I assumed it must have something to do with their blood cult.