I beamed. “That was the plan. Here’s hoping it works.”
After Maria left, I kept up a steady stream of customers throughout the day and managed to give away all of my freebies. Some kids even came in after school, though they were more interested in my candy display than anything else.
At about an hour before closing, the bell rang again. “Hi! Welcome to Woods…”
My voice died in my throat when I saw Jo. Crossing my arms, I glared at him. “Why are you here?”
He shrugged. “Heard you were giving away free lip balm.”
I gave him a withering glare. “I’m afraid I’m all out. You had to be one of the first twenty paying customers.”
My glare didn’t seem to faze him.
“Have you found Theresa yet?” I continued, pleased when he scowled.
“No. That’s why I came to talk to you.”
“I didn’t kidnap her. You’re barking up the wrong tree.”
He held his hands up and glared. “Who else could have done it, then?”
“I don’t know, but she definitely acted like someone was after her.”
He unfolded his arms, his eyes growing round. “What do you mean?”
I looked down at the display I’d been arranging when he walked in, wondering what exactly I should say. He seemed determined to make me the guilty party no matter what I did.
“She just talked a lot about only being able to stay in town a few days. When we had lunch, she got a text that scared her, and she just rushed off. And she didn’t seem like she trusted the cops a whole lot.”
Jo snorted derisively. “That’s a given. The police in Woods Crossing are a joke. It’s why I went into this profession.”
I arched a brow. “Is there really so much crime in such a small town?”
His expression grew wry. “You’d be surprised. Someone has to take things seriously around here.”
I thought of the feud that everyone seemed to hint about. Could some of the crime in town be attributed to that? Lots of people in the Hatfield/McCoy conflict had been killed over the years, but that was a decades long feud with a lot more people involved. A small-town feud between two or three families couldn’t get to that point…could it?
Taking out a notebook, he began writing what I assumed were notes about what I’d said. I noticed that he chewed his lip as he wrote, his eyes flicking rapidly across the page as he jotted in shorthand.
“Did she say anything else? Or did you notice anything else odd?”
Aside from the fact that she told me I was a witch? I shook my head.
“No. I can’t think of anything.”
I crossed my arms, waiting for him to get the hint to leave. Instead, he scrutinized me for several uncomfortable moments. I stared back at him, refusing to give ground and look away.
“I’m not just going to forget about all this, Sage. You could have explained all of this when Sheriff Dane and I came to your house, but you suddenly have all these convenient explanations.”
I scowled at him. “I could hardly get a word in edgewise to defend myself with the two of you bickering. Besides, I’d just been accused of a crime. I was in shock.”
His lips thinned into a tight line as he tucked his notebook into his jacket pocket. “This isn’t over. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”
I gave an expression of mock horror. “Oh dear, whatever will I do?”
With a sneer, he turned on his heel and headed for the door. I fought the temptation to flip him off behind his back.
“Hey, Jo.”
He turned, his face so filled with rage that it made me step back. I managed to keep my face stern, however.
“What did you mean when you said that it was a problem that I’m a Black?”
Jo narrowed his eyes. “The Blacks and the Farrows have never gotten along. Your lot are nothing but trouble, and that makes you the most likely person to hurt Theresa.”
Through my anger, I felt a current of fear causing a prickle along my spine. Had the feud been between the Farrows and the Blacks specifically? Or had other magical families been involved, too?
Then it hit me. Farrow. The sheriff had said Theresa’s last name, or one of them, had been Farrow. I fought to keep the panic from my face.
How much did Jo know exactly? He must know something about the whole feud. No wonder he suspected me.
Working to keep my expression neutral, I gave a careless shrug. “Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense when my entire family has been driven out of town,” I scoffed.
His lips twisted downward into a deep frown. “That might be how some people see it, but the Blacks have caused more than their fair share of trouble in Woods Crossing. I’ll be seeing you around, Sage.”
“I hope not!” I called, unable to resist having the last word as he stepped out of the shop. Giving in to my childish impulse, I quickly flipped him off, glad that there were no other customers in the shop to witness it.
I realized that my shoulders were tight, and my hands were balled into fists. Taking a few deep breaths, I forced the tension from my body and tried to find something to do.
