“Have a seat, please. I understand you want to press charges against Ellison Reilly for violating the restraining order you have against him?”
I sat down, nervous. “Yes. I gave a full report this afternoon.”
“Let’s go over it one more time to make sure everything’s accurate.” Officer Marsh began to ask me questions—most of which I’d already answered. I gave him the same answers I had given Tanner Smith, and after a few minutes, he seemed satisfied. “All right, I think I have everything we need. Tomorrow’s the arraignment. Can you be there? The judge may want to ask you a few questions.”
“Should I bring a lawyer?” I asked.
“It might be a good idea, if you can find someone by then. The court will appoint a lawyer for Reilly. He’s listed himself as low-income.”
I snorted. “Think again. His parents are rich. And he was well off until he burned down the building we had our magazine in. I think he’s hidden as much money as he can to avoid the lawsuits headed his way.”
“Well, I suggest you engage a lawyer and tell them all this. Meanwhile, given we found Mr. Reilly at your house when he wasn’t supposed to have any contact with you, he was automatically arrested on a class one misdemeanor and he will face both a fine and jail time, if the judge warrants it. If you attend the court session, the judge will take the matter seriously.”
“Will I be jeopardizing the restraining order by showing up in court?” I asked.
“No, but again, you should contact an attorney,” Marsh said.
“All right, I’m sure I can dig somebody up by tomorrow.” I stood, thanking him.
Officer Marsh gave me the time that Ellison would be paraded in front of the judge.
As we left, I glanced at my watch. It was eight-ten. Ellison was due in court at one-thirty tomorrow. I’d have to work fast. After a quick trip for a few groceries to tide me over until I could stock up for the holidays, on the way home, I called Rowan.
“Hey, I need a lawyer by tomorrow. Ellison showed up on my doorstep today and I’m pressing charges. Do you know somebody I could contact tonight?” My first go-to was my grandmother. She seemed to have scads of people owing her favors.
She paused, then said, “Yes, I know one of the lawyers who works both in the mundane court system as well as the Court Magika. I’ll have him call you tonight. It may be after ten, so either stay up or keep your phone with you. His name is Almanzo Meier.” She hung up before I could reply.
“Well, that takes care of that,” I said. “My grandmother’s contacting a lawyer. I’m to wait for his call. I hope he’s not terribly expensive.”
“Go after Ellison for the court costs,” Killian said, his eyes twinkling. “I can hardly wait to hear what happens in that courtroom.”
“You and me both,” I said.
Chapter Three
The next morning, I woke up too early, given I was on vacation. I couldn’t break myself of the habit of getting up at seven, even when I tried. I squinted, trying to decide whether to force myself to go back to sleep for another hour. But I decided no, it was time to get up. If I fell into the habit of sleeping late, when it was time to go back to work it would be doubly hard rearranging my schedule.
I sat up, squinting at the window. Rain pounded sideways—the way it did in the Pacific Northwest—and the wind whipped past, knocking branches against the side of the house. As I watched the storm, images flooded back from the night before: the visit to the police station and after that, the late-night call with the lawyer.
Almanzo Meier had agreed to meet me at noon, in the coffee shop near the courthouse. We would go over the case against Ellison, and I would write him a check for the retainer at that time. I was to dress neatly, and fairly conservatively. He thought we could put Ellison away for quite some time.
Killian had gone home for the night—we spent about three nights out of the week together—and so I wandered into the kitchen and flipped on my espresso machine. While it was heating up, I fed the cats, made sure their water fountain was working properly, and stood at the fridge, trying to make up my mind. I decided that a grilled cheese sandwich would work for breakfast. Some people used mayonnaise on their grilled cheese, but that seemed an abomination to me—I wasn’t a big fan of mayo and didn’t care for salad dressing, either. As I buttered the bread and sliced the cheese, Xi wound around my ankles, purring.
While the sandwich was grilling, I made myself a mocha, then opened a can of fruit cocktail and spooned half of it into a small bowl. By then, the sandwich was ready and, carrying my breakfast over to the kitchen nook, I sat down and began to eat.
I was almost through my breakfast when my phone rang.
“Hello?” I said, swallowing the last of my sandwich.
“January, hi! This is Sera, the secretary of the Witches Guild. I wanted to touch base about the email we sent.” She sounded entirely too perky for eight a.m. While she was nice, she had the kind of personality that was always “on”— lit up like fireworks in July. Everything was fabulous, or horrific, or to die for—exclamation point and emphasis included.
“Hey. I was going to contact you today to ask what this was all about.” I stifled a yawn, longing to put everything on hold and go back to bed.
“The Witches Guild is the primary sponsor for the Winter Solstice Festival. We come up with the theme and present the community-wide ritual. Given your job is mostly research, we thought you’d be the perfect choice to research solstice festivals through history. If you could, please find ten interesting rituals, capsulize them, and bring the information to the meeting on Saturday. If we all chip in, this will be the best festival ever!” And with that perky squeak, she disconnected before I could get a word in edgewise.
I stared at my phone. Today was Friday and she wanted the information by tomorrow night? Today I had to show up in court, I had a Crystal Cauldron meeting at nine p.m., and tomorrow I had to shop for Thanksgiving décor, since next week I was hosting my first full Thanksgiving dinner. When I’d been with Ellison, we had gone to his parents’ for the holiday, which always went as well as you’d expect it to.
“Welcome, holiday rush,” I muttered, polishing off my coffee. As I pushed my chair back from the table, Xi jumped on my thigh and rubbed her cheek against my hand. I lifted her up, bringing her down so I could kiss her nose. “Thank you, punkin, I needed that.” I petted her for a moment, then kissed her nose again, set her down and hurried upstairs to change.
I dialed myself into high gear. I pulled out a full-circle skirt in navy blue, slid on an ice-blue V-neck sweater and pulled the outfit together with a black leather belt and a pair of black knee-boots. Then I brushed my long hair—which was currently a deep burgundy—into a ponytail.
Staring at myself in the mirror, I decided I was ready to go back to a purplish-black. I’d have to make an appointment with Ari. As I sat down at the vanity and applied my makeup, I noticed my hand was shaking.
“Why am I so nervous?” I asked, but then I realized what it was. The last time I had seen Ellison in court, he had stripped me of everything I held dear. I had walked out of there swindled, duped, and humiliated. “Oh good gods, I don’t need those memories right now,” I whispered. “Buck up. The shoe’s on the other foot now.”