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  She turned away from the window. “I’m probably just a romantic at heart.”

  I looked down at the crumpled body on the gravel. “So was Jane Hawthorne, probably, and look where that got her.”

  19

  When Halloween arrived, I threw a party at my place. The house was festooned with cardboard monsters and fake spider webs and I set out platters of food and provided plenty of drink. It wasn’t anywhere near as pompous as the Hawthorne Fall party but I liked it even better for that reason.

  I’d take my down-to-earth friends over Dearmont’s elite any day and the food at my party included cakes and cookies provided by Felicity. I even had deviled eggs.

  The Hawthorne case was closed and I’d been paid well by Charles Hawthorne. I still had questions about what exactly happened that night when he’d driven out to the Libby place. Had the accident been just that, an accident, or had something more sinister taken place that night?

  I could find out for sure by using an old spell, an alcoholic potion, and a faerie stone. The trees by the of the road would tell me what happened. I intended to ask them someday but right now, I was going to relax while I got the chance.

  Once Leon hacked into the Cabal computers and Felicity decoded the notebook, I had a feeling there were going to be some big battles ahead. The Cabal wouldn’t go down without one hell of a fight.

  Taking a beer to the sofa, I sat and listened to the music for while. I’d left Leon in charge of the tunes and he’d put together a playlist that included The Misfits, Ramones, and David Bowie.

  “Hey, how’s it going? Can I join you?”

  Lucy was standing in front of the sofa, beer in hand.

  “Of course.”

  She sat next to me and said, “Are your cases always this bad?”

  “Bad?”

  “Yeah, I mean like tearing families apart and stuff. I know you didn’t tear my family apart and that it was already coming apart at the seams but is this the kind of thing you deal with all the time?”

  “Sometimes,” I said. “Not always.”

  “Well that’s good to know. And thanks for inviting me tonight. I don’t usually go to parties; they aren’t really my scene.”

  “I’d have thought a Halloween party would be totally your scene.”

  “Yeah, I see what you mean, me being a horror writer and all. Hey, I should tell you about my latest idea. It’s a series of books about a P.I. I was hoping you’d help me with the research.”

  I laughed. “Maybe.”

  “You still owe me an interview, remember?”

  “I thought that conversation we just had was the interview.”

  “No way, I need a lot of in-depth information from you.”

  I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Merlin towering over me. “What do you want?” I asked him.

  “Nothing in particular, Alec, I simply wanted to commend you on the party. And thank you for the invite.’

  Actually, I hadn’t invited him and his appearance was a surprise to me. “It’s probably not as grand as some banquets you’ve attended in the past,” I said. “And by past, I mean way, way in the past.”

  “True, I have been a guest at many grand occasions and dined with kings and queens as well as knights and princesses but this homely gathering is very pleasant. You have a lot of good and loyal friends.”

  “Actually, that’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” I told him.

  “Oh?” He sat down in the easy chair and leaned forward, interested.

  “When we take down the Cabal,” I said, “I assume you’re going to leave us and return the sheriff to his body.”

  He nodded. “That is our agreement.”

  “It’s going to take a little time for us to decipher the Cabal notebook and get something useful from their computer so I have a proposition for you.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “In the meantime, I want to help Mallory, one of my friends. What we need to do is going to be perilous and we’re going to need all the help we can get. Would you consider being a part of the team?”

  “You mean you want me to be part of the Doggy Gang?”

  “That’s Scooby Gang.”

  He nodded. “Yes, I’d like that very much.”

  “Great, that’s settled then.”

  Grinning, he stood up and went over to a bunch of guests to mingle, or at least mingle as well as an ancient wizard can at a modern day Halloween party.

  “So,” Lucy said, “What’s this perilous quest you’re about to undertake?”

  “It involves the heart of a sorceress, an ancient curse, and an evil Egyptian priest.”

  “Sounds fun.”

  I took a swallow of my beer and nodded. “Yeah, it’s gonna be a blast.”

  THE END

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