“This letter says she had a plan to leave on her own before some wedding. Do you think this could be what someone wants to know? From what you’ve told me, the coven doesn’t take lightly to runaways who could share one too many secrets.”
“It’s possible.” It was one of the better ideas they had managed to come up with. Actually, it made perfect sense. The sister’s would-be husband and in-laws could be scaring Evangeline into telling them something, or inadvertently showing them while she searched for clues. “There’s another letter, let’s find it and take them both with us just in case they haven’t seen them yet.”
“Does anyone at the coven know about this cabin of yours?”
“I’m not sure but like I said, no one will get on the property.”
With a soft nod, she continued searching for the other letter and packing some clothes into a bag. Caleb kept his ears trained outside waiting for the faintest sound of danger, he wanted to catch the attacker before they could make another move against Evangeline ever again. This was going to end, one way or another, and Caleb wasn’t opposed to it ending bloody with his jaw wrapped around the attacker’s neck.
Evangeline noticed his ridged stance by the window. “You look ready to pounce.”
“I don’t like cowards. Whoever is doing this to you should stop hiding in the dark.”
“It’s a good thing we’re on the same side. I’m ready to go. There’s not much to look through around here to fill in any blanks.” She looked over the room one more time, it was bare of any real personal touch and it wasn’t something Caleb could help her understand because he was just as clueless. Whatever the reason she kept her home simple, it something only she knew.
Caleb walked a step behind her, keeping an eye out for anyone watching them. He dropped his guard only slightly inside the car. If the attacker had to be close to hurt Evangeline, he was going to have a hard time doing it with a moving vehicle.
“So…” Evangeline was antsy in the passenger seat.
“Yes?”
“I don’t know. I’m drawing a blank here but the silence is freaking me out. Tell me something else to pass the time. I know about my past with the coven and I know my personal life seems to be messy. What else is there to define me?” You weren’t you without memories and now she was sitting there feeling faceless with nothing to grab onto to or believe in.
“You’re very loyal to those you care about. You’ve been Jamie’s advocate from the moment you met, against me and everyone else.”
“She seems like a good kid.”
“I don’t have any complaints. You told me once that she reminded you of the girl you used to be back at the coven. You’re close friends with a wolf from my pack named Jared. He had been trying to ask you out for months but in the end you both decided to be friends.” Caleb remembered the utter relief to fill his body when Jared told him that over a cup of coffee. For Jared it had been something to make conversation, never had he, or any of the others, noticed the alpha’s desire for the woman in question.
“Why?”
“I don’t know, it was something you chose between the two of you.”
“I guess the answer isn’t hard to figure out. If I still have feelings for Michael, and with whatever is happening between you and me, I wouldn’t want to add another name into the mix.” Caleb glanced at her from his side of the car, knowing he wasn’t doing a good job at concealing his surprise at her words. “I don’t have my memories but I’m not stupid. You won’t admit it but I feel something between us, there’s more than you’re admitting.”
“As far as I’m concerned there’s nothing more than what I’ve told you. I don’t know what you’re feeling.”
“How about you stop trying to gage my thoughts, and you just tell me what’s going on inside your head?” It didn’t matter about the attack or the ideas they were able to toss around, the one subject on her mind was to define their relationship. She wasn’t letting it go no matter how much he wished it so.
“That doesn’t sound very fair.”
“Then I guess we’re at a standstill.”
Caleb chuckled. “I guess so. We’re here.” He silently hoped she was tired because he didn’t know how they were supposed to spend the night in the same house if she was going to push about their sexual past. Memory or not, the desire he held for Evangeline was never to be spoken.
Chapter 6
Caleb sighed with relief when he fell into bed with no more inquiries from Evangeline. The day had been long and she agreed with no more fuss. After showing her around the cabin and placing her in the room right next to his, it was bed time.
The morning came with no crisis, now all they had to do was make it to this afternoon when Rebecca could try to get inside Evangeline’s memories. Caleb wasn’t a man people called optimistic, but this morning he was trying his damnedest to be positive. After washing up and dressing in some fresh clothing, it was time to leave the room and face his guest.
He walked at a pace considered too slow for a man of his status. The alpha shouldn’t be pacing slowly out of fear of a woman that made his heart race too fast, a woman that was considered an outsider for every race, she was a complication in every sense of the word.
With a chastising groan, he picked up his pace and entered the kitchen to set a pot of coffee to go. As the pot brewed he reached for his cell phone, putting in a call to Jake Thompson. The point of the call was to ask about the rumors around town surrounds witchcraft. If something big was brewing Jake and his brother, Chase, would hear about it. Pointing the finger at the coven didn’t feel right. The coven would’ve taken her back to the compound to await a trial or torture her for answers. Erasing her memory was too petty for their usual abrasive style. That in his book that ruled them out, or at least put them to the bottom of the list of suspects.
“No.” Jake answered. “Bess has been asking around and put Zoe on it too. There hasn’t been a case involving magic to pass through the SCF in a month. I’ll ask around town just in case we missed something.”
Caleb asked next, “Is Thomas in town?”
“Uh, let me ask.” Jake put the phone down, hollering the question to whomever was around him.
Caleb wasn’t sure what he was looking for when it came to Thomas; blind hope he’d have some form of an answer? If Evangeline trusted anyone when it came to working something under the radar, it’d be Thomas. It was a grasp at straws, but nonetheless a lead worth looking into.
Jake came back on the line, “I went to Bess directly and she said Thomas has been staying at the Moonrise Inn for the last few days. You think he might know something?”
“It can’t hurt to pay him a visit.” Caleb caught his second up with the plan to stick at the cabin, where it was easier to spot an outsider until farther notice. While Caleb was focused on Evangeline, it was Jake’s job to keep an eye out on the rest of the pack.
By the time Caleb hung up, the coffee was ready and his guest of honor was joining him. “Morning.” She greeted, a nervous smile back on her face.
“Good morning.” Caleb nodded. “I was talking to Jake and got the address of where Thomas is staying.” He had already explained to her who Thomas was and their working relationship.
“Great.” She tried to seem positive but the half smile on her lips was forced at best, any hope for answers over her predicament was crashing quickly. With no more words to exchange, she went right for the coffee pot and the nearby empty mugs.
Caleb stared at her every movement, from the motion of her hand as she stirred sugar into the cup, to the shifting of her feet as she stood with her back facing him. “We’re going to figure this out.” It felt like a good time to remind her of that promise.
“I know you believe that. I can’t imagine you being scared about a single thing.”
“I wish that were true.”
She turned away from the counter to face him. It was plain as day she didn’t believe his simple declaration. “What
scares you?”
“The same things that scare many people, I’m sure. I worry for Jamie and my pack, if I’m making the right choice for their wellbeing.”
“That’s a generic answer if I’ve ever heard one.” Evangeline flashed him a grim smile before titling the cup to her lips. This had to be one of her many ways of trying to get inside his head; he wasn’t going to let that happen. It was much safer if they stayed on the generic impersonal road.
Caleb said nothing more on the subject and chose to leave his seat. It was just past nine o’clock that morning and Thomas should be up. Caleb wasn’t in the mood to waste time and if they hung around the cabin, that’s what they’d end up doing. In the living room, he checked the stack of mail left yesterday to find nothing of importance. The tension created from the vampire exposure was easing and as far as he knew, Michael was dropping his conspiracy theory about the wolves trying to create their own exposure to the public. It was the farthest thing from the truth; no alpha wanted the public watching their every move and rebelling against them. The humans and the vampires were in the middle of a war nightly, and the werewolves wanted no part in it, period.
When Evangeline joined him, it was time to go. They kept their words to themselves and drove in silence to the motel.
When they reached Thomas, the human was quickly caught up on the situation. “Bess called me last night.” He explained and motioned them into the room. “I might be able to help.”
Evangeline’s eyes lit up. There it was again; hope. “What do you know?”
Thomas was the first to take a seat around the room. “You got a hinky feeling at the last scene we visited. I told you to stay away from it until we brought Bess in and she went through the correct channels for us to investigate, but you’re pretty persistent.”
“What was the case about?” Evangeline was anxious as finally some questions were being answered. Caleb stood back and watched all the emotions running across her face and the anxiousness she was trying to swallow back. His eyes were solely on her, his ears listened to every detail given by Thomas about what he knew. The faster they learned the truth, they could catch the bastard harming her.
Thomas grabbed a file off the bed and opened it. “We got a complaint about a new magic store opening up in the downtown square. It was nothing major but the SCF always checks into any complaint filed. We checked it out because the other officers weren’t in yet and we were free. There was nothing illegal found for sale and it seemed open and shut, but you said the woman behind the counter got under your skin. You couldn’t put into words what she made you feel, just that she was hiding something. That was the last time we spoke.”
Evangeline nodded, absorbing the best lead they’ve been able to find in the last two days. “When was that?”
“Three days ago.”
Evangeline’s colorful eyes turned and looked at Caleb. “What do you think?”
Caleb already said every lead was worth checking out, no matter how big or small, but this one felt like their best shot. One they couldn’t blow by rushing too soon. “Do you have anything on the woman?”
Thomas pulled another page from the folder. “The basic stuff. Her name is Alexandra Martin, in her forties, and one of the owners of the new shop. She’s in business with her siblings who weren’t at the shop during our visit. I cant tell you anything else about them.”
“A family of witches?” Evangeline scoffed. “That spells trouble.” She rolled her eyes as the pun hit her. “We need to talk to all of the Martin family.”
Chapter 7
Caleb read over the case file while Evangeline and Thomas continued to talk. Thomas was answering her questions about their partnership and previous cases they worked together over the last several weeks, hoping to jog a memory free.
The complaint filed was about a suspicion of illegal ingredients passing under the table of the magic shop. Nothing illegal was found but that didn’t mean the accusation wasn’t true. “We should talk to the person who filed this.” Caleb held up the run of the mill SCF print out the public could print from their website and submit at the office.
“We need to bring Bess up to speed first.” Thomas suggested, a nervous fear clung to his scent. “I’m not in the mood to have my balls handed to me. She looks like a docile thing but her claws can get long.” The human spoke of true fear for his boss, the type of fear that said his words weren’t a joke.
Caleb was mildly curious about Bess Jane’s place in the mythical world they all shared a part of. As far as he knew, the woman was a human FBI agent who came up with the idea for the SCF. Something deep in his belly suspected that wasn’t entirely true.
Evangeline stood from her seat. “Then let’s go talk to her. Is she in the office yet?”
“She’s always in the office.” Thomas flashed a grin while reaching for the door of his motel room.
Caleb followed behind them and continued to observe. The lead on the magic shop was the most plausible one, it took place a mere day before Evangeline’s memories vanished. Yet…something felt like it was still missing. Even if this Alexandra Martin woman was a powerful sorceress, her powers couldn’t match that of the coven Evangeline was from. Caleb was still aware anyone could be bested if you caught them off guard and whoever was targeting Evangeline kept catching her off guard, from her memories to the unseen attacks.
The first thing they had to do was find out how far this Alexandra woman’s power ran. If she could attack someone from afar then there was no coincidence that big.
Caleb drove from the motel to the SCF headquarters. Driving helped him clear his thoughts and focus on one singular thought. This thought was consumed with the mystery of the new magic shop.
They found Bess alone at the front lobby desk, sorting through a pile of messages and printouts of new complaints just like the one Caleb was holding.
Thomas stepped forward and brought his boss up to speed about the compliant that at first was nothing major worth looking into and also the possibility of Evangeline investigating it alone on her own time.
Bess nodded. “I remember asking you to check it out before heading home for the day.” She turned her stare onto Thomas. “You didn’t tell me any of this before.”
The human didn’t do a very good job at all of hiding his fear for the woman in front of him. “I left town that same night and it must’ve slipped my mind. Evie didn’t mention it either.”
Bess gave him a look that spoke volumes about what she thought of his slip up. In short, it wasn’t a nice look. “Her memory was wiped clean.” She growled the words through her teeth. With a deep exhale she continued, “There’s still several hours to kill before Rebecca arrives, until then it couldn’t hurt to talk to Alexandra Martin again and see if she’s hiding something.”
Evangeline added, “The complaint was filed by a woman named Terri Kenneth. She might know something too.”
“I know I can’t stop you from investigating this when you’re determined, but you have to be extra careful.” Bess looked to be at her wits end, this setback was probably just one of the many situations the woman in charge was having to deal with, Caleb mused, as he watched the stress building over her young face.
“I still have my magic. I may not know exactly how to use it, but I have it, and Caleb is sticking around as backup too.” They hadn’t discussed it but Evangeline knew without hearing the words, he wasn’t leaving her side for a minute until this was all over and she herself could tell him of sound mind to get lost.
“Keep me updated every step of the way.” Bess directed the order to Thomas, he knew best how she worked and liked to be informed.
With nothing else to say, the trio turned and left the building.
“Well, that wasn’t too bad.” Thomas sighed, wearing a bleak expression while trying to look on the bright side. “Where to first?”
Evangeline had a very clear outline on what she wanted. “Let’s talk to Terri and find out what exactly made
her seek out assistance from the SCF, then after that we’ll go at Alexandra with everything we know.” She was putting all her hope into this case unraveling the mystery, the tension and anticipation of it all sat thick on her shoulders.
Caleb reached forward and gripped her hand, nothing more and nothing said. The gesture was to remind her of the truest fact; he was there and she wasn’t alone. She glanced back at him and wore a smile of gratitude. It was such a small thing and yet he couldn’t stop himself from allowing his heart to swell with that forbidden desire he held for the woman. It never took much to be reminded, one look into those stormy eyes, a whiff of her scent, the mere mention of her name, and he was a love struck fool. It was pathetic, plan and simple. Not even with his ex-wife, a woman he made vows to and shared a child with, did he ever feel this…mushy. Like a ball of clay Evangeline could mold into her shape of choice. While pathetic, it was also pretty terrifying to be willing to change every fiber of your being if she asked.
Inside the car, he used this drive to burn out all those things that led to trouble. The real Evangeline would soon return and she was very clear she wanted to keep her distance. That would help him keep focused in the long run.
Terri Kenneth lived in a housing complex near St. Jacob church. The church opened it’s own bakery a few hours everyday, they sold the best cupcakes Caleb had ever tasted. Jamie was a big fan of Sister Livia’s apple pie.
On the second ring of the doorbell, Terri answered. The woman was in her late sixties wearing a blue housecoat and a head full of pink hair curlers. She gasped at the sight of Evangeline. “You’re finally here. I got worried when you didn’t show yesterday.” She quickly motioned for them to follow her inside. “Who are these fine young men?”
Confused and hesitant, Evangeline began to explain her situation. “This is Thomas and Caleb, they’re trying to help me and it’s lead us here to you. A spell was cast to make me lose my memory, it worked too.”
Terri gasped again and covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh, no. That evil bitch got to you.”