Rocking Out Page 6

  How was it looking? We had a roadie who had sleaze written all over him, but who had his fingerprints and DNA nowhere near the boot or the body. And we had Mack, who owned the car. Murphy’s prints being nowhere near the boot supported his innocence. But Mack’s prints being nowhere near the boot …? Well, not having his prints on his own car boot could make him look like a guilty criminal who cleaned up after himself.

  ‘We’ll know more tomorrow,’ I said, looking away from her. ‘It’s the bite marks we’re waiting for a match on.’

  ‘But what do you think? You always have a sense about people.’

  I played with a tassel from one of her cushions while I thought of how to answer. Mack wasn’t the chattiest guy in the world, but I did like him. Me liking him meant diddly squat, though. I used to think I had decent instincts. Right up until I wound up being the girlfriend of a murdering vampire-witch hybrid.

  ‘I don’t really trust myself to make that call,’ I admitted. ‘But I do have to go tonight, either way. We’re going to have a lot of plainclothes Wayfarers at the gig, but it’s going to be harder to get them into the after-party without attracting notice. So seeing as I already know the band, I’m stuck with that duty. But Melissa, if you’re uncomfortable, you don’t have to go.’

  She twirled her hair around her fingers, her face sad and worried. ‘I was never really looking forward to this, anyway. At least now I can be not looking forward to it for different reasons. I was reluctant to be with Mack because he was a rock star. But now? Wanda, if he is a murderer, then I’m going to do my best to see him behind bars.’ She forced a smile on her face. ‘Come on. Let’s pick out something to wear – and this time, I’ll be doing it the old-fashioned way.’

  9. Lunas’

  When Melissa and I descended the stairs, all dressed up and reluctant to go, we realised we weren’t the only ones no longer looking forward to the gig. Through the open living room door, we could see Emily talking to a pile of cushions on the couch – a pile that had a tail peeking out one end.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Emily asked the cushions. ‘I thought you were looking forward to the gig.’

  As Melissa and I entered the room, we heard Wolfie’s voice from behind the cushions. ‘W-what if there’s another b-body?’ he asked.

  ‘There won’t be,’ said Emily. ‘Will there, Max?’

  Max shrugged his shoulders. ‘I hope not.’

  Emily sighed. ‘Well, I’ve gone right off the idea of this gig. Maybe we should stay here with Wolfie.’

  ‘No!’ replied Max, with a vehemence that surprised me. ‘Wanda’s not going into a werewolf gig on her own. Not after what happened today. Wolfie’ll be okay with Dizzy and Princess, won’t you mate?’

  Wolfie peeped out from behind his cushion-fort. ‘Will you leave me something nice to eat?’

  ≈

  Emily and Max headed off a few seconds before us. Seeing as Emily’s face looked thunderous as she clicked her fingers, Melissa and I hung back for a moment before we followed. But when we arrived at the nightclub, Emily’s face was still thunderous. She and Max were huddled in a corner by the coat-check room, their voices low but angry.

  I dragged Melissa away, not wanting to hear what they were arguing about. Even at a distance I couldn’t help but overhear Emily say, ‘Wanda doesn’t need you to play her bodyguard, Max. She’s got the other Wayfarers for that!’

  ‘Eek,’ said Melissa, when we reached the bar. ‘Did you hear that?’

  I picked up a drinks’ menu. ‘They’ll kiss and make up pretty soon and we’ll get to see Emily for breakfast again tomorrow. Yay.’

  Melissa’s eyes widened. ‘If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you were jealous. Anything you’d like to tell me?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Finn’s voice in my ear. ‘What would you like to tell us, Wanda?’

  ‘Shut up, Finn,’ I grumbled, tapping my earpiece twice to turn him off. I knew that even though he couldn’t hear me anymore, he could still see everything I could through my magical contact lenses, and he could monitor my moods too. Too much power made Finn even more annoying than usual. I could just picture him, back at HQ, laughing his stupid head off at my embarrassment.

  Melissa grinned. ‘That was Finn, wasn’t it? He agrees that there is something you might need to get off your chest. He thinks you’re jealous of Max and Emily, doesn’t he?’

  Luckily, one of the Lunas took that moment to appear in front of us and take our order. You might remember me mentioning the Lunas before. The Luna coven was, well, interesting. They owned a lot of businesses in the supernatural world, most of them in entertainment or fashion. And every single one of them was called Luna. Apparently there was a way of pronouncing each name in order to differentiate.

  ‘What’ll it be?’ asked the Luna behind the bar. She was a tall, silver-haired woman. And she was quite striking as long as you gave her the most cursory of glances. But if you looked any longer, you would soon notice the slightly crazed smile. A lot of the Lunas smiled in the same way. It was down to their artistic temperament, according to some.

  ‘I’ll have a virgin Witching Hour, thanks Luna,’ I said.

  Luna rolled her eyes. ‘I’m not Luna. I’m Luna. What about you, Melissa?’

  ‘Em, same please, Luna,’ she said unsurely.

  Luna smiled. ‘See – Melissa knows which Luna I am.’

  She fixed our drinks quickly – too quickly, considering I had a question I was avoiding answering. I hoped that by the time I had my virgin Witching Hour in my hands, Melissa would have forgotten what she asked.

  She wiggled her eyebrows at me, slurped her cocktail, and gave me an expectant look.

  ‘I did sound jealous didn’t I?’ I admitted with a groan. ‘And bitter. I’m not really. I just feel like a bit of a gooseberry in my own house, I guess. I like Emily so much, but I never get to see Max without her anymore. Every time we plan to spend some time together she shows up.’

  ‘Oh, I was kind of hoping you were jealous.’ Melissa chewed on her straw, looking guilty. ‘Because I kind of am. Wanda, you don’t happen to be feeling any, y’know, after-effects from the love potion?’

  My eyes widened. ‘I thought you liked Mack McAdams. Well, y’know – before he was a person of interest in a murder investigation, anyway.’

  ‘I do,’ she said. ‘Or did. You know what I mean. But every now and then I look at Max and I still see him the way I saw him when I was all loved up. It’s like it just drove all of his best qualities home, y’know. The funny feelings are gone, one hundred percent. But there’s this sort of lingering … regret, maybe? And I just keep wishing I could fall for someone like Max, instead of a possibly murderous rock star. It’s weird.’

  ‘Yeah,’ I agreed with a sigh. ‘It is weird. When I thought I was in love with Max everything seemed so simple. So easy. I almost wish we were back there, just so everything could make sense again.’

  She gave me a wry smile. ‘Yeah, well at least when you thought you loved Max he thought he loved you back. What was it like? Kissing someone you actually loved? Or believed you loved?’

  A memory of my kiss with Will Berry slammed into my mind, and I pushed it aside. ‘Kissing Max was great,’ I said honestly. ‘It was great, and I wish it had been real. But it wasn’t. And now I’m avoiding my own house, just because I feel so ridiculously awkward about it all. And also because it doesn’t feel like my house anymore. I can’t just barge into Max’s bedroom in the middle of the night when I’ve got something to tell him. I can’t even bring him breakfast in bed anymore. We used to do that all the time. Fix each other a veggie bacon sandwich and a cup of tea.’

  ‘You don’t have to stop doing that, though. It is your house. And it’s mine, too. I know I gave you a hard time this morning about never being there, but the truth is I’m avoiding it a bit, too. I was so happy to move out of Wayfarers’ Rest and not have to see my mother wearing the face off her boyfriend anymore. But it’s like I’ve left the frying pan and
leapt into the sacrificial bonfire. Last week I tried to watch Upendown Abbey with Max and Emily, but Emily kept kissing him. There was a tragic story about a young maidservant losing her baby, and there she was, kissing Max’s earlobes beside me.’ Melissa shuddered. ‘We should take back our house. And our housemate. Starting tomorrow morning. I say we bring Max his breakfast and watch cartoons with him while we stuff our faces.’

  Good goddess, that sounded like bliss. ‘There’s just one problem, though. I don’t want to go into his room and interrupt them, do you? They might be … y’know.’

  Melissa looked over at Max and Emily. They’d managed to make it from the foyer into the bar, but they hadn’t managed to stop arguing along the way. Currently, Emily was standing with her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently, while Max was gesticulating wildly, his face even more furious than Emily’s.

  ‘Emily might be staying over at our house every single night,’ Melissa whispered. ‘But any time she does, Max stays on the couch. We can just bring him a pile of doughnuts in the morning and hang out with him while she snores her little brains away in his bed.’

  ‘What?’ I felt my nose wrinkle. ‘He doesn’t sleep on the couch. I’d have noticed if he did.’

  She moved closer to me. ‘How? You’re hardly ever there. I get up early for yoga every single morning, Wanda. When I leave the house he’s on the couch. When I get back all his bedding is neatly folded away and he and Emily are eating breakfast together. Oh, and also – there’s a very thin wall separating my bed from Max’s. Trust me, if they were at it, I’d hear them. All I hear coming from that room at night is the sound of Emily snoring. So despite all the smooching and the cuddles on the couch, I’m not so sure things are all that serious between them.’

  ‘Oh.’ I took another sip of my cocktail. Even though it was virgin, I was beginning to feel surprisingly upbeat. ‘Well, not sleeping together doesn’t make them not serious. They could be taking things slow. But y’know what? We should definitely have breakfast together tomorrow.’

  She grinned. ‘I know a spell that’ll make doughnuts in under five minutes.’

  ≈

  Considering this was supposed to be an intimate gig, there were a lot of people at the club. All of the She-Wolves were there except Alicia. She was probably hanging out with the Alpha Babes at Alpha’s gig, staring up at Frenton or whatever he was called.

  There were some competition winners in the audience, and there were a lot of celebrities, too. Veronica Berry often came to these things, seeing as she was with the band’s lead guitarist, but tonight she’d brought half of the cast of Witch Wars with her.

  We could see Melissa’s Super VIP seat – a throne fit for a queen – pointed straight at the drums, but she was true to her word and stayed with us throughout the gig. Usually when we watched the Call of the Wild play, her eyes would stay on Mack the whole night long. Tonight, it seemed like she was doing her best to look anywhere else.

  I moved around a lot while they played, using the excuse of going to the bar or the loo. I could slip in and out of invisibility quickly these days, and my snooping was all the better for it. Making sure I was unseen and unheard, I went to the back entrance to see just how the band’s staff did treat their fans. Murphy was still in our cells, and all other bouncers and roadies were on their best behaviour, barely even conversing with the dozens of girls who were begging to get in, just telling them there was no admittance and sending them on their way.

  By now, of course, everyone knew about Caitlyn’s murder, so I was hardly going to get a picture of how they might behave normally. But I was surprised to see so many fans at the back door. News had leaked to the public, as it always did, but it didn’t seem to dampen any desires. It made me worry, frankly, for the judgement of those fans. It wouldn’t matter how much I liked the guys – if any of them were responsible for Caitlyn’s death, I would make them regret it.

  I snooped in their dressing rooms, too, but besides a lot of champagne and some ripe-smelling clothing, I couldn’t find anything. Finn kept me informed on what the other Wayfarers were up to through my earpiece (he also made a lot of smart-arse comments about my conversations with Melissa, but what else could I expect from him?), so I knew that none of them had found anything suspicious, either. All in all, the trip to the gig was providing no new information. I decided to take a break and enjoy the very last song – which just happened to be called Red.

  ’This lawyer lady’s put a spell on me

  So fine so perfect, will she ever see?

  That she and me, yeah, we were meant to be

  One day she’ll know it and we’ll be married.’

  It went on in much the same vein. Had Melissa heard that song even one day earlier, no doubt her knees would have turned to jelly. Instead, she turned to me halfway through and said, ‘I’ve made a decision. No matter who gets arrested for this, I’m going to apply to be on the prosecution’s team.’

  10. A She-Wolf in the Closet

  The after-party was taking place in Jasper’s house on Hope Cliff. It was a huge, modern house, with a lot of windows and more hot tubs than you’d find at a spa. It was also Wolfie’s other home, so I could see his beds and his toys littered everywhere. Jasper was staring longingly at one of those beds, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

  ‘I love that stupid big dog,’ he said to the girls who were surrounding him. ‘We’ll all be clear of this soon, I know we will. And then my Wolfie’ll come home to me.’

  While the She-Wolves sympathised with Jasper, I circulated. Sometimes I went invisible, sometimes not. I was now the only Wayfarer on the job, but Finn was still monitoring everything from HQ.

  ‘Oh look,’ he said through my earpiece. ‘There’s Max and Emily. They seem to have made things up. Still not jealous?’

  I closed my eyes and turned away from what Finn was seeing through my magic lenses. Max and Emily really had made things up. At that very moment, they were laughing together out on the deck, while Emily ran her fingers through Max’s shaggy hair.

  I tapped off my earpiece again, storing up a lot of bad words to say to Finn later on. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep my eyes closed forever, so I couldn’t stop him seeing what I was seeing – or monitoring how I felt about it.

  Whose bright idea was it to monitor officers’ emotions when they were on under-cover jobs, anyway? I inwardly cleared my throat because – that’s right – it was mine. I figured that if we ever lost sound and visual, it might be good to have another means of knowing if one of our officers was in danger. Awesome idea, Wanda. Just awesome. I mean, who wouldn’t want their boss to know when they were crying on the inside?

  Once I saw Max and Emily on the deck, it felt like I couldn’t get away from them. Everywhere I went to snoop, I saw them kissing. They were kissing by the pool, in the kitchen, in the laundry room, in Jasper’s bedroom (ew!), in the TV room … basically, I saw them kissing everywhere.

  After my conversation with Melissa, I felt a lot more comfortable with my residual feelings for Max. If she was suffering a love potion hangover, then clearly I was too. But I had the funny feeling that Finn’s reading of my emotions might tell a slightly less sensible story.

  It was about two in the morning when Jasper said, ‘This party’s a bit boring, innit? How about we all get in the pool? Anyone who doesn’t have bikinis, try the dressing room. Oh, and there’s an all-new bikini closet in there now.’ He winked at me. ‘I’ve added some larger cup sizes.’

  I already knew about Jasper’s bikini selection. Even though there was a sign saying, ‘Only to be worn by my most attractive female guests,’ it didn’t seem to put any of the She-Wolves off. They all headed for the changing room near the swimming pool, giggling together about what an amazing time they were having.

  I knew I’d probably sound like a narky old lady if I banged their heads together and told them to cop on, so I headed for the changing room with Melissa. We were still keeping our cocktails virgin, but t
he She-Wolves were way past tipsy and on their way to lie-down drunk. This was the perfect time to listen in to their conversation. Given how much of their time they spent hanging about with the Call of the Wild, they could have picked up on some things that they didn’t even realise were clues.

  As we neared the bikini closet, I heard Marion whisper to another girl, ‘Good thing Alicia’s not here – you can just bet she’d pick out a bikini that barely covers her boobs.’

  Ooh – nasty, Marion. Maybe she was still annoyed with Alicia for leaving the She-Wolves. Or – equally likely – maybe Marion was the type of girl who sniped about other girls all the time.

  You might be worrying about hygiene – I would be, too, but the last time I’d seen Jasper’s bikini collection, every single outfit was brand new. The store tags were still on, and (according to Jasper) each girl got to take her bikini home at the end of the night, so they would always have a reminder of the best night of their life. Yeah. He really is that deluded.

  Marion reached the door to the closet first. As she drew it open, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

  ‘One of our She-Wolves is in the closet!’ she cried, before fainting to the floor.

  I stared in at the dead She-Wolf. It was Alicia, no doubt about it. Although her head was turned away from me, I’d know her cat-suit anywhere – even with the obvious bite-marks in the fabric. I tapped my earpiece and heard Finn’s voice say, ‘Yeah, I see it, Wanda. We’re on our way.’

  I turned back to the others. ‘Everyone stand back!’ I shouted out. ‘This is a Wayfarer matter.’ I glance at Melissa. ‘I want you to put this house on lock down. No one leaves until they’ve been questioned.’

  ≈

  ‘I swear to every single god in every single world, I had no idea she was in that bikini closet.’

  It was about the tenth time Jasper had made that assertion, and I tended to believe him. We’d had people on him all day. He hadn’t been back to his house until the after-party, and considering I’d seen Alicia that afternoon, I knew she had to have been murdered between then and now. Jasper couldn’t have done it in that timeframe, and neither could Mack – but if not them, then who?