Murder Most Witchy (Wendy Lightower Mystery) (23 page)

Wendy felt her eyelids closing on their own volition. “What's that?”

“Are you dating Blackly?”

The question, sudden and unexpected, brought Wendy's eyes wide open. “No. What makes you say that?”

She glanced up in time to see the flush infiltrating across his neck. “I overheard something that made me wonder.”

“Overheard how?”

Ian shifted his weight around on the couch, his discomfort visible to even the most casual observer. “When you charmed Blackly's phone, Gerry still had the charm on yours. The calls sort of came down the line,” he paused. “He seems interested in you.”

Wendy almost laughed out loud, but she knew that would only hurt Ian's feelings. For more years than she cared to admit, she had not had a prospect in sight in the dating department. Now it seemed, she had two.

She fought against a smile. “I suppose he is.”

In that quicksilver way of his, Ian overcame his momentary shyness. He hooked her chin with the fingers of his right hand. “He isn't the only one.”

She let her smile show. “I'll keep that in mind.”

He held onto her face and her attention for another long moment. Wendy thought, even hoped, that he was about to kiss her, but just as quickly as the thought formed in her mind he turned away.

“I brought you something,” he said, reaching into his bag.

“From your bag of tricks?” she asked, laughter lacing her words.

“Gerry's actually.” Ian rifled through the bag for a moment longer before pulling out a slim, black cell phone. “Here,” he proffered the phone.

Puzzled, Wendy accepted the phone. “I still have mine. I just have to remove the charm.”

Ian smiled. “I thought Gerry might deserve a taste of his own medicine.”

Wendy studied the phone, a light turning on behind her eyes. “You don't mean...” she trailed off.

“I bugged his phone.” Ian finished sheepishly.

Wendy stared at him, her voice full of awe. “I doubt anyone has ever turned one of Gerry's parlor tricks against him.”

“Then I suppose,” Ian shot her a quirky half smile, “that he shouldn't have brought the two of us together.”

The phone in Wendy's hand began humming softly. Without thinking, she slid it open and brought it to her ear. “Yes, Gerry?”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and Wendy had to fight back the laughter that bubbled up, threatening to burst out of her mouth. Gerry recovered quickly enough.

“Tell Ian I'm impressed,” returned Gerry's dry voice.

“That's high praise, coming from you,” Wendy laughed, enjoying herself at Gerry's expense for once.

“Tell me, niece,” he began, and Wendy began to feel a tingling of apprehension at the base of her spine, “When will you be ready to sign the papers?”

Wendy's suspicions were fully roused. “What papers?”

Gerry sounded cool yet triumphant, the way he sounded when he solved a particularly nasty problem. “The transfer of ownership, of course. Lightower Investigations is all yours.”

Even knowing that he couldn't see her, Wendy started shaking her head. “No, Gerry. We talked about this. I'm out of the magic game.”

“Really?” he rejoined, unconcerned by her response. “Ian told me you just solved a magical homicide. Three of them, actually.”

“That was a one time investigation, Gerry. I'm going back to my real life starting tomorrow.”

She heard his low, throaty chuckle carry over the line of the mystically bugged phone. She could actually hear the smug smile she knew he was wearing in his next words.

“We'll see.”

The words hung in the air for a long moment before the line went silent. 

Nearby, Wendy's normal phone began to ring its normal ring, for once. The screen displayed Archer's name and phone number.

Wendy hovered between answering the phone and seeing Ian out. “I should take this.” Even as she said the words, Ian's phone started ringing.

“Gerry,” he said, smiling. “Probably wants to chew me out. Just a little fun,” he said as he answered the call.

Wendy stood and answered her call, moving into the kitchen so she wouldn't be overheard by Ian. “Hello?”

“Wendy,” Archer's voiced sounded pleasantly surprised. “I wasn't sure I would get you.”

Wendy didn't exactly know what to say to that. “Here I am.”

“I know the other night probably wasn't what either of us had planned,” he began.

She could hear something in his voice, something dangerously close to amusement.

He continued, “But I still want to take you out. To an actual dinner, this time.”

Wendy bit down on her bottom lip, unsure how to respond. Something had been bothering her for quite some time, and before she went anywhere with him, she decided she needed an answer. “There's something I have to ask you first.”

“Anything,” he replied.

“You know I was helping my uncle's investigation firm with those murders recently.”

“Seemed like a job for the police, speaking as a representative of the taxpayers, but sure.”

Wendy didn't know how to phrase the next part of her question. Direct and to the point was the best approach, she decided. “What was your business with Jack Crosby?”

There was such a long silence on the other end that she was sure he had hung up on her. When he spoke, Archer didn't demand how she knew of his dealings with Crosby, which she had half expected, instead he let out a long, defeated sigh. “It's not what you think.”

She wanted to say that what she thought was that he had cut a deal to keep Nathan Braun's wandering hands out of the press, but she kept silent.

“The local police all know Braun. They were huge in his reelection campaign. He played golf with the chief every Saturday. I couldn't go to them.”

“Go to them for what?” Wendy realized she was holding her breath.

“To stop him, of course.”

Just like that, she started breathing again. “You were going to expose him.”

“What else could I do? Public opinion was the one leverage I had. I was feeding Crosby information, and he was putting together a huge expose. It was supposed to come out in a few weeks when he had enough confirmation.”

Wendy suddenly realized that she didn't want to talk about Braun or Jack Crosby anymore. “I'd love to go to dinner with you.”

If he was thrown by the quick change of topic, Archer recovered quickly, as a politician should she supposed. “Friday, then. I'll pick you up at eight. We'll actually go to La Monde this time.”

Wendy felt her cheeks burning bright red as she hung up the phone. She hoped it had subsided a bit by the time she reentered the living room. Ian was standing by the door with his bag slung over one shoulder.

“Did you get in trouble?” she asked him.

Ian smiled, showing off that deadly dimple. Wendy tried hard not to stare directly at it. “Actually it's another case.”

The red in her cheeks blanched immediately to white. “Not another one,” she whispered.

Ian stepped towards her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “No,” he rushed to assure her, “just a boring robbery with a touch of the supernatural.”

Wendy heaved a sigh of relief and swayed towards Ian. He was standing close enough to her that she could see the flakes of gold dancing in his eyes. He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I'm going over there tomorrow morning. Care to come along?”

Indecision flickered across her face, so Ian leaned a little closer to whisper in her ear.

“I'll show you something else from my bag of tricks.”

Wendy laughed. Then she shrugged, “Why not?”

***

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Murder Most Witchy
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The second Wendy Lightower Mystery
Bell, Book, and Murder
will be available in August 2014.