Page 28 of Seven Secret Spellcasters
“Trying to catch you unaware?” Mark nodded. “Smart idea.”
“I thought that was why too, but then he said he was taking some personal time to explore since he’d never been to Idaho before and that he’d see us on Tuesday. Maybe he was being nice?” Mia suggested.
“So all I have to do is find out what this guy was doing between the time he visited you at the school and when he wound up dead at Trent’s,” Mark said as he scribbled in his notebook. “He checked into the Lodge on Wednesday night. Did you talk to him there?”
Mia shook her head. Had Blake talked to Howard, or was she freaked out he was there? “No, but I’ve been off a lot recently, getting ready for my test and now the party on Friday. Blake Sandburg, my boss, said he talked to her on Thursday about me and Trent. She wasn’t happy that my ‘personal’ life was interfering with my time at work.”
“That’s interesting. I talked to Blake yesterday, and she said she never met the guy.” He narrowed his eyes. “How much trouble are you going to get into if I call her on her story?”
“Maybe none. Don’t mention that she’s a witch, though.” Mia sighed. “I was supposed to keep that part a secret. So please don’t tell her I told you that. Although she called yesterday all upset and asking if I’d seen an incubus in town?”
“Excuse me?” Baldwin wrote that information down, but Mia could see he was uncomfortable. “I should have taken that job in Boise. At least there the freaks were human.”
Mia had an idea. “Ask Sarah about the incubus. I forgot to ask Abigail or Grans, but I’ll do that at lunch.”
“You realize you’re dragging me into your delusions.” Mark snapped his book shut. “Anyway, can you talk to the hotel staff quietly and see if there’s anyone else Howard talked to between Wednesday, when he checked in, and Friday night? And quickly? I don’t know how long they’ll let me keep this case open.”
As Mark drove away, she glanced at her watch. The Lodge was on the greenbelt a mile past her house. If she hurried, she could get there and back before lunch. All she had to hope was that the people who wanted to kidnap her and steal her magic weren’t watching her now.
Great, now she was going to be the girl whom everyone thought was too stupid to live in the horror movies. “Okay, then, let’s go down in the spooky basement with a single candle for light and not tell anyone what we’re doing.”
CHAPTER12
Achuffcame from the tree next to the greenbelt.
“Buddy? You followed me?”
The dragon hopped down on the greenbelt and walked with her. He rubbed his head against her leg. Apparently, she was one of his people now. And she wasn’t alone.
Mia swallowed back tears. The fact that he’d been here, just in case, made her feel a little bit better about her upcoming clandestine visit to the Lodge. “Okay, then. Let’s get this over with before they notice we’re gone?”
“Gone from talking to Baldwin or from whatever else you’re planning?” Trent came around the bend and glared at her. Cerby was on his leash and barked at them. “What? Does a dragon have your tongue?”
“Ha-ha. I was just—” Mia paused. She didn’t know what she’d been going to say because she knew she shouldn’t be out alone—or even at all—until after her ceremony. “Look, Baldwin called and needed to talk this out. The coven’s putting pressure on him to close the case. Don’t you want to find Howard’s killer?”
“At the risk of losing you? No. But I can see your point. Let’s go back, get my truck, and I’ll take you wherever you want to go. After we tell my mom where we’re going and when we’ll be back. In caseweneed rescuing.” He put his arm around her. “I was worried when I couldn’t find you. I got the flowers packed up, and Finn’s taking them over to the nursing home in the catering van.”
“I’m sorry I worried you.” She glanced down at Cerby, who was now walking with Buddy and chatting. “I take it that Cerby found us?”
“He followed me outside and barked at the gate until I put him on a leash and gave him his head. I think he’ll be a strong tracker.” He nodded at Buddy, who was walking in front of them, his tail dragging on the asphalt and making a line in the hard surface. “How did you get him to come with you?”
“I didn’t. I told him what I was doing, and when I got out of Mark’s truck at the parking area, he was hiding in a tree, watching us. He said I was one of his people,” Mia felt the overwhelming emotion again. “Anyway, Mark wants me to chat with the hotel staff and see if Howard met anyone there between Wednesday, when he checked in, and . . .”
“Friday, when someone checked him out.” Trent grinned at his joke. “Okay, not funny, but a little funny, right?”
“You’re a card.” She opened the gate, and they stepped into the backyard. “Do you want me to tell your mom?”
“No, I’ll text her before we leave. Cerby, you have to go inside while we make a trip to the Lodge. Buddy, thanks for looking out for Mia.” Trent patted the dragon on the back, and Buddy chortled and hopped back into his tree. His eyes closed. It was time for a nap.
They let Cerby into the house, and Trent texted his mom. Then they were on the way to the Lodge.
“We probably can’t grab lunch out, just the two of us, right?” she asked as he turned the truck into the Lodge parking lot. “Maybe that place in Twin on the canyon?”
“Are you kidding me? We shouldn’t even be doing this.” Trent turned to look at her and saw her laughing. “Not funny.”
She got out of the car. “It was a little funny. Let’s get this over with before Blake catches me at work.”
The Lodge was decorated with full-on Halloween glory. Jeani Langston had been busy. She was a local event decorator with a magical flare. The theme was “Witches of the Ages,” a tongue-in-cheek nod to Magic Spring’s hidden history. A loud witch’s cackle announced their entrance, but the decorations had been up so long that the front desk staff didn’t even look up at the noise. Carol was manning the desk, looking at something on the computer.
