A Witch Before Dying: A Wishcraft Mystery (23 page)

“Hey, if I’m going to be a PI, I have to learn the lingo, right?”

He rolled his eyes. “You being a PI is not a good idea.”

I lifted an eyebrow and narrowed my eyes, ready to fight it out.

Quickly, he raised a hand in surrender. “I should be going. I’ll see you there?”

Nodding, I just hoped I wouldn’t run into the Peeper on my way.

W
hen I ran upstairs and dropped off the dogs, I was surprised to find Ve missing.

Mimi was sleeping on Harper’s bed, and my sister was sorting books on the shelf that had fallen on Marcus. He was working on trying to get Tilda out of her cage.

If that didn’t make him a keeper in Harper’s eyes, I didn’t know what would. She was a pet lover at heart.

I couldn’t hear any hissing, but that didn’t mean Marcus could let his guard down and I told him so.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m kind of a Cat Whisperer.”

We both stared at him.

“It’s true,” he said. “Watch.”

He lay down on his belly and put his head dangerously (in my opinion) close to the opening of the cage. “Come on out, sweetheart,” he cooed. “I’ve got a nice can of tuna for you. The good stuff.”

I stole a look at Harper. She had an oooey-gooey look in her eye.

Not wanting to openly gloat, I hid my smile of triumph. Unless Marcus did something to screw this up, his chances with Harper had just skyrocketed. Especially after Tilda pranced out of the cage as if she had been planning on it all along. Marcus scooped her up, and damn if I couldn’t hear her purrs across the room.

Cat Whisperer, indeed.

I explained where I was off to and asked, “Where’s Ve?”

Harper set a book on the shelf. “She went back to As You Wish to cast the protection spell.”

Glancing at my watch, I saw it was just past twelve thirty. “Alone?”

“She called Terry. He’s meeting her there.” Her eyes twinkled. “It didn’t sound like he minded at all when she called to ask.”

I would think not. According to Ve, Terry Goodwin had been trying to win her back for years. “Really? Terry?”

Tilda had settled herself nicely in Marcus’s arms. He said, “She might have been encouraged by your sister.”

“Harper!” I gasped.

“What?” she asked innocently.

“Ve’s getting married on Sunday.”

She shrugged. “She’s not married yet. I think she should explore all her options before settling down.”

Ve had been married four times already. Her options had been vastly explored. But I didn’t have time to argue with my sister.

I checked on Mimi, who was sleeping with her arms thrown over her head. Missy had curled up next to her and looked as happy as could be. Higgins had claimed the couch—the entire couch, and I knew I didn’t want to be the one to evict him from his spot. Which left me wondering where the rest of us were going to sleep.

It was a problem to worry about later. Right now, I wanted to get over to see Yvonne. I vaguely explained to Harper what I was doing, glossing over the break-in as no big deal, and headed out.

Five minutes later, I stood in front of Patrice’s house. There were already two police cars in front of the Merricks’ house, but neither one was Nick’s, and I didn’t see any sign of him.

In the interest of keeping up false pretenses, I planned a quick walk around Patrice’s house before I tried to find Yvonne. As I approached the back deck, which thankfully was lit from a globe light near the door, I stopped short.

There was broken glass on the decking. I zeroed in on the back door. The glass in the upper part of the door had been smashed and a hand-sized hole was clear. Just big enough for someone to put their arm through and unlock the door from the inside.

Carefully, I stepped over the broken shards and pushed the back door open. From a quick glance, nothing appeared amiss. But that seemed to be the Peeper’s MO.

“Not here, too,” a raspy voice said from directly behind me.

Letting out a squeal, I grabbed my heart, turned, and found Yvonne.

She held out a hand and steadied me. “I’m sorry. I thought you heard me coming. Did you find something?”

Adrenaline rushed, pricking my skin, making my heart throb. “The house has been broken into again.”

“Seems that there’s a spree going on. Nick Sawyer just left on another call.”

Ah, that’s why Nick hadn’t been across the street.
Desperate
. The word echoed in my head. “Was anything taken at your house?”

“No, I don’t think so. I woke up and found the intruder pawing through my jewelry.”

I felt my eyes widen. “You saw the Peeper?”

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” she said, rambling on. “At first I thought I was dreaming.”

“Understandable.”

“I wondered if I was seeing things,” Yvonne said, shaking her head. Her blond hair had been pulled back in a headband, and the chain that normally held her reading glasses was absent from her neck.

My curiosity was killing me. “Did you recognize the Peeper?”

“Oh no. It was much too dark, and the Peeper was dressed all in black, hooded head to toe.”

I deflated.

“The Peeper stood there, picked up a piece of jewelry one at a time, mumbled something, then went on to the next piece. It was very strange. When the Peeper turned and found me staring, the Peeper jumped a little bit. Kind of like you did a minute ago. That’s when I realized it was very real and started screaming.”

“You saw the Peeper’s face?”

“No, thanks to a ski mask.”

Damn. “What did Roger do?”

“He slept through the whole thing,” she said, outraged. “He can barely keep his eyes open even now.”

“He slept through the whole thing? Really?”

“Not even a snore, which is very unusual for him—trust me.” She yawned. “I think he may be coming down with something—he wasn’t feeling well at dinner. Maybe that’s the explanation.”

I had a sinking feeling. “Did you go out to eat?”

Looking left and right, as if afraid to be overheard, she said, “Between us, Darcy, I brought in takeout. But Roger thinks I made it.”

Let me guess. “From the Stove?”

“If Roger finds out, I’ll never hear the end of it. You know how he feels about Jonathan.” She made a face. “Usually the food there is above reproach, but I couldn’t eat much of mine—something was off with it. But Roger cleaned his plate, as usual.”

I didn’t mention the food poisoning going around and hoped Roger had an iron stomach.

She gave a little cough. “My throat is still sore from all that screaming.” She smiled. “But you’ve never seen a person run so fast.”

“The Peeper didn’t take anything?”

“Not a thing. Strange, isn’t it?”

“Not if the person was looking for the Anicula and didn’t find it.”

Her face paled in the moonlight. “You think?”

I nodded and looked at the broken back door. “I think the Peeper was here, too.”

I thought about what this meant. The Peeper was on a crime spree.

“We should let the police know about this,” Yvonne said, motioning to the back door.

I wasn’t sure if I’d get another opportunity tonight, so I said, “Before we do that, I wanted to ask you something.”

Puzzled, she lifted her eyebrows. “Me?”

Crickets chirped in the dark woods around the house. Mosquitoes buzzed annoyingly. “I spoke with Andreus Woodshall this afternoon. He told me quite a story about the Anicula.”

Frown lines deepened around her mouth. “I bet he did.”

“Is it true?”

She let out a deep breath and seemed to shrink inside herself. “That Geer and Roger dug up that stupid amulet? Yes, it’s true. Fools.”

Shocked, I said, “
Roger
helped Geer?”

Leaning against the deck rail, she stared into the sky. “Did Mr. Macabre neglect to mention that?”

He hadn’t mentioned it. And I wondered why. Also, why had Roger willingly helped Geer steal the amulet with what Geer had in mind? I could only surmise that Roger had had no idea Geer planned to wish that Patrice fall in love with him—and leave Roger brokenhearted in the process.

Yvonne swatted away a bug. “Then I suppose he didn’t mention my role in it, either?”

She’d stunned me. “
What?
”

How had she even known about the amulet? She’d been a mortal at the time…. Then I remembered that magical charms weren’t solely limited to Crafters. Because she had known about the Anicula at the time didn’t necessarily mean she had known about the Craft. That knowledge had obviously come later—when she married Roger.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “I knew what Geer had planned. I could have stopped him. And I didn’t. Andreus has never forgiven me.”

“You and Andreus were friends?”

She nodded. “Best friends. I betrayed that.”

I put the pieces together. “Because you wanted Roger for yourself?”

Slowly, she nodded. “Geer knew how I felt about Roger, and I knew how he felt about Patrice. He told me all about his plan to steal the Anicula and wish that Patrice would fall in love with him. I didn’t tell a soul. I wanted Roger and Patrice to break up because I knew Roger would come to me for comfort. However, I drew the line at actually helping Geer get the amulet.” She shuddered.

“Grave robbing, you mean?”

A moth buzzed her head as she winced. “Yes.” Her eyes fluttered closed. “It’s so shameful. But because I refused to help and Geer couldn’t do it alone, he tricked Roger into helping him. Roger never saw what was coming.”

But Yvonne had known. And she’d been waiting. I didn’t know how to ask what I was thinking, so I blurted it out. “You didn’t mind being Roger’s second choice?”

Looking into the distance, she shook her head. “No. And I still don’t. I love the big ape. I just wish he loved me.”

One of the Wishcraft Laws was that I couldn’t interfere
with love, so I felt safe in not granting that wish. “He doesn’t?”

Her jaw quivered, but her voice was firm. “He never stopped loving Patrice. When Geer made the wish that he and Patrice fall madly in love, he neglected to wish for Roger’s happiness. It’s why Roger doesn’t like Elodie.” She gave me a sad smile. “Every time he looks at her, he sees Geer and is reminded all over again what he lost.”

My mind spun. “Did Patrice know about Geer’s wish?”

“Not for years. He finally confessed what he’d done in a letter to be read after he died.”

I imagined that had come as quite a shock. “But she’d been happy with him, right?”

“A picture-perfect life.”

But had it been? Really? Could the Anicula really hold so much power that it could snap Patrice out of love with Roger and in love with Geer in a flash?

It gave me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it, about how Patrice had had no say in the matter.

I pushed my luck with Yvonne. “Why did you and Patrice have a falling out?”

“I wanted a wish, and she refused to grant it. Patrice rarely granted wishes. Not her own, or anyone’s. She feared the power in that stone. She would wear it in a little pouch around her neck, day and night, taking it off only to shower. She was afraid to let it out of her sight. Rightfully so, I guess, if it really was stolen, as she said.”

It had been stolen six months before she went missing.

Around the same time she and Jonathan had broken up.

The same time she and Elodie had had some sort of fight and stopped talking to each other.

“Do you know why Patrice and Elodie had a fight around that time?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I’ve asked Connor, but he won’t say. And Elodie won’t talk about it, either.”

“But Patrice and Elodie reconciled before Patrice went missing, right?” It was what Starla had told me.

“Oh yes. About three months before. Elodie’s and Connor’s wedding drew them back together. All had been forgiven, whatever it was.”

They had gone months without talking to each other…. It made me wonder if things might have been forgiven but not forgotten.

I still wanted more information from Yvonne. “What wish did you want from Patrice?”

“It wasn’t for me. It was for Connor and Elodie. They were having a rough patch, and I wanted to wish them happiness together, a life full of love, laughter, babies. Patrice refused. I couldn’t believe she wouldn’t do it. Not only because a wish like that would guarantee her child’s happiness, but because she’d denied me the only favor I ever asked of her. It ruined our friendship.”

I could see why Yvonne, of all people, would be upset. She was a control freak. If she had an opportunity to guarantee Connor’s happiness, she was going to take it.

But I was slightly amazed that Yvonne seemed to glaze right over the fact that she had helped sabotage Patrice’s relationship with Roger to have him for herself.

If I were Patrice, I might hold a grudge about that.

But why hadn’t Patrice granted the wish? Didn’t every parent want happiness for their child, even if the person asking for the wish wasn’t someone she cared for? “Why did she refuse?”

“She said that if the two were meant to be, they were meant to be. That she wouldn’t interfere with Elodie’s life like her life had been interfered with. She wanted to make sure that if the two were going to be together, it was because they wanted to be together. Not because she wished it so.”

“You said Patrice hardly ever granted wishes. Do you know of any she did grant?”

“Only one, while she was dating Jonathan Wilkens.” Closing her eyes, she sighed. “What a tangled web we weave.”

“When we practice to deceive? Who was being deceptive?” Or rather, who wasn’t being deceptive around here?

“Roger may be a blowhard about a lot of things, but one thing he’s right about is how Jonathan ruined Patrice’s life.”

“How so?”

“After Geer died, Patrice had very little interest in dating. A couple of years passed and she started to get a little crush on Jonathan.” She smiled. “Maybe not so little. Big. A big crush. He knew it, but didn’t really act upon it. Not until he needed something from her.”

Something rustled in the grass near the deck. I looked down and saw bright eyes looking up at me. The tabby.

“
Meow
,” it said.