Page 24 of Witch (Gray Wolf Security #24)

With the events unfolding in upstate New York, the home team was scrambling to be sure they had a sound legal case, just as a backup. The plan was to kill Marcus Hopkins, especially after seeing his hidden torture room.

The old stone walls of the mansion had been so thick, the cellar torture rooms so far removed from the high-traffic areas, no one ever heard what he was doing. The intention of the team was to make him suffer as he’d made the women suffer.

It was another twenty-four hours before they were all home and able to discuss what had happened. Noah went straight to bed, hoping to be rested enough to kill Hopkins himself.

“The good thing I can tell you is that he showed up at the General Store, just like we suspected. The cousins told him that the Robicheauxs come in frequently, so he’s sitting there like a fat toad waiting for his flies,” said Alec.

“Margot said he asked for credit at the store. She tried to sweet-talk him, but he wasn’t having any of it,” said Robbie.

“He wasn’t affected by Margot?” said Antoine. “She’s a stunner. Hey, she’s not there alone, is she? We need to make sure he can’t get to her.”

“No,” said Robbie. “I’m wondering if, beyond the whole witch thing, he has something against women.

Maybe a mother issue or a woman who rejected him as a younger man.

Anyway, I don’t think we have anything to worry about at the store.

We’ve got the Couvillion boys working the store this week. All of them.”

“All of them,” smirked Jean. “That should be something special. They’re all nearly as big as we are and meaner. A lot meaner.”

“They said he went inside the cabin with his bag of groceries and hasn’t been out since.

We just left him in there by himself, but Ace and the boys have eyes on him.

The rental car hasn’t moved, but the rental car company has been calling and texting him daily about returning the vehicle.

He obviously thought he’d be done with all of us, with all of this, by this time. ”

“Well, he’s not going to be in there for long. We got word about what happened in New York. That man is gonna die,” said Kade. “Noah looked like he’d been dragged through the ringer.”

“If we kill him, no doubt they’ll start asking us questions, especially since he accused Mama and the girls,” said Alec.

“You’re right, but I almost don’t give a damn,” said Antoine.

“That man is torturing and killing women for no reason other than his own paranoia. Which brings to mind our suggestion of haunting his ass. The ghosts at the mansion in New York said that he’s scared of the spirits. I say we haunt him to death.”

“We will,” said Ghost. “Believe me, we will. After what I saw in that house, there is nothing off the table for that man.”

Ian nodded toward a crowd walking toward them. It happened to be a crowd of some of the most beautiful female seniors in the world. They were strong, confident, and the look on their faces said they were determined about something.

“Oh, shit,” muttered Alec. “I know that look.”

“Please, no,” mumbled Gaspar. “No, no, no.”

“Don’t no, no, no us, big brother,” said Marie. “I think you know why we’re here.”

“I do. And no.”

“May we remind you that we are capable of managing ourselves,” said Rachelle. “We’ve avoided trouble before, met it head-on, and we can handle this as well. With your support.”

Gaspar took a deep breath and looked at Nine, Ian, and Ghost. Nodding, he turned back to the women.

“What’s your idea?” he asked begrudgingly.

“I’m glad you asked, brother dear,” smirked Camille. “We, the Robicheaux witches, would like to make a little shopping trip to the General Store. All six of us.”

Gaspar started to speak, but Claudette held up her hand.

“Don’t. We will enter the store together and leave together, driving to the rental cabin near the west side of River Road. He’ll think it’s our home. We’ll enter the house, and we won’t leave.”

“We’re going to lay our money on the fact that he’ll return later, try to take us all, or do something to the house, at which time you all will be there to stop him,” said Marie.

“With us,” said Irene, standing with Matthew, Ruby, Sven, and Teddy. But as Gaspar started to speak, several other women appeared. They were the victims of Hopkins. All of them. When Gaspar saw another older couple, he frowned, unsure of who they were.

“Mama?”

“Gaspar, this is Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hopkins. Marcus’s parents.”

“We are so very sorry for what our son has done,” said the man. “Had we known what he was doing, we obviously would have stopped it.”

“We’re sorry to be meeting you under such conditions,” said Nine. The man smiled at him.

“Forgive us, but we’re not disappointed at all. Meeting Irene and Matthew has been, well, I’d say life-changing, but that’s not the right statement.”

“My son was always strange,” said Mrs. Hopkins. “He became obsessed with my husband’s ancestor when he found information about him in a history book.”

“You’ll forgive me for asking, but there was no record of Matthew Hopkins having a wife or children,” said Ace. Michael Hopkins nodded.

“It wasn’t until his own death that his wife and children came forward to denounce what he’d done. He’d threatened them to be silent. He had two sons, who never wanted anything to do with his ideals.”

“I see,” nodded Ace. Hopkins stared at the man and smiled.

“I know what you want to ask. I don’t know my son’s sexual preference.

Honestly? If I had to guess, he’s asexual.

He never had a girlfriend or boyfriend. We thought he might be a priest one day, but I suppose that was even too much to hope for.

If you’re going to haunt our son, scare him into admitting what he’s done, we want to be there. ”

“Marie, I know that you all mean well, but this man has proven to be problematic for everyone. You have to understand that he’s kidnapped, drugged, dragged, and so much more, all these women,” said Jean.

“Linda survived,” said Adele. “She not only survived, but David has been keeping her safe.” The women all smiled, and Ian looked at them.

“What have you all done? Irene. What have you done?”

“Me! I’m an innocent ghost, Ian. You’ve been listenin’ to my son for too long.”

“I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that we’re surrounded by more than two dozen ghosts, and everyone thinks that’s normal,” smirked Kade.

“Shut up, Kade,” frowned Gaspar. “There is nothing normal about this.” Kade just laughed, shaking his head.

“It’s normal here, brother.”

“Maybe, but it doesn’t make me any happier about this suggestion,” he growled. Looking at his sisters, they stood close to him, close enough to touch his arms. Behind them were the dozens of wives supporting them.

“Gaspar,” whispered Marie.

“I’ve lost Mama and Pops, Marie. I can’t lose my sisters, too.” She hugged her brother, her sisters coming in for a group hug.

“You won’t lose any of us. You all will make sure of it. You’ll watch him, track him, have the ghosts following him, until the time is right,” she said.

“We could fix this problem,” said Grip. “You just have to ask us nicely.”

“Grip, I swear if you weren’t already dead,” frowned Nine.

“Okay, okay, relax. Using the stealth netting, we can get the girls out the back and into a boat, taking them downriver. You all can enter the house using the netting and wait for him. He’ll be shocked as shit when he arrives and you’re there.”

“I’ll disable his engine on the car,” said Sven. “He won’t be running off anywhere without us right behind him.”

“And if he has a gun?” asked Nine.

“He doesn’t,” said Ruby. “Don’t you think we’ve already been inside that cabin at the store? He ain’t got no gun. He’s got a knife, some rope, chloroform, and a few other things. He ain’t right in the head. Sorry.” She nodded toward his parents, who only gave a sad smile.

“What happens to all of them when this is done?” asked Rafe. “All the new ghosts here. Will they stay?”

“No,” said Gabe. “When this is done, they will be at peace and can leave. They’ll go to where they need to be.”

“And how do we make sure he doesn’t leave that cabin for the time being?” asked Ian.

“Oh, that’s the easy part,” smirked Suzette. “Given the new information that Mama has passed on to all of us, we’ve mixed up some wonderful little potions and had Archie and Eagle Feather inject them into his food.”

“And what do these concoctions do?” asked Gaspar.

“Let’s just say he’s getting a lot of reading done right now.”