Baby Broom Read online

  "You haven't seen anyone coming or going?" he asked.

  "No. I haven't seen anyone at all."

  "Okay, I'm going to go clear the place. Once I'm sure it's safe, you and the baby can come back inside out of the cold."

  While he was inside, I sent Remy a text message letting him know where I was and what I'd found. He didn't answer, but a couple of minutes later, his car pulled up too. He must have left work right away when he got my message.

  "Are you all right?" he asked as he got out of the car.

  "I'm fine. I just found him there. I wasn't there when it happened or anything," I said. "I'm okay."

  "Is Gunner inside?"

  "Yeah, he's checking to make sure the killer isn't hiding in there," I said. "He's going to come out and get me when it's clear."

  "I'll wait here with you," Remy said and took my hand.

  "No, I'll be fine. Why don't you take Kinsley home and wait for me? I think she's been outside enough."

  "You sure?" Remy asked.

  "Yes, you guys go ahead and go home. I'll be there as soon as Gunner says he's done with me. I'm sure I'll have to give a statement. Unless you can't miss work. I've got a bottle and plenty of diapers. I can manage."

  "Of course I can miss work. I'm not going to just leave you here to deal with this. I'll either stay here with you and help with the baby, or Kinsley and I will go home."

  "Go ahead and take her home, babe. A crime scene is no place for a little one."

  "Call me if you need me," Remy said and kissed me before leaving.

  He put Kinsley in the baby seat in the back of his car. I kept an eye on her while he folded the stroller and slipped it into the trunk.

  When he was gone, I waited a few minutes and Gunner eventually appeared in the doorway. He signaled for me to come in, so I did.

  "I'm going to need for you to have a seat here for me," he said and pointed to one of the nearby chairs.

  Something had changed in his voice. Gunner no longer sounded concerned for me, but instead he'd taken on a clinical tone.

  "Gunner, what's going on?" I asked.

  "When one of my deputies gets here, I'm going to have them sit with you until I'm ready for you. Until then, just sit tight and don't say anything, okay?"

  "You're scaring me," I said.

  "Just sit tight."

  When the deputies arrived, they walked down the hall a bit and had a small conference with Gunner. Deputy Lungren must have drawn the short straw because he came over to sit with me.

  "What's going on?" I asked him.

  "I can't talk to you about that," Lungren said.

  "Tommy, come on," I said. "This is really freaking me out."

  "Calling me Tommy isn't going to get me to tell you anything. I've been told just to sit here with you and make sure you don't go anywhere."

  "Make sure I don't go anywhere? Am I a suspect? How could I be a suspect?" I shook my head in disbelief.

  "Just sit here quietly, Brighton. Gunner will come talk to you when he's ready."

  It was obvious that I wasn't going to get any more out of him. I pulled my phone out because I was going to text Remy and tell him what was happening, but Tommy stopped me.

  "I wouldn't do that," he said.

  "Do what?"

  "You're going to text someone and tell them about this. I wouldn't. You need to wait until you've got a lawyer, and then do whatever they say."

  "Lawyer?" I felt my stomach clench.

  "Just..."

  "Sit tight, right?" I interrupted him.

  He nodded his head, and I put my phone away. Did they really think I'd killed Jeremy Dyer? I'd never really met him before.

  "I was just delivering some paperwork for Remy," I said.

  Before Tommy could say anything else, Gunner appeared. He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, and Tommy got up. I watched as he walked down the hall to where I'd found the body.

  "The coroner is on his way," Gunner said to Tommy as he walked away.

  I noticed that Gunner had two folders in his hand. One of them was the purple one I'd brought with me. I must have dropped it in there and not even realized it. The other I didn't recognize.

  "What's going on, Gunner?" I asked. "Why are you treating me like a suspect?"

  "Why don't you tell me what happened?" Gunner asked.

  “What happened? What do you mean? I brought the tax documents in that purple folder you're holding so Mr. Dyer could do our taxes,” I said.

  “Is that when he confronted you with these?” Gunner said and held up the other folder. “Was he trying to blackmail you? Is that why you lost your temper?”

  “Blackmail me? What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “I understand that sometimes after a woman gives birth she can go through postpartum psychosis,” Gunner said.

  “What on earth are you talking about? I’m not having postpartum psychosis, and I have no idea what is in that folder.”

  “It’s contents were laid out on the desk, Brighton. You couldn’t have missed them.”

  “But I did. I was holding the baby, and then I saw the body. I don’t recall seeing anything else in the room,” I said.

  “I wish I could believe you,” he said and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “I want to believe you, but I have to do my job.”

  “Gunner, what is in the folder? Please tell me,” I said.

  “They are… compromising photos of you and Jeremy Dyer.”

  “What!” I shrieked louder than I intended. “That’s impossible.”

  He handed me the folder, and I proceeded to flip through the photos inside. I nearly dropped them because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

  They did appear to be compromising photos of myself and Jeremy Dyer, but like I’d said, it was impossible. I had never, nor would I ever, cheat on my husband. I even looked pregnant in some of the photos, and the thought turned my stomach.

  “These are fake,” I said and handed the folder back to him. “I would never.”

  “I want to believe you,” Gunner said. “Annika will kill me for this, but Brighton, I’m going to have to put you under arrest.”

  “What? Why? Because of some photos? I swear they are fake.” I felt the last of my words catch in my throat and tears poured down my face.

  “I will send them out to an expert, Brighton, but until then, they prove motive. You appear to have motive, and you were at the scene. We’ll run fingerprints on the weapon. Until then, I do have to arrest you.”

  At that point, I began to sob. Gunner found some tissue and gave me a few minutes to collect myself.

  Once I could breathe without blubbering again, he put the handcuffs on me. But he did allow me to keep my hands in front of me instead of making me put them behind my back.

  Gunner took me to the Coventry Sheriff’s Station and took me to a little room with a table and a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling.

  He gave me a paper with my Miranda rights on them and asked me to sign it. Once I had, he took my photos and fingerprints.

  “Is there anything else you want to tell me?” Gunner asked.

  “There’s nothing else to tell you. The photos are fake, and I was just there dropping off paperwork. I was not having an affair with Jeremy Dyer and I certainly didn’t kill him,” I said.

  “Do you want to call a lawyer?” Gunner asked. “I think you should.”

  “I don’t need a lawyer. I haven’t done anything. There is no real evidence. You’ll find that my fingerprints are not on the knife. You’re going to find out that those photos are fakes.”

  With that, he led me back to the holding area and put me into one of the small cells. Suddenly, I was alone.

  Chapter Three

  At some point, I must have gotten so bored that I fell asleep because I woke up to the sound of a commotion out in the station.

  The noise sounded like a bunch of people with their voices raised and a lot of things crashing around. There was a lo
ne male voice and a lot of female voices.

  It took me a minute, but I figured out what was happening. It was the Aunties. They were all out there in the station, and Gunner was trying to get them to calm down.

  Eventually, the door to the holding area opened, and all of the women who had been at my baby shower came filing through the door. Gunner put them all in the cells. He put Amelda and Annika in with me.

  "Really, Gunner? You arrested them all? Even your wife?"

  "What else could I do?" Gunner said. "They're threatening to bust you out."

  "And turn you into a goat," Annika said with clear annoyance. "Don't think we won't."

  "Honey," Gunner started to plead, but he instantly realized that he should just leave it alone.

  "Look, I didn't want to arrest you all, but you cannot just walk into the sheriff's station and threaten me. It's not okay for you to tell me you're going to break her out," he said and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why don't you guys just take a little time to calm down. As you can see with your own eyes, Brighton is fine. I'll come back in a little while, and if you guys stop threatening me, I can let this blow over. But only if you all chill out. My deputies will be back soon, and they have no idea what you are. If you turn me into a goat, it's going to get a bunch of attention I know you don't want."

  No one said anything else to him, so Gunner just shook his head and left.

  "What are you guys doing?" I asked Annika and Amelda as soon as he was gone.

  "Well, we heard that my blockhead husband arrested you, so we came down here to fix it."

  "Please don't let this come between you and Gunner," I said. "This is going to work out, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

  "Well, that's why I'm here," Annika said. "I was trying to save him from himself, and then he threw us all in here."

  "I'm sure it was for his own safety. You guys probably scared the crust off his toast," I said.

  "Well, now that we're all here, we can just use a little magic to open a hole in the wall, and we'll get you out," Annika said.

  "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't think that's a good idea. I think I should stay," I said.

  "Why?" Annika asked. "You shouldn't be here."

  "That's why I need to stay," I said. "Hear me out. I didn't do anything. I didn't kill that man, and I certainly wasn't having an affair. But that will all come out, and Gunner will legally have to let me out. No jailbreak needed."

  "But until then, your husband is having a meltdown," Annika said.

  "Oh, no. He doesn't believe that I cheated, does he?"

  "No, Brighton. Nobody does, but Remy wants to come in here and throttle my husband. I don't blame him. The only reason he's not here is because he needed to be with Kinsley."

  At the mention of my daughter's name, I felt a heavy pull in my chest. I wanted to hold her and smell her sweet little head. I missed her so much even though I'd only been apart from her for a short time.

  "Did any of you happen to find out what's going on with the photos? I'm sure as soon as he has confirmation they are fake, I'll be released."

  "None of us asked," Coral said from two cells down. "But he probably sent them to the state police. They have a lab for that stuff. Hopefully, he begged them to put a rush on it since he has a young mother sitting in a holding cell."

  "Ugh. The state police could just sit on it forever," Annika groused. "Does anyone else have any ideas?"

  "I know a guy," Lilith said. "I have a... friend who works at one of the universities in Chicago. I'm sure he'd be willing to do me a favor. Do you think we could convince Gunner to work with a civilian consultant?"

  "Oh, he better," Annika said. "Amelda will convince him."

  "That I will," Amelda said.

  A while later, Gunner came back, and Amelda told him about the idea to send the photos to Lilith's friend for analysis.

  "Well, I already forwarded the printed copies and the computer files to the state police, but I do have copies. I will do it if it gets you ladies off my back."

  "Will probably save your marriage too," Annika gruffed.

  "Annika, honey..." Gunner started to say, but Annika cut him off.

  "Don't Annika honey me, Gunner Black. I'm in jail right now. We'll talk about this later."

  Before anyone said anything else, Tommy came in and handed a sheet of paper to Gunner. He backed out of the room without looking any of us in the eye. At least he was smart enough to know when he shouldn't get involved.

  "All right, you are getting out of here. You're going to leave in an orderly fashion, and I don't want any more trouble."

  "What is that?" I asked.

  "It's the fingerprint analysis. We don't know who the fingerprints on the knife belong to, but we know they don't belong to you."

  "Given that it's only been a few hours since the body was discovered, I don't know why you didn't just wait for the fingerprint results before you arrested Brighton," Amelda said.

  Gunner made is way over to the furthest cell and unlocked it. "Because I'm related to Brighton by marriage now. I was hoping to eliminate any appearance that she was receiving special treatment."

  "By throwing the mother of an infant in jail because of some photos," Annika said. "Photos you know are fake."

  "They looked very real," I said. "I hate to admit it, but they do."

  Gunner made his way to our cell and unlocked it. "Come on, guys. We'll figure this out somehow. I'm sorry," he said to me.

  I nodded my head to him. I wasn’t angry, but I didn’t feel like telling him everything was okay either. He didn’t have to arrest me right there on the spot. It could have waited a few hours until after he’d run the fingerprints and investigated a little. It’s not like I was going to flee Coventry.

  Annika and Amelda took me home. I worried about her marriage to Gunner. He’d stepped onto the wrong side of the entire Skeenbauer Coven, but I still didn’t think he was a bad guy. He’d just been misguided.

  I had to wonder if he was still holding out for some sort of confirmation that witches were bad after all. That was the part that made me worry for his marriage to Annika.

  “Do you need us to come in with you?” Amelda asked as she pulled into my driveway.

  “No, we’ll be fine. He doesn’t believe I was having an affair,” I said.

  I wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement.

  “Of course he doesn’t,” Annika said. “If he did believe you were, he’d have killed that guy himself.”

  “Oh, no,” I said.

  “My husband is not going to arrest my favorite cousin,” Annika said resolutely. “We all know Remy didn’t kill the accountant.”

  “You do have to admit that it could look bad,” I said.

  “What’s the theory?” Annika asked. “That he found out about you and this guy, killed him, and then sent you with tax papers to discover the body of your lover?”

  “Oh, this is bad,” I said, suddenly filled with anxiety.

  “Brighton don’t worry. My blockhead husband is not going to go off halfcocked and arrest someone else in this family without a thorough investigation. He can be bullheaded, but he’s not completely stupid,” Annika said.

  “I have my doubts about that,” Amelda said.

  “Grandmother, please.” Annika’s voice was tinged with fear. “I know he screwed up big time but give Gunner a chance. Please don’t go putting him in the family crypt or anything like that. He’ll make up for what he’s done if you give him some time. I just know it.”

  I was in the back seat, and I watched as Amelda reached across to the front passenger seat and patted Annika on the leg. “I hope for his sake that he deserves the faith you’ve put in him.”

  “I’m going to go in,” I said before Annika could say anything else. The two of them could work it out once I was gone. “Thank you both for everything.”

  As soon as I got out of the car, the front door opened. Remy must have heard Amelda’s car pul
l in and he’d been looking out the window.

  He smiled from ear to ear, and I hurried up the walk. Once I was inside, he locked the door and pulled me into his arms.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t come down there and blow a hole in the wall to get you out. My grandmother told me that it would be a bad idea.”

  “I think it would have been,” I said with a chuckle. “Thank you for wanting to blow a hole in the jail wall to save me.”

  “Annika also told me that I’m not allowed to murder her husband,” he said and squeezed me tighter.

  “No, please don’t. Kinsley and I need you here, and besides, he’s just misguided. I seriously hope the family takes it easy on him. He’s really stepped in it, though, huh?”

  “I can’t believe you’re going to bat for him even after he arrested you,” Remy said softly. “You really are an amazing woman.”

  Remy let me go and looked me over.

  “I’m okay,” I said. “The only people I was in jail with was our family. I wasn’t in any prison brawls.”

  “You’re okay?”

  “Yes, and I’d really like to hold Kinsley,” I said feeling the ache of our separation again.

  “She’s in the bassinet,” Remy said.

  I walked over and scooped our little bundle out of the bassinet. Remy had done an excellent job swaddling her while I was gone. He was better at it than I was, though, I’d learned to use a little magic to make my swaddle a bit tighter.

  I held her to my chest and breathed in the scent of lavender baby lotion. She snuggled against my chest, and suddenly, I felt the weight of the morning lift off me.

  “I didn’t cheat on you,” I said to Remy.

  “I know that,” he said. “You didn’t have to say it.”

  “I did. I couldn’t have it hanging in the air,” I said. “I just wish I knew who faked those photos and why.”

  “You think it was your brother?” Remy asked.

  “I don’t like to think of it that way, but yes, it’s possible. But it couldn’t have been him directly, right? He can’t get that close. He’s got someone here in Coventry helping him.”

  “Do you think they killed Jeremy Dyer just to frame you?” Remy asked.