Moonlight Murder: An Inept Witches Mystery (14 page)

Emily nodded, impressed with how Ingrid hadn
’
t even batted an eyelash of Gabe
’
s confession. Good thing Gabe wasn
’
t without redeeming qualities.

“
Drink, Kevin.
”
Ingrid poured him another shot.

He swallowed.
“
I'm gonna need to piss soon.
”

Emily cringed.
“
Mind your manners. There are ladies present.
”

Gabe snorted. Ingrid laughed out loud. Kevin shrugged in exasperation.

“
Kevin,
”
Emily asked,
“
how can you be sure that your wife didn
’
t kill Sheldon?
”

“
She was home, in bed, with me. My turn for a question. For either of you.
”

Ingrid nodded and took a shot.
“
Shoot. Oh. Oops. Maybe I shouldn
’
t say that. Maybe you killed Sheldon and you might actually shoot me. Wait. Did you kill Sheldon?
”

He sighed.
“
No. I did not kill anyone. My question?
”

Ingrid nodded.
“
What?
”

“
Did either of you kill Sheldon Peters?
”

“
Oh for the love.
”
Ingrid turned to Emily.
“
He really is a fool, isn't he?
”

Then she turned to back to Kevin.
“
Since you seem to be mentally impaired, I
’
ll go ahead and drink a shot of this truth serum so you are certain I am telling the truth. I did not shoot or otherwise kill Sheldon Peters. Neither did Emily. Did you Emily?
”

Emily drained her glass.
“
Nope. Though if I could go back in time, I might.
”

Ingrid looked at Gabe,
“
Not that you deserve this information, or that I want it to be true because I really like Sheldon
’
s sister, but I think Maria might be your killer. Perhaps you two will find the competence to solve this case on your own now without any more help from the witches of the community.
”

Emily watched Gabe and Kevin share a glance, but they didn
’
t say a word. She saw that Ingrid noticed it, too.

“
Emily, would you and Kevin excuse us please. I need to speak with the sheriff alone. Now.
”

“
Sure thing. Keep giving him serum. Don
’
t let him off easy.
”

Gabe shot Emily a glare as she and Kevin walked out into the hall.

•••

Once in the hall, Emily made small talk with Kevin for a minute.
“
Hey, maybe you aren
’
t dumb. The verdict is still out. But you better go home and deal with your cheating wife. Because you might not be dumb, but your wife is most definitely a whore. Sorry, man.
”

“
I can
’
t believe she would cheat on me. Well, I can, but
…
I wonder how long it's been going on?
”

“
Well, my aunt told me about it and said she
’
s known about it, along with most of the town, for a long time.
”

He paled.
“
I
…
I
…”

“
You aren't going to kill her, are you?
”

He let out a deep breath and shook his head.
“
No. Obviously. I'd lose my job. I only married her because she was pregnant, but then she lost the baby and things were never the same. Now I have to wonder if she was even pregnant. We haven
’
t been happy in a long time. I might arrest her though. I
’
m the only one who can alibi her, and I might decide to have selective memory.
”

“
Oh, I might like you okay after all. Good luck, Kevin.
”

And she meant it.

Kevin just grunted and took the elevator down. As soon as he was gone, Emily called Sam.
“
Hey, Mr. Fireman. You should totally come over and help me work out some stress. I had a hell of a day.
”

“
Sorry, baby. I
’
m at the gym. Then I
’
ve got to meet up with the guys.
”

“
Uh, baby? Since when do you call me baby?
”

“
Oh, uh, yeah. Right. I forgot you don
’
t like that. Sorry.
”

He sounded like an oaf. Maybe he was an oaf. It was possible that Ingrid
’
s dislike of Fireman Sam was making Emily notice all the things she had been trying to ignore. Maybe.

Unaware of the hole he was digging for himself, he kept going.
“
Dude, you should totally see how ripped my abs are. I mean, honestly, the girls here are all over me.
”

“
Well, that
’
s nice for you, isn
’
t it?
”

“
Yeah, okay. Well, I
’
ll see you around sometime.
”

“
I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.
”
Then Emily hung up the phone.

She muttered to herself as she let herself into her apartment and poured herself a giant glass of wine.
“
I
’
ll see you around sometime? Is he kidding? What a capital L loser. There
’
s more to life than a cute guy. Maybe Sam
’
s box of rocks was actually dumber than Kevin
’
s dumbass.
”

She chugged her wine and headed into the shower to rinse away the stress of the day, muttering to herself.
“
Why couldn
’
t he be like the Sam from
Supernatural
. Now, that guy. He was hot and he could slay demons. Winning combination, for sure.
”

•••

“
I miss you,
”
Gabe said. The door had just shut behind Emily and Kevin, and Ingrid was not unaware that those words did not come until after Kevin was gone.

“
I
’
m going to need my key back,
”
she said.

Gabe
’
s jaw twitched, but he simply pulled out his key ring and started taking the key she
’
d given him off of it. She went to the espresso machine and made herself a coffee. She did not make one for him.

“
I
’
m sorry we had to look into Harrison,
”
Gabe said carefully.

Ingrid did not reply. She was sure he
’
d learned a lot if he interviewed the cop who
’
d investigated Harrison
’
s death. Harrison had been older than her. Forty-five to her twenty-four when she
’
d married him. But he
’
d been healthy, wealthy, and she
’
d benefited from his death. His evil brats insinuated murder and made sure that the death had been investigated.

The truth was that Harrison had died because of bad genetics and bad luck. That had been the worst time of her life, and she had been a mess. She
’
d poured out her heart to the detective, like an idiot, dumping her trauma and insecurities on him.

It was clear that Gabe had been told those things.

That made her feel
…
violated. Somewhere in his office was yet another report about Harrison, Ingrid, and the death. Somewhere in Gabe
’
s office was his opinion on the matter. The facts gathered in black and white with none of the nuances.

He stepped closer and she didn
’
t step away. He touched her cheek and she turned into it. As needy and helpless as she
’
d been with Harrison, she still curled her face into Gabe, closing her eyes and reveling in the feel of his skin on hers.

His lips were on hers a moment later. He wrapped her up in his warmth and brought her body to life. It was far too good.

But oh so bad.

She jerked away, panting, and said,
“
I appreciate that you never thought I killed Harrison or Sheldon. I have faith in the truth serum and its ability to provide the truth.
”

He didn
’
t say anything.

“
But that doesn
’
t change how I feel. And I feel like I could set the world on fire with my anger.
”

“
Please don
’
t,
”
he said, seriously.

She did not tell him that she
’
d already burned their bed to ashes and she had slept on the couch, that she couldn
’
t bear to be in her bed without him.

She licked her lips and straightened her spine.
“
We
’
re broken up. You can
’
t just come here whenever you want.
”

He blinked.

“
In fact,
”
she added,
“
don
’
t come back without a warrant.
”

She opened the door with her magic and pointed. He left without a word, not looking back to see her start shaking her head when her fingertip burst into flame. She gritted her teeth to keep back the scream and leapt for the kitchen to run her hand under the faucet.

Chapter 7

Ghostly Gossip

Emily woke Ingrid by smacking a package down on her face.

“
Ugh, dove, no.
”
She shoved whatever it was off and pulled the covers over her head.
“
I don
’
t want to get up.
”

“
Hey, murder, ghost, etcetera,
”
Emily reminded Ingrid.

“
No,
”
she whined, pulling back the covers enough to peek at the window. It was gray and raining and demanded that she stay in her makeshift bed.

“
Murder. Gabe. Etcetera.
”

“
I
’
m broken up with Gabe. He doesn
’
t rule me. He doesn
’
t get to make me get out of bed early without even a morning snuggle.
”

“
I don
’
t,
”
Emily interjected, kicking the couch,
“
need to know about your snuggles or whatever you call them.
”

“
Dirty-minded dove,
”
Ingrid said, rubbing her cheek against her pillow and thinking about trying to revisit the lovely dream she was just having. Except, Gabe.

Damn it.

She sat up and lifted the package Emily brought. It was a 9-pack of superhero underwear for women.

“
I figured since Sheriff Hotpants isn
’
t in your pants anymore you could have Superman.
”

“
Batman,
”
Ingrid said, ripping open the package and stumbling towards the shower.
“
I
’
m done with goody-two-shoes. Batman would probably bury a body.
”

“
Batman and Superman don
’
t kill. Everyone knows this. You better take the Joker ones.
”

Ingrid took a quick shower, dressed, and added makeup. She wasn
’
t going to look like crap even if she felt like someone had punched her in the gut.

“
Well aren
’
t you fancy today,
”
Emily said, watching Ingrid add liquid eyeliner. Emily pushed a cup of coffee over that just smelled wrong.