Page 19 of Seven Secret Spellcasters
Trent followed her and the dogs inside the house and locked the door, making sure the outside light was still on. “I’m sure you’re going to get a message tomorrow, but I don’t think it will be a retraction. Let’s go to bed. Morning is going to come early. I have a truck coming at six.”
Mia wandered up the stairs, her thoughts on the exam results. She’d been so afraid of failing that she hadn’t thought about what it meant if she aced it. All she wanted was to continue her grandmother’s work as a kitchen witch.
Gloria’s giggle could be heard through the apartment’s front door.
* * *
When Mia walked into the Lodge the next morning, Carol, the front desk manager, waved her over to the desk, where she was stacking boxes of Lodge cookies to give to guests when they arrived. “Congrats on passing your test. I can’t believe you tested so high. What’s it like to be a genius?”
“I’m not a genius, and I didn’t realize you were part of the coven,” Mia admitted. She’d talked to Carol Hathaway a lot and had missed that.
“Flying under the radar is what we do best, right?” Carol grinned. “Anyway, we’re not supposed to talk about witch business until after someone passes their initial test. It might skew the results somehow. I don’t know, I’m a Level One and just lucky to have passed. Anyway, Mark Baldwin is sitting over there in the lobby. He’s been here for about ten minutes. I was about to call you. And Brandon Marshall has called three times, trying to get ahold of you. You’re a popular girl today.”
Carol handed Mia a phone sheet with Brandon’s name and number. The only message wasPlease Call ASAP. “Thanks, I’ll call him as soon as I finish with Mark.”
“I wouldn’t wait too long. He is the coven board president,” Carol reminded her.
“Physical presence tops call returning. It’s a basic rule of customer service.” She smiled as she walked over to where Mark sat. He’d been watching her chat with Carol since she’d walked in, but only now did he stand up. “Hi, Mark, what can I help you with?”
“You haven’t heard anything, I take it?” Mark asked as he started toward Mia’s office. This wasn’t going to be a quick chat, then.
“No, I’m sorry. I was tied up yesterday. I got your messages.” She didn’t say “fifteen messages,” but by the blush on his face, he knew what she meant. She held up the pink slip in her hand. “But I’m supposed to call the coven president. Maybe he has news for me.”
“Or he’s congratulating you on this test thing. Sarah tried to explain it to me, but what I got was you did better than anyone expected.” Mark followed her down the hall.
“Including me. Of course, I didn’t know what to expect, so there’s that.” Mia unlocked her office door and saw Blake heading her way. “Come on in, and we’ll call him now.”
Blake met her gaze, then nodded and walked by them. What she had to say must not have been important, or she didn’t want to talk in front of the Magic Springs police chief. Maybe Mark could hang out in Mia’s office more often.
Mia booted up her computer and stashed her tote. “Can I get you some coffee?”
Mark nodded. “I left a little early from the house today. Sarah says I’m obsessing about this death.”
To his credit, Mark didn’t point out to Mia, and probably not to his wife, either, that he was paid to obsess over deaths in the small town. Mia pushed the intercom, and someone from the kitchen answered. “Hi, would you send a carafe of coffee with service for two and a basket of breakfast rolls to my office? The local police chief is here.”
He chuckled as she ended the call. “Is telling them that supposed to make the coffee come faster? Or not be brought by someone on my wanted list?”
“I don’t think we have anyone working here who’s on your wanted list. Besides, you actually have a wanted list? I would think it would be on your computer. Or do you have a board with wanted posters in the back of the building?” When Mark smiled, she continued, “I wanted to make sure that James didn’t burst in here talking a mile a minute with the tray. Sometimes he can be less than professional unless there’s a client in the room. He’s a great source of local gossip, though.”
“That makes sense. Before I forget, Sarah said to congratulate you on the exam results. What does this make you, head witch or something?” Mark grinned like he was kidding, but Mia could see the questions in his eyes. Did this mean she was one of them? Or could he still trust her?
They paused the conversation as a knock came on the door and a server from the dining room came in with a tray. She set it on the table and poured the coffee into cups. Then she stepped back, staring at Mark Baldwin. “Anything else I can do for you?”
Mia smiled and shook her head. She could hear the stories that would be going around the kitchen staff regarding why the police chief was sitting in her office first thing this morning. She checked the woman’s name tag before saying, “We’re good. Thank you, Dana.”
After the woman left, closing the door behind her, Mia set down her coffee. “I don’t know what the test results mean. I know too many people already know about my test. I liked being on the edge of both worlds. Now I feel like they are going to force me to choose one or the other.”
Mark held his cup with both hands and stared down into the dark coffee. “I feel the same way. Now that Sarah told me about our heritage after Elisa Marie was born, I question everything. Even the people I work with.”
“I guess you knowing about Magic Spring’s secret made it easier for the coven to put a hold on the investigation around Alfred Howard’s death.” Mia decided to get right to the point. “That’s why you’re here, right? To find out if this new status of mine has given me insight into the man’s death?”
In Mark’s defense, he blushed before nodding. “Sorry, I don’t know how these things work. Do you have any more information?”
Mia shook her head. “I found out about my test results less than ten hours ago. They haven’t handed me the keys to the vault where they hide all the top-secret information. But maybe soon. Or maybe they just download everything into my brain.”
“You’re pulling my leg.” Mark leaned back and set his coffee on the desk. “Mind if I have a muffin while you make fun of my ignorance?”
“I’m not making fun of you. I’m telling you the cold, hard facts. I’m as ignorant on this subject as you are. I don’t know anything about Howard’s death, except that Trent and Cerby didn’t have anything to do with it.”
