Murders and Mothers: Supernatural Witch Cozy Mystery (Lainswich Witches Book 3) Read online

  “Murders and Mothers”

  Supernatural Witch Cozy Mystery

  Lainswich witches Volume 3

  Raven Snow

  © 2016

  Raven Snow

  Disclaimer

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. If you have not purchased this book from Amazon or received it directly from the author you are reading a pirated copy. If you have downloaded an illegal copy of this book & enjoyed it, please consider purchasing a legal copy. Your respect & support encourages me to continue writing & producing high quality books for you.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner & are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover images are licensed stock photos, images shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are models.

  Digital Edition v1.00 (2016.05.27)

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  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Authors Note

  Books by Raven Snow

  Chapter One

  The first murder happened on a Monday. The body was found at the Peabody Diner. A waitress named Ursula had been left in the walk in freezer. The cause of death was multiple stab wounds to her back. There was nothing taken or missing, and there were no signs of a struggle. What was especially odd was that Ursula’s tongue was nowhere to be found. It had been cut right out of her head after she was murdered.

  That last detail was what set the town of Lainswich on edge. There was some talk that it must be gang related - not that a cozy little town like Lainswich had any gangs or that plump, middle-aged Ursula was at all the sort to get involved with that sort of activity. People still talked. Rowen supposed that was better than the town blaming her family.

  Rowen wrote about the murder in the Lainswich Inquirer of course. It made the front page for a few weeks running. A murder in Lainswich was big news. Rowen expected the odds of this one being anything too exciting were very slim. It was probably a jilted ex-lover who had done the deed. That might not hold the same allure as gang violence, but it was plenty tragic.

  Rowen was reading over her latest issue when Eric leaned over the back of her chair. “Was she someone important in the town?” he asked.

  Rowen rolled her eyes. She’d had one version of this conversation with him already. “She was a waitress,” she said. “She was as important as anyone else.”

  “Everyone is so… solemn about it, though,” he pointed out, which was true enough. The town had been different ever since the body had been found.

  “It’s a small town,” Rowen reminded him. “I know you’re used to big cities, but we know each other here. Deaths are personal.”

  Eric made a sound like he doubted her. “That’s what you said last time, but this feels different. I’ve been here for a couple of murders, remember? It wasn’t quite like this.”

  He had a point there. Rowen couldn’t deny that things seemed even more tense this time around. Given the last two crimes that had happened in town, some bizarre aftermath was to be expected. It was like everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop. “People will feel better once the killer is caught.”

  “Any ideas on that front?” asked Eric.

  Rowen laughed. “I’m a journalist, not a detective.”

  “Could have fooled me.” Eric leaned down a little further and planted a kiss on her cheek.

  Rowen smiled. Again, she couldn’t exactly argue. Her thoughts had turned to the murder more than a few times in recent days. She had been at the diner the night before it happened. She’d seen Ursula work a bit, then head for a smoke break out back shortly after they had been seated. That wasn’t when she had been murdered, of course, but it was the last time Rowen had seen the woman. It was a strange memory to have - that someone could be alive one minute and dead a few hours later.

  Rowen had made it a point to keep her nose out of where it didn’t belong. The police told her what they wanted released to the public, and she didn’t probe beyond that. Ben was the Chief of Police now. He had taken the position after the former chief had been arrested for the last murder in town.

  He was a good guy and an ex-boyfriend. She probably could have gotten more details out of him had she tried. Julia Martinez (a competing reporter) definitely would have. She wasn’t in the breaking news business like Julia Martinez, though. When more details needed to be known, they would be released to the public. Until then, Rowen trusted that Ben knew what he was doing.

  Rowen looked up when she heard Eric in the kitchen. “Remember we’re eating dinner with my family tonight,” she called.

  Eric sighed. “We go eat dinner with your family every night.”

  “Not every night,” said Rowen, though she knew that Eric wasn’t far off from the truth. They probably spent more time in her family’s home than they did in this one. She had warned him about that before she had moved in with him. He knew full well what he had been getting into.

  Besides, Eric and Rowen might have a home together now, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have to travel more in the future. He had been settled down with her for several months. That couldn’t last forever. Eventually, he would have to go back on the road. When that happened, Rowen wasn’t sure she could stand living by herself again. She had become so accustomed to a full house. Just living with Eric was quite a change.

  Sure, the quiet was nice sometimes. She enjoyed cuddling up on the sofa to watch television in the afternoons. She loved sleeping in with him on mornings when neither of them had anywhere to be. It was nice… Except, the quiet could be a bit maddening. She tried not to complain too much. She really did love Eric. Spending time with him when she could was no trouble at all. Quite the contrary, she would miss their time together very much when he had to leave again.

  Maybe, that was what made this so awkward. She couldn’t stop focusing on eventualities.

  Rowen stood and pulled on a jacket. “Come on. If dinner isn’t ready now, it should be soon.”

  Eric gave a sigh but left the kitchen. No doubt he had been making a sna
ck in there. He wasn’t crazy about the Greensmith girls’ home cooking. He followed her out with minimal fuss, though.

  Their “house” was a single-wide trailer on a plot of land right behind the Greensmith house. They walked across the lawn toward the back door now.

  Originally, it was supposed to be temporary. They would live in the trailer while Eric hired someone to build a proper house for them. He had that kind of money, after all.

  After some talking, they both decided it would be a waste. Well, maybe Rowen had done a little more of the deciding on that one. She just didn’t see the point in them building a house if Eric was going to have to leave town all the time. Eric said she was afraid of commitment, but Rowen just considered it being practical.

  The back door to the house was unlocked as it always was. Rowen went in like she had every right to enter unannounced. She did, of course. This was still very much her home.

  Everyone was hanging around in the den. No one really acknowledged Rowen’s arrival except for Aunt Lydia. Lydia always greeted her like it had been months since the two had seen each other.

  “Oh, it’s so good to see you,” said Lydia, standing and wrapping her up in a hug.

  Rowen rolled her eyes and hugged her back. “We were here for breakfast, you know.” This was a little much even by Aunt Lydia’s standards. She was fairly certain she did it just to mess with her.

  “Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes,” said Aunt Nadine. “It’s chili. It’s simmering now.” Nadine was very particular about her chili.

  Aunt Lydia released Rowen and moved on to Eric. He was used to it by now and hugged her back without a fuss.

  “That murder stuff is getting a lot of traffic,” said Willow, sitting with Rowen’s other cousins on the sofa. Willow, Peony, and Rose were all gathered around a laptop. Margo was missing. She was likely out with Eric’s brother, David. Those two had been seeing each other off and on quite a bit. Rowen found it a bit creepy, but what could she do about it?

  “Murder always does,” Rowen said with a sigh, going to sit in the chair nearest her cousins.

  “Such a shame,” said Aunt Nadine, shaking her head. “It used to be a murder was an unusual thing in this town. Now, it seems like one happens every month.”

  Aunt Lydia inclined her head and made an uncertain sound in the back of her throat. “I don’t know about that. Lainswich has always been a bit strange. We just tended to have more disappearances than murders. Some might say those are worse. Myself, I consider murder a step up.”

  Rowen shook her head. “As long as they don’t blame us, it’s none of my business.”

  “That’s a horrible attitude to have,” chided Rose, looking up from her laptop monitor.

  Willow nodded. “I agree. I mean, murder is our business. All news is.”

  Rose elbowed Willow, gently. “No,” she said. “I mean, murder has an impact on the whole community. It should matter to everyone.”

  Rowen took that opportunity to shoot Eric an I-told-you-so look. “See? I told you this was a small town where everyone cares about each other.”

  “I hope they catch him soon,” said Peony with a sigh.

  “I think everyone can agree on that,” said Aunt Nadine, standing and heading off to the kitchen

  Gradually, everyone filtered into the dining room. Dinner was served, and it was absolutely delicious.

  Rowen was filled with a sudden rush of gratitude as she sat there with her family. She had so much. Despite a few snags here and there, she was happy, genuinely happy. She had her aunts, her cousins, Eric. She wasn’t sure what she had done to deserve happiness like this.

  Just then, a banging sound made everyone jump.

  “What was that?” asked Peony, looking this way and that.

  “The door, I think,” said Rose.

  The banging came again. Rose was right. It most certainly seemed to be coming from the front door. Rowen began to stand, but Aunt Lydia beat her to it.

  “Who comes banging on someone’s door at suppertime?” Aunt Lydia complained as she left the dining room and headed down the hallway.

  Rowen frowned after her, curious. She listened as Aunt Lydia unlocked the door. She listened as it opened. She jumped again when Aunt Lydia shrieked.

  Everyone rose from their seats at that. They all poured out of the dining room and hurried toward the front door. Aunt Lydia was still there, but it was no emergency like Rowen had thought. She had her arms around someone. They were hugging and laughing and smiling. Rowen wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. No one was, so they all just kept their distance.

  Finally, Aunt Lydia pushed their guest back to arm’s length. “Nadine!” she called. “Look who’s here!”

  “Who’s here” was an older woman with long auburn hair and bell-bottom jeans. There were flowers plaited in her hair.

  Aunt Nadine squinted. She came a little closer. “Tiffany!” Nadine exclaimed. She hurried over and launched into a hug of her own. “What a wonderful surprise!”

  Rowen took a step back from her cousins, hurrying back down the hall before she could be noticed. She had made it all the way to the back door before Eric caught up with her. “What’s going on?” he asked. At least he had the foresight to see that she didn’t want to attract this woman’s attention. He kept his voice lowered. “Who is she?”

  Rowen was loathe to admit the truth. It seemed inevitable that he’d find out, though. “That’s my mother,” she whispered, taking care not to slam the door as she left.

  Chapter Two

  Tiffany Greensmith was what you might call a free spirit… or a deadbeat… or a bum. All were adequate descriptors. Rowen leaned toward the last two, though most people just found her pleasantly eccentric.

  From an early age, Tiffany had traveled. Lainswich was too small to contain her, she had always said. When she met Derek Jones in high school, she left with him the second they graduated. They got a few states over before they ran out of money. Tiffany didn’t let that stop her, though. She just found herself another boyfriend.

  Rowen had never quite been certain of who her father was. She didn’t think it was Derek Jones. Tiffany had likely met her father somewhere down the road. She’d gone back to Lainswich and settled down for awhile after she got pregnant. After she had Rowen, though - well, she didn’t stick around for long.

  Rowen had a pretty patchy memory of her mother. She had much clearer memories of Grammy and her aunts. They had taken care of her for the bulk of her childhood. Tiffany came back for birthdays and holidays… sometimes. She was just as likely to miss them. There would be a card in the mail with an apology and a little cash.

  The last Rowen had seen of her mother, she was living off the grid with some naturalist. That had suited Rowen just fine. She didn’t need her mother. She would prefer she had stayed where she was rather than just showing up unannounced.

  “You don’t want to go over and say hi?” Eric asked, once they were back in their trailer.

  Rowen made a face at that. She had explained the situation with her mother to Eric before. He knew how she felt about her.

  “Right,” said Eric. “It’s none of my business.” He pulled out his cell phone and pretended to be interested in that for a few moments. He couldn’t pull it off for long. “It’s going to be weird if you don’t say something, though. Won’t it? She’ll just come over here, won’t she?”

  As if on cue, there was a knock. Rowen remained seated on the sofa, her arms crossed over her chest. She very much did not want to deal with this right now.

  Eric looked at the door, to Rowen, then back again. He opened his mouth to say something then just stood instead.

  “Don’t,” warned Rowen.

  Eric motioned, helplessly, to the door. “We can’t just leave her out there knocking.”

  “Can’t we?”

  “She knows we’re in here, Rowen.” Eric stayed where he was anyway. To his credit, he wasn’t going to do something she had expressly told him not t
o. Not when it involved her family.

  He was right, though. Unfortunately. Ignoring Tiffany wouldn’t make her go away. Rowen needed to go ahead and get this over with. She took a deep breath and stood. She moved past Eric and opened the door.

  Tiffany was standing there, of course. Her heavily lined face lit up when she saw Rowen. “Oh, sweetheart! It’s been too long!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her daughter.

  Reluctantly, Rowen hugged her back. It had been awhile since they had last seen each other. “Hey, Mom,” she said, forcing a smile onto her face before they parted. “What brings you into town?”

  Tiffany waved a hand as if it was a very boring story that didn’t matter. “Roland and I broke up a couple of weeks ago.”

  “What happened?” Rowen asked, feigning both interest and concern.