Spell Booked (Retired Witches Mysteries Series Book 1) (17 page)

The perfect love is here for me

The only one who is meant to be.

This spell guides us to unite,

Stay with me through this tonight.

I called Elsie first thing the next morning.

It had been such a pleasure to really
be
with Joe again. He’d come home late last night, and we’d talked in roundabout language to manage a few words about magic. We’d gotten up together and eaten breakfast. Mike had slept in, of course. It was nice to have the private time together.

“I’ll see you later,” Joe said when he’d kissed me good-bye.

It was a wonderful, lingering kiss. “Yes. I love you. Good luck today.”

“You too.” He glanced around the room. “You know, your
friend
has no attorney. He’s supposed to be appointed one today at his bail hearing. They aren’t always the best in the world.”

I took the tip that he gave me. I didn’t see where there was any harm in what he’d said. I could tell he was nervous saying it. I knew it would always have to be this way.

I couldn’t tell Elsie about my big reveal to Joe. I knew she’d never told Bill. She didn’t trust him not to make a mistake, despite their long relationship.

It was one of the perks of being married to another witch, as Olivia had said. You could share that deepest part of yourself with that person.

I picked Elsie up at her house. Aleese was surprisingly pleasant. She asked me if I wanted to come in for coffee. Elsie was putting the finishing touches on her purple ensemble, including purple hat and shoes.

“We don’t have time for coffee,” she told her daughter. “There are important matters afoot.”

“Better grab an umbrella, Mom,” Aleese said. “It’s supposed to rain today. Good luck with your important matters.”

Elsie grabbed a purple-flowered umbrella from the stand near the front door. “Love you, darling. Take care.”

As we were walking out to the car, I commented on Elsie’s rejuvenated relationship with her daughter. “The two of you were very nearly friendly today.”

“She’s seeing someone. It always puts her in a better mood. I think I may have done a love spell that worked for her. Now, tell me again why we’re going to see the werewolf representative. You know they mostly don’t like us.”

“And we don’t like them.” I opened the car door for her and then went around to the driver’s side. “It’s the age-old feud between witches and everyone else.”

“There’s plenty of good reason for that,” she reminded me, closing her door after I helped her buckle up.

“I’m sure there is, but there’s even more good reason for us to try to address this issue with Larry. If he turns in jail, it could be disastrous.”

“Let’s break him out,” Elsie suggested. “There’s no reason to involve other werewolves. You know Larry is nothing like them.”

“I don’t think we should try to do this by ourselves.”

We had never been to Dorothy’s apartment. It was on Market Street, within walking distance of the library. The building had once been an old hospital during the Civil War. Now it was four apartments.

Dorothy came out with a cat carrier. She and Elsie exchanged compliments on each other’s choice of purple garments. She was wearing a white top with a purple and pink plaid skirt. Her black boots went slightly below her knee.

“I thought I’d bring my cat with me today. It might be good for him to hang out with your cats. You seem to be able to communicate with Harper, Isabelle and Barnabas. Scooter doesn’t communicate with me.”

“Scooter?”
Elsie’s tone made it clear what she thought of the cat’s name. “You’ll have to come up with something better than that. A witch’s cat needs a classic name.”

“Oh. Is that the problem?” Dorothy glanced around in the car. “Where’s my mother? Did she decide to stay home?”

Elsie and I exchanged guilty smiles.

“Olivia doesn’t really have a home anymore,” I explained. “She lives wherever her staff is.”

“Where’s that?” Dorothy played with her cat through the mesh in the carrier.

“Last night, it was Smuggler’s Arcane,” Elsie said. “Tonight, it could be wherever
you
choose to take her.”

“Was I supposed to be responsible for that?” Dorothy’s face was shocked. “I didn’t know. Of course I’ll start taking her home with me.”

“I think that’s a good idea.” I smiled at her in the rearview mirror.

“Have you heard anything from the council of witches?” Dorothy asked.

“Not yet.” I pulled the car into the parking lot in front of the shop. “Let’s pick up the staff and drop off your cat. We need to speak with the werewolf representative right away. The sooner we get Larry out of jail, the better.”

“Don’t the werewolves keep track of each other like the council of witches seems to keep track of you—I mean
us
?”

I turned off the engine. “They’re a little more
loosely
organized. I’m hoping they’ll do something about Larry. No one is going to like it if we step in.”

“If they won’t do anything,” Elsie said, “I’ll be glad to put up my house as collateral for a bail bondsman for him.”

“Really?” I asked as I got out of the car. “He has a boat. He could be gone right after we get him out.”

“He’s a dear friend.” Elsie eased out of the car. “I don’t want to leave him there. Besides, if people find out werewolves exist, witches could be next.”

I hadn’t even noticed a small man by the shop door until we were already halfway up the stairs. Elsie immediately drew her sword.

“Wait!” He held up his hand. “I’m an attorney hired by Olivia Dunst to make sure her will is honored following her recent demise.”

“He’s a witch.” Elsie sniffed, not standing down with her sword. “How can we trust him? He might be the rogue witch.”

Dorothy agreed. “We can’t invite him in. He could kill us too.”

I considered the problem. “I guess we’ll have to talk to him out here. Sorry, Mr.—?”

“Brannigan. Richard Brannigan, madam.” He held out a business card. He was barely three feet tall and wore his glasses perched on the end of his large nose. His suit was impeccably tailored. He
looked
like a lawyer.

“This is Dorothy Lane. I believe she’s the beneficiary of Olivia’s will.” I opened the shop door and grabbed the staff. “Olivia, can you come out here, please?”

She appeared on the old concrete landing outside the door. It was cracked and had plants growing in it.

“I can’t believe you girls left me behind last night. You knew I couldn’t go anywhere unless one of you took the staff. I had to spend the night with those three cats. And I think the shop has
mice
.”

Richard Brannigan’s eyebrows went up. “Am I to understand that Miss Dunst is now a
ghost
?”

Olivia noticed him for the first time. “That’s right. I was murdered before my time. You must be Mr. Brannigan. I’m Olivia Dunst. This is my daughter and sole heir, Dorothy.”

“We’re doing this out here because of you-know-who,” Elsie told her. “We don’t want to invite someone we don’t know into the shop.”

“I assure you, madam, that I have the highest references and credentials you could hope to find.” Mr. Brannigan’s voice was high-pitched and nasal.

“Yes—but can you assure us that you’re
not
an evil witch who’s stealing artifacts of magic and killing other witches?” Elsie squinted into his eyes.

“Probably not.”

“I’ll get a few chairs,” Dorothy volunteered.

“I’ll make tea.” Elsie went inside.

Dorothy released Scooter into the shop. There was immediately a chorus of howls, hisses and meows. “I don’t think the other cats are going to play nice with Scooter.”

“Well, no wonder. What kind of name is that for a cat?” Olivia asked.

“He scooted across the floor on his butt a lot when he was a kitten.” Dorothy shrugged. “It seemed like an appropriate name.”

“Let’s deal with this later,” I suggested, lifting the table. “Our time is valuable, and so is Mr. Brannigan’s.”

We brought the table and chairs out of the shop and sat on the landing within the sights and sounds of the river. There were hundreds of yachts, commercial vessels and small pleasure boats out on the water that morning. The sun poured down on the city and warmed the cool air around us.

As we drank tea, Mr. Brannigan went over all the important details in Olivia’s will. The house, money—everything she’d ever owned except the Mercedes—went to Dorothy. The ownership of the Mercedes might be up for approval by the council of witches.

Dorothy looked stunned as the change that was coming to her life began to sink in. She took the file that contained the deed to the house.

“Now, because Miss Dunst was killed prematurely, there will be a small fee for my firm to file something that will allow the mundane courts to process this claim.”

“Surely that must be only a
tiny
spell to alter what the records will say,” Olivia said.

“That’s true,” he admitted. “And my fee is
tiny
too.” He named a price.

“Wow!” Elsie’s mouth dropped open. “That’s
tiny
?”

“These things must be handled delicately.” He kept pulling papers from his satchel. “The Grand Council frowns on anything heavy-handed that might stand out and be noticed. There must be no clue left behind as to our manipulation.”

Olivia’s ghostly face puckered up like a pickle. “What? That’s outrageous! I won’t pay it. You’ve already charged me enough to give Dorothy these documents.”

“No, madam.” He handed the papers to Dorothy. “This bill is for your
daughter
.”

Dorothy took the papers from him with a smile. “It’s fine, Mother. I don’t mind. I never expected in my life to own a house. Not to mention all the valuable art and antiques you’ve collected. Thank you for leaving it to me.”

“In case you consider selling off any of those antiques or works of art.” Brannigan handed Dorothy another card. “My firm takes care of
those
delicate matters as well.”

“Why, you little buzzard!” Olivia shot straight up like an angry plume of smoke. “She is
not
interested in selling anything. You should take your cards and leave now. I’m not sure what a ghost is capable of, but I may be angry enough to find out.”

“A thousand apologies.” Mr. Brannigan picked up his briefcase. “I’ll be leaving now.”

We watched him walk down the stairs and into the parking lot before he completely disappeared.

“I’d like to learn to do
that
,” Dorothy said.

“We
all
would, dear.” Olivia went inside.

“Does that mean it’s time to give Dorothy’s cat a new name?” Elsie asked when Mr. Brannigan was gone.

“No. It means we have to pay a visit to the werewolves and try to get Larry out of jail,” I reminded her.

“Why are
we
responsible for what happens to Larry?” Olivia wanted to know. “We’re witches. As long as we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, the werewolves should take care of themselves.”

“We could at least give them a heads-up for Larry’s sake,” I told her. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“Well I certainly don’t want to be trapped here at the shop again. Those three cats never shut up last night. I could barely sleep.”

“Considering that you’re dead,” Elsie said, “I don’t think you’re supposed to worry about sleeping anymore.”

Olivia pouted as we put the chairs and table back in the shop, locked up and got in the car.

Dorothy brought the staff with her. “Maybe my mother is right. Do wolves and witches mingle much?”

Elsie got in the car and adjusted her purple hat. “Not usually. Larry is a special case. If we don’t act and he changes while in police custody, it will be a
very
big deal for him. And it will be proof that werewolves exist.”

I nodded and adjusted my rearview mirror when I sat down. “The last werewolf that changed in front of the unsuspecting public was found torn to bits the next day. The police said it was a reaction from the public. I think we all know better.”

Olivia and Elsie nodded.

“What makes you think it was something else?” Dorothy tried to find room in the backseat for the staff without setting it on top of her mother. She finally placed it on the floor.

“Because that’s the way the wolves deal with that kind of thing.” Olivia said what we were all thinking. “The witches make people who find out about them disappear, or they wipe their memories clean.”

“It’s much more humane.” Elsie put on her seatbelt.

“We all know what’s at stake.” I tried to get my troops ready for battle. “I like Larry. He’s always been a good customer.”

“And a good friend,” Elsie chimed in.

“Please!” Olivia rolled her eyes, which was quite unpleasant in her current state. “We all know why
you
want to save him!”

“Nothing wrong with a little romance, right, Dorothy?” Elsie winked at her.

Dorothy blushed.

I drove down Water Street past the ships and boats on the river. Some of the old structures had been renovated down through the years. They had a mellow kind of charm about them. Other structures looked neglected, barely standing after the hundred years or so since they’d been built.