Hexes and X's (Z&C Mysteries, #3) (18 page)

Finally, people settled down, for some light sleep, opening an eye to check out the chest now and then. Others vowed to sleep with their eyes open.

When morning arrived, the chest was still there. Breakfast was brought in. It was
hardly light out when the police showed up in a big ol’ 4 x 4 pickup truck, raised with big back-road tires. Four got out, two riding in the crew cab. Body bags were pulled out and laid on the porch. Firemen arrived in three state-of-the-art back-road Jeeps, boasting overhead lights, coiled pulleys, ropes, chain ladders and boxes of supplies; they looked like they were going cliff rappelling. Neither group went in right away. The ten of them gathered to strategize on the lawn. When they entered the house, they asked for the deputy, Slobber, Zo and Claire.

The foursome told them their story, mapped out the chamber doors and what each hidden room contained. The firemen left and returned with backpacks, carrying between them a deflated raft and small motor with a propeller. They all suited up in their slickers with hoods. One man put on a black rain jacket with hood, having two white stripes around the bottom, and “Sheriff” printed in white on the back; he carried his gun under an underarm holster. All of them had shoulder radios. They were cautioned by Deputy Jones that the falls were vicious and there was a hole there that would swallow you to No Man’s Return. The firemen nodded. Slobber smiled all the way through the description.

Finally, Slobber asked, “How do you plan to deal with spiders that will crawl up yer pant legs and down yer neck?” His smile broadened.

A fireman reached into his pack and brought out two bug bombs. I’m going to activate these off in just a couple of minutes, before all of us go through.” The fireman smiled back.

“Well then,” returned Slobber, “how are you going to deal with vipers that can leap and bite ya, with killing poison?!”

The fireman reached into an open bag and brought out a cage of seven Mongoose. These go in following the spider bombs. We’ll make our way through after a while with these reptile terrorists. We don’t want to take the time for other poisons.”

“Okay! But what you gonna to do about the stinking smell of the sewer?”

The fireman turned to his comrades. “Did anyone bring gasmasks?”

“No. We didn’t think there was any harmful gas,” came the answer.

Slobber started to laugh a teaser’s winning guffaw and reached into his pocket
. His hand came out with clothespins, and he handed them out to each man. “Heh hee heh.”

Finally, Zo turned over the key to most of the hexes and X’s. It seemed that everything was being finished up by the professional teams.

“Mom, what about John Harper’s death? Who murdered him? The police coroner is back there now. Let’s go back and see what he died from.”

When they entered the kitchen, the coroner was talking to Judy and Debbie. Zo asked, “What got Mr. Harper?”

The gray-haired man with a gentle mustache said, “Natural causes. He has a heart history. I did my research prior to coming here by talking to his doctor. There is nothing else it can be. He simply died from exertion in a horrible storm. Case closed.”

The mother-daughter team saw that all was done. They went up and packed, took their bedding down to the wash room, and awaited the Sheriff to say they could go. Since they didn’t have any claim to anything, there was nothing keeping them.

Then along came Jones: Too-Tall Jones.

He pulled Zo into an embrace. “I hate it that you are leaving.”

Cynthia had just rounded the corner and was about to climb the stairs. “Don’t worry about Riley, Zo. I will take good care of him for you,” she said in a sing-song manner.

“Cynthia, you witch! You haven’t got a chance in your greatest conjure!” snapped Riley.

“Humph. What got you out of sorts today…? We’ll see—huh, Zoey.” Then she turned to climb the stairs. Zo simply smiled.

“Kiss me goodbye?” Zo asked. She heard Claire say, “I’m going to say goodbye to Slobber, Mom. I’ll be back in a moment.”

The kiss was a whirlwind not even Dorothy of Oz could experience. It was all encompassing—something a girl could live in forever. I knew it had to end, and when it did, the intensity of his eyes continued the hammer of my pulse.
He said, “Am I looking at you with hungry eyes?”

“I’m ready, Mom,” Claire’s voice broke in, and the bubble popped.

“I know you can drive out of here.” He stepped back from his embrace. “The firemen said the road is clear enough. I swear to you, Zoey Kane, that I will see you again, and soon.”

EPILOGUE

Driving away from Coven House, Zo said, “I was told by Anne, that the town is going to share the house with the coven sisters as a historical treasure. All they have to do is keep it looking good and take tours through on Fridays, by appointment only. The coven agrees…
, if they may have inexhaustible use of the property. The council said yes. It’s in a contract, signed by the judge. Pretty good, huh? Oh, and everybody gets to take a jewel home today—even the judge who picked a little ruby.”

“Definitely good!”

“What did Slobber say?”

“He said he would drive up with Jones oncet in a while to see his almost-betrothed.”

“Oh, yes? Are you leading him on?”

“I could do worse.”

“Truer words…,” said Zo, thinking of Jack.

The fields moved by as the little yellow VW beetle drove on with some haste. Zoey and Claire were silent in their own thoughts, eager to be home where there was no one who was going to jump out at them, nothing to crawl on them
, and no bodies.

Claire ran fingers through her hair in an effort to get bangs out of her eyes. She adjusted gold-framed aviator sunglasses on her nose and then looked in the rearview mirror to make sure she was lookin’ good. Zo was casually observing this ritual, when she noticed Claire taking a harder look into the mirror.

“Mom,” she said in a quiet tone. “Take a look in your visor’s mirror.”

Zo pulled down the visor and peered into it. There was a wide brim straw hat, directly behind her. A pink and blue Hydrangea blossom
, pinned to a pretty ribbon, reflected back at her. Just the same, this vision made them gulp, because the flower was to the side of a metal neck band. 

“Millicent!” they both said.

The end.

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Though
Hexes and X’s
is part of the Z & C Mystery Series, just like the others, it has a stand-alone plot.