Easy Bake Coven: Book One of the Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries (32 page)

Joshua
sniffed the air. “Where’s Victoria? I can’t smell her anymore.”

Vivienne
got up and ran over to the spot where Missy and the figures had been. The field
grass was bent, reminding her of the pictures of crop circles from tabloid
magazines. There, in the center, was her
grimoire
.
She picked it up and held it to her chest.

Joshua
stepped beside her. “What the hell was that?”

Vivienne
could feel the slight tingle of magic in the air. It was so subtle; she could
easily mistake it for common static electricity if she didn’t know any better.
But, she did know better. Somehow, she knew this was the magic of the elders.
“She’s been arrested by a higher power than the police.” Vivienne tried to
explain.

“I
don’t want to know.” Joshua shook his head. “Do I?”

“You
better get out of here.” Vivienne looked at Joshua. “You’ll never be able to
explain what happened and why you’re dressed only in a flimsy towel.”

Joshua
kissed her as the sound of sirens from the volunteer fire department sped
toward the ruins of the
Glen Harvest
Winery
. “I love you, Vivienne Finch.”

“I
love you too, you furry beast.” She kissed him back as the sirens grew louder.
“Now hurry up and get out of here.”

“What
about you?”

“I’ll
figure something out.” She smiled. “See you back home.”

He
turned around and ran with unnaturally fast speed. His limbs elongated, fur
covered his body, and a few seconds later the towel fluttered to the rain-soaked
ground as the werewolf disappeared into the woodlands.

She
walked over toward the parking lot where Joshua’s Jeep was parked haphazardly
taking up several spots. Bits and pieces of the structure had rained down upon
the vehicle, but by some minor miracle it appeared mostly unscathed.

The
fire truck screamed into the lot and she waved at them. Two burly men in heavy
gear jumped out of the cab and approached her. “Are you hurt?”

“No.
But I’m sure glad to see you.”

One
of the firemen draped a thick blanket over her and led her to the truck. “Was
anyone else inside?”

“Stephen
Clemens, the owner.” She shook her head sadly at the flaming remains of the
winery. “I don’t think he made it out.”

“We’ll
look for him.”

Vivienne
nodded back solemnly.

When
she returned to Cayuga Cove a few hours later, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
The local police had blocked off the area around Stephen and Victoria’s home
with yellow crime tape.

Parking
Joshua’s car along the curb, she made a beeline for the gathering of police and
fire vehicles. Sheriff
Rigsbee
and several officers
were standing off to the side.

Sheriff
Rigsbee
turned around in surprise. “Vivienne Finch.
Why am I not surprised to see you here?”

“Victoria
Clemens tried to kill me tonight.” She explained. “She trapped me in the Glen
Harvest Winery and cut the gas line.”

“What
are you talking about?” Sheriff
Rigsbee
eyed her
cautiously smelling her wine-soaked clothing. “Have you been drinking?”

“I’ve
been doing some investigating about Mona Clarke’s death and I found out she
isn’t who we thought she was. Her real name was Missy Collins and she’s had a
vendetta against Mona for years. Suzette Powell is innocent.”

“We
know all about it.”

Vivienne
shook her head. “How could you know that? I was on my way to explain everything
to you.”

Sheriff
Rigsbee
regarded her for a moment and then ducked
under the police tape. “Victoria Clemens called me personally and confessed to
everything tonight. By the time we got to the house it was too late, she had
hung herself.”

She
followed him to his car. “She committed suicide?”

He
nodded. “She left a note explaining everything. Would you come down with me to
the station so I can add your incident to the report?”

“Yes.”
She stepped into his car.

As
they drove away, he gave one last look at the scene before them. “It may not
have been pretty, but at least justice was served.”

“I
suppose it was.” She still didn’t understand just what had happened in her
absence.

“Justice
was served, darling granddaughter.” Sheriff
Rigsbee’s
image blurred and was replaced by that of Nana Mary.

Vivienne’s
hands flew to her mouth. “Nana Mary?”

She
pulled the car over to the side of the road. “Victoria Clemens or Missy
Collins, whichever you prefer to call her, has been under investigation by the
elder witches for quite some time.”

“How
did you know her name was Missy Collins?”

Nana
Mary reached over and pulled the necklace with the pentagram out from
underneath Vivienne’s shirt. “We could see it all with this. It’s sort of like
a hidden camera, broadcasting what you see into the minds of the elders in the
conclave.”

“Even
my thoughts?” Vivienne wondered.

“Even
those.” Nana Mary smiled.

“I’ve
been having these visions.” Vivienne explained. “It’s like I’m seeing things
through someone else’s eyes.”

Nana
Mary nodded. “Tactile recall. It’s one of the more rare gifts that just so
happens to be your special power. That’s why I was under orders from the
conclave to give you the talisman that would allow them to view everything.”

Vivienne
took a deep breath. “What is this tactile recall?”

“You’ll
learn to control it better over time. But basically, if you are in physical
contact with someone, you’ll be able to sense their thoughts.” Nana Mary
replied. “It will come in quite handy, especially when someone is lying to you.
You see, people often think of what they’re trying to cover up when they fib.
The police have lie detectors to bring the guilty to justice, witches have
special powers and talismans.”

“But
I keep passing out afterwards. That doesn’t seem like a good thing for me in
the end.”

“Every
gift has a safety trigger to avoid it being misused. It’s the natural law of
magic.” Nana Mary explained. “Something that Victoria chose to ignore when she
delved into the forbidden arts.”

“So
the conclave punished her?” Vivienne shuddered.

“It
was the only way to stop her. She was becoming far too dangerous. We had always
suspected that she killed her mother, but we had no way to prove it.”

“Until
I came into the picture, that is.” Vivienne paused for a moment in thought.
“How did you get her to write a confession?”

“The
elder witches are experts with spell work. She was easy to charm and once under
their control she had no choice but to spill all the gory details on a long
detailed note.”

“Where
is Sheriff
Rigsbee
?” Vivienne asked.

Nana
Mary chuckled. “He’s under the control of one of witches gifted with mind
control at his office. Right now, he’s been fed the information he needs to
finish the investigation and free Suzette Powell.”

“Isn’t
that just one piece of the mess to fix?” Vivienne wondered. “How are we going
to make this look like a natural event?”

“The
conclave is on top of it. When something of this magnitude occurs, they call in
a specialist team to clean up the damage. You’d be surprised to know how many
world events have actually been staged to cover things like this up.”

“So
no one will ever know the truth about us?”

“They’re
not ready for such knowledge, darling granddaughter.” Nana Mary winked.
“Perhaps one day they will be, but in the mean time we must remain hidden from
site.”

Vivienne
leaned over and gave Nana Mary a hug. “I don’t know what to say except ‘thank
you’.”

“You’re
welcome, my dear. Now, I better drop you off and then head back to my
apartment. The specialists should almost be done with the cleanup and we need
to be in our places before the time wrinkle spell is cast.”

“Do
I want to know what a time wrinkle is?”

“Let’s
just say it stitches events together so it all makes sense to mortal minds.”
Nana Mary laughed. “But when it occurs, you’re going to feel a little bit
nauseous.”

“Great.”
Vivienne groaned.

“It
only lasts a few seconds. If you head home and go to bed, you might even sleep
through it.”

“That
sounds like a plan.” Vivienne yawned. “I still have a business to open tomorrow
morning.”

“Good
girl.” Nana Mary smiled and then drove her back home. “Save an apple blossom
for me.”

*
 
*
 
*

“Thank
you so much. I’ll have that cake ready next Thursday.” Vivienne waved goodbye
to the last customer of the day. She was dead tired, but the raw energy from
everything that had happened propelled her through. As she walked over and
locked the door, she turned the little sign over to closed.

Stephanie
printed out the daily cash receipt and nodded with a smile. “Wow. I think this
will make you happy.”

“How
much did we make?” She walked over to a bistro chair and sat down.

“Seven
hundred and forty-three dollars and some change.” Stephanie beamed. “What do
you think?”

“I
think I’d love to sleep in tomorrow morning.” Vivienne smiled back. Her
adventure the night before had pulled muscles she didn’t even know she had.

“You’re
the owner, you can do that.” Stephanie replied as she tore off the receipt and
began to count down the cash drawer.

“I
can do that, can’t I?” Vivienne mused. “Oh, but it wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“I
love this job.” Stephanie replied as she counted out a stack of twenties. “If
you think I can handle it, that is.”

“I
know you can handle it, Stephanie.” Vivienne agreed. “So you open and I’ll come
in around ten.”

“I’ll
be here.” Stephanie jotted down a figure on some lined notebook paper and moved
on to the pile of tens and fives in the cash drawer.

A
knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Vivienne turned around and
noticed Suzette Powell waving from the other side of the glass. “Suzette?” She
rushed over and unlocked the door. “How are you doing?”

“I
don’t know how to thank you.” Suzette stepped in from the chilly evening air.
“I didn’t think anyone was going to believe me.”

“It
wasn’t just me. Sheriff
Rigsbee
was running an investigation
the entire time that I wasn’t even aware of.” Vivienne felt a little guilty
with sticking to the conclave’s cover story, but she knew it was for the best.
“Samantha Charles was the one who found the memory stick in her purse.”

“But
you were the one to put them on the right track.” Suzette gushed. “I would
never have thought a nail biting habit could have almost landed me in prison
for murder.” Without thinking she stopped her right hand from going into her
mouth.

 
“It almost worked.” Vivienne replied. “But
thankfully, her suicide note was quite detailed.”

“It
was almost like she couldn’t live with the guilt.” Suzette pondered. “Well, you
look extra busy today. I just wanted to stop by and thank you for all you’ve
done.”

Vivienne
gave her a warm hug. “Just throw some catering gigs my way now and then and
we’ll call it even.”

“Do
you happen to have Samantha’s number? I wanted to call and personally thank her
too.”

“Sure.”
Vivienne wrote it down on one of her business cards and handed it to Suzette.

“Thanks.”
Suzette waved goodbye and then disappeared onto Main Street.

“She’s
lucky to have friends like you.” Stephanie said.

“We’re
all lucky.” Vivienne added and locked the door once more. “Now, let’s make a
list for tomorrow’s baking.”

Stephanie
finished counting the drawer and handed Vivienne the bank bag. “Here you go.
The first official bank deposit.”

“May
there be many more to follow.” Vivienne smiled.

Five
weeks later, on Halloween, Vivienne set her fat pumpkin on the front step next to
Joshua’s. She had carved a happy face with a gap-toothed grin on the pumpkin to
welcome the children arriving for trick-or-treat in contrast to Joshua’s
fearsome looking pumpkin with sharp teeth and slanted eyes. Dressed in a black
cape and wearing a purple witch’s hat with little foil spiders dangling from
the brim, she lit each of the candles and admired the view. Tom Cat cast a wary
eye from his comfy perch she had installed on the living room windowsill. He
gave a little meow and then curled up for an early evening nap.

So
much had happened since that fateful night that almost was her last. Richard
Clarke had come clean about the alleged affair with Suzette Powell. He
explained that Victoria had blackmailed him about how he and Mary Ellen Bryce
had influenced the educator’s union for votes. Upon her death and suicide note
confession, he once more apologized and moved down to Florida shortly after to
start a new life. The city council decided to hold a special election in six
weeks time which just so happened to fall on Election Day. Two candidates
decided to run, but only one was met with almost universal praise. Cassandra
Pembroke was sure to win thanks to her no nonsense approach to situations.