A Charming Wish (17 page)

“
The Marys.”
Her jaw clenched. “I’ll take care of the Marys.
You have to do what you have to do.”

“
You can take care of the
Marys?” I laughed. “They can’t take care of themselves.”

After gathering a few things, like
Belur and Madame Torres, I made a trek through the woods to get the
Green Machine.

Keep me safe.
I felt my wrist for my charm bracelet. I hadn’t
seen Mr. Prince Charming since the funeral and I needed all the
protection I could get. Wrinkling my brow, I had forgotten that I
hadn’t gotten my bracelet back from Bella. She was going to give it
to me the night of the ceremony, but then, Kenny
happened.

“
Fine,” I pictured my
bracelet sitting on the counter in Bella’s Baubles and thrust my
fist to the side. “Nice.”

I smiled, standing in the middle of
the shop. No one was there, but a sound from the back told me I
wouldn’t be alone for long. Reaching out, I picked up my bracelet
exactly where I had envisioned it. I turned to face the windows and
looked across the street at Wicked Good.

Faith was putting an armload of Wicked
Good boxes in the cupcake car before she jumped in and zoomed
off.

The sound of footsteps made me rush to
think about the front seat of the Green Machine. In no time, I was
in the driver’s seat with the car in neutral as it rolled down the
hill before I turned over the engine to make my way out of
town.

The bracelet jingled even more with
the purple pendent dangling a little lower than the rest of the
charms as I gripped and re-gripped the steering wheel.

Oscar’s cop car was in his driveway so
I pulled in. If what Faith said about Officer Gandolf telling
people he was here to assist in the investigations, and he didn’t
tell them Oscar was put in sorcerer school, then Oscar could slip
into Whispering Falls and ask a few questions.

“
Hey,” I jumped out of the
car just as Oscar was locking up the side door. “You going
somewhere?”

“
Yeah, work.” He turned
the key. His strong jaw muscles flicked with each chew of his gum.
He looked at me with a blank stare. Not the same twinkle in his eye
a few days ago when he kissed me good morning.

Tormented by confusing emotions, I
swallowed hard. “Do you have a minute? It’s about the
case.”

He lifted up the cuff of his shirt and
peered at his watch. He held up his hand. “Five minutes.” He
unlocked the door and I followed him inside.

“
It will only take a
minute.” I paced back and forth in his kitchen and quickly
explained the situations with Faith and Petunia. “Both of them will
act like they know you, and
really
well, since I talk about us all the
time.”

“
Us? All the time?” His
mouth spread into a thin-lipped smile.

“
You know,” I wiggled my
finger between the two of us. “We go together like peas and
carrots.” If he only knew how well I did know him…but I had to
shake off those thoughts. For now, those days were over. “Anyway,
just pretend like you know them as well as they know you. Stick
with the questions by doing the cop thing that you do. Don’t let
them question you, because they are out to get me.”

“
First of all, I don’t
know what you said to the…” He looked at his notebook where he had
been taking notes on what I was saying. “Short hair, blonde…Faith.
But you can’t go around telling people how to run their business.
You have never been in the newspaper business.”

“
Right.” I nodded. If he
only understood it wasn’t just a newspaper business. I listened
patiently.

“
And Petunia’s appearance
scares me a little.” He tapped the notebook with the pen. “She has
an ostrich that you are accused of stealing the feathers from/ Now
you are some sort of city council president and she wanted the
job?”

His questions were between the
spiritual and physical world and were making me
confused.

“
All I’m asking is that
you ask them questions about Kenny, if they knew him and where they
were during all the other crimes.” I waved my hand around trying to
avoid the hot hunk staring at me in amusement. It was difficult not
to grab him, shake him, and tell him we are a couple. A real true
romance, kissing and all. But I knew that wouldn’t help matters.
What was done was done.

That won’t stop me from trying to
spark some memory. Only that would have to happen after this whole
mess was cleared up.

“
Fine.” He gestured toward
the door. “I’ve got to get going. Shouldn’t you be
working?”

“
They are investigating
the shop,” I muttered. “When do you think you can go?”

“
Tonight,
maybe.”

I squealed and threw my arms around
his neck. In a momentary lapse of what had happened, I grabbed the
sides of his face and kissed him so hard I thought I was going to
pass out.

“
Umm. . .” He pulled away.
Confusion set in his deep, dark eyes. His face was beet red. “That
was weird.”

“
Oh,” I put my hands up to
my lips. “I’m so sorry. I just believe that if I have any chance of
getting out of this, you can help me.”

“
Okay.” He rushed to his
car as if he was running from the plague. “I’ll call
you.”

I stood in his driveway as he skidded
out of it so fast, the gravel spit from underneath his
tires.

“
Great.” I mumbled before
another car came barreling down the street, and not just any car, a
car with a big cupcake on top.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“
Okay,” I kept a good
distance between the Green Machine and the cupcake, “Where are you
going?”

Every turn Faith made, I made. Every
swerve she made, I did the same, until she pulled into the Piggly
Wiggly.

Dang!
She was there delivering some baked goods. I watched as she
got out of the cupcake car and grabbed a few of the packages before
she disappeared into the store.

“
Now what am I going to
do?” I surveyed the lot to see if I saw Adeline’s car. I had only
seen it a couple of times parked in front of A Charming Cure, so it
was possible that I really didn’t know what it actually looked
like. I beat my fingers on the wheel as I looked around.

It would be a great time to question
her about the June’s Gems or even her thoughts about me not giving
her a potion.

Glancing back to the
cupcake car, a thought snapped into my head. What if none of the
crimes are related to each other, but are only related because of
me? Did Petunia kill Kenny because she was so out of her mind when
they named me the village president that she couldn’t think
straight? Or did the Karima sisters kill him because I was trying
to save the world and they needed a dead body? What if Faith broke
into Wicked Good to take the June’s Gems, making it seem like I did
it? Then there was the ostrich…Petunia, Faith
and
the Karimas knew I was trying to
help catch the bird. Never mind the reason behind it, but I know
each of them had their grubby little paws in it.

Then there was Adeline. Love was a
wonderful motive to kill. I couldn’t help but think if I didn’t
give her what she wanted, then she was seeking revenge.

Out of the corner of my eye, Faith
came high stepping out and got in the cupcake car.

Where are you
going
? I watched her as she pulled the car
to the side of the building and not out of the parking lot. She got
out of the car and leaned up against it. Her long blonde hair
glistened in the sun and her tan legs looked a mile long.
George
?

Adeline’s hot hunky George propped
himself up with one arm, while his other hand flicked Faith’s hair
behind her shoulder.

No. Shock and awe set in. Was George
cheating on Adeline? Yes!

I rapidly blinked my eyes. Did Raven
know about this? No wonder Adeline had always come to the shop to
get potions to make sure George was in love with her.

“
That nogoodsonofa…” I
gritted my teeth, remembering how much George loved the June’s
Gems. “Poor Faith.”

Even though I wasn’t sure why Faith
would frame me or be so angry when all I was trying to do was help
her get better at her predictions, I still cared for her and didn’t
want her to get used for the chocolatey treat.

My skin crawled watching George play
up his good looks and Faith soaking it in.

“
I wish I could see Raven
and tell her about this.” I put the car in drive and headed out of
the parking lot.

Reaching into my bag, I pulled Belur
out. He was glowing. I put him on the seat next to me and then
retrieved Adeline’s address that was wadded up in the
bottom.

I popped off the lid of Belur’s
jar.

“
Do you want
something?”

Two little puffs of smoke came out of
the bottle like the little engine that could before Belur appeared
in the passenger seat.

“
I just don’t understand
why you won’t let me come out.” His bottom lip was plump as he
pouted. “I get tired of staying in that little bottle all day
long.”

He cracked and popped as he put his
hands way above his head and stretched them to the sky.

“
Because, I don’t want a
genie.” I ignored Madame Torres glowing in my bag. “I can barely
handle the crystal ball I own, much less a genie.”

“
But you are my master.”
He crossed his arms. “I do not feel worthy.”

“
You are worthy, just not
for me.” I tapped the top of his bottle and in a flash he was gone.
I tucked him back in the bag where he would be safe and sound until
I figured out what to do with him. But, first things
first.

Adeline.

The street she lived on was tree-lined
on both sides, creating a beautiful canopy over the road as I made
my way toward her house.

Just like every other house in Locust
Grove, she owned a small Cape Cod that was much older than she was.
Her car was nestled in the driveway.

Did she come straight here from
Kenny’s funeral? Did she know that George was cheating on
her?

The first time she came in the shop,
she had a sneaky suspicion he was cheating on her, and that was
when I gave her the June’s Gems. She said she’d do anything to keep
him. Does that mean she would steal June’s Gems from the Wicked
Good?

Even though she was getting them
delivered to the Piggly Wiggly now, a few days ago she wasn’t
receiving June’s Gems. I wanted to know exactly why she was at
Kenny’s funeral.

The window shades were drawn. Tapping
on the door, I looked around. The flowerbed running along the front
of the house was neatly kept and the yard was perfectly
manicured.

“
June?” Adeline’s short
hair was sticking up all over the place. Her eyes were half closed.
She didn’t look like she had only a couple of hours ago. “What are
you doing here?”

“
I told you that I was
going to come over to do some yoga.” I lied. She stood like a brick
fireplace, not moving. I had to worm my way in there somehow. “And
I had a feeling you weren’t up to your best.”

“
You’re right.” She didn’t
look amused. “I thought I told you to call me.”

“
You did, but I went by
the Piggly Wiggly and you weren’t there, so I thought I’d take a
chance.” I shrugged.

“
You went to the Piggly
Wiggly?” She held the door open. I couldn’t help but think I was
walking into a lion’s den. “Did you see George?”

“
I didn’t see your car, so
I didn’t go in.” I was vague in my answer. “So what is going on
with you?” There was no way I was going to get anything out of her
by beating around the bush.

“
Come on in.” I followed
her into a magical place of its own.

The gray colored foyer was neat and
decorated with black hardwood floors and there was wainscoting on
the bottom half the wall. A delicate crystal chandelier hung from
the center of the ceiling.

I followed her into her kitchen that
was just as charming as the foyer. The whitewashed kitchen cabinets
and stainless steel farm sink went perfectly with her butcher block
island and lacey window treatments.

“
I love your house.”
Everything was nice and neat and in its place. A sure sign of a
perfectionist killer, I noted.

“
Thanks. I’m a shabby chic
kinda girl.” She smirked. She held up the freshly made pot of
coffee. “I’m a little tired. I’ve been burning at both ends lately.
Do you want a cup?”

“
No, I’m fine.”

I bet you have been
burning at both ends
. I wanted to point a
finger at her and ask her point blank why she was at Kenny’s
funeral, if she killed him, and if she broke into Wicked Good, but
I had to proceed with caution.

“
Do you want to tell me
what is going on?”

“
No.” She shook her head
as she slowly poured cream and sugar in her coffee. “I’m taking
care of it.”