Ground by Kirsten Weiss

Author:Kirsten Weiss [Kirsten Weiss]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: female sleuths, witch cozy mystery, Amateur Sleuth
Publisher: Misterio press
Published: 2016-11-22T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Karin lay, unnaturally pale, against the white hospital sheets. But she was awake, a faint smile playing across her lips.

Nick sat in the lounge chair beside the bed. He leaned forward, cradling her hand in two of his. Her fiancé wore the same clothing as last night. I wondered if he'd ever left the hospital.

“No organs damaged,” she said. “I was charmed.”

He frowned. “You were shot. You lost a lot of blood. You could have been killed.”

I swallowed, dizzy with relief. She was alive and well and awake. And none of that was any thanks to me.

On the table by her bed, I set a thermos of tea I'd prepared. It contained the usual herbs, plus an infusion of magical, healing energy.

“What's this?” Lenore, beside me, picked up the thermos.

“A healing tea,” I said. “And you’d better drink it, or Lenore will have to journey to spirit world and find any lost pieces of your soul.”

Karin smiled at her fiancé. “My soul's right where it's supposed to be.”

It almost hadn't been. I looked away, tears stinging my eyes.

“This wasn't your fault, Jayce,” Karin said, and I jerked, startled. I'd gotten used to Lenore picking up on my stray thoughts, but Karin had never done that before.

She smiled crookedly. “Under the circumstances, it isn't hard to guess what you’re thinking.”

“I'm so sorry,” I said.

“And I told you not to be. You're not responsible for what happened. I'll be okay, and I'll drink that tea.”

Someone rapped on the doorframe, and I glanced over my shoulder. Officers Owen and Hernandez stood inside the open door. “Ms. Bonheim,” Owen said. “May we speak with you about what happened?”

Karin tried to push herself higher up the mountain of pillows and winced. “I didn't see anything, but sure.”

Hernandez caught me with his dark gaze, and I looked away. “Alone,” he said, “if you don’t mind.”

“Of course,” Karin said.

It didn’t matter if we minded or not. Hernandez was just being polite.

Silently, Lenore and I filed out of the hospital room and into the hallway, painted in soothing sand and wood colors. A minute later, Nick joined us.

“The police aren't going to get much from her,” he said. “She really didn't see anything — no one lurking in the alley before the shot, no cars that shouldn't have been there, nothing.”

“Neither did I.” And I should have seen something. I was a witch, dammit. I was supposed to pay more attention. “I talked to Melanie Zana this morning.”

He frowned. “Melanie? Why?”

“She once accused me of sleeping with her husband. I thought maybe she'd been the one to go after me and shot Karin by accident.”

“You shouldn't have confronted her.” But his heart wasn't in telling me off. He watched the door to Karin's room.

“It wasn’t a confrontation. I think she understands now I wasn't involved with her husband. There is one thing though – Matt was divorcing her. Melanie knew it.”

“And she told you?” Lenore's brows shot skyward.

“If the papers were filed,” Nick said absently, “it's a matter of public record.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.