Kiss The Witch Part 31

"He's right," I said, considering it. "This won't get thrown out of court on a technicality. Will it?"

"Nuh-uh." Spinelli shook his head faintly. "Don't see how. It wasn't a police operation. We didn't coax him into saying anything."

"What about illegal wire tapping? We didn't have a court order to record that."

"Don't need it. It's not our bug. Harrison vs. Cook County already set precedence for this. In that case, a county prosecutor recorded inflammatory evidence gathered from a cordless phone conversation a drug dealer had with his currier. This is practically the same thing."

"All right then. Let's get with the D.A.'s office. Have them pet.i.tion the court for an arrest warrant immediately. With luck, maybe Ferguson will give up his co-conspirators in a plea deal." I reached out and shook Spinelli's hand. "Nice work, Dominic." I went to let go and he squeezed tighter.

"Tony." His expression grew serious. "Will you be my best man tonight?"

I have to admit, he took me by complete surprise. I fully expected he would ask Carlos that question, especially in light of recent circ.u.mstances. Perhaps because of recent circ.u.mstances, he asked me. I answered him the only way I could.

"Sure," I said, and returned the squeeze. "I would be honored."

I looked at Carlos. He turned away. I a.s.sumed he felt alienated, even dejected. "Carlos." He turned to me. "Listen, if you're feeling left out because Dominic asked me"

"What? No. That's not it. I'm good with that."

"So why the long face?"

"No reason."

"Carlos."

"Okay, Tony. Here's the thing." He took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. "It's good if we can nail Ferguson for Williams' and Delaney's murder, but that doesn't fix my Vette, does it?"

He turned and left the room, I a.s.sumed for a long walk so that he could vent. Dominic and I took bets on how many Snickers bars he would returned with. Dominic bet three. I bet five. When he did not come back, we started to worry and went down to the lobby to look for him. He was not there. Sergeant Doucette told us he saw Carlos leave the building, but not before emptying the candy machine of its Snickers. Spinelli and I looked at each another, and then at Doucette.

"How many?" Spinelli asked.

Doucette face wrinkled from the forehead down. "How many what?"

"Snickers. How many Snickers did he get from the machine?"

The answer came with a blase shrug. "I don't know. Four maybe."

"Four? Are you sure?"

Another shrug. "I don't know. I suppose so."

"Do you think it could have been three or five?"

"What?"

"We have a bet."

Doucette shook his head and walked off, thinking us both mad, I suppose, or at the very least, petty. I don't know. I suppose we were.

SIXTEEN.

I don't know what I expected when I first learned Dominic and Ursula's wedding would be a traditional witch's wedding. I imagined lots of magick for sure. I even expected a wedding guest or two from the other side of the black mirror, say Ursula's mother, perhaps. Lilith once told me that a witch's wedding is one of the most sacred of all ceremonies a witch can partic.i.p.ate in. Bigger even than the Rite of Pa.s.sage, the ceremony that returned Lilith and me to prime just a couple of years earlier.

Dominic, I know, was scared. He kept asking me what time it was. Forget that he was wearing a watch; the clock in his apartment chimed on the quarter hour every hour.

"Wish Carlos was here," he said.

We stood toe-to-toe as I helped him with the knot in his tie. "He'll be here," I said. "Don't worry."

"I should have told him."

"Told him what?"

"That I wanted you to be my best man."

"Oh, that."

"I know he's hurt."

"Carlos is a big boy. He'll get over it."

"I was going to, you know."

"Going to tell him?"

"Ask him to be my best man."

"Why didn't you?"

I watched the lump in his throat bob as he swallowed. "Because of what happened between you and Ursula."

"Oh?"

"She told me."

My hands froze on his tie knot. "Did she?"

"She told me everything. About what happened the night of the coven ceremony, you walking in on her in the bathroom."

I finished the knot and cinched it tight against his collar. "Dominic. I never meant"

"Tony. It's okay. I'm not angry. I understand. I just wanted you to know that we're still best friends. That's why I asked you to be my best man."

"Did she tell you about this morning?"

"In the kitchen?"

"Yes."

"She told me."

"You know I thought it was Lilith."

"I know. Don't sweat it. Everything she did, she did for me. I understand that."

I smiled, slapped his cheek and backed away. "You're a good man, Dominic. I hope Ursula knows that."

He smiled back, and the mischievous gleam in his eye told me he had something more to say.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nah, forget it."

"No. What? You can tell me."

A bashful shade of pink wash over him in a wave. "Well, it's just that...."

"Spill it."

"You saw Ursula without any...."

"Clothes on?"

"Yeah."

"I did."

"Is there anything I should know?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know." He shrugged awkwardly.

"Are you worried she has a p.e.n.i.s?"

"What? No. Good G.o.d, no. Why would you say a thing like that? I'm talking about tattoos, piercings and what not."

I laughed. "Come here." I draped my arm around his shoulder and pulled him in. "Dominic. Listen. All you need to know is that Ursula is an amazing woman. She's beautiful, smart, witty and s.e.xy. And the only thing you need to remember is that you are one lucky man. Cherish her always and don't let her go for all the stars in heaven."

"I won't," he said, and after a long pause, added, "Thanks, Tony."

I smiled thinly. "You're welcome. Now what do you say we head over to the house? It's getting late."

We left Spinelli's apartment just as the sun was setting. By the time we reached Lilith's house, bright orange rays lit up the western sky like searchlights on the horizon. In the east, a celestial changing of the guard saw a waxing moon tripping over the treetops in a pale blue crescent.

Lilith stood at the door waiting for us as we pulled into the driveway. She held her usual pose, arms crossed, weight s.h.i.+fted onto one hip. I remember thinking she must be angry with me, and how d.a.m.n s.e.xy she looked. We got out of the car and the first words out of her mouth were, "You're late."

I strolled up the walk with an unapologetic strut, slapped her on the a.s.s and kissed her on the lips. "You look beautiful, Lilith. How do you do it?"

Her expression softened incrementally. "Yeah?" She put her arms around me, rocked up on tiptoes and kissed me back. "And thou art most handsome as well, Master Tony."

"What? Oh, G.o.d. Ursula. I'm so sorry." I looked at Dominic. His face grew pale as the moon. I turned back. "Ursula. Honest, I thought you were"

"Relax, stud. You're all right."

"Lilith?"

She smiled wickedly. "Gotcha!"

"Oh, man you have no idea how"

She grabbed the front of my s.h.i.+rt and twisted it in her fist. "Oh, I have an idea. You and me, pal. We have some talking to do later. Know what I mean?"

I knew exactly what she meant. "No. Whatever do you mean?"

"Tony, do you really want to air it out right here on the front stoop?"

"Maybe. I might want a witness."

Spinelli said, "Look. It's Carlos."

I turned around and eased a full arms length away from Lilith. "It is. Well, what do you know?"

Carlos pulled in behind my car in a s.h.i.+ny new red Corvette. He hopped out, grinning like a fool and practically bounced his way up the drive.

"Everyone?" He said. "Hope I'm not late."

Dominic rushed to meet him halfway. "Man, am I glad to see you? I was afraid you weren't coming."

"What, and miss my best friend's wedding? Not a chance."

I know that meant a lot to Dominic. The two embraced like old friends that had not seen each other in years. As they started up the drive together, Ursula appeared up at the door.

"Merry Meet all and love of mine."

Spinelli and Carlos stopped dead in their tracks. I turned around and my jaw nearly hit the ground. Even Lilith gasped at first sight.

Ursula looked stunning. Her wedding dress, a hybrid of traditional and neo-pagan form, hugged her body in braided st.i.tching around her waist. Spaghetti straps rolled off her shoulders, spilling down the front in a v-shape neckline, plunging nearly to her navel. Ribbons of silk and lace lay feathered in layers, cupping her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, cradling and coercing them gently together.

Below her hips, the dress relaxed in pleated freefall, drifting in the soft breeze squeezing through the doorway like a restless child. I thought of Lilith; imagining her in that same dress. In the years I have known her, I had never seen her in such feminine light. She is all that Ursula is and more, yet she keeps from me that which I need most. That which Ursula has and likely does not know it. A vulnerable innocence in need of protection.

My eyes were still taking in Ursula's inculpable beauty when Spinelli b.u.mped me in his rush to her arms. I shook my head, snapping free from a trance-like state of desire. I saw Lilith looking at me. And I knew she was looking at me looking at Ursula. I smiled, but she could see the guilty strings pulling the corners of my mouth upward. She was not buying any of it.