“What do you mean a witch?” she asked carefully.
“Exactly what I said. Audra’s grandmother was into some weird shit, like voodoo and things like that, and she taught her all about it. But if you ask me, there’s no difference between that and witchcraft.”
“I don’t know about that,” Rafe said. “I mean, I believe you can use charms and trinkets to make things happen, but saying some crazy combination of words to put a curse on someone is pretty far-fetched.”
Kenzie felt it wouldn’t help if she declared that this whole scenario seemed very far-fetched. It felt like she was being led on a wild goose-chase. For the first time, she was in a major hurry to solve a case, not to save someone, but to get the preposterous thing done with. She couldn’t believe she had to stoop to this level to become a PI.
Still, she had to at least try to take this seriously if she expected to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. So she swallowed her pride and pressed on.
“What makes you think she’s a witch because her grandmother taught her voodoo? I mean, have you ever seen her do things like that? And have they worked?”
“A lot of times, yeah.”
“Like what?”
“She has this weird voodoo doll that she sticks pins in. And she’ll get someone’s hair and put it on the doll, then stick these pins into it to make things happen. For Sean, she mixed her hair with his on that thing and stuck the pin in the doll’s head to make him think about her.”
“And you saw her do this?”
“Yeah, she showed it to me. She was rubbing it in. Sean was engaged to me but she made him always go to her.”
“Sounds like a very twisted love triangle.”
“You don’t know the half of it. I know she’s the one responsible for all this. I bet that’s why Sean’s back; he’s trying to tell me it was all her doing to begin with, and she’s such a selfish slut that she probably put some sort of curse on him so she’s the only one that can see him.”
Kenzie looked heavenward. This was deep. She’d heard of jealous girls and infatuation to the point of stalking and obsession, but this? She never thought she’d hear anything like this.
And though it pained her to tell her so, Kenzie said softly, “Well, that’s something, but without proof, we can’t do anything with Audra. We can’t arrest her for practicing voodoo, especially if you, the distraught fiancé involved with a love triangle, are the only witness. And we don’t have any proof that the voodoo worked; Sean could have easily been spending time with Audra on his own. Magic may not have had anything to do with it. And of course, there’s no evidence that she caused that accident, either.”
“Sean would never cheat on me. He wasn’t that kind of person. Ask anybody.”
“I will. I’ll pay Audra a little visit myself.”
Morgan gasped and she leaped forward, clinging to Kenzie’s arm as though she were a small child.
“Don’t go there,” she warned. “Don’t see Audra. Who knows what she’ll do to you!”
“I guarantee she can’t do anything to me that hasn’t been done already. You wouldn’t believe the number of very tight spots I’ve been in.”
“Must’ve been a tight fit,” Rafe muttered under his breath. Kenzie spun around and shot him a death glare so intense that Sage started growling at him. She knew what he’d said.
“Screw you,” she snapped before she could stop herself. “Without me, you wouldn’t even have a job right now to ‘hunt’ this ghost. I managed to uncover a possible motive and explanation. Oh, and last time I heard, Morgan had fired you so you wouldn’t hurt Sean. So I think we’re done here.”
“That’s right,” Morgan agreed. “I won’t let you hurt Sean. If you want to hurt someone, take care of that damn Audra once and for all. I’m tired of her always poking her nose in my business, and now this.”
Kenzie could see fury blazing in Rafe’s eyes, but she ignored that as finally she said goodbye to Morgan and promised to do what she could to help her, having no more questions for her. Rafe got to the door first, where he spun around and said, “I don’t care what either of you say. I’m taking that ghost down.”
Kenzie just looked at him with a bemused expression on her face as Morgan yelled an obscenity at him, shrieking at him to leave.
“How do you plan to do that?” Kenzie asked once they were outside. “I doubt she’ll let you back in the house to take out her dead fiancé’s spirit. If that’s what it really is. For all we know, it could be someone with telekinesis screwing with her.”
“Yeah, you keep thinking that. I’m leaving.”
“Fine, go ahead. I’m going to actually work on this case.”
“That’s what your job is.”
Kenzie fumed and stomped toward her car. Sage let out a menacing growl at Rafe before jumping into the front seat. Kenzie sped off, beyond agitated. Who did Rafe think he was? He supposedly made a living by getting rid of ghosts, which she didn’t even believe in. That was strange considering she’d been acquainted with various other mythical creatures, but this just didn’t seem probable.
Her original plan was to return to the hotel, but then Kenzie decided to go talk to Audra Spellmeier instead. Unfortunately, she didn’t have her address, so she had to call the chief to acquire it. Thankfully, it appeared he hadn’t talked to Rafe yet.
Once she programmed Audra’s address into the GPS, Kenzie was off, trying not to think of Rafe’s snarky attitude.
As she drove, Kenzie was surprised that Carson hadn’t mentioned Audra’s being a witch. Perhaps Morgan wasn’t being serious about her accusation. It made sense that if her fiancé was involved in a love triangle, she’d feel ill-tempered against the other woman.
Finally, Kenzie found herself parking in front of an old-fashioned Victorian home. It looked fitting for a witch to reside in, but Kenzie brushed that thought out of her head. She and Sage trotted up the porch steps and she rang the doorbell. Kenzie didn’t know what she was expecting to answer the door, but her imagination made her think of some sort of succubus based on what Morgan said. Or perhaps a scary-looking woman with green skin. But the young woman that answered the door looked kind and welcoming, even with a shock of fiery red hair and piercing emerald-green eyes.
“Can I help you?” she asked kindly.
“Hi, I’m Kenzie Howell, and I’d just like to ask you a few questions about Sean Plankinton.”
“Sean? Did you find out what happened? How do you even know about him?”
“Well, I’m basically a detective, and I was called here to help figure out some, ahem, ghost sightings.”
“Ghost sightings? That sounds scary. Please, come on in.”
Kenzie obliged and Sage followed her. Audra seemed to notice her for the first time.
“Uh-oh, you have a dog? That might be a problem.”
“How so?”
As if on cue, a black cat trotted into the room. Sage, however, wasn’t bothered by it at all. She was intelligent enough to know not to chase or harm cats. Audra found this intriguing, watching Sage sit there calmly while her cat was not more than five feet away.
“Wow, that dog’s really well-behaved,” Audra observed. “Sorry, I just assumed…”
“It’s okay, I understand.”
“Well, anyway, have a seat. I want to hear about Sean.”
Kenzie sat down on the nearby sofa and nonchalantly took in her surroundings. She’d expected a supposed witch, or voodoo practitioner, to have odd relics sitting around, like perhaps a giant cauldron or even a spell book. But she saw nothing of the sort. It just looked like a nice cozy, old-fashioned Victorian home. Maybe Morgan was in a state of shock and throwing out asinine excuses regarding her fiancé’s death and infidelity.
Audra sat down next to Kenzie and gazed at her intently. Something in her eyes made Kenzie feel almost hypnotized. They were so bright and brooding, and very mysterious.
“What did you find out about Sean?” Audra prodded.
“Well, I heard he was in a terrible car accident,” Kenzie began carefully. “I also heard that he was…involved with you.”
“He was my boyfriend. I loved him. I don’t know what made his car go off the road like that.”
“You two were dating?”
“Yeah, and we were talking about getting married.”
“I see. Well, I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
Kenzie shifted uncomfortably. She hated to ask this next question, but it had to be done.
“I met with someone named Morgan Malloy, and she claims that she and Sean were engaged. She also said that you and he were having an affair.”
Audra’s calm, forlorn face contorted into one of puzzlement and, at least to Kenzie, perhaps slight resentment.
“Well, she lied,” she said with bitterness. “Sean was my boyfriend, not her fiancé, and she’s just jealous that he wouldn’t leave me for her. She tried, though. She tried to get him to notice her. But that wasn’t going to happen. And you know what she did? She put some sort of spell on him to make him love her. That’s the only reason he was confused.”
Kenzie’s jaw dropped. Was this for real?
“You have to be kidding me,” she said. “That’s the exact same thing Morgan told me about you. She said you’re a witch and that you…”
“She said what?!” Audra’s cool composure completely vanished and was replaced with white-hot rage. “That bitch! I know she was jealous, but to say that! That’s absolutely sick! Listen, I didn’t do anything to Sean. I loved him and we were soul mates. There’s no way in hell I’d do anything to hurt him. Morgan has always been the jealous type, used to getting any guy she wants and when she doesn’t, she spreads false rumors about the girl that did get the guy. Don’t fall for it, Ms. Howell. She’s feeding you a, pardon my language, crock of shit.”
Kenzie could hardly wrap her mind around this. Within an hour, two different women involved with the same guy had accused each other of being witches and somehow using their supposed dark magic to influence their boy toy. The question was, was one of the girls truly a witch? And if so, which one?
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