“Did you see anyone else near them?” Tom asked.
Vi stared into the distance and then shook her head. “I can’t remember. There was so much going on, I didn’t pay attention.” Her shoulders slumped.
I debated with myself about whether to reveal what Neila had told me about Rafe being her son and decided to keep it to myself. I didn’t want to distract the crowd and my mother with the story of visiting Neila.
We continued to discuss the clues and suspects. Morgan Lavelle was at the top of the list and just as Vi began a discussion of Morgan’s clothing choices, the woman herself walked in the door. She wasn’t dressed for work today, but had her black leather and scary makeup back on. Two women who had to be mother and daughter followed in her wake. I remembered seeing Morgan with them at the closing ceremony.
Diana leaned toward me and said, “That’s Bronwyn and Ember. I thought they went back to Traverse City.”
Morgan cast a dark look in our direction and led her minions to a table across the room. The presence of our number one suspect had cast an uncomfortable silence over the table. Fortunately, the waitress returned with our order and we covered the notes with plates and focused on our food and celebrating Dylan’s release.
“How’s Lucan?” Mom asked Diana while passing the bread basket down the table.
“He’s much better but will need to stay in the hospital for another couple of days,” she said.
“I heard he was pretty beat-up from the accident,” Tom said. He continued to fork noodles into his mouth.
The table had gone silent in the vicinity of Mom and Vi.
Vi cleared her throat. “Didn’t you see Lucan at the accident, Tom?”
Tom looked up and noticed for the first time that all eyes were on him. He scanned the table, searching for the source of trouble.
He shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen him since the reception for Rafe.”
“Is that so?” Vi said. She turned her narrowed eyes in my direction at the opposite end of the table.
“Weren’t you out with Clyde the night she found him?”
Tom blushed and stammered. “N-no. I heard about Lucan from . . . work the next day.”
Mom crossed her arms and stared at me.
Seth took a deep breath but I put my hand on his arm to stop him from wading into this situation.
“I was with Mac that night,” I said.
“I knew it!” said Vi. She had one finger in the air. “I knew something was up with you two.” She leveled the finger in my direction.
“Finally,” Alex whispered next to me.
“Oh, Clyde. This is good news,” Mom said. “The cards always said you were meant for each other.”
Tom turned in his seat to glance toward me down the table. “You and Mac . . . are together?”
I nodded.
“Well, where is he? Why isn’t he here helping us?” Vi said. She turned to Mom and said, “We’ll have to invite Lucille over for dinner.”
I sighed and Seth patted me on the shoulder.
*
In the restroom, grateful for a few minutes away from the mayhem in the dining room, I let the water run and washed my hands slowly. I didn’t look up when the door opened and someone else came in the room.
I caught a streak of black out of the corner of my eye and then felt someone standing very close behind me.
“I don’t know what your problem is, but you can just back off,” she said.
I looked up to meet her eyes in the mirror.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Morgan.”
“You went snooping around in the woods and found a charm. The police are trying to link it to me.”
I held her gaze and didn’t respond. But her presence so close behind me had my heart pounding in fear.
“I didn’t kill Rafe,” she said. “I . . . wouldn’t hurt him.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.” I tried to step around her, but she blocked me.
“I think I have you and your gang of amateur detectives to worry about. You’re all running in circles trying to find someone to blame for this. I think the police need to look at the people Rafe had threatened, and it wasn’t me.”
“I don’t have any control over what the police are doing.”
She gave me a flat stare in the mirror.
“Who was Rafe threatening?” I asked.
“For one thing, your friend’s brother was right. Rafe did kill their parents.”
“What? How do you know about that?”
Her slow smile showed she was enjoying this. She took a step back and I turned to look at her.
“At least he thought he killed them.” Morgan shrugged. “He never got over it. He cast a spell and the next day their car crashed.” She stepped up to the mirror to trowel on more lipstick.
“Rafe thought a spell killed the Wards?”
She nodded and blotted her lips on a paper towel.
“He liked to test out the spells that were in his mother’s grimoire. He was convinced that that one really worked.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I said.
She shrugged. “I didn’t say I believed it.”
“Why did you lie about being at the ceremony?”