Cocoa and Curses by Nisse Julie

Author:Nisse, Julie [Nisse, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798708511874
Google: nweNzgEACAAJ
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: 2021-02-02T11:04:07.376299+00:00

Val drove casually through town, explaining that it was important that people see us doing normal things so we wouldn’t seem suspicious when news of Anelise’s murder broke. I wasn’t sure that would help but gamely went to the grocery store and picked up a few bottles of wine with my niece. After the episode in Anelise’s house, I wanted to down one on the drive home.

My niece joked about getting some hot chocolate from the Owl’s Nest, but when we passed it on our way down Main Street, its door was closed and an out-for-lunch sign hung in the window.

“Does she always close up shop for lunch?” I asked Val, pointing to the Owl’s Nest.

“Most days,” Val said. “Depends on how much business she has.”

Thinking of Sandy reminded of the vial I’d found at Anelise’s house. A vial I’d certainly put back into the trash can before I’d fled the house.

A thread of icy dread wriggled down my spine. I had put it back in the trash, hadn’t I?

I casually ran my right hand down the outside of my jacket until my fingers encountered a small, nearly cylindrical, lump. I traced its outline with my fingers and a horrified jolt took my breath away. I hadn’t put the vial back in the trash.

I’d stolen evidence from a crime scene. Gray would have a field day with this if he ever found out about it.

Even worse, if this was evidence that pointed back to Sandy it was now worthless. There was no way to prove I’d found the vial in Anelise’s house. I could have just as easily stolen it from Sandy’s back room, which was just another crime the deputy could hang around my neck.

Very smooth, Liv.

Just because I couldn’t use it as evidence didn’t mean it wasn’t useful, though. I plucked the crystal vial from my pocket, careful not to get any fingerprints on it, and held the delicate object up so Val could see it. “Recognize this?” I asked.

“That’s a potion vial,” she said. “I know you don’t believe in magic, but—”

“My stance on that may be softening,” I admitted. “I still don’t think I can do magic, but I’m a little more open to the idea that there’s bad magic out in the world.”

Because, honestly, what else could explain the weird hoofprints that appeared and disappeared, Sandy’s strange behavior in her cocoa shop, and the fact that a mysterious, oversized feline had pointed me toward some important clue?

“Well,” Val said, looking at me cautiously. “That’s a start. “Ha, look at that.”

A big black Mercedes SUV was parked in front of the Snow Cat Café. The Illinois plates sent a chill up my spine, and when I looked through the café’s window and saw Vinnie sitting at the table inside, sipping gingerly at a cup of coffee, my blood ran cold.

“What is he doing in there?” I asked.

“Looks like he’s having a cup of coffee,” Val said as we drifted past the intersection. “It’s not like Ciara can afford to turn away customers.

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