Anna Denning Mystery Series Box Set: Books 1–3 Read online

  Liz waited until Jason was out of earshot then leaned forward in her chair. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you before those two walked in. You heard about Tom Muncy being selected for the governor’s Committee on Economic Development?”

  “I read it on your website.” Anna pushed her coffee cup to one side. She couldn’t drink anymore. The coffee was turning to vinegar in her stomach.

  “It’s a prestigious committee, exactly what Muncy’s been looking for. Everyone knows he’s going to make a run for the state senate and then U.S. representative for Colorado. A rep by forty and a U.S. senator by forty-two. The committee is his means to that end.”

  “I knew he was ambitious. He gets more press than the mayor.”

  “The governor asked Muncy to choose a member of the local business community to serve as liaison to the committee, and word is, he’s going to choose Darlene Richelle.”

  “Why?” Anna had never heard of Richelle before today and now her name was everywhere. “She’s only been here six months. What about people who’ve done business here for decades?”

  “I know, I don’t get it.” Liz switched off her computer and closed the lid. “But think of the contacts Darlene will make. And if I know my politics, she’ll bestow a lot of favors and make a lot of friends. And when Tom makes his run for the state senate, she’ll probably be on his coattails.”

  “But Muncy doesn’t like Darlene.”

  “It’s politics. They don’t have to like each other.”

  Liz closed the toggle buttons on her coat. “Have you thought about joining my women’s Bible study in January? We’re doing Joshua, you know. Jericho, Rahab and the spies, crossing the Jordan.”

  It was the fourth time Liz had asked in two weeks. Anna’s heart wasn’t in it. “I’ll let you know.” She saw Jason head out the door, a cup of coffee to go in each hand.

  Liz took a last gulp of cappuccino. “I jotted some notes while you were talking with Rowan and Jason. I might be able to find out if they have a connection to Muncy. I’ll see what I can dig up on Tom, too. Informed is armed. Meet me at the council meeting tonight? Seven o’clock.”

  “I’ll be there.” Anna was grateful for Liz’s newfound investigative instincts. If the least grain of information, something seemingly insignificant, could lead to a breakthrough in researching a family tree, so might it tell her what was going on at What Ye Will and why she’d been drawn into it.

  Anna slipped Jackson’s leash from her pocket and pushed out of her chair. “Liz, do me a favor and ask your sources what they know about Darlene Richelle. Anything you can find out.”

  5

  Anna cast her eyes around the Council Room. There wasn’t an empty seat in the public gallery, and about two dozen people stood at the back of the room. She leaned back in her chair to look past Liz to the opposite side of the room, where Darlene, Jazmin, and Rowan sat together in the second row of seats.

  Darlene was expressionless, still except for one hand, which played with a large triangular earring dangling from her left ear, and Jazmin, her arms crossed and her chin tucked inside her yellow scarf, was making herself small. She looked uncomfortable with the world and her place in it. When she caught Anna looking her way she flinched and tried to hide her surprise.

  “Did you bring Jackson?” Liz asked as she opened a small spiral notebook. She hated taking notes the old-fashioned way—her pen never moved fast enough, she said—but laptops weren’t allowed in the gallery.

  “No, it’s too cold. He’s at home.”

  “Here we go,” Liz said, pointing her pen at the mayor, who was switching on a microphone.

  “As you know,” the mayor began, “Susan Muncy, Councilman Tom Muncy’s wife, died earlier today.”

  Anna glanced about the room. There were no cries or expressions of surprise. News had traveled fast in Elk Park.

  “Since the last item on our schedule is Tom’s choice for liaison to the state’s Committee on Economic Development, Tom graciously made arrangements for someone to speak in his stead. Brenda Boyer, our town clerk.”

  Brenda tipped her head and kept typing the minutes.

  “Since there’s no public discussion for this item, I suggest we hear Brenda then adjourn.”

  “No discussion?” Anna said under her breath.

  “No point drawing things out,” Liz said. “No one else has a say in it and everyone wants to get home and start their Christmas. Fasten your seatbelt.”

  Brenda unfolded a sheet of paper and turned on her microphone. “In the interest of furthering economic growth in the town of Elk Park, Colorado, I, Tom Muncy, councilman, Ward 2, have decided to choose a newcomer with fresh ideas to act as liaison to Governor Trent’s Committee on Economic Development. I hereby name Darlene Richelle, owner of Elk Park’s What Ye Will, to serve as that liaison.”

  “Ridiculous!” someone shouted from the back of the gallery. “It isn’t right,” said a man in the row behind Anna.

  Ruby Padilla, the councilwoman from Anna’s district, exhaled loudly and leaned back in her chair, her eyes flitting left then right, searching the faces of the other council members. The mayor pursed his lips and rapped the papers in front of him with the knuckles of his right hand, letting everyone know he didn’t approve of Muncy’s choice but had no say in the matter.

  Anna had expected the announcement, but it still sounded an off note. Something was wrong here. Tom was no friend of Darlene. He’d even given Anna a message for her: Tell her I’ll protect myself.

  “Just last week my sources were sure Tom would appoint someone else,” Liz said, leaning sideways toward Anna. “A while back he floated the names of two other store owners and virtually promised the council he’d pick one of them.”

  The mayor raised his hand in a call for quiet, asked if there was any business remaining on the agenda, then called an end to the meeting. People in the gallery, some mumbling angrily, rose and began making their way to the exits as a councilman reminded everyone about a charity Christmas party tomorrow evening, the twenty-second.

  Anna glanced again to her right. Darlene looked serene, a smiling Buddha only vaguely moved by her just and rightful appointment and not at all disturbed by the crowd’s reaction. Rowan was facing backward in his seat and talking to a man in the row behind him. The man’s face was hidden, but judging by the curly hair, it was Jason, the herb supplier.

  As Anna craned her neck for a better look, the woman sitting to Jason’s right stood. She touched Jason’s shoulder and started buttoning her coat.

  “It’s Monica,” Anna said.

  “What?” Liz asked.

  “It’s Monica Draper. Over there, with Jason from What Ye Will.”

  “Monica from church?” Liz took a quick peek. “It is her. I haven’t seen her for ages.”

  Anna tried to catch Monica’s attention with a wave, but Monica stared straight ahead as she closed the last button on her coat. She touched Jason’s shoulder again then latched onto a strand of her straight black hair, twisting it around her finger.

  “I almost forgot,” Liz said. She unhooked her purse strap from her chair leg and dug through her purse. “Some information about those two guys in the Buffalo, Muncy, and the spooky store owner.” She retrieved a folded sheet of paper and handed it to Anna. “I have a source in the town clerk’s office. It’s a start, anyway, and I can get more information later. Rowan and Jason don’t seem to have any connection to the councilman.”

  Anna stuck the paper in her purse, not wanting to open it with others around her.

  “It’s her real name, by the way,” Liz whispered. “Her maiden name was Nagel, and she married David Richelle. She’s been divorced almost thirty years, since she was twenty-two. She got divorced in Colorado, so it’s public information.” Liz pointed at Anna’s purse. “She must make good money. She plans to buy the store next to hers, knock down a wall, and join the two. She’ll have to pay rent on both spaces, plus she rents the story above her store as an apartment.” />
  Anna thought that must be the expansion Tom had talked about. He’d said it would give Darlene twice as much room. “How do you know all this?”

  “I asked a couple owners downtown. Either Darlene has money of her own or her store pulls in more than you’d think.”

  “Come on, let’s say hello.” Anna tugged on Liz’s coat sleeve and rose to follow Darlene, who was heading for the rear exit along with her employees.

  In the hallway outside the Council Room, Anna caught sight of the back of Darlene’s green wool coat and called out her name. Darlene spun around, her eyes instantly meeting Anna’s. Anna stopped abruptly and felt Liz run into her, clipping the backs of her heels. Somehow, thirty feet ahead, Darlene had known exactly where to focus her eyes.

  “Congratulations,” Anna said, moving forward through the crowd. She refused to let Darlene know that the trick with her eyes had unnerved her.

  “Thank you,” Darlene said, smiling broadly. “I’m looking forward to working with the committee.”

  Her employees gathered around her in a horseshoe shape, Rowan at her back. Monica stood next to Jason, looking as uncomfortable as she had in the Council Room. When she saw Anna, she smiled, took a small step forward as if to greet her, then halted.

  “I wonder why Tom didn’t appoint a longtime Elk Park business owner,” Anna said. As soon as the words left her mouth she knew they were, more than anything else, payback for Darlene’s comments earlier in the day about Sean.

  “Ouch,” Rowan said.

  Darlene’s smile faded. “Do you disagree with his choice?”

  “I don’t agree or disagree, I’m just curious. I heard Tom was going to appoint someone else and I wonder what changed his mind.” Two could play at this intimidation game, she thought.

  “I think he became more open to new ideas, new blood.”

  “But this was a week ago. What changed his mind in one week?”

  “I’m very much in the here and now. I don’t care about a week ago.”

  Anna bit the inside of her lower lip to keep from smiling. She wondered how anyone could think a week was far enough in the past to be dismissed. How long was Darlene’s “here and now”? Did it last as much as twenty-four hours?

  “It’s a good thing he changed his mind,” Jazmin said, looking from Rowan to Darlene. “It’s good. I don’t care why. If it’s good, who cares? It’s the past. It’s good to not be so negative or like that.” She exhaled loudly.

  “I understand what you mean,” Darlene said, wrapping an arm around Jazmin’s shoulders. “You’re right, it’s good, and it doesn’t matter why he changed his mind.” She turned to Anna, daring her to respond.

  Darlene was no longer the stern employer, ruling Jazmin by the sheer weight of her gaze. Now she was the substitute mother, telling Jazmin that any meandering thought that came out of her mouth was noteworthy. Either way, as an employer she was behaving inappropriately, crossing the line. What was the hold she had on Jazmin?

  “I’m always curious why people do things,” Anna said, turning her gaze to Jazmin. “Aren’t you?”

  “No,” Jazmin said.

  “I think you should leave her alone,” Darlene said, tightening her grip on Jazmin’s shoulders.

  Clever, Anna thought. Shout defense against nothing and that nothing becomes something. Darlene was reinforcing the hold she had on Jazmin, a pliable young woman who was growing more anxious the longer they stood talking.

  Despite what Jazmin had done, Anna felt a sense of protectiveness when she looked at her. She reminded Anna of herself at that age, scared of her own shadow, desperate to belong. Anna wondered where the girl’s parents were and why they’d allowed her to fall under the influence of a much older woman, a self-professed witch at that.

  “It’s just a question,” Anna said. She heard the ring of a cell phone behind her and Liz’s muffled voice answering it.

  “I don’t understand what you have against us,” Darlene said.

  Anna laughed. Us. She had to hand it to Darlene. Her I’m-a-victim tactics were well polished. “You must be joking, Darlene. I didn’t know any of you until Jazmin hired me.”

  “So why are you ridiculing the store?” Darlene said.

  “Jazmin,” Anna said, ignoring Darlene, “you couldn’t afford to hire me, could you? Did you even know Susan Muncy?” This business with the Muncy family tree was not all Jazmin’s doing, Anna thought. No way.

  Darlene tensed. “My employees are paid very well. Better than most places in this town.”

  “I knew her,” Jazmin said, a defiant expression on her face. “I told you it was a joke. Just forget it.”

  “You should forget it,” Darlene said. She pulled herself to her full height and wagged her head at Anna. “It’s becoming some kind of barrier in your life.”

  “We only met a few hours ago,” Anna said. “I haven’t had time to erect a barrier.”

  “We should go,” Monica said to Jason, touching his arm. “It’s late.”

  So Jason was Monica’s husband. Anna knew Monica had married a year and a half ago, about the time Monica stopped attending church. Anna regretted not calling on her to ask if she’d be coming back to Faith Chapel, but at the time, six months after Sean’s death, she hadn’t had it in her to check up on the newlywed. Then, as always happened, too much time passed, and because Monica was an acquaintance more than a friend, Anna let the matter drop.

  “That’s right,” Rowan said. “It’s Yule tomorrow.” He pronounced the word you-el. “Yule be sorry if you don’t get enough sleep before the sabbat.”

  “Funny,” Monica said. She gave Rowan a faint sneer and took off down the hall toward the building’s back doors. Jason gave Rowan a friendly poke in the arm, said, “Goodnight all, home to the wife,” and followed Monica down the hall.

  “How is Yule different from Christmas?” Anna asked. She knew, but she wanted to hear it from Darlene. She wanted to question her, pin her down, maker her say her foolishness out loud.

  A tiny smile appeared then vanished on Darlene’s face. She pushed her hair from her shoulder with a backhanded flick and said, “It’s very different. Christmas is an invention. The Christian church stole Yule, watered it down, twisted it, then called it Christmas. The holly, the mistletoe, the nativity scenes—they’re all copies of much older traditions. Yule is ancient, a lesser sabbat based on the solar calendar. It marks the time when light overcomes the dark.”

  “The winter solstice, you mean?” Anna asked. “That is ancient.”

  Liz tugged gently at the back of Anna’s jacket but Anna kept her eyes on Darlene.

  “Some witches don’t celebrate it, but I choose to,” Darlene said. “I think when we celebrate it, we reclaim it.”

  “Okay.”

  “I enjoy observing the sabbat as it should be observed, as the ancients observed it.”

  “Good for you,” Anna said. She couldn’t help notice that Darlene had invoked the word “ancient” twice, which was odd for someone who considered a mere week ago the insignificant past.

  “It’s shameful that Christians stole our day and then used it against us, just to draw abused, frightened people into the church.” Darlene’s voice was hard and flat, but her fingers danced angrily, clutching and kneading the amethyst choker at her neck. “What do you think about people who would steal a witches’ sabbat and call it a holy day?”

  “I’d say they were very clever,” Anna said.

  “Clever?”

  “Sure. If you want to draw people toward the light, you use what they’re familiar with. Then over time you show them the difference between the shadow of the real thing and the real thing itself.”

  Jazmin shot Anna a look, her lips parted, her eyes wide, pleading stop.

  “Excuse me,” Liz broke in, stepping to Anna’s side. “Jazmin, right?”

  “Yeah?”

  “So Susan Muncy wasn’t your mother?”

  Darlene’s nostrils flared and she shut her eyes for a brie
f moment before saying, “It was a prank, as Jazmin’s said. We’re going to drop it, aren’t we? I mean now.”

  Liz held up a hand. “I wanted to make sure before I broke the news. The medical examiner just declared her death a homicide.”

  Jazmin sucked in her breath. She stared at Liz, her mouth agape.

  “How did she die?” asked Anna.

  “Poison.” The word hung in the air in the now-silent hall. The only other people in sight were a couple waiting wordlessly at the back doors to the parking lot, probably for a ride home. Anna knew Liz wasn’t going to elaborate. She must have heard more from one of her contacts, but she wasn’t going to say anything else in front of Darlene and the others.

  “Wow,” Rowan said. “Nobody ever gets murdered in Elk Park.”

  “It can happen anywhere,” Darlene said, rubbing her temples with her hands. “I’m going home. You two want to walk along?”

  “Now I do,” Rowan said. “Anyway, I think my ride left. You, Jaz?” He looked at Jazmin and she said yes, she’d like to, first to him, then to Darlene.

  “Let’s go.” Darlene said nothing to Anna as she turned and started for the back doors.

  Rowan mumbled a goodbye then trailed after her, along with Jazmin, who shot a backward glance at Anna as she exited the building.

  “No one asked what kind of poison,” Anna said as the doors shut.

  “I noticed that. It was Taxus baccata. Yew. It’s very deadly, loaded with toxins. They think it was in a cake or frosting. Something like cake is all they found in her stomach, plus they found this card in a drawer, in the night table by her bed.” Liz fished her notebook from her coat pocket and began reading. “Yule log cake, slices three / Eat at once then blessed be / And we will share our world with thee.”

  Blessed be. Anna cringed inwardly at the words.

  “She must’ve eaten all three slices because there wasn’t any cake in the house,” Liz said.

  “A Yule log cake’s a Christmas tradition, isn’t it?”

  Liz shrugged. “Maybe it’s witchy, too.”