Witch Cursed in Westerham Read online

  Witch Cursed in Westerham

  Paranormal Investigation Bureau Book 10

  Dionne Lister

  Copyright © 2019 by Dionne Lister

  ISBN 978-0-9946025-6-5

  Smashwords edition

  Cover art by Robert Baird

  Content Editing by Hot Tree Editing

  Line edits by Chryse Wymer

  Proofreading Hot Tree Editing

  All rights reserved.

  * * *

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or school assignment.

  * * *

  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. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  For Ben.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  About the Author

  Also by Dionne Lister

  Chapter 1

  “Mmm, it smells so good in here.” Saliva drenched my mouth and spurted out before I could close my lips.

  Imani, waiting with me in Tulsi’s Indian restaurant for our takeaway, screwed up her face. She frantically wiped her cheek. “Gross, Lily. You even contaminated my lips. Your salivary glands are out of control. Calm them, please.”

  I pressed my lips together, then held my palm over my mouth as I spoke… just in case some rogue drops shot out. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. You don’t have to worry, though. I don’t have any diseases or anything.” She looked at me, one eyebrow elevated. “Well, it’s not like I can take it back. Do they have a bathroom here? Maybe you could go wash your face?”

  An Indian lady dressed in a vibrant green sari approached us with two plastic bags. Phew, saved. “Here’s your order, loves. Enjoy your meal.” She smiled.

  I grinned in return and took the bags. “Thank you. This smells delicious.” Imani gave me a side-eyed glance. We turned and left.

  Once out on the footpath, a burst of high-energy, almost hyperactive magic slapped the back of my skull before dissipating. That was weird. I looked at Imani. “Did you feel that?”

  Her gaze flicked up and down the street. “Yes.” There was nothing obvious out of place.

  “It was strong. Should we be worried?” My heart beat faster because even though I didn’t have the feeling of being watched, it was possible that RP—Regula Pythonissam, the group who were after me—were out there, observing. I threw up a return-to-sender spell just in case.

  “I don’t know, Lily. Whatever it was, it’s gone now.” Imani’s phone rang. “Hello, James. Yes.” Imani looked across and down the street a bit. “Okay. Yep. Bye.” She turned to me. “I have to attend a potential crime scene, which happens to be that antique shop over there.” She pointed to where she’d been looking a moment ago—at a two-storey white semi-detached building with the sign Castle Antiques Centre mounted on the building above the glass shopfront. Like many English buildings, a dormer window at the top of the building indicated there was liveable space in the roof cavity.

  “I love antique shops. Lead the way. Actually, what sort of crime? We’re not about to walk into a shop full of blood and guts, are we?” Because that wouldn’t be fun, obviously.

  “Stolen items that just popped out. The owner’s a witch, so she called the PIB straight away.” Imani looked both ways and crossed. I stayed on her heels. The owner met us at the front door.

  The thirty-something-year-old had brown hair in two braids, one over each shoulder. She was a fellow nail-biter, a finger currently in her mouth. She didn’t even bother taking the finger from her lips when she spoke. She eyed us. “Are you from the PIB?”

  “Yes. I’m Agent Jawara, and this is my assistant, Lily Bianchi.” Imani wasn’t in uniform today, as she technically didn’t start her shift until three, but she pulled out her ID and showed the woman.

  The shop owner held out her hand—the one that had been partly in her mouth—for Imani to shake. Imani looked at it, paused, then quickly shook it. Ew. I gave the woman a quick nod and folded my arms. I didn’t want to give her the impression I wanted to shake her manky hand.

  “Thanks for coming so quickly. I’m Lissa.”

  “Why don’t you take us inside and explain what happened? I’ll need to get an inventory of what was taken, and if you have any photos of the missing items, that would be helpful.”

  “Of course.” She turned and led us inside.

  The stale smell of old furniture and the fresh scent of eucalyptus oil seeped from the pores of the quiet interior. It was mildly pleasant, and, for a moment, I could’ve been in the past.

  We reached a wider spot in the narrow path threading through tightly packed furniture and shelves holding plates, teacups, vases, and all manner of collectable knick-knacks. Lissa halted and pointed to either side of the aisle. “This side had a pair of 19th Century Doulton of Lambeth Plinths.” She turned. “This side had a round Regency mahogany four-seat dining table. All up, they’re worth around five-thousand pounds, give or take.” She frowned.

  Imani made notes in a small notepad. “When did you notice they were missing, and how did you discover it?”

  “It was about five or six minutes ago. I was sitting behind the counter”—she nodded at the counter at the back of the shop—“looking towards the door, and I felt a bit of magic; then they just popped away. I don’t even know how that’s possible. No one was here to cast a spell on them.”

  Imani pulled out her phone and took photos of the spaces. She mumbled something, and her magic grazed my scalp. Imani smiled. “We have a signature.” She said, “Symbol, you’ve made an impression on me. I’m taking your image and sending it to the PIB.” She looked at Lissa. “Someone would have had to come in here at some point and cast the spell that would eventually have taken the furniture away. Do you have security cameras?”

  “No. We don’t normally have a problem with theft, and I have mirrors everywhere, so I can always keep an eye out.”

  I looked around. Rounded convex mirrors were positioned near the ceiling in each of the four corners, so she would have had a good view from wherever in the shop she happened to be. Imani’s gaze landed on my face. She raised an eyebrow. Did she want me to take photos? But we couldn’t risk anyone finding out what it was I did. I gave a quick head shake. Imani turned back to the woman. “I think we need more formal photos. I’m going to get my assistant to take them. Do you mind?”

  She shrugged. “If you think it will help. Okay.”

  “You can wait at your counter if you like. We won’t be long.”

  “Fine.” She made her way behind said counter and sat on a stool but continued to observe us.

  Since she was a witch, it was fine for me to magic my Nikon to myself. I placed the two bags of food on the floor, took the lens cap off, turned the camera on, and pointed it at the aisle next to where the furniture used to be. I didn’t want to say anything out loud, in case Lissa heard me. Show me who stole the furniture that disappeared today.

  The lighting changed slightly, and I turned towards the window. It was raining on the day the items were spelled. I turned to face the back
of the shop where Lissa sat. A man stood between me and her, blocking my view of the counter. He was side-on to me, touching one of the plinths. Unfortunately, he wore a baseball cap pulled low over his face, sunglasses, and a thick brown beard covered the rest of his face. His long coat hid his build. The only meaningful information I could get was his height—about five ten—his hair, and white skin.

  I wanted to get a shot of Lissa on that day so we could pinpoint which day the man had come into the shop. At the risk of losing the moment in my lens, I flicked my gaze back and forth from the camera to my surroundings as I moved through the shop—I was liable to knock something over since it was so cluttered.

  I rounded the corner into the next aisle. There she was, in grey woollen slacks, a sky-blue jumper, and grey beanie. It must have been cold that day, which makes sense since it was winter. Lissa had been talking to an old lady, who held up a pretty plate decorated with colourful birds. I took a few shots and came around to the aisle with the thief from the other direction. Bummer. I frowned. This angle didn’t give me any more insight into what he looked like, but I snapped away, just in case something revealed itself later when we zoomed in on the picture.

  I turned my camera off. “Agent Jawara, I’m done.”

  “Thanks, Bianchi.” She couldn’t call me agent, so that was better than Assistant Bianchi. I smiled. To be honest, I kind of liked the sound of it. The blokeyness was cool. Imani walked over to Lissa. “Do you have photos of the items?”

  “Here,” she said and turned her laptop around so Imani could see the screen. Even though I had photos of the items from the past, it would be weird if she didn’t ask for them. We didn’t want to give any inkling of what my talent was.

  Imani took photos of the screen with her phone. When she finished, she slipped her phone in her pocket and pulled out her notebook and pen again. “Have you had any customers use magic in your store in the last few weeks?”

  Lissa turned the laptop back around and drummed her fingers on the marble countertop. “I don’t usually pay much attention, except to make sure no one’s stealing anything. In the last couple of weeks, I’d say maybe three people? I can’t be sure, though.”

  Imani jotted down the information. “Can you give me a description of those people?”

  “Um… there was a young couple in here, guy and girl, and they both used magic, but it was only because he forgot his wallet, and she magicked home the chair they bought after they paid for it. There was a man in here about a week ago.” Her eyes opened wide. “Come to think of it, he was checking out the table. Not sure about the plinths , but I definitely saw him touch the table. After that, I had to help another shopper, and, actually, that’s when he used magic. It wasn’t a lot though, and I briefly checked in the mirrors to make sure he hadn’t taken anything. By the time I came around to see if he wanted help, he’d gone.”

  “And what did he look like?”

  “He had on a dark cap, sunglasses, and a dark jumper, or maybe a coat. He had a normal build—oh, and a beard. I can’t remember any other specifics. To be truthful, I wasn’t paying that much attention as I was serving someone else. So many people come in and out, I could never recall exactly what people were wearing. I’d be terrible picking out of a line-up.” She brought her hand to her mouth and chewed a fingernail.

  “Don’t worry about it. You’d be surprised at how much people get wrong in these situations. We’ll let you know if we find anything in our database that matches the magic signature. In the meantime, if anything else happens, or something comes to mind, let me know. Here’s my card.” Imani handed her a white, rectangular square.

  “Thank you. And if that man returns, I’ll definitely let you know straight away.”

  A gentle smile lit Imani’s face. “Great. Do you mind if we travel from here?” We’d walked to the shop from Angelica’s, but now there was an investigation, it was likely we’d have to go straight to the PIB with the evidence.

  “Not a problem. You can go back there.” She pointed to a doorway on the back wall, just to the right of her counter.

  Imani picked up both bags of food. “Thanks.”

  I followed her into the storage room and shut the door. Imani made her doorway. Turning to me, she said, “PIB.”

  I nodded. After she left, I made my doorway and did the same.

  When we arrived at the PIB, Gus answered the reception-room door. After informing us that Ma’am was out, he led us down the hallway, recounting the latest dog-vomiting incident. “The missus walked out and left me to clean it up. Can you believe that?” He laughed and shook his head. Oh, I could believe it all right.

  “Maybe you missed your calling, Gus.”

  “How’s that, Agent Jawara?” he asked.

  “You should’ve gotten into nursing or childcare, since you don’t mind cleaning up vomit, and you’d have even more stories.” Imani glanced at me and smirked. Gah, don’t encourage him! I narrowed my eyes, warning her to stop.

  Even though the timing was off, my stomach grumbled. The plastic bag filled with Indian yumminess swung from Imani’s hand. “Um, excuse me.”

  Imani looked back at me. “Yes?”

  “Since Ma’am isn’t here, can we go sit in the cafeteria and eat?”

  Imani shrugged. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. Okay, then.” She looked at Gus. “Lovely seeing you. I hope your dog feels better soon.”

  He smiled and waved his hand dismissively. “He’ll be fine. He vomits all the time. It’s just him.”

  I waved. “Bye, Gus. See you later.”

  “Bye, Miss Lily. Have a lovely day.”

  “You too.” I smiled as he stopped and turned to head back the other way. Imani and I went towards the lift. “I might see if Liv wants to join us.”

  “Great.” We reached the lift, and she pressed the button. Her phone rang. “Agent Jawara speaking.” She made some noncommittal noises and listened. “Yes, Ma’am. Okay. Be there in a moment. Bye.” She frowned and handed me the bag of food. “I’m sorry, Lily, but I’ve been called out on another job. Don’t worry about saving me any. I’ll just grab something from the cafeteria when I get back.”

  “Are you sure? Weren’t you looking forward to it?” I didn’t know if I could just give up my Indian food like that if I’d been so close to eating it. I probably would’ve told Ma’am I’d be ten minutes, and that’s why I couldn’t be an agent—priorities.

  “I can get more later. You enjoy it with Liv. I’ll speak to you later about getting those photos. Bye, love.”

  “Bye.” I waved as she disappeared through her doorway. Alone in the corridor, my shoulders slumped. I’d been looking forward to having lunch with Imani. Had I mentioned lately how much I hated surprises?

  I magicked my camera home, then slid my phone out of my pocket to call Liv. The phone rang and rang and rang. She finally picked up just before it went to voicemail. “Hey, Lily.” She sounded frazzled.

  “Hey. I’m heading to the cafeteria with some Indian food. Interested in joining me? Imani and I were meant to have lunch, but she’s been called away on an urgent job.”

  “Um, I’d love to, but I’m flat out. Do you want to come up and eat in my office? I can eat and work.”

  “Yeah, sure. See you in a minute.” I hung up and made my way through empty hallways to her and Millicent’s office. Millicent was having a few months off on maternity leave, so Liv had the space all to herself in the meantime. When I reached her door, I didn’t bother knocking before opening it. “Hey, it’s me!” I shut the door and continued through the reception area to the office.

  Liv was in front of her computer with files piled up to one side on her desk. Every few seconds, her computer dinged, as if she were getting a message. She looked at me and smiled a somewhat stressed smile. “Hey. That smells good. Thanks for coming up. Sorry I couldn’t meet you downstairs. Today’s been crazy.” She blew out a full breath, lifting a curl that had settled in front of one eye.

  I put the foo
d on Millicent’s desk, took my coat off, and hung it on one of her guest chairs, then sat. “I noticed it was quiet out there. What’s going on?”

  “About two hours ago, the phones went nuts. We’ve had thirty call-outs to witch-related crimes throughout Hampshire, Kent, Somerset, and Surrey. Mainly thefts. It’s crazy. There’s hardly anyone left at headquarters, and the calls keep coming. I’m liaison.” Her computer dinged again, and she stuck her bottom lip out in a sad pout. “The messages just don’t stop. Hang on a sec.” She turned back to her computer and started typing.

  Thankfully, over the last three weeks, Beren and Doctor Finnegan had tested the magic in my stupid snake tattoo. They hadn’t turned the tracking off yet, which was frustrating to say the least because Regula Pythonissam knew where I was at all times, but Beren had ascertained I wasn’t a danger to Liv. If I had been, there was no way I’d be allowed to be alone with her. I had missed hanging out, just the two of us.

  To make things easier for Liv, I set the food out, magicked two sets of cutlery and two plates onto the table, and filled one plate for her. I set it on the side of her desk that didn’t have all the files. “Here you go. Is there anything I can help you with?”

  She stopped typing and turned to me. “This is fabulous, thanks. Food is all I need right now, and it’s nice to have company.”

  I sat back down in the guest chair in front of Mill’s desk, and we ate in silence for a few minutes. Mmm, this food was delicious. I hadn’t had food from there before, but I’d be going back for sure.

  Just as I was about to shovel another forkful of curry into my mouth, a piercing alarm sounded. Stunned, my arm jerked, flinging my food across the room to splat against the wall before falling to the floor. I dropped my fork and slammed my hands over my ears.