Witchy Sour(56)

Poppy and Zin had agreed to wait upstairs in my room until I could clear out the downstairs long enough for them to slip out the front door unnoticed. Turned out, leaving through the window was a lot harder than coming in, and neither of them felt particularly keen on explaining to Mimsey why they’d snuck into their cousin’s bedroom. However, judging by the sounds of the conveniently timed footsteps above, Poppy still wanted to put in a breakfast order.

“Was Gus planning on coming back last night?” Ranger X asked. “I haven’t seen him this morning.”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t keep me abreast of his schedule, believe it or not.”

Ranger X laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest, though it does surprise me that he’s not around by now.”

Mimsey swept into the room with two plates, one in each hand, dropping them heartily on the table. “Eat,” she instructed before sweeping right back out of the room.

“We’re keeping things quiet,” Ranger X said, dipping his head low and taking a bite of the eggs. His voice was barely audible over the light crashing of the waves. “Only the Rangers know about the murder. The fewer people involved, the better. We don’t want to cause a wave of panic to spread through the islanders.”

“Because he was a Black Ribbon wizard?”

“That’s one part of it.”

“After all this time, I spoke with two Black Ribbon wizards in the same day. Can that be a coincidence?”

Ranger X took another bite of eggs. “I don’t particularly believe in coincidences.”

“Me neither.”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad coincidence. We don’t know that Gus is involved with things, let alone the wrong side of things, and we shouldn’t jump to hasty conclusions.”

“Then where is he?” I leaned forward, my shoulders pressing against the table, my voice a hiss. “If he’s the only other Black Ribbon wizard, shouldn’t he be here helping us figure this out? Why did he disappear?”

“I can’t answer those questions right now, but I’m having my men look into it as we speak.”

“Eat, you two.” Mimsey poked her head into the storeroom. “Too much whispering and not enough egg swallowing.”

I forked an egg for show, but as soon as Mimsey resumed her cooking in the other room, I set it back down. “We don’t have time to sit here eating eggs.”

“We don’t know anything is wrong,” Ranger X said firmly. “Gus may waltz in at any moment. If he doesn’t, we’ll just trace his last steps...”

Ranger X trailed off as we met each other’s gaze, both of us realizing we had Gus’s last steps cooking eggs right next door. At once, we both called out “Mimsey!”

“What is it?” Mimsey appeared again in the doorway. “You almost made me burn the toast, and we all know Gus hates burnt toast. Where is that man, by the way?”

Ranger X and I shared a quick glance before I turned back to my aunt. “He’s not with you?”

Her face turned the shade of a blooming rose. “Me? What? Never,” she spluttered. “What do you think I am, a hooligan? I don’t let men sleep over on first dates.”

Ranger X and I shifted awkwardly in our seats while Mimsey eyed us judgmentally.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?” A bit of egg splattered in our direction as Mimsey thrust the spatula at us. “Are you two playing the dating game?”

Ranger X rose from his seat, the motion intimidating due to the sheer size of his body. “Mimsey, we need to know what happened with Gus last night. He didn’t stay over?”

“No,” she said, a genuinely confused look on her face. “He dropped me off at home plenty early, like a gentleman. I went home and watched the rest of a show with my daughter. Although, I think he mentioned something about catching up with an old friend afterward when I invited him in. He declined, and I didn’t ask too much about it. I was rather excited to get some alone time with my daughter. I love family, but sometimes there are a lot of them around, and it was a nice quiet evening for the two of us.”

I swallowed hard. “Do you know which old friend he was meeting?”

She shook her head. “He said it was a quick nightcap. Maybe at the B&B? Or maybe he was headed to Sea Salt, I don’t know.” Mimsey laughed. “I did ask why he wasn’t going to bring his friend to the bungalow for a drink to give you some business, but he said he didn’t want to bother you.”

“I’ll bet he didn’t,” I muttered. Gus wouldn’t have bothered me, but Harpin’s presence would have. Plus, Gus showing up to a meeting in his black robes would’ve raised some questions he wanted left secret. “So you haven’t seen him?”