Life's a Witch (11 page)

“I hate to say it, but I’ve seen that from more than one kid around here,” Chief Terry said. “Hemlock Cove is small enough that even a modicum of athletic talent can put you on top. That popularity fades, though. Did Welby say anything else?”

“Just that he’s seen me around with Landon and was wondering if we were still together.”

“See,” Landon said. “I told you she would get hit on.”

“Jim Welby is harmless,” Chief Terry said. “He’s a nice guy. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

“You don’t,” I agreed, patting Landon’s knee. “No matter how big my ego grew after talking to Jim, the teenage boys put me in my place and told me that if I was thinking of hanging around Hollow Creek I might be able to pick up a guy if he was really drunk.”

Chief Terry made a face. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“They said I was old.”

Landon barked out a coarse laugh. “Oh, my poor girl,” he said. “Did they hurt your feelings? It’s okay. I don’t think you look old.”

I rolled my eyes. “They had a few things to say about you, too. Do you want to hear?”

“I guess,” Landon said. “Wait … does this involve them hitting on you?”

“They’re teenage boys,” I countered. “To them I look like their mothers.”

“Okay, go ahead,” Landon said, grinning at my discomfort. “I’m just glad you don’t look like my mother.”

“Apparently Aunt Tillie has been explaining a few things to them,” I said. “Dakota Evans, for example, really does believe he’s a horny beast, and he’s perfectly fine with Aunt Tillie telling all the girls that he’s only after their virtue.”

“Now that kid is a pain,” Chief Terry interjected. “I keep expecting to get a call about him being a date rapist or something.”

“He’s full of himself,” I agreed. “He thinks Aunt Tillie likes him, though. I have to remember to ask her about him.”

“Well, I definitely don’t like him,” Landon said dryly.

“Little Charlie Johnson Jr. inherited his father’s inability to think before he speaks,” I said. “He was a fountain of useless information.”

“He makes me laugh,” Chief Terry said. “He told me last week that I couldn’t search his car without a search warrant but not to worry because there was nothing in it anyway.”

“He’s … scattered,” I said. “He’s mostly trying to fit in with the other boys. He did tell me that Aunt Tillie is warning all of them that ‘The Man’ – meaning Landon – is going to arrest them if they’re not careful.”

“Hey, if they’re afraid of me, that’s a good thing,” Landon said.

“She also told them you can’t handle the gun in your pants let alone the one in your hand.”

Chief Terry let loose with a hearty guffaw, slapping the table as Landon scowled. “Oh, I love Tillie sometimes!”

“I’m going to make those stupid active wear pants of hers come true if she’s not careful,” Landon muttered.

“Oh, don’t worry. I think you handle your guns fine,” I soothed. “Of course, I’m old. What do I know?”

“I think the lesson we’ve learned here is that teenage boys are evil,” Landon said. “Did they tell you anything else?”

“Well, finally I threatened them with Aunt Tillie’s wrath if they didn’t ’fess up about what was going on at Hollow Creek,” I said. “They said that they’re partying out there most weekends – although now they can’t because they’re sure I’ll alert ‘The Man’ and he’ll want to go out there and shut them down.”

“Yes, I’ve always loved breaking up keggers,” Landon deadpanned.

“They said that they haven’t seen Nathaniel in days, but they have been down to Hollow Creek in that time,” I added. “I don’t know how they missed a body in the water if they were down there last night. They said they go Fridays and Saturdays. I didn’t tell anyone why I was asking, although I’m guessing word is going to spread pretty quickly.”

“Is that it?” Landon asked.

“Oh, when one of the boys said he would take me even if he wasn’t drunk if I went to Hollow Creek, Charlie said that you would shoot his thing off, because that’s what Aunt Tillie told him. I think that’s it.”

“Well, at least the little mouth got something right,” Landon said, leaning back in his chair. “So basically we have a college kid who never got in any big trouble who was struggling as he tried to adjust to college life because he was used to being the big man on a tiny high school campus. None of that gives us any indication how he ended up stabbed eight times and floating in Hollow Creek.”

“He was stabbed eight times?” I knit my eyebrows together. “That sounds like overkill.”

“I see you’ve been watching cop shows again,” Chief Terry teased.

“Am I wrong?”

“No,” Landon answered. “Whoever killed Nathaniel wanted to make sure he was dead. That doesn’t mean it was premeditated, though. It could’ve been a heat-of-the-moment thing. Now is when the real investigating starts.”

“See, I knew you were more than just looks and a mishandled gun,” I said.

Landon tickled my ribs. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“And I’m ready to throw up again,” Chief Terry said, turning his attention to the waitress as she approached. “Can you get me a bucket to puke in?”

Holly Warner was spending her last summer in Hemlock Cove before leaving for college. She was young, giggly and clearly knew how to handle herself when faced with an uncomfortable situation. “You haven’t even tried the fish of the day yet,” she scolded. “How can you already be sick?”

“These two,” Chief Terry replied, jerking his thumb in our direction. “They’re giving me indigestion.”

“Hi, Holly,” I greeted her warmly. “How is your last summer in town?”

“It’s not technically my last summer,” Holly explained. “The tips here are too good during summers because of all the tourists, so I plan on coming back every year to pad my wallet for the school year.”

“That’s good to know,” I said. “What’s on special today?”

Holly recited the specials like a pro, and after we ordered she left to fill our drink requests.

“She seems nice,” Landon said, causing me to elbow him. Holly was built for a runway if she wanted – and a stripper pole if she was ever so inclined – and she’d turned quite a few heads in Hemlock Cove during the past year. “Ow! I didn’t mean anything by it. Did you forget I like them old?”

I elbowed him again, but this time he was expecting it and managed to shift his body to avoid the blow.

“You two need to knock that off,” Chief Terry ordered. “I feel like I’m chaperoning a high school dance and I need to separate you for getting handsy.”

“Yes, I remember you separating Tyler Ridgeway and me at the spring dance when you chaperoned my senior year,” I said. “Good times.”

Landon grinned. “Did you go around with a ruler to make sure everyone was six inches apart?”

“I’ll have you know I didn’t even want to chaperone that dance,” Chief Terry countered. “Winnie conned me into it.”

“Yes, and then she and my aunts spent the entire night trying to see who could dance with you the most,” I said. Holly returned with our drinks and I stopped her before she could wander away again. “Hey, did you spend much time with Nathaniel Jamison?”

Holly seemed surprised by the question. “Nathaniel? Not really. He was older than me, so he was out of my league when we were in school. After he came back the past two summers, I realized I was out of his league.”

“That’s very true,” I said, marveling at Holly’s self-confidence. “What do you know about him?”

“I know he’s been hanging out with all the potheads down at Hollow Creek,” Holly replied. “Why?”

Chief Terry arched an eyebrow. “Potheads?”

“Yeah, that’s where all the burnouts group together,” Holly explained. “They go out to the creek to get stoned and drunk. They usually build a bonfire and then a couple people go at it in the woods. Typical stuff.”

“I didn’t know they were smoking pot out there,” Chief Terry said, conflicted. “I thought they were just tossing back a few beers.”

“Just so you’re aware, smoking pot out there isn’t new,” I said. “We used to do it out there, too.”

“Hey! You’re supposed to be my little angel,” Chief Terry warned. “I don’t want to hear about the rampant pot smoking you did as a teenager.”

“I wouldn’t call it ‘rampant,’” I argued. “You can probably let it go now, though. It was a decade ago. I think the statute of limitations has passed.”

“That’s probably why you look so old,” Landon said sagely. “All that smoke ruined your skin.”

“You’re on my list,” I snapped.

“You’re on my list,” Landon countered. “I’m going to punish you with my … .”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Chief Terry snapped, turning back to an amused Holly. “Was Nathaniel hanging out at Hollow Creek all the time, or just some of the time?”

“You know I’m not really part of the Hollow Creek crowd, right?” Holly asked. “Everything I know comes from rumors.”

“That’s okay,” Landon said. “We don’t suspect you of anything. You can be straight with us.”

“Okay, here’s the situation,” Holly said, leaning in and lowering her voice. “Hemlock Cove is a small town. There’s no theater … or bookstore … or even a dedicated coffee shop where younger people can hang out. All anyone really does is get drunk and have sex in a field.”

“That’s true of most small towns I think,” I said.

Holly nodded. “You’re either a goody-goody if you don’t do those things or one of the popular kids if you do,” she said. “I fall in the goody-goody crowd. I’m fine with that. That doesn’t mean I don’t hear about the other crowd. They seem to get off on people thinking they’re badass.

“Nathaniel liked to think he was a badass when he graduated,” she continued. “I guess for Hemlock Cove standards, he was. That’s not saying much, though. Malcolm Theed told me that Nathaniel realized he wasn’t very cool when he got to Central. Everyone was out-partying him, so he decided to up his reputation.”

“How did he do that?”

“He started drinking more … and he started smoking more pot,” Holly replied. “The problem is that those things cost money. The cost of living in Hemlock Cove isn’t very high and I don’t think Nathaniel realized that his mother didn’t make a lot of money until he was faced with the fact that it took everything she had to put him in college. Malcolm said that Nathaniel wanted his mother to give him more money, but she told him to get a job.”

“How did that go over?” Chief Terry asked.

“Not well. Nathaniel doesn’t have much of a work ethic.”

“Jim told me that Nathaniel was picking up extra work at some of the area farms,” I offered. “He didn’t say which ones, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to find out.”

“That’s a good idea,” Chief Terry said. “Maybe we can get a feel for who he was hanging out with and what kind of worker he was. If Holly is right, it doesn’t sound like he wanted to work.”

“There’s one other thing,” Holly hedged, chewing on her bottom lip.

“It’s okay,” Landon prodded. “We’re not here to kill the messenger, and we’re not interested in telling anyone where we got our information.”

“It was pretty well known that Nathaniel didn’t like to work and yet … well … he was seen flashing big wads of money around town this summer,” Holly said. “A lot of people thought he was doing it for show, but I could never figure out where he was getting the money.”

“If his mother wasn’t giving it to him and he wasn’t earning it, that means he could’ve been getting it through other methods,” Landon said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe illegal methods.”

“Maybe drugs,” I suggested.

“There’s those cop shows again,” Chief Terry said. “Well … that’s interesting. I don’t know what to think about that yet.”

“Can I ask why you want to know about Nathaniel?” Holly asked.

“We found a body down at Hollow Creek today,” Chief Terry replied, resigned. It was only a matter of time before the information became public. “We’re pretty sure it’s Nathaniel, although we’re waiting for final confirmation now.”

Holly’s blue eyes widened. “He’s dead?”

“He was murdered,” Chief Terry clarified. “I want you to spread the word that no one is to go out partying alone. I know you’re not into that scene, but gossip in this town spreads like wildfire. Until we know who killed Nathaniel, it’s not safe for anyone to be running around alone. Can you do that for me?”

Holly nodded.

“That’s good,” Chief Terry said. “This town is about to blow up with conspiracy theories, and I’d rather not worry about the younger set getting into trouble if I can help it.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Holly said, her eyes stormy. “I can’t believe he’s really dead. Now I kind of feel bad about calling him a dirtbag.”

“Don’t worry about things like that,” I said. “You can’t go back in time. You can only look forward – and you have a bright future ahead of you. Try to think about that.”

“That’s good advice,” Landon said. “You should listen to her. She’s old and full of wisdom.”

“I’m never telling you anything again,” I muttered.

“Is that because you’re old and you’re starting to forget things?” Landon didn’t even bother to hide his smirk.

“You’re definitely on my list.”

Eleven

I left Chief Terry and Landon to their investigation and walked to Hypnotic after lunch. They offered to take me back to the inn, but I had another idea. When I entered the store, both of my cousins looked frazzled.

“What’s wrong?”

Thistle scowled. “I blame you for what just happened.”

“That seems fair,” I replied, nonplussed. “What just happened?”

“Aunt Willa and Rosemary stopped by to the see the store,” Clove volunteered from her spot behind the counter.

Uh-oh. “How did that go?”

Thistle dramatically threw herself on the couch in the middle of the store, exhaling heavily. If her scene was to be believed, whatever happened was right out of a cheesy soap opera.

“That bad, huh?”

“It was awful,” Clove said.

I shoved Thistle’s legs off the couch so I could sit and focus on Clove. “I’m dying to hear all about it. Just for the record, though, I think you guys deserve it for sticking me with breakfast duty alone this morning.”

Thistle narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to make you eat dirt if you don’t shut up.”