Moonlight Murder: An Inept Witches Mystery (25 page)

Emily
’
s eyes widened and Ingrid knew what Em was thinking but if she spouted it, Ingrid was going to kill her. Of course they were going to find a way truth-serum Tia before her trial. Otherwise the crazy shrew would get off for sure. This mad cow-dove was going down.

Tia paused, considering Ingrid
’
s argument. Tia wiped her sleeve over her face, leaving a shining trail.

Ew, Ingrid and Emily mouthed.

“
Open up,
”
Gabe shouted.
“
Police.
”

Ingrid smiled. Emily snorted again and said,
“
You are never going to hear the end of this. But it is unfortunate he came to the back door when Sam already broke the front door.
”

“
Oh, my best dove,
”
Ingrid said,
“
you are too right.
”

Her eyes narrowed on Tia, who backed up a step.

The door kicked open and Gabe and Kevin burst in, guns out. It was, Ingrid had to admit, pretty sexy. Emily should totally go for Deputy Dumbass.

“
Careful,
”
Ingrid said mildly,
“
there
’
s a ghost.
”

It wasn
’
t the first time she
’
d been in trouble and her magic had simply bent to her will. It was, in fact, moments like these that left Ingrid
’
s mother reeling with fury and frustration at the rest of Ingrid
’
s utter incapacity for magic. Ingrid focused her gaze on Tia
’
s pants, and they lit on fire.

Emily
’
s snort turned into a cackle and Ingrid simply stood, unbound. The cords fell away, and she said idly,
“
Thanks for the distraction. What were you saying, Em, my darling dove, about Paris? Or was it Prague?
”

“
It was,
”
Emily declared,
“
European men.
”

“
Mmmm,
”
Ingrid said, knowing Gabe was listening even as he faced off with Tia. Ingrid focused her will and found Dickhead. She didn’t know what she was doing and was pretty sure she’d never be able to repeat it, but it was as if she anchored the ghost and prevented further hi-jinx. She even was able to bind the sound of him.

“
Ingrid, I am going to murder you myself,
”
Gabe said, as he edged forward and took Tia
’
s gun.
“
Just to end the madness.
”

“
This is all your fault,
”
raged Tia. She was spewing anger so much that it was more noises than words.

Ingrid waved a hand and Emily
’
s bonds fell away. And then Maria
’
s. No one bothered with Sam. It seemed he had fainted. For the love of the dove gods.

“
Deputy Dumbass, your wife got out of bed, slept with Sheldon, murdered him, and got back into bed all while you slept,
”
Emily said, leaning close. She nuzzled her nose into Kevin
’
s neck and said,
“
You really are the worst detective of all time. We had this figured out in a day, but your stupid alibi confused everything.
”

He had been reading his wife her rights, but he
’
d stopped long enough to give Emily a look of utter fury.

“
Rolling on the body, burying it, and contaminating every single scene might have also prolonged the case,
”
Gabe said.
“
Get Jenkins to come down and process Tia.
”

Emily handed Kevin a glass of wine and said,
“
You need this. I mean
…
they
’
re calling in a traffic cop to read your wife her rights. That
’
s got to sting.
”

He actually growled. Emily giggled like a toddler who
’
d gotten some candy. She skipped back from Kevin.

“
You have problems,
”
he said, downing the wine in one full swallow.

“
Come on,
”
Emily, moving closer and nuzzling him again. She did it just to make him squirm. But he reacted so beautifully.
“
Admit it. We
’
re awesome witches and we solved this case.
”

“
I
…”
He choked.
“
I
…”

“
Come on, Kevin,
”
Ingrid said,
“
Admit it.
”

“
You are definitely witches,
”
he said, face flushing.

There was a howling that filled the air.

“
Don
’
t mind Dickhead. He
’
s just mad he
’
s dead. And we
’
re gonna exorcise him.
”

“
Awesome, crime-solving witches,
”
Ingrid prompted.

Kevin opened his mouth, choked, and then said,
“
You
’
re idiots. You are terrible at magic. Even I can see that and I didn
’
t believe in magic until this case.
”

“
But,
”
Ingrid and Emily said together.

“
You solved the case. You were right about Tia. She killed Sheldon.
”
Kevin sounded as if he
’
d hocked something up as he fought each of those confessions.

Ingrid looked at Emily who was grinning.

“
We are awesome sleuths. Crime fighters.
”

“
Damn it, you dosed me again, didn
’
t you?
”

“
I do not want to hear the words crime fighter come from you ever again,
”
Gabe said as he moved through the bookstore.

Ingrid jumped up onto the checkout counter and watched. Emily joined her a minute later. Jenkins, the traffic cop, came in
—
shirt too tight over a bulging stomach. He read Tia her rights and took her away.

Just then, Mary, Gallery Guy
’
s daughter walked into the shop.
“
What
’
s going on over here?
”

“
Oh, not much,
”
Emily replied.
“
We just narrowly escaped being murdered by a psychopath woman and a ghost.
”

“Hey, I sort of magic wrestled the ghost. Yay me. You’re all welcome. He’s been throwing people around.”

“
Oh, your ex-husband. I knew he was in here. I thought he was just messing with me. Glad it wasn
’
t only me.
”

Emily and Ingrid looked at each other, then back to Mary.
“
You knew we had a ghost?
”

“
Well, sure. I thought you knew, too. Owen has been here since he died.
”

“
Interesting,
”
Ingrid said. She looked at Emily.
“
This girl just may hold the key to getting rid of our house ghost. Let
’
s explore this idea further when all the madness dies down.
”

Maria was questioned and then foisted off on a cousin. When she left she shouted that they should stay away from her.
“
They
’
re crazy, Martha, they
’
re crazy. It
’
s not an act. They
’
re the biggest idiots ever. I
’
m lucky to have survived.
”

“
Oh, by the way, the fireman is behind the bookshelf,” Ingrid said. “He fainted so Em must never re-hook up with him again. Ever.”

Gabe simply pointed the medic over and then crossed the crowded, dirty room to stare at the two of them.

He put his hands on his hips, and his look was both furious and frustrated.

“
Well, as much as I
’
d love to watch you two fight it out, I have things like travel plans to book, wrists to massage, and naps to catch up on. Also, Ingrid, don
’
t be easy on him. But we have another issue to resolve and I
’
ll be back in ten minutes. Mary, come with me. I want to see what genius lurks in your mind. We
’
ve got a ghost epidemic to solve that will shortly turn into a pandemic, sending the entire free world into a crisis, the value of the dollar will fall, and before we know it, we
’
ll be in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
”

Mary laughed the dry laugh of a goth girl who didn’t indulge in things like humor and excitement, but she followed Emily out.

“
Easy on me?
”
Gabe asked as he watched them go.

“
You dumped me,
”
Ingrid said, tossing her hair back to watch Gabe edge closer.

“
I did. I didn
’
t have a choice.
”

She tilted her head and stared at him. She loved that rugged and handsome face. His stubbled jawline and the way his eyes focused on her to the exclusion of everything else. She loved his shoulders and how they seemed to block out everything that was wrong with the world. She loved that even though she knew he was so furious with her and he was on the edge of strangling her, she had been absolutely certain he
’
d come for her. She
…

She
…

She loved him. So much it hurt.

And she wasn
’
t ready for it. Not again. Not after Harrison. Not after the last few days.

“
My choice was to distance myself from you or kill you myself. Ingrid
…
what the hell?
”

She reached out a thumb to smooth the wrinkle from between his brows.

“
I admit,
”
she said,
“
that Em and I have made better choices than some of my recent ones.
”

He stepped closer, putting one balled fist on the counter on either side of her. He took a deep breath in as if he were catching the scent of her. And it seemed to soothe him, just a little.

“
Yes,
”
he said simply.

“
You love me,
”
She said to him.
“
Inexplicably.
”

He swallowed and said,
“
Yes.
”

“
I love you back.
”

There was something in her voice that made him visibly tense.

“
I can
’
t right now. I can
’
t be the one you dump when I screw up. I am not ready for
…
I just can
’
t.
”

“
What am I supposed to do with that?
”

It wasn
’
t fair. She knew it.
“
I don
’
t play games,
”
she said.
“
I
’
m not going to lead you on or twist you up or mess with you. I am not that person.
”

“
I know.
”
His arms had moved closer to her, edging around her back to close her in his warmth.

“
So, I
’
m going to be incredibly straight forward with you right now. I am terrified. I have baggage from my first marriage, and I don
’
t think I can do another relationship where I
’
m disposable. Or where I
’
m the idiot sidekick.
”