Page 23 of Ghostmaker

Ten shook his head. “No, you stay here and get the kids off the bus. It’s a hot afternoon, maybe let them play in the pool.”

“If you need anything, call me.” Jude brushed a kiss to Cope’s cheek.

“We will.” Cope and Ten left the kitchen.

Seconds later, Jude heard the front door open, then close. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know.” Ronan sighed. “I trust what Ten and Cope told us one hundred percent, but there’s no way of knowing if Crawford is behind anything or if Christie and her mother are in any danger.”

“I agree and I don’t like it one bit. Do you think it would help if we went to see Crawford ourselves?” Jude asked, cracking his knuckles.

“No. We have nothing to arrest him for and nothing to accuse him of. The best thing we can do at the moment is fly under the radar unless or until we have a concrete accusation we can bring to him.”

“You’re right,” Jude agreed. “I don’t like it, but you’re right. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to look into his background, as soon as we’re finished with the Alice Strickland investigation.”

“Good plan,” Ronan agreed and picked up another witness report.

Jude followed suit. He didn’t like the idea of Cope and Ten getting involved with Crawford. The last thing any of them needed now was an all-out war between psychic shops. He was sure Crawford was trying to put his own stamp on Salem, while trying to steal clients from other psychics. Jude knew damn well it wasn’t going to happen.

What could happen, however, was Salem’s cold case unit being shuttered. Turning his focus back to Alice Strickland, Jude grabbed another file out of the box and got back to work.

12

Cope

Cope sat, half awake, in his office the next morning at West Side Magick, wondering if he should go get another cup of coffee or if he’d had enough. He and Ten had spoken briefly to Christie and her mother at the hotel and both women agreed to stay put for the night. He hadn’t heard a word from either of them since he and Ten left.

Jude and Ronan hadn’t found any clues in the Alice Strickland case, which made Cope more nervous than he wanted to admit. He’d run into West in Cassie’s bakery when he’d gone in to get his second cup of coffee, and while he’d been pleasant enough, Cope knew he was still of a mind to recommend the unit be disbanded. West broadcasted that message loud and clear when Cope tried to read him.

As much as he disliked getting Everly involved in murder cases, it might be time to bring her in and see what she could find out. She’d spoken with Alice Strickland the other night, but hadn’t gotten a lot of information from the ghost. Maybe if they could show how hard they were working on the case, Alice would be willing to open up a bit more. At this point, it was worth a shot.

Cope wondered if they should ask her about Jonas Crawford as well. To be honest, if it was Wolf with Everly’s gifts, he wouldn’t want his son anywhere near that monster. Throw in the fact that Everly could wield the death spell, it was best to keep her as far away from Crawford as possible.

He was about to text Ten to find out what he thought about involving Everly, when there was a knock at his door. “Come in.”

“We’ve got a problem.” Ten walked into Cope’s room. Carson was right behind him.

“With Christie?” Cope had just been thinking about her, but hadn’t sensed anything was amiss.

Ten shook his head. “This isn’t about Christie. There’s been another murder.”

“What?” Cope couldn’t believe his ears. “Is it anyone we know?”

“I’m not sure. Her name was Cindy Walsh and she’d just been promoted to curator of the Maritime Arts division of the Peabody Essex Museum. Her promotion came a week ago and she was found dead at her desk this morning. She’d been impaled with a harpoon taken from a History of Whaling exhibit.”

“Impaled?” Cope shook his head. “Someone threw a harpoon at this woman?”

“That’s what The Salem News is reporting. This story just broke. I’ve got my phone set to alert me to breaking news in Salem.” Ten took a seat across from Cope.

A second, more urgent knock at the door startled Cope. “Come in.”

“Cisco Jackson, Riordan Quinn, and a very upset looking woman are here to see the three of you,” Cole said. “I put them all in Bertha’s reading room.”

“I’d better call Jude and let him know what’s going on.” Cope grabbed his phone.

“He and Ronan are on the way. Cisco already called them. They’ll be here in a few minutes.” Cole shook his head.

“Thanks, Cole,” Carson said as his brother shut the door. “That’s two murders in three days.”