Page 25 of In Dangerous Water

I could either take control of the situation or I could sit back and let it pull me under. True, I hated confrontation…but whatI despised even more was the fact that by trying to block out or deny the seriousness of the situation I had inadvertently given my stalker more power.

What I needed to do was to go on the offensive and do something about this.

It was time for me to start acting like a Witch.

CHAPTER FIVE

The trip up to Marquette Mansion was a brief one. Comfortable in another borrowed T-shirt from Arianna, I wore it with my now dry leggings and jacket. Arianna and I chatted as she drove around and behind the eastern side of the mansion. To my surprise she parked her car in a gravel lot beside a charming two-story stone carriage house.

“The family parks back here,” she explained as she cut the engine.

“I remember seeing this building at a distance from the formal gardens when we were here for Angela’s wedding,” I said as we climbed from the car.

Arianna shut her door. “I lived here for a time when I first came back to Ames Crossing,” she told me. “There’s an apartment above the garage.”

I eyeballed the rustic building. “It’s like a faery-tale cottage.”

“It is,” Arianna said. “Living room, kitchenette, bath, and a nice size bedroom. It’s wonderful.”

“So private and secluded,” I said, smiling at the pots of golden chrysanthemums that went up the steps to a small landing. “I bet you loved living here.”

Arianna smiled. “I did love it. Angela rented it also. She loved it so much that she lived here with Ryder too, until they bought their house this past spring.”

Hearing that, I decided that I would speak to Gabriella and Philippe about the possibility of renting the property for myself. With a last look at the carriage house, we walked around to the front of the mansion and went in through the family entrance.

I’d never entered the building this way before. The lower level of the family wing opened onto a lobby with an elaborate wooden staircase decorated for the fall. To the right I saw offices and a conference room.

There was a console table near the door and several pumpkins were arranged on it, along with silk foliage in rich, autumn hues. A matching garland of leaves wrapped its way up the banister of the staircase and tiny amber lights were twinkling there.

Arianna went to a doorway on the left, used a key card and opened it. I then followed her down a hallway that led to the commercial two-thirds of the mansion. Public restrooms, a smaller conference room, and the museum room were here. Beyond that was the lobby of the hotel and the ballroom.

We walked into the museum room, and I found Gabriella Midnight-Marquette sitting at a long table with boxes of papers, old clothing, and assorted memorabilia both on the table and the floor all around her.

“Wow,” Arianna said. “You weren’t kidding when you said Philippe had found a cache of antiques and ephemera in the attics.”

Gabriella glanced up and jumped to her feet. “Hi, Arianna. Cordelia, this is a nice surprise.” She gave us each a hug.

“Hello,” I said. “I hope it’s okay that I tagged along.”

“Sure,” Gabriella said. “I can always use another set of hands going through this. We’ve got until two o’clock before the haunted tours begin.”

Arianna set her purse on a glass display case. “I can’t wait to see what sort of history we can uncover about the Marquette family.”

Gabriella blew a blonde curl out of her eyes. “This all looks like items from the early 1900s when one of Philippe’s great uncles tried to make the original winery a go.”

In short order the three of us were sitting at the table and sorting the items into piles. I had half expected that Gabriella would ask me a bunch of questions about what had happened with Ryder, but she didn’t. Which was a huge relief for me. I truly needed a break from talking about it all.

After a few hours of sorting, I volunteered to go and get us some soft drinks. Gabriella told me to head down to the bar, and that one of the event staff should be available to help me.

I’d attended two Halloween Masquerade Balls here, as well as Angela and Ryder’s wedding, so I actually knew my way around the commercial side of the building. I walked into the main event space and over to the bar to find Estella Marquette doing inventory while her daughter, Isabella, sat on top of the wide polished bar top with a coloring book.

The toddler’s hair was dark like her parents, and she wore jeans, sneakers, and an orange t-shirt featuring as black cat wearing a Witch’s hat. The t-shirt proclaimed, in bold letters:Witch In Training.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

The little girl spotted me and grinned. “Hi!” Isabella shouted happily.

Estella waved. “Hey, Cordelia,” she said. “How’s it going, chica?”

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