Boundary Crossed (Boundary Magic #1)(38)
“Maybe a little too much,” Keller suggested, his voice floating carelessly over the rim of his coffee cup. “Maybe you figured she’d be better off with you.”
I was about to explode, but luckily, at that exact moment I glanced at Elise. Anyone who didn’t know her as well as I did wouldn’t have been able to interpret her expression, but I understood: He’s just poking at you. Calm down. I took a deep breath, focused on my cousin’s face, and reminded myself that Elise hated working with Keller. She’d sucked it up to come support me. I needed to trust her.
I blew out the breath. “Do you have any other questions for me, Detective?” I asked as pleasantly as I could.
Keller’s eyes narrowed. “Not for today. We’re not dropping this, though.”
“Glad to hear it,” I said evenly. “Have you identified the couple who kidnapped Charlie?”
Now his face scrunched into a full-out scowl. “Not yet, but it’s only a matter—”
“Then it sounds like you have a lot to do. Please don’t let me keep you,” I said, standing up stiffly. “If you have further questions, just call my attorney. I’m sure you still have his number.” I held out my arm, gesturing for Keller to walk in front of me.
He was obviously unhappy, but there wasn’t much he could do. When his back was turned, Elise shot me a grin and a thumbs-up. Call you later, she mouthed. I nodded, still feigning bravado. If Keller actually did start bothering my lawyer, though, I was going to have to start turning tricks to pay for his services.
When they were gone, I called Lily Pellar. “How’d it go with the cops?” she said immediately.
“Fine, I think.” I paused. “But I don’t suppose I have time for a nap before witch class?”
She laughed. “Sorry, Lex, but I have plans this afternoon.”
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll see you in a few.”
“Cool. Oh, and Lex?” she added.
“Yeah?”
“My mom reads auras, so don’t be surprised if she says something kind of weird when you first get here.”
Uh, okay. I suppose it couldn’t be any weirder than Hey, let’s go vampire hunting. “Roger that.”
Chapter 17
It was a beautiful, crisp fall morning, and the good people of Boulder were enjoying it. I drove past several herds of cyclists and almost as many solo runners. It made me resent my car, wishing I could be enjoying the weather with the rest of the town. But Simon’s mother’s farm was fifteen miles away, and it would take too long to bike out there.
Pellar Farms took up a huge swath of land that tapered to a point at two intersecting county highways. Having lived in Boulder all my civilian life, I was expecting a sloppy hippie commune, but the hand-carved wooden sign next to the intersection was neat and professional, with the farm’s website displayed on the bottom in black reflective paint. The main building was a sprawling two-story residence. Next to the house was a small farm stand where crops were sold “right off the vine,” and several outbuildings, including a decrepit barn, several sheds, and an open-air building that was probably used for canning. I could see signs of activity out in the field: people bent over rows of plants, a small tractor running. It was peaceful and idyllic, but give me a sprawl of mountain forest and a dirt bike any day. Peaceful and idyllic isn’t in my gene pool.
As I parked on the L-shaped gravel driveway near the main building, I noticed Lily Pellar standing near the house, chatting with an older Caucasian woman who was crouching down to tend a cluster of violet-blue geraniums. Today Lily was wearing a cream-colored lace tank top that set off her tattoos, paired with skintight purple leggings with six inches of shiny silver zipper at the ankle. I could never have pulled off that ensemble, but she looked like a pop star on her way to the recording studio.
She turned when she heard my car, reaching a hand up to shade her eyes, and the woman beside her rose to her feet. She was tall, with thick rangy limbs and the kind of heavy-not-fat bulk that came from a lot of hard work and a lot of good food. Her pewter hair hung down her back in an impressively complicated fishtail braid. She wore khaki capri pants, gardening clogs, and a button-down purple linen top, and there was a big smear of zinc oxide on her nose. She looked like she would easily fit in at my mother’s book club.
The two of them started toward me as I climbed out of the car. “Hey, Lex,” Lily called. “This is my mom, Hazel Pellar. Mom, this is . . .”
Her voice trailed off as we both stared at her mother. The other woman’s welcoming smile had wilted away as I got closer, replaced by a look of total revulsion. She darted forward, moving between me and her adult daughter. “Get away from my house,” she hissed at me.
I felt the strangest sensation, as if all the wind on the planet was suddenly rushing past me toward the older woman. Behind her, Lily’s mouth dropped open. I leaned my head to the side so I could look at her over her mom’s shoulder. “Lily? Is that what you meant by ‘kind of weird?’”
“No,” Lily said carefully. “This is a little weird even for her.” She circled around to face her mother and gently took Hazel’s hand. “Mom, what’s the matter?”
“Don’t you see it?” she demanded, still staring at me. “Can’t you see the color?”