Witch You Were Here Read online

  Witch You Were Here

  (The Summer Sisters Witch Cozy Mystery, Book 3)

  A.M. KING

  Copyright 2017 by A.M. King (S. A. Richards)

  All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Witch You Were Here (The Summer Sisters Witch Cozy Mystery, #3)

  “We’re living in magical times.” – Author Unknown

  Witch You Were Here

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue.

  Thank you Father, for all my blessings.

  “We’re living in magical times.” – Author Unknown

  Witch You Were Here

  (The Summer Sisters Witch Cozy Mystery, Book 3)

  After years of dating Mr. Wrong, Febe’s finally met Mr. Right. Trouble is she can never tell him she’s a witch.

  Will that change everything between them if he finds out?

  Meanwhile, Mr. Dawes, her creepy neighbor’s real identity is revealed. A suspicious death during the Blackshore Bay’s Festival of Witches to celebrate the 326-year anniversary of the end of the Salem Witch Trials, is written off as an accident.

  But Febe knows differently. There’s a killer on the loose—and they’re so good, he or she is making the deaths look natural. Now Febe is racing against the clock to prove a crime has been committed—before the killer strikes again.

  The Summer Sisters Witch Cozy Mystery series:

  Witch Happens (Book 1)

  Life’s a Witch (Book 2)

  Witch You Were Here (Book 3)

  Chapter 1

  “There’s room on my broom for you.” - Author Unknown

  Febe’s favorite quote of the day

  A week later, Febe caught a glimpse of hot Detective Trey over by the plaza. They were finally going to meet up for their first official date: lunch at the Blackshore Bay Pizzeria, an upscale restaurant on the other side of town.

  Trey had wanted to pick Febe up at the Victorian mansion she shared with her aunties and sister, but she insisted he meet her at the plaza instead. She didn’t want him coming to the home right now. There were too many strange things happening.

  It was the anniversary of the end of the Salem Witch Trials. A day when all witches celebrated emancipation from the most horrific period in their history. So the house had a lot of visitors past and present.

  She thought about one thing: could this lead to anything? Could they really make a go at their relationship? A witch and a human?

  Trey was gazing into his smartphone. Probably playing a game. She admired everything about him. He was so cute, she sighed. She was about to go over to him when a cold draft suddenly blew around her.

  The scent of perfume wafted to her nostrils and poof. The ghost of her grand Auntie Hex from 1676 appeared beside her.

  Okay, she was so not used to this. When would she ever get used to this? Life was so much simpler in the city before she came of age as a witch, before she knew about her heritage and her family blood line. And oh, yeah, her immortal auntie who just happened to pop in once in a while. Apparently there were mortal and immortal witches. Aunt Hex was one of them. She wished in her heart that her mother could have been immortal. If only...

  Aunt Hex observed the mortals with fascination and curiosity on their cell phones, staring into the screen like zombies waiting to be liked on their social media apps.

  “Is that all they ever do? It’s like they’re under a spell. Fixated with their devices instead of each other. What a bore the twenty-first century has become.”

  “Aunt Hex! Nice to see you too. And no, they’re not boring. It’s just the way things are today. Gadgets. Almost everyone has a smartphone these days.”

  “Smart phone. What about the other phones? Are you saying that Bell invented a dumb phone?”

  “No. Not at all. He was a very clever man. The father of telephone communication.”

  “And a very nice gentleman, too.” She sighed. “He was such a gentleman. I remember him dearly.”

  “You do?

  Febe had to get used to the fact that Aunt Hex had been around for centuries and had met a lot of historical figures. How interesting was that?

  Aunt Hex continued to observe with fascination. “Mortals everywhere gazing into glass screens in the palm of their hands. Some whispering commands.”

  “Commands?” Febe asked, confused.

  “Yes, like that one.”

  “Siri, call Dave,” Trey said into his smartphone, unaware that Febe and her Aunt were nearby watching him.

  “Calling Dave on Facetime,” a disembodied voice sounded through the phone’s speakers answered.

  Aunt Hex grinned and shook her head.

  “Aunt Hex. What’s wrong?” Febe asked.

  “Oh, nothing. I think it’s so cute. Aww.”

  “What’s cute?”

  “These mortals, practicing magic with their...things. Cellular phones.”

  “They’re smartphones, Aunt Hex. And I wouldn’t call it magic. It’s Wi-Fi and advanced voice technology.”

  “Oh, is that what you call it?”

  “No. That’s what it’s called.”

  “Oh, please,” she said rolling her large brown eyes framed with thick, black lashes. Where did she get those lashes? They looked as if she’d come out of 1967 instead of 1676.

  “Look at them,” Aunt Hex continued. “I could do so much more. Summoning any spirit to help me get what I want. And what’s with that incantation, Siri? Who’s Siri?”

  Febe rolled her eyes. “It’s not an incantation. It’s...part of an app or something. Listen, never mind. It’s been what? Two hundred years since you came here?”

  Febe had heard so much about her Aunt Hex and had seen tons of photos of her over the centuries in her family’s album that she felt as if she’d known her all her life.

  Aunt Hex shrugged casually. “Something like that.”

  “Well, there’s this thing called technology or magic or whatever you call it and lots of people have access to it.”

  “Back in my time, if you were caught doing that sort of stuff, making things happen, speaking to things to make things appear, you’d be burned at the stake. Lucky for them it’s not the 1690s.”

  “Of course. We’ve come a long way from the Salem Witch Trials of Massachusetts,” Febe said, “Billions of folks have access to Wi-Fi in their hands. They can make things happen.”

  “Don’t they realize they’re living in magical times?”

  “I don’t think they do,” Febe grinned. “Anyway, Auntie Eartha told me you’d be visiting soon.” Or rather, she warned me you’d be visiting soon.

  Febe had just gotten used to her new-found heritage. Some people come from a line of lawyers or doctors or politicians. She came from a line of witches. Imagine that!

  It took a bit of getting used to, but she had. Of course, she didn’t know she was a witch until very recently when she came of age. The witches in the Summer Sisters household came of age at twenty-five when their powers suddenly...happened. Wishing for things to happen and suddenly, B
am! Just like that. It happened. Wish craft. And then one thing led to another.

  “I’m here for the anniversary of the end of the Salem Witch Trials, of course. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  “Of course.”

  “What are you doing in this part of town?”

  “I just thought I’d see my favorite grandniece. Congratulations on coming of age.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And when’s the last time you spoke to your sister Marsha?”

  Febe sighed. “Too long. We’re hoping she could make it but she hasn’t returned any of our calls or messages yet.”

  “I see. Well, give it more time.”

  Aunt Hex thought for a moment. “I guess I’ll be seeing my darling nieces now. Your aunties. I hope Vanity and Trixie are behaving themselves.”

  Febe playfully rolled her eyes. “I guess. As much as they can.”

  “Right.”

  “I have a lunch date with that guy over there, but I will catch up with you soon, okay?”

  “You’re dating a mortal?”

  “Not exactly. Well. We worked on a couple of recent murder cases in town.”

  “Ah, of course. Witches have always been good in helping the law find the killers with our psychic witching abilities. Good job.”

  “Thanks.” Febe swallowed hard. Aunt Hex was right. She felt terrible going out with Trey knowing she had to keep her secret from him. How far could this relationship really go?

  Aunt Hex vanished into thin air.

  Febe walked across the street towards Trey.

  “Hey, you look beautiful.” His smile was warm and genuine.

  She wore a black T-shirt and knitted cardigan with slim-fitted jeans that hugged her curvy hips. Her purse was slung across her chest, resting on her right hip.

  “You look good, too.”

  “So you want to go to the Blackshore Bay Pizzeria?”

  No, I’m sorry but I can’t, Trey. As much as I’m attracted to you and you’re attracted to me, I’m a witch and you’re a mortal. There’s no way we should be seeing each other. We need to keep our distance. If we fall too deep in love, my magic might be revealed to you and it could spell disaster for us.

  “I’d love to,” Febe said, gently ignoring the voice in her head. She hoped she would not live to regret it.

  * * *

  Two hours later, Febe felt on top of the world after her lunch date with Detective Trey. They’d had a grand time talking about all sorts of stuff. She couldn’t believe how much they had in common. They laughed at the same jokes, shared the same views on things happening in the world, they liked the same music, the same foods. Talk about a match made in heaven. How could it be so wrong for them to be together?

  So what if he was a mortal and she was a witch, right? They could make this work, couldn’t they?

  As she walked up the stone pathway to the Victorian, she noticed Mr. Dawes looking out of his window, peeking between the blinds.

  Febe’s skin prickled. She had a strange feeling about him. She wanted to use a reveal spell to find out what was up with him.

  It was bad enough he was always watching the house. He was also in the same area where she located a body in the park the other week. The man was as strange as they came. Not to mention he was there when her mother died, but the police did not suspect him.

  She turned and walked over to his front yard and up the stone steps leading to his front door. She knocked the brass door knocker and he promptly opened the door. She was going to gently confront this man, once and for all.

  There were witches next door at her Victorian due to the anniversary celebration. Was he aware? Did he suspect something? Was he the one that sent that note to the Summer witches about being careful or one by one they’d be gone?

  “Good afternoon,” he said, his lips thinned.

  “Hi Mr. Dawes. How are you doing today?”

  “Good.”

  Okay, so there’s no ‘I’m good, thank you, and how are you doing?’

  “Um. I was just wondering if I could have a word with you for a moment.”

  “Come in.” He eyed her with suspicion.

  She saw a parchment paper on the table in the foyer. It was the same type of parchment that was used in that note.

  Who was this man?

  Febe’s witching instinct kicked in. Heat rushed through her veins. You can do this, Febe. “Commanderio Reveal Yourself to Me.”

  There was a strange gust of wind that blew into the home. Febe’s limbs felt weak and numb. Then...

  Mr. Dawes pulled off his mask, only it wasn’t just a mask. It was some sort of magical cover-up.

  Febe’s jaw fell wide open.

  Mr. Dawes then revealed his true identity to Febe. Or rather, her true identity.

  Chapter 2

  “Mom?” Febe’s jaw fell to the floor. “But...but how could this be? You...you’re dead! You’re dead!”

  “I’m sorry, darling. But...” Mom’s voice was calm and reassuring as it had always been, but this was so weird. Beyond weird. Mom was alive this whole time?

  “What’s going on?” Febe’s was breathless, as emotion rose in her tone, “Why did you fake your death? Why did you leave that note? Do your sisters know? Does Janvier? Is this a sick joke?”

  “Darling, please calm down. I can explain everything.”

  “I don’t think you can.” Febe paced like a mad woman in the foyer. She could not believe her mother was alive this whole time.

  Her mother reached over and held her shoulder. She had morphed back into her usual self, her long flowing ebony hair cascading down her back. Her beautiful face, so friendly and warm. Yet...this was anything but warm. This was cold. Cold and calculated.

  “All this time I witched you were here with us.”

  “What?”

  “I mean, I wished you were here with us. And you were but you lied about your death and bailed on us.”

  “Darling. I hadn’t planned to fake my death. And I didn’t bail on you. I never would do that.”

  “But you did.” Febe sobbed, thinking about all the times she wished she could hold her mother and speak to her and longed to see her again.

  “The evil one is upon us now.”

  “He is? But how? I thought he would be returning during the rise of the next lunar blue moon, sometime next fall.”

  “That was the plan, but it changed. I was on to his scheme. I got word from the other realm.”

  “And what happened?”

  “I went to the river one day to meet my source, but I’d been set up. The evil hunter attacked me and I decided to play dead, casting a spell before going into the water that would blind him. I decided it was better that way. I have the most powerful bloodline of the Summer witch family and he figured that if he could eliminate me first, then he could go after the weakest.”

  “But how could you have the most powerful blood line? You’re all sisters.”

  “Yes and no. You see our mother had a relationship outside of her marriage with the brother of the evil hunter, Galsen.”

  “Galsen?”

  “Yes. She had no idea at first. But then she found herself pregnant with me. And that makes me half witch...”

  “And half demon?”

  Febe’s eyes were wide like saucers. She could not believe what she was hearing. None of this made sense. She felt as if her head was about to explode.

  “But the good witch side dominates. He couldn’t get me to cross over to his evil side, so he’d planned to eliminate me because I was a threat with potentially the same source of power he holds.”

  “Oh, my God. Like, oh. My. God.”

  Mom strode to the window, her flowing gown blowing behind her, to make sure no one was watching.. She was so beautiful. So glamorous. She reminded Febe of the movie star Catherine Zeta Jones.

  “I couldn’t let my sisters know,” Mom continued. “It was a promise I made to mother before she passed on that it would be our secret.”
/>   When the shock began to wear down, Febe drew in a deep breath, trying to take this all in.

  I can do this. I will let the magic flow all around me and within me.

  “That’s my girl,” Mom said, as if she could read Febe’s mind. “I knew you were very special.”

  “Thanks, Mom. But I am your daughter. Of course you would believe that all your children are special.”

  “Yes, but not necessarily. Some of you have special gifts. I knew it would take some time, but when you came of age, I knew you’d be very special. Look, even though I used the blocking spell on the letter, you were able to figure out that something was wrong with dear old Mr. Dawes. And my own sisters don’t even know. See? All witches have their own special magical strengths and weaknesses, just like humans. No one is perfect, but that’s how we complement each other by giving and sharing what we have with each other. Helping each other. Working together as a team.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “I know I’m right, darling,” Mom said gently with a wink. “And speaking of team effort, please tell me that my darling sisters are not still fighting like cats and dogs.”

  “Oh, Aunt Vanity and Aunt Trixie.” Febe grinned. “I guess you could say it’s still loving sibling rivalry there.”

  They both grinned.

  Just then a loud sound came from the pavement as a truck pulled up to the curb.

  “Oh, that would be the delivery guy. I’m expecting a parcel. Listen, I have to morph back into Mr. Dawes now.”

  “Mom! No.”

  Before Febe could do anything else, her mother transformed before her eyes. Her long flowing black hair, shriveled up into a cropped grey do. Spectacles appeared on the tip of her nose. Her height shrank a few inches and she became stout. It was quite a site to see. Sort of like that scene from the Nutty Professor played by Eddie Murphy.

  “Mom?” She wasn’t used to seeing her mom that way. Okay, she was used to seeing Mr. Dawes like that, but now that she knew Mr. Dawes’ true identity, it was going to be hard to talk to him the way she used to.

  “Yes, Febe. As you were saying.” Mr. Dawes’ stern masculine voice came through. It was surreal. How could this be her mother? Talk about a magic trick.