Chapter 5

FIVE

Once Brett returned with a bottle of cleaner and some rags and we took care of whatever had been poured on the trunk, we went back to Shane , Dru , and the dogs.

I never thought I’d rue the day magical shenanigans fell under my domain, but as we rushed by the crew and what I thought might be two of the actors rehearsing the upcoming scene under the set lights, part of me wished I were a little less official and a bit more actual catering part-timer this once.

Dru looked mighty bored, and Shane stood stoically, as if waiting in the cold streets was his fate in life and he might as well get used to it because no amount of complaining was going to get him out of it.

“ Let’s find a warmer place to discuss things,” I said.

Brett raked a hand through his hair. “ Can we wait until after we’re done? I’m going to get in trouble if I don’t get back to work.”

I opened my mouth to explain the sooner we got a plan in place, the faster we’d catch whoever was messing with the movie, but snapped it shut and looked at Key . She was the one in charge today, not me.

Key appeared startled by the attention, then frowned in thought. “ Hope is right. If we discuss things now, we’ll know what to look for when we go back to the set.”

Brett sighed. “ Fine , but let’s make it quick.”

Unfortunately , the only open place nearby was a fast-food restaurant filled to the brim, so we were forced to choose another spot of empty alleyway to conduct our meeting.

Gathering Fluffy into my arms so she wouldn’t go sniffing around the trash bags and empty boxes piled nearby, I updated Dru and Shane on our findings.

“ We were right, then,” Shane said. “ Someone’s using magic to sabotage the movie.”

“ Maybe they’re using the rumors of the curse to cover their tracks,” I guessed. “ If people working in movies are that superstitious, it wouldn’t take much to get a rumor started.”

“ I wish,” Brett grumbled. “ Then they wouldn’t blame me.”

“ We’ll find out who it is,” Key reassured Brett .

Shane crossed his arms. He was back in his Fairy Circle windbreaker and I was blissfully enveloped by my warm jacket. “ Must be someone who doesn’t want the movie to happen,” he said.

“ Why wouldn’t someone want the movie to happen?” Brett asked, shoving his hands deep into his jean pockets.

“ That’s the golden question, isn’t it?” I said. “ Find who wants the movie shut down, and we’ll find our UNSUB .”

Brett frowned. “ Un -what?”

“ Unidentified subject,” Key told him in a whisper.

“ Ah , okay, yeah.” He didn’t appear any less confused, but props for taking one for the team and not derailing the brainstorming.

“ Do you have any suspects in mind?” I asked. Not long ago, I’d have suggested putting the whole movie crew and their families on the list of suspects, but recent events had shown me that making long lists took you nowhere, and that everyone is a suspect was more myth than reality. “ Anyone who was around at two or more of the incidents?”

Brett’s face fell. “ Me .”

“ Nobody else?”

“ There’s always people around, but I don’t remember anyone else specifically.”

Rufus head-butted his way into the circle, and I scratched him behind his ears before switching my attention to Key and Shane . “ Did you guys see anything suspicious today so far?”

They shook their heads.

“ Nothing yet, boss,” Shane said.

I pointed at Key . “ She’s the boss today.”

“ That’s why you’re asking all the questions,” Dru said dryly.

My face got uncomfortably warm. Clearing my throat, I sent Key an apologetic smile. “ Sorry .”

She grinned. “ You have more experience than I do. I’ll follow your lead.”

My extensive experience in bad things happening around me put to good use. Grandma would have loved that.

Feeling better, I gave Fluffy a reassuring squeeze to let her know I hadn’t forgotten her, then leaned in. “ Who are the obvious suspects? Who has a beef with each other or didn’t want to be involved in the movie?”

Although Hannah’s heel turn had been a shock, the trouble had been that I had forgotten to think about the most obvious suspect— Bagley .

“ Learn from your mistakes and you’ll catch the culprits faster,” I murmured into Fluffy’s warm neck.

“ What mistakes?” Brett asked, looking confused all over again.

Shane planted a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

Brett’s expression cleared, and he gave me a measuring look. “ Oh , I see.”

I narrowed my eyes at Shane , who sent me a wolfish grin. “ Suspects , right?”

Hmph . “ Right . Who would you say is more likely to want to sabotage the movie?”

“ Using magic?” Key asked.

“ Either way. We don’t know who might be paranormal and hiding it so they aren’t suspected.”

They all thought for a few moments, except Dru , who was staring longingly toward the alleyway’s exit and the bright lights of the fast-food restaurant.

Brett suddenly brightened. “ Lydia Lee .”

The name rang a bell. I searched my memory of the reports on the movie I’d found online. “ She’s playing the aunt of Lily Hale , right?”

“ Yeah ,” Brett said. “ She auditioned for the main role but got offered the aunt one. She was not happy about that,” he added in a low tone.

“ Bet she wasn’t,” Dru muttered.

I took out my phone and added her name. Everyone is a suspect might no longer be my motto, but the to-do list still worked just as well. “ Who else?”

“ Gary Sanders , the cinematographer?” Key asked tentatively. “ I saw him arguing with Parker —that’s the director—while we were setting up the food. It sounded like they’d argued before.”

Brett nodded. “ Yep . They don’t like each other very much, but there was nobody else who could come in and they’ve done other projects together before. We should also add Nate Curtis to the list.”

“ Who’s that?” I asked.

“ One of the producers. He keeps trying to cut corners with the production budget. We all think he wishes the movie would get canceled so he’d be off the hook for it.”

“ Excellent suspect,” I agreed, adding the name to the list. Three was a good spot to start.

“ What about the writer?” Shane asked.

I gasped. “ Emilia Hart is here?” Did I have time to run to the bookstore and buy the paperbacks for her to sign? Ah , the curse of owning only ebooks!

Shane blinked. “ Is that the writer of the movie?”

“ No , that’s Lisa Woodward ,” Key said.

“ Not Emilia Hart ?” I asked, hanging on to hope.

All three shook their heads.

My shoulders slumped with disappointment, and Fluffy gave me a commiserating lick. Ah , well. Maybe she’d do some sort of visit during production. Didn’t the original creators sometimes do that? The thought cheered me back up. “ What’s the story with Woodward ?”

“ She’s paranormal,” Shane explained, “and she used to have a show about witches years ago— Witchcraft and something else, I think—but it got canceled fast. Like after two or three episodes.”

“ I remember that,” Dru murmured. When she caught my look of surprise, she arched an eyebrow. “ What ? I like paranormal shows as much as anyone else.”

“ Nothing . Absolutely nothing.”

I was definitely searching for that show later.

“ What does her old series have to do with this?” Brett asked.

“ Maybe she’s worried this movie won’t do well either, so she wants to create a fake curse to make it hit the headlines?” Shane asked.

“ Good point,” I said, rearranging Fluffy in my arms to add the name to the list. “ Nothing says clickbait like bad things happening to people.”

A deafening silence fell over us, and I looked up from my phone to find them staring at me. “ What ?”

Dru gestured vaguely in my direction. “ That sounds strangely cynical coming from you.”

“ Research the perils of dangerous advertising so you know to stay clear,” I told them in my wisest tone.

They let out a collective sigh of relief, as if the world was right again. I almost laughed, but their concern had touched me deeply. Life couldn’t get better than being surrounded by friends like this.

Other than having my boyfriend come back from his seemingly never-ending trip into the land of the bounty hunter guild.

Seriously , what was taking Ian so long?

I swiped out of the to-do notes and sent Ian a short and to the point text: Free yet?

Not exactly the warmest text ever to have been sent to a boyfriend, but really, what was taking so long? We had kissings to resume and cuddlings to initiate.

“ You okay there, boss?” Shane asked.

I snapped my attention back to them. “ Yes , sorry. Okay , so we got Lydia Lee the actress, Nate Curtis the producer, Lisa Woodward the writer, Gary Sanders the cinematographer. Anyone else comes to mind?”

“ What about that man they warned us about?” Key asked excitedly. “ The one who’s been hanging around the set and they told us not to let in.”

“ That’s right,” Brett said eagerly. “ He’s supposedly been bugging the production. But how could he have gotten in? They put his photo on the board so we could all check.”

“ There are always holes in security,” I said, thinking of how easy it’d been for me to sneak in. It was shocking this man hadn’t been in the actual trunk ready to scream boo! the moment Brett opened it.

Or was he?

I licked my lips nervously. “ You , um, don’t think he might be in the trunk, right?”

The sound of silence part two rained on us as they all stared with various degrees of say what? expressions.

“ I mean, you never know.” Trunks weren’t much different from bathtubs and shop floors, and it was spacious enough. “ We cleaned the outside but we never actually opened it…”

Brett , Shane , and Key looked at each other.

“ I … I’ll be right back,” Brett said, then shot off running back toward the set.

“ Wonderful ,” I said cheerfully. Fluffy added a small bark of excitement. “ We have five suspects now.” Or four and a dead one. “ What shall we do next?”

Shane nudged Key . “ She’s asking you.”

Key was startled again by the reminder that she was in charge this time. “ Oh , okay. Uh … Can you make a potion that can detect magic for us? That way, if we notice something suspicious, we can test it right away.”

I gaped. “ That’s a genius idea. I’ll make it tonight.” Mentally , I ran through the items needed. It’d be tricky, as this kind of reactive spell would have to be similar to one I’d cast when making a ward rather than my usual potion-designed intentions, but I was sure I could manage.

“ What about freezing potions for protection?” Shane asked.

“ Those are beyond my reach.” Sadly . I wished I could do the highest tier of powerful potions, but some things were never meant to be—no shame in admitting as much. “ You can carry some of my pepper spray if you want, though.” I had it on good authority it worked wonders on witches.

Shane made a face. “ For Key , maybe.”

“ Too much for your shifter nose, huh?”

“ I don’t need pepper spray,” Key said confidently. “ I’ve got dirt in my pocket.”

Being an earth mage, she meant it literally. “ Good .”

A ping sounded, and Fluffy let out a soft bark to let us know a text had arrived in someone’s phone.

Key checked hers and smiled. “ Brett says no body in the trunk.”

We all exhaled in relief.

“ What next?” I asked.

“ We should check if someone local has a beef with the movie,” Shane said.

Key beamed. “ Yes !”

“ I’ll do that,” Dru said right away. Suddenly , she was all excitement about the whole thing. If there was one thing Dru liked above everything else, it was local gossip.

“ You will?” Key asked, a little dubious. It was to be expected; she didn’t know Dru as well as I did.

“ Sure thing. Leave it to me.” Dru rubbed her hands, then turned on her heel. “ I’ll report later.”

“ What about the PBOA thing?” I asked.

“ We’ll resume tomorrow,” she said over her shoulder before striding purposefully toward the fast-food restaurant.

I turned to Key and Shane . “ Should we involve Sonia ?”

Shane arched his brows in a perfect impersonation of Ian , while Key looked like she was about to bolt.

“ Sonia ?” she asked. “ Why ?”

“ She supposedly helped the mayor convince the movie people to film here. If there’s any local paranormal who disapproved of it, they probably complained to her.”

I wanted to add that since Sonia was most likely dating her uncle now, Key didn’t need to be as scared of her as usual, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to bring up Brimstone’s dating life.

“ What if she involves the bounty hunters?” she asked.

“ For a rumor? I doubt it.”

Key glanced at Shane , but he didn’t move. Still , some sort of silent communication seemed to pass between them because she faced me with renewed resolve. “ If Dru can’t find anything good, I’ll consider it.”

I saluted. “ You got it, boss.”

She giggled, and Shane’s eyes warmed. I’d definitely have to ask Key about her and Shane after we were done with this.

“ All right,” I said, putting Fluffy down. Rufus immediately sniffed her neck and side, as if making sure she hadn’t been supplanted by an evil alien. Really , Rufus should know me better by now! “ You two should go back to the set and keep an eye out on our suspects. See if you can catch them doing anything suspicious.”

“ And you?” Key asked.

“ Me ?” I winked. “ I got a shop to run and magic-detecting potions to make.”