Page 10
Story: Wisdom of the Witch (Keating Hollow Happily Ever Afters #2)
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Drew sat in his chair, an untouched whiskey in his hand while he battled his dark thoughts. They were all over the place, contemplating everything from marriage counseling to custody battles. Was it really just three nights ago when he’d been at the beach with Noel, the two of them seemingly more in love than ever? And now here he was, in the middle of the night, wondering how he could have been so blind.
Willful ignorance.
Wasn’t it that same night when Noel kept getting all those phone calls and she’d said it was the inn? Now he was certain she’d lied. In all their years together, even before she’d hired a manager, there’d rarely been nights where anyone called at all. Keating Hollow Inn just wasn’t that busy, and when it was, Noel usually had it covered.
Now that he thought back, Noel had been distracted for at least a couple of weeks. She’d been secretive on her phone, quickly turning it off when he’d walk into the room or turning it face down so he wouldn’t see an incoming text.
Each incident on its own hadn’t been an issue, but taken all together, he wondered how he’d been such a fool.
His phone gave a loud trill, shaking him out of his grim reality. He glanced down at it and sat up straighter when he spotted Deputy Sheriff Hunt’s name.
“Baker here. What’s the problem?” Drew asked.
“Uh, Sheriff,” Hunt said, sounding nervous. “We have a situation. You’re going to need to come to the station.”
Drew got to his feet and took his still-full drink to the kitchen. “Lay it on me.”
“There’s been a robbery at Enchanted Jewelry. We’ve made one arrest. Our other suspect is being seen by a healer after suffering a gunshot wound to the shoulder, and he will be processed as soon as Healer Whipple gives us clearance.”
“You shot a suspect in a robbery?” Drew asked. “Was he armed?”
“Yes, sir. With magic.”
“I see. It sounds like you have everything under control,” he said. “Are you sure you don’t want to handle it from here?”
“Sir, the suspect we arrested is your wife.”
Drew froze. “What did you just say?”
Hunt cleared his throat and stammered before forcing out, “Your wife Noel was caught red-handed with enough diamonds on her person to rank the crime a Class 1 felony. I can take the lead on this, but?—”
“I’ll be right there.” Drew ended the call and turned around, intending to grab his keys and go. But when he found Poppy standing in the doorway, holding the picture he’d printed of Noel and her lover, his heart sank. How had he been so careless as to leave that out where she might find it? “Poppy,” he said, gently taking the photo from her. “This is—” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence. There was no sugar-coating the obvious. Her mother was embracing another man. How did one explain that to their six-year-old? “That’s?—”
“Why is the ghost at Mommy’s inn?” Poppy asked.
“Huh?” Drew moved to crouch down in front of her.
“Is that where Mommy sent her?”
“Uh, Poppy, what do you mean? Do you see the ghost in that picture?” he asked.
“Yes,” Poppy said impatiently. “She’s right here.” She pointed to Noel.
Drew studied her, not sure what to make of his daughter’s declaration. Then he decided he just had to ask her straight out. “You don’t think that woman looks like Mommy?”
Poppy scrunched up her face. “No. Why would you say that? This is the ghost from the loft. The one who made me pour the seed on your head. She’s the reason I got in trouble and couldn’t go to my friend’s party.”
A chill slithered over Drew’s skin, and he recognized that his daughter was telling the truth. She had been all along. “Tell me about the day in the loft. How did the ghost make you dump the seed?” Daisy had said she’d watched Poppy do it. He’d believed his eldest daughter. But now he was certain he hadn’t gotten the entire story.
“She just appeared and told me to pour the seed on you. I told her you wouldn’t like it, but she got mad and then forced me to do it.”
“You mean she moved your arms and made you do it?” Drew asked, trying to understand.
“Sort of.” Her eyes turned glassy with tears when she added, “I felt like she was inside me, making me do it.”
Possession? The spirit had possessed his daughter? His voice was shaking when he asked, “Then what happened?”
“You yelled and she left.” Poppy shuddered with the memory.
Drew’s entire body was tense, ready for a fight with the spirit. “Have you felt the ghost since then, Poppy?”
She shook her head. “I think it’s because she’s in the barn and I’m in here.”
“Who’s in the barn? The ghost?” he asked.
“Yes.” Poppy looked down at her feet. “I told Mommy I couldn’t go out there. She said she’d take care of it.”
Fear consumed every inch of Drew’s heart. Noel’s phone had been in the barn. She’d been in there. She’d told Daisy she was going to garden, yet there were zero signs of that. She’d been in the barn when her phone had been shattered, and then she’d left everyone behind and was seen kissing another man. Now she was in jail for felony theft.
All of those things were so out of character for Noel. He suddenly felt ashamed for believing that she’d cheat on him.
Drew hugged his daughter tightly and said, “Thank you for telling me, sweetheart. You don’t need to worry about that ghost. Mommy and Daddy are making sure she leaves us alone for good.”
She pulled back and gave him a tired smile. “Good. Can I have some water now?”
Drew got her a drink and then tucked her into bed with Daisy and told them he was off to the station. On the way, he called Lincoln and asked if he could stay with the girls.
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Lincoln said.
“It’s Noel,” Drew said, acknowledging that Lincoln had a right to know what was going on with his daughter. “I’m about 99% certain she’s been possessed by a ghost that was occupying our farmhouse. She’s done some seriously out of character things today and is now in jail for robbing the jewelry store. I’m calling in reinforcement from the pros and hopefully by morning, we’ll have her back home, safe, sound, and ghost-free.”
Silence.
“Lincoln?” Drew asked. “You there?”
“Yeah. That was… a lot,” Lincoln said. “Possessed?”
“Possessed,” Drew confirmed. “But don’t worry. She won’t be for long.”
“Maybe I should come down to the station,” Lincoln said, and Drew could hear him moving around as if he were getting ready to do just that.
“I really would rather you go keep an eye on the girls. I know Daisy is responsible enough to watch her sister, but after everything that’s happened today, I’d feel better if they had someone they can count on right there in the house.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll head over right now.”
“Thank you, Lincoln. I appreciate it.”
“No need to thank me, Drew. I love those girls. You know that.”
“Yes, I do. I’ll call you with an update when there’s something to report.”
“I appreciate it.”
Drew ended the call and sped so fast to the station that he made it there in under five minutes. A record.
He strode in past the night clerk and right into Hunt’s office. “Where is she?”
“Cell two, by herself. I’m sorry, man,” Hunt said, getting to his feet to greet Drew. “I wasn’t going to arrest her until I spoke to you, but she insisted. Made me promise to cuff her there on the spot.”
Drew clapped him on the shoulder. “Good job, man. You did exactly the right thing.”
“I’m still not sure about that, but I’ll take it,” Hunt said.
“You should.” Drew strode down the hall and into the secured area. Just before he got to cell two, he paused and took a fortifying breath. Then he went in.
His wife was sitting on the bare bed, staring straight ahead. “Noel?” When she didn’t respond, he asked, “Or is it Clara?”
The person who occupied his wife’s body turned to glare at him with an icy chill. “How is it I spent a hundred years in one prison and now I’m right back in another?”
Ah, definitely Clara. “You probably shouldn’t have stolen someone else’s body and then robbed a jewelry store,” he said.
“Ha. Like I had a choice.” She turned to stare at the wall.
Drew called out, “Hunt?”
His deputy was there in seconds. “Yes, boss?”
“I need you to call Cash Moses and Harlow Thane. Their number is in the contacts database. Tell them my wife has been possessed.”
“Uh, boss?”
Drew met Hunt’s eyes. “Yes?”
“Are you sure? She seemed a little out of control earlier, but she definitely seemed like Noel.”
Drew opened his mouth to answer but then paused as Noel got up and walked very slowly over to the cell bars.
Hunt watched her carefully until she suddenly reached through the bars and tried to grab for his throat. He jumped back, protecting his chest with both arms. “What the hell?”
“Thought you’d like to know what it’s going to be like once you expel me from this body.”
“So… possessed then?” Hunt asked Drew.
“Possessed.”