The Magical Pink Pendant Read online

  I relaxed. “If spells don’t exist, then there is no harm in putting one on him.”

  “I guess I’m good with that. Where will I be?”

  “Here,” Steve said. “We don’t want Mauricio to retaliate in any way. I’ll ask a bodyguard to be with you the whole time.”

  “If, and that is a big if, Mauricio believes that I’m in dire straits, I don’t think he’ll drop everything and drive the five plus hours up here.”

  “Tell him you’ll pay him—handsomely,” Jaxson said. “He’s a gardener. He probably could use the money.”

  “You’re right about that,” she mumbled.

  “I think you hold more sway over him than you think, Morgana. I’m sure you can sweet talk him into coming. Lie if need be. Say you’re devastated over the loss of Daniel, and you need Mauricio for emotional support.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “Fine. I’ll figure something out.”

  She pulled out her phone, but Steve held out his hand. “Give me a minute before you call.”

  Morgana’s brows rose. “Because?”

  “I want to make sure we can set up a room at the Magic Wand Hotel. I’ll need to be able to tell you the room number.”

  “Ah, yes, that makes sense.”

  Steve left to make the call. Now that this was actually going to go down, my nerves returned.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Once Steve said he’d set things up with the hotel, and Morgana made her call, Jaxson, Iggy, and I, along with Rihanna and Gavin, went across the street to the Spellbound diner to grab some lunch. Elissa and Nash said they’d keep Morgana company and order something from the Bubbling Cauldron next door.

  On the walk over, we decided that Morgana should be given some kind of acting award. She’d been able to convince Mauricio to drive up to Witch’s Cove pronto. Of course, the thousand-dollar bonus might have been what persuaded him. I wasn’t sure if that made him a good guy or a bad one.

  Regardless, even in a court of all witches, it would be impossible to prove Mauricio had been the one who killed Daniel without some proof. Having his powers stripped might be the only punishment he’d ever receive. And I was good with that—or as good as I could be.

  The diner was rather empty, enabling us to grab our usual booth. I waved to Dolly who grinned and rushed over.

  “I heard you guys were back. How did it go?” Her expression instantly changed from total elation to one of being serious. “And Nora. How was she?”

  I smiled. “She was great.”

  “You don’t know her then.”

  I was dying to know why Dolly was so against her. “What did she do that was so wrong?”

  Since there was no more room in our booth for Dolly to sit, she squatted down in the aisle. “Nora is not a nice person. Did she happen to mention Daniel’s brother, Richie?” Dolly rolled her eyes.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “I figured she would. With Gavin being there, she’d not skip the chance to bash the man.”

  I sucked in a breath. “She mentioned she thinks he might have harmed Daniel.”

  Dolly shook her head. “The woman will never give it up. Before she married my brother, she and Richie dated.”

  “Okay, but there’s nothing wrong with that.” I was quite sure Dolly never left Witch’s Cove, which meant she probably never met Daniel’s brother.

  “Normally no, but Nora maligned Richie after he dumped her. She’ll say anything to get back at him even after all these years. It’s just plain wrong.”

  It was hard to believe that sweet Nora would do that. “Accusing a person of murder is a lot more serious than getting a bit of revenge for him breaking up with her.”

  “Finally, you see why I don’t like her.”

  That shed some light on things. “Thank you for that. Any help in eliminating a suspect is always welcome.”

  Dolly stood and grinned. She acted as if she’d won a big prize. “What can I get you guys?”

  Since it appeared as if Dolly knew nothing more, we placed our order.

  As soon as she left, I turned to the other three—or four if I counted Iggy. I focused on Gavin since we were talking about his dad’s brother. “Thoughts?”

  Gavin shrugged. “I never believed Uncle Richie would hurt Dad. I do remember my uncle mentioning some crazy lady who wouldn’t leave him alone. I was pretty young and didn’t pay a lot of attention, but it could have been Nora.”

  “Good to know.”

  “Fill us in on the details of this sting operation, Glinda,” Rihanna said.

  Iggy popped his head out of my bag. “What’s my role?”

  Whoops. I hadn’t planned on using Iggy, but maybe he could come up with an idea on how to help.

  “It’s not too complicated. Morgana has already set the trap. Mauricio will show up at her hotel room—or to the one Steve just booked. Jaxson and I will be there instead. Surprise!”

  “What makes you think he won’t realize it’s a trap and turn around?”

  “Besides having Morgana move her clothes into that room to make it look legit, Steve and Misty will be in uniform in the hallway, pretending to be general hotel security. Mauricio might even think they’re there to protect Morgana.”

  Jaxson nodded. “If I’m a warlock and had harmed a few people, it would be safer to stay in the room with two crazy kids than be questioned by the law, even if they are just hotel employees.”

  “We’re kids?” I kind of liked that.

  “To Mauricio you might be.”

  “Go on, Glinda,” Rihanna said.

  “As soon as Mauricio is in the room, Steve will signal Levy, who will be in the adjoining room with Hunter and a few of his coven members. If Mauricio tries to leave, I’ll toss the magic powder at him. That will give Levy and his crew a minute or two to do the spell.”

  “That is quite brilliant,” Gavin said.

  “Thank you.”

  A server arrived with our drinks. “Thanks.”

  “Your food will be up shortly.”

  It couldn’t come soon enough. I sipped my tea, and the drink tasted better than usual, but I might be comparing it to what we had in Miami.

  “We need to think of what could go wrong,” Gavin said. “And please use Rihanna and me. We can help.”

  That was what I wanted to avoid. “If Mauricio is powerful enough to turn hearts black, who’s to say he can’t do a host of other things? You might not be safe.”

  “Which is why you have the powdered potion,” Rihanna said.

  “Exactly. If he chants even one word, I’m putting him in freeze mode.”

  Rihanna looked over at Gavin. “We’d still like to do something.”

  “As soon as we eat, let’s head back to the sheriff’s department. I bet he and Nash, along with maybe Morgana, have thought of something.”

  “Sounds good,” Rihanna said.

  The food arrived, and for the most part, we ate in silence. I ran through all the things that could go wrong, but I failed to come up with any ideas that really concerned me.

  We paid and headed back across the street. When we walked inside, the group, including Hunter, were in the conference room.

  After we joined them, Steve looked up. “Ready for the big sting?” he asked.

  “I hope so.”

  All during lunch, something had been nagging at me. “Morgana, I noticed that Mauricio drives a rather new Mercedes. Where did he get it?”

  “He bought it not long ago, but you know, I didn’t even ask him about it. It kind of looks like my sister’s old car.”

  Rihanna subtly nodded that Morgana was telling the truth. I wonder why her curiosity didn’t get the best of her?

  I would ask Steve to run a history on the car, assuming he could do that. If Mauricio had recently acquired his car from Sandra, that might implicate her somehow. Then again, she really might have wanted to sell her car and was willing to give him a good deal.

  Before I could ask Morgana anything else, Nash came int
o the room carrying a box. “I have the coms. I want Glinda and Jaxson to also wear a wire. We’ll be listening and recording everything Mauricio says.”

  “You can’t use that in court though, can you?” Jaxson asked.

  “Not in a regular court, no, but if Mauricio admits to any kind of guilt, we’ll deal with him in another way.”

  Since he lived in Miami, I bet the detectives there would say differently.

  “What time should we be at the room?” I asked.

  “Morgana,” Steve said. “How about texting Mauricio and asking him about his expected time of arrival?”

  “Sure. He’s a fast driver, so it might be sooner rather than later. He won’t stop for anything.”

  Morgana did as Steve asked. “You can look at the text before I send it if you don’t trust me.”

  Steve glanced at it. “Looks good.”

  While we waited for Mauricio to return the text, my nerves continued to build.

  Jaxson leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Glinda, you have that tic above your eye again.”

  I inhaled and rubbed the offending area. “I’ll be fine. I have the potion, and I have you with me. I’m good.”

  “Remember that Hunter will be next door ready to eat the guy should Mauricio try anything.”

  The fact he would be in his werewolf form calmed me. “And Steve and Misty will be able to hear our entire conversation. That’s good. And I know bullets can kill a warlock.”

  “Yes.” Jaxson gave me a half smile.

  Morgana’s phone pinged. “His ETA is in three hours.”

  Steve planted his palms on the table. “Does everyone know what they are to do?”

  We all nodded.

  “Just so you all know,” Elissa said, “I’m still waiting to hear back from Chris Williams about whether he had other cases in Miami similar to Daniel’s.”

  At the moment, I wasn’t sure if it would matter. “Did you ask if Mauricio worked with him?”

  “I didn’t know I was supposed to, but I’ll do that now.”

  “Thank you.”

  Steve nodded to us. “In light of Mauricio’s arrival, you and Jaxson should get to the room by 3:30PM.”

  “Can do.”

  The next two hours were sure to be nail-biting ones.

  “Can you hear me?” That was Steve’s voice coming in loud and clear through my com.

  “I can.”

  Misty must have then asked Jaxson the same question, because Jaxson said he could hear her, too.

  I grabbed Jaxson’s hand and squeezed. “This is it.”

  “You’re fretting again. We’re going to be fine.”

  He leaned over and adjusted my pink pendant that probably didn’t need to be moved. Jaxson just wanted me to believe that everything would go as planned.

  “What if Mauricio sees us, realizes he’s been had, and immediately attacks?” The chances of that were probably slim, but when I was nervous, I often made up outlandish stories in my head.

  “Not to worry. I can take him down. Besides, we have two cops in the hallway and a snarling wolf in the next room.”

  His repeated reminder made me feel better. “Okay. Are we all set with what we’re going to tell Mauricio when he asks where Morgana is?”

  “If you are, then yes. You’re the witch. He’ll want to talk to you.”

  “No pressure.”

  “Glinda,” Steve said in a soft voice. “Showtime.”

  Jaxson let go of my hand. “We can do this.”

  A few seconds later, a knock sounded on the door. “Morgana, it’s me.”

  I inhaled and pulled it open. “Come in, Mauricio.”

  Thankfully, he did, though he looked genuinely confused. “Where’s Morgana?”

  “She’s not here.” I knew that was obvious, but I wanted to stall. I needed my heart to slow down a bit.

  “Where is she?”

  “She called and said she thought she saw someone in the lobby—someone who had followed her. Morgana asked that we come here and let you know.”

  “Did Morgana say where she planned to hide, or if she was coming back anytime soon?” He sounded concerned. “She called me in Miami and said she feared for her life. Now she’s gone?”

  “Yes. I wish I knew more.”

  He turned around. “I need to find her.”

  “Do you want us to help you look? We know the town better than you.” I had no idea why I was even suggesting that. We had no intention of leaving this room.

  “Sure.” Mauricio nodded to my necklace that was flashing up a yellow storm. “Why is the gem in your necklace doing that again?”

  Again? That meant he had felt its power when we had been at Morgana’s house. This proved to me he was a warlock. Too bad the pink gem couldn’t tell me if he was the one who had put the killing spell on Daniel.

  Mauricio swiped the back of his hand across his forehead, acting as if my magic pendant was creating heat.

  “It does that when I’m in the presence of a warlock.”

  “A warlock? You have to be kidding.”

  I looked over at Jaxson, who took a step forward. “We know who and what you are.”

  Mauricio shrugged. “Fine. I am one. So what? Glinda’s a witch, which means we’re alike.”

  How did he know I was a witch? Had Sandra told him? If so, when? And why didn’t he deny being a warlock for a little bit longer? He sure gave up rather quickly—almost too quickly. Or he was merely calling our bluff?

  Two could play at this game. “We’re hardly alike. I don’t harm people.” I stood taller. Somehow that gave me more confidence. “Tell me, Mauricio, why did you put a curse on Daniel Sanchez that killed him?”

  Mauricio huffed out a laugh. “What in the world are you talking about? I did no such thing. Why would I?”

  “Let me count the ways.” I wasn’t sure why I said that, but now that I had, I needed to come up with a few reasons why he’d kill Daniel Sanchez. “Maybe you were angry at him because he stole Morgana, the love of your life.” And no, I had little basis for that comment other than he and Morgana had lived together for a year.

  “No way. I’ll admit that what Morgana and I had before was good. Real good, but when it ended, it was over. For the record, I was the one who said I needed to concentrate on getting my medical license and didn’t have time for a woman, especially one who wanted to be entertained all the time.”

  For a few seconds, I doubted myself. How did he know we were even aware he had a medical degree? I hope he assumed Morgana had told us at some point. The problem was that if Mauricio hadn’t killed Daniel, would my necklace be going crazy? Would Nana have told me to believe in the magic if it wasn’t accurate?

  “Then did Sandra hire you to kill Daniel?”

  “Sandra? As in Morgana’s sister?”

  How many Sandras were there? I suppose in his circle of friends, maybe a lot. “Yes, her sister.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  The man had an answer for everything—or rather a question for every one of mine. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because Daniel Sanchez was made partner in their law firm, and she wasn’t? With him out of the way, she’d be appointed.”

  “I have no idea if promotions work that way. You’d have to ask her. She might have hired someone to kill Daniel, but she didn’t hire me.”

  “Then did Morgana put you up to it?” I asked. “She might have realized that her marriage had been a mistake. After all, she was the one with the money.”

  Mauricio laughed at us, and I had to say the man was convincing. “Are you crazy? She loved her husband. End of story.”

  I was sinking fast. Could he really be innocent in all of this? Levy was a warlock, but my necklace never flashed when I was near him. “Tell me this. Where did you get the money to buy that fancy car you drive?”

  While he might be able to cloak his thoughts from Rihanna, this time his face said it all. He’d been caught. “I bought it with the money I earned from being a gard
ener. If you didn’t know, I get to live for free in the cabana.”

  “It’s still a lot of money.”

  “It normally would be, but this particular car kept stalling for its owner, and since I’m quite a good mechanic, I was able to fix it. I got a great deal.”

  “You were a doctor and a mechanic? Aren’t you the jack of all trades, Mr. Jimenez?” I refused to give him the respect of calling him Dr. Jimenez.

  “What can I say? When you live in Mexico, you have to be able to do many things.”

  That sounded plausible. “Why wouldn’t the owner spend a little money to fix it himself and then sell it at a higher price?”

  “That I don’t know.”

  “Who did you buy it from?” I asked.

  “Morgana’s sister, Sandra. She wanted a newer model, so Morgana put the deal together.”

  Aha! Either he was lying, or Morgana was. The question was, which one was it?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Clearly, either Morgana or Mauricio wasn’t telling the truth. I couldn’t help but wonder if Mauricio’s Mercedes had been a payoff for killing Daniel. Too bad no one would ever be able to prove it was anything but what it looked like—the sale of a car. No matter what I asked, I doubted Mauricio would tell the truth. It could have been that he suspected he was being recorded, or it could mean he really was innocent.

  From the way he was shifting his weight and how his gaze was bouncing around the room, he was losing patience. It was time for Levy and his coven to do their magic. Even though this was my one shot at freezing time for life, I had to trust my gut instinct that Mauricio was guilty.

  I opened the bag and said, “Uruth, Sagamos, Braci, Fortunitus.” I held my breath that I hadn’t messed up the words. I also held my breath to prevent any of the potion from getting into me! If he wasn’t an evil warlock, the power would hopefully cause no harm.

  The dark brown powder floated straight toward Mauricio. Yes, he was guilty! He batted it away, but to no avail, as it entered through his nose and mouth.

  He coughed, and his eyes watered. “What is that stuff?”

  “It is an evil-seeker.” At the moment, I couldn’t think of anything else to call it.