Witch's Awakening (17 page)

“Damn,” Jake muttered, turning to Brian. “Go through the place. Make sure we don't have anything smoldering in here.”

“That's not necessary,” Brenna said, countering Jake's command. “It's not smoke in the normal sense. It's unnatural.”

The devastation in her face pulled at Jake. Only an hour ago she had been in his arms, and the grim reality of her family's curse seemed far distant. Now evidence of it was all around them.

Fiona turned in a circle, her face ashen against her dark hair. “Even the ghost who lives in the shop is gone. She's been in this old house since the Civil War. Only something terrible would force her away from her home. It's the only place she's ever wanted to be.”

“Are you sure she's gone?” Jake's gaze drifted toward the staircase that split the shop in two. He had heard about the resident ghost from many people, including Garth and Eva Grace. They said she often glided down that staircase as if coming down to receive guests. He had never seen her himself, but he didn't doubt for moment she existed.

“She's gone,” Fiona insisted. “I'll need to find her, to help her come back.”

“Is Sandy here?” Eva Grace asked Fiona through tears. “Can you feel her?”

Fiona once more looked around the shop, and then closed her eyes. The only sound was Eva Grace's ragged breathing. Finally, Fiona looked at Eva Grace and shook her head. “She's not available to me. She may have simply crossed over.”

“I need to get to Sandy's parents before they hear this from someone else,” Eva Grace said.

“We'll tell them. It'll be better coming from us,” Jake assured her. “You can call them tomorrow.”

“Don't put that on yourself tonight,” Brenna murmured.

A voice called from the front of the store. In silent agreement, Brian, the Connelly witches and Jake worked their way with care to the entrance again. Red ambulance lights had joined the blue strobes of the sheriff's cruisers in the parking lot.

The sheriff's deputy standing guard at the door said the crime scene technicians and coroner had arrived, and the state crime lab also had someone en route.

Jake called them while he and Brenna drove here. Two murders in his county in under two weeks were too much for his small team to process.

“We need to clear the scene,” he told the others.

“I think we know what caused this,” Brenna murmured to him.

Jake agreed, but he had to follow procedure. “On the off chance that this wasn't connected to your family's curse, we have to go through the motions of an investigation.”

“I don't want to leave Sandy alone,” Eva Grace protested.

Brian patted her on the shoulder. “We'll take care of her for you. I promise you that.” With a jerk of his chin, he gestured for the other deputy to follow him back into the store.

As Jake herded Brenna and her family outside, the amateur crime scene techs began collecting evidence and taking photos. Jake asked them to concentrate on the paranormal element, to leave most of the physical evidence collection to the state men.

The GP who was also the county's coroner greeted them as he slipped white booties over his shoes. At least one person was following protocol. EMTs stood by the ambulance.

“There's no obvious cause of death,” Jake murmured to the doctor. “If you and the state guys could get that for me soon, I'd appreciate it.”

The doctor nodded. Jake turned back to the three women. “You should all go home now. Leave this to us, and we'll talk tomorrow.”

“I want to stay,” Eva Grace said. “Maybe we can start cleaning up as soon as the doctor is finished.”

“That's going to take a while,” Jake demurred, looking to Brenna for help. The best thing they could all do for Eva Grace was get her out of here. She didn't need to be here when they brought Sandy's body out.

Brenna nodded as if she understood. “Let's go now,” she suggested to Eva Grace. “Tomorrow is soon enough to begin sorting through the mess.”

“I need to put up the closed sign. Sandy hadn't done that yet.”

“That may help us fix a time of death. The front door was open, so this happened before she closed.” On the off chance this murder had not been a supernatural act, evidence like that would help. Jake patted Eva Grace's arm. “We'll put the sign in place. Where are your keys so I can lock up?”

“Use mine.” Fiona pulled a key off her key ring and gave it to Jake.

Eva Grace sighed as she pushed her hair back from her pale features. “How did any human or super get through the wards I had set on the store?”

“And if anyone—or anything—can get through those, we're in trouble,” Fiona said. “We've set the same kind of wards all over the county, to keep evil away. The Connellys have been setting charms and casting spells of peace for as long as we've been here.”

“Only they don't seem to work when it's time for the Woman in White to come,” Brenna observed.

A black SUV pulled into the parking lot. Sarah and Marcus got out of the front. Two other people emerged from the passenger seats.

Jake heard a sharp intake of breath and looked at Brenna. “What's wrong?”

“They're here.”

Who “they” were was instantly apparent as Fiona darted forward. “Mom. Dad,” Fiona cried, opening her arms to the couple who trailed Sarah and Marcus.

A slender redhead who looked like an older version of Eva Grace grabbed Fiona in a fierce hug.

“Your parents.” Jake turned again to Brenna. “Looks like they got on a plane right after Sarah called them.”

“Sarah and Marcus must have picked them up in Atlanta.” Brenna's expression went blank as Eva Grace also moved forward to be wrapped in a hearty embrace by a tall, handsome man with dark hair.

Jake stayed with Brenna as she hesitated.

Brenna's mother was now greeting Eva Grace. “Oh, my girl,” she said, pulling her niece close in her arms. “My sweet, dear girl. What a terrible time you're going through.”

“We came straight here,” said the man who was clearly Brenna's father. He was looking toward Brenna now, over Fiona's head.

Brenna stopped a couple of feet in front of her parents. Everyone fell silent. To Jake, the locking of Brenna and Delia's gazes was more a standoff than a mother-daughter reunion.

Her father slipped around his wife and went to his oldest daughter. He gave her a one-armed hug and left his arm draped around her shoulders. He looked awkward, but Jake noted that he made an effort. On the other hand, Brenna's mother made no move toward her.

“Do you have any idea what happened here tonight?” her father asked.

Brenna shook her head. “Not yet.”

Jake stepped forward and put out his hand. “Sheriff Jake Tyler.”

“Aiden Burns,” Brenna's father said. “And this is my wife, Delia.”

Delia broke away from Brenna's regard long enough to greet Jake.

Sarah said, “We were on our way from the airport when Doris called to tell us about the break-in.” She clasped Eva Grace to her side. “We'll clean it up, dear. I promise we'll fix it.”

“We'll all help,” Aiden said.

“Right,” Brenna said with sarcasm. “That's what family is for, isn't it, to be there when they're needed?”

She stepped away from Aiden's hold, moving closer to Jake. It was the first time she had ever looked at him like she truly wanted his help.

“Can we get Eva Grace home?” she said.

“The entire coven is gathering at the home place,” Sarah replied before Jake could answer her.

Brenna frowned. “It's after midnight, and Eva Grace is exhausted.”

“And another person is dead,” Sarah snapped. “We have to make a plan.”

Jake could feel anger simmering just underneath the surface in Brenna.

She said to Sarah, “I guess now that our two saviors are here, you feel somehow empowered. Are you expecting them to put our family book back together? We already started on that without you or them.”

“I knew when you found the book this morning,” Sarah replied. “I could have stopped you, but I didn't.”

“You could have done a lot of things that you didn't,” Brenna said. “Like spending the last twenty-eight years trying to stop this madness from happening again. Isn't it a little late to be calling in the expert help?”

Delia stepped in between her mother and her oldest daughter.

“Aren't we beyond this kind of adolescent bickering?” Delia sent Sarah a reproving look as she turned to Brenna. “We're here to help end the ‘madness' as you call it. We're so happy your grandmother has asked for our help.”

Brenna stepped back. “And as long as you're happy, that's all that matters, right?” Then she walked to Fiona's van, got in the passenger side and slammed the door.

Jake looked from her to her family, feeling helpless. He thought Brenna had good reason for the disdain she had for her parents. However, this family needed to unite if they were going to defeat the sinister forces that had just claimed another life in their town.

Or would the next death be one of the Connelly witches?

Chapter Sixteen

Though it was nearly one in the morning, Brenna wasn't surprised that the rest of the coven waited for them at the home place. The house was lit up like All Hallow's Eve.

Brenna noted that elders, aunts and cousins were all in attendance as she followed her sister, parents and grandparents into the house. Tears were shed and embraces exchanged as Delia and Aiden were welcomed back into the fold.

So simple for them all to laugh and cry and pretend like there's nothing amiss
, Brenna thought as she paused in the doorway to the dining room. She had never been able to understand how the whole family overlooked that her parents abandoned their children. Though she knew there was little to be achieved by fighting with anyone about it tonight, she still resented how everyone welcomed Delia home like a heroine.

“Please try.”

Brenna turned at the sound of Fiona's voice. Her younger sister threaded her arm through Brenna's, clasped her hand and leaned close. “Please just let it go for tonight.”

When they were young and Brenna had been arguing with Sarah, this was the tactic Fiona always used to get Brenna to back down. A simple plea. Naked entreaty in her green eyes. And much like she'd done for most of her life, if Fiona asked, Brenna found it tough to resist. “I'll try,” she told her.

“Let's help them get the food together.”

“Because of course we have to have a table full of food before we do anything else.” Brenna shook her head at the bounty spread in front of them. The relatives had arrived with a truckload of Southern “comfort.”

From the elder aunts there was homemade bread and strawberry jam, cinnamon rolls and sliced ham. Lauren's mother, Aunt Estelle, was carrying in a blackberry cobbler, hot from the oven. Maggie had retrieved peaches from Sarah's canning cellar and was emptying them into a large glass bowl, while Aunt Diane sliced a pound cake that Brenna knew contained a pound of butter and almost as much sugar. Lauren set out cups, plates and silverware.

“I brought you a couple dozen eggs,” Aunt Estelle said to Marcus from the open kitchen door. “Get in here and do what you do best.”

Marcus was famous for his eggs scrambled with cheese, fresh basil and sour cream. He turned to Brenna. “Come help me crack some eggs. Next to me, you do it best.”

Brenna smiled for the first time since the phone call had summoned her to Eva Grace's shop. Trust Marcus to pull her into to the family again, to give her something to do. Content to let the rest of the coven buzz around them, she broke eggs, tore basil leaves and shredded cheese at her stepfather's direction.

By the time two huge skillets of eggs were ready, an urn of coffee was made. The family gathered around the table, passed platters of food and ate.

Sarah sat at the head with Aiden and Delia on either side. Frances and Doris were next, with Estelle, Diane, and Brenna's sister and three cousins filling in next to them. Marcus took the chair opposite Sarah and Brenna sat down beside him.

For a little while, they behaved as they always did with a family feast, complimenting each other's culinary skills and asking for seconds.

Brenna was glad, however, that the elders didn't let the business at hand wait very long.

Doris spoke first, unusual for someone who rarely took the lead. “Tonight has shown us that we're facing a terrible time, one that we hoped would never be repeated.”

Sarah nodded. “We're all devastated by what's happened tonight, what's been happening since Garth was killed.”

“We don't like to think about the worst of the past,” Frances added, “but this is as bad as when Rose was taken.”

“What exactly does that mean?” Brenna kept her question mild in tone. If she came on too strong, the elders would pull back. “What happened when Rose died?”

“Several innocent people were hurt,” Sarah replied. “You three read a lot of history today, and I know you and Jake went through the records in the courthouse. There was a lot of trouble in town when Rose died.”

Frances said, “Some neighbor boys beat a man from Calhoun nearly to death.”

“They did time for that,” Doris said.

“And old lady Bobbitt threw a meat cleaver at her son-in-law,” Sarah said, shaking her head.

“Did she hit him?” Fiona asked. “I talk all the time to Mrs. Bobbitt, who hasn't been able to pass over. I've always wondered what was holding her back, but she's never mentioned a murder in her past.”

“Her son-in-law ducked when she threw the cleaver,” Frances said, smiling. “She never could say why she did it, and she felt so guilty that she bought him a farm.”

“Too bad he was a worthless farmer.” A grin flashed from Sarah. “Her daughter might have been better off if the cleaver had connected.”