West Coast Witch by Justen Hunter Read Free Book Online

the keyboard was dirty
     with all sorts of grease and food. “So, what do we look for?” I asked.
    “Put these on.” Amy tossed me a pair of rubber gloves, and I slipped them on.
    “Okay, so, now that you’ve made me an accessory, what are we looking for?”
    “Any information or notes that Francis made regarding Samantha Coolidge.”
    I went to the desk, and started to look through the folders on it. Each was labeled
     with a name. “So, what kind of cases did Francis handle?” I asked.
    “It seems that he mostly did missing persons cases, but he also did divorce work and
     occasionally some consultations for insurance companies. I looked into him after yesterday.
     Is there any file for Samantha Coolidge?”
    I shook my head. “No, a few notes.” I said, having set those aside. “Haven’t taken
     a look at those yet.” She looked over at the pile I set aside, and started to thumb
     through them. There was hardly anything there to look through, but it was a start.
     “Anything interesting?”
    “A few things. Her address, some information. She lived with a room mate, so that
     might be some place to start. But nothing that could be called his file.”
    “The room mate seems like a good place to start, though, uh…I’m not exactly an investigator.”
    She chuckled. “Ah, for every witch I have heard that from. You are naturally curious
     creatures. It will come naturally to you. Trust yourself.” She said, and stuffed the
     notes into her jacket pocket. “Come on, we will stop off at her place, see if you
     can grab a brush.”
    “A brush?” I furrowed my brow. “What are we going to use with a brush, Amy?”
    “Why, I am going to teach you your first spell, Eric. Let us leave this-” She said.
     She held a finger to her lips, then whispered. “Listen.”
    My mind raced for a moment. I didn’t know what was going on at first, but then I heard
     two voices, muffled through the walls of the office, drawing nearer.
    I mouthed the words “What do we do?” to Amy.
    “Follow my lead.” She said, and I followed her out of the door. I could feel something
     in my back, tensing as we went out into the hallway, anticipating trouble.
    The voices had come from two men. They were both stocky fellows, with matching leather
     jackets and the same tattoos on their necks. I wondered to myself it it was some sort
     of gang mark.
    “Morning.” Amy said, nodding to them.
    One of them seemed to sniffle a little. “Morning, ma’am.” He said. The man seemed
     to stiffen, annoyed at seeing us here.
    “Can I help you two? This office is closed for a police-related investigation.” Her
     voice turned hard, more authoritative.
    “Of course.” The man said, and he turned around. “Right, sorry.” He said, and the
     other man followed him off in a swift retreat.
    Amy hurried me down the stairs. She was breathing hard by the time we hit the street.
    “I’m sorry, but what the hell was that?” I said.
    She leaned against the brick wall of the building. “I think they were there for the
     same reason we were.”
    “You mean to snoop around Francis’s office?” I asked. “And how do you keep doing that
     thing with your voice?”
    “I cannot, not any more now. That particular trick has tired me out.” She pulled out
     her keys. “Can you drive?”
    “Yes, bu-“
    “Good.” She pushed the keys into my hand. “You go talk to her room mate. I need to
     go sleep this off.”
    “Alone?”
    “Yes, alone.” Amy grunted as she grabbed the notes and handed them off to me. “If
     you run into any trouble-“
    I interrupted her this time. “If I run into trouble? Jeez, this is really driving
     me crazy, you know that?”
    “If you run into trouble, do not fight longer than you have to.” She finished. “Fight
     dirty, fight mean.” She flipped out the knife she’d wielded last night. “The blade
     is silvered. Do you understand the importance of that?”
    I shook my head. “Uh, not