Olivia parked at the edge of the lighthouse’s parking lot. At one point, the old place had been renovated and turned into a restaurant and bookstore. That had gone under when I was a kid, and as far as I knew, it was abandoned. It was kind of dilapidated. Up until she died, Aunt Winnie mailed me all the local weekly newspapers every month so I could stay abreast of my hometown news. I’d never thought myself particularly attached to Shipton Harbor, but I’d read every single one of those papers, cover to cover. I’d read in the paper at some point that the lighthouse had been scheduled to be torn down, but the town historical society kept blocking it.
So, in a sense, I was glad Owen bought it. I hope he kept it as a lighthouse.
We sat and watched the place for a few minutes. It didn’t appear that anyone was home.
“Should we go walk around?” Olivia asked.
“I don’t know.” I realized we were both talking in hushed voices. “Why are we whispering?”
Olivia laughed. “In case the lighthouse fairies hear us?”
“Makes as much sense as any other explanation,” I said. A smile tugged my lips. I was starting to see why Sam fell in love with Olivia. “Yeah, let’s go poke around.” We wouldn’t go in, just walk around outside.
Olivia hit the unlock button on her door. “I’ll leave it running. You know, just in case.”
I had my hand on my doorknob when I saw someone. “Stop,” I whisper-yelled. Olivia heard me and looked in the direction of my gaze. Another car had pulled up.
Olivia’s car had really darkly tinted windows. The only reason she didn’t get tickets was because her husband was a cop, I was sure. “Duck,” I whispered.
We crouched down in the seat so that if anyone looked at the car, they wouldn’t be able to tell if anyone was inside.
A tall slender woman dressed in a black thigh-length coat got out of the white Mercedes and walked inside the lighthouse, opening the door without hesitation, as if she owned the place. She didn't look like the type of person who’d hang out with someone like Owen. The woman was too…not really classy, but there was no doubt she had money. Or at least she dressed like she did. As soon as I saw her, bad feeling after bad feeling rolled over me. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. Even from across the parking lot I picked up on her energy. There was a hint of power or magic that reminded me of what I picked up on Sheriff Drew when I first met him.
I still couldn’t pinpoint what type of paranormal being he was.
“Who is that?” I asked.
Olivia looked at me with her head squished against the back of her car seat, her blonde hair ruffled and just about as unkempt as I’d ever seen her. “I have no idea. I know everyone in this town and I’ve never seen that woman before.”
“I don’t know who she is, but I know damn well she’s up to no good,” I said.
“How can you tell?” Olivia asked me in a scandalized tone.
I shrugged awkwardly with my body folded in half in the floorboard of the front seat. “I just know. Witch, remember.”
The back door opened and shut with a loud slam. “What are we looking at?”
We both screamed and whirled around, totally exposing ourselves if anyone looked through the front window of the car. Olivia’s elbow landed on the car horn and we all screamed this time. Me, Olivia, and Owen in the back seat.
“Get out!” I screamed at Owen.
At the same time, Olivia slammed her foot on the brake and threw it into drive. “We gotta get out of here,” she screeched. Hitting the gas, she burned rubber getting us out of the parking lot.
The woman who had gone into the lighthouse came running out as Olivia made a U-turn in the middle of the parking lot.
“We’re made,” she yelled and floored it back onto the road and toward my house.
With Olivia’s window tint and the erratic way she was driving, I couldn’t really get a good look at the woman’s face, of course. Still no idea who she was.
I turned my attention to Owen, who was frantically trying to buckle up. “What are you doing in our car?!”
He looked even paler than usual. “I was just wondering why you were staking out my house.” Brushing his hair out of his face, he leaned forward. “Can I ask where we’re going?”
“Your house?” I asked, playing dumb. I didn’t want him to know we were there to spy on him. “You live by the lighthouse?”
“No,” he said. “I live in the lighthouse. I moved to town recently.”
“Turn around,” I told Olivia. “Get him out of here.”
She made another quick U-turn. “Do you know the woman that was at your house?” she asked as she pulled back onto the road.
He shook his head. “No, but you two were acting so strangely I didn’t have a chance to get a good look at her.”
Olivia pulled back into the lighthouse parking lot, but the woman’s car was gone. “Nice to meet you,” Owen said. He hopped lightly out of the car and sauntered toward the lighthouse.
“What the hell?” I screeched. “Take me home please!”
The entire five-minute drive back to my house, I chastised her for going after a man she didn’t know. “All of this screaming and drama happened because you were too nosey, and you got me all nosey. Now why don’t you go home right this minute and tell Sam everything that happened. Maybe he can look into this Owen guy, because I’m telling you, the guy is a witch.”
“I will,” she said with a grin. “Right away.”
She stopped at the curb at the end of my driveway. Her eyes twinkled when she rolled her window down to say goodbye. “You gotta admit, that was fun.”
I rolled my eyes and waved at her. Olivia was going to get me killed.
But I didn’t contradict her. It had been fun, dammit.
Chapter Eleven
The rest of Friday was uneventful, and I spent it going over everything that had happened the day before. I still haven’t heard back from Wallie on the witch hunter research mission I sent him on. Then again, he was pretty busy with his classes.
Today was a new day. I got to sleep in without my phone ringing or the sounds of the workers. I’d just gotten settled on my novel and was making a good pace. I’d eaten breakfast, had a shower, and was sipping my second cup of coffee.
With no plans to go anywhere or do anything but write all day, I groaned in frustration when the doorbell rang. Somehow, I knew this meant I’d not be getting back to my writing, not anytime soon, anyway.
Besides, the house was freaking out the construction workers, despite our little talk a few nights ago. Old Vicky wasn’t having any of this selling business. That was frustrating on a whole other level. I’d heard the workers talking about the house being haunted, even though I kept trying to blame things on Snoozles.
They weren’t buying it.
The house wasn’t the only thing clouding my thoughts. I had a dead friend, and speaking of, I needed to call Penny. Her poor husband had been killed, apparently, by a witch hunter, and I didn’t have the first clue what that meant for me or my wellbeing. Not to mention creepy Owen.
Sighing, I hit save on my document and jogged down the stairs.