Page 10 of Night Owl Books

We all thought a moment. I stared at Arwyn’s gloves, wondering. Some wicches I’d heard about had special gifts. “Why are you wearing gloves?”

She held up a hand and said, “Psychometry. When I touch things, I see visions. Usually, it’s stuff that’s already happened. Sometimes I see stuff that will happen. Why?”

I thought about that. “Well, we know he touched his truck, and his truck was on the pavement. We even have the rubber burn where he floored it to scare McKenna. Do you think you’d see anything if you touched the mark on the pavement?”

“I have no idea.” She stood. “But let’s go find out.”

Arthur took the last corndog and finished it in two bites. Nick took a handful of cookies, and then we all headed out the front door and down the hill.

“It doesn’t seem like you get a lot of customers,” Arthur said. “How do you stay open?”

I shrugged one shoulder, uncomfortable with the topic. “There’s a long answer and a short answer to that. I’ll give you the short one. I own the house and property outright. I don’t need to cover a high rent. If I sell a book, good. If I don’t, okay.”

He seemed to be waiting for me to say more. When I didn’t, he gave a suspicioushmm.

At the bottom of the hill, we turned left again and went back to where the truckman had approached McKenna. Nick pointed out where the bag had been found and then showed them where the truck had left the pavement, leaving an impression on the slope.

Declan crouched, his head lifted, trying to catch a scent. Arthur walked back and forth over the area, looking for anything. Arwyn waited on the dark road.

Nick eventually joined her and pointed to a dark spot on the pavement about ten feet away from where she was standing. “I think that’s the mark his tires made.”

Arwyn shook her head. “No. It’s here. I didn’t feel anything when I walked over there. It feels dark and ugly right here.” She took off her backpack and handed it to Declan. “If it looks like I’m going down,” she told him, “catch me. I don’t want to get all dirty.”

He swung her backpack onto his shoulder and said, “My pleasure.”

“Everyone else, move back please.” She waved us away. “I don’t want to catch any stray thoughts.”

Nick, Arthur, and I moved back to the crossroads to wait. The men discussed the case in low voices.

When they went quiet, I asked something that had been nagging at me. “Can I ask you two a question?”

Arthur and Nick exchanged a look and then Nick said, “Is it about black bear shifters being Black humans?”

Arthur shook his head, his focus on Arwyn, who didn’t appear to be doing anything other than touching the road with one finger.

“Yeah, that was it. Is that a dumb question?”

Nick shook his head. He tore his attention from Arwyn and met my gaze before I remembered and looked away. “There’s no connection. Some black bear shifters are white, some Latino?—”

“I know an Asian grizzly family,” Arthur added.

“Hey,” Nick said to his cousin, “remember when I took that vacation in northern Canada a few years ago? I met a Yupik man who was a polar bear shifter. Nice enough guy. Kept to himself.”

We fell into silence again and then I whispered, “How long does this usually take?”

Nick shrugged as Arthur said, “As long as it takes.”

FIVE

Odd

On a sigh, I remembered that I’d left my book on the table in the bookstore. Maybe I should run up there and get it.

The quiet shush of soft-soled shoes on pavement had me turning to find Harold, one of my regulars, pointing a flashlight at his feet as he shuffled up the road. I left the bears and met the old man at the base of my hill.

“Good evening,” he said. “How strange to find you out here. I have a hard time thinking of you anywhere but in the bookstore with your nose in a book.”

“She’s an odd one,” I heard Arthur murmur to Nick and felt my cheeks flame. Yeah, that was me. The odd one.

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