Page 104 of Last Witch Attempt
“You know Chet,” I pressed. “Do you agree with Mom’s assessment?”
He nodded. “He doesn’t strike me as magical.”
“What about this guy?” Marnie asked, tapping the sheet of paper. “Dexter Littlefield. I knew a Tawny Littlefield. She attended coven meetings when we still played that game. She danced naked with us for a few solstices.”
“I’m on it,” Landon said when I sent him a questioning look. He had his phone out and was typing. “Um … yeah. Dexter Littlefield is Tawny Littlefield’s son. She died about three years ago.”
Marnie made a sad face. “I hadn’t heard. That’s too bad.”
“How powerful was she?” I asked.
Marnie lifted one shoulder. “Middle of the road.”
“What about her husband? Was he magical?”
“I didn’t know him well. In fact, she never brought him around. She almost seemed afraid of him.”
My interest was piqued. “Why would she fear him? She was a witch. If he was a normal abusive human, she could’ve easily handled him.”
“Good point.” Marnie cocked her head. “I don’t know why she feared him.”
“Well, let’s put Dexter Littlefield at the top of the list,” I said. “What about the others?”
“The only other name of interest is Greg Prentiss,” Mom replied. “I don’t know him. It says he’s an electrician. At one time I knew a witch named Evangeline Starr. The last time I saw her she was marrying a Gregor Prentiss. She lived in Traverse City.”
Landon started working on his phone. “Okay,” he said after a few minutes. “I found Evangeline Starr. She is married to a Gregor Prentiss, who just so happens to be the father of Greg Prentiss … who is indeed an electrician.”
“Was Evangeline a witch?” I asked.
“A bad one.” Mom’s lips curved down. “Whenever we were putting together potions or spells, she always went the personal gain route. She wanted to concoct money potions, even though we told her they never turned out. She was big on love charms, too.”
The table fell into silence. Steve finally asked. “Are love potions real?”
“They are,” I confirmed. “They only last a little while because if someone isn’t predisposed to love that individual it won’t last. You can’t overrule free will.”
He still looked confused, so I continued. “Take Landon for example,” I explained. “If I were to give him a love spell and tell him to love me, it would work because he already does. He wouldn’t fight it. If I were to give him a love spell and tell him to love Aunt Tillie, it might work for an hour or so, but he would start fighting his condition and the spell would dissipate.”
Aunt Tillie made a sound like a disgruntled cat. “I don’t see why he wouldn’t want to love me. I’m a catch.”
“A total catch,” I agreed. “His heart already belongs to somebody else, though.”
Steve opened his mouth, another question no doubt on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t ask it because he was distracted by his phone chirping with an incoming text. He looked down and then frowned. “Well, that’s not good.”
I straightened. I didn’t want bad news. I was finally feeling good about things. “What is it?”
“Another body,” he said. “Found not far from where the first ones were located. This time it was strung up from a tree on the side of the road.”
“Is it a construction worker?” I asked, bracing myself.
“The man’s name is Tyler Travis,” Steve replied. “He was one of the crew chiefs for the resort project.”
“We need to see the body.”
“We should go to his house instead,” Steve replied. “In Shadow Hills. It seems a woman broke into his house, locked his wife and daughter in a closet, and dragged Tyler out. The wife described the woman as a barefoot monster wearing a dress and ranting about retribution.”
My stomach constricted. “She took him in front of his wife and daughter?”
Steve nodded.
