Wicked By Any Other Name Part 16

"I bet we could find proof if we did a little searching." Jazz had a lemon Danish in her mouth and coffee in one hand while she busied herself piling the shredded books in one corner.

"No. This isn't all her doing." Stasi paused to stare at the basket of delicate sachets that were soaking wet. She didn't even want to think how they got that way.

Both women stared at her.

"You don't just mean she had help from someone, do you?" Jazz said.

Ginny looked from one to the other. "Um, no offense but you two are scaring me."

"Don't be scared," Stasi told her then muttered, "Not now!" when she spied two visitors coming to the shop.

"Oh my." Poppy stood in the open doorway, her hands covering her mouth while her eyes went wide with shock. "Oh Stasi, this is terrible. Your beautiful shop is destroyed." She tiptoed inside with her sister, Rhetta, walking more slowly behind her. Poppy was dressed in pink wool leggings and a pink, blue, and yellow print sweater. Her blond hair was pulled up in a frizzy ponytail secured with a pink velvet ribbon. Rhetta was more sedately attired in olive jeans and a cream turtleneck sweater. Her leaf-green gaze slid sideways to Ginny and centered on the bag that Ginny still held.

"Is there any way we can help?" Rhetta asked.

"No, but thank you for asking."

Jazz studied the two newcomers as she hoisted herself up to sit on the counter.

"h.e.l.lo, I'm Poppy Palmer." Poppy directed a bright smile to Jazz. "And this is my sister, Amaretto, but we all call her Rhetta. I own the bakery, Fresh Baked Goods, with our brother, Reed."

"Jazz Tremaine. I'm a good friend of Stasi's," she said. "A group of us came up for the Halloween fun. It's nice to meet you."

Stasi almost smiled at Jazz using the human term instead of Samhain, which they celebrated every October. But the way things were going, she feared this year their celebration wasn't to be.

Poppy stared at Jazz's face and subtly backed off even though Jazz wasn't displaying any aggression.

"Well, you must come down to our bakery for coffee and some of our wonderful pastries. Our brother Reed whipped up some marvelous pumpkin spice m.u.f.fins today that will be coming out of the oven any time now." She waggled her fingers at Stasi. "Honey, if you need any help at all, you call us, okay? I know Carrie is trying to make things difficult for you, but not all of us believe you're that way. I mean, if you were, we'd all be in danger, wouldn't we?" She looked around at the disaster that had once been Stasi's pride and joy. "Some people just don't understand."

"Thank you." Stasi deliberately didn't say she'd call because she deplored lies and that would have been a whopper. She had no plans to call on anyone. And she especially wouldn't call on anyone who lived in this town, not even Ginny, because she didn't know if her friend would eventually turn against her, too. Stasi had seen it happen before. Right now, she didn't know who she could trust other than the ones she felt closest to.

"You're supposed to be working for me," Carrie spat out as Trev marched her up the sidewalk. "So why did you have dinner with that b.i.t.c.h? You better not have tried to persuade her to settle, because I want her in court. And there's no way I'll drop this case. She's playing with peoples' lives and I don't want to see it happening any longer."

"Watch it, Carrie," he warned. Feeling his anger building up, he stopped and jerked her around to face him. "You have treaded a very fine line before, but if you had anything to do with the destruction of those shops, you have gone beyond the pale."

"I've done nothing wrong. She probably trashed her own store, so she could blame it on me."

If Carrie had looked at Trev at that moment, his expression would have struck real fear into her heart.

Instead, she felt a sense of suffocation surround her. It was only momentary, but it gave her pause. She breathed easier when the sensation was removed. She immediately knew he had caused it.

"I should have gone to Wizard Fitzroy," she muttered. "He would have seen the truth about Stasi and done something about it. She wouldn't have been able to seduce him."

Trev felt the air in his lungs turn to ice. The idea that she was accusing him of impropriety was bad enough, although he knew he was likewise walking a fine line where Stasi was concerned. But the wizard attorney she referred to was infamous for fighting dirty in the courtroom and managing to get away with it. He was also well known for hating witches with a pa.s.sion and had declared more than once the world would be a better place without them. He also enjoyed dealing with humans. Trev figured it was because humans were in awe of Fitzroy, and there was nothing the pompous a.s.s liked more than feeling as if he was a G.o.d.

Trev considered him a bully of the first degree. He hated going up against him in court and partied hearty when he won, but each court battle was hard won due to the wizard's trickery.

"Consider yourself lucky you didn't retain him, Carrie," he said in a dangerously soft voice. "You would have learned the price was too high."

Her smile was just as deadly. "Maybe you should have f.u.c.ked her and gotten it out of your system. Otherwise, you're no good to me." She jerked her arm out of his punis.h.i.+ng grip and walked away. "Ow!" She jumped and spun around, facing him with hatred in her eyes.

"Who knew mosquitoes would show up this time of year. Remember what I've said, Carrie. I fight fair and win. I wouldn't have taken this case if I didn't believe in the merits of it. But don't push me and don't try to take matters into your own hands."

Carrie didn't say a word. She turned back around and stalked off, finally turning into Fresh Baked Goods.

Trev blew out a cleansing breath but didn't feel any calmer. It wasn't like him to be at odds with a client, no matter what his personal opinion of them might be, but Carrie was as vindictive as he'd ever seen. He knew what she was doing in the bakery and hated her for not allowing him to keep control of the matter. He was tempted to walk right past the business, but he also wanted to know what was going on.

He drew a deep breath and walked inside, inhaling the scent of yeast, sugar, spices, chocolate, and various fruits, but he also sensed fury there and a strong taint of fear. Ordinarily, he would have found the bakery part of the fragrance tempting his taste buds, but his anger with Carrie had killed any semblance of an appet.i.te and the fury and fear filled his stomach with acid. The counter was busy with customers buying breads and pastries while the separate counter for coffee was equally busy. He stopped there for a cup of French roast and found an empty table in the corner.

"She and her friends will take over the town. Take us over," Carrie groused from another table where she sat with a large m.u.f.fin and coffee in front of her. "Sometimes I think they had the right idea in Europe by burning witches." Trevor was shocked to hear this sentiment was met with cheering. "Have any of you been out to the lake? There's something wrong there. I don't know what, but I'm sure they have something to do with it and we've got to stop them!"

Trev straightened up at that. It took all of his willpower to keep his spell around him, but something must have leaked out because Carrie noticed him in his corner. He made an effort to offer her a bland smile. She nodded back warily as if wondering at the change in his demeanor.

"More coffee?" The woman who'd been manning the coffee counter approached. "We offer free refills."

He looked into her leaf green eyes and saw interest there along with something else he couldn't figure out.

"Thanks." He hadn't realized he'd already drunk half the cup until then.

"I'm Amaretto Palmer. Rhetta for short." She filled his cup. "You look like an almond Danish man." She gestured toward the pastry counter.

"I'm not much for sweets," he lied. He knew from then on the only sweets he'd care for was chocolate souffle shared with Stasi.

"You should give it a try. I think you'd enjoy it." She paused. "So tell me, how does a wizard lawyer deal with a human woman?" She nodded toward Carrie.

Why did he feel as if that wasn't the question she really wanted to ask?

"We're no different than any everyday attorney. We handle a lot of the same type of cases. A few different ones, of course." He quickly finished his coffee. When Rhetta lifted the pot, he gave her a charming smile and shook his head. "I have some work to do. Excellent coffee, by the way. I'll have to stop in again." He knew she would think he'd be stopping in for more than the coffee, but that was fine if he ever needed her as a source of information. He was going to need all his resources to discover what was going on among the townspeople. It appeared the bakery was a good place for that.

"Please do," she murmured, moving on.

Trev sucked in more cleansing breaths as he headed for his car. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and hit the speed dial.

"It's the weekend," Mae announced without any form of greeting.

"And I want this in play first thing on Monday," he told her. "No more cases with humans, plaintiffs or defendants, and I don't give a d.a.m.n what part of the magickal community is involved. Refer any of them to Fitzroy."

"Give me something new to do. I've been doing that since the first day that woman walked into the office." She hung up without another word.

Trev stared at his phone as if it was a creature he'd never encountered before.

"d.a.m.n that woman. She never lets me have the last word."

Chapter Thirteen.

"You didn't think to get me up when you were first alerted? d.a.m.n it, Jazz!" Nick growled as he picked up loose boards as easily as if they were toothpicks and put them in a neat pile. Vampire strength came in handy. Even in his annoyance, he paused long enough to slide his arm around Jazz's waist and press a kiss against her temple. She looked up and smiled at him, her delicate features alight with love. He shook his head. "What were you all thinking? How do you know the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds still wouldn't have been here and ready to do damage to you? Yes, you all have power, but that doesn't mean you can go up against everyone. Look what they did here! That alone gives you an idea what they could have done to you. Mob mentality is a dangerous and unpredictable factor." His expression turned dark with memories-all preternatural creatures had been persecuted at some time.

"What, do you think we can't take care of ourselves against some crazy mortals? Trust me, after what I've put up with in just the past six months, this is a cakewalk," Jazz argued, then she muttered a few words and waved her hands in front of the rear wall of Stasi's shop. In moments, purple mist covered the black-painted graffiti, dissipating the filthy words that had been scrawled on the surface. The wall was back to its pristine condition. Once that was finished, she began picking up piles of shredded books and dropping them into a bucket. "There was no one here by the time we got here, so it had to be quite a crowd that ran in, did as much damage as they could, and got out," Jazz reasoned. "Horace's warning shrieks are too high pitched for anyone mortal to hear-except dogs, and I'm sure there are some major canine earaches this morning, along with cracked and broken gla.s.s here and there. As for Carrie, yes, it got a little charged, but nothing risky, and if you had been down here you might have gotten fangy and that wouldn't have been a good idea. It was bad enough Fluff and Puff did their thing." The bunny slippers squeaked their self-congratulations.

Nick flashed said fangs at her and returned to his task.

Leticia walked through the shop picking things up. She muttered words in an ancient language under her breath as she dropped bits of lace and silk into a trash can.

"Animals," she spat out the word. "All of them."

"It's like a disease that begins with one and pretty soon more are infected." Stasi started to pick up a trash can, but Krebs took it out of her hands. She smiled her thanks and apology all in one. "I'm sorry your getaway began with such drama."

He grinned. "You forget I share a house with Jazz. Drama is her middle name."

"Actually, I don't have a middle name," Jazz called out on her way to the other shop to help Blair.

Stasi walked over to Leticia and Krebs. "I feel guilty. I wish you two would enjoy today instead of helping us clean up here."

"We truly don't mind," Leticia protested. "The more hands, the faster the work will be finished."

"But I do." She smiled gently. "There's more than skiing offered at the resort, and there are other small towns to explore. We even have an authentic ghost town about ten miles away. Please?" She begged with her eyes as eloquently as she did with her voice.

Leticia slowly nodded. "But we will be back later and help then."

"Here." Nick tossed Krebs the keys to the Navigator. "The windows are specially tinted, so Leticia will be safe if the sun gets too bright."

"My dear, I'm almost as old as you are." Leticia laughed, pulling on Krebs's hands. "We'll be back later." They left through the rear door.

Stasi picked up a delicately scrolled stool with a velvet covering that had been hideously slashed, and set it upright, then realized one of the legs had been broken. She carried it to the pile of trash and set it on top. She refused to admit she kept looking outside in hopes she would see Trev. His absence gnawed at her.

It's those red hearts that're doing this. If I hadn't seen them, I could easily have handled Trev as nothing more than the attorney for the plaintiff.

Sure, Anastasia, you keep telling yourself that. You're such a fickle witch. First you send him away, now you want him back. Make up your mind! And don't even think about how he looked naked. How he made you feel. What the man could do to you.

Stasi glared at a pair of what used to be apricot lace boy shorts so hard a trickle of smoke curled up into the air. It was easier than dismissing the thoughts streaming through her head.

"Ah ah ah," Jazz chided, walking back into the shop.

Stasi made a face and eased off.

"You know, maybe in a way this is a sick blessing in disguise," Blair said, walking in behind Jazz.

"Explain the blessing part, because as I look around at the landfill that used to be my beloved boutique, I don't see anything to be thankful for."

"We've talked about putting an archway in this side wall to connect the two shops, so what better time to do it than now? There's already holes in the wall, so why don't we just go ahead and finish the job?"

"And I suppose you have someone in mind to do that for us?" Stasi asked.

Blair didn't even blush. "I called Jake and he said he'd be right over to give us an estimate."

"We can't do it until the insurance claims adjuster comes in."

"So we factor this in."

"She's right," Nick agreed. "It is a good time and you'd have additional protection with Jake."

"And his hammer," Blair joked. "He'll be here in about ten minutes. He's chopping wood for Mrs. Benedict." She looked at her reflection in the shards of the mirror that was barely managing to stay hung on a wall. "At least we know someone will have seven years bad luck. Hm, I need a bit of glamour." She disappeared back to her shop.

Nick watched her go. "She has no idea, does she?"

"Idea about what?" Stasi asked, puzzled by his question.

He turned and looked at her and Jazz. "Jake."

"What about Jake?" Stasi looked blank.

Jazz shrugged her shoulders, indicating she didn't know what he meant. "Please don't use riddles. It's been a long day. Just tell us straight out."

He considered her request then shook his head. "No, no, this is way more fun. Especially since you don't seem to know, either." He ducked as Jazz threw a battered hot pink and cream woven basket at him.

The rocking sounds of The Monster Mash sounded from the other side of the wall.

"As you can tell, she recovers quickly," Stasi murmured.

"Where did you put the video you took of the shops before we started?" Jazz asked.

"It's safely upstairs."

"Am I going upstairs too?" Horace asked from his spot on a shelf behind the counter.

"I guess so."

The gargoyle brightened up as much as an ashy gray gargoyle can. "Can I sleep in Blair's room?"

"Not a chance, perv!" Blair shouted through a gap in the wall. "I haven't forgotten that night I woke up and found you under the covers."

Stasi shook her finger at the gargoyle. "For that, you're sleeping in the kitchen."

"Hey." Jake walked in and looked around. His jeans and flannel s.h.i.+rt were covered with wood chips. He wore his baseball cap visor down low, although the day was cloudy. He nodded at Nick and introduced himself before approaching Stasi. "At a glance I'd say I'll need to replace some dry wall, but cutting an archway between the two stores shouldn't be a problem."

"Maybe this wouldn't be a good idea," Stasi said.

"Putting in the archway?"

"You working for us. I don't want you losing work from anyone else in town because of us."