Page 52 of These Witches Don't Burn
“Okay, moving on.” Benton flips to the next tab. “Cameron and Taylor both have similar writing, here.” He points to a hastily scrawledHave a great summer!on the left page and aIt was so great knowing you!!!♥on the right.
“What’s their motive?” I ask, unconvinced. I don’t know either of them well. They’re both on the soccer teams—Cameronon the boys’ and Taylor on the girls’—which makes me wonder if Gemma’s soccer conspiracy theory might hold some weight. “I don’t think I’ve said two words to either of them outside of class.”
Gemma reaches for the next tab and turns the pages for Benton, who blushes when she leans against him for a closer look. She squints at the pages. “What about that one?” She reaches for the threatening letter on the table and holds it next to the yearbook. “Theyou’relooks similar.”
“Wait, let me see.” I perch on the loveseat’s arm and peer over Benton’s shoulder. There, in all caps, is a message written in oddly familiar handwriting.YOU’RE THE SHIT. NEVER CHANGE. —NA
My best friend sighs. “Nolan Abbott,” she grumbles. “If he threw that brick through your window, I’ll kick his ass.” Though she doesn’t say it, especially not in front of Benton, I can practically hear theugh, I can’t believe I made out with that jerkrunning through her head.
“I thought his handwriting looked the closest, but what’s his motive? Do you think he blames you for the fire at his house? He must know you’re not responsible.” Benton glances up at me. “Right?”
At first, I shrug. If this is about what happened at Nolan’s party, a cryptic message thrown through my window is a weird way to get revenge, but could he be the Witch Hunter? I considered as much this morning at the coven meeting, but why would he toss a brick through my window, declare me his next target, and then go after Veronica the next day? It doesn’t make any sense.
Gemma scoffs. “Nolan might be angry enough to threaten you, but he’ll never go through with it. Trust me, he’s all talk.”
“So, what do we do now?” Benton asks. “Call the police?”
I shake my head. “We don’t have enough for that, and I doubt they’d care about a broken window.”
“I don’t know, Han. Whoever it was threatened the ADA’s daughter. I imagine the police take that kind of thing seriously,” Gem says.
“If we go to the police, I want to bring real evidence. We need more than an amateur handwriting analysis.” After my interrogation with Detective Archer, I have zero interest in talking to the police. But if we can get better proof against Nolan, maybe Lady Ariana can get the Council to check him out, just in case he is the Hunter.
“Are there traffic cameras or something we could use? See if his SUV was in the area that afternoon? I can drive by his house and get the license plate number,” Benton suggests, closing his yearbook and setting it on the table.
I leave my perch on the loveseat and flop back into the couch across from Benton and Gemma. “We don’t have traffic cameras in Salem,” I remind him. “But my neighbors have security cameras on their garage. Maybe we could use that.”
“Do you think they’d give you the footage?” Benton asks.
My excitement deflates. The neighbors in question left a few days ago for a camping trip in the Adirondacks. They’ll be completely unplugged until they get back in a few weeks. But then I remember a certain new coworker’s skill set. “They’re out of town, but I might know someone who could hack into the feed. There’s this guy at work. Supposedly, he has some serious computer skill—”
“Oh my god, Hannah!” Gemma says, cutting me off and sitting up straight on the loveseat. “I’m the worst best friend in the entire universe. I completely forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
“Your date!” She scrambles over to the couch and sits beside me. “How did it go? Did you click? Did you fall inlurve?” she croons.
“You’re ridiculous.” I laugh, but the feeling quickly dies. I glance at Benton, who’s suddenly hyper-focused on his pizza. We probably shouldn’t talk about this in front of him, but Gemma shows no signs of backing down until she gets the full play-by-play. “Actually, I kinda blew it.”
Gemma falls still. “What do you mean? What happened?”
“Veronica kept calling and texting me.” I stare at my hands, trying to figure out how to explain what happened around two Regs, especially since one of them has a rather unfortunate crush on me. “I had to leave in the middle of our date.”
“You didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t.” Gemma leans in close, bringing the smell of chlorine with her. “I thought you were over her.”
“I was. Iam. But...”She was in trouble. A Witch Hunter tried to kill her. “There was an intruder in her house. What was I supposed to do?”
Benton perks up. “Are you serious? Is she okay? Areyouokay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. We’re both fine. She was a little shaken, you know? Her parents are out of town, so she stayed over at my place.” Memory of Veronica’s advances and accusations sours my mood further. “Or at least, she was supposed to. We got in a fight and she took off.”
“Holy shit, Hannah. Why didn’t you say something?” Benton wipes sauce from his hands and reaches for his phone. “Do you think this is connected to the fire? Could it have been Nolan?” He pulls up his notes app.
“Wait, we can get to that later.” Gemma waves Benton’s questions away. “Did you at least text Morgan to explain why you bailed?”
“Umm, no?”
“Hannah Marie Walsh,” Gemma says in a perfect imitation of my mother’s voice, “you need to apologize to Morgan if you want a second date.”
