One Potion in the Grave: A Magic Potion Mystery (6 page)

I glanced at her, and I couldn’t help but notice the murderous look in her eyes as she glared straight back at him.

Chapter Six

B
reaking the tense eye contact, Katie Sue started down the steps, her fists clenched at her sides but her chin held high.

Well, wasn’t that interesting? If she had been his mistress there certainly was no love lost between them right now.

As I followed her across the room, I noticed the whole Calhoun family had gathered. Aunt Hazel stood with matriarch Louisa, animatedly explaining what had happened. Cassandra sat in her wheelchair near one of the wide windows overlooking the gardens listening to Eulalie tell her that this sort of thing never happened at
her
inn. Groom-to-be Landry Calhoun stood near the fireplace. He was staring at his feet as though he wished they had wings that could fly him far, far away. But Hermes he was not.

Mercy
, but he was a handsome man, tall with long, light brown hair and soulful eyes. I wondered how it came to pass that he was being forced to marry Gabi. He
was a grown man, after all, surely capable of saying no to his daddy.

I noticed two bulky men lurking in the hallway, keeping a watchful eye on what was going on. They looked a lot like private security.

It hit me then why they were all here. “Are the Calhouns staying at this inn, too?” I asked in a whisper as Katie Sue and I sat on a settee near the front door. I was shocked Hazel hadn’t mentioned this little fact, and realized the Calhouns must have had her sign a confidentiality agreement or something. Because, otherwise, Hazel would have taken out a billboard in Eulalie’s front yard.

Up close and personal, the Calhouns seemed quite glamorous and the picture of Southern high society. Mother and daughter, Louisa and Cassandra, looked very much alike, with medium-length chestnut hair, blue eyes, and pearls at their necks. Cassandra wore a vibrant blue silk pleated top with sheer panels with white capri pants, and her mother wore a prim bouclé tulip skirt and cream blouse. Warren had a high forehead, deep set mischievous eyes, strong chin, and the reputation as a playboy. Silver streaked his dark wavy hair. His gaze had shifted from Katie Sue to Hazel as she blathered on.

“Yes, they rented out the whole inn for the family,” Katie Sue ground out. “They all arrived this morning.”

For the family. Katie Sue wasn’t family yet she was staying here. . . .

“They’re your friends in high places?” I asked, referencing something she’d said earlier.

“It’s more like they’re keeping their enemies closer, Carly.”

The familiar saying echoed through my head.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

“And you’re the enemy?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?” I hoped she’d admit, flat out, that she’d been having an affair with Warren. But no such luck.

She tucked a lock of blond hair behind her ear. “Warren’s a puppet master, Carly, and he’s pulling a whole host of strings.” Her eyes glittered. “Right now I’m the enemy because I’m armed with a pair of metaphorical scissors. I’m done playing his games, and he knows what will happen if he doesn’t start playing mine.”

I recalled what Caleb had said about her playing with fire, and realized it wasn’t just fire . . . it was an inferno.

Someone was bound to get burned. But who?

“What is this all about?” I asked.

Her eyes glistened. “Love.”

Dang.
She
was
his mistress. My gaze shot to Louisa, who had been staring our way, a calculated look in her eye. A shiver went up my spine. Then I glanced at Warren. The
nerve
of him to set Katie Sue up in the same inn as the rest of his family. It was like a slap in his wife’s face.

I gripped my locket. “I don’t know what’s going on exactly, but I sensed danger around you from the moment you walked into my shop this morning.”

“I know what I’m doing,” she said firmly. “I have plenty of ammunition and a plan to use it to get Warren to see things my way. Love is worth fighting for, Carly, even if I have to fight dirty.”

“Ammunition?” My jaw dropped, and I kept my voice
low. “Have you resorted to extorting Warren, Katie Sue?”

I could only imagine the kind of mementos a mistress could collect during an affair. Mementos he wouldn’t want seen by anyone, especially when he was about to launch a presidential campaign. I doubted that threatening him would endear her to him, but she seemed determined.

“Shh!” Grabbing my arm, she added, “It’s not extortion. I’m not asking for money. I’m asking him to do the right thing, that’s all.”

I glanced at him—he’d been looking this way but abruptly turned away. “Do you have evidence against him that you’re using to get the outcome you want?” I asked her.

Biting her lip, she nodded.

“Then, money or not, that’s extortion!” I whispered fiercely. What exactly was Katie Sue’s plan? Was she trying to get him to leave his family? To divorce Louisa and marry her? I couldn’t very well ask her here and now. “It might be emotional extortion, but still.”

“Then so be it,” she said, shrugging. “You don’t understand what I’m going through, Carly. I’m doing what I have to do.”

“Tell me. What are you going through?” I asked, feeling her heartbreak.

Moisture filled her eyes, and she looked upward until it receded. “I can’t talk about it right now. You have to trust me, though, that I’m doing the right thing for the right reasons.”

“I don’t doubt that, Katie Sue. I don’t. But I’m worried for you. Do you understand the danger?” Warren wasn’t one to be told what to do. If Katie Sue had simply
been a dalliance—and she’d read more into it—he might not be too keen to play her games. He might just want to get rid of her altogether.

“I’m not in danger as long as I have that ammunition, and I’ve ensured the family can’t get their hands on it.”

The whole family knew of this plan?
Mercy!
“The ransacking upstairs? Was that someone looking for your so-called ammunition?”

“Probably,” she admitted. “Too bad for them I had it with me. She who holds the information holds the power.”

I stared at her. Was she kidding? She didn’t seem to be. She’d done made up her mind to get what she wanted and wasn’t backing down.

Sighing, I said, “Maybe you should tell Dylan what you’re up to. It might be safer for you that way. And hire your own bodyguard just in case.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Which meant no. My word, her stubborn streak hadn’t changed at all. I tried to tell myself to let it go, that she could make her own choices, but the healer in me, the fixer, didn’t want to see any casualties in this mess.

Dylan came down the steps, the deputy on his heel. He made quick introductions of himself to the Calhouns. Even though he wasn’t in uniform, his stern voice told them all they needed to know about who was in charge.

“I have a few questions,” he said. “If you can gather around, it’ll just take a minute.”

Cassandra wheeled her chair closer to Landry, and their parents sat on the sofa near the hearth. My aunts sat across from them and Katie Sue and I stayed put.

Dylan ran through a series of questions that quickly led nowhere. Everyone but Gabi had been here during
the time frame of the break-in but no one had seen or heard anything. Hazel had been in the garden, Louisa and Warren had been lunching on the back deck (being watched over by the bodyguards), Landry had been in his room on the phone with someone from his record label, and Cassandra had been napping and didn’t know anything had happened until her mother had come in and woken her.

Dylan glanced at Hazel. “We’ll dust for fingerprints and write up a report, but there’s not much else we can do.”

She patted his arm. “That’ll do for now.”

Outside, the sound of squealing tires and raised voices caught our attention. Cassandra wheeled to the front window. “The press have arrived.”

Eulalie perked up. “Really?”

Dylan nodded to the deputy and he slipped outside to corral the crowd.

Cassandra turned her chair around. “We should give them a quick statement,” she said. “They’re not bound to leave until they get one.”

She had a beautiful mellifluous voice, soothing yet strong at the same time. Probably the result of being raised by a Southern politician.

Louisa positively glowed with pride as she looked at her daughter. “You should do it, Cassandra.”

Warren nodded. “Good idea.”

Excitement flashed in Cassandra’s eyes. “Do you think I’m ready?”

Warren walked over to his daughter. “You were born ready, darlin’.”

Landry glanced up from his feet long enough to roll his eyes. His shenanigans in law school had pretty much
ruined his chance at public office for many years to come, but it was no secret that he’d always been first choice to run for Warren’s senate seat when the time came. Cassandra’s appeal had only become clear after the accident. When her popularity soared with voters, the family immediately took advantage. Never ones to let opportunity pass by, that’s when they began grooming her to take Landry’s branch on the family’s political tree.

A better option, in my opinion. Except for being a male Calhoun, Landry had done nothing to deserve public office, but Cassandra had been quietly serving in political trenches since graduating from college. Volunteering, fund-raising, working tirelessly to fight injustices big and small . . . Given time I thought she had a fair chance at becoming more popular than her father.

“Might as well wait until all the media outlets arrive,” Louisa said, rising. Her hand went to her pearls, and she tightly held a bead between two fingertips. “It’ll save you from repeating yourself.”

Cassandra rolled to the front window to keep an eye on the crowd.

Dylan walked over to where I sat with Katie Sue. “You’ll have to find another place to stay,” he said to her. “I’m sorry.”

Hazel gasped. “But there are no other rooms, between the family and their security. . . .”

I saw a smile flit across Louisa’s face before it disappeared into a mask of faux concern. It had me wondering if this consequence wasn’t the intended result of the break-in in the first place: To get Katie Sue out.

Had Louisa really been lunching with Warren the entire time during the break-in? It seemed to me that any
of them could truly be to blame. Well, except Cassandra—there was no elevator in the house so she couldn’t have made it upstairs.

“You can stay with me,” I said. “Hopefully you don’t mind a little dust and cat hair.”

“A
little
dust?” Dylan said, smirking.

“Hush now.” I gently elbowed him.

“I don’t want to impose,” Katie Sue said.

“You hush, too. My door is always open to friends.”

Her eyes softened. “Thank you, Carly.”

“Good,” Warren boomed. “It’s settled then. Perhaps we can get on with the rest of our day. There’s much to do with this upcoming wedding if I’m not mistaken.”

Landry looked ill, his face ashen.

Color rose to Katie Sue’s cheeks. She stood up. “Warren, may I have a word with you? Outside?”

Louisa’s fingers twisted the pearls so tightly I thought the string would break. She said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Warren, however, waved her concerns away. “A few minutes won’t do any harm.” He also waved off the private security guards who started to follow them.

All eyes were on them as they stepped onto the back patio until Earl Pendergrass came barreling through the front door amid shouts from the reporters, successfully capturing our full attention. The mail carrier straightened his shirt and adjusted his bag as he took a deep breath. “A pack of wolves out there. Pack of wolves. Afternoon,” he said to us all as he tipped his hat. Deep crow’s feet wrinkled the skin around his eyes as he smiled. He was near to retirement age, but loved his job and didn’t have any plans on hanging up his mailbag anytime soon.

We all murmured hellos, while Hazel rushed over to the outgoing mailbox and gathered its contents. “Earl, you be safe heading out there now, you hear?”

Cassandra added with a teasing smile, “They’ll eat you alive.”

She was quite beautiful when she relaxed and showed some humor. I had the feeling that when she ran, she was going to win the Senate election by a landslide.

“Don’t I know it,” he said, laughing, his white teeth flashing against his dark skin. He took the mail from Hazel and gave her an extra sweet smile. “Seems you have your hands full, Miss Hazel.”