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  “Emily, Riley is Ezra’s maker.”

  Chapter Three

  Everyone sat at their desk staring at their computer screen. Tension felt thick in the air. I stared at my screen until I couldn’t focus on the words before me. I have never been in shock before, but I was pretty sure that’s what was happening. After receiving the news of Ezra’s maker taking over his job I couldn’t speak. I left Robert’s office and staggered back to my desk. It took me a long time to remember how to breathe. My phone beeped, letting me know I had a text message. I pulled it out of my purse and looked at the message.

  ‘Got a lead in our case. You want to hit it up and grab lunch after?’ Axle wrote.

  I grabbed my things and stood. “Well, I would love to sit around here some more and pretend to work like you guys, but Axle and I have a case to solve.” I flipped them the peace sign as I grabbed Axle’s arm and dragged him out with me.

  “That wasn’t awkward,” Axle teased as we got into the elevator.

  “Did you know about this?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “Nah, sweetheart. If I had known I would have had recorded that.” He smiled.

  “Can we grab some doughnuts on the way? I really need to soothe my nerves with ten pounds of sugary dough.” I pouted.

  “This I have to see,” he replied as we exited the elevator, making our way outside.

  “Have a good day, Ms. Sullivan, Axle,” Bob called out to us as we pushed the door open.

  “Really? What the hell, Bob? Why do you call Axle by his first name but not me?” I demanded before walking out.

  “Well, honestly I don’t know his last name.” He shrugged.

  “What is your last name?” I turned to Axle and asked.

  “Don’t have one,” he answered as he put on his sunglasses.

  “Everyone has a last name,” I replied, giving up my fight with Bob as we continued walking to the car.

  “Not me.”

  “How is that even possible? Do you have a social security number? Are you even an American citizen?”

  He opened the passenger door to his Mustang for me. “No comment.”

  Apparently the lead was a distraction for me. We were going to meet with Maggie’s boyfriend. I flipped open the file as we drove to his work.

  “Jack Neil, 28 years old, works for a privately owned auto body shop for two years now. I like that name, Jack. I’ll bet he’s sexy,” I stated.

  “His name sounds like he’s sexy? Really?” He shot me a look.

  “Yea, you can always tell if a guy is hot by his name. Everyone knows that,” I explained.

  “So what did you get from my name?” he questioned. I could tell this was all very entertaining to him.

  “Axle, your name sounds like a part of a car. Not much hope there.” I smiled.

  “Maybe it’s a really hot car.”

  “Or maybe it’s a clunker,” I teased.

  Jack lived in a rundown trailer park just outside the city limits. His bland, rusted trailer screamed trash. It seemed that there was once a nice garden started in the front yard, which was now replaced with giant killer weeds. A furry dog was lying on the porch and I wasn’t sure if he was sleeping or dead. The screen door swung open and a fat, older man greeted us. I prayed he was Jack’s father.

  “Hi there, we’re looking for Jack Neil,” Axle greeted.

  “I’m Jack,” said the man with potato chip grease and crumbs stuck to the front of his shirt. He smelled like he hadn’t showered in days.

  “Well I’m Agent A, and this is Agent Sullivan. We wanted to ask you a few questions about your girlfriend, Maggie,” Axle introduced us. This was the first time I had ever heard Axle’s agent name and I almost lost it.

  “Sure, come on in. Sorry about the mess, I haven’t had time to clean up,” Jack stated as he stepped to the side to let us in.

  “Agent A, huh?” I whispered to Axle as we walked in.

  “Told you, no last name,” he whispered back. We walked into a room that could almost make it on the show Hoarders. The entire floor was covered with junk food wrappers and soda cans. Axle cleared off the couch and we sat down. Jack sat in his recliner and turned the TV off.

  “So have you guys found Maggie’s body yet?” Jack asked, his deep country accent almost too thick to understand.

  “Mr. Neil, we aren’t classifying this as a homicide quite yet. For all we know the girls ran away,” Agent A stated.

  “Dem’ girls are dead,” Jack scoffed. That caught my attention.

  “Why would you say that?” I asked and felt Axle’s eyes on me. He should have gone over the rules beforehand if he wanted me to keep my mouth shut.

  “Maggie and I were having some problems, everybody knew that. However, a week before she disappeared she was talking nonsense about vampires, and she was always nervous. She even bought a bunch of reading material about vampires. She stopped sleeping at night and she was doing her hocus pocus more at home, said she needed a good protection spell.” He pulled some chips out of a bag that rested on the table beside him. My heart stopped for a few seconds. If vampires were involved this would not be good. Axle noticed my distress and placed his hand on my leg. Jack got up, walked across the room, and pick up a box. He placed it in front of us and sat back down. I started shuffling though the books and quickly gave up. It was filled with vampire romance novels.

  “When was the last time you saw Maggie or Charlotte?” Axle asked.

  “Uh, I saw Maggie the night she went missing. She was getting ready for her meeting and then she left, that’s the last time I saw her,” Jack scratched his belly and his shirt rose up. You know how you can’t look away from road kill on the side of the road for some reason? Same concept. I didn’t realize so much hair could grow on a stomach. I had to fight the bile that was rising from my stomach. He noticed me staring and gave me a wicked smile. Gag. “I saw Charlotte the Thursday before the meetin’. Maggie had some people from the coven over and Charlotte was pissed that she wasn’t invited so she decided to crash the party. She and Maggie got into it and then Charlotte left,” he finished.

  “What did you think of Charlotte?” Axle questioned.

  “Ah, she was okay. Kind of a bitch, but I didn’t know her that well,” Jack answered. Something about the way he said it made me uneasy.

  “If you barely knew her why would you say she’s a bitch?” I snapped, ignoring the glares Axle was shooting my way. Girl code; I had to stick up for the girl.

  “Well, for one thang, she was always trying to talk to Maggie and Maggie hated her. And for another she made me fat,” he explained.

  “How did she do that?” Axle asked curiously.

  “I wasn’t always this chubby or hairy. I went to pick up Maggie once after her meeting and accidentally bumped into Charlotte’s car. She got out real mad and pointed a finger at me, chanting something. Next thing I know, I’m fat and hairy,” he stated.

  We started back to the car after thanking Jack for his time and scraping the candy bar wrappers off of our butts.

  “So, that Jack is one sexy beast. Guess your name theory really works, huh?” Axle teased.

  “He said he was under a spell, I bet he was pretty sexy before that,” I tried.

  Axle changed the subject. “So what do you think about the case?”

  “I think he did it,” I stated.

  “That’s what you said about the mysterious Ash,” Axle pointed out.

  “Yeah, but now I think he did it.”

  We stopped at a Chinese buffet and sat down to eat. “Jack has motive. He hated Charlotte for some reason, and he and Maggie were having problems. I could see him killing them,” I stated between bites.

  “What do you think about the vampire thing?” Axle eyed me cautiously. Vampires were not my forte at the moment. I still wasn’t sure how Ezra was doing, and on top of that I had to deal with Riley.

  “Did you take a look at the books she picked for research? It was a bunch of teeny-bopper v
ampire series. I don’t think we have too much to worry about there,” I stated.

  He nodded. “Yeah, but we shouldn’t rule it out yet,”

  We got back to work a little after lunch; Riley was no longer at Ezra’s desk. After giving the run down to Robert, I left to go see Ezra. Stepping off the elevator, I headed over and peeked into his room. Riley stood next to his bed, her hand in his. I watched as she leaned in to place a kiss on his lips. His hand crept up her arm as he kissed her back. Heat rose through my body until I could no longer control my anger.

  Suddenly she was thrown across the room. Her body dangled in the air as she flew against the opposite wall, slamming so hard it left an indention in the concrete. I heard screams from the nurses’ station. Red lights went off and a warning siren sounded. It took a total of ten seconds for me to be surrounded by men with weapons. Everything had happened so fast I didn’t realize that I had attacked Riley. I slowly put my hands in the air and her body hit the floor.

  “What the hell, Emily,” Ezra yelled as he tried to get out of the bed. A few guys ran over to help her and hold him down.

  “I didn’t do that,” I announced, unsure if I had done it, and if so I didn’t know how.

  “Just get her out of here,” Ezra yelled at the armed soldiers, waving his hand. My chest throbbed painfully. He cared more about Riley than he did me. I could understand his anger; I had just thrown his girlfriend around his hospital room. I walked away with a wounded heart. I’m sure the sight of me being escorted to Robert’s office by armed men was one for the books.

  “Oh shit,” I heard Axle say as I walked into Robert’s office.

  Robert gave me a tired look and sighed. “Thanks, boys. I’ll take it from here.” The guys left, leaving me alone with my father.

  “I really didn’t do it. Well, actually, I’m not sure what I did, and in my defense she’s a vampire I can’t really hurt her. She’ll get over it,” I quickly stated my case.

  Robert shook his head and closed the door. “Sit down, Emily.” He started walking back to his chair. His office was small, but held a certain charm about it. The back wall was lined with books. I wasn’t sure if they were books he liked to read or spell books. “You’re not in trouble, you can relax,” He stated as he sat down.

  I realized I was clutching the armrest of the chair. I sat back, sighing. “You don’t even know what I did, how can you say I’m not in trouble?” I asked curiously.

  “I have cameras recording every square inch of the building. I saw what happened when it happened. And trust me when I say, you did it,” he explained.

  “I thought witches did spells and things like that?” I asked.

  “The weak need a spell. I don’t think you understand how powerful you are yet,” Robert stated.

  “Okay, well, I don’t know how I did it,” I said, coming to my defense.

  “Maybe putting you on this case was too soon. You have a lot going on, I shouldn’t have pushed you.”

  “No, what you shouldn’t have done was hire that bimbo to take Ezra’s place. He’s going to get better,” I snapped.

  “Emily, I hate to be the one to tell you this,” he started, running a hand through his strawberry-blond hair.

  “What?” I demanded, suddenly becoming nervous.

  “The doctors are saying Ezra’s condition is worsening every day. They don’t expect him to make it through this transformation,” Robert explained sadly.

  I could feel my world being ripped apart. I had been so busy with the case I didn’t even realize how bad Ezra was. I thought he was getting better. The guilt that I felt was overwhelming. I had to fix it.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked, tears filling my eyes. Ezra and I had our differences, but I still cared deeply about him. He was probably furious with me.

  “I am hoping Riley can talk him into saving himself.”

  “What is Riley going to be able to do that I can’t try?” I asked, confused and slightly offended.

  “I was hoping that Riley could turn him again,” he explained.

  After I finished my talk with Robert, I was determined to change Ezra’s mind no matter what it took. I crept into the hospital ward just in case I was no longer allowed. Peeking into his room, I saw that he was alone. I quietly walked in, shutting the door behind me. He glanced up at me but didn’t speak. His face had a purple green tint to it, and he seemed thinner. A few bones rose to the surface of his skin.

  “Please don’t be mad at me, I really didn’t mean to,” I started.

  He shook his head and began to cough “Emily, you’re fine. I know you can’t control your powers yet.”

  “That’s a relief. I had an entire speech planned out but I can’t remember any of it. You just saved me from the embarrassment.” I gave a weak smile as I sat down beside him. “So what’s going on between you and Riley?”

  “I know what Robert is trying to do, so you don’t have to beat around the bush,” he croaked, ignoring my question.

  “Ezra, this is not a good idea. Do you have any idea what this is doing to me? I feel so guilty! If you die, I will always believe that I killed you.” I bit my lip to fight the tears back.

  “Emily, I’m not going to die. I have a cold, that’s all.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it! You are dying. The doctors told Robert they don’t know how much longer you are going to hold on.” As I said it the tears started falling one after the other. “I can’t lose you, Ezra, please don’t do this.”

  “I will be fine, stop worrying. I’m doing this so I live out the remainder of my life as a human,” he stated.

  “Maybe I don’t want a human! I want a vampire, I want you,” I tried. The words felt wrong as they left my lips. I didn’t mean what I said, but he looked pitiful and sickly. All I wanted to do was help him. He looked like he was going to kick the bucket at any moment.

  He turned his head in response, but I could see the tears falling before he looked away. I couldn’t understand why he refused to be helped. He was going to die, and by the looks of him he didn’t have long to decide.

  Leaving his room, I went upstairs and grabbed my stuff. I was done for the day. I didn’t say a word to anyone before leaving. I stopped at the store and bought a six-pack, a bottle of cheap vodka, and a bag of beef jerky. As I arrived home I walked up the stairs to my apartment and saw a note tucked in the door. Shock hit me in a wave as I opened it up.

  ‘Emily, I knew you were going through a lot at work so I stopped by to drop this off. Your bad feeling paid off. Here is the information on your neighbor girl.’ I continued to read up on Dee-Dee and her past. Her real name was Deanna Stevenson. She had a few misdemeanors for shoplifting when she was a teenager, but the thing that made my heart flutter was the words, Current Occupation: Witch

  I walked around the back of my apartment to the lake and sat down at on a bench. I let the tears fall as I drank my beer and ate my beef jerky. Working my way up to the vodka, I opened it and took a long drink. The burn felt like acid sliding down my throat. It didn’t take long before Dee-Dee found me. She didn’t make a peep as she sat down on the opposite of the bench. The sun was going down over the treetops, it was my favorite time of the day. Dee-Dee reached in the bag of beef jerky and pulled out a piece. I handed her the note that was left on my door. She chewed on her beef jerky while she read it. When she handed it back, I handed her a beer.

  “So, you’re out here getting wasted and crying because I’m a witch or because my real name is Deanna?” she asked cautiously.

  “I wish. That is only an itch in my ass. I’ve got bigger pains than that,” I stated. The moment she sat down I had begun to feel better. My waterworks ceased and I was feeling better about my situation. There was no way Robert would let Ezra die. He had to have a plan up his sleeve. I took another long chug of the vodka.

  “So, what’s so bad that you’re out here drinking by yourself?” she asked, and took another piece of my dinner.

  “It’s my bo
yfriend—err my, well shit I don’t know what to call him,” I answered, downing the rest of my beer before I took another drink of the vodka.

  “That does sound like a problem,” she stated.

  “It’s hard to explain,” I mumbled while cracking open my fourth beer. I had a sudden urge to giggle or skinny dip. I was a cheap drunk, it was rare for me to have more than one drink.

  “Maybe you should slow down on the alcoholic beverages,” She tried to take my drink.

  I stood to get away from her. “I don’t understand men. They are so stupid and confusing,” I slurred. I was coming up with a plan quickly and didn’t know where to start. I pulled out my phone and texted Robert.

  “Let’s get you back to your apartment … or perhaps an AA meeting.” She tried to grab my arm, but I slapped her hand away.

  “I’m a witch, too. I’ve never told anyone that, I mean people know but I’ve never admitted it aloud,” I blabbered. I stumbled and almost lost my balance. Beer poured out of the bottle and onto the ground. I could feel the earth moving under my feet and I couldn’t stand straight. I took another gulp of the vodka and then drank the beer to wash away the taste. At least it was becoming easier to drink because my mouth was numb.

  “Yep, that’s great. Really, you should just stop drinking. Geez, you got drunk fast. You only had a few.”

  “I’m a powerful witch too, but every time I do something great they keep me under wraps,” I stated as I started walking down the trail. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but it felt so great to walk without a purpose.

  “Damn the system,” she said, giving up her attempts and letting go of my arm.

  “Seriously! I flung my boyfriend’s ex across the room today and I probably can’t talk about it.”

  “You just did.”

  “And then I blew out the candles on my birthday cake, and they were trick candles.”

  “Powerful,” she stated sarcastically.