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Dead or Treat

Page 9

by Pandora Pine

“I think we can arrange that for you.” Jones smiled at her. “In the meantime, do you sense Delilah Meehan in the room with us?”

“No, I’ve been trying to reach out to her, but either she’s hiding or isn’t here at the moment.” Everly worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

“After what I read, I wouldn’t be surprised if she never showed herself to anyone ever again.” He opened the bag and pulled out an old rusty colored diary. Ten assumed the leather had once been red.

“That’s Delilah’s diary.” Everly reached out to touch it, but Jones held it back.

Jones looked at Tennyson. “If Everly is as gifted as Madam Aurora says, I’m not sure she should…”

“I understand,” Ten said, taking the book from him. “I have to tell you, Mr. Jones, we don’t usually get call outs like this in the middle of the night.”

“I realize that, Tennyson, but I figured with what happened to Doom and with who Delilah is, I thought it best that you should be called in.”

“What do you mean, who Delilah is?” Ten asked. Like Everly, he’d been trying to reach out to her as well, but hadn’t had any luck either.

“Have you ever heard the story of the Witch of Devil’s Den?” Jones asked.

Ten shook his head. “No, should I have?”

“Delilah was the only woman killed during the Battle of Gettysburg.” Jones wore a solemn look.

“Gettysburg?” Ten asked. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Read the diary, Tennyson. We can talk in a few days. If any spirit ever needed your help, it’s Delilah.”

“Mr. Jones, can I take the board too?” Everly asked. “If Miss Delilah was trapped in it for so long, I might be able to reach her through it.”

Jones looked between Ronan and Tennyson, who both nodded. “If your parents say it’s okay. Just promise you’ll be very careful with it.”

“I will,” Everly agreed easily.

Ronan walked toward the door and grabbed the Lucite box. He held it open for Everly, who carefully put the board inside it.

“You should probably take this as well.” Jones reached back into the brown bag and pulled out a heart-shaped, silver planchette and set it inside the box, alongside the board. The planchette had a sun and moon at the top of the heart, with a skull at the bottom along with several lines of script.

“Wow, this is beautiful. What are the funny words?”

“That’s Latin. I don’t know what most of it says but the one word I recognize is ‘dea,’ which means goddess. I have a friend at Salem State University who is an expert in the occult, specifically witchcraft through the ages. I’ll text your father his name and number.”

Everly looked mesmerized by the board and planchette. “Thank you, Mr. Jones.”

Cisco shook hands with Bob Jones. “We’ll be in touch.” He escorted everyone, including a pissed off looking Fitzgibbon, out of the shop.

“You want to explain to me what the fuck is going on here?” Fitz asked. “Not only did you get me out of bed, but my daughter as well, Cisco.”

Cisco’s eyes moved to Aurora, who wore a curious look. “The last time I checked, Captain Fitzgibbon, solving cold case murders is what we pay you for.”

“Cold case? What cold case? That little shit got loaded with his friend and fell off a chair and hit his head.”

“Miss Delilah, Uncle Fitz. We have to solve her murder.” Everly paused, her eyes on Fitz. “I know you’re hurting. Delilah is too and we can help her. I might not have been able to speak with her tonight, but the one thing I felt from Delilah was pain. I’ve never felt that much from a single person before, not even from you.” Everly walked to Fitz and took his hand. “Helping Delilah will help you too. I know you think you deserve to hurt forever, but you’re wrong. Help me help Delilah, Uncle Fitz. It’s going to be worth it in the end for your family, I promise.” Everly nodded her head toward Aurora.

The anger seemed to drain from Fitzgibbon’s face. “I’ll try. It’s the best I can do.”

“It’s the start of our busiest time of year. Tourists have flocked in from all over the country. It would be a real feather in our caps if we could solve this case and rescue this spirit who died in 1863.” Cisco set a hand on Fitzgibbon’s shoulder. “You can’t tell me you aren’t excited to get to work and help this young woman.”

Fitz nodded.

“Great. We’ll start working together later this morning. I think Aurora and I could use a mental health day, don’t you, Dad?” Everly waggled her eyebrows at Tennyson.