“How did you know he was dead if you didn’t see his face?” Drew asked with his pencil poised over his notebook.
Well, I couldn’t say it was because I was a keeper of the undead, now could I?
Clint spoke up. He’d walked up with Drew. I was in such a daze I hadn’t noticed. Geez. I needed to snap it together. “We checked his pulse on his ankle,” he said. “Didn’t touch him otherwise.”
“William!” A new voice interrupted us and sent ice straight to my heart. I knew that voice.
Drew hurried forward to intercept Penelope from launching herself at the body bag. “Ma’am, hold on.” He put his hands on her shoulders, but it was too late. She’d gotten her hands on the zipper and yanked it back to see the body.
She stiffened and pulled back. “Oh, William,” she whispered. Penelope Comb was a few years younger than my aunt Winnie. Mrs. Comb had silver hair; the color women nowadays pay big bucks to their hairdressers to duplicate. She was about three inches or so shorter than my five feet seven height.
I shuffled around everyone, so I was beside Penny. “Come on,” I whispered as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. I looked at Drew. “Is that sufficient for an identification?”
He nodded, drawing his brows together and closing off his emotions. I guessed because it kept him from getting too personal with the case. Still he could show a little empathy.
She sobbed into her hands and turned into me. “That’s my Willie.”
“I know.” I tightened my hold on her and urged her to come with me. “Let’s go, Penny. I’ll take you inside.”
That was when she noticed me. We locked gazes and for a minute I got lost in her green eyes. My own sorrow bubbled up inside me. “Ava.” Then she started sobbing again.
Chapter Seven
We walked the long way around the building, passing Clips and Snips hair salon and Peachy Sweets bakery. I set our slow pace on purpose because I knew all too well what it was like to lose a husband unexpectedly.
Penny walked with her head on my shoulder. I felt the moisture spread into my T-shirt as she silently wept. My own chest tightened, and a lump stuck in my throat, but no tears formed. Probably because they had dried up. I had no more tears to shed.
“Can I call someone for you?” I asked as soon as I got her in the car. I decided to take her home instead of inside the bookstore. If Sheriff Drew wanted to speak with Penny, then he’d have to go to her house.
She leaned over and clutched my hand. “You’ve got to avenge my husband’s death, Ava. You’ve just got to.”
Avenge sounded too close to revenge and not because they were rhyming words. I studied her closely as I spoke. “Penny, the police will catch the killer. If there’s anything I can do to help, I will, but it’ll be Sheriff Drew and his officers who will find William’s killer.”
“No, Ava the police can’t stop magic. Not like you can.” Her hands shook and she looked around the car wide eyed, as if she expected someone else to be in the car.
Her words slammed into my chest. I thought back to the smell of a ghoul when I exited the building.
“Was William killed by magic?” I asked, extracting my hand from hers. “Buckle your seat belt, please.”
Once I was settled in the driver’s seat and buckled myself in, I paused before starting Dia, waiting for Penny to answer my question. She didn’t. She was in a daze, but it was clear she was in shock. Understandably so. But I couldn’t help to wonder if it was just the grief of seeing her husband’s body or was there something else?
It was almost like she had more information than she let on and was trying to gather her thoughts before spilling her secrets.
Leaving her to her thoughts, I started the car and drove out of the downtown district. I knew where they lived, not far from my Auntie’s house, so I headed straight there.
Much like my mood, the day had taken a dark turn. Clouds blocked the sun and the wind picked up, like the weather grieved the death of William.
The police can’t stop magic.
Penny’s words echoed in my head and I so didn’t want her to be right. But something deep inside me said she was. Great.
I hadn’t been in town a solid week, and already magic was trying to suck me back in. I had to get clear of this murder, get the house sold, and get the hell out of Dodge.
“Okay, Penny, we’re here. Who can I call for you?” I desperately didn’t want to go inside with her, but what else could I do? I couldn’t leave the poor woman here alone until someone else arrived.
“My daughter is on her way. I called her when the police called me. But she lives in the next town over. It’ll be a few more minutes, at least. She was at work.” She sat in the car and stared at her house in a daze. Her words were soft and almost robotic. “I can’t imagine going inside and knowing he won’t be there. That he’ll never be there again. How is this possible?”
My vision blurred with unshed tears and I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. Well, at least Crystal was coming. And I couldn’t make the sweet old lady go inside alone. I turned the engine off and palmed my keys. “Come on. I’ll go in with you.”
Penny sucked in a sudden, severe breath. She looked at me as if snapping out of her shock. Well some of it, anyway. “Oh, you must come in. I need your help with something!”
She unbuckled her seat belt and threw the car door open as a clap of thunder broke overhead. Ducking—I’d always been leery of storms—I hurried after Penny, curious to what had suddenly put pep in her step.
The Combs’ home was a modest single story, red brick home. The center of the roof rose up into a point where the attic was. A small window in the center of the peak gave the illusion of having a second floor.
White shutters accented the windows. I’ve always loved their home. It was perfect for them and not at all what one would think a necromancer to live in. Then again, the old Victorian screamed that she was a witch’s house and was proud of it.
Thinking about my family home, I frowned. I’d finally got the contractors to come back and work that morning. I just hoped Old Vicky was behaving herself. On the heels of that thought, my phone dinged. Glancing down at it, I let out a sigh.
It was a text from Jude, the contractor.
House has locked us out. Call me when you will be here all day.
That damn house. I’d never get it ready to go on the market at this rate. I sent a reply.
I’ll be home tomorrow. Don’t come too early.
I pocketed my phone as Penny unlocked the front door and scurried inside. The interior of the house was decorated in country chic, as it had been since I’d come over as a child with Auntie Winnie to practice magic with William.
I furrowed my brow. I really didn’t remember much about my time with William. He loved to tell me stories and would let me read from his volumes of magic books. At the time I hadn’t had a clue he was teaching me magic. Yaya and Auntie always made it schoolwork, which I hated. But not William. He put the fun in it.
“Penny?” I called to her as she disappeared deeper into the house. “Penny, why did I come over here as a child?”