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  He was gone.

  “Damn, familiar. Where is he when I need him?” I grumbled and tried to hold the bouncy bunny securely in my arms. “Now what am I going to do?”

  I looked between the women who were supposed to be elders of our community who should be teaching younger witches the proper ways to behave and interact with mortals. All of them looked confused and dumfounded.

  “Well?” I stared directly at each one waiting for an answer. “Well,” I sighed. “I guess I’m on my own.”

  The tap at the window caught our attention.

  “Could this night get any worse?” I asked when we noticed it was Mick Jasper tapping on the door. “Don’t say a word about this.” I held the bunny up to them as I walked backward toward the door. “What are you doing here?” I asked Mick when I opened the door.

  “Taking a walk.” He peeked around me before his eyes settled on the bunny. “New friend?”

  “Something like that.” I sucked in a deep breath.

  “That coffee smells good.” Mick walked past me. “What good book are we reading this month?”

  “Tale of Five Witches,” Charmary spoke up. She was as thin as a cake of soap and six feet tall. Her grey hair made her look older than she was.

  “Hhmmm.” Mick eased down on the stool that had been recently occupied by Georgette. “I don’t think I know that one.”

  “It’s a good one.” Flora cackled. Her five-foot-five-inch frame bounced up and down as she was so proud of her answer.

  “It’s not that good,” I answered in a sarcastic tone.

  “Book club is over.” Auntie Meme held her broom, brush side up.

  The Spell Circle got into a circle and lifted their brooms in their right hands, getting ready to knock the sticks on the black and white tiles to transport them back to wherever it was they had been meeting.

  “Ahem,” I cleared my throat. Mick looked at me and watched as I walked around the counter to get the coffee. “I couldn’t decide what to do after I left the hotel so I came on down here and made some coffee to go over some clues.”

  I kept his attention as the Spell Circle disappeared.

  “You like it black right?” I asked and set the bunny on the counter.

  “I’m sure the board of health wouldn’t approve of this.” He pointed to the bunny and dragged the cup of coffee toward him.

  “Watch the bunny.” I headed to the kitchen to look for a box and when I didn’t see one, I snapped one right into my hands, along with some bunny food and bedding.

  “Where did that come from?” Mick asked when I stuck the box on the counter and placed the bunny in it. “Where did the book club go?”

  “I brought this with me and was getting it ready in the back before you came in. The Spell. . .” I swallowed and picked up my cup of coffee, “The book club left out the door.”

  I looked at the door and noticed Vinnie was back. My eyes narrowed as my mind wondered where he’d been. Did he see the person in the hat again?

  “Now, you need to tell me what you meant when you said ‘she shouldn’t have’ before Georgette came into Angela’s room.” I wasn’t going to let him leave until I had some sort of answers.

  After he hesitated and continued to drink his coffee, I finally said, “I’m your only hope at this point.”

  His chest heaved up and down. He bit the corner of his inner lip as it looked like he was contemplating telling me something.

  “Spill it. I’ve got all the time in the world and the coffee to go with it.” I grabbed the pot and refilled our cups. “Why don’t you start as far back as your time in the Army?”

  “How did you know that?” he asked. “All of my information is confidential.”

  “Burt hired me for a reason and it wasn’t just for my good looks,” I joked. “But I’m going to have to say that this killer is going to keep going until they’re stopped.”

  “What does that have to do with my past?” He continued to resist telling me what I wanted to hear.

  “Because this is personal about you and I’m trying to help get your badge back.” I picked up my mug and took a sip.

  “I don’t know how my history is going to help, but here it goes.” Mick looked off into the distance. “I went straight into the Army ten years ago, the day I graduated from high school.”

  He continued to stare off, his voice monotone.

  “There was nothing good about going to Iraq. There was gunshots, IEDs, death. That was it. I’d let not only myself down, but also I let a very good friend die. I knew after my tours were over that I still needed to help keep crime down, but decided to become a member of SKUL after they’d given me the psychiatric evaluation.” He shook his head. “As a matter of fact, I had my first appointment with the SKUL psychiatrist Burt set me up with this afternoon. He gave me that same quiz. It brought back so many memories.”

  “I know this is hard.” I placed a hand on top of his. Our eyes met. I felt an eager affection coming from him. There was no way he was guilty of these murders. “But you might say something to uncover something or someone that might be trying to get even with you after all of these years.”

  “God, Maggie.” He dragged his hand from under mine and stood up. “Years and years of solving crimes. There could be multiple people who want to kill me.”

  “But that someone has to know who you really are because when we work a case, we are mostly undercover.” This was how I knew this was more personal than professional. “Why did you go to the hotel to see Angela today?”

  “How did you know that?” he asked.

  “I have my ways. And it won’t be long until the police get the warrant for the security cameras,” I warned.

  “Fine.” He paced back and forth across the diner floor. “Angela called me last night. She asked me to come have a glass of wine. She wanted me to slip up the back because she didn’t want anyone to see me or think we were an item. She’s a private person like that.” He paused. He smiled. “Anyways, she said that she was being stalked by a man that claimed she stole his ideas. She asked me to investigate. I went back to the office and did a little digging around. The particular painting she claimed the man said was his own, was in fact his.”

  He pulled a piece of paper out of his pants pocket. He handed it to me.

  “Franklin Bingo. The artist. I contacted him and he told me she lifted the painting and claimed it as hers.” He sighed.

  “The Ville?” I asked.

  “Yep.” He confirmed my suspicion. “And I went back to tell her that I’d confirmed it through multiple sources—Mr. Bingo’s sources along with the original painting—she had a meltdown. She got angry. Said that if I let this become public that she’d be finished. She confessed that she didn’t paint it, her assistant, Georgette Treminski had in fact painted it. When the art agent came to see Angela, she fell in love with The Ville and sold it for millions of dollars.” He glanced at me. “Now Georgette is missing.”

  “Really?” I drew my eyes to the bunny in the box.

  “Yeah. Now they are looking into her for killing Angela and making this a completely unrelated case to me.” He stopped pacing. “That puts us back to square one.”

  I wanted to scream that he was wrong. There was no way that Georgette did it or skipped town. I ran my hand down the fur of the big brown-eyed rabbit and wondered just how long it was going to be until this spell ran its course. This little bunny had some secrets and she’d been about to tell me everything before Auntie Meme and her Spell Circle ruined it.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Whose big idea was it to turn Georgette into a bunny?” I asked when I stepped through the kitchen door with the Georgette and her box underneath my arm.

  Auntie Meme and her Spell Circle were sitting around the kitchen table with Mom. They’d exchanged their witch hats for Santa hats. The kitchen didn’t look any different from when I’d left earlier this morning. And it was the only room Mom was in charge of.

  “We don’t have t
ime to worry about some bunny.” Auntie laughed as though she’d just made a joke. “Your mother is having a crisis.”

  “Crisis?” I asked and set the bunny and her box on the ground.

  Riule crept over and looked into the box. The bunny backed itself up in the corner of the box.

  “Riule, not for you,” Mom scolded. He growled at Georgette before he jumped up into Mom’s lap.

  “What’s your crisis, Mom?” I asked and sat down in the chair next to her.

  “I’m broken.” Her lips thinned with displeasure. “I can’t seem to decorate or call up an inkling of creativity unless it’s for Halloween.”

  “You mean you don’t have creativeness like mortals do? And that you can’t decorate unless you snap your fingers?” I asked.

  “Yes. That’s exactly it.” She planted her elbows on the kitchen table and rested her chin in her hands. “I looked at your tree and the decorations you did in the snowman room.”

  “You mean the family room?” I asked.

  “Yes. Then I saw the entrance and what your auntie did with the winter wonderland theme.” Mom was right. Auntie Meme’s entryway was magical.

  She’d replaced the bright white light bulbs with icy blue ones and draped tiny strings of blue lights all over the ceiling. The Christmas trees she used had white frosted tips and crystal snowflakes hanging down from the branches. There were big presents wrapped in silver and white wrapping paper that sparkled with glitter and made you feel like you were in the best place on Earth.

  “And you think that we did that in the little time we were here the mortal way?” I asked.

  Auntie Meme sat in the chair next to Mom, but Mom’s back was to her. She dragged her finger across her throat and her eyes widened, telling me to hush.

  Mom jerked around when she noticed I was looking over her shoulder. Auntie Meme cleared her throat and straightened up in the chair as she curled her hand around a cup of special brew they made just for the Spell Circle.

  “Auntie?” Mom eyed her. There was no way she could deny the evidence.

  “Mom, really? You think that we have the gene in our body to just decorate for Christmas?” I wiggled my finger above my head. My pointy hat appeared and floated above my head. I dragged my finger in a downward motion to rest it on my head. “We are witches. We love black cats, pumpkins, cauldrons, cobwebs, spiders and all things mortals associate with Halloween.”

  “Maggie, I know our heritage,” she retorted in cold sarcasm. “We live among the mortals and you know that I want to fit in just as much as Mrs. Hubbard.”

  “You think that old bat fits in?” Auntie cackled. “Well, if you stop this nonsense about not decorating our way, I don’t have to put up with her nonsense at The Brew.”

  “We could give our little bunny friend a friend.” Charmary lifted her brows up and down mischievously.

  “No!” I stuck my hand out. “No more bunnies.”

  All of us looked over at the box. Riule still had his eyes on the frightened little bunny.

  “Don’t tell me.” Mom planted her head in her hands and shook it back and forth. “Is that a mortal?”

  “Yes. A mortal that is vital to my Life’s Journey,” I growled. “They turned her into a bunny.”

  “Miss Kitty told me someone was in the diner and we showed up.” Auntie always felt like she could justify using magic on mortals. “It’s not like she’s going to remember.”

  “She might not remember, but I need her right now. Not in a few hours when she comes to.” There was a faint twinkle in the depths of Charmary’s eyes. “What?” I asked when the Spell Circle started to fidget in their seats.

  “I need to get going, Meme.” Pixie stood up and waddled to the door. “Good to see you, Fae,” she addressed my mother and didn’t look at me.

  There was an uncertainty that aroused in me.

  “Shoowee, look at the time.” Flora looked at her naked wrist as if she were reading the time. “I’ve got to get my broom serviced in the morning.”

  Charmary lifted her gangly arms in the air and let out a big yawn. “It’s almost my bed time.” She stood up.

  The three of them stood at the door and stared at Glinda. Pixie’s eyes opened wide and she gave Glinda a slight nod.

  “Oh yeah,” Glinda pushed herself up to standing. “It’s late.”

  “Oh, no.” I jumped up and ran over to the door to block them from exiting, though they probably weren’t going to use the door. “Is something going on here?”

  Collectively the four of them shook their heads and mouthed no. Their foreheads wrinkled. Auntie Meme got up and walked over.

  “Okay, girls. I’ll see you next week.” She started to push them out the door.

  “Wait!” I yelled. “When I mentioned the spell on Georgette, you all got jittery.”

  Each of them looked in a different direction.

  “Are you telling me that the spell you put on her is not going to wear off in a few hours?” My eyes narrowed more and more as I took turns looking at each of them.

  My annoyance with them took over my body, my hands started to shake.

  “Calm down, Maggie.” Auntie put her hand on my arm. I jerked it away.

  “What is wrong with you witches?” I sucked in a deep breath. “She was just sitting on a stool at the counter.”

  “I understand that, but when we didn’t see anyone we knew, we thought she was robbing the place.” Charmary tried to explain why they did such a deep spell.

  “Did she look like she was a criminal?” I asked.

  “Well, no.” Pixie shrugged. When Glinda nudged her with her elbow, Pixie changed her stance. “I mean you never can be so sure. I mean, she was trespassing.”

  “She was with me.” I pointed to myself and then drew my finger toward Georgette. “Now, undo it.”

  “We can’t just undo it.” Auntie straightened herself with dignity.

  “You better get in your little circle.” I gestured a circle with my finger. “And figure it out.”

  “Oh, dear.” Glinda wrung her hands. “Oh, dear.”

  “It’s not really that simple.” Mom stood up and walked over to the box. She bent down and picked up the bunny. She looked it in the eyes. “When you undo a spell that doesn’t have a time restraint, you are altering the recipient’s already altered destiny that’d been forced on them.”

  “I don’t care about her destiny. I care about what she was going to tell me before these five decided to create a spell where no spell was needed,” I spat. “I’d be ashamed,” I scolded them.

  They looked between each other.

  “What?” They had some sort of secret between them. I could feel it. “Tell me.”

  “One of us could reverse the spell, but it puts us on probation for the next three months,” Pixie said.

  “Pixie,” Charmary groaned. “Hush.”

  “Yeah, hush.” Glinda’s face scrunched in disapproval.

  “It should be Glinda.” Flora pointed to Glinda. “She’s the one who did it because her grandchildren want a bunny.”

  “Yep, Glinda should be the one.” Charmary folded her arms as she sold out her friend. “Right Meme?”

  “As right as rain.” Auntie Meme dragged her chin up and down in a dramatic way. “Yep.” She pointed to Glinda. “Her.”

  “Well, I never,” Glinda cried out. “Each of you were chanting for me to do it. We’d have never been in the situation if it weren’t for you.” She jutted her finger at Auntie.

  “I’m two hundred years old and half crazy. Since when have any of you listened to me?” she asked.

  Mom and I sat back and enjoyed the show as the Spell Circle was falling apart.

  “What are you talking about?” Pixie’s nose curled. “We always listen to you.”

  “Yeah, so you should be the one to go on probation,” Glinda suggested.

  “Um,” I started to speak up for Auntie Meme, but Mom stopped me. She lifted her finger to her lips, winked and shook her head
.

  “Let them sort this out,” she leaned over and whispered. “This is all their fault.”

  Then an all-out war started between the women. Sparks were flying in the air as they flung their hands around. Georgette backed up in the box corner and even Riule darted out of the room. Mom simply sat with a smile on her face, legs crossed and swinging slowly.

  “What about you? You are the one who said that we needed to stop our meeting when Miss Kitty showed up even after I said it could wait.” Auntie looked at Charmary.

  “Me? It was your diner that was getting broken into.” Her gangly features squished up on her face.

  A rush of wind swirled around us in a small tornado pattern settling into a puff of glitter with Lilith standing in the middle.

  “That was an entrance.” Flora stuck her hand on her hips.

  “I knocked on the door so I didn’t hit you, but y’all were too busy fussing with each other to even notice.” Lilith tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “A bunny!” She squealed and walked over to Mom where Georgette was shaking with deep-set fear.

  “No, that’s Georgette Treminski. Long story short.” My finger dragged in front of the Spell Circle women. “I had taken Georgette to the diner for coffee and Miss Kitty told them someone had broken into the diner. They showed up while I was in the kitchen and turned her into a bunny with no spell end time.”

  “And according to the old witchy ways, whoever did the spell can’t undo it unless they go on probation which means no. . .” Lilith wiggled her fingers in the air. “Bummer.” The edge of her lip cocked as she gave a sympathetic look at Georgette.

  Lilith was always so much better than me about the history of the witches. She always studied and read all the material when we were in witch school while I’d wanted to have sleepovers and friends the mortal way. Witch school was at night after we’d gone to a full day at mortal school. Lilith pretty much slept through mortal school, whereas I was eager. The reverse for witch school.

  “You do know about that new invention for spell reversal if it’s within the first three hours.” Lilith might’ve just saved Georgette.