Chapter 101

Chapter 101


VD got called away to deal with a work problem. Promising me come Monday, these were going to be my problem. I scoffed. I haven’t signed any papers yet. Since I still had my current job, I didn’t have to go work for him. As soon as he cleared the yard, I texted Elle to come over.

She rapidly fired back that she had to get a sitter for JJ but would be over as soon as she could. Smiling evilly at my phone, I wonder if she would come running if she knew my plans for her. I needed answers and she was going to give them to me. Her and VD were thick as thieves. I was willing to bet she knew everything he did. Time to pry some of them out of her.

I looked around the living room with disappointment. Why didn’t Pops have a swivel chair in here? It was required to set the scene I wanted. I dashed to the library. In the corner there was a swivel barstool. Careful of the hardwoods, I carried it out to the foyer. Putting it in the middle of the room, I practiced spinning around.

It wasn’t smooth. Not the vibe I was looking for. I put it back where I got it. Pops’ voice was in my head reminding me of the house rules. For once I was happy to hear him. He’d been missing from my head since the funeral.

I smiled as I was standing in the foyer. An idea had popped in my head. Ding. Elle was on her way. Perfect. I took up my stance and waited. I’d told her the door was unlocked and to come on in.

“Tosh?” Elle called as she walked in. In the dark, I pulled on the mechanism. The wood panel in front of me slid open. Revealing my standing in the middle of the opening, hands on either side of the frame. Stone faced. Elle was standing in the middle of the foyer. When she saw me, she burst out laughing. “What are you doing? You are a crazy person!”

“Annebelle Bauchman, you owe me some answers.” I told her as I stroked my Furby.

“I think I’m the one that’s owed answers.” She was laughing so hard she could barely speak. Casually I tossed the Furby over my shoulder and stepped out of the hidden room, closing the panel behind me.

I held my arm out to her. She hooked her arm through mine, and we skipped into the kitchen. Grabbing cookies and milk, we settled at the table.

After we threw the cookies into the milk to soak, I turned to her. “Remember all that conspiring you and the Chief of Police have been doing?”

She side eyed me uncomfortably while shifting in her seat. “Yeah.”

The word sounded like it had been pulled out of her. She shoved a cookie in her mouth. Probably hoping to not have to talk anymore. Foolish girl. I looked at her knowingly. “Did you really use a witch to break the curse?”

She choked on her cookie. I patted her back. Slid her milk to her. She took a drink to wash down the cookie that tried to kill her. “Why are you asking?”

Quickly I started to run down my thinking about Fenton being my attacker. Even mentioned how the back door was messed with but not actually damaged. How VD got all squirrelly when I started asking questions about him. She frowned.

“Oh, I know why he’s acting squirrelly.” She took a bite of a dissolving cookie. “Of course, he doesn’t know that I know.”

I looked at her in surprise.  “Wanna unpack that for the amnesiac?”

She laughed. Then explained that they had used a witch to weaken the curse. But she hadn’t been strong enough to affect the shadow realm stone. So, he had gone out and found a warlock.

“A warlock?” I repeated in surprise. “Aren’t they bad?”

Elle gave me a pitiful look. “Not all of them. They, like all of us, can go either way. Yes, they come from dark magic, but they have free will.”

“Ok, so he’s being vague because he used a warlock?” I fished a cookie piece out of my milk. Elle shook her head.

“I don’t think it’s because he used the warlock. I suspect he had him do something to Fenton.” Elle took a drink of her cookie milk. “To my knowledge, none of us have seen or heard from him since you left him.”

“You think Vince disappeared my ex?” I frowned. “Why would he do that?”

She looked away from me.  “Elle?”

“It might not have been him. Don’t forget, Mac was right there with us all along. Could be Mac asked the warlock to handle it. Vince would probably know what he had done and just doesn’t want to be found out.” She dunked another cookie. “He’s the chief of police. Probably doesn’t want it to get out he might have disappeared a guy.”

I drank some cookie milk as I thought about what she told me. It made sense. I looked at her. “If it’s not Fenton, then who?”

She shrugged. “I’m guessing whoever Mike Walker hired to harass you. You should call Charles and find out where he is with your case. Maybe he’s ready to make it go away.”

I agreed. Time to check in with my lawyer. Oh. A disturbing thought popped in my head. What if the attempted kidnapping and Markus trying to claim the estate weren’t related?