Spooked solid, p.10
Spooked Solid, page 10
I was so wrapped up in Vance's conversation that I almost didn't hear the person out front.
Stepping away from Vance, I walked over to the doorjamb and peered out front just in time to see Lorraine wheel her luggage toward the front door.
"Lorraine!" I shouted, throwing a panicked look over my shoulder.
I didn't wait for Vance to follow me as I bolted after her, thankful loose tiles no longer littered the floor.
Lorraine had a cab waiting out front. She tossed her bag in unceremoniously, ready to jump in the backseat and take off when I reached her.
"Lorraine, wait!" I held my hand out to stop her.
Lorraine was already inside the car. Her arm ready to yank the car door shut. "I can't. I have to go. I have a flight to catch, sorry." Her voice sounded anything but apologetic.
Vance caught up with us at that moment. His phone was still to his ear.
"If you'll excuse me." Lorraine wasn't waiting for us to say goodbye.
If I didn't act fast, Lorraine would be gone, and we might never solve the case. Thinking quickly, I pulled out my wand and shouted, "Stasi!" to stun Lorraine. Or that's what I meant to say, but clearly that’s not what came out. A flash of purple light shot out of my wand, and in the next minute, Lorraine was transformed into a sloth.
Vance snorted behind me.
My mouth dropped.
"What's up with you and the animals?" Vance asked between laughs.
I groaned. "I was just trying to stop her!"
"Obviously." Vance was still laughing behind me. He was, however, no longer on the phone.
The cab driver and long-time resident, John Delroe, snickered. "I wasn't about to drive off, Miss Nightingale."
"Now you tell me," I sighed, shaking my head at John.
Lorraine looked up at me from the backseat and blinked in slow motion. I had no idea how much of her personality remained in the animal, and I wasn't eager to find out.
I looked down at the slim piece of wood in my hand. That's what I got for carrying a wand with dragon heartstring for its core. Well, that and unicorn hair. But it was the heartstring that gave the wand its transfiguration power. And why Lorraine was now covered in fur, and I was wondering what to do next.
As if reading my mind, Vance said, "Deputy Jones is on his way."
I looked up. I wasn't sure that was a good thing or not. If Amber was with him, she was bound to charge me with unlawful transfiguration.
I eyed Lorraine skeptically, or make that her rather long nails. I never realized just how long sloth fingernails grew. I also realized that I knew next to nothing about sloths and their defense mechanisms.
Vance must've sensed my hesitation. He stepped forward and scooped Lorraine up. She gladly wrapped her arms around his neck and held on like a monkey, or make that a sloth. Vance walked back toward the inn.
"Right." I turned back to John. "Mind unloading Lorraine's luggage?"
"No problem." John put the car into park and got out. "I'll just put them inside."
"Thanks, John."
I trailed after Vance and followed him back into the office. He carefully deposited Lorraine on the chair in front of my desk. She sat there with her legs crossed and her arms folded casually in her lap. If Lorraine was agitated, she didn't look it. Or maybe sloths just always looked easygoing. It was hard to tell.
I looked away and refocused on the problem at hand.
"Okay, here's what I'm thinking," I said as I paced the office. "We wait until Deputy Jones pulls in, and then you reverse the spell. If Lorraine runs, we'll let Deputy Jones tackle her. If she sits put, at least she'll be human, and I won't get in trouble for transfiguring her. Sound good?"
Vance barely had time to nod his ascent before the deputy's cruiser pulled in the parking lot.
"Oh, they're here already?" I shot a nervous look at Vance. Deputy Jones hadn't come alone. I spotted Amber in the front seat, looking smug as ever. My palms turned sweaty, and I prayed this would all work out okay.
Vance waited for a beat, and then pointing his wand at Lorraine, said, "Adikos," to reverse the previous spell.
In a blink, Lorraine roared back to life, and I mean roared. "You cursed me! Did anyone else see that! How dare you! I'm pressing charges." Lorraine got all huffy. Her face reddened, and she looked like she was going to strangle me.
I backed up until the back of my thighs hit the table behind me. My hands braced the table for support.
Lorraine looked to Vance to back her up, but she was on her own. Vance shook his head as if he had no idea what Lorraine was talking about. I tried to look innocent, but Lorraine wasn't buying it. Clearly, her memory was intact.
"You'll pay for this. Why I ought to take care of you both right now." Lorraine's eyes glowed, the irises turning a dark amber color. She stalked forward, the way a lion hunts its prey.
My mouth went dry. I glanced nervously over at Vance, who seemed too stunned to move. We both were. Where in the world were the deputies? What was taking them so long?
I looked down at Lorraine's hands. Paws had replaced her fingers—large paws with razor-sharp claws and spotted fur. Lorraine wasn't a lion. She was a leopard.
Holy cats. It wouldn't do me a lick of good to transform into my feline alter ego. Once Lorraine had completely transformed, she would hunt me down in a flash, and that would be the end of me. No, I was better off staying in human form.
Lorraine slashed at the air.
I sucked in my breath. Leaning back against the table, the wood cut into my back.
Lorraine's nail snagged my sweater, ripping right through it. Later I'd think about how she had ruined my favorite gray sweater, but right then, I was just thankful it wasn't my spleen.
Vance came to his senses. "Elaxei!" The words flew out of his mouth in a flash, the memory charm hitting Lorraine in the back. Vance held his wand in place, speaking slow and clear, planting an alternative memory in its place. "You came here to get your luggage but found out that Deputy Jones wants to talk to you. He'll be here any second. Have a seat."
In a trance, Lorraine took a step back and then another. Her hands returned to her human state, and she slowly made her way over to the chair.
“That’s it now,” Vance coaxed Lorraine.
Lorraine nodded numbly and plopped down in the chair. Her eyes held a far-off gaze about them.
"Everything is okay. Just answer the deputy's questions, and then you can go." Vance lowered his wand.
Lorraine nodded.
I stood shaking, off to the side, trying to look composed but failing miserably.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Vance said under his breath to me. "You okay?" He turned to me, his eyes assessing my appearance.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good," Vance replied, even though we both knew that I was lying.
"Hello?" Deputy Jones called from out front.
"Back here." Vance looked at me with concern in his eyes before clearing his expression, replacing it with something more passive.
I tried to do the same, plastering a fake smile on my face and folding my hands in front of me, hoping the deputies didn't realize they were still shaking.
"Your sweater," Vance whispered.
I looked down. I wasn't a slave to fashion, but this wouldn't do. At the last minute, I tugged my sweater over my head and tied it around my waist, thankful for the tanktop underneath. It was a little cool for the look but easier than explaining the torn sweater.
"This is a waste of time," Amber said, joining her partner as they entered the office.
Amber meant the comment for her partner, but that didn't stop me from responding. "I don't think so. You should hear what we have to say," My voice held a matter-of-fact tone. I was proud of how calm I sounded.
"Well, let's hear it then." Amber was annoyed with me. At this point, I was used to it.
I nodded to Vance to take the lead. I didn't trust my voice not to break. The adrenaline rush was wearing off, and I was worried my knees would go weak any minute. I casually sat down at my desk opposite Lorraine. For her part, she looked like she had no idea how she came to be where she was. It looked like Vance's spell had worked, and that was just fine with me. If she could forget that I transfigured her, then I could forget she attacked me, especially if she was going down for murder.
"We found a key man policy in Lorraine's name for Sophia to the tune of a million dollars."
"Is that so?" Deputy Jones looked to Lorraine to deny it, but instead, she sat there quietly, staring off a bit. I wasn't sure if it was the after-effects of the memory charm or if she really didn't have anything to say.
"But Lorraine wasn't in town last night," Amber stated like the rest of us were a bunch of idiots.
"Actually, she was." I stepped out and found Lorraine's luggage, wheeling it back to the office as evidence. The deputies turned their attention my way. "Her baggage tags are still attached. She got in last night."
"And she's a leopard shifter. Plenty strong enough to do the job," Vance added.
That seemed to snap Lorraine out of it. She closed her eyes and put her fingertips on her temples as if she couldn't believe this was happening. Then she stood, as if that somehow gave her an advantage. I couldn't help it. I backed up against the back table again. My eyes darted down to my wand. I'd rather turn her into a sloth than have her pounce on me once more.
"Stop. Stop all of this. You have it all wrong." Lorraine placed her hands on the desk before her.
Lorraine caught my eye. I raised my eyebrows in response, not believing her for a second. From the looks on Vance's and Deputy Jones' faces, they didn't believe her either. Amber was the only one giving Lorraine the benefit of the doubt.
"I did get in last night. But I wasn't in Silverlake. I stayed in Atlanta. Here." Lorraine dug her cell phone out of her pocket and pulled up her hotel reservation on her phone. "You can call the hotel. They'll confirm I was there."
"That doesn't prove anything. You could've easily driven back there last night after killing Sophia.” Vance crossed his arms over his chest.
"And why lie about it?" I asked. My nerves had calmed down, and I found myself angry more than anything else. Angry that we had to sit here and listen to Lorraine's lies.
Amber's head bobbed back and forth between the conversations like a person watching a ping pong match.
Deputy Jones's eyes, on the other hand, never left Lorraine's face.
"Because I was meeting a potential client, okay? And I couldn't let Sophia find out about it. If she did, she'd fire me." Lorraine's eyes bore into mine.
"Who?" I asked, not backing down.
"Who was the client?" Lorraine asked. Her eyes darted out the window as she stalled for time.
I nodded. Of course, that's what I was asking. Lorraine wasn't going to be able to get out of it. Not without divulging her secret meeting anyway, if one had even taken place. At that point, I was betting it was fifty-fifty.
"I think you're going to have to come with us." Deputy Jones took two steps towards Lorraine.
Lorraine nervously licked her lips.
Deputy Jones reached for his handcuffs.
"Penelope Potions, okay!" Lorraine blurted out.
“I love her!” Amber clapped her hands.
"The influencer?" I asked.
Penelope Potions was all over social media. She rose to fame with a potent love potion mortals couldn't get enough of. In other words, she was a sellout. Most witches didn't take too kindly to others who sold our secrets for quick cash. We preferred to remain hidden, keeping our brooms in the cupboard, and thus us, safe. Every witching family has a tale of persecution. The witch trials didn't only take place in Salem. We took our secrecy seriously. Well, most of us anyway. Penelope Potions flaunted it.
"She's a witch ready for the prime time, ready to go public, and I'm going to take her there. Which is why I have to be going." The pitch in Lorraine's voice rose as she argued her case.
The deputies shared a look between each other.
"Look, I have a receipt from dinner last night, and you can call and speak with Penelope. She'll confirm I was with her. Oh! And the waitress was a fan. She'll remember us for sure."
I looked at Vance and bit my bottom lip. If Lorraine was telling the truth, she hadn't murdered Sophia. Not directly, anyhow.
"You got that number?" Deputy Jones asked.
"Yes, let me just find my purse." Lorraine looked at the ground beside her.
"I'll get it." I stood away from the table and walked out to the lobby where John had left Lorraine's luggage. Her purse was still sitting on the floor.
"Now what?" Vance said, following after me.
"I don't know. I was so sure it was Lorraine." I couldn't hide the frustration in my voice.
"Me too. But if she has an alibi—"
"I know." I didn't wait for Vance to finish his sentence. "And I turned her into a sloth," I muttered.
Vance smirked. "That you did." And then he laughed, and the tension in the air broke.
I looked at the floor and shook my head, laughing along with him. It was the first time I'd genuinely laughed in I don't know how long. I kept picturing Lorraine as a sloth with that dopey expression, and I'd laugh some more.
"Did you find it?" Deputy Jones came out to the lobby.
I was holding Lorraine's purse in my hand.
The deputy looked at Vance and me with our wide grins like we'd lost our minds.
"Sorry, yes, here you go." I handed the purse over.
Vance coughed and tried to regain his composure, but looking over at him, his laughter still showed in his eyes.
We waited out in the lobby for Deputy Jones to check on Lorraine's story. No sense in all of us standing awkwardly around the office. Plus, I still didn't trust Lorraine. Innocent or not, those claws of hers were deadly sharp.
It turned out we didn't have to stand around for long. Within fifteen minutes, Lorraine was free to go, and Amber walked past me, looking as smug as ever.
"Gosh, I don't like her," I replied as Amber's backside sashayed out the door.
"You never have," Vance remarked.
"That's not true. I tried to be her friend."
"When?" Vance didn't believe me for a minute.
"Kindergarten. Don't you remember? I shared my baby doll with her."
"And?"
"She ripped her head off."
"No, I don't remember." Vance laughed again.
I huffed out a sigh, but it lacked emotion. Amber was who she was. Nothing I said or did would ever change her. It was best to stay out of her way as much as possible.
"Should we get back to it then?" Vance didn't sound overly enthusiastic, and I didn't blame him. Not that I wanted an innocent woman to go to jail, but man, it would've been nice if Lorraine had been the bad guy.
Chapter Fourteen
I fell asleep sometime after three o'clock. At least that's the last time I'd looked at the clock. Both of our laptops were still open in front of us. Vance's forehead was down on his crossed arms on the desk, mirroring how I must've looked moments ago.
Sunlight filtered in through the front window blinds. I sat back and stretched, reaching my arms high above my head, and then turned my neck from side to side. I wasn't sure if it was stiff from sleeping with my head on the desk or from staring down at my computer screen half the night. Probably a combination of both.
Vance woke with a yawn. "What time is it?" He said at the same time, making the words sound like "whhhhha time is ittttt?"
Vance yawning made me yawn again, and neither one of us could speak for a minute. The phenomenon reminded me of a research article I'd read once about contagious yawning and empathy. The more you care about someone, the more likely you are to yawn after they do, and the quicker you are to do so. You had to love psychology.
After Vance and I finished yawning, I answered his question. "Almost eight." I looked down at my phone. No missed calls or texts. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. I hadn't expected Aunt Thelma to check in, but it would've been a pleasant surprise if she had.
Vance rubbed his fingertips under his eyes as if wiping the sleep away.
"You don't have court, do you?"
"No, thank Merlin for that," Vance stood and stretched, placing his hands on his lower back and bending slightly backward. "But I do have to go to the office here.” He stood up straight once more. “Did you find out anything else last night?"
I looked down at my notes. I'd gone through Sophia's production crew, well, what I could glean from her show's credits, and no one jumped out at me. If Aunt Thelma ever did call to check-in, I'd have her ask Arthur if he could think of anyone we should look into. Anyone who would be angry enough to follow Sophia out from California.
"Thelma, you here?" Benny's voice called from the lobby.
"Who's that?" Vance stood, cocking his head.
"The contractor. The one day he's on time." I stood and met the man and his crew out front.
"Hey, Benny."
"We've got the shower surrounds and toilets." Benny hooked his thumb over his shoulder, motioning to the parking lot. "You should have working bathrooms by this evening."
My eyes widened in response, but I tried not to get my hopes up. Something could still go wrong. "That would be wonderful. Aunt Thelma's not here, but go ahead and get to work. We'll be sure to stay out of your way." I scribbled my cell phone number down on a sticky note behind the counter and handed it to the contractor. "I'll be in and out. Give me a call if you need me."
"Sure thing. Henry should be in after me with the rest of the carpet."
My day was getting brighter by the minute. "Really?" Even I could hear the optimism in my voice.
"He might have to work through the night, but you'll have your new carpet."
"Thanks, Benny." If only we could now do something about the tile, furniture, and finishing touches. One thing at a time, I reminded myself.
"I'm going to head out. What time's your meeting at Clemmie's?"
I turned in time to see Vance with his workbag over his shoulder.
"Ah... ten o'clock." I looked up and to the left while I recalled the time.
