Thorn to Die

He shook his head solemnly from side to side. “No. We’ve arrested your boyfriend on that suspicion.”

“Andy?” She looked at him kneeling on the ground, awareness coloring her face in splotches of pink. “He killed Mr. White?”

“Never!” Andy spat at Ian.

One of the officers who had been searching the shed came over at that point. Blythe and Raven had just finished telling their side of the story to the flustered officer, no doubt omitting a few witchy points of the story. All of them joined us next to the squad car.

“We found a bomb-making apparatus and several homemade sticks of dynamite,” the officer said in a hushed voice. “I think we’d better call in the bomb squad from Omaha.”

“Bombs?” Laura shrieked. She stomped her feet in the grass. “What? Were you going to blow up Mr. White’s house with me inside it?”

Andy shook his mane of unkempt hair. “No, it wasn’t for Mr. White. I told you, I didn’t kill him. Those were going to make a statement.”

I exchanged glances with Blythe and Raven. Andy sure wasn’t going to give up easily.

“What kind of statement?” Laura’s voice was shrill enough now that I’m pretty sure half the neighborhood could hear. People were starting to notice the commotion and gather on the sidewalk. “The kind that gets me killed?”

“No, baby.” He scrambled forward on his knees. “I’d never hurt you. I just wanted to get the attention of the wasteful people in Uriville.” Turning to us, he shook his head. “We have everything we could ever want in this place, but everyone takes it for granted. There are people out there dying for a sip of water. Snobs like Allen White were wasting precious resources, without a thought of the damage they do to this Earth. I was going to get their attention and blow up the water tower. It was going to be epic.”

At that point, Andy became lost in his own thoughts, a faint smile stretching across his lips. Ian must’ve heard enough, because he grabbed his arm and pulled him to the cruiser, stuffing him inside. Tapping on the side of the car, Ian waved the officer inside of it to move on, and Andy disappeared around the nearest street corner.

Blowing up a water tower wasn’t exactly a recipe for murder. Still, with Angie Pine out of the picture, Andy Jenkings was the best suspect. He hated Mr. White; that much was more than clear. And if he could string up a homemade bomb, he could certainly create a poisonous substance to sprinkle on Mr. White’s precious garden.

“I don’t care what he says,” Blythe whispered to the two of us. “I think that man killed Mr. White.”

“He did,” I said firmly. “He’s guilty and soon Grammy Jo will be free. It’s all over now.”

Chapter 17

The three of us rounded the corner to my shop with donuts and coffee in hand, just in time for the park's opening. It was turning out to be a lovely and clear summer’s day, so the park might be busy for once. My cousins had followed me all the way from Andy Jenkings’ home. I think they were still a little shell-shocked from the incident.

"Well, I guess that's it." Raven kicked at the doorframe, leaving a small groove in the wood. "Case over. I'm sure Grammy Jo will be out by dinner."

I nodded and stuffed the rest of the donut in my mouth. Crime fighting made me ravenous. "That's what Ian said. What a relief."

And it was a relief. No more worrying about Momma Tula jumping off the deep end. Grammy Jo would make it all better, just like she did for all of the women in her family. She was the glue that kept us together. I couldn't picture life without her.

"Personally, I'm done with getting assaulted," Blythe added, tapping her bubblegum pink nails on my dirty workspace. They stuck in a drying glob of paint and she pulled quickly away. "I'm too delicate to do this kind of work. My first official date with Drew is tonight. He's making me dinner. Thank the heavens that Andy Jenkings didn't scar this beautiful face."

"You're too delicate for any kind of work that gets your hands dirty," Raven replied in a snarky tone, pulling Blythe out the door. "Try working at the hardware shop for one day. That'll chase the delicate right out of your bones."

Blythe pulled her wrist free, but still followed Raven with her coffee cup clutched in her hand. "Never! Do you want to kill me? Do you want to cause me early wrinkles?"

"Goodbye?" I waved at them, but they were already out of sight, their fading argument drifting on the breeze toward me. It was a small relief to know that catching a murderer wasn't going to change my quirky cousins all that much.

Turning toward my easel, I took a deep cleansing breath and pulled out a fresh canvas. Excitement charged through my veins. This was a new day and a new start. It could be anything. And I was choosing greatness.

All I had to do was allow the magic to flow.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to do much of my own painting that day. Due to the lovely weather and the weekend, the park overflowed with people from all walks of life. I painted bouncing little kids, young couples with googly eyes, and even a creepy older man who kept asking me if I was single.

In all, it was a good day and it passed faster than usual. Butch grinned from ear to ear as he surveyed the crowd and passed by my shop a few times. A full park meant a happy manager. I couldn’t ask for more.

By the time closing came around, magic was humming under my skin, begging to be released on the blank canvas I’d pushed to the side. As much as I wanted to run home and hug Grammy, I couldn't leave until the magic was released. Like an itch, it needed to be scratched.

"You okay with a little ov

ertime, Kat?"